B 852,019
THE
EARLY
SETTLEMENT
ANDE
HISTORY
OF
GLENGARRY
CANADA
JA MACDONELL
SKETCHES
GLENGARRY IN CANADA.
氏
​F
1058
ос
G5
M13
J. A. MACDONELL.

Bairouard
ла
68, сий
ARTES
1817
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
LIBRARY
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
LURIBLY UNUS
:
TUEBOR
SI QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒNAM.
CIRCUMSPICE
NEMIMING
.
1069
M13
SKETCHES
ILLUSTRATING THE
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND HISTORY OF
GLENGARRY IN CANADA
RELATING PRINCIPALLY TO THE
REVOLUTIONARY WAR OF 1775-83, THE WAR OF 1812-
14 AND THE REBELLION OF 1837-8, AND THE
SERVICES OF THE KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF
NEW YORK, THE 84TH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND
EMIGRANT REGIMENT, THE ROYAL CAN-
ADIAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT,
THE GLENGARRY FENCIBLE OR BRITISH
HIGHLAND REGIMENT, THE GLEN-
GARRY LIGHT INFANTRY REGI-
MENT, AND THE GLENGARRY
MILITIA.
BY
of Alexander.
J. A. MACDONELL
[OF GREENFIELD).
"I beg to state that the County of Glengarry has on every
occasion been distinguished for good conduct, and will on any
emergency turn out more fighting men in proportion to its population
than any other in Her Majesty's dominions."-Extract from a letter
from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, Particular Service, to Lieuten-
ant-General Sir James Macdonell, K.C.B., K.C.H., commanding
Brigade of Guards and second in command of Her Majesty's Furces
in Canada, dated December, 1840.
MONTREAL
WM. FOSTER, Brown & Co.
1893.
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the
year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Three, by John
Alexander Macdonell, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.
Ref- sthis
collector
5-15
니나
​50743
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 re-
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 death rendered it impossible.
His services in the Crimea as A.D.C. to Sir George Brown,
when 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 his Sovereign, proved his merit
as a soldier, and maintained the record of what was once known in
Scotland as a fighting name.
Your father was (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 Province 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 New
York and other Loyalist Corps- one of those who had fought
through the Revolutionary War, and who on its termination settled.
here, a body of men deservedly held in high esteem by following
generations of Canadians, known to us in Canada as United Em-
pire Loyalists. Colonel Simcoe, who was nominated 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, Lieutenant-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 friend 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 his own career in the Diplomatic
Service of the country has not been without merit as it has not been
without the recognition of his Sovereign, and to whose assistance I
have been much indebted in their preparation, these fragments
which relate to matters in which we have a common interest.
I am, my dear Aberchalder,
Faithfully yours,
J. A. MACDONELL.
Glengarry, Canada, August 22nd, 1892.
บา
5
SKETCHES OF GLENGARRY.
CHAPTER 1.
GLENGARRY IN SCOTLAND.—RESULT OF THE DISARMING, PRO-
SCRIBING AND OTHER ACTS INTRODUCED INTO THE SCOTTISH
LAW.-FORMATION OF HIGHLAND REGIMENTS AND EMIGRA-
TION. A LARGE NUMBER LEAVE GLENGARRY IN SCOTLAND IN
1773 AT THE INSTIGATION OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON AND
SETTLE IN THE Mohawk ValleY, IN THE PROVINCE of New
YORK.—DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM IN 1774.-HIS SERVICES,
INFLUENCE 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 War of 1812, '13, '14, and the Rebellion of 1837-8,
there is but little, if any, mention made of the part which the High-
landers of Glengarry took in the American Revolutionary War of
1776-83, and the early settlement of the country at the close of the
War, 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
local forces of the country, is the credit chiefly due on these occa-
sions ; 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, in 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 War as any other of the earliest settled counties, and
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 War of 1812, came to Canada under
circumstances which redound to their credit as loyal and faithful
subjects of the British Crown.
We 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 the 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 Hanoverian,
the staunchest Orangeman, cannot read what notably Sir Walter
Scott, the Ettrick Shepherd, Edmonstoun Aytoun, as well as the
Scottish ballads, 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.
With 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 ;" (1)
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 they joined the Earl of Mar in 1715.
(1) Mac Ian's Sketches; title, "Glengarry."
7
On a later occasion their Chief was selected from amongst the High-
land Chiefs and Noblemen to be the bearer of an address to Prince
Charles Stuart signed with their blood (1) 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 lands 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 Jurisdic-
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 Prime Minister, 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, Macdonalds,
Camerons, Macleans, Macphersons and others of disaffected names
and Clans were enrolled; their Chiefs and connections obtained
commissions, and the clansmen, always ready to follow with eager-
ness, endeavored who should be first listed."
(1) Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerage; title, "Lord Macdonell and Aros.
8
With what glory to the Nation they acquitted themselves is
matter of history. "To them, under the generalship of Wolfe, 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 War 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 War before last.
These men in the last War 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 distant when once more they were to fly to arms and
across the Atlantic assert the principle of the Monarchy, and,
regardless of the Dynasty, fight for George as they had fought for
King James; once more, "for Conscience sake, to leave all aside
and still keep true whate'er betide "—even though for a second time
they should have, as 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
name is spelt in an old map of Scotland), Collachie and Scotas (or
Scothouse)—emigrated to America, settling in what was then called
1
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 War, in 1784, changed to Montgomery, after the
American General, who was killed at the siege of Quebec in December,
1775, the former appellation having fallen into disfavor owing to the
fact that William Tryon, who had previously been Governor of the
Province of New 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 New 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 William Johnson.
The settlement of these Highlanders in that part took place at the
instigation of Sir William, 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 William had taken a most active part, being entrusted
with the command of the provincial troops of New York, and at the
same time being Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs of that
Province. In 1759, he commanded the provincial troops under
Brigadier-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. When Amherst embarked
at Oswego in June, 1760, to proceed on the expedition to Canada,
Johnson brought to him at that place 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, 1755, had been graciously pleased to create him
a Baronet of the United Kingdom, and at the same time conferred
upon him a large pension. (1)
(1) Morgan's Celebrated Canadians.
10
From the nature of the pursuits in which Sir William Johnson
was 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 arms 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 William. He did not, however, long
survive. The American historian, Stone, states in his life of Brant :-
"Sir William 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 body of the people himself,
having been the architect of his own rank and fortunes; and those
who were acquainted with and yet (1832) survive him, represent the
struggle in his bosom to have been great between those sympathies
and his own straight principles of liberty on the one hand, and his
duty to his Sovereign on the other-a Sovereign whom he had served
long 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 West
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 Indians, 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 William, 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 take
their complexion for the most part from those entertained by him.
Hence, when the storm of civil war commenced, the Loyalists in
that Valley were probably more numerous in proportion to the whole
number of the population than in almost any other section of the
Northern Colonies.
1 [
"In connection with the troubles which every man of ordinary
sagacity could not but perceive were fermenting, Sir William 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 strengthened. 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 been in office as Assistant Superintendent, he having for his
deputy Colonel Daniel Claus, who had likewise married a daughter
of Sir William. Sir John Johnson, on his father's death, became
Commandant of the Militia of the Province of New 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
William Johnson, though I believe their marriage had taken place
according to Indian custom only, and may or 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.
•
12
i
CHAPTER 2.
BREAKING OUT OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.—THE "Committee
of Safety” at ALBANY WARNED AGAINST SIR JOHN JOHNSON,
AND NOTIFIED THAT THE SCOTCHMEN WERE ARMING. THE
WHIGS "
DAILY SCANDALIZED, PROVOKED AND THREATENED
BY THE LOYAL CATHOLIC HIGHLANDERS.-CORRESPONDENCE
BETWEEN SIR JOHN AND GOVernor Tryon, AND THE LATTER
AND LORD GEORGE GERMAINE.-GENERAL SCHUYLER, OF THE
RevolutionARY ARMY, INVADES TRYON County.—Negotia-
TIONS BETWEEN HIM AND SIR JOHN AND MR. MACDOnell
(Collachie).—SIR JOHN AND THE HIGHLANDERS ESCAPE TO
CANADA.-LADY JOHNSON TAKEN PRISONER.-HER LETTER
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
At the time of the arrival and settlement of the Glengarry
people in the Mohawk Valley, affairs in America were, then, in a very
unsettled condition. In order to meet the military expenditure
therein, the British Parliament had a short time previously imposed
a stamp duty on all legal documents. This was met with a denial
on the part of the discontented colonists of the right of the Imperial
Legislature to impose taxes upon them without their consent. The
Stamp Act was repealed the year following its enactment, but it was
contended that the principle of taxation without representation was
maintained by a light duty of three pence per pound which was
placed on tea-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 Wiman
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 por 1
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 in luce
the people of Canada, who had but lately passed under British rule
•
13
to join in it by sending representatives. "The Quebec Act "which
was then in contemplation, however, and the principles of which
were 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 some sons of sedition within the Province en-
deavored 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. (1)
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 New York addressed the " Committee of Safety
at Albany, stating that the Johnsons and their powerful allies in the
Mohawk 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, and 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
unaimed, that they struck terror into most of them, and they dis-
persed."
Mr. Stone adds that :-
"The Committee further notified their friends in Albany that
Sir John Johnson was fortifying the Baronial Hall by planting several
swivels around it; and he had paraded part of the Regiment of
Militia which he commanded on the day previous for the purpose of
intimidation, as it was conjectured. 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 popula
outbreak in favor of the growing cause of liberty. (2)
During the course of the summer, the tension became strongerr
(1) Sir Guy Carleton to Earl Dartmouth, April 6, 1775.
(2) Volumn 1‚page 54.
14
The Dutch or German settlers divided in their allegiance, Mr. Stone
stating that the majority of them declared themselves as Whigs, as
the American sympathizers were called-the Loyalists being termed
by the Revolutionists, Tories. The first shot in the war West of the
Hudson was fired when the Loyalist Sheriff of the County arrested
a Whig named John Fonda, at whom he fired when he resisted
arrest. It was immediately returned by the discharge of a number
of firelocks 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 was fired at the hall by Sir John.
"This
was known to be a signal for his retainers and Scotch partisans to
rally to arms, and as they would muster 500 men in a very short
time, the Whigs 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 public meetings themselves, and
chose counter-committees, covered the Whig Committees with ridicule,
and charged them, most properly, with illegal and tyrannical conduct
-the consequence being mutual exasperation between near neigh-
bours, and the reciprocal engendering of hostile feelings between
friends, who ranged themselves under opposing banners. These
incipient neighborhood quarrels occasioned, in the progress of the
contest which ensued, some of the most bitter and bloody conflicts
that ever marked the annals of Civil War.
On the 7th September, 1775, the Whig Committee wrote the
Provincial Congress in New York, denouncing the conduct of Sir
John Johnson, and that of his associates-particularly the High-
landers, who, to the number of 200, were said to be gathered about
him, and by whom the Whigs "were daily scandalized, provoked
and threatened.”
It appears that from the following correspondence in January,
1776, Sir John and the Highlanders took active preliminary steps
towards armed resistance to the Congressional authorities :—
GOVERNOR TRYON TO LORD GEORGE GERMAINE.
"MY LORD,
"On board H.M.S. Duchess of Gordon,
“New York Harbour, 3rd January, 1776.
}
"The gentleman who delivered me the enclosed letter from Sir
15
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 would give the greatest weight to His Majesty's Indian
affairs, the Indians having the greatest affection for the son of their
late benefactor. I wish Your Lordship may think as favourably of
Sir John's proposals as I do. &c., &c."
« SIR,
[Enclosure in the above.]
SIR JOHN JOHNSON TO GOVERNOR TRYON.
"I hope the occasion and intention of this letter may plead my
excuse for the liberty I take in introducing to Your Excellency 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 of 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 advice on,
and representation to, His Majesty, of what I propose.
(C
Having consulted with all 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 neighborhoods,
and have seen a great number of men ready to complete the plan.
We 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 Mr. Macdonell will inform Your Excel-
lency.
"I make not the least doubt of the success of this plan should
we be supported in time. As to news, I must beg leave to refer you
to Mr. 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, but most sincerely wish you
an agreeable voyage and a happy sight of your family and friends.
"I am, Your Excellency's
"Most obedient, humble servant,
JOHN JOHNSON."
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 expedition into
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 Johnson from Schenectady, requesting
an interview, and pledging his word of honour that he and 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 entered upon in writing between General Schuyler
on the one part and Sir John and Mr. Allan Macdonell (Collachie),
as representing the Highlanders, on the other. The fourth article
of the terms offered by General Schuyler was as follows:
"That the Scotch inhabitants of the said County shall, without
any kind of exception, immediately deliver all arms in their pos-
session, of what kind soever they may be ; 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 General 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 nomination.”
Sir John having answered the written offer of terms, agreeing to
deliver up their arms, but as to the fourth article 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 wholly unsatisfactory,
and required immediate compliance with his demands in all respects
before midnight. Sir John Johnson is alleged by the Americans then
to have given his parole of honor not to take up arms against America.
General Schuyler was to be at liberty to take away six of the Scotch
inhabitants prisoners, without resistance, the others all to surrender
their arms; the six prisoners to be maintained agreeable to their
respective ranks ; to be allowed a few days to settle their private
affairs, and, being gentlemen, to wear their side arms.
"Fifth Neither Sir John Johnson nor the Scotch gentlemen can
make any engagements 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
snter into the like engagement as the Scotch inhabitants."
To this General Schuyler agreed, stating that he would take six
of the Scotch inhabitants prisoners, since they preferred it to going
as hostages, and undertaking on behalf 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 arms 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
These having been secured, the Scotchmen were dismissed
with an exhortation to remain peaceable, and with an assurance of
protection if they did. (1)
arms.
The American authors allege that Sir John Johnson did not
observed 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
though advisable to secure the person of Sir John, and once more
to quell the rising spirit of disaffection in the neighborhood of John-
town, especially among the Highlanders,” and in June following the
event already narrated, Colonel Dayton, with a part of his regiment
then on its way to Canada, was despatched by General Schuyler to
prosecute the enterprise. Sir John, 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 Montreal, "having encountered all the sufferings that it
seemed possible for man to endure." Mr. Sparks, in his life of
Washington, states that Lady Johnson was removed to Albany, where
she was retained, but without any partic-lar insult, except the indig-
nity offered to a gentlewoman 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 Watts,
for some time President of the Council of New 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 Washington, apprising him of her being taken prisoner :
SIR,
"ALBANY, June 16, 1776.
"I take the liberty of complaining to you, as it is from you I
(1) Stone, 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,
"To His Excellency General Washington."
“M. JOHNSON.
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 GLENGARRY
GENLEMEN TO WHOM COMMISSIONS WERE GRANTED IN THAT
AND OTHER LOYALIST CORPS. ARREST OF WIVES AND
FAMILIES OF THE HIGHLAND LOYALISTS.-RETRIBUTION. THE
VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK RENDERED "A SCENE OF WIDESPREAD,
HEART SICKENING AND UNIVERSAL DESOLATION.”—Battle of
ORISKANY.-DR. MOSES YOUNGLOVE's Alleged" BRUTALITIES.'
- HIGHLANDERS RESCUE THEIR FAMILIES.— CAPTURE OF
EXETER AND FORT WINTERMOOT BY BUTLER'S RANGERS.—
AMERICANS ABANDON FORT WYOMING.-HIGHLANDERS MAKE
ANOTHER INCURSION INTO THE SCOHARIE 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 :—
"MY LORD,
"CHAMBLIE, 8 JULY, 1776.
"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 New 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 inflict upon them.
"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 violence, but further to grant them all possible assistance, I have
therefore given Sir John Johnson a Commission 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,
(6
My Lord,
"Your Lordship's Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant,
"Lord George Germaine."
"GUY CARLETON.
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,(1) 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 Whitehall, London, 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 came justified the raising of a Bat-
talion there, and that the King approved of it and of Sir John John-
son having been placed in command. (2) In July, 1780, authority
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 Germaine, highly commending the conduct of Sir John
Johnson, and stating that the second Battalion was in a forward
state. In the following year, Lord George Germaine announced
that the Regiment had been placed on the Establishment
(1) Haldimand Collection, B 39, p. 170.
(2) Ibid, B 38, p. 5.
21
of the British Army, and referred in complimentary terms
to the conduct of Sir John Johnson. It had previously
been settled, and Sir Henry Clinton informed, 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, 1782, Brigadier-General
of the King's Provincial Troops, with Captain Scott, 53rd Regiment,
as his Major of Brigade (1), a just tribute to himself, and a mark of
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 Mohawk Valley, and was command-
ed by Colonel John Butler, who greatly distinguished himself during
the War—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-
mination of the War 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 from
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 disposed to
dispute this statement of a historic fact the lists are there to speak for
themselves. Many of them eventually settled in Glengarry in Canada
(1) Haldimand Collection, B 43, p. 64.
22
4
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 REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.
Rank.
Name.
Place of
Nativity Service
Remarks.
Captain Alexander Macdon- Scotland 8 years 200 acres of land in fee
ell (Aberchalder)
simple, under Sir John
Johnson, at yearly an-
nual rent of £6 per 100.
Captain Angus Macdonell Scotland 25 yrs Ensign in 60th Regt.,
Captain John Macdonell
(Scotas)
8th July, 1760 ; Lieut. in
do. Dec. 27, 1770;sold
out on account of bad
health, May 22, 1775.
Had no lands.
Scotland 8 years Had landed property,
500 acres, purchased
and began to improve
in April, 1774.
Captain Archibald Macdon- Scotland 8 years Merchant; had no lands
eli (Leek)
Captain Allan Macdonell Scotland 8 years Held 200 acres in fee
Lieut.
simple under Sir John
at £6 per 100 acres.
Lieut. Hugh Macdonell Scotland 7 years Son of Captain Mac-
donell.
(Leek)
(Aberchalder)
(Scotas)
Ensign Miles Macdonell Scotland 3 years Son of Captain John
Macdonell.
SECOND BATTALION KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.

Captain James Macdonell |Scotland 8 years| Held
acres in fee
simple under Sir John
at £6 per 100 acres.
Lieut. Ranald Macdonell Scotland 3 years Farmer.
(Leek)
23
CORPS OF BUTLER'S RANGERS, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT-
COLONEL JOHN BUTLER.
Place of
Nativity Service
Rank.
Name.
Captain John Macdonell
(Aberchalder)
-shire,
Remarks.
Inverness 9 years Came to America with
his father 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.
AlexanderMacdon- Inverness 7 years Came to America with
First
Lieut.
ell (Collachie) -shire,
Scotland
his father and other
Highland Emigrants in
1773, settled in Tryon
County, near Johns-
town, in the Province
of New York; entered
His Majesty's Service
as a Volunteer in the
84th or Royal High-
land Emigrants.
Second Chichester Macdon Inverness 6 years Came to America with
Lieut.
ell (Aberchalder) |-shire,
Scotland
his father and other
Highland Emigrants in
1773, and settled near
Johnstown; entered
His Majesty's Service
as a Volunteer in the
King's Royal Regiment
of New York in the
year 1778.
EIGHTY-FOURTH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANT REGIMENT.
Captain Allan Macdonell
(Collachie)
Lieut. Ranald Macdonell
Lieut. Arch'd. Macdonell]
140 yrs
|8 years!
Prisoner at Lancaster
in Pennsylvania.
SEVENTY FIRST REGIMENT.
Lieut. | Angus Macdonell |
24
In giving the prominence that I do to the above gentlemen of
this name, I am far from wishing it to be understood that they and
those of their name were the only Highland United Empire Loyalists
who settled in the Mohawk Valley and other parts of the United
States, and, having fought through the war, on its termination took
up their abode in what is now Glengarry. Far from it. The names
of those above mentioned are conspicious 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,
therefore, now distinguishable one from another.
The figures given hereafter will show that while other Scottish
Clans were represented among these most deserving men, there were
so many more from Glengarry in Scotland than from any other part
of it, that it cannot be matter of surprise that among them were
many men whose position and other qualifications entitled them to
commissions in the Regiments raised. The fact is, that while from
other parts there had been individuals who had emigrated before the
breaking out of the War, 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 many persons of station and education, and all, without a
solitary exception, taking up arms in defence of a principle binding
upon their consciences, and in defence of which they were 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 Major Gray, Lieutenants Sutherland and
McMartin, of the King's Royal Regiment of New York; the Rev.
Mr. Bethune, Chaplain of the Eighty-Fourth Regiment, and Captain
Wilkinson, of the Indian Branch of the Service. There were, of
course, many commissioned officers of other Scottish names, but
they did not settle in Glengarry. Of the Frasers, for instance, there
25
were four, but all of them settled in the neighborhood of what is now
Brockville.
It is also to be understood that of those mentioned above, sev-
eral settled in Stormont and Dundas, 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, Mr. 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 families 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 number of four hundred—a
measure that was approved by General Herkimer and his officers.”
Such treatment of women and children, however, was scarcely
calculated to placate the Loyalists.
I could not attempt, within the limits I have laid down for my
narrative, to enter at any length into the various events of the Revo-
lutionary War, or to narrate at all circumstantially, even, those
relating to the engagements in which Sir John Johnson and his Regi-
ment-which, on its disbandment, 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 New York, and that part of the
State west of Albany, especially the Mohawk Valley, as well as
Pennsylvania. They were evidently bound to have it out with their
former 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 War 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
so many campaigns performed, 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
War, that one-third of the population had gone over to the enemy; (1)
that one-third had been driven from the country or slain in battle
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 were 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 despatch 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 Herkimer, who was a brave and
distinguished Officer, with Colonels Cox, Seeber, Paris and others,
while upwards of two hundred of them were taken prisoners. The
British loss was also severe, falling principally on Sir John Johnson's
and Butler's corps.
St. Leger did not state the number of his own
killed and wounded. Mr. Stone claims that their loss was as serious
as that of the Americans, 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 Wilson and Hare, of
Butler's Rangers, killed. The Americans allege that the " Indians
and Tories" behaved on this occasion with great cruelty to their
prisoners, but to show the character of the evidence upon which they
base so grave a charge, it is only necessary to give a specimen and
to bear in mind that the maker of the affidavit is vouched for by
(1) That is, that they had adhered to the Sovereign. Mr. Stone speaks, of course, as an
American That he was an able historian is unquestionab 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 !" (1)
"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. ; and 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
Mr. 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 rébel,' 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 who 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 out
of the guard with the most lamentable cries, tortured him for a long
time, 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 there nearly picked, just after they had
crossed the lake with the prisoners; that the prisoners who
(1) Stone, Volume 1, Appendix XXXIII.
28
were not delivered up were murdered in considerable numbers from
day to day round the camp, some of them so nigh that their shrieks
were heard ; that Captain Martin, of the batteaux-men, was delivered
to the Indians at Oswego, on the pretence of having kept back some
useful intelligence; that this deponent during his imprisonment, and
his fellows, were kept almost starved for provisions, and what they drew
were of the worst kind, such as spoilt pork, biscuit full of maggots
and mouldy, and no soap allowed, or other method of keeping clean;
and were insulted, struck, &c., without mercy by the guards, without
any provocation given; that this deponent was informed by several
Sergeants, orderly on General St. Leger, that twenty dollars were
offered in general orders for every American scalp."
There can be little doubt but that on both sides there was much
done that cannot be reconciled with the methods of modern warfare,
but such apparent falsehoods as those to which this "reputable " Dr.
Younglove deposed under oath bear their own refutation on their
face. Even as late as the War of 1812, it was a favourite allegation
of theirs that our Indians were encouraged to scalp, while it was
proved beyond a shadow of a doubt(1) that the first scalp of the War
was taken by an American-an Officer at that-who boasted of it in
a letter written to his wife which was found in his pocket when he
was killed a day or two later. (2)
Even at this very time, General Arnold, (3) then in command of
their forces in this district, concluded a proclamation with the omin-
ous assertion that if the Loyalists, "blind to their own interest and
safety, obstinately persist in their wicked courses, determined to draw
(1) James, Volume I., 59-62.
The
(2) This shocking operation was performed by a circular incision being made upon the crown
of the head of about three inches or more in diameter, according to the length of the hair.
foot of the operator was then placed on the neck or body of the victim, and the scalp or tuft of
skin and hair torn from the skull by strength of arm. In case the hair was so short as not to
admit of being grasped by the hand, the artist first with his knife turning up one edge of the
circle, applied his teeth to the part, and by that means quite as effectually disengaged the scalp.
In order to preserve the interesting relic, it was then stretched and dried upon a small osier hoop.
It would be well for the civilization of America had this terrible indignity only have been perpe-
trated by the savages on their victims, but history records the fact that the brave Tecumseth,
distinguished above all Indians for his humanity, was himself scalped after the Battle of the
Thames (Moravian Town), in October, 1813, by some of the Kentucky soldiers. The admission,
quoted by Mr. James in his "Military Occurrences of the War," is made in "Burdick's Political
and Historical Register," page 84: "Some of the Kentuckians disgraced themselves by commit-
ting indignities on his (Tecumseth's dead body. He was scalped and otherwise disfigured.
The truth being, as stated by Mr. James, that his body was flayed and the skin cut into strips
which were carefully treasured as "trophies" by these inhuman wretches,
(3) The first mention of this name, the most infamous in the annals of America, that I am
"Hazen
able to find is in a despatch from Sir Guy Carleton to Lord Dartmouth of 7th June, 1775:
brings word that Benedict Arnold, a native of Connecticut and a horse jockey, has surprised the
detachment at St. John's, seized the King's sloop, batteaux and military stores, and carried them
off with the prisoners." The war being over and his treachery accomplished, first to the King,
whose subject he was, and then to the Continental Government, which he served but to betray,
the following is extracted from Lord Dorchester's List of Names of United Empire Loyalists:
"Arnold, General Benedict, "Arnold, Lieutenant Henry," with this emphatic word follow-
ing their respective names, "Expunged." The soil of Upper Canada was not to be desecrated
by such as Benedict Arnold or his son.
""
29
on themselves the just vengeance of Heaven and this exasperated
country, they must expect no mercy from either," and they certainly
received but little from the latter. Our neighbours must explain
away Sullivan's devastation of the Seneca and Six Nation country
undertaken by the direction of their Commander-in-chief, "to cut off
their settlements, destroy their corps, and inflict upon them every
other mischief which time and circumstances would permit "(1) before
they can accuse the British of being the sole participants in the
cruelties which made this War an ever memorable one.
Again in June, 1778, a number of the Loyalists who had gone
to Canada with Sir John Johnson performed what Mr. Stone states
was a most bold and remarkable exploit, which naturally suggests
the enquiry where were the Whigs of Tryon County at the time, and
in what were they engaged?
"The incident to which reference is had was the return of those
self-same Loyalists for their families, whom they were permitted to
collect together, and with whom they were suffered to depart into the
country and active service of the enemy. Nor was this all; not
only was no opposition made to their proceedings, but on their way
they actually committed acts of flagrant hostility, destroyed property
and took several prisoners. Having completed their arrangements,
they moved northward from Fort Hunter, through Fonda's bush,
making four prisoners on their way thither, and at Fonda's bush five
others. From this place they proceeded across the great marsh to
Sir William Johnson's fish-house, on the Sacondaga, capturing a
man named Martin on the way, and at the fish-house taking a brave
fellow named Solomon Woodworth 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
after his capture, Woodworth succeeded in making his escape.
St. Johns, Shew and four others were given to the Indians, by whom
they were taken to their village in Canada. They were neither con-
sidered 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 close 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
success, form one of the most extraordinary incidents, though in
At
(1) Letter of General Washington to Governor Clinton and General Gates, 4th March, 1779.
30
itself comparatively unimportant, which transpired during the wars
of the Mohawk country."(1)
Shortly after this, another expedition was despatched from
Niagara to the Whig settlements in Pennsylvania under Colonel John
Butler, who also had with him, in addition to his Rangers, about
five hundred Mohawks under Brant. They entered the Valley of
Wyoming through a gap of mountains near its northern extremity,
took possession of two forts, Exeter and Lackawanna, also known as
Fort Wintermoot, the former of which was burnt; Colonel Butler
establishing his headquarters in the latter. 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 Whigs, less than
sixty out of four hundred of them escaping, amongst the dead being
one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Major, ten Captains, six Lieutenants
and two Ensigas. Those who survived, with the women and
children of the neighbourhood, took refuge in Fort Wyoming. 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 Mr.
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 butchered after having
surrendered, while equally untrue is pronounced to be the story of
the burning of houses, barracks 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
(1; Life of Brant, page 309.
31
monster Brandt" in connection with these events, but then Edmon-
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
have no poetry !
At the close of the War, 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 "Church-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 painful illness borne with true Indian fortitude
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
day 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; 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 War 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; General
32
Sir Charles Stuart, a younger son of the Earl 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 Mr.
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 signing himself, "Your affectionate friend 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 leaves of this peculiar
species of brake, in which, when the old leaf falls, the young is in
fresh and full existence. 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 brother warrior,
Jos. Brant, Thayendanegea." The Earl of Warwick was another of
his friends, and for whom he sat for his picture, as he had done for
the Duke of Northumberland.
66
When presented at Court, he declined to kiss the King's hand,
but with equal gallantry and address offered 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 rouge et noir complexion for a painted
visor, took him by the nose, intending, probably, to remove the
33
?
mask 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 blood 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 impression
that they would be the unwilling witnesses of the scalping of the
poor Turk. The joke had been carried far enough, however, and
the Mussulman was left in possession of his hair, the matter was
explained, and the incident accounted quite the feature of the even-
ing. Mr. Stone states that some of the London papers represented
that Brant raised his weapon in serious earnest, having taken the
freedom of the Turk for an intentional indignity, but this of course
is ridiculous. Readers of Mr. John Galt's work, "The Steamboat,'
will remember another instance in which Printing House Square
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," under the heading of "A Mys-
terious Circumstance," absolutely gave 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 Macdonells 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 "Tories,” burning houses and killing and making 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,
arrived to the assistance of his countrymen, and Macdonell and his
men, having accomplished the object of their mission, returned to
headquarters.
3.4
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 Canajohárie STILL ANOTHER INVASION
INTO THE SCHOHARIE COUNTRY--INVESTMENT OF FORT MIDDLE-
BERG—AMERICANS FIRE ON A FLAG OF TRUCE.- IMMENSE
DESTRUCTION OF GRAIN AND OTHER PROPERTY.— CAUGHNA-
WAGA AND STONE ARABIA LAID IN ASHES. DEFEAT OF
AMERICANS 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
TWO ENGAGEMENTS NEAR JOHNSTOWN.-DEATH OF WALTER
BUTLER. AWFUL MASSACRE BY AMERICAN MISCREANTS OF
THE MORAVIAN TRIBE OF NON-COMBATANT INDIANS.—Con-
CLUSION OF THE WAR.
>
In the Spring of 1779, it was determined by the Americans that
active measures should be taken against the Indians, especially the
Senacas and Cayugas, that those tribes should in fact be annihilated,
and with this object in view a division of their army from Pennsyl-
vania under General 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
joint 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 Walter N. Butler and
Captain John Macdonell (Aberchalder). A desperate resistance
was made against such tremendous odds, but without present suc-
cess, yet the ultimate and indeed the principal object 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 Washington's orders, and for
which General Sullivan received the thanks of Congress (November
30th, 1779). And yet they complained of the atrocities of the In-
dians !
Still again, in May, 1780, Sir John Johnson, at the head 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 Whigs,
and appropriated all the horses to their own use. Their ranks were
recruited by a considerable 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. We 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 alliance 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 :
36
“
"ST. JOHNS, 3rd June, 1780.
“ SIR,
“I have the honour to report to Your Excellency the arrival of
the troops and Indians under my command at this place. We
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 therefore found myself under the disagreeable
necessity of adopting their plan, which was for them to proceed
to Tripe's Hill, within a mile and 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. We 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 in
the morning the day following. Some of the Indians and Rangers
continued burning and laying waste everything before them, till they
got above the nose. Most 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 proposed moving on to Stone Arabia, to which the
Indians objected, 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 their 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.
We burned several houses on our return to Johnstown, where we
arrived 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
expectation, 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
feied 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 atten-
tion to their engagements, I assured them that the rest of the prison-
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 off. 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, by 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 many irregularities, which I was very appre-
hensive of, and he has been 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,
(1)}
General Haldimand.”(1)
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 barns,
together with a grist mill, the church and growing crops destroyed,
and between fifty and sixty prisoners taken, though it is admitted
(1) Haldimand Papers, Series B, vol. 158, p. 128.
38
that "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 Sullivan's merciless crusade, under
Sir John Johnson, Thayendanegea and a famous Seneca Chieftain, a
half-breed named O'Bail, styled by the Indians "Corn Planter ".
the force consisting, besides Mohawks, of three Companies of the
Royal Regiment of New 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 variously 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 Middleberg, 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 savage 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 description. General
Washington, 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, in 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 were burnt, the horses and cattle killed or
taken, and not a building known to belong to a Whig was saved ;
the Whigs, however, in retaliation, immediately after reducing the
houses 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 were
killed, but this is probably a gross exaggeration. Whatever was left
of Caughnawaga at the time of the irruption of Sir John in the spring,
and all that had been rebuilt, was destroyed 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 reduced to the condition of a de-
By this time, however, reinforcements had arrived for the
Americans, under the command of General Van Renssalaer, whose
forces were in every respect superior to the British.
In the engage-
sert.
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 manoeuvre, in capturing a
strong detachment of the Americans under Captain Vrooman, and
made his way to Oswego 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 Watson Powell
writes to the American Colonel Van Schaick, in returning some
40
American prisoners: "The attention which has been shown to Mrs.
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 orders or permission His Majesty's subjects have experienced
execution, the horrors of a dungeon loaded with irons, and 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 McGruer's,
Duncan McDonell's, John McIntosh's, Duncan McDonell's, Donald
McDonald'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 faith 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
maxim 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 War 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 deny 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 War, and was frequently a source of embarassment
and mortification to General Washington 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
"To His Excellency General Haldimand, General and Commander
in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in Canada and the Fron-
tiers thereof,
"The memorial of John and Alexander Macdonell, Captains
in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, humbly sheweth,
"That your Memorialist, John Macdonell's, family 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 Macdonell, on behalf 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 Mr. James Ellice, of Sche-
nectady, merchant, they must have perished.
"Your Memorialists therefore humbly pray Your Excellency
will be graciously pleased to take the distressed situation of said
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 wisdom shall see fit, and your
Memorialists will ever pray as in duty bound.
(Signed,)
JOHN MACDONELL,
"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 New York is as follows :—
. To the Honourable Sir John Johnson, Lieutenant-Colonel Com-
mander of the King's Royal Regiment of New York.
The humble petition of sundry soldiers of said Regiment
sheweth,-
That your humble petitioners, 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 MCGLENNY,
THOMAS ROSS,
ALEXANDER Cameron,
FREDERICK Goose,
WM. URGHAD,*
* Probably Urquhart.
ALEX. FERGuson,
THOMAS TAYLOR,
WILLIAM CAMERON,
GEORGE MURDOFF,
WILLIAM CHESSIM,†
† Probably Chisholm,
42
DUNCAN MCINTIRE,
ANDREW MIleross,
DONALD MCCarter,
ALLEN GRANT,
HUGH CHISHolm,
ANGUS GRANT,
JOHN MCDONALD.
JOHN CHRISTY,
DANIEL CAMPBELL,
DONALD ROSS,
DONALD CHISSEM,†
RODERICK MCDONALD,
ALEXANDER Grant,
The names and number of each family intended in the within
petition :-
NAME OF FAMILY
1, Duncan McIntyre's
2, John Christy's
3, George Mordoff's
4, Daniel Campbell's
5, Andrew Milross'
6, William Urghad's
7, Donald McCarter's
8, Donald Ross'
9, Allan Grant's
10, William Chissim's
11, Donald Chissim's
12, Hugh Chissim's
13, Roderick McDonald's
14, Angus Grant's
15, Alexander Grant's
16, Donald Grant's
17, John McDonald's
18, John McGlenny's
19, Alexander Ferguson
20, Thomas Ross'
21, Thomas Taylors'
22, Alexander Cameron's
23, William Cameron's
24, Frederick Goose's
*
1
t
Wife and 3 Children
do 6 do
do 5 do
CONSISTING OF
No.
Wife, Sister and Child
3
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4
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do
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do
2
I Child
do I do
I do
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do
2 Children
do
do
do
4
do
do
5
do
do
4 do
99999
do 4 do
Wife
Wife and 2 Children
do
5
do
do
4
do
do
I Child
do
3 Children
do
3
do
do
4 do
888888
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1
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2
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~ MO SD SDH MO IO 2 4 4 5
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5
Endorsed-Memorial from several soldiers of Sir John John-
son's Corps, received 27th July. (The year is not given, it was
probably 1779 or 1780.) (1)
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
+ Probably Chisholm.
(1) Haldimand. 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
Whigs 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 which 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. While 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 desperately 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 the 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 War reported that nine wounded died before they
arrived in Canada. Schell was subsequently killed during the War
by Indians, one of his sons being killed and another wounded in
their efforts to save him. It must be conceded that he fought with
pluck and that Martin Luther 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 October, 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 prisoners. A day or two later, another engagement occurred,
about twenty of the British being killed, amongst whom was the
brave Walter 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. (1)
This expedition closed the active warlike operations in the north for
that year, and the following was a period rather of armed neutrality
than active war, while on the 30th November, 1782, provisional
Articles of Peace on the basis of a treaty, by which the independence
of the United States was acknowledged, were entered into, and the
people of the Mohawk Valley were left in peace, though that region
of country had been so utterly laid waste that little more was to be
accomplished. The Loyalists lost their homes, but the land on
which their own dwellings once stood 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
(1) Stone, vol. 2, page 192.
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 named Colonel
David Williamson. These Indians had been peaceable during the
whole War—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 commendable achievement. It was as base, as brutal
and as treacherous as the massacre of Glencoe—perhaps worse, if
that be possible. Mr. Thomas Campbell might have composed a
sequel to his "Gertrude of Wyoming !"
The provisional articles of Peace, signed on the 30th Novem-
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 783-4, but the disbanded sol·
diers received assistance from Government for three years, until they
were able to reap 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
Canada and the States, was signed on the 3rd September, 1783.
46
☆
CHAPTER 5.
D
SETTLEMENT OF THE DISBANDED SOLDIERS IN GLENGARRY AND
ADJACENT COUNTIES OF STORMONT AND DUNDAS-LIST OF
OFFICERS OF THE FIRST AND SECOND BATTALIONS OF THE
KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.-COLONEL STE-
WART'S ACCOUNT OF THE ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANT
REGIMENT (OLD EIGHTY-FOURTH).-LIST OF OFFICERS.
The Revolutionary War 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-
tutes the County of Glengarry, being principally settled by those
from 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 York, stationed at the close of the War at Isle aux Noix and
Carleton Island, with their wives and children, to the number of one
thousand 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 Williamsburg; 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 length of service, &c.:
47
RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE FIRST BATTALION, KING'S
Rank.
Names.
ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.
Place of!
Nativity.
vice.
Length
of Ser-
Former Situations and
Remarks.
Lt. Sir John Johnson America 8 years Succeeded his father,the late
Col. Bart.
Com
'dnt
t
Maj. James Gray
Sir Wm. Johnson, as a Maj.
Gen. of the Northern Dis. of
the Prov. of New York; was
in possession of near 200,-
000 acres of valuable land,
lost in consequence of the
rebellion.
Scotland 26 yrs Ensign in Lord Loudon's
Regt., 1745; lieut. and capt.
in ye 42nd till after taking
the Havannah, at which time
he sold out.(1 Had some
landed property, part of
which is secured to his son,
ye remnant lost in conse-
quence of the rebellion.
Capt Angus McDonell Scotland 25 yrs Ensign in 60th Regt., July
Capt John Munro
8th, 1760; lieut. in same
regt., 27th Dec., 1770. Sold
out on account of bad state
of health, 22nd May, 1775.
Had no lands.
Scotland 8 years Had considerable landed
property lost in consequence
of ye Rebellion, and served
in last war in America.
Capt Patrick Daly Ireland
Capt Richard Duncan Scotland
Capt Sam'l. Anderson America
Capt John McDonell Scotland
9 years Lieut. in the 84th Regt. at.
the Siege of Quebec, 1775-76.
13 yrs Five years Ensign in the
55th Regiment.
8 years Had landed property, and
served in last war in America
8 years Had landed property, 500
acres, purchased, and began
to improve in April, 1774.
Capt Alex. McDonell Scotland 8 years 200 acres of land in fee
simple, under Sir John John-
son, Bart., ye annual rent of
£6 per 100.
(1) Havannah was taken in 1762, Gray sold out in 1763.
48
Rank.
Names.
Place of
Nativity.
vice.
Length
of Ser
Former Situations and
Remarks.
Capt Arch. McDonell Scotland 8 years Merchant. Had no lands.
Capt Allan McDonell Scotland 8 years Held 200 acres of land un-
-Lt.
der Sir John Johnson, at £6
per 100.
Lt. Mal. McMartin Scotland 8 years Held 100 acres of land un-
der Sir John Johnson, at £6.
America 7 years Had some landed property.
America 9 years A Volunteer at the Siege of
Quebec, 1775-76.
Lt. Peter Everett
Lt. John Prentiss
Lt. Hugh McDonell Scotland 7 years Son of Capt. McDonell
Lt. John F. Holland America 5 years Son of Major Holland, Sur-
veyor-General, Province of
Quebec.
Lt. William Coffin
Lt. Jacob Farrand
Lt. William Claus
Lt. Hugh Munro
America 3 years Son of Mr. Coffin, merchant,
late of Boston.
America 7 years Nephew to Major Gray.
America 7 years Son of Col. Claus, deputy
agent Indian Affairs.
America 6 years Son of Capt. John Munro.
6 years Son of Capt. Sam'l. Anderson.
4 years Son of Dr. Smith.
Lt. Joseph Anderson America
Lt. Thomas Smith Ireland
Ens. John Connolly Ireland
Ens. Jacob Glen
2 years Private Gentleman.
America 3 years Son of John Glen, Esq., of
Schenectady. Had consider-
able landed property.
Ens. Miles McDonell Scotland 3 years Son of Capt. John McDonell.
Ens. Eben'r Anderson America 6 years Son of Capt. Sam'l. Anderson.
Ens. DuncanCameron Scotland 14 yrs In service last war preced-
ing this one.
Ens. John Mann America
Ens. Francis McCar-Ireland
thy
8 years Private gentleman.
28 yrs Formerly sergeant in the
34th Regiment.
Ens. John Valentine America 24 yrs 18 years in 55th and 62nd
Ch'p John Doty
lain
Regiments.
America 8 years Formerly minister of the
Gospel at Schenectady.
Adjt James Valentine Ireland
Q.M Isaac Mann
Surg Charles Austin
M'te James Stewart
4 years Son of Ens. John Valentine.
America 8 years Merchant.
England 22 yrs 14 years in hospital work.
Scotland 14 yrs Surgeon's mate in the 42nd
Regt. the war before last.
49
RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE SECOND BATTALION, KING'S
Rank.
Names.
ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK.
Place of
Nativity.
vice.
of Ser-
Length
Former Situations and
Remarks.
Maj. Robert Leake England 7 years Had large landed property,
&c., lost in consequence of
the rebellion.
Capt Thos. Gummesell England 8 years Formerly merchant in New
Capt Jacob Maurer
York.
Foreigner 28 yrs Served in ye army in the
60th Regt.,from 1756 to 1763.
afterwards in the Quarter-
Master General's Dept.
Capt Wm. Morrison Scotland 8 years Was lieut., 19th June, 1776,
in 1st Batt.; capt., 15th Nov.,
1781, in 2nd Batt.
Capt James McDonell Scotland 8 years Held 200 acres of land in
tee simple, under Sir John.
Johnson, at £6 per 100.
Capt Geo. Singleton
Capt Wm. Redford
Crawford
Ireland 8 years Formerly merchant.
America 8 years Held lands under Sir John
Capt Byrns
Ireland
Capt
Capt Lepscomb
McKenzie
Johnson.
8 years Held lands under Sir John
Johnson.
England 7 years Midshipman, Royal Navy.
Scotland 8 years Held lands under Sir John
Johnson.
Lt. Patrick Langan Ireland 7 years Private gentleman.
Lt. Walter Suther- Scotland 10 yrs Soldier and non-commission-
land
ed officer in 26th Regt.; en-
sign, 17th Oct., 1779, in 1st
Batt.; lieut., Nov., 1781, in
2nd Batt.
Lt. William McKay Scotland 15 yrs 7 years volunteer and ser-
Lt.
geant in 21st Regt.
Neal Robertson Scotland 8 years Merchant.
Lt. Henry Young America 8 years Farmer.
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. Jeremiah French America 7 years Farmer.
Lt. Phil. P. Lansingh America 4 years High Sheriff, Charlot county.
Hazelt'nSpencer America 7 years Farmer.
Lt.
50

Rank.
Names.
Lt. Oliver Church
Lt. William Fraser
Lt. Christian Wher
Place of
Nativity.
vice.
of Ser-
Length
Former Situations and
Remarks.
America 7 years Farmer.
Scotland 7 years Farmer.
Foreign' r7 years Farmer.
Ens. Alex. McKenzie N. Britain 4 years Farmer.
Ens. Ron. McDonell N. Britain 3 years Farmer.
Ens. Hay
America 3 years Son of Gov. Hay at Detroit.
Ens. Samuel McKay America 3 years Son of the late Capt. McKay.
Ens. Timothy Thomp America 3 years Private gentleman.
Son
Ens. John McKay
Ens.
Johnson
Ens. Crawford
America 3 years Son of the late Capt. McKay.
Ireland 2 years Nephew to the late Sir Wm.
Johnson, Bart.
America 4 years Son of Capt. Crawford.
America 3 years Missionary for the Mohawk
Indians at Fort Hunter.
Ch'p John Stuart
lain
Adjt Fraser
Q-M
America 7 years Farmer.
Dies
Sur. R. Kerr
Scotland 10 yrs 7 years soldier and non-com-
missioned officer in 34th
Regiment.
Scotland 3 years Assistant surgeon.
The latter Battalion, as already stated, both officers and men, with
some few exceptions, settled principally about Cataraqui, as Kings-
ton was then called, on the Bay of Quinte, in the Counties of Lennox
and Prince Edward, 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 :

ET
MON
DROIT
His Majefty's Provincial Regiment, called the King's Royal
Regiment of New York, whereof Sir John Johnson, Knight and Bar-
onet is Lieutenant-Colonel, Commandant.
These are to certify that the Bearer hereof, Donald McDonell,
soldier in Capt. Angus McDonell's Company, of the aforesaid Regi-
ment, born in the Parifh of Killmoneneoack, in the County of Inver-
nefs, aged thirty-five years, has served honeftly and faithfully in the
faid regiment Seven Years; and in confequence of His Majesty's
Order for Difbanding the faid 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 faid Regiment, to the
Date of his Difcharge, as appears from his Receipt on the back
hereof.
Given under 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-
mands 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 MC DONELL.
Mr. Croil states that each soldier was entitled to one hundred
acres on the river front, besides 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
his wife and fifty for every child, besides 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 Order
in Council of 22nd October, 1788 (although the discharge as given
above, the original of which was lent me, would seem to indicate that
there had been a previous Order on the subject) recited that on the
raising of the 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; Captains, 3,000;
Subalterns, 2,000; Non-commissioned 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 footing as regards land as the Eighty-
Fourth.
Although on the termination of the War the original settlers in
Glengarry and the adjacent district were, as we have seen, 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 Walter Scott ever did more to gather the
fragments which relate to the proud history of Scotland.
When Colonel Stewart submitted them to Sir Walter 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.
Any one 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
1778), 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
14th June, 1775-
Officers sent to the back settlements to recruit found the
discharged soldiers and emigrants loyal and ready to serve His
Majesty. The emigration from the Highlands, previous to this period,
had been very limited. With 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 had 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 War, with more bravery than prudence, and
forgetting that they had only a few swords and fowling pieces used in
the settlements, they determined 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 Macleod and a number
of men killed. Those who escaped made their way by different
routes to their destination. Colonel Maclean's Battalion was
stationed in Quebec, when Canada was threatened with invasion by
the American General, Arnold, at the head of three 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 Militia and Seamen. General
Guy Carlton, the Commander-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 embodied, contained 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 being
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 Battalion remained in the Province dur-
ing the War, 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 days 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
they 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.
With every 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 OFFICERS OF THE FIRST BATTALION OF HIS MAJESTY'S
Rank.
Lieut.-Col.
Major.
Captain
("
6
66
(6
(C
REGIMENT OF ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANTS.(1
ISLE AUX NOIX, 15th April, 1778.

Names.
Allan McLean
Donald McDonald
William Dunbar
John Nairne
Alexander Fraser
George McDougall
Malcolm Fraser
Daniel Robertson
George Laws
Lieutenant Neil McLean (prisoner)
Former Rank in the Army.
Lieutenant-Colonel.
Capt. late 78th Regt.
Lieut. late 78th Regt.
Lieut. 6oth Regt.
Lieut. late 8th Regt.
Lieut. 42nd Regt.
Lieut. 7th Regt.
66
John McLean
Ensign late 114th Regt.
(6
Alexander Firtelier
66
Lachlan McLean
(C
Fran. Damburgess (prisoner)
David Cairns
Ensign 21 Nov., 1775-
Ensign 1st June, 1775.
(6
Don. McKinnon
Ensign 20th Nov., 1775-
(6
Ronald McDonald
Ensign 14th June, 1775.
(6
John McDonell
Ensign 14th June, 1774
66
Alexander Stratton(prisoner)
Hector McLean
Ensign
Ronald McDonald
Archibald Grant
<
66
66
66
· Chaplain
Adjutant
David Smith
George Daine
Archibald McDonald
William Wood
John Pringle
Hector McLean (prisoner)
John Bethune (prisoner)
Ronald McDonald
Q'r-Master Lachlan McLean
Surgeon James Davidson
Surg's Mate James Walker
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
Major Small was held in high estimation. [He was a native of
(1) Haldimand Collection, B 213, page 15.
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 Major-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. With an enthusiastic and even romantic love of
his country and countrymen, it seemed as if the principal object of
his life had been to serve them and promote their prosperity.
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
instance of desertion in their Battalion. Five Companies remained
in Nova Scotia and the neighboring settlements during the War.
The other five joined General Clinton and Lord 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 War 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 6.
UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS.-LIST OF SCOTTISH NAMES APPEAR-
ING IN LORD DORCHESTER'S LIST. A "DISTINGUISHED
INDIVIDUAL'S" OPINION OF THE HIGHLANDERS OF THAT GEN-
ERATION. MR. CROIL'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
9th November, 1789, wherein it was stated that it was His Excel-
lency's desire "to put a Marke 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 1783 *
to the end that 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 Macdonells 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
Anderson
Andrews
2
Armstrong
5
Bethune
2
Malcolm
Miller
Morrison
Munro
Bruce
6
Murchison
Campbell
28
Murray
he speaks, and writes that "the Scotch and Irishelement 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:
23
5 er
5 cr
McLaren
McLaughlin
McLean
McLellan
McLeod
I
·4
20
5
5
I I
I 2
4
5
4
2
McMartin
3
Cameron
25
McAlpine
I
Carr
McArthur IO
4
Kerr
McAuley 2
McMaster
McMillan
McNabb
I
I
Chisholm
13
McBain
4
Christie
3
McCallum
I
McNairn
McNaughton
3-
3
L
Clarke
8
Clark
Crawford
4
McCrimmon I
McDonald 8
McDonell
McNeil
McNish
84
McPhee
Cumming 4
McDougall
Edgar
I
McDuff
Ferguson
15
McFall
3
Fraser
27
McGillis
5
Gordon
2
McGregor
LH Mo
5
I
McPherson
Ramsay
Robertson
Rose
15
6
Ross
20
Grant
35
McGruer
4
Scott
2 in Hg Ho ~ ∞ 10+
5
3
I
6
2
8
4
Graham
8
McIntyre
7
Stewart
5
Gray
4
McIntosh
I L
Gunn
I
McKay
10
Haggart
Livingstone
2∞
McKenzie
&
Stuart
Sutherland
Young
8
20
8
Names were subsequently
I quote from the original list.
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 am 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 here) writing subsequently, states, " I had not been long
in the 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. Aware that if trouble or confusion took place in the Pro-
vince your properties would become uncertain and precarious, and
under this impression I proceeded to the seat of Government, where,
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.”
When 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 subject 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 Van Vorst, 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.
We 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 "unlike the Puritans of New Eng-
land, the Catholics of Maryland, the Cavaliers of Virginia, the
Huguenots of South Carolina and the followers of William 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." We 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 War, 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-day. Their descendants will neither credit
nor relish the unworthy sneers at the stunted limbs and intellects 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
allegations 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 Rivers, 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 later 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 but 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 of 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. Such was their number that a
Board of Officers, composed of Colonel John Macdonell (Aberchal-
der), of Glengarry, Captain John Macdonell (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. Croil 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-shares and their spears into pruning hooks." 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 be freely given to the disbanded
soldiers. This was simply characteristic of that principle of high
honour and justice which, in every period of its history, has distin-
guished the British Government. 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-
ernment 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
St. Lawrence.
With what feelings of intense interest, mingled even with awe
and melancholy, must these settlers have regarded this introduction
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 river, 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. Well 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 every one 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 modern 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 walls. 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 small
splinters, and carefully plastered outside and inside, with clay for
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. With a sufficient slope to the back, this formed a roof which
mortar
€3
was proof against wind and weather. An ample hearth, 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 time took its place. By and by,
four little panes of glass were stuck into a rough sash, and 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; 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
as the men were all occupied out of doors, it usually fell to the lot
of the women, reminding us forcibly of the Hebrew women of old,
similarly occupied, of whom we have the touching allusion in Holy
Writ, "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 could 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-
tiously suspended outside all night: the result not unfrequently was,
that, while the family was asleep, the quarter's store of pork would
be unceremoniously carried off by 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 trees were cut for ship's masts, measuring
from ninety to one hundred and twenty 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 of the best Canadian quality,
there was abundance; this found a ready market at from 2s. 6d. to
3s. 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 potash.
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 setting 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
rights became a staple article of commerce, and were readily bought
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 who 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 thirty dollars per acre, were
then considered worthless; and lots even more favourably 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. We
have even been told credibly that two hundred acres of land, upon
which now stands a flourishing village in the adjoining County of
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 investiment, 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 was in the woods, mak-
ing timber, or felling the trees to make way for another fallow. The
winters were then long, cold and steady, and the fall wheat 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, were 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 was in the character of the early settlers that which com-
manded the admiration and respect of all who were brought into
contact with them. Naturally of a hardy and robust constitution,
they 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.
While 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 failings,
as well as their virtues, but we must make allowances for the circum-
stances in which they were placed. They were charged by the
early missionaries, and perhaps with some degree of truth,
as wofully addicted to carousing and dancing," but these were the
common and allowed amusements of the times in which they lived.
It may, however, 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 reprobation,
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. Innured
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
accounted 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 modern instruments.
In course of a few years the settlers were enabled to supply
themselves 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.
Permit the boat going from this to pass to
John Loucks, Kingston with their provisions, family, clothing,
beding, household furniture and farming utensils,
they having cleared out at this post, as appears
by their names in the margin. Given under my
hand at Fort Ontario, 21st day of May, 1795.
two men,
two women,
three children.
To whom concerned.
A. MCDONELL, P.O. (1)
Having sufficiently trespassed on Mr. Croil's pages, I shall now
quote from those of Judge Pringle. (2)
cendant of a United Empire Loyalist
much towards collecting such records
late date accessible :
The latter is himself a des-
family, and has certainly done
relating to them as are at this
It is unfortunate 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 1784 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, Wolfe,
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 Wolfe
on the Plains of Abraham; of the long and perilous voyage down the
(1) Croil's "Dundas, or a Sketch of Canadian History," pp. 129-141.
(2) "Lunenburg, or Old 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 (1) 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 to 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 Donald Eneas McDonell, at one time Sheriff of the Eastern
District and for many years Warden of the Kingston Penitentiary. John Macdonell, who was a
Captain in the K. R. R. N. Y., was known as "Spanish John," from the fact of his having been
long in the Spanish Service.
1
69
CHAPTER 7.
A
LOYALISTS IN THE UPPER COUNTRY OF CANADA DESIRE
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 RECOMMENDS ACQUIESCENCE IN REQUEST
OF LOYALISTS.-FORMATION OF DISTRICTS OF LUNENburg,
MECKLENBURG, NASSAU AND HESSE BY PROCLAMATION, 24TH
JULY, 1788.-PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA ESTABLISHED
AND CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT ASSIGNED TO ITS PEOPLE,
26TH DECEMBER, 1791.-DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES.-FIRST
COMMISSION OF THE PEACE, EASTERN DISTRICT.—EXTRACTS
FROM 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, alleging 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 counties, 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; that it was to
restore that government and be restored to those laws, for which from
husbandmen they became soldiers, animated with the hope that,
70
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 accustomed, 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 settlers 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, (1) 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 Honourable Lord Dorchester,
Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty'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,
(1) Sir Guy Carleton had been Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadas
from 1768 to June, 1778, when he was replaced by Sir Frederick 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 onquest 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 about 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 Abraham; was specially
mentioned in despatches by both Townshend and Murray; continued under the command of the
latter and became Brigadier-General. To his 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 attacks of the American Generals Arnold,
Montgomery and Morgan Upon Burgoyne being appointed Commander-in-Chief in America,
considering himself slighted by the Government, he, in a despatch to Lord George Germaine
dated 27th June, 1777. requested his recall, "being fearful that the marks of Your 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 King's servants should add to the disturbances of
his reign." In 1782 he was appointed to succeed Sir Henry Clinton as Commander-in-Chief of
all His Majesty's Forces in America. When elevated to the Peerage in 1786, Parliament voted
him a pension of £1,000 per annum during his life, that of his wife and eldest son. It is impos-
sible to estimate the value of his public services to Canada. He married a daughter of the second
Earl of Effingham, by whom he left a large family. He died in 1808, aged eighty-three years.
His name is commemorated in the metropolitan County of Carleton in Ontario and the County of
Dorchester in Quebec.-Morgan's Celebrated Canadians.
学
​comprehending six Townships from Point au Boudet upwards.
"Permit us, my Lord, to congratulate you upon your safe arrival
once 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 advocate and our friend.
"We 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.
"We cannot omit this opportunity of acknowledging 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 warmest 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, 1786.
"JAMES GRAY, Major King's Royal Regiment of New York.
RICHARD DUNCAN, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York.
ALLAN MACDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York.
ALEXANDER MACDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment New York.
ARCH'D MACDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York.
JNO. MACDONELL, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York.
HUGH MACDONELL, Lieut. late King's Royal Regiment New York.
S. ANDERSON, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York.
MALCOLM MCMARTIN, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York.
RICH'D WILKINSON, Lieut. late Six Nations Indian Department.
Peter EveritT, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York.
NEIL MCLEAN, Lieut. late Eighty-Fourth Regiment.
J. ANDERSON, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York.
JACOB FARRAND, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York.
WILLIAM FAULKNER, C.P.
WALTER SUTHERLAND, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New York."
His Lordship's reply to these addresses, directed to Mr. Stephen
72
Delancy, who had been charged with the presentation of them, was
as follows:
"QUEBEC, 14th December, 1786.
“SIR,
"You will communicate 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.
"Stephen Delancy,
“I am, with regard,
"Your most obedient servant,
"Inspector of Loyalists."
}
"DORCHESTER."
The addresses were transmitted to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, with the following communication from His Excellency:
"MYLORD,
"QUEBEC, 3rd January, 1787.
"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.
66
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
their 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 roture 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.
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.
66
"I am, with respect and esteem,
"Your Lordship's most obedient
"And most humble servant,
"The Right Honourable
"Lord Sydney,
"&c., &c."
}
"DORCHESTER.
73
Up to this time, the Province of Quebec was divided 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 Western Loyalists, and having represented the matter to the
Home Government, he, by the King's instructions, on the 24th July,
1788, 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, Williamsburg, 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 and 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 Courts 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 of Osnabruck the Court met; the place must have been in the
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 the proceedings
from the 15th 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 Sessions, 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 10th 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 (1); William 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), Walter Sutherland (11), William
Falkner (12), Richard Wilkinson (13), William Byrnes (14), Thomas
Swan (15), Jeremiah French (16), Archibald McDonell (17), Allen
McDonell (18), William Fraser (19), Peter Drummond (20), Justus
Sherwood (21), Ephraim Jones (22), William Buel (23), Thomas
Sherwood (24), Alexander McMillan (25), Alexander McDonell (26),
Samuel Anderson (27), Joseph Anderson (28), James Stuart (29),
Allan Patterson (30), Malcolm McMartin (31), Samuel Wright (32),
James Brackenridge (33), Alexander Campbell, of Augusta (34);
Neil McLean (35), Miles McDonell (36), Vermiel Lorimier (37),
Hugh McDonell (38), Alexander Campbell, of Johnstown (39);
Thomas Fraser (40), Andrew Wilson (41) and Neil Robertson (42)†,
* At Niagara, then the seat of Government.
† I 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
officers of the disbanded Loyalist Regiments. The personnel of Commission contrasts not
75
Esquires, who are directed "to enquire the truth most fully, by the
oath of good and lawful men of the aforesaid District, of all and all
manner of felonies, poisonings, inchantments, sorceries, arts magick,
trespasses, forestallings, regratings, ingrossings, and extortions what-
soever, and of all and singular other crimes and offences of which
the Justices of the Peace may or ought lawfully to enquire."
On the 26th December, 1791, the division of the Provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada took place, Constitutional Government
was granted, and the people, through their representatives, were
placed in a position to settle the tenure of their lands and other
matters for themselves. Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe issued a
Proclamation, dated the 16th day of June, 1792, dividing the Province
into Counties, the easternmost of which were then, as now, styled Glen-
garry, Stormont and Dundas. At the first session of the Legislature
of Upper Canada, in 1792, an Act was passed changing the names of
the Districts. Under that Act the District of Lunenburgh became
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 session of that Court began at Osnabruck on the 15th day of
June, 1789. The magistrates present were :—
John McDonell,
Richard Duncan,
James Gray,
Thomas Swan,
Jeremiah French,
Justus Sherwood,
Ephriam Jones,
William Falkner,
William Fraser,
Archibald McDonell.
unfavorably, with those of the present day in the Province of Ontario:-1. Chief Justice of Upper
Canada. 2. Then Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer of Upper Canada; Chief Justice, 1815.
3, 4 and 5. Members of the Executive and Legislative Council of Upper Canada. 6. Legislative
Councillor of Upper Canada; formerly a Captain First Battalion King's Royal Regiment of New
York. 7. Formerly a Captain Butler's Corps of Rangers; Speaker First Parliament of Upper
Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteer Regiment
of Foot. 8. Formerly Captain King's Royal Regiment of N. Y., First Battalion. 9. Form-
erly Major K.R.R.Ñ.Y. 10. Formerly Major Commandant Loyal Rangers. 11. Formerly
Lieutenant K. R. R.N Y. 12. Name on Lord Dorchester's list as U. E; Corps and rank not
stated. 13. Lieutenant Six Nations Indian Department 14. Captain K. R. R. N. Y.
15. Name on Lord Dorchester's list as U.E; Corps and rank not stated 16. Lieutenant K.R.
R. N. Y., Second Battalion. 17. Captain K R.R.N.Y., First Battalion. 18. Captain-Lieutenant
K R.R.N.Y. 19. Captain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps'. 20. Captain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's
Corps). 21. Captain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps). 22. An Officer of the Commissariat
Department. 23. Stated in Lord Dorchester's list to have been Ensign, Royal Range s; n me
does not appear in list of officers on reduction of Regiment. 24 Ensign Loyal Rangers (Jessup's
Corps). 25. An officer in DeLancie's Brigade. 26. Greenfield. 27. Captain K. R.Ř.N.Ý., First
Battalion. 28. Lieutenant K.R.R N.Y., First Battalion. 29 Surgeon's Mate K. R. R. N. Y.
Cannot trace this gentleman. 31. Lieut K. R. R.N.Y. 1st Batt. 32. Name on Lord Dorchester's
list as U.E.; Corps and rank not stated. 33. Capt in Loyal Rangers (Rodger's Corps). 34 and
39 One a Lieutenant Royal Rangers. 35. Lieute ant Eighty-Fourth or Royal Highland
Emigrant Regiment. 36. Ensign K.R.R.N.Y., First Battalion. 37. Cannot trace this gentle-
man. 38. Lieutenant K. R. R. V.Y, First Battalion. 40. aptain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's
Corps). 41. Cannot trace this gentleman. 42. Lieuten nt K.R.R.N.Y.
30.
76
It is not stated who the Chairman was.
empannelled were :—
The Grand Jurors
I Alexander Campbell (Foreman), 13 Gideon Adams,
2 Peter Drummond,
3 Thomas Fraser,
4 John McKenzie,
5 George Stewart,
6 John Seymour,
7 Malcolm McMartin,
8 Neil McLean,
9 Martin Walter,
10 John Pescod,
II Ranald McDonell, Jr.,
12 Ranald McDonell, Sr.,
=
14 John Dulmage,
15 James Campbell,
16 Alex'r Campbell,
17 David Brackenridge,
18 Ephriam Curry,
19 John Jones,
20 Elijah Bottom,
21 William Snyder,
22 Daniel Campbell,
23 Matthew Howard,
24 Thomas Robertson.
The first case was tried on Tuesday, the 16th day of June, 1789.
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, candour, 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
examination 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,
VS.
Ranald McDonell,
In Assault and Battery.
Sent up the bill of indictment to the Grand Jury. The Grand
Jury 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
1 William Phillips,
2 Jacob VanAllen,
3 Jacob Weegar,
4 Michael Hains,
5 David Jaycocks,
6 John Coons,
7 Joseph Loucks,
8 Anthony Wallaser,
9 John Wart,
10 Jacob Merkle,
II Adam Empey,
12 Nicholas Ault.
Witness for the prosecution, Angus McKay. The jury having
heard the evidence, retired to consider their verdict, in charge of
Duncan McArthur, bailiff. The jury having returned into court,
say, by William 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.
78
CHAPTER 8.
SERVICES OF SIR JOHN JOHNSON.—200,000 ACRES ABANDONED
BY HIM IN THE UNITED STATES.-LORD DORCHESTER RE-
COMMENDS HIM AS FIRST LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF UPPER
CANADA.-POLICY OF HOME GOVERNMENT OPPOSED TO THE
APPOINTMENT OF RESIDENTS TO
RESIDENTS TO THE GOVERNMENT.-DES-
PATCH OF THE COLONIAL SECRETARY. FIRST REFER-
ENCE ΤΟ GLENGARRY SETTLEMENT. COLONEL JOHN
MacDonell (ABERCHALDER).—HE AND HIS BROTHER HUGH
MACDONELL ELECTED MEMBERS IN FIRST PARLIAMENT OF
UPPER CANADA. HE IS ELECTED ITS SPEAKER.-LIST OF
MEMBERS. SOME FACTS RELATING TO THEM.-ACTS PASSED
AT FIRST SESSION.
Sir John Johnson, who had been so intimately associated with
those who became the first settlers of Glengarry, did not altogether
sever his connection with them. Portion of the land which was
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,
selected a site for his residence, of which the foundation had been
been 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.(1)
(6
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 Stormont, are said to have been intend-
ed for Sir John Johnson, and to have been held for the Indians on
Sir John's declining to accept of them. This, of course, would have
been a very extensive grant—many thousands of acres-yet it must
be remembered that, as stated by Mr. Stone, "he voluntarily gave up
(1) Colonel Fraser died since the above was written, June 5th, 1891, much and deservedly
respected.
79
domains in what is now the United States larger and fairer than had
ever belonged to a single proprietor in America, William Penn only
excepted," 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 War from its commencement to its close. Two hundred
thousand acres of valuable land was what he surrendered.
He also owned a large tract of land in the neighborhood of
Williamstown, so named by him after his father, Sir William, and
where he built the first mills. As showing the interest which Sir
John Johnson took in the County of Glengarry, it may be mentioned
that on the 25th of June, 1814, he presented to Neil McLean, then
Sheriff of the Eastern District, and his successors in office, twelve
acres of land in Williamstown for the purpose of a fair ground for
the people of the Counties, being the site of the present Glengarry
Agricultural Society grounds. He never, however, permanently re-
sided in Glengarry, the nature of his occupation not permitting of it.
He had been appointed at the close of the War Superintendent-
General and Inspector-General of the Six Nation Indians, his com-
mission as such being dated March 14th, 1782. He was Colonel-in-
Chief of the Six Battalions of Militia 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. Mr. Campbell
mentions in his "History of St. Gabriel Church, Montreal," that the
Patent of Baronetcy, conferred upon his father, contains a most
singular clause, which gives the title of "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 Seigniory of Argenteuil, and was for
many years a conspicuous figure in Canada. He was born on No-
vember 5th, 1742, and died at his residence, St. Mary's, in the
County of Rouville, on January 4th, 1830, in the eighty-ninth year
of his age, and was buried in the family vault at his seat on the south
side of the St. Lawrence, near Montreal. He is described in Jones'
"History of New York" as bold, resolute, spirited, brave and active,
and his career undoubtedly proved it.
80
}
Mr. Morgan states in his "Celebrated Canadians" that Sir
John's eldest son, William Johnson, entered the army, became a
Colonel in the Service, and was killed at Waterloo. 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-
sent Baronet, Sir William George Johnson, of Twickenham, England,
son of John Johnson, of Point Oliver, Montreal, a younger brother of
Sir Gordon, who died before the latter. A niece of Sir John's be-
came Lady Clyde; a grand-daughter married Alexander, Count
Balmain, Russian Commissioner at St. Helena, and others of his
descendants made distinguished alliances. (1)
Lord Dorchester had on the 15th Marth, 1790, in a despatch
to the Right Honourable William Wyndham Grenville, strongly
recommended Sir John as the first 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-
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
different course being adopted with regard to these officers.
The following is the despatch referred to:
soever.
(Private and Confidential.)
MY LORD,-
WHITEHALL, 3rd June, 1790.
I think it right to take this mode of mentioning to Your Lord-
ship 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
Government of Upper Canada, supposing the proposed division of
(1) Campbell's History of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church, Montrea 1.
8t
the Province of Quebec to be carried into effect, and that I had been
directed by His Majesty to express to that officer His Majesty's
approbation 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 possessing such large property in it,
was not desirable, especially in the first formation of the new Gov-
ernment. The disadvantage to His Majesty's Service which might
be expected from the effect of local habits, connections and interests
appear to me to be more than sufficient to counterbalance those
benefits which may be 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 opinion, 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,
With great truth and regard, My Lord,
Your Lordship's most faithful and
Obedient humble servant,
The Right Hon'ble Lord Dorchester.
W. W. GRENVILLÉ.
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 Loyalist settlement in
Glengarry and west. It is a journal of a voyage made by him
to Detroit in 1787. Under date of May 3rd of that year, he notes,
"General Hope spoke to me upon the situation of affairs at Detroit."
May 4th. Signified to Lord Dorchester my feelings at being
absent from my Regiment at a time when the complexion of affairs in
the Upper Country appears rather gloomy, and my regret at the
82
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 any 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, provided the situation of affairs above
would permit. I therefore prepared immediately to set off.
On the 17th May he arrived at Coteau du Lac, the next entry
under date 18th May being as follows :---
Got on board the bateaux at 4 o'clock, and proceeded to
Longueil, the entrance to the lake. Were there obliged to stop
owing to a violent head wind, which made the lake impracticable.
At 2 o'clock the wind moderated, and we pushed off. Got to Point
au Baudet at 6, where one McGee, formerly in Sir John Johnson's
Corps has a settlement, on which he has made very rapid progress.
Halted about 15 minutes, and proceeded to Point l'Toroniere;
arrived there at half after eight o'clock, and on my way passed
Lieutenant Sutherland's settlement, situated in a deep bay.
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. Johnson's Point when a violent
gust came on, which determined me to put up for the night in an
uninhabited house.
•
We
May 19th. Set off at 4 o'clock, the wind still high and contrary,
weather disagreeably cold. Passed Mr. Falconer's settlement at a
distance, and landed at a small house within two miles of Captain
Alexander Macdonell's. Walked to his house and breakfasted.
The situation here is delightful and the soil very fine. He has
cleared a great deal of land, and bids fair for having a fine farm in a
short time. We proceed on foot to Mr. Wilkinson'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 to St. Regis
Indians, the points of which and situation are very favorable for
settlement, and from the wood growing the soil must be very rich.
The first settlement from this interval is strikingly beautiful, being
situated upon an easy, regular slope, facing the south, and defended
from the raking east and west winds. A fine island, richly clothed
with wood, and some meadow ground before it. I believe it is the
property of Major Gray. Got on this evening to the lot of one Nave
of Sir John Johnson's Corps. He is married to a very young woman,
and has a man who was taken prisoner at Quebec in '75 to assist
him on his farm. He is married to a Canadian woman, and these
two couples live together in the same house, consisting of a single
Joom, but the neatest and most cleanly I ever saw. Here we lay.
20th. Proceeded at 4 this morning. Still unfortunate 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. Walked 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. Walked 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 farm lot in New Oswegatchie, some distance from his farm, and
has already a potash going forward. We 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 house
in Upper Canada.
When writs were issued by Colonel Simcoe for the election of
members for the first Parliament of Upper Canada, John Macdonell
was, together with his brother, Hugh Macdonell, returned to
84
ד.
represent the County of Glengarry, which extended from 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, Durham, 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 Lincoln 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 Province. 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 been procured, but do
not contain the names of the members of the earlier Legislatures.
Dr. Canniff, in his work "The Settlement of Upper Canada,"
after giving a list of the Districts into which the Province was first
divided for the purposes of representation, mentions the names 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 gentlemen 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 mentions at page 534 that the following were
elected members of the first House:
1. John Macdonell, Speaker.
2. Joshua Booth.
3. Mr. Baby.
4. Alexander Campbell.
5. Philip Dorland.
6. Jeremiah French.
9. Hugh Macdonell.
10. Benjamin Pawling.
II. Nathaniel Pettit.
12. David William Smith.
13. Hazelton Spencer.
14. Isaac Swazy.
7. Ephraim Jones.
8. William Mocomb.
15.
Young.
16. John White.
Nos. 1 and 9.-The careers of Colonel John Macdonell, the
Speaker, and Mr. Hugh Macdonell, his brother, the members for
Glengarry, are given in these pages at length.
2. Joshua Booth.-A U. E. Loyalist. His name is entered in
Lord Dorchester'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 constituency for which he set or any other facts.
relating to him.
3. Mr. Baby.—It will be observed the Christian name is not
given by Dr. Canniff. This name was long, intimately and honour-
ably associated with the County of Essex, and the presumption is
that the gentleman referred to was a member of the family of that
name resident there before the taking of Quebec by Wolfe, and that
he represented "Suffolk" and Essex. I had at first assumed it must
have been the Honourable James Baby who was appointed by
Colonel Simcoe a member of the first Executive Council of Upper
Canada at Kingston, on the 8th July, 1792, and who for many years
was Inspector-General of the Province. I make this suggestion un-
der correction, however, as Mr. Morgan states in his "Biographies
of Celebrated Canadians," that Mr. James Baby became a member
of the Legislative as well as of the Executive Council at that time
86
(1792), 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 member 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 ! 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 County of Prince Edward, to which the Township of
Adolphus was attached. Mr. Dorland, being a Quaker, refused to
take the oaths, and the House 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
Mr. Justice Jonas Jones and 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 War Mr. Jones had
By
charge of the supplies granted by the British Government 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 White into the House "
from which the inference might be drawn that Mr. White 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. William 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
in 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.
11. Nathaniel Pettit.-Resided in the Home District; stated in
Lord Dorchester's list to have been "an active Loyalist."
"
12. David William 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 the 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 Par-
liaments, and was Speaker of the second and third Parliaments. For
his public services in Canada he was created a Baronet by patent
August 30th, 1821. Died at Alnwick, England, 9th May, 1837.
Mr. Bain, the Librarian at Toronto, lately procured all the valuable
public documents relating to the Province which Mr. Smith took with
him on his return to England. Probably Mr. Smith represented
Durham and York and the first riding of Lincoln.
13. Hazelton 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 the King's Royal Regiment of New York, two
88
years seven months and four days as a Lieutenant in the same 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 Army," residing
in the Home District. Mr. 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 all) were U. E.
Loyalists, the most prominent being Lieutenant John Young, form-
erly of the Indian Department, who resided in the Home District,
but whether or not he was the gentleman who sat in the House I am
unable to state.
16. John White. 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 despatch, before referred to, it may possibly have been
Leeds and Frontenac. Dr. Scadding, in "Toronto of Old," page
246, quotes the remarks made by the "Oracle" and Niagara "Con-
stellation" regarding Mr. White at the time of his death, both highly
eulogistic.
Dr. Ryerson, 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 from 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 by narrow-minded
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
wives and daughters,” remarks fully borne out by the few facts Î
have stated regarding these gentlemen, from which it will be seen.
they were largely composed of officers of the disbanded Regiments
of the Revolutionary War. 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
eminent 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 17th September, 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 follows:-
"The House having met, all the members were severally sworn
in by William 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 9th June, 1798, being the second Session of the Second Parlia-
ment, it is stated in the Journals that—
"Mr. Speaker addressed the House in the following words,
to wit:-
"Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
"As you have done me the honour to call me to the chair of this
House, I feel it a duty I owe to the recollection of the services of
Colonel Macdonell to move that in order to mark the sense I
entertain of his former situation as Speaker, a place be considered
appropriated to him during the present Session, being the first next to
the chair on the right hand side.
"To which recommendation 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
90
Trial by Jury. Chapter III. established a Standard for Weights and
Measures. Chapter IV. Abolished the Summary Proceedings in the
Court of Common Pleas in actions under Ten Pounds Sterling.
Chapter V. Related to the Prevention of Accidents by Fire. Chapter
VI. Established the Procedure for an Easy and Rapid 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 Province, and altered
the names of the Districts to the Eastern, Midland, Home and
Western Districts respectively.
The first division which can be ascertained took place in the
Legislature of this Province on 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 Journals the first I can find is as follows.
is interesting as showing the members of the Second Parliament
of the Province :-
It
"Mr. Speaker read the third time as engrossed the Bill to
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.
Captain Fraser.
Mr. Jessup.
Mr. Street.
Mr. Jones.
NAYS.
Mr. Solicitor-General.
Mr. Rogers.
Mr. Cornwall.
Captain Wilkinson.
91
CHAPTER 9.
THE FIRST REGIMENT RAISED IN UPPER CANADA.
THE SECOND
BATTALION R. C. V. REGIMENT OF FOOT. LIEUTENANT-
COLONEL MACDONELL, M.P. For Glengarry, PLACED IN COм-
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
AMIENS. RETURN OF OFFICERS.-LIST OF OFFICERS FIRST
OR LOWER CANADIAN BATTALION.-COLONEL Macdonell's
MEMORIAL. STATE OF THE MILITIA. LIEUTENANTS OF
COUNTIES.-COLONEL MACDONELL RECOMMENDS FORMATION
OF A CORPS OF HIGHLAND FENCIBLES IN GLENGARRY.-
COLONEL BROCK APPROVES OF PROPOSAL AND TRANSMITS
RECOMMENDATION TO WAR 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 Canada,
embodied in a Regiment of two Battalions, the second Battalion
being under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell,
the member for Glengarry. This Regiment was placed on the Per-
manent Establishment, and was known as the Royal Canadian
Volunteer Regiment of Foot. The Second Battalion was the first
Corps raised in Upper Canada.(1) The First Battalion was com-
(1) This distinction is not infrequently claimed for the Queen's Rangers, the second Corps
of that name, but the contention is as unfounded as much else that emanates from the same
source, though it is constantly dinned into our ears on every possible and impossible occasion,
and reiterated until it has almost been recognized as a fact. Let me state that when Colonel
Simcoe was ramed I ieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada he obtained leave to raise a corps of
four hundred rank and file. Captain Shank, a meritorious soldier, was appointed senior officer and
left Canada to raise the corps in England, which mission being successful, they were equipped as
a light infantry corps, and embarked for Canada in Apri, 1792. Captain Shank received his
brevet of M jor in 1794, and on Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe leaving Canada he commanded the
Regiment until its reduction at the Peace of Amiens in 1802 This Regiment, I believe, was
chiefly oc upied in the constr::ction of what is now Yonge street, running north some miles from
To: onto through the County of York to Lake Simcoe.
92
manded by Lieutenant-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 same 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:
“SIR,
"FORT GEORGE, February 20, 1800.
"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 possible 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 meritorious, and would no doubt operate
93
strongly in exciting 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.
"I have the honour to be,
“Sir,
"Your most obedient servant,
"J. MACDONell.
"To Lieutenant-General 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, containing an
enclosure from Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, commanding the
Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteers, of the four companies
of that Corps stationed at 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 be
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 :-
"SIR,
"PAVILLION, Brightelmstone, October 25th, 1800.
"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-Colonel Macdonell's report that four more companies of
the Second Battalion of the Royal Canadian Volunteers had
volunteered the extension of their services to the whole of British
North America having arrived at the same time, I am enabled to
desire you to authorize that officer to express to the officers and men
of those companies my thanks in the same 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 McMillan 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 length and
record of service :-
RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE SECOND BATTALION
BATTALION ROYAL
CANADIAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT.
Rank.
Name.
Service.
Lieut.-Col. John Macdonell 15 years and 4 months; 3 years and 2
months late 84th Regiment; 5 years
and 10 months late Butler's Rangers,
and 6 years and 4 months Royal C. V.
Hazelton Spen-12 years and 6 months; 1 months with
Major
cer
Captain Peter Drummond
the incorporated Loyalists; 3 years 5
months and 2 days as Volunteer in
K.R.R.N.Y.; 2 years 7 months and 4
days as Lieutenant in said Corps, and
5 years and 7 months in the 2nd Batt.
Royal Canadian Volunteers.
Hector McLean 14 years and 5 months; 9 years Lieut.
in late 84th Regiment and 5 years and
5 months in R. Č. Volunteers.
(6
Neil McLean
66
10 years and 3 months; 6 years Lieut.
and Ensign in 84th, and 4 years and 8
months in R. C. V.
Miles Macdonell 8 years; 2 years Ensign in K.R. R. N.
Y., and 6 years in R.C.V.
Richard Wilkin-
son
13 years; 8 years Lieut. in K.R.R.N.
'Y. and 4 years and 5 months in R.C.V.
95

Rank.
Name.
Service.
Captain Alex. McMillan. 11 years; 7 years in 1st Batt. de Lan-
cie's Brigade, and 6 months as Volun-
teer in the late 71st, and 4 years in the
2nd Batt. R.C.V.
Lieut.
66
66
<C
((
Ensign
Chassegras de 1 years 9 months.
Lery
Richard Fergu-9 years and 5 months; 3 years in King's
Rangers as Volunteer and 6 years and
5 months in R.C.V.
son
William Fraser
Wm. Crawford
H. de Hortell.
Wm. Johnson.
8 years and 2 months; 2 years and 9
months as Volunteer and Ensign in K.R.R.
N.Y., and 5 years and 5 months in R.C.V.
Ranald McDon-32 years and 7 months; 6 years and
ell
6 months in 17th Regt.; 12 years in
6oth; 8 years and 4 months in late 84th,
and 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 to months.
J. B. Duchesnay 4 years and 6 months.
Pierre Boucher-
ville
William Dean
66
Peter Grant
4 years and 2 months.
3 years and 11 months and I day.
Geo. Ermatinger 3 years and 11 months.
Chas. Laninier 2 years.
Jos. Bordwine 3 years and 10 months.
Robt. Wolsey 3 years and 4 months.
Stephen McKay 3 years and 3 months.
Frederick Deane 3 years and 3 months.
Jos. Chenique 1 year and 6 months.
Chaplain Jos. Duval
4 years.
Adjutant John Crampton 23 years; 7 years and 8 months in the
Q.-Master And. Cameron
Surgeon
the 69th, and 11 years and 10 months in
60th, and 4 years in the 2nd Batt. R.C.V.
4 years.
James Davidson 8 years and 6 months; 4 years and 6
months in the late 84th, and 4 years in
R.C.V.
As't. Surg. Cyrus Anderson 6 years; 4 years in 2nd Batt. R.C.V.,
and 2 years as Volunteer in the 1st
Bett. K.R.R.N.Y.
96
The names of 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.
Defaunier Beaubien.
Francois Piedmont.
Pierre Marcoux.
C. S. De Bleury.
Daniel Dupre.
Peter Duchoquet.
A. J. Duchesnay.
Joseph De Beaujeu.
C. G. Lanaudiere.
Captains.
Louvigny Montigny.
Francois Vassal.
J. Bte. D'Estimauville.
Richard Ferguson.
Lieutenants.
Hipolite Hertelle.
Pierre Bazin.
Henry Hay.
Joseph Bouchette.
Benjamin Jobert.
Ensigns.
Louis Montizambert.
Honore Baille.
Richard Hay.
Antoine Lanaudiere.
Francois Boucher.
Robert Anderson.
Francois Duval.
Denis Alexander.
M. R. de Salaberry.
J. B. Ph. D'Estimauville.
Chaplain-Salter Mountain.
Adjutant-Robert Anderson.
Quarter-Master-Louis Fromenteau.
Surgeon-James Walker.
Mate--Henry Leodel.
Hugh Macdonell, M.P. for Glengarry, and subsequently Consul-
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 Majesty's Forces in Upper and Lower Canada.
"The memorial of the Field Officers, Captains and Subalterns
of the Second Ba talion of His Majesty's Regiment of Royal Cana-
dian Volunteers most respectfully sheweth ;
£
97
"That whilst your memorialists view with unfeigned satisfaction
the general happiness afforded by the restoration of peace, they can-
not 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 War, 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 War 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.
"That the destructive ambition of His Majesty's enemies hav-
ing, contrary to all expectations, protracted the War 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 War 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,
having 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 will lay 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
end of the American War-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
98
Majesty's representatives in this Province a body of loyal disciplined
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 Volunteers,
"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 War.
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."(1) 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 £50, and a petty officer
with a fine of £20. A militia man who sells either the whole or a
part of his arms, ammunition or accoutrements is fined £5, and in
default of payment imprisoned for two months. The Quakers, Bap-
(1) As a fact, however, there were nineteen.
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 War, the obligation to bear arms to sixty years, and
directed that Quakers 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 expense
of civil and military administration, including money and presents to
the Indians, was then, for Upper Canada, about £100,000 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
country, to secure it against invasion, to keep alive a spirit of mili-
tary ardour, to keep aglow the flame of patriotism, a love for the
Mother Country, were eminently judicious and commendable. There
is no doubt that the military spirit of Simcoe was pleasing to the old
soldier-farmers, and in them he found willing and zealous abettors of
his military schemes."(1)
I have lists of Lieutenants of Counties of the years 1803 and
1808. I give that for the year 1803, 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:
(1) 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-William 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. W. Smith, Esq.
Lincoln-The Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq.
Norfolk-Samuel Ryerse, Esq.
Oxford-William 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 William
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 War Office :
• SIR,
“GLENGARRY, January 28, 1807.
"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 War Office.
"The permanent pay asked for the Field Officers and Chaplain
may be considered unusual, but in this instance it is necessary and
expedient for carrying the proposals into effect. The Field Officers
must undergo a vast deal of trouble, and their 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
having rendered himself useful in many respects to the people at
large, has gained so far 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 Colonel Macdonell's proposal to the
War Office with the following letter to the Right Honourable
William Windham, then Secretary for War-:-
(C
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 such an establishment must appear very evident.
"The militia force in this Country is very small, and were it
possible to collect it in time to oppose any serious attempt upon
Quebec, the only tenable post, the number would of itself be
insufficient to ensure a vigorous defence.
"This Corps, being stationed on the confines of the Lower
Province, would be always immediately and essentially useful in
checking any seditious 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 Quebec.
"The extent of Country which these settlers occupy would make
the permanent establishmen of the staff and one surgeon in each
102
company very advisable. I shall not persume to say how 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 nursery, from which the
army might draw a number of hardy recruits.
"I have, &c.,
"İSAAC 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 will
be seen, of another namesake and clansman, raised and organized the
Glengarry Light Infantry Regiment, that ubiquitous Regiment which
fought through the War of 1812-14, 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.
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 Veteran Battalion, which will be something
in the meantime. Had he not trusted so much to other people, he
103
would 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 appointment 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-
paratively 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 York, a Miss Yates-whose
family, unlike that of her husband, had adhered to the revolutionary
side.
104
CHAPTER 10.
CAREER OF HUGH MACDONELL (ABERCHALDER), M.P. FOR FIRST
RIDING OF GLENGARRY IN FIRST PARLIAMENT OF UPPER
CANADA. TESTIMONY OF COLONEL MATHEWS, MILITARY
SECRETARY TO LORD DORCHESTER, AS TO SERVICES OF HIM-
SELF AND HIS FAMILY. FIRST ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF
MILITIA UPPER CANADA.—APPOINTED CONSUL-GENERAL AT
ALGIERS. DUKE OF KENT'S TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORÝ.—
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 WAR AND WAR OF 1812.
Another of the Highland Loyalist Officers who settled in Glen-
garry at the close of the Revolutionary War, 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 Macdonell, 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 1803 he was Lieutenant-
Colonel of the Glengarry Militia Regiment, of which his elder
brother was Colonel. He was 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 18th September, 1792, the day 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-
185
donell do wait on His Excellency to know when His Excellency will
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
Western 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 have 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 War, when Capt. Macdonell, after
leaving Canada, laid his claim for continued employment in the
service before the British Government :-
"DEAR SIR,
"CHELSEA COLLEGE, 23rd June, 1804.
"Understanding that Captain Hugh Macdonell, late of the Royal
Canadian Volunteers, has been particularly recommended to the
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
property, a few years before the Rebellion in America, with a view to
establish themselves in that country, having for that purpose carried
out a number of their dependents. They obtained a valuable grant
of land from Sir John Johnson on the Mohawk River, in the settle-
ment of which they had made considerable progress.
106
"When the Rebellion broke out they were the first 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.
66
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, followed 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 Nations 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 1783, 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.
66
Captain Macdonell afterwards held a company 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 be, dear sir,
"Your very obedient and humble servant,
“Edward Cooke, Esq.”
"R. MATHEWS.
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,
Mr. George Sandfield Macdonald, do not appear to agree, but I
107
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 Macdonald's forte. He had better follow John Richard Green
in that field, and leave the "humble and ignorant" Highlanders 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, then Colonial Secretary, writing to Lieutenant-
Governor Hunter, under date Downing Street, 2nd August, 1804,
states: * * * "A very favourable 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 to have
been allowed to him, I am to authorize you to issue to him or his
agent from the date above specified until your arrival in Canada in
1799, when his services as Adjutant-General appear to have been
regularly dispensed with, arr allowance at the rate of five shillings per
day."
After the close of the Revolutionary War, 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 Upper
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
which occasion Mr. Macdonell was allotted five hundred acres as a
reduced Lieutenant on half-pay. Subsequently 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 Mr. 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 available, 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 followed that event, without
conferring rank, half-pay or 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 remained possessed of, and determined to move from
a country where his lot had been so singularly unprosperous, and
with what he considered his incontestable claim for employment, 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 saved 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
Macdonell, 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 Mr. 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 and that he was ap-
109
ㅏ
​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 venture 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. Macdonell began his career in 1778 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 1805 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 1811 Mr. Macdonell, under the patronage of the Duke
of Kent, was sent as Consul-General to Algiers, where at the hands
of the infamous Dey he suffered the greatest hardships and privatinos
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
↓
1
IIO
however, speedily overtook him, and he died of it himself on March
1, 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 of 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 Consul at Algiers until 1820, when
he was pensioned by the British Government.
"For many years
The Duke of Kent
Colonel Playfair states of Mr. Macdonell:
he had rendered excellent service to the state.
always entertained the highest opinion of his character and
abilities, and maintained a constant personal correspondence with
him." A letter written by 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 acquainted with
his proceedings at Algiers that his conduct has invariably met with
the highest approbation of Government for the judgment and
firmness he has evinced in the most trying moments, 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, his 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. Macdonell's two sons-General Sir Alexander Macdonell,
K.C.B., Colonel-Commandant of the Prince Consort's Own Rifle
Brigade, and Mr. 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) Playfair, page 284.
(2) Idem.
(3) Sir Alexander Macdonell died since the above was written, at Carshalton, Surrey,
England, on the 30th April, 1891. The London Illustrated News" of May 30th contains his
portrait and a sketch of his career.
III
"Second Lieutenant, 23 June, 1837; Lieutenant, May 11, 1841;
Captain, 24 October 1845; Brevet Major, 12 December, 1854;
Major, 22 December, 1854; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 17 July,
1855; Lieutenant-Colonel, 1 June, 1857; Colonel, 20 July, 1858;
Major-General, 6 March, 1868; Lieutenant-General, 1 October, 1877;
General, April, 1882; Colonel-Commandant Rifle Brigade, 24
January, 1886.
"Served with the Rifle Brigade in the Kaffir War 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 Balaklava and Battles of Alma and Inkerman. Com-
manded the 2nd Battalion from May, 1855, to the Fall of Sebastopol,
including the defence of the Quarries on 7 June and assaults of the
Redan on 18 June and 8 Sept. [medal with three clasps, brevets of
Major and Lieutenant-Colonel, C.B., Knight of the Legion of Honour,
Sardinian and Turkish medals, and 5th class of the Medjidie]
"Commanded the 3rd Battalion during the Indian Mutiny, in-
cluding the Skirmish of Secundra, Siege and Capture of Lucknow and
subsequent operations [brevet of Colonel, medal with clasp]. Also
served in the campaign on the Northwest Frontier of India in 1864
{medal].
Commanded the Expedition against the Mohmund tribes in
1863-4 [medal with clasp].'
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-
brance by all Canadians, has attained high rank. I refer to Colonel
C. W. 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 years 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 descendants of Loyalist officers of
the Revolutionary War, Sir Alexander Macdonell, as we have seen,
being a son of an officer in the King's Royal Regiment of New York,
and Colonel Robinson the grandson of Chistopher Robinson, who
was an Ensign in the Queen's Rangers in the same War, 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 Macdonell (Greenfield), who was then
112
Attorney-General of Upper Canada, was a Lieutenant in 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 pall-bearers of the
latter when the remains of General Brock and his Aide-de-Camp
were interred after the dearly-bought victory then achieved.
It is a
somewhat strange fact that the present Sir Alexander Macdonell
should be a first cousin of the then member for Glengarry, Colonel
Macdonell,who was killed seventy-seven long years ago, "while gal-
lantly charging up the hill with the hereditary courage of his race,” as
Sir Isaac Brock's biographer states of him," Wounded in four places,
and with a bullet having passed completely through his body." (1)
Perhaps here I may mention that Mr. John Beverley Robinson,
the recent Lieutenant-Governor, was one of those who strongly urged
me to attempt the task I have now undertaken, of writing a sketch of
the early history of our County on the ground, as he wrote, me, that
"the history of Glengarry is a proud record of most valuable services
rendered to the country in early times, when the men of that County
made its name famous in War and Peace."
The youngest son of Mr. Hugh Macdonell, M. P. for Glengarry,
Mr. Hugh Guion Macdonell, 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 rheumatic fever, which precluded him from joining his
Regiment in the Crimea.. He was then obliged to enter the diplo-
matic service, in which his career has been as follows :--
"Was appointed attache at Florence, February 8, 1854; passed
an examination for a paid attacheship, October 27, 1858; was ap-
pointed paid attache at Washington, November 23, 1858; at Con-
stantinople, December 13, 1858; fourth paid attache there, Decem-
ber 31, 1859, and third paid attache, November 24, 1869. Was
appointed a second secretary, October 1, 1862; was transferred to
Rio de Janeiro, August 10, 1865 (but did not proceed thither), and
to Copenhagen, July 24, 1866. Was 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.
Was 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. Was promoted to be Secretary of Em-
bassy at Berlin, January 15, 1875, where he was Acting Charge d'Af-
(1) Tupper's "Life of Sir Isaac Brock,” page 332.
113
Faires from August 4 till September 13, 1875; from June 26 till July
15, 1876; from August 4 till September 4, 1876; from May 31 till
July 3, 1877; and from September 26 till November 24, 1877. Was
transferred to Rome, May 6, 1878, 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 till May 2, 1881; and from July 28 till September 28, 1881. Was
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 1, 1889.”
The daughters of Mr. Hugh Macdonell (the member for Glen-
garry) were married to Mr. Holstein, who succeeded Admiral Ulrich
as Danish Consul-General at Algiers; General Sir Robert Wynyard,
Military-Governor of the Cape of Good Hope; General Sir George
Brown, who commanded the Light Division in the Crimea War, 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.
He
A brother of Colonel John Macdonell and Mr. Hugh Mac-
donell was Lieutenant-Colonel Chichester Macdonell, who also was
a Loyalist Officer in the Revolutionary War, having commenced his
military career as a Second Lieutenant in Butler's Rangers. He
did not remain in Canada on the conclusion of that War, but
continued in the service and became successively Lieutenant-Colonel
of the Eighty-Second and Thirty-Fourth Regiments of Foot.
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."
Mr. Hugh Macdonell, the British Minister 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
114·
Pr
entertained for the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel John 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 bravest man in Britain," had
another of these hard-earned but glorious tokens of the Sovereign's
approbation and their country's gratitude, while Colonel George
Macdonell, of the Glengarry Fencibles, another relative and clans-
man, was awarded one of the two gold medals given for Chateauguay,
De Salaberry getting the other.
A sister of the foregoing gentlemen had been married in Scotland to
Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield before either of the families came
to this country, and was the mother of Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan
Macdonell of Greenfield, Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdonell-the two latter of
whom both afterwards represented the County of Glengarry in Parlia-
ment, and all of whom, together with their father and relatives innumer-
able, did their fair share of fighting in perilous times not far distant.
Another sister was married to Captain (afterwards General) Wilkinson,
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 with the American General
Schuyler before hostilities actually took place in the ill-fated Valley
of the Mohawk in 1776, 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 gentlemen 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
115
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
have 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":
“SIR,
"COLLACHIE, 15th March, 1777-
"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 excitement 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 Mrs. Fonda.
"I am, sir,
"Your humble servant,
"HELEN MACDONELL.”
To
116
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 War, 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 1805. From
1805 to 18.2 Mr. Macdonell acted as agent for Lord Selkirk in
superintending his settlement at Baldoon in the Western 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.
When 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 War. 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 War 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 1816 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 for
many years a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada,
and died in Toronto on 14th March, 1842, full of years and the
esteem 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 1792,
and was one of the earliest barristers of Upper Canada, and Trea-
surer of the Law Society of Upper Canada from 1801 to 1804. He
was Member for Durham, Simcoe and the East Riding of York in
the Legislature. He was drowned, with Judge Cochrane, the Solici
118
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 West
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 Montreal, 5th May, 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
CHAPTER 11.
THE REVEREND JOHN BETHUNE, FIRST PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER.
-CHAPLAIN FIRST BATTALION EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.-
MINISTER OF ST. GABRIEL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Mont-
real.—RemovES TO GLENGARRY.-HIS DEATH IN 1815.—
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 HAMILTON, INTRODUCING
HIM.-KNOYDART EMIGRATION ΤΟ 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
deserved 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, of this learned and
worthy divine.
I
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,
may mention that that gentleman was born in the Isle of Skye in
1751. The family trace their lineage very far back in Scotch and
French historical records. The first of the name who left Normandy
for the British Isles came to Scotland in the reign of Malcolm III.,
a contemporary of William 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
120
*
spelled and pronounced in this way), and Archbishop Bethune of
Glasgow.
The Reverend Robert Campbell, in his book, which contains so
much that is of interest connected with the 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 time
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 (1), and in
which he was appointed Chaplain to the First Battalion. When
that Regiment was disbanded, the United Empire Loyalists and
others of the Presbyterian faith in Montreal, naturally rallied
around Mr. Bethune when he proposed to organize a Presbyter-
ían 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-3,000 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 Williamstown,
then the leading settlement in Glengarry; but though he went 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
(1) Ante, p.p. 52-56.
121
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 Wadden, 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 Sir Gordon Drummond, President of the Province of
Upper Canada, on the 21st December, 1814, at the conclusion of the
Second American War, Mr. Alexander (afterwards the Bishop) Mac-
donell's name being first. The mention of Bishop Macdonell's
name suggested to Mr. Campbell an 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 respected 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,
122
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 Montréal was placed by the priests at the
disposal of the Presbyterians in 1791 until their own church on St.
Gabriel's Street was completed, and that they gladly accepted of
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 position 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 warmth
of respect and tenderness of affection which it breathes, was erected
to his memory in the Church at Williamstown 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
123
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. (1) Mr.
Strachan's school in Cornwall was an unequalled seminary in 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 permitted had
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 1879.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, such of the soldiers who
were married, and had not already brought 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
(1) 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 a U. E. Loyalist
Regiment (2nd Battalion King's Royal Regiment of New York), and, strangely enough, like
Bishop Strachan and Bishop Bethune, he too was the son of parents who belonged to the Church
of Scotland. I have seen a MS. account of his life written by the Archdeacon himself, in which
he states that his entry into the Anglican ministry was resolutely opposed by his father, who was
a most strict Presbyterian and most tenacious of his opinions It was many years before he gave
his consent to his son's studying for the English Church. Archdeacon Stuart was the father and
grandfather of a number of men who have graced public life and the Bench in the Province of
Lower Canada, and whose services have been justly recognized and rewarded by the Crown. The
social life of the two Provinces has been dignified 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 arms 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 parties 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 went 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 War, so that he might hear
their tales and tell his and their friends in Scotland how their kins-
folk in Canada had fought and suffered for the Crown in that far-off
land. Amongst others, the Bishop took him to see old John Roy.
That was too good 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 Moses leading the children of Israel
125
in to the Promised Land."
he, "compare ME to Moses!
Up jumped old John.
Moses," said
Moses be d—————— !
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 (1) most of the gentlemen of the name received their educa-
tion in former days, and had ministered to the people of his native
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:-
“SIR,
(6
LORD SYDNEY TO LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HAMILTON. (2)
"WHITEHALL, 24 June, 1785.
Having laid before the King a memorial of Mr. 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 settlements of the Province of New York, and to whom, in
consideration of their loyalty and services, lands have been lately
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 settlement, he shall be
allowed by Government an annual subsistence for the discharge of
that duty, I enclose 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 Macdonells of Glengarry,
never, that I know, reformed The gentlemen of that name have their sons educated in the
Scotch colleges abroad, especially at Douay, and they return home either avowed or concealed
Papists. With all respect to Mr. Shaw, I beg to state that "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 justify either or both, though
their religious creed, which has been handed down to them since Christianity was first known in
the Highlands of Scotland, is their own affair exclusively.
(2) 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.,
"SYDNEY."
In what part of the County Mr. Roderick was stationed I can-
not ascertain. He was for many years stationed at St. Regis, where
he died, Missionary Priest to the Indians there. It is possible that
place may always have been his headquarters, and the U. E. Loyal-
ist settlers, living as we know along the other side of the St. Law-
rence, that he may and probably 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. William Falkner had been on the Commis-
sion of the Peace in England, and performed the ceremony of
marriage during several years, until a clergyman arrived in 1787.
On the east side of the Township, the families 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 corn 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 Lancaster were Lieutenant (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel)
127
Sutherland, a Lieutenant K.R.R.N.Y., who appears formerly to havè
belonged to the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, and Mr. Gunn, who is stated
in the U. E. List to have also taken part in the conquest of Canada.
A grandson of the latter now occupies a part of the grant near the
Village of Lancaster. Mr. Charles Westley, a man of education and
good position, who left a valuable property in the State of New York,
settled on the property now occupied by his grandson, who worthily
bears the same name.
In 1786 Captain John Hay established himself on an arm on
the River Raisin, naming the locality "Gleana-feoir" (Glen of Hay).
He had come in 1773 from Gleafrae, Huntly, in Aberdeenshire, to
Prince Edward Island. When the Revolutionary War 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 U. E. Loyal-
ist settlers of Glengarry, I shall now attempt to trace as far as pos-
sible the other immigrations previous to the War 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 following extract, taken from Neilson's "Quebec
Gazette," relates to this immigration :
"C
QUEBEC, 7th September, 1786.
"Arrived ship" McDonald," Captain Robert Stevenson, 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.”(1)
This Priest was one of the earliest Catholic priests or mission-
aries, other than French, in Upper Canada. He was born at Scotus
(1) Which was then the present Kingston. They, of course, remained in Glengarry, as we
know, instead of proceeding further west.
128
House in Knoydart, Glengarry, Scotland, in, I believe, 1750. He
was educated in France and ordained priest in Paris in 1778. He
was the founder of the Parish of St. Raphaels, the pioneer parish
not only of Glengarry, but of all Upper 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 Bishop Macdonell.
He died at Lachine, on his way to Montreal on the 24th May, 1803.
Previous to his leaving St. Raphaels for Montreal, where he hoped
to obtain medical aid, he addressed the following to the Church
Wardens of St. Raphaels:
"GENTLEMEN,
"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 you are to act, agreeable to late
regulations laid down in this Parish, by the Bishop's authority,
which established 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, faithfull,
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, 1803.
“To Angus McDonell, Prin'le. Church Warden; Donald McDonell,
John Kennedy, Malcolm McDougal, Archibald McDonell,
Lachlin McKinnon, Donald McDonell, Duncan McDonell,
Hugh McDonell, Alexander Fraser, John McDonell and Alex-
ander McDonell."
The next Priest at St. Raphaels (the predecessor of Mr. Alex-
ander, afterwards Bishop, Macdonell) was, as will be seen by the
following letter, a Mr. Fitzimmons, an Irish gentleman who came
with the following letter from Mr. Roderick Macdonell, the Mission-
ary Priest at St. Regis. It was addressed to "Mr. Angus
Macdonell (1), 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 has
(1) Aogneas Mac Alastair Bhan.
129
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 Mr. Macdonell arrives this year, it will rest with the
Bishop to appoint him or not, in the meantime you are to receive
this gentleman as your lawful pastor, and render him every service
in your power. You know that no priest can be a pastor in any
parish, unless he is appointed by the Bishop, and that it entirely
depends on the Bishop to appoint any one he pleases, therefore Mr.
Fitsimmons, having been duly appointed by the Bishop of the
Diocese, you are bound and obliged to receive him with every mark
of esteem and attention in your power. The Bishop will be with
you in February, and settle everything respecting your mission.
"I remain,
"Gentlemen,
"Your obedient servant,
"R. MACDONELL.
"St. Regis, 12th September, 1804."
The Priests who have been stationed at St. Raphaels from thẻ
establishment of the Parish to the present day are as follows:
I, 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) Macdonell;
5, Mr. 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. (1)
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,
(1) The Rev. Mr. Gaulin (afterwards Bishop of Kingston), and Mr. afterwards Vicar-
General William) Macdonald officiated at St. Raphaels as Parish Priests shortly after Bishop
Macdonell was elevated to the Episcopate.
130
Like many another
trace his genealogy
which in Gaelic signifies a bent arm of the sea.
Highland gentleman, " Mhaister Ian" could
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 1814. He was for some years stationed at
Perth, then a new settlement, and there, owing to the extent of his
parish and 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.
Lieutenant-Colonel R. C. Macdonald, of the Castle Tioram
Regiment of Highlanders, Prince Edward Island, published, in 1843,
a pamphlet, entitled "Sketches 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. (1) 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
(1) Colonel Macdonald is not quite correct in stating that Glenaladale was a chieftain. He
was the head of one of the most respectable families of Clanranald's Clan, in fact the head of the
cadet houses of that distinguished Clan, and as Colonel Macdonald states, was selected in the
minority or incapacity of the chief to be" Tanister," which in Gaelic signifies the guardian and
the one next in rank to the chief. John Macdonald of Glenaladale, who in 1773 sold his property
and brought out a ship load of the Clanranald people to Prince Edward Island, was a highly
respected and distinguished man. He with Major (afterwards General) Small, was largely instru-
mental in raising the 84th (Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment) during the Revolutionary War.
The British Government showed their appreciation of his services and character in offering him
the Government of Prince Edward Island, which he was obliged to decline owing to the oath at
that time required to be taken. He died in 1811. General Small stated of him, in a despatch to
the Government: "The activity and unabating zeal of Captain John MacDonald, of Glenaladale,
in bringing an excellent company into the field, is his least recommendation, being acknowledged
by all who know him to be one of the most accomplished men and best officers of his rank in His
Majesty's service.”
131
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 ;(1) 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 Glengarry 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 War 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, "Ceann
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 address, his exploits as a deer-stalker, and general character
as a model of the Highland gentleman living in his time. He is
(1) His Clan, with Glengarry's, and all others of the name, had taken umbrage at not
being placed on the right wing of the army at Culloden, and, allowing their pride to dominate
their patriotism, hesitated to attack. It was in vain that gallant Keppoch charged with a few of
his near relatives, while his clan, a thing before unheard of, remaine i stationary. The Chief was
near the front of the enemy, and was exclaiming, with feelings which cannot be appreciated, "My
God! have the children of my tribe forsaken me!" at this instant, he received several shots,
which closed his earthly account, leaving him only time to advise his favourite nephew to shift for
himself.-Sir Walter Scott, "Tales of a Grandfather."
132
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 1819. 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 Glengarry, Lancaster Regiment) without recording the
sense he entertains of the value of his long and faithful services in
the Militia of this Province dating from the last War."
The same gazette contained the appointment of his only 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. (1) 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-Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell and Lieut.-Colonel
(1) The last named gentleman was a lad of fifteen years of age, attending Dr. Urquhart's
school at Cornwall when the Regiment was ordered to Lower Canada in 1838. He ran away
from school, and proceeding on foot to Lower Canada, joined the Regiment and served in the
ranks with several of his cousins of about the same age.
133
Donald Greenfield Macdonell, Deputy Adjutant-General of Militia
of Upper Canada-both represented Glengarry, and I may have
occasion to refer to them hereafter when dealing with the War of
1812-14, in which both took an active part and the former died.
As stated by Mr. McLennan, the County, becoming noted as a
Scottish Colony, attracted immigrants as they arrived from time to
time from all parts of Scotland. Several families of Macphersons
from Badenoch settled in Lancaster, among them Mr. Murdoch
Macpherson, 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 McIntoshes-his own father, also Alexander 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 War 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
Librarian 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 WAR 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. 1, page 3
et seq.
135
After explaining how, consequent upon the abolition of the
feudal system of clanship which had obtained from time immemorial,
and had been based upon the mutual interest of chieftain and clans-
men, by the influence and consequence in proportion to the number
of his followers it afforded the former and the protection and sup-
port it gave to the latter the "bleak and barren mountains of the
north," which had previously raised MEN, had been converted into
sheep walks, and the suffering thus necessarily 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 of Inverness and Perth,
in the highest inhabited parts of the Highlands 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,
repaired in the spring of 1792 to Glasgow. Having secured an
introduction to several of the professors of the University and to the
principal manufacturers of that city, he proposed to the latter that
he should induce the Highlanders who had been turned out of their
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 that they did not understand the English language,
the other that a large portion of them were Roman Catholics. The
excitement raised by Lord George Gordon about Catholics twelve
years before, when the Catholic chapels 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
The manufacturers repre-
to the period we are now speaking of.
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 answerable for the consequences in the event
of evil deigned persohs assailing or annoying them; and they repre-
136
sented that the danger was still greater to a Catholic 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 Missionary replied
that although the letter of the law militated against Catholics, the
spirit of it was greatly mitigated, and that if they would but assure
the Highlanders 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 morality, inade
faithful and industrious servants; but, discarding those ties and
obligations, they became vicious and unprincipled.
The manufacturers, appearing much pleased 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 the 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, (1) opened his
chapel to the street and did not close the door during the service.
Two respectable members of the congregation 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 taught 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 Saturday evenings in a tavern and Sunday
morning in bed.
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. Porteus, a nephew, by marriage, to Sir John Moore.
137
Revolution, spreading rapidly over Great Britain, and meeting with
the warmest abettors in the manufacturing districts, the English
Government found it necessary to adopt measures to check its pro-
gress and to prevent intercourse between the two countries.
War was at length proclaimed between England and France.
The export of British manufactures to the Continent was stopped
the credit of the manufacturers was checked; their works were
almost at a stand; frequent bankruptcies ensued; a general dismis-
sal of labouring hands took place, and misery and distress overtook
those thus suddenly thrown out of employ.
Among the sufferers were the poor Highlanders above men
tioned. Unaccustomed to hard labour and totally ignorant of the
English language, they became more helpless and destitute than any
other class of the whole community.
At this crisis the Missionary conceived the idea of getting these
unfortunate Highlanders embodied as a Catholic corps in His
Majesty's service, with his young Chief, Macdonell of Glengarry, for
their Colonel. Having procured a meeting of the Catholics at Fort
Augustus, in February, 1794, à loyal address was drawn up to the
King, offering to raise à 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, which was
most graciously received by the King. The manufacturers of
gow furnished them with the most ample and honourable testimonials
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 of Service was
accordingly issued to raise the first Glengarry Fencible 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, was
gazetted as Chaplain of the Regiment. Four or five Regiments
which had been raised in Scotland, having refused to extend their
services to England, and having mutinied when they were ordered to
march, the Glengarry Fencibles, by the persuasion of their Chaplain,
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
was very acceptable to the Government, since it formed a precedent
to all Fencible corps that were raised after this period. The Regi-
138
!
ment, having 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 of the much lamented Captain Wright, 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 Waterford, and from Water-
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
simplicity of the Highlanders and their ignorance of the ways of the
world. The soldiers who received billet money on their entrance in
the town returned it on their being ordered to march the same
evening to New Ross for 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 Chaplain, upon this and all other occasions,
accompanied the Regiment to the field, with the view of preventing
the men from 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
House crowded 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 sufferers. From
New Ross the Regiment was ordered to Kilkenny, and from thence
to Hackett's Town, in the County of Wicklow, 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
De-
ashes, partly by the insurgents and partly by the military.
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 one 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-
quility and 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 hands 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 rebels called "the Devil's Blood-
hounds," both on account of their dress and their habit of climbing
140
+
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 while 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 pleased 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 Irish Parliament and miscarried. The Catholic Bishops
and Catholic 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 to the Chaplain,
authorizing him to impart them to the Ministry. The Chaplain did
so accordingly in his first 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 informed 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.
Captains.
Archibald McLachlan,
James Macdonald,
Donald Macdonald,
Ranald Macdonell,
Archibald Macdonell,
Roderick Macdonald,
Hugh Beaton.
Captain-Lieutenant and Captain-Alexander Macdonell.
John Macdonald,
Lieutenants.
Ronald Macdonald,
Archibald McLellan,
James Macdonell,
James McNab.
D. McIntyre,
Donald Chisholm,
Allan McNab.
1
142
Alexander Macdonell,
John Macdonald,
Charles Macdonald,
Ensigns.
Donald Maclean,
Archibald Macdonell,
Alexander Macdonell,
Donald Macdonell.
Andrew Macdonell,
Francis Livingstone.
Adjutant-Donald Macdonell.
Quarter-Master-Alexander Macdonell.
Surgeon-Alexander 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 surroundings
to counteract the stunting influences of centuries.
The Highlanders 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 War, 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.
Mr. 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 intentions towards his countrymen, he assured him that no con-
sideration on earth would induce him to prevail upon Highlanders
to reside in the unhealthy climate of the West 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 answered 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 exas-
perated state of mind, and settling in the United States, readily
imbibed republican principles and a determined antipathy against the
British Government; 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 Chaplain, 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
Baron 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 Wales, and by His Royal
Highness' sanction, Sir Thomas Tyrrwhit, the Prince's agent, sent
for the Chaplain to Carlton House for the purpose of prevailing 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(1) Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, proposed a
plan of organizing a Military 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 internal 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.
(1) At the time the Bishop wrote the narrative, 1833.
146
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 West 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 and child for the 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 provided with a surgeon, whơ
should have his diplonia from Surgeons' Hall in London, from Edin-
burgh University or Trinity College, Dublin. 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 in 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 £84!
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
146
that 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, the
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 £2,000 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 compelled 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 never think.
of putting himself under so great an obligation to any man; that the
situation which his lordship had selected for his settlement was
beyond the jurisdiction of the Government of Upper Canada, and 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 romantic 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
1803) 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 Macdonells, 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.
148
"He has undertaken, in the event of their absolute determina-
tion to carry into execution 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 wish 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."
y
149
CHAPTER 13.
EMIGRATION FROM KINTAIL AND GLENELG, ROSS-SHIRE.-Sub-
DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTY.-LOCAL NOMENCLATURE.—Ken-
YON, LOCHIEL, BREADALBANE, DUNVEGAN, EIGG, STRATH-
GLASS, UIST, LITTLE KNOYdart, Laggan, FASSIFERN, &c.,
&c.—MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT TO UNION OF UPPER AND
LOWER CANADA, 1840.—ENUMERATION 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 1812 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 War, 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 Williamstown, purchased from
150
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-
Lennan wrote his paper), now resides, and from whom he obtained
much of the information afforded in his essay.(1)
I trust Mr. McLennan will not accuse me of piracy if I quote
from him still further
The
"The early settlers had many and serious difficulties to en-
counter, coming, as so many did, with small means and with scarcely
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.
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 the land. Fortunately for them (and
for their posterity) they were of frugal habits; they followed from the
beginning 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 to 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 Lord 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
(1) As previously mentioned, Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser died on the 5th June, 1891, at the
patriarchal age of ninety-one years, retaining all his faculties to the end. An excellent account of
his life and a well-deserved tribute to his memory from the well-known pen of one of Glengarry's
most accomplished sons is given in the "Glengarrian" of the 10th of July, 1891.
151
2
District in Scotland, the Camerons and their clansmen the MacMillans,
the latter by the way greatly preponderating. When a census of the
Highland clans was taken by the late Colonel Chisholm in 1852, it
appeared that of the MacMillans 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 MacMillans.
""
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 reside still
maintain the religious and political tenets common to the people of
Argyleshire in Scotland (of which Breadalbane forms a not inconsi-
derable part), with the tenacity of purpose which is one of the great-
est characteristics of the Highland race. In and around "Dunve-
are settled large numbers of the MacLeods, and there they
have perpetuated the name of the ancient and romantic seat of their
Chief, the patriarchal fortress of Dunvegan in Skye. The name is
familiar, and recalls the well-known but sorrowful air, "Cha till mi
tuille," or "MacCrimmon's Lament," the strain with which the emi-
grants from the West Highlands and Isles usually took leave of their
native shore. Sir Walter Scott gives the first verse as follows :
“Macleod's wizard flag from the grey castle sallies,
gan
The rowers are seated, unmoor'd are the galleys;
Gleam war-axe and broadsword, clang target and quiver,
As MacCrimmon 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;
Farewell lovely Skye—to lake, mountain and river
MacLeod may return, but MacCrimmon shall never!
MacCrimmon, who was hereditary piper to Lord MacLeod, is
said to have composed this lament when the clan was about to de-
part upon 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: "Cha till mi tuille; ged thillis MacLeod, cha till
MacCrimmon.” [“ I shall never return; although MacLeod returns,
yet MacCrimmon 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.
152
1
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 country there-
abouts is known 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 mention 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
Walter, 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 Elibank'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
concem 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 Wellington'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 Walter Scott, in the finest
portion of "The Field of Waterloo," 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 Walter 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 name 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 name 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 of Parlia-
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!
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 Macdonell of Aberchalder, first Speaker,
Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder),
Colonel John Macdonell of Aberchalder,
John N. Campbell,
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie) Speaker,
Angus B. Macdonell (Saundic),
Alexander Mackenzie,
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie),
Walter Butler Wilkinson,
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), -
Thomas Fraser,
Colonel John Macdonell (Greenfield),
Alexander McMartin,
John Cameron,
}
-} 1797
1792
1803
1808
}
1808
}1812
1812
1816
155
Alexander Macdonell (Collachie),
Alexander McMartin,
•
}1820-23
Alexander Macdonell (Greenfield),
Duncan Cameron,
1821
1823, '28
Colonel Alexander Fraser,
1824 or 1828 and 1830-34
Donald Macdonell (Greenfield),
Colonel Alexander Chisholm,
Colonel Donald Macdonell (Greenfield),
Colonel Alexander Chisholm, -
1834'35
1836-241
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 War, 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.
Ranald Macdonell,
Alexander McMillan,
Joseph Sutherland,
Murdoch Maclean,
Richard Wilkinson,
Alexander Macdonell,
Duncan Murchison,
John McIntyre.
Lieutenants.
John Hay,
Duncan McKenzie,
John Dunn,
Duncan Macdonell,
Duncan McIntyre,
Allan Macdonell,
Peter Macdonell,
Donald McGillis,
Norman Macleod.
Ensigns.
Jacob Simmers,
Jeremiah Snyder,
1
156
Hector Mackay,
Donald MacMillan,
Ranald Macdonell,
Donald Mackay, jr.,
Chaplain-John Bethune.
Adjutant-Murdoch Maclean.
Duncan Macdonell,
John Macdonell,
Alexander Grant,
John Cameron.
Quartermaster-Lawrence Mackay.
Many of these officers had already seen service. Thus Colonel
Macdonell had served through the Revolutionary War in the K. R.
R. of N. Y. and Butler's Rangers, and was stated by Col. 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
establishment 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; 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
having 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 :
A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF PERSONS IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING CLANS IN THE COUNTY OF GLENGARRY,
TAKEN FROM THE CENSUS RETURNS OF 1852..
McDonell and
McDonald.
McMillan.
McDougall.
McRae.
McLeod.
Grant.
Cameron.
McGillis,
Kennedy.
McLennan.
Campbell.
McIntosh.
McGillivray.
McKinnon.
McPherson.
Fraser.
McPhee.
McIntyre.
Ross.
Chisholm
McGregor.
Ferguson.
McLaurin.
McKenzie.
McCormick.
Morrison.
McMartin.
McKay.
McArthur.
McLauchlan.
Cattanach.
!
157

Charlot
tenburg 880
Ken-
7156
7156 69 12 290
93 88 119111
51
50
15
27
57
67
67
3
3 49
67 45 88 73 2835
7633052 3510
yon...... 803138 71163131 45228 25153 44155 53 20 79 39
Lan-
Lochiel 419 351 147 90218 8 43 60 31 89 84120184 99 35 50 97 9 24 34
cast'r... 1126 49 167134 76 72 35 186 30 78 14 39 24 37 64 25
9 17 35 16 3 6
Total... 13228 545|541456|437415399|359 333|322|304|262|243|242|195 176|157'140139'133 114 110102|99|99|83|72|72170168150
34
48 65 13 38
16
19
223
2227 9 2 23 514 8
12 74395066 713 12 120
322 I
6 11812

158
Friends and connections of the original settlers belonging to the
various Highland Clans from time 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 trust it may always be.
159
CHAPTER 14.
OUTBREAK OF THE WAR 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 DIFFICULTIES.-TREASON OF WILLCOCKS, MALLORY,
MARCLE AND OTHER RENEGADES.-EXTRA SESSION OF PAR-
LIAMENT SUMMONED.—MARTIAL LAW PROCLAIMED.--EXPUL-
SION OF WILLCOCKS AND MARCLE.
It would be foreign to the purpose of a work such as this to
enter at any length into the cause which led to the War 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 James 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 War 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.
at.
Suffice it to say that they were fighting for their homes, for the
possession of British North America was what the Americans aimed
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. Without 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 last 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 War 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 War 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 loyalty of their forefathers and the
obligations incumbent upon subjects of the British Crown.
"We 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 they
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. We 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 War; 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 :
"We can take the Canadas without soldiers; we have only to send
officers into the Provinces, and the people, disaffected toward their
own government, will rally around our standard.”
There can be no doubt but that they counted, and counted
largely, 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 War 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
against 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 arwy
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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
1810 and across the Portuguese frontier in 1811 and to retreat from
Burgos in 1812. The national debt had increased from £240,000,000
to about £740,000,000 sterling during the preceding nineteen years,
an increase of over £26,000,000, 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
estimated 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 people, 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 anything that would enable the War
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
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internal disaffection. The confidence of the politicians at Washing
ton in the certainty of the acquisition of Canada was absolute.
Now let us consider General Brock's position. For the defence
of this Province he had to rely 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 Upper Canada amounted to barely
1,500 men, composed of :-The Forty-First Regiment, 900; Tenth
Veterans, 250; Newfoundland Regiment, 250; Royal Artillery, 50;
Provincial Seamen, 50.
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
5,500 men. On the 11th January, 1812, five months before
the Declaration of War, an Act of Congress was passed for raising
25,000 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 regular 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 issued 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 coloured cloth, 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
occasion when in the field to dress in conformity with the men, in
order to avoid the bad consequences of a conspicuous dress.
Flour was scarce, the price having risen before the War to
$8.50 a barrel, and many of the militia were drilling in their naked
feet, while Brock was without a military chest, without money enough
to buy provisions, blankets or even shoes for the militia. He 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
164
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 2,500 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 arrivals,
in 1784, were the loyal fighting men of the Revolutionary War, 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.
When in 1792 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 War, 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
165
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-
ing.
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 War, 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 and 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 a considerable number of Yankee farmers, who took
up lands, 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 true 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 western 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 in 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 aliens 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 letter 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: 1. 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 decisions of the Lower House is truly
alarming, and ought immediately by every practical means to be
diminished." The bill for the suspension of the habeas corpus was
also beaten by a very trifling majority. Willcocks, Mallory and
Marcle were all members of this House and leading spirits of the
Opposition.
When 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 disaffected and to aid him in the field. In fact he said in reply to an
address at Kingston that "it was the confidence inspired by the admir-
167
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. They 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 Watson, a surveyor from Montreal, were able to
penetrate eastward as far as Westminster, 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 27th July, 1812, opened an extra session. In his speech he
says: "A few traitors have already joined the enemy; have been
suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have been
harboured and concealed in the interior.
* * 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:
"We 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
flank 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 disloyal section, led by Willcocks, assisted by
Abraham Marcle, did everything they could to thwart and embarrass
General Brock. The state of the country certainly required prompt and
vigorous measures, but many of the House of Assembly were seized
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
3rd August, and made the following representation to them :
"That the House of Assembly, 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 passing 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-
tions 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 inadmissible as with the King's other subjects.
That in the western and London districts several persons had nego-
ciated with the enemy's commander, hailing his arrival and pledging
their support. That the King's forces 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
169
tent of coast and distance of prominent parts would divide that
orce to support and countenance 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 could 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 5th of August. Then Brock was master of the situation, and
the change in the prospects in a few days was almost miraculous.
That very day the stirring address from the House went forth to the
people. The next day Brock left for Amherstburg, arriving there on
170
the 13th at midnight. On the 15th he was at Sandwich, with three
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 27th
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 lives 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:
(C
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 Willcocks, the leader of the
Opposition, Benjamin Mallory and Abraham Marcle. At the next
session Willcocks and Marcle, 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. Willcocks was killed at Fort Erie in 1814 in command of a
regiment in the Yankee army-Mallory served during the War as
major in the same regiment. Fifteen traitors were tried at Ancaster
during the war and sentenced to death. Seven of them were hanged
together at that place by order of General Drummond and eight were
171
sent to Quebec for 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, 1812, the
Jail 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 War, and a number of them
were zealously engaged in bringing forward the disobedient. Some
forty men of Colonel Grahame's regiment 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 be 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 soil 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 untold misery and immense loss of
172
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.
Whenever 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.
SİR ISAAC BROCK-HIS PARENTAGE AND FORMER SERVICES—
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 OFFICERS 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
gave 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
1790 receiving his company. He then exchanged into 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 of
a veteran battalion to serve in the Canadas, recommending that ten
companies should be raised, each 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 communication 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
his leave was expired, and such was his anxiety to be at his post that
he overtook at Cork the "Lady Saumarez," a Guernsey vessel, well
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 the 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.
"Without considerable assistance from the militia, the few regul
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 shall be constrained, unless His Honour the President makes
176
exertions, which I do not think him disposed at this moment to do, to
confine myself to the defence of Quebec.”
He then narrates the preparations he had made for placing
Quebec in a defensive condition, and proceeds, "Although these
remarks 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 which
seem at present to guide the Councils of this Province. Voluntary
offers of service have been made by numbers, on whose loyalty the
utmost reliance can be placed, to form themselves into corps of
cavalry, artillery and infantry, at little or no expense to Government,
provided they were furnished with arms; but this liberal spirit has not
been encouraged by the President."
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.
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. With these merchant princes
Colonel Brock lived on terms of much intimacy.
Few
In 1810 Brigadier Brock was sent to Upper Canada where he
remained in command of the troops until his death, Lieutenant-
Governor Gore at first administering the civil government.
In 1811 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 of the 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 Europe. and Sir George Prevost was authorized to
177
replace him by another officer, but when the permission 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; and we find, further, that on Sir George
Prevost's issuing orders to recruit for a still higher establishment. the
officers engaged 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-
land settlers on the Coast and Gulf. When 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
Volunteers, 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-War strongly recommending that it
should be carried out, but for some 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,
178
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.
66
'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 formation 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 exertions.”
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. (1)
The gallant officer, Captain George Macdonell, who was selected
to raise and to assume temporary command of the Glengarry
1) 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 settled 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 embarked for Holland in a sailing
ship, and soon after joined the Prince at St. Germain. 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 Wolfe when he fell.
Before "the Forty-Five," he had formed the acquaintance of the
great general, and became so attached to him that he named his
eldest son after him. Wolfe 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 Wolfe'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 brother, General Sir James Macdonell, defender of
Hougoumont. He served as Major during the American War 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 1818." (1)
Every one of this gentleman's sons was in the army, viz.: I.
Wolfe Alexander, who was Colonel of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment.
(1) Mackenzie's History, 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 command of that corps, was afterwards
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-Ninth Foot. He married the
Honourable Laura, second daughter of Lord Arundel of Wardour,
and died at Wardour 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 this regiment (the Glengarry Light Infantry), Colonel
Coffin states that:-
"The 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 medieval 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 privations 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 dangers 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
181
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, 1812.
"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 proposed. 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 much 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 no 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
companies to be added to the Glengarry Fencibles, the nomination
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 the 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 have been a great
soldier. He used to say 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, 1812, it being borne
in mind that it was only on the 12th 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 tour
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 Scotia and New Brunswick for their
hunting ground, and are permitted to recruit Acadians, 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
183
he is sanguine that the proffer of lands in the Scotch settlements of
Upper Canada will induce great numbers to enter. 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. (1)
Lieutenant-Colonel-Francis Battersby.
Major-George Macdonell.
Andrew Liddell,
John Jenkins, (3)
R. M. Cochrane,
D. McPherson,
A. McMillan,
Anthony Leslie,
Walter Kerr,
William Kemble,
Captains.
Robert Macdouall, (2)
Thomas Fitzgerald,
Foster Weeks,
W. Roxburgh.
Lieutenants.
James Stewart,
H. S. Hughes,
Æneas Shaw,
James Macaulay. (4)
Ensigns.
Roderick Matheson, (5) (6)
Angus Macdonell,
(1.) This officer had entered the army in 1783. After serving at Gibraltar and the West
Indies he became aide-de-camp, in 1794, to Sir James Craig, afterwards Governor-General of
Canada, and was at the taking of Good Hope 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 Indies, but having obtained a majority in the 96th, he joined that corps at Cawnpore. In
1803 he returned to England. In 1804 he was appointed lieutenant-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 War of 1812-14 and for several years afterwards. He died at Sidmouth, England, in March,
1829. (Morgan's Celebrated Canadians, p. 200.)
(2.) This gallant officer entered the service in 1796 and after taking the various steps, be-
came a major-general in 1841. When in command at Fort Michilamackinac he successfully de-
fended it when attacked by a very superior force, August 4th, 1814, which he drove off with con-
siderable loss. He died at Stranaer 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 gallant 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 enemy's guns. He was most honourably mentioned in the
despatch announcing that victory, and survived the war several years. It is not creditable to
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 two being Sir John Bever-
ly Robinson, Bart., and the Hon. Archibald McLean-all three, strangely enough, having been
pupils of Mr. (atterwards Bishop) Strachan at the Cornwall school. He died 27th July, 1857.
(5.) Afterwards the Hon. Roderick Matheson. Born in Rossshire, Scotland, and great
grandson of Dugald Matheson, chief of his clan, who was killed in the action at Glen Shiel, Glenelg,
10th June, 1719. Mr. Matheson was present with his regirent at the actions at York, Sackett's
Harbour, Cross Roads, Fort George, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie. Wounded at Sackett's Har-
b ur.
He was appointed a life member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada in 1847, and
184
James Robins,
James Mackay,
Joseph Frobisher,
Paymaster-Anthony Leslie.
Adjutant-John Mackay.
Quarter-Master-John Watson.
Agents-Greenwood, Cox & Co.
William Maclean,
Byland Smith,
Alexander Macdonell.
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 know 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,
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 me with the following:-
GLENGARRY REGIMENTS—FLANK COMPANIES—SERVED IN WAR OF
1812.
First Regiment.
Captains-Duncan Macdonell, John Hooke Campbell.
Lieutenants-John Cameron, Donald McDermid.
Ensigns-John Kennedy, James Macdonell.
Second Regiment.
Captains-Donald Macdonell, Alexander Mackenzie, Alexander
Macmillan.
sat until Confederation, when he was called to the Senate by Royal Proclamation.
(6.) An officer who subsequently served in this regiment and retired in 1816 as a captain
in it was James Fitzgibbon, subsequently colonel of the 1st Regiment of Toronto Militia. Mr.
Fitzgibbon had previously served in the 19th and 61st Regiments as a non-commissioned officer,
and had been present in the action near the Helder and elsewhere in Holland, and was made pri-
soner at Egmont op Zee. At the battle of Copenhagan he was in the "Monarch, 74," which had
210 men killed and wounded, and he was afterwards, until 1801, in Lord Nelson's ship the "Ele-
phant," his regiment in that campaign acting as marines. While in the Glengarry Regiment
during the War of 1812-14, he was in the attles at Stoney Creek, Fort George and several
others, including the siege of Fort Erie. At the Beaver Dams, aided by a body of Indian warriors
and with 48 men of the 49th Regiment, he captured a force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and 2 guns.
He rendere l important services in the Rebellion of '37-8, and received therefor a sword and the
thanks of the Canadian Assembly. He was for nineteen years clerk of Parliament. In 1850 Her
Majesty the Queen, in recognition of his services, created him a Military Knight of Windsor,
from which time until his death he resided in England.
185
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 :—
CORPS DES VOYAGEURS CANADIENS.
Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant-William Macgillivray.
First Major-Angus Shaw.
Second Major-Archibald Macleod.
Capitaines.
Alexander Mackenzie,
John Macdonell,
James Hughes,
James Goddard,
Peter Grant,
William Hall.
William Mackay,
Pierre de Rocheblave,
Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr.
Lieutenants.
Joseph Mackenzie,
Joseph Macgillivray,
Ensignes.
James Maxwell,
Pierre Pieras,
Louis Joseph Gauthier,
Andre Barron,
Paie Maitre-Æneas Cameron.
Adjutant-
Cartwright.
John Macgillivray,
Pierre Rotot, Fils.
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.
Mr. William Macgillivray was, with Bishop Macdonell, one of the
founders of the Highland Society in Canada, under á commission
186
from the Duke of York, President of the Highland Society of Lon-
don, addressed to William Macgillivray, Esq.; Angus Shaw, Esq.;
the Reverend 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 gentlemen
this Province ever saw, the late Honourable William 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 Infantry. 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.
James Eccles,
Thomas Hay,
Dugald Campbell,
Ewen MacMillan,
James Pentz.
John Reid,
Ranald Macdonell,
Henry Weatherston,
Daniel Dupre,
Alexander Grant,
Edwar Dewar, Staff.
Captains.
William De Haren,
Edward Cartwright,
George R. Ferguson,
Alexander MacQueen,
Lieutenants.
William Marshall,
William Radenhurst,
John Johnston,
Archibald K. Johnston,
R. M. Cochrane,
187
Ensigns.
Alexander MacMillan,
Charles Pinguet,
Thomas F. Gunter,
Benjamin Delisle,
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.
188
CHAPTER 16.
FIRST BLOOD OF THE WAR OF 1812.-A BRITISH INDIAN SCalped
BY AN AMERICAN OFFICER.-CAPTURE OF MICHILIMACINACK.
BROCK LEAVES YORK FOR THE SCENE 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 blood-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 remarkable 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
1816. He was at the time a Member of the Executive Council and
with his numerous duties, General Brock would naturally avail him-
self of Judge Powell's great abilities in the preparation of a document
189
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
"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 done
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 of
last month upon part of the garrison of Amberstburg on the River
Canard." First blood was drawn and the first scalp taken on the 15th
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 Muir, 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 tỏ
us of one private killed, two officers, two sergeants, nineteen rank
and file wounded and two taken prisoners, who were afterwards
190
recaptured by our Indians, and to the Americans of eighteen killed
and sixty-three wounded.
Their force on this occasion was largely in excess of ours,
consisting of all but one company of Fourth Regiment United States
Infantry, a detachment of the First Infantry, with some artillery and
four hundred militia, while oppose to them were not more 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 Brock, who up to this time had been detained 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 13th. His
little band on the way, he stated in his note book, endured all the
fatigues with greater cheerfulness and constancy than he had ever
previously seen evinced, their conduct throughout 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 in 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.
"My dear Sir,
"Port Talbot, 10th August, 1812.
"We 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 present appear:
ances, it is possible they will remain till to-morrow morning, and how
much longer I cannot say. It has rained almost continually 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 all kinds, in one
of which is a six pounder (dismounted), with ammunition, etc. The
191
want of boats obliged the General to send a detachment consisting
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, besides 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 about 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 I think would materially suffer from his absence.
Everyone else is perfectly well.
"I do not know how this 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 I promised to do, and having got myself dry, and having a
little time to spare, I felt myself bound in conscience to devote it to
the performance of my promise, and I 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 all 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 servant,
“Duncan Cameron, Esq.”
“J. MACDONEll.
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, and that satisfied with his magnificent success
192
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 took great care of
his person!
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 such conditions 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,
"(Signed)
"His Excellency,
"Sir, your most obedient Servant,
ISAAC BROCK, Major General.
"Brigadier-General Hull,
"Commanding at Fort 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 arrival at Amherst-
burg, he proceeds:
"The force at my disposal (1) being collected in the course of
the 15th, in the neighbourhood of Sandwich, the embarcation took
place a little after daylight on the 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 confusion 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 half 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 information
upon 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 advanced to within one mile
of the fort, and having ascertained that the enemy had taken little
or 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 of the hostilities for the purpose of preparing
terms of capitulation. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell and
Captain Glegg 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 afterwards 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
(1. It consisted of 30 Royal Artillery, 250 of the 41st Regiment, 50 Royal Newfoundland
Regiment, 400 militia and 600 Indians under Tecumseth.
(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 lieutenant 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 Brock's despatch is my authority
and it cannot be gainsaid. 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 young to be in a position to know more of General Brock than could be observed by
seeing him in public, but I retain a very distinct recollection of his person and manner." *
Sir John Robinson achieved in after life such high distinction his name, for public services no less
than for private virtues, is so certain to go down to posterity as one of the most distinguished
among the deservedly great ones of the land, that it is neither necessary nor well that services
other than those he actually rendered to the State should be attributed 10 him. Colonel Macdonell
it was who negociated these terms. He so soon after "nobly fell" at so early an age that it is due
to his memory that the credit for 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,
where he died. Sir John Robinson is to be found in the subsequent pages of Canadian History.
"
194
evening with the exception of two hundred men, whom he left
escorting a valuable convoy at some little distance in his rear; but
there can be no doubt the officer commanding will consider 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 all the troops, regular as well 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 II.—All public stores, arms and all public documents,
including everything else of a public nature, will be given up.
Article III.—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 McArthur, 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.
Approved.
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 Michigan Militia.
W. HULL,
Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army.
ISAAC BROCK.
Major-General.
An article supplementary to the articles of capitulation, con-
cluded 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.
"W. 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
Whetherall, shall be placed on the same principles as the Ohio
Militia and Volunteers are piaced by the supplementary article of
the 16th instant.
"W. HULL,
"Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army United States.
"ISAAC BROCK,
(6
Major-General.”
Return of the ordnance taken at the Fort and batteries at De-
triot, August 16th, 1812-
Fron ordnance,-Nine twenty-four pounders, eight twelve-
pounders, five nine-pounders. Brass ordnance-tbree six-pounders,
two four-pounders, one three-pounder, one eight-inch howitzer, one
three and a third inch ditto. (1)
(1) 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 replied "I despise them too
much to meddle with them !” As a proper contrast to this Mr. James cites a battle between the
Americans, under General Jackson, and the Creek Indians in March, 1814, when of about one
thousand Creeks, only 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.
196
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. (1)
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 gun of the Tower of London proclaimed
the victory at Detroit!
A medal was struck to commemorate the victory, and gold
medals were awarded to the following
1812.
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, killed in action in 1812.
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, A.D.C., killed in action in
Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Latouche Chambers, Forty-First Foot,
died in 1828.
Colonel Mathew Charles Dixon, R.E.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mathew Elliot, Canadian Militia.
Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Glegg, Forty-Ninth Regiment.
Major Adam Muir, Forty-First Foot.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Nichol, Canadian Militia.
Major-General Sir P. Bligh St. George, C.B., K.C.H., died
in 1836.
Major Joseph Tallon, Forty-First Foot.
Lieutenant Felix Troughton, R.A., died in 1815.
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, 1820.
"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 late
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell of the Canadian Militia, and
which His Majesty 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.
"Duncan Macdonell, Esq."
“I am, sir, yours,
"FREDERICK,
"Commander-in-Chief.
(1) Coffin, p. 49.
197
On the other hand, as soon 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 publication 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 is, 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 from 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 order 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
obliged to remain inactive. On September 18th he states that he
198
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 and
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 hundred 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 from 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 Glengarry, 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, but an active participant, in the events of
that day.
He had been one of those who had attempted to
prevent the landing of the Americans. His account of what followed
will be read with interest. It is given in Auchinleck's "History of
the War," page 104 :—
"On retiring to the north end of the village, on the Niagara
road, our little band was met by General Brock, attended 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 response 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
ཁོ
199
the way up the mountain 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 deliberate 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 enquired, 'Are you much hurt, sir?'
He placed his hand on his breast, but made no reply, and slowly
sunk down. The Forth-Ninth now raised a shout Revenge the
General,' and regulars and militia, led by Colonel Macdonell, (1)
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 Robinson, 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 one bullet
had passed through his body, and he was wounded in four places,
yet he survived 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
galiantly charging with the hereditary courage of his race up the
hili 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 devotion are reverenced in the Province."
Had the Americans by this time received reinforcements, the
fate of the battle might have been different, but all the authorities,
American 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 be-
tween 800 and 1000 men. The invaders were surrounded, and
although they fought most gallantly, their cause was hopeless, and
(1) Colonel Macdonell's horse was shot under him at this time just before he himself fell.
(2) Captain Duncan Cameron, of the York Volunteers, and Provincial Secretary in the
Government, and between whom and Colonel Macdonell there existed a warm friendship, in
his attempt to save Colonel Macdonell, 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.
200
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 boats to enable those 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 Queenston, these
boats were completely dispersed. Brigadier Wadsworth was, there-
fore, compelled after a vigorous conflict had been maintained for
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 the British was 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 rocks 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 Wilkins, alleging that "under all
the circumstances—and on the scale of operations the impartial soldier
and competent judge will name this brilliant affair the chef d'œuvre
of the war." Well might Mr. Auchinleck suggest that if this was
considered by them to be the chef d'œuvre of the War, he would like
to know in what light the capitulation of Detroit is to regarded. (1)
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-de-Camp 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-Colonel 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
(1) In the despatch of Major-General Sheaffe to Sir George Prevost, in alluding to officers
whose services in the battle deserved approbation, he mentions: "I derived much aid from the
activity and intelligence of Lieutenant Kerr, of the Glengarry Fencibles, whom I employed in
communicating with the Indians and other flanking 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
garrison.
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,
Doctor Moore,
Doctor Kerr,
Staff-Surgeon Thom,
Reverend Mr. Addison.
THE BODY OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MACDONELL, A. D. C.,
Captain A. Cameron,
with pall-bearers as follows:
Lieutenant J. R. Robinson,
J. Edwards, Esq.,
Supporter,
Mr. Dickson.
Lieutenant Jarvis,
Lieutenant Ridout,
Captain Crooks,
Supporter.
Captain Cameron,
Chief Mourner-Mr. Macdonell,
THE BODY OF MAJOR-GENERAL BROCK.
Supporter.
Jas. Coffin, Esq., D. A. C. G.
Supporter.
Captain Williams, Forty-Ninth.
Pall-bearers—
Captain Vigoreaux, R. E.
Captain Derenzy, Forty-First,
Captain Dennis, Forty-Ninth,
Captain Holcroft, R. A.,
Supporter.
Brigade Major Evans.
Major-General Sheaffe,
Ensign Coffin, A. D. C.,
Major Merritt, L. H. L. M.
Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, L. M.
Lieutenant-Colonel Butler,
Colonel Claus.
Supporter.
Captain Glegg, A. D. C.
Chief Mourners-
Lieutenant-Colonel Myers, D.Q.M.G.
Lieutenant Fowler, A. D. Q. M. G.
The civil staff.
Friends of the deceased.
Inhabitants.
202
"I enclose a plan of the procession," wrote Captain Glegg, the
surviving Aide-De-Camp, "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 hourly
expected, and the minds of all being fully occupied with the duties
of their respective stations, I anxiously endeavoured to perform this
last tribute of affection in a manner corresponding with the elevated
virtues of my deceased patron. Conceiving that an interment in
every respect military would be the most appropriate to the char-
acter of our dear friend, I made choice of a cavalier bastion in Fort
George, which his aspiring genius had lately suggested, and which
had just been finished under his daily superintendence.
""
On the 13th October, 1824, the remains of General Brock and
Colonel Macdonell were removed from Fort George and deposited
in the resting-place prepared for them in the first monument which
was erected on Queenston Heights 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 present noble structure (which exceeds in height that of
any other monumental column, ancient or modern, known, with the
exception of that designed by Sir Christopher Wren in London, 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 being invited to lay the corner-stone, but being unavoidably
prevented, caused the following General Order to be promulgated :—
" ADJUTANT-General's OFFICE, QUEBEC, 1st October, 1853.
MILITIA GENERAL ORDER.
"The Lieutenant-General, Administrator of the Government,
being unavoidably prevented from attending the ceremony of depos-
iting the remains of the lamented Major-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 Queenston
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 West.
203
"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-General, will be pleased to accompany Colonel
Macdonell on this occasion."
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
satisfaction to all the members of the family to which the late
Attorney-General was so great an ornament, to learn that his merit
has been recognized even by the Royal Personage who wields the
sceptre of the British Empire: on which His Honour commands me to
declare his personal gratification.
" I have, &c.,
"NATH. 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
his death, was 25 years of age. This, however, is a mistake. Family
records in my possession show 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, 1803,
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, 1811.
The following 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 free and independant electors of the County of Glen-
garray :-
"Gentlemen,-As the time is not far distant when you will be
called 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 distinct
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
"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
205
·
her by her brother at the time of Colonel Macdonell's death. I give
such portions of it as can properly be made public:-
“MY DEAR SISTER,-How sincerely do I regret, with all, the loss
of our young friend-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 being 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 his hand and pressed it, but it was very faintly.
While your brother was there his uncle, Mr. Macdonell, was with him,
which must have been a great comfort to him. Poor Mr. Macdonell
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 Glegg was very much overcome. Even
Derenzy wept, and I believe there was 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 for so good a man and so excellent an officer
as General Brock. It was very extraordinary if it was meant well.
We are in constant fear of another attack from them. They are to
give 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
66
"Miss M. B. Powell, York."
"Ever yours,
“J. Powell.
Mr. John Beverley Robinson, late Lieutenant-Governor of the
Province, sent me recently the following verses, written by Arch-
deacon (afterwards Bishop) Strachan, which he discovered when
looking through some of the Bishop's papers. They have, I believe,
never before appeared, and are well worth publishing.
206
Verses on looking at the bastion of Fort George at Niagara (1819),
where Sir Isaac Brock and his gallant Aide-de-Camp, Colonel
Macdonell, were temporarily laid before being removed to the
monument at Queenston Heights.
Why calls this bastion forth the patriot's sigh?
And starts the tear from beauty's swelling eye?
Within its breach intrepid Brock is laid
A tomb according with the mighty dead,
Whose soul devoted to its country's cause
In deeds of valour sought her just applause.
Enrolled with Abercrombie, Wolfe and Moore,
No lapse of time his merits 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 side,
Their mutual love Death sought not to divide.
The muse that gives her Brock to deathless fame
Shall in the wreath entwine Macdonell's name.
On plates within the column of the present monument at
Queenston Heights are the following inscriptions:
In a vault underneath are deposited the mortal remains of the
lamented
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B.,
Who fell in action near these Heights on 13th October, 1812, and
was entombed on the 16th 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 having received irreparable injury by a
lawless act on the 17th of April, 1840, it was found 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 wounded in the battle of Queenston, on the,
13th October, 1812, and died the following day.
His remains were removed and 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
207
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 "Week" 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."
208
CHAPTER 17.
FORAYS ALONG THE ST. LAWRENCE.-UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON
OGDENSBURG.—ST. REGIS SURPRISED.-AMERICANS Repulsed
AT FORT ERIE.—“ GENERAL VAN BLADDER " AND HIS PROCLAM-
ATIONS. NAVAL ENCOUNTERS.—Battle of Stoney Creek.-
THE TAKING OF OGDENSBURG.-YORK 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 Wellington (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 the 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 small 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,
so that had all the men embarked the enterprise might have been
brought to a successful conclusion. (1) The American version of this
affair is to the effect that the attacking force numbered over one
1housand men.(2)
On the 23rd of October, the Indian village of St. Regis was
surprised by a force of four hundred men detailed from Plattsburg.
(1.) James I, p. 128.
(2.) History of the War, p. 61.
209
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 prisoners. In a cup-
board of the wigwam of the Indian 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-Ninth Foot and Glengarry 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, crossed the St. Lawrence and pounced on the American
Fort at French Mills on Salmon River, opposite Summerstown—since
called Fort Covington in honour of the American general of that
name who was killed at the battle of Chrysler's Farm. The enemy
took to the block-house, but finding themselves surrounded,
surrendered prisoners of 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
Lower 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 26th 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 West, between Fort Erie and Chippewa, General
Smythe detached some 2500 men to take Canada,” without any
(6
210
1
success. Colonel Bisshopp, a gallant officer who was killed in the
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 desirable 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 scarcely equal politeness, declined, sending Captain
Fitzgerald with his answer: "Come and take it!" Two other feints
were made, after which 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. Advance to our aid. I will wait for you for a few
days. I cannot give you the hour of my departure to plant the
American standard in Canada. But come on. Come in companies,
half companies, pairs or single." 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 performs 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
tions of a nice, close-fitting coat of tar-and-feathers were made, to
escape which he went South, was summarily dismissed from the
service without trial, and eventually found his proper 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 "Belvidere," in charge of a convoy bound for the West
Indies, beat off Commodore Rogers with a squadron of three frigates
and two sloops, rescued the merchantmen and saved herself, was
calculated to impress them withthe 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 were 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 undisciplined.
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 "Wasp,"
the latter, however, being taken and the "Frolic" rescued the same
day by "Poictiers." A few days later the "United States " beat the
"Macedonian,” and about the same time the British ship "Peacock "
was, after a desperate encounter, sunk by the American " Hornet,"
four of the American sailors nobly losing their lives in an effort to
save 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.(1)
The campaign of 1813 opened on the extreme western frontier,
where, owing to the climate being less rigourous than 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 preceeding
August the latter had gone to the Niagara frontier.
On the 19th January, he received information that a division of
the American army under General Winchester 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 assembled at Brownstown on the 21st,
consisting of five hundred regulars and militia, and 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 Winchester himself, soon after the com-
mencement of the action, fell into the hands of the Wyandot 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 hundred 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 of 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
(1) It is worthy of note that the officer 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 Canadian and is still alive, the Senior Admiral of the fleet, Sir Provost Wallis,
G.C.B., who was born at Halifax on the 12th Aprll, 1791, and is now over one hundred years or
age, and as the London Times in an account of his career observed, may well be termed the
Father of the Royal Navy.
(2) Christie, vol. 2, p. 69.
213
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 Brockville 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 compliment, retained their commissions in the militia. (1)
Mr. James states that Colonel Macdonell had been sent across
the river by Colonel Pearson, his 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
greatest ease, to which Macdonell replied that the command at Fort
Wellington would in a few days devolve up on 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 front of Og-
densburg, as well with a view of engaging the attention of the enemy
as by drawing out their forces to ascertain the 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-
(1) Coffin, p. 88.
214
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 prudence on his part "to justify the strong step he had taken
in placing him (Macdonell) above all the majors in his army, a
measure, he stated, 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, was that on the expected
arrival at Prescott of Major Cotton and three hundred men of the
King's Regiment, then some days' march distant, Colonel Macdonell
might write to Major-General de Rottenburg, commanding at
Montreal, and act as 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 commanded such of them as were present,
as he did the other forces, but it was for the very reason that he did not
receive the command of the regiment which he raised and completed
to 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 happened that in the end of January, 1813, the Glengarry
Highland Militia 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 and peculiar locality, indisputably
the sheet anchor of the English tenure of Canada, and secondly for
the following reason:-The Governor-General had, most unfor-
tunately on the eve of hostilities, by a very inconsiderate breach of
215
public faith, (more, it is believed, the act of an interested official
than himself) unjustly deprived Major Macdonell of the expressly
stipulated command of the Glengarry Light Infantry, which he had
raised and which, but for his local influence, never could have been
attempted, and had placed in command, from private favour, an Irish.
officer, undoubtedly brave, but an utter stranger to the Highlanders
in the Glengarry District. The immediate consequence of this unjust
and dangerous act, was mutiny in the corps itself, and something
not unlike an insurrection among their fathers and brothers in the
settlement, a circumstance which can excite little surprise in anyone
who has read Colonel David Stewart's "History of the Highland
Regiments." True, the extreme forbearance of the Catholic Priest in
Glengarry (the Chaplain of the Regiment) and the temperate firm-
ness of Major Macdonell, had allayed the effervescence, but deep
resentment still lurked in the breast of those sturdy Highlanders,
many of whom could not speak one word of English, at the thought
of their relative and clansman having been betrayed, as they alleged,
by the Government, and placed under 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-Colonel Mac-
donell commenced 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 over 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
Macdonell played with the enemy, but, as Mr. Rattray observes,
“the season for action had come. They needed no mɩrtial address
or inflated proclamation. The Highland blood was up." "These
men did not plead qualms of conscience or constitutional scruples
for not daring the ice which undulated and cracked and gaped
beneath their feet." (1) The American Commandant Forsyth was at
his breakfast, and affected to ridicule the demonstration. Macdonell
(1) Coffin,
216
2.
divided his force into 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 bank. By furious efforts they were forced
to the front, and not a moment too soon. While this was doing
Captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry Fencibles, who commanded the
right wing, a gallant New 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 with a cheer, his left arm was shattered
by a shot; nothing daunted, forward and still cheering on,
his up-
right right arm was disabled by a case shot; still disregarding all
personal consideration, he nobly ran on, cheering his men, to the
assault, till, exhausted by pain and loss of blood he became unable to
move, his company gallantly continuing the charge under
Lieutenant Macaulay. The 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
enemy having withdrawn to the woods in their west rear, where
there was no means of intercepting their retreat.”(1)
"The gallant little band-worthy sons of the Gaelic clans—had
nobly vindicated their claim to ancestral valour. Ogdensburg was
theirs and an end was put to frontier raids from the other side." (2)
(1) Coffin, page 93.
(2) Rattray.
217
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 both 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-Colonel Macdonell) and forty-one men wounded.
Colonel Coffin suggests that on crossing the river a little of the old
raiding temper had revived among the Highlandmen, and the word
"spulzie" had passed and many faces glistened with glee at the
hopeful prospect. This is the only case in which I find my old
friend drawing upon his imagination for his facts!
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 Percival, who had remained behind for a day
at Montreal when Sir George left there, walked in, holding in his
hand Colonel Macdonell'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 faithfully,
(Signed), GEORGE Prevost.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell."
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 congratulation on his "recent success in the bril-
liant affair of Ogdensburg." The Governor-General recommended to
the Horse Guards that Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who had been
218
•
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 scarcely fair that it should have been left to a civilian such
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 side. 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, and 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 Provinces 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
conspicuous in scrupulous preservation of every article which could
be considered as private property, such public buildings only being
destroyed as were used for the accommodation of troops and for
public stores. The destruction of the defences of Ogdensburg and
the dispersion of the enemy's force in that neighbourhood laid open
the whole of the frontier on the St. Lawrence to the incursion of his
219
His Majesty's troops, and Hamilton, as well as the other numerous
settlements 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, been plundered and laid waste."
A correspondent in the United Service Magazine, 1848, part 1,
page 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 person 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." (1)
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 Military Secretary to it, the only reply he received was that
such alterations were customary in the service. 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 79th Highlanders.
When 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
(1) James 1, 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
sergeants, nine rank and file wounded; Militia, nineteen wounded.
The officers wounded were:-King's Regiment, Ensign Powell;
Glengarry Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, Captain Jen-
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 10th November, 1812, and also received a pension
of twenty pounds. (1)
To Glengarry and Glengarry men, I think I have shown, must
that important achievement, one or the most daring of the war, be
credited in greater part.
(1) Upper Canada Gazette, 1st January, 1818.
221
I have obtained, from the official records, a list of the officers
and men of the flank companies of the Glengarry Militia Regiments
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.
When the Legislature of Upper Canada assembled at York on
25th February, 1813, 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 have to offer you my cordial congratula-
tions on the 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, the valour and discipline of His Majesty's
regular troops have been nobly supported by the zeal and bravery of
our loyal militia."
The Americans' plan of campaign 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 1812, instead of
a population of two hundred and sixteen thousand, it contained one
thousand 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
(which served in this Province throughout the whole War) and two
222
companies of the Eighth Regiment (which happened to be at York en
route from Kingston to Niagara), and the local militia; but success-
ful resistance was out of the question. The enemy had virtually
captured the place when an explosion occurred at the powder mag-
azine, where some two hundred and fifty of the Americans were
killed or wounded, 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,
though the evidence was all to the contrary, and even it it had been
it was perfectly consistent with the rules of warfare.
war.
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 prisoners of
The Americans burned the public buildings with the libraries
and all the records and papers of Parliament, and gained possession
of a great quantity of naval and other stores. The British loss was
sixty-two killed and 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 understand, 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 was 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, evacuating 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 Royal Newfoundland corps, with some artillery,
the whole commanded by Brigadier-General Vincent. At Fort
George were about a thousand 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 make but little use of the
guns.
After being driven back in tnree separate efforts to land, the
Americans on the 27th May obtained possession of the fort, which
General Vincent abandoned, having lost three officers, one non-
commissioned officer and forty-eight rank and file killed, eleven
officers, four sergeants and twenty-nine men wounded and one.
officer, thirteen sergeants and two hundred and forty rank and file
wounded and missing; and the Americans thirty-nine killed and one
hundred and eleven wounded. The Eighth Regiment, Glengarry
Light Infantry and 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 officers of the Glengarry Regiment
killed were Captain Liddell and Ensign McLean; those wounded
Captain Roxburgh, 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 were 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 General 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 Vincent
determined on and advanced with a force of seven hundred and four
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
and the remainder of the survivors in full retreat to Forty-Mile Creek,
where a junction was effected with two thousand men who were on
224
their march 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 in 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 TURN SUPERSEDED.-SUCCESSFUL AT-
TACKS ON FORT SCHLOSSER AND BLACK ROCK.-DEATH OF
COLONEL BISSHOPP.-ATTACK ON SACKETT'S HARBOUR.-
PREVOST'S DEMONSTRATION ON FORT GEORGE. THE
GLENGARRY REGIMENT'S TIMELY OCCUPATION OF BURLINGTON
HEIGHTS. YORK AGAİN TAKEN. CANADA MENACED IN
THREE DIRECTIONS IN THE AUTUMN OF 1813. DISASTERS
ON LAKE ERIE.—EVACUATION 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 across to Queenston on the Niagara
River, nor did they leave the enemy idle
The "glorious Fourth" of July, of all 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 of life. Again, on the 11th July, poor
Colonel Bisshopp, 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 Regiments. 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 enemy,
with a
reinforcement of militia and Indians, under 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 Drummondville, 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
men, including a company of the 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 have 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 thereupon fled to their fort and blockhouses, 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 forces as to have set fire to their
naval storehouses, hospital and marine barracks, by which all the
It was a most un-
booty previously taken at York was consumed.
fortunate occurrence, and all 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
also 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 24th
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
American 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 bo
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 from York, and by a march of extraordinary celerity
arrived in time to save the place. The enemy, upon hearing 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 William 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. () Commodore
Chauncey, however, on ascertaining that York, by the advance of
the Glengarry Regiment to Burlington Heights, was left unprotected,
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,
(1) Letter Hon. W. D. Powell to Sir George Prevost, August 1, 1813.
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. William 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 to 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 Watteville'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.
In
It was during this autumn that the Americans made the most
strenuous, and in one quarter, most successful efforts of the War.
Three separate armies menaced Canada in as many directions.
the East, during the month of September, the forces which had been
concentrated at Burlington, 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 with artillery.
General Wilkinson 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 War, a large flotilla of batteaux and Dur-
ham boats for an expedition of ten thousand men, destined against
Kingston or Montreal, though fated 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
230
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 West the most
disastrous engagements of the War, both on water and land, with
the exception possibly of Plattsburg, took place, though the valour
of the British naval forces retrieved to some extent the serious loss
sustained.
The British fleet on Lake Erie was commanded by Captain
Robert Barclay, who had seen service under Nelson, and lost an
arm at Trafalgar, his flagship being the "Detroit"; his squadron
consisting in all of six vessels and sixty-three guns, while Commodore
Perry was in command of the enemy's fleet, his flagship, the "Lau-
rence," 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 prevented the larger American vessels moving out without
unshipping their guns, but towards the end of August, Barclay having
occasion to proceed to Long Point, on the Canadian side, for pro-
visions, the Americans 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 10th 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-
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
men.
231
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 before a court of enquiry to answer for the loss 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 of 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 immediately evacuated; Proctor, on leaving,
destroying the magazines, barracks and public stores. Had the
retreat been properly managed matters would not have been so bad.
Commodore Perry, as soon after the engagement of the roth as
circumstances permitted, transported the American forces under
command of Harrison to Put-in-Bay, from whence they were con-
veyed 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, under Colonel Elliott, of the Indian
Department, with their great Chief Tecumseh, still adhering to his
*
232
standard in his reverses with unshaken fidelity, and covering his
retreat. He was closely followed by General Harrison, whose force
was escorted by a number of 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
capturing 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 5th 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
most 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 General Proctor and his
personal staff sought safety in flight. The Indians behaved with a
gallantry worthy of the chief who led them, and for a considerable
time 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 numbers 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 ball 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. What Brant had been to the British in the
Revolutionary War, Tecumseh was in the War of 1812, 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 America should be treated with justice, consideration
and respect by those who are charged with the administration of
(1) Military Occurrences 1, p. 287.
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 governed in the field, so to guide in
council. Though he frequently levied subsidies to a large amount,
yet he preserved little or nothing to himself—not 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 inestimable 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 Wyandot
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 his memory, sent out a valuable sword 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. James proves conclusively that the Ken-
tucky soldiery, not content with his scalp, which would be the
property of but one, absolutely flayed his body in order to procure
"trophies" which all might share, quoting from Burdick's Pol. and
Hist. Reg., p. 84, which American authority admits that "some o
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 all 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, 1814, 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 October. The Prince Regent, in confirming the
finding of the Court, animadverted upon its "mistaken lenity
towards the accused, and directed the 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 the enemy at Brownstown, which contributed much to the
fall of Detroit and the capitulation of Hull and the American army,
and his brilliant victory over a superior force under Winchester 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
War, was afterwards promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General,
surviving until 1859, when he died at his seat in Wales.
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 closely 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 Wilkinson's force,
which had assembled at Sackett's Harbour, nor Hampton's, which
it was intended 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
WOULD 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
BY THE PRINCE REGENT.-HAMPTON DECLINES JUNCTURE
WITH WILKINSON.-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, Wilkinson, 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 all 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 all, 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
236
Lower Canada Militia, to be there organized by Lieutenant-Colonel
George Macdonell, into 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.
(C
The enemy, however, getting information from Montreal in
October (1) that there were no fortifications in that city or in ad-
vance of it,” and that it was only garrisoned "by two hundred sail-
ors and marines, with the militia, numbers 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 no opposing force on the way except three hundred
French-Canadians, being half the Voltigeurs and the Light Company
of the Canadian Fencibles under Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry,
whom he was then driving in before him. Wilkinson, about the
same 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 St. 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-
tainly advancing 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
had nothing to do for it but to send for Lieutenant-Colonel Mac-
donell, to ascertain if his Light Battalion-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
(1) James 1, 304.
(2) James 1, p. 301.
(3) James 1, p. 255.
237
the men had finished their dinner, His Excellency mounted his
charger and started at once 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 only safe channel in that rapid,
the consequences would have proved fatal to his whole corps. But
notwithstanding the perilous currents and difficulties 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 whole 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 willing 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 hours 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
Colonel Macdonell approach, single, to meet him on his arrival,
238
concluded 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,
next morning drove from the field nearly twelve times 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 wood, 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. Macdonell 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 officer 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
therefore, calculating only on the opposition of DeSalaberry's
handful of men, had secretly passed three strong battalions to the
right 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 Voltigeurs, 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 unobserved 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! 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
239
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, they 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 Voltigeurs before him, and seeing
clearly that there was no immediate 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 an
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
Voltigeurs, who then turned upon the enemy, when Hampton, para-
lyzed at once by the screams and fire of the Indians, the constant
clang 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.
240
It is incontestable that the battle of Chateauguay-absolutely
lost for about half an hour-would have been no impediment what-
ever to the advance of the enemy upon Montreal, and must have
ended in the irresistible capture of DeSalaberry and his little band
but for the ardent zeal which brought the Light Battalion so oppor-
tunely on the ground, and for the active manner in which it there
handled the enemy-an enemy of British descent, consisting of
seven thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry, with ten pieces of
artillery, to which were opposed just nine hundred men, all of whom
except Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell and Captain Ferguson, of the
Canadian Fencibles, were 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 were 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(1), 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 militia until the Seventieth Regiment and 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 advance posts with his
(1) James 1, 463.
241
Light Battalion, and with these six hundred comparatively raw recruits
he held Hampton (who had returned to Four Corners on the 28th)
completely at bay until the 11th November following.
C6
Wilkinson's orders from his Government were to precipitate
his descent of the St. Lawrence by every practicable means."(1) He
had accordingly moved to Grenadier Island, in Lake 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,
remaining 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 Chateauguay, Wilkinson 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 10th, 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 waste 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 Wilkinson's real object
was Montreal, 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,
amounting to between three thousand and four thousand men. (3)
They turned upon Morrison, but after a gallant action of about two
hours, he compelled them to retire.
(1) James 1, 473.
(2 James 1, 471.
(3) James 467.
242
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
Voltigeurs).
Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Geo. Jackson, R.A., died in 1849
(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. W. 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 Wilkinson's flotilla pursued its course.
down the rapids next morning, and by mid-day re-united his whole
division nearly opposite St. Regis. Morrison followed by land and
reached Mille 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 10th or 11th of the month that the Governor-
General received, at Lachine, intelligence for the first time of Wil-
kinson'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 men of the Light Battalion. His Excellency, having
no disposable regular soldiers to send to impede the progress
of either column, and knowing that there were no troops
between him and Wilkinson except three companies at Cornwall
and the 103rd Regiment at Coteau du Lac, a post that
could not be abandoned, his only resource was in
"the
1
243
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,"(1) 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 Wilkinson states in his report to the American Secre-
tary at War 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 11th 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 Wilkinson's immediately-assembled Council of War at once
decided that the contemplated 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 Wilkinson 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 Macdonell's Light Battalion, still
in its old position on the Chateauguay, and Wilkinson'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,
(1) Adjutant-General's letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, 10th November, 1813.
(2) James 1, 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 being
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
following, His Excellency issued a general order, expressing the
245
approbation of 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 refuting, 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 to 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 the
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 Lieutenant-
Colonel Macdonell obtained was the gold medal and C.B. given to
him.
General Hampton having declined the juncture with General
Wilkinson, to the surprise and mortification of the latter, nothing was
left to the American commander, on whom countless difficulties
momentarily crowded, but to re-cross to his own side and a
Council of War being held, it was determined "that the attack on
Montreal should be abandoned for the present season and that the
army near Cornwall should 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.
246
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.
It 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.
247
CHAPTER 20.
EVACUATION OF FORT GEORGE BY THE AMERICANS, WHO, BEFORE
LEAVING, DESTROY THE TOWN OF NEWARK (NIAGARA).-TAK-
ING OF AMERICAN FORT NIAGARA BY BRITISH, DECEMBER 19TH,
1813, AND OF LEWISTON, 20TH, AND OF BLACK ROCK AND
BUFFALO, DECEMBER, 1813.-RETALIATION.-CLOSE OF SECOND
YEAR OF THE WAR.
Matters being thus, in a comparatively satisfactory position im
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 appointed 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 vigorous and successful
campaign.
His first objective point was Fort George, but General McClure,
hearing of the disasters which had befallen Wilkinson and Hampton
on the St. Lawrence, relieved him 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
soil, 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 War: "The village is now in flames and the
enemy shut out of hope and means of wintering in Fort George."
Now, when Detroit had been taken by the British, and Michil-
imackinack and Ogdensburg, Forts Schlosser and Black Rock, all
248
private property had been respected, and only public property
destroyed, in conformity to the views and disposition of the British
commanders and the liberal and magnanimous policy of the British
Government. It was reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the invad-
ers of Canadian territory would have abstained from acts of wanton-
ness and unnecessary violence and not have brought disgrace upon
a nation calling itself civilized and Christian, the more especially as
General McClure had, by a recent proclamation in which he affected to
consider Upper Canada as abandoned 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 British 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."(1)
"Let us retaliate by fire and sword," we are told that Colonel
Murray said to General Drummond, as they gazed on the sinking
ruins of the town.
"Do so, swiftly and thoroughly," said the Comm inder; 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 Niagara, and on
the night of the 18th December, a sufficient number of batteaux
having been conveyed overland from Burlington, "it was done
accordingly."
(1) Sir George Prevost's Proclamation, 12th January, 1814.
(2) Mrs. Edgar, 260.
T
249
The manner in which Colonel John Murray performed the task
is thus described in general orders, dated Quebec 29tn, 1813:
"The Fort of Niagara was most gallantly carried by assault at
the point of the bayonet at daybreak, on the morning of the 19th
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
Colonel Murray. The enemy suffered severely in killed and wounded,
Captain Leonard, the commandant, several officers and the greater
part of the garrison were made prisoners. 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 boatsmen 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
(1), and over three hundred soldiers of the regular army of the
United States taken prisoners. General McClure had left for Buffalo
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 avowed 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
(r) The disparity between the number of killed and wounded is probably to be accounted
for by the enemy's proceedings of the 10th December. A free use of the bayonet was to have
been expected.
250
Lewiston, Youngstown, Tuscorora 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 was essential; 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 Riall
was accordingly directed to cross the river at midnight on the 29th
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
Grenadiers 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 field 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 hundred and
thirty were made prisoners. The British loss was thirty-one killed,
four officers and rixty-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 where 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 provisions, ammunition and stores of all
251
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 all
appearance of the enemy, who had at one time threatened to over-
whelm it. Thus closed the second year of the war.
252
CHAPTER 21,
OPENING OF PARLIAMENT FEBRUARY, 1814.—CAMPAIGN OF 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. ARMY.-DRUMMOND'S DIRE DISTRESS. ABANDONMENT
OF UPPER CANADA CONTEMPLATED OWING TO LACK OF SUP"
PLIES. 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, 25TH JULY.
When the House of Assembly met at York on the 15th Feb-
ruary, 1814, 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 former 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
Brunswick in February, and two hundred and fifty seamen for the
lakes by the same route.
The campaign of 1814 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
Wilkinson 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 military
post, but were driven off by a small British force composed of the
flank companies of the Thirteenth Regiment, the Grenadiers of the
Canadian Fencibles and some of the Voltigeurs, 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; that of the Americans, thirteen killed, a hundred and
twenty-three wounded and thirty missing. The action took place
on 30th March. General Wilkinson cannot have been regarded by
his countrymen as a successful commander, or a marked improve-
ment upon Hull, Smythe, 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 (I
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 Upper Canada.
An unsuccessful attack was made by the British on the 4th
March on Longwood in the extreme west of the Province. A small
detachment consisting of the flank companies of the Royal Scots
and the light companies of the Eighty-Ninth, with a few of the Kent
254
militia and some Indians, under the command of Captain Barsden,
of the Eighty-Ninth, attempted to dislodge a strong party of the
enemy, who were strongly entrenched, by a gallant charge up an
ice-covered hill, but after a spirited contest of an hour and a half
the troops were withdrawn, the enemy, however, shortly abandoning
the position. Two British officers and twelve men were killed, and
three officers and forty-nine men wounded; the enemy's loss being
unknown.
It was not, however, until 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 noteworthy event.
The American forces in the neighbourhood 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 fleet at Sackett's Harbour
should be in a state to co-operate with the land forces. General
Drummond and Sir James Yeo determined upon intercepting the
enemy's naval stores for the fleet at Oswego, and with this object in
view an expedition against that place was determined upon. A
force consisting of the light companies of the Glengarry Regiment,
six companies of DeWatteville's Regiment, the second battalion
Royal Marines, with a detachment of artillery and two field pieces,
a detachment 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 4th
May, arriving at Oswego on the following day, but were unable to
land owing to a stiff gale which 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, pressed up the hill and captured the battery, from
which the enemy retreated, leaving sixty of their wounded behind.
The fortifications were dismantled, the barracks burnt and the stores
found in the fort carried off, but the naval stores which it was hoped
would have been secured had been moved some miles up the River
Oswego, and were thus saved to the enemy. The Liritish loss was
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:ided the light company of the ubiquitous
Glengarries, who covered the left flank of the troops in the advance.
The fleet returned to Kingston on the following day.
On the Niagara frontier the command of the American troops
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 General 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
Winfield Scott and Ripley-the former of whom was one of the
most talented and best trained officers in the army. Both sides now
required their ablest generals, for 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 the 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
(1) General Drummond to Sir G. Prevost, March 5th, 1814.
256
that part of the Province west of Kingston from sheer want of food.
In addition to his troops, he had several thousand non-combatants
to feed, most of the Western 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 vicinity that they abandoned
their farms and took shelter in the soldiers' quarters. (1) 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, between seven and eight thousand
rations were issued daily.(2) The Indians alone consumed twice as
much flour as the whole of the troops.
Mrs. Edgar points out (3) that with 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 to 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 Western road; while at the
crossing of the Grand River (Brantford) and also at Delaware other
detachments had to be posted to guard the advance of the enemy
by way of the Thames. It was owing, of course, to the Peninsular
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. In May, the Sixteenth and
Ninetieth Regiments, besides a corps of rifles and some artillery,
landed at Quebec, but it was not until the autumn of this year that
consequent upon the downfall of Napoleon, Wellington'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 disaster at Plattsburg, which was
(1) Drummond to Prevost, February 8th, 1814.
(2) Ernest Cruickshank's "Lundy's Lane," p. 7.
(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 Wellington the glory of the Peninsular War.
By the end of June the American forces concentrated on the
Niagara frontier were ready for another invasion of Upper 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 July the enemy
embarked in boats and batteaux, and effected a landing on the
Canadian side, with two brigades under Brigadiers Scott and Rip-
ley respectively, the former about one mile below and the latter the
same distance above Fort Erie. At this post was a small British
detachment of some seventy men under Major Buck, of the King's
Regiment, who had been engaged in placing it in a state of defence,
more with a view of causing a temporary check to the anticipated
invading force than for defending it against a regular seige, which
would have been impossible. The Americans, after having erected
some batteries, and placing their cannon 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. The loss of this important
post was a most serious matter to the British forces, and many a
life was lost around it before the American General Izard, previous
to abandoning the Niagara peninsula, mined it and on the 5th
November laid it in ruins.
The Americans advanced the next day to Chippewa and were
making preparations to carry the post when General Riall, having
collected his forces, and being reinforced by the arrival of the 8th
and 100th Regiments, on the 5th July, gave them battle. The enemy
had much the advantage in point of numbers and a most sanguinary
conflict ensued. After an hour of desperate fighting, General Riall,
having lost no less than six officers and one hundred and forty-two
men killed, twenty-six officers (among them Lieutenant-Colonel the
gu
!
258
་
Marquis of Tweeddale, severely) and two hundred and ninety-five men
wounded and an officer and forty-five men missing, was obliged 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 13th
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 army 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-
portant post.
General Drummond had repeatedly requested that more troops
should be sent him for the relief of the 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, "Much
259
obliged to Lieutenant-General Drummond for his opinion, but it is
entirely without foundation.”(1)
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.
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.
SIR,
HEAD-QUARTERS, near Niagara Falls, July 27, 1814.
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 evening,
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
(1) Mr. Cruickshank's Lecture,
(2) It was by no means the first time Glengarry men had held that post in battle!
(3) Drummond ha i some time previously directed the establishment of a battalion of four
hundred men from among the militia to serve during the war in order that the others might
bestow their attention on their firms except in the event of a levy en misse 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-Colonel Tucker, at the same time, to proceed up
the right bank of the river, with three hundred of the Forty-First,
about two hundred 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
was 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 Major-General Riall's division at the Falls.
When arrived within a few miles of that position, I met a report
from Major-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 on
the left of the great road; the squadron of the Ninteenth Light
Dragoons in the rear of the left, on the road. I had scarcely com-
pleted this formation when the whole front was warmly and closely
engaged. The enemy's principal efforts were directed against 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 received
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 our 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
have 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
Hundred and Third Regiment, under Colonel Scott; the head-
quarter division of the Royal Scots; the head-quarter division of the
Eighth, or King's; flank companies of the 104th; 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 part of his baggage, camp equipage, and provisions, into
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
H
262
estimated at less 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 mention was made of the
Glengarry Light Infantry, which under Lieutenant-Colonel Batters-
by, it was stated, had displayed most 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
under 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 Robin-
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 hundred
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. Kerr 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 John Macdonell, a brother 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
263
severely wounded. (1) 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.
A 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 of 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 the 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 such cases.
Captain Spencer, who was mortally wounded, died the day he
arrived at Fort Erie.
Ripley's retirement to Chippewa met with the full approval of
General Brown, as appears from a despatch of the latter to the
American Secretary-at-War.
The bravery 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 Tipperary). Upon retiring from the army he settled at St. Andrews, and commanded
one of the Stormont Militia Regiments in the rebellion of 1837-8. He represented Stormont in
several Parliaments, was Sheriff of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and for many years
Warden of the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston.
(2) General Drummond was, as previously mentioned, by birth a Canadian, having been
born at Quebec in 1771. He was a son of Colin Drummond, of Megginch, Paymaster-General
of the Forces in Lower Canada. His promotion in the service was rapid. He served in Holland
at the seige of Nimeguen and elsewhere, greatly distinguishing himself for valor. He took part in
the expedition to Egypt 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 London in 1854.
264
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 of 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 (1). 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,
which 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'œuvre 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 command. The American fleet had
arrived at the head of the lake, but on finding the army 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,"
(1) Mr. Cruickshank's lecture, page 31.
265
close to Fort Erie, each mounting three long twelves, with 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
13th, and on the following day made the necessary 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 Watteville's Regi-
ment; the 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 (1); and the third, under Colonel Scott, (2) of the Hundred
and Third, who also now fought his last battle. 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 stormed 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 explosion 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
taking 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,
) He was fifth son of John Drummond, of Keltie, County Perth, Scotland. At St.
Vincent, when a Lieutenant in the Second West India Regiment, he received the most flattering
testimonials from Lieutenant-General Hunter, under whom he served. At the capture of Surinam
he was Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Green, in command of the forces, and
most honourably mentioned in despatches. 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 severely 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 and eighty-five non-commissioned officers
and men; missing, nine officers, five hundred 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 by 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-Master-General's Department, who conducted Lieu-
tenant-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, were 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 country, 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 exploding at his feet. He was so severe-
ly wounded that he was obliged to relinquish his command and
retire to Buffalo.
267
CHAPTER 22.
CAPTURE OF PRAIRIE DU CHIEN BY THE BRITISH.—AMERICANS
REPULSED AT MICHILIMACINAC.-BRITISH CAPTURE THE
AMERICAN SHIPS "SCORPION" AND "TIGRESS."—ARRIVAL OF
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 INCURSION AND RE-
TREAT.—CLOSE oF THE WAR.-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 gen
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, Orthez, Toulouse and other engagements
in that campaign, and who afterwards for his part in the Battle of
Waterloo, where he was severely wounded, 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, and
his fruitless" 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 Governor 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 forth 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
to British readers, cannot be gainsaid, being matter of authentic his-
tory, allowance being made for Sir G. Prevost's evident desire to
minimize 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 induiged in self-glorification. A narrative
of the circumstances would take more space than I 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 those in which our own people of Glengarry had a
share. A court-martial was to have enquired into the charges made
against Sir George Prevost in connection with this affair, formulated
269
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 situation 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 17th of Sep-
tember, when they ascertained that De Watteville'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 great loss, their three principal leaders of
divisions, General Davis, Colonels Gibson and Wood 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
Eighty-Second Regiments arrived from the British 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 camp,
and the Royals and 89th had been pushed, by Major-General De
Watteville, into the wood on the right towards No. 3 battery, and
that the 82nd was moving to 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;
C
270
(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 move-
ments were executed to my entire satisfaction, and being combined
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 reated 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 which 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 own 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 Hargerman, Provincial aide-de-camp, who have
rendered me every assistance in their respective situations, my best
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, with their
stores, etc., towards the Chippewa, to which I mean to withdraw
them for the present.
In General De Watteville'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
271
Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby, pushed 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 509 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 return of casualties did not ap-
pear to include the militia or volunteers. They proclaimed it
throughout the republic, as usual, as a "splendid 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 up his cantonments 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 American regulars un-
der General Bissell and detachments from the Eighty-Second, One
Hundredth and Glengarry Regiments, amounting to about 650 rank
and file, under Colonel Murray. The thickness of the woods gave
great advantage to the American riflemen, but though their force
amounted to at least 1500 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 wounded, 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 having by the aid of their fleet removed the guns and
completely destroyed the fortifications, crossed from Fort Erie to
their own shore on the 5th November.
The fighting being over upon the Niagara, Lieutenant-General
212
Drummond and suite, with the Forty-Fi
nd a number
of convalescents, departed from the head of the ate and arrived at
Kingston on the 10th November, having left the light division dis-
tributed along the Niagara frontier in comfortable winter quarters.
The still defenceless state of the Western District had exposed
the inhabitants to all the horrors 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 horde 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.(1)
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 Washington 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 avocations 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.”
(1) 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 unoffending 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 lavish 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
from twenty-two millions sterling had dwindled down in 1814 to
less than one and a half millions, and their imports from twenty-
eight million pounds sterling had been reduced to three. Nearly
three thousand of their merchant vessels had been captured; their
entire seaboard insulted; two-thirds of the mercantile and trading
classes of the whole nation had become insolvent, and the Union
itself was threatened with dissolution 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, 1812.
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, 1813.
Battle of Fort George, May 27, 1813.
Attack on Sackett's Harbour, May 29, 1813.
Defence of Burlington Heights, July, 1813.
(1) Alison's Hist. Europe, Vol IV, p.p. 482-3
274
Battle of Chateauguay, October 26, 1813.
Skirmish at Hoople's Creek, November 10, 1813.
Raid from Cornwall on Madrid, 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, 1814.
Second Battle at Fort Erie, September 17, 1814.
Skirmish at Lyon's Creek, October 19, 1814.
Expulsion of McArthur's brigands, October 22, 1814.
I submit it is a good record.
275
CHAPTER 23.
THE REBELLION OF 1837-8. WILLIAM 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 1837.-FOUR REGIMENTS IN GLENGARRY.-LIST OF
OFFICERS. SIR JOHN COLBORNE NOTIFIES COLONEL MACDON-
ELL THAT HE HAS CALLED ON THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF
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
THOUSAND MEN MUSTER AT LANCASTER. TEMPORARY
SUPPRESSION OF THE REBELLION.
"A course of careful observation during the last eleven years
has fully satisfied me that, had the violent movement in which I and
a good many others were 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 millions, 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." * * * "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
an amnesty, seven or eight years ago, till under the convictions of
more recent experience? No; I studied earnestly the workings of
the institutions before me and the manners of the people, and looked
276
at what had been done, until few men, even natives, had been better
schooled. The result is not a desire to obtain power and influence
here, but to help, if I can and all I can, the country of my birth."
-William Lyon Mackenzie to Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the
Colonies, February 3rd, 1849.
*
*
*
(Extract from a pastoral address of Bishop Macdonell, dated
1st December, 1838.)
"In exculpation of the Canadian Rebellion little can be said.
The Canadians 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 laws 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 upon 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.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
277
"The most inexcusable part, however, of the conduct of the
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.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
"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 honourable and loyal part which our fathers
bore in the events of that 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 into a separate Province,
the principles upon which this country was thereafter 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 test of ages, and which guaranteed
to those who lived under it as much freedom and happiness as is
possible to be enjoyed under the subordination necessary to civilized
society. We have seen that the largest addition to those original
settlers was composed of the soldiers of a disbanded Highland Regi-
ment, the Glengarry Fencibles, brought to this country and established
278
here in their homes by that loyal and devoted subject of the Crown,
their Chaplain, who soon became the first Catholic Bishop of Upper
Canada, who still survived, and who stood so high in the confidence
of successive representatives of the Sovereign. When the country
was invaded by the people of the United States, we 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 see.
Previous to the outbreak of the Rebellion, murmurings and mut-
terings had for 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, was that in his anxious 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 loyal 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 make such an easy conquest of Canada when
war was declared in 1812, and although the result of that war left
us in the enjoyment 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 afforded
by the execution of the traitors hanged at Ancaster by the order of
General Drummond, and the imprisonment of others, they took care
to avoid public expression of them, yet they at the same time
instilled them into the minds of their children, and they bore fruit in
the Rebellion of 1837-8. These 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 and residences of persons
arrested in Upper Canada and placed in confinement 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, II.
In the Province of Upper Canada but thirteen hundred regular
troops, including artillerymen, were scattered here and there from
Kingston to Penetanguishene, while in the Lower Province about
two thousand soldiers were stationed at various points 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 carry into effect their
ulterior objects, namely, the separation of this country from Eng-
land and the establishment of a republican form of government,"
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 Provinces, and their aims, so far as the overthrow of existing
institutions was concerned, were identical. When Sir Francis Bond-
Head arrived in Toronto, and relieved Sir John Colborne (who was
then appointed to the military command of both 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."(1)
On the 31st July, a precious document, styled "A Declaration of
Independence" 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 and the Farmers' Bank at Toronto, while they
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 necks, 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 thousands for lands less favoured by nature but blest
with free institutions and just government." 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 Government
permitted an undue license, not only of speech and writing, but
allowed the vigilance committees to become the nuclei of military
organizations. Shooting matches became fashionable, a brisk busi-
ness in the manufacture of pikes was carried on, and drilling was
practised more or less openly, while Mr. Lindsey states that an
occasional feu de joie on Yonge 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
sedition, 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
1837. A collision had occurred between the Governor and the
Legislature, which had abrogated the Constitution by a continued
(1) McMullen's History, p. 433.
281
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 St. Charles, on the Richelieu, being
attended by over five thousand people. At St. Hyacinthe the tri-
colored flag 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
Mobs 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
discountenance all schemes of rebellion (1). The people, however,
became more and more restless as they felt the influence of the
clergy setting against them, and priests were insulted in their
churches, on one 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 even by the
powerful influence of the Catholic Church, yet even so pronounced
an enemy of that Church as Mr. Lindsey admits 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
banners and some guns, and threw the printing material of their
organ, the “Vindicator," into the street. On the 12th November a
proclamation was issued directing the suppression of seditious meet-
ings. Bodies of armed peasantry began to assemble near the Riche-
lieu River, particularly at St. John and Chambly, and Sir John
Colborne, perceiving that the crisis was at hand, moved his head-
quarters to Montreal, where he concentrated all the troops that had
been withdrawn from Upper Canada and all that could be spared
from Quebec.
(1) Lindsey's Life of Mackenzie, IL., p. 49.
2) McMullen's History, 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
District 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 Colonel Angus Macdonell had seen much service during
1812-15, 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 1839, 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 other 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.
283
GLENGARRY MILITIA—IST REGIMENT (CHARLOTTENBURG.)
Colonel-A. Fraser, April 1, 1822.
Lieutenant-Colonel-A. McMartin, March 6, 1837.
Major-D. Fraser, January 1, 1838.
Captains.
A. McGillis, June 19, 1822. J. McLennan, Jan. 1, 1838
D. McPherson, June 20, 1822.
A. McDougall,
ditto.
P. Ferguson, April 13, 1830.
J. Macdonald, Jan. 1, 1838.
D. McPherson,
ditto.
A. Fraser,
ditto.
W. Urquhart,
ditto.
F. Macdonald,
ditto.
Lieutenants.
W. McKenzie,
ditto.
J. Dingwall,
ditto.
J. McDonald,
ditto,
J. Cumming,
ditto.
P. Grant,
ditto.
J. McBain,
ditto.
A. Macdonell,
ditto.
J. Hay,
ditto.
D. Fraser,
ditto.
K. Murchison,
ditto.
Ensigns.
Jno. Macpherson,
ditto.
James Grant,
ditto.
A. Macpherson,
ditto.
D. Macpherson,
ditto.
A. Macdonell,
ditto.
M. McGruer,
ditto.
R. Maclennan,
ditto.
J. Curry,
ditto.
J. Rose,
ditto.
D. Cameron,
ditto.
Adjutant-J. Cumming, January 1, 1838.
Quarter-Master-A. Campbell, January 1, 1838.
Surgeon D. E. McIntyre, January 1, 1838.
SECOND REGIMENT MILITIA.
Colonel-Donald Macdonell, January 1, 1822.
Lt. Col.-Duncan Macdonell, ditto.
Major-John McIntyre, April 16, 1812.
Captains.
A. McKenzie, April 21, 1812.
W. McLeod,
ditto.
D. McMillan, April 25, 1812.
J. Macdonell, Jan. 25, 1814.
Angus Kennedy, ditto.
Alex Grant, Jan. 25, 1814.
D. Macdonell, May 21, 1814.
P. McIntyre,
ditto.
A. Wilkinson, Feb. 25, 1822.
A. Macdonald, July 15, 1822.
Lieutenant
P. Cameron, April 23, 1812.
D. McMartin, April 25, 1812.
A. S. Macdonell, ditto.
R. Macdonell,
A. Macdonell,
ditto.
ditto.
R. McLeod, Oct. 20, 1815.
J. Macdonell, Oct. 21, 1815.
J. McMartin, Oct. 22, 1815.
D. Chisholm, Oct. 24, 1815.
Ensigns.
D. McPhail, Jan. 25, 1814.
J. McIntyre, Jan. 25, 1814.
D. Macdonell, Oct. 19, 1825.
A. Macdonell, Oct. 20, 1825.
N. McIntosh, Oct. 24, 1825.
R. Macdonell, Oct. 25, 1825.
J. McGillis, Oct. 25, 1825.
R. Macdonell, Oct. 27, 1825.
284
M. McMartin, Oct. 21, 1825. J. Fraser, Oct. 28, 1825.
A. Kennedy, Oct. 22, 1825.
Adjutant-D. Macdonell, October 19, 1814.
Quarter-Master-R. Macdonell, November 22, 1830.
THIRD GLENGARRY MILITIA.
(As given in the Militia List of 1838.)
Colonel A. Chisholm, June 27, 1825.
Lieutenant Colonel-George C. Wood, June 27, 1825.
Major D. McDonald, December 20, 1837.
Captains.
D. McLeod, Nov. 13, 1820.
A. Cameron, Nov. 1, 1827.
A. Cattanach, Nov. 7, 1827.
A. McNab, Nov. 9, 1827.
D. McGillivray, April 12, 1830. J. Stewart, Dec. 20, 1837.
T. Duncan, April 28, 1835.
K. Mackenzie, April 28, 1835.
D. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837-
A. Cameron, Dec. 20, 1837.
Lieutenants.
E. McMillan, Nov. 3, 1827.
D. McDonald, Nov. 7, 1827.
D. McRae, April 13, 1830.
D. Macdonell, April 28, 1835.
A. Macdonald, April 28, 1835.
R. McGillivray, Dec. 20, 1830.
D. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837.
W. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837.
D. Macpherson, Dec. 20, 1837.
J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837.
Ensigns.
T. Chisholm, Dec. 20, 1837.
J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837.
A. Campbell, Dec. 20, 1837.
D. Macdonell, Dec. 20, 1837..
R. McLeod, Dec. 20, 1837.
FOURTH REGIMENT GLENGARRY MILITIA.
Colonel A. Macdonell, June 27, 1837.
Lieutenant-Colonel-A. Macdonell, October 18, 1837.
Major A. Macdonell, October 18, 1837.
Captains.
G. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 1837. A. McKinnon, Oct. 21 1837.
J. McKenzie, Oct. 23, 1837.
N. Macdonell, Oct. 19, 1837.
A. Macdonell, Oct. 20, 1837.
Lieutenants.
A. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 1837.
C. Chisholm, Oct. 19, 1837.
K. McLennan, Oct. 20, 1837.
J. Macdonell, Oct. 21, 1837.
D. Macdonell, Oct. 23, 1837.
Ensigns.
A. Fisher, Oct. 18, 1837. A. Macdonald, Oct. 21, 1837.
D. Macdonald, Oct. 19, 1837. Henry 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, 1 December, 1837.
SIR, I am directed by Lieutenant-General Sir John Colborne
285
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 to 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 GOLDIE, A.D.C.
Colonel Macdonell, Second Glengarry Militia, Cornwall.
Colonel Macdonell immediately notified the commanding offi-
cers of the several regiments, took such other active steps as were
necessary, and knowing full well how readily any call would be re-
sponded to, wrote to Sir John Colborne 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, opposite 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 the rebels at St. Benoit and
Grand Brule.
I have, &c.,
THOS. LEIGH GOLDIE, A.D.C.
Colonel Donald Macdonell, com'g. Glengarry Militia.
Sir John Colborne 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 Light Dragoons (Provincial), the Montreal Volun-
teer Cavalry and Rifle Corps and other militia. At St. Eustache
some slight resistanee was offered and a few lives lost. At St. Benoit
(Grand Brule) two hundred and fifty insurgents surrendered at dis-
cretion, and were for the most part dismissed, only the ringleaders
286
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 persons. Papineau and Wolfred Nelson
had now fled the country.
It will be observed that the date of the first letter to Colonel
Macdonell, advising him of the call for assistance 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 relief of
the loyal people of the Lower Province.
Mr. Christie, in a note to volume 5, page 14, quotes as follows:
"The Cornwall'Observer' of the 21st 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 Regiments 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 "Observer," "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.'"
287
CHAPTER 24.
""
SIR JOHN 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,
MONTREAL, 15th January, 1838.
“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.
I remain, dear sir,
Yours very faithfully,
J. COLBORNE.
Colonel Macdonell, commanding Glengarry Militia.
A similar letter was on the same day addressed to Col. 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
Lieutenant-Colonel-Donald Macdonell (Greenfield).
Major-Alexander Macdonell (Aberchalder).
Captains.
Donald Macdonell (Buidh),
Malcolm McMartin,
Ranald Macdonell,
Neil Macdonald,
George Macdonell (Greenfield), Allan Cameron.
Lieutenants.
Angus McDougall,
Donald McDougall,
Donald Chisholm,
John Stewart,
Thomas Oliver,
Alexander Macdonell.
Ensigns.
Alexander Macdonell,
Alexander McGregor,
Angus Kennedy,
Adjutant-William Hayes.
Paymaster-Alexander Macdonell.
Quarter-Master-Angus Macdonell.
John Macdonell,
Alexander Cameron,
Donald 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 unfortunately 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 to inform you, that, from the reports which have reached
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.
To Colonel Fraser,
I have, etc.,
CHAS. GORE,
Deputy Quarter Master General.
Commanding First Glengarry Regiment.
Colonel Fraser's (Charlottenburgh) Regiment was quartered at
St. Philippe, in the County of Laprairie. When Colonel Macdonell's
289
(Lancaster) Regiment went down I am unable to ascertain. It was
stationed at Napierville, and both remained in Lower Canada during
the winter.
The Charlottenburg Regiment returned in March, the Mont-
real "Herald" of the zoth 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 a 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, Donald
Greenfield Macdonell, marched into town en route to Upper Canada
from Napierville, 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-
trict 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 enabled to report most favourably to His Ex-
cellency the Commander of the Forces on the appearance and effi-
ciency 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.
290
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. (1)
Having returned to Upper Canada they were disembodied in
accordance with the following letter:
MONTREAL, I1th 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 alarm for the defence of the Province,
which measure becomes the more desirable as, from the advanced
period of the season, many of the men 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 permission 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 firmly 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
on 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 Charlottenburg Regiment was
released from further service.
(1) Judge Pringle, p. 260.
291
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 BEAUHARNOIS.-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. While the Home Government ap-
proved of this course the Imperial Parliament censured him, and Lord
Durham accordingly 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 dastardly work of agitation, and
countenanced by the unprincipled portions of the American border
population, (1) secret associations had been formed along the frontier
(1) "Hunters' Lodges" had been formed in various towns and places on the frontier in
the United States, according to the statements of prisoners taken at Prescott, among others at
Oswego, Salina, Liverpool, Syracuse, Auburn, Great Bend, Palema, Dexter, Evans' Mills, Wa-
tertown, Brownville, Lerayville, Sackett's Harbour, Cape Vincent, Chaumont, Millen's Bay,
Alexandria Bay, Orleans, Flat Rock, Ogdensburg, Rossie Village. These societies are supposed
to have originated in the State of Vermont in May, 1838. Their objects are shewn by the nature
of the oath each "Hunter" had to take: "I swear to do my utmost to promote repub-
lican institutions and ideas throughout the world-to cherish them, to defend them;
and especially to devote myself to the propagation, protection and defence of these institutions
in North America. I pledge my life, my property and my sacred honor to the association. I
bind myself 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 especially never to rest till all tyrants of Britain cease to have
any dominion or footing whatever in North America So help me God."
292
of both Canadas and a combined system of invasion and insurrection
organized. It would appear, therefore, that the country was again
to be plunged into turmoil, and steps were taken to place the militia
regiments in readiness for the emergency. It was 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.
When 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 of
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 fortunate 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 bonds 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 Province), unseasonable discussion of your claims upon
Government, reposing with a generous confidence on the impartial
justice of a noble-minded and magnanimous Sovereign, whose plea-
sure and true happiness 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 proverbial.
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 barks 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 your
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 your valor and bravery see you
contribute so much to the preservation 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 and attachment to you
294
all, will 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,
Kingston, 1st December, 1838.
ALEXANDER MACDONELL.
On the 1st November Sir John Colborne wrote to Lieutenant-
Colonel Turner, Particular Service, at Cornwall as follows:
QUEBEC, November 1, 1838.
SIR, 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 to the disgraceful
proceedings on the frontier. I have, &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 the 5th and
6th. On the 4th Sir John Colborne by proclamation declared mar-
tial law again in force in the District of Montreal and on the previous
day the Special Council had been summoned to meet on the 9th.
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
had 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 Williamstown, John S.
McDougal, Duncan McDonald (Lachlan) and others. They next
surrounded the house 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 Phillpotts 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 Highlanders, which are supposed to be on their return
to Montreal from the Upper Province, have been ordered to join in
this movement and to pass over with the Glengarry Regiments.
The object of this movement is to disperse the rebels 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 effect
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 Regiment 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 and Lower Provinces. The letter then proceeds:
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, and if circumstances should render it
necessary to march to Vaudreuil, St. Annes and Point Claire in order
296
to keep that communicasion completely open, while he, by cross-
ing over to Laprairie, Caughnawaga and Chateauguay, disperses the
rebels on that side of the St. Lawrence and restores tranquility 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 should remain at Lancaster in command of all 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 important 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 to 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 blow for their Queen and British connec-
tion. As fast as he got them enrolled and supplied them with arms
he sent them by steamers to Coteau, where he meant to start from.(1)
The Glengarry Regiments were landed at Hungry Bay on the
10th 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:
BEAUHARNOIS, 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, Norman, 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 Hall, Assist. Qr.-Mr.-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 following 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 Col. Donald Æneas 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 Phillpotts at
Beauharnois reflect the highest credit on these officers.
* * *
JOHN EDEN, D.A.G.
Sir John Colborne, in his despatch to Lord Glenelg, November
11, 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, promptitude and gallantry 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) was commanded to convey to them through Sir John Col-
borne Her Majesty's sense of their valuable services, which was
accordingly done by Sir John Colborne on the 12th January, 1839.
298
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 Colonel 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 Forces.
After having, as stated, only about time to recover from the
fatigue of their march to Beauharnois, orders were issued to the
Glengarry Regiments to return to the Upper Province. The follow-
ing letter was addressed to Colonels Macdonell. and Fraser :
BEAUHARNOIS, 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 landed near Johnstown between five and eight hundred men,
with eight pieces of cannon, His Excellency the Commander of the
Forces 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 short 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 Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to dismiss them. I have, &c.,
GEORGE PHILLPOTTS, A.Q.M.G.
Early in the same month (November) unusual numbers of
strangers were 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 Lodges, 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. Floating rumours had been in circulation for several
days that an attack might be expected in the vicinity of Prescott,
and on the night of Sunday, the 11th November, information was
received that a large number of armed men had embarked on the
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 flat at the mouth of the harbour, the others
dropping down the river,anchored about midstream,opposite the Wind-
mill (1). This building stood upon a bluff rocky point a mile and a
half below Prescott. It was of circular form, massively constructed
of stone, its walls three and 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 still stands,
an object of much interest to passengers 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, and were soon joined by numbers who crossed from Ogdensburg
in small 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.
Early on Monday morning a little steamer, the "Experiment,”
under command of Lieutenant Fowell, R.N., was despatched from
Brockville to the assistance of their neighbours. She was armed
with two small cannon, and continued during the day to make it
(1) Croil's History of Dundas, from which I take the account of this event.
300
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 trip 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 moment expecting an attack from the brigands.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gowan with a detachment of the 9th
Provincial Battalion, numbering 140 men, also arrived at Prescott.
On Tuesday morning early, a battalion of Dundas 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 was 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 line, part of
Colonel Gowan's battalion, sixty men under Edmonston, 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 Wind-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 walls 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, loading and firing with great precision. The
enemy 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 Wind-mill and the adjacent stone build-
ings, from which they maintained a vigorous fire upon their assailants,
who suffered severely from the sharp-shooters that were posted 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.
301
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
a 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 "Brockville," 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. The Eighty Third, with the heavy cannon, took up a
position in rear of the Wind-mill, and immediately 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 the enemy's main fortress. "The flames
raging in 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
302
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, Ensign 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 of
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 his
force and his indefatigable exertions; to Colonel McBean, R.A.;
to Colonel R. Duncan Fraser; to Lieutenant-Colonel Gowan and
Captain George Greenfield Macdonell, and to all 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.”
303
CHAPTER 26.
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 MOODIE.-NAVY ISLAND.- CUTTING
OUT OF THE "CAROLINE."-SHE IS SENT OVER THE FALLS of
NIAGARA. "GENERAL" VAN RENSELLAER DISlodged.
TROUBLE ON THE MICHIGAN FRONTIER.-A SPECIMEN "PRO-
CLAMATION. · ATTACKS AT AMHERSTBUrg.-RendeZVOUS AT
WATERTOWN.-FURTHER ATTACKS IN THE WEST.DEPARTURE
OF SIR FRANCIS HEAD. ADVENT OF SIR G. ARTHUR.-
EXECUTION OF LOUNT 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 of brigand "sympathizers." In the west,
however, it was different, yet as the Glengarry Regiments were em
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, as they will be found elsewhere in
Lindsey's Life of William Lyon Mackenze, in Dent's two volumes of
the Upper Canadian Rebellion, and other works. Early in Decem-
ber, 1837, the insurgents had narrowly missed capturing Toronto,
owing to the supineness of the Lieutenant-Governor, 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. Warnings
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
304
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 transmitted 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 portion 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
With 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, 1838.
All this was very well in its way, and tallied with the declara-
tion of the somewhat 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 regiment of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promul-
gate, let them come if they dare." When Sir John Colborne with-
drew the troops from 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 rashly declined. It was then determined
by the insurgent leaders that early in December they should assem-
ble their force, which they anticipated would number about 4000,
at Montgomery'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
305
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, the 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-afterwards Sir-Allan Macnab at their head, had ar-
rived from 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 Moodie, who had previously com-
manded the 104th Regiment of Foot, was cowardly murdered by the
rebels when passing Montgomery'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 probably 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 transportation, 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 £1000 being offered for his
apprehension and £500 for that of Gibson, Lount, Fletcher and
Loyd, the other leaders of this movement. Colonel Macnab and
his loyal "men of Gore" were then ordered to the London District,
5
306
-
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 £500 for the apprehension of
the Lieutenant-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
the 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" was 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 Macnab and Lieutenant
Drew. It very nearly led to war between Great Britain and the
307
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 Colborne now determined to adopt in Upper Canada
the same efféctual methods by which he had suppressed the rebellion
in the Lower Province. Although the season was mid-winter, it
was remarkably open, the St. Lawrence being navigable until the
middle of January and the upper lakes and rivers free from ice. He
accordingly forwarded from Lower Canada a sufficient number of
troops to garrison the more exposed 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 driveu 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 named Sutherland, an American citizen, who styled him-
self "General of the Second Division of the Patriot Army," 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 the patriot forces and free your land from tyranny. Hordes of
308
worthless parasites of the British Crown are quartered upon you to
devour your substance, to outrage 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. SUTHERLAND, Brigadier-General.
Headquarters, 2nd Division, Bois Blanc, U.C., Jan. 9, 1838.
Associated with "Brigadier-General" Sutherland were the fol-
lowing distinguished warriors with their titles: Henry 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. Wilson, Major-General;
E. J. Roberts, "Brigadier-General of the First Brigade;" Dr. Theller,
"Brigadier-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, on 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
neighbourhood, and were found quite equal to the occasion. Sev
eral feints were made before they came to close quarters, which re-
sulted 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 firce 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
309
Watertown, in the State of New York, with his colleague Mackenzie,
where with one 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 "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 far as I know has he had Montgomery's
good fortune in being compensated for the "losses" he undoubtedly
sustained.
A Scotchman named Donald McLeod (1), who was of course a
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, establishing itself in the end of February at Point
au Pelee, about forty miles from Amherstburg. They were dispersed
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
convicted, however, owing to some technicality in his trial, and his
release was ordered by the Government.
On the 6th March, 1838, Sir Francis Head prorogued the Leg-
islature in a lengthy review of recent circumstances, and retired,
being succeeded 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, Invernessshire, Scotland,
and became a sergeant in the British Army, after his discharge from which he taught school at
Brockville, U.C. He seems to have been a thoroughly bad lot.
(2) McMullen's History, p. 461.
310
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 in 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.
311
MENTS
CHAPTER 27.
FURTHER ATTACKS ON BORDER TOWNS IN UPPER CANADA.
COLONEL PRINCE'S LACONIC DESPATCH.-GLENGARRY REGI-
AND OTHERS GARRISON CORNWALL IN WINTER OF
1838 9.
OFFICERS ON PARTICULAR SERVICE. COLONELS
TURNER, K.H., AND CARMICHAEL.-THEIR THANKS TO THE
MILITIA OF DISTRICT. LETTERS OF BOTH TO COLONEL
FRASER, COMMANDING CHARLOTTENBURG REGIMENT. AR-
RIVAL OF SIR JAMES MACDONELL, IN COMMAND OF BRIGADE
of GUARDS. HIS GREAT MILITARY Career.-DEFENCE OF
HOUGOUMONt.—InvestED WITH ORDER OF THE BATH BY SIR
JOHN COLBORN.—Addresses of Magistrates oF 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 required. At Amherstburg, Fort Mal-
den was repaired, barracks were commenced at London, Fort Mis-
sissaga 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
(1), 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. 462.
312
ting some robberies in the shops, escaped.(1) 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 closed 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 Kingston, including Von Schultz. Of the remainder, most of
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.
313
regarding the American Government. Two Regiments of Glen-
garrys are immediately to be stationed in this town. In haste.
Yours very faithfully,
C. B. TURNER, Colonel Com'g.
To Colonel Fraser, 1st Glengarry Militia.
At
Judge Pringle states (1) that during the fall of 1838 and the
early part of 1839 the First Provisional Battalion under 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 Macdonell, Major 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.
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 under Colonel Donald Æneas Macdonell was
on duty in the Township of Cornwall. In the spring of 1839 the
First Stormont, the Third Glengarry and Captain Pringle's Company
of Artillery 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),
(C '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.
(2 Referring to the Independent Company of Glengarry Light Infantry, which garrisoned
Coteau du Lac under Captain Alexander Greenfield Macdonell until June, 1843.
314
they would like the imputation (probably never intended) that they
were not capable of defending their own frontier!
At the expiration of two years, Colonel Vankoughnet's Regi-
ment was re-enlisted for two years, and 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 to Prescott. In May, 1843, all the five incorporated battalions.
were disbanded. They were clothed and armed as 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 nucleus for
the training of our militia and volunteers.(1)
Early in the rebellion the authorities in England had sent out
officers of experience to take command of the militia and superintend
the formation and drill of the regiments and companies ordered out
for service. Judge Pringle gives. the names and stations of these.
officers as follows: Colonel Chichester, Chatham; Colonel Mar
shall, Brockville; Colonel Cox, K. H., Whitby; Colonel Carmichael
(2), Lancaster and Coteau du Lac; Colonel Young and afterwards
Colonel Williams, Prescott; Captain Baron de Rottenburg, Belle-
ville; Captain Swan, Niagara ; Colonel Turner, K. H., Cornwall.
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-
vice in the Forty-Second (Black Watch) Highlanders. He had the
Peninsular medal with ten clasps for Corunna, Fuentes D'Onor,
Ladajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes and
Toulouse.
Colonel Carmichael, who had 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.
reply was as follows :
His
PRESCOTT, May 24, 1839.
Gentlemen,-I beg you will accept 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 I have been employed amongst you your zeal
and good conduct could not have been surpassed, and there cannot
(1) Pringle, p. 267.
(2) Colonel Carmichael was a Highlander and an enthusiastic lover of the language, dress
and traditions of the Gael. He built the cairn at the mouth of the River au Raisin near Lancas-
'ter in honour of Sir John Colborne, afterwards Field Marshal Lord Seaton. He had seen service
in the East Indies.
315
be a stronger proof of your attention to your duty than my not hav-
ing 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
loyal and brave countrymen to uphold the reputation of Glengarry
is my sincere wish. Agus creidiruh gu brath, gu mi ur caraid dileas.
L. CARMICHAEL, Col. P.S.
Col. 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 that 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 soil 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
full :
316
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 good 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 hospitality 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 believe 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 this
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 Colborne, 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.,
"}
317
Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable C. Grey, the 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
"The Bravest Man in Britain." He was the third son of Duncan
Macdonell, 14th Chief of Glengarry, by Marjory, daughter of Sir
Ludovic Grant, Bart., of Dalvey, and a brother of Alastair Ranald-
son Macdonell, 15th Chief, described by Mackenzie(1) as "being
truly called 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
1796, 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 Waterloo, however, that he covered
himself with greatest glory. He was then a Lieutenant-Colonel in
the Guards and was in the Second Brigade of the First Division,
(1) History of the Macdonalds 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 Mr. Mackenzie. Sir Walter and Glengarry
were warm personal friends. Sir Walter writes in his journal (Lockhart's Life, p. 606, Abbots-
ford edition): "February 14, 1826. I had a call from Glengarry yesterday, as kind and friendly
as usual. This gentleman is a kind of Quixote in our age, having retained in their full extent, the
whole feeling of clanship and chieftainship, elsewhere so long abandoned. 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, generous, 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 to admit his pretentions. To dispute them is to incur his resentment, which has
sometimes broken out in acts of violence, which have brought him into collision with the law.
To me he is a treasure, as being full of information as to the history of his own clan and the
manners and customs of the Highlands in general. Strong, active and muscular, he follows the
chase of the deer for days and nights together, sleeping in his plaid when darkness overtakes
him. The number of his singular exploits would fill a volume; for, as his pretentions are high,
and not always willing to yield to, he is every now and then giving rise to some rumor.
He is,
on many of these occasions, as much sinned against as sinning; for men, knowing his temper,
sometimes provoked him, anxious that Glengarry, from his character for violence, will always be
put in the wrong by the public. I have seen him behave in a very manly manner when thus
tempted."
Mr. John Galt bears testimony of a similar nature in one of his tales, "The Steamboat,'
in reference to an affair which occurred 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 mountain race, or encouraging, by his example, the love of the hill and the
heather," "a proud and bold son of the mountain," "the noble that a king cannot make, for it
is beyond the monarch's power to bestow the honour of a chieftianship, even on the Duke of Wel-
lington, as all true Highlanders know." He was killed on the 14th January, 1828, when jumping
from the wrecked steamer "Stirling Castle,” at Corran, near Fort William. His clansmen carried
his body on their shoulders over the hills to his seat, Invergarry Castle. I have heard old people
tell of the wailing throughout Gengarry in Scotland and the sadness in Glengarry in Canada
when their beloved chieftain was no more. I knew how they loved him and gloried in him, and
how many, many years after his death, and in this far off land, old eyes would kindle at the men-
tion of his nams,
318
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
Coldstream 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 Napoleon 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. At last the bayonets of the Guards carried all before
them, and five individuals, Lieutenant-Colonel (now Lieutenant-
General) Macdonell, Captain (now Lieutenant-General) Wyndham,
Ensign (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 Walter Scott concludes "The Field of Waterloo " 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 Western Hougoumont thy way begin;
There was our strength on that side, and there first
In all its force, the storm of battle burst.
Sir James was created a K.C.H. in 1837 and a K.C.B. in
319
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 distinguished 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." "With 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 led 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 Waterloo, 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 Waterloo 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
320
for the marks of affectionate knidness I have received in the Coun-
ties of Glengarry and Stormont. 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'l.
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,
I
Gentlemen,-I have received with no ordinary feelings of pride
and gratification the address which has been presented to me.
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 Î 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 consolation 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.
321
his memory by, in the hour of danger, maintaining the honour of
their country.
And now, gentlemen, permit me to bid you farewell, and to
once more assure you that individually and collectively I shall pray
for your happiness and prosperity.
J. MACDONELL, Lt.-Gen'l.
Sir James Macdonell had evidently, previous to his leaving
Canada, been offered the command of the Forces or the Lieutenant-
Governorship of the Upper Province, as I find the following in one
of his letters (December, 1840) relating to family matters, "I have
declined Upper Canada, as the brevet which I confidently look for
must remove me from the Staff of North America; and if even a
brevet should not appear, I mean to return to England with the
Brigade of Guards should they be called home in spring or summer,
which is more than probable."
Sir James died unmarried in 1857.
322
CHAPTER 28.
BISHOP MACDONELL-HIS SERVICES TO THE Crown, His Coun-
TRYMEN AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.-HIS DEATH AT
DUMFRIES, SCOTLAND.-FUNERAL IN EDINBURGH.-OBITU-
ARY NOTICES. TABLET AT ST. RAPHAELS.—GILFINNAN'S
POEM.-REMOVAL OF HIS REMAINS TO CANADA.
Bishop 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, 1840.
As to the place of his birth, as not unfrequently is the case,(1)
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., of 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, 1787,
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
connection with that corps as Chaplain during the Irish Rebellion
and while it continued on service until disbanded during the Peace
of Amiens in 1802, 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)
(1) A striking instance in point is that of the Duke of Wellington; although the son of an
Irish Peer, the Earl of Mornington, it is uncertain whether he was born in Dublin or at Dungan
Castle, Meath, nor is the date of his birth certain. It was in the spring of 1769, in the latter end
of April or beginning of May.
(2) P. 134 et seq.
323
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. While
he was a pillar of the Catholic Church-almost its pioneer in Upper
Canada-he was a bulwark of the Throne. By precept and exam-
ple, again and again he proved his stern, unfailing loyalty, and drew
from the highest authorities repeated expressions of gratitude and
thanks. While 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 all 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
loyalty, 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
324
whole of the Province 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 savages
-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 their dangerous and wretched craft. Nor 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 seat 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
and in promoting general education."
Upper Canada was erected into a Bishopric by Leo XII. on
14th February, 1826, and Bishop Macdonell appointed first Bishop
under the title of Bishop of Resina, 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 Government.(1) His Diocese comprised
the present Province of Ontario, and bas since been subdivided into
the Dioceses of Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa,
Pembroke, Peterborough and Alexandria.
(1) His episcopal ring was given to him by His Majesty George IV. It is a very beautiful
amethyst, surrounded by diamonds, and is now worthily worn by his namesake, the Bishop of
the Diocese of Alexandria.
325
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 England 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.
Raphael'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 10th of April, 1837. His funeral discourse
was pronounced by Doctor (afterward Cardinal) Wiseman, 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 this 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. Aware 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 inhabitants of the
Counties 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 always 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 people of the county against those whom he designated as
"wicked, hypocritical radicals, who are endeavouring to drive the
326
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 1818 he procured from the Duke of York, President of the
Highland Society, a commission to establish a branch of that insti-
tution in Canada. It was addressed to William 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 10th 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-Presidents,
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
327
Celtic literature neglected, while some collection of Gaelic poetry
was made.
Owing, however, to the death of some and the removal of others
of 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 fixed, 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.
We 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 of 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 maintenance of the British
Constitution, may array Catholics and Orangemen side by side, and
hand in hand, to achieve a victory more bloodless than, yet as
glorious as, that which they won on the empurpled field of Waterloo.
We take leave of your Lordship, with a fervent wish that
Providence may gild the setting sun of your declining days with
328
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 Lritish 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 visit 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,(1) 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 parting salute.
The Bishop and his party landed at Liverpool on the 1st of
August, 1839. Soon after his 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
(1) It is stated that during a time in 1837-8, when the regular troops were absent from
Kingston, Bishop Macdonell had charge of the garrison.
329
obtain, in the West 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, accompanied by a severe cough; and although he
placed himself under the care of the President of Carlow College,
and afterwards with the Jesuits of Clongowes Wood, 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 Hill,
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 roth
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 peace, 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
arrived, 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.
330
In 1861 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 Diocese
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 meet 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:
"THE
"On the 18th of June, 1843,
"THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF CANADA
"Erected this Tablet to the memory of
HONOURABLE AND RIGHT
" ALEXANDER MACDONELL,
"BISHOP OF KINGSTON,
“Born 1760. Died 1840;
REVEREND
"Though dead, he still lives 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 in the advance-
ment and prosperity of Canada West, no one probably has won for
himself in so great a degree the esteem of all classes of his fellow
citizens as has Bishop Macdonell.
331
"Arriving in Canada at an 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 care. In him they found a friend and counsellor; to them
he endeared himself through his unbounded benevolence and
greatness of soul. Moving among all classes and creeds, with a
mind unbiassed by religions prejudices, taking an interest in 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 Institutions; and infused into the hearts of
his fellow-countrymen and others an equal enthusiasm for their pre-
servation and maintenance. Indeed, his noble conduct on several
occasions tended so much to the preservation of loyalty that it drew
from the highest authority repeated expressions of thanks and
gratitude. As a member of the Legislative Council of Upper
Canada (to which he was called by Sir John Colborne on October
12th, 1831), his active mind, strengthened by experience acquired
by constant associations with all 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,
welfare 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 influence; as a friend, he was
sincere, enthusiastic and unchangeable in his attachments. Such,
indeed, was the liberality of his views and the inexpressible benignity
332
of 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 poet of some celebrity, appeared in the Edinburgh "Weekly
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,
When 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,
With purple pall and silken shroud,
And tassels sable hung,
And as they bore it slow along,
They chanted forth the burial song,
By hundred voices sung-
"He's gone! he's gone! the spirit is fled,
And now we mourn the honoured dead!”
And many a Priest with mitred brow,
Before the Holy Cross did bow,
And joined the mournful strain.
"The living once!—the lifeless now!
All, all, to Death's fell grasp must bow,
Nor come they back again!
The tide gives back its ebbing wave,
But there's no return from the darksome grave !
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,
With 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 below!
Did good where good was to be done,
But his race is o'er, and the prize is won!
They chanted the Requiem in cadence deep-
The good may grieve, but the dead shall sleep,
When 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!
Like a shock of corn he ripely fell,
His days were long, but he used them well!
CHORUS.
Raise the crosier o'er the dead,
Chants are sung, and Mass is said;
Bear him to the dwelling low
Where all sons of Adam go.
Sisters, brothers, onward come,
Earth is but a living tomb,
Full of sorrow, full of sadness,
Little joy, and little gladness;
Listen what the Scripture saith,
"In midst of life we walk in death !”
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
almost entirely Scotchmen, as their names would indicate. Those
in 1804 were John Gregory, William MacGillivray, Duncan Mac-
Gillivray, William Hallowell and Roderick Mackenzie, composing
the house of McTavish, Frobisher & Co., of Montreal; Angus
335
▼
Shaw, Daniel Mackenzie, William McKay, John McDonald, Donald
McTavish, John McDonell, Archibald Norman McLeod, Alexander
McDougall, Charles Charboillez, John Sayer, Peter Grant, Alexan-
der Fraser, Æneas Cameron, John Finlay, Duncan Cameron, James
Hughes, Alexander McKay, Hugh McGillis, Alexander Henry,
John McGillivray, James McKenzie, Simon Fraser, John Duncan
Campbell, David Thompson, John Thompson (composing the com-
pany or concern 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 Wills, 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 War of 1812-14 were formed into the Corps so
distinguished during that war known as the Corps des Voyageurs
Canadien, a list of the officers of which is given at page 185. It
was largely those 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 the enemy's war vessels "Scor-
pion" and "Tigress" in the closing days of that War.(1) The
name of this Corps and its distinguished services will be found con-
stantly referred to by all the historians who treat of the subject of
the War. Great 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 Company, 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
(1) I had intended giving an account of these occurrences, but through an unfortunate
oversight, for which I am more to blame than the printer, it was, although written out, omitted
from its proper place.
(2) Vide pages 154-5.
336
illegal detention he obtained damages to the extent of £3,000 ster-
ling. (1) Mr. Cameron remained but a short time in England, where
he was immediately set at liberty without even being brought to
trial, and on his return to Canada he retired from the Northwest
Company and settled at Williamstown, in this County, where he led
a quiet life in the genial company of several other old Nor'-Westers
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 princely hospitality are
aware.
Another of the partners was the Honourable John MacGilli-
vray, who also resided in the neighbourhood of Williamstown, and
became a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. He
was the father of the late Neil MacGillivray, who succeeded to the
estate of Dunmaglass in Scotland and the chieftainship of his clan,
and of Mr. George H. MacGillivray, so well known to us in Glen-
garry, who occupies the homestead of this highly respected family.
John 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 War(2), and
an elder brother, bound Mr. Macdonald to Mr. Simon MacTavish as
an apprenticed clerk in the Company, which he thus joined in 1791.
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 le bras croche. Our Scotch people, whose
French was not quite perfect, rendered it Brock-rosh, and by the
latter designation he is well and affectionately remembered. He
(1) 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 Macdonald, 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 leaving the Court House, is unknown.
Alexander Greenfield Macdonell, another brother of the latter,
was also a partner in 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 "Narrative of the tran-
sactions in the Red River country, from the commencement of the
operations of the Earl of Selkirk till the summer of the year 1816,"
published in London, England, in 1819, is an exceedingly able pre-
sentation of his Company's case. He died in Toronto while attend-
ing to his legislative duties before the Union of the Provinces in
1841.
Mr. Hugh McGillis, another partner, also settled at Williams-
town on his retirement from the company, and acquired a great deal
of property in the neighborhood. None 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, not a descend-
ant or representative of any of the above named gentlemen is now in
the County to my knowledge.
Another resident of Williamstown, a former partner in the
Northwest Company, and who had served as an Astronomer Royal
on the Pacific Coast, was Mr. David Thompson. Mr. Thompson
resided in the house (originally built by the Rev. Mr. Bethune),
now occupied by Mr. Murdoch Farquhar McLennan.

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