Full text of "Sketches illustrating the early settlement and history of Glengarry in Canada... --"

SI(ErrCHES 


ILLUSTRATING THE 


EARLY SETTLE
[E:\T A
D HISTORY OF 


GLENGARRY 


I f-.I 


CANADA 


RELATING PRINCIPALLY TO THE 


REVOLUTIONARY \VAR OF 1775-83, THE \VAR OF 1812- 
I4 AND THE REBELLION OF 18 37- 8 , AND THE 
SERVICES OF THE KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF 
NE\V YORK, THE 84TH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND 
E
IIGR_\NT REGIMENT, THE ROYAL CAN- 
ADIAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT, 
THE GLEKGARRY FEr\CIBLE OR BRITISH 
H[G
--IL_-\XD REGL\fENr, THE GLEN- 
GARRY LIGHT INFANTRY REGI- 
MENT, AND THE GLENGARRY 

!ILITIA. 


-BY- 


'v 
J.
 A. MACDONELL 


(17' 
ll 
1
1 
. '" I beg to .st
te t
1at the County of Glengarr
 ha? un every 1 
occaSIOn been dIstmgmshed for good conduct, and wIll on any 
emergency turn out more fighting men in proportion to its population 
than 
ny other in Her Majesty's dominions."-Extract from a letter 
from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, Particular Service, to Lieuten- 
ant-General Sir James l\[acdo!1ell, K.C.B., K.CH., .commanding 
Brigade of Guards and second 111 command of Her Ma
esty's Fvrces 
in Canada, dated December, 184 0 . 


[OF GREENFIELD]. 


MONTREAL 
Wt/.. FOSTER, BROWIII & Co. 
1893. 


51550 
WORTH Yom< PUBlIC UBRAR[ 
MAIM 



Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the 
year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Three, by John 
Alexander 
13.cdonell, in the Office of the Minister of A.;m,:ulture. 



To HIS EXCELLENCY 


SIR HUGH MACDONELL, K.C.M.G., C.B., 
H. M. Envoy to the King of Denmark. 
My DEAR ABERCHALDER, 
It was my intention to have dedicated these little sketches reo 
lating principally to the military services of the Glengarry people in 
Canada to your brother, General Sir Alexander Macdonell, K.C.B., 
Colonel-Commandant of the 2nd Battalion P.C.O. Rifle Brigade, 
but poor Sir Aleck's recent de8th rendered it impossible. 
His services in the Crimea as A.D.C. to SIr George Brown, 
wh
n in command of the Light Division, and where he himself after- 
wards commanded the 2nd Battalion of his distinguished Regiment; 
in the Indian Mutiny, where he commanded the 3rd Battalion, as 
well as in the campaign on the Northwest Frontier of India, and in 
the Expedition against the Mohmund Tribes, which he led, and the 
distinctions conferred upon him by hls Sovereign, proved his merit 
as a soldier, and ma.intained the record of what was once known in 
Scotland as a fighting name. 
Your father wa.s (together with his elder brother, who was the 
Speaker of the first House of Assembly of this Province) one of the 
two first members for the County of Glengarry when what was pre- 
viously known as the Upper Country of Canada was erected into a 
separate Provmce and Parliamentary Institutions accorded to it. 
He had been, with his father, his brothers and other kinsmen-all 
of them holding commissions in the King's Royal Regiment of N C','! 
York and other Loyalist Corps- one of those who had fought 
through the Revolutionary \Var, and who on its termination settled 
here, a body of men deservedly held in high esteem by following 
generations of Canadians, known ::0 us in Canada as United Em- 
pire Loyalists. Colonel Simcoe, who was ncminated Lieutenant 
Governor of the Province, appointed him to be the first Adjutant- 
General of the Militia of Upper Canada, and he was largely instru- 
mental in laying the foundation of the Militia system which still 
exists. He had served also in command of a Company of the 2nd 
Battalion of his brother's Regiment, the Royal Canadian Volunteer 
Regiment of Foot, which for several years (1796-1802) garrisoned 
the posts of this Province, as did the 1st Battalion of the same 



Regiment, under one of the most distinguished of the King's new 
subjects, 
ieutenant-Colonel the Baron de Longueuil, that of Lower 
Canada during the same period. 
His association, therefore, with this Province, and with the 
County of Glengarry in particular, could scarcely have been more 
intimate, while the distinction of his after career in the service of 
his Sovereign, under the patronage of his f:iend and benefactor 
H.R.H. the Duke of Kent, was such as to prove a just source of 
satisfaction to his relatives and friends who remained on this side of 
the Atlantic. 
It affords me pleasure, therefore, to dedicate to one of his sons, 
whose present position proves that Ìlis own career in the Diplomatic 
Service of the country has not been without merit as it ha!i not been 
without the reco 6 nition of his Sovereign, and. to whose assistance I 
have been much indebted in their preparation, these fragments 
which relate to mJ.tter5 in which we have a common interest. 
I am, my dear Aberchalder, 
Faithfully yours, 
J. A. MACDONELL. 
Glengarry, Canada, August 22ud, 18 9 2 . 



5 


SKETCHES OF GLENGARRY. 


CHAPTER 1. 


GLENGARRY IN SCOTLAND.-RESULT OF THE DISARMING, PRO. 
SCRIBING AND OTHER ACTS INTRODUCED INTO THE SCOTTISH 
LAW.-FORl\IATION OF HIGHLAND REGIl\IENTS AND EMIGRA- 
TION.-A LARGE NUl\IBER LEAVE GLENGARRY IN SCOTLAND IN 
1773 AT THE INSTtGATION OF SIR \VILLIAl\I JOHNSON AND 
SETTLE IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY, IN THE PROVINCE OF NEW 
YORK.-DEATH OF SIR \VILLIAM IN I774.-HIS SERVICES, 
IKFLUENCE AND CHARACTER. 


In much that has of recent years been written on the very in- 
teresting subject of the United Empire Loyalist settlement of this 
Province, the \Var of 1812, '13, '14, and the Rebellion of 18 37- 8 , 
there is but little, if any, mention made of the part which the High- 
landers of Glengarry took in the American Revolutionary \Var of 
177 6 - 8 3, and the early settlement of the country at the close of the 
\Var, its defence in 1812-14, and the suppression of the rebellion. 
Others, the York Volunteers in particular, come in for at least their 
fair share of credit. Their flags are paraded, and their deeds are 
made to speak again after a lapse of many years, and the inference 
is given, with painful reiteration, that to them and theirs among the 
iocal forces of the country, is the credit chiefly due on these occa- 
sions j while, in some instances, individuals who never left their pro- 
vision shops except to take to the woods when York was a second 
time surrendered, and poor Dr. Strachan left to negotiate with the 
Americans, would appear to have become of late great military com- 
manders of those days-the very saviours of their country, ill fact, 
in the hour of its utmost need ! 
I venture the assertion that the County of Glengarry contained 
at least as many Loyalist settlers who had fought for the Crown 
during the first \Var as any other of the earlie
t settled counties, am' 



6 
contributed on both the latter occasions more fighting men for the 
preservation of the country, its connection with the Mother Land, and 
the maintenance of our Institutions, than any other part of the 
Province, and this without wishing to detract in the least from the 
services of the good burghers of York, or of others, vaunted though 
they be. 
I submit it to the judgment of my readers whether I cannot 
make that statement good. I shall speak by the record, and shall 
give my authorities. 
It is of importance, first, to consider the circumstances under 
which the County of Glengarry was originally settled, as the settlers 
for the most part, previous to the 'Var of 1812, came to Canada under 
circumstances which redound to their credit as loyal and faithful 
subjects of the British Crown. 
'Ve are now so far removed from the struggles made in Scotland 
on behalf of the House of Stuart, that we can recall them dispassion- 
ately. Practically, that race is extinct. If represented at all, it is 
in t he person of our present gracious Sovereign, who, like her immedi- 
ate predecessors, has no more loyal subjects than the descendants of 
the men who fought with such chivalry for those they recognized as 
Kings by the Right Divine. They were unsuccessful in their efforts, 
but the history of Great Britain does not contain a more glorious 
chapter than that which tells of the struggles of the Highland 
Jacobite Chiefs and Clans, and how they poured out their blood like 
water for those they called their Kings. The strongest Hanoverié3ll, 
the staunchest Orangeman, cannot read what notably Sir 'V alte r 
Scott, the Ettrick Shepherd, Edmonstoun Aytoun, as well as the 
Scottish bët.llads, have handed down to us, without admitting-without 
any abatement of principle-the devotion and heroism of those who 
risked and lost their all. 
Conspicuous among the Jacobites were the people of Glengarry. 
1Vith other Scottish Cavaliers, they had rallied around Montrose, and 
" throughout his campaigns
were one of the mainsprings which kept 
up the astonishing movements of the chivalrous enterprise;" (I) 
they were foremost among the Highland forces under John Grahame 
of Claverhouse, the Viscount of Dundee, and bore the brunt at 
Killiecrankie, when that great Leader fell; in greater number than 
almost any other Highland Clan f
.J.ey joined 
he Earl of Mar in 17 I 5. 


(I) Mac lan's 
kctches ; title, .. Glengarn." 



7 
On a later occasion their Chief was selected from amangst the High- 
land Chiefs and Noblemen to be the bearer of an address to Prince 
Charles Stuart signed with their blood (I) In 1745 their leaders 
were the most trusted adherents of Prince Charles and their men as 
brave as the bravest of his soldiers; they paid the penalty like men 
of valour as they were, some in death, others in expatriation, and all, 
from the proud Chief to the humblest of the clansmen, in the 
devastation of their homes. 
" They stood to the last, and when standing was o'er, 
All sullen and silent they dropped the claymore, 
And yielded, indignant, their necks to the blow, 
Their homes to the flame, and their lal1ds to the foe." 
But the principle of Monarchy Was an innate and cardinal 
article of their faith, and each succeeding generation has never since 
failed to prove it to the House of Guelph when there ceased to be 
any question as to the Dynasty. 
The result of the Disarming and Proscribing Acts, the J urisdic.. 
tion Act, and other alterations adopted into the law of Scotland in 
consequence of the long series of conflicts which culminated in 
"the '45," together with the introduction of the system of sheep- 
farming in the Highlands, for which its people were unfitted, and the 
abolition of the feudal system of Clanship, which gave way under the 
absence of many heads of Clans who were exempted from the Act of 
Indemnity of 1747, and the impoverishment of others, was to force a 
large number of the Highland people to emigrate, though many 
thousands, brought up to the trade of arms, availed themselves of 
the opportunity afforded by the genius of Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord 
Chatham, who was then Prim
 
1inister, and entered the military 
service of the Crown under the liberal plan devised in 1757, when 
Letters of Service were issued for raising the Highland Regiments. 
Mr. Fullarton, in his "History of the Highland Clans and Regiments," 
quotes from an anonymous writer, who says :- · 
"This call to arms was responded to by the Clans, and 
Battalion on Battalion were raised in the remotest parts of the 
Highlands among those who a few years before were devoted to, and 
too long had followed, the Race of Stuart: Frasers, l\1acdonalds, 
Camerons, 1\facleans, :\facphersons and others of disaffctted names 
and Clans were enrolled; their Chiefs and connections obtained 
commissions, and the c1an<;men, always ready to follow with eager- 
ness, endeavored who should be first listed." 


tI) Burke's Dorffi.l11t and Extinct Peerage; title. .. Lord :\hcdonell and Aros." 



8 


\Vith what glory to the Nation they acquitted themselves is 
matter of history. "To them, under the generalship of \Volfe. is 
largely due the fact that Canada is to-day a possession of the British 
Crown; they battled under Hutchinson and Abercrombie, pushed 
the French at Aboukir, and bore the brunt of the Turkish cavaliers 
at Rosetta," says Colonel Coffin in his Chronicle of the \Var of 1812. 
Indeed, wherever Great Britain had any fighting to do they were on 
hand to do it, and those were days when Britain needed her bravest 
and her best. In 1776 the Earl of Chatham was able to utter in 
Parliament his famous eulogy on the Highland Regiments :- 
" I sought for merit wherever it could be found. It is my boast 
that I was the first Minister who looked for it and found it in the 
Mountains of the North. I called it forth, and drew into your 
service a hardy and intrepid race of men; men who left by your 
jealousy became a prey to the artifices of your enemies, and had 
gone nigh to have overturned the State in the "Var before last. 
These men in the last 'Var were brought to combat on your side; 
they served with fidelity as they fought with valor, and conquered 
for you in every quarter of the world." 
But at present we have to do with those who emigrated to the 
Colonies of the Crown in America. Others were left in Glengarry 
who, as will be seen hereafter, did as other Highlanders, and en- 
rolling themselves under their young Chief, fought as was to be 
expected when the opportunity was afforded them. The Emigrants 
had naturally looked for peace, and hoped in the new world to repair 
the disaster and retrieve the hard fortune of the old, but the time 
was not far distaÍlt when once more they were to fly to arms and 
across thè Atlantic assert the principle of the Monarchy, and
 
regardless of the Dyna::;ty, fight for George as they had fought for 
King James; once more, " for Conscience sake, to leave all aside 
and stiU keep true whate'er betide "--even though for a second time 
they should have, a::; eventually they were obliged, to leave behind 
them their homes, which this time they had made for themselves. 
It was not long after the last unsuccessful effort had been made 
in Scotland on behalf of the House of Stuart, that a number of the 
people of Glengarry and Knoydart, under the leadership of several 
gentlemen of the Clan, called after the properties of their families in 
Scotland: Macdonell of Aberchalder, Leek (or Licks, as I see the 
rulme is spelt in an old map of Scotland), Collachie and Scotas- (or 

cothouse}
emigrated W America, settling in what was then calle4 



9 
Tryon County in the Mohawk Valley, in the Province of New York, 
about thirty miles from Albany. The name of the county was, during 
the RevolutIonary \Var, in 1784, changed to' Montgomery, after the 
Americ
n General,who was killed at the siege of Quebec in December, 
1775, the former appellation having fallen into disfavor owing to the 
fact that \Villiam Tryon, who had previously been Governor of the 
Province of N ew York, then of Carolina and afterwards of New 
York again, was one of the most prominent and devoted Loyalists. 
The County, as originally formed, embraced all that part of the 
present State of N ew York lying west of a line running north 
and south nearly through the centre of the present County of 
Schoharie. It was divided into five districts. which were again 
subdivided into smaller districts or precincts; the county buildings 
being at Johnstown, where was the residence of Sir \Villiam Johnson. 
The settlement of these Highlanders in that part took place at the 
instigation of Sir \Villiam, who had acquired a vast property in the 
vicinity, and who, having learned the Indian language, studied their 
methods and conciliated their regard by long and fair dealing with 
them, was possessed of an influence over the Indians, particularly 
those of the Six Nations such as no other man had ever enjoyed. 
In the war which terminated in the conquest of Canada from the 
French, Sir \Vil1iam had taken a most active part, being entrusted 
with the command of the provincial troops of N ew York, and at the 
same time being Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs of that 
Province. In 17 59, he commanded the provincial troops under 
Brigad
r-General Prideaux in the expedition against Niagara, and on 
the death of the latter, succeeded to .the command, eventually taking 
Niagara, when about 600 men were made prisoners of war. This 
event broke off the communication which the French intended to 
establish between Canada and Louisiana. \Vhen Amherst embarked 
at Oswego in June, 1760, to proceed on the expedition to Canada, 
Johnson brought to him at that pl3ce 1,000 Indians of the Iroquois, 
or Six Nations, which, it is alleged, was the largest number of Indians 
ever seen in arms at one time in the cause of Britain. For his 
previous signal services in the cause of the King. His Majesty, on 
the 27th November, 17 55, had been graciously pleased to create him 
a Baronet of the United Kingdom, and at the same time conferred 
upon him a large pension. (I) 


(1) Morgan's Celebrated Canadians. 



IO 
From the nature of the pursuits in which Sir \Villiam Johnson 
\Vas engaged, the then unsettled state of the country, and the fact 
that these Highlanders were, like their countrymen of that and pre- 
ceding generations, trained to anns from their very infancy, accus- 
tomed to hardships and as active as the Indians themselves, it can 
easily be conceived that they would prove the most desirable class 
of neighbours and allies to Sir \Villiam. He did not, however, long 
survive. The American historian, Stone, states in his life of Brant :- 
" Sir \Villiam Johnson was too observing and sagacious a man 
not to note the signs of the times" (the reference, of course, being 
to the impending revolution). "He saw the gathering tempest, and 
it is believed to have given him great uneasiness. His sympathies, 
according to the testimony of those who knew him, were undoubt- 
edly with the people. He was from the Lody of the people himself, 
h wing been the architect of his own rank and fortunes; and those 
w 10 were acquainted with and yet (1832) survive him, represent the 
sLuggle in his bosom to have been great between those sympathies 
anJ his own straight vrinciples of liberty on the one hand, and his 
du!y to his Sovereign on the other-a Sovereign whom he had served 
10'1g and faithfully, and who in turn had loaded him with princely 
benefactions. His domains in the Valley of the Mohawk were ex- 
tensive ; and his influence through a large number of subordinate 
officers and a number of tenantry, was correspondingly great. To 
the Indians, not only of the Six Nations, but those far in the \Vest 
beyond, who had fallen within the circle of his influence after the 
conquest of Canada and the subjugation of Pontiac, he had been a 
father and they looked up to him with veneration. Long association 
with him and great respect for his character-which for its blunt 
honesty, frankness and generosity, not altogether void of that rough 
life incident to a border population, was well calculated to secure 
the attachment of such people--had also given to his opinions the 
force of Royal authority among the colonists. The population, aside 
from the Inùians, was chiefly Dutch in the lower part of Mohawk 
Valley, while in the interesting Vale of the Schoharie and in the 
upper district of the Mohawk it was composed of the descendants 
of the German palitinates who had been planted there 50 years 
before. It was not at that time a very intelligent population; and 
the name of Sir 'Villial1l, who had been their friend and companion, 
in peace, and their leader in war, like that of the King, was a tower 
of strength. It was very natural, therefore, that their opinions upon 
the great political questions then agitating the country
 should t
ke 
their complexion for the most part from those entertallled by hIm. 
Hence, when the storm of civil war commenced, the Loyalists in 
that Valley were probahly more numerous in proportion to the whole 
number of the pOIJulation than in almost any other section of the 
Northern Colonie::;. 



L L 


"In connection with the troubles which every man of ordinary 
sagacity could not but perceive were fermenting, Sir \Villiam visited 
England for the last time in the autumn of 1773, returning in the 
succeeding spring. He probably came back with his loyal feelings 
somewhat strengthenej. It was not his fortune, however, good or 
ill, to see the breaking out of the tempest, the near approaches of 
which he had been watching with an intentness of observation cor- 
responding with the magnitude of his own personal interests, which 
must necessarily be involved. He died suddenly, at Johnson Hall, 
about the 24th June, 1774." 
He was succeeded in his title and estates by his son, Sir John 
Johnson, 2nd Baronet, and in his office of Superintendent General 
of Indian Affairs by his son-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson, who had 
long b
en in office as Assistant Superintendent, he having for his 
deputy Colonel Daniel Claus, who had likewise married a daughter 
of Sir 'Villiam. Sir John Johnson, on his father's death, became 
Commandant of the Militia of the Province of N ew York. They 
derived great aid in the subsequent administration of affairs, especi- 
ally amongst the Indians, from the celebrated Joseph Brant (Thayen- 
danegea), who became Secretary to Colonel Guy Johnson, and who 
had been much in the service of Sir 'William during the latter years 
of his life ; as also from his sister, Mary Brant, who was a woman 
of singular talent and character, and who was the last wife of Sir 
\Villiam Johnson, though I believe their marriage had taken place 
according to Indian custom only, and mayor may not therefore 
have been legal. Be that as it may, it was largely instrumental in 
securing their powerful influence to the side of Britain in the long 
struggle which then ensued. 



IZ 


CHAPTER 2. 


BREAKING OUT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY \V AR.-THE " CmIMI'I'TEE 
OF SAFETY" AT ALBANY \V ARNED AGAINST SIR JOHN JOHNSON, 
AND NOTIFIED TH-\.T THE SCOTCH:\1EN WERE AR:\IING.-THE 
'VHIGS " DAILY SCAND-\.LIZED, PROVOKED AND THREATE
ED" BY 
THE LoYAL CATHOLIC HIGHLANDERS.--CORRESPONDENCE BE- 
TWEEN SIR JOHN AND GOVERNOR TRYON, AND THE LATTER AND 
LoRD GEORGE GERMAINE. - GENERAL SCHUYLER, OF THE 
REVOLUTIONARY ARMY, INVADES TRYON COUNTY.-NEGOTIA- 
'I'IONS BETWEEN HL\I AND SIR JOHN AND MR. lVIACDONELL 
(COLLACHIE).-SIR JÙHN AND THE HIGHLANDERS ESCAPE TO 
CANADA.-LADY JOHNSON TAKEN PRISONER.-HER LETTER TO 
GENERAL 'V ASHINGTON. 


At the time of the arrival and settiem
at of the Glengarry 
people in the 1\10113.wk Valley, afEÚrs in America. were, then, in a very 
unsettled condition. In orda to meet the military expenditure 
the.-eia, the British Parliament had a short time previously imposed 
a stamp dùty on all leg3.1 documents. 1Q.is was met with a denial 
on the pa,rt of the discontented colonists of the right of the Imperial 
L'
gislatllrè to impose taxe"ì upon them without their consent. The 
Sta'np Act was repealed the year following its enactment, but it was 
coalend.::d that th
 principle of taxation without representation was 
maintained by a light duty of three pence per pound which was 
placed on tear-one fourth of that paid in England at the time- 
and nominal duties on other articles. On the 16th December, 1773, 
occurred in Boston Harbour that episode which Mr. Erastus \Viman 
has lately designated as the" Boston tea party," when a number of 
persons disguised as Indians threw into the harbour from the East 
India vessels some three hundred and forty chests of tea. The port 
of Boston was thereupon closed, and troops sent to enforce sub- 
mission. 
A " Continental Congress" was then decided upon and convened 
at Philadelphia in September, 1774, and an effort made to induce 
the people of Canada, who had but lately passed under British rule, 



13 

o join in it by sending representatives. "The Quebec Act" \vhì-cÞ 
Was then in contemplation, however, and the principles of which 
\Vere known to the King's New Subjects, fully satisfied the French 
Canadians, guaranteeing to them as it did their own laws, language 
and customs, and they tacitly declined to participate in the proposed 
Congress, although som,e sons of sedition within the Province en- 
deavoured to stir up their fellow countrymen to hostility against the 
form of government, and went to the expense of translating, printing 
and circulating the letter sent to them by the promoters of the 
Continental Congress. (I) 
In April, 1775, occurred the first collision between the armed 
Colonists and the soldiers of the King, and throughout the Thirteen 
Colonies measures were taken with a view to procuring their ultimate 
independence. 
On the 18th of May the Provincial Committee of the Palitinate 
District or State of N ew York addressed the" Committee of Safety" 
at Albany, stating that the Johnsons and thcir powerful allies in the 

rohawk District, had succeeded by threats, intimidation and an 
array of military strength, in preventing any open adoption of a de- 
claration approving of the proceedings of the Continental Congress. 
Says-the Palitinate Committee :- 
"This County has for a series of years been ruled by one 
family, the several branches of which are still strenuous in dissuading 
the people from coming into Congressional measures, an4 have, even 
last week, at a numerous meeting of the Mohawk District, appeared 
with all their dependents armed, to oppose the people considering 
of their grievances ; their number being so large and the people 
unarmed, that they struck terror into most of them, and they dis... 
l)erscd." 
Mr. Stone adds that :- 
"The Committee further notified their friends in Albany that 
Sir John John

 w
rt.ifying the Baronial Hall by planting several 
swivels around it; an<:t'he. had paraded part of the Regiment of 
Militia which he commandea Qn the day previous for the purpose of 
intimidation, as it was conjec!ured. It was likewise reported that 
the Scotch Highlanders, settled in large numbers in and about 
Johnstown, who were Roman Catholics, had armed themselves to 
the number of 150, ready to aid in the suppression of any popular 
outbreak in favour of the growing cause of liberty. (2) 
During the course of the SlImmer, the tension became stronger 


(I) 
ir Cuy Carleton to Earl Dartmúuth, 1\pril6, 1775. 
l2) Volume I, page 54. 



14 
The Dutch or German settlers divided in their allegiance, Mr. Stone 
stating that the majority of them declared themselves as \Vhigs, as 
the American sympathizers were called-the Loyalists being termed 
by the Rèvolutionists, Tories. The first shot in the war \Vest of the 
Hudson was fired when the Loyalist Sheriff of the County arrested 
a \Vhig named J 01111 Fonda, at whom he fired when he resisted 
arrest. It was immcdiatdy returned hy the discharge of a number 
of firclocks of the rebels at the Sheriff, which, however, were not 
very deadly, as the only effect was a slight wound in his breast. 
The doors of the house were broken, and an effort made to seize 
the Sheriff, when a gun W.lS fired at the hall by Sir J olm. " This 
was known to be a signal for his rctainers and Scotch partisans to 
rany to arms, and as they would muster 500 men in a very short 
time, the "'higs thought it more prudent to disperse." (Stone). 
From this out, the relations of the neigbours to each other 
became more and more strained. The Loyalists threw every impe- 
diment in the way of the Committee, and no method of embarrassing 
them was left untried; they called pnb1ic meetings themselves, and 
chose counter-committccs, covered the 'Vhig Cominittees with ridicule, 
and chargeù thcm, most properly, with illcgaÎ and tyrannical conùuct 
-the conscfluence hcing mutu.l1 e'-aspcration hetween near neigh- 
bours, and the reciprocal ('ngcndering of hostile feelÍngs between 
fricnds, who ranged thcll1selvc:.; undcr opposing banners. These 
incipient ncighhorhood qua.rreb uccasioneù, in the progress of the 
contest which ensued, some of the most bitter and bloody conflicts 
that cvcr marked the annals of Civil \Var. 
On the 7th Septemher, 1775, the \Vhig Committee wrote the 
Provincial Congres') in N ew York, denouncing the conduct of Sir 
John J ohnsol1, and that of his associates-particularly the High- 
landers, who. to the numher of 200, were said to be gathered about 
him, and by whom the \Vhigs "were daily scandalized, provoked 
and threatened." 
It appcars that from the following correspondence in January, 
1776, Sir John and the Highl..l11ders took active preliminary steps 
towards armed resistance to the Congressional authorities :- 
GOVERNOR TRYON TO LORD GEORGE GER
IAINE. 
"On board H.M.S. Duchess of Gordon, } 
" New York Harbour, 3rd January, 1776. 


" My LORD, 
" T. 


,,'rn
n who delivered me the enclmied letter from Sir 



IS 
John Johnson, assured me that by Government complying with its 
contents Sir John could muster five hundred Indians to support the 
cause of Government, and that these with a body of regulars might 
retake the forts. If Sir John had the title of Superintendent of In
 
dian Affairs it \\'ould give the greatest weight to His Majesty's Indian 
affaÌrs, the Indians having the greatest affection tor the son of their 
late benefactor. I ,,'ish Your Lordship may think as favourably of 
Sir John's proposals as I do. &c" &c." 


tEnclosure in the above.' 


sr
 JOHN JOm
-SON TO GOVERNOR TRYÙÑ. 


U SIR, 
" I hope the occasion and intention of this letter may plead my 
excuse for the liberty I take in introducing to Your Excel1ency the 
bearer hereof, Mr. Allan Macdonell, who will inform you of many 
particulars which cannot at this time be safely communicated in 
writing. The distracted and" convulsed state that this unhappy 
country is now worked up to, and the situation that I am in here, 
together with the many obligations that our family are under to the 
best of Sovereigns, induce me to fall upon a plan that may, I hope 
be of service to the country, the propriety 01 which I entirely submit 
to Your Excellency's better judgment, depending on the friendship 
which you have been pleased to honour me with, for your ad\ice on, 
and representation to, His Majesty, of what I propose. 
"Having consulted with a11 my friends in this quarter, among 
whom are many old and good officers, I have come to the resolution 
of forming a Battalion, and have named all the officers, most of 
whom have a good deal of interest in their respective n
ighborhoods, 
and have seen a great number of men ready to complete the plan. 
'Ye must, however, not think of stirring until support and supplies 
of many necessaries to enable us to carry our design into execution 
are received-of all which :\fr. Macdonell ,viII inform Your Excel.. 
lency. 
" I make not the least doubt of the success of this plan should 
we be supported in time. As to ne\VS, I must heg leave to refer you 
to l\fr. Macdonell, who will inform you of everything that has been 
done in Canada that has come to our knowledge. As I find by the 
papers you are soon to sail for England, I despair of having the 
pleasure of paying my respects to you, Lut most sincerely wish you 
an agreeable voyage and a happy sight of your family and friends. 
" ram, Your Exce11ency's 
" Most obedient, humble servant, 
" JOHN ]OHKSON." 
Doubtless the organization and other preparations indicated in 
the above letter, some knowledge of which must have transpired, 
induced Congress in the same month to direct the e"J?edition iuto 



16 
Tryon County of General Schuyler of the Revolutionary Army, the 
forces under his command numbering some 3,000 men. He ad
 
dressed a letter to Sir John Johnsqn from Schenectady, requesting 
an interview, and pledging his word of honour that he anù the offi
 
cers with him would come and go in safety. Sir John, attended by 
several of his leading friends among the Scotchmen, and two or three 
others, met him about sixteen miles from Schenectady. Negotia- 
tions were then entcred upon in writing between Gcneral Schuyler 
on the one part and Sir John and Mr. Allan l\IacdonelI (Collachie), 
as representing the Highlanders, on the other. The fourth article 
of the tenns offered vy General Schuyler was as follows: 
" That the Scotch inhabitants of the said County shan, without 
any kind of exception, immediately deliver up all arms in their pos. 
session, of what kind soever they may"ve ; and that they shall each 
solemnly promise that they will not at any time hereafter, during the 
continuance of this unhappy contest, take up arms without the per. 
mission of the Continental Congress or of their Gcneral Officers; 
and for the more faithful performance of this article, the General 
insists that they shall immediately deliver up to him six hostages of 
his own nomniation." 
Sir John having answered the written offer of terms, agæeing to 
deliver up their arms, but as to the fourth arlicle declining on the 
part of the Scotch inhabitants to give hostages-no one man having 
command over another, or power sufficient to deliver such-General 
Schuyler declared the answer to his terms to be \vholly unsatisfactory, 
and required immediate compliance with his demands in all respects 
before midnight. Sir John J ohns0n is alleged by the Americans then to 
have givcn his parole of honour not to t:' ke up arms against America. 
General Schuyler was to he at liberty to take away six of the Scotch 
inhabitants pIÍ
oncrs, without resistance, the others all to surrender 
their arms; the six pris,mers to be m_lintaineJ agreeable to their 
respective ranks; to ve allowed a few d.lYs to settle their private 
affairs, and, being gentlemen, to wear their side arms. 
"Fifth : Neither Sir John J o11nson nor the Scotch gentlemen can 
make any engagement for any other persons than those over whom 
they may have influence. They give their word and honour that, so 
far as depends on them, the inhabitants shall give up their arms and 
enter into the like eng3gement as the Scotch inhabitants." 
To this General Schuyler agreed, stating that he would take six 
of the Scotch inhabitants prisoners, since th
y prefelT
d it to,going 
as hostages, and undertaking on LehaIf of Congress to pay all defer. 



.. 


. 17 
ence due to their rank, they to be confined for the present either at 
Reading or Lancaster in Pennsylvania. They were eventually sent 
to the latter place, Mr. Allan Macdonell being one of the prisoners. 
On the same afternoon Sir John delivered up the anTIS and ammuni- 
tion in his possession, Mr. Stone naively remarking that the quantity 
of both was much smaller than was expected: 
"On Saturday, the 20th, General Schuyler paraded his troops 
at noon to receive the arms of the Highlanders, who to the number 
of two or three hundred, marched to the front and grounded their 
arms. These having been secured, the Scotchmen were dismissed 
with an exhortation to remain peaceable, and with an assurance of 
protection if they did. (I) 
The American authors allege that Sir John Johnson did not 
ohserve the compact of neutrality, nor the obligations of his parole, 
and further that General Schuyler was in receipt of information con- 
vincing him that Sir John was secretly instigating the Indians to 
hostilities. "To prevent such a calamity," says Mr. Stone, "it was 
thought advisable to secure the person of Sir John, and once more 
to quell the rising spirit of disaffection in the neighborhood of J ohns- 
town, especially among the Highlanders," and in June following the 
events already narrated, Colonel Dayton, with a part of his regiment 
then on its way to .Canada, was despatched by General Schuyler ot 
prosecute the enterprise. SirJohn, however, was warned in time of 
the proceedings of the enemy, and hastily collecting his friends, 
made his way to Canada, arriving after nineteen days of severe 
hardships at 
1()ntreal, " having encountered all the sufferings that it 
seem
d possible for man to enJure." :Mr. Sparks, in his life of 
\\Tashington, states that Lady Johnson was removed to Albany, where 
she was retained, hut wiihout al1Y particular result, exce}Jt the indig- 
nity offered to a gentl
woman of high station and in a delicate state 
of health, as a kind of hostage for the peaceable conduct of her 
husband. 
Lady Johnson was a daughter of the Honourable John 'Vatts, 
for some time President of the Council of N ew York, and a first 
cousin once removed of General Schuyler, to whom she had so deep 
an aversion, as appears from the following letter of hers addressed 
to General \Vashington, apprising him of her being taken prisoner: 
" SIR, " ALBA
Y, June 16, 177 6 . 
" I take the liberty of complaininlj to you, as it is from you I 


(I) Slone, page 142. 



18 
expect redress. I was compelled to leave home, much against my 
inclination, and am detained here by General Schuyler, who, I am 
convinced, acts more out of ill nature to Sir John than for any rea- 
son that he or I have given him. As I am not allowed to return 
home, and my situation here made as disagreeable as it can be by 
repeated threats and messages from General Schuyler too indelicate 
and cruel to be expected from a gentleman, I should wish to be 
with my friends at New York, and would prefer my captivity under 
Your Excellency's protection to being in the power of General 
Schuyler, who rules with more severity than could be wished by 
Your Excellency's 


" Humble Servant, 


"M. JOHNSON. 
'" To His Excellency General \Vashington." 
Lady Johnson was obliged, however, to remain at Albany for 
six months longer before she was allowed to proceed to New York. 
Sir John and Lady Johnson had been married in New York in 
1773. She died at Montreal in 1815. 


. 



19 


CHAPTER 3. 


, 


FORMATION OF THE KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK UNDER 
SIR JOHN JOHNSON.-IT IS PLACED ON THE ESTABLISHMENT.- 
A SECOND BATTALION AUTHORIZED.-LIST OF GLENG:'-RRY 
GENLE:\IEN TO WHO:\I CO:\I:\nSSIONS WERE GRANTED IN THAT 
AND OTHER LOYALIST CORPS. - ARREST OF 'VIVES AND 
FA:\IILIES OF THE HIGHLAND LOVALISTS.-RETRIBUTION.-THE 
V ALLEV OF THE MOHAWK RENDERED" A SCENE OF \V IDESPREAD, 
HEART SICKENING AND UNIVERSAL DESOLATION."-BATTLE OF 
ORISK \Nv.-DR.MoSES YOUNGLOVE'S ALLEGED" BRUTALITIES." 
__ HIGHLANDERS RESCUE THEIR FAl\IILIES.- CAPTURE OF 
EXETER AND FORT \VINTER:\IOOT BV BUTLER'S RANGERS.- 
A \IERICANS AR_\NDON FORT \VVO:\IING.-HIGHLANDERS MAKE 
ANOTHER INCURSIO
 INTO THE :O;COHARIE SETTLEMENT. 


The arrival of Sir John Johnson and his Highland followers 
in Canada was communicated by the Governor General, Sir Guy 
Carleton, to Lord George Germaine, then Secretary of State for 
American and Colonial Affairs, as follows :- 
"CHAl\IBLIE) 8 JULY, 1776. 
" 1\1 v LORD, 
" The day after His Majesty's Troops took possession of Mont- 
real, and the communication with the Upper Country thereby became 
open, Sir John Johnson and about two hundred followers arrived 
there from the Province of N ew York. He represents to me that 
there are con siderable numbers of people in the part of the 
country he comes from who remain steadily attached to His Majesty's 
Government, and who would take up arms in its defence had they 
sufficient encouragement; on which account, in the meantime, they 
suffer all the miseries that the persecuting spirit of the Rebels is able 
to intlict upon thcm. . 
" In consequence of this representation, and taking it for grant- 
ed that the King's pleasure is not only to furnish all his good and 
loyal subjects with the means of defending themselves against rapine 
and violencc, but further to grant thcm aJI possible assistance, I have 
therefore given Sir John Johnson a Commis:-;ion to raise on that 



20 
Frontier of this Province a Battalion of men (to be called the King's 
Royal Regiment of New York) of equal numbers with other of His 
Majesty's marching Regiments serving in America, and I have 
appointed him Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant thereof. 
" I am, with all due respect, 
" My Lord, 
"Your Lordship's Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant, 


., GUY CARLETON. 


" Lord George Germaine." 


The Deputy Adjutant-General in his letter to Sir John John- 
son authorizing the formation of the Regiment, instructed him that 
the officers of the new Corps were to be divided so as to assist those 
distressed by the Rebellion,( I) and in order to provide against an abuse 
then common in the Service, but which it was considered undesirable 
to transplant, it was intimated" that there were to be no pluralities 
of officers in the Corps." It was soon placed on an efficient footing, 
as on the 13th January, 1777, Sir Guy wrote to General Phillips, 
applauding the spirit of the Royal Regiment of New York, and sug- 
gesting arrangements for the care of refugees with the Corps, many 
of the Loyalists having placed themselves under its protection, of 
whom in December, 1776, a large contingent had arrived from New 
York under the Messieurs Jessup, doubtless the same body of men 
subsequently embodied under Major Jessup, and known as the 
Loyal Rangers, who, on being disbanded on the close of the war, 
settled in the vicinity of what is now Brockville. On the 24th March, 
1777, Lord George Germaine wrote from Whitehal1, Lond,m, to Sir 
Guy Carleton that he had received notice of Sir John Johnson's 
arrival in Montreal; that the distress and loyalty of the people in that 
part of the country from which he Call1è justified the raising of a Dat- 
talion there, and that the King approved of it and of Sir John John- 
son having been placed in command. (2) In July, 17Ro, 
uthority 
was given to Sir John to raise a second Battalion, which was done 
with expedition, as on the 28th November General Haldimand wrote 
Lord George Gennaine, highly commending the conduct of Sir John 
Johnson, and stating that the second Battalion was in a forward 
state. In the following year, Lorù George Germaine announced 
that the Regiment had been placed on the Estaùlishment 


(I) Haldimand Coltection, B 39, P 17 0 . 
(2) Ibid, B 38, p. 5. 



2l 
of the British Army, and referred 111 complimentary tenus 
to the conduct of Sir John Johnson. It had previously 
been settled, and Sir Henry Clinton infonued, that officers of 
Provincial Corps were to take rank with British officers of the 
Regular Army, to receive gratuities for wounds, and to hold perman- 
ent rank in America. 
This Regiment is commonly referred to by the American writers 
Sparks: Stone, Sebine and others, as well as by Dr. Canniff, as 
"The Royal Greens," possibly because their facings may have been 
of that colour. Sir John Johnson, its Colonel Commandant, was 
appointed by General Order of 1st October, f782, Brigadier-General 
of the King's Provincial Troops, with Captain Scott, 53rd Regiment, 
as his "ðiajor of Brigade (I), a just tribute to him3elf, and a mark I)f 
distinction to the Regiment which he commanded. Many interest- 
ing particulars relating to this Regiment will be found in Judge 
Pringle's most valuable book, " Lunenburg, or the Old Eastern Dis- 
trict," pp. 172-83. Many of his relatives, as well as those of his wife, 
served in the Royal Regiment of New York with honour to them- 
selves and advantage to the Loyal cause. 
In this Regiment, Butler's Rangers-which also was' largely 
composed of Loyalists from the l\Iohawk Valley, and was command- 
ed by Colonel John Butler, who greatly distinguished himself during 
the \Var-and the Eighty-Fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regi- 
ment also then raised, the Highland gentlemen who had emigrated 
from Glengarry in 1773, and settled, as we have seen, in Tryon 
County, received commissions and the men enlisted. On the ter- 
minCltion of the \Var and the reduction of these Regiments, returns 
were made of the officers of these Corps and other Regiments, copies 
of which are now amongst the Archives at Ottawa, and from them I 
take the following list of the Scottish officers who had come fr<?m 
Glengarry in Scotland. I think it will be admitted that it is a toler- 
ably fair one. It shows more gentlemen of one name than of all the 
names of those well known and distinguished families in the early 
settlement and history of the Province, who afterwards comprised 
the Family Compact, combined. Should anyone feel dispo.sed to 
<1is}Jute this statement of a historic fact the lists are there to speak for 
tJ1emselves. Many of them eventually settled in Glengarry in Canada 


Cx) Haldimand Collection, B 43, p. 64. 


\ 



22 
and gave the name to the County; several of them afterwards 
representing it when Parliamentary institutions were accorded to the 
Province. The number of the private soldiers of the same name 
was in proportion to the officers, as a glance at Lord Dorchester's 
list will show. The following is a list of Officers, with rank, name, 
place of nativity, length of service, and remarks, as follows :_ 


FIRST BATTALION KING'S ROYAL REGI.MENT OF NEW YORK. 


Place of 
Rank. Name. Nativity Service Remarks. 
-- - 
Captain Alexander.Macdon- Scotland "8 years 200 acres of land in fee 
ell (Aberchalder) "'II simple, under Sir John 
Johnson, at yearly an 
nual rent of 1:6 per 100 
Captain Angus Macdonell Scotland 25 yrs Ensign in 60th Regt., 
8th July, J 760 
 Lieut. in 
do. Dec. 27, 1770; sold 
out on account of bad 
health, :\Iay 22, 1775. 
Had no lands. 
Captain John Macdonell Scotland 8 years Had landed property, 
(Scotas) .. 500 acres, purchased 
and began to improve 
in April, 1774. 
Captain .Archibald Macdon- Scotland. 8 years Mcrchant; had no land 
ell (Leek) Scotland 
Captain Allan Macdonell 8 years Held 200 acres in fee 
Lieut. (Leek) simple under Sir John 
at .t6 per 100 acres. 
Lieut. Hugh Macdonell Scotland 7 years Son of Captain Mac 
( Aberchalder) donel!. 
Ensign Miles Macdonell Scotland 3 years Son of Cavtain Joh 
(Scotas) I Macdonell. 


s 


n 


SECOND BATTALION KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 


Captain James Macdonell Scotland 8 years Held - acres in fe 
simple under Sir Johl 
at 1:6 per 100 acres. 
Lieut. Ranald Macdonell Scotland 3 years Farmer. 
(Leek) 


e 
1 



. 


;23 


. Rank. _I Name. 
Captain,J ohn Macdonell 
(Aberchalder) 


CORPS OF BUTLER'S RANGERS, Co:\Il\IANDßD HV t.mtrt:f:.N'ÀN'1'. 
COLONEL JOHN BUTLER. 
Place of I 
Nativity ,Service Remarks. 
Inverness
 9 years Came to Ameri
 

shire, his fathel" and other 
Scotland Highland Emigrants in 
1773, settled in Tryon 
County, near Johns. 
town, in the Province 
of New York; entered 
His Majesty's Service 
as a Subaltern Officer 
June 14, 1775, in the 
84th or Royal High" 
land Emigrants. 
FIrst I AlexanderMacdon- Invernessl7 yearslCame to America with 
Lieut. ell (Collachie) -shire, his father and other 
Scotland Highland Emigrants in 
1773, settled in Tryon 
County, near Johns- 
'town, in the Province 
of N ew York; entered 
His .;\Iajesty's Service 
as a Volunteer in the 
84th or Royal High- 
Iland Emigrants. 
Second ChichesterMaCdOn \ Inverness 6 yearslCame to America with 
Lieut. ell (ALerchalder) -
hir
, his father and other 
. Scotland Highland Emigrants in 
1773, and settled near 
Johnstown ; entered 
His Majesty's Service 
as a V oluntecr in the 
King's Royal Regiment 
of New York in the 
year 1778. 


EIGHTY-FOURTH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANT REGIMENT. 
Captain Allan Macdonell Prisoner at Lancaster 
(Collachie) in Pennsylvania. 
Lieut. Ranald Macdonell 40 yrs 
Lieut. Arch'd . Macdonell 8 y ears 


SEVENTY FIRST REGIMENT. 
Lieut. I Angus Macdonell I 




4 
In gívíng the prominence that I do to the aoove gentfemen of 
this name, I am f:u from wishing it to be understood that they and 
those of their name were the only Highland United Empire Loyalists 

"'
o settled in the :\Iohawk Valley and other parts of the United 
States, and, having fought throogh the war, on its tenninatíon took 
np their abode in what is noW Glengarry. Far from it. The names 
of those above mentioned are conspiciou!' and easily distinguished 
and identified by reason of the fact of their having held commissions, 
and on that account of more prominence than others of equal merit, 
and who made equal sacrifices, but who served either as non- 
commissioned officers or in the ranks, and where names are not, 
there1ore, now distingui9hable one from another. 


The figures- given hereafter will show that while other Scottish 
Clans were repregented among these most deserving men, there were 

o marry more from Glengarry in Scotl<md than from any other part 
of it, that it cannot be matter of surprise that among them were 
many men "hose po
ítíon and other qualifications entitled them to 
commissÍons in the Regia1ents raí"ed. The fact is, that while from 
other parts then
 had heen indíviduals who had emigrated before the 
hreaking out of the \Var, from Glengarry there had come a very 
considerable portion of the Clan, all at one tIme, settling in the same 
place, of the same name and religious and political faith, and at their 
head n1any persons of station and education, and all, without a 
soliLary exception, taking up arms in defence of a principle binding 
upon their consciences, and in defence of which they w
re bound, if 
necessary, to die. So large, indeed, was the proportion of the Glen- 
garry people in comparison with others that to that fact is due 
undoubtedly, the name given to the County. And that alone, if no 
other reason existed, would constitute a sufficient one for the mention 
of these names. I have, however, gone most carefully over Lord 
Dorchester's list and other sources of information, and the only other 
names of Commissioned Officers that I can find who settled in 
Glengarry are those of 
Iajor Gray, Lieutenants Sutherland and 

Ic:\Iartin, of the King's Royal Regiment of New York; the Rev. 
Mr. Bethune, Chaplain of the Eighty- Fourth Regimen t. and Captain 
\Vilkinson, of the Indian Branch of the Service. There were, of 
cpurse. many commissioned officers of other Scottish names, but 
they did not settle in GlengMry. Of the Fr tsers, for instance, there 




s 
Were four, but all of them settled in the neìghborhood or what Ìs flOV. 
Brockville. 
It is also to be undërstood that of those mentioned above, sev- 
eral settled in Stormcmt and D.mdas, and one in the County of 
Prince Edward, though the majority of them were identified with 
Glengarry, and, as I think the sequel will shew, served it and its 
people with sufficient fidelity and distinction to warrant the tribute 
paid to their memory by the mention of their name. 
Such of the Scotch Loyalists as yet remained in Tryon County 
shortly afterwards left, 
Ir. Stone stating that early in the month of 
May, 1777 : 
"The residue of the Roman Catholic Scotch settlers in the 
neighborhood of Johnstown ran off to Canada, together with some of 
the Loyalist Germans, all headed by two men named McDonell, who 
had been permitted by General Schuyler to visit their families. The 
fact that the wives and föluilies of the absconding Loyalists were 
holding communication with them and administering to their subsist- 
ence on the outskirts of the settlements, had suggested their arrest 
and removal to a place of safety, to the nU
!1ber of four hundred-a 
measure that was approved by General Herkimer and his officers." 
Such treatment of women and children, ho\vever, \vas scarcely 
çalculated to placate the Loyalists. 
I could not attempt, wIthin the limits I have laid do\\rn for my 
narrative. to enter at any length into the various events of the Revo- 
lutionary \V ar. or to narrate at all circumstantially, even, those 
relatmg to the engage:l1ents in \vhich Sir John Johnson and his Regi- 
ment-which, on its di-;banJment, principally contributed from 
among its officers and men the first settlers of our County, and has 
therefore for us the most interest-were engaged. This Regiment, 
with Butler's Rangers, and the Indians under Brant, harassed time 
and time again the northern part of 
 cw Yark, and that part of the 
State west of AIlJany, especially the Mohawk Valley, as well as 
Pennsylvania. They were evidently bound to have it out with their 
fonner neighbours, whom they regarded not only as traitors to the 
Sovereign, but doubtless also as the immediate cause of all the mis- 
fortunes which had fallen to their lot-the loss of home, severance 
for years from kindred, imprisonment of friends, and death of others, 
personal indignities, with hardships, persecution and suffering un- 
speakable. Mr. Stone declares that:- 
" No other section or district of country in the United States, 
of the like extent, suffered in any comparable degree as much from 



26 
the'Var of the Revolution as did the Mohawk; for month after 
month, for seven long years, were Its towns and villages, its humbler 
settlements and isolated habitations, fallen upon by an untiring and 
relentless enemy, until, at the close of the contest, the appearance 
of the whole district was that of widespread, heart-sickening and 
universal desolation. In no other section of the Confederacy were 
50 many campaigns perfmned, so many battles fought, so many 
dwellings burnt, or so many murders committed. Those who were 
left at the return of peace were literally a people 'scattered and 
peeled.' It was the computation, two years before the close of the 
'Yar, that one-third of the population had gone over to the enemy; (I) 
that one-third had been driven from the country or slain in bàttle 
and by private assassinations, and yet among the inhabitants of the 
other remaining third, in June, 1783, it was stated at a public meet- 
ing held at Fort Plain, that there werc three hundred widows and 
two thousand orphan children." 


It was the Loyalist soldiers of these Regiments principally who 
under Colonel St. Leger, fought and won the Battle of Oriskany, 
on the 6th July, 1777, which was one of the severest, and, for the 
numbers engaged, one of the most bloody Battles of the Revolution. 
In his despltch to General Bourgoyne, Colonel St. Leger stated that 
four hundred of the Americans were killed, amongst whom were almost 
all the principal leaders of Rebellion in that part of the country, in- 
cluding their Commander, General Herkimrr, who was a brave and 
distinguished Officer, with Colonels Cox, Seeber, Paris and others, 
while upwards of t\vo hundred of them were taken prisoners. The 
British loss was also sevcre, falling principally on Sir John Johnson's 
anJ Butler's corps. St. Leger did not st,Lte the number of his own 
killed and wounùed. Mr. Stone claims that their loss was as seriuus 
as that of the Atl1ericans, but the statement does not appear to be 
borne out by the facts. One of the many Macdonells, a Captain in 
the Royal Regiment of New York, was killed, and two of his brother 
officers desperately wounded, and Captains \Vilson and Hare, of 
Butler's Rangers, killed. The Americans allege that the "Indians 
and Tories" behaved on this occasion with great cruelty to their 
prisonas, but to show the character of the evidence upon which they 
h,tse so gr.1v
 a cinrge, it i,:; only necessary to give a specimen and 
to bear in m;nd that the makcr of the affidavit is vouched for by 


h) That is, th'a they had adhered to the Sovereign. Mr. Rtone speaks. of course, as an 
Americ,n Th:n he was an able hi
torian is unqnestionab:e. but his prejudices are apparent 
throughout his work, though his facts are doubtless, in the main, correct. 



27 
their historians as being "a respectable man, incapable of any 
designed misstatements of facts !" (I) :- 
" Moses Younglove, Surgeon of General Herkimer's Brigade of 
Militia, deposeth and saith: That being in the Battle of said 
:Militia above Oriskany on the 6th of August last, towards the close 
of said Battle he surrendered himself a prisoner to a savage, who 
immediately gave him up to a Sergeant of Sir John Johnson's Regi- 
ment ; soon after which, a Lieutenant in the Indian Department 
came up, in company with several other Tories, when said Mr. 
Grinnis by name, drew his tomahawk at this deponent, and with a 
deal of persuasion was hardly prevailed on to spare his life. He 
then plundered him of his watch, buckles, spurs, &c. ; anò other 
Tories, following his example, stripped him almost naked with a 
great many threats, while they were stripping and massacring pri- 
soners on every side. That this deponent, on being brought before 
1\1r. Butler, Sr., who demanded of him what he was fighting for, to 
which this deponent answered, , he fought for the liberty that God 
and nature gave him, and to defend himself and dearest connections 
from the massacre of savages.' To which Butler .replied, , You are a 
damned impudent rebel,' and so saying, immediately turned to the 
savages, encouraging them to kill him, and if they did not, the 
deponent and the other prisoners should be hanged on a gallows 
then preparing. That several prisoners were then taken forward 
toward the enemy's headquarters, with frequent scenes of horror and 
massacre, in which Tories were active as well as savages; and, in 
particular, one Davis, formerly known in Tryon County on the 
Mohawk River ; that Lieutenant Singleton, of Sir John Johnson's 
Regiment, being wounded, entreated the savages to kill the prisoners, 
which they accordingly did, as nigh as this deponent can judge, 
six or seven." 
" That Isaac Paris, Esq., was also taken the same road, without 
receiving from them any remarkable insults, except stripping, until 
some Tories came up, who kicked and abused him ; after which the 
savages, thinking him a notable offender, murdered him barbarously; 
that those prisoners whQ were delivered up to the Provost Guards, 
were kept without victuals for many days, and had neither clothes, 
blankets, shelter nor fire ; while the guards were ordered not to use 
any violence in protecting the prisoners from the savages, who came 
" every day in large companies with knives, feeling the prisoners, to 
know who were fattest; that they dragged one of the prisoners m1t 

f the g
ard with the most lamentable cries, tortured him for a long 
tune. and this deponent was informed, by both Tories and Indians, 
that they ate him, as appears they did another on an island in Lake 
Ontario, by bones- found thertl Dcatly picked, jU!\t after they had 
èro:ssed the lake with the prisoners; that the prisoners who 


(I) Stone, Volume I, Appendi. XXXIII. 



28 
were not delivered up were murdered in cOi'1siderable numher,> from 
day to da,y round th
 c L11
), 
0me of tI"...m ')0 l.i
h tüat thLir hrieks 
were: heanl ; tlut Captain "'\Iartin, of tHe b1.Ue lUX- nen, W d4 livt:red 
to the InJianc: at Osw",
o, 0'1 tht: pn..
en,e of luvi 1ó kept b ck slJme 
u<;eful ÍIltel l ' ... ; that this dep )'1U1t d..lri n : his imprisJ1ìlu
llt, md 
his feìlows, Wd ... kLpl aIr 1St std
.V 'd fur p IViSlO.' 'i, and whal th 'y drew 
\, ,-r
 of td... wo, t kil1d, <;uch ..lS :'
 Ú pork. biscuit fuU of ma!r 6 0ts 
and 1ll0u 1 1y 
nd no s. 'l 11 ,ed Jr otL me.'.Jd of kC"'l ;n o C.
.U1 j 
and were ill' IlteJ, stru..:k. LXC., \Vitl
out m ICY IJV t
Je 
uarLi , with >lit 
.. '1" P V'" } 1 3i\..:n , th.. t tL d. r. 1ent w inf("mc d bY:>èvt:ral 
S nl úrdè''' vn GL _nJ St. L",g 'r, that twc nly dollars were 
of[eI _d in g order for evay Am
rica'1 ,c1.I:)." 
'i'L
re can be hltl (uubt bUt- thaI- on botl idp" t
erc was much 
,ion...: t] 'It cannot be reL oiled with tl1e method" of p10dern warfale, 
l)'It _ L 1 apDd,rent f t 
eh îods <r tho
c whIch this" rL.'putable" Dr. 
y 
lnY . u
po d ndcr oatn be If tl, ir ,\/11 ref Ü.,tion on t; 
ir 
face. Evcn 
s late as the 'Var of 1812, il W.'S a favourite alleg,ìtion 
of theirs that our Inrlian - were encuuraged to scalp, while it was 
pruved b '\'0 Ld a sh.tdow of a doubt( I) tL1 the first scalp of the \Var 
w<;.s ta
en hy an Americ.:-n-an Officer at 1I t-who boasted of it in 
a It tt
r written to his wife- which W'lS fLJund in his pocket when he 
was '.ilki} a day or two later. (2) 
Even at this very time, General ArnolJ. (3r then in command of 
their forces in this district, concluded a proclamation with the omin- 
ous assertion that if the Loyalists, "blind tr:> their own interest and 
safdY, ob<;tinately persist in their wic"ked cour
 . determined to draw 


. 


(J \ Jameo;, Volume I., 59-62. 
(2) This shorking operation was performed by a ci.cu1.,r incision bein>!; madè up
n the crown 
of the head, f about three inchL' or more in diameter. according to the '
n;;th of the h'lir. The 
foot of the operator was then placed on the neck or b:>d ' of the victim. and tt : sc .lp or -uft of 
skin and h;Jir torn fr-m the skull b. strength of arm. Tn case the h ,ir was so short as not to 
admit of being grasped by the hand, the artio;t first with his knife turning up one edge of the 
circle. ppli. d his teeth to the part, and by that me 'Ins quite as effectually di' 
no_..,ed the s alp. 
In order to pr' -cn e the interestin
 relic, It was then stret
herl and dried upon a 
 .Jall o!>i
r ho
p. 
ft would be well for the civilization of Amerin had thi
 teniblç indignity 0 ,Iy h lVe been per e. 
trated by the sa\ -.I!, s on th ir victims, but history rec rd- the hct that the brave Tecum<;eth, 
di-tin 'uio;hed above III Ind'-.lns for his humanity. W IS him
 If, ',Iped after the Battle of the 

ham('c, :\toravian Town). in October, J813, by some of the Kentucky so'jõers. The admi,
ion, 
quoteu by l\Ir )<imc ; in his" :\Iilitary Occurrence; of th \Var," is IT Ide in "Burd"-J...'s Politic-,I 
IInd Hi"bJncal Rp
lster:' p ,<;e 84: .. Some of the Kentuckians d');1 :l them.; 'ves b- c 1mmit- 
tin.:; indi niti<. on his (recumseth's dead bo :f. "He was tip d and other
i d
sf1"ure<;l," 
The t-uth b' , as stated by Mr. James, that hJS b'1dy was fla ed and the skm Cllt mto stnps 
which w. Ie cart:fully trea!>ured "s "trophies .. by these inhuman wretche... 
(3" The first mention of this name, the m 1st infamous in the a m..1
 of \m::rica, that I am 
able to find is in . deo;patch fr ,m "ir G I' Carleton to Lord Dartm, th of 7th June, 1775: "H aze.l 
..ir s word that Beneùict Amold. a native of t onnecticut and a h jockry, has surprio;ed the 
detaLhme tat :O:t. Joh
s, seized the King's sl.Jop. batt<!
ux 111..1 militar} t In and carried them 
" "ith the p.boners." The war being o\-er and h
 tr'a_hery ac_ompïsh
:l, fir!it to the K,n
 
i.-ne 'Jj 't he '\.Va" and then to the Continental Government. whic. he sen _d but to bet ,.y, 
frJ' in is ex.ractcd from L..rd Dorchester's List of NamLS of United Empire Lo .ali ts: 
.. 4-rnold, Lien II Benedict," .. Arnold, [ielltena"1t Hen y," wi h thio; emphatic word fùllc ,11- 
in
 th ir TO r ctive name. "Expt 'bed." T.L' i' c f Upper. an:da 
\ ''; .I)t to be ùesecrated 
by such as Benedict \mold or his son. 



. 


29 
on themselves the just vengeance of Heaven and this exasperated 
country, they must expect no mercy from either," and they certain I} 
received but little from the latter. Our neighbours must explain 
away Sullivan's devastation of the Seneca and Six Nation countlY 
undertaken by the direction of their Commander-in-chief, "to cut off 
their settlements, destroy their corps, and inflict upon them every 
ot
ler mischief which time and circumstances would permit"( I) b<:;fore 
they can accuse the Britic.:h of being the sole pdrticipants in the 
cruelties which made this \Var an ever memorable one. 
Again in June, 1778, a number of the Loyalists who had gone 
to Can:tda with Sir John Johnson performed what Mr. Stone states 
was a mo')t bold and remarkable exploit, which naturally ;,ugge-;ts 
the enquiry where were the \Vhigs of Tryon County at the time, and 
in what were they engaged ? 
" Th
 incident to which reference is had was the retarn of those 
self-same Loyalists for their families, whom they wcre permitted to 
collect together, and with whom they were suffered to depart into the 
country and active service of the enemy. N or was this all; not 
only was no opposition made to their proceedil1gs, but on their way 
they actually committed acts of flagrant hostiiity, de5troyed property 
and took several prisoners. Ha ving completed their arrangements, 
they moved northward from Fort Hunter, through Fonda's bush, 
mJ.king four prisoners on their way thither, and at Fonda's bush five 
others. From this place they proceeded across the great marsh to 
Sir \Villiam Johnson's fish-house, on the Sacondaga, capturing a 
man named :Vlartin on the way, and at the fish-house taking a brave 
fellow named Solomon \V oodworth and four others. They burnt the 
house and outbuildings of Godfrey Shew at this place, and departed 
with their prisoners. Embarking on the Sacondaga in light canoes, 
previously moored at that place for the purpose, they descended 
twenty-five miles to the Hudson, and thence, by the way of Lakes 
George and Champlain, proceeded to St. Johns in safety. The day 
aft
r his capture, \V oodworth succeeded in making his escape. At 
St. J ohm Shew and four others were given to the Indians, by whom 
they wcre taken to their village in Canada. They were neither con- 
siJered nor treated exactly as prisoners of war; and Shew, with 
three of his companions, soon afterwards escaped and returned home. 
From St. Johns the Loyal party proceeded down the St. Lawrence 
to Quebec, where the prisoners were' kept in clos
 confinement about 
four months. Some of the number died, and the remainder were sent 
to Halifax, and thence exchanged by the way of Boston. This move- 
ment of the Tories back in a body to their deserted homes, and its 
succ
ss, form one of the most extraordinary incidents, though in 


(I) Letter of. ;eneral \V.lshington to Governor Clinton and General Gates, 4th March, 1779. 



3 0 
itself comparatively unimportant, which transpired during the wafS 
of the Mohawk countrY."(I) 
Shortly after this, another expedition was despatched from 
Niagara to the \Vhig settlements in Pennsylvania under Colonel J olm 
Butler, who also had with him, in addition to his Rangers, about 
five hundred Mohawks under Brant, They entered the Valley of 
\Vyoming through a gap of mountains near its northern extremity, 
took possession of two forts, Exeter and Lackawanna, also known as 
Fort \Vintermoot, the former of which was burnt; Colonel Butler 
establishing his headquarters in the la tter. He was shortly afterwards 
attacked by the Provincials under a namesake of his own-Colonel 
Zebulon Butler, and on the 3rd of July a very desperate battle was 
fought, which resulted in the total defeat of the \Vhigs, less than 
sixty out of four hundred of them escaping, amongst the dea.d being 
one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Major, ten Captains, six Lieutenants 
and two Ensigns. Those who survived, with the women and 
children of the neighbourhood, took refuge in Fort \Vyoming. The 
following day its surrender was demanded, when Zebulon Butler 
made good his escape with such regular troops as he had with him, 
his subordinate, Colonel Dennison, entering into articles of capitula- 
tIon with the British Commander, it being agreed that the Americans, 
upon being disarmed, the garrison demolished, public stores given 
up, and the property of "the people called Tories" made good, 
should be permitted to return peacefully to their farms, their lives 
and property being preserved. Colonel Butler, however, was unable 
to restrain his native allies, and scenes were enacted in the Valley 
almost equalling the outrages perpetrated shortly afterwards on the 
Indians in the Seneca country by the American forces under General 
Sullivan. Much fiction has, however, been written with regard to 
this affair by American writers, and is admitted to be false by M r. 
Stone, such for instance as the account of the marching out of a large 
body of Americans from one of the Forts to hold a parley by agree- 
ment, and then being drawn into an ambuscade and all put to death; 
also that seventy Continental soldiers were butchcred after having 
surrendered, while equally untrue is pronounced to be the story of 
the burning of houses, barrac.ks and forts filled with women and 
children. The Poet Campbell, in his mawkish sentimentality en- 
titled "Gertrude of .Wyoming," has had much to say about "the 


(I) Life of Brant, pag-e 309. 



3 1 
monster Brandt" ìn connection with these events, but then Edman. 
stoun Aytoun, in the" Execution of Montrose," terms a Chief of 
the Campbell Clan, in whom they take great pride, "the monster- 
fiend Argyle." I suppose if Poets were allowed no license we would 
ha ve no poetry ! 
At the close of the \Var, the Mohawk tribe almost to a man, 
under Brant's leadership, quit their beautiful Valley and retired to 
Canada with the other Loyalists. Brant was a Christian and a 
member of the Church of England. In 1786 he built a Church on 
the Grand River, wherein was placed the first "Çhurch-going bell " 
that ever tolled in Upper Canada. Shortly before his death he built 
a commodious dwelling house for himself near Burlington Bay, where 
he died on the 24th November, 1807, aged sixty-four years and eight 
months, and after a p.1.inful illness borne with true Indian Lortituje 
and Christian patience and resignation. Mr. Stone states that while 
his manner was reserved, as was customary with his people, never. 
theless he was affable though dignified, on all occasions and in all 
society comporting himself as would be expected in a well-bred 
gentleman. His great quality was his strong, practical, good sense 
and deep and ready insight into character. He had a keen sense of 
humour and was an excellent conversationalist, while in letters he 
was in advance of some of the Generals against whom he fought 
and of even still greater military men who have flourished before his 
da,y and since. Though not without failings, they were redeemed 
by high qualities and commanding virtues; in business relations he 
was a model of promptitude and integrity j the purity of his private 
morals has never been questioned, and his house was the abode of 
kindness and hospitality. As a warrior he was cautious, sagacious 
and brave, watching with sleepless vigilance for opportunities of 
action, and allowing neither dangers nor difficulties to divert him 
from his well-selected purpose. His constitution was hardy, his 
capacity of endurance great, his energy untiring, and his firmness 
indomitable. On the occasion of his visits to Great Britain, he was 
treated by the Royal Family, the leaders of the Nobility and the 
Political chiefs with the most distinguished consideration. He had 
during the Revolutionary \Var made the personal friendship of several 
officers of high social station, among others being Earl Moira, after- 
wards Marquis of Hastings, who had served in America as Lord 
Rawdon, who presented him with his miniature, set in gold j General 



3 2 
Sir Charles Stuart, a younger son of the Ear1 of Bute, and the Duke 
of Northumberland, who had as Lord Percy been on terms of inti- 
mate friendship with him, and with whom he maintained a corres- 
pondence until his death. Many of these letters are given by NIr. 
Stone in his " Life of Brant," the Duke, himself by the way a warrior 
of the Mohawk Tribe by adoption, always addressing Brant as " My 
dear Joseph," and s-igning himself, " Your affectionate frien-d and 
brother, Northumberland Thorighwigeri," in which Indian title he 
rejoiced, and which had been conferred upon him by Brant himself. 
The name signified" The Evergreen Brake," a pretty conceit, indi- 
cating that a titled house never dies, like the lcavcs of this peculiar 
species of brake, in which, when the old leaf falls, the young is in 
fresh and full eÀistence. Brant, on his part, fully aware of the cus- 
toms of the great, always addressed His Grace as " My Lord Duke," 
signing himself, " Your Grace's faithful friend and urother warrior, 
Jo..... Brant, Thayendanegea." The Earl of \Vanvick was another of 
his fIiends, and for whom he sat for his lJicture, as he had done for 
the Duke of Northumberland. 


'Vhen presented at Court, he declined to kiss the King's hand, 
but with equal gallantry and address offcred to kiss that of the 
Queen, which the kind-hearted Monarch took in excellent part. He 
stood equally well in the graces of the Prince Regent, who took 
great delight in his company, and by whom he was frequently enter- 
tained. It was quite the mode to affect him, and the Carlton House 
set, Fox, Sheridan and others, taking in this as in much else their 
cue from" the first gentleman of Europe," lavished attention and 
civilities on him. 


A laughable episode occurred at a fancy dress ball which was 
given during his stay in London. Brant attended the masquerade, 
which was got up on a scale of great splendour, and at the sugges- 
tion of Lord Moira dressed himself in the costume of his nation, 
wearing no mask, but painting one-half of his face. His plumes 
nodded proudly in his cap and his tomahawk glistened at his side, 
no character in all the brilliant pageant being more picturesque or 
attracting greater attention. Among others who were present was 
a Turkish diplomat of high rank, who scrutinized the Chief very 
closely. and mistaking his rougc ct noir complexion for a painted 
visor, took him by the nose, intending, probably, to remove the 



33 
mac;;k and have a look to see who was concealed thereunder! 
Brant, to carry out the joke, feigned intense indignation, raised his 
appalling war-whoop, which made the bl( od of the merry-makers 
curdle in their veins, flashed his tomahawk around the head of the 
terrified Turk, who doubtless was a remarkably" sick man" at that 
particular time, and left the screaming women under the impre..;sion 
that th
y would be the unwilling witnes
es of the scalping of the 
poor Turk. The joke had been carried far enough, however, and 
th__ Mussulman was left in P055t.,5;:;ion of his hair, the matter was 
explained, and the incident accounted quite the feature of the even- 
if'g. Mr. Stone states that some of the London papers represented 
that Brant raised his weapon in serious e lrnèSt, having taken the 
fre",dom of Ihe Turk for an intentional indi;-nity, but this of cour. e 
i j ridi
ulou
. Readers of Mr. J 01111 Galt's work, " Thè Stcambo..I," 
will rememb
r another instance in which Printi n .., HOU')L Sqll'lre 
was imposed upon in connection with another Chief, not unknown 
to the Clansmen of Glengarry, when at the Coronation of George 
IV. a lady's hysterics at seeing a Highlander in full dress almost 
created a panic, and the" Times," .undeï the heading of "A l\1ys- 
teriou
 Circumstance," absolutely ga\e the impression that it was a 
deep-laid Jacobite scheme for the destruction of the Royal Family. 
But to resume. 
Later in the summer, one of the l\facdonells who had formerly 
lived in Tryon County, and according to Mr. Stone was a Loyalist 
Officer" distinguished for his activity," made a sudden irruption into 
the Schoharie settlements at the head of about three hundred Indians 
and" Torie.,," burning houses and killing and mah.ing prisoners of 
such of the male inhabitants as came in their way, the American 
force in the fortress at Schoharie being afraid to come out. 
Colonel Gansevoort, however, with a squadron of Cavalry, 
arri ved to the assistance of his countrymen, and Macdonell and his 
men, having accomplished the object of their mission, retumed to 
headquarters.. 



34 


CHAPTER 4. 


SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SENACAS AND CAYUGAS.- 
INTENDED CAPTURE OF NIAGARA FRUSTRATED.-SIR JOHN 
JOHNSON AND HIS REGIMENT RETURN TO TRYON COUNTY.- 
BRANT DESTROYS CANAJOHARIE. - STILL ANOTHER INVASION 
INTO THE ScHOHARIE COUNTRY-- INVESTMENT OF FORT MIDDLE- 
BERG-A \IERICANS FIRE ON A FLAG OF TRUCE.- IM;\-IENSE 
DESTRUCTION OF GRAIN AND OTHER PROPERTY.- CAUGHNA- 
WAGA AND STONE ARAB'lA LAID IN ASHES. - DEFEAT OF 
A
IERICA
S AT FORT KEYSER.-HALDIMAND'S APPROBATION OF 
SIR JOHN JOHNSON'S ZEAL. - NEGOTIATIONS FOR RETURN OF 
PRISONERS.-SUFFERINGS OF LOYALIST FAMILIES.-FIGHT AT 
ScHELL'S SETTLEMENT, NEAR FORT DAYTON. - A BRAVE 
DISCIPLE OF MARTIN LUTHER. - AMERICANS VICTORIOUS IN 
nvo ENGAGEMENTS NEAR JOHNSTOWN.-ÐEATH OF \V ALTER 
BUTLER. - AWFUL MASSACRE BY AMERICAN MISCREANTS OF 
THE MORAVIAN TRIBE OP NON-COMBATANT INDIANS.-CON- 
CLUSION OF THE 'V AR. 


In the Spring of 1779, it was detem1ined by the Americans that 
active measures should be taken against the Indié1ns, especially the 
Senacas and Cayugas, that those tribes should in fact be annihilated, 
aDd with this object in view a division of their army from Pennsyl- 
vania under Geneïal Sullivan, who was in command of the expedi- 
tion, and another from the north under General Clinton, effected a 
junction at Newton, the site of the present town of Elmira. Their 
joiru forces amounted to five thousand men. They were there met 
by a gallant band of five hundred Indians under Brant, with two 
hundred and fifty British under Colonel John Butler, associated with 
whom were Sir John and Guy Johnson, Major \Valter N. Butler and 
Captain John Macdonell (Aberchalder). A desperate resistance 
was made against such tremendous odds, but without present suc- 
CW3S, yet the ultimate and indeed the principal objel:t of the cam- 
paIgn, which was the capture of Niagara, the headquarters of the 
British in that region., and the seat of influence and power among the 



35 


Indians, was abandoned, and the Americans reaped but little advan- 
tage from the expedition except that they scourged a broad extent of 
country, and laid more towns in ashes than ever had been destroyed 
on the continent before. Such of the redmen as were not massacred 
were with their women and children driven from their country, their 
habitations were left in ruin, their fields laid waste, their orchards 
uprooted, their altars overthrown, and the tombs of their fathers 
desecrated-all of which is admitted by the American historians, and 
was in strict accordance with General \Vashington's orders, and for 
which General Sullivan received the thanks of Congress (November 
3 0th , 1779). And yet they complained of the atrocities of the In- 
dia ns ! 


Still again, in May, 1780, Sir John Johnson, at the he<Jd of five 
hundred men, composed of some Regular troops, a detachment of 
his own Regiment, and about two hundred Indians and "Tories," 
re-visited the scene of their once habitation, a visit highly unpopular 
to their former neighbours, and the immediate object of which was 
to recover Sir John's family plate, which had been buried in the cel- 
lar of Johnson Hall at the time of his flight in 1776, the place of 
deposit being confided only to a faithful slave. It was found and 
distributed among forty of his soldiers, who brought it back to 
Montreal. After the custom of the day, they destroyed all the 
buildings, killed the sheep, cattle and a number of obnoxious 'Vhigs, 
and appropriated all the horses to their own use. Their ranks were 
recruited by a considera ble number of Loyalists, while Sir John also 
obtained possession of some thirty of his negro slaves. A number of 
prisoners were also taken and sent to Chambly. \Ve are of course 
told that ., this irruption was one of the most indefensible aggressions 
upon an unarmed and slumbering people which stain the annals of 
British arms." It made much difference on which leg the boot was 
placed; and the Indians in sympathy and alliañce with the British 
were to abstain from all acts of violence, while not only the men of 
their race, but the women and children as well, were to be massacred 
in cold blood, their very extermination being the object in view-and 
the Loyalists were to strike no blow for the Cause they held so dear, 
and against those who had deprived them of every earthly posses- 
sion. The following is Sir John Johnson's report of this expedition: 



3 6 


"ST. JOHNS, 3rd June, I7 8ð . 


" SIR, 


" I have the honour to report to Your Excellency the arrival of 
the troops and Indians under my command at this place. \Ve 
arrived at the settlement, within five miles of Johnson Hall, on the 
21st of last month, in the evening, previous to which I had made 
known to the Indians the plan I wished to pursue, and I thought I 
had little reason to doubt their joining heartily in it, but upon 
assembling them to obtain their final answer, I was not a little 
mortified to find them totally averse to it, or even to a division of 
their body. I thcrefore found myself under the disagreea ble 
necessity of adopting their plan, which was for them to proceed 
to Tripe's Hill, within a mile aud a half of Fort Johnson, while the 
troops under my command were to march by Johnstown to Caghna- 
waga, where the whole were to join and proceed up the river to the 
nose, and from thence to Stone Arabia. \Ve accordingly proceeded, 
and met at the house of Dow Fonda, at Caghnawaga, destroying all 
before us as We marched along. From thence we proceeded to with- 
in a mile of the nose, where a halt was found absolutely necessary, 
the troops and Indians being much fatigued and in want of refresh- 
ment, having marched from six in the morning of the 21st till ten ÍI! 
thc morning the day following. Some of the Indians and Rangers 
continued burning and laying waste everything before them, till they 
got above the nose. ::\105t of the inhabitants fled to the opposite 
shore with their best effects, securing their boats, which prevented 
their crossing the river. After the men were sufficiently rested and 
refreshed, I plOposed moving on to Stone Arabia, to which the 
Indians ohjected, alleging that the troops. as well as themselves, 
were too much fatigued to proceed any further, and that the 
inhabitants were all fled into their forts with thLir effects, and that 
there was nothing left but empty houses, which were not worth the 
trouble of going to burn; indeed, many of them moved off with their 
plunder, with which they were all loaded, before I knew their inten- 
tion. I therefore found myself under the necessity of following them. 
'Vc burned several houses on our return to Johnstown, where we 
arri\-ed about one o'clock the same day. After- providing provisions, 
etc., we marched back by the same route we came to the Scotch 
settlement. The number of houses, barns, mills, etc., burnt, amounts 
to about one hundred and twenty. The Indians, contrary to my 
e
pectation, killed only eleven men, among them Colonel Fisher, 
Captain Fisher, and another brother, of what rank I know not. The 
prisoners taken amounted to twenty-seven. Fourteen of them I suf- 
feled to return, being either too old or too young to march, and I 
was induced by the earnest desire of the Loyal families left behind 
to set at liberty two of the principal prisoners we had taken, in order to 
protect them from the violence of the people, which they most solemnly 



37 
promised to do; and in order to make them pay the utmost a
ten- 
tion to their engagements, I assured them that the rest of the pnson- 
ers should be detained as hostages for the performance of this pro- 
mise. I also sent a Captain Veeder back in exchange for Lieuten- 
ant Singleton, of my Regiment, which I hope will meet with Your 
Excellency's approbation. Vast quantities of flour, bread, Indian 
corn, and other provisions were burnt in the houses and mills, and a 
great number of arms, cash, etc.; many cattle were killed, and about 
seventy horses brought of( One hundred and forty-three Loyalists, 
and a number of women and children, with about thirty blacks (male 
and female), came off with us. Seventeen of the latter belong to 
Colonel Claus, Johnson and myself. Some are claimed by white 
men and Indians, who are endeavouring to dispose of them; I should 
therefore be glad to have Your Excellency's directions concerning 
them. I enclose Your Excellency the only papers I could procure, 
with sundry letters, which will shew the early intelligence they had 
of our approach. I must beg leave to refer Your Excellency to Cap- 
tain Scott for further particulars, and beg you will excuse this imper- 
fect account of our proceedings. I shall transmit exact returns of 
the Loyalists and Indians from the Mohawk Village, who have come 
in, hy the next post. I beg leave to recommend my cousin, Ensign 
Johnson, to Your Excellency for the vacancy in the Forty-Seventh, 
if not pre-engaged, as he was of great service in preventing the 
Indians from committing m3.ny irregularities, which I was very appre- 
hensive of, and he has heen promised the first vacancy. I must also 
beg Your Excellency will be pleased to grant a flag for the relief of 
the families left in Tryon County who may choose to come into this 
Province, which is most earnestly wished for by their husbands and 
parents. 
., I have the honour to be, with great respect, 
" Your Excellency's 
" Most obedient and 
" Most humble servant, 
"JOHN JOHNSON. 


" His Excellency, } 
General Haldimand."( I) 


Later in that year (August, 1780), Brant with his Indians paid a 
visit on his own account to the settlements of the Mohawk, destroyed 
the forts at Canajoharie, and rendered the fairest district of the 
Valley in a single day a scene of wailing and desolation, sixteen of 
the inhabitants being killed, fifty-three dwelling houses. as many hams, 

gether with a grist míll, the church and growing crops destroyed, 
and between fifty and sixty prisoners take
, though it is admitted 


(I) Haldimand Papers, Series H, vol. 158, p. 128. 



38 
that H no outrages were committed on defenceless women and child. 
ren other than carrying them into captivity "-a circumstance which 
Mr. Stone is good enough to attribute to the absence of the wicked 
" Tories" in this expedition. 
In October of the same year another and more extensive expe- 
dition was planned and carried out against the unfortunate .Whigs of 
the same district, in retaliation for SuUiv3.n's merciless crus ade, under 
Sir John Johnson, Thayendanegea and a famous Seneca Chieftain
 a 
half-breed named O'Ball, styled by the Indians" Corn Planter "- 
the force consisting, besides Mohawks, of three Companies of the 
Royal Regiment of N ew York, one Company of German Yagers, a 
Detachment of two hundred of Butler's Rangers, and one Company 
of Regulars, under the command of Captain Richard Duncan, the 
son of an opulent gentleman residing previous to the .War in the 
neighborhood of Schenectady, and who was afterwards a well-known 
pioneer of the County of Dundas, which, if I am not mistaken, he 
represented in the early Parliaments of Upper Canada, and was also 
in later life one of the Judges of the Province-for the District of 
Lunenberg, as the Eastern portion of the Province was first known. 
Their total number is vari\msly estimated from eight hundred to over 
fifteen hundred. Sir John's troops were collected at Lachine, whence 
they ascended the St. Lawrence to Oswego. Thence they crossed 
the country to the Susquehanna, where they were joined by the 
Indians and some" Tories." Each soldier and Indian had eighty 
rounds of cartridges. 
The Americans on this occasion, when Sir John had invested 
the Fort of l\1iddleberg, showed their appreciation of the rules of 
honourable warfare by firing three different times on British officers 
bearing flags of truce with a summons to surrender, their reason 
being, as is alleged, "The savages, and their companions the Tories 
still more sa\'age than they, had shown no respect to age, sex or 
condition, and it was not without force that the question was 
repeated, are we bound to exercise a forbearance totally unrecipro- 
cated by the enemy?" "Besides," it was added, "let us show that 
we will neither take nor give quarter; and the enemy, discovering 
our desperation, will most likely withdraw." Such conduct as this 
was likely to meet with reprisals, and it did. The march was con- 
tinued in the direction of Fort Hunter, at the confluence of the 
Schoharie-kill with the Mohawk River, in the course of which were 



39 
destroyed the buildings and produce of every descrÌptÌon. Gene
l 
\Vashington, in his message to the President of Congress, stated that 
the destruction of grain Was so great as to threaten the most alarm- 
ing consequences, ìn respect to the forming of magazines for the 
public service at the north, and that but for that event the settlement 
of Schoharie alone would have delivered 80,000 bushels of grain. 
The houses and barns \"'ere burnt, the horses and cattle killed or 
taken, and not a building known to belong to a \vhig was saved) 
the \Vhigs, however, in retaliation, immediately after reducing the 
òouses of the Tories to the common lot. Sir John ordered his forces 
to spare the Church at the Upper Fort, but his mandate was dis- 
obeyed. It is alleged that over one hundred of the inhabitants \V'ere 
killed, but this is probably a gross exaggeration. \Vhatever was left 
of Caughnawaga at the time of the irruption of Sir John in the spring, 
and all that had been rebuilt, was destroýed by fire, and both sides 
of the Mohawk River laid in waste. A Major Fonda, a prominent 
Whig, was a principal sufferer, his houses and property in the Town 
of Palatine to the value of sixty thousand dollars being destroyed. 
At Fort Keyser a battle took place, which resulted in the entire dis- 
comforture of the Americans, their leader, Colonel Brown, and some 
forty-five of his men being killed, the remainder seeking safety in 
flight, and Stone Arabia was then rejuced to the condition of a de- 
sert. By this time, however, reinforcements had arrived for the 
Americans, under the command of General Van Renssalaer, wl!ose 
forces were in every respect superior to the British. In the engage. 
ment which followed, the British Indians did not act with their usual 
bravery, and though the Regulars and Rangers are admitted to have 
fought with great spirit, Sir John and his forces were obliged to retire. 
He succeeded, however, by a very skilful manæuvre, in capturing a 
strong detachment of the Americans under Captain Vrooman, and 
m3.de his way to Oinvego without further molestation. Sir Frederick 
Haldimand, writing to Lord George Germaine, stated: "I cannot 
finish without expressing to Your Lordship the perfect satisfaction 
which I have for the zeal, spirit and activity with which Sir John 
Johnson has conducted this arduous enterprise." 
About this time some very acrimonious correspondence was 
taking place between British and American officers, each accusing 
the other of cruelty to prisoners. Thus, General \Vatson Powell 
writes to the American Colonel Van Schaick, in returning some 



40 
Amerícan prísoners: "The attention which has been shown to 
frs. 
Campbell and those in her unfortunate circumstances, as well as the 
good treatment of the prisoners, which it is hoped they will have the 
candour to acknowledge, is referred to for comparison to those by 
whose orùers or permission His Majesty's subjects have experienced 
execution, the horrors of a dungeon loaded with irons, a.nd the miser- 
ies of want," and he enclosed a list of some families. of men belong- 
ing to the Eighty-Fourth Regiment whose return was demanded. 
The list is as follows : John McDonell's family, Donald l\!cGruer's, 
Duncan McDonell's, John McIntosh's, Duncan l\[CDoneWs, Donald 

1cDonald's, Kenneth McDonell's, and John McDonell's father and 
mother. Colonel Gansevoort replied, denying the accusation which 
General Powell made in a previous portion of his letter, of a breach 
of fitith on the part of the Americans in regard to the cartel of the 
Cedars, and denying also that, except in some few cases by way of re- 
taliation for the many cruelties alleged by him to have been perpetrated 
by the British. any prisoners or Loyalists had been treated with 
cruelty or indignity. Colonel Gansevoort, however, is upon their 
own admission, proven to have lied twice in the same letter, and his 
ma xim being, as is stated, " his country, right or wrong "-his denial 
of cruelty to prisoners is worthless. It is apparent, and perhaps 
after all but natural, that their wrongs all through the \Var were 
magnified to the utmost extent, and in others the most preposterous 
stories were fabricated, while they carefully conceal, minimize or 
totally deny well-founded accusations of cruelty to prisoners in their 
hands, and other offences. Some of their violations of the rules 
which govern hostile States and Governments are, however, notori- 
ous, and are matters of history, as when Congress itself broke the 
plighted faith of their General (Arnold) in regard to the cartel 
entered into at the Cedars for the exchange of prisoners. They are 
unable to dellY or explain that breach of national honour, and are 
obliged to admit that the violation of the stipulations made on that 
occasion created difficulties in regard to the exchange of prisoners 
during the whole \Var, and was frequently a source of embarassment 
and mortification to General vVashington during its entire continua- 
tion. 
The Haldimand papers shew the vicissitudes and hardships 
undergone by the families of many of the officers. In series B, vol. 
158, p. 351, appears the following: 



41 
ct Tò Hìs EXèellenèY General Haldimand, General and C01ñffiandel 
in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in Canada and the Fron
 
tiers thereof, 
"The memorial of John and Alexander Macdonell, Captains 
Ìn the King's Royal Regiment of N ew York, humbly sheweth, 
"That your Memorialist, John Macdonell's, f
u11ily are at present 
detained by the rebels in the County of Tryon, within the Province 
of New York, destitute of every support but such as they may receive 
from the few friends to Government in said quarters, in which situa
 
tion they have been since 1777. 
" And your Memorialist, Alexander lVlacdonell, on behéllf of his 
brother, Captain Allan Macdonell, of the Eighty-Fourth Regiment; 
that the family of his said brother have been detained by the Rebels 
in and about Albany since the year 1775, and that unless it was for 
the assistance they have met with from 1\1r. James Ellice, of Sche
 
nectady, merchant, they must have perished. 
"Your Memorialists thelefore humbly pray Your Excellency 
will be graciously pleased to take the distressed situation of 
aid 
families into consideration, and to grant that a flag be sent to demand 
them in exchange, or otherwise direct towards obtaining their release
 
ment, as Your Excellency in your wisùom shall see fit, and yout 
Memorialists will ever pray as in duty bound. 
" (Signed,) JOHN MACDONEL.L) 
"ALEXANDER MACDONELL." 
The above memorial is dated 27th July, but the year is not 
given. It was probably 1779 or 1780. 
A petition from a number of the men of the King's Royal Regi
 
ment of N ew York is as follows ;- 
To the Honourable Sir John Johnson, Lieutenant-Colonel Com- 
manùer of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. 
The humble petition of sundry soldiers of said Regiment 
sheweth,- 
That your humble p
titioners, whose names are hereunto sub- 
scribed, have families in different places of the Counties of Albany 
and Tyron, who have been and are daily being ill-treated by 
the enemies of Government. 
Therefore we do humbly pray that Your Honour would be 
pleased to procure permission for them to come to Canada. 
And your petitioners will ever pray. 
JOHN 
1CGLENNY, · ALEX. FERGUSON, 
THO:\f:AS Ross, THmfAs TA \'"LOR, 
ALEXANDER CAMERON, \VILLIAM CAMERON, 
FREDERICK GOOSE, GEORGE .I\IURDOFF, 
'VM. URGHAD,* \VILLIAM CHESSIM,t 


· Probably Urquhart. 


t Probably l hish"lm. 



4 1 


DUNCAN McINTIRE, 
ANDREW MILEROSS, 
DONALD MCCARTER, 
ALLEN GRANT, 
HUGH CHISHOLM, 
ANGUS GRANT, 
JOHN McDoNALD. 
The names and number of each famil:>," intended in the within 
petition :- 
NAME OF F A:\I1 L\:' CONSISTING OF No. 
1, Duncan McIntyre's 'Vile, Sister and Child 3 
2, John Christy's \Vife and 3 Children 4 
3, George Mord,Jff's do 6 do 7 
.... Daniel Campbell's do S do 6 
5, Andrew Milross' Wife I 
6, \Villiam Urghad's 'Vife and 3 Children 4 
7, Donald McCarter's do 3 do 4 
8, Donald Ross' do I Child 2 
9, AJlan Grant's do do 2 
J 0, 'William Chissim's do I do 2 
I I, Donald Chissim's do 2 Children 3 
12, Hugh Chissim's do 5 do 6 
13, Roderick McDonald's - do 4 do 5 
14, Angus Grant's do 5 do 6 
15, Alexander Grant's do 4 do 5 
16, Donald Grant's do 4 do 5 
17, John McDonald's 'Vife I 
18, John McGlenny's Wife and 2 Children 3 
19, ..Alexander Ferguson do 5 do 6 
20, Thomas Ross' do 4 do 5 
21, Thomas Taylors' do 1 Child 2 
22, Alexander Cameron's - do 3 Children 4 
23, \Villiam Cameron's do 3 do 4 
24, Frederick Goose's do 4 do 5 
Endorsed-Memorial from several soldiers of Sir John J ohn- 
son's Corps, received 27th July. (The year is not given, it was 
probably 1779 or 1780.) (I) 
In August, 1781, Donald McDonald, one of the Loyalists from 
Tryon County, who had come to Canada at the head of a small band 
of sixty-two Indians and Tories, and accompanied by." two 
notorious traitors named Empie and Kasselman," as Mr. Stone is 
good enough to term two prominent German Loyalists, whose 


J PHN CHRfSTY, 
DANIhL CAMPBELL, 
DONALD Ross, 
DONALD CHISSEM,t 
RODERICK McDoNALD, 
ALEXANDER GRANT, 


t Probably Chisholm. 
(I) H..ldimand Papers, Series B, vol. 158, p. 352, as given by Judge Pringle. 



43 
descendants now live in the County of Stormont, made a raid upon 
the settlement at Schell's bush near Fort Dayton. A number of 
\Vhigs took refuge" in Schell's house, and defended it bravely against 
several attempts to fire it. McDonald at length procured a crowbar 
and attempted to force the door, but while thus engaged received a 
shot in the leg from Schell's musket whief1 placed him hors de com- 
bat, and none of his men being sufficiently near, Schell, quick as 
lightning, opened the door and made him prisoner, making use of 
the cartridges with which he was amply provided to fire upon his 
comrades, 'Several of whom were killed and others wounded. 'Where- 
upon Mr. Schell, out of compliment to McDonald's religion no doubt, 
immediately caused to be sung the hymn which was a favourite with 
Luther during the perils and afflictions of the great Reformer in his 
controversies with the Pope. 'Vhile thus engaged, McDonald's 
forces returned to the fight, and made a desperate attempt to carry 
the fortress by assault and rescue their leader. Rushing up to the 
walls, five of them thrust the muzzles of their guns through the loop- 
holes, but had no sooner done so than :Mrs. Schell, seizing an axe, 
by quick and well-directed blows, ruined every musket by bending 
the barrels. Schell afterwards managed to escape to Dayton. 
McDonald was so despcrately wounded that his men were unable to 
remove him, so they took Schell's boys as hostages, .charging their 
wounded leader to tell the Americans that if they would be kind to . 
him they would take care of Schell's boys. McDonald was the next 
day removed to Fort Dayton by Captain Small, where his leg was 
amputated, but the blood could not be staunched and the brave 
man died in a few hours. Mr. Stone is authority for thc statement 
that he wore a silver mounted tomahawk, which was taken from him 
by Schell, that it was marked by thirty scalp notches, "showing that 
few Indians could have been more industrious than himself in 
gathering this description of military trophies"- but Mr. Stone is not 
impartial or thoroughly trustworthy on such subjects. Eleven 
British were killed and six wounded, and the boys who were 
returned after the \Var reported that nine wounded died before they 
arrived in Canada. Schell was subsequently killed during the 'Var 
by Indians, one of his sons being kiHed and another wounded in 
their efforts to save hun. It must bc conceded that he fought with 
pluck anù that Martin Luth
r had every reason to be proud of his 
disciple. 



44 
The last expedition against this neighborhood was destined to be 
a still more unfortunate one for the British. In October, 1781, a 
force was organized at Buck's Island, in the St. Lawrence, a few 
miles below Kingston, consisting of about seven hundred men, 
composed of twenty-five men of the Eighth Regiment, one hundred of 
the Thirty-fourth Regiment, one hundred of the Eighty-fourth (Royal 
Highland Emigrants), thirty-six Highlanders, one hundred and twenty 
of Sir John Johnson's, forty of Lake's Independents, one hundred 
and fifty of Butler's Rangers, twelve Yagers, with one hundred and 
thirty Indians, the whole under the command of Major Ross, who 
was, I believe, a brother-in-law of Captain John Macdonell of Aber- 
chalder, having married his sister. 
A hard contested battle took place in the neighborhood of 
Johnstown on the 24th Uctober, the fortune of war varying from time 
to time, but eventuating in that of the Americans, whose loss was 
forty killed, the British losing the same number in killed and some 
fifty pris.oners. A day or two later, another engagement occurred, 
about twenty of the British being killed, amongst whom was the 
brave \Valter Butler, son of Colonel Butler of the Scouts, one of 
the most enterprising and indefatigable officers, who was shot 
through the head by an Oneida Indian and promptly scalped. It is 
necessary to peruse a full narrative of the war properly to appreciate 
the dauntless courage, activity and endurance of this gallant soldier. 
The Americans disgraced their nation by refusing burial to his body. 
" In re-passing the battle ground, the body of Butler was discovered 
as it had been left, and there, without sepulchre, it was suffered to 
remain. ( I) 
This expedition closed the active warlike operations in the north for 
that year, and the following was a period rather of armed neutrality 
than acti\e war, while on the 30th November, 1782, provisional 
Articles of Peace on the basis of a treaty, by which the independence 
of the IT nited States was acknowledged, were entered into, and the 
peuple of the :\Iohawk Valley were left in peace, though that region 
of country had been so utterly laid waste that little more wås to be 
accomplished. The Loyalists lost their homes, but the land on 
which their own dwellings once stoo"d was all that they left to their 
opponents. The last act of the War is a fitting satire upon the pro- 
testations of the Americans of the humane manner in which they 


(I) Stone, 
.oI 2, page I92. 



45 
conducted it: the massacre of every man, woman and child belong- 
ing to the Moravian Tribe of Indians by a band of some three hun- 
dred wretches under the command of a miscreant na\ned Colonel 
David \Villiamson. These Indians had been peaceable during the 
whole \Var-the tenets of their religious faith, for they were Christ- 
ians, and their religious principles, which would appear to have been 
somewhat similar to those of the Quakers, forbidding them to fight. 
They are described as a humble, devout and exemplary community, 
simple tillers of the soil of their forefathers. Their brains were bat- 
tered out, old men and matrons, young men and maidens and children 
at their mothers' breasts being massacred, two only of the whole 
settlement escaping, while the American papers of the day applauded 
it as a very comn)endable achievement. It was as base, as brutal 
and as treacheruus as the mJ.ssacre of Glencoe-perhaps worse, if 
that be pos.;;ible. Mr. Thomas Campbell might have composed a 
sequel to his" Gertrude of \Vyoming !" 
The provisional artIcles of Peace, signed on the 30th N ovem- 
ber, 1782, were forwarded by Lord Sydney to General Haldimand 
on the 14th February, 1783. On the 8th of August following, Lord 
North wrote to General Haldimand, ordering the disbandment of the 
two Battalions of the King's Royal Regiment of New York and of 
the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment, the latter replying on the 
18th of November that it would be impossible to disband them until 
the spring. The necessary preliminaries appear, however, to have 
been carried out during the winter of 1783-4, but the disbanded sol' 
diers received assistance from Government for three years, until they 
were able to real-> some return from the lands allotted to them in 
Upper Canada. 
The Treaty of Versailles, establishing the Peace between Great 
Britain and the United States, and settling the boundary between 
Cz nada and the States, was signed on the 3rd September, 17 8 3. 



4 6 


CHAPTER 5. 


SETTLE:vIENT OF TIlE DISBANDED SOLDIERS I
 GLENGt\.RRY AN D 
ADJACENT COUNTIES OF SrORl\IONT AND DUNDAS-LIST OF 
OFFICERS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND BATTALIONS OF THE 
KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.-COLONEL STE- 
WART'S ACCOÙNT OF THE ROYAL HIGHLAND E:\IIGRANT 
REGIMENT (OLD EIGHTY-FOURTH).-LIST OF OFFICERS. 


The Revolutionary \Var being over, the Highland soldiers of 
the various Regiments mostly settled in the eastern part of what after- 
wards became the Province of Upper Canada, and what now consti- 
tute5 the County of Glengarry, being principally settled by those 
f:-om Glengarry in Scotland, they called it after the well-loved name 
of the home of their forefathers; others were allotted land in what 
now constitute the adjacent Counties of Stormont and Dundas. The 
officers and men of the First Battalion of the King's Royal Regiment 
of New Y ùrk, :;tationed at the close of the \Var at Isle aux N oi'\: and 
Carleton [:;land, with their wives and children, to the number of one 
thou:;and four hundred and sixty-two, settled in a body in the first 
five townships west of the boundary line of the Province of Quebec, 
being the present Townships of Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Corn- 
wall, Osnabruck and \Villiamsburg; those of the Second Battalion of 
the King's Royal Regiment of New York going further west to the 
Bay of Quinte. The following list shows the officers of the First 
Battalion of Sir John Johnson's Regiment, with lengtj, of service, &c.: 



4? 
i<.E'túRN OF 'tHE OFFICERS OF THE LATE FIRST BATTALION, KING'S 
ROYAL REGI:\IENT OF NEW YORK. 



 I I Place of!
' 
 
 I Former Situations and 
::;j Names. N .. I (D (fl >-J R k 

 I atIVlly. I . (D 
 emar s. 
. I 
 ::r 

 :;ir John J 
 A;;rica 1 8 years : Succee
 fathe- r,the late 
Co!. i Bart. ISir \Vm.. Johnson, as a Maj.- 
Com Gen. of the Northern Dis. of 
'dnt; the Provo of New York; was 
in possession of nèar 200,- 
000 acres of valuable land. 
lost in consequence of the 
rebellion. 
yrs' Ensign in Lord Loudon's 
,Regt., 1745; lieut. and capt. 
'in ye 42nd till after taking 
the Havannah, at which timè 
he sold out.( J) Had some 
landed propel ty, part of 
which is secured to his son, 
l ye remnant lost in conse- 
quence of the rebellio'l. 
Capt'Angus McDonell Scotland 2$ yrs Ensign in 60th Regt., July 
8th, 1760; lieut. in same 
regt., 27th Dec., 1770. Sold 
out on account of bad state 
of health, 22nd 
fay, 1775. 
Had no lands. 
Scotland 8 years Haù considerable Janded 
property lost in consequence 
of ye Rebellion, and served 
in last war in America. 
9 years Lieut. in the 84th Regt. at 
the Siege of Quebec, 177 5-7 6 . 
13 yrs Fiv
 years Ensign in the 
55th Regiment. 
8 years Had landed property, and 
served in last war in America 
8 years Had landed property, 5 00 
, acres,. purchased, and began 
to improve in April, J 774. 
8 years 200 acres of land in fee 
simple, under Sir John John. 

on, Bart., ye annual rent of 
Æ6 per 100. 


I 
I 
I 
:\1aj. Jam{;'s Gray 
I 


Scotland 126 
I 


Capt John Munro 


Capt Patrick Daly I Ireland 
Capt: Richard Duncan Scotland 
capt! Sam'l. AndersoJ
merica 
Capt John McDonell Scotland 


Capt Alex. MCDonelfcotIand 


(I) H.wannah was taken in 1762. Gra} sold Olrt iii 17 6 3. 



48 



 I N i l Place of 
. 8, 
 Former Situations and 
;:j ames. N .. (T) r:n..... R k 
?;'" atlvJty. . (t C!3. emar -so 
. 7=, 
Capt Arch. McDonell ! Scotland 8 years : 
lerchant. Had n
 lands. 
Capt Allan McDonell I I Scotland 8 yearsjHeld .200 acres of land nn- 
-Lt. Ider SIr John Johnson, at Æ6 
:per 100. 
Lt. Mal. ;McMartin Scotland 8 years , : Held 100 acres of land un- 
I der Sir John Johnson, at <.t6. 
Lt. Peter Everett America 7 yearsl Had some lanq.ed property. 
L t. John Prentiss IAmerica 9 yearS I A Volunteer at the Siege of 
I Qucbec, 1775-7 6 . 
Lt. Hugh 
'lcDonelI,Scotland 7 yearsiSon ofCapt. \lcDonell 
Lt. John F. Holland'America 5 yearslSon of Major Holland, Sur- 
veyor-Gcneral, Province of 
Quebec. 
Lt. \Villiam Coffin America 3 years , Son of 1\1r. Coffin, merchant, 
late of Boston. 
Lt. Tacob Farrand America 7 years Nephew to Major Gray. 
Lt. \Villiam Claus America 7 years :-)on of Co!. Clans, deputy 
agent Indian Aff.:1.irs. 
6 yearsjSon of Capt. John Munro. 
6 years , 'Son of Capt.Sam'!.Anderson. 
4 years Son of Dr. Smith. 
2 years Private Gentleman. 
3 years Son of John Glen, Esq., of 
Schenectady. Had consider- 
able landed property. 
3 years Son of Capt. John McDonell. 
6 years / son ofCapt. Sam'l.Anderson. 
14 yrs In service last war preced- 
ing this one. 
8 years!Private gentleman. 
28 yrs Formerly sergeant in the 
34th Regiment. 
24 yrs 18 years in 55th and 62nd 
Regiments. 
8 years Formerly minister of the 
/Gospel at Schenectady. 
4 years Son of Ens. John Valentine. 
8 years,Merchant. 
22 yrs I r 4 years in hospital work. 
14 yrs Surgeon's mate in the 42nd 
I Regt. the war before last. 


Lt. Hugh 
lunro America 
Lt. Joseph .-\nderson A'
1erica 
Lt. IThomas Smith ! Ireland 
Ens. John Connolly Ireland 
EnsfacOb Glen America 
Ens' I 
Iiles :McDonell Scotland 
Ens. Ebel1'r Anderson!America 
Ens. DuncanCameron'Scotland 


Ens. John Mann America 
Ens. Francis McCar- Ireland 
thy 
Ens. John Valentine America 
I 
Ch'p l John Doty America 
Jain 
Adjt James Valentine Ireland 
Q.
f,Isaac Mann America 
Surg,Charles Austin England 

l'teiJames Stewart Scotland 



49 
RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE: SE:CoND BATTALION, :KIN'G'S 
ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 



 
r 


.
.S; 
 
Place of t'J n 
Nativity. !D WrE 
7& 


Names. 


Forn1er Situations and 
Remarks. 


Capt - Lepscomb 
Capt - McKenzie 


Maj. Robert Leake England 7 years Had large landed property, 
&c., lost in consequence of 
the rebellion. 
Capt Thos.Gummesell &
gland 8 ye2.fs Formerly merchant in New 
. York. 
Capt Jacob .Maurer Foreigner 28 yrs Served in ye army in the 
60th Regt.,from 1756 to 1763. 
::Jfterwards in the Quarter- 
l\Iaster General's Dept. 
Capt \Vm. Morrison Scoùand 8 years \Vas lieut., 19th June, 1776, 
I in 1St Batt.; capt., 15 th Nov., 
1781, in 2nd Batt. 
Capt James McDonell Scotland 8 years Held 200 acres of land in 
I fee simple, under Sir John 
Johnson, at ct6 per 100. 
Ireland 8 years Formerly merchant. 
America 18 years Held lands under Sir ] ohn 
I T ohnson. 
Ireland 8 years Held lands under Sir John 
I Johnson. 
England 7 years Midshipman, Royal Navy. 
Scotland 8 years'Held lands under Sir John 
IJ ohnson. 
Lt. Patrick Langan Ireland 7 years,Private gentleman. 
Lt. Walter Suther- Scotland 10 yrS I SOldier and non-commission- 
land ed officer in 26th Regt.; en- 
sign, L 7th Oct., 1779, in 1st 
Batt.; lieut., Nov., 1781, in 
2nd Batt. 
Lt. \Villiam McKay Scotland 15 yrs 7 years volunteer and ser- 
geant in 21 st Regt. 
Lt. Neal Robertson Scotland 8 years :Merchant. 
Lt. Henry Young America 8 years Fanner. 
Lt. John Howard Ireland 13 yrs Farmer; served 6 years last 
war, from 1755 to 1761, as 
soldier and non-commission- 
ed officer in 28th Regt. 
Lt. T eremiah French America 7 years Farmer. 
Lt. PhIl.P. Lansingh America 4 years High Sheriff, Charlot county. 
Lt. Haælt' nSpencer America 7 years Farmer. 


Capt Geo. Singleton 
Capt Wm. ReJford 
Crawford 
Capt - Byrns 



50 

 I
 0 
 I 
t: Place of I r:;. -. (D Former Situations and 
...... Names. .. I (D u:. ::s L 
:...-_-_ NatIVlty
 " 
'(J& _ Rem
 ___ 


Lt. Oliver Church America 17 years Farmer. 
Lt. \ViHiam Fraser Scoiland 7 years 'Fanner. 
Lt. Christian "-her Foreign'rl7 years Fam1er. 
Ens. Alex. McKenzie N.Britain'4 years Farmer. 
Ens. Ro
1.. l\lcDoi1ell N.B!ltail1,3 years Farmer. 

ns. - Hay _ Amer
ca ,3 yearsiSon of Gov. Hay a t D(t
oir. 
Ens. Samuell\IcI,,"ay AmerIca '3 years Son of the late Capt. l\lcKay. 
Ens. TimothyThomlJ America !3 years Private gentleman. 
son I \ 

lb.. John McKay. America ,3 yearslS?n of the late Capt.l\!cK
y. 
En"'. - Johnson heland 2 years Nephew to the late SIr "m. 
I IJo}-m
on, Bart. 
America 4 yearsiSon of Capt. Crawford. 
America 13 yearS I l\1i:'sionary for the Mohawk 
I Indians at Fort Hunter. 
Scotland 10 yrs , 7 years soldier and non-com- 
I mi
'sioned officer in 34th 
Regiment. 
Q-l\I - Dies America 7 yearc;!Farmer. 
SUI'. R. K e rf Scotland 3 years.As
istant sur geon. 
The latter Battalion, as already stated, b
th officers and men, with 
some few exceptions, settled principally about Cataraqui, as Kings- 
ton \Vas then called, on the Bay of Quinte, in the Counties of Lennox 
and Prince EdwarJ, where their descendants are now to be found. 
Each soldier received a certificate as follows, entitling him to land. 
The descendants of the soldier mentioned still worthily occupy the 
land so well earned by their ancestor, lot one in the ninth concession 
of Charlottenburgh : 


Ens. - Crawford 
Ch'lJ .1 olm Stuart 
lain .. 
Adjt - Fraser 


His Majefty's Provincial Regiment, called the King's Royal 
Regiment of New York, whereof Sir Jolm Johnson, Knight and Bar- 
onet is Lieutenant-Colonel. Commandant. 
These are to certify tÍ1at the Bearer hereof, Donald 
IcDonell, 
soldier in Capt. Angus McDonell's Company. of the aforesaid Regi- 
ment, born in the Parifh of Killmoneneoack, in the County of Inver- 
nets, aged thirty-five years, has served honeftly and faithfully in the 
faid regiment Seven Years; and in confequence of His l\Iajesty's 
Order for Difbanding the taid Regiment, he is hereby difcharged. is 



51 
entitled, by His Majesty's late Order, to the Portion of Land allotted 
to each soldier of His Provincial Corps, who wifhes to become a 
Settler in this Province. He having firft received all juft demands of 
Pay, Cloathing, &c., from his entry into the f3id Regiment, to the 
Date of his Difcharge, as appears from his Receipt on the back 
hereof. 
Given lJl1der my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Montreal, this 
twenty-fourth Day of December, 1783. 


JOHN JOHNSON. 


I, Donald McDonell, private soldier, do acknowledge that I 
have received all my Cloathing, Pay, Arrears of Pay, and all De- 
m1.nds whatfoever, from the time of my Inlifting in the Regiment 
and Company mentioned on the other Side, to this prefent Day of 
my Difcharge, as witnefs my Hand this 24th day of December, 1783. 


DONALD McDONELL. 



1r. Croil states that each soldier was entitled to one hundred 
acres on the river front. b
-;i(les two hundred acres at a distance 
remote from the River. If married and with a family, or if at any 
future time he should marry, he was entitled to fifty acres more for 
hi" wife and fifty for every çhild, besrdes which each son and daugh- 
ter on coming of age was entitled to a further grant of two hundred 
acres. This, I believe, is what the men ultimately got, yet the Oder 
in Council of 22nd October, 1738 (although the discharge as given 
ab3ve. the origi:1al of w
1ich wa" lent me would seem to indicate that 
there had beel1 a previom Order on the subject) recited that on the 
raising ofthe Eighty-fourth Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants) the 
men were promised that on their being reduced the allotment of land 
should be as follows: Field Officers, 5,000 acres; Captaim, 3,000 ; 
Subalterns, 2,000; Non-commi"sioned Officers, 200; Privates, 50, 
and referring to the Petitions of Sir John Johnson and Lieutenant- 
Colonel John Butler, on behalf of the King's Royal Regiment of New 
York and the late Corps of Rangers, directed that those Regiments 
should be placed on the same footill g as regards land as the Eighty- 
Fourth. 


Although on the telmination of the \Var the original settlers in 
GL' l
arrr 1.nd t!,e a
ljrlcent district were, as we have sæn, principally 



52 
composed of the men of Sir John Johnson's Regiment, yet many 
families of men who belonged to the 1St Battalion of the old Eighty- 
fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment also settled in the 
County and neighborhood, and an account of the raising and the 
services of that Battalion may not be out of place. It is given in 
Colonel (afterwards General) Stewart's" Sketches of the Highlanders 
of Scotland" which also contains details of the military service of the 
Highland Regiments. This work of the gallant Stewart of Garth, 
himself a soldier of high renown, seamed all over with the scars 
of Egypt and Spain, is most valuable and interesting. It is doubtful 
if any man except Sir \Valter Scott ever did more to gather the 
fragments which relate to the proud history of Scotland. 


\Vhen Colonel St
wart submitted them to Sir \Valter for his per- 
usal, and asked him to suggest a motto for them, I have somewhere 
seen it stated that he mentioned these lines from Shakespeare, which 
were adopted : 


'Tis wonderful 
That an invisible instinct should frame them 
To loyalty unlearned: honour untaught; 
Civility not seen from others; valour 
That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop 
As if it had been sowed. 


Anyone who doubts the entire appropriateness of those lines 
had better read the book. 


The Eighty-Fourth, or Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment 
(originally embodied in 1775, but not regimented or numbered till 
177 8 ), was to consist of two battalions. Lieutenant,Colonel Allan 
McLean, of the late One Hundred and Fourth Highland Regiment, was 
appointed Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the first battalion,which 
was to be raised and embodied from the Highland Emigrants in 
Canada, and the discharged men of the Forty Second, of Fraser's and 
of Montgomery's Highlanders who had settled in the country after 
the Peace of 1763. Captain John Small, formerly of the Forty 
Second and then of the Twenty First Regiment, was appointed 
Major-Commandant of the Second Battalion, which was to be 



53 
completed in Nova Scotia from Emigrant and discharged Highland 
soldiers. The establishment of both was Seven Hundred and Fifty 
men, with officers in proportion. The Commissions were dated the 
14 th June, 1775. 


Officers sent to the back settlements to recruit found the 
discharged soldiers and emigrants loyal and ready to serve His 

fajesty. The emigration from the Highlands, previous to this period, 
had been very limited. \Vith many the change of abode was 
voluntary, and consequently their minds, neither irritated nor discon- 
tented, retained their former attachment to their native country and 
government. But there was much difficulty in conveying the parties 
who hap enlisted to their respective destinations. One of these 
detachments, from Carolina, had to force its way through a 
dangerous and narrow pass, and across a bridge defended by 
cannon and a strong detachment of the rebels; "but aware that the 
Americans entertained a dread of the broadsword, from experience of 
its effects in the last \Var, with more bravery than prudence, and 
forgetting that they had only a few swords and fowling pieces used in 
the settlements, they detennmed to attack the post sword in hand, 
and pushed forward to the attack." But they found the enemy too 
strong and the difficulties insurmountable. They were forced to 
relinquish the attempt with the loss of Captain 
lacleod and a number 
of men killed. Those who escaped made their way by different 
routes to their de'itination. Colonel Maclean's Battalion was 
stationed in Quebec, when Canada was threatened with invasion by 
the American General, Arnold, at the head of thre
 thousand men. 
Colonel .Maclean, who had been detached up the River St. Lawrence, 
returned by forced marches, and entered Quebec on the evening of 
the 13th November, 1776, without being noticed by Arnold. He 
had previously crossed the river, and on the night of the Fourteenth 
made a smart attack with a view of getting possession of their out- 
works, but was repulsed with loss, and forced to retire to Pointe aux 
Trembles. The fortifications of the city had been greatly neglected, 
and were now in a ruinous state. The garrison consisted of fifty 
men of the Fusiliers, three hundred and fifty of Maclean's newly raised 
Emigrants and about seven hundred 
lilitia and Seamen. General 
Guy Carlton, the Com'nander-in-Chief, being occupied with 



54 
preparations for the general defence of the Colony, the defence of 
the town was entrusted to Colonel Maclean, an able and intelligent 
officer. 
Arnold having been reinforced by a body of troops under Gen- 
eral Montgomery, determined to attempt the town by assault. On 
the morning of the 31st December, both Commanders, leading 
separate points of attack, advanced with great boldness, but were 
completely repulsed at all points, with the loss of General Mont
 
gomery killed and General Arnold wounded. The Highland Emi- 
grants, though so recently emvodied, contamed a number of old 
soldiers, who, in this affair did honour to the character of the Corps 
in which they served. 


General Arnold, disappointed in this attempt. established him- 
self on the Heights of Abraham, with the intention of intercepting all 
supplies, and blockading the town. In this situation he reduced the 
garrison to great straits, all communication with the country qeing 
entirely cut off. This blockade he soon turned into an active siege; 
he erected batteries and made several attempts to get possession of 
the Lower Town, but was foiled at every point by the vigilant and 
intelligent defender, Colonel Maclean. On the approach of spring, 
Arnold, despairing of success, raised the siege, and evacuated the 
whole of Canada. 


After this service, the BJ.ttalion remained in the Province dur- 
ing the "Tar, and was principally employed in small but harassing 
enterprises. In one of these, Captain D. Robertson, Lieutenant 
Hector Maclean and Ensign Grant, with the Grenadier Company, 
marched twenty dLtYs through the woods with no other direction than 
a compass and an Indian guide. The object to be accomplished 
was to surprise and dislodge the enemy from a small post, which 
th
y occupied in the interior. This service was accomplished with- 
out loss. By long practice in marching through the woods the men 
had become very intelligent and serviceable in this kind of warfare. 
\Vith eVèry opportunity and much temptation to desert, in con- 
sequence of offers of land and other incitements held out by the 
Americans, it is but justice to the memory of these brave and loyal 
men to state, on the most unquestionable authority, that not one 
native Highlander deserted, and only one Highlander was brought to 
the halberts during the time they were embodied. 



55 
RETURN OF OFF'ICERS of THE FIRST BATTALION OF HIS MAJESTY'S 
REGIMENT OF ROYAL HIGHLAND E!vIIGRANTS.(I) 
ISLE AUX NOIX, 15th April, 1778. 


Names. 


Lieut.-Col. Allan McLean 
Major Donald McDonald 
Captain William Dunbar 
" John Nairne 
" Alexander Fraser 
" George McDougall 
" .:\Ialcolm Fraser 
" Daniel Robertson 
" George Laws 
Lieutenant N eill\IcLean (prisoner) Lieut. 7th Regt. 
" John McLean Ensign late 114th Regt. 
" Alexander Firtelier I 
" Lachlan McLean 
" Fran. Damburgess (prisoner),Ensign 21 Nov., 1775. 
" David Cairns IEnsign 1st June, 1775. 
" Don. l\IcKinnon IEnsign 20th Nov., 1'77 5
 
" Ronald McDon.ald IEnsign qth June, 1775. 
" John McDonell Ensign 14th June, 1774- 
" Alexander Stratton(prisoner) 
" Hector 
fcLean 
Ensign Ronald McDon<J,ld 
" Archibald Grant 
" David Smith 
" George Daine 
" Archibald 
IcDonald 
" \Villiam \Vood 
" John Pringle 
" Hector McLean (prisoner) 
Chaplain John Bethune (prisoner) 
Adjutant Ronaid McDonald 
Q'r-.ðIaster Lachlan McLean 
Surgeon James Davidson 
Surg's Mate James W<1lker 
The Second Battalion was very quickly embodied in - Nova 
Scotia, and was composed of the same description of men as the 
first, but with a greater proportion of Highlanders, among whom 
:!\Iajor Small was held in high estimation. [He was a native of 



I 


!Former Rank in the Army, 
,-- 
Lieutenant-Colonel. 


Capt. late 78th Regt. 


Lieut. late 78th Regt. 
Lieut. 60th Regt. 
Lieut. late 8th Regt. 
Lieut. 42Ud Regt. 


(II Haldimand Collection. B 2I3, page IS. 



56 
Strathardale in Athole. His- first Commission was in the Scotch 
Brigade. In 1747 he obtained an Ensigncy in the old Highland 
Regiment. and served in it till the Peace of 1763, when he was 
reduced as Captain. He died :\Iajor-General and Governor of 
Guernsey in 1796.] No chief of former days ever more firmly 
secured the attachment of his Clan, and no chief, certainly, ever 
deserved it better. \Vith an enthusiastic and eVèn roanntic love of 
his country and countrymen, it seemed as if the principal object of 
his life had been to serve them anj pro.nJte their pro3p
rity. 
Equally brave in leading them in the field, and kind, just and con- 
ciliating in quarters, they would have indeed been ungrateful if they 
had regarded him otherwise than as they did. There was not an 
in'5tance of desertion in their Battalion. Five Companies rem:lÍned 
in Nova Scotia and the neighboring settlemènts during the \Var. 
The other five joined General Clinton and L'Jrd Cornwallis' Armies 
to the southward. The Flank Companies were in the Battalion of 
that description. At Eataw Springs the Grenadier Company was 
in the Battalion, which, as Colonel Alexander Stewart, of the Third 
Regiment, states- in his despatches, drove all before them. 
It was not till 1778 that this Regiment was numbered the 
Eighty-Fourth. The Battalions, which were previously known only 
as the Royal Highland Emigrants, were now ordered to be augment- 
ed to one thousand men each, Sir Henry Clinton being appointed 
Colonel in Chief and the two Commandants remaining as before. 
The uniform was the full Highland garb, with purses made of 
racoons' instead of badgers' skins. The officers wore the broad- 
sword and dirk, and the men a half-basket sword. All those who 
had been settled in America previously to the \Var remained and 
took possession of their lands, but many of the others returned 
home. 
The men of Colonel Maclean's Battalion settled in Canada, and 
of Colonel Small's in Nova Scotia, where they formed a settlement 
or township, as it was called, and gave it the name of Douglas. 
I am unable to procure a list of officers of this Battalion. 



57 


CHAPTER ß. 


UNITED E:\IPIRE LOYALISTS.-LIST OF SCOTTISH NAMES APPEAR- 
ING IN LORD DORCHESTER'S LIST. - A "DISTI
GUISHED 
INDIVIDUAL'S" OPINION OF THE HIGHLANDERS OF THAT GEN. 
ERATIO
.-MR. CROlL'S DESCRIPTION OF THE SITUATION AND 
CONDITION OF THE LOYALIST SETTLERS IN THE UNITED 
COUNTIES. 


A reference to the" Old U. E. List," compiled by Government 
by direction of Lord Dorchester, shows the original United Empire 
Loyalists in the Province: In many instances, however, instead of 
the Township being given, it is merely stated that lands were allotted 
in the Eastern District. :My only plan will, therefore, be to insert in 
the appendix the names of all who appear to have settled in that 
district, showing the respective Townships when given, and omitting 
those who are stated to have settled in Townships outside Glengarry. 
This list was prepared in pursuance of the Order-in-Council of 
9 th November, 1789, wherein it was stated that it was His Excel- 
lency's desire" to put a Nfarke of Honour upon the families who had 
adhered to the unity of the Empire and joined the Royal Standard in 
America before the Treaty of Separation in the year 17 8 3 * * 
to the end tl1at their posterity may be discriminated from future 
settlers * * as proper objects by their presevering in the 
Fidelity and Conduct so honourable to their ancestors for distinguished 
Benefits and Privileges." 
The list is preserved on record in the Crown Lands Department, 
and it shows that those of the name of the Clan which gave its name 
to Glengarry outranked in number those of any other individual 
name in the Province, and that there were more Loyalists of that 
name than any three English names combined in the whole Province. 
But though there were more ::\lacdonells from Glengarry in Scotland 
than any others, there were, as previously stated, representatives of 
almost every Highland Clan and every Scottish name. A list of the 
names will prove it, and as the statement has been made by one who 
professes to speak authoritatively on the subject, and to know whereof 



58 
he speaks, and writes that" the Scotch and lrishelement in the United 
Empire Loyalists is too small as compared with the preponderating 
English and German to be taken into account," I give it, with the 
number of each name: 


Anderson 
-\.ndrews 
Armstrong 
Bethune 
Bruce 
Campbell 
Cameron 
Carr 
h...err 
Chisholm 
Christie 
Clarke 
Clark 
Crawford 4 
Cumming 4 
Edgar I 
Ferguson IS 
Fraser 27 
Gonlon 2 
Grant 35 
Graham 8 
Gray 4 
Gunn I 
Haggart 2 
Livingstone 8 
I quote from the original list. Names were subsequently 
added, from time to time, by Order in Council, on the special 
application of those who had omitted to take the precaution in the 
first instance. The additions would not alter the proportion of the 
above nomenclature. I 3Ill satisfied, however, from facts within my 
knowledge, that many of the Highlanders never took the trouble of 
having their names inserted at all, first or last. Thus Bishop .Mac- 
donell (who came to Canada over twenty years after the Loyalists 
had settled herè) writing subsequently, states, " I had not been long 
in the Province when I found that few or none of even those of you 
.,ho were longest settled in the country had legal tenures of your 
properties. Aware that if troublc or confusion took place in the Pro<- 
vince your properties would become uncertain and precarious, and 
under this impression I proceedeJ to the seat of Government, where, 


23 
z 


5 


2 
6 
28 
2S 
} 4 


13 
3 
} 8 


Malcolm 
1\'1 iller 
Morrison 
Munro 
Murchison 
l\I urray 
McAlpine 
.McArthur 
McAuley 
l\IcBain 
.!\[cCallum 
:\IcCrimmoil 
McDonald 
McDonell 
McDougall 
McDuff 
l\Ic Fall 
McGillis 

IcGregor 
McGrucr 
McIntyre 
McIntosh 
McKay 
McKenzie 


I 
20 


5 
12 


5 
2 
1 
10 
2 


4 
1 
1 
8 
84 
5 
I 


3 
5 
6 
4 
7 


It 


10 


8 


McLaren 
.\IcLaughlin 
McLean 
1\IcLeJlan 
I\1 c Leod 
::\Ic:\Iartin 
::\[c:\Iaster 
McMillan 
:\Ic!\ ahb 
\IcN airn 
McKaughton 
McN eil 
l\IcN ish 
McPhee 
McPherson 
Ram
ay 
Robertson 
Rose 
Ross 
Scott 
Stewart 
Stuart 
Sutherland 
Young 


4 
5 
II 


4 
4 
3 
I 


3 
L 
2 


5 
3 
I 
6 


2 
8 
15 
20 


4 
5 
6 
8 


20 



59 
after some months hard and unremitting labour, through the public' 
offices, I procured for the inhabitants of Glengarry and Stormont 
patent deeds for one hundred and twenty-six thousand acres of land." 
\Yhen they would not trouble about taking out their patents, many 
of them would not think of having their names inserted on the roll. 
The above list is, I submit, a fair representation of those who 
to-day comprise what the author of the essay referred to, Mr. George 
Sandfield Macdonald, B.A., of Cornwall, is pleased to designate -as 
the" Keltic" population of the Province of Ontario. For further 
information on the suhject and a comparison of the number of the 
" Kelts" with the English and Germans amongst the Loyalist settlers 
of the Eastern District I refer him to Lord Dorchester's list, simply 
stating that of the three English names most frequently met with, 
Smith, Jones and Brown, there were, all told, just eighty, or four 
less than of one Highland Clan, while of the Germans, taking as a 
criterion all the names to which the prefix " Van" is attached, from 
Van Allen to Y an V orst, there were but forty-two, exactly half of the 
number of those from whom the County of Glengarry took its name. 
The statement to which I have referred, however, is not the only 
one in this singular essay, which was read before the Celtic Society 
of Montreal, which requires explanation and correction. \Ye are 
gravely informed that the'" Keltic' settlers in Canada of the period 
spoken of" (the early settlement of Glengarry, 1783-6) "had no 
mental qualifications to entitle them to take rank with the founders of 
the American plantations," that "tlnlike the Puritans of New Eng- 
land, the Catholics of Maryland, the Cavaliers of Virginia, the 
Huguenots of South Carolina and the followers of \Yilliam Penn, the 
compelling force leading to change of country was in contrast to the 
motives of a higher order, as in those cases," that" long subjection to 
the despotism of chiefs and landlords had numbed the finer qualities 
and instincts," and that "even the physique had degenerated 
under oppression." \Ve are told, too, that an analysis is required of 
the generations which have succeeded the original settlers, psycho- 
logical and sociological no less, to grasp the full significance of the 
lives and actions of those he is pleased to consider" distinguished 
individuals," and the" people" among whom they deigned to move, 
which was a very gracious condescension on the part of these 
distinguished individuals, seeing that" the experience and ideas of 
the 'people' were confined within the smoke of their own bush 



60 
fires." Now, all this may be very fine writing, and display a large 
amount of culture in one doubtless a typical specimen of the mod
 
ern distinguished individuals referred to, but it is very grievous 
rubbish nevertheless, and a most uncalled for and gross calumny on 
the men who left Scotland and settling in Canada, after fighting 
through the \Var, were largely instrumental, not only in preserving it 
by their prowess, but developing it from the primeval forest to 
the fruitful land it is to-clay. Their descendants will neither credit 
nor relish the unworthy sneers at the stunted limbs and intcllects and 
ignoble motives of those to whom they have every reason to look 
back with pride, and who laid the foundations of the homes and 
Institutions we now enjoy. 
This, however, is a digression. The facts are there to speak for 
themselves, and are themselves a refutation of the theories and 
aUegations of the essayist-as well might he tell us that the men of 
the same generation who entered the Highland Regiments, and to 
whom Pitt referred, were feeble and stunted of limb, with their finer 
qualities numbed and their instincts dwarfed by years of oppression 
and tyranny of" so-called chieftains." 
Glengarry, where they settled, is the most easterly County of 
what is now the Province of Ontario, "the upper country of Can- 
ada," to the south being the River St. Lawrence, on the east the 
Counties of Soulanges and Vaudreuil in the Province of Quebec, to 
the north the County of Prescott, and the west that of Stormont. 
Alexandria, which may be considered the centre of the County, is 
about mid-way between the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rive.rs, and is 
about equi-distant from the political and commercial capitals of the 
Dominion-or to be precise, fifty-six miles from Ottawa and fifty- 
four from Montreal. The United Empire Loyalists of course settled 
largely in the front of the County, along the banks of the River St. 
Lawrence, the late:r: emigrants locating themselves in rear of the pre- 
ceding ones to the north. 
Mr. Croil, in his "Sketch of Canadian History," gives an 
admirable description of the situation and condition of the United 
Empire Loyalist soldier-settler in the adjacent County of Dundas, 
equally applicable, of course, to his late comrade in arms in Glen- 
garry. The circumstances of the officers and their families were 
necessarily somewhat better, as having the pensions of their respect- 
ive ranks at the date of the reduction of the various corps, 



61 
they could rely upon a supply of ready money at certain stated 
intervals, and though the amount was comparatively small, yet money 
went far in those primitive days, and their families had bl1t few 
opportunities of indulging any extravagant tastes they might have 
acquired from their former circumstances of life. Owing to the 
number of officers who settled in the Eastern District 01 the Province 
they formed among themselves a society quite equal to that of any 
portion of the Province, while their birth and education enabled them 
to hold their own with the official circles at York or among the 
largely mercantile aristocracy of Montreal when occasion arose for 
them to visit either of those places. 
uch was their number that a 
Board of Officers. composed of Colonel John Macdonell (Aberchal- 
der), of Glengarry, Captain John 
Iacdonell (Scotus), of Cornwall, 
and the Reverend John Stuart (formerly Chaplain Second Battalion
 
King's Royal Regiment of New York), of Kingston, was required 
to administer the necessary oaths to enable them to draw their 
pensions from time to time. 
Mr. Crail states the Proclamation of Peace between Great 
Britain and the United States of America witnessed at least a partial 
fulfilment of the prophecy that "men shall beat their swords into 
plough-sh:ues and their spears into pruning h00ks." The brave and 
loyal subjects, who during the fierce struggle which then culminated 
had remained faithful to the British Crown, being no longer required 
to fight their country's battles, were now destined in a very different 
way to add to their country's greatness. It was determined that 
liberal grants of land should he freely given to the disbanded 
soldiers. This was simply characteristic of that princip!e of h:gh 
honour and justice which, in every period of its history, has distin- 
guished the British Govemment. The properties of all who had 
withstood the Republican Government in the States were of course 
confiscated, and peace being proclaimed, not only was the soldier's 
occupation gone, but his farm and all his earthly possessions were 
forfeited for ever. 
Having arrived at Cornwall, or " New Johnstown" as it was then 
called, in compliment to Sir John and the capital of their former 
settlement in the fertile Mohawk Valley, the soldiers found the Gov- 
ermnent Land Agent, and forthwith proceeded to draw by lottery 
the lands that had been granted to them. The townships in which 
the different corps were to settle being first arranged, the lots were 



62 
numbered on small slips of paper, and placed in a hat, when each 
soldier in turn drew his own. As there was no opportunity for 
examining the comparative quality of the lands, so there was little 
choice in the matter; but by exercising a spirit of mutual accommo. 
dation, it frequently resulted, that old comrades who had stood side 
by side in the ranks, now sat down side by side, on the banks of the 

t. Lawrence. 
"ïth what feelings of intense interest, mingled even with awe 
and melancholy, must these settlers have regarded this intmduction 
to their new wilderness home! How impatient each to view the 
particular spot where his lot had been cast! Everywhere save in the 
neighbourhood of the Longue Sault Rapids the landscape wore an 
aspect of wild and gloomy solitude: its solemn stillness interrupted 
only by the deep murmuring of the mighty river as it rolled along its 
flood to the ocean. On leaving the ri\'er, the native grandeur of the 
woods, tenanted only by the Indian hunter and his scarce more sav- 
age prey, must have filled them with amazement. \Vell might they 
exclaim, is this our inheritance, our future home! Are these to be 
at once our enemies and our associates! Can it be that these giant 
denizens of the forest are to succumb to our prowess, and that this 
vast wilderness is to be converted into fruitful fields! 
The first operation of the new settler. was to erect a shanty. 
Each, with his axe on his shoulder, turned out to help the other, and 
in a short time everyone in the little colony was provided with a 
snug log cabin. All were evidently planned by the same architect, 
differing only in size, which was regulated by the requirements of the 
family, the largest not exceeding twenty feet by fifteen feet inside, 
and of one storey in height. They were built somewhat similar to 
the modem back-woodman's shanty. Round logs, roughly notched 
together at the corner, and piled one above another, to the height of 
seven or eight feet, constituted the wans. Openings for a door, and 
one small window, designed for four lights of glass seven by nine, 
were cut out-the spaces between the logs were chinked with Sl1lan 
splinter
, and carefully plastered outside and inside, with clay for 
mortar Smooth straight poles were laid lengthways of the building, 
on the walls, to serve as supports for the roof. This was composed 
of stripes of elm bark, four feet in length, by two or three feet in 
width, in layers, overlapping each other, and fastened to the poles by 
withs. \Vith a sufficient slope to the back, this formed a roof which 



63 
was proof agaìnst ,vind and weather. An ample hea.rth, made of 
flat stones, was then laid out, and a fire back of field stone or small 
boulders, rudely built, was carried up as high as the walls. Above 
this the chimney was formed of round poles notched together, and 
plastered with mud. The floor was of the same materials as the 
walls, only that the logs were split in two, and flattened so as to make 
a tolerably even surface. As no boards were to be had to make a 
door until they could be sawn out by the whip saw, a blanket sus
 
pended from the inside for some timè took its place. By and by, 
four little panes of glass were stuck into a rough sash, <'1nd then the 
shanty was complete; strangely contrasting with the convenient 
appliances and comforts of later days. The total absence of furni
 
ture of any kind whatever, was not to be named as an inconvenience 
by those who had lately passed through the severest of hardships. 
Stern necessity, the mother of invention, soon brought into play the 
ingenuity of the old soldier, who, in his own rough and ready way, 
knocked together such tables and benches as Were necessary for 
household use. 
As the sons and daughters of the U. E.'s became of age, each 
repaired to Cornwall, and presented a petition to the Court of Quar- 
ter Sessions, setting forth their rights; when, having properly identi.. 
fied themselves, and complied with the necessary forms, the Crown 
Agent was authorized to grant each of them a deed for two hundred 
acres of land, the expenses incurred not exceeding in all two dollars. 
In addition to the land spoken of, the settlers were otherwise pro- 
vided by Government with everything that their situation rendered 
necessary-food and clothes for three years, or until they were able 
to provide these for themselves; besides, seed to sow on their new 
clearances, and such implements of husbandry as were required. 
Each received an axe, a hoe and a spade; a plough and one cow 
were allotted to two families j a whip and cross cut,saw to every 
fourth family, and even boats Were provided for their use, and placed 
at convenient points of the river. They were of little use to them 
for a time, as the first year they had no grists to take to mill. 
But that nothing might seem to be awanting, on the part of Gov
 
ernment, even portable corn mills, consisting of steel plates, turned by 
hand like a coffee mill, were distributed amongst the settlers. The 
operation of grinding in this way, was of necessity very slow; it came 
besides to be considered a menial and degrading employment, and, 



64 
a:S' die men Were all occupíed out of doors, ít nsoally fell to the rot 
of the women, reminding us forcibly of the Hebrew women of old,. 
similarly occupied, of whom we have the touching allusion in Holy 
\Vrit, "Two Women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be 
taken and the other left." 
In most cases, the settlers repaired to Cornwall each spring and 
fall, or during the winter, and dragged up on the ice, by the edge of 
the river, as much as he cuuld draw on a hand sled. Pork was then,. 
as now, the staple article of animal food; and it was usual for the 
settlers, as soon as they had received their rations, to smoke their 
bacon, and then hang it up to dry; sometimes it was thus left incau- 
tiûusly suspended outside all night: the result Lot unfrequently was, 
that, while the family was asleep, the quarter's store of pork would 
be unceremoniously carried (}ff I)y the wolves, then very numerous 
and troublesome, and in no wise afraid of approaching the shanty of 
the newly arrived settler. Frequently, too, during the night, would 
they be awakened by these marauders, or by the discordant sounds 
of pigs and poultry clustering round the door to escape from their 
fangs. 
There was in former times a deal of valuable timber standing in 
the Counties. Huge pine treè
 were cut (or ship's masts, measuring 
from ninety to one hundred and t\yenty feet in length, and from forty 
to forty-eight inches in diameter, when dressed for market. One such 
piece of timber must have weighed from twenty or twenty-five tons. 
These mast trees- were dragged from the woods by from twelve 
to sixteen pairs of horses. A single tree was sold in Quebec as a 
bow
sprit for $200. Of white oak, averaging when dressed from 
forty
five to sixty-five cubic feet, and af the best Canadian quality, 
there was abundance; this found a ready market at from 2S. 6d. to 
3 s . per foot; inferior quality of this timber was converted into stave 
blocks, and also shipped to Quebec. At a later period, large quan- 
tities of elm and ash were sent to market from this County, while 
beech and maple, then considered worthless, were piled up in log 
heaps and burned, the ashes being carefully gathered and sold to 
the merchants, to be made into IJotash. 
There being ample employment on the father's farm, yet un- . 
cleared, for all his sons, there was little inducement for these to think 
of s
tting up for themselves; as a consequence, the lands the child- 
ren had drawn were of little value to them in the meantime. U. E. 



65 
r-ìgnts became a staple artìcle of comm.erce, and were readìly bougbt 
up by speculators, almost as fast as they came into the hands of the 
;rising generation. A portion of what remained to the farmer or his 
family was soon sold in payment of taxes, at sheriff's sales, and these 
lots, too, usually fell into the hands of land jobbers. Many of the 
lots had never been seen by the parties \
ho drew them, and 
their comparative value was determined either by their distance 
from the river, or the pressing necessity of the party holding 
them. It thus happened that lands in the rear townships, which in 
a very few years brought from twenty to tl1irty dollars per acre, were 
then considered worthless; and lots e\'en more favoUfably situated, 
in respect to locality, were sold, if not for an old song, at least for a 
new dress, worth perhaps from three to four dollars in cash. \Ve 
have even been told credibly that two hundred acres of land, upon 
\vhich now stands a flourishing village in the adjoining County ot 
Dundas, was, in these early days, actually sold for a gallon of rum. 
The usual price of fair lots was from $25 to $30, some even as high 
as $50 per 200 acres. At $30 the price would be fifteen cents per 
acre. The same lands were even then resold to settlers, as they 
gradually came in from Britain and the United States, at a price of 
from $2 to $4 per acre, thus yielding a clear profit to the speculator 
of 1000 per cent. on his investment, a profit in comparison with 
which, the exorbitant interest of later days sinks into utter insignifi- 
cance. 
The summer months were occupied by the early settlers in 
burning up the huge logs that had previously been piled together, 
and in the sooty and laborious work of re-constructing their charred 
and smouldering remains into fresh heaps; the surface was than raked 
clear of chips and other fragments. and in the autumn the wheat was 
hoed in by hand. During winter every man ,,'as in the w
ods, mak- 
ing timber, or felling the trees to make way for another fallow. The 
winters were then long, cold and steady, and the fall \V"heat seldom 
saw the light of day till the end of April; the weather then setting 
in warm, the dormant breaks of wheat early assumed a healthy and 
luxuriant vegetation. Thistles and burdocks, the natural result of 
slovenly farming, \vere unknown, and neither fly nor rust, in these 
good old days, were there to blight the hopes of the primitive farmer. 
The virgin sold yielded abundantly her increase; ere long there was 
plenty in the land for man and beast, and, with food and raiment, 
the settler was contented and prosperous. 



66 
There \Vas in the character of the early settlers tnat wnicn com- 
manded the admiration and respect of all who were brought into 
contact with them. Naturally of a hardý and robust constitution
 
tl1ey were appalled neither by danger nor difficulties, but manfully 
looked them fair in the face, and surmounted them all. Amiable in 
their manners, they were frugal, simple and regular in their habits. 
They were scrupulously honest in their dealings, affectionate in all 
their social relations, hospitable to strangers, and faithful in the dis- 
charge of duty. 
'Vhile we say this much of the early settler, let us not be under- 
stood as wishing to hold them up as paragons of perfection-as 
examples in all things to their descendants. They had their fai]ings
 
as well as their vÍrtues, but we must make allowances for the circum- 

tances in which they were placed. They were charged by the 
early missionaries, and perhaps with some degree of truth, 
Has ,,'ofuIJy addicted to carousing and dancing," but these were the 
common and allowed amusements of the times in which they lived. 
It may, hmvever, be said with truth, that forms of licetiousness and 
profligacy, which are not uncommon in the present day, would have 
aroused the indignation of the early settler, and met with reprohation, 
if not chastisement at their hands. It is true, they were not of those 
who made broad their phylacteries, or were of a sad countenance, dis- 
figuring their faces, and for a pretence made long prayers. lnnured 
to a life of hardship and toil,-without the check of a Gospel 
ministry, and exposed to the blunting influence of the camp, the 
barrack and the guard room, we must be content to find them but 
rough examples of Christian life. The scrupulous and distrustful 
vigilance, however, with which modern professors of every creed eye 
their fellow men, and require every pecuniary engagement, no matter 
how trivial, to be recorded in a solemn written obligation, stands out 
in striking contrast to the practice of the early settlers, among whom 
all such written agreements were unknown, every man's word being 
a.ccounted as good as his bond. Lands were conveyed and pay. 
ments promised by word of mouth, and verbal agreements were held 
as sacred as the most binding of modem instruments. 
In course of a few years the settlers were enabled to supply 
them<;elves with the necessaries of life from the mill and the store, 
and the roving and dissipated life of the soldier was forgotten, in the 
staid and sober habits of the hard working farmer. A few of a more 



67 
adventurous turn of mind at times would man a boat, and, ascending 
the river to Oswego, take a circuitous route by lakes and rivers, 
betimes carrying their boats shoulder high for miles at a stretch, and 
finally reach the green valley of the Mohawk, dear to them still in 
memory. Returning, they brought such articles of merchandize with 
them as they could transport, and, providing themselves with a pass- 
port at Carleton Island, they swiftly glided down the river. The 
following is a copy of such a passport:- 
Inward. ì l Permit the boat going from this to pass to 
John Loucks Kingston with their provisions, family, clothing, 
. two men, , beding, 
ousehold furniture a
d farming utensils, 
.. J they havmg cleared out at thIS post, as appears 
two "o
len, by their names in the margin. Given under my 
three chIldren. hand at Fort Ontario, 21st day of May, J 795. 
To whom concerned. A. McDOKELL, P.O. (1) 
Having sufficiently trespassed on Mr. Croil's pages, I shall now 
quote from those of Judge Pringle.(2} The latter is himself a des- 
cendant of a United Empire Loyalist family, and has certainly done 
much towards collecting such records relating to them as are at this 
late date accessible: 
It is un10rtunate that no effort was made in the early days of the 
settlement to preserve records of the services, the labours and the 
sufferings of the U. E. Loyalists both before and after their coming to 
Canada. 
One can easily understand why such records are so few. For 
many years after Ii 84 there were but few who were able to keep 
a diary, and they, in common with the rest of the settlers, were too 
busy, too much engaged in the stern work of subduing the forest and 
making new homes, to have much time for anything but the struggle 
for existence. 
Each U. E. Loyalist had some story to tell of the stirring times 
through which he had passed. Some of the older men could speak 
of service in the French war, under Howe, Abercrombie, \V olfe, 
Amherst or Johnson; perhaps of the defeat of Braddock, or of the' 
desperate fight at the outworks of Ticonderoga, where :Montcalm 
drove back Abercrombie's troops; of success at Frontenac or 
Niagara; of scaling the Heights at Quebec, and of victory with \Volfe 
on the Plains of Abraham; of the long and perilous voyage down the 


(I) Croil's II Dundas, <>r a Skelch of Canadian History," pp. 129-141. 
(2) .. LlIl1enburg, or ùld Eastern District," p 29, et seq. 



68 
St. Lawrence with Amherst, and of the capitulation of Montreal. 
There were but few who could not tell of adventures in the Seven 
Years' War from 1776 to 1783, and of loss of home, property and 
friends, for the part they took in it; while many could speak from 
personal experience of cruel wrong and persecution suffered by them 
as a punishment for their loyalty. No doubt when neighbours met 
together on a winter evening to chat beside the great fireplace filled 
with blazing logs, many an hour was passed in the telling of tales of 
the troubles and adventures they had encountered. These stories 
have gradually faded and become dim in the recollection of the 
people; here and there a few facts can be got from some family that 
has cherished the remembrance of them as an heirloom. A Fraser 
could tell of the imprisonment and death of a father; a Chisholm of 
imprisonment, and escape through the good offices of a brother 
Highlander in the French service; a Dingwall of the escape of a 
party through the woods, of sufferings from cold and hunger, of 
killing for food the faithful dog (I) that followed them, and dividing 
the carcase into scanty morsels; a Ferguson of running the gauntlet, 
imprisonment, sentence of death, and escape; an Anderson of 
service under Amherst, of the offer first of a company, then of a 
battalion, in the Continental Army, as the price of treason, of being 
imprisoned and sentenced to death, and of escape with his fellow- 
prisoner \0 Canada. 
It is probable that not a few of the Highlanders could tell of 
service on one side or the other in the abortive rising under" Bonnie 
Prince Charlie" in 1745, which, after successful actions at Preston 
Pans and Falkirk, was quenched in blood on Culloden Muir in 1746. 
Some, like John McDonell (Scotus), (2) might be able to show a 
claymore with blade dented by blows on the bayonets of Cumber- 
land's Grenadiers. 


(1) One of the party got the dog's tail, which he ate with great relish, declaring it to be the 
sweetest morsel he ever tasted. 
(2) Grandfather of the late Domld Æn
as McDonc;lI, a
 one time Sheriff of the Eastern 
District and for many years Warden of the Kmgston Pemtenuary. John Macdonell, who was a 
Captain in the K;. R. R.
. Y., was known as "Spanish John," from the fact of his having been 
long in the Spamsh SerVice. 



69 


CHAPTER 7. 


LOVALISTS IN THE UPPER COUNTRY OF CANADA DESIRE A 
CHANGE IN THE TENURE OF LAND AND SEPARATION FROM 
THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC.-ADDRESS TO LORD DORCHESTER 
FROM LEADING SETTLERS IN GLENGARRY AND VICINITY.- 
HIS REPLY.-HE RECü:\DIENDS ACQUIESCENCE IN REQUEST 
OF LOYALISTS.-FoRMATION OF DISTRICTS OF LUNENBURG, 
MECKLENBURG, NASSAU AND HESSE BY PROCLAMATION, 24TH 
JULV, I788.-PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA ESTABLISHED 
AND CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT ASSIGNED TO ITS PEOPLE, 
26TH DECEMBER, I79I.-DIVIDED INTO COUNTlES.-FIRST 
CO
IMISSION OF THE PEACE, EASTERN DISTRICT.-ExTRACTS 
FRO
1 RECORDS OF FIRST COURT OF THE DISTRICT. 


Shortly after their settlement in. the Upper Country, some 
among the leaders of the Loyalists took strong exception to the 
tenure of land in Canada, aUeging that it subjected them to the 
rigorous rules, reservations and restrictions of the French laws and 
customs, which they found far different from the mild tenures to 
which they had ever been accustomed, and on behalf of the officers 
and soldiers of the Provincial Troops and Indian Department, they 
forwarded in April, 1785, a petition to the King, in which they pro- 
posed as a remedy against the hardships indicated that a district 
from Point au Boudet (the south-east limit of the present County of 
Glengarry and of the now Province of Ontario) westward should be 
formed, distinct from the Province of Quebec; that it should be 
divided into co
nties, with Cataraqui (now Kingston) for its metro- 
polis, and that the land therein should be held on the same tenure, 
practically, as existed in England. 
The reasons and considerations respecting the proposals are 
given at length by the petitioners in a very able document. They 
alleged that they had been born British Subjects, and had ever been 
accustomed to the government and laws of England; tha( it was to 
restore that government and be restored to those laws, for which from 
husbandmen they became soldiers, animated with the hope that, 



7 0 
even in the most gloomy aspect of public affairs, should they fail in 
their attempts to recover their former habitations by a restoration of 
the King's Government, they would still find a refuge in some part of 
the British Dominions where they might enjoy the blessings to which 
they had been acçustomed, and that they still professed the greatest 
confidence that through His Majesty's gracious interposition they 
would be exempt from the burden of the tenures complained of, which. 
however congenial they might be to men born and bred under them, 
were nevertheless in the highest degree exceptionable to Englishmen. 
They cited the case of the settler5 in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 
and asked to be placed in the same relative situation with the inhab- 
itants of those Provinces. 
Again, on the return to Canada of Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord 
Dorchester, who had a second time been appointed Governor- 
General of Canada, and who was much beloved by his old soldier 
comrades of the earlier period of the Revolutionary War, ( I) addresses 
were presented to him from the leading settlers in the neighborhood 
of New Johnstown (Cornwall), Oswegatchie (Oswego and vicinity) 
and Cataraqui (Kingston), in which latter the matter of land tenure 
was again alluded to. 
That from New Johnstown was as follows:- 
"To His Excellency the Right Honourah]e Lord Dorchester, 
Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of all His l\Iajesty's 
Forces in British America, &c., &c. 
"The address of the subscribers on behalf of themselves and 
the other inhabitants in the neighbourhood of New Johns Town, 


(I) Sir Guy Carleton had been Governor-General and Commander-in-Chiefof the Canadas 
from 1768 to June, 1778, when he was replaced by Sir Frec1erick Haldimand. He was, on his 
elevation to the Peerage as Baron Dorchester, re-appointed to his former position and command 
in October, 1786. and so continued until July, 1796, and thus served longer by far than any other 
Governor-General since the I on quest of Canada, He was the descendant of an ancient family 
which had lived in Cornwall, England, for centuries previous to the Norman Conquest. He was 
born abont 1725, and entered the army at an early age. He accompanied Wolfe's Expedition to 
Canada, was present at the first and second battles on the Plains of AbT.1ham; was specially 
mentioned in despatches hv both Townshend and Murray; continued under the command of the 
htter and became Brigadier-General. To hi
 bravery, activity and self-possession, may largely 
be attributed the salvation of Canada at the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, when with 
but 800 men at his disposal he successfully resisted the ;!uacks of the American Generals Arnold, 
Montgomery anll Morgan Upon Burgoyne being appointed Commander-in-Chief in America, 
COI1
idering himself slighted by the Government, he, In a despatch to Lord George Germaine 
dated 27th Jnne, 1777. requested his reca I, "bei"g fearful that the marks of Y ,ur Lordship's 
displeasure should effect not me but the King's Service and the tranquility of his people, nor 
thinking it wise that the private ,enmity of the Ki
g's 5ervar.ts ,should add, to the distl!rban<:es of 
hi<; reign." I,p 1782 he was appomted to succeed Sir Henry Chnton as (ommander-m-l hief of 
all His Majesty's Forces in America, When elevated to the Peerage in 1786, Parliament voted 
him a pension of /:,1,000 per annnm during his life. th t of his wife and ctdest son. It is impos- 
sible to estimate the value of his public services to Canada. He married a danghtf'r of the second 
Earl of Effingham, by whom he left a large lami
y. He died in 1808, aged eighty-three years. 
IIis name is commemora
ed in the metropolitan Connty of Carleton in Ontario and the County of 
Dorchester in Quebec.-l\Iorgan's Celebrateà Can..dians. 



'7 1 
comprehending six Townships from Point au Boudet uþwards.. 
 
" Permit us, my Lord, to congratulate you upon your safe arnval 
Qnce more into this Province, and to participate in the general joy 
which this event has occasioned, a joy which can be only equalled 
by the regret which was felt upon your departure. 
" Our warmest thanks are due to Your Lordship for your early 
attention to our wants. This proof of your regard, with many others, 
will never be erased from the memory of us or our posterity. We 
shall teach our children to venerate the name and the memory of the 
man who at all times and on all occasions has ever distinguished 
himself as our ad vocate and our friend. 
"\Ve feel the most sensible pleasure on the marks of honour as 
well as power conferred on Your Lordship by Our Most Gracious 
Sovereign, who is ever desirous to reward distinguished merit, and 
we are thankful to Providence for having dictated a choice which of 
all others is the most approved of by the universal voice of all classes 
and all denominations of people. 
"\Ve cannot omit this opportunity of ackn\Hvledging our grati- 
tude to His Majesty for his Royal favour and patronage, and we must 
request Your Lordship to be so good as to signify to Our Most Gra
 
cious Sovereign that this infant settlement, though at a remote dis- 
tance from the Throne, is nevertheless peopled with subjects ani- 
mated with sentiments of the wannest zeal and attachment to His 
Person and Government. 
"To conclude, may you My Lord, Lady Dorchester and your 
family enjoy every pleasure that health, honor and affluence, united 
to the conciousness of having contributed to the happiness of many, 
can bestow. 
"New Johnstown, 2nd December, I786
 
(( JA
IES GRAY, Major King's Royal Regiment of New York. 
RICHARD DUNCAN, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
ALLAN M.\CDO
ELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
ALEXANDER MACDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment N ew York. 
ARCH'D 
L.\CDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of N ew York. 
J NO. MACDO
ELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of N ew York. 
HUGH MACDONELL, Lieut. late King's Royal Regiment New York. 
S. ANDERSO
, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
MALCOL:\r l\!C.i\[ARTIN, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York. 
RI(;H'D \VILKINSON, Lieut. late Six Nations tndian Department. 
PETER EVERITT, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New YOlk. 
NEIL :\lcLEAN, Lieut. late Eighty-Fourth Regiment. 
J. ANDERSON, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of N ew York. 
JACOB FARRAND, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York. 
'VILLIAl\1 FAULKNER, C.P. 
'V ALTER SUTHERLAND, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of N ew York. tI 
His Lordship's reply to these addresses, directed to Mr. Stephen 



7 2 
Delancy, who had been charged with the presentatÍon of them, was 
as follows: 


"QUEBEC, 14th December, 1786. 


U SIR, 
" You will commul1icate to the inhabitants of the Townships of 
New Johnstown, Oswegatichie and Cataraqui, my thanks for their 
professions of regard for me. You will at the same time assure them 
that nothing could be more acceptable to me than the sense of grati- 
tude they testify for His Majesty's paternal attention to their situa- 
tion, and which they so warmly and so dutifully express. Agreeable 
to their request, the memorials shall be transmitted and laid at the 
foot of the Throne. 


tI I am, with regard, 
" Your most obedient servant, 
" DORCHESTER." 


I' Stephen Delancy, } 
" Inspector of Loyalists." 
The addresses were transmitted to the Secretary of State for the 
Colonies, with the following communication from His Excellency: 
"QUEBEC, 3rd January, 1787- 
; "I\IyLORD 
"The addresses from the settlements of New Johnstown, Oswe- 
gatchie and Cataraqui are sent to Your Lordship, as it is requested 
that their sentiments of gratitude and zeal and attachment to His 
Majesty may be transmitted. 
" They also express hopes that the same privileges and indul- 
gences which their fellow-sufferers and fellow.subjects enjoy in the 
other new formed settlements in British America will be extended to 
them. I asked Mr. Delancy, who presented the addresses, what 
theÍr general expressions meant. He answered that he thought they 
regarded the terms on which they were to hold their lands. 
"The conditions of lands held in Canada en rotUi"e is in truth 
much more heavy and disadvantageous than in any other Province in 
America, but of this I hope to be able to write more fully to Your 
Lordship in the course of next .summer. My answer is also enclosed. 
u Many other addresses have been presented, but as they con- 
tained no matter which requires particular notice, I have not trans- 
mitted them to Your Lordship. 
" I am, with respect and esteem, 
" Your Lordship's most obedient 
"And most humble servant, 
" DORCHESTER. 


" 'rhe Right Honourable } 
,. Lord Sydney, 
"&c., &c." 



73 
Up to this time, the Province of Quebec was divÌded into two 
Districts, viz.: those of Quebec and Montreal, the latter containing 
the whole of the territory which the Loyalists thus sought to have 
erected into a separate District, and which now constitutes the great 
Province of Ontario. Lord Dorchester was as good as his word to 
the \Vestern Loyalists, and having represented the matter to the 
Home Government, he, by the King's instructions, on the 24th July, 
17 88 , issued a proclamation whereby four new Districts were formed, 
that of Lunenburg, extending from the eastern limit of Lancaster 
northerly to Point Fortune on the Ottawa, and westerly to the mouth 
of the River Gananoque. It comprehended the Townships of Lan- 
caster, Charlottenburg, Cornwall, Osnabruck, \Villiamsburg, Matilda, 
Edwardsburg, Augusta and Elizabethtown, all of them extending 
northward to the Ottawa River. The other Districts were Mecklen- 
burg, extending from Gananoque to about Belleville, Nassau from 
the latter place to Long Point on Lake Erie, and Hesse comprising 
the rest of Canada to the western boundary of the present Province 
of Ontario. The territorial nomenclature was calculated to inspire 
the House of Guelph with a lively interest in the welfare of the 
infant settlement! Previous to the formation of the four new Dis- 
tricts, and while the upper country still formed portion of the District 
of Montreal, magistrates had been appointed, though the Commis- 
sion under which they acted cannot now be found nor its date ascer- 
tained. Judge Pringle states, however, that it must have been pre- 
vious to the 29th July, 1786, as there is a commission dated on that 
day to "Samuel Anderson, of New Johnstown (Cornwall), one of 
His Majesty's Justices of the Peace in 
nd for the District of 
:Montreal," authorizing him to administer oaths to certain parties in 
a matter before the court, and he is of the opinion that the gentlemen 
who held commissions in the disbanded battalions were generally 
appointed magistrates. He mentions that there is no record of their 
having held any çourts of General Sessions of the Peace 'before the 
issuing of Lord Dorchester's proclamation, though there are tradi- 
tions of Magistrates' Courts having been held, and of rough and 
ready justice being summarily dealt out to offenders. 
The same authority, and there is none better, states: 
"The first Court in the District of Lunenburgh, of which any 
record exists, was the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, held at 
Osnabruck on the 15th day of June, 1789. It is not stated in what 



74 
part ot Osnabruck the Court met; the place must have been ín th
 
front, probably near what is now known as Dickinson's Landing. 
The records of the Courts of General Sessions for the District of 
Lunenburgh-afterwards the Eastern District, and noW the United 
Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry-have been very care- 
fully kept;. the books containing the minutes of tbe proceedings 
from the 15 th of June, 1789, until the present time, are in the office 
of the Clerk of the Peace at Cornwall. They contain the names of 
Magistrates, Officers of the Court, Jurors, and parties to cases tried, 
and not a little information of the olden time that may be of interest 
to the present generation. 
The magistrates who had been appointed before the Province of 
Upper Canada was formed, continued to act and to hold the Courts 
of General Quarter SeS9ions, until Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe 
issued a new Commission of the Peace for the Eastern District. This 
Commission, which is now among the records in the office of the 
Clerk of the Peace at Cornwall: is dated at the Government House, 
Navy Hall, * on the loth day of June, 1793. The old magistrates 
were re-appointed, and some new ones were added to the original 
number. The names of those in the commission of 1793 are: The 
Honourable William Osgoode, Chief Justice (I); \Villiam Dummer 
Powell, Esquire (2); the Honourable Alexander Grant (3); the 
Honourable Peter Russell (4); the Honourable James Baby (5); 
Richard Duncan (6), John McDonell (7), John Munro (8), James 
Gray (9), Edward Jessup (10), \Valter Sutherland (II), \Villiam 
Falkner (12), Richard \Vilkinson (13), \ViUiam Byrnes (14), Thomas 
Swan (IS), Jeremiah French (16), Archibald McDonell (17), Allen 
McDonell (18), \Villiaffi Fraser (19), Peter Drummond (20), Justus 
Sherwood (21), Ephraim Jones (22), \Villiam Buel (23), Thomas 
Sherwood (24), Alexander McMillan (25), Alexander McDonell (26), 
Samuel Anderson (27), Joseph Anderson (28), James Stuart (
9), 
Allan Patterson (30), Malcolm McMartin (31), Sa!nuel \Vright (3 2 ), 
James Brackenridge (33), Alexander Campbell, of Augusta (34); 
Neil McLean (35), Miles McDonell (3 6 ), Vermiel Lorimier (37), 
Hugh McDonell (38), Alexander Campbell, of Johnstown (39); 
Thomas Fraser (40), Andrew \Vilson (41) and Neil Robertson (4 2 )t, 


" At Niagara, then the seat of Government. 
t J have taken considerable trouble to trace the record of these gentlemen. The first five 
were ex-officio commissioners. It will be seen that the remainder were almost without exception 
officer
 of the disbanded Loyalist Regiments, The personnel of Commission c.mtrasts not 



75 
E'>fluires, who are directed" to en1uire the truth most fully, by the 
oath of good and lawful men of the aforesaid District, of all and all 
nnnner of felonies. poisonings. inch::mtments, sorceries, 3.rts magick, 
tre=-passes, forestallings, regratings, ingrossings, and extortions what- 
so
ver, and of all and singular other crimes and offences of which 
the J u"tices of the Peace mayor ought lawful1y to enquire." 
On the 26th December, 1791, the division of the Provinces of 
Upper and Lower Can:l.da took place, Constitutional Govern
nent 
\Va" granted, anrl the pèople, through their representatives, were 
placed in a position to settle the tenure of their lands and other 
matters for the n"elves. Lieutenanl-G:wernor Simcoe ismed a 
ProclamLttion, dated the 16th day of June, 1792, dividing the Province 
into Counties, the easternmo,>t of which were then. a<; now, styled Glen- 
garry, Stormont and Dundas. At the first session of the Legislature 
of Upper Canada, in 1792, an Act was passeJ changing the names of 
the Districts. Under that Act the District of Lunenburgh bècame 
the Eastern District. 
The oldest book of the records of the Court of General Quarter 
Sessions of the Peace for the District of Lunenburgh shows that the 
first ses.:;ion of that Court began at Osnabruck on the 15th day of 
June, 1789. The magistrates present were :- 
Tohn McDonell, Justus Sherwood, 
-Richard Duncan, Ephriam Jones, 
James Gray, \Villiam Falkner
 
Thomas Swan, \Villiam Fraser, 
J ere:n;a l l French. Archibald McDonell. 


unfavorably, with th,.,se of the present day in the Province of Ont 'rio :-r Chi f Justice of Upper 
Canada. 2. Then Commissioner of Oyer and Termin.'r of Upper Can-.da; l'hief J list ce, rHr5. 
3,4 and 5. Members ofthe E"ecuti\'eand Legi
lative COl!ucil of Upper Cauada., 6. Legi"tative 
Councillor of l'pper Canada: formerly a Captain First Batla1ion Kinl;'s Roval }{eiZiment of 
ew 
York 7, Formerly a Captain 13u tler's Corps of R -.ngers: Speaker First Parliament of lJ pper 
Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel "'econd 13.ltta\1on Royal Can-.dia'l VoIunt.'er Regiment 
of Foot. S. Formerly Captain King's Roy..1 Regiment of N, Y., First Uatlaliun. 9. Fo:m- 
erly Major K.R,R.N,Y. '0. Formerly Major Commanrlant Loyal Rangers II. Formerly 
Lieutenant K R.R. '\ Y. 12, Name..n Lord Vorche
ter's li,t as U. E; Corp
 and r,mk not 
stated. 13. Lieutenant Six 
ations Indian D'.partmellt 14. Captai I K, R. K N. Y. 
15. Name on Lord Dorchester's list as U. E ; Corps and r...nk not Sld.te'
 16. Lif'utenalll K, R. 
}{, -..: V" Second Batt
'ion. 17. Captain K R.R.N. Y., First Batt...Iion. IS. \ 'apt-.in-Lieutenant 
K R. R, N. Y 19. Capt..in Loyal }{allgers r] es;up's Corps I. 20. Capui" Luyal Rangers (je;sllp's 
Corps). 21, Captain Loyal Rangers (jessup's r 'orrS), 22, An Officer of the Commi'
ariat 
Department. 23. Stated in Lord Dorch..ster's list t'1 ha.ve been Ensign, Royal Range,s; n .me 
does not appear in list of officers on reduction of kegiment. 24 Ensign Lo\ al Rangers (jessup's 
l'orpsl. 25. An officer in VeLancie's BrIgade. 26. Greenfield. 27. Captain K. R. R. 
. Y , First 
Battalinn. 2S, Lieutenant K.R.R \I.Y., Fir
t Raltalion. 2) "urg,eon's \I.lte K R,R,N.Y 3 0 . 
t 'annot trace this gentleman. 31. Lieut K R }{. N. Y. r
t H.ltt, 32. :'\lame on Lord Dorche;ter's 
li
1 a... V.E.: 
'orps -.nd rank not st .Led, 13 Cap
 .in Loy." 1
,anli[eN.( J{.,dger's Corps', 34 and 
JQ One a LIeutenant Royal Rang-ers. 35. L,eute ant } Ighty-I-ourth or }{ova Highland 
Emigrant IÜ;gim nt. ') En,i.
n K. H.. 
. ...... Y., Fi
st B ,tt .lion, 37, I :lImoL trace this gentle- 
man. .8. J It:utellant K, J{,li. ,"," . hr,t B..tL,l\1nn, 4U 'apt,un Lo}al llangers <Je...sup's 
Corp;). 41. Lannut trace this gentlenun. 4- Lie !Len lit K. R. R.
. y, 



7 6 
It is not stated who the Chaim1an was. The Grand Jurors 
empannelled were :- 


1 Alexander Campbell (Foreman), 
2 Peter Drummond, 
3 Thomas Fraser, 
4 John McKenzie, 
5 George Stewart, 
6 John Seymour, 
7 Malcolm McMartin, 
8 Neil McLean, 
9 Martin \Valter, 
10 John Pescod, 
I I Ranald McDonell, Jr., 
12 Ranald McDonell, Sr., 


13 Gideon Adams, 
14 John Dulmage, 
15 James Campbell, 
16 Alex'r Campbell, 
17 David Brackenridge, 
18 Ephriam Curry, 
19 John Jones, 
20 Elijah Bottom, 
2 I \Villiam Snyder, 
22 Daniel Campbell, 
23 Matthew Howard, 
24 Thomas Robertson. 


The first case was tried on Tuesday, the 16th day of June, 17 8 9. 
The following is an exact copy of the entry of the proceedings, and 
I regret that Judge Pringle's researches compel me to chronicle the 
fact that the defendant was a namesake of my own, can dour, however, 
obliging me to acknowledge that I am not in the very least surprised 
at the nature of the indiscretion charged against honest Ranald, who 
I hope got the worth of the money out of the other fellow! A careful 
ex.amination of subsequent records of the Court of Quarter Sessions 
might possibly disclose the fact that namesakes of Ranald's have not 
unfrequently contributed, in the most public-spirited manner, to the 
public exchequer as the result of similar little controversies with 
their neighbours, and I have been given to understand that the pri- 
vilege is now somewhat more expensive than it was a hundred years 
ago, when Ranald appears to have differed in opinion with Mr. 


McKay: 
The King, on Pros., 
Alexander McKay
 1 
' s In Assault and Battery. 
Ranal
 'l\IcDonell, 


Sent up the bill of indictment to the Grand J my. The Grand 
J my return a true bill. The defendant, being arraigned, pleads not 
guilty. It is ordered, on motion for the prosecution, that the trial 
come on immediately, by consent of the defendant. The jury em- 
panelled and sworn to try the issue of this traverse were: 



77 
I \Villiam Phillips, 7 Joseph Loucks, 
2 Jacob VanAllen, 8 Anthony \Vallaser, 
3 Jacob \Veegar, 9 John \Vart, 
4 Michael Hains, 10 Jacob Merkle, 
5 David Jaycocks, II Ad3m Empey, 
6 John Coons, t 2 Nicholas Ault. 
\Vitness for the prosecution, Angus McKay. The jury having 
heard the evidence, retired to consider their verdict, in cha.ge of 
Duncan McArthur, bailiff. The jury having returned into court, 
say, by \Villiam Phillips, their foreman, that the defendant is guilty, 
as laid in the indictment. The court having considered the verdict 
of the jury, it is ordered that the defendant do pay a fine of one 
shilling, and that he stand committed till paid. 
The following persons were appointed Constables for Glengarry: 
Lancaster-Richard Fountain, Benjamin Baker. 
Charlottenburg-Finnan McDonell, Charles Ross, Duncan 
.McArthur. 



7 8 


CHAPTER 8. 


SERVICES OF SIR JOHN JOHNSON.-ZOO,OOO ACRES ABANDONED 
BY Hl:\1 IN THE UNITED STATES.-LoRD DORCHESTER RE- 
COJ\IJ\IENDS Hnl AS FIRST LIElJTENAì-<T-GOVERNOR OF UPPER 
CANAlJA.-POLlCY OF HO:\1E GOVERN
1ENT OPPOSED TO THE 
ApP01NT
IEt\T OF RESIDENTS TO THE GOVERNJ\lEl"T.-DES- 
PATC
 OF THE COLOKIAL SECRETARY.- FIRST REFER- 
ENCE TO GLENGARRY SETTLE
IENT. - COLONEL JOHN 
MACDONELL (ABERCHALDER).-HE AND HIS BROTHER HUGH 
MACDONELL ELECTED MEMBERS IN FIRST P ARLlAJ\IENT OF 
UPPER CANADA.-HE IS ELECTED ITS SPEAKER.-LIST OF 
1\IDIBERS.-SOME FACTS RELATING TO THEM.-AcTS PASSED 
AT FIRST SESSION. 


Sir John Johnson, who had been so intimately associated with 
thuse whu became the first settlers of Glengarry, did not altogether 
sever his connection with them. Portion of the laud which \Vas 
allotted to him in consideration of his signal services to the Crown 
was situated in the County of Glengarry in the immediate vicinity of 
what is now known as" Stone House .Point." He had, I am told, 

electeù a site for his residence, of which the foundation had been 
heen laid, where the house now occupied by Colonel Alexander 
Fraser is built on the River St. Lawrence, on what is now known as 
Fraser's Point.( I) 
Judge Pringle states that what are locally known as " the In- 
dian Lands," a narrow strip between the western townships of Glen- 
garry and the eastern ones of Sturmont, are said to have been intend- 
ed for Sir John John::,un, and to have been held for the Indians on 
Sir John 's de
ining to accept uf them. This, uf courSe, would have 
been a \'ery extensive grant-many thousands of acres-yet it must 
be remembered that. a
 stated by Mr. Stone, "he voluntarily gave UI) 


(x) Colonel Fraser died "ince the above \
as written, June 5th, 1891, much and deservedly 
respected. 



79 
tl0maÌns Ìn what Ìs now the United States larger and îaÌrer thàn had 
ever belonged to a single proprietor in America, \Villiam Penn on I) 
e},.cepted," and that of all the eminent men among the Loyalists none 
were at all comparable to him, either as regards the extent of the 
sacrifices made or the importance of the services rendered through- 
out the \Yar from its commencement to its close. Two hundred 
thousand acres of val'..lahle land was what he sUlTendered. 
He also owned a large tract of land in the neighborhood of 
"Ïlliamstown, so named by him after his father, Sir 'Yilliam, and 
where he built the first mills. As showing the interest which Sir 
John Johnson took in the Coui1t) of Glengarry, it may be mentioned 
that on the 25th of June, 1814, he presented to Neil McLean, then 

heriff of the Ea
tern District, and his successors in office, twelve 
acres of land in \\Tilliamstown for the purpose of a fair ground for 
the people of the Counties, being the site of the present Glengarr) 
Agricultural Society grounds. He ne\'t;r, however, vermanently re 
sided in Glengarry, the nature of his occupation not permitting of it. 
He had been appointed at the close of the \Yar Superintendent- 
General and Inspector-General of the Six Nation Indians, his com- 
mission as such being dated March 14th, 1]82. He was Colonel-in- 
Chief of the Six Battalions of 
Iilitia of the Eastern Townships, and 
a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, to which he 
was summoned 24th January, 1797. He had been knighted by the 
King in his father's lifetime, at St. James, on the 22nd November, 
1765, when but twenty-three years of age. The Rev. 
tr. Campbell 
mentions in his" History of St. (
abriel Church, Montreal," that the 
Patent of Baronetcy, conferred upon his father, contains a most 
singular clause, which gives the title of I, Knight" to the eldest son in 
this family on his attaining his majority. Sir John was always, in 
official documents, designated, after his father's death, as " Knight 
and Baronet," thus showing that the Knighthood did not merge in 
the Baronetcy, He owned the 
cigniory of Argenteuil, and was for 
many years a conspicuous figure in Canada. He "as born on No
 
vember 5th, q.p, and died at his residence, ::;t. 
[ar}"s, in the 
County of Rouville, on J anuar) 4th, 1830, in the eighty-ninth year 
of his 2.ge, and was Luried in the flmily" ault at his seat on the south 
side of the St. Lawrence, near Montreal. He is described in Jones' 
I, History of New York" as bold. resolute, spirited, brave and active. 
and his career undouLtedly proved it. 



8ð 


Mr. Morgan stá:tes Ín hÍs "Celebrated Canaruans rr tnat Sír 
John's eldest son, William Johnson, entered the army, became a. 
Colonel in the Service, and was kíIIed at \Vaterloo. He was suc- 
ceeded in the Baronetcy by his eldest surviving son, Sir Adam Gor- 
don Johnson, who, dying without issue, was succeeded by the pre- 
!'cnt Baronet
 Sir \Vílliam George Johnson, of Twickenham,. England, 
son of J ohrt Johnson, of Point Oliver, Montreal, à yO'Unge"r bTather of 
Sir Gordon, who died before the latter. A niece of Sir John's be- 
came Lady Clyde; a grand-daughter married Alexander, Count 
Bahnain, Russian Commissioner at St. Helena, and others of his 
descendants made distinguished alliances. (I) 
Lord Dorchester had on the 15th March, 1790, ill a despatch 
to the Right Honourable \Villiam \Vyndham Grenville, strongly 
recommended Sir John as the fir9t Lieutenant-Governor of Upper 
Canada on the ground of his eminent services. The answer of the 
Secretary of State shows, however, that not only had the. appoint- 
ment of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe been decided upon previous to 
the receipt of Lord Dorchester's despatch, and that Simcoe had 
been duly notified of the fact, but it sets out fully and clearly the 
policy of the British Government then prevailing and ever since pur- 
sued in regard to the appointment of residents of the Colonies to the 
government of the same. No one can question its wisdom, however 
great may be his appreciation of Sir John's services, which rendered 
his claim paramount to that of Simcoe or any other individual whom- 
::wever. It was, I believe, the intention to have followed the same 
wise course in Canada at the time of Confederation in regard to the 
appointment of the Lieutenant-Governors of the Provinces, but local 
circumstances, the short tenure of office, and the comparatively cir- 
cumscribed nature of their functions and powers, probably led to a 
difterent course being adopted with regard to these officers. 
The following is the despatch referred to : 
(Private and Confidential.) 


WHITEHALL, 3rd June, 1790. 


My LORD,- 
I think it right to take this mode of mentioning to Your Lord- 
shífJ rather than by an official despatch, that previous to the receipt 
of Your Lordship's despatch No. 20, I had submitted to His Ma- 
jesty the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe for the Lieutenant 
Govemment of Upper Canada, supposing the proposed division of 


(I) Campbell's History of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church, l\Iontrea I. 




t 
\.Ì1e Provìnce or Quebec to be carried into effect, and that 1 had. been 
directed by His Majesty to express to that officer His l\Iajesty's 
03.pprobation of his appointment. 
In making this selection, I had not overlooked the situation and 
'services of Sir John Johnson, but motives of very considerable weight 
in my opinion induced me to think that the nomination of a person 
belonging to that Province, and pos
essing such large property in it, 
was not desirable, especially in the first formation of the new Gov- 
ernment. The disadvantage to His :\lajesty's Service which might 
be eXlJected from the effect of local habits, connections and interests 
appear to me to be mOl'e than sufficient to counterbalance those 
benefits which may l?e stated as arising from the same circumstances" 
I mention this more particularly to Your Lordship because it 
is uncertain whether, in the event of hostilities with Spain, Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Simcoe may not be employed on some different service. 
and because even in that event I think it right to apprize Your 
Lordship that great objections would, in my olJillion, subsist against 
naming Sir John Johnson. 
I have no positive information how far Sir John Johnson has 
been induced to look to this object, nor what his probable line 
of conduct would be in case of disappointment. Your 
Lordship will, of course, see that it is very material for me to receive 
confidentally your opinion on this point, on account of the great 
embarrassment which might be thrown in the way of Government 
at its first outset in the new Province, if all the members of the 
Legislative Council were appointed at the recommendation of any 
person, however distinguished in point of situation or services, who 
was not cordially and sincerely disposed to co-operation with the 
King's representative. 
I have the honour to be, 
'Vith great truth and regard, My tord, 
Your Lordsh.p's most faithful and 
Obedient hum hie servant, 
,V. 'v. GRENVILLE. 


The Right Hon'òle Lord Dorchester. 
An unpublished MS. diary of Major R. Mathews. of the Fifty. 
Third Regiment, and Military Secretary to Lord Dorchester, the 
original of which is to be found in the Education Office, Toronto. 
contains the first reference I can find to the LoyaIi
t settlement in 
Glengarry and west. It is a journal of a voyage made by him, 
to Detroit in 1787 . Under date of J\Ia y 3rd of that year, he notes. 
"General Hope spoke to me upon the situation of affairs at Detroit." 
::\lay 4th. Signified to Lord Dorchester my feelings at being 
ahsent from my Regiment at a time when the complexion of affairs in 
the Upper Country appears rather gloomy, and my regret at the 



Sz 
necessity of relinquishing the honour of attending him. His Lord 
received and approved of my proposal to join my Regiment in the 
handsomest manner; would not allow of its making allY alteration in 
my situation with him, and said he had business at Detroit, etc., to 
charge me with, on which he would expect me to return and 
report to him in the fall, pro
ided the situation of affairs above 
would permit. I therefore prepared immediately to set off. 
On the 17th 
fay he arrived at Cote-au du Lac, the next entry 
under date 18th 
Iay being as follows :
 
Got on board the hateau, ?t --1- o'clock, and proceede-d to 
LongueiL the entrance to the lake, Were there obliged to stop 
owing to a violent head \\ incl, which made the la1...e impracticahle. 
.\t 2 o'clock the wind moderated, and we pushed off. Got to Point 
au Baudet at 6, \"here one 1\1cGee, formerly in 
ir John Johnson's 
Corps has a settlemtnt, on which he has made very rapid progress. 
Halted about I j minuks, and proceeded to Point l'Toroniere; 
arrived there at half after eight o'dock, and on my way passed 
Lieutenant Sutherland's settlement, situated in a deep bay. \Ve 
were not near enough to form any judgment of the land, but 
he seemed to have cleared a good deal. Halted for a few minutes. 
and was just pushing off for Sir J. J nhnson's Point when a violent 
gust came on, which determined me to put up for the night in an 
uninhabited hou
e. 
May 19th. Set off at --1- o'clock, the wind still high and contrary, 
weather disagreeably col(ì. Passed :\1r. Falconer's settlement at a 
distance. and landed at a small house within two miles of Captain 
.\lexander 
la('donen's. Walked to his house and breakfasted, 
l'he situation here is delightful anå the soil very fine. He has 
cleared a great deal of land. and bids fair [.)r having a fine farm in a 

hort time. ,Ve proceed on foot to 
Ir. \Vilkinson's. He is situated 
close to the river, by a fine creek, where he is erecting a potash and 
means to build a mill. There are two inconsiderable settlements 
above this. and then an interval of four miles belonging tu St. Regis 
Indians, the points of which and situation are very favorable for 

ettlement, and from the wood growing the soil HUlst be very rich. 
The first settlement from this interval is strikingly beautiful, being 
"ituated upon an easy, regular slope, facing the south, and defended 
from the raking east and west winds. _\ fine island, richly clothed 
with wood. and some meadow ground hefore it. I helieve it is the 
property of 
hjor Gray. Got on thi'i evening to the lot of one Nave 
of Sir John J ohn<;on's Corps. He is married to a \Tery young woman, 
,111d hac; a man who wa" taken prisoner at Quebec in '75 to as:-.ist 
him on his farm. He i
 married to a Canadian woman, and th
se 
n\ 0 c.mplec. li\'p together in the s<nne hl)u
t' con--isting of a single 
loom. hut tht' neatest and mn<;t c1eanl\' I e\t'r c;aw. Here w(:; lay. 
20th. Prnreeded at --1- this lllornin:!. Stilll1nfortllnate in our 



83 
wind. Passed the Long Sault about 2 o'clock, and got to Captain 
Duncan's about six in the evening. Drank tea here with Captain J. 
Monro and Lieutenant McMartin. 'Valked from thence about two 
miles to Thompson's, who was in Sir J. Johnson's Corps. A 
sensible man, seemingly very industrious, having all materials ready 
to enlarge his house and much ground cleared. He is married to an 
old Dutch woman. It rained hard this whole day. 
21st. Set off at half after four. Stopped at Captain J. Monro's, 
two miles from where we lay and breakfasted with him. His having 
been in England prevented him from building, nor has he yet 
cleared much. He lives at present in a hut belonging to one of the 
men. Halted here near two hours, and proceeded to Major 
Jessup's by 4 in the evening. \Valked with him over the front of his 
lot, which is situated opposite the Fort of Oswegatchie. He has not 
yet built, but has most of the material collected and has cleared a 
great deal of land. I think this lot in point of situation, regularity of 
ground and goodness of it superior to any I have yet seen. The 
Major came on board and proceeded with us to Captain Sherwood's, 
about four miles further. He has built a very tolerable house upon 
his fann lot in New Oswegatchie, some distance from his farm, and 
has already a potash going forward. \Ve did not find him at home, 
and after waiting about half an hour in hopes of seeing him we got 
on board. 
Of the Loyalist officers who settled in Glengarry, probably the 
most conspicuous in the future history of the Province was John 
Macdonell, then younger of Aberchalder. He shortly became one 
of the most leading men in Upper Canada. He had served during 
the whole Revolutionary War, first in the Eighty-Fourth or Royal 
Highland Emigrants, and for the last five years and ten months in 
command of a company of Butler's. Rangers. His father, Captain 
Alexander Macdonell, and his brothers, who had also held commis- 
sions in the several Loyalist Regiments, likewise settled in the 
Township of Charlottenburgh (on the regiments being disbanded) on 
the banks of the River St. Lawrence about six miles east of Cornwall, 
where they drew a very large tract of land. The ruins of their 
seat, destroyed many years ago by fire (in 1813), but well 
known in its day as Glengarry House and renowned for its 
hospitality, are still to be seen on what is now called" Stone House 
Point." It was, I understand, the first stone and largest hOllse 
tn Upper Canada. 
'Vhen writs were issued by Colonel Simcoe for the election of 
members for the first Parliament of Upper Canada, John 
Iacdone11 
was, together with his brother, Hugh Macdonell, returned to 



84 
represeI'J.t the County of Glengarry, which extended (mnl the St. 
Lawrence to the Ottawa River and which had two representatives. 
The proclamation of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe forming the 
Province into counties, and allotting the number of representatives 
was dated 16th July, 1792. Nineteen counties were formed, 
namely: Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, Leeds, Frontenac, 
Ontario, Addington, Lennox, Prince Edward, Hastings, Norrthum
 
berland, Durhaa1, York, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent. 
Sixteen representatives were to be returned, and for the purpose of 
representation in the Legislature the following arrangements were 
made: Glengarry was divided into two ridings each to send a 
representative; Stormont one member, as also Dundas and Grenville, 
each; Leeds and Frontenac together were to have a representative; 
Ontario and Addington together one member; Prince Edward 
together with the late township of Adolphus, in the county of Lennox, 
one member; Lennox, except Adolphus, with Hastings and 
Northumberland together, to elect one member; Durham and York 
and the first riding of Lincoln were together to have but one 
member; the second riding of Lincoin one member ; the third riding 
of Lincoln one member; the fourth riding of Lincoln and the county 
of Norfolk together one member; Suffolk and Essex together one 
member; Kent, which included all the west, not Indian territories, to 
the Hudson's Bay, to have two members. 
I have had great difficulty in procuring the names of the mem- 
bers of the first Legislature of the Pruvlllce. It is remarkable how 
little can be ascertained with regard to these matters, and I believe 
it is utterly impossible to obtain a correct list of the members and 
the constituencies for which they sat. The fact is, all the parliament 
tary records prior to 1813 were destroyed when York was taken by 
the Americans in April of that year. Copies of such of the journals 
as were transmitted to England have lately bèen procured, but do 
not contain the na:nes of the m=
nbers of the earlier Legislatures. 
Dr. Canniff, in his work" The Settlem=nt of Upper Canada," 
after giving a list of the Di jtricts into which the Pro\ ince was first 
divided for the p..upase" of representation, mentÏJn.., the nam
s of 
the gentlemen who sat in the first House, but in answer to an enquiry 
he informs me that he is unable to assign their respective constitu- 
encies. I fancy, therefore, that it is only from records in the posses- 
sion of the families of people living in Canada at the time, or from 



85 
other private sources, that a list can be compiled, and information 
thus afforded would, I am sure, be acceptable to all who are inter- 
ested in the early history of the Province. I will mention such facts 
as I have been able to gather from books and papers within my 
reach regarding the gentlem
n who composed the first Legislature, 
in the hope that others will throw further light upon the subject, as it 
is only by such means that we can arrive at what is of much historic 
interest, if not of importance. 
Dr. Canniff mentiOlis at page 53-1- that the following were 
elected members of the first House: 
1. John Macdonell, Speaker. 9. Hugh Macdonell. 
2. Joshua Booth. 10. Benjamin Pawling. 
3. Mr. Baby. 11. Nathaniel Pettit. 
4, Alexander Campbell. 12. David \Villiam Smith. 
5. Philip Dorland. 13. Hazeltoa Spencer. 
6. Jeremiah French. 14. Isaac Swazy. 
7. Ephraim Jones. 15. - Young. 
8. \Villiam 
Iocomb. 16. J 01111 \Yhite. 
N os. I and 9.-The careers of Colonel John Macdonell, the 
Speaker, and :VIr. Hugh Macdonell, his brother, the member:j for 
Glengarry, are given in these pages at length. 
2. Joshua Booth.-A U. E. Loyalist. His name is entered in 
Lord Dorc
ester's List with the note, "S. G. Sergeant," and his 
residence is there stated to have been Ernest-town. I can find 
nothing to show the comtituency for which he set or any other facts 
relating to him. 
3. 
1r. Baby.-It will be observed the Chri:.;tian name is not 
given by Dr. Canniff. This name W,lS long, intimately and honour- 
ahly associated with the County of Essex, and the presumption is 
that the gentleman refened to was a member of the family of that 
name re-;ident there before the taking of Quebec by \V olfe, and that 
he represented" Suffolk" and Essex. I had at first assumed it must 
have been the Honourable James Baby who was appointed by 
Colond Simcoe a member of the first Executive Council of Upper 
Canada at Kingston, on the 8th July, 1792, and who for many years 
W<t-; Inspector-General of the Province. I make this suggestion un- 
der correction, however, as Mr. Morgan statcs in hi.
 " Biographies 
of Celebrated Canadians," that 
Ir. James Baby became a ì11èl11ber 
of the Legislative as well as of the E\:ecutive Council at th.tt tim,
 



86 
(179 2 ), and continued in the regular and efficient'discharge of the 
duties of those eminent stations until his death in 1833, and he 
could not well have been a member of both branches of the Legis. 
lature at the same time. 
4. Alexander Campbell.-Mr. Croil in his work, " Dundas, or a 
Sketch of Canadian History," mentions that Alexander Campbell 
was the first m
mber for the County of Dundas, and states that" the 
little that is known of his history presents few inducements to prose- 
cute the enquiry" as to who or what he was, adding, " his character 
is summed up in this, that he was familiarly known at the time by 
the unenviable soubriquet of' Lying Campbell.'" Possibly he may 
have made pledges to his constituents which he was unable to carry 
out, and it being the only instance of that kind which our political 
history affords, his name is handed down to posterity in this unfor- 
tunate manner I In Lord Dorchester's list there appears the name 
of "Alexander Campbell, Esquire," his residence being given as the 
Eastern District, and it is stated that he was a Lieutenant in the 
Loyal Rangers. Probably the same person. 
5. Philip Dorland.-This gentleman appears to have lived in 
Adolphustown, and the presumption is that he was elected to repre- 
sent the COllnty of Prince Edward, to which the Township of 
Adolphus was attached. Mr. Dorland, being a Quaker, refused to 
take the oaths, and the HOllse unanimously passed a resolution that 
he was therefore incompetent to sit and vote in Parliament, where- 
upon a writ issued for a new election, and Peter Van Alstine was 
elected in his stead. Mr. Van Alstine also lived in Adolphustown, 
and was a U. E. Loyalist, as his name appears in Lord Dorchester's 
list, with the, to me, enigmatic note, "Cuylers, Captain." 
6. Jeremiah French.-A U. E. Loyalist, in Lord Dorchester's 
list his residence being given as the Eastern District: He was a 
Lieutenant in the King's Royal Regiment of New York (Second 
Battalion), in which he served nine years. I presume Mr. French 
represented Grenville. 
7. Ephraim Jones.-A U. E. Loyalist who settled in the Town- 
ship of Augusta, County of Leeds, and was the father of the late 
1\1r. Justice Jonas Jones antI grandfather of the late Mr. Ford Jones, 
M P., and other well-known gentlemen. Stated in Lord Dorchester's 
list to have been a Commissary. Mr. Read in "The Lives of the 
Judges" mentions that after the Revolutionary \Var Mr. Jones had 




t 

hàrge or thè supplÌes granted by the British Govermi1ènt to the 
settlers in Upper Canada. Mr. Jones living in the County of Leeds, 
the presumption would be that he represented that County; but it 
will be observed that Leeds and Frontenac Were then united for pur. 
poses of representation, and Dr. Canniff quotes from a despatch of 
Colonel Simcoe, wherein he states, "it was by good fortune that the 
temporary residence I made at Kingston created sufficient influence 
to enable us to bring the Attorney-General \Vhite into the House "--. 
from which the inference might be drawn that !\{r. \Vhite was 
returned for Frontenac, in which County Kingston is situate, and 
which was joined to Leeds. Mr. Ephraim Jones' son and grandson 
most worthily represented the County of Leeds at many different 
times and until a quite recent period. 
8. \Villiam Mocomb.-I can find no mention made of this gen- 
tleman in any books to which I have access. 
10. Benj. Pawling.-A U. E. Loyalist who Was Captain-Lieu.. 
tenant in Butler's Rangers. Lord Dorchester's list states he resided 
Ìn the Home District. No doubt he was member for one of the 
ridings of Lincoln, as Butler's Rangers settled in the Niagara Dis- 
trict on the Regiment being disbanded. 
I I. Nathaniel Pettit.-Resided in the Home District; slated in 
Lord Dorchester's list to have been "an active Loyalist." 
12. David \Villiam Smith.-Morgan's "Celebrated Canadians" 
gives an account of this distinguished gentleman. He was a Captain 
in the Fifth Foot, and Was afterwards called to thè Bar of Upper 
Canada, with precedence as Deputy Judge Advocate; Was appointed 
Surveyor-General of Lands, one of the trustees for the Six Nations 
and a member of the Executive Council; sat in the three first Pa ro. 
liaments, and was Speaker of the second and third Parliaments. For 
his public services in Canada he was created a Baronet by patent 
Augnst 30th, 1821. Died at Almvick, England, 9th May, 18 37. 
Mr. Bain l the Librarian at Toronto, lately procnred all the valuable 
public documents relating to the Province which Mr. Smith took with 
him on his return to England. Probably 
lr. Smith represented 
Durham and York and the first riding of Lincoln. 
13. Haælton Spencer.-A U. E. Loyalist. I find from a return 
of the officers of the R. C. V. Regiment that he served eleven months 
with the Incorporated Loyalists, three years five months and two 
days as a Volunteer in thc King's Royal Regiment of New York, two 



SR 
years seVen ITIoñths and four days as a Lieutenant in the sante Corps, 
and five years and seven months in the Second Battalion Royal 
Canadian Volunteer Regiment of Foot. In 1803 he was Lieutenant 
of the County of Lennox, and was also Colonel of the Lennox 
.Militia Regiment. No doubt he sat for Lennox in the first Parlia- 
ment. 
14. Isaac Swazy (Query, Swayze).-A U. E. Loyalist described 
in Lord Dorchester's list as " Pilot to the New York _'umy," residing 
in the Home District. 1\1r. Swayze represented one of the ridings of 
Lincoln. In 1804, when the constituencies were rearranged (not 
then termed gerrymandered!) the same gentleman and Ralph 
Clench, Esq., represented the second, third and fourth ridings of 
Lincoln. 
15. - Young.--Several of this name (twenty in aU) were U. E. 
Loyalists, the most prominent being Lieutenant John Young, form- 
erly of the Indian Department, who resided in the Home District, 
hut whether or not he was the gentleman who sat in the House I am 
\mable to state. 
16. J ohn \Vhite.
 The first Attorney General of the Province 
who came to Canada in 1792, and was killed in a duel with Mr. 
Small, Clerk of the Executive Council, January 3rd, 1800. For 
which constituency he sat I am unable to state, though from Colonel 
Simcoe's desp1.tch, before referred to, it may possibly have been 
Leed:; and Frontenac. Dr. ScadJing, in "Toronto of Old," page 
24 6 , quotes the remarks made by the" Oracle n and Niagara" Con- 
stellation" regarding Mr. \Vhite at the time of his death, both highly 
eulogistic. 
Dr. Ryer
on, in his book, "The Loyalists of America and their 
Times," states that the members of this Assembly have been repre- 
sented as "plain, home-spun clad farmers and merchants f!om the 
plough and the store," and very properly remarks that" the mem- 
bers of our Legislature have always, for the most part, been such 
from that day to this, but many of the members of the first Parlia- 
ment of Upper Canada had possessed respectable and some of them 
luxurious homes, from which they had been exiled hy narrow-mind
d 
and bitter enemies; they had fought on battle fields for the country 
whose forests they now burned and felled; their home-spun gar- 
ments were some of the fruits of their own industry and that of their 



89 
wÌ\es and daughters,'1 remarks fully borne out by the few facts t 
have stated regarding these gentlemen, from which it will be seen 
they were largely composed of officers of the disbanded Regiments 
of the Revolutionary \Var. So far as our own County is concerned 
I can affirm with truth, that in the hundred years which have inter. 
vened the County has never been represented by gentlemen whose 

minent public services and high station and character surpassed 
those of our two first members. 
Three members of the Legislative Council and five members of 
the House of Assembly were present when the first Parliament 
assembled. 
The House having met in a camp tent at Newark (now Niagara) 
on Monday, the 1 7th Septell1b
r, the first entries made in the Journals 
(copies of which have lately been procured from England, and are 
now to be found at the Parliamentary Libraries at Ottawa and 
Toronto) are as follO\vs :- 
" The House having met, all the members Were severally sworn 
in by \Villiam Jarvis, Esquire, who acted by special commission from 
His Excellency." 
"The House having proceeded to the election of its Speaker, John 
Macdonell, Esquire, one of the members for the County of Glen- 
garry, Was unanimously elected to be Speaker." 
He would appear to have served in that capacity during all that 
Parliament, and, as far as can be ascertained, during the first 
Session of the Second Parliament, as on the meeting of the House on 
the 9 th June, 1798, being the second Session of the Second Parlia.. 
ment, i
 is stated in the Journals that- 
"11r. Speaker addressed the House in the following words, 
to wit:- 
"Gcntlemen of the House of Assembly, 
,. A
 you have done me the honour to call me to the chair of this 
HJuse, I feel it a duty I owe to the recollection of the services of 
Colonel :\facdonell to m')ve that in order to m uk the sense I 
entertain of his former situation a-, Speaker, a place be con sidered 
appropriated to him during the present Session, being the first next to 
the chair on the right hand side. 
., To which recom.n
nJation the House unanimously agreed, 
and it was ordered accordingly." 
Eight Acts were passed at the first Session of the Legislature, 
the first and most important introducing the English Law in all 
matters relating to Property and Civil Rights. Chapter II. Established 



go 
Trial by Jury. Chapter In. established a Standard (or Weights and 
Measures. Chapter IV. Abolished the Summary Proceedings in the 
Court of Common Pleas in actions under Ten Pounds Sterling. 
Cha.lJter V. Related to the Prevention of Accidents by Fire. Chapter 
VI. Established the Procedure for an Easy and :&apid Recovery of 
Small Debts. Chapter VII. Regulated the Toll to be taken in Mills; 
and Chapter VIII. Provided for the building of a Gaol and Court 
House in each of the four Districts of the Pro v in c'e , and altered 
'he names of the Districts to the Eastern, Midland, Home and 
\Vestern Districts respectively. 
The first division which can be ascertained took place in the 
Legislature of this Province an the 20th June of that year. It is 
probable that divisions had previous taken place, but owing to the 
loss of so many of the J oumals the first I can find is as follows. It 
is interesting as showing the members of the Second Parliament 
of the Province:- 
"Mr. Speaker read the third time as engrossed the Bill CO 
authorize and allow persons coming into this Province to bring 
with them their negro slaves. 
"Mr. Solicitor-General" (Robert Isaac Dey Grey, who was 
then Member of the County of Stormont) 
'moved that the said Bill 
do not pass, and that the question be thereof put (sic), and the 
yeas and nays taken down in distinct columns; whereupon the 
question. was put and the members were as follows: 


YEAS. 
Colonel Macdonell. 
Mr. Beasley. 
Mr. Hardison. 
Mr. Robinson. 
Captaín Fraser. 
Mr. Jessup. 
Mr. Street. 
Mr. ] ones. 


NAYS. 
Mr. Solicitor-General. 
.Mr. Rogers. 
Mr. Cornwall. 
Captain Wilkinson. 



9 t 


CHAPTER 9. 


THE FIRST REGIMENT RAISED IN U
PER CANADA.-THE SECOND 
BATTALION R. C. V. REGIMENT OF FOOT.-LIEUTE
ANT- 
COLONEL MACDONELL, M.P. FOR GLENGARRY, PLACED IN COM- 
MAND.-HEADQUARTERS AT FORT GEORGE.-VOLUNTEER THEIR 
SERVICES TO ANY QUARTER OF THE GLOBE.- THANKS OF DUKE 
OF KENT.-REDUCTION OF REGIMENT DURING PEACE OF 
A
nENS.-RETURN OF OFFICERS.-LIST OF OFFICERS FIRST 
OR LOWER CANADIAN BATTALION.-COLONEL MACDONELL'S 
ME
lORIAL.-STATE OF THE MILlTIA.- LIEUTENANTS OF 
COUNTIES.-COLONEL MACDONELL RECOMMENDS FORMATION 
OF A CORPS OF HIGHLAND FENCIBLES IN GLENGARRY.- 
COLONEL BROCK ApPROVES OF PROPOSAL AND TRANSMITS 
RECOMMENDATION TO \VAR OFFICE.-DEATH OF COLONEL 
MACDONELL. 


In 1794 a number of Independent Companies were in existence 
in Upper Canada, which in 1796 were, with others in Lower Canadfl, 
embodied in a Regiment of two Battalions, the second Battalion 
being under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J ohl1 Macdonell, 
the member for Glengarry. This Regiment was placed on the Per- 
manen. Establishment, and was known as the Royal Canadian 
Volunteer Regiment of Foot. The Second Battalion was the first 
Corps raised in Upper Canad3..(I) The First Battalion was corn- 


1I) This diòtinction is not infrequently claimed for th
 Queen's Ran;:::ers, the second Corps 
of th;;t name, but the' contention is as unfounded as much else that em mates fr.m the same 
source though it is constantly dihned into our ears on every p,.ssible and impussible occasion, 
and reiteJ;\ted until it has almost been recognized :os a fact Let me slate th.t when Colo eI 
Simcoe was I amed I ieuten..nt-Governor of Upper ('anada he obta:lled leave to r...i,e a corp
 of 
four hundred r .nk and file. Capt:o.in 
h.'nk, a meritorious soldier,w'>s appointed seni..r offi"er and 
Ielt , 'aluda t,) r .ise the corps in EI1!.:I'.nd, which mi
sion being succes
ful, they were equipped as 
a light infantry corps, and embarked for Can"da in Apri. '792. C ptain :--hank received his 
brevet of 
l jor in '794. ..nd on I ieutenant-GO\ ernor 
imcoe lea\Íng- c.m:u.!.l he cummande j the 
Regiment until it
 reduction ..t the Peace of Ami
ns in 1802 This Regiment, I believe wa.. 
chiefly üc npkd ill the con
tr.lction of what is now Yonge street, r,lIluing north some miles 'from 
TOlOnto through the Cuunty of York to Lake 'imcoe, 



9 2 
\nanded by Lietltenant-Colonel De Longueuil, with Louis DeSala 
berry as Major. The Second Battalion garrisoned this Province 
from 1796 until disbanded in 1802, as did the First Battalion the 
Province of Lower Canada during the sam
 period. 


Colonel Macdonell's headquarters were at Fort George (Niagara) 
during the period the Regiment was on service. Detachments were 
stationed at the following places, viz.: Kingston, under Major Spen- 
cer; St. Joseph's Island, under Captain Drummond; Amherstburg, 
under Captain Hector McLean; Fort Erie, under Captain Wilkin- 
son; Fort Chippewa, under Lieutenant .William Crawford. 


In 1800 a suggestion appears to have been made that it would 
be of advantage if the Second Battalion, R. C. V., would extend its 
service to any part of British America, and Colonel Macdonell hav- 
ing submitted the matter to the officers under his command, was 
enabled to address the following letter to the Officer commanding in 
Canada: 


"FORT GEORGE, February 20, 1800. 


" SIR, 


" I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
the 26th November, with enclosures. 


" The suggestion that the services of the Second Battalion Royal 
Canadian Volunteers might be usefully extended to the different 
parts of British North America in general was no sooner made 
known to the five companies forming the garrison in this post, Fort 
Erie, and Fort Chippewa than they were most cheerfully offered, 
and generally showed a desire to extend them to any part of His 
Majesty's dominions. 


"The officers (as might be expected from such Loyalists) ex. 
pressed satisfaction at having an opportunity of testifying their zeal 
and attachment to their King by tendering their services in any 
part of the globe to which they might have the honour of being called. 
I shall have the honour of reporting to you as soon as pos<;ible the 
sentiments of the other four companies at Kingston, Amhersthurg, 
and St. Joseph. I think, however, I can vouch that their zeal to His 
Majesty's service is not less than the companies I have already 
mentioned. The example of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 
Corps is certainly highly meritorwus, and would no doubt operata 



93 
strongly in e"citing an emulation in others; but I have the vanity to 
believe that the Second Battalion of Royal Canadian Volunteers 
would have offered their services even had the other Provincial 
Corps not shown the example. 
co I have the honour to be, 


" Sir, 


" Your most obedient servant, 
"J. MACDONELL. 


" To Lieutenant-Genèral Hunter, 
"Commanding His Majesty's Forces in both Canadas." 
The offer of service which Colonel Macdonell was thus author- 
ized to make on behalf of his Battalion was acknowledged by H. 
R. H. the Duke of Kent in the following letters: 
Extract from letter of the Duke of Kent to Lieutenant-General 
Hunter, commanding the Forces in the Canadas, through his Aide- 
de-Camp, Major Gordon:- 
"KENSINGTON PALACE, DECEMBER 15, 1800. 
"With respect to your letter of the 26th of July, cOIltaining an 
enclosure from Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, commanding the 
Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteers, of the four companief! 
of that Corps stationed 3 t Kingston and Amherstburg, to extend 
their services as Fencibles throughout British America, I am 
commanded to desire that the thanks of His Royal Highness may b
 
communicated to those four companies for this fresh mark of their 
zeal for the service and attachment and loyalty to their Sovereign." 
Extract from a letter from the Duke of Kent to Lieutenant- 
General Hunter :- 
"PAVILLION, Brightelmstone, October 25th, 1800. 


" SIR, 
"I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
No. 12, dated York, July 25, which reached me together with its 
several enclosures on the 25th ult. 
"Your letter of the 26th of July to Major Gorden enclosing 
Lieutenant-Colollel Macdonell's report that four more companies of 
tke Second Battalion of the Royal Canadian V olunteers had 
volunteered the extension oi their ,ervices to the whole of British 
North Americé'l haviftg arrived at the same time, I am enabled to 
desire you to authorize that officer t@ express to the officers aRj men 
of those companies my thanks in the sa.me manner as he was desired 
to do to those of the former five. 


" EDWARD." 



94 
Colonel Macdonell was obliged to adhere steadily to his post 
from the first raising of the Regiment, as appears from a letter ad- 
dressed by him to the Military Secretary at Quebec dated September 
I, 1800: 
"Not having it in my power to examine into the state of the 
Militia of the County of Glengarry, nor of my private affairs since 
the first raising of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, I take the liberty 
to request of Lieutenant-General Hunter leave of absence for a few 
weeks for those purposes. 
"Captain Mc
Ii1lan has requested me to apply for leave of 
absence for him on private affairs in Glengarry, he not having been 
absent since he first joined." 
This Regiment was, together with many others, and including 
all the Fencible Regiments in the service, disbanded during the 
Peace of Amiens in 1802. 
The following is the return on the reduction showing the names 
of the officers of this, Battalion, with their respective lcngth and 
record of service :_ 
RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE SECOND BATrALION ROYAL 
CAN I\DlAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT. 


Rank. 


Name. 


Service. 


---- 


I,ieut.-Col. John Macdonell IS years and 4 months; 3 years and 2 
months late ">4 th Re'::>iment; 5 y
..Lrs 
and 10 months late1:hItlcr's Ra 1c;els, 
and 6 years and 4 montils Roy
 I C. V. 
Major Hazelton Spen- 1 2 year
 and 6 months; 1 I month i with 
cer the incorporated LJyali"ls; 3 year.=; 5 
mOnel, and 2 day.; ai Volunleer in 
K.
.R.
.Y.; 2 years 7 months and 4 
day i as Lieulcna:1t in jJ COfl

' and 
5 YC'1- a 1d 7 mont:.) i'l the 211J B tt. 
Royal CanJ '.lian Yo!:' 11tecrs. 
Captain Peter Drummond, 
" Hec.Of :,IcLean' 14 years an I 5 months; 9 years Lieut. 
in lat
 C4 t h Re. im
n1 anJ 5 y 
ars u.lld 
5 mO I 1t: il1 R. C Y OILlIl.. . 
" Neil McLean 10 y nd .) m. 1th5; 6 Y'ürs Lieut. 
and I'.n ," i.1 :..t- h, a!11 4 y
 ..; a.d 8 
m J.J,h3 in R. C. V. 
" l\lik ; 
IJ.cdonen 
 y 2 ,t: _
. '1:>t1 in K.R. R.N. 
Y., and 6 y_ai.; in R.C. V. 
" Richard \Vilkin- 
son 13 ye'lfs; 8 yr'1.rs Lieut. in K. R. R.N. 
Y. and 4 yca.-s and S month') in R.c. v. 



H. de Hortell. 
\V m. Johnson. 
Ranald McDon- 3 2 years and 7 months j 6 years and 
ell 6 months in 17th Regt.j 12 years in 
60th j 8 years and 4 months in late 84th, 
anØ 5 years and 9 months in the 2nd 
Batt. R.C.V. 
Angus McDonell 6 years. 
Thomas Fraser 5 years. 
P. Taschereau 4 years and 3 months. 
Pierre Malhoit 3 years and 10 months. 
J. B. Duchesnay 4 years and 6 months. 
Pierre Boucher- 
ville 
\YiUiam Dean 
Peter Grant 3 years and I I months and I day. 
Geo. Ermatinger 3 years and I I months. 
Chas. Laninier 2 years. 
J os. Bordwine 3 years and 10 months. 
Robt. \Volsey 3 years and 4 months. 
Stephen McKay 3 years and 3 mOl ths. 
Fredel ick Deane 3 years and 3 months. 
J os. Chenique I ycar and 6 montIls. 
Chaplain J os. Duval 4 years. 
Adjutant John Crampton 23 years j 7 years and 8 months in the 
the 69th, and I I years and 10 months in 
60th, and 4 years in the 2nd Batt. R.C.Y. 
Q.-:\Iaster And. Cameron 

 YLa"s. 
Surgeon James Davidson 8 y<:ars and 6 months j 4 ycars and 6 
months in the late 84th, and 4 years in 
R.C.V. 
As't. Surg. Cyrus Anderson 6 years j 4 years in 2nd Batt. R.C.V., 
r!nò 2 vpa 1 's as Volunteer i'1 the 1st 


Rank. 


Captain 


Lieut. 
Ie 


" 


" 


" 


" 


" 


" 


" 


Ensign 


" 


" 


" 


" 


., 


" 


" 


" 


9
 


Name. 


Service. 


" 


Alex. l\1cMiUan. 11 years j 7 years in 1st Batt. de Lan- 
cie's Brigade, and 6 months as V olun- 
teer in the late 71st, and 4 years in the 
2nd Batt. R.C. V. 
Chassegras de I years 9 months. 
Lery 
Richard Fergu- 9 years and 5 months j 3 years in King's 
son Rangers as Volunteer and 6 years and 
5 months in R.C.V. 
\Villiam Fraser 
\Vm. Crawford 8 years and 2 months j 2 years and 9 
monthsasV 0lunteerandEn5ign inK.R.R. 
N. Y., and 5 years and 5 months in R.C.V. 


" 


4 years and 2 months. 


. j. . 



9 6 
The names oÎ the First (Lower Canadian) Battalion may not be 
uninteresting. The officers were for the most part representatives of 
the most distinguished families of the King's new subjects: 
FIRST BATTALION R. C. V. REGIMENT OF FOOT. 


Lieutenant-Colonel- J. De Longueuil. 
Major-Louis De Salaberry. 
Captains. 
Louvigny Montígny. 
Francois Vassal. 
J. Bte. D'EstimauvilIe. 
Richard Ferguson. 
Lieu tenan ts. 
Hipolite Hertelle. 
Pierre Bazin. 
Henry Hay. 
Joseph Bouchette. 
Benjamin J obert. 
Ensigns. 
Louis Montizambert. Robert Anderson. 
Honore Baille. Francois Duval. 
Antoine Lanaudiere. Denis Alexander. 
Richard Hay. M. R. de Salaberry. 
Francois Boucher. J. ß. Ph. D'Estimauville. 
Chaplain-Salter Mountain. 
Ad jutant- Robert Anderson. 
Quarter- Master-Louis Fromenteau. 
Surgeon-James 'Valker. 
Mate-Henry Leodel. 
Hugh Macdonell, M.P. for Glengarry, and subsequently ConsuI
 
General at Algiers, was at one time Senior Captain in the First Bat- 
talion R. C. V. It is worthy of note that, judging from the names, 
the Chaplain of the Upper Canada Battalion was a Catholic priest, 
while the Reverend Salter :Mountain was a Church of England 
clergyman. 
The following, memorial was addressed by Colonel Macdonell 
to the Commander of the Forces in Canada on the reduction of 
the Regiment: 
"To His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esq., Lieutenant-General com- 
manding His Mæjesty's Forces in Upper and Lower Canada. 
" The memorial of the Field Officers, Captains and Subalterns 
of the S{cond Ba:ta]ion of His Majesty's Regiment of Royal Cana- 
di1n Volunteers most respectfully sheweth ; 


Defaunier Beaubien. 
Francois Piedmont. 
Pierre Marcoux. 
C. S. De Bleury. 


Daniel Dupre. 
Peter Duchoquet. 
A. J. Duchesnay. 
Joseph De Beaujeu. 
C. G. Lanaudiere. 



9' 
II That whilst your tpemorialists view with unîeigned saiÌsfactÌön 
the general happiness afforded by the restoration of peace, they can" 
hot on that occasion reflect without emotion upon the particular 
circumstances of their own situation. 
" That a very considerable proportion of your memorialists had 
the honour to serve His Majesty during the American \Var, and 
having at the conclusion of it settled upon and cultivated the lands 
assigned to them, Were beginning to reap some of the fruits of their 
exertions, and with the assistance of their half-pay to enjoy some 
degree of ease and comfort when the \Var broke out; and that the 
rest of your memorialists are sons to persons of the very same 
description. 
" That as the appearances of things at that time indicated but a 
short period of service, your memorialists eagerly embraced the 
opportunity of evincing their grateful attachment to their Sovereign 
without contemplating any other reward than the appointments of 
their respective rank, and with no prospects but of soon returning to 
that life of industry on which their principal dependence was 
necessarily placed-both for present support and for the means of 
future provision for their families. 
'I That the destructive ambition of His Majesty's eñemies hav. 
ing, contrary to all expect3tions, protracted the \Var to such a 
length, your memorialists have now remained embodied nearly eight 
years; the consequence. has been that the domestic affairs of your 
memorialists of the first description have in that long interval of 
absence and unavoidable neglect been materially impaired, and they 
will noW be obliged (unless His Majesty's gracious favour be extend. 
ed to them) to return to their homes at a more advanced period in 
life and with prospects less favourable both for themselves and their 
families than when the \Var began. Your memorialists of the latter 
description are involved in a still more gloomy situation, for having 
dedicated the flower of their years to a military life, and having 
passed in His Majesty's service that period of their lives during 
which they might have embraced other professions, unless some pro- 
vision be made for them by the munificence of their Sovereign, 
ha ving no resources of their own, it is painful to foresee the hard.. 
ships and difficulties which must await them; 
" Your memorialists therefore most humbly pray of Your Excel- 
lency that you wiIllay them at His Majesty's feet, beseeching him 
that he will be graciously pleased to place them upon the half-pay 
list according to the rank which they at present hold in his service. 
" And that His Majesty will also be graciously pleased to extend 
to the Battalion the same gracious bounty in donations of waste 
of the Crown which was extended to the Provincial Corps at the 

nd of the American \Var-a measure which, besides filling the 
hearts of your memorialists with additional gratitude, would at the 
same time place at the disposal and within the immediate call of His 



9 8 
Majesty's representatives in this Province a body of loyal discÍplíned 
men, attached to the country, and proud of transmitting their own 
principles and sentiments unimpaired to their posterity, and your 
memorialists as in duty bound will ever pray. 
" J. MACDONELL, 
" Lieutenant-Colonel, 
" Commanding Second Battalion Royal Canadian V olunteers , 
" For himself and on behalf of the officers and men of the Corps. 
" Fort George', 24 August, 1802." 
It is evident from the statement in the memorial of Mrs. Hugh 
Macdonell, quoted hereafter, that the prayer of the officers to be 
placed on half-pay according to their respective rank was not acced- 
ed to, but from information gathered in the Crown Lands Office I am 
led to believe that the men received an allotment of land similar to 
that granted to the soldiers of the various Loyalist Regiments of the 
Revolutionary \Var. 
In addition to being a member for the County of Glengarry, 
Colonel Macdonell occupied a position which existed certainly 
between the years 1793 and 1808, though I can find no lists of a 
later date than the latter year, viz., Lieutenant of the County of 
Glengarry. The Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt who visited 
General Simcoe at York, in his" Travels through the United States,' 
the Country of the Iroquois and Upper Canada," gives a succinct 
account of the duties of Lieutenants of Counties and of the militia 
organization of the Province. He states that the division of the then 
four existing districts of the Province into counties: 
" Is purely military, and relates merely to the enlisting, completing 
and assembling of the militia. The Counties are about twelve in 
number."( I) The militia of each county are assembled and com- 
manded by a lieutenant: they must be divided into regiments and 
companies. They assemble once a year in each county, and are 
inspected by the captains of the different companies at least twice a 
year. Every male inhabitant is considered a militia man from the 
age of sixteen to fifty. He is fined $4 if he does not enlist at the 
proper time; and officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, 
who do not join their regiments at the time the militia is assembled pay 
a fine, the former of $8 and the latter of $2. An officer who, in case 
of insurrection or an attack, should not repair to his assigned post, 
would be punished in a pecuniary penalty of .t50, and a petty officer 
with a fine of t20. A militia nun who sel1s either the whole or a 
part of hi
 arm", ammuniti()ll or accoutr
mc.nts i" fined ,ts, and in 
default of payment imprisoned for two months. The Quakers, Rap- 


(I) As a fact, howc\ e.-, there we.-e 1,lIIeteel'. 



. 


99 
tists and Tunkers pay, in times of peace, twenty shillings a year. and 
during a war or insurrection five pounds sterling for their exemption 
from military service. Out of these fines and ransoms, the Adjutant- 
General of the Militia receives his pay and the remainder is at the 
Governor's disposal. This is nearly the substance of the first Act of 
the Legislative body of Upper Canada, passed in 1793." 
The following year a further Act was passed relating to the 
militia, tending to improve and more accurately define the internal 
form of the Regiments, Battalions and Companies, and to render the 
assembling of detachments more easy and expeditious. It extended. 
in time of \Var, the obligation to bear arms to sixty years, and 
directed that Quakeïs and others who were exempt, should pay for 
their immunity up to that age. It obliged the militia to serve on 
board of ships and vessels, to act as cavalry and to extend their 
service beyond the Province, on condition, however, that the same 
men should not be bound to serve more than six months successively. 
The exemptions from service were confined to the officers of justice 
and other public functionaries, whose number was very small. The 
whole militia force was estimated at 9,000 men, and the cost of 
maintenance was defrayed by the British Government. The expen:;e 
of civil anù military administration, including m:mey and presents to 
the Indians, was then, for Upper Canada, about Æ,loo,ooO per 
annum. 


Dr. Canniff states, in his" Settlement of Upper Canada," that 
" in all the measures introduced by Governor Simcoe and passed into 
law by Parliament can be discovered a military mind actively at 
work. The arrangements by which he endeavoured to settle the 
Gountry, to secure it againsr invasion, to keep alive a spirit of mili- 
tary ardour, to keep aglow the flame of patriotism, a love for the 
:Mother CowHry, were eminently judiciouc; and co:nm
ndable. There 
is no doubt that the military spirit of Simcoe was pleLlsing to the old 
soldier-farmers, anJ in them h
 bunj wiUing anJ zealou'} <1 bettors of 
his military schemes."( I) 
I have lists of Lieutenants of Counties of the years 1803 and 
I 808. I give that for the year 1 803, which is the earliest I am able 
to find. It is taken from the Upper Canada Almanac of that year. 
published at York by John Bennet at his printing office, King street: 


(I) Page 546. 



100 
Glengarry-Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell. 
Prescott-- William Fortune, Esq. 
Stormont-Archibald .Macdonell, Esq. 
Dundas-The Honourable Richard Duncan, Esq. 
Grenville-Peter Drummond, Esq. 
Leeds-James Brakenridge, Esq. 
Frontenac- The Hon. Richard Cartwright. 
Lennox-Hazelton Spencer, Esq. 
Addington- \Villiam Johnson, Esq. 
Hastings-john Ferguson, Esq. 
Prince Edward-Archibald Macdonell, Esq., of Marysburg. 
Northumberland-Alexander Chisholm, Esq. 
Durham- Robert Baldwin, Esq. 
York-The Honourable D. \V. Smith, Esq. 
Lincoln-The Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq. 
Norfolk-Samuel Ryerse, Esq. 
Oxford- \Villiam Claus, Esq. 
Essex-The Honourable Alexander Grant, Esq. 
Kent-The Honourable James Baby, Esq. 
It will be observed that several of these gentlemen had pre. 
viously held commissions in Colonel Macdonell's Regiment. All of 
them were at the time in command of the militia regiments of their 
respective counties, except in the case of the Counties of Dundas, 
Grenville, Leeds and Essex, where the militia regiments were com- 
manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Macdonell, Colonel \Villiam 
Fraser, Colonel Joel Stone and Lieutenaut-Colonel John Asken, re- 
spectively. 
In 1807 Colonel Macdonell proposed the formation of a Corps 
of Glengarry Fencibles, and the following correspondence took place 
between himself and Colonel (afterwards Major-General Sir Isaac) 
Brock and the \Var Office : 


"GLENGARRY, January 28, 1807. 


, SIR, 
" I have the honour to enclose you the proposals for raising a 
corps of Highland Fencibles in this County, which were submitted 
to your perusal. The alterations you made are adopted with very 
few exceptions: should they meet with your approbation, you will be 
pleased to forward them to the \Var Office. 
"The permanent pay asked fOi' the Field Officers and Chaplain 
may be consid
red ul1u<;ual, but i 1 this in
tJ.nce it is necessarv anri 
eXl>èdient fur carryi:lg the pr Jpo-;.11s int) effect. The Field Officer" 
mu"t undergo a vast deal of troi.lble, and thèir time will be as much 
occupied as if the Corps were constantly embodied. 
" The County is almost entirely inhabited by Highlanders and 



101 
their descendants, naturally brave and loyal as subjects, and firmly 
attached to the British Constitution and Government, yet from their 
situation and circumstances, being in general possessed of some 
landed property and the high run of wages in the County, they are 
reluctant to quit these advantages to become soldiers. Nothing but 
a scheme of this nature, headed by gentlemen whom they know and 
respect, would induce them on any consideration to put themselves 
under the restraints of military discipline. The Chaplain having 
served in that capacity in the late Glengarry Fencibles in Great 
Britain, Ireland and Guernsey, has a claim to the favour of Govern- 
ment. He conducted a number of these people to this country, and 
ha ving rendered himself useful in many respects to the people at 
large, has gained so fat their confidence that his services in urging 
and forwarding this matter will be very essential. The adoption 
and successful issue of the present plan will greatly facilitate any 
future project of raising troops for a more general and extended na- 
ture of service. 
" I have the honour to be, sir, 
"Your most obedient, humble servant, 
" J. MACDONELL, 
" Lieutenant of the County of Glengarry. 
" Colonel Brock, &c." 
Colonel Brock forwarded Coloael Macdonell's proposal to the 
'Var Office with the following letter to the Right Honourable 
\Villiam \Vindham, then Secretary for \Var:- 
" QUEBEC, February 12, 1807. 
"I have the honour to transmit for your consideration a proposal 
from Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, late of the Royal Canadian 
Volunteers, for raising a Corps among the Scotch settlers in the 
County of Glengarry, Upper Canada. 
"When it is considered that both the Canadas furnish only 
two hundred militia who are trained to arms, the advantages to be 
derived from sllch an establishment must appear very evident. 
" fhe militia force in this Country is very small, and were it 
pJs:>Ìble to collect it in time to oppose any serious attempt upon 
Quebec, the only tenable po-;t, the number would of itself be 
insufficient to ensure a vig,)rous defence. 
"This Corps, being stationed on the confine,> of the Lower 
Province, would be always immediately and essentially useful in 
checking any seditious disposition, which the wavering sentiments of 
a large population in the Montreal District might at any time 
manifest. In the event of invasion or other emergency, this force 
could be easily and expeditiously transported by water to Queoec. 
"The extent of Country which these settlers occupywo111d make 
the permanent establishmen of the staff and one surgeon in each 



102 
cotnþany vetý advisahle. I shall not persun1e to say ho\v far the 
claims of the field Officers to the same indulgence are reasonable and 
expedient. 
" In regard to the Rev. Alexander Macdonell, I beg leave to ob- 
serve that the men, being all Catholics, it may be deemed a prudent 
measure to appoint him Chaplain. His zeal and attachment to 
Government was strongly evinced while filling the office of Chaplain 
to the Glengarry 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 nur:sery, from which the 
army might draw a number of hardy recruits. 
" I have, &c., 


"ISAAC BROCK." 
Colonel Macdonell's wise suggestion Was not at the time carried 
into effect, but a few years afterWards, when our relations with the 
United States had arrived at a crisis, the British Government 
adopted his plan, and gladly availed itself of the services of the 
hardy band of Highland Loyalists, who had made their home in Glen
 
garry in Canada, and fortunately, though Colonel John Macdonell 
was unable to aid his Sovereign and his Country, the patriotic 
Chaplain (afterwards Bishop) Macdonell with the assistance, as ,viII 
be seen, of another namesake and clansman, raised and organized the 
Glengarry Light Infantry Regiment: that ubiquitous Regiment which 
fought through the \Var of 1812- I 4, and caused the name of Glengarry 
to be respected by those who gloried in the freedom of British 
institutions, and feared by those who sought to overthrow them. I 
am unable to state definitely the date of the death of this gallant 
Officer and meritorious public servant. 
I fear that having spent the best portion of his lifetime in the 
service of the country, his latter years were burdened by ill-health 
and pecuniary embarassment. I observe in a letter from his sister, 
the wife of General Ross, to her brother, Mr. Hugh Macdonell, 
Consul-General at Algiers, this paragraph: "By a letter from Chi
 
chester" (another brother who was then Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
Eighty-Second Regiment) "who had letters from Canada, I am 
sorry to find that our brother John's health has been on the decline, 
and I fear his means also. Chichester has procured him the pay- 
mastership of the Tenth Veter1.n Battalion, which will be something 
in the meantime. Had he not trusted so much to other people, he 



10 3 
"'ould not have been under the necessity of accepting of such a 
trifle. Poor fellow, he thought all the world as honest-hearted as 
himself." 
He died at Quebec, on his way, I believe, to England, probably 
to take the appointII1ent indicated above, and was buried under the 
Catholic Cathedral Church there. 
He left one son, Alexander Macdonell, Major in the Lan- 
caster Regiment of Glengarry Highlanders, which served throughout 
the Rebellion of '37-8, and who died many years ago, when com- 
p.uatively young, and of whose family one daughter now survives, 
and still retains in Glengarry a considerable portion of the property, 
which was granted in return for the stern and unfailing loyalty of her 
grandfather and his father. It is known as the "Schenectady" 
property from the fact that Colonel Macdonell had married a lady 
from that part of the State of New V ork, a Miss Yates-whose 
family, unlike that of her husband, had adhered to the revolutionary 
side. 



1"4 


CHAPTER 10. 


CAREER OF HUGH MACDONELL (ABERCHALDER), M.P. FOR FIRST 
RIDING OF GLENGARRY IN FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER 
CANADA.-TESTIl\10NY OF COLONEL MATHEWS, MILITARY 
SECRETARY TO LORD DORCHESTER, AS TO SERVICES OF HIM- 
SELF ANt> HIS FAMILy.-FIRST ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF 
MILITIA UPPER CANADA.-ApPOINTED CONSUL-GENERAL AT 
ALGIERS.-DuKE OF' KENT'S TRIßUTE TO HIS MEMORY.- 
HIS FAMILY.-HIS BROTHER, COLONEL CHICHESTER MAC- 
DONELL, ANOTHER U. E. LOYALIST OFFICER.-ALEXANDER 
MACDONELL (COLLACHIE), M.P. FOR GLENGARRY AND SPEAK- 
ER HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 1804.-,-HIS SERVICES IN REVOLU- 
TIONARY \V AR AND \V AR OF 1812. 


Another of the Highland Loyalist Officers who settled in Glen- 
garry at the close of the Revolutionary \Var, represented the County 
in Parliament, achieved considerable distinction in the Province, and 
afterwards rose to high position in a far distant part of the world, 
was Hugh Macdonel1, a brother of Colonel John Macdonell of Aber- 
chalder. This gentleman commanded a company in his brother's 
Regiment (Royal Canadian Volunteers) on its first establishment, 
and afterwards was transferred to the Second Battalion, and in which 
he was at one time the Senior Captain. In r803 he was Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the Glengarry Militia Regiment, of which his elder 
brothçr was Colonel. He w
s appointed by Lieutenant-Covernor 
Simcoe to be the first Adjutant-General of Militia in Upper Cana- 
da, and was the founder of our Militia system. He sat as one of the 
members for Glengarry in the first Legislature of the Province. On 
the r8th September, 1792, the jay following the opening of the first 
session, the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne having 
been adopted, it was " ordered that Mr. Smith and Mr. Hugh Mac- 



t05 
ùonell do "WaÌt on llis 
xcellency to know when His Excellency ,,,ill 
be pleased to receive the House with the said Address." 
In the debate on the Dual Language question, in 1890, reported 
in Hansard, vol. 1, p. 894, Sir John Macdonald quoted an order of 
the House of 3rd of July, 1793, on a motion made by Mr. Macdonell 
as follows :-" Ordered that such Acts as have already passed, or 
may hereafter pass the Legislature of the Province, be translated 
into the French language for the benefit of the inhabitants of the 
""Vestern District of this Province and other French settlers who may 
come to reside within the Province, and that A. Macdonell, Clerk of 
this House, be employed for this and other purposes." 
The meagre records, even where any exist at all, of the proceed- 
ings of the earlier Legislatures do not enable us to ascertain what 
particular part any individual member took in parliamentary life in 
those days. This gentleman: however, did not remain very long in 
Parliament or in the Province. Letters in my possession at present 
show him to have enjoyed the friendship and patronage of the Duke 
of Kent, and he appears to h3ve merited it. 
Of the services of himself and family (Aberchalder) and the 
clansmen of Glengarry during the Revolutionary War, Colonel 
Mathews, Military Secretary to Lord Dorchester, who was in a better 
position to speak authoritatively than any other man, wrote as follows 
to the Under Secretary of State for 'Var, when Capt. Macdonell, after 
leaving Canada, laid his claim for continued employment in the 
service before the British Government :- 


" DEAR SIR, 
" Understanding that Captain Hugh Macdonell, late of the Royal 
Canadian V olun teers, has been particularly recommended to th
 
Earl of Camden, and that he will consequently have the honour to wait 
upon you, I cannot, with the intimate knowledge I possess of his own 
and the meritorious services and sufferings of his family, forbear of 
taking the liberty of troubling you with a few lines, in the hope of 
interesting you in his favour. 
" His father and uncle, respectable men in the Highlands of 
Scotland, left that country with their families and considerable 
properly, a few years before the Rebellion in America, with a view to 
establish thLm :ielves in that co
mtry, having for that purpose carried 
out a numL
r cf their d
pend
nt-;. They obtained a valuable grant 
ofIand from Sir John Johnson on the Mohawk River, in the settle- 
ment of which they had made considerable progress. 


" CHELSEA COLLEGE, 23rd June, 1804. 



106 
"'When the Rebellion broke out they Were the fÏ.rst to fly 
to arms on the part of Government, in which they and their 
adherents, not less than two hundred men, took a most active and 
decided lead, leaving their families and property at the mercy of the 
rebels. 
" I was at that time quartered at Niagara, and an eye-witness 
of the gallant and successful exertions of the Macdonells and their 
dependents, by which, in a great measure. the Upper Country of 
Canada was preserved, for on this little body a very fine battalion 
was soon formed, and afterwards a second. 
"Captain Macdonell's father and uncle, at that time advanced 
in years, had companies in that Corps and in which his elder brother, 
afterwards an active and distinguished partizan, carried arms. The 
sons of both families, five or six in number, the moment they could 
bear arms; fo1l0wed the bright example of their fathers, and soon be- 
came active and useful officers in that and another corps of Rangers, 
whose strength and services greatly contributed to unite the Indians 
of the Five N atiol1s in the interest of Government, and thereby 
decidedly to save the Upper Country of Canada and our Indian 
trade. 
"These Corps were reduced on the peace in I 783, and were 
settted in Upper Canada on grants of land from Government, where 
Captain Macdonell's father and uncle died a few years after with a 
total loss of all their property and the means of assisting their 
families. 
" Captain Macdonell afterwards held a compa
1Y in the Canadian 
Volunteers, of which his elder brother, before mentioned, was 
Colonel; but that also being disbanded, and he not having rank in 
the army, he is literally left destitute after a service of twenty-six 
years-for I countersigned his commission as Lieutenant twenty- 
three years ago. Thus a valuable officer is lost to himself and to 
the service, whose abilities either in a civil or a military capacity, 
particularly in Canada, where his knowledge of the French language, 
the customs and manners of the people, and of the interests of the 
Indian nation, might be turned to good account, while the services 
and sufferings of a very deserving officer would be rewarded. 
" I have the honour to he, dear Sir, 
" Your very obedient and humble servant, 
"R. MATHEWS. 


"Edward Cooke, Esq." 
Such statements emanating from one who had so long been on 
the staff of Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) constitute high 
praise indeed, and are indisputable proof of the loyalty and merit of 
the Glengarry men. Colonel Mathews and that eminent essayist, 

Ir. George Sandfidd 
Iacdonald, do not appear to agree, but I 
. 



IOj 
venture to suggest that the former is probably the better authority of 
the two as regards the United Empire Loyalists. Psychological and 
sociological research and disquisition is evidently Mr. George Sand- 
field 
lacdonald's forte. He had better follow John Richard Green 
in that field, and leave the" humble and ignorant" Highland2rs alone 
or confine himself to " individuals of distinction." The descendants 
of "the people" will preserve the memories and deeds of their own 
forbears and write their history. 
Lord Camden, thell Colonial Secretary, writing to Lieutenant- 
Governor Hunter, under date Downing Street, 2nd August, 1804, 
states: * * * "A very favouraole representation having been 
made to me by General Simcoe of the merits and services of Cap- 
tain Hugh Macdonell, who was formerly appointed Adjutant-General 
of the Militia Forces in Upper Canada, and who appears to have 
received, up to the 1St June, 1795, only, the pay intended 
o have 
been aiiowed to him, r am to authorize you to issue to him or his 
agent fro
n the d:lte above specified until your arrival in CLUlaj
 in 
1799, when his services as Adjutant-General appear to have oeen 
regularly dispensed with, an allowance at the rate of fiye shillings per 
day." 
After the close of the Revolutionary \Var, and previous to the 
raising of the R. C. V., Mr. Macdonell was Surveyor of the Eastern 
District of Upper Canada, and surveyed, I believe, the greater 
portion of it, including the County of Glengarry. After his death, 
his widow prepared a statement of his services in Canada, from which 
I take the following extract:- 
,,* * It was universally known that the settlement of UPl
er 
Canada was originally a matter resorted to on the cessation of the 
hostilities with the United States, consequent on the extensive 
reduction in the army which. took place on that event, the Govern- 
ment granting portions of land proportioned to respective grades-on 
whie-h occasion Mr. Macdonell was allotted five hundred acres as a 
reduced Lieutenant on half-pay. Suosequently a more liberal allow- 
ance was extended to the officers, by which he became entitled to one 
thousand five hundred acres more, which grant, from inadvertence, 
was deferred and finally was never located, although he was Surveyor 
to the Eastern District of the Province, and in virtue of which the 
duty of the assignment of land to those entitled devolved upon him. 
.. The Government under the anxious desire of conciliating the 
the (Lower) Canadian gentry to their rather recent condition of 
British subjects, authorized Lord Dorchester, the Governor and 



108 
Captain-General of the Canadas, to raise a certain force as an 
expedient. His Lordship committed this service to l\1r. Macdonell's 
elder brother, the officers being selected from half-pay native 
Canadians. Two Battalions were within a reasonable time 
embodied, in one of which Mr. Macdonell was Senior Captain. 
This levy, destined for the service and security of the Canadas and 
other colonial possessions in British North America, volunteered to 
extend their services to any quarter where they might be deemed to 
be most availahle, and had existed for a period of about eight years, 
until the measure of the Treaty of Amiens was compassed, when this 
force, which was always considered to be intended to be permanent, 
was, to the astonishment of all and indignation of many, included in 
the reduction of the army which foll
wed that event, without 
conferring rank, half-payor any remuneration whatsoever on the 
unfortunate officers, by which narrow policy and unlucky parsimony 
the case that was meant to be propitiated became on the contrary 
more deeply aggrevated. 
" Having abandoned the pursuits and occupations that he held 
previously to joining the lately-reduced Corps, considering them to 
be incompatible with his new position, he parted with a valuable 
water mill property to satisfy a considerable claim upon him 
in consequence of having become security for an individual who 
failed in his engagements-in short, he parted with whatever property 
he might have rema.ined possessed of, and determined to move from 
a coulltry where hi:; lot had been so singularly unprosperous, and 
with what he considered his incontestahle claim for emlJloyment, he 
repaired to London. He was about to be satisfied with a lieutenancy 
in the Fusiliers when the extreme benignity of His Royal Highness 
the Duke of Kent s.lyed him from the mortification of having again 
to enter the army in the grade of subaltern by obtaining for him the 
appointment of Assistant Commissary General within his own gov- 
ernment (Gibraltar). He continued in this department till he was, 
still through the protection of his Royal benefactor, called upon to 
repair to Algiers. 
" I have entered into a tedious detail of matters personal to my 
late husband solely to establish that his absence from Canada while 
engaged in the public service ought not surely to be considered pre- 
judicial to any claims he might have pending in that country. 
,. I might further add, without grounding any pretensions on it, 
that Mr. Macdonell had a younger brother, Lieut.-Col. Chichester 
l\Iacdonell, who died in India while in command of the 34th Re- 
giment, who was entitled to an equal grant of land with himself, and 
which he firmly believed was never located-if any part, certainly 
not to the extent of the second allotment. Further, to obviate all 
doubt that might arise respecting the perfect authenticity of my 
children's claims, I have to state that :\Ir. Macdonell was a Member 
for the first Riding of the County of Glengarry of the first House of 
Assembly of which his elder brother was Speaker an
 that he was ap- 



10 9 
pointed by General Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, to 
the post of Adjutant-General of the Militia Station, to which from 
relative circumstances he attached some moment, the number of 
troops assigned for the service of Upper Canada being necessarily 
limited." 
Captain Hugh Macdonell's subsequent career is so interesting 
and so well worth recording that I \'enture shortly to digress with 
that object. 
Colonel Playfair, H. M. Consul-General at Algiers, in his 
annals of British relations with Algiers, entitled "The Scourge of 
Christendom," states that Mr. 
Iacdonell began his career in 177 8 as 
an Ensign in the King's Royal Regiment of New York. and that he 
rose to be Adjutant-General of the Province of Upper Canada; that 
in J 805 he was appointed Assistant Commissary-General at 
Gibraltar. In 1810 he with Lord Cochrane, K. B., and Captain 
Harding, R. E., was sent to Algiers to inspect and report upon- La 
Calle, and in I
II Mr. 
lacdonell, under the patronage of the Duke 
of Kent, was sent as Consul-General to Algiers, whère at the hands 
of the infamous Dey he suffered the greatest hardships and privati nos 
the lives of himself and his family being in almost constant jeopardy, 
and he not infrequently imprisoned. It was necessary for Lord 
Exmouth, then in command of the Mediterranean fleet, to bombard 
Algiers in order to procure his release in August, 1816. Having 
effected his purpose and before resigning his command, Lord 
Exmouth publicly thanked Mr. Macdonell as follows :_ 
"I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of offering you my 
public thanks for the assistance I have received from your activity 
and intelligence in my late negotiations with the Regency of Algiers, 
and more especially for the manly firmness you have displayed 
throughout all the violence and embarassments occasioned by the 
late discussions, of which it will afford me sincere pleasure to bear 
testimony to His Majesty's Ministers on my return to England." 
The plague, which had broken out in 1817, spread rapidly 
throughout the country. The Dey continued to send out plague- 
stricken cruisers against vessels of Prussia and the Hanse Town 
especially, but they visited those of every other nation and thus 
spread the contagion all over the Mediterranean. He had a fiendish 
delight in thus propagating the fell disease, and he even on one 
occasion attempted the life of Mr. Macdonell by causing a wretch 
who had it to cast a cloak on the Consul's shoulders. Retribution 



no 
however, speedily overtook him, and he died of it himself on March 
I, 1818.(1) 
His successor, Hussein bin Hassan, took immediate steps to 
hasten the equipment of Algerine cruisers, but he yielded to the 
representations of the British Government that they should not be 
sent forth during the continuance of the plague. The average 
number o
 deaths from the plague was fifty daily. It was computed 
that 16,000 souls had died of it in Algiers, while Constantina, Bona 
and Blidah were almost depopulated. (2) 
Mr. Macdonell continued as Con,>ul at Algiers until 1820, when 
he was pensioned by the British Government. 
Colonel Playfair states of Mr. Macdonell: "For many years 
he had rendered excellent service to the state. The Duke of Kent 
always entertained the highest opinion of his character and 
abilities, and maintained a constant personal correspondence with 
him." A letter written hy Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey contains a most 
flattering testimony of his worth: "His Royal Highness has always 
understood from those who have had occasion to be acrpainted with 
his proceejings at A.l3iers that his co:duct has invariably Jnet with 
the highest approbation of Government for the judgment and 
firmness he has evinced in the most trying moment,>, a circumstance 
peculiarly gratifying to the Duke, who reflects with pleasure upon his 
being the first who brought him forward." 
After Mr. Macdonell's death, hi
 widow (his second wife, who 
was a daughter of Admiral Ulrich, Danish Consul-General at 
Algiers) married the Duke de Talleyrand-Perigord, and died at 
Florence in 1870 at a very advanced age. 
Mr. 
lacdonell's two sons-General Sir Alexander :\lacdonell, 
K.C.B., Colonel-Commandant of the Prince Consort's Own Rifle 
Brigade, and 
lr. Hugh Guion Macdonell, C.B., C.M.G., Her 
Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy-Extraordinary to the 
King of Denmark-still survive. It is gratifying to find that the 
sons of a gentleman who first represented the County of Glengarry 
in Parliament have risen to the highest preferment in the militiary 
and diplomatic services. (3) Hart's Army List gives Sir Alexander 
Macdonell's distinguished career as follows :- 


(1) Play fair , page 28 4. 
(2"' Idem. 
(3) Sir Alexander )[acdollell died since the "bove was written, at Carshalton, Surrey, 
England, on the 3 0th April, 1891. The" London Illustrated News" of May 3 0th cont"ins his 
portr,tit ard a sketch of his career 



n:1 
"SecoYld Lìelltenàllt, 23 June, 1837; Lieutenant, May I I, :r84}:; 

aptain, 24 October 1845; Brevet Major, 12 December, 1854; 
1\Iajor, 22 December, ]854; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 17 July, 
'[855; Lieutenant-Colonel, I June. 1857; Colonel, 20 July, 18S8) 
11ajor-General, 6 March, 1868; Lieutenant-General, I October, 1877) 
General, I April, 1882 j Colonel-Commandant Rifle Brigade, 24 
January, T 886. 
" Served with the Rifle Br'Ïg
de 111 the Kaffir'Var of 1846-7 
{medal], also throughout the Eastern Campaign of 1854 as Aide-de- 
Camp to Sir George Brown. and present at the affair of Bulganac) 
capture of BaJaklava :md Battles of _\lma and lnkerman. Com- 
manded the 2nd B3.ttalion from May, ]855, to the Fall of Se'bastopol, 
ìncJllding the defence of the Quarries on 7 June and ass.aulrs of the 
Redan on 18 June and 8 Sept. [medal with three clasps, brevets of 
}Iajor and Lieutenant-Colonel, 'C.B.. Knight of tbe Legion of Honour
 
Sardinian and Turkish medals, .and 5th das
 of the 
1edjidie ] . 
"Commanded the 3rd Battalion during the Indian Mutiny, in- 
'eluding the Skirmish of Sccundra, Siege and Capture of Lucknow and 
sl!hsequent orelations [brevet of Colonel. medal with cla.:;p]. Also 
served in the campaign on the Northwest Frontier of India in 1864- 
{medaIJ. . 
.. Commanlled the Expedition agaÏI'lst the Mohmund tribes in 
1863-4 [medal with d-asp J." 
In this Regiment (the Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade), in 
which Sir Alexander Macdonell is now Colonel-Commandant, and of 
which His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, 
K.G., is Colonel-in-Chief-another officer, a native of this country, and 
son of a gentleman whose name will ever be held in grateful remem- 
òrance by aU Canadians, has attained high raük. I refer to Colonel 
C. \V. Robinson, C. B., now Assistant Military Secretary at the 
Horse Guards. Colonel Robinson is the youngest son of the late 
Sir John Beverley Robinson, Bart., for many yeats the eminent 
Chief-Justice of Upper Canada, and a brother of the Honourable 
John Beverley Robinson, recently Lieutenant-Governor of this 
Province. This is not the first time these names have been 
associated; both gentlemen are descend
nts of Loyalist officers of 
the Revolutionary 'Var, Sir .Alexander l\1acdonel1, as we have seen, 
being a son of an officer in the King's Royal Regiment of New V ork, 
and Colonel Robinson the grandson of Chistopher Robinson, who 
was an Ensign in the Queen's Rangers in the same \Var, and both of 
whom held seats in the earlier Parliaments of Upper Canada. 
Again, Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Robinson, at the time a student 
in the office of Colonel John 
[acdonen (Greenfield), who was then 



HZ 
J..ttomey-GeneraI of Upper Canada, was a Líe1.1tenant íu the York 
Volunteers, and present with Colonel Macdonell at the Capture of 
Detroit and the Battle of Queenston Heights, where Sir Isaac Brock 
and Colonel Macdonell fell, and he was one of the p:lll-bearers of the 
latter when the remains of General Brock and his Aide-de-Camp 
were interred after the dearly-bought vict0ry then achieved. It is a 
sOluewhat strange fact that the present Sir A\.lexander :\facdonell 
should be a first cou:;in of the then In
mber for Glengarry, Colond 
:\:racdoncll,who W:lS killed seventy-seven long years ago, "while gal- 
la.1tly charging up the hill with the hereditary courage of his race," as 
Sir Isaac Brock's biDgrapher st:ltes of him. " \Vounded in four places, 
and with a bullet having passed complctely through his body." ([) 
Perhaps here I may mention that 
1r. John Be\-erley Robinson. 
the recent Lieutenant-Governor, was one of thùse who strongly urged 
me to attempt the task I have now undertaken, of writing a sketc;l of 
the early history of our County on the ground, as he wrote me, that 
H the hIstory of Glengarry is a proud record of most valuable services 
rendered to the country in early time.:;. when the men of that County 
made its name famous in \Var and Peace." 
The youngest son of l\{r. Hugh Macdonell, M. P. for Glengarry, 
Mr. Hugh Guion :\lacdonell, at the age of 16, also obtained a 
commission in the same distinguished Regiment as his brother, the 
Rifle Brigade, and served on the Cape Frontier, where he contracted 
a severe rheum:ltic fever, which precluded him from joining his 
Regiment in the Crimea. He was then obliged to enter the diplo- 
mHic service, in. which his career has been as follows ;- 
"'Vas appointed attache at Florence, February 8, 1854; passed 
an examination for a paid attacheship, October 27, 1858; was ap- 
pointed paid attache at \Vashington, November 23, 1858; at Con- 
stàntinople, December 13, 1858 ; fourth paid attache there, Decem- 
ber 31, 1859, and third paid attache, November 24, 1869. \Vas 
appointed a second secretary, October I, 1862; was transferred to 
Rio de Janeiro, August 10, 1865 (but did not proceed thither), and 
to Copenhagen, July 24, '1866. \Vas promoted to be Secretary' of 
Legation at Buenos Ayres, April 9, 1869, where he was Acting 
Charge d'Affaires from December 12, 1869, till December 15, 1872. 
\Vas transferred to Madrid, October 26, 1872, where he was Acting 
Charge d'Affaires from June 26 to October 6, 1873, and from June 
24 till September 25, 1874. \Vas promoted to be Secretary of Em- 
bassy at Berlin, January 15, 1875, where he was Acting Charge d' Af- 


(I) Tupper's" Life of Sir Isaac Brock," page 332. 



tI3 
faìres from August 4 tÌll September 13, 1875; from June 26 tì11 Jùly 
15, 18 76; from August 4 till September 4, 1876; from May 31 till 
July 3, 1877 ; and from September 26 till November 24, 1877. \Vas . 
transferred to Rome, May 6, 1818, where he was Acting Charge 
d'Affaires from July 7 till October 29, 1878; from August 23 till 
September 27, 1879; from July 19 till October 23, 1880; from April 
23 tilll\Iay 2, 1881 ; and from July 28 till September 28, 1881. \Vas 
promoted to be Charge d'Affaires at Munich, February 23, 1882, 
and to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
Emperor of Brazil, November 5, 1885. Transferred in the same 
capacity to the King of Denmark, February I, 1889." 
The daughters of Mr. Hugh M.acdonell (the member for Glen- 
garry) were married to Mr. Holstein, who succeeded Aùmiral Ulrich 
as Danish Consul-General at Algiers; General Sir Robert \Vynyard, 
Military-Governor of the Cape of Good Hope; General Sir George 
Brown, who commanded the Light Division in the Crimea \Var, and 
was Adjutant-General of the Forces; Captain Buck, Royal Navy; 
Viscount Aquado; Captain Cumberland, Forty-Second Royal High- 
landers; and Don Augusto Conte, late Spanish Ambassador in 
Vienna. Another daughter was a religieuse of the Order of the 
Sacred Heart. 


A brother of Colonel John Macdonell 3nd Mr. Hugh Mac- 
donell was Lieutenant-Colonel Chichester Macdonell, who also was 
a Loyalist Officer in the Revolutionary \Var, having commenced his 
military career as a Second Lieutenant in Butler's Rangers. He 
did not remain in Canada on the conclusion of that \Var, but 
continued in the service and became successively Lieutenant-Colonel 
of the Eighty-Second and Thirty-Fourth Regiments of Foot. He 
served under Sir John Moore at Corunna and died on service in 
India. After his death, a medal having been struck for Corunna, a 
gold medal was transmitted to his family by direction of the Prince 
Regent to be deposited with them" as a token of the respect which 
His Royal Highness entertained for the memory of that officer." 

Ir. Hugh Macdonell, the British 
Iinister at Copenhagen, had the 
kindness and courtesy to send me the original letter from H. R. H. 
the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, enclosing his uncle's medal. 
It is a coincidence that it should be from the same illustrious 
personage as another in my possession forwarding another gold 
medal (to my grandfather) for the Capture of Detroit, to be deposited 
with his family, "as a token of the respect which His Majesty 



II4 
en:tertaíned for the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel Jofm Macdonell,'" 
who was killed with Brock at Queenston Heights, and who was a 
nephew of Colonel Chichester. Still another of their relatives, Sir 
James Macdonell, Glengarry's brother, "the stalwart and indomit- 
able defender of Hougoumont," "the bfavest man in Britain," had 
another of these hard-earned but glorious tokens of the Sovereign's. 
a.pprobation and their country's gratitude, while Colonel George 
Macdonell, of the Glengarry Fencibles, an,other relati,,'e and cIans- 
luan, \Vas awarded one of the two gold medals given for Chateauguay,. 
De Salaberry getting the other. 
A si"ter of the foregoing gentlemen had been married in Scotland to 
Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield before'either of the fam,ilies came 
to this country, and \Va" the mother of Lieutcnant-Colonel Duncan 
Macdonell of Greenfield, Lieutena.nt-Colonel John Macdonell, and 
Lieutenant
Colonel Donald Greenfield 
1acdoi1ell-the two latter of 
whom both afccnvard" repres
nted the County of Glengarry in Parlia- 
ment, and all of whom, together wit!1 their fathef and relatives innumer- 
able, did their fair share of fighting in perilous times not far distant. 
Another sister was married to Captain (afterwards General) \Vilkinson, 
and a third to Captain (afterwards General) Ross, and brother of 
Field Marshal Ross. 
Still another of the Loyalist officers who represented the County 
was Alexander Macdonell (Collachie). This gentleman was born at 
Fort Augustus, in Glengarry, Scotland, in 1762, and was a son of 
:Mr. Allan Macdonell, whose name is appended with that of Sir 
John Johnson to the various negotiations w
th the American General 
Schuyler before hostilities actually took place in the ill-fated Valley 
of the Mohawk in [7j6, and who appears to have been commissioned 
to speak more particularly on behalf of the Scotch inhabitants of 
that district. His father was one of the six prisoners taken by 
General Schuyler on the 19th January of that year, together with 
two of his nephews, it being previously agreed that" all due defer- 
ence should he paid to their rank, and that being gentlem.en they 
should be permitted to wear their side arms." They were sent to 
Lancaster in Pennsylvania, and were detained during the greater 
portion of the continuance of hostilities. Mr. Alexander Macdonell's 
mother was a daughter of the Chief of MacNab, and, like most of 
the Scotch women of that day, made of good stuff. She, too, was 
eventually taken prisoner, as was Lady Johnson. From her place of 



lIS 
captivity at Schenectady, whither she was taken with her two daugh- 
ters, she wrote to her son on learning that he had, though too young 
for a commission, joined her Sovereign's forces as a volunteer, ex- 
horting him to be brave and" never to forget that all the blood in his 
veins was that of a Highland gentleman "-much the same sentiment 
as was in Praed's mind when he wrote: 
Fight as your fathers fought, 
Fall as your fathers fell; 
Thy task is taught; thy shroud is wrought- 
So, Forward and Farewell! 
Mrs. Macdonell managed to effect her escape from her place of 
imprisonment in 1780, and made her way to New York, which waS 
then in possession of the British forces. 
An interesting letter of hers, written before she was taken pri- 
soner and when, her husband being prisoner of war, she appears to 
ha ve been left in charge of the settlement and such of the men as 
had not already accompanied Sir John Johnson to Canada, is given 
in a book lately published at Albany, "The Orderly Book of Sir 
John Johnson" : 


Ie SIR, 
" Some time ago I wrote you a letter much to this purpose con- 
cerning the inhabitants of this bush being made prisoners. There 
was no such thing then in agitation as you were pleased to observe 
in your letter to me this morning. Mr. Billie Laird came among the 
people to give them warning to go in to sign and swear. To this 
they will never consent, being already prisoners of General Schuyler. 
His Excellency was pleased by your proclamation directing every 
one of them to return to their farms, and that they should be no 
more troubled nor molested during the war. To this they agreed, and 
have not done anything against the country, nor intend to if left alone. 
If not, they will lose their lives before being taken prisoners again. 
They begged of me the favour to write to Major Fonda and the gen- 
tlemen of the committee to this purpose. They blame neither the 
one nor the other of you gentlemen, but those ill-natured fellows 
amongst them that got up an excite men t about nothing in order to 
ingratiate themselves in your favour. They were of very great hurt 
to your cause since May last, through violence and ignorance. I do 
not know what the cause would have been to them long ago if not 
prevented. Only think what daily provocation does! Jenny joins 
me in compliments to 
Vlrs. Fonda. 
" I am, sir, 
".Your humble servant, 
"HELEN MACDONELL." 


"COLLACHIE, 15th March, 1777. 



Il6 
Mr. Alexander Macdonell served as a cadet under Sir John 
Johnson at the Attack upon Fort Schuyler, the Battle of Oriskany 
and in most of the severe skirmishes which took place in the Valley 
of the Mohawk in 1777. In 1778, being then sixteen years of age, 
he was appointed to an ensigncy in the Second Battalion of the 
Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment (Eighty-Fourth), and was pre- 
sent at the Battle of Monmouth, and served under General Clinton 
at Philadelphia until that city was evacuated by the British forces, 
who retired to New York. Mr. Macdonell there received his lieu- 
tenancy. He was made the bearer of despatches from Sir Henry 
Clinton to General Haldimand, commanding in Canada. From 
New York he proceeded to Rhode Island, thence making his way 
via Lakes George and Champlain to Canada, principally on foot. 
Shortly after his arrival, he was transferred to Butler's Rangers, with 
which he remained on active service until the close of the 'Var, when 
he was placed on half-pay. When General Simcoe was appointed 
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1792, he appointed Mr. 
:Macdonell-who had been favourably known to him during his ser- 
vice in the army-Sheriff of the Home District. which included the 
present Counties of Northumberland, Durham, Ontario, York, Halton, 
Peel, Simcoe and others. Upon the removal of the seat of Government 
from Newark to York in 1797, he went to reside in the latter place, 
and continued to be Sheriff of the Home District until 180S. From 
180S to 18.2 Mr. 
1acdonell acted as agent for Lord Selkirk in 
superintending his settlement at Baldoon in the \Vestern District. 
This settlement was formed by Lord Selkirk subsequent to a similar 
one he had formed in Prince Edward Island for the purpose of 
benefitting his Highland fellow-countrymen. 
Mr. Macdonell represented the County of Glengarry in several 
of the earlier Parliaments, and in 1804 was elected Speaker of the 
House of Assembly of the Province. 
\\Then war was declared in 1812, he hastened to return to Can- 
ada from London, whither he had gone on private affairs, was gazet- 
ted Colonel of Militia and appointed Assistant Paymaster-General 
to the Militia Force. 
At the Capture of Niagara by the Americans on May 26, 1813, 
he was made prisoner of war, and sent to Lancaster in Pennsylvania, 
where he was detained until the close of the \Var. It happened, 
singularly enough, that he was then imprisoned in the same place in 



117 
the same town in which his father (who in early life had fought with 
Prince Charlie at Culloden) had previously been kept prisoner in 
consequence of his stern loyalty to the British Crown in the Revolu- 
tionary \Var of 1776, so that this family had their fair share of suf- 
ferings and hardships. 
On the conclusion of the War, and the consequent disbandment 
of the various Regiments, many of the men entitled to land were 
settled by the Government on the waste lands of the Crown through- 
out the Province, and especially in the neighbourhood of Perth, and 
Mr. Macdonell was appointed Superintendent of the settlement. 
The officers of the Department for Settlers in Upper Canada . 
were as follows:- 
Superintendent-Alexander Macdonell, Esquire. 
Deputy Superintendent-D. McGregor Rogers. 
Secretary and Store-keeper-Daniel Duverne. 
Officers in charge-Captain Richard Bullock, senior; Lieuten- 
ant Angus Macdonell, Lieutenant McIver. 
Surgeon-John Caldwell. 
Subsequently in 1 B 1 6 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of 
the Indian Department, on accepting which, it being an Imperial 
appointment, he forfeited his half-pay which he had received since 
the disbandment of Butler's Rangers. 
The Honourable Alexander Macdonell was subsequently )or 
many years a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada, 
and died in Toronto on 14th March, IB42, full of years and the 

steem of all good men. 
The people of Glengarry can thus point with some degree of 
pride to the services rendered to, and the sacrifices made for the 
country by this gentleman, whom their fathers deservedly entrusted 
with the representation of their franchises when representative gov- 
ernment was in its infancy in this Province. 


Of his brothers, Angus Macdonell, also of course a Highland 
Loyalist, was the first Clerk of the Legislative Assembly in 179 2 , 
and was one of the earliest barristers of Upper Canada, and Trea- 
surer of the Law Society of Upper Canada from [BOI to [804. He 
was Member for Durham, Simcoe and the East Riding of York in 
the Legislature. He was drowned, with Judge Cochrane, the Solici- 



uS 
tor-General, Robert Isaac Dey Gray and all other passengers on the 
vessel "Speedy," on October 7th, 1804. 
The youngest brother, James Macdonell, was a Captain in the 
Forty-Third Light Infantry, who died while on service in the V/est 
Indies. He, with others of the Highland Loyalist officers, was hon- 
oured with the patronage of the Duke of Kent. Writing to his 
brother, from MODtreal, 5th 
1:ay, 1795, he states: "I am now just 
readie to quit this place for Quebec, on my way to the regiment. 
The number of people His Royal Highness has lately provided for, 
and his kind expressions to myself, leave me no room to doubt but 
he will continue his goodness to me." 



119 


CHAPT ER 11. 


THE REVEREND JOHN BETHUNE, FIRST PRESBYTERIAN Máns'rE
. 
-CHAPLAIN FIRST BATTALION EIGHTy-FOURTH REGIMENT.- 
MINISTER OF ST. GABRIEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MONT
 
REAL.-REMOVES TO GLENGARRy.-HIS DEATH IN 18IS.- 
HIS SONs.-BISHOP STACHAN'S SCHOOL AT CORNWALL.- 
THE REVEREND RODERICK MACDONELL (LEEK), FIRST CATHO- 
LIC PRIEST.-LETTER FROM LORD SYDNEY, SECRETARY OF 
STATE, TO LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HA:\I1LTON, INTRODUCING 
HIJ\I.-KNOYDART E:\IIGRATION TO GLENGARRY, 1786.- 
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS IN THE COUNTY. 


Among the first settlers of the County, few names have come 
down to us of men who in their day were held in greater or more 
d
served estimation than the Reverend John Bethune, and although 
. the connection which existed between his family and the County has 
been severed for many years, yet so intimate was the association in 
early days that any record of those days would be incomplete which 
did not make some mention, however imperfect, uf this learned and 
worthy divine. 
As all relating to Mr. Bethune, who was the first and for many 
years the only Minister of the Kirk of Scotland, not only in Glen- 
garry but in Upper Canada, must necessarily be of interest to many, 
I may mention that th3t gentleman was born in the Isle of Skye in 
175 I . The family trace their lineage very far back in Scotch and 
French historical records. The first of the name who left N orlllandy 
for the British Isles came to Scotland in the reign of Malcolm III., 
a contempor.lry of \Villiam the Conqueror, in the eleventh century. 
Many men famous in Scotch history belonged to this family, among 
whom may be mentioned Cardinal Beaton (the name is frequently 



12a 
s-peIled and prO'nounced in this way), and Archbisnop Bethune of 
Glasgow. 
The Reverend Robert Campbell, in his book, which contains so 
much that is of interest connected with t;1e early settlement of the 
country, " History of the Scotch Presbyterian Church, St. Gabriel 
Street, Montreal," mentions that Mr. Bethune had been Chaplain to 
the Royal Militia in North Carolina, was taken prisoner and con- 
fined in gaol by the Revolutionists. He obtained his release from 
the hands of the rebels at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War 
owing to an exchange of prisoners which took place, and made his 
way to the steadfast Province of Nova Scotia, residing for the tim
 
at Halifax, taking almost immediately thereafter an active part in 
organizing the Eighty-Fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regi- 
ment, of which 'an account is given in another place (I), and in 
whic'h he was appointed Chaplain to the First Battalion. When 
that Regiment was disbanded, the United Empire Loyalists and 
others of the Presbyterian faith in 
10ntreal, naturally rallied 
around Mr. Bethune when he proposed to organize a Presbyter- 
ian congregation there. Nor was the assistance which he 
received confined to those of his faith alone, Mr. Campbell stating 
that many Highland Catholics, and some who belonged to the Epis- 
copal Church as well, with characteristic high feeling and national 
pride, open-handed as they were brave and patient in enduring hard- 
ships suffered for conscience sake, generously responded to the 
appeal of their fellow-countryman, and subscribed according to their 
means to the building fund of St. Gabriel's Church, of which Mr. 
Bethune was the founder, and in which he preached to his small 
but interesting congregation until May 6th, 1787. 
Mr. Bethune had however, received the grant of land appor- 
tioned to his rank in the armY-3,ooo acres, the same as a captain 
-and it being located in Glengarry, and having a growing family to 
provide for, each of whom, on arriving at age, would also be entitled 
to an allotment of two hundred acres, removed to 'Villiamstown, 
then the leading settlement in Glengarry; but though he weht to re- 
side upon his property, he did not forget his ministerial vows, but 
resumed professional work in the new sphere to which Providence 
had led him. He was a faithful and zealous missionary, and to this 
(x) Ante, p.p. 53-,6. 



t
t 
day the fruits of his vigour and efficiency remain in the large and 
prosperous congregations organized by him not only in Williams. 
town, but in Martintown, Cornwall and Lancaster. He baptized al- 
together 2,379 persons during his ministry in Glengarry. His wife was 
a lady of Swiss birth, Veronica \Vadden, and together they struggled 
bravely against poverty and privations manifold incidental to life in 
the bush," having little more to live upon than his half-pay as a 
retired Chaplain," and brought up their large family of six sons and 
three daughters, instilling into their minds high principles, and im- 
parting to them that culture which, emanating from so many Scottish 
manses, has led on clergymen's sons to distinction and honour. 
His patriotism, of which he had given such striking proof in his 
youth, grew with his advancing life and helped to deepen in the 
whole district the loyalty which has ever characterized the men of 
Glengarry. His name is found second on the list on the loyal ad- 
dress presented to SÌr Gordon Drummond, President of the Province of 
Upper Canada, on the 21st December, 1814, at the conclusion of the 
Second American \Var, Mr. Alexander (afterwards the Bishop) Mac- 
donell's name being first. The mention of Bishop Macdonell's 
name suggested to Mr. Campbell a.n interesting incident of those 
days, illustrative of the kindly sentiments which the Gaelic-speaking 
people of Glengarry, Protestant and Roman Catholic, cherished 
towards each other. Some dispute had arisen between Mr. Bethune 
and his parishoners, as still sometimes happens in the best regulated 
congregations, which they failed to settle by themselves. The happy 
thought occurred to some one to submit the difficulty in question to 
Bishop Macdonell, their respect
d Catholic neighbour at St. Raphaels, 
and this course was mutually agreed on. After the hearing of parties, 
the Bishop, who might be expected to give the benefit of the doubt 
to his Protestant confrere, by way of upholding the principle of 
authority, not only gave judgment in his favour, but gave the people 
a good lecture on the duty of respect and obedience which they 
owed their ecclesiastical superior, which exhortation the congregation 
received in good part, and the breach between them and their pastor 
was healed. In addition to this instance of the utter absence of 
intolerance, I may mention that in cases of emergency the Bishop 
was often sent for to administer consolation to dying neighbours not 
of his faith, but who, unable to procure their own minister in time, 
wanted his prayers, which he could offer up in the beloved Gaelic, 



IZZ 
which he spoke as well as English-better indeed, for it was his 
mother tongue. These evidences of regard and confidence natural- 
ly greatly gratified the Bishop, who used to declare that he knew 
lots of good Protestant prayers. Mr. Campbell mentions as another 
Illustration of the relations subsisting in those days that the Church 
of the Recollet Fathers in Montreal was placed by the priests at the 
disposal of the Presbyterians in 179 I until their own church on St. 
Gabriel's Street was completed, and that they gladly accepted or 
this hospitality, and their sacraments were administered in it, the 
Priests "declining to accept of any compensation by way of rent, 
but were induced to accept as a present from the congregation two 
hogsheads of Spanish wine and a box of candles, quainting express- 
ing themselves as being' quite thankful for the same.' " 
Mr. Bethune died on the 23rd September, 1815, deeply regretted 
by the community among whom he had lived and laboured so long, 
the Montreal" Gazette" remarking at the time of his death, in a 
highly eulogistic obituary notice, that he was a man remarkable for 
the mildness and agreeableness of his manners, but at no time 
deficient in that spirit which is requisite for the support of a Christian 
and a gentleman, understanding what was due to the powers that be 
without losing sight of that respect which was due to himself, while 
the pooition held by his family in society proved that as a husband 
and a father he must be numbered among those who had done their 
duty well. 
A tablet with an inscription commemorative of his excellence in 
the various relations of life, admirable for the delicacy yet wannth 
of respect and tenderness of affection which it breathes, was erected 
to his memory in the Church at Williams town by his six sons, Angus, 
Norman, John, James, Alexander and Donald. It is a proper and 
most excellent tribute to the memory and virtues of a gentleman by 
those who themselves were gentlemen, and is creditable to both 
alike. 
Among his sons were two who subsequently gained high rank 
in the English Church, the Very Reverend John Bethune, who became 
Dean of Montreal, and the Right Reverend Alexander Neil Bethune, 
D. D., who succeeded the Honourable and Right Reverend 
John Strachan as second Anglican Bishop of Toronto. It is a strange 
coincidence that both Bishop Strachan and Bishop Bethune, who 



12 3 
rose to such eminence in the English Church, should both originally 
have been Presbyterians, and both have begun life in Canada in the 
immediate vicinity of Glengarry and amongst its people. (I) Mr. 
Strachan's school in Cornwall was an unequalled seminary it!. its day. 
It was a school for Protestants and Catholics alike, where not only 
were their minds improved and an education given such as enabled 
those who were fortunate enough to partake of it to achieve in after 
life the highest positions in the gift of the country, but where were also 
impressed upon them those sound and loyal principles which actuated 
the Bishop himself throughout his life, to the great advantage of the 
country, which benefited by his eminent services not only as a divine 
but as a patriot whose cloth alone, like his friend and compeer of the 
Catholic faith, forbade in time of greatest danger his also being a 
soldier. But if he could not be a soldier his pupils were, and from 
the Cornwall School there graduated a long list of men who distin- 
guished themselves as much in early life in the War of 1812 as they 
did afterwards in time of peace at the Bar, on the Bench and in all 
the learned professions and other walks of life. It is needless to say 
that such of the families in Glengarry whose means pennitted ha.d 
their sons educated by Mr. Strachan. Mr. A. N. Bethune, amongst 
others, was a pupil, and afterwards when Mr. Strachan removed to 
York, as he did, I believe, at the request of General Brock, joined 
him there as classical tutor, and subsequently studied divinity under 
him, was admitted to Deacon's orders, and in 1824 ordained Priest 
by Bishop Mountain at Quebec. He was subsequently appointed 
Coadjutor to Bishop Strachan in 1867 with right of succession, and 
died in Toronto in [879. 
At the close of the Revolutionary \Var, such of the soldiers who 
were married, and had not already broug:1t their wives and families 
to Canada, returned to the Mohawk Valley for them. 
Great indeed, almost surpassing our conception, were the trials 
and privations of the women, many of them bearing their children on 


(I) Archdeacon John Stuart, D.D., the first Minister of the Church of England in Upper 
Canada, whom Dr. Strachan succeeded as Archdeacon, was also a Chaplain in aU. E. Loyalist 
R
gime
t (2nd Battalion King's Roval Regiment of New York), and, strangely enough, like 
Bishop 
trachan and Bishop Bethune, he too was the son of parents who belonged to the Church 
of Scodand. I þave see,n a MS. acc
unt o
 
is life written by the Archdeacon himself, in which 
he states tþat his entry,lnto the Anghcan 
1lImstry, was. resolutely opposed by his f"ther, who was 
a .most stnct Presbytenan and most tenacIOus of h,s opmions It was many ye,'rs before he gave 
his consent to his son's studying for the English Church. Archdeacon Stuart was the father and 
grandfAher of a number of men who have graced public life and the Bench in the Province of 
LO\yer 
:an"da, and whose.services have be.en justly recognized and rewar led by the Crown. The 
soual hfe of the two PrO\'luces has been dlgmfied and adorned by the several generations of the 
families of the Stuarts, Bethunes and Strachans. 



124 
their backs a good part of the distance, for the men had to carry 
with them their arnlS and such of their household goods as they 
could. They had to endure perils by land and perils by water-in 
daily risk of death from hostile Indians and 'wild beasts, and those 
who had successfully revolted and held these" Tories" as accursed 
things-their food often being the flesh of horses and dogs, and even 
the roots of the trees. Little wonder that those who were nurtured 
by such mothers fought with desperation in 1812, and held in abom- 
ination the disseminators of republican and revolutionary doctrines 
whom four regiments from Glengarry turned out to suppress in 1837-8. 


A good story is told of one of the old warriors, who, having 
seen much service, knew well the country from the neighbourhood of 
Schenectady, where the families lived, and took charge of one of 
these pJ.rties in their journey through the wilderness to Canada. 
John Roy-we will call him-lived to a good old age, and was 
treated with much consideration by all, especially those whom he 
he had led to their homes. As years \Vent on, the number of John's 
party naturally increased with his years; and the frequency with 
which he told to the open-mouthed listeners the perils and hardships 
of the journey. A very distinguished Scottish officer, who had 
served in Canada for some years, was returning home, and, passing 
through Glengarry, spent a few days with Bishop Macdonell, then 
the priest at St. Raphael's. He told the Bishop he would like to 
meet some of the old veterans of the 'Var, so that he might hear 
their tales and tell his and their friends in Scotland how their kins- 
folk in Canada had fought a
1d suffered for the Crown in that Jar-off 
land. Amvngst others, the Bishop took him to see old John Roy. 
That was too go,)d an opportunity to be lost, and John told the 
General in Gaelic the whole story, omitting no details-the number 
of men, women and children he had brought with him, their perils 
and their escapes, their hardships borne with heroic devotion; how, 
when on the verge of starvation, they had boiled their mocassins 
and eaten them; how they had encountered the enemy, the wild 
beasts and Indians, beaten all off and landed safely in Glengarry. The 
General listened with respectful interest, and at the termination, 
wishing to say something pleasant, observed it was most wonderful. 
" Mr. Macdonell," he remarked, "the only instance I know that I 
can at all compare it to is that of :\loses leading the chtldren of Israel 



12 5 
in to the Promised Land." Up jumped old John. "Moses," said 
he, "compare ME to Moses! Moses be d-! He lost half his 
army in the Red Sea, and I brought my party through without los- 
ing one man !" 
I tell the tale as it was told to me. I am not responsible for 
the accuracy of the charge against Moses. 
Immediately after their settlement in Glengarry, those of the 
Catholic persuasion took steps towards procuring the services of a 
clergyman of their faith, and one acquainted with their language, 
many of them knowing no word of English. Representations were 
therefore made to Mr. Roderick Macdonell, who was a brother of 
Captains Archibald and Allan Macdonell (Leek), K.R.R.N.Y., and 
closely related to others of the officers, and known to and respected 
by the men, to join them in that capacity. He had, I believe, been 
educated at the Scots' College at Valodolid, in Spain, where or at 
Douay (J) most of the gentlemen of the name received their educa- 
tion in former days, and had ministered to the peovle of his natiye 
Glengarry previous to his coming to Canada. He therefore placed 
himself in communication with Lord Sydney, the Secretary of State, 
who represented the circumstances to the King, the result being that 
Mr. Roderick Macdonell was sent to Canada with the following let- 
ter to Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton:- 
LORD SYDNEY TO LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HAMILTON.( 2) 
".WHITEHALL, 24 June, 1785. 
" SIR, 
"Ha.ving laid before the King a memorial of .:Vlr. Roderick 
Macdonell, stating that, at the solicitation of a considerable number 
of Scots Highlanders and other British subjects of the Roman Catho- 
lic persuasion, who, prior to the last war, were inhabitants of the 
back settkment" of the Prr:vi:1ce of New York,3.nd to whom, in 
consiJeration of their loyaLy an.J s
n.icc:;, lands haw IJenl laL 1y 
assigned in the higher parts of Canada, he is desirous of joining 
them in order to serve them in the capacity of a clergyman, in the 
humble hope that, on his arrival at their !'ettlement, he shall be 
allowed by Government an annual subsistence for the discharge of 
that duty, I enc
ose to you the said memorial, and am to signify to 
you the King's commands that you do permit Mr. Macdonell to join 
(1) Mr. Shaw, in his" History of Moray," states that" the M:-.cdoneUs of Glengarry, 
never, that I know, reformed The gentlemen of that name have their sons educated in the 
Scotch colleges abroad, e
peciaUy at Douav, and they return home either avowed or concealed 
Papists." \Vith all respect to Mr. !-'haw, I -beg to stale that c'the gentlemen of that name" 
never concealed either their religious or political faith They answer to God for the one and to 
their fellow men for the other. and are on all occasions prepared to ju"tify either or both though 
theIr religious creed. which has been h mded down to them since Christianity was first k
own in 
the Highland'i of Scotland, is their own ;>ff.iÌr exclusively. 
(
) Canadian Archives, Series Q. 24-2, p. 279. 



126 
the above mentioned settlers and officiate as their clergyman; and 
with respect to the allowance to be made to him, I shall take an early 
opportunity of communicating to you His Majesty's pleasure. 
" I am, etc., 
" SVDNEY." 
In what part of the County Mr. Roderick was stationed I can. 
not ascertain. He was for many years station cd at St. Regis, where 
he died, Mis<;ionary Priest to the Indian" there. It is po,>sible that 
place may always have been his head-luJ,rters, and the U. E. Loyal. 
ist settlers, living as we know along the other side of the St. Law- 
rence, that he may and probahly did officiate on both sides of the 
River, among the Indians on the one and the Loyalists on the other. 
Mr. John McLennan, formerly M.P. for Glengarry, in an 
account of the early settlement of Glengarry, read before the Celtic 
Society at Montreal in, I believe, 1885, gives some interesting parti. 
culars regarding some of the settlers, which I may be permitted to 
quote. He mentions that the Grants, McLeans, Murchisons, Roses, 
Mrs. Bethune (who inherits from the McKays) and others in the 
Township of Charlottenburgh are all of Loyalist descent. 
In addition to the Scotch settlers, there were others, though not 
many in Glengarry, of English, Irish and German descent. Amongst 
those who came to Lancaster were William and Ralph Falkner, with 
their families They were originally from Lancashire, and appear 
to have given the name to the Township. Their descendants con- 
tinue to occupy portions of the land granted them adjoining the Vil- 
lage of Lancaster. Mr. 'Villiam Falkner had been on the Commis- 
sion of the Peace in England, and performed the ceremony of 
marriage during sev
ral years, until a clergym:Jl1 arrived in 17 8 7. 
On the east side of the Township, the fa
!lilies of Curry (Irish), 
Young (Scotch), and Snider and Cline (Schneider and Klein, 
German) were allotted land. Mr. McLennan suggests that the two 
latter were probably of the Hessian soldiers of George III., as well 
as the family of Summers (Sommer) who settled in the front of Char- 
lottenburgh. Mr. Isaac Curry, born in 1798, now occupying the 
homestead of his family, states to Mr. McLennan that the colony on 
the east side of Lancaster planted com and harvested a supply for 
their first winter, and one of them, Jacob Snider, built a mill. Their 
wives and children came into Canada by way of Lake Champlain 
and the Richelieu River. Among the officers who obtained grants 
of land in Lancasterwere Lieutenant (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) 



12 7 
Sutherland, a LÌeutenant K. R. R. N. Y., who appears formerly to h!ve 
belonged to the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, and Mr. Gunn, who is stated 
in the U. E. List to have al"o taken part in the conquest of Canada. 
A grandson of the latter now occupies a put of the grant near the 
Village of Lancaster. Mr. Charles \Vestley, a m
o of education and 
good position, who left a valuable property in the State of N eW York, 
settled on the property now occupied by his grandson, who '
orthily 
bears the S:1me name. ' 
In 1786 Captain John HayestabliÙed hi:u,elf o
 an arm on 
the River Raisin, naming the locality" Gleana-feoir" (Glen of Hay). 
H
 hal com
 i:l 17 73 ff0a1 Gleafrae, Huntly, in AberdeenshiiC, to 
Prince Edward Island. When the Revolutionary \Var broke out, he 
joined the Eighty-Fourth Regiment, serving until the peace in 1784. 
He was a Presbyterian, married to a Roman Catholic lady. His 
son, Mr. John Hay, a well-known veteran of 1812, died not many 
years since. Another well-known son was the late Very Reverend 
George Hay, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Kingston, and for 
many years the highly respected Priest of St. Andrews, County of 
Stormont. 
Having endeavoured to show who constituted the ü. E. Loyal- 
ist settlers of Glengarry, I shall now attempt to trace as far as pos- 
sible the other immigrations previous to the \Var of 1812. 
Shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War, in 1786, a 
large emigration of Highlanders, numbering, I believe, some five 
hundred souls, took place principally from that part of the Glengarry 
estates known as Knoydart, under the leadership of the Reverend 
Alexander Macdonell, who settled with their clansmen and kinsfolk 
in Glengarry. The followirig extract, taken from Neilson's" Quebec 
Gazette," relates to this immigration: 
"QUEBEC, 7th September, 1786. 
"Arrived ship" 
f:cDonald," Captain Robert Stevemon, from 
Greenock, with emigrants, nearly the whole of a parish in the north 
of Scotland, who emigrated with their Priest (the Reverend Alexan- 
der Macdonell, Scotus), and nineteen cabin passengers, together 
with five hundred and twenty steerage passengers, to better their 
case. Up to Cataraqui."(I) 
This Priest was one of the earliest Catholic priests or mission- 
aries, other than French, in Upper Canada. He was born at Scotus 


(I) Which was then the present Kingston. They, of course, remained in Glengarry, as we 
know, instead of proceeding further west. 



Hog 
House in Knoydart, Glengarry, Scotland, in, I believe
 1750. He 
was educated in France and ordained priest in Paris in 177 8 . He 
was the founder of the Parish of St. Raphaels, the pioneer parish 
not only of Glengarry, but of all U r'per Canada, where he built the 
first church, known in its day as the" Blue Chapel," and which was 
succeeded by the present large edifice erected by Bi..hop Macdonell. 
He died at L3.chine, on his way to Montreal on the 24th May, 180 3. 
Previous to his leaving St. Raphaels for Montreal, where he hoped 
to obtain medical aid, he addressed the following to the Church 
\Vardens of St. Raphaels: 
" GENTLE
IEN, 
"By virtue of the power invested in me, by the Bishop, as 
Parish Priest of the Parish of St. Raphael, in the County of Glen
 
garry, I do hereby authorise you to act as formerly in every point in 
regard as Church Wardens, during my absence, and that as if I was 
present, and until my return back (if it be God's will), to take charge 
of said Parish, as formerly, and rou are to act. agreeable to late 
regulations laid down in this Parish, by the Bishop's authority, 
which establish
d your authority and mine. And as I always and 
on all occasions, as Church Wardens, never found any of you failing 
or deficient in any part of your duty, but found you, fa Lthfull, 
honest and trusty, with the greatest probity and integrity, as well 
toward the public as myself, I have the strongest assurance of con- 
fidence that you'll observe this- request, for the benefit of all parties 
concerned. 


" ALEXANDER- MACDoNELL, 
" Priest. 


"Glengarry, 19th May, 18031 
" To Angus IVlcDonelJ, Prin'le. Church 'Varden; Donald McDonell, 
John Kennedy, Malcolm McDougal, Archibald 
fcDonell, 
Lachlin McKinnon, Donald McDonell, Duncan l\IcDunell, 
Hugh McDonell, Alexander Fraser, John McDonell and Alex- 
ander McDonelL" 
The next Priest at St. Raphaels (the predecessor of l\lr. Alex- 
ander, afterwards Bishop, Macdonell) was, as will be seen by the 
following letter, a Mr. Fitzimmol1s, an Irish gentleman who came 
with the follmving letter from :\Ir. Roderick Macdonell, the l\iission- 
ary Priest at St. Regis. It was addressed to ":\1r. Angus 
Macdonell( I), Arch-Syndic of the Parish of St. Raphaels," and is 
now in my possession: 
"To the Churchwarrants at St. Raphael: 
" I have to acquaint you that the Revd. Mr. Fitzimmons ha s 
(I) Aûgneas Mac Alastair Bhan. 



12 9 
come to this country to serve you as a Pastor, and that he is 
appointed by the Lord Bishop of Quebec for your Parish. of St. 
Raphael. If 
1r. Macdonell arrives this year, it will rest wIth 
he 
Bishop to appoint him or not, in the meantime yoy are to receI.ve 
this gentleman as your lawful pastor, and render hun every 
ervice 
in your power. Yon know that no priest can be a pas
or 111. any 
parish, un:eS5 he is appointed by the Bishop, and that It entuely 
depends on the Bishop to appoint anyone he pleases, therefore Mr. 
Fitsimmom, having been duly appointed by the Bishop of the 
Diocese, you are bound anJ obliged to r
ceive him with every m,:rk 
of e,;teem anJ attention in your powèr. The Bi"hop win be with 
you in February, and settle everything respecting your mi:;sion. 
"I remain, 
" Gentlemen, 
" Your obedient servant, 
"R. MACDONELL. 


"St. Regis, I 2th September, 1804." 
The Priests who have been stationed at St. Raphaels from the 
establishment of the Parish to the present day are as follows: 
1, Mr. Alexander Macdonell (Scotus), who arrived in 1786; 2, the 
Reverend Mr. Fitzimmons; 3, Mr. Alexander (afterwards Bishop) 
Macdonell; 4, Mr. Angus (afterwards Vicar-General) ðIacdoneIl; 
5, }lr. John Macdonald, who Was afterwards Priest at Alexandria, 
and died there in May, 1845; 6, Mr. John Macdonald, shortly 
mentioned; 7, the Reverend Mr. Masterson; 8, the Rev. Mr. 
Duffus; 9, the Reverend Mr. Kelly, and 10, the present incumbent, 
the Reverend Mr. Fitzpatrick. ( I) 
Amongst the emigrants from Knoydart was one afterwards well 
known in Glengarry and elsewhere, and whose memory will always 
be affectionately cherished in the County, the Reverend John Mac. 
donald, invariably known by the old people as " Mhaister Ian." He 
was then but a child of three years of age. His parents, John Mac- 
donald and Anna McGillis, brought with them two other children, 
the eldest, Æneas, being seven years of age at the time. He also 
became a priest, and resided for forty years a Professor in the Col- 
lege of the Gentlemen of the Seminary at Montreal, where he was 
distinguished for his piety and learning; a perfect French and Gaelic 
scholar. He was for many years an ecclesiastic only, being ordained 
Priest in 1832, during the cholera, when priests were urgently 
required. They were descended from the :Macdonalds of Luibhe, 
(II The Rev. Mr. Gaulin (afterwards Bishop of Kingston), and Mr. ,afterwards Vicar- 
f:eneral William) Macdonald offici..ted at St. Raphaels as Parish Priests shortly after Bishop 
Macdonell was elevated to,the Episcopate. 



'3 0 
'Whích in GaelÍc sÍgnifies a bent arm of the sea. Like many another 
Highland gentleman, "Mhaister Ian" could trace his genealogy 
back for six hundred years. He was educated at the Petit Semin- 
aire, Montreal, and studied divinity in Quebec, where he was 
ordained in the year 18 I 4. He was for some years stationed at 
Perth, then a new settlement, and there, owing to the extent of his 
parish anl the poverty of his parishioners, endured great hardship. 
He died at Lancaster, in Glengarry, on the 16th March, 1879, in the 
ninety-seventh year of his age. It would require a Dean Ramsay 
to do justice to the many excellent stories which are told of this 
gentleman, distinguished as much for his wit as for his piety. 
One of his sisters, Catherine Macdonald, a nun, and known in 
the Order of her Sisterhood as Sainte Pelagie, came from Montreal 
with another religieuse to St. Raphaels in 1828, with a view of 
founding a convent there, but found that the then situation of the 
Parish and surrounding country would not justify it. 
LieHtenant-Colonel R. C. Macdonald, of the Castle Tioram 
Regiment of HighlanJers, Prince Edward Island, published, in 1843, 
a pamphlet, entitled" Sketche') of Highlanders," with an account of 
their early arrival in North America and some of their distinguished 
military services in the year of 1812. At page 67 of his work he 
states :- 


" The only Chieftains, or heads of families, who came from the 
Highlands to the Lower Provinces of British America were the Chief- 
tains of Glenaladale and Keppoch. The history of the former I have 
already referred to. (I) The latter, the last of the chivalrous Chiefs 
of Keppoch (Major Macdonell), died in 1808 on Prince Edward 
Island, leaving no other male representative of the family than 
one young man, a lieutenant in the army, who was killed in Spain. 
Thus became extinct in a distant colony the representative of a 


h) Colonel Macdonald is not quite correct in stating that Glenaladale was a chieftain. He 
was the nead of one of the most respectable families of Clanranald's Clan, in fact the head of the 
cadet housCif of that distingUIshed llan, and as Colonel Macdonald states, was selected in the 
minority Or mcapacity of the chief to be " Tanister," which in Gaelic signific-s the gu .rdian and 
the one next in rank to the chief. John Macdonald of Glenaladale, who in 1773 sold his property 
and brought out a lihip load of the ClanranaJd people to Prince Edward Island, was a highly 
respected "nd distinguished man. He with Major lafterwards I ;eneraJ) Small, was largely instru- 
mental in raising the 84th (Royal Highland EmIgrant Regiment! durin;; the Revolutionary War. 
l'he Rritish (;overnment showed their appreciation of his services and character in offering him 
the Government of Prince Edw"rd Island, which he was obliged to decline owing to the oath at 
that time required to be taken. He died in 18n. (;eneral Sm311 stated of him, in a despatch to 
the (;overnment: "The activity and unabating zeal of Captain John MacDonald, of Gienaladale, 
in bñnging an excellent company into the field, is his least recommendation, being acknowledged 
by all who know hirn to be one of the mos.t accomplished men and best officers of IDS rank in His 
Majesty's service." 



13 1 
noble family, which although it had not received a patent of nobility 
from the hands of the Sovereign, was truly noble for its deeds of 
valour, its chivalry and its magnanimous patriotism. They disdained 
to hold their lands by paper or parchment tenure, bonds or charters, 
because their swords, they said, would alway protect their estates 
against foreign aggression or internal commotion. The Keppoch of 
the eventful year of 1745 maintained the glory and martial spirit 
of his ancestors ;( I) but after that period the influence and name of 
the family began to decline, and their once powerful swords lost their 
sway. The family was obliged to surrender their estates, not having 
the necessity documents to prove their title to them. Many very 
respectable families emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland to 
Upper Canada, most of them branches of the Glengany Clan, such 
as the Macdonells of Greenfield, the Macdonells of Ardnabee, 
&c., &c., and the Macdonells of Inch, who are of the Keppoch 
family; Macnab of Macnab, the Chief of that Clan; Macdonald of 
Garenish who is by many considered the next heir to the Highland 
estates of the ancient family of Morar. Although all these gentlemen 
are now in comfortable circumstances, they are not altogether forget- 
ful of the land they left; but are full of loyalty and affectionate 
attachment to old England, as their military feats of the \Var of 1812 
and their devotion to the British cause in the Canadian Rebellion 
amply prove." 
Mr. Macdonell of Greenfield, who emigrated in 1792, brought 
with him, I believe, a number of the people of his clan. He had 
been married in Scotland to a sister of Colonel John Macdonell 
(Aberchalder), who in that year was elected Speaker of our first 
House of Assembly, being one of the members for Glengarry. 
Regarding this gentleman, Mr. Mackenzie, in his" History of 
the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles," page 529, quotes from Mrs. 
Grant, of Laggan, a well known Scottish authoress :- 
"A few lingering instances of the old superior Highland dress 
continued to be seen as late as the end of last century, one of its 
latest examples being afforded by Macdonell of Greenfield, " Ceanß 
Tighe" of a cadet house of the Glengarry family, who is in the latter 
part of the last century was celebrated for his handsome person, his 
courtly adJress, his exploits as a deer-stalker, and general character 
as a model of the Highland gentleman living in his time. He is 


(t) His Clan, with Glengarry's, and all others of the name, had taken umbrage at not 
bein
 placed on the right wing of the army at Culloden, and, allowing their pride to dominate 
.heir patriotism, hesit'l.ted to attack. It was in v..in th'l.t g-all.mt Keppoch charged with a few of 
his near rela ives, while hie; clan, a thing bpf .re unheard of, remaine t stationary. Th, Chief was 
near .he fNnt of the enemv, and was exclaiming, with feelings which c,mnot be appreciated "My 
l;od! have the children of my tribe forsaken me !" at this hstant, he received several 
hots 
which cloc;ed his earthly aceo'lIIt, I"aving him onlv time to advise ills favourite nephew to shift fo
 
himself.-Sir \Valter Scott, "Tales of a Gralldfatber:' 



13 2 
described by several of the old people by whom he was remembered, 
as dressed invariably in the Highland garb-a short round "cota 
goirid," a bonnet plumed with a tuft of ostrich feathers, belted plaid 
worn over the trews. The house of Greenfield stood on a beautiful 
romantic situation, near the head of Loch Garry, on a green knoll, 
since occupied by the hunting lodge, built by the late Glengarry for 
deer-stalking of Sliabh
garbh." . 
Mr. Macdonell settled in the Township of Charlottenburgh, 
calling his place, as did all Highland gentlemen, by the name of his 
property in Scotland. He commanded the 2nd Battalion Glengarry 
Militia in 1812, and died in 18 I 9. His sons were men of mark in 
their generation. The eldest, Hugh, died while being educated at 
the Scots College of Valodolid, in Spain. Angus was a partner in 
the Northwest Company, and was murdered there in one of the many 
conflicts which took place in the Northwest Territories between his 
Company and Lord Selkirk's. His murderer was brought down and 
placed on trial at Montreal and acquitted. but was never seen after 
leaving the Court House. Duncan Macdonell of Greenfield 
commanded a Company at the taking of Ogdensburgh and Cap. 
ture of Fort Covington in 1813, and served also in 1837-8. On 
his retirement from the Militia as late as 1857, it was declared in 
General Orders of the 3rd September of that year :- 
"His Excellency the Administrator of the Government and 
Commander-in,Chief cannot permit Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Mac- 
donell of Greenfield to retire from the command of this Battalion 
(Second Gleng.ury, Lancaster Regiment) without recording the 
sense he entertains of the value of his long and faithful service3 in 
the Militia of this Province dating from the last \Var." 
The same gazette contained the appointment of his on ly son to 
the command of the Regiment, and that gentleman, Archibald John 
Macdonell, retaining it until his death in 1864, it afforded probably 
the only instance of a command of a Regiment of Canadian Militia 
being continuously retained by three generations of one family for 
upwards of half a century, each of them having been out on active 
service with the Regiment. ( I) Colonel Duncan Macdonell was by 
profession a land surveyor, and at the time of his death Registrar of 
the County. The two younger sons of Mr. Alexander Macdonell of 
Greenfield-I,ieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell and Lieut.-Colonel 


(I) The lIst named gentleman was a lad of fifteen years of age, attending Dr, Urquhart's 
school at I ornwall when the Regimen! wa
 oydered to Lower Canada in 18]8. He ran: way 
from scho I and proceeding on fo.,t to Luwer Can.lda joined the Regiment and sen ed in tlle 
rank!. with s veral of his cous' ns of about the same age 



133 
Donald Greenfield Macdonell, Deputy Adjutant-General of l\Iilitia 
of Upper Canada-both represented Glengarry, and I may have 
occasion to refer to them hereafter when dealing with the \Var of 
1812-14, in which both took an active part and the former died. 
As stated by Mr. 
IcLenn3.n, the County, becoming noLd as a 
Scottish Colony, attracted immigrants a.s they arrived from time to 
time from all parts of Scotland. Several families of Macphersons 
from B'adenoch settled in Lancaster, among them Mr. Murdoch 

lacpherson, who lived to the age of 107 years, and whose place is 
worthily occupied by a grandson. 
Mr. McLennan is of opinion that the first settlement was made 
in Lochiel in 1796, probably by some of the Cameron men, who were 
from Lochiel's Country in Scotland, but I am informed by Mr. John 
McLeod, Surveyor (brother of Mr. Alexander McLeod, the Surveyor, 
who died some years ago at the advanced age of ninety-two years) 
that in 1793 his father, Captain Alexander McLeod, of the family of 
Moale, chartered a vessel and brought with him from Glenelg, in 
Scotland, about forty families of McLeods, McGillivrays, McCuaigs 
and Mclntoshes-his own father, also A.lexander McLeod, being 
among the number. They arrived in Glengarry early in 1794, and 
proceeded out to the north part of the County, and settled in the 
neighborhood of Kirkhill, where their descendants still reside. Mr. 
Alexander McLeod was a Captain of Militia in the \Var of 1812 in 
the Regiment commanded by Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield, 
with whom he was closely related. Each of these families received 
a grant of two hundred acres from the Crown. The Township, or at 
any rate a considerable portion of it, was first surveyed by Hugh Mac- 
donell (Aberchalder), one of the two first members for the County, 
and afterwards, the Consul-General at Algiers, whose career has been 
previously noticed. The field notes of his surveys were amongst 
the papers lately procured by Mr. Bain, the indefatigable Public 
I.ibrarian of Toronto, which were taken by the former Surveyor- 
General Smith to England when he retired from Canada. 



134 


CHAPTER 12. 


RAISING OF THE GLENGARRY FENCIBLE OR BRITISH HIGHLAND 
REGIMENT IN SCOTLAND.-INCIDENTS PREVIOUS THERETO.- 
MR. ALEXANDER (AFTERWARDS BISHOP) MACDONELL ACCOM. 
PANIES A NUMBER OF THE HIGHLANDERS TO GLASGOW, WHERE 
THEY ARE EMPLOYED BY THE MANUFACTURERS.-CLOSING OF 
THE MANUFACTORIES ON PROCLAMATION OF \V AR BETWEEN 
BRITAIN AND FRANCE.-PROPOSAL TO RAISE A REGIMENT TO 
BE UNDER COMMAND OF THE YOUNG CHIEF OF GLENGARRY.- 
FIRST CATHOLIC CORPS SINCE THE REFORMATION.-STATIONED 
IN GUERNSEY.-OFFER TO GARRISON ST. MARCOU.-SERVICES 
IN IRELAND IN SUPPRESSION OF REBELLION OF '98.-DIS- 
BANDED WITH OTHER FENCIBLES IN 1802.-SERVICES OF THE 
CHAPLAIN ON BEHALF OF THE MEN.-HE PROCURES A 
GRANT OF 200 ACRES FOR EACH MAN IN GLENGARRY IN 
CANADA.-LoRD HOBART'S LETTER TO LIEUT.-GOV. U. C. 


The last emigration on a large scale of Glengarry Highlanders 
took place in 1802 under the circumstances mentioned in Thomson's 
"Memoirs of the Jacobites," page 322 et seq., but as they are so 
interesting and of such historic value to the County, I prefer to 
quote from the words of the person best qualified to speak authorita. 
tively on the subject, and who brought the immigrants to Canada, 
the former Chaplain of the Glengarry Fencible Infantry or British 
Highland Regiment, afterwards the Honourable and Right Reverend 
Alexander :Macdonell, first Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada and a 
member of the Legislative Council of the Province. I take them 
from the Canadian Literary Magazine of April, 1833, vol. I, page 3 
et seq. 



1- 


t
S 
After e)tplaìnìng how, consequent upon the aboìitìoñ oi' tht 
feudal system of clanship which had obtained from time imlllen\orial
 
and had been based upon the mutual interest of chieîtain and clans'" 
men, by the influence and consequence in prcportion to the number 
of his followers it afforded the former-and the protection and sup.... 
pßrt it gave to the latter---,,-the "blea.k and barren mountains of the 
north," which had previously ra.ised MEN, had been converted into 
sh
ep walks, and the suffering thus necessarUy -entailed upon the 
people -their utter misery in fact-he proceeds: 
It was in this conjecture that the writer of these pages, then A 
Missionary on the borders of the Counties ot Inverness and Perth) 
in the highest inhabited parts of the IIighlands of Scotland, affected 
by the distressed state of his countrymen, and hearing that an emi.. 
grant vessel which had sailed from the Island of Barra, one of the 
Hebrides, had been wrecked and had put into Greenock, where she 
landed her passengers in the most helpless and destitute situation t 
repaired in the spring of 1792 to GlasgO\v. Having secured an 
introduction to several of the professors of the University and to the 
principal manufacturers of that dty, he proposed to the latter that 
he should induce the Highlanders who had been turned out of theit 
farms, and those lately escaped from the shipwreck, to enter into 
their works if they (the manufacturers) would but encourage them, 
and this they really promised to do upon very liberal terms. There 
were two serious obstacles, however, to the usefulness of the High- 
landers: the one th3.t they did not understand the English language, 
the other that a large p::>rtion of them \vere Roman Catholics. The 
excitement raised by Lord George Gordon about Catholics twelve 
years before, when the Catholic chapds of Edinburgh and Glasgow. 
and the clergymen's houses, were burned, had not yet subsided, and 
a strong and rancorous feeling against the professors of the Catholic 
religion still remained amongst the lower orders of the people of 
Glasgow; so much so, indeed, that no Catholic clergyman could 
with safety reside there from the time of the burning of the chapels 
to the period we are now speaking of. The manufacturers repre- 
sented to the :Missionary that although perfectly willing themselves 
to afford the Catholics all the countenance and protection in their 
power, yet, as the Penal Laws still remained in full force against 
them, they could not be answerahle for the con<;e1
lences in the event 
of evil deigned persohs assailing or annoying thtm; and they repre- 



13'6 

nted that the danger ,vas still greater to a Catholíc' Clergyman, who 
was subject not only to the insult and abuse of the rabble, but to be 
arraigned before a court of justice. To this the l\Iis-sionary replied 
that although the letter of the law militated against Catholics, the 
spirit of it was- greatly mítigated, and that if they would but assure 
the Iiighlarrders of their protection, he himself would take his chance 
of the severity of the law and the fanaticism of the people, and 
accompany the Highlanders to the manufactories, in order to serve 
them in the double capacity of Interpreter and Clergyman; for the 
Missionary saW that it was a notorious fact that Catholics following 
the dictates of their religion, and restrained by its morcllity, 
!1ade 
faithful and industrious servants; but, discar jing those ties and 
obligations, they became vicious and unprincipled. 
The manufacturers, appearing much plem;ed with this proposal, 
offered every protection and encouragement in their power to him- 
self and followers. Accordingly, with the approbation of his Bishop, 
he took up his residence in Glasgow in June, 1792, and in the course 
of a few months procured employment for upwards of 600 High- 
landers. 
On the few occasions previous to this, that a priest had officiated 
in Glasgow, he was obliged to have his meetings up two or three 
pairs of stairs, and to station at t
e door a sturdy Irishman or High- 
lander armed with a bludgeon to overaWe the intruders who might 
attempt to disturb the service. But the missionary, by the advice of 
one of the most influental Presbyterian of the city, (I) opened his 
chapel to the street and did not close the door during the service. 
Two respectable members of the congregatíon attended to show any .. 
decent persons
 attracted thither by curiosity, into a seat; and 
several who thus came were repeatedly heard to say that this was not 
Popery at all, although the principal tenets of the Catholic Religion 
were tàught and explained both in English and Gaelic; and because 
they saw neither pictures nor images, and the mass was said early in 
the morning, before those who might be disposed to give annoyance 
were up, and who, being of the lower class of labourers and trades- 
man, generally spent the S.ltunlay evenings in a tavern and Sunday 
morning Ín b
d. 
For two years the manufactories went on with astonishing pros
 
perity and success, but in the year 1794 the principles of the French 


(1) Dr. J>orteus, a nephew, by marriage, to Sir John Moore. 



1:3., 
Revolutìofi, 
p'teadìng rapìdly OVer Great 13rìtaìn, 
nd meetÌng Wìt1'1 
the warmest abettors in the manufacturing districts, the English 
Government found it necessary to ad.opt meàsures to check its pro- 
gress and to prevent i.ntercourse between th.e t\'vo èomitt'Ïes. 
\Var 'v"as :ü length prodå.imed bet\veen England and France
 
The export of British manufactures to the Comin,e1\t was stopped} 
the credit of the nianufacturers '
as 'Cheeked j their \Vvtks \vere 

hnost 
t a. stand; frequent bankruptcies ensued j a. general dismis- 
sal of labouring hands took place, and misery and distr
ss overtoòk 
those thus suddenly thrO\\'ñ out of eniploy. 
Among the sufferers were the poor Highhtndets above meù
 
60ned. Unaccustomed to hard labour and totally ignorant of the 
English languar;e. they became more helpless and destitu.te than aný 
vther class of the whole cOl1llnvnity. 
At this crisis the Missionary conceived the ideA of gettìng these 
unfortunate Highlanders embodied as a Catholic èorps in His 
1Iajesty's service, with his young Chief, Macdonell of Glengarry, for 
their Colonel. Ha.ving procured a meeting of the Catholics at Fort 
Augustus, in February, 1794, a loyal address was drmvn up to the 
King, offering to raise Q. Catholic corps, under the 'Command of the 
young Chieftain, who, together with John Fletcher, ESQ., of Dunans, 
proceeded as a deputation to London with the address, \vhich was 
most graciously received by the King. The nìanufacturers of 
gow furnished them with the most ample and honóurable testìmonials 
of the good conduct of the Highlanders during the time they had 
been in their works, and strongly recommended that they should be 
employed in the service of their country. A Letter 01 Service was 
accordingly issued to raise the first Glengarry FencÌble Regiment as 
a Catholic corps, being the first that was raised as such since the 
Reformation. 
The missionary, although contrary to the then existing law, wàs 
gazetted as Chaplain of the Regiment. Four or five Regiments 
which had been raised in Scotland, having refused to extend theit 
services to England, and having mutinied when they were ordered to 
march, the Glengarry Fencibles, by the persuasion of their Chaplain t 
offered to extend their services to any part of Great Britain or Scot- 
land, or even to the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. This offer 
W'lS very acceptable to the Government, since it forn'leò a precpdent 
to all Fencible co.-ps that Werè l.tÌSCJ :;.ftc: tbi i pc,ÌuJ. The Regi- 



13 8 
It1ent, havíng been embodied in June, 1795, soon afterwards em. 
barked for Guernsey, and remained there until the summer of 1798. 
Sir Sidney Smith having taken possession of the small island 
of St. Marcou, in the mouth of Cherbourg Harbor, the Glengarries 
offered to garrison that post, but the capture of that gallant officer 
and o( the much lamented Captain \Vright, who was first tortured 
and then put to death in a French prison because he would not take 
a commission in the French navy, prevented the enterprise from 
taking place. 
In the summer of 1798 the rebellion broke out in Ireland, and 
the Glengarry Regiment was ordered to that country. Landing at 
Ballenack, they marched from thence to \Vaterford, and from W ater
 
fore to New Ross the same day. At the former place a trifling 
circumstance occurred which afforded no small surprise to some and 
no slight ridicule to others, while at the same it showed the 

implicíty of the Highlanders an:1 their ignorance of the ways of the 
world. The soldiers who rec..:ived billet m
)l1ey on their entrance in 
the to\vn returned it on their being ordered to march the same 
evening to N' ew Ross (or the purpose of reinforcing General Johnson, 
who was surrounded, and, in a manner, besieged by the rebels. 
The next day General Johnson attacked and dislodged the 
rebels from Laggan Hill, who, after a very faint resistance, retreated 
to Vinegar Hill. The Ch3plain, upon this and all other occasions, 
accompanied the Regiment to the field, with the view of preventing 
the men (rom plundering or committing any act of cruelty upon the 
country people. The command of the Town of New Ross devolved 
on Colonel Macdonell, and the Chaplain found the Jail and Court 
Bouse crO\vded with wounded rebels, whose lives had been spared, 
but who had been totally neglected. Their wounds had never been 
dressed, nor any sustenance been given to them since .the day of the 
battle. Colonel Macdonell, on being informed of their miserable 
condition, ordered the Surgeon of his Regiment to attend them, and 
every possible relief was offered to the wretched suff
rers. From 
New Ross the Regiment was ordered to Kilkenny, and from thence 
to Hackett's Town, in the Cütnty of \Vicklow, to reduce a body 
of rebels and deserters, who had taken possession of the neighbor- 
ing mountains, under the command of the rebel chiefs, Holt and 
Dwyer. 
The Village of Hackett's Town had been entirely consumed to 



139 
ashes, partly by the insurgents and partly by the military. De- 
prived of this shelter, the troops were compelled to live under tents 
the greater part of the winter, and the Chaplain considered it his 
duty to share their privations and sufferings. 
Colonel Macdonell, who now commanded the Brigade, which 
consisted of the Glengarries, two companies of the Eighty-Ninth 
Regiment of Foot, two companies of Lord Darlington's Fencible 
Cavalry, and several companies of the Yeomanry, finding that the 
rebels made a practice of descending from the mountains in the 
night time to the hamlets in the valleys for the purpose of plunder, 
adopted a plan of getting the troops under arms about midnight and 
marching them from the camp in two divisions without fife or 
drum. One division was ordered to gain the summits of the moun- 
tains, the other to scour the inhabited parts of the country; so that 
the rebels, in attempting to regain their footsteps, found themselves 
entrapped between two fires. The Chaplain never failed to accom- 
pany on
 or the other of these divisions, and was the means of saving 
the lives of, and preserving for legal trial, many prisoners, whom the 
yeomanry would, but for his interference, have put to immediate 
death. 
The Catholic chapels in many of those parts had been turned 
into stables for the yeomanry cavalry, but the Chaplain, when he 
came, caused them to be cleaned out and restored to their proper 
use. He also invited the terrified inhabitants and clergy to resume 
their accustomed worship, and laboured not in vain to restore tran- 
quilityand peace to the people, persuading them that if they behaved 
quietly and peacefully the Government would protect Catholics as 
well as Protestants, and impressing upon their minds that the 
Government having entrusted arms to the hInds of the Glengarry 
Highlanders, who were Roman Catholics, was a proof that it was 
not inimical to them on account of their religion. These exhortations, 
together with the restoration of divine service in the chapels, the strict 
discipline enforced by Colonel Macdonell, and the repression of the 
licentiousness of the yeomanry, served in a great measure to restore 
confidence to the people, to allay feelings of dissatisfaction and to 
extinguish the embers of rebellion wherever the Glengarry Regiment 
served. 
The Highlanders, whom the rcbels called" the Devil's Blood- 
hounds," both on account of their dress and their habit of climbing 



14 0 
and traversing the mountains, had greatly the advantage of the in- 
surgents in every encounter, so much so that in a few months their 
force was reduced from a thousand to a few scores. Holt, seeing 
his numbers so fast diminishing, surrendered to Lord Powerscourt, 
and was transported to Botany Bay. Dwyer, after almost his whole 
party had been killed or taken, was at length surprised in a house 
with his few remaining followers by a party of the Glengarries. Here 
he defended himself and killed some of his pursuers, till the house 
being set on fire, he was shot 'yhile endeavoring to make his escape, 
stark naked, through the flames. 
The Marquess Cornwallis, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Com- 
mander of the forces, was so well pleasel with the services of the 
Glengarry Fencibles that he advised the Government to have the 
Regiment augmented. In furtherance of this plan, the Chaplain 
was despatched to London with recommendations from every Gen- 
eral under whose command the corps had served in Guernsey or in 
Ireland, to procure the proposed augmentation and to settle on the 
terms. Previous to his departure from Dublin, the measure of a 
. legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland had been brought 
into the [rish Parliament and miscarried. The Catholic Bishops 
and Calholic nobles of Ireland having assembled in Dublin to discuss 
this subject, came to a determination favourable to the views of 
Government, and communicated their sentiments tv the Chaplain, 
authorizing hiÍn to impart them to the Ministry. The Chaplain did 
so accordingly in his tlrst interview with the Right Honourable 
Henry Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, but that statesman con- 
sidered the Chaplain's information incorrect, and insinuated that the 
intention of the Irish Catholic dignitaries and nobility was quite 
. contrary to what was stated. 
He also privately infonned Sir John Cox Hippesley, who accom- 
panied the Chaplain to the Secretary of State's Office, that by a 
despatch received through that day's mail from Lord Castlereagh, 
the Secretary of State for Ireland, he was informed that the purpose 
of the meeting of the Catholics was to counteract the measures of 
the Government. This the Chaplain took the liberty to deny, and 
offered to prove his assertion to the satisfaction of Mr. Dundas by 
being allowed time to refer to the Catholic meeting at Dublin., He 
accordingly wrote to Colonel Macdonell, whom he had left in that 
city, and received by return of post an answer from Viscount Ken- 



141 
mare, contradicting in toto the assertions of Viscount Castlereagh. 
On this occasion the Government papers indulged in severe reflec- 
tions upon the conduct of the Irish Catholics. The Chaplain 
requested that they should be contradicted, which was done very 
reluctantly, and not until he had threatened to have the truth pub- 
lished in the Opposition papers. The correspondence on that subject 
is now in his possession. 
The proposed augmentation, however, did not take place. The 
views of government were altered, and instead of augmenting the 
Fencible Corps, they gave commissions in the regiments of the Line 
to those officers of the Fencibles who could bring a certain number 
of volunteers with them. 
The Glengarry Fencibles were afterwards employed in the 
mountains and other parts of Conomaragh, where some of the most 
desperate rebels had taken refuge, and where the embers of rebellion 
continued longest unextinguished. The Chaplain was their constant 
attendant down to the year 1802, when at the short Peace of Amiens, 
the whole of the Scotch Fencibles were disbanded. 
I have obtained a list of the officers of this Regiment from an 
army list of 1798. The Regiment was stationed at Kilkenny at the 
time.' It will' be observed that Colonel Macdonald is named as 
Colonel, Glengarry being in charge of the Brigade: 
Colonel- Donald Macdonald. 
Lieutenant-Colonel-Charles McLean. 
Major-Alexander Macdonell. 


Archibald 
lcLachlan, 
Donald Macdonald, 
Ranald Macdonell, 


Captains. 
James Macdonald, 
.Archibald Macdonell, 
Roderick 
1acdonald, 
Hugh Beaton. 


Captain-Lieutenant and Captain-Alexander Macdonell. 


John Macdonald, 
Ronald Macdonald, 
Archibald McLellan, 
James Macdonell, 


Lieutenants. 
James McNab. 
D. McIntyre, 
Donald Chisholm, 
Allan McN au. 



14 2 
Ensigns. 
Alexander Macdonell, Donald Maclean, 
John Macdonald, Archibald Macdonell, 
Charles Macdonald, Alexander Macdonell, 
Donald Macdonell. Andrew Macdonell, 
Francis Livingstone. 
Adjutant-Donald Macdone 11. 
Quarter-Master-Alexander Macdonell. 
Surgeon-Alexande r Macdonell. 
Taken as a whole, the names seem to be somewhat Scotch, and 
to savor, as did these of the men, of the clan whose suaicheantas 
was the heather! 
I may mention that this is but one of the twenty-six Scottish 
regiments, almost all Highland, enumerated in the army list of 1798, 
though a young essayist has gravely assured us that the finer 
qualities and instincts of the men of that and previous generations 
had been dwarfed by long subjection to the despotism of their chiefs, 
and that even their physique had degenerated under oppression, and 
that it required years and another climate and changed surroul1dings 
to counteract the stunting influences of centuries. 
The Highlander:; now found themselves in the same destitute 
situation as they were in when first introduced into the manufactories 
of Glasgow. Struck with their forlorn condition, the Chaplain, at 
his own expense, proceeded to London to represent their situation to 
the Government and to endeavor to induce ministers to lend them 
assistance to emigrate to Upper Canada. He was introduced to the 
Right Honourable Charles Yorke, Secretary at \Var, and by him to 
Mr. Addington, the Premier. The latter, on account of the 
testimonials which the Chaplain presented to him of the good conduct 
of the Regiment during the whole of their service, signed by the 
different general officers under whose command they had been, 
directed that a sum of money should be paid to the Chaplain, out of 
the Military Chaplains' fund in lieu of half-pay, which could not be 
granted to him without forming a precedent to other Chaplains of 
Fencible Corps; and this favour was conferred upon him at the 
recommendation of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, then 
Commander-in-Chief, on account of his having constantly attended 
the Regiment when every other regimental Chaplain had retired 



143 
upon five shillings a day by virtue of an order issued from the War 
Office in 1798. Mr. Addington requested the Chaplain to state to 
him, in writing, the cause of the frequent emigrations from the 
Highlands of Scotland. The Chaplain complied with his request in 
a series of letters, on the perusal of which Mr. Addington expressed 
his deep regret that so brave and faithful a portion of His Majesty's 
subjects, who were always found ready at the call of Government, 
and from whom no murmurs or discontents were ever heard, even 
under the most trying and distressing circumstances, should be 
compelled to quit their native soil by the harsh treatment of their 
landlords, and to transfer their allegiance to the United States, 
whither the emigration had been flowing previous to this period. 
1\1r. Addington added that the loss of so many Highlanders was 
one of the circumstances which had given him the greatest uneasiness 
during his administration, and that nothing would give him greater 
satisfaction than to convince them of the friendly feelings and kind 
intentions of Government towards them by putting them in the way 
of acquiring, in a few years, prosperity, and even wealth, with which 
they might return and live in ease and independence in their native 
land. He then proposed to the Chaplain to send a colony of 
those Highlanders with whom he was connected to the Island of 
Trinidad, which was then first ceded to the British Empire; and to 
give a farm of eighty acres of land to every head of a family, and 
money out of the treasury to purchase four slaves for every farm; 
a larger proportion of land and slaves to such gentlemen who would 
accompany the colony, and to the Chaplain as large a salary as he 
could reasonably demand. Mr. Addington also offered to send a 
surgeon and a schoolmaster, with salaries from Government, to the 
new colony, and, to remove the difficulties which the Chaplain had 
stated in regard to the unhealthiness of a tropical climate and the 
propensity of Highlanders to drink ardent spirits, undertook to 
furnish the colony with as much wine as the Chaplain and Surgeon 
should consider necessary for the preservation of the general health 
for three years, also sufficient vinegar wherewith to wash their 
habitations for the same period; after which it might be supposed 
that the constitution of the settlers would become inured to the 
climate. 
For these liberal and advantageous offers the Chaplain could 
not but feel grateful to Mr. Addington, but while he thanked him for 



144 
kind intentiol1s towards his countrymen, he assured him that no con J 
side ration on earth would induce him to prevail upon Highlanders 
to reside in the unhealthy climate of the \Vest Indies, or reconcile to 
his conscience the bitter reflection of his being the cause of making 
a woman or a child a widow or an orphan. 
Mr. Addington seemed greatly surprised and disappointed at 
this expression of the Chaplain's sentiments, and demanded in what 
other way he could serve the Highlanders. He was émswered i.that 
what they expected and wished was to be assisted in emigrating to 
Upper Canada, where several of their friends had already settled 
themselves. 
The Chaplain proceeded to state that if this assistance were 
tendered upon a more expensive scale, it would allay the irritated 
feelings entertained by the Highlanders against their landlords, whose 
cruel conduct was identified with the system and operations of Gov
 
ernment. Moreover, the Scotch, quitting their country in this eX3.
- 
perated state of minà, and settling in the United States, readily 
imbibed republican principles- and a determined antipathy against the 
British Goveri1ment; whereas by diverting the tide of emigration into 
the British colonies, their population would be increased by settlers 
retaining British principles, British feelings and an attachment 
towards their native country, not only undiminished, but even 
increased by the parental conduct of the Government towards them. 
Mr. Addington then offered to lend some assistance to the Chap- 
lain to convey his adherents to the sea coast of Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick or Cape Breton, but assured him that His Majesty's Gov- 
ernment considered the hold they had of Upper Canada so slender 
and so precarious that a person in his situation would not be justified 
in putting his hand in the public purse to assist British subjects to 
emigration to that colony. The Cnaplain, however, adhered to his 
first resolution of conducting his countrymen to Upper Canada, and 
Mr. Addington procured for him an order (with the Sign Manual) to 
the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to grant two hundred 
acres of land to every one of the Higlanders who should arrive in the 
Province. 
No sooner was it known that this order had been given by the 
Secretary for the Colonies than the Highland landlords and pro- 
prietors took the alarm, considering the order as an allurement to 
entice from the country their vassals and dependents. 



145 
Sir John McPherson, Sir Archibald Macdonald (the Lord Chief 
Raron of the Exchequer in England), the late Mr. Charles Grant, one 
of the Directors of the East India Company and M. P. for the County 
of Inverness, with other gentlemen connected with the Highlands, 
and even the Earl of Moira, then commanding the forces in North 
Britain, endeavored to dissuade the Chaplain from his purpose, and 
promised to procure a pension for him provided he would separate 
himself from the Highlanders whom he had promised to take to 
Canada, and that the amount of the pension should be in proportion 
to the number he should prevail upon to stay at home. 
So anxious were these gentlemen to keep the Highlanders at 
home that they applied to the Prince of 'Ya]es, and by His Royal 
Highness' sanction, Sir Thomas Tyrrwhit, the Prince's agent, sent 
for the Chaplain to Carlton House for the purpose of vrevaiIing upon 
him to induce the intending emigrants to settle on the waste lands of 
the County of Cornwall, under the patronage and protection of His 
Royal Highness. This the Chaplain also declined, and in concert 
with Major Archibald Campbell, then on the staff of General 
Pulteney, now( I) Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, proposed a 
plan of organizing a Militar); emigration, to be composed of the 
soldiers of the several Scotch Fencible Regiments just then disbanded, 
and sending them over to Upper Canada for the double purpose of 
forming an intcrnal defence and settling the country. It was 
requested that a certain portion of land should be granted to every 
man after a service of five years, or on his furnishing a substitute; 
so that the same force might always be kept up and the settlement 
of the country go on. It was considered that this plan would prevent 
the frequent desertion of His Majesty's troops to the United States; 
would make these military settlers interested in the defence of the 
Province, and be a prodigious saving of transport of troops in the 
event of a war with the United States. 
Several distinguished officers appeared anxious to join this 
military emigration, and the scheme was nearly matured, when Mr. 
Addington found himself under the necessity of resigning the Pre- 
miership, and Pitt and Dundas returned to office. 
The war was soon after renewed, and the Scotch landlords 
combined to keep their people at home. 


(I) At the time the Bishop wrote the narrative, 1833. 



14 6 
Most of these gentlemen had received commISSIOns from the 
Government to raise levies, and were, of course, anxious to fulfil 
their engagements. Seeing that so many thousands of their poor 
countrymen who had been let loose in the country in a state of 
destitution, had no other alternative, if prevented from emigrating, 
than to enter the army, they procured an Act of Parliament to impose 
certain restrictions and regulations on vessels carrying out emigrants 
to the Colonies. By those regulations, a vessel could not get her 
clearance from the Custom House if she had more than one passen- 
ger, even an infant, for every two tons of the registered burden of 
the ship-although the transport regulations for carrying troops to 
the East and \Vest Indies allowed a ton and a half for every soldier, 
even without reckoning women and children; another clause was 
that the provision should be inspected and certified, that a pound of 
salt beef or pork and a pound and a half of flour or of hard biscuit 
should be found on board as the daily provision for every man, 
woman 
nd child for tl1e space of three months. A third clause was 
that a vessel carrying emigrants from any part in Great Britain and 
Ireland to the Colonies should be pnwided with a surgeon, who 
should have his diploma from Surgeons' Hall in London, from Edin- 
burgh University or Trinity College, :E>ublin. A diploma from any 
other college or university in Great Britain would not qualify him 
for this charge. Several other clauses similar to the above were 
contained in this Act, and all under the specious pretext of humanity 
and tender benevolence towards the emigrants, and, forsooth, to pre- 
vent the imposition of those who were employed ìn chartering vessels 
to carry emigrants to the Colonies, who were designated by the Scotch 
lairds, dealers in white slaves; yet, by the operations of this merciful 
Act of Parliament, an emigrant could not pay the passage of himself, 
his wife and four children under eight years of age for a less sum 
than Æ84 I 
Alexander Hope, then Lord Advocate of Scotland, was in- 
structed to bring this bill into Parliament, and in his luminous speech 
in the House of Commons, the learned gentleman, to show the 
necessity of such regulations
 related a most pathetic story of an 
emigrant vessel arriving in a harbour in one of the British Colonies 
of North America, the whole of the passengers and almost the 
whole of the crew of which were found dead in their berths, and the 
few survivors of the crew not able to cast anchor. He also asserted 



14 6 
chat emigrants who had been some time in the Colonies were desirous 
to get back to their native country, and when they could not accom- 
plish their wishes, were desirous to prevent their friends at home 
from emigrating, but dared not acquaint them of their now miserable 
condition but by stratagem desiring them to consult their Uncle 
Sandy, and if he advised them to come, then they might 
proceed. Now, it was well known that Uncle Sandy was dead 
many years previous. These and many other such like pitiable and 
affecting passages of the Lord Advocate's speech in the House of 
Commons blazed through the public prints in Scotland, and were 
believed, or it was pretended that they were believed, like Gospel, by 
the Highland lairds and their friends. 
The moment that this bill passed into law, an embargo was laid 
on all emigrant vessels in British harbours, and this though many of 
them had already nearly received their complement of passengers, and 
the whole of the emigrants of the season, after selling their effects, had 
arrived or were on their way to the seaports to embark. Fortunately, 
however, for the soldiers of the disbanded Glengarry Fencibles, th{' 
greater part of them had got away before the bill came into operation. 
The Chaplain, having been detained in London on business, after 
the sailing of his adherents, received a call from the Earl of Selkirk, 
who proposed to him to join in his plan of taking emigrants to North 
America. The Chaplain requested his lordship to explain his views 
and intentions, upon which the Earl stated that he intended to settle 
those regions between Lakes Huron and Superior with Scotch High- 
landers, where the climate was nearly similiar to that of the north of 
Scotland, and the soil of a superior quality; besides, they would 
enjoy the benefit of the fish with which the lakes teemed, particularly 
the white fish of the Sault Ste. Marie. 
The Chaplain at first declined this offer on the plea that private 
business would detain him in London. The Earl than offered him 
an order for Æ2,000 upon his agent, as an indemnification for any 
loss or inconvenience he might experience by so sudden a departure. 
The Chaplain was a second time compeJ1ed to give a refusal and to 
decline this generous offer of the Earl, declaring at the same time he 
felt most grateful for such generosity, but that he could neve..- think 
of putting himself under so great an ouligation tc 3..ny man, that the 
situation which his lordship had selected for his settlement was 
beyond the jurisdiction of the Government of Ppper Canada, .111d so 



147 
far from any other location that he was apprehensive that emigrants 
settling themselves in so remote a region would meet with insuperable 
difficulties; that he could by no means induce those with whose 
interests he was connected to go beyond the protection of the Pro. 
vincial Government, and, besides, such a settlement would 
entirely destroy the Northwest Company, as it would cut off the 
communication between the winterers and Canada; and as several 
of the principal members of that Company were his particular friends, 
no consideration would induce him to enter upon an enterprise that 
would injure their interest. 
The Chaplain then asked the Earl what could induce a man 
of his high rank and great fortune, possessing the esteem and 
confidence of His Majesty's Government and of every public man 
in Britain, to embark in an enterprise so ronuntic as that he had 
just explained. To this the Earl replied that the situation of Great 
Britain, and indeed of all Europe, was at that moment (September 
180 3) so very critical and eventful that a man would like to have 
a more solid footing to stand upon than Europe could offer. 
The following letter was addressed by Lord Hobart, Secretary 
of State for the Colonies, to Lieutenant-General Hunter, Lieuten. 
ant-Governor of Upper Canada., at the time of the departure of this 
important emigration to Canada: 
"DOWNING STREET, 1st March, 1803. 
" SIR, 
" A body of Highlanders, mostly 1\1acdonells, and partly dis- 
banded soldiers of the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, with their 
families and immediate connections, are upon the point of quitting 
their present place of abode, with the design of following into Upper 
Canada some of their relatives who have already established them- 
selves in that Province. 
" The merit and services of the Regiment in which a proportion 
of these people have served, give them strong claims to any mark of 
favour and consideration which can consistently be extended to 
them; and with the encouragement usually afforded in the Province 
they would no doubt prove as valuable settlers as their connexions 
now residing in the District of Glengarry, of whose industry and 
general good conduct very favourable representations have been 
received here. 
"Government has been apprized of the situation and disposi- 
tion of the families before described by Mr. Macdonell, one of the 
Ministers of their Church and formerly Chaplain to the Glengarry 
Regiment, who possesses considerable influence with the whole body. 



14 8 
" He has undertaken, in the event of their absolute determina- 
tion to carry into 
xecutlOn their plan of departure, to embark with 
them and direct their course to Canada. 
'" In case of their arrival within your Government, I am com- 
manded by His Majesty to authorize you to grant, in the usual 
manner, a tract of the unappropriated Crown lands in any part of 
the Province where they may wi:-:h to fix, in the proportion of twelve 
hundred acres to Mr. Macdonell and two hundred acres to every 
family he may introduce into the Colony. 
" I have the honour to be, sir, 
" Your most obedient, humble servant, 
" HOBART." 



149 


CHAPTER 13. 


EMIGRATION FROM KINTAIL AND GLENELG, ROSS-SHIRE.-SUB. 
DIVISIONS OF THF. COUNTY.-LoCAL NOMENCLATURE.-KEN- 
YON, LOCHIEL, BREADALBANE, DUNVEGAN, EIGG, STRATH- 
GLASS, UIST, LITTLE KNOYDART, LAGGAN, FASSIFERN, &C., 
&C.-ME
IBERS OF PARLIAMENT TO UNION OF UPPER AND 
LOWER CANADA, 1840.-ENUl\1ERATION OF THE CLANS. 


Mr. McLennan, from whom I have previously quoted, states 
that in the same year and in the same ships that brought out the men 
of the Glengarry Fencibles and their families, came also a number of 
people from Glenelg and Kintail and other parts, his father's family 
being amongst those from Kintail. His grandfather, Mr. Murdoch 
McLennan, gave up a valuable holding on the Seaforth estate in 
order to keep with his friends and neighbours, who were emigrating. 
They were 1100 souls on the vessel, and were four months at sea, 
encountering wintry weather on the coast of Labrador, which, as he 
remarks, was a rough introduction to the new world. His father, 
John McLennan, was but 13 years of age at the time. At the call 
to arms in 181 2 he enlisted in the Militia, and was appointed 
Sergeant in the Company commanded by Captain Duncan Greenfield 
Macdonell. He was with the Company at the taking of Ogdens- 
burgh, and became Lieutenant and Quarter-Master at the close of the 
campaign. After the \Var, he taught for several years the school at 
Williamstown, which continues as a high school under the present 
system. In 1823 he retired to hew out a farm in Lancaster, and was 
appointed at the same time to the Commission of the Peace. He 
commanded a Company for frontier duty in 1838-9, and died in 1866. 
In the same immigration was Mr. Donald Fraser, who after 
some years' residence and business in \ViUiamstown, purchased from 



15 0 
Sir John Johnson the property of Pointe-du-Lac (now Fraser's Point), 
where his son Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Fraser, of the Glengarry 
Militia, hale and hearty at the age of 84 years (at the time Mr. Mc- 
LeIman wrote his paper), now resides, and from whom he obtained 
much of the information afforded in his essay. ( I) 
I trust Mr. McLennan will not accuse me of piracy if I quote 
from him still further :- 
"The early settlers had many and serious difficulties to en- 
counter, coming, as so many did, with small means and with savcely 
any knowledge of woodcraft, and a great proportion knowing very 
little of farming after they had cleared away the woods; but they 
overcame them by the courage and endurance of their race. The 
value of their exportable timber, and the discrimination in its favour 
in the British tariff, helped them very greatly, as did also the high 
price for pot and pearl ashes, which they manufactured from the 
timber burned in clearing t
e land. Fortunately for them (and 
for their posterity) they were of frugal habits; they followed from the 
heginning the practice of their country in the establishment of 
schools, so that their descendents are able to hold their own in the 
now greatly accelerated pace of development. 
" During the lifetime of the first immigrants, the Gaelic language 
was much in use, so much so that a knowledge of it was considered 
a necessary qualification for the Presbyterian pulpit. The common 
school, however, has brought the new generation to use the English 
tongue, and now a Gaelic sermon is rarely heard, though in some 
isolated sections the Gaelic language is in some measure of use." 
I fear it but too true that the Gaelic language is to some extent 
being allowed tn die out, though many, to their credit be it said, still 
make it the language of the household. 
In 1798 the rear part of Charlottenburgh (which Township was 
when originally laid out between the years 1776 and 1778, known as 
"Township Number One "), was erected into a new Township and 
called Kenyon, doubtless so named after the celebrated Lord Ken- 
yon, then 
rd Chief Justice of England. Charlottenburgh had no 
doubt derived its name from the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg- 
Strelitz, the wife of George III. 
It was not until 1818 that Lancaster, which was originally 
known as "the Lake Township," was subdivided, and the rear por- 
tion named Lochiel, in compliment to those who had come from that 
. (I) As previo,usly mentioned, Lie.n
en.mt-C
Ionel 
raser died on the 5th June, 1891, at the 
p:,-tn
rchal age of nmety-one 
ears, reta
mng all his faculties to the end. An excellent account of 
his hfe and a well-deserved tnbute to his memory from the well-known pen of one of GIeng,ury's 
most accomplished sons is given in the .. (;Ien"arrian' J of the loth of July, 1891. 



15 1 
District in Scotland, the Camerons and their clansmen the MacMilIans, 
the latter by the way greatly preponderating. \Vhen a census of the 
Highland clans was taken by the late Colonel Chisholm in 1852, it 
appeared that of the M3.c
lillans there were in Lochiel 351, while of 
the Camerons but 43. In Kenyon the proportion was different, 
there being in that Township 228 Camerons and 138 l\IacMillans. 
Various settlements in these Townships are designated after the 
districts in Scotland from which the first settlers in the neighborhood 
came. Thus we have" Breadalbane," where those who xeside still 
maintain the religions and political tenets common to the people of 
Argyleshire in Scotland (of which Breadalbane forms:} not inconsi- 
derable part), with the tenacity of purpose which is one of the great- 
est chaïacteristics of the Highland race. In and around" Dunve- 
gan" are settled large numbers of the MacLeods, and there they 
have pe-petuated the name of the ancient and romantic seat of their 
Chief, the patriarchal fortress of DU:lvegan in Skye. The name is 
familiar, and recalls the well-known but sorrowful air, " Cha till mi 
tuil1e," or "MacCrit1l11101i'S Lament," the strain with which the emi- 
grants from the \Vest Hig!llands and Isles usually took leave of their 
native shore. Sir Walter Scott gives the first verse as follows: 
" 
lacleod's wi.lard flag from the grey castle sallies, 
The rowers are seated, unmoor'd are the galleys; 
Gleam war-axe and broadsword, clang target and quiver, 
As l\facCrimmon sings ' Farewell to Dunvegan for ever! 
Farewell to each cliff, on which breakers are foaming; 
Farewell each dark glen, in which red deer are roaming; 
FareweIl lovely Skye-to lake, mountain and river 
MacLeod may return, but MacCrimmon shall never! ' " 
MacCrimmon, who was hereditary piper to Lord MacLeod, is 
gaid to have composed this lament when the clan was about to de- 
part up0n a distant and dangerous expedition. The minstrel was 
impressed with a belief, which the event verified, that he was to be 
slain in the approaching feud; and hence the words with which the 
song concludes: "rha tiU mi tuiUe; ged thillis 1\1acLelJd, cha till 

IacCrimmon." [., I shall never return; although MacLeod returns, 
yet MacCrirnmon shall never return. "] 
" Eigg" reminds us of another island on the west coast of Scot- 
land, a portion of the estate of Macdonald of Clanranald, where 
occurred, in a dispute between the MacLeods and the inhabitants of 
that island, a dreadful episode which had better be forgotten. 



15 2 
From the MacLeods who came from the main shore and were 
separated from their clansmen by an arm of the sea and that part of 
the Island of Skye known as Sleat, the property of the Baronets of 
Sleat, and who settled in the vicinity of Kirkhill, the coul1try there. 
abouts is kñown as "Glenelg." They were very early settlers, com. 
ing to Glengarry, as we have seen, about 1793. 
In " Strathglass" there are, as might be expected, many Chis. 
holms, and I might m
ntion that it was due largely to the efforts 
and genealogical knowledge of clansmen of that name settled in 
Glengarry that the late Chieftain of that Clan, James Sutherland 
Chisholm, then a resident of this country, was enabled to establish his 
right to Erkless Castle and an estate in Scotland worth some thou- 
sands of pounds sterling a year. 
"Uist." There was a small settlement in the second concession 
of Lochiel known as "Uist," from the fact that some families of 
Macdonalds had settled in the neighbourhood who came from the 
island of that name on the West coast of Scotland. 
In " Little Knoydart," a number of persons from that part of 
the Glengarry estates, who came to Canada comparatively recently, 
about the time of the building of the Grand Trunk Railway, settled, 
and their Scottish home is thus commemorated. They are good 
farmers and in most comfortable circumstances. 
Some of the post offices and adjoining villages have names 
more or less familiar, though they were derived, as a rule, more from 
local surroundings than from Scottish origin, such as Glen Roy, 
Glen Donald, Glen Norman, Glen Nevis, Glen Sandfield, Glen 
\Valter, McCrimmon, McCormack, Athol, &c., &c. "Laggan" 
takes its name from the place of the same name in Badenoch) 
Inverness-shire, Scotland, recently best known probably as having 
been for many years the home of one of the most accomplished 
writers of the day, Mrs. Grant of Laggan, the authoress of" Letters 
from the Mountains," " Memoirs of an American Lady," &c., &c.; 
" Fassifern" is a name dear to all who cherish the traditions of the 
Camerons, ennobled especially in the case of Dr. Archibald Cameron 
of Fassifern, a younger brother of Lochiel, who with the Honourable 
.Alexander Murray, one of Lord E1ibank's brothers, and Macdonell 
of Lochgarry, was at the head of the last Jacobite effort in Scotland, 
when Fassifern was taken prisoner, sent to London, brought to trial 
upon the bill of attainder passed against him on account of his 



153 
concern in the Rebellion of 1745, and upon that charge arraigned, 
condemned and put to death at Tyburn in June, 1753. Though 
there may be difference of opinion as to the laudable nature of Dr. 
Archibald Cameron's enterprise (there can be none as to his gal- 
lantry, humanity and brave bearing during his trial or his manner of 
meeting his fate!) all, without reference to politics, will cherish the 
name of his brave descendant, Colonel John Cameron of Fassifern, 
so often distinguished in Lord \Vellington's despatches from Spain, 
who fell in action at Quatre Bras (16th June, 1815) while leading 
the 92nd or Gordon Highlanders to charge a body of cavalry, sup- 
ported by infantry, and to whom Sir \Valter Scott, in the finest 
portion of " The Field of \Vaterloo," in enumerating those who fell, 
thus refers: 


., And Cameron in the shock of steel 
Died like the offspring of Lochiel " 


" Dalkeith "is somewhat more Lowland than most other Scot- 
tish names identified with Glengarry, though Sir \Valter always 
claimed that the Scotts were at any rate, " a Border Clan." I pre- 
sume the place is called after the title of the eldest son of the Duke 
of Buccleuch, the head of the great family of Scott. 
" Alexandria" (formerly Priest's Mills), took ifs Dame from "the 
first Bishop of Upper Canada, Alexander Macdonell, who built the 
mill there, which was the commencement of the village. It is now 
the See of another Bishop of similar name, worthy successor of his 
great namesakc. 
" Martintown " was so called after an officer of that name, Lieu- 
tenant Malcolm McMartin, of the King's Royal Regiment. One of 
his family at one time represented Glengarry and was Sheriff of the 
United Counties. 
"St. Andrews" is not far off, but lies in the adjacent County of 
Stormont. The-original settlers in the neighbourhood were all High- 
land United Empire Loyalist soldiers. The name requires no 
explanation-the good people of the vicinity have commemorated 
the ilame of Scotland's patron saint, not only in the name of their 
settlement but by erecting one of the finest churches in Eastern 
Ontario. 
It is greatly to be regretted that no complete list can be 
obtained of the members of the Legislature of Upper Canada dur- 



154 
ing each parliament from 1792 until the Union of the Provinces of 
Upper and Lower Canada in 1841. The destruction of all the 
parliamentary papers when York was burnt by the Americans in 
1813 partly accounts for the scarcity of accurate and complete 
information of this nature. Again, in early days the members ofParlia- 
ment drew their expenses and indemnity from the county treasurer on 
their return from Parliament, and Judge Pringle, who has made a 
careful search of the records, informs me that it is apparent that 
most of the earlier members for Glengarry evidently considered the 
honour of representing the County sufficient, and declined to accept 
or omitted to procure the indemnity to which they were entitled, and 
their names cannot therefore be obtained from that source, as in the 
case of the County of Dundas for instance, where the members were 
as regular in drawing their indemnity as in their attendance 
on their duties. Since the Union, I believe, members of 
both branches of Parliament have been somewhat more attentive to 
the duty they owe themselves in this particular, and the cases are 
few in which the people's representatives have done themselves the 
slightest injustice 1 


Until the Union of 1841, Glengarry had two members, and 
although the following list, for the reasons stated, is not complete, it 
is as much so as can now be ascertained: 


MEMBERS FOR GLENGARRY, 1792-1840. 


John MacdoneH of Aberchalder, first Speaker, - - } 
Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder), _ _ _ _ _ _ 179 2 
Colonel John Macdonell of Aberchalder, - - - - } 
John N. Campbell, - - - - _ _ _ _ _ _ 1797 
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie) Speaker, - - - } 8 
Angus B. Ma
donell (Saundic), _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 03 
Alexander Mackenzie, - - - - - - - - - - 1808 
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), - - - - - - } 8 8 
\Valter Butler \Vilkinson, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 0 
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), - - - - - - } 8 
Thomas Fraser, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 12 
Colonel John 
facdonell (Greenfield), - - - - 1812 
Alexander McMartin - - - - - - - - - - } 
John Cameron, _ _' _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1816 



155 
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), - - - - - - } 
Alexander McMartin, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1820-'23 
Alexander Macdonell (Greenfield), - - - - - - 18u 
Duncan Cameron, - - - - - - - - - - - 1823, '28 
Colonel Alexander Fraser, - - - 1824 or 1828 and 1830-'34 
Donald Macdonell (Greenfield), - - - - - - } , 
Colonel Alexander Chisholm, _ 18 34- 35 
Colonel Donald Macdonell (Greenfield), - 1 8 6" 
Colonel Alexander Chisholm, - - - - - - f 1 3 - 4 1 
I can find no record of any militia. regiment earlier than 1803. 
From the nature of the population of the County, all its inhabi- 
tants having previously, almost without exception, borne arms either 
in the Revolutionary "Var, in the Second Battalion Royal Canadian 
Volunteers (disbanded, as we have seen, in the previous year) or in 
the Glengarry Fencible (British Highland) Regiment (whose men 
this year arrived in Glengarry), there could have been but little 
difficulty in organizing a militia regiment in the County. 
In 1803, the officers of the Glengarry Militia Regiment, which 
appears to have been one of the most complete in the Province, 
were as follows : 
GLENGARRY MILITIA REGIMENT, 1803. 


Colonel-John Macdonell (of Aberchalder). 
Lieutenant-Colonel-Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder). 
Major-Walter Sutherland. 
Captains. 
Richard \Vilkinson, 
Alexander Macdonell, 
Duncan Murchison, 
John McIntyre. 
Lieutenants. 
John Hay, 
Duncan McKenzie, 
John Dunn, 
Duncan l\Iacdonell, 
Norman Macleod. 


Ranald Macdonell, 
Alexander McMillan, 
Joseph Sutherland, 


Murdoch Maclean, 
Duncan McIntyre, 
Allan Macdonell, 
Peter Macdonell, 
Donald McGillis, 


Jacob Simmers, 


Ensigns. 
Jeremiah Snyder, 



Hector Mackay, 
Donald MacMillan, 
Ranald Macdonell, 
Donald Mackay, jr., 


15 6 
Duncan Macdonell, 
John Macdonell, 
Alexander Grant, 
John Cameron. 


Chaplain-John Bethune. 
Adjutant-Murdoch Maclean. 
Quartermaster-Lawrence Mackay. 
Many of these officers had already seen service. Thus Colonel 
Macdonell had served through the Revolutionary \Var in the K. R. 
R. of N. Y. and Butler's Rangers, and was stated by Co!. Mathews 
Military Secretary to Sir Guy Carleton, to have been" an active and 
distinguished partizan," who, with other members of his family and 
their adherents, " had united the Indians of the Five Nations in the 
interest of government, and in a great measure preserved the upper 
country of Canada." He had also commanded the 2nd Batt. R. C. 
V. R. of Foot during its period of service, and while on the regular 
establishm
nt of the British Army from 1796 to 1802. 
In 1852 a list was prepared by Colonel Alexander Chisholm, 
when taking the census of the County, giving the number of the 
various Highland Clans in Glengarry at that time. The families of 
most of these people had come to Canada long before, and previous 
to 1812 j and although the numbers may have been somewhat less 
at the earlier period, and may have increased considerably since 
1852, the proportion is but little changed. This enumeration 
does not, however, give all the clans represented in Glengarry, a few 
ha ving been omitted by reason of the Government requiring Colonel 
Chisholm to make his return before he was able fully to complete 
his interesting enumeration. It was always a matter of regret to 
that gentleman that he was thus unable to perfect his self-imposed 
task. 
Judge Pringle .gives the list at page 196 of his book as follows : 



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15 8 
Friends and connections of the original settlers belonging to the 
various Highland Clans from timè to time joined them, and when in 
1812 war was declared by the United States, it was found that on 
Canadian soil there was a great colony of Highlanders prepared to 
maintain the traditions of their race, and to lay down their lives, if 
necessary, to preserve the connection with the land they had left, but 
still loved so well. And so I tmst it may always be. 



11\9 


CHAPTER 14. 


OUTBREAK OF THE \V AR OF 1812.-ExPRESSIONS OF THE AMERI- 
CAN PRESS AND PUBLIC MEN.-SITUATION OF AFFAIRS IN- 
UPPER CANADA.-COLONEL DENISON'S ACCOUNT OF GENERAL 
BROCK'S DIFFlCULTIES.- TREASON OF \VILLCOCKS, MALLORY, 
MARCLE AND OTHER RENEGADES.-ExTRA SESSION OF P AR- 
UAMENT SUMMONED.-MARTIAL LAW PROCLAIMED.-ExPUL- 
SION OF WILLCOCKS AND MARCLE. 


It would be foreign to the purpose of a work such as thÍs to 
enter at any length into the cause which led to the \Var of 1812. 
The people of Glengarry, indeed those of Canada, had nothing to do 
with that. This matter has been discussed at length by various 
writers on the subject, by J ames in "The Military Occurrences of 
the War," by Christie in his admirable" History of Lower Canada," 
by Auchinleck in the" History of the War of 1812-13-14," and later 
by Colonel Coffin in his" Chronicle of the War of 1812," published 
as late as 1864. My object is simply to show that the \Var having 
come upon us, owing to no act of ours, the Highlanders of Glengarry 
did their share of the work and merited the high encomium of 
Colonel Carmichael passed upon them in his letter to Sir James 
Macdonell in 1840, which I quoted on the title page. 
Suffice it to say that they were fighting for their homes, for the 
possession of British North America was what the Americans aimed 
at. Not only, however, were they lustful of further territorial 
aggrandizement, but they recognized the fact that, as stated in the 
" Weekly Register" : . 
"The conquest of Canada will be of the greatest importance to 
us in distressing our enemy; in cutting off his supplies of provisions 
and naval stores for his West India Colonies and home demand. 
There is no place from where she can supply the mighty void tha 



160 
would be occasioned by the loss of this country, as well in her exports 
as imports. It would operate upon him with a double force; it 
would deprive him of a vast quantity of indispensable materials, as 
well as of food, and close an extensive market for his manufactures. 
Canada and Nova Scotia, if not fully conquered immediately, may 
be rendered useless to him in a few weeks. \Vithout them, and 
particularly the latter, he cannot maintain these terrible fleets on our 
coast which we are threatened with, or bridge our harbours with 
frigates, admitting he may have no use for them to defend his own 
shores; for he will not have a dockyard, :filling the purposes of his 
navy, within three thousand miles of us." 
Mr. Porter, then Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
Relations, said :- 
" These Provinces were not only immensely valuable in them- 
selves, but almost indispensable to the existence of Great Britain, 
cut off as she now is, in a great measure from the north of Europe. 
He had been credibly informed that the exports from Quebec alone 
amounted during the hst year (1810) to near six millions of dollars, 
and most of these, too, in articles of the first necessity-in ship 
timber and in provisions for the support of her fleets and armies." 
Britain's battle. therefore. became our fight, and our defence 
not only an obligation to us but a duty she owed to herself and her 
supremacy on the sea. Canada was to be the battle-ground, and the 
success of the \Var must largely depend on the temper and loyalty of its 
people; and though there were traitors within the gates the great 
bulk of them proved equal to the emergency. Such of the veterans 
of the \Var of 1776-83 as were left had their experience to fall back 
upon and place at the service of the Crown, though their limbs had 
lost the elasticity of youth, and in most cases were crippled with age 
and the hardship incidental to their lot; while the children of those 
who had gone proved true to the loyal! y of their forefathers and the 
obligations incumbent upon subjects of the British Crown. 
" vVe will drive the British from our continent" was the text of 
their speeches and manifestoes. "The Falls of Niagara could be 
resisted with as much success as the American people when they 
should be called into action," cried an excited orator in Congress. 
" I am willing," was the magnanimous declaration of Mr. Grundy of 
Tennessee, "to receive the Canadians as adopted brethren. * * 
I feel anxious not only to add the Floridas to the south, but the 
Canadas to the north of this' empire.' " The willingness, however. 
was not reciprocal, and we purposed to hold our own on what the; 



161 
were pleased to term "their" continent. The Canadian people, 
less inflated and less vulgar and verbose, gave them their answer on 
many a hard contested field during the next few years. 
Henry Clay said: "It is absurd to suppose we shall not suc- 
ceed in our enterprise against the enemy's Provinces. \Ve have the 
Canadas as much under our command. as 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 anywhere else, but I 
would take the whole continent from them' and ask no favours. * 
* * We must take the continent from them-I wish never to 
see a peace till we do. God has given us the power and the means; 
we are to blame if we do not use them." It is a curious coincidence 
that this same Henry Clay signed the treaty of peace at the close of 
the \Var; and that it did not give the United States a single inch of 
Canadian territory. 
Dr. Eustis, the Secretary at War of the United States, said: 
U We can take the Canadas without soldiers; we have only to send 
officers into the Provinces, and the people, jisaffected toward their 
own government, will rally around our standard." 
There can be no doubt but that they counted, and counted 
latgely, on a portion, a large and influential one, of our population, 
being inimical to Great Britain, and that they had, unfortunately, 
some ground for this impression will shortly be shown. 
My friend Colonel George Taylor Denison, of Toronto, who, 
like all the members of his distinguished family for several genera- 
tions, has done so much by precept and example to keep alive the 
spirit of loyalty and patriotism among our people, in an admirable 
lecture on the opening of the \Var of 1812, recently delivered before 
the Sons of England in Toronto, has outlined far better than I could 
attempt to do, the situation of affairs at the time, the difficulties Gen- 
eral Brock had to face, and the measures he took to meet them. He 
has most kindly placed it at my disposal, with permission to use it 
to the fullest extent-a courtesy of which I most gladly avail myself. 
He first refers to the fact that England was engaged in the mightiest 
effort she had ever made, carrying on, almost single-handed, a war 
agalllst the greatest soldier and conqueror of modern times, if not of 
all time. From 1793, with a slight intermission, she had been 
continually engaged in war The British troops had been fighting 
in the Peninsula with varying success for four years. One army 



162 
under Sir John Moore, had been obliged to retreat in 1809 to 
Corunna and embark for England; while Lord Wellington had been 
obliged to fall back to the shelter of the lines of Torres Vedras in 
18IO and across the Portuguese frontier in 18I1 and to retreat from 
Burgos in 1812. The national debt had increased from .t24 0 ,000,000 
to about .t740,000,000 sterling during the preceding nineteen years, 
an increase of over .t26,000,000, or $130,000,000 per annum. The 
total debt was fifteen times larger than the present debt of Canada, 
while the population of Great Britain and Ireland was not more than 
three and a half times our present population. Napoleon was at the 
zenith of his power. The whole of Europe, except Russia, was 
under his control On the 12th June, 1812, he crossed the Niemen 
to invade Russia at the head of about half a million of the best 
troops of Europe. Alison says: 
" The commands of Napoleon were as readily obeyed by the 
Italians, Germans or Prussians as by the Guards of the French 
Empire" 
Napoleon left Paris for this campaign on the 9th May, 1812, 
and six weeks after, on the 18th June, the United States declared 
war against England. The population of Upper Canada was then 
estim.1ted at about 70,000, of Lower Canada about 230,000, in all 
about 300,000. The population of the United States was over 
8,000,000. The population of the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland was slightly more than double that of the United 
States, but it was a population exhausted by nineteen years of war, 
burdened with a debt relatively four times as great as the present 
debt of Canada is to the Canadian pe9ple, and facing in mortal 
struggle nearly all Europe, lead by the greatest captain of the age. 
England's difficulty was the Republic's opportunity. Madison 
and his government, believing that England was upon the verge of 
ruin, were determined to bring on war, and nothing but the public 
voice restrained them from sooner commencing hostilities. Sir 
George Prevost and General Brock knowing this, made it their 
constant study to guard against apything that would enable the 'Var 
Party in the States to influence the minds of the people against 
England. This strong desire to conquer and acquire Canada was 
increased somewhat by the belief that England was in extremities, 
but principally from the belief that Canada, weak in numbers as she 
was, was still weaker in consequence of divided councils and 



16 3 
in
ernal disaffeccion. The confidence of the pOliticians at \Vashing. 
ton in the certainty of the acquisition of Canada was absolute. 
N ow let us consider General Brock's position. For the defence 
of this Province he had to refy upon the regular troops and the quota 
of militia that 70,000 people could furnish. On the breaking out of 
hostilities the regular force in 11 pper Canada amounted to bárely 
I,SOO men, composed of :- The Forty-First Regiment, 900; Tenth 
Veterans, 2S0; Newfoundland Regiment, 250; Royal Artillery, So; 
Provincial Seamen, So. 
In Lower Canada Sir George Prevost had about 3,000 regular 
troops. The total number of men capable of bearing arms in Upper 
Canada was about 11,000. The proportion available for active 
service constantly was estimated at about 4,000. At the 
beginning of 1812, the United States had a regular army of 
5,SoO men. On the 11th January, 1812, five münths before 
the Declaration of \Var, an Act of Congress was passed for raising 
2 S,OOO men for five years. In the next month an Act was passed to 
organize 50,000 volunteers, and in April 100,000 militia were called 
called into active service for the purpose of military drill. During 
the whole war the United States reg lIar army amounted to about 
30,000. The whole militia force raised during the war was 471,622, 
making a grand total of over half a million engaged in the effort to 
conquer Provinces containing a total population of 300,000. 
Another great difficulty was the lack of military stores and 
supplies. General Brock had no uniforms to clothe the militia, and 
therefore i
sued a recommendation to them that each man, as far as 
his circumstance and situation allowed, should provide himself with 
a short coat of some dark colour
d clOt
1, made to button well around 
the body, and trousers suited to the season, with the addition of a 
round hat. It was also recommended to the officers on every 
0
ca3ion when in the field to dress in c
mforil1ity with the men, in 
order to avoid the bad consequenc
:; of a conspicuous dress. 
Fiour was scarce, th
 price having risen before the \Var to 
$8.5 0 a barrel, and many of the militi.1 were drilling in their naked 
feet, while Brock was without a military chest, without money enough 
to buy provisions, biankets or even shoes for the militia. H
 made 
his wants known to a number of gentlemen of credit, who formed 
themselves into what was called "the Niagara and Queenston 
Association," and several thousand pounds were issued in the shape 



1 6 4 
of bank notes, which were currently received throughout the country. 
This enabled Brock to fit out his expedition to Detroit. The want of 
arms was also severely felt until the capture of Detroit placed at his 
disposal 2,SOO muskets of General Hull's army, which were used to 
arm Canadian Militia. There also he captured a quantity of cannon 
that were of service in subsequent operations. 
In addition to the enormous odds against him, the lack of 
supplies, arms, men and money, there was one difficulty worse than 
all others, namely, internal disaffection and treachery. The regular 
force under General Brock was apparently utterly inadequate to 
defend so long a frontier, even if assisted by the hearty support of 
the whole population of the Province. Here, however, came Brock's 
greatest danger, enough to appal the stoutest heart. Upper Canada 
had been settled by different classes of settlers. The first arriTals, 
in 1784, were the loyal fighting men of the Revolutionary \Var, men 
who had made enormous sacrifices and suffered untold hardships to 
maintain the unity of the Empire and their allegiance to their 
Sovereign. These men had settled along the Niagara frontier, on the 
Bay of Quinte and along the St. Lawrence. 
\Vhen in T792 Colonel Simcoe arrived as first Lieutenant- 
Governor of this Province, being anxious to secure additional 
population he established a most liberal system of granting the public 
lands to bona fide settlers. His principal efforts were directed to 
inducing emigration from the United States. He felt that, although 
the Revolutionary War had ceased nine years before, there was still 
in the United States a large number of people whose sympathies 
were with the Royal side, and who would feel more satisfied in 
Canada under the old allegiance, and would probably move here if 
inducements were held out by a liberal system of free grants. His 
policy had the result of adding largely to the population of the 
Colony. Many doubtless came who were loyal in their tendencies, 
but they were different from the men of extreme views, who fought 
throughout the \Var, and left the States at its close. The weak point 
in the policy, however, was that the liberal inducements as to 
land tempted a large number of Yankee settlers to emigrate to Cana- 
da simply from mercenary motives, bringing with them the Republican 
sentiments which were so obnoxious to the loyal element which had 
opened up the first settlements in the forest. This class of disloyal 
mercenary Yankee settlers was more numorous than is now generally 



16 5 
known, and of all the difficulties General Brock had to face, the 
lukewarmness, disloyalty, and, in many cases, secret and in others 
open treason of these settlers was the most dangerous and dishearten- 
mg. 
One of this disloyal type named M. Smith, who was given a 
passport to leave the country shortly after the War broke out, has 
left a short history of the \Var, published in Baltimore in 1814. He 
admits that he came from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada in 1808, 
not because he preferred the Government of Great Britain to that of 
the United States, but in order to obtain land on easy terms. He 
says that a large proportion of the population of Upper Canada con- 
sisted of the same class and their children. 
The United Empire Loyalists were, as has been mentioned, 
principally settled along the St. Lawrence, on the Bay of Quinte, on 
the Niagara frontier and some in Toronto and in its neighborhood. 
From Toronto westward to the Detroit River, all along the shores of 
Lake Erie an3 in the London district, the then settlers Were 
principally of the mixed class, that is the later United Empire 
Loyalist settlers, and the Yankee settlers who came with them on the 
same pretexts, but really from mercenary motives. 
For years the United States had been preparing for war, and 
Yankee emissaries had been insidiously encouraging disaffection, and 
spreading fear and doubt among the people. The continued Indian 
wars in the United States had diverted a portion of the stream of 
Yankee migration into Canada, and consequently the western 
district received (} considerable number of Yankee farmers, who took 
up l<'lnds, and wherever they settled spread more or less the repub. 
lican and revolutionary ideas in which they had been brought up. 
Of course many of these secondary emigrants were loyal and tr ue to 
the Government of their adopted country, and fought for it, but the 
majority of this class were essentially disaffected and disloyal. 
It was among these men that Yankee emissaries were sent to 
consult and advise, and the Yankee newspapers were filled with 
the reports of so-called travellers as to the disloyal state of public 
opinion in the Province. It was positively stated that our people 
would make no defence against invasion, and they would submit at 
once. General Hull's proclamation to the Canadians was evidently 
based on this belief, that he was bringing them the blessings of 
freedom for which they were longing. The first invasion was made 



166 
into the ,vestern district at Detroit. This frontier was far removed 
from the enemy's base of supplies, and was the most remote and 
difficult line for them to operate upon; yet the movement on Canada 
Was commenced there, evidently 
n the hope that in that section, 
where the disloyal faction Were settled, they would meet with the 
least resitance and receive the greatest support from the inhabitants. 
The disaffection of these ali
ns was to a great extent instrumental in 
plunging the two countries into war. Had the people of the United 
States known that the Canadian people as a whole Were thoroughly 
loyal, and would have fought as stubbornly as they did in defence of 
their King and Country, there would have been no war. 
On the 2nd December, 1811, General Brock, says, in a lettcr to 
Sir George Prevost: "I cannot conceal from Your Excellency that 
unless a strong regular force be present to animate the loyal, and to 
content the disaffected nothing effectual can be expected." On the 
4th February, 1812, Brock opened the session of the Legislature and 
urged upon the House: I. A militia supplementary Act. 2. The 
suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. 3. An alien law. 4. The 
offer of a reward for the apprehension of deserters. 
" The many doubtful characters in the militia," he says in one 
of his despatches, "made me anxious to introduce the oath of 
abjuration into the bill. It Was lost by the casting vote of the 
chairman. The great influence which the numerous settlers from the 
United States possess over the decisÌons of the Lower House is truly' 
alarming, and ought immediately by every practical means to be 
di
nished." The bill for the suspension of the habeas corpus was 
also beaten by a very trifling majority. \VilIcocks, Mallory and 
:Marcle were all members of this House and leading spirits of the 
Opposition. 
\Vhen War was declared, Brock at once called out the flank 
companies of the militia. This produced a force on the Niagara 
frontier of eight hundred men,who turned out very cheerfully, and he 
calculated that all over the Province the number would amount to about 
four thousand men. In the districts originally settled by the United 
Empire Loyalists the flank companies were instantly completed with 
volunteers, an almost unanimous disposition to serve being manifested, 
and on these men General Brock seems to have depended to overawe 
the disaffècted and to aid him in the field. In fact he said in reply to an 
address at Kingston that" it W..1.S the confidence inspired by the admir- 



16 7 
able conduct of the York and Lincoln Regiments of Militia which had 
induced him to undertake the expedition which terminated in the 
capture of Detroit." These men who were with him when he died 
at Queenston were the sons of the loyal veterans of the Revolution. 
All along the St. Lawrence the same spirit was manifested, the men 
of Glengarry in particular performing at Chateauguay and in other 
fights the most brilliant services for Canada. 
On the 6th July General Brock issued a proclamation, ordering 
all persons suspected of traitorous intercourse with the enemy to be 
apprehended and treated according to law. His letters are filled 
with references to his anxiety as to the machination of the disloyal 
and disaffected. 
On the 12th July General Hull invaded Canada at Sandwich, and 
the militia in that district behaved very ill. 1ney seemed either to 
lose hope or to be disaffected. Five hundred of them, principally of 
these alien settlers, gave in their adhesion to the enemy, and a party 
of General Hull's cavalry, amounting to about 50 men, led by a 
traitor named \Vatson, a surveyor from Montreal, were able to 
penetrate eastward as far as \Vestminster, about 110 miles east of 
Sandwich, a conclusive proof of the apathy, to say the least, of the 
settlers in that district. The Yankee settlers in the Norfolk district 
also refused to turn out. 
At this time General Brock called the Parliament together, and 
on the 27 th July, 1812, opened an extra session. In his speech he 
says: H A few traitors have already joined the enemy; have been 
suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have b
en 
harboured and concealed in the interior. * * * To protect and 
defend the loyal inhabitants from their machinations is an object 
worthy of your most serious deliberation." His speech concluded 
with these well known and memorable words showing in the face of 
all his difficulties and dangers, and in the face of overwhelming odds, 
the true heroism and confidence of a gallant soldier: 
"\Ve are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By 
unanimity and despatch in our councils and by vigor 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." 
Two days later Brock appealed to the militia of York, the York 



168 
Rank companies, whether they would follow him anywhere in this 
Province or out of it, in defence of it. The whole force volunteered 
cheerfully, without a moment's hesitation. The House, however, 
refused to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, or to act as promptly as 
he desired. The di:;loyal section, led by \Villcocks, assisted by 
Abraham 
larcle, did everything they could to thwart and embarrass 
General Brock. The state of the country certainly required prompt and 
vigorous measures, but ma,ny of the House of Assembly were sei-led 
with apprehensions, and endeavoured to avoid incurring the indig- 
nation of the enemy. In consequence of these difficulties Brock, 
feeling that General Hull's emissaries throughout the country were 
numerous and active, called together the Executive Council on the 
3 rd August, and made the following representation to them: 
"That the House of Asst;mbly, instead of prompt exertions to 
strengthen his hands for the Government of the militia, providing for 
security from internal treason by the partial suspension of the 
Habeas Corpus Act, authorizing a partial exercise of martial law 
concurrently with the ordinary course of justice, and placing at his 
disposal the funds not actually applied of the past appropriation, had 
consumed eight days in carrying a single measure of party, the repeal 
of the school bill, and p.lssing an Act for the public disclosure of 
treasonable practices before the magistrates should have the power 
to commit without bail. That under these circumstances little could 
be expected from a prolonged session. The enemy had invaded and 
taken post in the western distrIct; was multiplying daily his prepara- 
tiOl1:5 to invade in others; that the militia in a perfect state of 
insubordination had withdrawn from the ranks in actual service; had 
refused to march when legally commanded to reinforce a detachment 
of regular forces for the relief of Amherstburg; had insulted their 
officers, and some, not immediately embodied, had manifested in 
many instances a treasonable spirit of mutiny and disaffection; that 
the Indians on Grand River, tampered with by disaffected whites, had 
withdrawn from their volunteer services, and declared for a neutrality 
which was equally inadmi.;sible as with the King's other subjects. 
Tha t in the western and London districts seyeral persons haj nego- 
ciated with the enemy's commander, hailing his arrival and pledging 
their support. That the King's forcçs consisted of the 41st, nine 
hundred strong, part of the Royal Newfoundland two hundred, with 
a detachment of Royal Artillery and several vessels. That the ex 



. 


16 9 
tent of coast and distance of prominent parts would divide tnat 
orce to support and countenal1ce the militia. That the conduct of 
the western militia had exposed the regulars at Amherstburg, and he 
had made a large detachment of the 41st with militia from the 
home and Niagara districts. That the commandant at St. Joseph 
had taken Mackinac and might descend to Amherstburg, and compel 
the invaders to retreat, with the aid of the detachment now on the 
march to Long Point; but that no good result cou]d be expected 
unless he had power to restrain the militia and general population 
from treasonable adherence to the enemy or neutrality by summary 
procedure-asked whether it would be expedient to prorogue the 
House of Assembly and proclaim martial law." 
The Council adjourned till the next day, the 4th of August, for 
deliberation, and then unanimously expressed the opinion that, under 
the circumstances of the Colony, it was expedient after the proroga- 
tion of the Assembly that the General should proclaim and exercise 
martial law under authority of his commission from the King. On 
the 5th Brock prorogued the House and proclaimed martial law. In 
all probability the action contemplated by General Brock became 
known on the 4th, for on the 5th, the day of prorogation, the loyal 
party carried in this same House a most spirited and patriotic address 
to the people of Upper Canada. In this it is stated that the popula- 
tion is determinedly hostile to the United States, and" the few that 
might be otherwise inclined will find it to their safety to be faithful," 
and calls upon the people to "deem no sacrifice too costly which 
secures the enjoyment of our happy Constitution." 
The outlook must have been very disheartening to General Brock 
when he wrote this minute for the Council on the 3rd of August. 
With only a handful of troops and no money or supplies, with a 
House of Assembly weak and timorous, and containing a few infam- 
ous secret traitors, sufficiently influential to delay and embarrass every 
step for the defence of the country; with an invading army within our 
borders, and a portion of the militia in the invaded district mutinous 
and disloyal. The turning point was the proclaiming of martial law 
on the sth of August. Then Brock was mastcr of the sItuation, and 
the change in the prospects in a few days was almost miraculous. 
That very day the stirring address fcom the House went forth to the 
people. The next day Brock left for Amherstburg, arriving there on 



17 0 
the 13th at midnight. On the 15th he was at Sandwich, with thr
e 
hundred and thirty regulars, four hundred militia and six hundred 
Indians. On the morning of the 16th he crossed to the Michigan 
side of the river, with these thirteen hundred and thirty men, and 
captured Detroit, with the whole of Hull's army of two thousand five 
hundred men and their immense stores and supplies. Two or three 
days after he set out again for York, where he arrived on the 27 th 
August. 
The success at Detroit, so unexpected as it was, produced an 
electrical effect throughout Canada. It inspired the timid, fixed the 
wavering and awed the disloyal. After this event the disaffected saw 
that it was as much as their property and lPies were worth to disobey 
orders, and what they were at first compelled to do, after a little 
while they did from choice. Aliens were required to take the oath 
of allegiance or leave the Province. Many were sent out of the 
country, large numbers left on their own account-passports being 
furnished those desiring to leave. Those who refused the oath of 
allegiance, or to take up arms to defend the country, and remained 
in the Province after the 1st of January, 1813, were to be considered 
enemies and spies and dealt with accordingly. When the militia of 
the London district were ordered out, Smith, the author already 
referred to, says: 
" Many refused of their own accord and others were persuaded so 
to refuse by a Mr. Culver and a Mr. Beamer and one more, who rode 
among the people for six days telling them to stand back. However, 
they were apprehended and the most of the people became obedient. 
After this they had their choice to go or stay, and some went." 
This power of compelling the traitorous to cease their treason 
soon bore fruit. Large numbers went to the States, among them 
three members of Parliament-Joseph \Villcocks, the leader of the 
Opposition, Benjamin Mallory and Abraham MarcIe. At the next 
session \Villcocks and MarcIe, who were still members, were expelled 
the House" for their disloyal and infamous conduct in having traitor- 
ously deserted to the enemy." Mallory had not been re-elected in 
1812. \Villcocks was killed at Fort Erie in 1814 in command of a 
regiment in the Yankee army-Mallory served during the \Var as 
major in the same regiment. Fifteen traitors were tried at Ancaster 
during the waf and sentenced to death. Seven of them were hanged 
together at that place by order of General Drummond and eight were 



17 1 
sent to Quebec {or punishment. A large number of the disloyal must 
have been arrested and put in prison very early in the war, for on 
the day of the battle of Queenston Heights, October 13, L 812, the 
J ail and Court House at Niagara were filled with political prisoners, 
as well as the block house in Fort George, amounting altogether to 
over three hundred aliens and traitors in custody, with only a few 
raw militia to guard them. When Brock lost his life at Queenston 
he did not have many more than three hundred soldiers with him in 
action, as the main forces had not come up. After the commence. 
ment of the War the officers of the army, the Indians and the loyal 
militia all volunteered their services to force the few laggards into 
the ranks. They thought it hard and unreasonable that they should 
bear all the burden and dangers of the \Var, and a number of them 
were zealously engaged in bringing forward the disobedient. Some 
forty men of Colonel Grahame's r
giment refused to turn out in the 
neighborhood of Whitchurch township and retired into the wilderness, 
and the whole regiment volunteered to go out and fetch them in, an 
offer Colonel Grahame did not accept, probably feeling that such men 
were better in the woods. 
The result of the war was practically that the disloyal minority were 
driven out, and the apathetic, unable to avoid serving the country, 
soon became enthusiastic in the cause. Three years of war weeded 
out the bad elements and welded the Canadians into a loyal and 
patriotic people. It also stopped the Yankee emigration, and after- 
wards the country was filled up with loyal English, Irish and Scotch, 
who settled here that they might retain their allegiance and remain 
under their flag. 
Canada can never again èe called upon to face such dangers 
and difficulties. It seems impossible that the odds could ever again 
be anything like so great against us, and although unfortunately we 
might have a few traitors among us, yet there are too many sons of 
Canada born upon her sJil and too many other men loyal to their 
Sovereign and to the land of their adoption for a small fraction of 
strangers to be able to seriously endanger the national life. 
Colonel Denison very properly adds that: 
The experience of 1812 teaches us that internal treachery and 
the intrigues of a faction in favour of annexation, although the faction 
may be small in numbers and weak in influence, may yet involve the 
two countries in war and bring un told misery and immense loss 0 1 



17 2 
life and property upon our country. The belief that the Canadians 
wanted annexation, a belief industriously fostered and encouraged by 
the United States Government, alone enabled them to prevail upon 
their people in 1812 to engage in an aggressive war, and to-day the 
right-thinking masses of the United States would forbid a war of 
aggression upon Canada, unless they believed we desired the change 
and would yield to it without bloodshed. The man who advocates 
annexation in Canada is therefore playing into the hands of our worst 
enemies in the States, and doing all he can to embroil us in war. 
'\Vhenever we hear of men advocating annexation, and there are a few 
cranks who do, we should remember that they are the most dangerous 
type to the country. 



173 


CHAPTER 15. 


SIR ISAAC BROCK-RIS PARENTAGE AND FORMER SERVrCE9- 
RAISING OF THE GLENGARRY LIGHT INFANTRY BY CAPTAIN 
GEORGE MACDONELL OF THE KING'S REGIMENT AND THE 
REVEREND ALEXANDER (AFTERWARDS BISHOP) MACDONELL- 
LIST OF OFFICERS-OF}o'ICERS OF FLANK COMPANIES GLEN
 
GARRY MILITIA-CORPS DES VOYAGEURS CANADIENS-CANA
 
DIAN FENCIBLE INFANTRY. 


Sir George Prevost was Governor-General of Canada and 
Commander of the Forces, his Headquarteas being at Quebec, 
while to quote from a commission signed by him, before me, " Isaac 
Brock, Esquire," was "President administering the Government of 
Upper Canada and Major-General commanding His Majesty's 
Forces therein." To the fact that he was is largely due the preser
 
vation of at least this Province to the British Crown and to us the 
institutions it is alike our privilege and our heritage now to enjoy. 
From Mr. Martin Brock Tupper's " Life and Correspondence of 
Sir Isaac Brock," I gather principally the following particulars 
regarding the man so deservedly designated" The Saviour of Upper 
Canada." His name will be remembered with gratitude by our 
people, as his biographer stated of a Glengarry man who shortly 
afterwards fell with him, "As long as courage and devotion are 
reverenced in the province": 
General Brock was the eighth son of John Brock, a gentleman 
of ancient family in the Island of Guernsey, by Elizabeth De Lisle, 
and was born on the 6th October, 1769, the memorable year which 
ga ve birth to Wellington and Napoleon. 
He received his commission as ensign in the Eighth (the King's) 
Regiment 2nd March, 1785, and served in Guernsey and Jersey, in 



174 
179 0 recervlllg hìs company. He then exchãnged Ì.ùto the Forty- 
Ninth Regiment, which he joined at Barbadoes in 1791, but was 
shortly afterwards compelled to return very suddenly to England on 
sick leave, having nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential climate. 
He was then employed on recruiting service in England, and in 1795 
purchased his majority. In 1797 he purchased his lieutenant, 
colonelcy,when but twenty-eight years of age, and soon after became 
Senior Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-Ninth. He served with 
distinction under Sir Ralph Abercrombie in Holland in 1799, and 
was wounded at Egmont op Zee, where thirty of his regiment were 
killed and fifty wounded. The loss of the enemy on that occasion 
was estimated at four thousand men. 
His next active service was at the celebrated attack on Copen" 
hagen by Lord Nelson in 1801, when Lieutenant.Colonel Brock was 
second in command of the land forces, and where his brother, Savery 
Brock, also greatly distinguished himself. 
In 1802, his regiment, the Forty-Ninth, was ordered to Canada, 
being stationed at York (now Toronto) in 1803. In 1805 he was made 
full colonel, and returned on leave to England, that being his last visit, 
and early in the following year he laid before His Royal Highness 
the Commander-in-Chief, the outlines of a plan for the formation or 
a veteran battalion to serve in the Canadas, recommending that ten 
companies should be raised, ea.ch of sixty rank and file, with the 
usual proportion of officers, distributed in the following manner :- 
St. John and Chambly, one Company; Kingston, one Company; 
York, two Companies; Fort George and dependencies, three Com- 
panies; Amherstburg, two Companies; St. Joseph, one Company. 
Colonel Brock received the thanks of the Duke of York 
"for the commun
cation of his very sensible observations respect- 
ing the distribution of the troops in Canada, which His Royal 
Highness will not fail to take into consideration at a seasonable 
opportunity." As in the case of Colonel Macdonell's recommend.. 
ation on a kindred subject, nothing however appears to have been 
done at the time towards carrying out the views of these far-seeing 
men, who were so well acquainted with the country and its defensive 
requirements. 
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 character that he resolved on returning to Canada before 



175 
bis leave was expired, and such was his anxiety to be at his post tbat 
he overtook at Cork the" Lady Saumarez," a Guernsey vessel, wen 
manned and armed as a letter-of-marque, bound to Quebec. He left 
London on June 26, 1806, never again to return to home and kindred., 
On September 27, 1806, he was appointed to tbe command of 
the troops in both Provinces, with the rank of Brigadier, his appoint- 
ment as such being confirmed by the King to date from July 2, 1808 
In September, 1806, he addressed a very able representation to 
the Horse Guards with regard to the defence of the country:- 
" It is impossible to view the late hostile measures of the Ame- 
rican 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 
Honour the President (Dunn, with whom Sir Isaac did not appear to 
agree) has not judged it proper to adopt any other step than merely 
to order one-fifth of the militia, which amounts to about ten thousand 
men, to hold itself in readiness to march on the shortest notice. 
"The men thus selected for service being scattered along at 
extensive line of four or five hundred miles, unarmed and totally un. 
acquainted with everything military, without officers capable of giving 
them instructions, considerable time would naturally be required be. 
fore the necessary degree of order and discipline could be introduced 
among them. I therefore very much doubt whether, in event of 
actual war, this force could assemble in time, and become useful. 
"\\'ithout considerable assistance from the militia, the few reguI 
lars which might be spared from this garrison (Quebec) could avai.. 
nothing against the force the Americans would suddenly introduce by 
various routes into this Province." 


After referring to the state of affairs in Lower Canada, he con- 
tinues, "From every information I can receive, the Americans are 
busily engaged in drilling and forming their militia, and openly 
declared their intention of entering this Province. The very 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 shaH be constrained, uDless His Honour the President makes 



17 6 
exertìons, whìch I do not think him disposed at this moment to do, tð 
confine myself to the defence of Quebec." 
He then narrates the preparations he had made tor placing 
Quebec in a defensive condition, and proceeds. "Although these 
I"emarks may be premature, I yet conceive it to be my duty to give 
His Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief, a view of my real 
situation. 
" I must confess that I am unable to account for the motives" hich 
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 GovernmentJ 
provided they were furnished with arms; but this liberal spirit has not 
been encouraged by the President." 
In 1808 Colonel Brock was stationed at Montreal, which, from 
the description of its society given by .Washington Irving in "Astoria,>> 
was a good place to be quartered in. 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 prin. 
cipal partners resided at Montreal, where they formed a commercial 
aristocracy and lived in a generous and hospitable manner. Few 
travellers who visited Canada at this period in the days of the 
Mactavishes, the Macgillivrays, the Mackenzies, the Frobishers and 
other magnates 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 hyperborian nabobs. \Vith these merchant princes 
Colonel Brock lived on terms of much intimacy. 
In 1810 Brigadier Brock was sent to Upper Canada whcre he 
remained in command of the troops UIltil his death, Lieutenant- 
Governor Gore at first administering the civil government. 
In 181 I he was promoted and appointed by the Prince Regent 
to serve as a Major-General on the staff of North America and on 
October 9th ofthe same year was appointed President and Adminis- 
trator of the Government of Upper Canada in succession to 
Lieutenant-Governor Gore, who had returned to England on leave. 
General Brock had previously expressed his desire for more active 
employment in EuroPè. and Sir George Prevost was authorized to 



177 
replace him by another officer, but when the penmsslOn reached 
Canada early in 1812, war with the United States being evidently at 
hand, Major-General Brock was retained both by honour and incli- 
nation in this country. 
So small was the force we could oppose to the Americans that it 
became a necessity at once to augment it. Mr. Auchinleck, who 
here confuses the dividing line between the Provinces of Upper 
and Lower Canada, after explaining the reason why a larger levy was 
not made in the Lower Province (the apprehension that Lower 
Canadians might contract militia habits and enlist into the service) 
proceeds: "This feeling, however, did not prevent the establish- 
ment of the Glengarry Light Infantry, who numbered by the 1st May, 
1812, 400 rank and file j and we find, furlher, that on Sir George 
Prevost's issuing orders to recruit for a still higher establishment. the 
officers eng
ged to double the number, and did it. This does not look 
like disaffection; and, whether we go still further east, or south, we 
trace the same spirit. We find two officers dividing Nova Scotia and 
New Brunswick, and enlisting Acadians, while Lieutenant Ranald 
Macdonell is reported as making great progress among the High- 
Jand settlers on the Coast and Gulf. 'Vhen we take all these 
circumstances, then, into consideration, we confess that we are at a 
loss to find any sounder reasons for imputing disaffection to Lower 
Canadians than we have found to exist among their brethern of the 
Upper Province; and although they were not called on, in the course 
of the events which followed, to make such sacrifices, or give such 
unequivocal proofs of their loyalty as Upper Canadians, yet we 
venture to assert that the animus was there, which would have proved 
that in both Provinces alike the same pure spirit of patriotism 
burned." 
We have previously seen that in 1807 Colonel John Macdonell, 
who formerly commanded the Second Battalion Royal Canadian 
V olunteers, had urged upon Sir Isaac (then Colonel) Brock the 
desirability of raising a corps from among the Highland settlers in 
Glengarry, and that the latter had forwarded Colonel Macdonell's 
proposal to the Secretary-at- \V ar strongly recommending that it 
should be carried out, but for som'
 reason which I am unable to 
discover, it does not appear to have been acted upon. It will be 
remembered that Colonel John Macdonell placed much reliance on 
assistance in this direction from the Reverend Alexander Macdonell, 



17 8 
the former Chaplain of the Glengarry Fencibles (the regiment 
raised in Scotland), afterwards Bishop of Upper Canada.. 
'When hostilities broke out some five years afterwards. and the 
necessity arose, that settlement was looked to to supply soldiers for 
the defence of the country, and the following letter was addressed to 
General Brock :- 


Colonel Baynes, Military Secretary to Major-General Brock. 
"QUEBEC, December 12,1811. 
" I am directed to transmit herewith a copy of proposals for 
raising a corps of Glengarry Fencibles. The Commander of the 
Forces has selected an officer of the King's Regiment, Captain 
George Macdonell, an avowed Catholic and a relative of the Glen- 
garry priest of that name, to attempt the fonnation of a small battalion 
to be in the first instance under his command with the rank of Major, 
and in case a more respectable body can be collected, a Lieutenant- 
Colonel Commandant will be appointed. Captain Macdonell will 
leave this in a few days, and he will be directed to take an early op- 
portunity of communicating with you as soon as he has felt his ground 
in Glengarry, and is able to form a correct idea of the prospect and 
extent of success that is likely to attend his ext::rtions." 
In order to insure the important co-operation of the Catholics 
in Lower Canada, His Excellency the Governor-General personally 
presented Captain Macdonell to the Bishop of Quebec, as the officer 
specially selected to raise the corps, which had a very important 
political effect, as the French-Canadians regarded the regiment most 
favourably as being a Catholic one, indeed the letter of service directed 
to Captain Macdonell, distinctly named the Highland Catholic Priest 
in Glengarry, Mr. Alexander Macdonell, as Chaplain of the corps- 
a most unusual proceeding-but which indicated to those of that 
faith, though of a different race, the beginning of a new system 
towards them and a flattering mark of the confidence of Government 
in them, exactly as the wise policy of Chatham won the Highlanders 
in the reign of George the Second, and therefore the raising of this 
corps immediately called forth an active spirit of loyalty throughout 
all Lower Canada, whilst it raised the good feelings of the settlers in 
the Upper Province. French and British Canadians were incor- 
porated in its ranks.- (I) 
The gallant officer, Captain George Macdonell, who was selected 
to raise and to assume temporary command of the Glengarry 


,I) United Service Journal, 1848, p. 430. 



179 
Fencibles, was a member of a cadet family of Glengarry, well known 
in the Highlands for their great strength and warlike disposition. 
They were settlej at Leek, in Glengarry's Country (from which they 
took their name) for many generations untIl after Culloden, when, 
like many other Highland families, they had to seek shelter elsewhere, 
their house at Leek having been burned to the ground by Cumberland's 
troops. His father John Macdonell of Leek, joined Prince Charles in 
1745, and was on his staff at the battle of Culloden, where he was 
wounded by a shot in the thigh. He remained in hiding in the house of 
Grant of Glenmoriston (his grandmother being of that family) for 
six months until his wound healed up, after which he walked in dis. 
guise the whole way to Hull, where he emb3.rked for Holland in a sailing 
ship, and soon after joined the Prince at St. Gennain. He subsequent. 
ly served in the Garde Ecossais. Some time after, under an assumed 
name, he returned to the Highlands and joined subsequently, 
Fraser's Highlanders as lieutenant. His commission is dated 5th 
January, 1757. He fought with his Regiment on the Heights of 
Abraham, before Quebec, and was beside \V olfe when he fell. 
Before "the Forty-Five," he had formed the acq laintance of the 
great general, and became so attached to him that he named his 
eldest son after him. \V olfe acted as his friend, and protected him 
throughout, the amnesty not having been granted for some years after 
the fall of Quebec. He remained on the staff after \V olfe's death 
and was a great favourite with his brother officers. On a certain 
occasion one of the Hessian officers on the staff had a difference with 
him about a lady, when the Hessian denounced him as a rebel 
Highlander. The whole headquarters were indignant and spurned 
the accusation. Macdonell challenged his accuser; a duel with 
swords ensued, and the German was killed, to the gratification of 
some thirty officers, who witnessed the combat and strongly 
sympathized with Mr. Macdonell. Among his friends in the latter 
days were the famous Glengarry of George IV.'s time and his 
distinguished br0ther, General Sir James :Macdonell, defender of 
Hougoumont. He served as Major during [he American \Var of 
Independence, and subsequently commanded a veteran corps in 
Newfoundland, where his second son was born in 1779 or 1780. 
He died at Berwick in 18 I 8." (I) 
Everyone of this gentleman's sons was in the army, viz.: I. 
\V olfe A le xander, who was Colonel of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. 
(1) 
lackenzie's HistJry, page 527. 



180 
2. George, who served so well in Canada. 3. James, a Captain 
Thirteenth Light Infantry. 4. Charles, who died while on service 
with his regiment in India. 5. Edward, who also died on service in 
India. 6. Ernest, who was an officer in the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. 
Colonel George Macdonell, who thus raised the Glengarry 
Fencibles, and so greatly distinguished himself both at Ogdensburg 
and Chateauguay when in comm:md of that corps, was afterward5 
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-Ninth Foot. He married the 
Honourable Laura, second daughter of Lord Arundel of Wardour, 
and died at \Vardour Castle in 1870, at the advanced age of ninety 
years. His son, John Ignatius Macdonell, is now a major-general 
n the army, and was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-First High- 
land Light Infantry. 
The hand of the "Chaplain" is easily traced in the successful 
formatIon of thi<> regiment (the Glengarry Light Infantry), Colonel 
Coffin states that:- 
" Thc Bishop had been most active in rousing and recruiting the 
Glengarries during the preceding winter. The Fiery Cross had 
passed through the land, and every clansman had obeyed the sum- 
mons. Partaking of the character of the mediæval churchman, half 
Baron, half Bishop, he fought and prayed with equal zeal, by the side 
of men he had come to regard as his hereditary followers." 
The Bishop himself, in a letter to Sir Francis Bond Head, written 
in 1836, to repel some charges brought against him in the House of 
Assembly, of having neglected his spiritual functions to devote his 
time and talents to politics, after showing how he had discharged his 
duty to God, the hardships and privatiolls he had suffered in the dis- 
charge of his sacred functions, and how he had spent thirteen thousand 
pounds of his own means in building churches, chapels, presbyteries 
and school houses, in rearing young men for the Church and in pro- 
moting general education, states:- 
" I never had, or enjoyed, a situation or place of profit or emo- 
lument except the salary which my Sovereign was pleased to bestow 
upon me, in reward of forty-two years' faithful services to my country, 
having been instrumental in getting two corps of my flock raised and 
embodied in defence of their country in critical times. viz.: the first 
Glengarry Fencible Regiment was raised by my influence as a 
Catholic corps during the Irish Rebellion, whose dangcrs and 
fatigues I shared in that distracted country; ample and honourable 
testimonials of their service and my conduct may be found in the 
Government Offices at Toronto. The second Glengarry Fencible 
Regiment, raised in the Province when the Government of the 



ISI 
United States of America invaded and expected to make a. conquest 
of Canada, was planned by me and partly raised by my influence. 
My zeal in the service of my country and my exertions in the defence 
of this Province were acknowledged by his late Majesty, through 
Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. My salary 
was then raised and a seat was assigned for me in the Legislative 
Council as a distinguished mark of my Sovereign's favour, an honour 
I should consider it a disgrace to resign, although I can hardly ever 
expect to sit in Council." 
Captain Macdonell evidently not only filled up the ranks of the 
regiment in Glengarry, but distributed rather more commissions 
among the gentlemen of the county than Was anticipated by or alto- 
gether pleasing to the officers at headquarters, as appears from the 
following letter:- 
Major-General Brock to Colonel Baynes: 
"YORK, January 26, 18):2. 
" Captain Macdonell, accompanied by the priest, arrived here 
some days ago. The badness of the weather has prevented his 
return as soon as he first propo!:ed. All the junior commissions 
being already disposed of among the youths of Glengarry, 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 Macdonell 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 emigrants to enlist, I stated the circumstance to Council, and 
have mllch pleasure in assuring His Excellency that should he 
be of opinion the present state 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 would enlist on the terms proposed by his 
Excellency. This will be deviating largely from the King's instruc. 
tions; but in these eventful and critical times the Council conceives 
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 Excellency think it expedient to act immediately, 
and authorize a direct offer of land, I have 11') doubt that a number of 
young men might be collected between Kingston and Amherstburg, 
in which case His Excellency may sanction the raising of two 
additional companies under my superintendence." 
Sir George Prevost replied on the 20th February, readily 

ccepting General Brock's proposal to recruit two additional 



182 

,m\pa.nìes to be added to the Glengarry FencÌbles, the nominatÌon 
of the officers, viz., 2 Captains, 2 Lieutenants and 2 Ensigns, to rest 
entirely with General Brock, and intimating his intention to recom- 
mend Colonel Baynes, then on his staff as Militia Secretary, to the 
Colonelcy of the regiment. 
On the 26th January, the Rev. Mr. Macdonell (" the Chaplain") 
'Was the bearer of despatches from General Brock to the Commander- 
in-Chief, with regard to th
 opening and keeping up communication 
between the two Provinces, "a subject which he is well qualified to 
explain." In fact" the Chaplain" was evidently entirely in the con" 
fidence of both, and relied on for active co-operation, which was 
unstintingly given by that loyal and patriotic man. Had he not been 
a great missionary, priest and prelate he would ha ve been a great 
soldier. He used to sa}" that every gentleman of his name should 
either be a priest or soldier. 
So great had been his success in raising the Glengarry Light 
Infantry that General Brock, in February, 1812, recommended the 
formation of a corps of Canadian Fencibles, which was shortly after" 
wards accomplished. An idea of the manner in which Captain 
Macdonell performed the important duty assigned to him, and the 
readiness with which the people of Glengarry took up arms, may be 
gathered from the following letter of 14th May, 181:2, it being borne 
in mind that it was only on the I :zth December, 1811, that the Mili- 
tary Secretary wrote General Brock that Captain Macdonell had 
his authorization, and would in a few days start on his recruiting tout 
for Glengarry, that the service was performed in the depth of winter 
and that there were no railways or telegraphs in those days :- 
Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock; 
"QUEBEC, May 14, 1812. 
" I have great satisfaction in telling you that I have reported the 
Glengarry Light Infantry more than complete to the establishment of 
four hundred rank and file, and have received Sir George Prevost's 
commands to recruit for a higher establishment, indeed the quota the 
officers have engaged to fulfill will nearly amount to double that 
number, and from the very great success that has attended our exer- 
tions, I have no doubt of succeeding by the end of the year. Two 
officers have divided Nova Scot
a and New Brunswick for their 
hunting ground, and are permitted to recruit Acadia.ns, and Lieuten- 
ant Ranald Macdonell, 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 



18 3 
he is sanguine that the proffer of lands in the Scotch settlements of 
Upper Canada will induce great numbers to emer. I am assured 
that the men I have got are generally young and of good disposition, 
there being very few Yankees among them." 
GLENGARRY LIGHT INFANTRY FENCIBLE REGIMENT, 1813. 
A list of the officers of this corps, which was on the regular 
establishment of the British Army, is as follows ;- 
Colonel-Edward Baynes. (I) 
Lieutenant-Colonel-Francis Battersby. 
:\fajor-George 1[acdonell. 
Captains. 
Robert ì\Iacdouall, (2) 
Thomas Fitzgerald, 
Foster \Veeks, 
W. Roxburgh. 
Lieutenants. 
J ames Stewart, 
H. S. Hughes, 
Æneas Shaw, 
James Macaulay. (4) 
Ensigns. 
Roderick Matheson, (5) (6) Angus Macdonell, 


Andrew LidJell, 
john Jenkins,(3) 
R. M:. Cochrane, 
D. McPherson, 


A. McMillan, 
Anthony Leslie, 
'Valter Kerr, 
'Villiam Kemble, 


(I.) This officer had entered the anny in 1783. After serving at Gibraltar and the West 
Indies he became aide-de-camp, in 1794, to Sir James Craig, afterwards Governor-GeneTaI of 
Canada, and was at the taking of Good HÐpe in 1795 and also at the capture of a Dutch force 
in Saldanha Bay in the following year. He subsequently served as A.D.C. to Sir James in the 
East Inaies, but having obtained a majority in the 96th, he joined that corps at Cawnpore. In 
1803 he returned to En2"land, In 1804 he was appOln ted heu tenant-colonel of the 5th Foot, and 
in 1805, Sir James Craig again desiring his services, he was placed on half-pay and served as first 
aide-de-camp to Sir James at Gibraltar, Malta, Naples and Sicily. In 1807 he was appointed 
adjutant-general to the forces in North America, which appointment he held during the whole of 
the \Var of 1812-14 and for several veal's 
.rreTWards. He died at Sidmouth. En
land. in March, 
1829. (Morgan's Celebrated Canadians, p. 200.) 
(2.) This gall..nt officer entered the service in 1796 and after taking the various steps, be- 
came a major-general in 184t. When in comm'1.nd at Fort Michilamackinac he successtully de- 
fended it when attacked by a very snperior force, August 4th, 1814, which he drove off with con- 
siderable loss. He died at ::5tranaer on 15th November, 1848. (Morgan, p. 216.) 
(3.) Captain Jenkins was a native of New Brunswick, and an honour to the Province. He 
greatly distinguished himself at the taking of Ogdensburg by his g ,lIant and intrepid conduct, 
where he lost both arms, which were smashed by canister shot, and sank exhausted from loss of 
blood within twenty yards of the ..nemy's guns. He was most honourably mentioned in the 
despatch announcing that victor}', and survived the war several years. It is not creditable ti) 
the then authorities that he never got a brevet or any other honour. His only reward when he no 
longer had an arm to hold a sword was a contemptible town majority of some ;(,65 a year. Col. 
Macdonell begged, almost on his knees, at the Horse Guards, for an increase of his widow's 
pension, but in vain. 
(4.) Afterwards Sir James Buchanan Macaulay, C.B., one of the three gentlemen who 
served through the war and afterwards became chief justices, the other 
wo being Sir John HevCt'- 
Iy Robinson, Bart., and the lion. '\rchibald 'lcLeall-'1.I: three, strar,gely enough, hay n\{ b
en 
pupils of !\II', (alterwards 13i5hop) St'achan at the Cornwall school He died 27th July, 1857 
(5,) Afterwatds the Hon. Roderick Matheson. Born in Rossshire, Scotland. and j{re.t 
grandson of Duga!d :\Iatheson, chief of his clan, who was killecl in the action at Glen Shi
I. ';I
nelg . 
I'Jth June, 1719- !\II'. Matheson wa<; present with his regi- ent at the actions at York, Sackett's 
Harbour, Lros!> Ro ds, Fort (;eorge, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie \Vollnded at Sdckeu's H.IT- 

 ur. He was "ppointed a life member of the Legislative ("ouncil of Upper Canada in 1847. and 



1:84 


James RobÌns, 
James Mackay, 
Joseph Frobisher, 
Paymaster-Anthony Leslie. 
Adjutant-John Mackay. 
Quarter- Master-John Watson. 
Agents-Greenwood, Cox & Co. 
In addition to the regular force then raised from among the 
people" of Glengarry, there were also two regiments of Glengarry 
militia. 
Unfortunately, I can only procure the names of the officers of 
the flank companies. I knmv as a fact, however, that Alexander 
Macdonell of Greenfield commanded the Second Regiment of Glen. 
garry Militia at the time, as a commission of Captain Donald Green 
field Macdonell, dated 15th April, 1812, appoints him to the com. 
mand of a company in that regiment, "of which Alexander 
Macdonell, Esquire, is Lieutenant Colonel," and I find from family 
papers in my possession that he commanded that regiment at the 
action at Hoople's Creek, where some of his men were wounded, 
whose cases he brought to the notice of headquarters in applying 
for pensions for them. 
The Militia Department furnishes tne with the following :- 
GLENGARRY REGIMENTS-FLANK COMPANIES-SERVED IN WAR or 
1812. 
First Regiment 
C3ptains-Duncan Macdonell, John Hooke Campbell. 
Lieutenants-John Cameron, Donald McDermid. 
Ensigns-John Kennedy, James Macdonell. 
Second Regiment. 
Captains-Donald Macdonell, Alexander MackenzÌe, Alexander 
Macmillan. 


\Villiam Maclean, 
Byland Smith, 
Alexander Macdonell. 


sat until Confederation, when he was called to the Senate by Roy:tI Proclamation. 
(6.) An officer who subsequentlv served in this regiment and retired in 1816 as a captain 
in it was James Fitz
ibbon, subsequently colonel of the 1st Regiment of Toronto Militia. Mr. 
Fitzgibbon had previou
Iy served in the 19th and 61st Regiments as a non-commissioned officer 
an.i had been present in the action ne1r the Helder and elsewhere in HoII..nd, and was made pri: 
soner at E
mont op Zee. At the bll.ttIe of Copenha.:::an he was in the II Monarch, 74," which had 
210 men killed and wounded, and he was afterwards, until 18Ot, in Lord Nelson's ship the" Ele- 
phant," his regiment in that campaign acting as marines. While in the Glengarry Rejliment 
during .the 
ar of 1
12-I4, he was. in the Jattles at St JOey, Creek, Fort George and several 
others, 10cludmg the siege of Fort Ene. At the Beaver Dams, aided by a body 01 Indian wolrriors 
and with 48 men of tne 49th Regiment, he captured a force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and 2 guns. 
He rendere I imp .rtant services in the Rebellion of '37-8, and received therefor a sword and the 
tha
ks of the Canarli
n A
se

Iy. He, was fo! nineteen year;; clerk of. 
arliament. In 18
0 Her 

laJestv the Queen, 10 recognltlon of hIs services, created him a J\hhtary Knight of WIndsor 
from which time until his death he resided in England. ' 



Igs 
Lieutenants-Angus Kennedy, Donald McMartin. 
Ensign-Alexander Macdonald. 
Adjutant-Donald Fraser. 
Quarter- Master-John Mackenzie. 
Surgeon-Timothy Johnson. 
We frequently read, too, of the gallant Corps des Voyageurs 
Canadiens, and, from its name, the supposition would be that it was 
composed exclusively of our French-Canadian countrymen. A list 
of its officers would indicate that some, at any rate, of them hailed 
from Glengarry, as their names are typical of those found in such 
numbers there. 
The list is given in the Quebec Almanac of 1813 as follows :- 


Alexander Mackenzie, 
John Macdonell, 
James Hughes, 


CORPS DES VOYAGEURS CANADIENS. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant-William Macgillivray. 
First Major-Angus Shaw. 
Second Major-Archibald Macleod. 
Capitaines. 
William Mackay, 
Pierre de Rocheblave, 
Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr. 
L;eutenants. 
Joseph Mackenzie, 
Joseph Macgillivray, 


J ames Goddard, 
Peter Grant, 
William Hall. 


Ensignes. 
Pierre Pieras, ] ames Maxwell, 
Louis Joseph Gauthier, John Macgillivray, 
Andre Barron, Pierre Rotot, Fils. 
Paie Maitre-Æneas Cameron. 
Adjutant- - Cartwright. 
Quartier Maitre-James Campbell. 
Chirurgien-Henry Monro. 
From the names of the officers of this corps, there can be little 
or no doubt but that it was raised by the officers of the Northwest 
Company. The Honourable William Macgillivray, who was lieu- 
tenant-colonel commandant, was senior partner of that Company, 
and I recognize the names of many other partners amongst them. 
:\fr. 'William 
facgillivray was, with Bishop Macdonell, one of the 
founders of the Highland Society in Canad<" under a commission 



186 
from the Duke of York, President of the Highland Society of Lon. 
don, addressed to William Macgillivray, Esq.; Angus Shaw, Esq.; 
the Rev
rend Alexander Macdonell, John Macdonald, Esq., of 
Garth, and Henry MacKenzie. The institutional meeting was beld 
at St. Raphaels in the house of Mr. Angus McDonell. My father, 
who was in 1844 secretary and one of the directors of the Highland 
Society, and wrote an account of it, states that that meeting was 
attended by " three of the best men and finest Highland gelltlemen 
this Province ever saw, the late Honourable \Villiam Macgillivray, 
the late Bishop Macdonell and the late Honourable Neil MacLean, 
all of whom, though dead, still live in the hearts of their countrymen." 
In addition to the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, another regi- 
ment raIsed at this time in Canada, and which was also placed on the 
permanent establishment of the army, and so continued until after 
the close of the war, when it was disbanded in 1816, was the Cana- 
dian Fencible InÍJ.ntry. The officers were as follows, Glengarry 
contributing its quota, amongst whom was Alexander Fraser, who 
afterwards represented the County and for many years commanded 
the First Regiment of Glengarry Militia, which was on active service 
during the Rebellion of 1837-8 in both Upper and Lower Canada:- 


CANADIAN FENCIBLE INFANTRY. 


Colonel-Thomas Peters, Major-General. 
Lieutenant-Colonels-David Shank, Major-General; George 
Robertson. 
Major-Francis Cockburn. 
Captains. 
J ames Eccles, William De Haren, 
Thomas Hay. Edward Cartwright, 
Dugald Campbell, George R. Ferguson, 
Ewen MacMillan, Alexander MacQueen, 
J ames Pentz. 


John Reid, 
Ranald Macdonell, 
Henry Weatherston, 
Daniel Dupre, 
Alexander Grant, 
Edwar Dewar, Staff. 


Lieu tenan ts. 
\Villiam Marshall, 
\Villiam Radenhurst, 
John Johnston, 
Archibald K. Johnston, 
R. 1''1. Cochrane, 



Alexander MacMillan, 
Thomas F. Gunter, 
Ulysses Fitzmaurice. 
Paymaster-William Marshall, Lieutenant. 
Adjutant-R. M. Cochrane, Lieutenant. 
Quartermaster-Alexander Fraser. 
Surgeon-Michael Mabey. 
Assistant Surgeon-Alexander Cunningham. 
Agents-Greenwood, Cox & Co. 


18 7 
Ensigns. 
Charles Pinguet, 
Benjamin Delisle, 



188 


CHAPTER 16. 


FIRST BLOOD OF THE WAR OF 18[2.-A BRITISH INDIAN SCALPED 
BY AN AMERICAN OFFICER.-CAPTURE OF MICHILIMACINACK.- 
BROCK LEAVES YORK FOR THE 
CENE OF ACTION.-LETTER 
OF COLONEL MACDONELL, A.D.C., M.P. FOR GLENGARRY, 
TO HONOURABLE DUNCAN CAMERON.-SURRENDER OF FORT 
DETROIT BY THE AMERICANS.-ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION.- 
LIST OF GOLD MEDALS GRANTED.-ARMISTICE BETWEEN PRE- 
VOST AND DEARBORN.-BATTLE OF QUEENSTON HEIGHTS.- 
DEATH OF GENERAL BROCK AND COLONEL MACDONELL, 
A.D.C. - THEIR FUNERAL. - MOVEMENTS ON QUEENSTON 
HEIGHTS.- THE PRINCE REGENT'S TRIBUTE.-COLONEL MAC- 
DONELL'S ADDRESS TO THE ELECTORS OF GLENGARRY, MARCH 
18TH, 1812. - LETTER DESCRIBING HIS DEATH. - BISHOP 
STRACHAN'S VERSES. 


Hostilities commenced on 12th July, 1812, when General Hull 
crossed the Detroit River to Sandwich (perhaps he thought the date 
auspicious), invading us with an army of two thousand five hundred 
men and a blo;)j.curdling proclamation. It was answered by Gen- 
eral Brock, and the two should be placed in parallel columns, so that 
the vulgarity and fanfaronade of the one and the resolute, dignified 
tone of the other might be fully understood and appreciated. The 
grandiloquence of the American General and the magnitude of what 
he was going to do was as remark1.ble as the dignified common 
sense of the other, and what he immediately proceeded to carry into 
execution. 
Brock's admirable production is generally believed to have been 
prepared by Mr. Justice Powell, then Senior Puisne Judge of the Court 
of King's Bench, of which Court he became Chief Justice in the year 
18 16 . He was at the time a Member of the Executive Council and 
witþ his Q.umerous duties, General Brock would natural1y avail him- 
self of Judge Powell's great abilities in the preparation of a document 



18 9 
of this nature. I may mention that Colonel Macdonell, the Mem 
ber for Glengarry, and Brock's A.D.C., was shortly to have been 
married to a daughter of Judge Powell's, had it not proved his lot 
· U To change love's bridal wreath 
For laurels from the hand of death." 
But General Brock did not confine himself to answering 
General Hull on paper. He directed Captain Roberts, then in 
command at St. Joseph, to take the American fort of Michilimacinack 
or Mackinaw, in the straits between Lakes Michigan and Huron, 
which in words which afterwards became historic, "was d.one 
accordingly" with a small force of forty-five men of the Tenth Royal 
Veteran Battalion, two hundred militia and about a like number of 
Indians. From Sandwich, General Hull proceeded to Amherstburg, 
but here again both his proclamation and his prowess, if not his 
courage, failed him. 
Colonel St. George was in command of that place with two 
hundred men of the First Battalion of the Forty-First Regiment, a 
few of the Newfoundland Fencibles, with some artillery men under 
Lieutenant Troughton, and the Commander of the Forces was able 
to announce in General Orders of the Sixth of August that" he had 
great pleasure in stating that the enemy under General Hull had 
been repelled in three attacks made on the 18th, 19th and 20th ot 
last month upon part of the garrison of Amberstburg on the River 
Canard." First blood was drawn and the first scalp taken on the 15 th 
July, James in his "History of the War,:' mentioning that an 
American officer, a Captain McCullough, who was afterwards killed, 
stated in a letter to his wife which was found in his pocket after his 
death, that he had on that day shot an Indian, and had experienced 
the pleasure of tearing off his scalp with his teeth-and yet General 
Hull affected to think the Indians savage and barbarous! 
Tecumseth, who proved with his Indian warriors, such a 
valuable ally to the British arms, waylaid a detachment of the 
enemy about two hundred strong, which had been sent as a convoy 
to guard the mail, and cut them to pieces. An expedition, however, 
under Captain 
1uir, who was wounded in the engagement, which 
was sent to occupy Brownstown on the American side, through 
which a second convoy was expected to pass, failed, with a loss to 
us of one private killed, two officers, two sergeants, nineteen rank 
and file wounded and two taken prisoners, who were afterwards 



19 0 
recaþtured by our Indians., and to the Americans or eighteen killed 
;and sixty-three wounded. 
Their force on this occasion was largely in excess of ours, 
consi!"ting of all but one company ot Fourth Regiment United States 
Infantry, a detachment 'Of the First Infantry, with some artillery and 
four hundred militia, while oppose t'O them were not m'Ore than four 
hundred and fifty men, of whom two hundred were Indians. 
General Hull stated in his official report that "nothing was 
gained in it but honour." That satisfied him. He was easily 
satisfied, as the results showed. 
General Bwck, who up to this time had been detain'Cd at York, 
left that place for the scene of action 'On the 6th of August with some 
two hundred volunteers, arriving at Amhersburg on the 13 th . His 
little band on the way, he stated in his note book, enduLd all the 
fatigues with greater cheerfulness and constancy than he had ever 
previously seen evinced, their condu'Ct thwughout exciting his 
admiration. 
The following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, General 
Brock's A.D.C., to the Honourable Duncan Cameron, of York, who 
was, I believe at the time and continued for many years subsequently 
a member of the Government of the Province, has been placed 
n my 
hands through the courtesy of Mr. Æmilius Jarvis, of Toronto, and is 
of interest as giving an account of the journey to Detroit and as being 
the last letter written by Attorney-General Macdonell, who was then 
Member for Glengarry, and was so soon to die with Brock in the 
defence of the country. 


" PORT TALBOT, loth August, 1812, 


U My dear Sir, 
" \Ve left Dover on the 8th, between three and four o'clock p.m., 
and got to this place about six this morning, when the wind blew so 
strong upon the shore that we found it would be quite impracticable 
to weather the point about thirty miles ahead and between which and 
this place there is no possibility of landing, so were forced to beach 
and have our boats into a fine creek where, from prcsent appear. 
ances, it is possible they will remain till to-morrow morning, and how 
much longer I cannot say. It has rained almost cnntinually since 
we encamped last night, and although the men have been completely 
drenched, they continue in excellent spirits and behave in the most 
orderly and obedient manner. 
" Peter Robinson,with his riflemen,joined us about twelve o'clock 
to-day, and our fleet now consists of twelve sail of an kinds, in one 
of which is a six pounder (dismoll nted), with ammunilion, etc. The 



19 1 
want of boats obliged the General to send a detachment conslstlllg 
of about one hundred men of the Oxford and Norfolk Militia in a 
a small vessel, which happened to be at Dover, which must have 
reached Amherstburg this morning. 
" Upon our arrival at Dover it was said that a sufficient number 
of boats to embark the whole of the force assembled there had been 
got ready, but upon examination we found that hardly one was in a 
state for service, and it was not till about four o'clock next day, with 
every exertion, that we got ten boats under way. Many of them are 
in so bad a state that we are constantly delayed and detained by 
them, and will no doubt prevent our arriving as soon as we otherwise 
would. Had there been boats enough we probably would have had 
with us about one hundred men more than we have. Our force at 
present, including the men sent in the vessel, will be upwards of three 
hundred and fifty, èesides about twenty Indians, under Cadotte, who 
has fallen behind. These, with the sixty men from the Forty-First 
sent from Fort Erie will, I trust, be found a sufficient reinforcement 
to the garrison at Amherstburg to enable us to effect the desired ob- 
ject. Not having heard a word from Amherstburg since we left you, 
we must suppose things remain in the same state. 
" I am sorry to say that poor Chambers was taken so ill just as 
we were abo
It to embark, that Mr. Rolph thought it absolutely 
necessary to detain him. Robinson, however, says that Colonel 
Talbot and he were to leave Mr. R.'s yesterday morning, so that we 
look out for him every moment. Such a disappointment to him 
would certainly be most distressing-I mean being left behind. I 
hope he may arrive, not only on his account, but also for the good of 
the service, which [ think would materially suffer from his absence. 
Everyone else is perfectly well. 
" I do not know how thi-; is to find its way to you, but as you de- 
sired me to write you from each place at which we should stop, which 
I think [ pro
nised to do, and having got myself dry, and having a 
little time to spare, I fe]t myself bound in conscience to devote it to 
the performance of my promise, and [ wish with all my heart I could 
say anything which would give you any pleasure to hear. My next, 
however, may possibly contain something more interesting. 
" Chambers, I am glad to say, has arrived perfectly recovered, not 
only from his illness, but from his fear of being left behind, which I 
believe gave him more uneasiness than all his other complaints. 
Remember me to aU of those who you think would wish to hear of 
me, and say to them what you please for me, and believe me to be 
" Your sincere friend and faithful s
rvant, 
"J. MACDONELL. 
" Duncan Cameron. Esq." 
But when General Brock with his small force had arrived at Am- 
herstburg it was feared that General Hull had had enough glory in the 
affair at Brownstown, an:! th:1.t s'1tisfiej with his m:lgnificent success 



19 2 
he had recrossed the river, leaving behind him his proclamation, the 
sole monument of his fame. He was apparently much attached to 
'his own country, though he was destined shortly to leave it for a 
considerable time, and when he again returned his reception by his 
countrymen was the reverse of cordial, though they to')k great care of 
his person I 
On the 15th August, General Brock despatched this letter 
to him :- 
"HEAD QUARTERS, SANDWICH, August 15th, 1812. 
" SIR,- 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 attached themselves to 
my troops, will be beyond my control the moment the contest com- 
mences. You will find me disposed to enter into Euch condition s as 
will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honour. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Macdonell and Major Glegg are fully authorized to conclude 
any arrangement that may tend to prevent the unnecessary effusion 
of blood. 


" I have the honour to be, 
" Sir, your most obedient Servant, 
" (Signed) ISAAC BROCK, Major General. 
" His Excellency, 
" Brigadier-General Hull, 
" Commanding at FQrt Detroit." 
On the same day General Hull replied that he was prepared to 
meet any force at his opponent's disposal, but changed his mind the 
following day, as shown in General Brock's despatch to the Com- 
mander-in-Chief, enclosing the terms of the Capitulation of Fort 
Detroit, which were agreed upon without any of the unpleasantness 
which usually characterises the proceedings antecedent to such 
negotiations. 
Referring first to the events, at York. following closely upon the 
commencement of hostilities, General Brock states :- 
" * * * In the meantime 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 portion of the embodied militia the most easily col- 
lected. In the attainment of this important point gentlemen of the 
first character and influence showed an example highly creditable to 
them, and I cannot on this occasion avoid mentioning the essential 
assistance I derived from John Macdonell, Esquire, His Majesty's 
Attorney-General, who, from the beginning of the war, has honoured 
me with his services as my Provincial Aide-de-Camp." 



193 
After narrating the events previous to his a:rrlvaI at AmheT!ft
 
burg, he proceeds: 
" The force at my disposal (I) being collected in the course of 
the 15th, in the neighbourhood uf Sandwich, the cmbarcation took 
place a little after daylight on thè following morning, and under the 
able arrangement of Lieutenant Dewar, of the Quartermaster-Gen- 
eral's Department, the whole was in a short time landed without the 
slightest confu"iicn at Springwill-a good position, three miles west 
of Detroit. The Indians, who had in the meantime effected their 
landing two miles below, moved forward and occupied the woods
 
about a mile and a hair on our left. 
I crossed the river, with an intention of waiting in a strong 
position the effect of our force upon the enemy's camp, and in hopes 
of compelling him to meet us in the field; but receiving infjrmation 
UPO:-I landing that Colonel McArthur, an officer of high reputation, 
had left the garrison three days before with a detachment of five 
hundred men, and hearing soon afterwards that his cavalry had been 
seen that morning three miles in our rear, I decided on an imme- 
diate attack. Accordingly, the troops éfdvanced to within one mile 
of the fort, and having ascertained that the enemy had taken little 
0:- no precaution towards the land side, I resolved on an attack, 
whilst the Indians penetrated his camp. 
" Brigadier-General Hull, however, prevented this movement by 
proposing a cessation uf the hostilities for the purpose of preparing 
terms of capitulation. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell and 
Captain Clegg were accordingly deputed by me on this mission, and 
returned within an hour with the conditions, which I have the honour 
herewith to transmit.(2) Certain conditions aftenvarJs induced me 
to agree to the two supplementary articles. 
" The force thus surrendered to His Majesty's arms cannot be 
estimated at less than two thousand five hundred men. In this 
estimate, Colonel McArthur's detachment is included, as he surren- 
dered, agreeably to the terms of capitulation, in the course of the 


Ct. It consi
ted of 30 Royal ArtilIery, 250 of the .pst Regiment, 50 Royal Newfoundland 
Regiment, 400 militia and 600 Indians under Tec:lmseth. . 
(2.) It has frequently been stated that the terms of this surrender were drawn up by Mr. 
(afterwards Sir John Beverley) Robinson, who was then, as a very young man, a lieut
nant in 
the York militia and a student in the office of Attorney-General Macdonell, General Brock's 
A,D.C. This statement is repeated in Read s "Lives of the Judges" p. 124, but it is manifestly 
inaccurate, and I take this opportunity of correcting it. General Brode's despatch is my authority 
and it cannot be gainsaicl. Were further authority wanting, it is furnished by the Chief-Justice 
himself, who in a letter to Mr. F. B Tupper, dated Toronto, January 19th, 1846, states; * * 
.. Though I was old enough to be upon the expedition to Detroit and in the action at Queenston 
I was too younl; to be in a positIOn to know more of (;eneral Brock than could be observed by 
seeing him in public, but I retain a very distinct recollection of his person and manner." - . . 
Sir John Robinson achieved in r{ter life such high distinction 
his name, for pllb'ic services no less 
than for private virtues, is so certain to go down to postt:rity as one of the most distinguished 
among the deservedly great ones of the land, that it is neither necessaTY nor well that services 
other than those he actually rendered to the State should be attributed 10 him. Colonel Macdonell 
it was who negociated the_e terms. He so soon after" nobly fell" at so earl v an age that it is due 
to his memory thaI the credit f,.r the services he had the opportunity of rendering his country 
should be accorded to him alone. His monument is with that of Brock at Queenston Heights. 
wh(:re he died. Sir John Robinson is to be found in the -ubs"qllent pages of Canadian History. 



194 
evening with the exception of two 
lUndr
d men,. wh
m he left 
escorting a valuable convoy at some httle dIstance III hIS rear; but 
there can be no doubt the officer commanding will consider himself 
equally bound by the capitulation. 


"The enemy's aggregate force was divided into two troops of 
Cavalry, one Company of Artillery Engineers, the Fourth United 
States Regiment, detachments of the First and Third United States 
Regiments, volunteers, three regiments of the Ohio Militia, one regi- 
ment of the Michigan Territory. 
"Thirty pieces of brass and iron ordnance have already been 
secured. " 


In addition there was handed over four hundred rounds of 
twenty-four-pound shot fixed, one hundred thousand cartridges, forty 
barrels of powder and two thousand five hundred stand of arms. 


The terms of capitulation were as follows :- 
Camp at Detroit, August 16, 1812.-Capitulation for the surrender 
of Fort Detroit entered into between Major-General Brock, com- 
manding His Britannic Majesty's forces on the one part, and 
Brigadier-General Hull, commanding the Northwestern army of 
the United States on the other part :- 
Article I.-Fort" Detroit, with an the troops, regular as wen as 
militia, will be immediately surrendered to the British forces under 
the command of Major-General Brock, and will be considered as 
prisoners of war, with the exception of such of the Militia of Michi- 
gan Territory who have not joined the army. 
Article n.-All public stores, arms and all public documents, 
including everything else of a public nature, will be given up. 


Article IlL-Private persons and property of every description 
will be respected. 
Article IV.-His Excellency Brigadier-General Hull having 
expressed 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 :McArchur, should be included in the capitula- 
tion, 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 will be given up. if belonging to the 
public. 



195 
Article V.- The garrison will march out at the hour of twelve 
this day, and the British will take immediate possession of the fort. 
J. MACDONELL, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Militia, P.A.D.C. 
J. B. GLEGG, 
Major A.D.C. 
JAMES MIETER, 
Lieutenant.Colonel Fifth United States Infantry. 
.. E. BRUSH, 
Colonel commanding First Regiment M Lchigan Militia. 
{ W. HULL, 
Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army. 
Approved. ISAAC BROCK, 
Ma jor.General. 
An article supplementary to the articles of capitulation, con. 
eluded at Detroit, the 16th of August, 1812 :- 
" It is agreed that the officers and soldiers of the Ohio Militia 
and Volunteers shall be permitted to proceed to their respective 
homes, on this condition, that they do not serve during the present 
war, unless they are exchanged. 
"'V. HULL, 
"Brigadier-General Commanding United States Northwestern Army. 
"ISAAC BROCK, 
" Major-General" 
An article in addition to the supplementary article of capitula- 
tion, concluded at Detroit, the 16th of August, 1812:- 
"It is further agreed that the officers and soldiers of the 
Michigan Militia and Volunteers, under the command of Major 
\Vhetherall, shall be placed on the same principles as the Ohio 
Militia and Volunteers are placed by the supplementary article of 
the 16th instant. 
"w. HULL, 
"Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army United States. 
"ISAAC BROCK, 
" Major-General." 
Return of the ordnance taken at the Fort and batteries at Detroit, 
August I 6th, 18 12 :- 
Iron ordnaflce.-Nine twenty-four pounders, eight twelve- 
pounders, five nine-pounders. Brass ordnance-three six-pounders, 
two lour-pounders, one three-pounder, one eight-inch howitzer, one 
three and a third inch ditto. (I) 


(I) After the surrender of the American troops General Brock desired Tecumseth not to 
allow the Indians to ill-treat the prisoners. The great Indian chief rep:ied .. I despise them too 
mnch to meddle with them!" As a proper contrast to this Mr. James cites a battle between the 
Americans, under (;eneral Jackson, and the t'reek Indians in March, 1814, when of about one 
thousand Creeks, emly ten of the men are supposed to have escaped with life: sixteen of the Creeks 
who had hidden being killed the morning after the battle, the American commander saying in his 
despatch he was determined to exterminate the tribe. 



19 6 
The surrender of Detroit electrified all Canadians. It was the 
first enterprise in which the militia had been engaged, and the cour- 
age and success of their volunteers animated and encouraged all. 
No more was there of doubting or wavering; disaffection sunk out of 
sight. Brock became the idol of Upper Canada; and no man ever, 
by his dauntless example, both moral and physical, and by effecting 
much with small means, had more honestly won the homage of the 
people. (T ) 
It was a sad and strange coincidence that on the day of his 
death and that of his chief of staff, Glengarry's representative, at 
Queenston Heights, the guns of the Tower at London proclaimed 
the victory at Detroit ! 
A medal was struck to commemorate the victory, and gold 
medals were awarded to the following :- 
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, killed in action in 1812. 
Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, A.D.C., killed in action 
in 1812. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Latouche Chambers, Forty-First Foot, 
died in 1828. 
Colonel Mathew Charles Dixon, R.E. 
Lieutenant-Colonel l\Iathew Elliot, Canadian Militia. 
Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Glegg, Forty-Ninth Regiment. 
Major Adam Muir, Forty-First Foot. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Nichol, Canadian Mihtia. 
. Major-General Sir P. Bligh St. George, c.B., K.C.H., died 
III 1836, 
Major Joseph Tallon, Forty-First Foot. 
Lieutenant Felix Troughton, R.A., died in 18 1 5. 
The names are taken from the army list of 1852, which gives the 
rank subsequently attained in the army by each officer. 
Colonel Macdonell's was forwarded to his family after his death 
with the following letter to my grandfather from the Duke of York, 
Commander-in-Chief of the Forces :- 
"HORSE GUARDS, May 16, 182Ò. 
" Sir,- The King having been graciously pleased to command 
that the officers present at the capture of Detroit should be permitted 
to bear a medal in commemoration of that victory, I have to transmit 
to you the medal which would have been conferred on the la.te 
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell of the Canadian Militia, and 
w
ich 
is l'
ajesty has been pleased to direct should be deposited 
wIth hIs famIly as a token of respect which His Majesty entertains 
for the memory of that officer. 
" I am, sir, yours, 


" FREDERICK. 
" Commander-in-Chief. 


"Duncan Macdonell, Esq." 
(I) Coffin. p. 49. 



197 
On the other hand, as snon as a cartel was effected, and General 
Hull returned to the United States, he was placed under arrest and 
the Administration exhibited charges for capital offences against him. 
He was eventually tried at Albany, N. Y., by a court-martial, of 
which General Dearborn was President, on January 3, 1814, charges 
of treason, cowardice and neglect of duty being preferred against 
him. He was practically acquitted of the first, but was found guilty 
of the second and third charges, and sentenced to death, but on 
account of his revolutionary services and advanced age (which was 
only fifty-nine years, however, at the time of the surrender), was 
earnestly recommended to the mercy of the President, who approved 
of the sentence of the Court, but remitted the execution of it. 
The feeling in the United States appears to have been varied as 
to his conduct, though on the whole decidedly adverse, as might 
naturally be expected. After the publicatioIlt of his defence, how- 
ever, a public dinner was tendered him in Boston as an evidence of 
the appreciation of its people. That was, and :s, no affair of ours. 
If they were satisfied, the people of Canada had every reason to be. 
The proclamation remains an imperishable monument of his good 
intentions. 
As soon as possible, after concluding the necessary arrangements 
at Detroit, on the 22nd August, General Brock, with such of his men 
as could be spared, left for the Niagara frontier, intending to follow 
up in that direction the advantage gained at Detroit. The vigorous 
measures he proposed. to adopt, however, were not only hampered 
but nullified by the armistice which Sir George Prevost, acting un- 
der orders trom England, and General Dearborn, the American 
commander, had concluded. The British Order-in-Council, which 
the Americans urged as the cause of the war, which had been 
revoked by ord
r of the 23rd June, seven days after the declaration 
of war by the United States, an action on their part the British 
Government concluded would suffice to effect the recall of the 
declaration. In this they were mistaken, and the unfortunate 
armistice afforded the Americans the opportunity they desired of 
strengthening their several positions in the vicinity of Montreal, at 
Niagara, and further west. After it had served their purpose it was 
repudiated by the President. General Brock's correspondence with 
his brother shows the very natural impatience with which he was 
úLliged to remain inactive. On September 18th he states that he 



19 8 
believes he could sweep everything before him from Niagara to 
Buffalo. By the middle of October, however, the Americans had 
assembled on the Niagara frontier an army of six thousand three 
hundred men, of which force three thousand one hundred 
nd 
seventy were at Lewiston, under the command of General Van- 
Ranssalaer. To oppose this force General Brock had part of the 
Forty-First and Forty-Ninth Regiments. a few companies of militia 
and about two hundrèd Indians, in all one thousand five hundred 
men-dispersed, however, at different points between Fort Erie and 
Fort George. 
The Americans decided upon an attack, and before daylight on 
the morning of October 13th, a large division of their army, 
numbering some one thousand four hundred men, under Brigadier- 
General Wadsworth effected a landing at the Village of Queenston, 
immediately oppose Lewiston, not however without strenuous 
opposition frotn such of the British forces as could be collected in 
the vicinity. Some of them were driven back, their boats being 
disabled or sunk, but the greater number succeeded in gaining the 
summit of the mountain, after which no resistence could be offered to 
those crossing from Lewiston. 
A gentleman who will be well remembered by many of the older 
people of Gleagarry, who resided for very many years in Cornwall 
and was Judge of the United Counties, the late Judge Jarvis, was 
not only an eye-witness of, bùt an active particip3.nt, in the events of 
that day. He had been one of those who had attempted to 
prevent the lanJin6' of the A.mericans. His account of what followed 
will be read with interest. It is given in Auchinleck's " History of 
the "Var," page 104 :- 
" On letiring to the north end of the village, on the Niagara 
road, our little band was met by General Brock, attenjed by his 
Aide-de-Camp, Major Glegg and Colonel Macdonell. He was loudly 
cheered as he cried, ' Follow me, boys!' and led us a pretty smart 
trot towards the mountain; checking his horse to a walk, he said, 
'take breath, boys; we shall want it in a few minutes.' Another 
cheer was the re3ponse both from regulars and militia. At that time, 
the top of the mountain and a great portion of its side was thickly 
covered with trees, and was now occupied by American riflemen. 
On arriving at the foot of the mountain, where the road emerges to 
St. David, General Brock dismounted, and, waving his sword, 
climbed over a high stone wall, followed by the troops. Placing 
himself at the head of the light company of the Forty-Ninth, he led 



199 
the way up the mountam at double quick time, in the very teeth of a 
sharp fire from the enemy's riflemen-and, ere long, he was singled 
out by one of them, who, coming forward, took delibrate aim and 
fired. Several of the men noticed the action and fired, but too late, 
and our gallant General fell on his left side, within a few feet of where 
I stood. Running up to him, I required, ' Are you much hurt, sir?' 
He placed his hand on his breast, but made no reply, and slowly 
sunk down. The Forty-Ninth now raised a shout · Revenge the 
General,' and regulars and militia, led by Colonel Macdonell, (I) 
pressed forward, anxious to avenge the fall of their beloved leader, 
and literally drove a superior force up the mountain side, to a 
considerable distance beyond the summit. The flank companies of 
the York militia, under Captains Cameron and Heward and 
Lieutenants Robinscn, McLean and Stanton, besides many others 
whose names I forgot, eminently distinguished themselves on this 
occasion. " 
General Brock's biographer and relative, Mr. F. B. Tupper, 
after describing the fall of the gallant officer, continues :- 
"His Provincial Aide-de-Camp, Colonel Macdonell, of the 
militia, and 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 'Jne bullet 
had passed through his body, and he was wounded in four places, 
yet he surTived twenty hours, and during a period of excruciating 
agony his thoughts and words were constantly occupied with lamen. 
tations for his deceased commander and friend.(2) He fell while 
gallantly charging with the hereditary courage of his race up the 
hill with one hundred and ninety men, chiefly of the York Volun- 
teers, by which charge the enemy was compelled to spike the eight- 
een-pounder in the battery there, and his memory will be cherished 
as long as courage and devotion are reverenced in the Province." 
Had the Americans by this time received reinforcements, the 
{ate of the battle might have been different, but all the authorities, 
Am
rican as well as Canadian, agree that those who still remained 
on the opposite side of the river exhibited the utmost poltrooney. 
General Van Ranssalaer crossed with a view of urging them on, but 
they absolutely refused to cross Reinforcements, however, had 
arrived for the British under General Sheaffe, who, on the death of 
General Brock, assumed command, until the force amounted to be- 
tween 800 and 10:)::> men. The inva.ders were surrounded, and 
although they fought m3st galhntly, th
ir cause was hopeless, and 


(I I Coionel 
Iacdoncll'
 hOl s.: wa.. shot under him at this time-just before he himself fell. 
(2) Captam Duncan CAmeron, of the York Volunteers, and Provincial Secretary in the 
Government, and between whom and Colonel Macdonell thete existed a wann friendship, in his 
attempt to s"\ve Colonel M"cdoneIl, after the latter had fallen, exposed himself to a shower of 
musketry which he most miraculously escaped. He succeeded in bearing his friend off the field. 




oo 
the last rush being made every American Was swept from the hill. 
Van Ranssalaer, finding it impossible to urge a single man to crosS 
the river, sent bJats to enable th05e who had previously crossed to 
retreat to their own side, but a fire being maintained upon the ferry 
from the battery on the bank, at the lower end of Qu
enston, these 
boats were completely dispersed. Brigadier Wadsworth was, there- 
fore, compelled, after a vigorous conflict had been maintained fOf 
some time upon both sides, to surrender himself, with all his surviv- 
ing officers, and nine hundred men, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 
The loss to t:1C British wac; sixteen killed and sixty.nine 
wounded, while that of the American side, in addition to the nine 
hundred made prisoners with one gun and two stand of colours 
taken, was ninety killed and about one hundred wounded. Some of 
the Americans, terrified by the Indians, flung themselves over the 
cliff, endeavoring to cling to the bushes which grew upon them, but 
losing their hold, were dashed on the rockc; beneath, while others 
who reached the river perished in their attempts to swim across it. 
It will scarcely be credited that contemporary American writers 
attempted not only to deny that they were completely routed on this 
occasion, but so far to pervert the truth as to claim it as a victory for 
their arms, one of them, a General \Vilkins, alleging that" under all 
the circilmstances--and on the scale of operations the impartial soldier 
and competent judge will name this brilliant aff.1Ïr the chef d'reuvre 
of the war." \Vell might Mr. Auchinleck suggest that if this was 
con:)ijer
d by them to be the chef d'æuv.e of the \Var, he would like 
to know in what light the capitulation of Detroit is to be regarded. (I) 
Their only advantage was in the death of General Brock, though 
to quote the words of Mr. Symons, Canada" had also to deplore the 
loss of the eminent services and talents of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Macdonell, Provincial Aide A de-C3.mp and Attorney-General of the 
Province, whose gallantry and merit rendered him worthy of his 
chief. " 
On the 16th October, the bodies of Major-General Brock and 
Lieutenant-Colond Macdonell were interred at Fort George. As 
a tribute to the magnanimity of the enemy it is recorded that during 
the funeral procession from Queenston to Fort George, a distance of 
about seven miles, minute guns were fired at every American post on 


(I) I!1 th
 despatch of Major-General Sl?eaffe to !-:ir çeorge Prevost, in alluding- to officers 
whose servIces m the battle aeserved approbation, he mentl"ns: .. I derived much aid trom the 
activity 
nd _ intell

ence of I;ieutenant Kerr, o
 the Glengarry Fencibles, whom I employed in 
commumcaUng wIth the IndIans and other flankmg parties." 



201 
that side of the line, and all appearance of hostilities suspended "as 
a mark of respect due to a brave enemy." The funeral cortege, 
while all ostentatious display was avoided, was necessarily most 
imposing. It was as follows :- 


Fort Major Campbell. 
Sixty men of the Forty
First Regiment, commanded by a subaltern. 
Sixty of the militia, commanded by a captain. 
Two six-pounders, firing minute guns. 
Remaining Corps and detachments of the Garrison, with about two 
hundred Indians in reversed order, forming a street 
through which the procession passed extending 
from the Government House to the 
garnson. 
Band of the Forty-First 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, Ductor Kerr, 
Doctor Moore, Staff-Surgeon Thom, 
Reverend Mr. Addison. 
THE BODY OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MACDONELL, A. D. C., 
with pall-bearers as follows: 
Captain A. Cameron, Lieutenant Jarvis, 
Lieutenant J. R. Robinson, Lieutenant Ridout, 
J. Edwards, Esq., Captain Crooks, 
Supporter, Supporter. 
Mr. Dickson. Captain Cameron, 
Chief Mourner-Mr. Macdonell, 
THE BODY OF MAJOR-GENERAL BROCK. 
Supporter. Supporter. 
Jas. Coffin, Esq., D. A. C. G. Captain Williams, Forty-Ninth. 
Pall-bearers- 
Major Merritt, L. H. L. M. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, L. M. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Butler, 
Colonel Claus. 
Supporter. 
Captain Glegg, A. D. C. 
Chief Mourners- 
Major-General Sheaffe, Lieutenant-Colonel Myers, D.Q.M.G. 
Ensign Coffin, A. D. C., Lieutenant Fowler, A. D. Q. 1\1. G. 
The civil staff. 
Friends of the deceased. 
Inhabitants. 


Captain Vigoreaux, R. E. 
Ca ptain Derenzy , For' y- First, 
Captain Dennis, Forty-Ninth, 
Captain Holcroft, R. A., 
Supporter. 
Brigade Major Evans. 



202 
U I enclose a plan of the procession," wrote Captain Glegg, the 
surviving Aide-De-CampJ "but no pen can describe the real scenes 
of that mournful day. A more solemn and effecting spectacle was 
perhaps never witnessed. As every arrangement connected with that 
affecting ceremony fell to my lot, a second attack being hou rly 
expected, and the minds of all b
ing fully occupied with the duties 
of their respective Sl'ltions, I anxiously endeavoured to perform this 
last tribute of affection in a m:1.l1ner corresponding with the elevated 
vIrtues of my deceased patron. Conceiving that an interment in 
every respect miiitary would be the most appropriate to the char- 
acter of our d
ar friend, I made choice of a cavaliu bastion in Fort 
George, which his aspiring genius had lately sugge::ted, and which 
had just been finished under his daily superintendence." 
On the 13th October, 1824, the remains of General Brock and 
Colonel Macdonell were ;emoved from Fort George and deposited 
i n the resting-place prepared for them in the first monument which 
was erected on Queenslon Htights by the Legislature of Upper 
Canada 
On the 17th October, 1840, that monument was destroyed by 
an American miscreant named Lett. In 1853, the Militiamen and 
the Indian warriors' of the Province, by voluntary subscription, 
raised the lJresent noble structure (which exceeds in height that of 
any other monumental column, ancient or modern, known, with the 
exception ot that designed by Sir Christopher \Vren in Lor.don, to 
commemorate the great fire of 1666, which is twelve feet higher), 
the ceremony of laying the foundation stone and for the third time 
interring the bodies of Brock and Macdonell taking place on the 
13th of October of that year. The Administrator of the Govern 
ment ècing invited to lay the corner-stone, but being unavoidably 
prevented, caused the tollowing General Order to be promulgated :- 


" ADJUTAÌ'ÕT-GENERAL's OFFICE, QUEBEC, 1st October, 1853. 
" MILITIA GENERAL ORDER. 
"The Lieutenant-General, Administrator of the Government, 
b
ing unavoidably lJrevented from attending the ceremony of depos- 
iting the remains of the lamented 
Iajor-General Sir Isaac Brock and 
his Aide-de-Camp, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, and laying the 
corner-stone of the monument about to be raised on Queen ston 
Heights, has been pleased to appoint as his representative on that 
deeply interesting occasion Colonel Donald Macdonell, Deputy Ad- 
jutant General of Militia for Canada \Vest. 



20 3 
H His Excellency has much pleasure in nominating for this 
duty the brother of the gallant officer who fell nobly by the side of 
the Major-General in the performance of his duty as Provincial 
Aide-de-Camp. 
"Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, Deputy Adjutant-General 
Canada East, and Lieutenant
Colonel Irvine, Provincial Aide-de- 
Camp to the Governor-Gelleral, will be pleased to accompany Colonel 
Macdonell on this occasion.'1 
The silver trowel with which the corner-stone was laid on that 
occasion, having on one side the crest and arms of Sir Isaac Brock, 
and on the other those of Colonel Macdonell, with an inscription 
stating the circumstances of the presentation, was presented to 
Colonel Donald Macdonell, and is now in the possession of his 
family. 
Shortly after the Attorney-General's death, the following letter 
was addressed to his father :- · 
"YORK, March 20, 1813. 
" SIR,-I am directed by His Honour the President to transmit 
to you the extract of a letter received by His Excellency Sir George 
Prevost from Earl Bathurst, and written by the command of His 
Royal Highness the Prince Regent, as it will no doubt afford some 
s:ltisfaction to all the members of the family to which the late 
Attorney-G
neral was so great an ornament, to learn that his merit 
has b
en recognized even by the Royal Personage who wields the 
sceptre of the Briti:ih Empire: on which His Honour commands me to 
declare his personal gratification. 
" I have, &c., 
" N ATH. COFFIN, Lieutenant-Colonel, 
" P.A.D.C. 


" Alexander Macdonell, Esq." 
The following was enclosed :- 
Extract of a letter from the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, 
one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to His Excellency 
Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart., dated Downing street, 
8th December, 1812:- 
"His Royal Highness has also been pleased to express his 
regret at the loss which the Province must experience by the death 
the Attorney-General, Mr. Macdonell, whose zealous co-operation 
with Sir Isaac Brock, will reflect lasting honour on his memory." 
Mr. F. B. Tupper states that Colonel Macdonell, at the time of 
hie; death, was 25 years of age. This, however, is a mistake. Family 
recorJs in my possession 
how that he was born at Greenfield, Glen- 



204 
garry, Scotland, on the 19th April, 1785, which would make him a 
little over twenty-seven, and, therefore, a child of seven years of age 
when his family came to Canada in 1792. He was, together with 
his brothers, educated by the late Bishop Strachan at the Cornwall - 
School. He was admitted a student at law on the 6th April, 18 0 3, 
and was called to the Bar of Upper Canada in Easter term 1808. 
He was appointed Attorney-General of Upper Canada on the 28th 
November, 181 I. 
The fonowing is his address to the electors of Glengarry when 
returned for that County shortly before his death. It was dated 
York, March 18, 1812:- 
" To the fr
e and independant electors of the County of Glen- 
garray :- 
" Gentlemen,-As the time is not far distant when you will be 
caned upon to exercise one of the most valuable and sacred privi- 
leges secured to you by our happy Constitution-the choice of a 
person to represent you in the House of Assembly of the Province-- 
I beg to offer myself as a candidate for that truly honourable 
situation. 
"Connected with many of you by the ties of blood, and 
possessing one common interest with you all) I trust that it is unne- 
cessary for me to assure you that in aspiring to so distinguished a 
situation I am not actuated by any personal considerations distinc t 
from your prosperity and that of the Province in general. ' 
" If you should feel yourselves justified in honouring me with 
so flattering a mark of your confidence, it shall be my most anxious 
endeavour by my conduct to convince you that it has not been mis- 
placed, and of the sincerity with which I subscribe myself, 
" Gentlemen, 
" Your Friend and 
II Faithful Servant, 
"JOHN MACDONELL." 


We have seen that he gave the best proof of his sincerity, and 
amply justified the confidence which the people of Glengarry placed 
in him. He was succeeded temporarily in his office of Attorney- 
General by Mr. Robinson (afterwards Chief Justice Sir John Beverley 
Robinson, Bart.), who was a student in his office at the time. He 
died unmarried, but as previously intimated, was shortly to have 
been married to a daughter of Chief-Justice Powell, who survived 
until a quite recent period. A member of that estimable lady's 
family has placed at my disposal the following letter addressed to 



20 5 
her by her brother at the time of Colonel Macdonell's death. I give 

uch portions of it as can properly be made public ;- 
" My DEA
 SISTER,-How sincerely dç> I regret, with all, the loss 
of our young fnend-poor fellow. He was dreadfully wounded and 
said that he suffered great pain. I think he was wounded in three 
different places-in the head, through the body and in one of his 
wrists, besides bemg trampled by his horse. Mr. P. and myself 
wished very much to have seen him while he was living, but were 
told that he was too low to be disturbed. Perhaps we escaped a 
dreadful sight. The discharge of blood from the wound in his body 
was said to have been wonderful. Your brother saw him and said 
that it had gone through two beds to the floor. He kissed your 
brother and gave him hi
 hand and pressed it, but it was very faintly. 
\Vhile your brother was there his uncle, Mr. Macdonelì,was with him, 
which must have been a great comfort to him. Poor l'Ir. M1.cdonell 
seems very much disturbed. He died on Wednesday at twelve 
o'clock, and the moment before he died he desired his servant to lift 
him up. He was perfectly sensible to the last, poor fellow. I wish 
you could all have shared with us the gratification, though a melan- 
choly one, of taking a last look at him. He looked quite natural. 
I cut a curl of his hair, which I shall preserve-poor fellow! I 
sincerely regret him. I always felt a friendship for him, because I 
knew his superior worth. He has left few of his age that possess that 
purity of mind that he did. The General I regret as a good man 
and a loss to his country, but John Macdonell I feel for as one of the 
family. Mrs. P., I suppose, has given you a description of the 
funeral. Poor Captain Clegg was very much overcome. Even 
Derenzy wept. amI I believe there wa" not a man present that did 
not shed a tear. The Yankees themselves, if we may judge by their 
conduct, felt regrets. They fired a salute from the Fort opposite us 
and another at Queenston. General Van Ransselaer sent a message 
to General Sheaffe to say that if it be agreeable he would do it as a 
proof of respect he felt tor so good a man and so excellent all officer 
as General Brock. It was very extraordinary if it was meant well. 
\Ve are in constant fear of another attack from them. They are to 
gi;e three hours' notice, but there is no confidence to be placed in 
their word. [The balance of the letter is of a private nature.] 
" Adieu, my dear sister, and believe me 
,
 Ever yours, 
. " J. POWELL. 


" Miss 1\1:. B. Powell, York." 
Mr. John Beverley Robinson, late Lieutenant-Governor \)f the 
Province, sent me recently the follow:ng verses, written by Arch- 
deacon (afterwards Bishop) Strachan, which he discovered when 
lool...ing through some of the Bishop's papers. They have, I believe, 
never b
fore appeared, and are well worth publishing. 



206 
Verses on lookin cr at the ba..tion of Fort George at Niagara (18J9), 
where Sir Is
ac BïOck and his gallant Aide-de-Camp, Colonel 
MacJonell, were temporarily laid bèfore being removed to the 
mlJnument at Queenston Heights. 
\Vhy calls this bastion forth the patriot's sigh? 
And starts the tear from beauty's swelling eye? 
\Vithin its breach intrepid Brock is laid 
A tomb according with the mighty dead, 
\Vhose soul devoted to its country's cause 
I n deeds of valour sought her j ..1St applause. 
Enrolled with Aberclombie, \Volfe and Moore, 
No lapse of time hi;; merit.. shall obscure. 
Fresh shall they keep in each Canadian heart, 
And all their pure and living fires impart. 
A youthful friend rests by the heroe's siJe, 
Their mntuallove Death sought not to divide. 
The muse tha t gives her Brock to deathless fame 
Shall in the wreath entwine Macdonell's name. 
On plates within the column of the present monument at 
Queel15ton Heights are the following inscriptions: 
In a vault und
rneath are deposited the mortal remains of the 
lamented 
MA]OR-GENER.-\.L SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B., 
\Vho fell in action near these Heights on 13th October, 1812, and 
was entombed on the [6th October at the Bastion of Fort George, 
Niagara; removed from thence aud reinterred under a monument to 
the eastward of this site on the 13th October, 1824, and in con- 
sequence of that monument ha\ing received irreparable injury by a 
l.:l\Vre:5S act Oil the 17 dl of April, I 
_p, it WJ.3 fo.iaJ requisite to take 
down the former structure and erect this monument-the foundation 
stone being laid and the remains again re-interred with due solemnity 
on 13th October, 1853. 
In a vault beneath are deposited the mortal remains of 
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN MACDONELL, P.A.D.C. 
K.B.,Aide-de-Camp to the lamented Major-General Sir Isaac Brock 
and who fell mortally w0undèd in the battle of Queenston, on the, 
13th October. 1812, and died the following day. 
Hi') remains were rem'::)Ved anj re
interred with due solemnity 
on 13th October, 1853. 
There were but few newspapers in Upper Canada in 1812. 
The "York Gazette" of October 17th, 1812, in announcing the victory 
. , 
made mentIOn of the member for Glengarry as follows: "Nor let us 
forget to lament the untimely fate of the young, the affectionate and 
the brave Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who received a mortal 



20 7 
wound about the same time as his beloved General. Attached to 
him from affection, his constant follower in every danger, this amiable 
youth is now buried with him in the same grave." 
In the Toronto" 'Veek" of 23rd October, 1891, a tattered fragment 
is produced, copied from the Niagara" Bee" of October 24th, 1812, 
and demonstrating the difficulty of obtaining local contemporaneous 
accounts of these affairs. It would seem to have given a full de- 
scription of the engagement and of the time and circumstances of 
the death of General Brock and Colonel Macdonell. After describing 
the fight around Vrooman's Battery it states:- 
" It was in the engagement last named that we have to regret 
the loss of Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell. A. D. C. to General 
Brock. He was shot whilst on horseback encouraging the men. 
The Province of Upper Canada, by the death of Colonel McDonell, 
has been deprived of one of its most enterprising young men; the 
discerning eye of the Major-General had singled him out, and was 
forming his mind to have become a prominent figure among us. 
Fortune had already begun to lavish her favours, and her blushing 
honours stood thick upon him; he has appeared and passed away 
from us like a brilliant meteor in the firmament. His remains were 
intered beside his beloved friend and patron, General Brock." 




Q8 


CHAPTER 17. 


FORAYS ALONG THE ST, LAWRENCE.-UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACX ON 
OGDENSBURG.-ST. REGIS SURPRISED.-AMERICANS REPÜLSED 
AT FORT ERIE.-" GENERAL VAN BLADDER" AND HIS PROCLAM. 
ATIONS.-NAVAL ENCOUNTERS.-BATTLE OF STONEY CREEK.- 
THE T AKI
G OF OGDE
SBURG.- Y ORK TAKEN BY THE AMERI- 
CANS, APRIL 27TH, 1813. 


Along the St. Lawrence some attacks were made during the 
autumn on posts on either side. On the 4th October Colonel Leth. 
bridge, who commanded at Fort \Vellington (Prescott) determined 
to assault the American fort at Ogdensburg. He took with him 
eight artillerymen, two companies of the Canadian Fencibles, about 
forty of the Newfoundland regiment under Captain Skinner, and one 
hundred and fifty Glengarry militia, who, after travelling the whole 
night, had just arrived in carts from Cornwall, distant forty-eight 
miles. There were other militia men at the post, but th
 Highland- 
ers, fatigued as they necessarily must have been, were the only ones 
that would consent to accompany the regulars across to the attack. 
Colonel Lethbridge with his few men advanced towards Ogdensburg, 
and Captain Skinner, having his sm3.11 detachment on board two 
gunboats, attacked and silenced the American battery upon the 
point below the town. The small force that had embarked could 
make little or no impression upon so strong a position, the boats 
therefore returned with a trifling loss. It afterwards was ascertained, 
however, that General Brown was preparing to abandon the Fort, 
S(ì that had all the men embarked the enterprise might have been 
brought to a successful conclusion. ( I) The American version of this 
affair is to the effect that [he attacking force numbered over one 
1 housand men. ( 2) 
On the 23 rd of October, the Indian village of St. Regis was 
surprised by a force of four hundred men detailed from Plattsburg. 
h.) Jamea I, p. 1
8. 
(
.) History ofthe War, p. 61. 




09 
The outpost at this point consisted of twenty men and an officer of 
the Canadian Voyageurs, Lieutenant Rototte. Sergeant McGillivray 
and six men Were killed, the remainder taken pri:;oner5. In a cup- 
board of the wigwam of the [ndian interpreter was found a Union 
Jack. This windfall of colours, as stated by Colonel Coffin, was 
grandiloquently announced to the world as " the capture of a stand 
of colours, the first colours taken during the war," whereas dozens of 
them might have been obtained at far less cost in any American 
shipyard. 
This affront was resented forthwith. On the 23rd November, small 
parties of the Forty-Niilth Foot and GI
ng<ury Light Infantry, sup
 
ported by about seventy men of the Cornwall and Glengarry Militia, 
about one hundred and forty in all, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
McMillan, cfO.jsed the St. L1.wrence and pow1ced on the American 
Fort at French l\Iill') on Salmon River, opposite Summerstown-since 
called Fort Covington in honour of the American general of that 
name who wa5 kiHed at the hattle of ChrYt'ler's Farm. The enemy 
look to the block-house, but finding themselves surrounded, 
surrendered prisoners cf war. One captain. two subalterns and forty- 
one men were taken, with four batteaux and fifty-seven stand of arms. 
No "stand of colours" was captured with the Americans; as it is 
not usual to confide standards to the guardianship of detached 
parties of forty or fifty men in any service (Coffin, page 69)' Captain 
Duncan Greenfield Macdonell's company of the First Glengarry 
Regiment was, as I see by papers in my possession, in this engage. 
ment. Colonel Macmillan, who commanded, was married to his 
sister. 
During the autumn, some fighting took place in the vicinity of 
Kingston, on the lake, in which our boats seem to have got somewhat 
the worst of it, though nothing occurred of any importance. The 
tower Canadian frontier was threatened by General Dearborn, who 
had assembled some ten thousand men in the neighbourhood of 
Plattsburg, and an attack was made on a picket at Lacolle by a 
force from Champlain Town on the 20th November. Some frontier 
militia and Indians under Colonel McKay, of the Northwest Com- 
pany, drove them back with some loss to the Americans. Dearborn 
then went into winter quarters. 
In the \Vest, between Fort Erie and Chippewa, General 
Smythe detached some 2500 men" to take Canada," without any 



210 
success. Colonel Bisshopp, a gallant officer who was killed in toe 
following summer, with some six hundred regulars and militia, beat 
them off with considerable loss to the Americans in killed and 
wounded, while an aide-de-camp to the American General, some 
other officers and forty men were taken prisoners. General Smythe 
then despatched a flag of truce to Fort Erie, politely requesting a 
surrender, stating that it was de3irable to "prevent the unnecessary 
effusion of blood by a surrender of Fort Erie to a force so superior 
as to render resistance hopeless," a suggestion which Colonel Bis- 
shopp, with scar
ely equal politeness, declined, sending Captain 
Fitzgerald wi
h his answer: "Come and take it !" Two other feints 
were made, after whicp General Smythe, having abandoned his 
intention of taking Canada for the present, went into winter quarters. 
The Americans, however, made it hot for this gallant soldier, whose 
inflated proclamations to "the men of New York" must have made 
poor Hull green with envy, when he declared that" the present is 
the hour of renown. You desire your share of fame; then seize the 
present moment. Adv<mce to our aid. I win wait for you for a few 
days. I cannut give you the hour of my departure to plant the. 
American standard in Canada. But come on. Come in companies, 
half companies, pairs or sir.gle." The peroration of his manifesto 
to the soldiers of the Army of the Centre was positively immense. 
" Soldiers of every corps! It is your power to retrieve the honour 
of your country and to cover yourselves with glory. Every man 
who perfonns a gallant action shall have his name made known to 
the nation. .Rewards and honours await the brave. Infamy and 
contempt are reserved for cowards. Companions in arms! You 
came to vanquish a valiant foe; I know the choice you will make. 
Come on, my heroes! And when you attack the enemies' batteries 
let your rallying word be, ' the cannon lost at Detroit or death '." 
The Americans of those days liked a little highfaluting (let me 
dare the odious word), but the contrast between this and the result 
was a little too strongly marked. Military conventions were held, 
resolutions very disparaging to this Boanerges were passed, sugges. 
t ions of a nice, close-fitting coat of tar-and-feathers were made, to 
escape which he went South, was surr:marily dismissed from t!jC 
service without trial, and eventually found his pro]Jer sphere in the 
American Congress. though the appropriate soubriquet of " General 
Van Bladder" conferred upon him by his grateful and admiring 
countrymen followed him to his grave! 



211 
During the first year of the war, therefore, Britain and British 
Canadians had decidedly the best of it on land in all except procla- 
mations, In that field Generals Hull and Smythe positively annihi- 
lated the poor" Britishers." 
At sea, however, it had been different. The admiralty could 
not or would not understand that the Americans were building 
vessels superior in all respects to those which constituted the fleet 
on the North American station, and the first engagement in which 
the British 0' Belvidere," in charge of a convoy bound for the \Vest 
Indies, beat off Commodore Rogers with a squadron of three frigates 
and two sloops, rescued the merchantmen and saved herse1f
 was 
calculated to impress them ,,,iththe fact that it was impossible for 
Britain to be otherwise than supreme upon the sea. Moreover, the 
nominal strength in equipage and tonnage of the American vessels 
was not-a fair criterion when compared with the nominal strength 
of the British. Their vessels were new, while the British were for 
the most part old; they had but one war on hand, while Britain 
had ships fighting on every sea; their crews ,,,ere picked crews, 
while the British vessels were manned-in most cases under-manned 
at that-with motley crews, pressed into the service from every 
available quarter and largely undi<;ciplined. 
The British" Guerriere," after an unequal contest, was obliged 
to strike her flag to the American vessel "Constitution," and in 
October the" Frolic" succumbed to the American ship" \Vasp," 
the latter, however, being taken and the" Frolic" rescued the same 
day by" Poictiers." A few days later the" United Sta,tes " beat the 
" Macedonian," and about the same time the British ship I: Peacock " 
was, after a desperate encounter, sunk by the American" Hornet," 
four of the American sailors nobly losing their lives in an effort to 
sa ve the" Peacock's" crew. The British at last achieved a brilliant 
victory, however, in the celebrated battle between the "Shannon," 
Captain Broke commanding, and the" Chesapeake." It was pro- 
bably one of the shortest and most spirited actions ever fought at 
sea, lasting only fifteen minutes. Eleven minutes from the firing of 
the first shot, Captain Broke boarded the "Chesapeake," and in 
four minutes more her flag was hauled down. Captain Lawrence 
was mortally wounded, and died almost immediately after, with 
forty-seven of his officers and men killed and ninety-nine wounded, 
fourteen mortally. Captain Broke was severely wounded, his first 



212 
lieutenant and twenty-three others killed and fifty-eight wounded.( J) 
The campaign of 1813 opened on the extreme western frontier, 
where, owing to the climate being less rigourous thal1 in the east, they 
were naturally able to go to work earlier. Colonel Proctor had been 
left in command at Detroit by General Brock, when in the prececding 
August the latter had gone to the Niagara frontier. 
On the 19th January, he receIved infor:nüion that a division of 
the American army under General \Vinchester was encamped at 
Frenchtown, some twenty-six miles from Detroit He promptly 
determined to attack them before they could be reinforced by Gen- 
eral Harrison, who was then three or four days' march in the rear. 
His disposable force was assembl
d at Brownstown on the 2 
 st, 
consisting of five hundred regulars and militia, (md six hundred 
Indians. The next morning he advanced some twelve miles to 
Stoney Creek, and made, at day-break, a resolute attack on the 
enemy's camp. General \Vinchester himself, soon after the com- 
mencement of the action, fell into the hands of the \Vyandot Chief 
Roundhead, who surrendered him to Colonel Proctor. His forces 
retreated to the houses and enclosures, from which they made a 
vigourous resistance, but soon surrendered. Their loss in killed and 
wounded was between three hUl1dred and four hundred men, while 
over five hundred men, with one Brigadier-General, three field 
officers, nine captains, twenty subalterns, surrendered prisoners of 
war. The British loss was twenty-four killed and one hundred and 
eighty-five wounded. The House of Assembly of Lower Canada, 
then in session, passed a vote of thanks to Colonel Proctor and to 
the officers and men of his force. Colonel Proctor was immediately 
promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General by the commander of the 
forces, which was approved of and confirmed by the Prince Regent. (2) 
The next engagement of moment, the assault and capture of 
Ogdensburg, was one in which the Glengarry Light Infantry and the 
Glengarry Militia played so important a part that I may be permitted 
to narrate it at greater length, as it must of necessity be of interest to 
the descendants cj those who principally earned the credit of it- 
nor is the credit denied them by any of those who have written on 
the subject of the war, all bearing testimony to the daring of the man 


(I) It is worthy of note that the offil'er who succeeded to the command of the "Shannon." 
Captain Broke being desperately wounded and the first lieutenant killed, and who took her out 
of action was a Canadi:m and is still alive, the Senior Admiral of the fleet, Sir Prm"ost Wallis, 
G.c. B., who was born at Halifax on the 12th AprIl, 1791, and is now over one hundred years 01 
age, and ao; the London Time.. in an account of his career observed, may well be termed the 
Father ofthe Royal Navy. 
(2) Christie, vol. 2, p. 6g. 



21 3 
who devised it, and who, acting on his own discretion, and without 
orders to do what he so gallantly accomplished, would probably have 
been broken had he failed. 
Sir George Prevost, the Governor-General and Commander-in- 
Chief, having closed the Session of the Legislature, left Quebec on 
the 17th February on a journey to Upper Canada. On his arrival 
at Prescott Lieutenant-Colonel George Macdonell, second in com- 
mand there, proposed to him, as he passed through, an attack on 
Ogdensburg in retaliation for an excursion by the enemy from thence 
upon Brock-ville some days previously, where a sentry had been 
wounded, some cattle pens sacked, some private houses and the gaol 
burned and fifty-two of the inhabitants taken into captivity, amongst 
them two majors, two captains and two lieutenants, elderly gentlemen 
who, as a c.9mpliment, retained their commissions in the militia. ( I) 
Mr. James states that Colonel Macdonell had been sent across 
the river hy Colonel Pearson, h is senior officer, to remonstrate with 
the American commander at Ogdensburg against the commission of 
such depredations. Forsyth was exceedingly insolent to him and 
expressed a wish to meet Pearson and his men upon the ice, declar- 
ing in his own vernacular that he could "whip" him with the 
gr
atcst ease, to which :\L1.cJJnell replied that the command at Fort 
\Vellington would in a fe\v d_1Ys d
volve Up,)l1 him and that he would 
have no objection to indulge Colonel Forsyth in the manner indicated 
by him. 
Ogdensburg was then a fortified military post, garrisoned and 
armed, but still more effectually protected by the breadth of the St. 
Lawrence, at this point a mile and a quarter wide. One rash 
attempt upon it had, as we have seen, already failed. The Gover- 
nor did not deem it expedient to order an attack, but as two men 
had deserted on the evening of his arrival, and had gone over to the 
enemy, who might, on ascertaining of the arrival of the Governor, 
waylay him on his route, it was determined that Lieutenant-Colonel 
Macdonell should make a demonstration on the ice in fron t of Og- 
densburg, as well with a view of engaging the attention of the enemy 
as by drawing out their forces to ascertain th
 strength of the 
garrison. 
But such a thing as an attack was expressly forbidden, Sir 
George Prevost repeating more than once his prohibition in unequi- 


(I) Coffin, p. 88. 



21 4 
vocal terms. He particularly objected to the hazard of doing anything 
that might tend to interrupt the transport of stores then going on by 
land, and he would give no credit to the rumour then current and 
communicated to him by Colonel Macdonell, that the enemy were 
about to concentrate a large force at Ogdensburg for that very pur- 
pose. He strictly enjoined on Colonel Macdonell the necessity of 
great prud
nce on his part" to justity the strong step he had taken 
in placing him (
Iacdollell) above all the majors in his army, a 
measure, he staled, that had already excited great murmurs among 
that class of officers." The only admission of the possibility of an 
attack that His Excellency would make, wa
 that on the expected 
arrival at Prescott of Major Cotton and three hundred men of the 
King's Regim'
nt, then some days' march distant, Colonel Macdonell 
might write to l\laj0r-General de Rottenburg, commanding at 

1:ontreal, and act ai that officer might be pleased to direct. 
Colonel Coffin, in his account of the affair, states that Lieutenant- 
Colonel Macdonell at this time commanded the Glengarry Light 
Infantry. ThIs, however, is a mistake. It is true that on the 
occasion of the attack he conrnanded such of them as were present, 
as he did the other force.., but it was for the very reason that he did not 
receive (he com:nand of the regiment which he raised and completed 
10 the additional establishment, that the local rank of Lieutenant- 
Colonel and the command of the St. Lawrence frontier was conferred 
upon him The facts are stated in Colburn's Military Gazette of 
1848, and as they are of interest and some importance, I quote them 
at length before giving an account of the engagement: 
" It happeI;ed that in the end of January, 1813, the Glengarry 
Highland 
lilitia Regiment, being much. harassed by severe duties 
arising out of predatory excursions by the enemy's strong garrison at 
Ogdensburg, sent in a petition to the Governor-General that their per- 
sonal acquaintance and clansman
 Major Macdonell of the Glengarry 
Light Infantry, should (since deprived of that corps) be appointed to 
command them, and the highly vulnerable frontier they had charge 
of, extending about one hundred miles, and more than half of it at 
that moment a bridge of ice, passable for artillery. This petition 
was of course undeniable: first. because. without disparagement to 
the brave and loyal English and Anglo-Dutch settlers, these High- 
landers were, from their numbers an i peculiar locality, indisputably 
the sheet .mchor of the E 19:ish tenure of CanaJ.l, and secondly for 
the tollowing rca30n :-The Govanor-General had, most unfor- 
tunately on the eve of hostilities, by a very inconsiderate breach of 



215 
public faith, (mOle, it is believed, the act of an interested offiCIal 
than himself) unjustly deprived Major Macdonell ct the expre..sly 
stipulated command of the Glengarry Light Infantry, which he had 
raised and which, but for his local infiuence. nL ver coukl have been 
attempted, and had placed in command. fwm vrivate favour, an Irish 
officer, undoubtedly brave. but éin utter stranger to the Highlanders 
in the Glengarry District. The immediate conseqt.:cnce of this unjust 
and dangerous act, was mutiny in the corps itself, and something 
not unlike an insurrectIOn among their fathers and brotht'TS in the 
settlement, a circumstance which can excite liltle surprise in anyone 
who has read Colonel DaviJ. Stewart's " History of the Highland 
Regiments." True, the extreme forhea:ancc of the Catholic Pri< st in 
Glengarry (the ChalJlain of the l{cgim(,J
t) and the temperate firm- 
ness of Major Macdonell. had aiJayed the effel vescence, but deep 
resentment stilI lurked in the breast of those sturdy Highlanders, 
many of whom could not speak one word ()f English, at the thought 
of their relative and clansman having been betrayed, as they alleged, 
by the Government, and placed unler an Irish Protestant, an alien 
to them and their peculiar feelings, and as they not unnaturally but 
erroneously thought, a bitter enemy to their religion. The Governor- 
General appreciated the necessity of putting these brave and loyal 
men into good humour with him and the Government, and this he 
accomplished by placing Colonel Macdonell at their head and giving 
him the command in their own- District." 


On the morning of the 23rd February, Lieutenant-Colonell\Iac- 
donel1 commènced his march on the ice with about two hundred and 
thirty militia and two hundred and fifty regulars, two thirds of the 
little force being Glengarry Highlanders. The distance across the 
river, in the direction of the point of attack, was about a mile and a 
half. Owing to the caution requisite in marching Qver ice with four 
hundred and eighty men, at a place which had never been crossed 
in the same manner, the troops and militia were divided into two 
columns and formed in extended order. 
Obeying for some time the command of Prevost, Colonel 
Macdonel1 played with the enemy, but, as Mr. Rattray observes, 
"the season for action had come. They needed no m1.Ttial address 
or inflated proclamation. The Highland blood was up." "The:;e 
men did not plead qualms of conscience or constitutional scruples 
for not daring the ice which undulated and cracked and gaped 
beneath their feet." (I) The American Commandant Forsyth was at 
his breakfast, and affected to ridicule the demonstration. Macdonell 


(I) Coffin. 




 


:216 
divided his force 
nto two columns, having, as stated, advanced 
rapidly to the attack-speed and resolution alone could save him. 
The Americans, more wary than their chief, sprang to their guns; 
musketry and cannon opened on the advancing columns. The left, 
under Macdonell himself, rushed rapidly on, under a heavy fire, and 
through the deep snow ascended the river bank and swept from the 
left into the village of Ogdensburg, overwhelming all opposition. 
Here, from the eastern bank of the Oswegatchie, he commanded to 
a great extent the flank and rear of the old French Fort Presentation 
and the batteries which raked the river; but his own guns were 
behind hand, they had stuck in the deep snowbank and rough ice, 
broken and piled, at the river ban
. By furious efforts they were forced 
to the front, and not a moment too soon. \Vhile this was doing 
Captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry Fencibles, who commanded the 
right wing, a gallant 
 ew Brunswicker, was making a most desperate 
effort to carry out the part assigned to him. Seven pieces of artillery, 
backed by two hundred good troops, smashed the head of his 
advance; gallantly he rallied his broken column; not a living man 
shrank; springing forward \vith a cheer, his left arm was shattered 
by a shot; nothing daunted, forward and still cheering on, his up- 
I ight right arm was disabled by a case shot; still disregarding aU 
personal consideration, he nobly ran on, cheering his men, to the 
a<;sault, tm, exhausted by pain and loss of blood he became unable to 
move, his company gallantly continuing the charge under 
Lieutenant Macaulay. Tne Glengarries, with broken formation, 
through the deep snow, in front of the deadly battery, were re- 
forming for a charge with the bayonet, when, fortunately, Macdonell's 
guns on the left got within range. Captain Eustace, with the men 
of the King's Regiment, crossed the Oswegatchie and captured the 
eastern battery, and, together, both attacks swarmed into the body 
of the place, to find it vacated, except by dead and dying-the 
tnemy having withdrawn t') the woods in their west rear, where 
there was no means of intercepting their retreat." (I) 
" The gallant little banù--worthy sons of the Gaelic clans-had 
no.bly vindicated their claim to ancestral valour. Ogdensburg was 
theirs and an end was put to frontier raids from the other side." (2) 


(I) Coffin, page 93- 
(2) Rattray. 




 


21 1 
Eleven pieces of cannon and all the ordnance, marine, commissariat 
and quartermaster-general's stores, four officers, seventy men were 
taken, and two armed schooners, two large gunboats and Loth the 
barracks burnt, twenty of the enemy killed and a large number 
wounded. Of the British seven were killed and seven officers (in- 
cluding Lieutenant-Colonell\1acdonell) and forty-one men wounded. 
Colonel Coffin suggests that on crossing the river 3 little of the old 
raiding temper had revived among the H ighlandmen, and the word 
" spulzie" had passed and many fact s glistened with glee at the 
hopeful prospect. This is the only case in which I find myoid 
friend drawing upon his imagination for hi:-. facts 1 
On the day following this action Sir George Prevost was at 
dinner with the officers of his staff at Kingston when his Colonial 
Aide-de-Camp, Captain Pel cival, who had remained behind for a day 
at Montreal when Sir George lett there, walked in, holding in his 
hand Colonell\Iacdonell's despatch announcing his success at Ogdens- 
burg, and apologizing to the Governor-General for having dared to 
take it. His Excellency filled a bumper to the captor and that night 
wrote him as follows ;- 


" KINGSTON, 24th February, 1813. 
"My DEAR SIR,-Although you have rather exceeded my orders, 
I am well pleased with what you have done, and so I have just told 
you in a general order, which is to announce to the troops in British 
America your achievement. 
" I am, yours faithfu]]y, 
" (Signed), GEORGE PREVOST. 


" Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonel1." 


The general order stated that * * * "His Excellency feels 
much pleasure in publicly expressing his entire approbation of the 
gallantry and judgment with which the taking of Ogdensburg appears 
to have been conducted. A salute to be fired immediately." 
On the 8th March, 1813, the House of Assembly of Upper 
Canada passed a vote of thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell 
and his force for what the Speaker, in his letter transmitting it styled, 
" the splendid victory at Ogdensburg." Sir Roger Sheaffe, Lieuten- 
ant-Governor and Major-General commanding in Upper Canada, al- 
though a personal stranger to Colonel Macdonell, wrote to the latter 
from York a letter of cOllgratulation on his" recent success in the bril- 
liant affair of OgdensLerg." The Governor-Ceneral recommended to 
the Horse Guards that Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who had been 



2:;:8 
severely wounded in the action, should receive by brevet a confirm- 
ation of the local rank in which he performed the service, and in 
consideration of the political importance even then visible, but not 
fully appreciated until afterwards, proposed to the Government that 
the capture of Ogdensburg be made a medal day. Indeed, even His 
Royal Highness the Duke of York himself, at a later period, also 
recommended that it should be made a medal day, but Lord Bathurst 
replied that the list had been closed and could not be re-opened. 
It seems sC3.rcely fair that it should have been left to a civilian sllch 
as Lord Bathurst to pronounce upon and determine a matter purely 
military. A medal was given for the taking of Detroit, where not a 
life was lost on either sid
. A motion was made, some time after 
the vote of thanks was passed in the House of Assembly, that a 
sword of the value of one hundred guineas should be presented to 
Colonel Macdonell. It seems scarcely credible, acd certainly is far 
from creditable, that religious differences should have determined a 
matter such as this, but I fear it was so. The writer in the Military 
Gazette does not hesitate to state that it was because Colonel Mac- 
donell was" a Papist" that the motion was allowed to drop, and 
declared that the then Speaker of the House boasted afterwards that 
he had quashed it by using the " argument" that on account of his 
religion Colonel Macdonell ought not to receive from a Protestant 
House any recognition of his bravery and services. The name of 
his authority is given, Mr. John Cumming, of Kingston, then or 
afterward member for that town. 
Sir George Prevost, in his proclamation to the inhabitants of 
His Majesty's Pnwinces in North America, of 12th January, 1814, in 
contrasting the conduct of the troops under his command with that 
of the American forces, refers to the conduct of the British on this 
occasion as follows: * * * "In the winter of the following 
year, when the success which attended the gallant enterprise against 
Ogdensburg had placed that populous and flourishing village in our 
possession, the generosity of the British character was again 
cons
icuous in scrupulous preservation of every article which could 
be considered as private property, such {Ju!lEc b:Ji1dings only being 
destroyed as were used for the a( commodation of troops and for 
public stores. The destruction of the defences of Ogdcnsburg and 
the dispersion of the enemy's force ill that neig'1bourhood laid op
n 
the whole of the frontier on the St. Lawrence to the incursion of his 



21 9 
His Majesty's troops, and Hamilton, as well as the other numerous 
iettlements on the banks of the river might, at any hour, had such 
been the disposition of His Majesty's Government, or of those acting 
under it, b
en plundered and laid waste." 
A correspondent in the United Service Magazine, 1848, part I, 
p
ge 452, does not hesitate to affirm that this important part was 
taken on that morning contrary to the most positive orders, verbal 
and written, of the Governor-General in pcrson and on the spot only 
one-half hour previous to the attempt, and that when Lieutenant- 
Colonel Macdonell hazarded the attack he was acting under some- 
thing like a certainty of being cashiered by a court-martial, if not 
indeed sentenced to be shot, for disobedience of orders in the event 
of failure. Nothing but success could justify the attempt-it was a 
case of do or die-and yet, when it was done, the despatch an- 
nouncing it to the Home authorities and published in the London 
" Gazette" was altered, and Colonel Macdonell was made to say, over 
his own signature, that he had taken Ogdensburg "by the command 
of His Excellency." (I) 
Being constantly employed in remote parts of the upper country, 
Colonel Macdonell did not discover this misrepresentation of fact 
until November, 1816, and when he called the attention of the Col- 
onial l\lilitary Secretary to it, the only reply he received was that 
such alterations were customary in the servic,
. The matter was 
subsequently brought before the Duke of York, but the time had 
gone by and Colonel Macdonell was left without satisfaction. He 
was a rash young officer and did more than his duty, for which men 
are seldom thanked. 
The statement has frequently been made that, having acted in 
disobedience of orders, he was obliged to leave the service. This, 
of course, is untrue. Though he never received for this and other 
important services rendered by him, any reward commensurate with 
his merits, he continued on in the service, received one of the two gold 
medals given for Chateauguay, and in 1817 was made a Commander 
of the Bath. He afterwards commanded the 79 th Highlanders.. 
\Vhen General Pike arrived at Ogdensburg in the week following 
with five thousand regular American troops, he found the garrison 
had fled to Sackett's Harbour, the barracks all burned down, the 


(I) James I, 393. 



220 
fort dismantled and all the artillery, stores and provisions transferred 
to our side of the river, and, having no food or cover for his men, 
and seeing his grand plan of taking Prescott, and with it hampering 
all Upper Canada, anticipated and counteracted, he thought it pru- 
dent to abandon all idea of conquest and to hurry on to Lake Ontario. 
Thus the taking of Ogdensburg completely frustrated all the enemy's 
schemes; it forced him to remove the seat of, war for six months 
thereafter three hundred miles further from Montreal, and so compel 
him to waste his time and strength in that, for him, remote and 
useless locality, and this too when time was everything for Britain, 
as it gave time for the arrival of troops. 
The return of killed and wounded shows :-Royal Artillery, two 
rank and file killed; Eighth or King's Regiment, one sergeant killed, 
one subaltern, twelve rank and file wounded; Glengarry Light In- 
fantry, two rank and file killed, one captain, one subaltern, three 
sergeant
, nine rank and file wounded; Militia, nineteen wounded. 
The officers wounded were :-King's Regiment, Ensign Powell; 
Glengarry Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, Captain J en- 
kins and Ensign McKay; Militia, Captain Macdonell and Lieutenants 
Impey, McLean and Macdonell. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, in his despatch to Sir George 
Prevost, among other officers mentioned for their gallant conduct, 
Lieutenant Macaulay, and Ensigns Macdonell and Kerr, of the 
Glengarry Regiment, and Ensign Kerr, of the Militia, the two latter 
of whom had each charge of a field piece. Needless to say, the 
gallantry and devotion of Captain Jenkins was first recorded. 
The following men of the Glengarry Militia Regiments, who 
were wounded at the taking of Ogdensburg, received a pension of 
twenty pounds each : 
First Regiment Glengarry Militia :-D. McDermid, Farquhar 
McBean, Donald Macdonell, John Macdonell, Thomas Ross. 
Charles Mackinnon and Finlay Munro were wounded near 
Cornwall on the loth November. 1812, and also received a pension 
of twenty pounds. (J) 
To Glengarry and Glengarry men, I think I have shown, must 
that important achievement, one OJ the most daring of the war, be 
credited in greater part. 


(I) Upper Canada Gazette, 1St J.tnuary, 1818. 



221 
I have obtained, from the official records, a list of the officers 
and men of the flank companies of the Glengarry Militia Rcgiments 
who were present both at the taking of Ogdensburg and the capture 
of Fort Covington, in the same year, all of whom received grants of 
two hundred acres of land from the Crown for their services on the 
conclusion of the war, but I regret that want of space will not permit 
me to insert it. 
\Vhen the Legislature of Upper Canada assembled at York on 
25th February, Ib13, General Sir Robert Sheaffe, commanding the 
forces in Upper Canada, and who had succeeded Sir Isaac Brock 
as President of the Province, in his address to the House stated, 
" It affords me satisfaction that the first time I am called upon to 
address you in this place, I ha.ve. to offer you my cordial congratula
 
tions on t}1e uniform success which has crowned His Majesty's arms 
in this Province. The enemy has been foiled in repeated attempts 
to invade it. Three of his armies have been surrendered or com- 
pletely defeated, and two impor .ant posts wrested from him. In 
this glorious campaign, 
he valour and discipline of His Majesty's 
regular troops have been nobly supported by the zeal a
d bravery of 
our loyal militia." 
The Am
ricans' plan of c:l'npaig
1 for this season included attacks 
on Kingston, Fort George, Niagara and York. Their superiority on 
the lake rendered the situation of these places very critical-that of 
York, which was entirely unprotected, extremely much so. It was 
then, as now, the capital of the Province, though in 18 T 2
 instead of 
a population of two hundred and sixteen thousand, it contained one 
thousan':! souls. The Legislative Buildings and Government Offices 
were there, and all official people were obliged to live in" Muddy little 
York," as people of other places then and for many years after 
called it. The British force stationed there consisted of but six 
hundred men under General Sheaffe. 
In April, 1813, Commodore Chauncey, with a squadron of six- 
teen sail, and having on board of the various vessels General Dear- 
born and some two thousand five hundred American soldiers, left 
Sackett:s Harbour, and on the 26th of that month arrived at York, 
which fell an easy prey on the following day. It was as well defended 
as could be expected, by the regular force, consisting of a company 
of the Glengarries, a company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment 
(w!1Ïch served in this Province throughout the wh,ole \Var) and two 



222 
CQffipanÌes of the Eighth Regim
nt (which happened to be at York en 
route from Kingston to Niagara), and the local militia; but success- 
ful resist
.nce was out of the question. The enemy had virtually 
captured the place when an explasion occurred at the powder mag- 
azin e, where some two hundred and fifty of the Americans were 
killed or woundçd, including General Pike, their commander 
(General Dearborn appearing to have remained on board), as well 
as a few of the British. The American papers endeavoured, with 
their usual untruthfulness, to show that this was done- intentionally, 
tbOllgh the evidence was all to the contrary, and even it it had been 
it was perfect ly consistent with the rules of warfare. 
General Sheaffe retired with the regular forces to Kingston, and 
the militia, to the number of two hundred and ninety-three, with a 
few officers and men of the Royal Navy, surrendered p:isoners of 
w.u. The Americans burned tile public buildings with the libraries 
and all the records and papers of Parliamen t, and gained possession 
of a great qUJ.ntity of naval and other stores. The British loss Was 
sixty-tw\) killeù a:1ù seventy.two wounded. Of the Glengarry Regi- 
ment. two rank and file were killed, Ensign Robins and three rank 
and file wounded, and three rank and file missing. The militia rolls 
fell into the hands of the enemy, who claimed many as prisoners 
who never surrendered into their hands. York had a fictitious 
importance, owing to its being the capital of the Province, and we 
can easily unJerstand, as the fact was, that the Americans made the 
most of its capture. Commodore Chauncey forwarded to the 
Secretary of the Navy the British standard which was taken, accom- 
panied by the mace, and what he claimed was a human scalp which 
hung over it. Colonel Coffin says it was a peruke such as was commonly 
worn in those days, and very likely belonged to the Speaker, while Mr. 
Auchinleck suggests it \Vas the scalp of an unfortunate Indian who 
was shot in a tree by the Americans, and was taken by Commodore 
Chauncey himself. 
They held possession of York about a week, eV3cuating it on 
the 2nd May, when they proceeded to the Niagara frontier. The 
regular force in that district at the time consisted of the Forty-Ninth 
Regiment, and of detachments of the Eighth, Forty-First, Glengarry 
Light Infantry, and Roya! ;'Ilewf>L1n ll:ln:l corps, with so_ne artillery, 
the whol'
 co:n:nand
d hy H:ig.tLl1er-General Vincent. At Fort 
George were ahout a thollsanJ of these, with three hundred militia 



223 
and about fifty Indians, but unfortunately there was so great a 
scarcity of powder that they were able to m.].
e belt little use of the 
guns. 


After being driven back in t..ree separate efforts to land, the 
Americans on the 27th May ohtainf'rl nossession of the fort, which 
General Vincent abandoned, having lo
t three officers, one non- 
commissioned. officer and forty-eight rank 1nd file killed, eleven 
officers, four sergeants and twenty-nine men woundeù and one 
officer, thirteen sergeants and two hundred and fony lank and file 
wounded and missing; and the Americans thirty-nine killed and one 
hundred and eleven wounded. The Eighth Regiment, Glengarry 
Light Infantry anj Royal Newfoundland detachments lost about 
half their united force. The Glengarry Regiment had one captain, 
one ensign, one sergeant, twenty-four rank and file killed; one 
eaptain, one lieutenant, one ensign, three sergeants, twenty rank and 
file wounded; one lieutenant, two sergeants, twenty-three rank and 
file wounded and missing, The officer:; of the Glengarry Regiment 
killed were Captain Liddell and Ensign McLean; those wounded 
Captain Rúxburgh, Lieutenant Kerr and Ensign Kerr. General 
Vincent fell back to the head of the lake, the enemy not attempting 
to follow, and eventually encamped at Burlington Heights, when his 
supply of ammunition was reduced to ninety rounds per man. On the 
5th June the enemy \vere encamped at Stoney Creek. Mr. 
Auchinleck shows conclusively that their force was not less than 
from two thousand two hundred to two thousand five hundred 
men, while G
neral Vincent states it to have been three thousand 
five hundred, with two hundred and fifty cavalry. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Harvey (afterwards Sir John Harvey, LIeutenant-Governor 
of New Brunswick), who had been sent by General Vincent to 
reconnoitre, recommended a night attack, which General Vincell t 
determined on and advanced with a force of seven hundred and f,)ur 
men. Colonel Harvey led the attack; the enemy was completely 
surprised. He was charged again and again, and before daybreak 
the battle was over; the first and second officers in command, 
Brigadier-Generals Chandler and Winters, and upwards of one 
hundred officers, non-commissioned officers and men made prisoners 
anå the remainder of the survivors in full retreat to Forty-Mile Creek, 
where a junction was effected with two thousand men who we-re on 


..,. 



224 
their ma.rch to reinforce him. The British loss was twenty-three 
killed, including one lieutenant, twelve officers, nine sergeants and 
one hundred and fifteen men wounded and fifty-five missing. On 
the 24 June Colonel Boerstler, of the United States Army, with a 
force of five hundred and forty-one men, having been sent to 
surprise an outpost m the vicinity, and having been rather severely 
handled on the way by Colonel Bisshopp, Colonel Clark of the 
Lincoln Militia and a few Indians, was summoned to surrender 
by Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Fitzgibbon, who was at the head 
'of some thirty men and two hundred Indians, which with praise- 
worthy exaggeration he represented to be many times their number and 
the vanguard of a large army in the immediate vicinity. Colonel 
Boerstler threw up the sponge and surrendered to this imposing 
force. Just as the enemy were being drawn up, Major De Haren, 
of the Canadian Fencibles, arrived with two hundred and twenty- 
nine men, and articles of capitulation were agreed upon. Very 
naturally, there was a row in Congress over this succession of 
mortifying defeats. It culminated in the recall of General Dearborn, 
who had been scarcely been more fortunate than Generals Hull and 
Smythe, and the taking of York and Fort George were amply avenged. 



225 


CHAPTER 18. 


GENERAL DEARBORN IN TUR.N .SUPERSEDED.-SUCCFSSf'VL AT- 
TACKS ON FORT SCHWSS-ER AND BLACK ROCK.-DEATH OF 
COLONEL BISSHOI'P.-ATTACK ON S_\.':KE'IT'S HARBOUR.- 
PREVOST'S DEMONSTRATION ON FORT (
EORGE. - THE 
GLENGARRY REGIMENT'S TIMELY OCCUPATION OF BURLINGTON 
HEIGHTS. - YORK AGAIN TAKEN. - CANADA MENACED IN 
THREE DIRECTIONS IN THE AUTUMN OF 1813. - DISASTERS 
ON LAKE ERIE.-Ev ACUATION OF DETROIT.-GENERAL PROC- 
TOR DEFEATED AT MORAVIANTOWN.-DEATH OF TECUMSETH. 
-COURT-MARTIAL ON PROCTOR. 


General Dearborn was succeeded by Generals Boyd and Lewis. 
The enemy, by these successes of the British, was compelled to 
confine himself to Fort George and its environs, where sickness 
broke out and his troops suffered considerably. Though General 
Vincent's force amounted to only eighteen hundred men, he be- 
leagured the Americans, numbering some four thousand, and before 
the 1st of July the British had formed a line extending from Twelve 
Mile Creek on Lake Ontario acro9'> to Queenston on the Niagara 
River, nor did they leave the enemy idle 
The" glorious Fourth" of July, of alI days in the year, was 
selected by Colonel Clark, of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, for a descent 
of Fort Schlosser, immediately above Niagara Falls, and during the 
night a small party of militia with a few regular soldiers surprised 
the guard at that post and brought away a brass six-pounder, up- 
wards of fifty stands of arms, a quantity of stores, with a gunboat 
and two batteaux, without loss úf life. Again, on the 11th July, poor 
Colonel Bis
hopp, who had so distinguished himself on the Niagara 
Frontier in the preceding autumn and spring, crossed over to Black 
Rock, near Buffalo, at daybreak with two hundred and forty men, 
consisting of a small party of militia and detachments of the Eighth, 
Forty-first and Forty-ninth Regi'!1ents. He effectually surprised the 
enemy and burnt his block houses. stores, barracks, dock-yard and 



226 
a vessel, but while occupied in securing the stores the 
nemy, with a 
reinforcement of militia and Indians, wIder cover of the surrounding 
woods, opened a smart fire and compelled the British to hasten their 
retreat, with the loss of thirteen killed and a number of wounded, 
among the latter being Colonel Bisshopp himself, who died almost 
immediately, to the deep regret of his companions in arms. He was 
an officer of singular merit and but thirty years of age. A beautiful 
monument in the graveyard at l.)rummondvJle, erected by his family 
in England, marks his resting-place. 
On the same day that the Americans took Fort George (27th 
May), Sir James Yeo having arrived in Kingston from England, with 
some naval officers and seamen to the number of four hundred and 
fifty, and Sir George Prevost being also at Kingston, it was deter- 
mined by these two officers that an attack should be made on 
Sackett's Harbour, on the American side, somewhat higher up the 
Lake, the enemy's fleet being then at Niagara. Some seven hundred 
m"n, including a company of 1 he Glengarry Regiment, set out from 
Kingston on board three frigates, four gunboats and some batteaux, 
and at noon of the 28th they were off Sackett's Harbour. An un- 
fortunate delay occurred, however, which was the precursor of other 
miscarriages. This delay enabled the Americans to assemble their 
militia from the surrounding district, and thus, by the material addi- 
tion of some five hundred men to their regular force (consisting of 
dragoons, artillery and infantry, to the number of seven hundred and 
eighty-seven) largely to outnumber the invading force. The landing 
took place, after much difficulty, on the morning of the 29th, not 
without strong opposition on the part of the enemy, under General 
Brown, while the fleet which was to ha ve supported the advance of the 
troops was, owing to adverse winds, a long way off. Colonel Baynes, 
Colonel commanding the Glengarry Regiment and Adjutant-General 
of the forces in British North America, who was in charge of the 
attacking party, having at length secured a landing, ordered his men 
to divide and scour the woods, where the enemy had taken refuge, 
and kept up a sharp fire on the British. 
They succeeded in dislodging the enemy at the point of the 
bayonet,who there
pon tied to their f0rt and blockhoases, whither they 
were pursued by the British, who set fire to the barracks. Colonel 
Baynes considered, however, that it would be impossible to capture 
the enemy's blockhouses and stockaded battery without the assist- 



227 
ance of artillery: which had not been landed, and without the aid of 
the fleet, which was still out of reach, while his men were exposed to 
the fire of the enemy, secure within his works. Colonel Bockus, of 
the American Army, had, however, in the meantime, been killed, 
and part of his force had fled. Tne signal for retreat to the boats 
was given to the British and the enterprise abandoned at the very 
moment that victory was within their grasp, the enemy so far calcul- 
ating upon a decisive victory for our iorces as to have set fire to their 
naval storehouses, hospital and marine barracks, by which all the 
booty previously taken at York was consumed. It was a most un- 
fortunate occurrence, and aU the more so owing to the presence of 
the leaders of the land and naval forces, and the attack having been 
under the immediate direction of the Adjutant-General. The British 
loss was one officer and forty-seven men killed and two hundred 
wounded and missing; that of the Americans about three hundred 
killed and wounded. The Glengarry Regiment lost six rank and file 
killed, Captain McPherson was severely and Ensign Matheson slightly 
wounded; one sergeant and seventeen of their rank and file were 
31so wounded. Colonel Baynes, in his report to Sir George Prevost, 
stated that Captain Macpherson's company of the Glengarry Light 
Infantry, the one present in this action, evinced most striking proof 
of their loyalty. steadiness and courage. 
This untoward event was a grievous blow to the military repu- 
tation of Sir George Prevost, nor was it strengthened by what took 
place on the Niagara Frontier in August following. 
The two armies had there remained in sight of each. other, 
inactive, until the Commander of the Forces had arrived from King- 
ston, when the speedy reduction of Fort George, where the Americans 
were entrenched, was confidently expected. The Governor, to 
ascertain, as it was pretended, the extent of the enemy's works and 
the means he possessed of defending the position which he occupied, 
determined upon making a demonstration on that fort on the 24 th 
of August, and the army was put in movement as if for an assault 
upon it. The enemy's pickets were driven in, several of them being 
taken, and the British advanced within a few hundred yards of the 
enemy, who. although supported by a fire upon the British from their 
batteries on the opposite shore, declined leaving their entrenchments 
to venture into the field. Sir George, however, did not deem it ad. 



228 
visable to risk a trial for the recovery of the Fort, which, as he deemed 
it, was not of sufficient moment to compensate for the loss that must 
have ensued had an attack been made. It is true the American 
forces within the fort numbered four thousand, while those in the 
neighbourhood of Fort George did not exceed two thousand on an 
extended line, yet the Americans were totally dependent upon their 
own resources for their subsistence, and were compelled to act solely 
on the defensive from the hostile front assumed by the British in 
their neighbourhood. 
This fruitless " demonstration," coming, as it did, so soon after 
the fiasco at Sackett's Harbour, dispelled whatever confidence in Sir 
George Prevost as commander of the forces, the army and those in 
the country best able to judge of his capacity as such previously en- 
tertained, nor was he ever able to regain it. 
Shortly before this, however, the Glengarry Regiment had 
another opportunity of distinguishing itself. On the 28th July the 
Am
rican fleet under Commodore Chauncey, which was then lying 
off the Niagara River, having on board a battery of artillery and a 
considerable number of troops under Colonel Scott, U.S.A., pro- 
ceeded to the head of the Lake, with a view of seizing and destroyi 
J) 
the stores at Burlington Heights, the principal depot of the army on 
the Niagara frontier, then garrisoned by a small detachment under 
Major Maule. The design of the enemy against the depot being 
suspected, the Glengarry Regiment, under Battersby, was ordered by 
Colonel Harvey ffJm York, and by a march of extraordinary celerity 
arrived in timè to save the place. The ene.ny, upon heaïing of their 
arrival, wisely determining to abandon the proposed attack. The 
Glengarry Regiment unfortunately lost their baggage which they had 
left in some boats in a creek in the neighbourhood of York. Col- 
onel Battersby wrote to Major \VilIiam Allan to send some of the 
militia to secure it, but the letter did not reach its destination, as 
the gallant officer to whom it was addressed had retired to the 
woods when the Americans appeared off York. ( I) Commodore 
Chauncey, however, on ascertaining that York, by the advance of 
the Glengarry Regiment to Bllflington Heig
1ts, was left unprot
cted, 
seized the opportunity and bore down upon that unfortunate place, 
which he entered on the 31st July. The Americans landed without 
opposition, and having taken possession of a small quantity of stores, 


(I) Letter Hon. W. D. Powell. to ::>ir George Prevost. August I. 181 3. 



229 
Set fire to the barracks and public storehouses, and having re-em. 
barked their troops, and carrying with them some sick and wounded 
American prisoners found in York and a quantity of provisions from 
the shop of Mr. \Vllliam Allan, bore away for Niagara. 
Some naval engagements took place about this time on Lake 
Ontario between the rival naval commanders, Yeo and Chauncey, 
each striving for the command of the Lake. The British captured 
two small vessels (the " Julia" and " Growler ") off Niagara, and the 
Americans lost two others, the" Scourge" and "Hamilton," in a 
press of sail to escape the British; all the officers and men, except 
sixteen of the latter, being drowned. No general engagement, how. 
ever, occurred. On the 1st October the American fleet set sail from 
Fort George with a convoy of troops for Sackett's Harbour, where 
an expedition was preparing whose destination was as yet unknown, 
and was, as we shall shortly see, fated ultimately :0 be untoward. 
In their way they fell in with and captured five small vessels out of 
seven, with upwards of two hundred and fifty men of De \Vatteville's 
Regiment, from York bound for Kingston, where an attack was ap. 
prehended, a loss which, although small, was. owing to the scarcity 
of troops in the Upper Province, severely felt. 
It was during this autumn that the Americans made the most 
strenuous, and in one quarter, most successful efforts of the \-Var. 
Three separate armies menaced Canada in as many directions. In 
the East, during the month of September, the forces which had been 
concentrated at Bur1ington
 in the State of Vermont, under General 
Hampton, moved across Lake Champlain to Plattsburg, with a view 
of penetrating into the District of Montreal; the army under 
Hampton's command, consisting of seven thousand infantry and two 
hundred cavalry, and being well supplied wit), artillery. 
General \Vilkinson at Sackett's Harbour, on Lake Ontario, a 
short distance above Kingston, on the opposite side of Lake Ontario, 
was preparing, under the immediate direction of General Armstrong, 
the American Secretary at 'Var, a large flotilla of batteaux and Dur- 
ham boats for an expedition of ten thousand men, destined against 
Kingston or Montreal, though f3ted to reach neither place. 
General Harrison, with an army shortly reinforced until it 
numbered eight thousand men, was camped on the :Miami River, in 
Michigan, only awaiting the equipment of the American fleet fitting 
out at Presq' Isle, some distance below on Lake Erie, to move his 



': 


23 0 
forces against Detroit, which still continued in possession of the British 
(since ItS capture by Brock at the beginning of the War), and carry 
on offensive operations in the neighbourhood of Lake Erie. For- 
tunately only the latter was successful, and in the \Vest the most 
disastrous engagements of the \Var, both on water and la
d, with 
the exception pos.:>il>ly of Plattsburg, took place, though the valour 
of the British naval forces retrieved to some extent the serious loss 
sustaine':!. 
The British fleet on Lake Erie was commanded by Captain 
Robert Ruclay, who had seen service under Nelson, and lost an 
arm at TrafLlgar, his flagship being the "Detroit"; his squadron 
consisting in all of six vessels and sixty-three guns, while Commodore 
Perry \Vas in cUl1uuand of the enemy's fleet, his flagship, the" Lau- 
fence," and his squadron comprising nine vessels, with fifty-two 
guns, the weight in metal being, however, in favour of the Americans, 
in the proportion of over two to one in pounds. 
During the month of July the British had maintained an effective 
blockade on the American fleet in Presq' Isle Harbour, where a 
sandbar preventeù the larger American vessels moving out without 
unshipping their guns, but towards the end of August, Barclay having 
occasion to (Jwceed to Long Point, on the Canadian side, for pro- 
vision:>, th
 -\.111
ricans took advantage of his absence and crossed 
the bar. The British fleet then sailed for Amherstburg, followed 
shortly by Commodore Perry, for the head of the Lake. The British 
forces in the Michigan Territory, under the command of General 
Proctor, falling short of supplies, for which they depended solely 
upon the fleet, Captain Barclay had no alternative but a general 
engagement, which accordingly took place on the :Loth September, 
near Put.in-Bay, though the British fleet had but fifty experienced 
sailors between its six vessels, the rest of the crews being made up of 
two hundred and forty soldiers and eighty volunteer Canadian seamen, 
while Perry's ships were fully manned with six hundred skilled sea- 
men. The battle began about half after .twelve, and continued with 
great fury until half past two, the advantage being then on the side of the 
British, Commodore Perry being obliged to abandon his flagship and 
take to another vessel, the "Laurence" shortly afterwards striking 
her colours, but the British, from the weakness of their crews, Were 
unable to take possession of her. A sudden and strong breeze 




3I 
enabled the Americans to retrieve the, fortunes of the day, Barclay's 
vessels, owing to lack of seamen, becoming unmanageable. 
Captain Barclay himself was dangerously wounded, his thigh 
being shattered and his only arm disabled; Captain Finnis, of the 
., Queen Charlotte," killed, and every British commander and officer 
second in command either killed or wounded, forty-one of the British 
officers and seamen and soldiers Were killed and ninety-four wounded. 
Little wonder the flag was struck! The American loss was twenty- 
seven killed and ninety-six wounded, though the battle lasted but 
little over three hours. 
Mrs. Edgar, in her interesting book, "Ten Years of Upper 
Canada," states that when some months afterwards the gallant Bar: 
clay (who had been placed on parole and then exchanged), was 
brought betore a court of enquiry to anSWer for the 105s of his fleet, 
his judges, were moved to tears as they looked at the mutilated form 
of the hero who had fought so well. She mentions that he was a 
Scotchman, and had attended school at Kettle, at which Bishop 
Strachan, who afterwards taught at Cornwall, was the master. 
Disastrous as Was the engagement itself, in that the whole British 
squadron on Lake Erie was captured by the enemy, who now became 
masters of the Lake, it was even more so by reason of the fact that 
the British army in possession of the Michigan Territory, and in the 
neighbourhood 01 Detroit, was thus deprived of every prospect of 
obtaining future supplies, and a speedy evacuation of Detroit and a 
retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario became inevitable. Fort 
Detroit, therefore, was im:l1ediately evacuated; Proctor, on leaving, 
destroying the magazines, barracks and public stores. Had the 
retrea.t been properly managed matters would not have been so bad. 
Commodore Perry, as soon after the engagement of the loth as 
circumstances permitted, transported the Amencan forces under 
cOlUlUanj cf Harrison to Put-in-Bay, from whence they were con- 
vçyed to the neighbourhood of Amherstburgh (or Malden, as it was 
then called), which also had been abandoned by the British, which 
they occupied on the evening of the 23rd September. 
Proctor's troops were altogether too inadequate in numbers and 
destitute in resources to make a stand against the overwhelming 
forces of the enemy and a retreat along the River, Thames was de- 
termined upon, the Indians, u
)der Colonel Elliott, of the Indian 
D"'l'a:-tment, with their grèat Chief Tecumseh, still adhering to his 



!Z3 2 
standard ìn his reVerses with unshaken fidelity, and covering his 
retreat. He was closely followed by General Harrison, whose force 
was escorted by a number pf batteaux under the immediate direction 
of Commodore Perry, by which they were enabled to overtake, on 
the 4th October, the rear guard of the British, and succeeded in 
ca!1turing the whole of their ammunition and stores. It was under 
these adverse circumstances that Proctor was compelled to stake the 
fate of his small army in a general engagement. He accordingly 
assumed a position on the right bank of the River Thames, at the 
Indian Village of Moraviantown, where he awaited the approach of 
the enemy, who had crossed the river in the morning, and came up 
in the afternoon of the sth October. The battle was of short dura- 
tion. Harrison had -among his forces a large number of Kentucky 
cavalry, accustomed to ride with extraordinary dexterity through the 
mos
 intricate woods. These he ordered to charge full speed upon 
the British. By this charge of the enemy our soldiers, Worn out with 
fatigue and hunger, and dispirited by the unpromising appearance 
of the campaign, became totally routed, and for the most part sur 
rendered prisoners to the enemy, while Genend Proctor and his 
personal staff sought sa.fety in flight. Tlie Indians b<;haved with a 
gallantry worthy of the chief who led them, and for a considerable 
timç carried on the contest with the left of the American line with 
great determination, but finding all hope of retrieving the day to be 
futile, at length yielded to the overwhelming nUl11bers of the enemy, 
and reluctantly left the field, but not until the great Tecumseh had 
fallen. 
Mr. James states (1) that Tecumseh, although he had received 
a musket baU in the left arm, was still seeking the hottest of the fire, 
when he encountered Colonel Johnson, Member of Congress for 
Kentucky. Just as the chief, having discharged his rifle, was rush- 
ing forward with his tomahawk, he received a ball in the head from 
the colonel's pistol. Thus fell the great Indian warrior in the forty- 
fourth year of his age. \Vhat Brant had been to the British in the 
Revolutionary "r ar, Tecumseh was in the \Var of 18 I 2, and the 
memory and services of these two great men would, were other 
motives wanting, of themselves constitute a reason why the Indian 
tribes of British Amenca should be treated with j!lstice. consiçleratioll 
and respect by those Woo are charged with the administration of 


(I) Military OccurrenCes I, p. 28;. 



233 
affairs. He was a great leader of his people, of strong intellect and 
lofty spirit, sufficiently austere in manner to control the wayward 
passions of those who followed him in war. He had a flow of 
oratory that enabled him, as he govemed in the field, so to guide in 
council. Though he frequently levied sllb.;idies to a large amount, 
yet he preserved little or nothing to himself-n')t wealth but glory 
being his ruling passion After the capture of Detroit, in which his 
knowledge of the surrounding country, as well as the awe inspired 
by his followers, had been of inestima tie value, General Brock, as 
soon as the business was over, publicly took off his sash and placed 
placed it around the body of the chief. Tecumseh received the 
honour with evident gratification, but was the next day seen without 
the sash. General Brock, fearing something had displeased the 
Indian, sent his interpreter for an explanation. The latter soon 
returned with an account that Tecumseh, not wishing to wear such 
a mark of distinction when an older, and, as he said, abler warrior 
than himself was present, had transferred the sash to the \Vyandot 
Chief Roundhead, which act of disinterestedness proved him to have 
had the highest and best instincts of a gentleman. The Prince 
Regent, out of respect to hi,:: memory, sent out a valuable s'Word as 
a present to his son, a lad seventeen years of age, who fought by his 
father's side when he fell. That he was scalped by the Americans 
is beyond doubt, and Mr. Jan
es proves conclusively that the Ken- 
tucky soldiery, not content with his scalp, which would be the 
prop
rty of but one, absolutely flayed his body in order to procure 
f( trophies" which all might share, quoting from Burdick's Pol. and 
Hist. Reg., p. 84, which American authority admits that" some 0 
the Kentuckians disgraced themselves by committing indignities on 
his dead body. He was scalped and otherwise disfigured." He 
held the rank of Brigadier-General in the British Army. 
The British loss at Moraviantown was twelve killed, twenty- 
two wounded, while thirty-three of our Indians were found dead on 
the field. Upwards of six hundred of the army, including twenty- 
five officers, were made prisoners of war. The American loss was 
but seven killed and twenty-two wounded. Such of the British as 
escaped made the best of their way to Ancaster, at the head of Lake 
Ontario, exposed, at an inclement season, to aU the horrors of the 
then wilderness. On the seventeenth of October they arrived at 
that place to the number of two hundred and forty-six, including 
General Proctor and seventeen officers. 



234 
General Proctor was tried by court-martial at Montreal in 
December, 181.1" on five charges preferred against him for misconduct 
on this occasion. He was found guilty of portions of the charges 
and sentenced to be publicly reprimanded and to be suspended from 
rank and pay for six months, but though it was found that he did 
not take proper measures for conducting the retreat, and had been 
guilty of errors of judgment and deficient in those energetic and 
active exertions which the situation of his army so particularly 
required, the Court nevertheless most fully acquitted him of any 
defect or reproach in regard to his personal conduct during the 
action of the 5th Octocer. The Prince Regent, in confirming the 
finding of the Court, animadverted upon its "mistaken lenity" 
towards the accused, and rlirected tne general officer commanding 
in Canada to convey to General Proctor His Royal Highness' high 
disapprobation of his conduct, and directed that the charges pre- 
ferred against him, together with the finding and sentence of the 
Court, and the Prince Regent's remarks thereupon, should be entered 
in general orders and read at the head of every regiment in His 
Majesty's service. His previous services in this war, when he 
defeated t-he enemy at Brownstown, which contributed much to the 
faU of Detroit and the capitulation of Hull and the American army, 
and his brilliant victory over a superior force under \Vinchester on 
the River Raisin, in Michigan, were however, remembered to his 
advantage, and the Canadian people viewed the defeat at Moravian- 
town with generous indulgence. He commanded again during the 
\Var, was afterwards prom'Jted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
surviving until 1859, when he died at his seat in \Vales. 
Shortly after this untoward event General Vincent, who con- 
tinued the investment of Fort George, deemed it expedient to raise 
the siege of that place and fall back upon Burlington Heights, lest 
General Harrison, by a bold and rapid march, or by a sudden 
descent in the fleet from Amherstburg, should pre-occupy that im- 
portant position, which would have the effect of placing him, Vincent, 
between the two hostile armies. This he succeeded in doing, though 
not without great difficulty, being clQse]y pressed for several days 
by a brigade of one thousand five hundred men under Generals Mc- 
Clure and Porter from Fort George. 
Fortunately, though General Harrison had carried all before 
him in the extreme west of the Province, neither \Vilkinson's force 
which had as')embled at S:lckeU's Harbour, nor Hampton's, which 
it was int
;}::1'
d should invest Montreal, were equally successfu 



235 


CHAPTER 19. 


GENERAL WILKINSON ASSEMBLES TEN THOUSAND' AMERICAN 
TROOPS AT SACKETT'S HARBOUR.-KINGSTON THREATENED. 
-DEFENCELESS STATE OF MONTREAL.-HE DETERMINES TO 
ATTACK THAT PLACE WITH GENERAL HAMPTON.-COLONEL 
GEORGE MACDONELL ASKED WHEN HIS LIGHT BATTALION 
'V OULD BE READY TO EMBARK TO ITS DEFENCE.-" As SOON 
AS MY MEN HAVE FINISHED THEIR DINNER."-HIS EXTRA- 
ORDINARV DESCENT OF THE ST. LAWRENCE IN BATTEAUX- 
"HERE, SIR; NOT ONE MAN ABSENT."-BATTLE OF CHATEAU- 
GUAY.'-':GOLD MEDALS.-DEFEAT OF THE AMERICANS AT 
CHRYSTLER'S FARM.-GOLD MEDALS FOR THAT ACTION.- 
PRESENTATION OF COLOURS TO LOWER CANADIAN MILITIA 
:8"l THE PRINCE REGENT.-HAMPTON DECLINES JUNCTURE 
WITH \VILKINSON.-ATTACK ON MonTREAL ABANDONED.- 
UNFAIR TREATMENT OF COLONEL MACDONELL. 


Though the enemy, under General Harrison, had thus been 
successful in the West, yet his success was barren of any considerable 
results, and discovering at last his erroneous strategy, he wisely 
determined upon again turning his attention to the St. Lawrence. 
His General, \Vilkinson, forthwith commenced assembling a dis- 
posable force of ten thousand regular troops at Sackett's Harbour, 
with a view of seizing upon our naval depot at Kingston, only four 
hours' sail from him; and the Governor-General, in consequence, 
immediately repaired in person to that post, concentrating there all 
the force he could possibly muster, though this compelled him to 
strip Lower Canada of nearly aU his regular troops, and thereby left 
that Province exposed to the most imminent danger of a surprise. 
But in his destitute state he had no alternative. 
Indeed, so weak, after aU, was the garrison of Kingston, that 
he was obliged to bring thither, from Montreal, the eight flank com- 
panies of the four recently embodied regiments of the French or 



23 6 
Lower Canada Militia, to be there organized by Lieutenant-Colonel 
George Macdonell, ÏIlto a Light Battalion for immediate service, 
which, considering this officer had not one single individual who 
had ever worn uniform to assist him in the task, was by no means a 
sinecure employment. 
The enemy, however, getting information from Montreal in 
October (I) that there were" no fortifications in that city or in ad- 
vance of it," and that it was only g:lfrisoned" by two hundred sail- 
ors and marines, with the militia, númbers unknown "-that is, as 
we have seen, the four recently embodied battalions, less their flank 
companies, Wilkinson abandoned the idea of Kingston and wisely 
determined upon the immediate capture of Montreal .itself by a com- 
bined and rapid coup de main with his general, Hampton, who for 
this purpose advanced from Four Corners across the frontier of 
Lower Canada, about the 20th October, with seven thousand regular 
infantry, two hundred cavalry and ten pieces of artillery, to pene- 
trate to that city by the Chateauguay River, knowing well that he 
would meet with 110 opposing force on the way except three hundred 
French-Canadians, being half the V oltigeurs and the Light Company 
of the Canadian Fenc
bles under Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, 
whom he was then driving in before him. Wilkinson, about the 
53 me time, embarked in boats at Sackett's Harbour fourteen batta- 
lions of infantry, three corps of artillery and fifty-eight guns, accom- 
panied by two regiments of cavalry, (2) as if to attack Kingston, but, 
in reality, suddenly to "slip down the S:. Lawrence, lock up the 
enemy in his rear to starve or surrender;" and, when arrived at the 
mouth of the Chateauguay, was" to act in concert with the division 
of Major-General Hampton and take Montreal.(3) 
About noon, of the 20th October, His Excellency received, at 
Kingston, an express from Lower Canada that Hampton was cer- 
tainlyadvancing upon :Montreal. Alarmed at this imminent danger, 
and not daring to take a regiment of the line from Kingston, then in 
daily danger of. the attack from Wilkinson, the Governor-General 
ha
 nothing to do for it but to send for Lieutenant-Colonel Mac.- 
donell, to ascertain if his Light B:Ütalion-five months previously at 
the plough-was fit to meet an enemy, single-handed; and being 
assured .that it would move down to the beach to embark as soon as 


(I) James 1,304. 
b} James I. p. 301. 
(3) James I, p. 255. 



237 
the men had finished their dinner, His Excellency mounted his 
charger and started at o
ce for the Chateauguay, ordering Colonel 
Macdonell to follow with his corps, and giving him carte blanche to 
deal with Hampton at his discretion. Twenty-four hours, however, 
elapsed, before a sufficient number of boats could be procured, and 
even then the requisite and usually indispensable pilots to navigate 
the batteaux through the succession of dangerous rapids of the St. 
Lawrence could not be obtained. As delay would prove fatal, 
Colonel Macdonell determined upon trusting to his personal know- 
ledge of the navigation of the river to dash at the risk which would 
have proved fatal to almost any other commander, and which no 
other officer would have dreamt of undertaking. Indeed, even he 
was, owing to the inexperience of his officers, in imminent peril of 
repeating in the dangerous cataract at the Coteau du Lac, the awful 
catastrophe which befel four hundred men of Lord Amherst's army, 
formerly drowned there, and had he not been aware of the tradition, 
and known also how to regain the unly safe channel in that rapid, 
the consequences would have proved fatal to his whole corps. But 
notwithstanding the perilous currents and difficu1ti
s of the St. Law- 
rence, and the labour of rowing such a fleet of unwieldy batteaux, 
for many hours in the dark, across thirty-five miles of the broad 
Lake St. Francis, in the teeth of a very heavy gale of wind, which 
provokingly compelled him at last to halt nearly a wpole day at the 
Cedars-the pilots there positively refusing to embark in such a 
storm, and, eventually, forced him to cross to the Beauharnois 
shore, and take his chance of penetrating at least twenty miles of 
that forest in the dead of night in file, without any guide, and by a 
doubtful wood track, this wil1ing young battalion, cheerfully sur- 
mounting all obstacles, found themselves on the bank of the Chat- 
eauguay River before daylight of the 25th October-some hours, 
indeed, before the Governor-General, with twenty-four hours' start, 
reached the spot by relays of horses, from Kingston, and notwith- 
standing the day's delay at the Cedars. They had, in fact, traversed 
no less than one hundred and seventy miles by water and nearly 
forty more by land in about three days and a half, during twenty- 
four hou
s of which they were inevitably compelled to halt, a rapid- 
ity of movement unequalled in Canada and unprecedented in the 
Peninsular or elsewhere. Indeed, Sir George Prevost, on seeing 
\oloncl "Macdonell approach, single, to meet him on his arrival, 



23 8 
con.cluded that he had by some means hurried down the St. Law- 
rence without his corps, and began a severe reprimand, which, how- 
ever, soon changed into complimentary terms of astonishment when 
that officer, with some degree of pride, pointed to his still exhausted 
soldiers sleeping on the ground, said," Here, sir, NOT ONE MAN 
ABSENT." After five hours' repose, the Light Battalion moved on 
cheerfully to the ground where they, still in their slop clothing, 
nexl morning drove from the field nearly twelve limes their number 
of regular troops, and supported by both cavalry and artillery. 
Hampton had on the 25th October advanced to Within a mile 
or two of the site of the action of the 26th at Chateauguay, which 
lay in the midst of a primeval forest, and DeSalaberry, who had 
stuck close to the enemy for several days previously, then occupied 
a favourable spot in the wODd, which he had hastily strengthened by 
a slight abatis, and had gallantly determined to dispute the ground 
even before the arrival of the Light Battalion. l\facdohelJ coming 
up from the rear, found a ford in the river about two miles below 
DeSalaberry, and seeing the necessity of occupying that position, 
sent forward an 
ffi.cer to report his arrival and intention. 
Most fortunately the enemy had not a conception that Mac- 
donell and his Light Battalion had ever quitted Kingston, and 
therefOle, calculating only on the opposition of DeSalaberry's 
handful of men, had secretly passed three strong battalions to the 
fight bank of the river, with the view of recrossing at this ford in 
DeSalaberry's.- rear, and thus making his whole force prisoners when 
the American left wing should attack him in front Accordingly, on 
the morning of the 26th, Hampton, with the four thousand men he 
had on the left bank, dashed at DeSalaberry's abatis through some 
rounds of a sharp fire of the V oltigeurs, and, as might well be expected, 
instantly crushed in the brave little defensive band, driving them 
irresistibly before his overwhelming superiority, and strangely pass- 
ing unob-:erved in the confusion the gallant DeSalaberry himself, 
who, when his men gave way, remained standing on the stump of a 
tree he had occupied at the beginning of the action I At the same 
moment the three American battalions on the right bank of the 
river, made a rapid and somewhat irregular push to gain the ford, 
but before reaching it unexpectedly received a destructive volley a 
bout portant from a company of the Light Battalion, hidden by 




39 
Macdonell in the. forest on that side, and actually then nearly envel- 
oped by the more advanced portions of the enemy's columns. This 
instantly threw the three battalions into disorder, for not seeing 
their opponents, and blinded with the smoke, tbey in their confusion 
opened a heavy and continued fire upon each other. The detached 
company, having thus done its work, immediately crept back out 
of the woods unseen, crossed the ford and rejoined its own corps,. 
leaving the enemy there fully occupied with their own embarassment.. 
Macdonell soon heard by the approaching cheers of Hampton's 
forces that he was driving the V oltigeurs before him, and seeing 
clearly that there was no immedia.te danger to be apprehended from 
the brigade of the enemy in confusion on the right bank, advanced 
rapidly to support DeSalaberry. By the happiest accident possible,. 
he was joined at this moment by one hundred and seventy Indians 
from the rear. He instantly threw them into the wood to his right, 
with instructions to scatter and scream their war whoop
 and by aD 
incessant fire to threaten Hampton's left flank, sending with them a 
dozen of his bugles to spread widely and keep sounding" the ad- 
vance" in every direction; and making his remaining bugles fre- 
quently repeat the call and his companies in succession to cheer 
loudly (to appear to be distinct bodies), he pushed on in double 
quick to rally the front line. He had scarcely met the retreating 
V oltigeurs, who then turned upon the enemy, when Hampton, para- 
lyzed at once by the screams and fire of the Indians, the constant 
dang of bugles and the cheering at different distances-and con- 
vinced also by the heavy fire that his brigade on the right bank was 
warmly opposed by a considerable force, declared that there was 
certainly ten thousand British in the forest, and thinking he had 
been drawn into some fatal ambuscade, he halted, broke and in- 
stantly abandoned the field, as did also his right wing, in the course 
of the day and following night, leaving some prisoners in the hands 
of the Light Battalion, from whom were obtained the details of the 
enemy's strength. And just as the last shots of the retiring enemy 
were dying away, Sir George Prevost and his staff arrived, and re- 
ceived the verbal report of Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who had 
by that time returned to watch the ford; and shortly after Major 
General de Watteville also came up in consequence of a note written 
to him in pencil by Colonel Macdonell at the commencement of the 
action. 



24 0 
It is incontestable that the battle of Chateaugua.y-absolutely 
loost for about half an hour-would have been no impediment what- 

ver to the advance of the enemy upon Montreal, and must have 
ended in the irresistible capture of DeSalaberry and his little band 
out for the ardent zeal which brought the Light Battalion so oppor- 
tunelyon the ground, and for the active manner in which it there 
bandIed the enemy-an enemy of British descent, consisting oC 
seven thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry, with ten pieces of 
a.rtillery, to which were opposed just nine hundred men, all of whom 
except Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell and Captain Ferguson, of the 
Canadian Fencibles, ,vere of French blood and but recently em- 
bodied, the only three officers of the regular army being the two 
gentlemen named and Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry. 
Chateauguay being made a medal day, gold medals were award- 
ed to Lieutenant-Colonel George Macdonell, Glengarry Light In- 
fantry; Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, Canadian Voltigeurs. 
Both these officers ''''ere also created Companions of the Bath for 
their services upon this occasion. 
The despatch of Sir George Prevost to the Secretary of State, 
dated just four days after the battle of ChateauguaY(I), shows the 
imminently critical state of Lower Canada at that moment. He 
there states, " almost the whole of the British troops being pushed 
forward for the defence of Upper Canada, that of the Lower Pro- 
vince must depend in great measure on the valour and continued 
exertions of its incorporated battalions-only five in number-and its 
sedentary mílitia until the Seventieth Regiment add the two battalions 
of marines now daily expected, shall arrive: " " the sedentary militia" 
being neither more nor less than the mere unarmed and unorganized 
French-Canadian peasantry working at their ordinary avocations 
on their farms! Had Hampton won the battle of Chateauguay, 
there cannot be a doubt that, quite independent of Wilkinson's 
division, there would in the space of ten days after the action have 
been at least sufficient American volunteers in the city of Montreal 
to have rendered the probability of its recapture extremely problem- 
atical. 
DeSalaberry and his little corps, being much exhausted with 
the fatigues of the last ten days, were relieved on the evening of the 
action, and Macdonell took charge of the ajvance posts with his 


(I) James 1,463, 



241 
Light BattaIilm, and with these six hundred compara.tÍvely ra.W recruits 
he held Hampton (who had returned to Four Corners on the 28th) 
completely at bay until the 11th November following. 
\Vilkinson's orders from his Government were" to precipitate 
his descent of the St. Lawrence by every practicable means. "(:;:) He 
haà accordingly moved to Gr
nadier Island, in L::tke Ontario, 
between the 17th and 24th October, but hearing of Hampton's 
defeat on the 26th, his flotilla advanced by slow steps to give that 
General time to make a second attempt on the Chateauguay; and 
thus he only dropped down to French Creek on the 3rd November, 
remainil1g there some days, which delay kept Kingston in suspense 
as to his intentions, as it was assailable from that quarter. Finding, 
however, on the 6th November, that Hampton could not be brought 
to attempt another passage by the Chatea uguay, \Vilkinson that day 
altered the original plan of the campaign, ordering the others to 
march from Four Corners, and to meet him, on the 9th or loth, at 
the Indian village of St. Regis, on the St. Lawrence, opposite Corn- 
wall, ( 2) and to effect this juncture he himself floated down to the 
head of the Long Sault on the 10th, where (to lighten his boats in 
running the rapid) he landed most of his men and marched the 
greater part down on the British side to within five miles of Corn- 
wall. He had thus been compelled, by the loss of the action at 
Chateauguay, to wa5te sixteen days in descending a distance that 
Macdonell covered in thirty-one hours! Of course Montreal gained 
thereby a respite of about a fortnight. 
Fortunately General de Rottenburg, at Kingston, had con- 
vinced himself on the 7th of the month that 'Vilki 1son's real object 
was Montre:ll, and had accordingly, that day, despatched Lieuten- 
ant-Colonels Morrison and Harvey to follow him with five hundred 
and sixty men of the Forty-Ninth and Seventieth Regiments and 
some field artillery, and these, being joined at Prescott by Lieutenant. 
Colonels Pearson and Plenderleath, with two hundred and forty of 
the troops at that post, this small regular force overtook at Chrystler's 
Farm, on the 11th November, the rear guard of the enemy. 
am')unting to between three thomand and four thousand men.(3) 
They turned upon Morrison, but after a gallant action of about two 
hours, he compelled them to retire. 


(1) J..l.n...s 1, 473. 
(2 James I, 471. 
(3' James 4 6 7. 



24 2 
Chrystler's Farm was made a medal day: Tne following officers 
received gold medals:- 
Colonel Miller Clifford, C.B., K.H., Fifty-Eighth Foot, died in 
1837 (then Major Eighty-Ninth Regiment). 
Lieutenant-General Sir J. Harvey, K.C.B., K.C.H., Fifty-Ninth 
Foot (then Lieutenant-Colonel and Deputy Adjutant-General). 
Major-General F. Heriot, C.B., died in 1844 (then Major of the 
V oltigeurs). 
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Geo. Jackson, R.A., died in 18 49 
(then Captain R.A.). 
Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Plenderleath, C. B., Forty-Ninth 
Foot (then Lieutenant-Colonel Forty-Ninth Regiment). 
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Pearson, C.B., K.C.H., Eighty- 
Fifth Foot, died in 1847 (then Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 
detachment at Prescott). 
Colonel J. \V. Morrison, C.B., Forty-Fourth Foot, died in 1826 
(commanding at Chrystler's Farm). 
This was unquestionably a very brilliant affaire d'armes, but it 
is quite a mistake to suppose it had any effect upon the ulterior 
operations of the enemy, as 'Vilkinson's flotilla pursued its course 
down the rapids next morning, and by mid-day re-united his whole 
division nearly cpposite St. Regis. Morrison followed by land and 
reached Mine Roches on the 13th, but as the enemy were in boats 
and a day ahead of him down the stream he could not possibly 
impede their progress upon Montreal-which, indeed, they might 
easily have reached on the following day, while Morrison would 
have required nearly a week. to march that distance by land. 
It was only on the loth or 11th of the month that the Governor- 
General received, at Lachine, intelligence for the first time of 'Vil- 
kin son's intended combination with Hampton. His dismay can 
easily be imagined at finding this new force of ten thousand men 
within two days' run of Montreal, then almost defenceless, and 
Hampton's co-operating division only held in check by the six 
hundred m
n of the Light Battalion. His Excel1cncy, having 
no disposable regular soldiers to send to impede the progress 
of either column, and knowing that there were no troops 
between him and \Vilkinson except three companies at Cornwall 
and the I03rd Regiment at Coteau du Lac, a post that 
could not be abandoned, his only resource was in "the 




43 
zeal and alacrity evinced by the militia of the Scotch settlement," 
who from their locality might cripple Wilkinson in some of the rapids, 
and therefore" solicitous to forward their laudable exertions and the 
good of His Majesty's service by placing them under the direction 
of an officer who from talents, local information and influence is best 
qualified to promote that object,"( I) he ordered a field officer to 
proceed express to the Chateauguay frontier to relieve and send 
into headquarters Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who arrived at 
Lachine on the afternoon of the 12th, and was forthwith despatched 
to Upper Canada with carte blanche to do as he might think proper. 
General \'Vilkinson states in his report to the American Secre- 
tary at 'Var of the 16th November, 1813, that on reaching the fort 
at the Long Sault on the 12th, he "confidently expected to hear of 
Major-General Hampton's arrival on the opposite shore," but that 
" to his unspeakable mortification and surprise he there learnt that 
Hampton had not only" declined the junction ordered, but had 
actually, on the nth November, quitted the Canadian frontier alto- 
gether, and had marched back from Four Corners towards Lake 
Champlain, evidently in order to avoid being forced into any further 
co-operation in the proposed attack upon Montreal, and thus we see 
why 'Vilkinson's immediately-assembled Council of War at once 
decided that the contemplaterl attack upon Montreal should be 
abandoned for the present season, because the loss of the division 
under Hampton weakened the force too sensibly to justify the 
attempt.(2) It is clear that had Hampton screwed up his courage 
to wait for the arrival of \Vilkinson on the 13th, at French Mills, the 
two armies might that night have supped together half way between 
those mills and Four Corners, or they might, the next morning, have 
both united within fifteen miles of Mac.donell's Light Battalion, still 
in its old position on the Chateauguay, and 'Vilkinson's boats could 
have been either sent down the St. Lawrence to meet them at the 
mouth of the Chateauguay, or they could have been drawn across 
the short isthmus of four miles between this last stream and the 
Salmon River, and Montreal would still have been as much at their 
mercy as if Colonel Morrison had remained quietly in garrison at 
Kingston; indeed, their defeat at Chrystler's Farm had but the 
effect of accelerating their advance upon Montreal. It is apparent, 


(I) Adjutant-General's letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, loth November, 181 3. 
(2) James I, 474. 



244 
therefore, that the effect of Chateauguay was much more important 
than that of Chrystler's Farm, and though both were made medal 
days several brevets were conferred for the latter but none for 
Chateauguay; indeed, Colonel Macdonell was not even confirmed 
in the local rank he held when he so opportunely arrived by his own 
gratuitous activity to snatch the victory out of the half-closed grasp 
of the enemy. Nay, more, neither the general order issued on the 
occasion, nor the official despatch to the Secretary of State, ever 
once mentioned the name of that officer as having been present in 
the action, or gave the slightest hint that he was in any way con- 
nected with it, or even that he had stirred one foot from Kingston 
to hasten to save it. What made the remissness all the more extra- 
ordinary and unjust was the fact that both these state papers spe- 
cially named with praise some of the captains of his corps who acted 
under his eye and his express direction; but as if to cheat him of 
any, even the slightest part of the merit, not calling them officers of 
the Light Battalion, but designating them only by the little known 
numerical titles of the several different regiments "of the embodied 
militia" from which they had been originally drafted to form his 
Light Battalion-not one of those embodied militia regiments beiTIg 
within twenty miles of the action! This studied omission is attri- 
butable to an influential official, who had profited too much by a 
previous injustice to Colonel Macdonell ever to permit him to 
acquire any distinction which would- enable him to plead that wrong 
with effect at the Horse Guards. 
'What made the transaction deplorably base was the fact that 
the whole of the injustice Macdonell experienced throughout the 
war, on this and other occasions, hinged notoriously on mean and 
contemptible fanaticism-that he, a free-born Briton, chose to hold 
by the religious faith of the royal heroes who won the fields of 
Cressy and Agincourt. Surely his devotional opinions were his 
own: and Government should have recognized with gratitude how 
with his co-religionists of Scotch and French descent he turned 
them to the service of the Crown, and won with the one Ogdens- 
burg and the other Chateauguay-achievements which saved, in 
the former instance, the free navigation of the St. Lawrence and the 
connecting link between the Upper and Lower Province, and in the 
other the certainty of the capture of Montreal. On the 26th March 
followiIlg, His Excellency issued a general order, expressing the 



245 
approbation or the Prince Regent of the affair at Chateauguay, and 
" his peculiar pleasure in finding that His Majesty's Canadian sub. 
jects had at length had the opportunity of refuling, by their own 
brilliant exertion in defence of their country, the calumnious charge 
of disaffection and disloyalty, with which the enemy had prefaced 
his first invasion of the Province." To Lieutenant-Colonel De 
Salaberry in particular, and to all the officers and men under his 
command, the sense entertained by His Royal Highness of their 
meritorious and distinguished services was made known. The 
Commander of the Forces at the same time acquainted the militia 
of the determination of His Royal Highness to forward colours for 
the various battalions of embodied militia, feeling that they had 
evinced an ability and disposition to secure them from insult, which 
gave the best title 10 such a mark of distinction. So flattering a 
mark of the Prince Regent's approbation was eminently gracious, and 
wise withal, and well calculated to raise the pride and enthusiasm 
of the French-Canadians; but it should be borne in mind that t'le 
battalions themselves were many miles distant from the scene of 
action, only their flank companies forming the Light Battalion, under 
Macdonell, and it was due to him therefore that they won their 
colours. The only recognition of his services which Lieutena!lt. 
Colonel Macdonell obtained was the gold medal and C.B. given to 
him. 
General Hampton having declined the juncture with General 
\Vilkinson, to the surprise and mortification of the latter, nothing was 
left to the American commander, on "."hom countless difficulties 
momentarily crowded, but to re-cross to his own side and a 
Council of \Var being held, it was determined "that the attack on 
Montreal should be abandoned for the present season and that the 
army near Cornwall shoulà immediately be crossed to the American 
shore for taking up winter quarters," which was accordingly done on 
the following day, when they proceeded to Salmon River, where their 
boats and batteaux were scuttled, and extensive barracks, surround- 
ed on all sides by abatis, were at once erected. 
Sir George Prevost, every appearance of immediate danger 
having subsided, by general orders of 17th November dismissed the 
sedentary militia in the neighbourhood on Montreal, with acknowledg- 
ments of the cheerful alacrity with which they had turned out, and 
the loyalty and zeal they had manifested. 



24 6 
And thus terminated the great and imminent danger which had 
threatened Montreal through the armies of General Wilkinson, the 
Commander-in-Chief of the American army, and General Hampton. 
I t was the intention of the former to have landed on Isle Perrot, 
when he had formed his juncture with Hampton, which is separated 
from the Island of Montreal by a small channel over which he 
.intended to throw a bridge of boats and thence to fight his way into 
the city. To Colonels DeSalaberry and George Macdonell, Morrison 
and Harvey, is the credit chiefly due for the total defeat of the 
enemy's plans. 




41 


CHAPTER 20. 


EVACUATION of FORT GEORGE BY THE AMERICANS, WHO, BEFORe: 
LEAVlNG, DESTROY THE TOWN OF NEWARK (NIAGARA).-TAK
 
lNG OF AMERICAN FORT NIAGARA BY BRITISH, DECEMBER 19TH, 
1813, AND OF LEWISTON, 20TH, AND OF BLACK ROCK AND 
BUFFALO, DECEMBER, :;:813.-RETALIATION.-CWSE 0.., SECOND 
YEAR OF THE WAR. 


Matters being thus, in a comparatively satisfactory position in 
Lower Canada, it became essential to take immediate and effective 
steps as regards the Upper Province. Towards this end Major
 
General De Rottenburg was relieved of the command in the Province, 
and Lieutenant-General Gordon Drummond appoÏnted in his stead. 
That active,' brave and resolute officer, of Scotch descent, though 
born in Canada, immediately proceeded to show the stuff of which 
he was made, and entered upon a most vig.orous and successful 
campaign. 
His first objective point was Fort George, but General McClure, 
bearing of the disasters which had befallen \Vilkinson and Hampton 
on the St. Lawrence, relieved hi:11 of further anxiety in regard to that 
post by evacuating it and moving his force to Fort Niagara,on their own 
side of the river, on the 12th December. Before leaving Canadian 
50il, however, he was guilty of an offence against the rules of civilized 
warfare, and acting under the immediate instructions of the Ameri
 
can Secretary at War, he set fire, on the tenth December, to the 
Village of Newark, as Niagara Was then called, whereby over a 
hundred and fifty houses were laid in ashes, and four hundred and 
fifty women and children were exposed to the inclemency of a Can- 
adian winter at half an hour's notice to the defenceless inhabitants. 
On the same day McClure reported exultingly from Fort Niagara 
to the Secretary of \Var: 5' The village is now in flames and the 
enemy shut out of hope and means of win:ering in Fort George." 
N ow, when Detroit had been taken by the British, and Michil- 
imackir:ack and Ogdensburg, Forts Schlosser and Black Rock, all 



24'S 
þtì
ate property had been respected, and only public property 
destroyed, in conformity to the views and disposition of the British 

ommanders and the liberal and magnanimous policy of the British 
Government. It was reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the invad. 
ers of Canadia.n territory would have abstained from acts of wanton.. 
ness and unnecessary violence and not have brought disgrace upon 
å nation ca.lling itself civilized and Christian, the more especially as 
General McClure had, by a recent proclamation in which he aft"ected to 
consider Upper Canada as aba.ndoned by the British Army, proffered 
his protection to those" innocent, unfortunate, distressed inhabitants," 
whom he thus made the mournful spectators of the conflagration and 
total destruction of all that belonged to them. Retribution quickly 
followed. 
"The Br:tish Commander would have ill consulted the honour 
of his country and the justice due to His Majesty's injured and 
insulted subjects, had he permitted an act of such needless cruelty to 
pass unpunished, or had he failed to visit, whenever the opportunity 
arrived, upon the inhabitants of the neighbouring American frontier, 
the calamities thus inflicted upon those of our own."(I) 
" Let us retaliate by fire and sword," we are told fiat Colonel 
Murray said to General Drummond, as they gazed on the sinking 
ruins of the town. 
"Do so, swiftly and thoroughly," said the Comm mder; and 
bitter indeed was the vengeance taken.(2) 
Fortunately, in his haste to take refuge at Niagara, McClure, 
had neglected to destroy Fort George, and Colonel Murray, who was 
in command of a small corps of observation which lay at Twelve. 
Mile Creek) and to whom the flames of the burning village became 
a signal, putting his men in sleighs, hurried forward through a blind. 
ing snowstorm, and marched in on the night of the day McClure 
evacuated the fort. Once more the British flag waved over its walls 
and the left bank of the Niagara was in possession of the British 
forces. It was immediately decided to take Fort Niàgara, and on 
the night of the 18th December, a sufficient number of batteaux 
having beel' conveyed overland from Burlington
 "it was done 
accordingly. " 


(I) Sir George Prevost's Prodam,\tion, 12th JanU:iry. 1814. 
(2) Mrs. Edgar, 260. 



249 
The manner in which Colonel John Murray perfonned the task 
is thus described in general orders, dated Quebec 29tn, 181 3 : 
"The Fort of Niagara was most gallantly carried by assault at 
the point of the bayonet at daybreak, on the morning of the 19 th 
instant, by a detachment consisting of the Grenadiers of the Royals, 
of the flank companies of the Forty-First, the Hundredth Regiment, 
and a small party of the Royal Artillery, under the command of 
C<?lonel Murray. The enemy suffered severely in killed and wounded. 
Captain Leonard, the commandant, several officers and the greater 
part of the garrison were made priso!lers. This gallant enterprise 
was achieved with the loss on our part of very few of our brave men; 
but His Excellency has to regret the fall of Lieutenant Nolan, of 
the Hundredth Regiment, and that Colonel Murray has been 
wounded. All the ordnance mounted in the fort, together with 
three thousand stand of arms, clothing and military stores of all 
descriptions, to a considerable amount, have fallen into our hands. 
His Excellency is in hourly expectation of receiving the official de- 
tails of this brilliant affair, which reflects the highest honour upon 
Colonel Murray and the small detachment under his command." 
The Provincial Corps acted as boats men on the occasion. Two 
of the enemy's picquets were cut off and the sentinels on the glacis 
and at the gate surprised, from whom the watchword was obtained, 
which greatly facilitated the enterprise. One British officer and five 
men were killed, two officers and three men wounded. Of the enemy 
sixty-five men and two officers were killed and twelve men wounded 
(I), and over three hundred soldiers of the regular army of the 
United States taken prisoners. General McClure had left for Buff.:1.1o 
a few days previous and thus escaped. 
Major-General Riall, who had crossed over immediately after 
Colonel Murray with a large force of Indians, the First Battalion 
Royal Scots and the Forty-First Regiment, in order to support the 
attack, proceeded up the river upon Lewiston, where the enemy had 
established a fort and erected batteries for the a vowed purpose of 
destroying the village of Queenston, immediately opposite on our 
side, and which they had been bombarding with red-hot shot. 
These, however, they abandoned, together with a considerable quan- 
tity of arms and stores, and then began the work of vengeance, and 


(T) The di
parity between the number of killed and wounded is probably to lie accounted 
for by the enemy's proceedings of the loth December. A free use of the bayonet was to have 
be..n expected. 



25 0 
Lewiston, Youngstown, Tuscarora Village, Manchester, Schlosser 
and the circumjacent country were laid in waste by our Indians and 
exasperated soldiers who had witnessed the scene of devastation at 
Newark. But the end was not yet; the opportunity was at hand 
and a full measure of retaliation \
as essential j justice demanded 
that the whole of their frontier should be laid in ashes. 
General Drummond accordingly moved his forces up to Chip- 
pewa on the 28th December, and on the following day approached 
to within two miles of Fort Erie, and having reconnoitred the enemy's 
position at Black Rock, determined upon an attack. General Rmll 
was accordingly directed to cross the river at midnight on the 29 th 
with about a thousand men, composed of four companies of the 
King's Regiment, the light company of the Eighty-Ninth, under 
Colonel Ogilvy, two hundred and fifty men of the Forty-First, the 
Grenadi
rs of the Hundredth, and some militia and a body of Indians. 
He succeeded in surprising and capturing the greater part of the 
enemy's picquets. At daybreak he attacked the enemy, who were 
in great force and strongly posted, and maintained their position 
for some time, but a reserve under Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon hav- 
ing arrived, they were compelled to give way, and were driven 
through their batteries at the point of the bayonet. The Americans 
fled to Buffalo, about two miles distant, where they received a rein- 
forcement and rallied! attempting to oppose the advance of the 
British by the fire of a fie1ei piece, but they shortly broke and took 
to the woods. Their forces greatly exceeded those of the British, 
numbering not less than twenty-five hundred. They lost in killed 
and wounded from three to four hundred men and one hün':!red and 
thirty were made prisoners. The British loss was thirty-one killed, 
four officers and fixty-eight men wounded and nine missing. Cap- 
tain Robinson, with two companies of the King's, was immediately 
despatched to destroy four of their lake squadron, a short distance 
below the town. Buffalo and Black Rock then followed the fate of 
Lewiston and their other frontier towns, only four buildings being 
left standing in the former and one in the latter to mark whcre once 
their sites had been, and all their public stores, with such of their 
contents of clothing, spirits and flour as could not be carried away, 
entirely consumed. 
These successes put the British force in possession of an ample 
and sorely-needed supply of provisio'1s, ammunition and stores of all 



25 1 
kinds. Hitherto they had had no winter clothing, and even yet were 
without any regularly organized commissariat. 
The resources of the enemy being thus completely exhausted, 
there being no more towns left to take, nor anything to destroy, 
General Drummond went into quarters for the winter. Hampton's 
army had been beaten, Wilkinson's had, after being badly defeated 
at Chrystler's Farm, recrossed to his own side without taking either 
Kingston and Montreal, and the Upper Province was rid of aU 
appearance of the enemy, who had at one time threatened to over- 
whelm it. Thus closed the second year of the war. 



2St 


CHAPTER 21. 


OPENING OF PARLIAMENT FEBRUARY, I8I4.-CAMPAIGN O
 THAT 
YEAR.-AMERICANS DEFEATED AT LACOLLE.-RAID NEAR 
CORNWALL.-OSWEGO TAKEN BY BRITISH MAY 6TH.-GEN- 
ERAL BROWN SUCCEEDS TO COMMAND OF NORTHERN DIVISION 
U.S. ARl\IY.-DRUMMOND'S DIRE DISTRESS.-ABANDONMENT 
OF UPPER CANADA CONTEMPLATED OWING TO LACK OF SUp. 
PUEs.-DESPERATE FIGHTING ON NIAGARA FRONTIER.-FoRT 
ERIE SURRENDERED 3RD JULy.-AMERICANS VICTORIOUS AT 
CHIPPEWA JULY 5TH.-THE BATTLE OF NIAGARA OR LUNDY'S 
LANE, THE MOST SANGUINARY OF THE WAR, 25 TH JULY. 


When the House of Assembly met at York on the 15 th Feb- 
ruary, 18 14, General Drummond, as President administering the 
Government of the Province, was able, as had been his predecessor 
Sir R. Sheaffe at the commencement of the fonner session, to con- 
gratulate the members and the country upon the results of the pre- 
vious year's campaign, proving as it did what could be accomplished 
in a good cause by men who had nothing in view but their own 
honour and the country's safety. He alluded, more as a matter of 
regret than surprise, to the fact that two members of the Legislature, 
Benjamin Mallory and Joseph Willcocks-the same two traitors who 
in the inception of the war had so seriously hampered General 
Brock when prompt action was so imperative, and had purposely 
wasted the time of the Legislature by futile discussion on school 
matters when the exigencies of the situation called for martial law 
and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act-had found their 
proper place in the ranks of the enemy. Wilcocks' treachery had 
been rewarded by his being placed in command of what they were 
pleased to term a Canadian regiment in the United States army. 
He shortly met his fate-far too good for him-being killed when 
planting a guard at the siege of Fort Erie. 
A small reinforcement, consisting of the second battalion of the 
8th (King's) Regiment came overland on sleighs through New 



253 
Erunswick in February, and two hundred and fifty seamen for the 
lakes by the same route. 
The campaign of r814 opened in the neighbourhood of Lake 
Champlain, Brigadier-General Macomb with a division of the Ame
 
rican forces crossing the lake on ice to St. Armands, while General 
\ViIkinson prepared for an attack on Odelltown. where he was soon 
joined by Macomb, their joint force numbering some five thousand 
men. The Americans made an attempt to take a blockhouse in the 
vicinity of Lacolle, scarcely deserving the appellation of a mili:ary 
post, but were driven off by a small British force composed of the 
flank companies of the ThirteeI?th Regiment, the Grenadiers of the 
Canadian Fencibles and sO:!1e of the V oltigeurs. and retired in good 
order upon Plattsburg. Major Hancock, who commanded the Brit- 
ish forces, which consisted of one hundred and sixty men in the 
blockhouse, with reinforcements which arrived during the action to 
the number of two hundred, had reason to be proud of his achieve- 
ment in repelling an army more than seven times his number. His 
loss was ten killed and four missing, two officers and forty-four men 
wounded j that of the Americans, thirteen killed, a hundred and 
twenty-three wounded and thirty missing. The action took place 
on 3 0th March. General \Vilkinson cannot have been regarded by 
his countrymen as a succe<;<;ful commander, or a marked improve
 
ment upon Hull, Smyth 
, Van Ransaller, Dearborn or Hampton. 
As was to be expected, his services were not again called into 
requisition. 
In Upper Canada during the winter matters had been quiet, the 
only incident of note being a raid from Cornwall organized by Cap- 
tain Sherwood, of the Quartermaster-General's Department, who, 
with twenty marines and ten militia men under Captain Kerr (1 
presume of the Glengarry Regiment) on the night of the 6th February 
made an incursion upon Madrid on the Grass River, fourteen miles 
below the village of Hamilton, and recaptured a quantity of mer- 
chandize plundered from British merchants near Cornwall in Octo- 
ber preceding when on their route to U pper Ca
ada. 
An unsuccessful attack was made by the British on the 4 th 
.M: arch on Longwood in the extreme west of the Province. A small 
detacnment consisting of the flank companies of the Royal Scots 
and the light companies of the Eighty-Ninth, with a few of the Kent 



254 
inìlÌtÌa a'fld some lndians, under the command of Captain Barsden, 
'Of the Eighty-Ninth, attempted to dislodge a strong party of the 

nemy, who were strongly entrenched, by a gallant charge up an 
Ìce-covered hill, but after a spirited contest of an hour and a half 
the troops were withdrawn, the enemy, however, shottly abandoning 
the position. Two British officers and twelve men were killed, and 
three officers and forty-nine men wounded j the enemy)s lüss being 
unknown. 
It was not, however, üntil the opening of navigation that the 
campaign can be said to have begun in earnest. The taking of 
Oswego by the British was the first 
oteworthy event. 
The American forces in the neighbol.lrhood of Lake Champlain 
were withdrawn and moved towards Lake Ontario early in the 
spring, shortly after the fiasco at Lacolle, the object being to 
strengthen the army, which Was to recommence offensive operations 
in the Niagara District as soon as the flt:et at Sackett's Harbour 
should be in a state to co-operate with the land forces. General 
Drummond and Sir James Veo determined upon intercepting the 
enemy's naval stores for the flet:t at Oswego, and with this object in 
vit:w an expedition against that place was determined upon. A 
force con<;isting of the light companies of the Glengarry Regiment, 
six companies of Dc\Vatteville's Regiment, the second battaliorr 
Royal Marines, with a detachment of artillery and two field pieces, 
a deiachment of a rocket company with a few sappers and miners, 
set sail in the fleet, which had been strengthened by two additional 
ships, the" Prince Regent" and "Princess Charlotte," on the 4 t h 
May, arriving at Oswego on the following day, but were unable to 
1and owing to a stiff gale \vhich sprung up. On the 6th, however, a 
landing was effected by about a hundred and forty of the troops and 
two hundred seamen armed with pikes, in the face of a heavy fire of 
round and grape shot from the battery and of musketry from a de- 
tachment of three hundred of the Americans posted on a hill and in 
a neighbouring wood, Nevertheless our men pushed on with true 
British pluck, prcssed up the hill and captured the battery, from 
which the enemy retreated, leaving sixty of their wounded behi:J,d. 
The fortifications were dismantled, the barracks burnt and the stores 
found in the fort carried off, but the naval stores which it was hOled 
would have been secured had been moved some miles up the Ri'"er 
Oswego, and were thus saved to the enemy. The L;ritish loss \Vas 



255 
severe, Captain Holtaway, of the Marines, and twenty-one men 
killed, six officers and sixty-seven men wounded. In his despatch 
General Drummond specially mentioned for gallant conduct Captain 
:McMillan, who comma!lded the light company of the ubiquitous 
Glengarries, who covered the left flank of the troops in the advanct. 
The fleet returned to Kingston on the following day. 
On the Niagara frontier the command of the American troop
 
had passed to Major
General Brown, formerly an officer in the New 
York militia, who had gained some distinction among his country- 
men by his good fortune in defending Sackett's Harbour in the 
previous year, and on Gene1!8.1 Wilkinson's retirement he became 
commander of the northern division of the United States army. He 
had some excellent officers under him, notably Brigadier-Generals 
'Vinfield Scott and Ripley-the former of whom was one of the 
most talented and best trained officers in the army. Both sides now 
required t'leir ablest generals, {or the skill and judgment of the 
commanders as well as the pluck and endurance of their armies 
were shortly to be put to the severest test. The Americans had this 
great advantage over their opponents, namely, that their troops were 
not worn out with fatigue as were those of the British, which from 
the scarcity of their number in comparison with 1he extent of the 
country they had to cover and protect, and the number of posts 
they had to garrison, were so reduced from exposure and fatigue, 
and consequent ill-health, as to be largely unfit for duty. Stores, 
too, of all kinds had to be brought up from Montreal at enormous 
trouble and expense, and provisions were difficult to obtain owing to 
the ravages of the enemy, and so many of the farmers, then com- 
paratively few at the best of times, having been in the two previous 
seasons engaged in co-operation with the regular forces in the defence 
of the country to the total neglect of their ordinary avocations. 
General Drummond had been unremitting in his preparations 
for the coming campaign. Through the worst of weather and ex- 
ecrable roads he hurried from York to Kingston and from Kingston 
to Delaware, making enquiries into the resources of the country and 
the condition of the inhabitants, with a view to procuring supplies 
(1). In the month of January, indeed, it had become evident that the 
supply of meat would soon be exhausted and he began to entertain 
serious apprehensions that he would be compelled to abandon all 


(I I t;eneral Drllmmond t , 
ir G. Prevost. :.\Iarch 5th, 181 4. 



25 6 
that part of the Province west of Kingston from sheer want of food. 
In addition to his troops, he had se'Veral thousand non-combatants 
to feed, most of the \Vestern Indians who had survived General 
Proctor's defeat, as well as the whole of the Six Nations from the 
Grand River, three thousand persons in all, of whom two-thirds 
Were women and children, had sought refuge near the British can- 
tonments at Burlington. Their depredations so harassed and 
alarmed many of the inhabitants in the vicimty that they abandoned 
their farms and took shelter in the soldiers' quarters. ( I) In addition 
to these the homeless fugitives from Niagara were also dependent 
upon the overtaxed commissariat, Thus while the armed force num- 
bered less than two thousand, bet\v
en seven and eight thousand 
rations were issued daily.( 2) The Indians alone consumed twice as 
much flour as the whole of the troops. 
Mrs. Edgàr points out (3) that \vith but three thousand British 
troops, garrisons Were maintained at Forts George, Niagara, Erie 
and Mississagua (build early in 1814 after the burning of Newark 
by the Americans), the important post at Burlington Heights had 
to be protected, detachments Were required to guard the provision 
depots at Twelve Mile Creek and Twenty Mile Creek. York from 
its exposed position and liability t) be again attacked, had to be 
defended. Port Dover, on Lake Erie, was also in need of protec- 
tion, owing to the danger that troops might be landed there and gain 
the rear of General Riall's division by the \Vestern road; while at the 
crossing of the Grand River (Brantford) and also at Delaware othér 
detachments had to be posted to guard the advance of the enemy 
by way of the Thames. It was owing, of course, to the Peninsulàr 
War that material reinforcements could not be sent to Canada until 
too late for any practical use, although it is customary with 
American writers to describe General Drummond's forces as being 
composed of Wellington's veterans. ltl May, the Sixteenth and 
Ninetieth Regiments, besides a corps of rifles and some artillery, 
landed at Quebec, but it was nOt until the autumrL of this year that 
consequent upon the downfall of Napoleon, \Vellington's troops, 
released from service on the continent, Were despatched in large 
numbers to Canada, and enabled us to compete with the enemy on 
anything like equal terms. The d
saster at Plattsburg, which was 


(I) Drummond to Prevost, February 8th, 1814. 
(II) Ernest Cruickshank's .. Lundy's Lane," p. ;. 
(3) Ten Years of Upper Canada, P.284. 



257 . 
the one engagement of importance in which they participated, could 
not, however, have been congenial to regiments which had so re- 
cently shared with \Vellington the glory of the Peninsular \Var. 
By the end of June the AIDêrican forces concen trated on the 
Niagara frcnLier were ready' for another inv.l51on of Uppeî Canada. 
They consisted of five thousand regular soldiers and three thousand 
New York and Pennsylvania militia, admirably drilled at the Buffalo 
camp of instruction, which had been organized under Brigadier- 
General Scott;. together with some six hundred Indians under the 
celebrated Seneca Chief Red Jacket. On the 3rd JuJy the enemy 
embarked in boats and batteaux, and effccted a landing on the 
Canadian side, with two brigades under Brigadiers Scott and Rip- 
Icy respectively, the former about one milê below and the latter the 
same distance above Fort Erie. 
.t this post was a small British 
detachment of some seventy men under Major Buck, of the KiQg's 
Regiment, who had been engaged in placing it in a state of defence, 
more with a view of causmg a temporary check to the anticipated 
invading force than for defending it against a reguJar seige. which 
would have been impossible, The Am
rica.ns, after having erected 
some batteries, and placing their cannan in position, summoned 
Major Buck to surrender, giving him two hours to determine. Had 
he held out even for a few hours, General Riall would have been 
able to have concentrated his troops in the vicinity, and have fallen 
upon the enemy before they could have had time to prepare for an 
effective resistance. Major Buck, however, tamely surrendered to 
the enemy without making even a show of resistance, his force being 
sent across the river prisoners of war. 111e loss of this important 
post was a most serious matter to the British forces, and many a 
life was lost around it ncfore the American General Izard, previous 
to abandoning the Niagara peninsula, mined it and on the sth 
November laid it in ruins. 
The Americans advanced the next day to Chippewa and were 
making preparations to carry the post when General RialI, having 
collected his forces, and being reinforced by the arrival of the 8th 
and looth Regiments, on the sth July, gave them battle. The enemy 
had much the advantag
 in poi.1t of numbers and a müst sanguinary 
conflict ensued. After an hour of desperate fighting, General Riall, 
having lost no less than six officers and one hundred and forty-two 
m
n ki!1cJ, tw
nty-
ix officers (amJng them Lieuten
1l1t-Colonel the 



25 8 
Marquis of Tweeddale, severely) and 
','!':) hundred and ninety-five men 
wounded and an officer and forty-five men missing, was obligeù to 
fall back upon Chippewa. The enemy stated his loss at seventy 
killed, two hundred and forty-nine wounded and nineteen misssing. 
Had the American fleet been in the vicinity, the whole of our forts 
in the neighbourhood of Niagara might at this time have been reduced 
and the greater portion of the Province again subjugated, as shown in 
the letter of General Brown to Commodore Chauncey, dated 13 th 
July, begging him" for God's sake" to meet him with the fleet at 
Fort George, where they" would be able to settle a plan of opera- 
tions that will break the power of the enemy in Upper Canada and 
that in the course of a short time." Fortunately, however, Chaun- 
cey was still safely blockaded in Sackett's Harbour by Sir James 
Yeo. As it was the enemy advanced upon and occupied Queenston 
and made demonstrations upon Forts George and Mississagua, with- 
out any result however, falling back on Queenston on the 25th July, 
and after firing the village of St. David, retreating to Chippewa, his 
object being to disencumber his anny of its heavy baggage, draw a 
supply of provisions from Fort Schlosser, and then proceed in the 
direction of Burlington Heights with a view to capturing that im- 
portan t post. 
General Drummond had repeatedly requested that more troops 
should be sent him for the relief of th
 Niagara frontier, but the only 
reinforcements he received were four hundred of the Glengarry Regi- 
ment, which had formed for some time past the garrison at York, a 
small portion of Marine Artillery, the Hundred and Third Regiment 
and some of the Eighty-Ninth, under Colonel Morrison. He also 
had the able assistance of Colonel Harvey which came most 
opportunely. 
Sir George Prevost could not, however, be made to appreciate the 
imminence of the situation. He was convinced that the attack would 
be made from the neighbourhood of Lake Champlain. Pencilled 
upon the margin of General Drummond's letter of June 21st, 1814, 
expressing his firm belief that the main attack would be made on the 
Niagara frontier, and that the movement of troops towards Platts- 
burg was simply a feint to prevent reinforcements from being 
despatched from Lower Canada to his assistance, there is this 
significant memorandum in Prevost's own handwriting, "
Iuch 



259 
obliged to Lieutenant-General Drummond for his opinion, but it is 
entÏJiie]y without foundation. "( I) 
On the 25th July, then, with such forces as there were at hIS 
disposal, General Drummond had to fight the most stubbornly con- 
tested and sanguinary battle ever fought in Upper Canada. It 
began between six and seven in the evening and lasted five hours 
and a half. Nothing could have been more awful or impressive than 
this midnight struggle. In Canada it is commonly known as Lundy's 
Lane, in British official records Niagara, while by American writers 
it is styled Bridgewater, but by whatever name it many be known 
it was a glorious victory for the British forces. The Glengarry 
Regiment constituted the right wing of the British army( 2 ). General 
Riall had early in the morning sent the Glengarry Regiment,with the 
Provincial Dragoons and Incorporated Militia(3), to reconnoitre the 
American camp at Chippewa and watch the movements of the 
enemy. They took up their position on the high ground near 
Lundy's Lane, and in the afternoon were joined by General Riall 
and Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond of the Hundred and Fourth. 
The best and naturally most authentic account of the battle that 
ensued is that of the gallant General Drummond himself in his 
official despatch to Sir G. Provost: 
FROM LIEUTENANT-GENERAL DRUMMOND TO SIR G. PREVOST. 
HEAD-QUARTERS, near Niagara Falls, July 27, 18 1 4. 
SIR, 
I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner" Netley," at 
York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant, and reached Niagara at 
daybreak the following morning. Finding, from Lieutenant-Colonel 
Tucker, that Major-General Riall was understood to be moving 
towards the Falls of Niagara, to support the advance of his division, 
which he had pushed on to that place on the preceding (:vening, 
I ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, with the Eighty-Ninth 
Regiment and a detachment of the Royals and King's, drawn 
from Forts George and Mississaga, to proceed to the same point 
in order that, with the united force, I might act against the 
enemy (posted at Street's Creek, with his advance at Chippeway) 
on my arrival, if it should be found expedient. I ordered 


(I) Mr. Cruickshank's Lecture. 
(2) It was by no means the first time Glengarry men had held that post in battle! 
(3) Drummond had some time previously directed the establishment of a battalion of four 
hundred men from among the militia to serve during the w.u in order that the others might 
bestow their attention on their f.lrms except in the event of a levy en m 'sse The ranks of this 
corps were rapidly filled up with stalwart young recruits, and it was armed and exercised as a 
light infantry battalion under the name of the Incorporated Militia. They rendered most valuable 
service during the latter portion of the war. 



260 
Lieutenant-Coionel Tucker, at the same time, to proceed up 
the right bank of the river, with three hundred of the Forty-First, 
about two hur..dred of the Royal Scots, and a. body of Indian 
warriors, supported- (on the river) by a party of armed seamen, 
under Captain Dobbs, Royal Navy. The object of this movement 
,vas to dIsperse, or capture, a body of the enemy, encamped 
at Lewistown. Some unavoidable delay having occurred in the 
march of the troops up the right bank, the enemy had moved off 
previous to Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker's arrival. I have to express 
myself satisfied with the exertions of that officer. 
Having refreshed the troops at Queenstown, and having brought 
across the Forty-First Royals, and Indians, I sent back the Forty- 
First and Hundredth Regiments, to form the garrisons of Forts 
George, Mississaga and Niagara, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker, 
and moved with the Eighty-Ninth and detachments of the Royals and 
King's, and light company of the Forty-First-in all about eight 
hundred men-to join )'lajor-General Riall's division at the Falls. 
'When arrived within a few miles of that position, I met a report 
from M:ajor,;.General Riall, that the enemy was advancing in great 
force. I immediately pushed on, and joined the head of Lieutenant- 
Colonel Morrison's columns just as it reached the road leading to 
the Beaver Dam, over the summit of the hill at Lundy's Lane. 
Instead of the whole of Major-General Riall's division, which I 
expected to have found occupying this positon, I found it almost in 
the occupation of the enemy, whose columns were within six hundred 
yards of the top of the hill, and the surrounding woods filled with 
his light troops. The advance of Major-General Riall's division, 
consisting of the Glengarry Light Infantry and Incorporated Militia, 
having commenced a retreat upon Fort George, I countermanded 
these corps, and formed the Eighty-Ninth Regiment, the Royal Scots 
detachment and the Forty-First light company, in the rear of the hill, 
their left resting on the great road; my two twenty-four pounder brass 
field guns a little advanced, in front of the centre, on the summit of 
the hill; the Glengarry Light Infantry on the right; the battalion of 
Incorporated Militia, and the detachment of the King's Regiment ón 
the left of tht great road; Ùe squadron of tþe Ninteenth Light 
Dragoons in the rear of the left, on the road. I had scarc,ely com- 
pleted this formation when the whole front ,vas warmly and closely 
engaged. The enemy's principal efforts were directed agamst our 
left and centre. After repeated attacks, the troops on the left were 
partially forced back, and the enemy gained a momentary possession 
of the road. This gave him, however, no material advantage, as the 
troops which had been forced back formed in the rear of the Eighty- 
Ninth Regiment, fronting the road, and securing the flank. It was 
during this short interval that Major-General Riall, having recei\'ed 
a severe wound, was intercepted as he was passing to the rear, by a 
party of the enemy's cavalry, and taken prisoner. In the centre, the 



261 
repeated and determined attacks of the enemy Were met by the 
Eighty-Ninth Regiment, the detachments of the Royals and King's, 
and the light company of the Forty-First Regiment, with the most 
perfect steadiness and intrepid gallantry, and the enemy was con- 
stantly repulsed with very heavy loss. In so determined a manner 
were their attacks directed against oar guns, that our artillerymen 
were bayoneted by the enemy while in the act of loading, and the 
muzzles of the enemy's guns were advanced within a few yards of 
our's. The darkness of the night, during this extraordinary conflict, 
occasioned several uncommon incidents; our troops having been for 
a moment pushed back, some of our guns remained for a few minutes 
in the enemy's hands; they, however, were not only quickly 
recovered, but the two pieces (a six-pounder and a five and a half 
inch howitzer) which the enemy had brought up, were captured by 
us, together with several tumbrils, and in limbering up our guns at 
one period, one of the enemy's six-pounders was put by mistake on 
a limber of ours, and one of our six-pounders limbered on one of 
his; by which means the pieces were exchanged; and thus though 
we captured two of his guns, yet, as he obtained one of ours, we 
ha ve gained only one gun. 
About 9 o'clock (the action having commenced at 6) there was 
a short intermission of firing, during which it appears the enemy was 
employed in bringing the whole of his remaining force; and he short- 
ly afterwards renewed his attack with fresh troops, but was every- 
where repulsed with equal gallantry and success. About this period 
the remainder of Major-General Riall's division,. which had been 
ordered to retire on the advance of the enemy, consisting of the 
HU
ldred and Third Regiment, under Colonel Scott; the head- 
quarter division of the Royal Scots; the head-quarær division of the 
Eighth, or King's; flank companies of the I04th; and some detach- 
ments of the militia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, Inspecting 
Field Officer, joined the troops engaged; and I placed them in a second 
line, with the exception of the Royal Scots and flank companies of 
the Hundred and Fourth, with which I prolonged my line in front 
to the right, where I was apprehensive of the enemy outflanking me. 
The enemy's efforts to carry the hill were continued till about 
midnight, when he had suffered so severely from the superior steadi- 
ness and discipline of His Majesty's troops, that he gave up the con- 
test, and retreated with great precipitation to his camp beyond the 
Chippeway. On the following day he abandoned his camp, threw 
the greater parc of his baggage, camp equipage, and provisio
s, irao 
the rapids, and having set fire to Street's Mills, and destroyed the 
bridge at Chippeway, continued his retreat in great disorder to. 
wards Fort Erie. My light troops, cavalry and Indians are 
detached in pursuit, and to harass his retreat, which I doubt not he 
will continue until he reaches his own shore. 
The loss sustained by the enemy in this severe action cannot be 



26a 
estimated at l'ess than one thousand five hundred men, including 
several hundred of prisoners left in our hands; his two commanding 
generals, Brown and Scott, are said to be wounded, his whole force, 
which has never been rated at less than five thousand, having been 
engaged. 
Enclosed I have the honour to transmit a return of our loss, 
which has been very considerable. The number of troops under my 
command did not, for the first three hours) exceed one thousand 
six hundred men; and the addition of the troops, under Colonel 
Scott, did not increase it to more than two thousand eight hundred 
of every description. 
In enumerating those by whose valour and discipline this im- 
portant victory had been obtained, special mentio
 was made of the 
Glengarry Light Infantry, which under Lieutenant-Colonel Batters- 
by, it was stated, had displaYtd m
st valuable qualities as light 
troops, while in reviewing the action from the commencement the 
first object which presented itself was * * "the very creditable 
and excellent defence made by the Incorporated Militia Battalion 
UIlder Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, who Was dangerously wounded, 
and was succeeded in the command by Major Kirby, who continued 
very gallantly to direct its efforts. This battalion has only been 
organized a few months, and much to the credit of Captain R
bin- 
son, of the King's Regiment (Provincial Lieutenant-Colonel), has 
attained a very respectable degree of discipline." 
The British loss was: killed eighty-four, wounded five hundr:d 
and fifty-nine; missing one hundred and ninety-three, prisoners 
forty-two; total, eight hundred and fifty-eight. The Glengarry 
Regiment suffered severely, four privates being killed, Lieutenant 
R. Kerf and thirty non-commissioned officers and men wounded, 
Ensign Robins and twenty-one non-commissioned officers and men 
missing. The Incorporated Militia suffered most of all the provin- 
cial corps, losing one hundred and forty-two officers and men killed, 
wounded and missing out of about three hundred engaged, among 
the wounded being Captain ] ohn MacdonelJ, a hrother of the wife 
of the late Colonel Alexander Chisholm, of Alexandria. He had 
his arm shot off, and died shortly afterwards of wounds at York, 
now Toronto. Lieutenant McDougall, of the same corps, was also 
mortally and Ensign Macdonell severely wounded, and a gentleman 
who was afterwards Sheriff of this district, then an officer in the 
Eighth (or King's) Regiment, Donald Æneas Macdonell, was also 



26 3 
severely wounded.(x) General Drummond himself received a pain- 
ful bullet wound in the neck, which narrowly missed being fatal, 
through he paid so little attention to it that he did not even dis- 
mount to have it dressed.!>. few minutes later his horse was shot 
under him.(2) General Riall, too, rashly brave and impetuous, 
was before being taken prisoner wounded in the arm, which it was 
feared, would require to be amputated, though the operation was, 
fortunately, eventually found to be unnecessary. 
The command of the American forces, in the absence 
f Gen- 
erals Brown and Scott, who had retired for the recovery of their 
wounds, devolved upon General Ripley for the time being, but that 
officer was severely called to account by his Government for his 
retreat, and was superseded in Ùe command of the army by General 
Gaines, who was summoned from Sackett's Harbour to take com- 
mand until General Brown should recover from his wounds. The 
aides to the commanding officers on either side, Captain Loring, 
A. D.C. to General Drummond, and Captain Spencer to General 
Brown, were both taken prisoners by their respective opponents, but 
were exchanged without the usual delay customary in Süch cases. 
Captain Spencer, whù wås mortally wounded, died the day he 
arrived at Fort Erie. 
Ripley's re!irement to Chippewa met with the full approval of 
General Brown, as appears from a despatch of the latter to the 
American Secretary. at- \Var. 
The bra very of the militia engaged in this desperate conflict is 
stated by Mr. Christie, upon the authority of Lieutenant-Colonel 
(afterwards Lieutenant-General Sir John) Harvey, to have been 
beyond all praise. The scene of battle must have been a gruesome 
and awful sight. Mr. Christie says than it nothing could have been 
more awful and impressive. The desperate charges of the enemy 
were succeeded by a death-like silence, interrupted only by the 
groans of the dying and the dull sounds of the Falls of Niagara! 


(1) Mr. Macdonell afterwards exchanged from the King's Regiment to the Ninety-Eighth 
(Royal Tipper .ry). l!PI?n retiryng fro!ll the army ,he settled at St. Andrews, and command
d 
one of the Stormont :\Ilhtla Re ,:!lments In the rebellion of 1837-8. He represented Stormont In 
several P"rliaments, wa<; Sheriff of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and for many years 
\Varden of the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston. 
(2) General Drummond was, as previously mentioned, by birth a Canadian, having been 
born at Quebec in 1:"71. He was a son of Colin Drummond, of Megginch, Paymaster-General 
01 the Forces in Lower Canada. His promotion in the service was rapid. He served in Holland 
at the seige ofNime
uen and elsewhere, greatly distinguishing himself for valor. He tonk part in 
the expedition ti) Elitypt under Abercrombie. and participated in all the battles of that campaign. 
He succeeded Sir G. Prevost as Commander-in-Chief and Administrator of the Government. He 
died in L:>ndon in 1854. 


& 



26 4 
while the adverse lines were now and then dimly discerned through 
the moonlight by the gleam of their arms. Those anxious pauses were 
succeeded by a blaze of musketry along the lines and by a repetition 
of the most desperate charges from the enemy, which the British 
regulars and militia received each time with the most unshaken 
firmness. The battlefield remained, of course, in the possession of 
the British during the remainder of the night. Pearson's brigade had 
marched fourteen miles and had been deprived of sleep the previous 
night, Morrison's detachment had accomplished the same distance, 
and the remainder not less than twenty-one miles in the heat of a 
July day. Almost one-third ot their number had been killed or were 
wounded or missing. The survivors were utterly exhausted and 
threw themselves down to rest among the dead and dying upon the 
blood-stained hill they had finally re-conquered (I). On the following 
day the British buried their own dead and sent a message to the 
Americans to send back a detachment to bury their late comrades, 
wh
ch duty they were, however, unable to fulfil, and the heat being 
so excessive, nothing was left for the British but to burn their bodies. 
Having claimed Queenston Heights not only as a victory, but 
declared it to be the chef d'æuvre of the War, it is not surprising to 
to find their historians claiming this battle, too, or to learn that 
" Niagara Falls" is emblazoned on the flags of such of their regiments 
as participated in it. It fell to their lot not infrequently in this War 
to extract sunbeams from cucumbers. 
Fort Erie, to which after the battle the Americans had retreated, 
was now their only foothold on cur side of the river, and here 
Ripley, under orders from his superior officer, though much 
against his own judgment and inclination, which would have led him 
to forsake an inhospitable shore, proceeded to entrench himself and 
to rebuild, strengthen and enlarge the fortification. General Gaines 
had arrived on the 6th to take c.ommand. The American fleet had 
arrived at the head of the lake, but on finding the anny far from 
being in a state to co-operate, cooped up at Fort Erie, and incapable 
of holding any communication with the naval force on the lake, 
returned to Sackett's Harbor. 
Captain Dobbs, R.N., had on the night of the 12th August 
captured two of the enemy's schooners, the" Ohio" and" Somers," 


(I) Mr. Cruickshank's lecture, page 31. 



26 5 
close to Fort Erie, each mounting three long twelves, wÍth comple- 
ments of thirty-five men, which gave spirit to our army, and General 
Drummond, after ascertaining their position, determined to storm the 
American entrenchments. He accordingly opened a battery on the 
13 th , and on the following day made the 
ecessary preparations for 
an assault, the troops getting under arms at mid-night of the 14th of 
August, his force being divided into three divisions -the first under 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer, of De 'Vatteville's Regi- 
ment; be second under Lieutenant-Colonel William Drummond, of 
the Hundred and Fourth, a nephew of General Drummond, who had 
already done much good service, but was fated after this night to do 
no more (I); and the third, under Colonel Scott, (2) of the Hundred 
and Third, who also now fought his last b2.ttle. At two o'clock in the 
morning the attack became general. Colonel Fischer's column had 
gained the point of attack two hours before daylight, and the two 
other columns advanced as soon as the firing upon his division 
was heard, and at the same moment stonned the fort and entrench- 
ments on the right, and after a desperate resistance succeeded in 
securing lodgment in the fort. The enemy took to a stone building, 
being driven from their posts at the point of the bayonet, which was 
used with terrible effect. The victory was about complete when a 
terrible explt)sion occurred within the fort, the ammunition under 
the platform on which the guns were placed taking fire, whether 
accidently or by design has never been ascertained, and almost all 
the British troops who had entered the fort were blown to pieces. 
An immediate panic ensued. Those of the British who survived 
could not be rallied. Colonel Scott had been shot dead and 
Drummond killed by a bayonet thrust in the contest at the fort, at 
the head of their respective columns. The enemy had received 
reinforcements from the left and centre of their lines, which, taking 
hking advantage of the darkness and confusion of the moment, 
pressed forward with a heavy and destructive fire, and compelled 
their assailants to retire from the works they had so gallantly carried. 
General Drummond stated his loss as follows: killed-four officers, 


(I) He was fifth son of John Drummond, of Keltie, County Perth, Scotland. At St. 
Vincent, when a Lieutenant in the S
cond \Vest India Regiment, he receive,i the most flattering 
testimonials from Lieutenant-( ;eneral Hunter, under whom h
 served At the c..ptllre of Surinam 
he was Aide-de-Camp t'l Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Green, in command of the forces, and 
most honourably mentione I in despatcht:s. In 1804 he was voted a hundred guinea sword by 
Lloyds for his intrepid conduct in animating the crew of the merchant ship" Fortitude" to beat 
off the attack of two French privateers. He was ceverely wounded at Sackett's Harbour, 
and at Chippewa and elsewhere displayed the highest and best qualities of a soldier. 
(2) Colonel Hercules Scott, of Brotherton, Scotland. 



266 
fifty-three non-commissioned officers and men; wounded, twenty. 
three officers, two hundred aüd eighty-five non-commissioned officers 
and men; missing, nine officers, five hundr
d and thirty non-com. 
missioned officers and men-a total in killed, wounded and missing 
of 904, while the American loss was but 84 all told! 
Mrs. Edgar states that in poor Colonel Drummond's pocket was 
found a secret order in Colonel Harvey's handwriting," The 
Lieutenant-General most strongly recommends the free use .of the 
bayonet." Through this paper General Gaines is authority for the 
statement that the mark of the bayonet which laid him low is to be 
seen! She also mentions the fact that Colonel Scott was buried the 
the same evening ty his own men in the presence of the only three 
officers of his Regiment who came out of that fatal fort unhurt. 
Among the names of those mentioned in despatches for con. 
spicious gallantry on this occasion was that of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Battersby, of the Glengarry Regiment, as also that of Captain 
Powell, of whom Sir Gordon Drummond reported, "Captain Powell, 
of the Glengarry Light Infantry, on the staff as Deputy Assistant 
in the Quarter-
faster-General's Department, who conducted Lieu- 
tel.ant-Colonel Fischer's column, and first entered the enemy's en- 
trenchments, by his coolness and gallantry particularly distinguished 
himself. " ' 
General Drummond was reinforced a day or two after this 
assault by the arrival of the Sixth and Eighty-Second Regiments 
from Lower Canada, which, however, v'ere barely sufficient to supply 
the recent casualties, and he did not deem it expedient to hazard 
another attack on Fort Erie, contenting himself with continuing its 
investment, thereby cutting off the enemy's communication wIth the 
adjacent coun try, and by compelling him to draw all his resources 
from his own country, rendering the occupation of Fort Erie for the 
remainder of the campaign of no service to the invaders. He also 
constructed new batteries, and harassed his neighbours constantly 
with hot shot, shell and rockets. On the 28th August General 
Gaines narrowly escaped with his life, a shot descending through 
the roof of his quarters and explodipg at his feet. He was so severe- 
ly wounded that he was obliged to relinquish his command and 
retire to Buffalo. 



26 1 


CHAPTER 
2. 


CAPTURE OF PRAIRIE DU CHIEN BY THE Bl{ITISH.-AMERICANS 
REPULSED AT MICHILIMACINAC.-BRITISH CAPTURE THE 
AMERICAN SHIPS" SCORPION" AND " TIGRESS. "-ARRIVAL OJ' 
LARGE REINFORCEMENTS FROM BRITAIN.-PREVOST'S DISAS- 
TROUS EXPEDITION TO PLATTSBURG, N.Y.-AMERICANS RE- 
PULSED AT FORT ERIE SEPT. 17, 1814.-AMERICANS CROSS 
TO THEIR OWN SHORES.-McARTHUR'S INCURSIO
 A
D RE- 
TREAT.-CLOSE OF THE \V AR.- TREATY of GHENT SIGNED 
DEC. 24, 1814, AND RATIFIED FEB. 17, 1815. 


Troops to the number of 16,000 released from further duty in 
the Peninsular by the overthrow of Napoleon now poured into Can- 
ada, and with them some of Wellington's most distinguished gel} 
erals, notably General Kempt, afterwards Sir James Kempt, G.C.B., 
who became Governor-General of Canada, and who had commanded 
a brigade which led the attack and carried the Castle of Badajoz, a 
brigade of the Light Division at Vittoria, the attack on the Heights 
of Vera, at Neville, Nive, Or
hez, Toulouse and other engagements 
111 that campaign, and who afterwards for his part in the Battle of 
Waterloo, where he was severely woundej, was promoted to -the 
Grand Cross of the Bath in the place of the renowned Sir Thomas 
Picton; General Robinson, who also had fought at and received de. 
corations for Vittoria, St. Sebastian, where he was wounded, and the 
Nive, who was the son of a distinguished U. E. Loyalist and who 
afterwards became Governor of Upper Canada; and General Bris- 
bane (afterwards Sir Thomas Brisbane, G.C.B., G.C.H.), who had 
been in five of the most desperate of the Peninsular battles, as also 
too had General Power. Yet, notwithstanding the number of the 
reinforcements and the distinction of the officers commanding them. 
it was their fate to participate, under the immediate direction of Sir 
George Prevost, the commander of the forces in British North Ame. 
rica, in a luckless and humiliating expedition which terminated in 



268 
the total loss of the co-operating squadron, of five hundred of the 
land force in killed, wounded and missing, of stores to a prodigious 
amount, and the retirement of an indignant army before an enemy 
inferior in discipline and renown and in every other possible re- 
spect. The memory of Prevost's unfortunate armistice concluded 
between himself and Gen. Dearborn in August, 1812, which paralyzed 
the efforts of Gen. Brock, the miscarriage of the attack on Sackett's 
Harbour in May, 1813, under his immediate superintendence, 3nd 
his ft uitless " demonstration" on Fort George in August of the same 
year were to dwindle into insignificance in extent and comparison 
with this most untoward event, which completely shattered his 
reputation as a military commander, and from the result of which 
death and a consideration of his qualities as a civil Govunor and 
his conciliation and discreet treatment of and consequent popularity 
with the French population alone saved him. 
The circumstances as they appeared to each are set f'Jrth in the 
statements made to their respective governments by Sir George 
Prevost and General Macomb, U.S.A., quoted at length in Mr. 
Christie's History, volume II., p.p. 216-220, and however distasteful 
t':> British readers, cannot be gainsaid, being matter of authentic his- 
tory, allowance belllg made for Sir G. Prevost's evident desire to 
mÌnimize and explain away his defeat, and General Macomb's not 
unnatural, nor under the circumstances to be wondered at, exulta- 
tion-his despatch, however, on the whole being comparatively free 
from the bombast and vulgarity which usually characterized the 
writings of their general officers, who seldom during this war had 
similar occasion to have indulged in self-glorification. A narrative 
of the circumstances would t.lke more space than L have to spare, 
and must, together with the accounts of the many and sanguinary 
contests between the British and American forces along the sea- 
board, be left to the general historian. The force engaged in this 
expedition into the State of New York by way of Lake Champlain, 
were Imperial troops entirely, led, as stated, by the Commander-in- 
Chief himself, all his subordinate officers belonging of course to the 
Imperial service, and I must content myself with following the 
events of the war in which the Canadians participated, and more 
particularly tho'-)e ill which our own people of Glengarry had a 
share. A court-martial was to have enquired into the charges made 
against Sir Gecrge Prevost in connection with this affair, formulated 



26 9 
by Sir James Yeo, who was in command of the naval force in Can- 
ada at the time, on Prevost's return to England. He died, however, 
before the court-martial took place. 
It is more satisfactory to turn to the situaticll of affairs in the 
vicinity of Niagara, where shortly took place the last battle of mo- 
ment of the war, and in which, as on former occasions, the Glengarry 
Regiment distinguished itself. The enemy, at Fort Erie, on hearing 
the result of the expedition to Plattsburg, and aware that the British 
in their neighborhood had not been recently reinforced to an extent 
greater than their strength previous to the disasters of August 15, 
determined to make a sortie, their plan being, as stated by their 
General, Brown, "to storm the batteries, destroy the cannon and 
roughly handle the brigade upon duty before those in the camp 
could be brought into action." They waited until the I 7th of Sep- 
tember, when they ascertained that De \Vatteville's Regiment, com- 
posed of foreigners of all nations and principles, was doing duty at 
the batteries. They succeeded in obtaining possession of No. 3 
Battery, its magazine and the block house upon the right, all of 
which they destroyed, and had then gained possession of the remain- 
ing block house and No. 2 Battery and made prisoners of the garri- 
sun, though not without g!eat loss, their three principal leaders of 
divisions, General Davis, Colonels Gibson and \Vood being mortally 
wounded and a number of their men killed. They were about to as- 
sail the remaining battery when a force composed of the First Bat- 
talion of the Royal Scots, the Glengarry Light Infantry, Second 
Battalion of the Eighty- Ninth and some companies of the Sixth and 
highty-Second Regiments arrived from the Bri
ish camp. The de- 
spatch of General Drummond tells the story of how the batteries 
were retaken by these gallant corps. 
CAMP BEFORE FORT ERIE, September 19, 1814. 
My letter to your excellency of the 17th gave a short account of 
the result of an attack made by the enemy on my position on that 
day. 
I have to add, that as soon as the firing was heard, I proceeded 
towards the advance, and found the troops had moved from campol 
and the Royals and 89th had been pushed, by Major-General De 
'Vatteville, into the wood on the right towards No. 3 battery, and 
that the 82nd was moving 
o the support of the batteries on the left. 
At this moment it was reported to me that the enemy had gained 
possession of the batteries Nos. 2 and 3, and that our troops were 
falling back-a report which the approach of the fire confirmed; 



27 0 
(your Excellency will have in recollection that the whole line of 
operations lay in a thick wood). I immediately directed Lieutenant- 
Colonel Campbell to detach one wing of the 6th regiment to support 
the 82nd in an attack which I ordered to be made for the recovery 
of battery NO.2. I threw forward the Glengarry light infantry into 
the wood in front of the centre, to check the advance of the enemy, 
and support the troops retiring from that point. Both these m.o ve - 
ments were executed to my entire satisfaction, and being combm
d 
with a judicious attack made by Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon with 
part of the first brigade, consisting of the 1st battalion of the Royal 
Scots supported by the 89th, the enemy was everywhere driven back, 
and our batteries and entrenchments regained, not, however, before 
he had disabled the guns in NO.3 battery and exploded its magazine. 
,The enemy did not attempt again to make a stand, but re red è 1 in 
great disorder to the fort, and was followed by our troops to the 
glacis of that place. 
I myself witnessed the good order and spirit with whkh the 
Glengarry light infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Batters- 
by, pushed into the wood, and by their superior fire drove back the 
enemy's light troops. 
I cannot sufficiently appreciate the valuable assistance which I 
have received from Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, Deputy Adjutant- 
General, during the present service, and which has been of the more 
importance, as from my OWf) state of health, of late (in consequence 
of my wound), I have not been able to use those active exertions 
which I otherwise might. To Major Glegg, Assistant Adjutant- 
General; to Captains Chambers and Powell, Deputy Assistants 
Quarter-master-General; to Captain Foster, Military Secretary, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Hargennan, Provincial aide-de-camp, whQ nave 
rendered me every assistance in their respective situations, my Lest 
acknowledgments are due. 
The enemy, it is now ascertained, made the sortie with his 
whole force, which, including the militia volunteers, by which he 
has lately been joined, could not consist of less than 5,000. 
About 200 prisoners fell into our hands, and I cannot estimate 
the enemy's loss in killed and wounded at less than that number. 
The dreadful state of the roads and of the weather, it having 
poured with rain almost incessantly for the last ten days, renders 
every movement of ordnance or heavy stores exceedingly difficult. 
By great exertions, the commanding artillery officer has 
succeeded in moving the battery guns and mortars, wil h their 
stores, etc., towards the Chippewa, to which I mean to withdraw 
them for the present. 
In General De \Vattevillc's account of the engagement to Sir 
G. Drummond, he speaks in high terms of the Glengarry Regiment, 
stating, "Lieutenant-General Pearson with the Glengarry Light 


. 



27 1 
Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby, pusped forward by 
the centre road and attacked and carried with great gallantry the 
new entrenchment, then in full possession of the enemy." The 
American loss in this fruitless attack was according to their own 
account in killed, wounded and missing S09 men, including eleven 
officers killed and twenty-three wounded, while the British loss was 
three officers and 112 men killed, seventeen officers and 161 men 
wounded, and thirteen officers and 303 men missing-a total of 609 
officers and men. The Glengarry Light Infantry had three rank 
and file killed, one sergeant and eighteen rank and file wounded. 
Mr. James states that the American retLlrn of casualties did not ap- 
pear to include the militia or volunteers. They proclaimed it 
throughout the republic, as usual, as a " splcndid achievement." 
General Drummond, after this affair, finding his troops en- 
camped in a low situation, now rendered very unhealthy by the late 
constant rains, growing sickly, raised the investment of Fort Erie 
and fell back upon Chippewa on the evening of the 21st of Septem- 
ber, without molestation by the enemy. He shortly afterwards 
broke u
 his cantonmcnts there and retired upon Fort George and 
Burlington. On the morning of the 19th October, a skirmish took 
place at Lyon's Creek between a brigade of Amencan regulars un- 
der Gencral Bissell and detachments from the Eighty-Second, One 
Hundredth and Glengarry Regiments, amouIlting to about 6so rank 
and file, under Colonell\1urray. The thickness of the woods gave 
great advantage to the American riflemen, but though their force 
amounted to at least I SOO rank and file, they would not risk an 
encounter with evidently inferior numbers upon open ground. After 
what may be termed a drawn battle, each party retired; the British 
with a loss of nineteen killed and wo'..!.nded, the Americans accord- 
ing to their own admission sixty-seven killed, wounded and missing. 
Reinforcements shortly after came in the fleet from Kingston to the 
relief of General Drummond; the arrival of the first, although it 
did not augment Drummond's force much beyond half that of 
General Izard, being made an excuse for the retreat of a considerable 
portion of the latter to Fort Erie on the 22nd October, while the 
remainder 

a ving by the aid of their fleet reh10ved the guns and 
completely destroyed the fortifications, crosseå from Fort Erie to 
tlleir own shore on the Sth November. 
The fighting being over upon the Niagara, Lieutenant-General 



2i 2 
Drummond and suite, with the Forty-First Regiment and a number 
of convalescents, departed from the head of the lake and ani \ ed at 
Kingston on the loth November, having left the light division dis- 
tributed alonE{ the Niagara frontier in comfortable winter (
uarters. 
The still defenceless state of the 'Vestern District had exposed 
the inhabItants to all the húrrors of a second American invasion. 
On the 20th September a band of depredators Issued from the garri- 
son of Detroit, and, crossing the stream, spread fire and pillage 
through a whole settlement, while on the 22nd of the following 
month a horrle of mounted brigands from Kentucky, under Briga- 
dier-General McArthur, penetrated into the Western Peninsula, the 
object of the expedition being the capture of Burlington Heights, but 
after plundering a few of the inhabitants of the country, and burning 
some houses in the County of Oxford, they met with such sturdy 
opposition from a number of militia and Indians at "the cross- 
ings " on the Grand River, that they did not pursue their journey 
further eastward, but turned down the Long Point Road and re- 
turned to Detroit by way of Port Dover and St. Thomas, pur- 
sued part of the distance by a company of the Glengarrys and a 
few of the Forty-First Regiment under Major Muir.(I) 
The war was now practically over. Negotiations had been 
going on between the Peace Commissioners for Britain and the 
United States since the 6th August, which culminated in the 
Treaty of Ghent, which was signed on the 24th December, 1814, 
and ratified and exchanged at \Vashington on the 17th February, 
1815. The treaty contained provisions for the settling of disputed 
boundaries by commissioners, and it was agreed that both nations 
should use their best endeavors for the suppression of the slave 
trade. 
The Governor-General announced the fact of the Treaty in 
general orders of the 1st of March, in which was stated, * * 
.. His Excellency embraces the earliest opportunity that is afforded 
him of restoring to their domestic a vocations the Provincial corps 
and battalions of embodied militia, whose gallant and patriotic 
devotion to their country has been so honourably evinced in their 
zealous services since the commencement of hostilities, and His 
Excellency will not fail to represent to our most gracious Sovereign 
the zeal, courage and loyalty that has been so conspicuously dis- 
played by all classes of his brave subjects in both Canadas." 
(I) Mrs. Edgar, p. 334. 



273 
The ostensible grounds assigned by the United States for the 
declaration of war were the orders-in-Council and the right of search, 
while the conquest of Canada was the object they had really at 
heart. In the treaty of peace nothing was said about the flag cover- 
ing the mercandise or the right of search, and Canada remained 
unconquered, although the prospects at the commencement of the 
. war were of the most gloomy description. 
From first to last, the course pursued by the United States pre- 
sents few grounds for justification. They had commenced an 
unrighteous war by the invasion of an un offending and harmless 
people. When they found they could not seduce them from their 
allegiance to their Sovereign, their generals burned their villages and 
farm houses and plundered them of their properties. But, by a 
righteous dispensation of Providence they were most deservedly 
punished. Nothing had been gained by the l
vish expenditure of 
American blood and treasure. Not one solitary dollar had been 
added to the wealth of the people of the United States nor an inch 
of land to their territory. On the other hand, their export trade 
frcm twenty-two millions sterling had dwindled d')wn in 18 14 to 
less than one and a half millions, and their imports from twenty- 
eight million po'.!nds sterling had been reduced to three. Nearly 
three thousand of their merchant vessels had been captured; their 
entire seaboard 1l1s11lted; two-thirds of tl1e mercantile and trading 
classes of the whole nation had be
ome insolvent, and the Union 
itself was threatened \vith dis-;oluÜon by the secession of the New 
England States. ( 1 ) 
In this war the men of Glengarry participated with honour to 
themselves and to the advantage of their country in the following:- 
Capture of Detroit, August 16, 1812. 
Attack on Ogdensburg, October 4, 18IZ. 
Battle of Queenston Heights, October 12, 1812. 
Engagement at St. Regis, October 23, 1812. 
Capture of Fort Covington, November 23, 1812. 
Capture of Ogdensburg, February 22, 1813. 
Taking of York by Americans, April 27, 181 3. 
Battle of Fort George, May 27, 1813. 
Attack on Sackett's Harbour, May 29, 1813. 
Defence of Burlington Heights, July, 1813. 


(1) Alison's !list. Europe, Vol IV, p,p. 4SJ2-3 



2'74- 
Battle of Chateauguay, October 26, 1813- 
Skirmish at Hoople's Creek, November 10, 1813- 
Raid from Cornwall on Maårid, February 6, 1814- 
Capture of Oswego, May 6, 1814. 
Battle of Niagara or Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814- 
Attack on Fort Erie, August 15, 18 1 4. 
Second Battle at Fort Erie, Sept
mber 17, 18 1 4- 
Skirmish at Lyon's Creek, October 19, 1814. 
Expulsion of McArthur's brigands, October 22, 181+ 
I submit it is a good record. 



Z'5 


CHAPTER 23.- 


THE REBELLION OF 1837-8. - \VILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE'S SUB- 
SEQUENT LETTER TO EARL GREY.-ExTRACTS FROM BISHOP 
MACDONELL'S ADDRESS. - No REBELS IN GLENGARRY.- 
STATEMENT SHOWING WHERE THE DISAFFECTION PREVAILED 
IN UPPER CANADA. - OUTBREAK IN LOWER CANADA IN 
OCTOBER I837.-FoUR REGIMENTS IN GLENGARRY.-LIST 0., 
OFF'ICERS.-SIR JOHN COLBORNE NOTIFIES COLONEL MACDON- 
ELL THAT HE HAS CALLED ON THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR 01" 
UPPER CANADA FOR ASSISTANCE AND TO KEEP UP COMMUNI- 
CATION WITH THE UPPER PROVINCE.-REQUESTS THE GLEN- 
GARRYS REGIMENT TO PROCEED TO LOWER CANADA.-Two 
THOÜSAND MEN MUSTER AT LANCASTER. - TEMPORARY 
SUPPR.ES5ION OF THE REBELLION. 


" A course of careful observation 
uring the last eleven years 
l1as fully satisfied me that, had the violent movement in which I and 
a good many othus \vere engaged on both sides of the Niagara 
proved successful, that success would have deeply injured the people 
of Canada, whom I then believed I was serving at great risks; that it 
would have deprived millicns, perhaps, of our own countrymen in 
Europe of a home upon this continent, except upon conditions 
which, though many hundreds of thousands have been constrained 
to accept them, are of an exceedingly onerous and degrading char- 
acter. I have long been sensible of errors committed during that 
period to which the intended amnesty applies. No punishment that 
power could inflict or nature sustain would have equalled the regrets 
I have felt on account of much that I did, said, wrote and published; 
but the past cannot be recalled." * * 1< "There is not a living 
man on this continent who more sincerely desires that British Gov- 
ernment in Canada may long continue and give a hand and a 
welcome to the old countrymen than myself. Did I say so, or ask 
"n am!
esty, seven or eight years ago, till under the convictions of 
more recent experience? No; I studied earnestly the workings of 
th,: institutions before me and the manners of the people, and lookeù 




76 
at wha.t had been done, until few men, even natives, had been better 
schooled. The result is not a desire to obtain power and influence 
bere, but to help, if I can and all I can, the country of my birth." 
-William Lyon Mackenzie to Earl Grey, Secretary of State fer the 
Colonies, February 3rd, 1849. 
* * * 
(Exkact from a pastoral address of bishop Macdonell) dated 
1st December. 1838.) 
" In exculpation of the Canadian Rebellion little can be said. 
The Can.1.dians had no real grievances to complain of; they paid no 
tythes but to their own clergy; no taxes or any other burthen but 
what was imposed upon them by law
 of their own making; their 
religion was not only free and uncontrolled, but encouraged and 
protected by the Government when threatened to be shackled by 
their own Catholic Assembly; parishes were multiplied by the con- 
sent of the Government, and subscriptions were raised by Protestants 
and even by the representatives of His Britannic Majesty to build 
their churches-in a word, the French-Canadians lived freer, more 
comfortably and more independently than any other class of subjects 
perhaps on the whole surface of the globe; and they were perfectly 
contented and seemed quite sensible of the blessings they enjoyed 
under the British Government until the folly and madness of Irreli- 
gious Papineau, Atheistical Giraud and Camelion O'Callaghan (whose 
religion is as changeable as the colours of that animal) of the 
Protestant Nelsons, Browns, Scots and others of that kidney, who, 
taking advantage of the ignorance and simplicity of the unfortunate 
habitants, made them believe that they were groaning under a galling 
yoke which they did not feel but in imagination, and succumbing 
under unsupportable burdens which had never been laid UIJOil them; 
that they were to found a glorious Canadian Republic which was to 
surpass those of Greece and Rome, and even the overgrown 
mammoth of our own days. 
"An unfledged gang of briefless lawyers, notaries and other 
pettifoggers and a numberless horde of doctors and apothecaries, 
like the locusts of Egypt, spread themselves through the land, and 
by working upon their prejudices against the British, and flattering 
their vanity with the hopes of the distinguished situations which they 
would occupy in the new republic, they unfortunately succeeded in 
seducing but too many of the credulous Canadians. 
* * * * * * 
* 




77 
"The most ineXcusable part, however, of the conduct of tbe 
Canadians was not to listen to the advice of their clergy, who kneW' 
well the intention of Papineau and his associates was to destroy their 
influence and extinguish the Catholic religion, which he publicly 
declared to be absolutely necessary, before liberty could be establish. 
ed in Lower Canada. 
* * * * * * * 
U I have said that your loyalty is based upon the sacred obliga. 
tions of your holy religion. The Apostle commands us to obey and 
be submissive to the powers that be. That is to say, under the 
government of a King, we must honour and obey the King, and give 
unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's." 


In a history of Ireland once written there was a chapter on 
Irish snakes, which shortly disposed of the matter by stating the 
fact that there Were no snakes in Ireland. In similar manner might 
one dispense with a discussion of the Rebellion in Upper Canada 
of 1837-8 so far as Glengarry was concerned by simply mentioning 
that there were no rebels in Glengarry; but as its people had much 
to do with the suppression of the Rebellion, not only in our own 
Province, but in the Province of Lower Canada as well, it is noW in 
place to narrate the hO'1ourable and loyal part which our fathers 
bore in the events of 
hat critical period in the history of the country. 
Rebels against the British Crown and those institutions which 
flourish under its ægis were not indigenous to the soil of Glengarry, 
nor is that to be wondered at when we consider the character of the 
early settlers, whose views had naturally descended to theIr sons. 
Those settlers were in large part United Empire Loyalists, who had 
laid down at the very inception of our system of government, when 
the Upper Country of Canada was erected :nto a separate Province, 
the principles upon which this country was then:after to be governed, 
and had declared that so far as the circumstances of the country 
would permit, our Constitution was to be simIlar to that of the 
Motherland, which had stood the tesL of ages, and which guaranteed 

o those who lived under it as much freedom and happiness as is 
possible to be enjoyed under the subordination necessary to civilized 
society. \Ve have seen that the largest addition to those original 
settlers was composed of the soldiers of a disbanded Highland Regi- 
ment, the Glengarry Fencibles, broubht to this 4:ountry and established 




,,
 
here Jh their homes 'by that loyal and devoted subject of the Crown, 
their Chaplain, who soon became the first Catholic Bishop of Upper 
Canada, who srilJ survived, and who stood so high in the confidence 
of successive representatives of the Svvereign. When the country 
was invaded by the people of the United States, \ve have seen how 
materially they contributed to its defence, how many of them died 
and all risked their lives in order that our institutions should be 
preserved intact. That the sons born of those parents Were worthy 
of them, and in their turn furnished an example for future genera. 
tions to follow we shall now l5ee. 
Previous to the outbreak of the Rebellion, murmurings and rout. 
terings had fur some time been heard. Colonel Denison, from 
whose able essay I have already quoted, shows that the weak point 
in the policy of Colonel Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of the 
Province, \vas that in his anxioüs desire to secure additional popula. 
tion for the Province) his liberal offers of land induced considerable 
emigration from the United States, many of these Yankee settlers, 
coming from mere mercenary motives, and bringing with them 
republican sentiments most obnoxious to the 10yal element which 
had opened up the first settlements in the Province, and it was in 
large part owing to the known sentIments of these undesirable resid. 
ents, and the assistance expected to be derived from them, that the 
Americans hoped to makf' such an easy conquest of Canada when 
war was declared in 1812, and although the result of that war left 
us in the et1joyment of the blessings of our free institutions, it did 
not eradicate the views of the disloyal faction, though during the 
war and for some time after, bearing in mind the example {I fforded 
by the execution of the traitors hanged at Ancaster by the orùer of 
General Drummond! and the imprisonment of others, they took care 
to a\'oid public expression of them, yet they at the same time 
instilled them into the minds of their children, and they bore fruit in 
the Rebe1lion of 1837-8. 1'hese people and their descendants have 
been a curse to this Province, and are a standing menace to British 
institutions. 
A numerical abstract of the names at1d residences of persons 
arrest
d in Upper Canada and placed in confit1etnent in the various 
prisons throughout the Province on charges of insurrection or trea& 
son from 5th December, 1837, to the 1st November, 1838, shows 
the parts of the Province where these renegades were to be found, 



279 
and where the embers of rebellion were ready to burst into blaze: 
Eastern District, none. 
Ottawa District, none. 
Johnston District, 8. 
Bathurst District, none. 
Prince Edward District, none. 
Midland District, 75. 
Newcastle District, 12. 
Home District, 422. 
Niagara District, 43. 
Gore District, 90. 
Talbot District, None. 
London District, 163. 
Western District, I I. 
In the Province of Upper Canada but thirteen hundred regular 
troops, including artillerymen, were scattered h 
re and there from 
Kingston to Penetanguishene, while in the Lower Province about 
two thousand soldiers were stationed at various pomts to overaWe 
nearly half a million of partially or wholly disaffected habitants. The 
situation of affairs in the latter Province was set forth in Lord Gos. 
ford's despatch of 2nd September, 1837, to Lord Glenelg, the Col- 
onial Secretary. " It is evident," he wrote, "that the Papineau 
faction are not to be satisfied with any concession that does not 
place them in a more favourable position to caJ;ry into effect their 
ulterior objects, namely, the separation of this country from Eng- 
land and the establishment of a republican form of gvvernment,'
 
and he added that with deep regret he was under the necessity of 
recommending the suspension of the Constitution of the Province. 
Communications had been passing between the leaders of seditIon 
in both PrO\'Ïnces, and their aims, so far as the overthrow of existing 
institutions was concerned, were identical. .\Vhen Sir Francis Bond. 
Head arrived in Toronto, and relieved Sir John Colborne (who was 
then appointed to the military command of bath Provinces) of the 
Government of Upper Canada, he found that not even the famous 
Grievance Report contained a recital of all the wrongs the malcon- 
tents had been able to furbish up, Mr. Marshall Spring Bidwell, a. 
very advanced "Reformer," stating to him in an interview that 
"there were many grievances not detailed in that book which the 
people had long endured with patience; that there was no desire to 



280 
rebel, but a morbid feeling of dissatisfaction was daily increasing."(I) 
On the 31st July, a precious document, styled" A Declaration of 
Independent.:e" was published by Mackenzie and others, the first 
step in the road to insurrection, committing all who accepted it to 
share the fortunes of the rebels in Lower Canada, and a permanent 
vigilance committee was appointed. Mackenzie had promoted a 
run on the Bank of Upper Canada, and the machinations of himself 
and his friends had brought about the failure of the Commercial 
Bank at Kingston anJ the Farmers' Bank at Toronto, while tÞey 
were daily declaiming against the loyal element as false Canadians, 
Tories, pensioners, placemen, profligates, Orangemen, Churchmen, 
spies, informers, brokers, gamblers, parasites and knaves! who he 
alleged were plundering and robbing with impunity, their feet on the 
people's net.:ks, responsible for all the woes and wailings, and pau- 
perism and crimes, the ruin of the merchants and the want of the 
settlers who, "seldom tasting a morsel of bread, were glad to gnaw 
the bark off the trees to keep away starvation, and were leaving the 
country in thousand
 for lands less favoured by nature but blest 
with free institutions and just gO\ ernment." Had a few of these 
impassioned gentry been summarily dealt with in the first instance 
as Lount and :Matthews were subsequently, there would have been 
infinitely less want and misery abroad, and many more valuable 
lives would have been saved; but, unfortunately, the Governmen t 
permitted an undue license, not only of speech and writing, but 
allowed the vigilance committees to become the nuclei of mllitary 
organizations. Shooting matches became fashionable, a brisk busi- 
ness in the manufacture of pikes was carried on, and drillinr,- was 
practised more or less openly, while Mr. Lindsey states that an 
occasional feu de joie on Y onge street in honour of Papineau would 
be made the subject of boast in the press. Mackenzie, meantime, 
was appointed agent and secretary of the Central Vigilance Com- 
mittee, a convention of delegates of the Reform unions was to be 
held, and the functions of the Legislature usurped by these sons of 
sedÍlion, and by the end of November fifteen hundred names were 
returned to Mackenzie of persons enrolled and ready to take up 
arms at an hour's notice. 
In Lower Canada the crisis had been reached in October of 
18 37. A collision had occurred between the Governor and the 
Legislatur 
w hich had abrogated the Constitution by a continued 
(1) :\lc\luIlen's I-ii
tory. p, 433. 



281 
I.bandonment of its duties, had refused to' vote the supplies, and' 
nad consequently been prorogued. Meetings were held in different 
parts of the country, one at 8t. Charles, on the Richelieu, being 
attended by over five thousand people. At St. Hyacinthe the tn- 
coloréd Hag was displayed, while the tavern keepers substituted 
eagles for their former signs. Officers who had been dismissed from 
the militia were elected by the habitants to command them again 
:\{obs paraded the streets of Montreal, singing revolutionary songs, 
and nothing but the firm, loyal and patriotic stand of the Catholic 
hierarchy and clergy prevented the actual outbreak. M. Lartigue, 
the Catholic Bishop of Montreal, who had previously addressed a 
large body of ecclesiastics at Montreal to discourage insurrection, now, 
"actuated by no external influence, but impelled solely by motives 
of conscience," issued a pastoral enjoining the clergy and faithful to 
.liscountenance aU schemes of rebellion (1). The people, however, 
hecame more 1l1d more restless as they felt the influence of the 
clérgy setting against them, and priests were insulted in their 
churches, on ûne occasion in the presence of Papineau himself. Law 
and religion were on the side of the Government, and rebellion and 
infidelity on that of the misnamed Patriots. (2) The popular frenzy 
was too great to be at once brought under control e\'en by the 
powerful influence of the Catholic Church, yet even so pronounced 
an enemy of that Church as Mr. Lindsey ad
llits that" there is rea- 
son to believe that the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy 
eventually did more than even the British troops to crush the in- 
surrection in Lower Canada." 
On the 6th November, 1837, a riot occurred in Montreal, the 
" Sons of Liberty" being appropriately led by a Yankee, one Thomas 
Sturrow Brown. The Loyalists dispersed the rioters, captured their 
ha.nners and some guns. and threw the printing material of their 
organ, the" Vindicator," into the street. On the 12tn November a 
pnclamation was issued directing the suppression of seditious meet- 
i ags. Bodies of armed peasantry began to assemble near the Riche- 
lieu River, particularly at 81. John and Chambly, and Sir John 
Colborne, perceiving that the crisis was at hand, moved his head- 
f1 
arters to Montreal, where he concentrated all the troops that had 
heen withdrawn from Upper Canada and all that could be spared 
from Quebec. 
(I) lindKy"s Lik of Mackenzie, II., p. 49. 

, McMuUco's Histoay, p. 416. 



282 
On the 23rd November a battle took place at St. Denis, the 
insurgents being commanded by Dr. Nelson and the troops by 
Colonel Gore, in which the "Patriots" had considerably the advan- 
tage, the troops being fatigued by a march of twelve miles through 
the deep mud, and their ammunition being insufficient, while a 
large number of the Patriots were safely lodged in a large stone 
store, four storeys high, from which they were enabled to keep up a 
galling fire on the troops, whose loss is stated to have been about 
fifty, while of the: Patriots nineteen were killed. 


In the meantime the loyal people of Glengarry were re-organizing 
their Militia Regiments of which there were no less than four, the 
First or Charlottenburg, Second or Lancaster, Third or Lochiel, and 
Fourth or Kenyon. They were respectively commanded by Colonels 
Alexander Fraser, Donald Greenfield Macdonell, Alexander Chis- 
holm and Angus Macdonell, all of whom fortunately had had previous 
military experience. Colonel Fraser had held a commission in the 
Canadian Fencible Regiment and had served through the War of 
1812-15; Colonel Donald Macdonell had commanded one of the 
flank companies of the Second Regiment of Glengarry Militia, as 
well as being Assistant Quarter-Master-General of the Midland 
Dis
rict during that war, and had been gazetted to the command of 
his Regiment in 1814; Colonel Chisholm had been an officer in the 
Royal African Corps for several years before settling in Glengarry 
in 1816, and Colol1el Angus Macdonell had seen much service dúring 
1812- 1 5, when he held a commission in the Glengarry Light Infantry 
which, as we have seen, had been in almost every battle and 
action in that campaign. The Toronto Almanac of r 839, which 
contains the militia list, gives the officers of these Regiments, with 
the dates of their respective commissions, though I believe the 
Regiments were largely reorganized for the active service which they 
were about to be called on to perform, some of the officers having 
become disabled by reason of age and othn causes from undertaking 
further active service. I am unable, however, to procure further in- 
formation than is furnished by the source mentioned. The force on 
service in 1837-8 was paid by the Imperial Government though the 
commissariat, and all returns made thereto, which accounts for so 
little information being obtainable in the .Militia Department. 



aLENGA
RY MILITIA-1ST REGIMENT (CHARLOTTENBURG., 
Colonel-A. Fraser, April I, 1822. 
Lieutenant-Colonel-A. McMartin, March 6, 1837.. 
Major-D. Fraser, January It 1838. 
Captains. 
A. McGillis, June 19, 1822. J. McLennan, Jan. I, 1838 
D. McPherson, June 20, 1822. A. McDougall, ditto. 
}J. Ferguson, April 13, 1830. D. McPherson, ditto. 
J. Macdonald, Jan. I, 1838. A. Fraser, ditto. 
W. Urquhart, ditto. F. Macdonald, ditto. 
Lieutenants. 
ditto. J. Dingwall, 
ditto. J. Cumming, 
ditto. J. McBain, 
ditto. J. Hay, 
ditto. K. Murchison, 
Ensigns. 
Jno. Macpherson, ditto. James Grant, 
A. Macpherson, ditto. D. Macpherson, 
A. Macdonell, ditto. M. McGruer, 
R. Maclennan, ditto. J. Curry, 
J. Rose, ditto. D. Cameron, 
Adjutant-J. Cumming, January I, 1838. 
Quarter-Master-A. Campbell, January I, 1838.. 
Surgeon-D. E. McIntyre, January I, 1838. 
SECOND REGIMENT MILITIA. 
Colonel-Donald Macdonell, January I, 18
2. 
Lt. Col.-Duncan Macdonell, ditto. 
Major-John McIntyre, April 16, 1812. 
Captains. 
A. McKenzie, April 21, 1812. Alex Grant, Jan. 25, 1814. 
'V. McLeod, ditto. D. Macdonell, May 21, J8I4. 
D. McMillan, April 25, 18! 2. P. McIntyre, ditto. 
J. Macdonell, Jan. 25, 1814- A. Wilkinson, Feb. 25, 1822. 
Angus Kennedy, ditto. A. Macdonald, July 15, 1822. 
Lieutenant 
P. Cameron, April 23, 1812. R. McLeod, Oct. 20, 1815. 
D. McMartin, April 25, 1812. J. Macdonell, Oct. 21, 181 5. 
A. S. Macdonell, dItto. J. McMartin, Oct. 22, 181 5. 
R. Macdonell, ditto. D. Chisholm, Oct. 24, 181 5. 
A. Macdonell, ditto. 
Ensigns. 
D. McPhail, Jan. 25, 1814. N. McIntosh, Oct. 24, 182 5. 
J. McIntyre, Jan. 25, 1814. R. Macdonell, Oct. 25, 182 5. 
D. Macdonell, Oct. 1.9, 1825. J. \fcGil1Ìs, Oct. 25, 182 5. 
.\. Macdonell, Oct. 20, 1825. R. Macdonell, Oct. 27, 182 5. 


. 


28 3 


W. McKenzie, 
J. McDonald, 
P. Grant, 
A. Macdonell, 
D. Fraser, 


ditto. 
ditto. 
ditto. 
ditto. 
ditto. 


ditto. 
ditto. 
ditt
. 
ditto. 
ditto. 



2-84 
M
 McMartin,Ocl 21, 1825. J. Fraser, Oct. 28, 1825. 
A. Kennedy, Oct. 22, 1825. 
Adjutant-D. Macdonell, October 19, 1814. 
Quarter-Master-R. Macdonell, November 22, 18.30. 
THIRD GLENGARRY MILITIA. 
(As given in the Militia List of 1838.) 
Colonel-A. Chisholm, June 27, 1825. 
Lieutenant Colonel-George C. \Vood, June 27, 1825.. 
Major-D.. McDonald, December 20, 1837. 
Captains. 
D. McLeod, Nov. 13, 1820. T. Duncan, April 28, 1835.. 
A. Cameron, Nov. I, 1827. K. Mackenzie, April 28, 1835- 
A. Cattana-ch, Nov. 7, 1827. D. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837. 
A. McNab, Nov. 9, 1827. A. Cameron, Dec. 20, 1837.. 
D. McGillivray, April 12, 1830. J. Stewart, Dec. 20, 1837. 
Lieutenants. 
E. McMillan, Nov. 3, 1827. R. McGillivray, De-c. 20, 1830. 
D. McDonald, Nov. 7, 1827. D. McMillan, Dec. 20, 183"7. 
D. McRae, April 13, 1830. W. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837. 
D. Macdonell, April 28, 1835. D. Macpherson, Dec. 20, 1837. 
A. Macdonald, April 28, 1835. J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837. 
Ensigns. 
T. Chisholm, Dec. 20, 1837. D. Macdonell, Dec. 20, 1837. 
J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837. R. McLeod, Dec. 20, 1837. 
A. Campbell, Dec. 20,1837. 
FOURTH REGIMENT GLENGARRY MILITIA. 
Colonel-A. Macdonell, June 27, 1837. 
Lieutellant-Colonel-A. Macdonell, October 18, 1831. 
Major-A. Macdonell, October 18, 1837. 
Captains. 
G. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 1837. A. McKinnon, Oct. 21 1837. 
N. Macdonell, Oct. 19, 1837. J. McKenzie, Oct. 23, 1837. 
A. Macdonell, Oct. 20, lð37. 
Lieutenants. 
A. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 18.n. J. Macdonell, Oct. 21, 1837. 
C. Chisholm, Oct. 19, 1837. D. Macdonell, Oct. 23, 1837. 
K. McLennan, Oct. 20, 1831. 
Ensigns. 
A. Fisher, Oct. 18, 1837. A. Macdonald, Oct. n, 1837. 
D. Macdonald, Oct. 19, 1837. Heilry Hunt, Oct. 23, 1837. 
J. McGillis, Oct. 20, 1837. 
On the 1st December, 1837, Colonel Goldie, A.D.C., wrote to 
Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdonell, as senior officer of the Glen- 
garry Militia, as follows : 
HEAD-QUARTERS, MONTREAL, I December, 1837. 
SIR,-I am directed by Lieutenant-General Sir John Colborne 




8S 
to acquaint you that the District of Montreal, being in a state of 
revolt and the rebels having again collected in force on the Riche. 
lieu and preparing defensive works, he has called on the Lieutenant. 
Governor of Upper Canada for assistance, and he trusts that several 
Battalions will be ordered to march t\> our assistance. 
The Lieutenant-General thinks that measures should be adopted 
to keep up the communication with Upper Canada by the Coteau 
du Lac. 


I have, etc., 
THos. LEIGH GOLDtE. A.D.C. 
Colonel Macdonell, Second Glengarry Militia, Cornwall. 
Colonel Macdonell immeò.iately notified the commanding offi. 
cers of the several regiments, took such otÌler active steps as were 
necessary, and knowing full well how readily any call would be re. 
sponded to, wrote to Sir John Colbome for further instructions. In 
answer he received the following: 
HEADQUARTERS, MONTREAL, December 8, 1837. 
My DEAR SIR,-I am desired by Lieutenant-General Sir John 
Colborne to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the 6th instant, 
that provided your march is sanctioned by the Lieutenant-Governor, 
he is persuaded that the Glengarry battalions under your command 
may render essential service to our cause by marching to the Coteau 
du Lac to the ferry at Vaudreuil, oppos:te St. Anne's, at which 
place arms and ammunition shall be forwarded to you. Afterwards 
he would wish you to proceed through Vaudreuil by the Lake of the 
Two Mountains to Point Fortune, to escort the arms which are 
intended for the corps now forming at the Carillon under the direc- 
tion of Mr. Forbes. On your arrival there you will receive further 
orders respecting our operations against t4e rebels at St. Benoit and 
Grand Brule. 


I have, &c., 
THOS. LEIGH GOLDtE, A.D.C. 
Colonel Donald Macdonell, com 'g. Glengarry Militia. 
Sir John Colbome had effectually suppressed the Rebellion in 
that quarter before the Glengarry Regiments were able to proceed 
to Lower Canada, his force consisting of the First Royals, Thirty- 
Second and Eighty-Third Regiments, with a strong party of artil- 
lery, the Queen's Ligh
 Dragoons (Provincial), the Montreal V olun- 
teer Cavalry and Rifle Corps and other militia. At St. Eustache 
some slight resistanee was offered and a few lives lûst. At St. Benoit 
(Grand Brule) two hundred and fifty insurgents surrendered at dis- 
cretion, and were for the most part dismissed, only the ringleaders 




86 
being kept prisoners. The militia appear to have destroyed consi. 
derable property in retaliation for the injuries inflicted upon that of 
volunteers and other loyal person
 Papineau and W olfred Nelson 
had now fled the country. 
It will be observed that the date of the first letter to Colonel 
Ma.cdonell, advising him of the call for assistaY1ce from Upper Can- 
ada, was the 1st December. In nineteen days, two thousand men 
from all parts of the County of Glengarry were under arms at Lan- 
caster) on the River St. Lawrence, ready to proceed to the reliel of 
the loyal people of the Lower Province. 
Mr. Christie, in a note to volume 5, page 14, quotes as follows: 
c' The Cornwall' Observer' of the 2 I st instant, mentions that on the 
day previous the four Regiments of Glengarry Militia, mustering 
about two thousand strong, assembled at Lancaster for the purpose 
of marching down to Montreal) under the command of Colonels 
Donald McDonell, Fraser, Chisholm and Angus McDonell. The 
field-pieces belonging to the different Ret;iments were mounted on 
strong sleighs, with horses and everything necessary for active service, 
which,with flags and martial music of the pipes, formed a most inter- 
esting spectacle. It was intended that the troops should march on 
the 21st, but an express arrived from Sir John Colborne with a com- 
munication ' expressing his warmest thanks to the colonels of the 
different regiments for their exertions and activity in this critical 
period, and requesting them to inform the officers and men of these 
brave Glengarry Regiments, that in consequence of the Rebellion 
being put down he does not wish them to march from their homes at 
present.' , We can appreciate the feeling of disappointment,' says 
the Cornwall" Obst'rver," ., with which this communication Was re- 
ceived by the hardy Highlanders, anxious as we know they are to 
distinguish themselves as brave and loyal subjects of their Queen.'" 



t87 


CHAPTER 
4. 


SIR J OItN COLBORNE COMMISSIONS COLONELS MACDONELL AND 
FRASER TO RAISE Two BATTALIONS OF GLENGARRY "LADS" 
FOR SERVICE IN LOWER CANADA.-LIST OF OFFICERS OF 
" LANCASTER GLENGARRY HIGHLANDERS."-CHARLOTTENBURG 
REGIMENT STATIONED AT ST. PHILIPPE, AND LANCASTER 
REGIMENT AT NAPIERVILLE.-COMMENTS OF THE MONTREAL 
" HERALD" ON THEIR ApPEARANCE ON THEIR RETURN.- 
GENERAL CLITHEROW TESTIFIES TO THEIR SERVICE AND EFFI- 
CENCY.-TEMPORARILY RELIEVED FROM FURTHER SERVICE. 


The service of the Glengarry Militia were soon to be required 
however. 
The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Sir John Colborne, on 
the 15th January, 1838, wrote to Colonel Donald Greenfield Mac- 
donell as follows: 


"My DEAR SIR, 
" Our affairs in Upper Canada as regards the conduct of the 
United States Government and people require that great exertion 
should be made to place ourselves speedily in a strong defensive 
position. 
Do you think that you and Colonel Fraser could raIse two bat- 
talions of Glengarry lads for five or six months' general service? 
If you are of opinion that two corps of six hundred men could 
be formed in a few weeks I authorize you to proceed in organizing 
them immediately. 


MONTREAL, 15th January, 1838. 


I remain, dear sir, 
Yours very faithfulJy, 
J. COLBORNE. 
Colonel Macdonell, commanding Glengarry Militia. 
A similar letter was on the same day addressed to Co!. Fraser. 
The Lancaster Regiment of Glengarry Highlanders, raised 
under the general orders of 8th January, 1838. and in pursuance of 
the above letter of Sir John Colborne, was officered as follows: 



288 


Alexander MacdoneH, 
Alexander McGregor, 
Angus Kennedy, 
Adjutant-\Villiam Hayes. 
Paymaster-Alexander Macdonell. 
Quarter- Master-Angus Macdonell. 
I am unable to give a list of the officers of the Charlottenburg 
Regiment, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander 
Fraser. His grandson most kindly placed at my disposal all the 
papers connected with the corps, which have been most carefully 
preserved, but untortunately they do not contain the names of the 
officers, nor was Judge Pringle, who, owing to his relation to Colonel 
Fraser's family, was in even better position to have procured inform- 
ation respecting the Regiment, able to procure a list when giving 
those of other Regiments of Glengarry and Stormont. 
On the 31st January, 1838, Colonel Gore addressed Colonel 
Fraser as follows: 
MONTREAL, January 31st, 1838. 
SIR,-I am directed by His Excellency the Lieutenant General 
Commanding ta inform you, that, from the reports which have reacbed 
him of the preparations of invasion from the lines that your services 
may be required, and that if you can march your Regiment to Mont- 
real, Sir John will immediately have arms served out to you 
and you will be quartered in the L' Acadie district. 
I have, etc., 


Lieutenant-Colonel-Donald Macdonell (Greenfield). 
Major-Alexander Macdonell (Aberchalder). 
Captains. 
Donald Macdonell (Buidh), Ranald Macdonell, 
Malcolm McMartin, Neil Macdonald, 
George Macdonell (Greenfield), Allan Cameron. 
Lieutenants. 
Donald Chisholm, 
John Stewart, 
Alexander Macdonell. 
Ensigns. 
John Macdonell, 
Alexander Cameron, 
Donald Macdonell. 


Angus McDougall, 
Donald McDougall, 
Thomas Oliver, 


To Colonel Fraser, 
Commanding First Glengarry Regiment. 
Colonel Fraser's (Charlottenburgh) Regiment was quartered at 
St. Philippe, in the County of Laprairie. \Vhen Colonell\Iacdonell's 


CHAS. GORE, 
Deputy Quarter Master General. 



28 9 
(Lancaster) Regiment went dmvn I am unable to ascertain. It was 
stationed at N apierville, and both remained in Lower Canada during 
the winter. 
The Charbttenburg Regiment returned in March, the Mont- 
real " Herald" of the 20th of that month remarking, "One Regiment 
of Glengarry Highlanders, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
Fraser, arrived in town yesterday from St. Philippe, and created 
nqite 
 sensation as they marched through our streets to the martial 
music of the spirit--stirring bagpipes. They mustered about five 
hundred strong, and were generally considered as fine and efficient 
a body of volunteers as could be produced in the Province, such 
men as would 'do or die' for their Queen and country. They are 
en route for their homes, after having displayed their willingness to 
defend with their lives the glorious institutions of their Fatherland 
from the encroachment of internal traitors or foreign enemies." 
Colonel Macdonell's Regiment remained until May. The 
" Herald" of the 1st May stated," This day the Lancaster Regiment 
of Glengarry Highlanders, under command of their Colonel, Dona.ld 
Greenfield Macdonell, marched into town en route to Upper Canada 
from N apierville, where they were quartered since their arrival in 
this Province during the winter. They are a fine. body of men, and 
presented a very military appearance." On the 2nd May they were 
inspected by the Commanding Officer of the District of Montreal, 
who directed the following letter to be addressed to Colonel Mac- 
donell : 
MONTREAL, May 2nd, 1838. 
SIR,-I am directed by the MaJor-General commanding the Dis- 
tiict to request that you will accept and convey to the officers, non- 
commissioned officers and privates of the Lancaster Glengarry 
Highlanders the expression of his best thanks for the soldier-like 
appearance that they presented at the inspection yesterday. Major 
General Clitherow directs me to assure you that it will afford him 
great pleasure to be enableù to report most favourably to His Ex- 
cellency the Commander of the Forces on the appearance and effi- 
cierlcy of this fine corps, and he doubts not that should their active 
services at any future period be required, the ,Lancaster Glengarry 
Highlanders will maintain the high reputation which they have now 
so deservedly acquired. 


I have, &c., 
JAMES JOHN HAMILTON, 
Major and Major of Brigade. 



29 0 
At the inspection of the Charlottenburg Regiment by Sir John 
Colborne and his staff, one of the men, Lewis Grant, who stood 6 feet 
7 inches, carried a brass three-pound field-piece on his shoulder 
when the Regiment marched past. (I) 
Having returned to Upper Canada they were disembodied in 
accordance with the following letter: 
MONTREAL, 11th May, 1838. 
SIR,-With reference to my letter addressed to you on the 2nd 
instant, I have this day received the direction of the Commander of 
the Forces to inform you that the large reinforcements which have 
arrived at Quebec from England enable His Excellency to dispense 
with the services of the corps which you have so zealously brought 
forward in time of danger and alann for the defence of the Province, 
which measure becomes the more desirable as, from the advanced 
period of the season, many of the me
 must be anxious to return to 
their homes. His Excellency is therefore pleased to direct that the 
Lancaster Glengarry Higlanders under your command shall be dis- 
embodied on the 15th instant, receiving pay, however, to the end of 
the month. 
His Excellency has been pleased to grant pennission for the 
men of your corps to retain the arms, etc., which they have in their 
possession, as well as a certain proportion of ammunition. (After 
instructions as to the care to be taken of the arms and ammunition 
the letter proceeds:) 
The Commander of the Forces requests that the officers, non- 
commissioned officers and men of the Lancaster Glengarry High- 
landers will accept his sincere thanks for the important service 
which they have rendered, and he is finnly persuaded that should 
the Provinces be ever again in danger of revolt or attack from the 
lawless banditti from which it has lately been rescued, that they will 
be the first to come forward in their defence. 
His Excellency also grants permission to the Loyal Volunteer 
Corps to retain their clothing. which must, however, be preserved 
with the greatest care, as in the event of their services being required 
<?n any future occasion no further supply will take place. 
The officers and men of the disbanded Loyal Volunteers are to 
remain upon the list according to the designation of their respective 
corps, as unpaid volunteer corps. 
I have, etc., 


W. P. CHRISTIE, 
Provincial Military Secretary. 
A letter similar in effect was addressed to Colonel Fraser, under 
date 19th April, 1838, when the Cnarlottenburg Regiment wac; 
released from fllfther service. 


(I) J ud,;e Pringle, p. 260. 



29 1 


CHAPTER 25. 


DEPARTURE OF LORD DURHAM.-RENEWAL OF INSURRECTION IN 
LOWER CANADA.- BISHOP MACDONELL'S LOYAL ADDRESS.- 
SEIZURE OF THE "HENRY BROUGHAM" AT BEAUHARNOIS.- 
GLENGARRY REGIMENTS CALLED OUT A THIRD TIME.-MARCH 
ON BEAUHA
NOIS.-ITS EASY CAPTURE.-ApPRECIATION OF 
SIR JOHN COLBORNE.-CONGRATULATIONS OF LIEUTENANT- 
GOVERNOR UPPER CANADA.-ORDERED TO UPPER CANADA 
TO REPEL INVASION OF BRIGANDS.-BATTLE OF THE WIND- 
MILL. 


Lord Durham arrived at Quebec on 27th May to assume charge 
of the Government and the reinforcements which had been sent from 
England rendered the probabilities of successful revolt more slender 
than ever. The Special Council summoned by Lord Durham had 
banished 'Wolfred Nelson and other leading insurgents to Bermuda, 
and had threatened the penalty of death on Papineau and others 
should they return to Canada. \Vhile the Home Government ap- 
proved of this course the Imp
rial Parliament censured him, and Lord 
Durham accordinf;ly resigned and returned to England on the 3rd 
November, 1838, leaving SIr John Colborne, the Commander of the 
Forces, again in charge of the Government, and who was shortly 
thereafter appointed Governor-General. 
The departure of Lord Durham would appear to have been the 
signal for another outbreak. Mackenzie and other refugees in the 
United States had been at their d2.stardly work of agitation, and 
countenanced by the unprincipled portions of 
he American border 
pûpulation,( I) secret associations had been formed along the frontier 


(t) .. Hunters' Lodges" had been formed in various towns and place!! on the frontier ia 
the United States, accordmg to the statements of prisoners taken at Prescott, amonJ::' others at 
Oswego, Salina, Liverpool, Syracuse, Auburn, Great Bend, Palema, Dexter, Evans'l\fills, Wa. 
tertown, Brownville, Lerayville, Sackett's Har1..our, Cape Vincent, Chaumont, Millen's Bay, 
Alexandria Ba\', Orlean<;, Flat Rock, Ogdensburg, Rossie Village. These societies are supposed 
to have oridnated in the State of Vermont in "by, 1838. Their objects are shewn by the nature 
of the oath each .. Hunter" had to take: .. I swear to do my utmo!Jt to promote repub- 
lican institutions and ideas throughout the world-to cherish them, to defend them; 
and e!>pecially to devote m \'self to the propagation, protection and defence of these institu tions 
in North America. I pledge my life, my property and my sacred honor to the association. I 
bind myse:f to its interests and I promise, until death. that I will attack, combat and help to 
destroy, by all means that my superior may think proper, every power or authority of Royal 
origin upon this continent, and especiallv never to re!>t till all tyrants of Britain cease to have 
any dominion or fooling wh;itever in North America So help me God." 



29 2 
af both Canadas and a combined system of invasion and insurrection 
organized. It would appear, therefore, that the country was agam 
to be plunged into turmoil, and steps were taken to place the militia 
regiments in readiness for the emergency. It v'as under these cir- 
cumstances that Bishop Macdonell issued the following address 
to the people of Glengarry : 
My DEAR COUNTRYMEN, 
I am far from thinking It necessary, in the present critical situ- 
ation of your country, to address you on the score of loyalty to your 
Sovereign, and uncompromising attachment to Britain and the 
British Constitution. 
Forty years' intercourse and intimate connexion with you, in 
various parts of the British Empire, where your active services have 
been of so much importance in restoring peace and tranquility to 
Ireland, in repelling the invasion of the Americans on these Pro- 
vinces, and in checking the progress of Canadian rebellion last win- 
ter, leave no doubt on my mind that you will turn out to a man on 
the present occasion, and join with your loyal fellow subjects in 
defence of your wives and children and valuable properties against 
the attacks of a heartless gang of pirates and rebels. 
\Vhen a Prime Minister of England in 1802 expressed to me 
his reluctance to permit Scotish Highlanders to emigrate to the Can- 
adas, from his apprehension that the hold the Parent State had 'Jf 
the Canadas was too slender to be permanent, I took the liberty of 
assuring him that the most effectual way to render that hold strong 
and permanent was to encourage and facilitate the emigration of 
Scots Highlanders and Irish Catholics into these Colonies. 
Your brave and loyal conduct during the last war with the 
United States of America verified my prediction, and so highly 
appreciated were your services as to obtain the approbation and 
thanks of his late Majesty George IV. 
On review of my long intercourse with you, it is to me a most 
consoling reflection that I have been so tortunate as to possess the 
confidence of you all, Protestants as well as Catholics, because on 
all occasions when my humble exertions could forward your inter- 
rests, I never made any dIstinction between Protestants and Catho- 
lics, and I have no hesitation to declare that among my warmest, 
my most sincere, and most attached friends, are persons of a 
different persuasion from my own. 
To the credit and honour of Scots Highlanders be it said, that 
the difference of religion was never known to weaken the 
onds of 
friendship, and Catholics and Protestants have always stood 
shoulder to shoulder, nobly supporting one another during the 
fiercest tug of battle. 
It is not a little to your credit, Glengarry men, Protestants and 
Catholics, that you have hitherto carefully abstained from entering 



293 
into the existing overheated (and certainly in the present critical 
state of the Provin
e), u!1seasonable discussion of your claims upon 

o
ernment, reposJll,g wIth a generous. confidence on the impartial 
JustIce of a no ble-I?111de
 and magnammous Sovereign, whose plea- 
sure and true happmess IS to see all her loyal subjects satisfied and 
contented, and their faithful services rewarded as they deserve. 
Fear not, my friends, that you whose fathers have been so much 
distinguished in the conquest of the Canadas, and who have your- 
selves contributed so powerfully to the defence of them from foreign 
and domestic enemies, shall be forgotten by a grateful and generous 
Sovereign in the distribution of rewards. 
The loyal and martial character of Highlanders is p!"Overbial. 
The splendid achievements of your ancestors under a Montrose and 
a Dundee in support of a fallen family proved their unshaken ad- 
herence to honour and principle, acquired for them the admiration of 
their opponents, and secured for you, their posterity, the confidence 
of a liberal and discerning Government. 
You have indeed reason to be proud of such ancestors, and your 
friends have reason to be proud of your conduct since the first of 
you crossed the Atlantic. 
When the American Colonies broke their allegiance and re- 
belled against Britain, your fathers and such of you as are yet alive 
of those Royal Emigrants, rallied around the standard of your 
Sovereign, fought your way through the wilderness to the baJ:ks of 
the St. Lawrence, and gallantly supported the British authorities in 
Canada. How gratifying it is to think that the martial character 
transmitted to you by your forefathers has not been tarnished nor 
disgraced. Queenston Heights, Lundy's Lane; Chrysler's Farm and 
Ogdensburgh will be standing monuments of your bravery and 
loyalty, while the history of the Canadas shall continue to be read. 
The renowned veteran, Sir John Colborne, Commander of the 
Forces, acknowledged and admired the promptitude and alacrity 
with which you flew to arms last winter, and volunteered ) our 
services to Lower Canada, where your presence effectually checked 
the spirit of revolt for the time, and would in all probability have 
extinguished it in that part of the country, had your corps been kept 
on foot. 
Your countryman and friend, General Macdonell, whose brows 
are encircled with unfading laurels of many a hard,fought battle, 
travelled hundreds of miles last summer to Glengarry, for the plea- 
sure of inspecting your Militia Regiments on their respective 
parades. Think with what satisfaction he will view them on the 
field of honour this winter, and by y
)Ur valor and bravery see you 
contribute so much to the preservatiGn of the Canadas. 
That nothing may be wanting to cheer and encourage you in 
the glorious contest in which you are now engaged, the brave and 
gallant Colonel Carmichael, whose confidence in your loyalty and 
courage can only be equalled by his regard anJ attachment to you 



294 
a.ll, wìll direct your operations against the enemy, and will, I fee 
confident, have the honour and satisfaction of making the most 
favourable report of your gallantry in the field. 
That the God of Battles may be your protector, and grant 
success to the righteousness of your cause, is the ardent prayer and 
sincere wish of your obedient servant, 
ALEXANDER MACDONELL. 
Kingston, 1st December, 1838. 
On the I st November Sir John Colborne wrote to Lieutenant- 
Colonel Turner, Particular Service, at Cornwall as follows: 
QUEBEC, November I, 1838. 
SrR,-I request that you will explain to the officers of the 
militia in the district in which you are stationed that Canada being 
threatened with an attack from the American frontier by a horde of 
rapacious brigands, every man that can bear arms, I am persuaded, 
will not hesitate to join his regiment, and prepare to repel the wicked 
and unprovoked invasion with which the Provinces are threatened, 
and whIch, no doubt, will be immediately attempted. The loyal 
inhabitants may be assured that the Mother Country will no longer 
suffer these Provinces to be kept in a state of suspense and alarm 
to which they have been recently exposed; but that the strength of 
the Empire will be exerted fully to put an end t'J the disgraceful 
proceedings on the frontiocr. I havoc, &c., 
J. COLBORNE. 
On the 3rd November the habitants between the Yamaska and 
Richelieu Rivers had assembled under arms at St. Ours, St. Charles 
and St. Michaels, while about four thousand had congregated at 
Napierville under the command of Dr. Nelson between t.he 5th and 
6th. On the 4th Sir John Colborne by proclamation declared mar- 
tiallaw again in force in the District of Montreal and on the previous 
day the Special Council had been summOIled to meet on the 9 th . 
Large numbers of people were from day to day placed under arrest 
and the gaol at Montreal was filled to overflowing. The troops 
under Sir James Macdonell at once proceeded to Napierville, where 
they arrived on the morning of the 10th, to find that the insurgents 
haå decamped the night previous, aud a portion of them having 
been attacked by the militia near Rouse's Point, were overpowered 
and driven across the border, three hundred stand of arms and one 
field piece being taken. An engagement took place between the 
volunteers and the insurgents at Odell Town, where the latter 
suffered heavily. 
On the 2nd November the insurgents seized the steamer "Henry 
Brougham" at Beauharnois, and took the crew and passengers prison- 



295 
ers, among whom, Judge Pringle states, was D. E. McIntyre, then 
Surgeon in Colonel Fraser's (Charlottenburg) Regiment (the present 
Sheriff of these Counties),Donald McNicol, of Williams town, John S. 
McDougal, Duncan McDonald (Lachlan) and others. They next 
surrounded the huuse of the Seigneur, Mr. Ellis, and made prisoners 
of its inmates. The Glengarry Regiments was immediately or- 
dered to Beauharnois. 
ASSISTANT QUARTER-MASTER GENERAL'S OFFICE, 
MONTREAL, 5th November, 1838. 
SIR,-I am directed by the Commander of the Forces to 
acquaint you that Colonel Phill{>otts has proceeded to Lancaster for 
the purpose of conveying His -Excellency's instructions to Major 
Carmichael to assemble as many Battalions of the Glengarrys as he 
can collect, and pass over with them from Point au Baudet to Cartier, 
in Hungry Bay. 
The company of the Seventy-First and four companies of the 
Ninety-Third Highlanùers, which are supposed to be on their return 
to Montreal from the Upper Province, haye been ordered to join in 
this movement and to pass over with the Glengarry Regiments. 
The object of this movement is to disperse the retels assembled 
at Beauharnois. 
A large force of regulars are about to march against the rebels 
at L'Acadie and Chateauguay, which will probably have the effLct 
of drawing the rebels from your front, and the Commander of the 
Forces is so anxious that your movement should not be delayed 
that he thinks it possible you may undertake it with safety without 
either the company of Seventy-First or those of the Ninety- Third 
should they not have arrived. 


I have, etc., 
G. D. HALL, Major, 
Assistant Quarter-Master General. 
Colonel Macdonell, Commanding Glengarrys. 
Colonel Phillpotts wrote to Colonel Fraser, commanding First 
(Charlottenburg Regiment) Glengarry Militia, from Coteau du Lac 
on the same day (5th November), requesting him to assemble as 
many men of his Regihlent as could conveniently leave their homes, 
and march them to that place, stating that there was every reason to 
believe that it was the intention of the rebels to cross over from 
Beauharnois to Coteau and cut off the communication between the 
Upper anq. Lower Provinces. The letter then prcceeds : 
The Commander of the Forces has, therefore, directed me to 
inform the brave and loyal Militia of Glengarry that he depends 
upon them to prevent this. aDd if circumstances shoÙld render it 
necessary to march to Vaudreuil, St. Annes and Point Claire in order 



29 6 
to keep that communicasion completely open, while he, by cross- 
ing over to Laprairie, Caughnawaga and Chateauguay, disper

s the 
rebels on that side of the St. Lawrence and restores tranqUlhty to 
the Province
 
A postscript added that in order to secure the County of 
Glengarry from aggression during the absence of those who left in 
pursuance of the above directions, it was necessary that Colonel 
Fraser himself shvuld remain at Lancaster in command of t=lll those 
who could not conveniently leave their homes, but who were well 
able to defend that part of the Province from invasion, and stated 
that" in confiding this very importan
 duty to you, His Excellency 
is aware, from your well known vigilance and zeal, that it could not 
be entrusted to abler hands." Major McMartin was directed to. 
march the Regiment to Coteau du Lac. 
On the 29th October 'previous, Colonel Fraser had received in- 
structions from Colonel Turner, K. H., commanding the Eastern Dis- 
trict (acting under the orders of the Government of Upper Canada) 
to call out immediately six hundred men of his Battalion, detaching 
two companies of one hundred each tv Lancaster, two to Coteau du 
Lac and two in reserve at Williamstown, the field-piece to be taken 
to Lancaster, and in case of alarm or landing of banditti three 
rounds to be fired as a signal for all to turn out, and all suspicious 
persons who might land to be detained. This was a temporary 
arrangement until a draft from all the regiments in Glengarry should 
take place to complete 1200 men. How this third call to arms was 
responded to in Glengarry is stated by Mr. McMullen in his history: 
On the report of the rebellion reaching Glengarry the County 
rose en masse, the loyal Highlanders burning with but one desire, 
to get an opportunity to crush it. They came to Colonel Car- 
michael's headquarters in hundreds, beseeching him to give them 
the privilege of striking a blew for theIr Queen and British connec- 
tion. As fast a" he got them enrolled and supplied them with arms 
he sent them by steamers to Coteau, where he meant to start from.(I) 
The Glengarry Regiments were landed at Hungry Bay on the 
loth November, and marched immediately upon Beauharnois. The 
rebels, after a brief resistance, abandoned the position and fled. 
Colonel Carmichael, who was in command, stated in the following 
report what took place: 
hEAUHARNOIS, 10 November, 10 p.m. 
SIR.-l have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of 
His Excellency the Commander of the Forces, that in conjunction 
(1) Page 342. 



297 
with Colonel Phillpotts a detachment of an officer of the Engineers, 
twenty-two sappers and miners, one captain, three subalterns, four 
sergeants, two buglers and 121 rank and file 71st Regiment, with 
upwards of 1000 Glengarry men were landed at Hungry Bay this 
morning, marched and took Beauharnois, rescued all the prisoners 
with the exception of Messrs. Ellice, Brown, Nonnan, Ross, Nor- 
val, Bryson, Hondslow and Surveyor, supposed to be at Chateau- 
guay, with the loss of one man killed and three wounded of the 71st 
Regiment. The men are much fatigued, and we wait here for or- 
ders. I have, &c., 
L. CARMICHAEL, Colonel P.S. 
Major HalJ, Assist. Qr.-lvIr.-Gen'l. 
The Glengarry Regiments had been but a few days at Beauhar- 
nois when they were ordered to return to Upper Canada, the fron- 
tier of the lower part of the Province being invaded by Ameri- 
can sympathizers. Their services at Beauharnois were recognized 
in the folJowing general order: 
HEADQUARTERS, Montreal, November 17, 1838. 
* * * The prompt assembly and movements of the brave 
Glengarry Regiments under Colonels Macdonell and Fraser, and of 
the Stormont Militia under Cot Donald jEneas Macdonell, and their 
march to Beauharnois, has had the effect of dispersing the rebels in 
that quarter. The great activity and judgment which has been 
evinced by Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor in his defence of the post of 
Odelltown and by Colonels Carmichael, Campbell and Phillpotcs at 
Beauhamois reflect the highest credit on these officers. * * * 
JOHN EDEN, D.A.G. 
Sir John Colborne, in his despatch to Lord Glenelg, November 
II, 1838, mentioned Colonels Macdonell and Fraser and the 
promptitude with which they, in conjunction with the other officers, 
carried out the movement on Beauharnois, while Lord Glenelg, in 
acknowledging the despatch, stated that while Her Majesty sincerely 
deplored the events which had recently occurred in that part of her 
dominions, she has contemplated with the greatest satisfaction the 
zeal, promptituje and galJantry with which her loyal subjects in both 
Provinces had come forward for the suppression of the insurrection 
and the defence of their country. That the steadiness and valour 
displayed by the militia and volunteers both in Upper and Lower 
Canada was deserving of the highest praise, and that he (Lord 
Glenelg) \Vas commanded to convey to them through Sir John Col- 
home Her Majesty's sense of their valuable services, which was 
accordingly done by Sir John Colborne on the 12th Jal1 u ary, 18 39. 



29 8 
His Excellency Major-General Sir George Arthur, Lieutenant- 
Governor of Upper Canada, bore testimony to the conduct of the 
Glengarry Regiments as follows: 
DISTRICT GENERAL ORDERS. 
TORONTO, November 19, 1838. 
His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has much pleasure in 
congratulating C010nel CarmIchael, Particular Service, and the loyal 
and gallant Glengarry Militia Regiments under Colonels Macdonell, 
Fraser, Chisholm and Macdonell, whose ready aid in moving into 
the Lower Province mainly contributed to the recapture of the 
" Henry Brougham," and has earned for them the high approbation 
of the Commander of the Fon;es. 
After having, as stated, only about time to recover from the 
fatigue of their march to Beau 
arnois, orders were issued to the 
Glengarry Regiments to return to the Upper Province. The follow- 
ing letter was addressed to Colonels Macdonell and Fraser: 
BEAU HARNOIS, November 14, 1838. 
SIR,-Despatches having been received from Colonel Turner, 
commanding at Cornwall, reporting that Upper Canada has been 
invaded by a lawless band of brigands from the United States, who 
have land
d near Johnstown between five and eight hundred men, 
with eight pieces of cannon, His Excellency the Commander of the 
rorces has therefore directed that your Regiment of brave Glengarry 
Highlanders shall be immediately relieved from duty in this Pro- 
vince, and proceed forthwith to Lancaster, where they will receive 
further orders from Colonel Turner. 
In communicating to you the above orders, I am directed to 
convey to the Regiment under your command the warmest thanks 
of the Commander of the Forces for their zeal and alacrity in turning 
out from their homes at such shcrt notice at this inclement season 
of the year, and for the patience and perseverance with which they 
have performed the very important duty required of them, and I am 
further directed to request that you will be pleased to impress both 
upon the officers and men the absolute necessity of their keeping 
together on their return to Upper Canada, and to desire most posi- 
tively that no man will think of leaving his regiment under any pre- 
tence whatever until you receive authority from His ExceJlency the 
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to dismiss them. I have, &c., 
GEORGE PHILLPOTTS, A.Q.M.G. 
Early in the sa'ne month (November) unusual numbers of 
'5tranger5 wae congregated about Syracuse, Oswego, Sackett's 
Harbor and Watertown, and large quantities of arms and warlike 
stores were concealed about these towns. Great activity was dis- 
played among the Hunter's Lod 6 es, which counted among their 



299 
office-holders members of the American Congress, generals in their 
army, Governors of States and other leading citizens, the "Brother 
Jonathan" newspapers alleging that sixty thousand members were 
sworn to relieve the continent from" the absurdities of monarchy," 
and towards which philanthropic scheme large sums of money had 
been collected. F10ating rumours had been in circulation for several 
days that an attack might be expected in the vicinity of Pres
ott, 
anj on the night of Sunday, the 11th November, information was 
received that a large number of armed men had embarked on che 
steamer" United States/' and two schooners were rapidly approach
 
ing the town. Their plan of landing them miscarried and the 
vessels parted company. One of them crossed over to Ogdensburg 
and grounded on the fh,t at the mouth of the harbour, the others 
dropping down the river,anchored about midstream,opposite the Wind
 
mill (I). This building stood upon a bluff rocky point a mile and a 
half below Prescott. It \vas of circular form, massively constructed 
of stone. its walls three a 1 11 a half feet in thickness and eighty feet 
high, its interior divided into several storeys, the small windows of 
which admirably served the purpose of loop holes. It stilI stands, 
an object of much interest to pa<;sengers on the steamers down the 
St. Lawrence, and is now used as a lighthouse. Around it stood a 
number of stone houses, and nearly all the fences in the neighbour
 
hood were of the same material. The banditti, concealed under the 
hatchets of the schooner, effected a lodgment here on Monday even
 
ing. an3 were soon joined by numbers who crossed from Ogdensburg 
in Sl11lU boats. The night was spent in fortifying the Wind-mill and 
adjacent premises, under the direction of Von Schoultz, a Polish 
refugee, who was, I believe, an engineer by profession. This mis
 
guided man, totally ignorant of the sItuation of affairs in Canada, and 
believing that its people were afflicted with a tyranny and mis
 
 
government similar to that which prevailed in his native Poland, 
was the only one of these rapscallions for whose ultimate fate one 
can feel the slightest sympathy. 
The attack naturally evoked great excitement in the vicinity. 
E-nly on Monday morning a little steamer, the "Experiment," 
under command of Lieutenant Fowell, R.N., was despatched from 
BrockviUe to the assistance of their neighbours. She was armed 
with two small cannon, and c')ntinued during the day to make it 


(I) Croil's History of Dundas, from which I t lke the account ofthis eveut. 


. 



3 00 
Warm for the sympathizers as they crossed and re-crossed from 
Ogdensburg. The steamer" United States" was seized by a gang 
of ruffians at her dock in Ogdensburg, and utilized during the day 
in carrying arms, ammunition and men to the Wind-mill. As she 
Was returning from her last trÌI' a shot from the " Experiment' 
knocked the head off her pilot. Late at night the British steamers 
" Queen" and "Cobourg" arrived, having on board a party of 
marines and regulars, amounting in all to seventy men. The same 
night a detachment of the Glengarry militia, under Captain George 
Macdonell (Greenfield), also arrived, and lay on the ground during 
a heavy rain, every m-:>ment expecting an att3.ck from the brigands. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Go\Van with a detachment of the 9 th 
Provincial Battalion, n umbering 140 men, also arrived at Prescott. 
On Tuesday morning early, a bJ.ttalion of Dündas militia, consisting, 
of 300 men, commanded by Colonel John Crysler, made their ap- 
pearance, and were soon after joined by a part of the 1st Grenville 
militia, when the following disposition \Vas made; The left wing, 
consisting of 30 marines under Lieut. Parker, part of Captain Mac- 
donell's Glengarry volunteers, and a portion of the Grenville and 
Dundas militia under Colonel R. D. Fraser, took up a portion along 
the edge of the woods, where the enemy had posted their piquets, 
and drove them in in gallant style. The right wing, consisting 
of forty men of the Eighty-Thirty Regiment of the lin
, part of 
Colonel Gowan's battalion, sixty men under Edm::mston, and part of 
the Dundas Militia, the whole under the command of Colonel 
Young, proceeded along the bank of the river. and, having advanced 
to wIthin a few rods of the \Vind-mill, encountered a sharp fire from 
the enemy. The action on the left commenced by a galling fire from 
the brigands posted behind the stone WJ.lls in rear of the mill. The 
British being upon the rising ground, were placed at great disadvant- 
age from their exposed situation, nevertheless they advanced steadily, 
in double quick time, 10<Jding and firing with great precision. The 
eI1emy were driven from their shelter in great confusion, and, retreat- 
ing some distance, took up a position behind another stone wall. 
From this they were dislodged in like manner, and finally were 
driven into their citadel the \Vind-mill and the adjacent stone build- 
ings, from which they maintained a vigorous fire upon ::heir assailants, 
who suffered severely from the sharp shooters that were post
d in the 
upper storeys of the mill. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a barn 
which had afforded shelter to the British was burned by the patriots. 



3 0 1 
During the remainder of the day, both parties kept up an irregular 
discharge of musketry without coming to close quarters. The dead 
and wounded lay on the field till next morning, when the British sent 
& flag of truce to bury their dead, and both parties were engaged for 
a short time in performing this duty. 
Wednesday and Thursday were passed at the Wind-mill, in 
comparative inaction, the British waiting for reinforcement and for 
guns of sufficient calibre to reduce the place; the brigands remained 
locked up in their prison, and kept up a desultory fire from the 
windows of the buildings. On Friday, at half-past twelve, the 
Canadians were relieved from their anxiety; three steamers hove in 
sight, which proved to be the "William IV.," the uBrockville," and the 
'
Cobourg," having on board the Eighty-Third Regiment of the line. 
and a detachment of the Royal Artillery, with three twenty-four- 
pounders. Th
 Eighty Third, with the heavy ca l 1non, took up a 
position in rear of the Wind-mill, and im:nediately opened up a 
heavy fire upon the rebels, which dislodged them from the stone 
houses, and drove them all in the mill. At the same time the three 
steamers assailed them from the river side. 
Within half an hour after the cannonade commenced, a white 
flag was seen to wave from the top of the tower, but it waved in 
vain, and was at last nailed to the outside of it. The exasperated 
British continued to pour in deadly volleys upon them, and every 
building in the vicinity of the mill was set fire to, in order to con- 
centrate their attack upon 1 he enemy's main fortress. "The fl'lmes 
raging i
 the gloom of the night, showed at a great distance the 
position of the combatants, and, shedding a lurid light upon all 
around, had an effect at once awful and sublime." At length the 
firing ceased, when the severely chastised rebels marched out, and 
surrendered at discretion. Von Schoultz, and many others, were 
found concealed among the bushes, and dragged from their hiding 
places. The number of prisoners who surrendered was one hundred 
and ten, besides those who had been taken during the siege. In the 
mill were found several hundred kegs of powder, a large quantity of 
cartridges, pistols and swords, and two hundred stand of arms, most 
of which were of costly and very superior workmanship; many of 
the swords and dirks were silver mounted, and their handles orna- 
mented with elaborate carving. A flag, composed of the finest tex- 
ture, valued at $100, was also taken, on which was exhibited a full 



3 02 
spread eagle, beautifully executed, surmounted by one star, and be 
neath were the words wrought in silk, "Liberated by the Onondaga 
Hunters." The total loss of the rebels in killed and wounded was 
never accurately ascertained, as numbers of them were taken across 
the river) not less than forty, however, are known to have been killed, 
among these was a young officer, a son of General Brown, and two 
other officers, in the pocket of one of them was found a list of pros- 
cribed persons in Prescott: who were to have suffered death. The 
official return of the British loss was two officers, eleven rank and 
file killed, of whom four were of the Loyal Glengarry Highlanders, 
four officers and sixty-three men wounded. The officers killed were, 
W. S. Johnston, Lieutenant Eighty-Third Regiment; and - 
Dulmage, Lieutenant Second Grenville Militia. The officers wound- 
ed were, Ogle R. Gowan, Lieutenant
Colonel, Ninth Provincial 
Battalion, slightly; Lieutenant Parker, Royal Marines, slIghtly; 
John Parlow, Lieutenant Second Dundas Militia, severely, and 
Angus Macdonell, E:asign Loyal Glengarry Highlanders, slightly. 
Of the Dundas Militia four were killed and seven wounded. 
The Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, in District General 
Orders of 19th November, 1838, thus recognized the services or 
those who delivered the Province of these desperadoes. After 
mentioning Colonel Plomer Young, Particular Service, he stated: 
" The Major-General also offers his warmest thanks to Colonel the 
Honourable Henry Dundas, R.A., for the able disposition of hiiì 
force and his indefatigable exertions; to Colonel McBean, R.A.; 
to Colonel R. Duncan Fraser; to Lieuteltant-Colonel Gowan and 
Captain George Greenfield Macdonell, and to an the officers of the 
militia. and volunteers whose names he .is alone prevented from 
particularizing by the casual absence of the despatch from Colonel 
Young, which enumerated them, and His Excellency is confident 
that the gallant example now shown will be followed with equal 
loyalty and spirit by all the militia of the Province, should their 
services be called for. II 



3 0 3 


CHAPTER 
6. 


EVENTS IN UPPER CANADA.-SUPINENESS OF SIR FRANCIS HEAD. 
-A TYPICAL ADDRESS FROM THE LOYAL MEN OF LOCHIEL. 
-HIS CHARACTERISTIC REPLY.- TORONTO IN SERIOUS PERIL. 
-RESCUED BY COLONEL MACNAB AND THE" MEN OF GORE." 
MURDER OF COLONEL MOODlE.-NAVY ISLAND.- CUTTING 
OUT OF THE "CAROLINE." -SHE IS SENT OVER THE FALLS OF 
NIAGARA. -" GENERAL " VAN RENSELLAER DISLODGE D.- 
TROUBLE ON THE MICHIGAN FRONTIER.-A SPECDfE
 " PRO- 
CLAMATION."- ATTACKS AT AMHERSTBURG.-RENDEZVOUS AT 
\V ATERTOWÑ .-FURTHER ATTACKS IN THE \VEST.-DEPARTURE 
OF SIR FRANCIS HEAD. - ADVENT OF SIR G. ARTHUR.- 
EXECUTION OF Lou NT AND MATHEWS. 


With the exception of the occurrence last mentioned the Province 
of Upper Canada east of Toronto was not troubled either with 
insurrection or the attacks o
 brigand" sympathizers." In the west, 
however, it was different, yet as the Glengarry Regi:nents were e:n. 
ployed in Lower Canada and in protecting the frontier of the eastern 
portion of the Province, I need not enter at any considerable length 
into a narrative of these events, 3S they will be found elsewhere in 
Lindsey's i
ife of \Villiam Lyon Mackenze, in Dent's two volumes of 
the Upper Canadian Rebellion, and other works. Early in Decem- 
ber, 1837, the insurgents had n-urowly missed capturing Toronto, 
owing to the supineness of the Lieutenant-G:)vernor, Sir Francis 
Bond Head, who could not or would not believe that affairs had 
reached such a crisis, and this in spite of remonstrances while he 
had received from almost every district in the Province. \Varnings 
had accompanied the loyal addresses of the well disposed, and yet 
Mackenzie and his fellows had been allowed to make deliberate pre- 
paration for revolt, to write what they chose, say what they chose 
and virtually do what they chose. The number and ardour of the 
address may have misled him. Mr. Christie quotes. one, probably 
more or less typical of them all, from "the loyal and true-hearted 
Highlanders of Lochiel," forwarded shortly after the attack on 



3 0 4 
Toronto, in which abhorence was expressed of the late foul and un- 
natural rebellion, and the signers declared "by the memory of the 
past, by the hope of the future, by all that is worthy of ourselves 
and of being transmittéd down to posterity," that they were all ready 
to a man and at a moment's warning to march against the rebels of 
their adopted country. The following is the characteristic reply of 
His Excellency to this spirit-stirring address: 
Brave and loyal Highlanders of Lochiel, 
The few remaining rebels who dared to insult the authorities of 
this noble por
ion of the British Empire, have absconded from Its 
dominions, and the only enemies we have now to encounter are a 
band of pirates, who, under American leaders, have invaded our 
territory, for the avowed object of plundering our lands and subvert- 
ing our revered institutions. 
I feel confident, If this unprincipled aggression should continue, 
that, in one body, you will advance to exterminate the perfidious 
invaders of our liberties, or, like Highlanders, perish 
\Vith your backs to the field, 
And your feet to the foe, 
And leaving in battle 
No blot on your name, 
Look proudly to Heaven 
From the deathbed of fame! 
Government House, January 13, l838. 
All this was very v'ell in its way, and tallied with the declara- 
tion of th
 so:newhat dramatic Lieutenant-Governor, when, alluding 
to Papineau's threat that the people of the United States would 
assist a republican movement in Canada, he stated," In the name 
of every ref;imeot of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promul- 
gate, let them come if they dare." When Sir John Colborne with- 
drew the troops fro:n Toronto to Kingston he offered Sir Francis 
Head to leave two companies as a guard for the capital of the Pro- 
vince, which Sir Francis ras-hly declined. It was then determined 
by the insurgent leaders that early in December they should assem- 
ble their force, which they anticipated would num
er about 4 0 00, 
at M8ntgo
ery's tavern, about three miles north of Toronto, and 
proceed thence to the city, capture 4000 stand of arms which Sir 
Francis had left with the civic authorities for protection, seize the 
Lieutenant-Governor and his chief advisers, place the garrison in the 
hands of the Liberals, declare the Province free and proclaim a 
republic. They did accordingly assemble at Montgomery's, and 



3 0 5 
but for some disarrangement of their plans as regards the date of 
attack, which was changed from the 7th to the 4th of December, 
their programme would probably have been carried out in its en- 
tirety. They were within half a mile of the city when some shots 
were fired by some of the people of the town from behind a fence. 
Both parties then took to their heels, thc rebels leaving one man 
killed and two wounded. They rallied at Gallow's Hill, near 
Montgomery's tavern, but fortunately the" men of Gore," with gal- 
tant Colonel-aiterwards Sir-Allan Macnab at their head, had ar- 
rived {rom Hamilton, numbering some 600, and a brisk fire from 
their artillery, a few volleys of musketry and a bayonet charge was 
sufficient. The rebels retreated in greatest confusion, with a loss of 
thirty-six killed and fourteen wounded, of the Loyalists only three 
being slightly wounded. Colonel Mooùle, who had previously com- 
manded the I04th Regiment of Foot, was cowardly murdered by the 
rebels when passing MontgJmery's tavern on his way to warn the 
authorities of the rising on the previous day, and a leading "patriot" 
named Anderson was shot by Alderman John Powell on attempting 
to make that gentleman a prisoner near Montgomery's, while a flash 
in the pan of the pistol in the hand of the same gentleman alone 
saved Mackenzie the same fate. Colonel Moodie was killed by a 
man named Ryan, who pr.:>bably is now dead or he would in all 
likelihood have been pensioned by the same Legislature which re- 
cently handsomely compensated Montgomery for the burning of his 
hotel, which, with the house of Gibson, a Member of the Assembly, 
and who had a command under Mackenzie in the Rebel force, was 
ordered to be destroyed by the Lieutenant-Governor. Montgomery, 
I may mention, was subsequently tried for his share in these events, 
found guilty and sentenced to death, when his sentence being com- 
muted to transport-.::tion. he escaped from Fort Henry, Kingston, 
when en route to Bermuda. It would seem incredible that he should 
have been compensated to anyone not familiar with the views which 
find expression in the Assembly when the question of rewarding the 
surviving volunteers who suppressed the rebellion comes up. 
After the affair at Gallow's Hill, Mackenzie escaped to the 
States by way of Niagara, a reward of 1:1000 being offered for his 
apprehension and 1:500 for that of Gibson, Lount, Fletcher and 
Loyd, the other leaders of this movement. Colonel Macnab and 
his loyal " m
n of G)r.:: " wcre then ordered to the London District, 



3 06 
where a Dr. Dunscomb had actively encouraged insurrection, which 
Colonel Macnab's force quelled in the same satisfactory manner 
that they had dispersed the rebels at Gallow's Hill and saved To- 
ronto when in such imminent peril. Mackenzie then raised the 
standard of rebellion on Navy Island, opposite Chippewa, in the 
Niagara River, offered a reward of .tsoo for the apprehension of 
the Lieu
enant-Governor, issued a ridiculous proclamation, appoint- 
ed a scamp named Van Rennselaer "commander in chief" of his 
ragged force of refugees and Yankee sympathizers, which soon 
amounted to over a thousand. men, and generally attempted to fo- 
ment trouble, though his efforts in that direction, further than natur- 
ally producing considerable alarm in the neighbourhood, were as 
futile as might be expected. A steamer, the famous" Caroline," 
which was employed in their service, was captured by Colonel 
Macnab, Mr. Elmsley, formerly of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant 
Drew, R.N., and a force of volunteers on the night of the 29th 
December, set fire and sent over the Falls of Niagaru. Just where 
she was taken appears somewhat doubtful, though the weight of tes- 
timony seems to show that she was cut from her moorings at the 
wharf at Schlosser, on the American side, by the occupants of the 
attacking boats, some seven in number, each containing about nine 
men, five of her crew being killed and several wounded. It was 
intended to take her across the river, but owing to the strength of 
thc current that was found impossible, and she had to be abandoned 
to her fate. Her passage through the rapids and over the falls, a 
mass of flame, was a grand spectacle. The Americans professed 
great indignation over the affair, though their conduct in permitting 
the Canadian refugees to outrage the rights of asylum and practical- 
ly allowing their own citizens in sympathy with them to engage in 
open war with a neighbouring country with which their Government 
was at peace, would seem to have estopped them from complaint, 
and the fact that the" Caroline" wa5ò ostentatiously and undeniably 
in the service of the rebel force on Navy Island, carrying articles 
contraband of war, to have rendered her destruction entirely justifi- 
able. 
Colonel MacNab was knighted for his services in this affair, 
and the House of Assembly tendered its thanks to the force engaged 
and voted swords of honour to Colonel l\1:acnab and Lieutenant 
Drew. It very nearly led to war between Great Britain and the 



3 0 1 
United States. In 1842 the British Government expres sed regret at 
the circumstance. The steamer" Sir Robert Peel" was burnt in 
retaliation on the. 29th May, 1838, while taking in wood at Wells' 
Island, in the St. Lawrence, eight miles from French Creek, by 
a band of armed ruffians from the American shore, the passengers 
wantonly insulted and a large amount of money and other property 
plundered. 
Sir John CoUyorne now detennined to adopt in Upper Canada 
the same effectual methods by which he had suppressed the rebellion 
in the Lower Province. Although the season was mid-winter, it 
\vas remarkably open, the St. Lawrence being navigable until the 
middle of January and the upper lakes and rivers free from ice. He 
accordingly 10rwarded from Lower Canada a sufficient number of 
troops to garrison the more exp'.>sed frontier posts, thus allowing 
the militia to attend to their respective districts. 
Early in January, 1838, the American Government made a show 
of doing its duty in suppressing the outrageous proceedings on their 
frontier by arresting Mackenzie. He entered into a recognizance in 
$5,000 for his appearance and immediately returned to Navy 
Island, where he remained until Van Rensellaer and his ragamuf- 
fins were driven out under a fire of heavy guns and mortars directed 
against it by the artillery from Chippewa on the 14th of that month. 
Mr. Lindsey claims that the Buffalo" Committee of Thirteen" and 
not the "Provisional Government" directed the evacuation. I 
strongly suspect that the artillery men had more to do with it than 
either those high sounding organizations. The British loss during 
the seige was one killed and one wounded. I cannot find that of 
the "patriots." 
In the meantime another band of ruffians, under the leadership 
of a person nameà Sutherland, an American citizen, '.vho styled him- 
self" General of the Second Division of the Patriot Anny," had 
assembled on the Michigan frontier, to the number of 1000 or 1200, 
and a proclamation was of course in order. As this precious docu- 
ment, while containing the usual and appropriate lies, had the one 
merit of brevity, I give it as a specimen of what a long-suffering 
people had to endure: 
PROCLAMATION TO THE PATRIOTIC CITIZENS OF UPPER CANADA. 
You are called upon by the voice of your bleeding country to 
join th
 patriot forces and free your land from tyranny. Hordes of 



30
 
worthless parasites of the British Crown are quartered upon you to 
devour your substance, to ontrage your rights, to let loose upon 
your defenceless wives and daughters a brutal soldiery. 
Rally, then, around the Standard of Liberty, and victory and a 
glorious future of independence will be yours. 
THOMAS J. SÙTHERLAND, Brigadier-General. 
Headquartets, 2nd Division, Bois Blanc, U.C., Jan. 9, 18 3 8 . 
Associated with" Brigadier-General" Sutherland were the fol
 
lowing distinguished warriors with their titles: Ilenry S. Handy, of 
Illinois, who before the advent of Sutherland was" Commander in 
Chief," Mr. Lindsey assuring us that his command extended over 
"the whole of Western Canada"; James M. \Vilson, Major-General>> 
E. J. Roberts," Brigadier-General of the First Brigade;" Dr. TheIler, 
"lirigadier-General commanding the First Brigade of French and 
Irish troops to be raised in" Canada;" "Colonels" Dodge, Davis, 
Brophy, Bradley and others. Their object was a descent upon 
Amherstburg. They rendezvoused at the Island of Bois Blanc, in 
the Detroit River,o!! the Canadian side, secured cannon and several 
hundreds of muskets from the State arsenals of Michigan, which 
were placed on board the schooner" Anne" at Detroit without con- 
cealment, which vessel also brought another large detachment of 
Canadian refugees and their" sympathizers." So great was the 
feeling manifested in their favour on the American side that the 
United States marshal was utterly unable to prevent their proceed- 
ings, though plainly a violation of all international obligations. The 
Canadian militia were hastily summoned for the defence of the 
neighbourhvod, and were found quite equal to the occasion. Sev- 
eral feints were made before they came to close qua.rters, which re
 
suIted in the capture of the" Anne," which had grounded, the militia 
plunging into the water, boarding and carrying her in the most gallant 
manner, taking twenty-one prisoners, three pieces of cannon, over 300 
stand of arms, some money and a large quantity of ammunition, 
stores and provisions, the crew having three killed and twelve 
wounded. Sutherland, who had kept safely aloof, then retired to 
Sugar Island, on the American side, and procured a visit from 
Governor Mason of Michigan, who dispersed his men and arrested 
him, only of course to be set at liberty after the f. \rce of a trial had 
taken place. 
Van Rensellaer, who had figured at Navy Island, from which 
he had been driven in January, turned up in the following month at 



3 0 9 
Watertown, in the State of New York, with his colleague Mackenzie, 
where with one U Bill" Johnson, a most notorious ruffian, they or. 
ganized some 2000 men for an expedition against the St. Lawrence 
frontier. They had a rendezvous at French Creek, but the strength 
of the garrison at Kingston frightened them, and after considerable 
bluster they dispersed. Johnson, however, continued in the neigh- 
bourhood for some time and committed many depredations, the 
burning of the U Sir Robert Peel," one of the finest steamboats ply" 
ing the St. Lawrence, being his chief exploit. After this event he 
issued the inevitable proclamation. I do not know his ultimate 
fate, though I don't think he was ever captured, and thus escaped 
what he deserved, nor so f.1r as I know has he had Montgomery's 
good (ortune in being compensated for the "losses" he undoubtedly 
sustained. . 
A Scotchman named Dorlald McLeod (I), who was of course á 
General, was associated with a Colonel Vreeland in another expedi.. 
tion from the neighbourhood of Detroit. They crossed to Fighting 
Island, in the Detroit River, on the 24th February, where they met 
a small force of regulars and retired quickly with five wounded. 
They were then taken in hand by the United States authorities and 
dispersed. 
Sutherland again gave trouble, a force under his directions num- 
bering about 500, estabhshing itself in the end of February at Point 
an Pelee. about forty miles from Amherstburg. They were di-:persed 
by Colonel Maitland, of the 32nd Regiment, with a loss to the pa- 
triots of thirteen killed and forty wounded, in addition to a number 
taken prisoners, while of the British two were killed and twenty-eight 
wounded. Sutherland himself was taken prisoner. He was not 
cvnvicted, however, owing to some technicality in his trial, and his 
release was ordered by the Government. 
On the 6th March, 18J8, Sir Francis Head prorogued the Leg- 
islature in a lengthy review of recent circumstances, and retired, 
being succeedc:d by Sir George Arthur, who was sworn in on the 
22nd March. Sir Francis had some narrow escapes in his journey 
to New York via Kingston and Watertown, where he was recognized 
and pursued to Utica. He was enabled to escape simply by dis- 
tancing his pursuers.(2) 
(1) Mr. Lindsey states that McLeod was born at Fort Augustus, Invemessshire, Scotland. 
and became a sergeant in the British Army, after his discharge from which he tauiht school.t 
Brockville. V.C. He seems to have been a thorou2'hly bad lot. 
(2) McMullen's History, p. 461. 



3 to 
In the spring of 1838 executions for high treason commenced, 
the first to suffer being Samuel Lount and Peter Mathews, who were 
hanged on the 12th April at Toronto, their execution being wit- 
nessed from the windows of the gaol by Montgomery and others) 
twelve in number, whose Sentences were commuted through the 
mistaken leniency of Lord Glenelg and the home authorities, and 
who eventually succeeded in escaping from Fort Henry. A special 
commission sat in Hamilton for the trial of political offenders, while 
courts-martial assembled at Toronto and Kingston. Petitions were 
in order on behalf of those who had been taken red-handed and by 
those who still were ia league with the Hunters' lodges and other 
kindred organizations, yet who bitterly complained when Sir George 
Arthur properly stated in reply to the" Constitutional Reformers of 
Toronto," that he was fully determined to allow impartial justice to 
take its course, that commodity being precisely what they did not 
want administered to their friends. 


. 



3 tt 


CHAPTER 27. 


FURTHER ATTACKS ON BORDER TOWNS IN UPPER CANADA.- 
COLONEL PRINCE'S LACONIC DESPATCIt.-GLENGARRY REm" 
MENTS AND OTHERS GARRISON CORNWALL IN WINTER OF 
18 3 8 9. - OFFICERS ON PARTICULAR SERVICE. - COLONELS 
TURNER, K.H., AND CARMICHAEL.-THEIR THANKS TO THE 
MILITIA OF DISTRICT. - LETTERS 01' BOTH TO COLONEL 
FRASER, COMMANDING CHARLOTTENBURG REGtME:NT. - AR" 
RIVAL OF SIR JAMES MACDONELL, IN COMMAND OF BRIGADE 
OF GUARDS.-HIS GREAT MILtTARY CAREER.-DEFENCE OF 
HOUGOUMONT.-INVESTED WITH ORDER OF THE BATH BY SIR 
JOHN COLBORN.-ADDRESSES OF MAGISTRATES OJ' GLENGARRY 
AND STORMONT ON HIS ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE. 


War with the United States being a possible contingency, ow- 
ing to the ill-feeling in both countries arising over the" Caroline " 
affair and the Maine boundary matter on the one hand and the fre" 
quent and outrageous attacks upon our frontier tOWns on the other, 
Sir John Colborne therefore sent engineer officers to all posts where 
troops or fortifications were requin,d. At Amherstburg, rort Mal.. 
den was repaired, barracks were commenced at London, Fort Mis.. 
slssaga at Niagara was strengthened, additional barracks were 
constructed at Toronto, the works at Kingston were strengthened, 
Fort Wellington at Prescott rendered impregnable to sudden attack 
(I), and more troops were forwarded to various points. 
Notwithstanding these precautions, a body of sympathizers 
crossed near Niagara and committed considerable depredations. 
Thirty of them were taken prisoners as well as their leader Morrow, 
who subsequently suffered the death penalty. Simultaneously with 
this, bodies of " patriots" penetrated into the London District, res.. 
cued a number of state prisoners and plundered some of the inhabi. 
tants, when they were taken in hand by the Indians, and badly 
routed, several of them being taken prisoners. At Goderich also a 
body of them made their appearance in a sloop. and after commit- 


(1) McMullen's History, p. 46
. 



3 12 
ting some robberies in the shops, escaped. ( [) Nothing further 
transpired until November, when took place the attack on Prescott, 
and the battle at the Windmill already described, and another in. 
vasion on Amherstburg on the 4th December, when some four 
hundred and fifty miscreants crossed, marched upon Windsor, 
captured a few militia guarding it, burned the steamer" Thames" and 
some buildings, murdered a negro and proceeded to Sandwich, 
brutally murdering Surgeon Hume, of the Regular Army, who hap. 
pened to meet them, and mutilating his body in a shocking 
manner. (2) 
They were then met by Colonel Prince, who attacked and 
routed them, killing twenty-one of their number. Some prisoners 
were brought in shortly after the engagement and properly dealt 
with by Colonel Prince. His despatch states the facts: "Of the 
brigands and pirates twenty-one were killed, besides four who were 
brought in just at the close, whom I ordered to be shot on the spot, 
which was done accordingly." Twenty-six prisoners were shortly 
afterwards taken and reserved for the authorities to deal with. The 
remainder escaped, except nineteen who concealed themselves in the 
woods, and, unable to re-cross to their friends, were shortly after. 
wards found frozen to death. This practically dosed the rebellion, 
though affairs remained in an unsettled condition for some time. 
One hundred and eighty of those taken at the Windmill and else. 
where were tried before general courts-martial at Fort Henry (Kings- 
ton) and London early in 1839 and sentenced to be hanged, the 
great majority having their sentences commuted. Ten were hanged 
in Kmgston, including Von Schultz. Of the remainder, most or 
them were sent to Van Dieman's Land, where many died, the re. 
mainder being eventually pardoned and many of them returned to 
Canada. 
The militia, though some of them had been out on three different 
occasions, were liable to be again called on at a moment's notice. 
Thus, among Colonel Fraser's papers I find the following letter from 
the distinguished officer on PartIcular Service commanding in this 
District: 
CORNWALL, 20 min. to 10 a.m., 22nd November, 1838. 
My Dear Colonel,-I wish to see you in here as soon as possi- 
ble. I fancy some very important information has come to light 
(1) McMullen's History, p. 464. 
(2) McMullen's History, p. 467' 



3 1 3 
regarding the American Government. Two Regiments of Glen- 
garrys are immediately to be stationed in this town. In haste. 
Yours very faithfuUy, 
C. B. TuRNER, Colonel Com'g. 
To Colonel Fraser, 1st Glengarry Militia. 
Judge Pringle states( I) that during the faU of 1838 and the 
early part of 1839 the First Provisional Battalion unùer Lieutenant- 
Colonel Vankoughnet, the third (Lochiel) Regiment of Glengarry 
Militia under Colonel Alexander Chisholm, the Fourth Provisional 
Battalion (practically the Lancaster Regiment of Glengarry Militia) 
under Colonel Donald Greenfield MacdOlJell, M
jor Jarvis' Troop of 
Lancers, Captain Crawford's Independent Company of Infantry and 
Captain Pringle's Company of Artillery were all stationed in Corn- 
wall, which must have had the appearance of a garrison town. At 
the same time the Fifth Provisional Battalion under Lieutenant- 
Colonel Alexander Fraser (no doubt largely composed of the officers 
and men of the Charlottenburg Regiment of Militia) was raised in 
Glengarry, and was on duty along the front of that County, the 
headquarters I believe being at Lancaster; and the First Regiment 
of Stormont Militia ünder Colonel Donald Æneas Macdonell was 
on duty in 
he Township of Cornwall. In the spring of 1839 the 
First Stormont, the Third Glengarry and Captain Pringle's Company 
of Arti1lery were relieved from duty, while later in the season the 
Provisional Battalions were also relieved. The Government then 
authorized the formation of the Fifth Battalion of Incorporated 
Militia under Lieutenant- Colonel Vankoughnet, which evidently 
caused some friction, as I observe in a letter from Colonel Turner to 
Colonel Fraser the statement (of which I had previously known), 
" I can neither make head or tail of Colonel Macdonell in conse- 
sequence of Colonel Vankoughnet being employed in preference to 
himself, and it would not surprise me, from the manner in which he 
and his friends are now acting, if the company of his son( 2) will not 
continue their services any longer than the end of this month." 
Similar trouble on a larger scale had occurred before, when Glen- 
garry men in Scotland were not given the post of honour, which they 
deemed their services had earned. Their pride'and prejudices have 
always to be reckoned with, and I can easily understand how little 


(1) Lunenburg, p. 266. 
(... Referring to the Independent Company of Glengarry Light Infantry, which garrisoned 
Coteau du Lac under Captain Alexander Greenfield Macdonell until June, 1843. 



3ì
 
thèy woülcì Hke the Imputation (probably never intended) that they 
Ì'lere not capable of defending their own frontier! 
At the expiration of two years; Colonel Vankoughnet's Regi- 
inent was re-enlisted for two years, ancl remained in Cornwall until 
April or May, 1842, when the Fourth Incorporated Battalion
 which 
had been stationed at Prescott, was sent to Cornwall, the Fifth 
going tö Prescott. In May, 1843; all the five incorporated battalions 
were disbanded. They were clothed and armed åS the regular 
troops and were fully equal to them in drill and efficiency, and had 
they been kept on foot would have formed an excellent nucltus for 
the training of our militia and volunreers.(I} 
Early in the rebellion the authorities in England had sent out 
'Officers of experien.ce to take command of the militia and superintend 
the formàtion and drill of the regiments and con1panies ordere:l out 
for servil.:e. J üdge Pringle gives the names and stacions of thes.e 
'Officers as follows: Colonel Chíchester, Chatham; Colonel Mar- 
shall, Brockville; Colonel Cox, K. H.
 \Vhitby ; Colonel Carmichael. 
(2), Lancaster and Coteau du Lac; Colonel Young and afterward5 
Colonel \Villian\s, Prescott 5 Captain Earon de Rottenburg, Belle. 
\rille; . Cap
aìn Swan, Niagara; Colonel Turner, K. H., ComwaU. 
The Town Major of Cornwall during the stirring times from 
1838 to 1843 was Major Donald McDonald, who had been a lieu- 
tenant in the Fortieth Regiment and had previously seen much ser- 
\rice in the Forty-Second (Black Watch) Highlanjers. He had the 
Peninsulår medal with ten clasps for Corunna, Fuentes D'Onoi") 
tada}oz, Salamanca., Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle', Nive, Orthes and 
Toulouse-. 
Colonel Carmichael, who häd seen so much of the Charlotten.. 
burg Regiment during its several periods of service, was presented 
with an address by its officers on his removal to Prescott. Hi. 
reply was as follows : 


PRESCOTT, May 24, 1839. 
Gentlemen,-I beg yoll will aCèept my very best thanks for the 
-address you were pleased to present to me at Lancaster on my way 
to this District. 
During the time ì have been employed amongst you. your zeal 
'and good conduct could not have been surpassed, and there cannot 


(I) Pñngle, p. 26;. 
'(2) Colonel Carmichael was a Hjghlander anð. art enthusiasric lover of t
e langna
, dre!ls 
'and traditions of 'the Gael. He built the 
irn at the mouth of the River au Rai5Ïn near I..ancas- 
Iter in honour of Sìr J ohl! Colbome. afterwards Field Marshal Lord Seaton. He h...d seen service 
in the East Indies. 



3 1 5 

e a stronger proof of your attention to your duty than my not hav. 
mg had a single complaint from any of the men who served in the 
Fifth Provisional Battalion last winter. 
That you may long enjoy the confidence and support of your 
!oyal and brave countrymen to uphold the reputation of Glengarry 
IS my sincere wish. Agus creidiruh gu bratlt, gu mi ur caraid dileas. 
L. CARMICHAEL, Col. P.S. 
Co!. the Hon'ble Alexander Fraser and officers of the 1st Regiment 
of Glengarry Militia. 
Colonel Turner on the 29th April, 1839, in District Orders, 
stated that he could not permit so many of the brave, loyal militia 
of the District to return to their homes without returning them 
his best thanks for their zeal, indefatigable attention to their drill, 
discipline in the field and their exemplary conduct in quarters, 
instancing the fact that while on service under him not a complaint 
had reached his ear from those who had so nobly come forward in 
defence of their Most Gracious Queen's dominions in Canada, and 
of the glorious and happy Constitution under which by God's 
blessing they were permitted to live, and of which a set of unprinci- 
pled rebels and remorseless vagabonds and brigands from the 
United States, who had no fear of God nor regard for civilized and 
humane laws, had endeavoured in vain to deprive them of. He 
mentioned that he had received from the several commanding officers 
of corps in the District so cordial a support as to render his duty 
pleasing and easy; begged them to accept his special thanks and to 
convey the same to those officers under them, and trusted that God's 
blessing would attend all, officers and men, and th.1t happiness and 
prosperity would crown their labours in their different occupations 
in life, assuring them that he knew well that should their services 
ever again be required they would all with willing hands and stout 
hearts again take the field to put down unnatural rebellion, and 
drive from their happy s.:>il pirates and brigands who should dare to 
put foot on it. 
Such language, though not now the mode in the Legislature of 
the Province, had the ring in it which appealed to the hearts of the 
men of half a century ago. 
I have been so fortunate as to procure the letters which Col- ' 
onels Turner and Carmichael addressed to Colonel Fraser on their 
return to England, and cannot do better than to give them both in 
lull ; 



3 16 
CORNWALL, 12th April, 1843. 
My Dear Colonel Fraser,-I cannot quit the command of this 
loyal District, which I have had the honour to hold for upwards of 
five years, without expressing to you how much I have valued your 
useful services to your Queen and country and to myself for your 
advice and information in time of great excitement in the country, 
and when I was an entire stranger in the District, and which advice 
and information I always found correct and for the benefit of Her 
Majesty's service and the g{)()d of the District and of the brave 
militia which I had the good fortune to command during the dis- 
turbances in this country-and for which I now tender you. my sin- 
cere thanks. And I beg in the name of Mrs. Turner and myself to 
acknowledge our obligations to you and Mrs. Fraser for the kindness 
and hospita1i
y so often shewn to us and our family ,and sincerely 
do we hope that by the blessing of God yourself and family may 
continue to prosper and be happy to the end of your days, which we 
pray may be long and past in peace and tranquility. God bless you 
all, and beheve me, my dear Colonel, Your very sincere friend, 
C. B. TuRNER, Colonel Particular Service_ 
Colonel Carmichael wrote as follows: 
WILLIAMSTOWN, 21St May, 1843. 
My Dear Colonel Fraser,-Previous to my departure from thi. 
country, I beg you to accept my warmest acknowledgments for the 
able assistance you have given me in the performance of my duty 
during the last five years, which from your well-earned influence 
among your countrymen, was on every occasion most valuable, and 
cannot in the future fail to be of the utmost service to Government. 
The soldier-like manner in which you have conducted the First 
Glengarry Regiment was most creditable, and no country can boast 
of a better corps, in appearance, good feeling and loyalty. 
That you may long retain your high position among such true 
men is my sincere wish. Always believe me, yours very sincerely) 
L. CARMICHAEL, Lt.-Col. P. S. 
Colonel the Honourable Alexander Fraser, Glengarry. 
The advent to Canada of Sir James Macdonell during the re- 
bellion in the position of second in command of the British forces 
under Sir John Colbonle, was naturally regarded with great gratifi- 
cation by the people of Glengarry. He arrived at Quebec on the 
9th May, 1838, in H. M. S. "Edinburgh" (74), which was accom- 
panied by the" Inconstant" frigate and the troop ships" Apollo" 
and" Athol," bringing the Second Battalion Grenadier Guards and 
the Second Battalion Coldstream Guards, the whole under the com- 
mand of Sir James. He was on the 28th June following, together 
with Vice-Admiral the Honourable Sir Charles Paget, G.C.H., 



3 1 7 
Lieutenant-Colonel the H(;mourable C. Grey, t'he Honourable Col- 
onel Charles Couper and the Honourable Charles Buller, appointed 
a member of Lord Durham's Special Council. 
He was one of the most renowned soldiers of the day. In the 
Service he was known as the" Hero of Hougoumont," and through- 
out the Empire he had for years borne the glorious appellation of 
U The Bravest Man in Britain." He was the third son of Duncan 
l\Iacdonell, 14th Chief of Glengarry, by Marjory, daughter of Sir 
Ludovic Grant, Bart., of Dalvey, and a brother of Alastair Ranald- 

on Macdonell, 15th Chief, described by Mackenzie( I) as "being 
truly caUed the last specimen of the Highland Chiefs of history, and 
who is stated to have been, in the most favourable features of his 
character, Scott's original for Fergus MacIvor."(2) 
He had obtained his commission in the Coldstream Guards in 
I i96, and with his regiment had taken part in the expedition to 
Naples and Calabria in 1805 and 1806. He had rendered most 
important service in Egypt, and subsequently in Portugal, Spain, 
France and Flanders. He had received one of the few gold medals 
given for Maida. It was at 'Vaterloo, however, that he covered 
himself with greatest glory. He was then a Lieutenant-Colonel in 
the Guards and was in the Second Bri
ade of the First Uivision, 
(I) History of the l\f:acdonalds and Lords of the Isles, p. 356. 
(2) There is no doubt as to this. It was well-known at the time of the publication of 
Waverley, and is mentioned by many others besides :\<[r. l\Iackenzie. Sir Walter and Glengarry 
were warm personal friends. Sir Walter writes in his journal (Lockhart's Life, p. 606, Abbots- 
ford edition I: .. February 14. 1:826. I had a call from Glengarry yesterday, as kind and friendly 
as usual. This gentleman is a kind or Quixote in our age, having retained In their full exteat, the 
whole fee\Ïng of elanship and chieftainship, elsewhere so long aban
loned. He seems to have 
lived a century too late. and to eXist, in. a complete state of law and order, like a Glengarry of 
old. whose will was law to his sept. Warm-hearted, !{enerous, friendly, he is beloved by those 
who know him, and his efforts are unceasing to show kindness to those of his clan who are dis- 
posed fully Co admit his pretentians. To dispute them is to incur his resentment, which hat 

metimes broken out in acts of violence, which have brought him into collision with the law. 
To me he i3 a treasure, as being full of information a.<I to the history of his own clan and the 
manners and customs oftbe Hi
hlands in general. Strong, active and muscular, he follows the 
cbase of the deer for days and nights together, sleeping in his plaid when darkness overta.kes 
him. The number of his singular exploits would fill a volume; for, as his pretentions are hi
h, 
and not alw).ys willing to yield to, he is every now and then giving rise to some rumor. He IS;, 
OD many of tbese occasions, as much sinned a
ains
 as sinnin'{; for men, knuwing his temper, 
!'Iometimes provoked him. amrio115 that Glengarry, from his character for violence, will always be 
put in the wrong by the public. I have seell him behave in a very manly manner when thus 
tempted. ., 
Mr. John Gatt bears testimollY of a similar nature in one of his tales, .. The Steamboat; 
in reference to an affair which occulTed at the coronation of George IV. He alludes to Glengarry 
as .. a chieftain of the most truly Highland spirit." .. one of the last of the chieftains, none caring 
more for the hardy mountaiu race, or en.collra
ng. by his example, the love of the hill and the 
heather," U a proud aod bold son of the m
unt:ûn." Uthe noble that a kins cannot make, for it 
is beyond tbe monarch's power to bestow the honour of a chieftianship, even on the Duke of Wel. 
lington. as all true Highlanders know." He Iras killed on the [
th January, 1:828, when jumping 
from the wrecked steamer U Stirling Castle," at Corran, near Fort William. His clansmen carried 
his bOdy on their shoulders over the hills to hi.. seat, Invergarry Castle. I have heard old people 
teU of the wailing throughout (jlengarry in Scotland an d the sadness in Glengarry in Canada 
when their beloved chieftain was no more. I knew how they loved him and gloried in him, and 
bow many. many yean aftcr his death, and in this far oIF land. old eyes would kindle at the men. 
tit>n of his nam::. 



3 18 
under General SIr J. Byng, afterwards Field Marshal the Earl of 
Strafford. On the eve. of the 18th of June it was decided that 
Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell with the Second Battalion of the 
CoIdstream Guards should have charge of the buildings of Hougou- 
mont, while Lord Saltoun should hold the orchard and wood. The 
Rev. Mr. Gleig, in "The Story of the Battle of Waterloo," describes 
the defence: "Hougoumont was felt to be a point of vital import- 
ance, and Napoleoll calculated that could he make himself master 
of that he might suspend all future operations in this quarter and 
turn his undivided strength against the allied left. Wherefore 
clouds of men rushed down to sustain the advance, which, having 
won the wood, appeared to be on the eve of winning the Chateau 
likewise. * * * Dense masses of assailants rushed against the 
gates, and shouted as they flew open, and then began such a struggle 
as does not often occur in modern warfare. Not a foot would the 
defenders yield. Not for a moment or two would the assailing party 
withdraw. A
 last the bayonets of the Guards carried all before 
them, and five individuals, Lieutenant-Colonel (now Lieutenant- 
General) J\Iacdonell, Captain (now Lieutenant.Gener
l) Wyndham, 
Ensig
 (now Lieutenant-Colonel) Gooch, Ensign Harvey and Ser- 
geant Graham, by sheer dint of personal strength and extraordinary 
bravery and perseverance, succeeded in closing the gate and shut- 
ting the enemy out." 
Sir \Valter Scott concludes" The Field of \Vaterloo" by the 
following reference to the defence of Hougoumont : 
Yes, Agincourt may be forgot, 
And Cressy be an unknown spot, 
And Blenheim's name be new; 
But still in story and in song 
For many an age remembered long 
Shall live the Towers of Hougoumont 
And Field of Waterloo. 
Mr. Southey, in his" Pilgrimage to Waterloo," thus refers to it : 
But wouldst thou tread this celebrated ground, 
And trace with understanding eyes a scene 
Above all fields of war renowned, 
From \Vestern HougoUII.1OItt thy way begin; 
There was our strength on that side, and there first 
In all its force, the storm of battle burst. 
Sir James \vas created a K.C.H. in 1837 and a K.C.B. in 



3 1 9 
September, 1838, his investiture with the latter Order taking place 
in this country, the Governor.General, Sir John Colborne, acting by 
deputation from Her Majesty. The Quebec papers of the day con- 
tained interesting accounts of the ceremony, which was attended 
with great military pageant, guards of honour, waving banners, a 
splendid cortege and military music. On either side of the Throne 
were placed the colours of the Grenadier Guards and Seventy-First 
Highlanders, of which Regiment Sir James afterwards became 
Colonel. Sir John Colborne, in his highly complimentary address 
to Sir James, alluded to his services in Egypt, the Peninsula and at 
Waterloo, and expressed his gratification at being the Queen's re- 
presentative to thus honour so ùistinguished a soldier and so faithful 
a subject. "Nothing," said the" Herald," "could be more impos- 
ing than to witness a war-worn hero like Sir John Colborne, covered 
with wounds and wearing numerous stars and orders as the reward 
of his heroism, being the means of bestowing a mark of Her Ma- 
jesty's favour on one who had with him opposed and triumphed over 
the gigantic power of Napoleon." "\Vith much grace and pro- 
priety," says Dr. Henry, in his" Recollections of a Staff Officer," 
"one eminent soldier was thus the Royal Representative in confer- 
ring this honour on another gallant companion in arms; and that 
well-tried sword which had lcd the Fifty-Second to vIctory on many 
a hard-fought field and finally waved before them when they routed 
a column of Napoleon's Guards on the evening of \Vaterloo, was 
now most fitly employed in bestowing knighthood on the stalwart 
and indomitable defender of Hougoumont." Sir James, in addition 
to the gold medal for Maida and the \Vaterloo medal, had the Pen. 
insular medal with clasps for Salamanca, Vittoria, Neville and the 
Nive. He had also received the Order of Maria Theresa, and was 
a Knight (fourth class) of St. Vladimir. He was principal Equerry 
to the Queen Dowager. 
He was, of course, a frequent visitor to his friends and relatives 
in Glengarry during his command in Canada. Upon the occasion 
of his first visit he was presented with an address by the leading 
gentry of the County and the adjoining County of Stormont. The 
original of his answer is in my possession and is as follows: 
To the Inhabitants of the Counties 'of Glengarry and Stormont, 
Gentlemen,-I return you my most sincere thanks for the con- 
gratulation with which you have met my arrival amongst you, and 



3 20 
for the marks of affectionate kni dness I have received in the Coun. 
ties of Glengarry and Stonnont. From the moment in which I received 
the intimation that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to 
approve of my nomination to the Staff of British North America, I 
promised to myself the pleasure of visiting you, and I looked for a 
welcome, not on my own account, but for the sake of my departed 
brother, who, when in life, loved you more than life itself. Thro' 
me you have honoured his memory, and have thus convinced me 
that Highland hearts beat as warmly in the Canadas as on the 
heath-covered mountains of our Mother Country. 
Gentlemen, you have justly said that it is not necessary to as. 
sure me of your warm and unshaken attachment to your Sovereign 
and the Constitution of the Parent State: You have proved it by 
your past conduct, and should circumstances again call for your 
active services, I know you will uphold the character you have 
already established. 


J. MACDONELL, Major-Gen'I. 


To the address presented to him on his retirement from his 
command he made the following reply: 
To the Magistrates and other Inhabitants of the Counties of Glen- 
garry and Stormont, 
Gentlemen,-I have received with no ordinary feelings of pride 
and gratification the address which has been presented to me. I 
am conscious that your expressions of regret at my approaching 
retirement from the command I have had the honour of holding in 
this country, spring from no other source than that of a pure and 
kindly character; and the assurance you convey to me of your 
loyalty and attachment to our Beloved Queen enhances your tribute 
of regard. 
Your allusion to my military services I estimate as a soldier, 
and with the pride of one shall ever gratefully remember. 
Should it please my most gracious Sovereign to again require 
my services, it will be my duty to obey, and believe me when I as. 
sure you that that portion of Her Majesty's Canadian 'possessions, 
which contains a population of such devoted zeal and fidelity as that 
of the Counties of Glengarry and Stormont
 shall never be forgotten 
by me. 
I am truly sensible of your esteem and regard, and shall derive 
no small degree of consolatiou when far removed from all intercourse 
with you by reflecting that the ties which bind us to each other are 
those of loyalty and honour. 
Your allusion to the memory of my departed brother is grateful 
to my heart. If, as you justly designate him, "the noble, high- 
minded and patriotic Glengarry," how truly have those who this day 
honour me with their kindly expressions of attachment, cherished 



a: H 

is irtenioty by, în the hour of danger, nìåintäinîng thë hofiôuf at 
their country. 
And now, gentlemen, permit me to bid you farewell, ånd tc1 
once more assure you that individually and collectively I shall pray 
(or your happiness and prosperi ty. 
}. MACDONELL, Lt.-Gen'l. 
Sir James Macdonell had evidently, previous to his leaving 
Canada, been offered the command of the Forces or the Lieutenant- 
Goyernorship of the Upper Province, as I find the following in one 
of his letters (Decemberj 1840) relating to family matters, "I have 
declined Upper Canada, as the brevet which I confidently look for 
inust remove me from the Staff of North America; and if even a 
brevet should riot appear, I mean to return to England with th
 
Brigade of Guards should they be called home in spring or sHmmef, 
which is more than probable." 
Sir James died unmarried in 18$7' 



3 22 


CHAPTER 
8. 


BISHOP MACDONELL-HIS SERVICES TO THE CROWN, HIS COUN- 
TRYMEN AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.-HIS DEATH AT 
DUl\IFRIES, SCOTLAND.-FuNERAL IN EDINBURGH.-OBITU- 
ARY NOTICES.-TABLET AT ST. RAPHAELS.-GILI'INNAN'S 
POEM.-REMOVAL OF HIS REMAINS TO CANADA. 


BÏ!:
hop Macdonell, who had for so long played so notable and 
conspicuous a part in the affairs not only of the County of Glengarry 
but of those of his adopted country at large, died at Dumfries while 
on a visit to Scotland on the 14th January, 184 0 . 
As to the place of l1.is birth, as not unfrequently is the case,( I) 
some doubts eXIsts, the Chevalier Macdonell of Toronto, recently 
Vice-Consul of France, stating that he was born on the borders of 
Loch Ness, Inverness-shire, on the 17th July, 1762, while his grand- 
nephew, the late John Allan Macdonell, J.P., ct St. Raphaels, than 
whom few were in a better position to speak authoritatively on the 
subject, in a memorandum given to me some years ago, gave the 
place of his birth as Inchlaggan, Glengarry, Scotland. The latter 
accords with the tradition in Glengarry. He was educated at the 
Scottish College in Paris, and subsequently at the Scots College at 
Valladolid in Spain, where he was ordained on February 16th, 17 8 7, 
and on leaving there returned to Scotland, and was stationed as a 
missionary priest in the braes of Lochaber, where he remained for 
several years. 
His part in the raising of the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, his 
connectiùn with that corps as Chaplain during the Irish Rebellion 
and while it continued on service until disbanded during the Peace 
of Amiens in l802, and in subsequently bringing the greater part of 
the men with their families to Glengarry in Canada has been set out 
at length in these pages. (2 ) 


h} A strikin f instance: in point is that of the Duke of 'Vellin;:{ton; although the son of an 
Irish Peer, the Ear of Mornington, it is uncertain whether he was born in Dubhn or at Dungan 
Castle, Meath, nor is the date of his birth crtain. It was in the spring of I76g, in the latter end 
of April or beginning of May. 
(2) P. 134 et seq. 



3 2 3 
Arriving in Canada in 1804, for thirty six years he had been a 
notable figure in the Province. He possessed an influence over his 
Highland fellow-countrymen, which was exerted without stint for 
their temporal welfare and advancement, without distinction of 
creed, and for the furtherance of those sound and loyal principles 
which were so dear to his heart. 
With the maintenance of British connection in Canada the 
name of Bishop Macdonell must ever be indelibly associated. 'Vhile 
he was éJ pillar of the Catholic Church-almost its pioneer in Upper 
Canada-he was a bulwark of the Throne. By precept and Çxam- 
pIe, again and again he proved his stern, unfailing loyalty, and drew 
from the highest authorities repeated expressions of gratitude and 
thanks. \Vhile the nature of his sacred professIOn debarred him 
from taking part in the actual fighting, he nevertheless took good 
care to see that every man of his name was on hand to fight, and 
when there was fighting to be done he was always near by to see 
that it was well done. It was a favourite saying of his that" every 
man of his name should be either a priest' or a soldier," and had he 
not been a priest he would have made a great soldier. He had all 
the attributes of one. His stature was immense and his frame her- 
culean. He stood six feet four and was built in proportion; he had 
undaunted courage, calm, cool judgment, resolute will and a temper 
almost imperturbable, although it was best not to arouse it; he had 
the endurance of his race, fatigue and privation were as nothing to 
him; he was a man of great natural ability, great parts and of a 
personality which impressed all brought in contact with him; he 
inspired confidence, admiration and respect, but above aU he was a 
born leader of men. The gain to the Church was great, the loss to 
the Army correspondingly great when he was ordained at Valladolid. 
Of his services to the Catholic Church it is unnecessary here to 
speak at any length. In after life, he himself, in a letter to Sir 
Francis Bond Head, referring to an address in the House of 
Assembly in 1836, in which his character had been aspersed and his 
motives assailed by William Lyon Mackenzie and his radical con- 
freres, who hated the Bishop both on account of his religion and his 
Iûyalty, gave a statement of the hardships he was called upon to 
endure in the discharge of his sacred functions when he first came to 
the country, and of his efforts on behalf of religion subsequently: 
" * * Upon entering upon my pastoral duties, I had the 



3 2 .t. 
whole of the ProvÌnce in charge, and without any assistance for the 
space of ten years. During that period I had to travel over the country 
from Lake Superior to the Province line of Lower Canada, carrying 
the sacred vestments sometimes on horseback, sometimes on my 
back, and sometimes in Indian birch canoes, living with savageSi 
-without any other shelter or comfort but what their fires and their 
fares and the branches of the trees afforded; crossing the great 
lakes and rivers, and even descending the rapids of the St. Lawrence 
in theÌr dangerous and wretched craft. N or were the hardships and 
privations which I endured among the new settlers and emigrants 
less than those I had to encounter among the savages themselves, in 
their miserable shanties, exposed on all sides to the weather and 
destitute of every comfort. In this way I have been spending my 
time and my health year after year since I have been in Upper 
Canada, and not clinging to a sea.t in the Legislative Council and 
devoting my time to political strife, as my accusers are pleased to 
assert. The erection of five-and-thirty churches and chapels, great 
and small, although many of them are in an unfinished state, built 
by my exertion, and the zealous services of two-and-twenty clergy- 
men, the major part of whom have been educated at my own ex- 
pense, afford a substantial proof that I have not neglected my 
spiritual functions, nor the care of the souls under my charge; and if 
that be not sufficient, I can produce satisfactory documents to prove 
that I have expended, since I have been in this Province, no less 
than thirteen thousand pounds of my own private means, besides 
what I received from other quarters, in building churches, chapels, 
presbyteries and school houses, in rearing young men for the Church 
a.nd in promoting general education." 
Upper Canada was erected into a Bishopric by Leo XII. on 
14th February, 18z6, and Bishop Macdonell appointed first Bishop 
under the title of Bishop of Resllla, i. p.i., the Home authorities not 
at the time wishing that Bishops of the Catholic Church should be 
recognized as Titulars. His appointment was made on the recom- 
mendation of the British Govemment.(I) His Diocese comprised 
the present Province of Ontario, and has since been subdivided into 
the Dioceses of Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa, 
l'embroke, Peterborough and Alexandria. 


('I) His episcoxal ring was given to him by His Majesty George IV. It is a very beAutiful · 
;h:
r

:
CuÅ

an'1ri:
amonds, and is now worthily worn by his namesake, the Bishop of 



3 2 5 
Advancing age and increased responsibility forced the Bishop 
to apply for a coadjutor, and Mr. Weld, of Lulworth Castle, a 
descendant and representative of one of the oldest Catholic families 
of England, who, on the death of his wife-like another eminent 
Cardinal of a very recent day-had taken orders, was selected and 
consecrated Bishop of Amycla and Coadjutor of Upper Canada, on 
the 6th of August, 1826. By the advice of his friends and medical 
advisers, Bishop Weld remained some years in Englanà and after- 
wards went to Rome, where, in March, 1830, he was nomina ed 
Cardinal by Pius VIII. 
The Presbytery (abandoned in 1889 on the erection of the one 
built on the west side of the Church) and the present Church at St. 
Ra.phael's were built in anticipation of the arrival of Bishop Weld, 
but although always fully intending to go to Canada, he closed his 
days at Rome on the loth of April, 1837. His funeral discourse 
was pronounced by Doctor (afterward Cardinal) \Viseman, Rector 
of the English College at Rome. Bishop Macdonell obtained many 
favours from Rome through the influence of his intended coadjutor. 
Let me give two striking instances of the Bishop's services to 
his countrymen in Glengarry. "I had not," he wrote in an address 
to them, " been long in tlJ.is Province when I found that few or none 
of even those of you who were longest settled in the country had 
legal tenures of your properties. A ware that if trouble or confusion 
took place in the Province your properties would become uncertain 
and precarious, and under this impression I proceeded to the seat of 
Government, where, after some months' hard and unremitting labour 
through the public offices, I procured for the ll1habitants of the 
C'Junties of Glengarry and Stormont patent deeds for one hundred 
and twenty.six thousand acres of land." 
That may be taken as a fair indication of the magnitude upon 
which he was able to conduct affairs, of the extent of his business 
capacity, and of the influence he al
'/ays possessed with the Colonial 
as well' as with the Home Government. Another example of his 
exertions on behalf of the temporal welfare of the people of Glengarry 
is given in the same address, which was published by him in a 
time of great public excitement, when he felt called upon to warn 
the penple of the county against those whom he designated as 
" wicked, hypocritical radicals, who are endeavouring to drive the 



3 26 
Province into rebellion, and cut off every connection between Canada 
and Great Britain, your :Mother Country, and subject you to the 
domination of Yankee rulers and Lynch law": 
"I cannot pass over in silence one opportunity I gave you of 
acquiring property which would have put a large proportion of you 
at ease for many years-I mean the transport of war-like stores from 
Lower Canada to the forts and military posts of this Province, which 
the Governer-in-Chief, Sir George Prevost, and the Quartermaster- 
General, Sir Sidney Beckwith, offered you at my request. 
" After you refused that offer it was given to two gentlemen who 
cleared from thirty to forty thousand pounds by the bargain." 
In IBIS he procured from the Duke of York, President of the 
Highland Society, a commission to establish a brartch of that insti- 
tution in Canada. It was addressed to Wilham MacGillivray and 
Angus Shaw, esquires, the Rev. Alexander :Macdonell, John :Mac- 
donell (of Gart) and Henry :Mackenzie, esquires. The institutional 
meeting took place at St. Raphaels on the loth November, 1818, 
over which :Mr. Simon MacGillivray, one of the Vice. Presidents of 
the Highland Society of London, presided, and at which were pre- 
sent, among others, three of the best and finest Highland gentlemen 
this Province ever saw: the late Honourable William MacGillivray, 
Bishop :Macdonell and the late Honourable Neil MacLean-all of 
whom, though long since dead, still live in the hearts of their coun- 
trymen. 
The following officers were elected and, with the exception of 
the President, immediately installed into their respective offices: 
President, Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., etc.; Vice-Presiden
s, 
the Rev. Alexander Macdonell, Colonel the Honourable Neil Mac- 
Lean, Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdonell; Treasurer, 
Alexander Fraser, esquire; Secretary, Archibald MacLean, esquire; 
Directors, Roderick MacLeod, Alexander :MacLean, Alexander 
Wilkinson, esquires. The Society continued in active operations 
for several years, and contributed largely to the objects for which it 
was formed, drawing upon itself the blessing of many distressed 
Highlanders, whom it relieved at a distance from their native home; 
several liberal contributions in money were given to assist gentlemen 
engaged in the publication of works in the Gaelic language, and a 
succession of premiums to Gaelic scholars, performers on the bag- 
pipes and the best dressed Highlanders; nor were the remains of 



3 2 7 
Celtic litera
re neglected, while some collection of Gaelic poetry 
was made. 
Owing, however, to the death of some and the removal of others 
or the master spirits who guided it, from this part of the country, to 
the frequency of the meetings, and the high rate at which the yearly 
subscription was fixej, and deprived of the fostering care and imme- 
diate superintendence of Bishop Macdonell by his removal to Kings. 
ton, the Society, after some years of usefulness, struggled for some 
time under all these difficulties (added to which were those imposed 
upon it by political excitement and the private dissensions of some 
of its members) and then sank into the sleep from which the exer- 
tions of :Mr. Macdonald of Gart subsequently awakened it for a 
time. It has long since ceased to exist, having passed away with 
the men of the last generation. 
The respect entertained for Bishop :Macdonell by all classes of 
the community is well illustrated by the following address, which 
was presented to him by the Orangemen of Toronto a few years 
before his death, and which was recently re-published in the Chicago 
"Canadian-American" of March 25th, 1892, which well remarked 
in commenting upon it, that a continuation of the spirit shown in the 
address is essential to the prosperity, if not the existence, of the Do- 
minion: 


Address of the Orange Body of the City of Toronto to the Right 
Reverend Alexander Macdonell, D.D., Bishop of Regiopolis, 
etc., etc. 
:May it please Your Lordship,-We, the Orangemen of the City 
of Toronto, beg to approach your Lordship with sentiments of 
unfeigned respect for your pious and loyal labour in the service of 
your Church and country, and during a long protracted life for the 
Christian liberality which you have ever evinced towards those of a 
different creed. 
\Ve beg to reciprocate the charitable feelings breathing through- 
out your Lordship's address to the electors of Stormont and Glen- 
garry; sentiments which bear deeply the impress ot a mind noble and 
virtuous, raised alike above the mean and grovelling distinctions of 
party feeling or political rancour; such feelings when disseminated, 
we trust, in the approaching contest for the mamtenance of the British 
Constitution, may array Catholics and Orangemen side by sid
, and 
hand in hand, to achieve a victory more bloodless than, yet as 
glorious as, that which they WJn on the empurpled field of Waterloo. 
We take leave of your Lordship, with a fervent wish that 
Providence m
y gild the setting sun of your declining days with 



3 28 
every blessing, and that Catholics and Orangemen all over the world 
may live united in the bonds of Christian fellowship, such as will 
tend to prevent the crafty agitator and the renegade apostate from 
ever being able to sever that bond of union which we trust may ever 
exist between us, not only in our attachment to each other, but also 
in our attachment to our :Mother Country. 
The Bishop, in his reply, stated that no cause of difference or 
misunderstanding existed between Catholics and Orangemen in 
Canada, that as fellow subjects they should stand shoulder to should- 
er in defence of the British Constitution and I..:ritish liberty against 
the crafty and designing enemies who expected to achieve by cun' 
ning what they dare not attempt by force, and that he trusted they 
would unitedly prove an impenetrable bulwark of their adopted 
country and the strong chain of connection with the Parent State. 
In 1839 Bishop Macdonell paid his last vi!llit to Great Britain, 
from which he was fated never to return alive. Previous to his 
departure a dinner was given to him at Carmino's Hotel, Kingston, 
by the Celtic Society of Upper Canada, which was attended by all 
the leading townspeople as well as by the principal officers of the 
garrison, with whom the Bishop always lived on terms of great inti
 
macy and friendship,( I) and by many influential gentlemen from a 
distance. Some days afterwards the Bishop commenced his jour- 
ney, and was accompanied to the steamboat" Dolphin" by a large 
number of his personal friends, the old bell of St. Joseph's Church 
pealing forth a partiJ1g salute. 
The Bishop and his party landed at Liverpool on the 1st of 
August, 1839. Soon after hiSi arrival the Bishop went to London, 
where he communicated personally with the Colonial Office regarding 
his plan of emigration from the Highlands as a measure of relief to 
his suffering fellow
countrymen in Scotland, and as a security and 
benefit to his fellow-countrymen in Canada; as well as with regard 
to the establishing of the College for the domestic education of the 
priesthood and other matters. He then visited the scenes of his 
nativity and childhood, and was present at the great northern meet- 
ing at Inverness in October. In the same month he passed over to 
Ireland, intending to be present at a great dinner given to the 
Catholic Prelates in the City of Cork, but a dense fog in the Clyde 
and adverse winds prevented him from arriving in time for the festi- 
val. Nevertheless, he visited the Bishops, and being unable to 
(x) It is stated that during a time in x837-8. when the regular troops were absent from 
Kingston, Bishop Macdonell had char&e of the garrison. 



3 2 9 
obtain, in the \Vest of Ireland, any other conveyance than a jaunting 
car, he was exposed during the entire day to one of the drizzling 
rains so common to that region. The exposure brought on inflamma. 
tion of the lungs, acc
mpanied by a severe cough; and although he 
placed himself under the care of the President of Carlow College, 
and afterwards with the Jesuits of CIongowes \V ood, and received 
much benefit and every' attention, he still continued so indIsposed on 
arriving in Dublin as to be obliged to keep to his bed for nearly a 
fortnight. From Dublin he went to Armagh, and remained a short 
time with the Catholic Primate. He then accepted the invitation of 
his friend the Earl of Gosford, to Gosford Castle, near Market HilI, 
Armagh, where, under the roof of that kind-hearted nobleman, who had 
been Governor-General of Canada from 1835 to 1838 (immediately 
preceding the Earl of Durham), he appeared to have completely 
recovered. He then returned to Scotland, a great meeting of noble- 
men and proprietors having in the meantime been held (on the loth 
of January, 1840) at the Hopetown Room, Edinburgh, at which the 
Bishop's measure of emigration was discussed, the Bishop's travelling 
companion, Dr. Rolph, attending it as his representative. 
From Port Patrick to Dumfries he was obliged to drive all the 
way on the outside of the coach, a cold Scotch rain falling upon him 
all the time of his slow journey of nearly eighty miles. On the 
morning after his arrival (Sunday), he was with a great effort able to 
leave his hotel to say Mass at the Mission House, but it was a last 
effort. On the following Tuesday he was dead, passing away so 
quietly, in perfect pe
ce, that Vicar-General Dawson, who was pre- 
sent with him at the time, states that they who were in attendance 
could not tell whether the vital spark had flown until Dr. Blacklock 
arri ved, and, after due examination, pronounced. There was no 
funeral in Dumfries; the remains were conveyed at once to Edin. 
burgh. Bishop Gillies, with the full consent of the Senior Bishop, 
had everything arranged in the grandest style. Since the days of 
Scotland's Royalty so magnificent a funeral had not been seen in 
Scotland. All that was mortal of him was deposited in the crypt of 
St. Margaret's Convent Chapel, where his body rested until brought 
to Canada in 1861. Upon the arrival of the melancholy intelligence 
at Kingston, his See, a solemn Requiem High Mass was sung by 
Bishop Gaulin, on Passion Sunday, 1840, which was attended by all 
the clergy of the Diocese and a vast concourse of people. 



. 


33 0 
In 186 I Bishop Horan went to Edinburgh to bring Bishop 
Macdonell's body to Canada. The funeral cortege, which drove 
through Glengarry, resting at the well-loved St. Raphaels, arrived in 
Kingston on the 25th September, and the earthly remains of the 
much-loved and venerated Prelate were consigned to their last resting- 
place, with suitable honours, in the Cathedral Church of his Dioc.ese 
in the land of his adoption. 
In the Parish Church of St. Raphaels a tablet was erected in 
his memory by the Highland Society of Canada, in pursuance of the 
following resolution, which was moved by the Rev. :Mr. Urquhart, 
the Presbyterian Minister of Cornwall, seconded by the Rev. George 
Alexander Hay, Parish Priest of St. Andrews: 
"Resolved, that the Highland Society of Canada do erect on 
the 18th of June next, in the Parish Church of St. Raphael's a tablet 
to the memory of the late Bishop Alexander :Macdonell; that the 
said Society me
t on that day, which is the day of the festival an- 
niversary meeting, at eleven o'clock at Macdonell's in Williamstown, 
and proceed thence at twelve o'clock in procession to the Parish 
Church, where the Reverend John Macdonald be requested to read 
prayers, to erect the tablet; and that George S. Jarvis, Esquire, Guy 
C. Wood, Esquire, and Alexander MacMartin, Esquire, be a com- 
mittee to procure such tablet." 
The day was advisedly chosen, as one which the Bishop gloried 
in-the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. 
The tablet bears the following inscription : 
"On the 18th of June, 1843, 
"THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF CANADA 
" Erected this Ta blet to the memory of 
"THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND 
"ALEXANDER MACDONELL, 
"BISHOP OF KINGSTON, 
"Born 1760. Died 1840; 
" Though dead, he stiIllives in the hearts of his countrymen." 
The Kingston" British Whig," thus refers to Bishop Macdonell 
in its obituary article : 
"Of the individuals who have passed away from us during the 
last twenty-five years, and who have taken an interest ill the advance- 
ment and prosperity of Canada West, no one probably has won for 
hImself in so great a degree the esteem of aU classes of his fellow 
citizens as has Bishop Macdonell. 



33 1 
"Arriving in Cai1ada at all early period of the present 
century, at a time when toil, privations and difficulties inseparable 
from life in a new country awaited the zealous Missionary as well 
as the hardy immigrant, he devoted himself in a noble spirit of self- 
sacrifice, and with untiring energy, to the duties of his sacred calling 
and the amelioration of the condition of those entrusted to his 
spiritual ca::e. In him they found a friend and counselIor; to them 
he endeared himself through his unbounded benevolence and 
greatness of soul. Moving among all classes and creeds, with a 
mind unbiassed by religio.lS prej ùdices, taking an interest ill all that 
tended to develop the resources, or aided the general prosperity of 
the country, he acquired a popularity still memorable, and obtained 
over the minds of his fellow-citizens an influence only equalled by 
their esteem and respect for him. The ripe scholar, the polished 
gentleman, the learned divine, his many estimable qualities recom- 
mended him to the notice of the Court of Rome; and he was 
elevated to the dignity of a Bishop of the Catholic Church. The 
position made no change in the man; he remained still the zealous 
Missionary, the indefatigable Pastor. His loyalty to the British 
Crown was never surpassed; when the interests of .the Empire were 
either assailed or jeopardized on this continent, he stood forth their 
bold advocate; by word and deed he proved how sincere was his 
attachment to British Insti1J1tions; and infused into the hearts of 
his fellow-countrymen and others an equa I enthusiasm for their pre- 
servation and maintenance. Indeed, his nóble conduct on several 
occasions tended so much to the preservation of loyalty that it drew 
from the highest authority repeated expressions of thanks and 
gratilude. As a member 01 the Legislative Council of Upper 
Canada (to which he was called by Sir John Colborne on October 
I zth, 183 I), his active mind, strengthened by experience acquired 
by constant associations with aU classes, enabled him to suggest 
many things most beneficial to the best interests of the country, and 
the peace and harmony of its inhabitants." 
Mr. Morgan thus concludes his notice of the Bishop in his 
useful work, " Celebrated Canadians :" 
"In every relation of life, as subject, Prelate, relative and 
friend, he was a model of everything valuable. To his Sovereign 
he brought the warm and hearty homage of a sincere, enthusiastic, 
unconditional allegiance, and the most invincible, uncompromising 
loyalty; as Prelate, he was kind, attentive and devoted to the interests, 
','!elf.uc and happiness of his Clergy; as a relative, his attachment 
was unbounded, and his death created an aching void to hundreds of 
sorrowing relatives whom he counselled by his advice, assisted with 
his means and protected by his i
fluence; a-, a friend, he was 
sincerè, enthusiastic and unchangeable in his attachments. Such, 
indeed. was the liberality of his views and the inexpressible benigmty 



33 2 
or his disposition, that all creeds and classes united in admiration of 
his character, respect for him, and congregated together to bid him 
farewell as he left the shores of the St. Lawrence on that voyage, 
which proved but the prelude to that long and last one, from which 
there is no return." 


The following beautiful verses, composed by Robert Gilfillan, a 
Scottish poetot some celebrity, appeared in the Edinburgh" \Veekly 
Chronicle" at the time of the Bishop's funeral services there: 


DIRGE OF THE LATE BISHOP :MACDONELL. 


BY ROBERT GILFILLAN. 


The temple was wrapt in deepest gloom, 
As they laid out the dead for the silent tomb, 
And the tapers were lighted dim- 
A soft and solemn shadowy light- 
And the book was opened for Holy Rite, 
\Vhen they woke this funeral hymn = 
(
 He's gone! he's gone! the spirit is fled, 
And now we mourn the honoured dead! " 


The coffin before the Altar stood, 
\Vith purple pall and silken shroud, 
And tassels sable hung, 
.And as they bore it slow along, 
They chanted forth the burial 50ng, 
By hundred VOIces sung- 
"He's gone! he's gone! the spirit is fled, 
And now we mourn the honoureci dead I " 


And many a Priest with mitred brow, 
Before the Holy Cross did bow, 
And joined the mournful strain. 
U The living once !-the lifeless now! 
All, all, to Ðeath's fell grasp must bow, 
N or come they back again! 
The tide gives back its ebbing wave, 
But there's no return from the darksome grave I 
Frail mortals of the passing day, 
Is this your home? Is thIs your stay? 
Attend the lesson given) 
'Tis dust to dust and clay to clay, 
The friend we mourn from earth away, 
They welcome now in Heaven !" 
'Twas thus they bore him slow along, 
\Vuh Holy chant and mournful song. 



333 
They spoke of his deeds well done on earth, 
His Holy life, and active worth, 
Relieving others' woe; 
The poor in him they found a friend, 
Whose like again they will not find, 
In this cold world belûw I 
Did good where good was to be done, 
But his race is o'er, and the prize is won I 
They chanted the Requiem in cadence deep- 
The good may grieve, but the dead shall sleep, 
'Vhen life's dull round is o'er- 
Rest, Pilgrim, from a distant land, 
A peaceful home is now at hand, 
Where troubles come no more I 
Like a shock of corn he ripely fell, 
His days were long, but he used them well t 
CHORUS. 
Raise the crosier 0'er the dead, 
Chants are sung, and Mass is said j 
Bear him to the dwelling low 
Where all sons of Adam go. 
Sisters, bro
hers, onward come, 
Earth is but a living tomb, 
Full of sorrow, full of sadness, 
Little joy, and little gladness j 
Listen what the Scripture saith, 
U In midst of life we walk in death 1" 



334 


CHAPTER 29. 


THE OLD NORTHWEST COMPANY.-PARTNERS WHO SUBSEQUENTLY 
RESIDED IN GLENGARRY.-MR. DUNCAN CAMERON, THE HON- 
OURABLE JOHN MACGILLIVRAY, MR. JOHN :MACDONALD, MR. 
ANGUS :MACDONELL, MR. ALEXANDER :MACDONELL, LAIRD 
MCGILLIS. 
I had hoped that the space at my command would have enabled 
me to notice at some length the Northwest Company, its objects and 
history, its partners and their services in connection with the fur 
trade and partial opening up of the illimitable country, which, after 
the absorption of the Company by or amalgation with the Hudson 
Bay Company, was practically monopolized by that Company until 
the enlightened statesmanship of Sir John Macdonald and his col- 
leagues in the Government of Canada threw it open to the people of 
Canada and the emigrants from the Old Country, and which is now 
traversed by that great highway to the Pacific Coast, the Canadian 
Pacific Railway, the most important, probably, of all the great works 
originated and consummated by that ablest of the Colonial statesmen 
of Britain. I am warned, however, that I have already exceeded 
the limits laid down with the printer of these sketches, and I can 
but refer to it incidentally. This is to be regretted, as many of those 
most intimately connected with that great pioneer enterprise were 
also closely associated by birth, family connection and residence 
with the County of Glengarry. The Company appears to have 
been formed almost immediately after the close of the Revolutionary 
War; additional partners were from time to time admitted, and 
agreements as to shares, governance, etc., entered into between 
them in 1802 and 1804, which are set out at length by the Honour- 
able L. R. Masson, formerly Lieutenant-Governor of the Province 
of Quebec, in his interesting work," Les Bourgeois,de la Compagnie 
du Nord Ouest." The officers or partners of the Company were 
a.lmost entirely Scotchmen, as their names would indicate. Those 
in 1804 were John Gregory, \Villiam MacGillivray, Duncan Mac- 
Gillivray, \Villiam Hallowell and Roderick :Mackenzie, composing 
the house of McTavish, Frobisher & Co., of Montreal; Angus 



335 
Shaw, Daniel Mackenzie, \ViUiam McKay, John McDonald, Donald 
McTavish, John McDonell, Archibald Norman McLeod, Alexander 
McDougall, Charles Cha
oillez, John Sayer, Peter Graut, AIexan
 
der Fraser, Æneas Cameron, John Finlay, Duncan Cameron, James 
Hughes, Alexander McKay, Hugh McGillis, Alexander Henry, 
John McGillivray, James McKenzie, Simon Fraser, Joha Duncan 
Campbell, David Thompson, John Thompson (composing the com- 
pany or conceru known as the Old Company); Sir Alexander Mac- 
kenzie, Thomas Forsyth, John Richardson and John Forsyth (com- 
posing the great Montreal house of Forsyth, Richardson & Co.); 
Alexander Ellice, John Inglis and James Forsyth, of London, Eng. 
(forming the firm of Phyn, Inglis & Co.); John Ogilvie, John Muir, 
Pierre Rocheblave, Alexander Mackenzie, John McDonald, James 
Leith, John Haldane and John'Vills) wintering partners and the 
trustees of the estate of the firm of Leith, Jamieson & Co. and 
Thomas Tain. The voyageurs and other employees of the Com- 
pany, of whom there were hundreds, were principally French-Cana- 
dians, and during the \Var of 1812 14 were formed into the Corps so 
distinguished during that waT known as the Corps des Voyageurs 
Canadien, a list of the officers of which is given at page 185. It 
was largely thos
 men who so gallantly defended Fort Michilimac- 
kinac and captured the post of Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, 
about 450 miles distant, and took 
he enemy's war vessels" Scor- 
pion" and "Tigress" ill the closing days of that \Var.(I) The 
name of this Corps and its distinguished services win be found con- 
stantly referred to by all the historians who treat of the subject of 
the \Var. Greaí. trouble eventually arose between this Company 
and Lord Selkirk's, which led to violence, illegal arrests, confisca- 
tions and robbery, and culminated in the total destruction of Fort 
Gibraltar, the headquarters of the Northwest Company, at the forks 
of the Red River, and in the tragedy of the 19th June, 1816, by 
which Governor Semple, of Lord Selkirk's Cvmpany, lost his life, 
Fort Douglas was destroyed and Lord Selkirk's Company were dis- 
persed. One of the principal partners, Mr. Duncan Cameron, after- 
wards member for Glengarry( 2), was arrested in consequence of 
these occurrences, detained for more than a year at York Factory, 
and taken prisoner to England, for which high-handed arrest and 
(I) 1 had intended giving an account of these, occur:ences, but throug? an unfortu,nate 
oversight. for which I am more to blame th"n the pnnter, It was, althoui:"h wntten out, omitted 
from its proper place. 
l2J Vide pages 154-5. 



33 6 
illegal detention he obtained dama 6 es to the extent of Æ3,ooO ster- 
ling. (I) Mr. Cameron remained but a short time in England, where 
he v'as immediately set at liberty without even being brought to 
trial, and on his return to Canada he retired fro,n the Northwest 
Company and s::ttled at 'Villiamstown, in this COLlI1lY. where he led 
a quiet life in the genial company of several other old Nor'-\Vesters 
who had made Glengarry their home. One of his sons, Sir Roderick 
Cameron, is now residing in New York, and engaged in the Austra- 
lian trade. He retains a warm affection for Glengarry, as those who 
have been so fortunate as to partake of his prin
dy hospitality are 
aware. 
Another of the partners was the Honourable John MacGilli- 
vray, who also resided in the neighbourhood of 'Villiamstown, and 
became a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. He 
was the father of the late Neil MacGillivmy, who succeeded to the 
eSlate of Dunmaglass in Scotland and the chieftainship of his clan, 
and of i\-Ir. George H. MacGillivray, so well known to us in Glen- 
garry, who occupies the homestead of this highly respected family. 
J olm Macdonald of Gart, after retiring from the Company in 
which he had long been partner, settled on the property of the late 
:Major Gray of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, known as 
the Gray's Creek estate on the River St. Lawrence. His father was 
a captain in the 84th Regiment, and after his death his grand-uncle, 
General Small, who had commanded one of the Battalions of the 
Highland Emigrant Regiment during the Revolutionary'Var(2), and 
an elder brother, bound Mr. Macdonald to :Mr. Simon MacTavish as 
an apprenticed clerk in the Company, which he thus joined in Iï9I. 
A short but interesting account of his life, with his notes relating to 
his experience in the Northwest, is given in Mr. Masson's book, 
volume 2, page 3 et seq. Mr. Masson describes him as being like 
most of his comrades in that adventuresome undertaking, brave, 
rash, reckless and domineering. Mr. Macdonald's arm was slightly 
deformed in consequence of an accident in childhood, and the old 
Canadian voyageurs, in order to distingUIsh him from the numerous 
other Macdonalds and Macdonells in the Company, called him 
Monsieur Macdonald Ie bras croche. Our. Scotch people, whose 
French was not quite perfect, rendered it Brock-rosh, and by the 
latter designation he is well an::1 affectionately reI}lembered. He 


(Ii Masson's Bourgeois du Nord Ouest, p. 235. 
(2) Vide page 52 et seq. 



337 
was the father of the late Judge Rolland Macdonald, of Welland, 
and of Mr. De Bellefeuille Ma
donald, of Montreal. 
Angus Macdonell (Greenfield), a brother of Colonels John, 
Duncan and Donald Greenfield Macdonell, was also in the Com- 
pany, and was murdered in the Northwest in one of the many con- 
flicts there. His murderer was tried in Montreal but acquitted. 
His fate, however, after leaying the Court House, is unknown. 
Alexander Greenfield Macdonell, another brother of the latter, 
was also a partner Ïn the later years of the Company's existence. 
He returned to Glengarry subsequently, and represented the County 
in the Legislature, as also Prescott and Russell. He was Sheriff of 
the Ottawa District. He did good service for the Company in its 
controversy with that of Lord Selkirk, and appears to have been the 
chief literary partizan of the former. His It Narrative of the tran- 
sactions in the Red River coun
ry, from the commencement of the 
operations of the Earl of Selkirk till the summer of the year r8r6," 
published in London, England, in r8r9, is an exceedingly able pre- 
sentation of his Company's case. He died in Toronto while attend- 
ing to his legish1.tive duties before the Union of the Provinces in 
r841. 
Mr. Hugh McGillis, another partner, also settled at \Villiams- 
town on his retirement from the company, and acquired a great deal 
of property in the neighborhood. N OIte of his family are now living 
there, and his property has now passed into other hands. In fact, 
with the solitary exception of Mr. G. H. Macgillivray, nota descend- 
ant or representative of any of the above named gentlemen is now in 
the County to my knowledge. 
Another resident of \Villiamstown, a former partner in the 
Northwest Company, and who had served as an Astronomer Roya 1 
on the Pacific Coast, was Mr. David Thompson. Mr. Thompson 
resided in t
e house (originally built by the Rev. Mr. Bethune), 
now occupied by Mr. Murdoch Farquhar McLennan. 




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