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GIFT OF 
 JANE K.SATHER 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND COKKESPONDENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL 
 
 SIR ISAAC BROCK, K, B. 
 
 What booteth it to have been rich alive ? 
 What to be great ? What to be glorious ? 
 If after death no token doth survive 
 Of former being in this mortal house, 
 But sleeps in dust, dead and inglorious ? 
 
 SPENCKR S "Ruin 
 
 EDITED BY HIS NEPHEW, 
 
 FERDINAND BROCK TUPPER, ESQ. 
 
 M 
 
 SECOND EDITION, CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED. 
 
 LONDON: 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & Co. 
 
 GUERNSEY \ 
 
Printed -b<y- S. BARBET, -Owernsey. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE first edition of this Memoir was compiled in a 
 very few weeks, amid other avocations, and while 
 attending the sick bed of my father, who died shortly 
 before its completion ; and owing to this want of 
 preparation, as well as to the difficulty of obtaining 
 materials after the lapse of so many years, and at so 
 great a distance from the scene of Sir Isaac Brock s 
 principal labours, I candidly confess that it did not 
 satisfy my own mind. But its publication having 
 happily drawn forth much valuable matter, which in 
 a few years would otherwise have been lost, it will be 
 seen, from a very cursory perusal of this volume, 
 that it is a great improvement on its predecessor, as 
 several errors, topographical and others, arising from 
 the cause just mentioned, have been corrected 
 many additional letters from Sir Isaac Brock are 
 introduced, while a few others to him of little interest 
 are omitted and some new and graphic anecdotes 
 and incidents are interwoven in the course of the 
 narrative.* Part of the new matter may, however, 
 appear to the general reader as uninteresting and 
 superfluous ; but, conceiving that every detail, relat 
 ing to the progress of a colony from its infant state, 
 possesses a local and statistical value, I have thought 
 such data worthy of being preserved. To Colonel 
 
 * The additional matter in this volume amounts to about one-third 
 of the first edition. 
 
 268728 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 bbon, who served many years in the 49th. as 
 well as to Chief Jus- nson, of Upper Canada, 
 
 who was an officer in the militia of that pro 
 during the war, I cannot sufficiently express my 
 obligation for the very kind and handsome manner 
 in which they complied with my request, and have 
 come forward to my assistance. The first edition 
 met with greater favor, particularly in Canada, than 
 I anticipated ; but having anxiously striven to amend 
 this volume having consulted every authority which 
 could amplify or elucidate my subject, I submit my 
 present work to the public with fewer apprehensions 
 of inaccuracy or mis-statement. And I may add, that 
 I have undertaken this edition because I felt it due 
 to Sir Isaac Brock, and, above all, because 1 
 ceived that the people of Upper Canada, who have 
 continued to evince an attachment for him which is 
 as honorable to themselves as to its object, and who 
 have raised a lofty column in stone to his memory. 
 had a right to expect the erection of a literary monu 
 ment, which should contain a faithful record of the 
 services of him who died in their defence. This 
 record was the more wanting "considering the 
 character of the distinguished chief who foil on the 
 British side at the Queenstown battle, of him who 
 undoubtedly was * the best officer that headed their 
 troops throughout the war""* because the Quar 
 terly Review for July, 18*2*2 in a very able article 
 on the Canadian Campaigns, which has sinee served 
 as a guide to the historian, and the materials for 
 which. I have been credibly informed, were partly 
 furnished by Major-General Procter or his relatives 
 has ascribed to that officer the chief merit of the 
 capture of Detroit and the American army, ^see pages 
 
 :id 44*2,) and has dismissed Sir Isaac Brock s 
 services with the meagre narration of scarcely a page 
 and a half, his fall being mentioned without eliciting 
 a single expression either of encomium or regret 
 
 * James* Military Occurrences. London, 1818. 
 
. I 
 
 although one would suppose that the reviewer would 
 JebVhtcd TO -ei/e -(> fitting a theme for graceful 
 lament and generous praise while General Procter s 
 subsequent operations occupy no less than ten or 
 eleven pages; the entire context, moreover, }<-. 
 the reader to suppose that General Procter, and not 
 General Brock, was "the hero of Upper Car.- 
 by which term the latter is still fondly arid honorably 
 remembered in that province. In consequent 
 Isaac Brock s character, gallantry, and exertion 
 not sufficiently known or appreciated on this fi< 
 the Atlantic; but, happily, the Canadian people have 
 in some measure repaired this cruel injustice this 
 want of common candour and generosity by award 
 ing to their hero that meed of fame which another 
 sought to withhold, and which his deeds and un 
 timely death should have secured to him. 
 
 In conclusion, I may be pardoned the addit> 
 my regret that this Memoir was not undertaken 
 many years ago by an officer, who, from having 
 -crved on the personal staff of the general, both at 
 Detroit and Queenstown, arid long enjoyed his esteem 
 and friendship, was in every way more qualified for 
 the task than myself, especially as my editorial 
 labours have been unaided by any notes or memo 
 randa of Sir Isaac Brock, who unfortunately was not 
 in the habit of committing to paper any private details 
 of his life or services, with the exception of a few 
 lines relative to the expedition to Detroit ; and this 
 regret will doubtless be shared by the reader on see 
 ing the following extract of a letter, now before me, 
 from that officer to Mr. William Brock, dated Fort 
 Niagara, American Territory, 30th December, 181*5: 
 " When I am allowed to enjoy a little leisure, I shall 
 riot be unmindful of your request, and will send some 
 anecdotes of the public and private life of my much 
 lamented friend, which will do honor to his memory. 
 At one time, I had thoughts of writing the first cam 
 paign, and prepared a preface, which I intended 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 should shew the wisdom and foresight of your illus 
 trious brother; but finding myself bound to relate so 
 many strong facts affecting my superiors, I paused 
 for reasons, which, in a military man, you will, I 
 think, consider prudent." What these anecdotes 
 were, or would have been, is now a matter of conjec 
 ture, as I fear that they are irrecoverably lost. Like 
 the writer of this letter, I have experienced some 
 hesitation in narrating facts, as I wished not to give 
 either pain or offence, remembering the maxim : 
 " On doit des egards aux vivans on ne doit aux 
 niorts que la verite ; " but my duty as a biographer 
 has prevailed over every other consideration ; and if, 
 as a civilian, I have laboured under a disadvantage 
 in describing military events, I trust that that disad 
 vantage is in some measure compensated by the 
 greater freedom with which I have been enabled to 
 write in illustration of my subject. This freedom 
 will doubtless be displeasing to a few, who, or whose 
 relatives, not having figured very creditably during 
 the war in Canada, will arraign this work as written 
 too much in accordance with a sentiment of the 
 French historian Bodin a sentiment ever upper 
 most in my mind while compiling it : " Autrefois on 
 ecrivait 1 histoire a Tusage du dauphin ; aujourd hui 
 c est a Pusage du peuple qu il faut 1 ecrire." 
 
 F. B. T. 
 
 GUERNSEY, April, 1847. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN the early part of last year, a box of manuscripts 
 and the trunks belonging to Sir Isaac Brock, which 
 had remained locked and unexamined for nearly 
 thirty years, were at length opened, as the general s 
 last surviving brother, Savery, in whose possession 
 they had remained during that period, was then, from 
 disease of the brain, unconscious of passing events. 
 With that sensibility which shrinks from the sight of 
 objects that remind us of a much-loved departed rela 
 tive or friend, he had allowed the contents to remain 
 untouched ; and when they saw the light, the gene 
 ral s uniforms, including the one in which he fell, 
 were much motheaten, but the manuscripts were 
 happily uninjured. On the return of the Editor 
 from South America, in May last, he for the first 
 time learnt the existence of these effects ; and a few 
 weeks after, having hastily perused and assorted the 
 letters and other papers, he decided on their publica 
 tion. Whether this decision was wise, the reader 
 must determine. If, on the one hand, part of their 
 interest be lost in the lapse of years ; on the other, 
 they, and the comments they have elicited, can now 
 be published with less risk of wounding private 
 feelings. 
 
 It has been the Editor s study to avoid all unne 
 cessary remarks on the letters in this volume, so as 
 to allow the writers to speak for themselves. But he 
 has deemed it a sacred obligation due to the memory 
 of Sir Isaac Brock, to withhold nothing descriptive 
 of his energetic views and intentions, and of the 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 obstacles he experienced in the vigorous prosecution 
 of the contest obstacles which his gallant spirit 
 could not brook, and which necessarily exposed 
 "his valuable life" much more than it would have 
 been in offensive operations. He regrets, however, 
 that in the performance of this duty, he must neces 
 sarily give pain to the relatives of the late Sir George 
 Prevost, of whose military government in Canada he 
 would much rather have written in praise than in 
 censure. 
 
 Brief memoirs are inserted, at the conclusion of 
 the Appendix, of one of Sir Isaac Brock s brothers, 
 the bailiff or chief magistrate of Guernsey, and of 
 two of their nephews, Lieutenant E. W. Tupper, R.N., 
 and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper, of the Chilian ser 
 vice. The prenjature fate of these two promising 
 young officers is, to those who knew them best, still 
 a source of unceasing regret and of embittering re 
 membrance. 
 
 The notices of the celebrated Tecumseh interspersed 
 throughout the volume, and the connected sketch of 
 him near its close, can scarcely fail to interest the 
 reader ; that sketch is drawn from various and appa 
 rently authentic sources, and the Editor believes that 
 it is more copious than any which has yet appeared 
 of this distinguished Indian chief.* A perusal will 
 perhaps awaken sympathy in behalf of a much-in 
 jured people ; it may also tend to remove the films 
 of national prejudice, and prove that virlue and cou 
 rage are not confined to any particular station or 
 country, but that they may exist as well in the wilds 
 of the forest, as in the cultivated regions of civi 
 lization. 
 
 GUERNSEY, January 15, 1845. 
 
 * 1 have since learnt that there is a memoir of Tecumseh in Thatcher s 
 Indian Biography, an American work, which I have been unable to 
 procure. F. B. T. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Parentage and birth Boyhood Enters the King s Regiment Trait 
 of determination of character Becomes Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
 49th Campaign in Holland, in 1799 A young Irish Sergeant 
 Russian troops in Guernsey Battle of Copenhagen, in 1801 Notice 
 of John Savery Brock, Esq 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Proceeds to Canada with the 49th Deserters Suppresses a mutiny 
 at Fort George Military Execution Returns to Europe, and re 
 commends the formation of a Veteran Battalion for Upper Canada 
 Re-embarks for Canada 24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Succeeds Colonel Bowes in command of the troops in Canada Strin 
 gent Instructions to the Deputy Commissary - General Marine 
 Department Bishop M Donell Jesuits Barracks French Secret 
 Envoy to the Canadians Relief to a Widow and her Children 
 General Orders Letters to Lieut.-Colpnel Gordon, Right Hon. W. 
 Windham, Colonel Glasgow, Mr. President Dunn, Lieut. -Governor 
 Gore, the Adjutant- General, Major Mackenzie, and Lord Castlereagh 
 Arrival of Sir James Craig 38 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Stationed at Montreal North- West Company Disaffection of French 
 Canadians, and Causes of their Discontent P. Carey Tupper, Esq. 
 General Sir James Kempt Society in Guernsey Post Office in 
 Canada Baroness de Rottenburg Lieut.-Colonel Murray Letters 
 from Lieut.-Colonel Thornton, Colonel Baynes, Lieut. -Governor 
 Gore, Colonel Kempt, and Colonel Vesey Letters to his Brothers, 
 to Mrs. W. Brock, to his brother Irving, Lieut. -Governor Gore, 
 Sir James Craig, and Major Taylor Duke of Kent Queen Victoria. 68 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Is made a Major-General Sir James Craig returns to England, his 
 character and administration Sir Gordon Drummond Duke of 
 Manchester Arrival of Sir George Prevost, services, military repu- 
 
t CONTEXTS. 
 
 tation, and nativity Major-General Brock is appointed President 
 uf TTfp r*i nflmi of Mr. W. Brock The Right Hon. Edward 
 Bee, M. P. Letters from Major-General Vesey, Colonel Baynes, 
 William BMOk. Esq., and Ueut.-Colonel Torrens Letters to Ensign 
 N. Freer, to his Brothers, and to and troni Sir George Prevost 103 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Causes of the American War Address to the Legislature The neces 
 sity of capturing Detroit and Michilimackinac pointed out Procla 
 
 mation relative to hemp Chief Justice Scott Imprisonment of 
 hoi Renewal of the Embargo Letters from Sir James 
 to and from Sir George Prevost and Colonel Baynes, 
 
 Sir. Nichol Renewal 
 IMBMII i. to and fro 
 to tiw Mmtary Secretary, and Lieut-.Colonel Kichol 136 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 riptkffi of the boundaries, military posts, and lakes 
 
 of Upper Canada of the Michigan territory, Detroit, and Michili- 
 mackinac, as existing in 1812. 179 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 War declared Major-General Brock s proceedings Force under his 
 command Letters from Colonel Baynes, and to and from Sir George 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 General Hull invades Upper Canada His proclamation, and that of 
 Major-General Brock in reply Letters to Sir G. Prevost and from 
 Sir T. Saumarez Address to the Legislature Critical state of the 
 Itamnce.. 206 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Capture of Michflimackinac Letters to and from Sir G. Prevost, from 
 Colonels Baynes and Bruyeres 223 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Occurrences in the Western District Tecumseh Major- General Brock 
 proceeds to Amherstburg Voyare described General Order In. 
 dians, and notice of Tecumseh Summons to General Hull, and his 
 M Tim 1 1 nili i of Detroit, and its consequences Anecdotes of 
 Tecumseh Country about Detroit Indian war in i;63 338 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Letters relative to the capture of General Hull and Detroit from 
 Major-General Brock to Sir G. Prevost, and to his Brothers from 
 Sir G. Prevost, Earl Bathurst, W. Brock, Esq., Mr. Justice Powell, 
 Chief Justice Sew ell. General Maitiand, Major-General Burnet, and 
 Lieut-Colonel XichoL :... aft) 
 
CO.VTK XI 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Major-General Brock retains to the Niagara frontier Armistice 
 Proposed attack on SacketTs Harboor prerented Letters to and 
 from Six G. Prerort and Majnr fill-rill Van BcpMelaer-from 
 CMoadB*y tOM*faCUuMlf>iMln, and to J. S. Brock, Esq. 
 Wrongs of the Indians. ........................................ 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Rival forced on the Niagara frontier Capture of brigs Detroit and 
 Caledonia Letters to Sir G. Prevort and Colonel Procter Battle 
 of Qoeenstown, and death of Sir Isaac Brock His funeral and cha 
 racterSir Roger Sheaffe Description of Queenstown Heights, Jtc. 322 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 
 
 kett a Harbour Colonel Procter s operations near 
 of British squadron on Lake Erie Speech of Te- 
 t and surrender of Major-General Procter s army- 
 
 Sir R. Sheaffe and armistice Farther remarks on 
 Americans obtain the command of Lake Ontario Capture of York 
 Attack on Sackett a Harbour Col 
 Detroit Defeat 
 cumseh Retreat and 
 
 Capture of Fort George, and surprise of die A "irfrnm troops at 
 Stoney Creek Conflicts on the Niagara frontier, in 1814 Attack 
 on Michilimackinac 23 British deserters Peace Sir G. Prerosfs 
 death and character Inscription on Monument to Colonel Topper. 357 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Memoir of Tecumseh.... -. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Servant Letters from the Duke of York, J. Savery and Irving Brock, 
 Esqs., and Mrs. Eliot Introduction of four Indian chiefs to George 
 the Fourth, at Windsor Destruction of Monument, and " gather 
 ing" on Qneenstown Heights Intended obelisk Services of the 
 49th regiment, and gallant exploit of Lieutenant Fitzgibbon 
 Notice of Sir Isaac Brock s brothers, sisters, and nephews Letters 
 from Colonel Brock to James Cuthbert, Esq 397 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Sir George Prevost Sir R. H. Sheaffe and Battle of Queenstown 
 41st regiment Letter from Chief Justice Robinson 426 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 SECTION I. BRITISH AUTHORS. 
 
 . Letter from Lord Aylmer 2. Dispatch from Captain Roberts 
 3. Letters from General Hull and capitulation of Detroit i. Extracts 
 from Letters of Veritas 5. Sir G. Preyost s general order 6. Ex- 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 tract from Quarterly Review, and Lieutenant Hall s Travels 
 7. Brief extracts from various authors 8. Council of condolence 
 9. Monument in St. Paul s cathedral 10. A Huron chief s surprise 
 on seeing this monument 11. Address of the Commons of Upper 
 Canada to the Prince Regent 12. Grants of Provincial Legislature 
 for monument 13. Re-interment described 14. Dickens American 
 notes 437 
 
 SECTION II. AMERICAN AUTHORS. 
 
 I. Jefferson s correspondence 2. General Hull s revolutionary ser 
 vices 3. Letter from Captain Wool Battle of Queenstown Hull s 
 army at Detroit 458 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Lieutenant E. William Tupper, R. N 472 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Colonel W. De Vic Tupper, Chilian service 4/7 
 
 CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Page 22, line 8, for 1790, read 1791. 
 
 144, 19, for 1811, read 1812. 
 
 191, 16, for 18th of July, read 10th of July. 
 
 223, for Chapter VIII, read Chapter X. 
 
 246, ,, 5, for Giveins, rend Givens. 
 
 334, 34, for 16 killed, read 18 killed. 
 
 367, 14, after seamen, add supported by four guns and 600 
 Indians. 
 
 414, foot note, for inverrted, read inverted. 
 
 434-36, head line, for Appendix A, Section l, read Life and Corres 
 pondence of. 
 N. B. The name of Proctor to be spelt throughout Procter. 
 
 Page 281, additional foot note. Mr. Russell was the American charge 
 affaires in London. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL 
 
 SIR ISAAC BROCK, K. B. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE Guernsey family of BROCK is probably of En 
 glish origin, but we have been unable to ascertain 
 the period of its first establishment in the island. 
 The parochial register of St. Peter-Port extends only 
 to the year 1563, soon after which it contains the 
 name of Philip Brock, By " Robson s Armorial 
 Bearings of the Nobility and Gentry of Great Bri 
 tain and Ireland," eight families of the name of 
 Brock appear to bear different arms, one of which 
 was borne by all the Brocks of Guernsey viz. azure, 
 a fleur de lis or, on a chief argent a lion pass, guard, 
 gu. crest, an escallop or* until the death of Sir 
 Isaac Brock, when new and honorary armorial bear 
 ings were granted by the sovereign to his family. 
 Brock f is the ancient Saxon name for badger, and as 
 such is still retained in English dictionaries. J Frois- 
 
 * With a slight variation, the field being gules instead of azure. 
 Motto, Vincit Veritas. 
 
 t There is a rivulet Brock in Scotland, close to which Cromwell de 
 feated General Lesley at the celebrated battle of Dunbar, in 1650. 
 
 t BROCK, n. s. [bpnc, Saxon; broc, Irish; broch, Welsh and Cornish.] 
 badger. Johnson, 1827. 
 
 BROK, an old sword, or dagger. Bailey, 1751. 
 B 
 
2 LIFE Alt D (JGURESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sart,* in his Chronicles, makes mention of Sir Hugh 
 Brock, an English knight, keeper of the Castle 
 of Derval, in Brittany, for his cousin Sir Robert 
 Knolles, who was governor of all the duchy, arid 
 resided in Brest, during the absence of the duke in 
 England. The French overran Brittany at this pe 
 riod, and leaving 2,000 men near Brest, so as to 
 prevent its receiving succours, sat down with " great 
 engines" before the castle of Derval, to the siege of 
 which came the constable of France, the Duke of 
 Bourbon, the Earls of Alen^on and of Perche, and 
 a great number of the barony and chivalry of France. 
 The castle being sore oppressed, Sir Hugh Brock 
 was at length constrained to agree to surrender it at 
 the end of two months, if not relieved by that time. 
 Sir Robert Knolles, hearing this, also began to treat 
 with the French, and agreed with Bertrand du 
 Guesclin, the constable, that he would surrender the 
 garrison of Brest in forty days, unless a sufficient 
 force should arrive, and enable him to fight. Being 
 reinforced, he set out from Brest, and relieved his 
 Castle of Derval. These events occurred in the 
 reign of Edward the Third, during the latter half 
 of the fourteenth century, when the English were 
 driven out of France ; and as Guernsey is in the 
 direct course between Brittany and England, may 
 not one of Sir Hugh Brock s family, on his passage 
 across the Channel, have visited the island and 
 settled there ? 
 
 The common ancestor of the present Guernsey 
 family of the name of Brock was William Brock, 
 Esq.,* a native of the island, who died in the year 
 1776, and was the grandfather of the subject of this 
 volume. He had three sons and one daughter, who 
 became connected by marriage with some of the 
 principal and most ancient families of Guernsey ; 
 namely, William, married to Judith, daughter of 
 
 * Translation from the French by Lord Berners, vol. ii, chap. 39, 40. 
 London Edition, 1815. Also Johnes translation, London, 1842. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. d 
 
 James de Beauvoir, Esq. ;* John, married to Eliza 
 beth De Lisle, f daughter of the then lieutenant- 
 bailiff of the island ; Henry, married to Susan 
 Saumarez, sister of the late Admiral Lord de Sau- 
 marez; and Mary, wife of John Le Marchant, Esq.:}: 
 In giving this brief recital of Sir Isaac Brock s 
 family and connexions, we feel pride in adding, that 
 in Guernsey the law of primogeniture prevails hap 
 pily to a very limited extent ; all the children, both 
 sons and daughters, inheriting nearly alike. In con 
 sequence, the upper ranks belong to what in England 
 would be called the middle classes of society, because 
 property, both real and personal, is so divided at 
 every generation, that wealth in families cannot be 
 long preserved entire. But if there be no " eldest 
 son," there is what the philanthropist will value 
 much more highly a moral and contented popu 
 lation of above 1100 souls to a square mile, with 
 neither great riches nor extreme poverty, with nei 
 ther luxurious landlords nor a degraded tenantry. 
 
 John Brock, Esq., born January 24, 1729, second 
 son of the above-named William, had by his wife, 
 Elizabeth De Lisle, a very numerous family of ten 
 sons and four daughters, of whom eight sons and two 
 daughters reached maturity. He died in June, 1777, 
 at Dinan, in Brittany, whither he had gone for the 
 benefit of the waters, at the early age of forty-eight 
 years. In his youth he was a midshipman in the 
 navy, and in that capacity had made a voyage to 
 
 * The name of this ancient family, second to none in wealth and 
 station, became extinct in Guernsey, in 1810, on the death of Osmond 
 De Beauvoir, Esq., when his large property was inherited by distant 
 relatives. Duncan s History of Guernsey. 
 
 t Sir John De Lisle was appointed governor of Guernsey on the 28th 
 May, 1405, 6 Hen. IV., (vide Curtis French Rolls, vol. ii, p. 189,) and 
 proceeded to that island in July following. 
 
 t Major-General Le Marchant and his eldest son, a captain in the Foot 
 Guards, who both fell in Spain during the late war ; and Captain Philip 
 Saumarez, who was Lord Anson s first lieutenant in the Centurion, and 
 was slain in 1/47, while commanding the Nottingham, of 64 guns, were 
 members of those families. 
 
 $ Brock street, at Bath, was named after him by the projector, in 
 testimony of friendship. 
 
4 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 India, which was then considered a great under 
 taking. As he was possessed of much activity of 
 mind and considerable talent, his death was an 
 irreparable loss to his children, who were of an age 
 to require all the care and counsels of a father ; the 
 eldest, John, having only completed his seventeenth 
 year. They were left in independent, if not in afflu 
 ent, circumstances ; but the fond indulgence of a 
 widowed mother, who could deny them no enjoy 
 ment, tended, notwithsatnding their long minority, 
 to diminish their patrimony. 
 
 Isaac Brock, the eighth son, was born in the parish 
 of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey, on the C5th of October, 
 1769, the memorable year which gave birth to 
 Napoleon and Wellington. In his boyhood he was 
 like his brothers, unusually tall, robust, and preco 
 cious ; and, with an appearance much beyond his age, 
 remarkable in his own family chiefly for extreme 
 gentleness. He was, however, considered by his 
 schoolfellows as the best swimmer and boxer in the 
 school; and he used to swim from the mainland of 
 Guernsey to Castle Cornet, a distance each way of 
 nearly half a mile. This feat is the more difficult 
 from the strong tides which run between the passage. 
 In his eleventh year he was sent to school at South 
 ampton, and his education was concluded by his 
 being placed for a twelvemonth under a French 
 Protestant clergyman at Rotterdam, for the purpose 
 of learning the French language. His eldest brother, 
 John, a lieutenant in the 8th, the King s, regiment, 
 being promoted to a company by purchase, Isaac 
 succeeded, also by purchase, to the ensigncy which 
 consequently became vacant in that regiment, and to 
 which he was appointed on the 2d of March, 1785. 
 soon after he had completed his fifteenth year. He 
 joined in England, and was quartered there in dif 
 ferent places for a few years. Having entered the 
 army at so early an age, he happily felt sensible of 
 his deficiencies of education ; and for a long period 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 he devoted his leisure mornings to study, locking 
 the door of his room until one o clock, to prevent 
 intrusion. In 1790 he was promoted to a lieutenant- 
 cy, and was quartered in Guernsey and Jersey. At 
 the close of that year he obtained an independent 
 company, by raising the number of men to complete 
 it, and was placed on half pay. He exchanged soon 
 after, by giving the difference, into the 49th, which 
 regiment he joined at Barbadoes, in 1791 ; and he 
 remained doing duty there, and afterwards at Ja 
 maica, until 1793, when he was compelled to return 
 very suddenly to England on sick leave, having 
 nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential effects of 
 the climate, and an immediate embarkation being 
 pronounced his only chance of recovery. His first 
 cousin, Lieutenant Henry Brock, of the 13th foot, 
 who was ill at the same time at Jamaica, died of the 
 fever ; and the survivor always thought that he was 
 indebted for his life to the affectionate attentions of 
 his servant, Dobson, whom he subsequently ever 
 treated with the kindness of a brother, until he died 
 in his service, shortly before himself, in Canada. 
 The mention of the following trait of great deter 
 mination of character may serve as a guide to other 
 young officers, similarly circumstanced. When Cap 
 tain Brock joined the 49th, the peace of the regiment 
 was disturbed by one of those vile pests of society a 
 confirmed duellist. Captain Brock soon proved to 
 his brother captain, who took advantage of being a 
 dead shot, that he was neither to be bullied nor 
 intimidated ; and the result was a challenge from 
 the latter, which was promptly accepted. On the 
 ground, Captain Brock, who was very tall and 
 athletic, observed that to stand at twelve paces was 
 not to meet his antagonist on any thing like equal 
 terms, and, producing a handkerchief, insisted on 
 firing across it. This the duellist positively declined, 
 and being in consequence soon after compelled to 
 leave the regiment, the officers were thus relieved, 
 
O LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 by the firm and resolute conduct of a very young 
 man, of the presence of one with whom all social 
 intercourse had previously been difficult and dan 
 gerous. On his return from Jamaica, Captain Brock 
 was employed on the recruiting service in England, 
 and afterwards in charge of a number of recruits at 
 Jersey. On the 24th June, 1795, he purchased his 
 majority, and remained in command of the recruits 
 until the return of the regiment to England the 
 following year. On the 25th of October, 1797, just 
 after he had completed his twenty-eighth year, 
 Major Brock purchased his lieutenant-colonelcy, 
 and soon after became senior lieut.-colonel of the 
 49th. This was very rapid promotion for one who 
 had not only entered the army during a period of 
 profound peace, but had been five years an ensign ; 
 and, having no interest excepting that which his 
 own merit might have procured him, he was gene 
 rally considered at that time as one of the most 
 fortunate officers in the service. In a little more 
 than seven years, he had risen from an ensign to be 
 a lieutenant-colonel. Owing to some mismanage 
 ment and peculation on the part of his predecessor, 
 who was in consequence recommended privately to 
 sell out, if he did not wish to stand the ordeal of a 
 court martial, the regiment was sadly disorganized ; 
 but the commander-in-chief, the late Duke of York, 
 was heard to declare that Lieut.-Colonel Brock, from 
 one of the worst, had made the 49th one of the best 
 regiments in the service. 
 
 In 1798, the 49th was quartered in Jersey, whence 
 it proceeded to England early the following year, 
 to take part in the projected expedition to Holland, 
 as in 1799 the British Government determined on 
 sending a strong military force to that country, then 
 in alliance with the French republic, which force was 
 to be joined by a Russian army. The first English 
 division, consisting of twelve battalions of infantry, 
 among which was the 49th, and a small body of 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 7 
 
 cavalry, assembled at Southampton under Sir Ralph 
 Abercromby, and, having embarked, finally sailed 
 from the Downs on the 14th of August. On the 
 26th of that month, the fleet, consisting of fifteen 
 ships of the line, from forty-five fo fifty frigates, 
 sloops, and smaller vessels of war, and one hundred 
 and thirty sail of transports, anchored along the coast 
 of North Holland, from the mouth of the Texel as 
 far as Calants-Oge. Early the next morning, the 
 flank companies were landed under the protection of 
 the guns of the fleet. An engagement commenced 
 as the British were about to march forward ; but 
 being continually reinforced by the arrival of fresh 
 troops, they compelled the enemy to retreat. This 
 warm engagement lasted till four o clock in the 
 afternoon, and cost the British about 1,000 men. 
 Sir Ralph Abercromby, having become master of 
 the point, or peninsula, of the Helder, completed his 
 landing, entrenched his advanced posts toward the 
 right, and occupied with his left the point of the 
 Helder, and the batteries there which had been 
 evacuated. In these positions he awaited the arrival 
 of the second division, under the Duke of York, the 
 commander-in-chief, which remained in England un 
 til news were received of the landing of the first on 
 the coast of Holland. These two divisions were 
 composed of thirty battalions of infantry, of 600 men 
 each, 500 cavalry, and a fine train of artillery.* 
 During this campaign, Lieut. -Colonel Brock distin 
 guished himself in command of his regiment, which, 
 on the 2d of October, in the battle of Egmont-op- 
 Zee, or Bergen, had Captain Archer and Ensign 
 Ginn, killed ; and Major Hutchinson,t Captains 
 Sharp and Robins, Lieutenant Urquhart and Ensign 
 Hill, wounded; Lieutenant Johnston, missing. J 
 
 * New Annual Register for 1799, page 395. 
 
 t The late General Sir William Hutchiuson, K. C. H., Colonel of the 
 /5th regiment. 
 
 t See the returns in the New Annual Register, for 1799, Principal 
 Occurrences, page 143. Singularly enough, the loss of the non-commis- 
 
8 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Savery Brock, who was present, wrote from Egmont 
 on the 4th of October : " The action has been a very 
 hot one, and numbers have fallen. The 49th behaved 
 well, very well, has 30 killed and 50 wounded, be 
 sides 30 missing, 110 in all, though we had not more 
 than 391 rank and file in the field. Lord Aylmer 
 was slightly wounded." In this action, Lieut.-Colo- 
 nel Brock was also slightly w r ounded, although his 
 name does not appear in the returns ; and his life was 
 in all probability preserved by his wearing, as the 
 weather was very cold, a stout cotton handkerchief 
 over a thick black silk cravat, both of which were 
 perforated by a bullet, and which prevented its enter 
 ing his neck : the violence of the blow was, however, 
 so great, as to stun and dismount him. His holsters 
 were also shot through. The following letter con 
 tains some interesting particulars relative to this 
 campaign, and the part taken in it by the 49th. 
 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Brock, 4Qth regiment, to his brother? 
 brevet Lieutenant- Colonel John Brock, 81st regiment) at 
 the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 11 LONDON, November 26, 1799. 
 
 " I was pretty constant in my correspondence with 
 you while the regiment was quartered at Portsmouth, 
 and no opportunity offered from thence direct to the 
 Cape without taking letters and newspapers from 
 either Savery or myself, and often from both ; but 
 the very active and busy life I have passed since put 
 an end to all such communications. Knowing, how 
 ever, that you will be gratified in hearing from my 
 own pen the various incidents which have occurred 
 since that time, I proceed to give you the substance 
 of them. You will have seen in the public prints 
 that the 49th embarked among the first regiments 
 under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and that the army, 
 
 sioned officers and privates in each corps is not given, but the casualties 
 among 1 the officers of the 4Qth exceeded those of any other regiment 
 engaged on this day, with the exception of the 25th and Q2d. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 amounting to about 10,000 men, after beating the 
 seas from the 8fh to the 27th of August, effected a 
 landing near the Helder ; that the enemy most unac 
 countably offered no opposition to our landing ; and 
 that, after a well-contested fight of ten hours, he 
 retreated, and left us in quiet possession of the 
 heights, extending the whole length of the Penin 
 sula. The 4th brigade under General Moore,* 
 consisting of the Royals, 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d, 
 landed to the left, where the greatest opposition was 
 expected, as it was natural to suppose that so essential 
 an object as the Helder would be defended to the 
 last, but, to our utter astonishment, the enemy gave 
 us no annoyance ; on the contrary, soon after the 
 affair on the right had terminated, he evacuated the 
 town, which we took quiet possession of the following 
 morning, and with it the whole of the fleet. The 
 garrison, consisting of 1,600 men, could easily have 
 been intercepted had it not been for a large body of 
 cavalry and a number of cannon, which completely 
 commanded a plain of a mile and a half in breadth, 
 necessary to be crossed to get to them : as we had 
 neither one nor the other, it would have been the 
 height of folly to attempt it. The regiments which 
 distinguished themselves most on this occasion were 
 the 23d, 27th, and 55th. The evening of our land 
 ing, a reinforcement of 5,000 men arrived, but could 
 not disembark until two days after, owing to the 
 badness of the weather. During all this time the 
 troops lay exposed on the sand hills, without the least 
 shelter to cover them from the wind and rain. At 
 length the army moved forward eleven miles, and 
 got into cantonments along a canal extending the 
 whole breadth of the country, from the Zuyder sea 
 on the one side to the main ocean on the other, pro 
 tected by an amazingly strong dyke, running half a 
 mile in front of the line. In this position we re 
 mained unmolested until the 10th of September, on 
 
 * Afterwards Sir John Moore, who fell at Corunna. 
 
10 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which day the enemy made a most desperate attack 
 in three columns, two on the right and one on the 
 centre of the line : he could not avoid being beaten, 
 as it was the most injudicious step imaginable, and 
 his loss was in proportion very great. The Guards, 
 20th, and 40th, acted conspicuous parts in this affair. 
 The 49th was here again out of the way, with the 
 exception indeed of Savery, whom nothing could 
 keep from going to see what was doing on the right, 
 and as it happened he proved of great use to Colonel 
 Smith,* whom he assisted from the field after being 
 wounded. The French soldier was taught to con 
 sider the British troops as the most undisciplined 
 rabble in the world, and he advanced confident of 
 conquest; but this affair, and others which followed, 
 made him very soon change his opinion. Nothing 
 remarkable occurred after this until the arrival of 
 the Duke of York with the remainder of the British 
 troops and 16,000 Russians, which increased the 
 army to about 35,000 men. Continued rain, how 
 ever, prevented any thing being done before the 19th, 
 when the whole army was put in motion. Sir Ralph 
 took 12,000, of which the 4th brigade formed a 
 part, to the left on the evening preceding, and got 
 possession of the city of Horn the following morning 
 at daylight, without a shot being fired : 200 prisoners 
 were taken. Horn is a very populous, handsome 
 city, and evidently in the interest of the Prince of 
 Orange. Nothing could exceed the joy of the inha 
 bitants at our arrival, and in proportion as they 
 rejoiced they mourned our departure, which took 
 place before sun-set, in consequence of a fatal dis 
 aster which had befallen the Russians on the right. 
 They of course threw the blame off their own shoul 
 ders, and wished to attribute the whole misfortune to 
 the want of concert and a proper support on the part 
 
 * Lieut-Colonel Smith, commanding the 20th, a native of Guernsey, 
 afterwards Colonel Sir George Smith, aide-de-camp to the king. He died 
 at Cadiz, in 1809, and was a distinguished officer. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 11 
 
 of the British ; but I verily believe the real fact to 
 be this. After most gallantly driving the enemy 
 before them as far as Bergen, where it was previously 
 arranged they should halt, they dispersed for the sake 
 of plunder; the French hearing of this disorder, 
 renewed the attack, and never gave the Russians an 
 opportunity to form, but continued driving them 
 with the bayonet until they encountered a body of 
 English, under General Manners and Prince Wil 
 liam, whose brigades suffered considerably. The 
 Russians were, however, thus happily enabled to 
 effect their retreat without further molestation ; they 
 were certainly the original cause of this disaster, but 
 whether the British were sufficiently brisk in coming 
 to their assistance is doubted. The Russians in their 
 persons are rather short of stature, and very thick 
 and clumsy ; they have nothing expressive in their fea 
 tures, which resemble much the Chinese countenance. 
 I remarked an exception to this rule in a grenadier 
 battalion, who, with tall, elegant persons, possessed 
 remarkably fine, commanding faces. The officers in 
 general are the most despicable wretches I ever saw : 
 accustomed, as they have always been, to fight with 
 troops much inferior to themselves, they thought 
 themselves invincible.* They take the field with an 
 immense number of artillery, with which they cover 
 their front and flanks, and thus never dreamed it 
 possible, from their former experience, for troops to 
 
 * As this character of the Russian officers may be thought too severe, 
 we give the following confirmation of its correctness: "The Russian 
 was so humbled by the disaster at Bergen, that, in all the subsequent 
 affairs in Holland, he seemed to be an unwilling actor. In advancing to 
 the field, the soldiers dropped off occasionally from the advancing lines ; 
 even officers assumed the retrograde. One general literally ran away; 
 another, wounded as it were by the first fire, retired." The Formation, 
 Discipline, and Economy of Armies, by Robert Jackson, M. D. Third 
 Edition, London, 1845. 
 
 It is added that the former general was cashiered by the Emperor Paul, 
 in a passion, and it is insinuated that the latter wounded himself. The 
 general who was cashiered, instead of being shunned and despised by 
 the Russian officers, was even regaled by them, prior to his return home, 
 and walked about as if nothing had happened; thus affording a striking 
 example of the trivial light in which military cowardice was then re 
 garded in Russia. 
 
12 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 rally after being once beaten. This fatal security 
 was the cause of the misfortune which befel the allies 
 on the 19th. After the retreat from Horn, the 4th 
 brigade took its station on the right, preparatory 
 evidently to its being actively employed ; according 
 ly, on the 2d of October, the weather not permitting 
 it sooner, the brigade assembled before daylight at 
 Petten, and formed the advanced guard of a column, 
 consisting of 10,000 men, which was to proceed along 
 the beach to Egmont-op-Zee. After every thing had 
 been properly arranged, it moved forward, supported 
 by 1,000 cavalry, under Lord Paget. It was in 
 tended that the reserve, under Colonel M Donald, 
 should cover our flank, and that the column should 
 rapidly advance to Egmont, in order to turn the 
 flank of the enemy at Bergen. This was, however, 
 prevented by a strong body of the enemy, who 
 engaged the reserve the moment it ascended the sand 
 hills ; and although he retreated before the reserve, 
 he constrained Colonel M Donald to follow in a dif 
 ferent direction to that intended, thereby leaving our 
 left flank uncovered. But this did not impede our 
 moving forward, and it was not until we had pro 
 ceeded five or six miles that we found the least 
 opposition. The enemy then appeared in small 
 force, and the 25th was ordered up the sand hills, 
 but, he having increased, the 79th followed, and it 
 was not long before the 49th was also ordered to 
 form on the left of that regiment. It is impossible 
 to give you an adequate idea of the nature of the 
 ground, which I can only compare to the sea in a 
 storm. On my getting to the left of the 79th, I 
 found that its flank was alread}^ turned, and that the 
 ground which we were to occupy did not afford the 
 least shelter : my determination was instantly taken. 
 I had gone on horseback to view the ground, and on 
 my return to the regiment, which I met advancing, 
 I found the left actually engaged with the enemy, 
 who had advanced much beyond our left. I, how- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 13 
 
 ever, continued advancing with six companies, and 
 left Colonel Sheaffe with the other four to cover our 
 left : the instant I came up to the 79th, I ordered 
 a charge, which I assure you was executed with the 
 utmost gallantry, though not in the greatest order, 
 as the nature of the ground admitted of none. The 
 enemy, however, gave way on every side, and our 
 loss would have been very trifling had the 79th 
 charged straightforward ; but unfortunately it fol 
 lowed the course the 49th had taken, thereby leaving 
 our right entirely exposed. I detached Lord Ayl- 
 mer* with the grenadiers, who, after charging dif 
 ferent times, totally cleared our right. The 25th 
 then advanced, and behaved with the greatest good 
 conduct. The enemy after this never attempted to 
 make a stand, but continued to retreat, and their loss 
 on this occasion was very considerable. Nothing 
 could exceed the gallantry of the 25th, 49th, 79th, 
 and 92d. For my own part, I had every reason to 
 be satisfied with the conduct of both officers and 
 men, and no commanding officer could be more 
 handsomely supported than I was on that day, ever 
 glorious to the 49th. Poor Archer brought his com 
 pany to the attack in a most soldier -like manner; 
 and even after he had received his mortal wound, he 
 animated his men, calling on them to go on to 
 victory, to glory ; and no order could be more ef 
 fectually obeyed : he is an irreparable loss to the 
 seVvice. I got knocked down soon after the enemy 
 began to retreat, but never quitted the field, and 
 returned to my duty in less than half an hour. 
 Savery acted during the whole of the day as aide- 
 de-camp either to Sir Ralph or Moore, and nothing 
 could surpass his activity and gallantry. He had a 
 horse shot under him, and had all this been in his 
 line,. he must have been particularly noticed, as he 
 
 * The present General Lord Aylmer, G. C. B., formerly governor- 
 general of British North America. He was then a captain in the 4Qth 
 See Appendix A, Sec. 1, No. 1. 
 
14 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 has become the astonishment of all who saw him. 
 We remained that night and the following on the 
 sand hills ; you cannot conceive our wretched state, 
 as it blew and rained nearly the whole time. Our 
 men bore all this without grumbling, although they 
 had nothing to eat but the biscuits they carried with 
 them, which by this time were completely wet. We 
 at length got into Egmont, and on the following day 
 (5th) into Alkmaar, where we enjoyed ourselves 
 amazingly. Alkrnaar is a most delightful city ; but 
 the inhabitants are rank patriots, and none of the 
 higher class remained to welcome our arrival. The 
 following day another engagement ensued, in con 
 sequence of the Russians advancing further than they 
 were ordered to do : during this severe contest we 
 were snugly in church. It is extraordinary that both 
 parties were so beaten as to find a retreat necessary, 
 as while we retreated to our old position, the enemy 
 was also in full retreat. I shall say no more of the 
 expedition to Holland, as what remains to be added, 
 you will see fully detailed in the papers. I go to 
 Norwich, where the regiment is quartered, this eve 
 ning. Another expedition is talked of, under Lord 
 Moira. Adieu." 
 
 A young Irishman of a family probably superior 
 to his station, as his talents certainly were, joined 
 the 49th on Barham Downs, near Canterbury, on the 
 6th of August, 1799, and was soon after present at the 
 battle of Egmont-op-Zee, being the first affair in 
 which he was seriously engaged. Colonel Brock 
 quickly discovered his merits, and with a discrimi 
 nation which does honor to both, appointed him 
 sergeant -major two or three years afterwards, and 
 in 1806 procured him an ensigncy in his own regi 
 ment, and made him adjutant, a promotion which 
 his subsequent ability and gallantry as an officer fully 
 justified. We trust that we do not betray the con 
 fidence of one for whom we entertain very sincere 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 15 
 
 esteem and respect, especially because he makes no 
 secret of his lowly beginning, in giving the following 
 particulars in, as nearly as possible, his own words : 
 
 " After the deployment of the 49th on the sand 
 hills, I saw no more of Lieut. -Colonel Brock, being 
 separated from him with that part of the regiment 
 detached under Lieut.-Colonel SheafFe. Soon after 
 we commenced firing upon the enemy and at inter 
 vals rushing from one line of sand hills to another, 
 and behind which the soldiers were made to cover 
 themselves, and fire over their summits I saw, at 
 some distance to my right, Savery Brock, the pay 
 master, passing from the top of one sand hill to 
 another, directing and encouraging the men. He 
 alone kept continually on the tops of the hills during 
 the firing, and at every advance from one range to 
 another, he led the men, and again was seen above 
 all the others. Not doubting but that great numbers 
 of the French soldiers would be continually aiming 
 at him a large man thus exposed I watched from 
 moment to moment to see him fall, but for about two 
 hours, while in my view, he remained untouched. 
 
 " Being at this time only eighteen years of age, 
 and not nine months from my parents fire-side in 
 a remote village in Ireland, I did not venture to give 
 any orders or instructions, although a sergeant, lest 
 I should do wrong but after witnessing Savery 
 Brock s conduct, I determined to be the first to 
 advance every time at the head of those around me, 
 and I soon saw that of those who were most prompt 
 to follow me, fewer fell by the enemy s fire than I 
 witnessed falling of those more in our rear ; and we 
 repeatedly made the remark one to another. I made 
 up my mind, therefore, to think no more, if possible, 
 of my own life, but leave the care of it to Divine 
 Providence, and strain every nerve to do my duty : 
 during a service of some extent in afterlife, I was 
 abundantly confirmed in the wisdom of this decision. 
 
 " I make this statement to show that to the con- 
 
16 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 duct of Savcry Brock on that day, I was indebted 
 for this valuable example and lesson. About 5 
 o clock, p. m. on the same day, while over-heedlessly 
 running too far ahead of my men, I was cut off by 
 some French soldiers, who issued from behind a 
 sand hill on my flank, and made me prisoner, alone. 
 
 " After my return from prison in January follow 
 ing, I heard the soldiers repeat Colonel Brock s 
 words to the paymaster, when he first saw him 
 among; the men in action on that day "By the 
 Lord Harry, master Savery, did I not order you, 
 unless you remained with the general, to stay with 
 your iron chest? Go back to it, sir, immediately," 
 to which he answered playfully " Mind your regi 
 ment, Master Isaac, you would not have me quit the 
 field now ?" and the soldiers delighted in repeating 
 this dialogue to their comrades, and also to the re 
 cruits and volunteers, from time to time, after their 
 joining the regiment." 
 
 In the victory of Egmont-op-Zee, seven pieces of 
 cannon, a great number of tumbrils, and a few 
 hundred prisoners, were taken, and the loss of the 
 enemy was estimated as exceeding 4,000 men. But 
 only four days after, in the battle of the 6th of Octo 
 ber, in which the 49th was not engaged, the English 
 and Russians, after gaming some advantage, were 
 suddenly charged by the enemy s cavalry and sepa 
 rated, so that they could neither support each other 
 nor retain the ground which they had gained. The 
 allied armies were repulsed beyond Baccum, after 
 having sustained a very severe loss ; and as they 
 were unable either to advance or to draw any re 
 sources from the country in their possession, their 
 supplies were necessarily obtained from the fleet. 
 The Duke of York, therefore, assembled a council 
 of war, whose decision was, that the allied forces 
 should fall back and await the instructions of the 
 British Government. As the season was so far ad 
 vanced ; as the approach of winter was daily making 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 17 
 
 the navigation of the coast more dangerous ; and, as 
 there was no time to effect diversions or to change 
 the plan of operations, the Duke of York was ordered 
 to evacuate the country. In the meanwhile, as the 
 English and Russians concentrated themselves behind 
 their entrenchnjents at the Zyp, the enemy pressed 
 upon them, and the Duke of York sent a flag of 
 truce to General Brune, proposing a capitulation on 
 the basis of an armistice, or of the free embarkation 
 of his army. This was agreed to at Alkmaar, on the 
 18th of October, and thus ended this memorable 
 expedition, the most considerable that had been 
 attempted in modern times up to that period. As 
 the introduction of foreign troops into England was 
 prohibited by the Bill of Rights, the Russians were 
 sent to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, the season 
 not admitting of their return home. About 6,000 
 were quartered in the latter island, where a disease, 
 contracted by exposure to the marshy grounds of 
 Holland, carried off some hundreds, who were bu 
 ried at the foot of the hill on which stands Yale 
 Castle, and where their graves are still to be seen. 
 Their conduct in Guernsey was at first peaceable 
 and orderly; the inhabitants were surprised at see 
 ing them eat the grease from the cart wheels ; they 
 were also excessively fond of ardent spirits, and, 
 having plenty of money, they indulged in them 
 freely, swallowing large draughts in a raw state. 
 But in June, 1800, while the transports were in the 
 roads to convey them to Russia, a soldier, who was 
 stealing vegetables on a small farm, which had been 
 frequently plundered by his comrades before, was 
 fired at, and wounded by the proprietor. This so 
 exasperated the whole body, that apprehensions were 
 entertained of their revenging themselves on the in 
 habitants generally ; and as the British garrison was 
 very small, it required all the tact and conciliation 
 of the lieutenant-governor, Sir Hew Dalrymple, to 
 prevent an outbreak. The Russians embarked, but in 
 
18 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 such a sullen mood of mind, that the guns at Castle 
 Cornet were kept shotted to prevent their relanding.* 
 The 49th, on the return of the expedition from 
 Holland, after remaining a short time in England, 
 was again quartered in Jersey, where the fine person 
 and manly bearing of Lieut. -Colonel Brock are still 
 favorably remembered. In return for the many 
 attentions which he and his officers received in that 
 island, he obtained an ensigncy in his own regiment 
 for a young man resident there, whom he afterwards 
 pushed forward in the service, and who died recently 
 a major-general and a companion of the bath. While 
 the regiment was quartered in Jersey, he was absent 
 for a few months on leave, in the year 1800, during 
 which period the junior lieutenant-colonel in com 
 mand incurred the dislike of the men by his lan 
 guage and manner toward them. On Colonel Brock s 
 return, he attended the first regimental morning 
 parade on the sands in front of the barracks at St. 
 Helier, the junior lieutenant-colonel accompanying 
 him. The regiment was in open column, standing 
 at ease. As soon as Cplonel Brock was recognized 
 by the men, they gave him three loud cheers ! 
 whereupon he instantly marched them into the bar 
 rack square, severely rebuked them for their most 
 unmilitary conduct, and confined them to their 
 barracks for a week. 
 
 We come now to the celebrated attack of Copen 
 hagen by Lord Nelson, on the 2d of April, 1801, in 
 which Lieut. -Colonel Brock was second in command 
 of the land forces. On the 27th February of that 
 year, the 49th regiment, then about 760 rank and file, 
 embarked at Portsmouth on board Nelson s squadron 
 there, which got under weigh at daylight the next 
 morning, and proceeded to the Downs. The squad 
 ron next sailed for Yarmouth roads, where his 
 lordship placed himself under Sir Hyde Parker, 
 
 * Duncan s History of Guernsey. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 19 
 
 the commander-in-chief of the fleet destined for the 
 Baltic. Nelson was anxious to proceed with the 
 utmost dispatch, and with such ships as were in 
 readiness, to the Danish capital, so -as to anticipate 
 by the rapidity of his movements the formidable pre 
 parations for defence which the Danes had scarcely 
 thought of at that early season; but to his annoyance, 
 the fleet, which consisted of about fifty sail, of which 
 forty-one pendants, including sixteen of the line, did 
 not leave Yarmouth roads until the 12th of March. 
 The land forces were equally distributed on board of 
 the line of battle ships. On the 15th the fleet was 
 in some measure scattered by a heavy gale of wind, 
 which prevented its reaching the Naze until the 18th. 
 The next day the fleet appears to have been purposely 
 detained oft the Scaw, and did not reach Elsinore 
 until the 24th. Here a few days were lost in de 
 liberation, and it was not until the 30th of March 
 that the fleet proceeded through the Sound with a 
 topsail breeze from N. W. The semi-circular form 
 of the land off Elsinore, which was thickly studded 
 with batteries, caused the ships to pass in a form 
 truly picturesque and nearly similar, but the forbear 
 ance of the Swedes, who did not fire a gun, happily 
 enabled them to incline towards the Swedish shore, 
 so as to avoid the Danish shot, which fell in showers, 
 but at least a cable s length from the ships. The 
 whole fleet came to an anchor about mid-day between 
 the island of Huen and Copenhagen, and it was soon 
 perceived that the various delays had enabled the 
 Danes to line the shoals near the Crown batteries, 
 and the front of the harbour with a formidable flo 
 tilla.* When the preparations for the attack were 
 completed, Lieut. -Colonel Brock was appointed to 
 lead the 49th in storming the principal Treckroner 
 or Crown battery, in conjunction with five hundred 
 seamen under Captain Fremantle, as soon as its 
 
 * Colonel the Honorable W. Stewart s " Narrative of Events connected 
 with the Conduct of Lord Nelson in the Baltic, 1801." 
 
20 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fire of nearly seventy guns should be silenced ; but 
 the protracted and heroic defence of the Danes 
 rendering the attempt impracticable, Colonel Brock, 
 during the hard-fought battle, remained on board the 
 Ganges, of 74 guns, commanded by Captain Fre- 
 mantle, with the light company and the band ; and 
 at its close he accompanied Captain Fremantle to the 
 Elephant, 74, Nelson s flag ship, where he saw the 
 hero write his celebrated letter to the Crown Prince 
 of Denmark. Savery Brock was also on board the 
 Ganges, and while on one knee, in the act of pointing 
 one of her quarter deck guns, his hat was torn from 
 his head by a grape shot : a naval officer, who was 
 present, afterwards described the scene which follow 
 ed this narrow escape, in these words : "I now hear 
 the Colonel exclaim, * Ah ! poor Savery is dead ! 
 But Savery was not an instant on his back ; in the 
 same moment he rubbed his head, assured his brother 
 that he was not injured, and fired the gun with as 
 much coolness as if nothing had happened." The 
 effect of the shot passing so near him was such that, 
 although a remarkably powerful young man, six feet 
 two inches in height, he was knocked backwards and 
 stunned for the moment. We are indebted to the 
 same officer, Captain Percy Grace, R. N., who was 
 then a midshipman of the Ganges, for the following 
 anecdote. In the early part of the action, when it 
 was expected that the 49th would land to storm the 
 batteries, Savery expressed his intention of going in 
 the boats, and thus sharing the danger with his 
 brother, who insisted on his remaining on board, 
 observing " Is it not enough that one brother should 
 be killed or drowned?" Savery still persisted, and 
 his brother begged of Captain Fremantle to use his 
 authority to keep the paymaster on board, as he 
 would not obey him. " My dear Brock," said the 
 Captain, "you must remain take charge of this 
 gun as captain of it, it will amuse you." Savery 
 was fain to comply, and his narrow escape doubtless 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 21 
 
 tended to obliterate the unpleasantness of the discus 
 sion from the mind of the elder brother. Of the 
 49th, Captain Sharp was badly wounded on board 
 of the Bellona, and Lieutenant Dennis was wounded 
 on board of the Monarch, which ship had 55 killed 
 and 155 wounded, exclusive of officers, but including 
 8 soldiers of the 49th killed, and 20 wounded. In 
 addition to the 49th, a company of a rifle corps 
 (subsequently the 95th regiment) 100 rank and file, 
 was embarked under Captain Sidney Beckwith. 
 Lieut. -Colonel the Honorable William Stewart,* 
 of that corps, was senior officer of the troops em 
 barked, and, as such, his name was included in the 
 thanks of Parliament, of which he was a member at 
 this time ; but we cannot understand why a lieute 
 nant-colonel, with only one company, was placed over 
 the head of an officer of equal rank with his entire 
 regiment, unless indeed the cause was that Lieut- 
 Colonel Brock was not an " honorable," and had not 
 a seat in the House of Commons ! We are not aware 
 that he ever complained of what appears to us to 
 have been an act of injustice to him, and we may 
 therefore be wrong in our view of the subject.- The 
 British loss, in killed and wounded, was 943, or 48 
 more than fell at the battle of the Nile. In mention 
 ing the loss at Copenhagen, Southey, in his admirable 
 Life of Nelson, says, on what authority we know 
 not : " Part of this slaughter might have been spared. 
 The commanding officer of the troops on board of 
 one of our ships, asked where his men should be 
 stationed ? He was told that they could be of no 
 use ; that they were not near enough for musquetry, 
 and were not wanted at the guns ; they had, there 
 fore, better go below. This, he said, was impossible 
 it would be a disgrace that could never be wiped 
 away. They were, therefore, drawn upon the gang 
 way, to satisfy this cruel point of honor ; and there, 
 
 * Afterwards SirW. Stewart, G. C. B., who commanded a division in 
 the Peninsular war j he was a son of the Earl of Galloway. 
 
22 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 without the possibility of annoying the enemy, they 
 were mowed down ! The loss of the Danes, including 
 prisoners, amounted to about 6,000." 
 
 John Savery Brock, of whose gallantry mention is 
 made in the preceding pages, was the next younger 
 brother of Lieut. -Colonel Brock, and had been in the 
 navy; but it being supposed that he was influential, 
 in the year 1790, in inducing his brother midship 
 men, of the fleet at Spithead, to sign a round robin 
 against their being subjected to the practice of mast 
 heading one having been hoisted up to the gaff end 
 in an ignominious manner, because he refused to go to 
 the mast head as a punishment he was recommend 
 ed privately to retire from the service.* Being at 
 this time a tall and high spirited young man of 
 eighteen, it is not surprising that he deemed such 
 a punishment unnecessarily degrading to the feelings 
 of an officer, and which has since been very properly 
 abolished. Had it not been for this circumstance, it 
 is the opinion of a naval officer of high rank, that 
 Savery Brock would have distinguished himself and 
 risen to eminence in the navy during the late revo 
 lutionary wars. Some little time after this affair, 
 being in Guernsey, he wished to go to England, 
 and was offered a passage in the Amazon, frigate, 
 Captain Reynolds, afterwards Rear-Admiral Rey 
 nolds, who perished in the St. George, of 98 guns, 
 on her return from the Baltic, in 1811. The Amazon, 
 bound to Portsmouth, left the roadstead late in the 
 afternoon, and before she was clear of the small 
 Russel a dangerous passage night overlook her. 
 By some accident the pilot mistook the bearings, 
 owing to the darkness and thick weather. Savery 
 Brock, being acquainted with the intricate course, 
 
 * While the above was in type, the Duke of Rutland visited Guernsey 
 in his yacht, and wrote the following note at Detroit, the residence of the 
 once outcast middy, on whom, while we write this, the hand of death 
 is but too apparent : " The Duke of Rutland called to pay his respects 
 to Mr. Savery Brock, and sincerely regrets to find that he is so unwell. 
 Saturday, July 13, 1844." 
 

 
 SIR ISAAC BROCK. 23 
 
 was on the fore yard looking; out, when he suddenly 
 espied a small cluster of rocks towards which the 
 frigate was steering. There was no time for commu 
 nication, and, without hesitating an instant, he cried 
 out in true nautical style : " H-a-r-d up, h-a-r-d up." 
 " H-a-r-d up it is," replied the helsman. " Pl-a-r-d 
 up," repeated Savery in a louder key. " Gently, 
 young man," said the captain, who was standing 
 forward. The ship fortunately bore away just in 
 time to clear the rocks, and was thus saved by the 
 prompt interference of her passenger. We have often 
 heard him in his latter days tell the story with excu 
 sable pride, and he especially remembered how the 
 crew pointed him out the next morning to each other, 
 as the young man who had got the ship out of her 
 clanger. As he was without employment, his brother 
 Isaac subsequently procured him the paymastership 
 of the 49th, which he retained only three or four 
 years, the office being one quite unfitted to his pre 
 vious education and active mind. In 1808, his 
 military zeal induced him to serve for a short time 
 as an amateur aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore, in 
 the Peninsula. He married and settled in Guernsey ; 
 and whether as a militia colonel, or in the exercise of 
 a generous hospitality, or, above all, as a projector 
 and zealous promoter of many public improvements 
 in his native island, his memory will long live in the 
 recollection of its inhabitants. 
 
 When Kean performed in Guernsey, two or three 
 years before his appearance on the London boards, 
 Savery Brock was enthusiastic in his admiration, and 
 predicted the future eminence of that celebrated 
 tragedian, in whose memoirs his name is gratefully 
 mentioned. 
 
24 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON its return from Copenhagen to England, the 49th 
 was collected at Colchester, and in the spring follow 
 ing, (1802,) the regiment sailed for Canada, which 
 country was destined to bestow on it many additional 
 laurels, as well as to be the scene of the fame and 
 death of its commanding officer. At this period, de 
 sertion among the troops in both provinces was, as it 
 has been of late years, very prevalent; and, attached 
 as his men were to him, Lieut. -Colonel Brock could 
 scarcely hope that they would escape the general 
 contagion. He, however, lost only one man from 
 the several posts under his personal command during 
 the three years of his regimental service, in Montreal, 
 York, Fort George, and, lastly, Quebec ; and that 
 man deserted from Montreal soon after his arrival 
 there, in September, 1802. In the fall of that year, 
 an educated soldier, named Carr, was observed by 
 Colonel Brock to salute him with less apparent con 
 fidence and manliness than usual, and hence he 
 inferred that Carr would desert as soon as the river 
 St. Lawrence became frozen over. He ordered the 
 sergeant-major the same gallant Irishman whom 
 we have mentioned in the last chapter to bring the 
 man before him, and he was produced forthwith. 
 The colonel directly charged Carr with intending to 
 desert, and told him that he would probably seduce 
 other men to desert with him : he added, even if 
 they should escape into the United States, that they 
 would be there treated like wretched perjurors, which 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 25 
 
 in fact they would then be, and would curse the day 
 on which they committed such a crime. "Manfully 
 tell me the truth!" Carr hesitated, and stammered 
 out a denial. The colonel quickly stepped up to him. 
 with his fist clenched, and said : " Don t prevaricate 
 tell me the truth, like a man you know I have 
 always treated you kindly ! " The man confessed 
 that he and certain others had agreed to desert. 
 " Go, then," rejoined the colonel, "go and tell those 
 deluded men all that has passed here that notwith 
 standing what you have told me, I will still treat 
 every one of you with kindness, and you may then 
 all desert from me if you please." 
 
 In the summer following, Lieut. -Colonel Brock 
 was stationed at York, from whence six of his men 
 deserted, having been seduced by a corporal of the 
 41st regiment, who had been left there as an artificer. 
 At midnight, the sergeant of the guard informed the 
 sergeant-major that three of his men were missing, 
 and that a boat was taken from a shed in charge of 
 one of his sentries, who had also disappeared. The 
 sergeant-major instantly reported the circumstance 
 to the colonel, who ordered him to man a bateau 
 immediately, with a sergeant and twelve privates of 
 the light company, which was done ; and at the same 
 time the roll was called in the barrack rooms, when 
 it was ascertained that three other men were also 
 missing, as well as the corporal of the 41st. At 
 half-past twelve, the colonel himself embarked in the 
 bateau, taking his trusty sergeant-major with him. 
 They pulled directly for Niagara, at this point thirty 
 miles across. Fortunately, the weather continued 
 calm, and they reached Niagara the following 
 morning, whence Colonel Brock at once directed a 
 lieutenant (Chesshire) and a party of the detachment 
 stationed there, to proceed in a bateau along the Ame 
 rican shore of Lake Ontario, while with his own boat 
 he returned towards York, by coasting along the 
 west end of the lake, so as to intercept the deserters, 
 c 
 
26 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 should they have taken that course. They, however, 
 had crossed the lake direct to the American shore, 
 and were overtaken by the party from Niagara, 
 every man being brought back. The manner in 
 which the fugitives were captured deserves mention. 
 The detachment sent in pursuit from Fort George 
 was accompanied by an Indian, who, after some 
 time, asked permission to land, that he might shoot 
 on shore, keeping within a short distance of the boat 
 as it coasted the lake. He unexpectedly met the 
 deserters in their red jackets in the woods, and at 
 once running to the lake, he hailed the officer, and 
 informed him of what he had seen. The officer and 
 his party immediately landed, and set out in pursuit; 
 they walked a few miles on a very hot day, but were 
 unable to discover the fugitives, and some of the 
 party asked leave to go to the lake side to quench 
 their thirst. While drinking, they saw two or three 
 of the deserters approaching for the same purpose, 
 and having secured them, they quickly overtook the 
 remainder. Had the American government been 
 aware of the circumstance, they probably would have 
 considered it as a violation of their territory. No 
 other desertions occurred from any post personally 
 commanded by Colonel Brock in Canada. It was 
 said that Lieut.-General Hunter, who commanded 
 the troops in both provinces, and was then in York, 
 expressed his displeasure to the colonel for his so 
 rashly venturing in an open boat, which was never 
 known to have crossed the lake before. 
 
 In the same summer of 1803, soon after the cap 
 ture of these deserters, a very serious conspiracy 
 was on the point of being carried into execution by 
 the detachment of the 49th in garrison at Fort 
 George, under the command of the junior lieute 
 nant-colonel. The intention of the mutineers was 
 to confine the officers in the cells, in which several 
 deserters were then imprisoned, while they marched 
 to Queenston, seven miles distant, and there crossed 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 27 
 
 over by the ferry to the State of New York. But 
 it is the belief of an officer of the 49th, that had the 
 mutineers succeeded, the life of Lieut. -Colonel Sheaffe 
 would have been sacrificed. This design to effect 
 their escape by force appears to have arisen partly 
 from the harsh langufage and stringent regulations 
 of the commanding officer, who, however, inflicted 
 as little corporal punishment as possible ; and partly 
 from the natural impatience of the men under the 
 restraints of discipline in a remote spot, which, 
 from its proximity to the American frontier, seemed 
 to invite desertion. The vigilance required to 
 counteract this discontented feeling must have in 
 creased its intensity ; but as Lieut.-Colonel Brock 
 lost not a man when he assumed the command, it is 
 evident that confidence and kindness would have 
 been the better course. The manner in which the 
 conspiracy was discovered and suppressed would 
 seem to warrant the remark, that truth is often 
 stranger than fiction ; and the following details par 
 take so much of romance, that we feel called upon 
 to say that we have obtained them from an officer of 
 the 49th, who was present on the occasion. 
 
 Major Wulff, of the Royal Artillery,* was quar 
 tered at this time at Niagara. His servant returning 
 across the common from Fort George to his master s 
 quarters in the town, met a soldier of the 49th, 
 Fitzpatrick by name, running towards the fort, and 
 was stopped and asked by him the hour of the day. 
 On being told, Fitzpatrick exclaimed : " Thank God, 
 I will not be too late for the roll call at dinner, for 
 
 if I were, that tyrant, , would send me to 
 
 knapsack drill for a week. But, by God!" and 
 he- muttered something of a threatening character, 
 too indistinct however for the servant to understand, 
 as he -ran off again towards the fort. The soldier s 
 remark and manner made such an impression on the 
 servant s mind, that he at once reported the circum- 
 
 * The present General Wulff, who entered the Artillery in 1/79. 
 
28 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 stance to his master, who immediately went over to 
 the fort, distant about half a mile, and repeated to 
 Colonel Sheaffe what his servant had told him. 
 Fitzpatrick was instantly sent for ; and, on being 
 interrogated, shewed such symptoms of guilt, al 
 though he confessed nothing,* that he was ordered 
 to be put in irons, and shut up in one of the cells 
 attached to the garrison guard-house. His confine 
 ment, and in irons, of course became quickly known 
 in the garrison; and thereupon a soldier of the 
 regiment, named Daly, a servant of Captain Dennis, 
 confessed to his master that he was one of the con 
 spirators, having become such through the persuasion 
 of Sergeant Clarke. Now, Daly had been enlisted 
 by this sergeant in Ireland the previous year, and 
 had joined the regiment with him but a few weeks 
 before. He stated that, some days antecedently, 
 Sergeant Clarke had made known to him the exist 
 ence of the conspiracy, and had invited him to join 
 in it, when he answered : " For God s sake, do not 
 make known to me any of your proceedings, for I 
 must take care of myself for the sake of my wife 
 and children." But the sergeant, who had not only 
 employed Daly to serve him occasionally, but whose 
 wife was his washerwoman, considered him as de 
 voted to him, and insisted on his joining the 
 conspirators, assuring him at the same time that 
 he would make his wife and children much more 
 comfortable in the United States than in the regiment. 
 Daly s objections were thus overcome, and he at 
 tended the subsequent meetings, especially the last 
 and most important one, held that very morning in 
 Knox s tavern, in the town of Niagara, and from 
 which Fitzpatrick was returning when he met the 
 servant of Major Wulff. 
 
 On this disclosure, a meeting of the officers was 
 immediately, but privately, called ; and it was agreed 
 that no public step should be taken until Colonel 
 Brock was made acquainted with the particulars. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 29 
 
 A report from Colonel Sheaffe was at once dispatched 
 to York by a government schooner then in the Nia 
 gara river; and on the receipt thereof Colonel Brock 
 hurried off in the same schooner, taking with him 
 his young and devoted sergeant-major. The vessel 
 arrived near the mouth of the river a little before 
 noon, and at the colonel s request she was anchored 
 below the town, under the bank of the lake, where he 
 was landed alone, the sergeant-major by his orders 
 remaining below deck out of view, until sent for. 
 He then walked over the common to the east gate of 
 the fort, the sentry at which, on seeing him approach, 
 called out the guard, the usual compliment to a 
 commanding officer. The day was very hot, and it 
 being the soldiers dinner hour, not an officer or man 
 appeared out of doors. The colonel crossed the 
 square to the guard, which he found commanded by 
 Sergeant Clarke. Now, it was part of the plan that 
 the mutineers were to take to their arms on some 
 night when Sergeant Clarke and Corporal O Brien 
 were on guard, and the colonel by chance found 
 them both on this guard. 
 
 On approaching the guard, which had already 
 presented arms to him, Colonel Brock said : " Ser 
 geant, let your guard shoulder arms," and it was 
 done, when the colonel, who was a man of towering 
 frame and commanding aspect, continued : " Come 
 here, sergeant lay down your pike;" pronounced 
 in a tone which produced instant obedience. " Take 
 off your sword and sash, and lay them down" this 
 was also done. " Corporal O Brien, bring a pair of 
 handcuffs, and put them on this sergeant, and lock 
 him up in one of the cells, and bring me the key." 
 This was soon done. " Come here, corporal, lay down 
 your arms take off your accoutrements, and lay 
 them down also." It was done. " Come here, you 
 grenadier," the right hand man of the guard, " bring 
 a pair of handcuffs and put them on this corporal, 
 and lock him up in another cell, and bring me the 
 
30 LIFE AND CORKESPONDENCE OF 
 
 key" and it was soon done. " Drummer, beat to 
 arms" and it was done. 
 
 Up to this moment no one in the garrison, except 
 the sentry and the guard, knew that the colonel was 
 in the fort. The first person seen issuing from the 
 officers barracks, the nearest building to the guard 
 house, was Lieutenant Williams, with his sword and 
 belt in his hand, to whom the colonel said : " Wil 
 liams, go and instantly secure Rock, and if he hesi 
 tate to obey, even for a moment, cut him down. 7 
 Lieutenant Williams commanded the light company, 
 to which Rock had recently been transferred, after 
 his reduction from sergeant in a battalion company 
 at Montreal, a few weeks before. This officer ran 
 up stairs, and called to Rock to come down with 
 him, and Rock said : " Yes, sir, when I take my 
 arms." " No, you must come without them." " I 
 must have my arms, sir" at the same time stretching 
 out his hand towards his musket, in the arm-rack. 
 " If you touch your musket, I will cut you down 
 instantly go down before me !" and at the same time 
 he drew his sabre. Rock obeyed, and was with ten 
 other conspirators put in irons, and the whole, with 
 Fitzpatrick, were immediately embarked for York, in 
 charge of a guard of the Royal Artillery in number 
 twelve conspirators, with a corporal and seven de 
 serters, lately overtaken in the States and brought 
 back in all twenty. 
 
 Lieut.-General Hunter, then at Quebec, ordered 
 that the delinquents should be tried in that garrison ; 
 and thither they were sent in September, Lieut.- 
 Colonel Sheaffe being the prosecutor. In January 
 following, the proceedings of the court martial were 
 transmitted to the general at York, and he issued an 
 order for carrying the sentence into execution, by 
 which four of the mutineers (Clarke, O Brien, Rock, 
 and Fitzpatrick,) and three deserters (one each of 
 the 6th, 41st, and 49th regiments) were condemned 
 to suffer death. They were shot on the 2d of March, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 31 
 
 1804, at Quebec, in the presence of the entire gar 
 rison, and a most solemn and affecting sight it was. 
 At a quarter past ten, a. m., the procession moved off 
 from the prison in the following order : 
 
 Two Bugle Horns. 
 Major Campbell, with a large party of the 41st as the advance guard. 
 
 Artillery, with a Field-Piece. 
 
 The Firing Party, fifty-six in number. 
 
 Seven Coffins, borne by two men each. 
 
 Escort with the Prisoners, attended by four Roman Catholic Clergymen, 
 
 and the Rev. Mr. Mountain. 
 
 Surgeons of the Garrison and Regiments. 
 
 Band of Music of the 41 st, playing a Dirge. 
 
 Major-General Mann, R.E., and Staff Officers of the Garrison. 
 
 Field-Piece. 
 Lieut-Colonel Glasgow, with the main body of the Artillery. 
 
 Field-Piece. 
 Lieut.-Colonel Proctor, at the head of the 41st Regiment, with tho 
 
 Colours. 
 
 Major Muter, of the 6th, with the two flank Companies of that Regiment. 
 
 New Brunswick Volunteers, about seventy in number, 
 
 without arms. 
 
 At about half-past ten they arrived on the ground, 
 when the sentence and warrant of execution were 
 read ; the prisoners about to suffer were then led to 
 their coffins, upon which they respectively kneeled, 
 and were kept nearly three quarters of an hour in 
 prayer. During this time the wind was easterly, 
 strong, and cold, a thick drift of snow added to the 
 gloom, and, as if to increase the horror of the scene, 
 a few of the firing party, instead of advancing to 
 within eight yards of the prisoners, and firing in 
 three divisions as was intended, owing to some mis 
 take, commenced firing at the distance of at least fifty 
 yards, on being ordered by the sergeants who com 
 manded the divisions to make ready. The conse 
 quence was, that the unhappy wretches were only 
 partially wounded, and dropped one after another. 
 Nearly forty shots were fired before one poor fellow 
 in the centre fell, although he was wounded through 
 the abdomen by the first discharge. The men, who 
 had reserved their fire, were at length ordered up, 
 and, lodging the contents of their muskets in the 
 breasts of the culprits, by that means put them out of 
 torture. The unfortunate sufferers declared publicly 
 
32 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that, had they continued under the command of 
 Colonel Brock, they would have escaped their me 
 lancholy end ; and, as may be easily conceived, he 
 felt no little anguish that they, who had so recently 
 and so bravely fought under him in Holland and at 
 Copenhagen, were thus doomed to end their lives, 
 the victims of unruly passions inflamed by vexatious 
 authority. He was now directed to assume the com 
 mand at Fort George, and all complaint and desertion 
 instantly ceased. Of the other prisoners tried at 
 Quebec, one was pardoned, we believe, at the interces 
 sion of Colonel Brock; and the remainder, including 
 a younger brother of Fitzpatrick, were sent to the 
 West Indies for life. We willingly add, in justice 
 to Lieut. -Colonel Sheaffe, that he profited by this 
 fatal experience, and latterly became a good regi 
 mental commanding officer.* It must be also re 
 membered, that at the period of the conspiracy, 
 severity appears to have been too much the rule, and 
 kindness the exception in the iron, we had almost 
 said brutal, discipline of the British army,t a regi 
 mental court martial, composed of only one captain 
 and four subalterns, having then, and for many years 
 subsequently, the power of inflicting at least 999 
 lashes ! (" have mercy, Jesu,") and that numberless 
 
 * An old pensioner, who served many years in the 4Qth, and was at 
 Fort George during the conspiracy, tells us that the men were displeased 
 at objections being made to their visiting the town of Niagara; at their 
 being allowed to fish only in their white trowsers ; and at other petty 
 sources of annoyance moreover, that the four black holes were con 
 stantly full. He adds that Colonel Brock, on assuming the command, 
 allowed the men, in proper uniform, to visit the town freely ; to fish in 
 their fatigue dresses j and even to use their muskets to shoot the wild 
 pigeons, which flew over in countless numbers, on condition that they 
 provided their own powder and shot. 
 
 t Proof l. It was then sometimes the practice to steep the cat in brine 
 before, as well as during, the infliction of the punishment : this brutality 
 is now strictly prohibited. 
 
 Proof 2. A soldier was sentenced to receive 1,500 lashes for marauding. 
 When brought to the halberts, he seized the drum-major s sword, and 
 called upon his comrades to rescue him : they, however, did not interfere. 
 He was forthwith flogged to the full extent of his sentence ; subsequently 
 he was tried for the above act of mutiny, found guilty, and shot ! ! ! 
 
 Proof 3. The infliction of a sentence at two, three, or even four dif 
 ferent periods, when the victim was incapable of bearing the whole 
 number of lashes at once, although the practice was illegal. There was. 
 also picketing, and other modes of torture. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 33 
 
 officers too often forgot that even in the slavish 
 obedience and passive suffering exacted from the 
 soldiery of that day, there might be a limit, as there 
 occasionally was, to human endurance. 
 
 In the fall of 1805, in October of which year he 
 was made a full colonel, Colonel Brock returned to 
 Europe on leave;* and early in the following year, 
 " conceiving/ as he said, " that it is the duty of 
 every officer to suggest whatever may appear to him 
 likely to prove beneficial to the service," he laid be 
 fore his royal highness the commander-in-chief the 
 outlines of a plan for the formation of a veteran 
 battalion, to serve in the Canadas. The mutiny at 
 Fort George, and its mournful consequences, were 
 still evidently uppermost in his mind when he sug 
 gested a remedy for the evils he so clearly describes. 
 In support of the plan he wrote : 
 
 " The advantages which may attend the establish 
 ment of a corps such as is here recommended, will 
 be perhaps more clearly understood by first adverting 
 to some of the causes that produce the inconvenience 
 to which the troops occupying the frontier posts of 
 that country are continually exposed. 
 
 " A regiment quartered in Upper Canada is gene 
 rally divided into eight different parts, several hun 
 dred miles asunder, and in this situation it remains 
 at least three years. Great as is the evil incidental 
 to a state of separation, even where the mind is in 
 no danger of being debauched, what may not be 
 apprehended in a country where both the divided 
 state of the regiment, and the artifices employed to 
 wean the soldier from his duty, conspire to render 
 almost ineffectual every effort of the officers to main 
 tain the usual degree of order and discipline ? The 
 lures to desertion continually thrown out by the 
 Americans, and the facility with which it can be 
 
 * We regret that we cannot discover a single letter from Lieut.-Colonel 
 Brock during his first sojourn in Canada. 
 
34 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 accomplished, exacting a more than ordinary pre 
 caution on the part of the officers, insensibly produce 
 mistrust between them and the men, highly prejudi 
 cial to the service. 
 
 " The soldier, in his intercourse with the inhabit 
 ants, soon learns that many of them, who a few years 
 before possessed no kind of property, are become 
 opulent, by having obtained extensive grants of land. 
 He will also find that these men, generally speaking, 
 had no claim to favor, being either utter strangers, or 
 known only as our enemies in the war of the rebellion. 
 
 " I am aware that this indiscriminate disposal of 
 land has now ceased, but unfortunately the great 
 influx of bad subjects into the country must long be 
 productive of serious evils to the army. It being 
 impossible to deprive men of reflection, the zeal of 
 the old and faithful soldier suffers, as he naturally 
 considers himself better entitled to protection than 
 these unworthy intruders. 
 
 " The young and thoughtless give too much credit 
 to what the designing are continually repeating to 
 them that they need only desert to secure an inde 
 pendence. The American service too is represented 
 as enjoying many advantages over the British ; and 
 indeed to a superficial observer the following state 
 ment of the pay and allowances of an American sol 
 dier seems to justify the assertion. 
 
 [A table in detail follows of the monthly pay, annual cloth 
 ing, and daily rations, by which it appears that sergeants 
 received eight, corporals seven, musicians six, and privates 
 five dollars per month, and, when employed on fortifications 
 or roads, ten cents and one gill of spirits per day, in addition 
 to their pay and rations ; artificers of artillery excepted, 
 whose pay was ten dollars per month. The daily rations 
 were : 1J Ib. of beef, f Ib. of pork,* 1 Ib. 2 oz. of bread or flour, 
 1 gill of spirits; exclusive of 2 quarts of salt, 41b. of soap, 
 4 quarts of vinegar, and l^lb. of candles per hundred rations. 
 And it is added, that " the men are enlisted to serve for five 
 years."] 
 
 * To an Irishman brought up on potatoes and buttermilk, a daily allow 
 ance of 2 Ib. of meat must have appeared very tempting. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 35 
 
 " Experience has taught me that no regular re 
 giment, however high its claims to discipline, can 
 occupy the frontier posts of Lower and Upper Cana 
 da without suffering materially in its numbers. It 
 might have been otherwise some years ago ; but now 
 that the country, particularly the opposite shore, is 
 chiefly inhabited by the vilest characters, who have 
 an interest in debauching the soldier from his duty ; 
 since roads are opened into the interior of the States, 
 which facilitate desertion, it is impossible to avoid 
 the contagion. A total change must be effected in 
 the minds and views of those who may hereafter be 
 sent on this duty, before the evil can be surmounted. 
 
 " Were a veteran battalion formed on the princi 
 ples which I shall proceed to state, the disposable 
 force would be stationed at Quebec in fact, the 
 only military post in the country : there it could be 
 easily maintained in a state fit for service ; desertion 
 would in a great measure be stopped ; and Canada, 
 instead of being the ruin of part of the army, would 
 become a most eligible quarter. 
 
 " What I would presume humbly to recommend, 
 is the establishing of a corps composed of men de 
 serving, by long and faithful services, of the most 
 liberal protection and favor, whose interests would 
 be so interwoven with the safety and prosperity 
 of the country, as to ensure a continuance of good 
 conduct. 
 
 "The men, in the first instance, might be selected 
 from the veteran corps already established, and after 
 wards impartially from every regiment throughout 
 the army. No officer, who has been any time in the 
 command, but is sensible that every year men are 
 discharged whom he could with propriety recom 
 mend, and these will be more than sufficient to keep 
 up the establishment. On each of these men two 
 hundred acres of good land might be settled. 
 
 " Ten companies, each of sixty rank and file, with 
 the usual proportion of officers, distributed in the 
 
36 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 following manner, would, I apprehend, prove equal 
 to all the duty to which they might be liable. 
 
 Stations. No. of Companies. 
 
 St. John and Chambly 1 
 
 Kingston 1 
 
 York 2 
 
 Fort George and dependencies 3 
 
 Amherstburg . . . . , 2 
 
 St. Joseph 1 
 
 " A small force might be necessary at Montreal, 
 which the garrison of Quebec could furnish by a 
 detachment composed of men the least likely to 
 desert. 
 
 [Lieut.-Colonel Brock next gives a scale of the number of 
 years each soldier should serve in the veteran battalion, pro 
 portionate to his length of former service ; and among other 
 details he suggests that the men, on their discharge, should 
 be located on a large tract of land on the river " Credit," 
 purchased by Lieut.-General Hunter from the Mississague 
 Indians ; recommending also that they should be furnished 
 with implements of husbandry, and rations for a short period, 
 the expense of which would in the end be inconsiderable, as 
 on receiving the 200 acres they would forego all claim to 
 Chelsea hospital, or to any other pension. And he concludes 
 as follows : ] 
 
 " The monthly returns of the regiments, which for 
 the last ten years have occupied the frontier posts of 
 the Canadas, will shew in part the mischiefs against 
 which a remedy ought, in my opinion, to be provided. 
 But recollecting the sensations produced on the mind 
 of the old soldier by the promise of land made two 
 years ago by officers recruiting for a Fencible corps, 
 I would not recommend the raising of one in the 
 usual indiscriminate manner for this duty. 
 
 " I have considered the subject only in a military 
 point of view ; the advantages arising from the intro 
 duction of a number of men into the country, attached 
 to government by ties of interest and gratitude, and 
 already acquainted with the use of arms, are too 
 obvious in a political light to need any comment. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 37 
 
 " It is highly gratifying to observe the comfortable 
 state of the Loyalists, who, in the year 1784, obtained 
 small tracts of land in Upper Canada : their conduct 
 and principles form a perfect contrast to those prac 
 tised and professed generally by the settlers of 1794 
 and 1795. 
 
 " It may be worthy of remark, that the land in 
 Upper Canada cannot be estimated of any value to 
 government, since any stranger, on paying, I think, 
 six pence fees for every acre, may at this moment 
 procure two hundred acres on condition of settling." 
 
 In a letter from Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, dated 
 Horse Guards, January 17, 1806, Colonel Brock 
 received the Duke of York s "thanks for the commu 
 nication of his very sensible observations respecting 
 the distribution of the troops in Canada, which his 
 royal highness will not fail to take into consideration 
 at a seasonable opportunity." * 
 
 While on a visit to his family and friends in 
 Guernsey, Colonel Brock deemed the intelligence 
 from the United States to be of so warlike a charac 
 ter, that he resolved on returning to Canada before 
 his leave was expired ; and such was his anxiety to 
 be at his post, that he overtook at Cork the Lady 
 Saurnarez, a Guernsey vessel, well manned and armed 
 as a letter of marque, bound to Quebec. He left 
 London on the 26th of June, 1806, and hurried away 
 from Europe never to return never to revisit those 
 who fondly loved him, not only from ties of kindred, 
 but for his many endearing qualities ; but he had the 
 satisfaction of knowing that the commander-in-chief 
 was much pleased by the zeal and devotion evinced 
 by him on this occasion. 
 
 * The 10th Royal Veteran Battalion arrived in Canada the year fol 
 lowing ; and the Canadian rifle regiment, consisting of old soldiers, was 
 formed a few years since, with the view of preventing desertion across 
 the frontier. 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 VERY soon after his return to Canada, Colonel Brock 
 succeeded, on the 27th of September, 1806, to the 
 command of the troops in the two provinces, with the 
 pay and allowances of a brigadier, Colonel Bowes,* 
 oi* the 6th Foot, having resigned that command on 
 his departure for England. At this time, the civil 
 government of the lower province was administered 
 by Mr. President Dunn ; and Colonel Brock resided 
 at Quebec, in command of the forces, until the ar 
 rival, in October, 1807, of the governor-general, Sir 
 James Craig, who appointed him to act as a briga 
 dier, which appointment was confirmed by the king, 
 to date from the 2d of July, 1808. 
 
 Colonel Brock to Lieut. -Colonel J . W. Gordon. 
 
 QUEBEC, September 28, 1806. 
 
 I have the honor to acquaint you, for the informa 
 tion of the commander-in-chief, that Colonel Bowes, 
 preparatory to his departure for England, has re 
 signed the command of his majesty s forces in this 
 country, which, as the next senior officer, devolves 
 on me. 
 
 I have great pleasure in reporting to his royal 
 highness the good order and discipline which, much 
 
 * Afterwards Major-General Barnard Foord Bowes, slain on the 2/th of 
 June, 1812, while leading the troops to the assault of the forts of Sala 
 manca. Monuments in St. Paul s, to the memory of Major-General 
 Bowes and of Sir Isaac Brock, were voted in the House of Commons on 
 the same day, 20th of July, 1813. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. oU 
 
 to the credit of Lieut. -Colonel Sheaffe, I found on 
 my arrival to prevail among the eight companies of 
 the 49th regiment, quartered in this garrison. 
 
 It has been the fate of the 49th to be divided for 
 the last four years and a half, several hundred miles 
 apart ; and however anxious I must be to assemble 
 the whole together, I have not, considering the youth 
 of the 100th regiment, which alone affords me the 
 means of effecting that measure, thought it prudent 
 to withdraw the company stationed at St. John s and 
 the other frontier posts of this province ; but the one 
 at Montreal will be relieved this autumn.* 
 
 Colonel Bowes having complied with Lieut. -Colo 
 nel Otway sf earnest application for leave to return 
 to England, I have appointed Captain Ormsby, of 
 the 49th regiment, an officer of approved merit, to 
 act as deputy adjutant-general during his absence; 
 an arrangement which, I presume to hope, his royal 
 highness will be graciously pleased to sanction. 
 
 A few days after succeeding to the command of 
 the troops, Colonel Brock issued very stringent regu 
 lations for the guidance of the deputy commissary- 
 general, whose accounts appear, from the letters 
 before us, to have been in great, if not in irretriev 
 able, confusion, and against whom there existed a 
 balance of ,36,359 sterling, for which no warrants, 
 to sanction the application, could be found in the 
 proper office. The commissary, when called upon to 
 
 * The other military posts in Canada, with the names of their com 
 mandants, appear, by a circular dated 15th of December, 1806, to have 
 been as follows: Montreal, Major Hamilton, 100th regiment; Kingston, 
 brevet Major Mackenzie, 4lst regiment; York, Captain Derenzy, 4lst 
 regiment; Fort George, Lieut.-Colonel Proctor, 41st regiment ; Amherst- 
 burg, brevet Lieut.-Colonel Grant, 41st regiment 5 and St. Joseph, Major 
 Campbell, 41st regiment. 
 
 + The present Lieut.-General Sir Loftus W. Otway, C. B., colonel of the 
 84th regiment. Lieut.-Colonel Otway being unable to obtain a desirable 
 passage for England at Quebec, Colonel Brock advised his proceeding in 
 the Lady Saumarez (the vessel which brought him out) to St. John s, 
 Newfoundland, which he did, and there embarked in a vessel of war. 
 How changed is Quebec now with her innumerable fall ships. 
 
40 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 account for this large balance, objected, evidently 
 with a view to procrastination, to the rank of Colonel 
 Brock, and wrote to him, " that he conceived it was 
 not expedient, or competent to any authority then in 
 Canada, to give instructions, by which his duties 
 and responsibility, under the instructions of the lords 
 commissioners of his majesty s treasury, could be in 
 any manner altered or affected." In reply, Colonel 
 Brock repeated his positive injunctions for the ob 
 servance of these regulations, and closed his commu 
 nication to the commissary as follows : " In respect 
 to the last paragraph of your letter, relating to the 
 two characters * whom you consider as more compe 
 tent than me to give you authorities, it will be time 
 enough to investigate the question, when either of 
 them shall express a wish to assume the command ; 
 but in the meanwhile I shall exercise it with prompti 
 tude and decision." That there were ample grounds 
 for Colonel Brock s interference, will be seen in the 
 following paragraph of his letter to the lords com 
 missioners of his majesty s treasury, dated Quebec, 
 November 28, 1806 : " I can no longer dissemble 
 from their lordships the difficulties which I much 
 fear will follow any attempt of mine to enforce the 
 periodical settlement of the deputy commissary-gene 
 ral s accounts, as I find that no examination has 
 occurred in his store account since the 24th of De 
 cember, 1788. The account of fuel is likewise in 
 arrear since the 24th of December, 1796, and the 
 account of provisions since the 24th of June, 1800. f 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Right Hon. W. Windham. 
 
 QUEBEC, 28th October, 1806. 
 
 Having long witnessed the many inconveniences 
 which the troops in garrison at Quebec suffer for 
 
 * The president of Lower, and the lieutenant-governor of Upper, 
 Canada. 
 
 t The officer in question was subsequently relieved, when he was found 
 to be in a state of insolvency. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 41 
 
 want of regular hospitals, I think it my duty to 
 submit the following representation on the subject 
 to your consideration. 
 
 The hiring of houses to serve as hospitals is at all 
 times precarious ; indeed, none can be procured but 
 of a miserable description, situated in the midst of 
 the town, and often so much out of repair, that a 
 considerable expense is unavoidably incurred before 
 they can be occupied. 
 
 The intense heat of the summer and the severity of 
 the cold in winter, make thick walls of masonry 
 particularly desirable in this country ; but the sick 
 are now lodged in small wooden buildings, and are 
 subject to every change of temperature. 
 
 Herewith I have the honor of transmitting a plan 
 for the construction of a building calculated to re 
 move these disadvantages. Captain Bruyeres, com 
 manding royal engineer, proposes to erect it on a 
 site reserved for a barrack by Major-General Mann, 
 in his project for the completion of the citadel, and 
 so disposed as to answer the original intention equally 
 well, should any other arrangement in regard to the 
 hospital be hereafter found necessary. 
 
 The accompanying estimate* is made with every 
 regard to economy. 
 
 In November of this year, (1806,) owing evidently 
 to the want of a proper naval authority, Colonel 
 Brock directed that Lieut.-Colonel Pye, the deputy 
 quartermaster-general, should have the entire super 
 intendence of the marine department, including the 
 bateaux for the lakes and rivers of the Canadas, 
 the building and outfit of the vessels, their repairs 
 and navigating, and the issue and expenditure of the 
 necessary stores, with the exception only of the 
 bateaux at La Chine. Colonel Brock further direct 
 ed that an assistant quartermaster-general should be 
 
 * j3,l83 sterling for materials and workmanship. 
 
42 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 stationed, one at Amherstburg and another at King 
 ston ; the former to superintend the marine service 
 on Lake Erie arid its dependencies, and the latter on 
 Lake Ontario and its dependencies ; to whom the log 
 books, journals, and all communications were to be 
 transmitted. By the same order, the following num 
 ber of boats was to be kept in constant repair at, the 
 several posts for military services, independent of 
 those required for the commissariat, viz. Quebec, 6 ; 
 Three Rivers, 2 ; William Henry, 1 ; Montreal,* 7 ; 
 St. John s,* 2; Kingston,* 4 5 Fort George,* 12 ; 
 York, 3; and Amherstburg, 4 ; total, 41. Although 
 it may appear strange that a military officer should 
 be nominated to the command in chief of the Cana 
 dian navy, which was then in a very incipient state, 
 yet it would seem that this *act of Colonel Brock, 
 together with the wholesome regulations which he 
 issued at the same time for the guidance of the deputy 
 quartermaster-general, was the principal cause of the 
 British supremacy on the lakes when the war broke 
 out in the year 1812. 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Right Hon. the Secretary at War. 
 QUEBEC, December 25, 1806. 
 
 I have the honor to report that Mr. Thomas 
 Faunce, town major of Quebec, died yesterday at 
 a very advanced age ; and I beg leave respectfully to 
 submit for your indulgent consideration the enclosed 
 memorial which I have received from Mr. Ross-Lewin. 
 
 This gentleman served with distinguished merit in 
 the 5th regiment, for upwards of seventeen years, 
 during which he attained the rank of captain ; but 
 in consequence of a most unfortunate accident, which 
 deprived him of his left hand, he was compelled to 
 retire from active service. 
 
 So sensible was the late Lieut.-General Hunter of 
 his merit, that he strongly recommended him, three 
 
 * And dependencies. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 43 
 
 years ago, for a situation in the barrack department, 
 but the then secretary at war in the meantime dis 
 posed of the appointment. 
 
 Whilst earnestly soliciting your kind protection in 
 the present instance, I discharge a pleasing task to 
 myself, and fulfil also the intention of the late lieute 
 nant-general, who always expressed every inclination 
 to promote the interests of Mr. Ross-Lewin. 
 
 I have taken the liberty of appointing him to do 
 the duty of town major to this garrison, until his 
 majesty s pleasure can be notified.* 
 
 Colonel JBrock to Colonel Glasgow, Royal Artillery) 
 President of Board of Accounts. 
 
 QUEBEC, 5th January, 1807. 
 
 The principles that determined the Board of Ac 
 counts to postpone the consideration of several arti 
 cles of charge, brought forward by the deputy com 
 missary-general of stores and provisions, meet with 
 my entire approbation ; and I have to request the 
 Board to continue diligently to ascertain the suffi 
 ciency of every authority for the expenditure of the 
 public money, before it sanctions the smallest charge. 
 
 Some unforeseen and necessary service may justify 
 heads of departments to incur expense without wait 
 ing for the previous approbation of the officer com 
 manding ; but all such cases ought to be immediately 
 reported, and a subsequent approval obtained, before 
 the charge be admitted by the Board. 
 
 Although this regular course was not followed by 
 the deputy commissary-general in several instances 
 stated in his accounts, yet, considering that some 
 came under the above description, I have authorized 
 the military secretary to give them my sanction. 
 
 But when expense is incurred without the most 
 urgent cause, arid more particularly when large sums 
 
 * Mr. Ross-Lewin obtained the appointment, which he held many 
 years, with the rank of ensign. 
 
44 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 are stated to have been expended in anticipation of 
 services not yet authorized, my duty strictly compels 
 me to withhold my approval to all such irregular 
 proceedings. 
 
 Colonel Brock to Mr. President Dunn. 
 
 QUEBEC, 5th January, 1807. 
 
 I beg leave to represent to your honor the serious 
 inconvenience under which the public service labours, 
 in consequence of the innumerable encroachments 
 that have long been, and still continue to be, made 
 upon the reserves of the crown ; and respectfully to 
 submit for your consideration the necessity of imme 
 diately adopting such measures as will effectually 
 remove this alarming evil. 
 
 Those encroachments have been carried on to such 
 a dangerous extent, that the defence of Quebec would, 
 in the event of an attack, be materially and seriously 
 impeded by them. 
 
 A great portion of the ground in question will, in 
 all probability, be shortly required for the erection 
 of new and extensive works, and no time ought, 
 therefore, to be lost in ascertaining the actual bound 
 ary of the king s property. 
 
 I cannot refrain noticing also the unpleasant situ 
 ation in which the officer commanding is often placed, 
 by having to defend civil prosecutions for opposing 
 attempts at encroachment, which, if tolerated, might 
 at some future day endanger the very safety of the 
 place. 
 
 These evils will continue until the king s preroga 
 tive over the land in the vicinity of fortified towns, 
 together with his real property, be defined beyond 
 the possibility of future disputes. 
 
 I shall only advert in this representation to those 
 enclosures and buildings on the Glacis, and even on 
 the covert way of the place, in front of St. John s 
 gate. This ground is indisputably the property of 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 45 
 
 the crown, and as it is essential that these obstruc 
 tions should be immediately removed, I have to 
 request that the necessary instructions may be given 
 to the civil officers, to enter into the usual legal 
 process to effect this object. 
 
 The commanding engineer will be directed to fur 
 nish the necessary plans and descriptions of the en 
 croachments essentially required for military pur 
 poses, and I shall be ready at all times to afford 
 every other assistance and information within my 
 reach to bring the business to a happy conclusion. 
 
 Colonel Brock to Lieut. -Governor Gore, at York. 
 QUEBEC, 27th January, 1807. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your excellency s dispatch (duplicate) of the 20th 
 November last, the original of which has not yet 
 come to hand. 
 
 "Upon the subject of that dispatch, I beg leave to 
 state, that finding Colonel Bowes had, during his 
 temporary command here, given directions upon 
 matters relating to the management of the Indian 
 concerns in the province of Upper Canada, I felt it 
 necessary to apprize your excellency that I meant to 
 discontinue such interference, and strictly to follow 
 his majesty s additional instructions of the 15th of 
 December, 1796, which place the sole control of 
 Indian affairs in that province in your hands, as lieu 
 tenant-governor thereof. 
 
 It consequently became unavoidable that all ac 
 counts which, under the Duke of Portland s letter to 
 Lieut. -General Prescott, of the 13th of December, 
 1796, were to continue to be defrayed out of the 
 army extraordinaries as usual, should previously 
 receive your excellency s sanction and approval. I 
 have, therefore, the honor to inform you, that any 
 money will be advanced from the military chest for 
 this service on the bare signature of your excellency. 
 
46 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Right Hon. W. Windham. 
 
 QUEBEC, February 12, 1807. 
 
 I have the honor to transmit for your consideration 
 a proposal of Lieut.-Colonel John M Donald, late of 
 the Royal Canadian Volunteers, for raising a corps 
 among the Scotch settlers in the county of Glengary, 
 Upper Canada. 
 
 When it is considered that both the Canadas fur 
 nish only two hundred militia who are trained to 
 arms, the advantages to be derived from such an 
 establishment must appear very evident. 
 
 The military force in this country is very small, 
 and were it possible to collect it in time to oppose 
 any serious attempt upon Quebec, the only tenable 
 post, the number would of itself be insufficient to 
 ensure a vigorous defence. 
 
 This corps, being stationed on the confines of the 
 Lower Province, would be always immediately and 
 essentially useful in checking any seditious dispo 
 sition, which the wavering sentiments of a large 
 population in the Montreal district might at any time 
 manifest. In the event of invasion, or other emer 
 gency, this force could be easily and expeditiously 
 transported by water to Quebec. 
 
 The extent of country which these settlers occupy 
 would make the permanent establishment of the staff 
 and one sergeant in each company very advisable. 
 I shall not presume to say how far the claims of the 
 field officers to the same indulgence are reasonable 
 and expedient. 
 
 In regard to the Rev. Alexander M Donell,* I beg 
 leave to observe, that the men being all Catholics, it 
 may be deemed a prudent measure to appoint him 
 chaplain. His zeal and attachment to government 
 
 * Afterwards R. C. Bishop, of Regiopolis, in Upper Canada. lie died in 
 England at an advanced age, in 1839 or 1840, and was through life distin 
 guished by an ardent loyalty, and by his zealous and valuable efforts to 
 animate his countrymen, the Irish, to a gallant discharge of their duty ia 
 defence of the crown. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 47 
 
 were strongly evinced whilst filling the office of chap 
 lain to the Glengary Fencibles, during the rebellion 
 in Ireland, and were graciously acknowledged by his 
 royal highness the commander-in-chief. 
 
 His influence over the men is deservedly great, 
 and I have every reason to believe that the corps, by 
 his exertions, would be soon completed, and hereafter 
 become a nursery, from which the army might draw 
 a number of hardy recruits. 
 
 The following letter affords a good idea of the 
 confidential report of a general officer on the state 
 of a regiment after its periodical inspection. 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Adjutant- General of His 
 Majesty s Forces. 
 
 QUEBEC, March 17, 1807. 
 
 In obedience to the commander-in-chief s com 
 mands, communicated to me in your letter dated 
 20th of November last, I shall proceed to state, for 
 his royal highness s information, such observations a* 
 a strict attention to the conduct and interior economy 
 of the 100th* regiment during the preceding six 
 months has enabled me to make. 
 
 The greatest praise is justly due to Lieut. -Colonel 
 Murray, who has commanded, with only a short 
 interval, from the first formation of the regiment to 
 the present time, for his unremitting care and atten 
 tion to the several important duties of his office. 
 
 The good effects of his exertions and intelligence 
 are strikingly visible in every department of the 
 corps. He has been ably supported by Major Hamil 
 ton and the rest of his officers, who on all occasions 
 
 * On the passage of the 100th to Quebec, in 1805, one of the transports 
 was wrecked in a violent gale on the 2 1st of October, on the coast of New 
 foundland ; and Major Bertram, three captains, six lieutenants, the 
 assistant-surgeon, and about 260 men of the regiment, miserably perished. 
 On the same day the battle of Trafalgar was fought, and it was probably 
 the same gale which caused the loss of so many of the prizes. 
 
48 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 evince the utmost zeal for the service, and the highest 
 respect and attachment towards his person. He has 
 succeeded in establishing an interior discipline and 
 economy, which I have never before witnessed in so 
 young a corps, and scarcely seen surpassed by any, 
 and in a way too the most satisfactory to the feelings 
 of an officer. 
 
 Although I trust the garrison duty at Quebec is 
 carried on with every regard to the safety of the 
 place, together with the strictest attention to all pre 
 scribed forms and regulations, yet the winter has 
 nearly passed without a single instance of neglect or 
 misconduct having occurred among the 100th regi 
 ment ; and it is a pleasing task to report, that so 
 exemplarily have the men behaved, that, even regi- 
 mentally, only one corporal punishment has been 
 inflicted for the last three months. 
 
 I am now speaking of men who, being nearly all 
 Irish, are of all others the most volatile and easily 
 led astray. Should they, therefore, hereafter be 
 seduced by the various temptations by which they 
 are surrounded, I hope to escape the imputation of 
 judging too hastily and partially. The men were 
 principally raised in the north of Ireland, and are 
 nearly all Protestants ; they are robust, active, and 
 good looking. 
 
 The troops in this country are precluded, by the 
 severity of the climate during seven months in the 
 year, from exercising out of doors : it cannot, there 
 fore, be expected that the 100th regiment can, con 
 sidering the little practice it has had in the field, and 
 after such a long interval, be very expert in its 
 manoeuvres ; but as Lieut.-Colonel Murray possesses 
 both capacity and inclination, and as a good founda 
 tion is already laid, the most rapid progress may be 
 expected so soon as the season enables him to com 
 mence his labours. 
 
 A large room has been allotted in the barracks to 
 the purposes of drilling with arms, from which the 
 garrison has derived essential benefit. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 49 
 
 The clothing for the present year is all fitted, and 
 appears very good. Every man is provided with a 
 great coat, agreeably to his majesty s regulations ; 
 but as the great coat is necessarily worn on all oc 
 casions for six months in the year, it cannot by the 
 strictest economy be made to last the specified time. 
 Those of the 100th have been two years in wear, and 
 are so far expended, that they will become wholly 
 unserviceable before next winter. I know of no 
 other alternative but supplying others at the charge 
 of the men, which opinion I have given to Lieut. - 
 Colonel Murray, who applied to me on the subject. 
 
 The messes have been all along abundantly pro 
 vided. Indeed, the soldiers in this country live in a 
 perfect state of luxury unknown any where else. 
 
 The non-commissioned officers and privates ac 
 knowledge to have received every thing which is 
 their due in respect to pay and clothing. One man 
 claims part of his bounty, which, he says, has been 
 withheld. A regimental court martial has already 
 decided against him, but the business shall again be 
 investigated by a garrison court martial. 
 
 Lieut.-Colonel Murray has reported to me that 
 there are several men in his regiment who claim 
 bounty, but as only one complained at the inspection, 
 the remainder must be satisfied that he is doing his 
 utmost to recover what is actually their due. 
 
 The hospital is in as complete order as the house 
 which has been hired for that purpose can admit. 
 Indeed the troops in garrison are much inconve 
 nienced for want of permanent hospitals. There were 
 three cases of fever ; the remainder of the patients 
 were chiefly attacked with a disease too prevalent 
 among young soldiers. Three men are unfit for 
 service, being frost-bitten. 
 
 The men are supplied with necessaries in con 
 formity to his majesty s regulations.* 
 
 * By the general return s of the 100th regiment, drawn up with surprising 
 minuteness, and dated Quebec, l6th March, 1807, we find that only one 
 D 
 
50 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Adjutant -General of His 
 Majesty s Forces. 
 
 QUEBEC, 18th March, 1807. 
 
 The situation which I have the honor to hold in 
 the 49th regiment will not allow me to enlarge fur 
 ther upon its merits in this confidential report, than 
 most respectfully to assure his royal highness the 
 commander-in-chief, that no exertion has been want 
 ing on my part to bring it to such a state, both in 
 regard to its interior economy and manoeuvres in the 
 field, as I feel confident will command applause after 
 the most rigid inspection. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Sheaffe has always afforded me 
 every possible assistance. I have equally every rea 
 son to be satisfied with the conduct of the other 
 officers, who are well instructed in their several du 
 ties, and who, I am happy to say, live together in 
 perfect harmony. 
 
 The sergeants are well grounded in their duty, 
 which they discharge much to my satisfaction. 
 
 The privates are, with very few exceptions, stout 
 and well made; and capable of enduring great fatigue. 
 
 [The remainder of this letter refers to the clothing, messes, 
 hospital, regimental books, &c.] 
 
 In the spring of the year 1807 a long and unplea 
 sant correspondence passed between Mr. President 
 Dunn and Colonel Brock, relative to a waste piece 
 of ground adjoining the barracks at Quebec, and 
 belonging to the crown, which ground the military 
 imperatively required for a parade, as they could 
 only exercise in the gorge of one of the bastions of 
 the citadel, a small space totally inadequate to the 
 
 officer (Lieut- Colonel Murray) was an Englishman ; one (the assistant- 
 surgeon) was a Scotchman; 26 were Irish; 8 not known, being absent 
 on leave, or not having joined ; and two vacant ; total 38 officers. Of the 
 non-commissioned officers and privates, 9 were English, 1 Scotch, and 
 458 Irish, total 468, of whom only 5 sergeants and l private were six feet 
 and upwards in height. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 51 
 
 movement of more than 200 men. There was indeed 
 an extensive field, nearly two miles distant, which 
 occasionally served as a parade, but it was often 
 inaccessible to the troops, in consequence of the bad 
 ness of the roads in the spring and autumn, and of 
 the excessive heats in summer. The Jesuits bar 
 racks, as they are now called, and the ground in 
 question, continue to be used by the military, the 
 property, known as the Jesuits estates, having been 
 seized upon by the crown, on the death of Father 
 Cazot, the last of his order in Canada, in 1800, 
 because the society was suppressed by Pope Clement 
 XIV, in 1773. It will be seen by the report of Lord 
 Gosford s mission to Canada, printed by the order 
 of the House of Commons, that it was one of the 
 leading heads of charge advanced by the French 
 Canadians against the government, that this pro 
 perty had been appropriated to the use of the troops. 
 The next two letters relate to this subject. 
 
 QUEBEC, 7th May, 1807. 
 
 Colonel Brock has been honored with Mr. Presi 
 dent Dunn s letter of yesterday, and observes with 
 regret and surprise that his honor still persists in 
 asserting that the ground, the cause of the present 
 unpleasant discussion, was occupied by the military 
 without his previous knowledge and consent. 
 
 That his honor should forget having given his 
 assent to the measure is nothing extraordinary, but 
 that he should persist in positively refusing his belief 
 to the testimony of two officers, whose characters it 
 is presumed are above suspicion, is what would not 
 be expected from his known candour and liberality. 
 
 Whatever may be the views of those who advise 
 a perseverance in so ungracious a proceeding, Colonel 
 Brock is impressed with too high a sense of respect 
 for the age, and still more for the private character, 
 of the president, to express himself in any other way 
 than to lament the necessity of the present commu 
 nication. 
 
52 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lieut.-Colonel Pye will have the honor of present 
 ing this note, and he will take that opportunity of 
 respectfully reminding his honor that he heard the 
 promise in question unequivocally given. 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Right Hon. W. Windham. 
 QUEBEC, 8th May, 1807. 
 
 Mr. President Dunn having intimated his inten 
 tion of communicating to you the correspondence 
 which has lately passed between us, respecting some 
 waste ground adjoining the barracks, I feel the neces 
 sity of troubling you with an explanation of my 
 conduct. 
 
 Having long experienced the utmost inconvenience 
 in this garrison for want of a sufficient space to pa 
 rade and exercise the troops, I applied verbally to 
 his honor some time since, to know whether he had 
 any objection to rny making use of the ground, 
 formerly the garden of the Jesuits, whose college the 
 military occupy at this moment. He expressed him 
 self sensible of the benefit which would result to the 
 troops, and lamented he could not officially allow it 
 to be converted to the object proposed, but that he 
 would shut his eyes, and in no way interfere with 
 me, provided no injury were done to the premises. 
 
 In consequence of this promise, which I all along 
 considered as a temporary accommodation, liable 
 every instant to be recalled, I began, as early as 
 possible in the spring, clearing the ground of the 
 noxious weeds with which it was overgrown ; and in 
 a few days, after a sad interval of nearly seven 
 months, paraded the troops there for the first time. 
 No notice was taken of this for several days, when 
 I received a letter from the president, signifying his 
 disapprobation of my conduct, and his intention of 
 making an official communication to you upon the 
 subject. 
 
 Feeling that nothing had been done but what had 
 

 SIR ISAAC BROCK. 53 
 
 obtained his previous consent, I could not avoid, in 
 answer, expressing my surprise at so unexpected a 
 communication ; and suspecting that he had been 
 unwarily influenced by the voice of disaffection and 
 private interest, I requested him not to mind a 
 clamour thus raised. I was the more convinced that 
 such was the case, when I found the president mak 
 ing use for the first time of language far from 
 conciliatory, and that the disposition I have all along 
 manifested to meet his wishes by no means warranted. 
 
 Perceiving by his reply that he was still desirous 
 that the troops should not return to the ground, I 
 immediately receded, and issued orders accordingly ; 
 but I must confess that this step, from the great 
 sacrifice, was reluctantly taken, and adopted more 
 out of personal respect to Mr. Dunn than from any 
 apprehension of incurring c.ensure for merely con 
 verting a useless waste, the property of the king, to 
 purposes tending essentially to promote his service. 
 
 The president, in his letters, tenaciously denies 
 having given his tacit assent to the measure ; but as" 
 Lieut.-Colonel Pye, the deputy quartermaster-general, 
 was present when it was given, and that too in a 
 most unequivocal manner, he appeared, when per 
 sonally addressed by that officer, to be sensible he 
 had done me wrong in so suddenly adopting a line 
 of conduct at once ungracious, and so contrary to 
 his former practice and disposition. 
 
 A vast number of people expect to benefit by a 
 division of the ground in question, and evince the 
 utmost impatience upon every step which is taken 
 likely to involve their interests, however greatly it 
 may advance the public service. They are become 
 more sanguine in their expectations now that the 
 civil government is administered by a gentleman, 
 unquestionably of the first respectability and nicest 
 honor, but who, from his great age and long intimacy 
 with the inhabitants, is more likely to be swayed by 
 any representation their avarice may prompt them 
 to make. 
 

 
 54 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 In regard to the immediate question of the ground 
 adjoining the barracks, I beg leave respectfully to 
 refer you to the late Lieut.-General Hunter s dis 
 patch, addressed to Lord Hobart, No. 61, dated the 
 10th August, 1804. He there so fully demonstrates 
 the great benefit the military would derive by being 
 put in possession of the ground, that I shall only 
 presume to add to it a plan of the premises, by which 
 will be clearly seen the confined space at present 
 allotted for the accommodation of 1,500 men, the 
 number the barracks are calculated to contain, and 
 which at this moment are occupied by nearly 1,000. 
 
 I have thus thought it my duty to state fully the 
 motives by which I have been actuated in my late 
 intercourse with Mr. President Dunn, and at the 
 same time to shew respectfully the essential injury 
 that must accrue to the military, should the premises 
 adjoining the barracks be disposed of in the manner 
 desired, if my information be correct, by the civil 
 government. 
 
 Colonel Brock to Mr. President Dunn. 
 
 i QUEBEC, 4th June, 1807. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter of this day s date, and beg leave respect 
 fully to remind you of the correspondence which has 
 already taken place between us in regard to the 
 payment of the Indian department, as I have reason, 
 from the tenor of its contents, to believe that the 
 whole has escaped your memory. 
 
 Finding, on my succeeding to the command, that 
 large sums were expended by the military on account 
 of the Indian department, without the smallest autho 
 rity from the civil administration, although by the 
 Duke of Portland s instructions it is to direct and 
 control all expenditures incurred on that service ; 
 and that in consequence great inconvenience and 
 much useless expense attended the system, I took the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK, 55 
 
 liberty of submitting the following proposal for your 
 consideration : 
 
 " As the deficiencies of the civil revenue are, under instruc 
 tions from his majesty s secretary of state, made good from 
 the army extraordinaries, I conceive with a view of simpli 
 fying the accounts that the disbursements, which hitherto 
 have been made on account of the Indians by the military 
 department, should in the first instance be paid by the civil 
 government." 
 
 To which your honor replied in the following 
 words : 
 
 " No alteration whatever appears to have been made by 
 order of his majesty, with respect to the mode of paying the 
 expenses of the Indian department in either of the provinces ; 
 and I am inclined to think it was intended that the whole of 
 the expense thereof, both in Upper and Lower Canada, should 
 continue to be defrayed precisely in the same manner, after 
 issuing the additional instructions of the 15th December, 
 1796, and 16th July, 1800, as it was before ; that is, out of the 
 extraordinaries of the army, by warrants from the command- 
 er-in-chief, or the deputy paymaster-general of the forces. 
 Finding, however, that this has not been the practice in 
 Lower Canada, since the reception of the last-mentioned 
 instructions, / shall not hesitate to issue my warrant on the 
 receiver-general whenever it becomes necessary, both for the 
 salaries of the officers belonging to the Indian department in 
 this province, and for the payment of any contingent expenses 
 attending the same, which shall be regularly incurred." 
 
 After this unqualified assent on your part, all 
 which I conceived remained for me to do, was to 
 direct those under me to desist making further dis 
 bursements on account of the Indian department ; 
 but at the same time to continue, in every other 
 respect, to afford all possible assistance in carrying 
 on the service. You must, sir, doubtless be aware 
 that the immediate cause of my submitting this new 
 arrangement for your approval, was in consequence 
 of two Indian boys being nominally under tuition at 
 the seminary, at a charge of upwards of <50 per 
 annum, during a period the civil government thought 
 they had ceased to be paid. 
 
 Such useless expenditures must inevitably occur 
 under the old system. 
 
56 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I am bound by my instructions to provide the 
 civil government with whatever money it may de 
 mand on account of the Indian department, but I am 
 strictly restricted incurring the smallest expense on 
 that service ; and therefore, without your previous 
 sanction, no payment can be made. 
 
 Your honor will find me at all times disposed to 
 concur with you in any arrangement you may think 
 necessary to adopt for the good of his majesty s ser 
 vice, but I cannot possibly consent to interfere in the 
 expenditure of the public money in cases where I am 
 deprived of all control. 
 
 I have only to add, that should your honor approve 
 of the claim brought forward by the superintendent- 
 general of Indian affairs for barrack allowances, and 
 will signify to me the amount, the same will instantly 
 be discharged ; and I here beg leave to repeat, that 
 feeling myself unauthorized to incur any expense on 
 account of that department, and indeed being pos 
 sessed of no means of ascertaining the correctness of 
 any demand which might be made for that service, 
 I must regulate my future conduct by the arrange 
 ment which has lately been adopted with your full 
 concurrence and approbation. 
 
 In May, 1807, Mr. Barclay, the British consul- 
 general at New York, informed Mr. President Dunn 
 that in the fall of the preceding year a M. Cassins, 
 who had been French consul at Portsmouth in New 
 Hampshire, had returned to France, where he had 
 an interview with the emperor and Talleyrand, who 
 had ordered him back immediately to the United 
 States that he had since been at Washington, and 
 was then on his way to Canada, with the ostensible 
 object of purchasing furs at Montreal, but that his 
 real errand was to tamper with the Canadians, for 
 which purpose he had been sent out again. A des 
 cription of his person was also given, and Colonel 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 57 
 
 Brock issued prompt instructions to the officers com 
 manding posts in both provinces for his apprehension, 
 in which case he was to be taken before a magis 
 trate, and kept in safe custody until further orders. 
 Monsieur Cassins probably did not enter Canada, as 
 he does not appear to have been apprehended; and 
 we mention the circumstance to show not only the 
 vigilance of Mr. Barclay, but the supposed hostile 
 feeling of the Canadians towards the British rule at 
 this momentous period. 
 
 In this year, in consideration of the long and 
 faithful services of Mr. R , the deputy barrack- 
 master at St. John s, who left his family in very 
 indigent circumstances. Colonel Brock begged of 
 Lieut.-Colonel Shank, of the Canadian Fericibles, to 
 
 employ Mr. R s eldest son, an ensign in that 
 
 regiment, on the recruiting service at William Henry, 
 where he was to have the house formerly occupied 
 by the commanding officer, with the view of afford 
 ing relief to the widow and her remaining seven 
 children, whose ages ranged from seventeen years to 
 twenty months. Colonel Brook further admitted 
 them upon the asylum at William Henry, and gave 
 one ration to the mother and half a ration to each of 
 the children, on condition of their residing at that 
 place. He seems to have taken great interest in this 
 unfortunate family, and to have availed himself of 
 his temporary command to relieve them to the utmost 
 of his power, although no one could be more careful 
 of the public money, or more anxious to prevent its 
 misappropriation. 
 
 Colonel JBrock to brevet Major Mackenzie, 41st Regiment) at 
 Kingston. 
 
 QUEBEC, 29th June, 1807. 
 
 When I directed you to assemble a court of inquiry 
 to investigate the causes which had prevented the 
 payment of the marine department, by which it 
 D* 
 
58 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 became seven months in arrear, you were furnished 
 \vith such documents as I considered made it impos 
 sible for you to err ; but the result of your proceed 
 ings is so very unsatisfactory, and gives throughout 
 such an appearance of inattention, that I feel myself 
 compelled to desire the court to revive its inquiry, 
 and at the same time to conform strictly to the direc 
 tions herein contained. 
 
 Captain Frend, in his capacity of assistant deputy 
 quartermaster-general, reported officially, on the 2d 
 of April, that the marine department at Kingston 
 was seven months in arrear, and that Mr. Commissary 
 Ross assigned the want of cash as the reason. 
 
 Surprised at such a declaration, and wishing to 
 establish the fact in a regular manner, I directed his 
 last account with Mr. Deputy Commissary-General 
 Craigie, ending the 24th September, 1806, at which 
 time a balance of 160. 2s. 7|d. stood to his credit, 
 to be transmitted to me. 
 
 A list of bills was likewise forwarded, which Mr. 
 Commissary Ross had subsequently drawn up to the 
 2d of April, amounting together to 1327. 10s. 6|d. ; 
 deducting therefrom the sum of 160. 2s. 7|d., due to 
 Mr. Ross, there remained a balance of 1167. 7s. 10|d. 
 and I requested he might be called upon to state 
 specifically before the court, in what manner that 
 amount had been applied, so as to leave no money in 
 his hands, with which to pay the marine department. 
 
 Every thing brought forward beyond the 2d of 
 April was extraneous matter, and should not have 
 been considered by the court. 
 
 I am perfectly aware that specie is often difficult 
 to be procured at Kingston, but in the present case 
 bills being drawn, the proceeds must consequently 
 have been in Mr. Ross possession, and the observa 
 tion of the court on the subject is therefore impro 
 perly introduced. 
 
 Mr. Ross instructions direct him to give at all 
 times a preference to the marine department, but 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 59 
 
 should he in this instance have deviated from them, 
 and paid less urgent demands, I am notwithstanding 
 inclined to think ample means still remained in his 
 hands for every other service. This point I wish you 
 clearly to ascertain, and whether, at any period sub 
 sequent to the pay of the marine department becom 
 ing due, he had the means of discharging their 
 arrears. For this purpose it will be necessary you 
 should establish the dates at which payments were 
 made on account of any other service, and to what 
 extent, all of which you will have the goodness to 
 transmit for my information. 
 
 Great discontent existed, during my stay in Upper 
 Canada, among the marine department ; and now 
 that I possess the power, I am determined, as far as 
 I can, to do it away. This act of justice cannot, 
 however, be accomplished unless the officers in com 
 mand will give their aid, and report every thing of 
 the kind that occurs within their observation. 
 
 Captain Frend is stationed at Kingston for that 
 particular purpose, and much is expected from his 
 intelligence and exertions. 
 
 Colonel Brock to the Adjutant -General of His 
 Majesty s Forces. 
 
 QUEBEC, July 1, 1807. 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith the inspec 
 tion return of the 41st regiment for two distinct 
 periods, viz. September 1, 1806, and March 1, 1807. 
 
 Some inaccuracies being found in the September 
 return previously received, it was sent back to Lieut. - 
 Colonel Proctor, at Fort George, for correction. 
 This circumstance and the distance of the place, 
 account for the delay which has occurred in comply 
 ing, in the present instance, with the commands of 
 his royal highness the commander-in-chief. 
 
 The very great distance of the quarters the 41st 
 now occupy, has prevented my making personally 
 
60 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the periodical inspection of that regiment, required 
 by my instructions. But its dispersed state and the 
 many evils by which it is surrounded will, however 
 great the zeal and intelligence of Lieut. -Colonel 
 Proctor and the other officers, so far affect the dis 
 cipline and morals of the men, as to justify my 
 saying that both the one and the other must, without 
 the possibility of a remedy, progressively suffer in 
 proportion as the regiment remains stationed in the 
 Upper Province. The 41st regiment, having a con 
 siderable number of old soldiers, is better calculated 
 for that service than either the 49th or 100th regiments, 
 and no change is therefore meditated. 
 
 Not being possessed with the means of making a 
 more circumstantial report of the state of the 41st 
 regiment, 1 have only to add, injustice to the officers 
 commanding posts, that they evince in their com 
 munications with head quarters much attention and 
 sound judgment. 
 
 Contemplating the probable arrival of a general 
 officer, by the fleet daily expected from England, I 
 have so far presumed to deviate from my instructions 
 as to postpone making the periodical inspection of 
 the regiments quartered in this garrison, conceiving 
 that his royal highness the commander-in-chief would 
 esteem a report coming from such a high source 
 more satisfactory, than if I were to undertake the 
 task in my present situation, which may naturally be 
 supposed, in some degree, to bias my judgment. 
 
 On the 17th July, 1807, in consequence of an 
 expected rupture between England and the United 
 States, Colonel Brock addressed a letter to Mr. Pre 
 sident Dunn, in which he said that the number of 
 militia armed and instructed in the province did not 
 exceed 300, while he thought that as many thousands 
 could easily and with perfect safety be formed into 
 corps; and that Quebec, the only military post in 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 61 
 
 the country, was not in a condition to make much 
 defence against an active enemy, as the walls on the 
 western side were old and decayed, and could not 
 possibly sustain a continued heavy fire. He added, 
 that he wished to throw up such works as would 
 remedy this glaring defect ; but as the garrison was 
 totally inadequate to such an undertaking, he required 
 from 600 to 1,000 men every day for six weeks or 
 two months, besides a vast number of carts, &c., to 
 complete the necessary defences of the citadel. This 
 letter being submitted to the council, that body re 
 plied, that the only means by which assistance could 
 be given by the civil government to the military, in 
 the manner proposed by Colonel Brock, would be by 
 embodying a proportion of the militia according to 
 law, the men for which service must be taken from 
 different parts of the province. And that as this 
 measure had been only once resorted to in the pro 
 vince, on which occasion a decided disobedience was 
 generally manifested, and was again to be anticipated, 
 the council enquired of Colonel Brock whether he 
 had the means, and would furnish them, to enforce 
 the attendance of the militia, who, when embodied, 
 were entitled to the same pay and allowances as the 
 king s troops. The council further informed Colonel 
 Brock that it would meet again the next day, for the 
 purpose of taking into consideration any represen 
 tation, in writing, which he might think proper to 
 make in answer to their communication, and that, 
 if convenient to him, they requested his personal 
 attendance. His reply was as follows : 
 
 QUEBEC, 23d July, 1807. 
 
 Colonel Brock has perused with attention the 
 proceedings of his honor the president in council, 
 communicated to him by Mr. Eyland, and begs leave 
 to observe, that in addressing his honor on the 17th 
 instant, it was far from his intention to assume a 
 political character. 
 
62 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 His sole object was to state the assistance required 
 by the military to remedy a glaring defect in the 
 fortifications of Quebec, should his honor conceive 
 that preparatory measures were necessary to be 
 adopted in consequence of the event which recently 
 occurred between his majesty s ship Leopard and the 
 American frigate Chesapeake, but more particularly 
 the subsequent aggressive provisions contained in the 
 proclamation of the American government. 
 
 In thus complying with the dictates of his duty, 
 Colonel Brock was not prepared to hear that the 
 population of the province, instead of affording him 
 ready and effectual support, might probably add to 
 to the number of his enemies ; and he feels much dis 
 appointment in being informed by the first authority, 
 that the only law in any degree calculated to answer 
 the end proposed was likely, if attempted to be en 
 forced, to meet with such general opposition as to 
 require the aid of the military to give it even a 
 momentary impulse. 
 
 Colonel Brock is therefore obliged to observe, that 
 the officer commanding certainly would not choose 
 the time when the troops may every instant be called 
 upon for the defence of Quebec, to disperse them 
 over the country in aid of the civil government, co- 
 ercively collecting a body of men, which, under 
 such circumstances, would be of more detriment than 
 service to the regular army. Colonel Brock cannot, 
 therefore, look for any assistance from that quarter ; 
 but, should an emergency arise, he is confident that 
 voluntary offers of service will be made by a consi 
 derable number of brave and loyal subjects, and feels 
 himself justified in saying, that even now several 
 gentlemen are ready to come forward and enroll into 
 companies men on whose fidelity they can safely rely. 
 
 It remains with his honor to determine the degree 
 of countenance which ought to be given to such 
 sentiments. 
 
 Colonel Brock will be at all times proud to attend 
 deliberations of his honor in council, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 63 
 
 Colonel Brock to Lord Viscount Castlereagh. 
 
 QUEBEC, July 25, 1807. 
 
 I think it my duty to transmit for your lordship s 
 information a copy of the communication that has 
 passed between his honor the president and me, 
 relative to the military situation of this country. 
 
 Your lordship will perceive from the minutes of 
 the council, how very inadequate the militia law is to 
 afford assistance to the regular force, and the degree 
 of dependance that may be placed on the population 
 of this province. 
 
 My own observations, however, enable me to assure 
 your lordship, that a respectable force might be 
 trained and rendered exceedingly useful on any exi 
 gency, were the least encouragement given to the 
 spirit which at present pervades a certain class to 
 volunteer their services. 
 
 To such characters, arms might be safely entrusted, 
 but I certainly would consider an indiscriminate 
 distribution to the militia, were it possible to collect 
 it, as highly imprudent and dangerous. 
 
 What I stated to his honor the president respecting 
 the weakness of the works along the whole of the 
 west front of this garrison, is consonant to the opinion 
 transmitted by the officers of engineers and artillery, 
 in their half-yearly periodical report, to the master- 
 general of the ordnance. 
 
 To a question from the president, viz. " Should 
 the council conceive it necessary to call out the mili 
 tia, whether I thought myself warranted to issue pay 
 and provisions to them?" I answered, Certainly not : 
 that in all British colonies, of which I had any 
 knowledge, they on all such occasions defrayed their 
 own expenses. 
 
 The consideration that there is about 30,000 in 
 the civil chest, which cannot be applied to its object 
 until next spring, and the ease with which the error 
 I may have fallen into might be remedied, induced 
 
64 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 me to be positive upon a subject, regarding which I 
 am without instructions. 
 
 "Colonel Brock s Orders. 
 
 " QUEBEC, 1st September, 1807. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the positive orders to the com 
 missaries of posts in Upper Canada, to forward to 
 Quebec periodically, every two months, statements of 
 their accounts, Colonel Brock is sorry to find that 
 some of the commissaries in Upper Canada, and 
 particularly the commissary at Kingston, have evinced 
 culpable neglect in not complying with his orders. 
 He, therefore, adopts this public manner to express 
 his determination of placing other persons to fill their 
 situations, in case they continue, after this caution, 
 inattentive to this most essential part of their duty. 
 
 " The want of specie can be no excuse for not com 
 plying with the order, as vouchers are only expected 
 for such accounts as have been discharged ; and an 
 abstract of expenses incurred, but not actually paid, 
 is to accompany the accounts. 
 
 " A. ORMSBY, Capt. 49th regt. 
 "Acting Deputy Adj. -General." 
 
 Colonel Brock to Lieut. -Colonel J. W. Gordon. 
 
 QUEBEC, Sept. 6, 1807. 
 
 It is impossible to view the late hostile measures of 
 the American government towards England, without 
 considering a rupture between the two countries as 
 probable to happen. 
 
 I have in consequence been anxious that such 
 precautionary measures might be taken as the case 
 seemed to justify ; but his honor the president has 
 not judged it proper to adopt any other step, than 
 merely to order one-fifth of the militia, which 
 amounts to about 10,000 men, to hold itself in readi 
 ness to march on the shortest notice. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 65 
 
 The men thus selected for service being scattered 
 along an extensive line of four or five hundred miles, 
 unarmed and totally unacquainted with every thing 
 military, without officers capable of giving them 
 instruction, considerable time would naturally be 
 required before the necessary degree of order and 
 discipline could be introduced among them. I there 
 fore very much doubt whether, in the event of actual 
 war, this force could assemble in time, and become 
 useful. 
 
 Without considerable assistance from the militia, 
 the few regulars which might be spared from this 
 garrison could avail nothing against the force the 
 Americans would suddenly introduce by various 
 roads into this province. 
 
 The Canadians have unquestionably shewn a great 
 willingness upon this occasion to be trained, and, I 
 make not the least doubt, would oppose with vigour 
 any invasion of the Americans but how far the 
 same sentiments would actuate them were a French 
 force to join,. ! will not undertake to say ; at any 
 rate, I feel that every consideration of prudence and 
 policy ought to determine me to keep in Quebec a 
 sufficient force to secure its safety ; the number of 
 troops that could therefore be safely detached would 
 be small, notwithstanding a great deal might be done, 
 in conjunction with the militia, in a country inter 
 sected in every direction by rivers, deep ravines, and 
 lined, at intervals on both sides of the road, by thick 
 woods. 
 
 From every information I can receive, the Ameri 
 cans are busily employed in drilling and forming 
 their militia, and openly declare their intention of 
 entering this province the instant war is determined 
 upon ; they will be encouraged to adopt this step 
 from the very defenceless state of our frontiers; 
 the means at my disposal are too limited to oppose 
 them with effect in the open field, and I shall be 
 constrained, unless his honor the president make 
 
66 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 exertions, which I do not think him at this moment 
 disposed to do, to confine myself to the defence of 
 Quebec. 
 
 I have hastened the completion of the works which 
 enclose the upper town of Quebec, and I have 
 thought myself justified in causing a battery of eight 
 36-pounders to be raised sixteen feet upon the cava 
 lier in the centre of the citadel, which will effectually 
 command the opposite heights. 
 
 Although these remarks may be premature, I yet 
 conceive it my duty to give his royal highness the 
 commander-in-chief a view of my real situation. 
 
 I must freely confess that I am unable to account 
 for the motives which seem at present to guide the 
 councils of this province. Voluntary offers of service 
 have been made by numbers, on whose loyalty the 
 utmost reliance can be placed, to form themselves 
 into corps of cavalry, artillery, and infantry, at little 
 or no expense to government, provided they were 
 furnished with arms ; but this liberal spirit has not 
 been encouraged by the president. 
 
 I have the honor to report, that at a recent inter 
 view I had at Montreal* with Lieut. -Governor Gore, 
 it was judged expedient that his excellency should 
 assume the command in the upper province. I re 
 gretted exceedingly that I could not, with propriety, 
 detach troops in support of the spirited exertions 
 which will be immediately made to place that coun 
 try in a respectable state of defence. He has been 
 supplied with four thousand muskets from the king s 
 arsenal at Quebec, and with various military stores of 
 which he stood in need : this leaves in my possession 
 only seven thousand muskets for the use of the militia 
 of this province, and to supply, as far as they will 
 go, every other emergency. 
 
 * During Colonel Brock s stay at Montreal, Mr. W. M Gillivray, an 
 influential partner, we believe, of the North- West Company, wrote to him 
 on the 28th of August, 1807, that several young gentlemen of that city 
 had proposed to him to embody themselves into a troop of cavalry. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 67 
 
 Lieut. -General Sir James Craig, K.B., to Colonel Brock. 
 H. M. S. Horatio, Oct. 16, 1807. 
 
 His majesty having been pleased to appoint me 
 to the chief government of the British provinces in 
 America, as well as to the command of his forces in 
 these parts, I do myself the pleasure to announce to 
 you my arrival in the river, to take these charges 
 upon me. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Baynes, the adjutant-general, and 
 Major Thornton, my secretary and first aide-de 
 camp, will deliver you this, and will inform you of 
 the very miserable state of my health, which obliges 
 me to write to Mr. Dunn, to intreat that he will 
 permit my landing to be as private as possible. Of 
 you I must make the same request. A salute may be 
 proper, but I beg nothing more may be done : my 
 object must be to get to the chateau as speedily and 
 with as little fatigue as possible. 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EARLY in the year 1808, Colonel Brock, as we learn 
 from his correspondence, was stationed at Montreal, 
 doubtless in command of the troops there. These 
 were the palmy days of the then celebrated North- 
 West Company, " which for a time held a lordly 
 sway over the wintry lakes and boundless forests of 
 the Canadas, almost equal to that of the East India 
 Company over the voluptuous climes and magnificent 
 realms of the Orient." The principal partners resided 
 at Montreal, where they formed a commercial aristo 
 cracy, and lived in a generous and hospitable manner. 
 Few travellers who visited Canada at this period, 
 "in the days of the M Tavishes, the M Gillivray, 
 the M Kenzies, the Frobishers, and the other mag 
 nates of the north-west, when the company was in all 
 its glory, but must remember the round of feasting 
 and revelry kept up among these hyperborean na 
 bobs." * With these merchant princes, Colonel Brock 
 appears to have lived on terms of intimacy. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Thornton); to Brigadier Brock, at Montreal. 
 QUEBEC, 7th April, 1808. 
 
 Your report of the state of the chateau at Montreal 
 I have mentioned, but it is not thought right at 
 present to make any considerable repairs to it. I am 
 sorry for your being the sufferer, but I can venture 
 
 * Washington Irving s "Astoria." 
 
 t Afterwards Lieut. -General Sir William Thornton, K. C.B., &c. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 69 
 
 to assure you that, however unfavorable the building 
 may be, you ought never to feel uneasy about your 
 friends, for in your kindness and hospitality no want 
 of comfort can ever be felt by them : in this I am 
 fully supported by all the accounts from Montreal, 
 and I sincerely congratulate you upon the addition 
 to your society there of Judge and Mrs. Reid, Sir I. 
 Johnson, and Colonel Chabot. 
 
 In the way of news, I can only tell you that the 
 newspapers are perfectly right in respect to the 
 destination of Sir George Prevost. He is appointed 
 lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia ; given the local 
 rank of lieutenant-general; and made second in 
 command to Sir James Craig, in North America ; 
 so that General C. Campbell, who is senior major- 
 general, cannot come out. The regiments that were 
 to sail with Sir George are the first battalions of the 
 7th, 8th, 23d, and 13th, the last to proceed to Ber 
 muda. The papers will also have informed you of 
 the appointment of nine inspecting field officers of 
 militia besides myself six for the Canadas and four 
 for Nova Scotia ; and I hope we may be of as much 
 service to the militia as our rank * and pay are to us. 
 
 Your speaking to M. Berthelot so completely se 
 cured me his favor, that in my interview with him 
 I really was overpowered with bows and kindness. 
 He begged that Mr. Frobisher and I would make 
 what arrangements we pleased respecting his houses, 
 and added, that our determination and pleasure 
 would be his. Our plan of succession is Mr. Fro 
 bisher to your house, and your humble servant to his. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 20, 1808. 
 
 I have written to all of you since the navigation 
 opened, and the only letters I have received from any 
 of the family for several months came from Irving, 
 
 * Rank of lieutenant-colonel, 
 
70 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 who, to do him justice, is infinitely the most attentive 
 and regular correspondent among you. 
 
 My appointment to be brigadier I first announced 
 by the March mail. Those who feel an interest in 
 my prosperity will rejoice in my good fortune, as this 
 distinguished mark of favor affords undeniable proof 
 that my conduct, during the period of my command, 
 was approved; a great gratification, considering 
 the many difficulties I had to encounter. I once 
 thought I should be ordered to the upper province, 
 but General Ferguson being among the newly ap 
 pointed major-generals, will not now probably visit this 
 country. In that case, I stand a very good chance of 
 succeeding him, both in rank and in the command of 
 Quebec, where it was intended he should be stationed. 
 
 What will be the result of our present unsettled 
 relations with the neighbouring republic, it is very 
 difficult to say. The government is composed of 
 such unprincipled men, that to calculate on it by the 
 ordinary rules of action would be perfectly absurd. 
 We have completely outwitted Jefferson in all his 
 schemes to provoke us to war. He had no other 
 view in issuing his restrictive proclamation ; but, 
 failing in that, he tried what the embargo would pro 
 duce, and there he has been foiled again. Certainly, 
 our administration is deserving of every praise for 
 their policy on these occasions. Jefferson and his 
 party, however strong the inclination, dare not de 
 clare war, and therefore they endeavour to attain 
 their object by every provocation. A few weeks 
 since, the garrison of Niagara fired upon seven mer 
 chant boats passing the fort, and actually captured 
 them. Considering the circumstances attending this 
 hostile act, it is but too evident it was intended to 
 provoke retaliation : these boats fired upon and taken 
 within musket shot of our own fort ; their balls fall 
 ing on our shore, was expected to have raised the 
 indignation of the most phlegmatic ; fortunately, the 
 commandant was not in the way, as otherwise it is 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 71 
 
 difficult to say what would have happened. A repre 
 sentation of this affair has been made at Washington, 
 and, for an act certainly opposed to existing treaties, 
 we have been referred for justice to the ordinary 
 course of the law ! If our subjects cannot command 
 impunity from capture under the guns of our own 
 forts, it were better to demolish them at once rather 
 than witness and suffer such indignity. By the trea 
 ties which have expired, the navigation of the waters 
 that divide the two countries is regulated and stipu 
 lated to be still in force, although every other part 
 should cease to be obligatory. 
 
 I get on here pretty well, but this place loses at 
 this season the undoubted advantage it possesses over 
 Quebec in winter. Great additions are making to 
 the fortifications at Quebec, and, when completed, 
 the Americans will, if I mistake not, think it prudent 
 not to trouble the place, for they can have no chance 
 of making any impression upon it during the short 
 period which the severity of the climate only permits 
 an enemy to lay before it. I erected, as I believe 
 I told you before, a famous battery, which the public 
 voice named after me ; but Sir James, thinking very 
 probably that any thing so very pre-eminent should 
 be distinguished by the most exalted appellation, has 
 called it the King s Battery, the greatest compliment, 
 I conceive, that he could pay to my judgment.* 
 Not a desertion has been attempted by any of the 
 49th for the last ten months, with the exception in 
 deed of Hogan, Savery s former servant. He served 
 Glegg in the same capacity, who took him with him 
 to the Falls of Niagara, where a fair damsel persuaded 
 him to this act of madness, for the fellow cannot 
 possibly gain his bread by labour, as he has half 
 killed himself with excessive drinking; and we know 
 he cannot live upon love alone. The weather has 
 
 * In some book of Travels in Canada, Duncan s we think, it is stated 
 that the highest battery in Quebec is called Brock s Battery : we know 
 not whether it be that erected by Sir Isaac Brock. 
 
72 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 been exceedingly hot the last week, the thermometer 
 fluctuating from 94 to 100 in the shade. The em 
 bargo has proved a famous harvest to some merchants 
 here. It is certainly the most ridiculous measure 
 imaginable, and was evidently adopted with the view 
 of pleasing France ; but no half measure can satisfy 
 Napoleon, and this colony has been raised by it to a 
 degree of importance that ensures its future prosperity. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 QUEBEC, September 5, 1808. 
 
 I have been here but a few days, having been 
 superseded at Montreal by Major- General Drum- 
 mond. I do not approve much of the change, as 
 being separated from the 49th is a great annoyance 
 to me. But soldiers must accustom themselves to 
 frequent movements; and as they have no choice, 
 it often happens that they are placed in situations 
 little agreeing with their inclinations. My nominal 
 appointment has been confirmed at home, so that I 
 am really a brigadier. Were the 49th ordered hence, 
 the rank would not be a sufficient inducement to 
 keep me in this country. In such a case, I would 
 throw it up willingly. 
 
 Curious scenes appear to have occurred in the 
 Baltic. I fear very much that Sir James (Saumarez) 
 may be induced to return to his retirement in Guern 
 sey. Indeed, the navy has little left to do, while the 
 army has now a glorious opportunity of distinguishing 
 itself as much as the sister service. Valour the 
 British troops always possessed, but unless they 
 evince discipline, their fame will be blasted for a 
 century to come. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 QUEBEC, November 19, 1808. 
 Yesterday Irving s letter of the 19th September 
 reached me. How very thankful I feel for his 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 73 
 
 attention. But I have not received that which he 
 mentions Savery had written on the same day, giving 
 an account of his proceedings in Spain and Portugal. 
 This is a truly mortifying disappointment, as it is 
 impossible to discover by the public prints the mys 
 tery by which the conduct of our officers has been 
 influenced. The precaution which Irving took to 
 transcribe a part of the letter has proved very lucky. 
 Notwithstanding, I look for the original with un 
 usual impatience, as Savery s opinion must be formed 
 upon what he saw in the best disciplined army that 
 ever, I imagine, left England. His observations are 
 never thrown away. 
 
 I am still confined to my room, more indeed on 
 account of the badness of the weather than any want 
 of progress in my recovery. We have had very hard 
 gales from the East. The Iphigenia frigate, with 
 her convoy, could not have cleared the land, and the 
 greatest apprehension is entertained for her safety. 
 Her commander, Captain Lambert, is a friend of 
 George Brock. I find him an exceedingly good fel 
 low ; and I have reason to think that he left us well 
 satisfied with the attention he received from me.* 
 
 Sir James Craig has certain intimation of the ap 
 pointment of Colonel Baron de Rottenburg, of the 
 (30th, to be a brigadier in this country, and he is 
 daily looked for. This most probably will make a 
 change in my situation, as one must go to the Upper 
 Province ; and, as he is senior, he will doubtless have 
 the choice. My object is to get home as soon as J 
 can obtain permission; but unless our affairs with 
 America be amicably adjusted, of which I see no 
 probability, I scarcely can expect to be permitted to 
 move. I rejoice Savery has begun to exert himself 
 to get me appointed to a more active situation. I 
 must see service, or I may as well, and indeed much 
 
 * "The young and gallant" Captain Henry Lambert, mentioned above, 
 was mortally wounded in December, 1812, in command of H. M. S. Java, 
 when she was captured by the American frigate Constitution, of greatly 
 superior force. 
 
 E 
 
74 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 better, quit the army at once, for no one advantage 
 can I reasonaby look to hereafter if I remain buried 
 in this inactive, remote corner, without the least men 
 tion being made of me. Should Sir James Saumarez 
 return from the Baltic crowned with success, he 
 could, I should think, say a good word for me to 
 some purpose. 
 
 Vincent* is doing extremely well. I however 
 dread the severity of a winter upon his shattered 
 frame. I must contrive to meet and dissipate the dull 
 hours with my good friends of the 49th. I have pre 
 vailed upon Sir James to appoint Sergeant Robinson, 
 master of the band, to a situation in the commissariat 
 at Sorel, worth 3s. 6d. a day, with subaltern s lodging 
 money and other allowances. He married a Jersey 
 lass, whose relatives may inquire for him. 
 
 It will be seen by the next letter and a few others 
 which follow, that Sir Isaac Brock was well aware 
 of the existence among the French Canadians of a 
 certainly natural spirit of disaffection, which, in 1837, 
 broke out into open rebellion, the suppression of 
 which earned Sir John Colborne (the present Lord 
 Seaton) his peerage. The outbreak caused great loss 
 of life, and considerable expense arising not only 
 from the hurried dispatch to Quebec of a large body 
 of troops from Nova Scotia and England, but from 
 the retention in the Canadas of about 10,000 men for 
 a few years, to overawe the disaffected, and to repress 
 the piratical incursions of the citizens of the United 
 States in their favor. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his brother William. 
 
 QUEBEC, December 31, 1809. 
 You will long since have been convinced that the 
 American government is determined to involve the 
 
 * The present General Vincent, colonel of the 69th foot. He was then 
 major of the 4gth. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 75 
 
 two countries in a war ; they have already given us 
 legitimate cause, but, if wise, we will studiously 
 avoid doing that for which they shew so great an 
 anxiety, their finances, you will perceive, are very 
 low, and they dare not propose direct taxes. They 
 must have recourse to loans at a time when they have 
 only six frigates in commission, and about five thou 
 sand men embodied. To what a state of poverty and 
 wretchedness would the accumulated expenses of war 
 reduce them ! But they look to the success of their 
 privateers for a supply, and contemplate the sweeping 
 away of all foreign debts as the means of reducing the 
 calls upon their treasury. Whatever steps England 
 may adopt, I think she cannot, in prudence, avoid 
 sending a strong military force to these provinces, as 
 they are now become of infinite importance to her. 
 You can scarcely conceive the quantities of timber and 
 spars of all kinds which are lying on the beach, ready 
 for shipment to England in the spring : four hundred 
 vessels would not be sufficient to take all away. 
 Whence can England be supplied with these essential 
 articles, but from the Canadas ? Bonaparte, it is 
 known, has expressed a strong desire to be in pos 
 session of the colonies formerly belonging to France, 
 and now that they are become so valuable to England, 
 his anxiety to wrest them from us will naturally 
 increase. A small French force, 4 or 5,000 men, 
 with plenty of muskets, would most assuredly conquer 
 this province. The Canadians would join them al 
 most to a man at least, the exceptions would be so 
 few as to be of little avail. It may appear surprising 
 that men, petted as they have been and indulged in 
 every thing they could desire, should wish for a 
 change. But so it is and I am apt to think that 
 were Englishmen placed in the same situation, they 
 would shew even more impatience to escape from 
 French rule. How essentially different are the feel 
 ings of the people from when I first knew them. The 
 idea prevails generally among them, that Napoleon 
 
76 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 must succeed, and ultimately get possession of these 
 provinces. The bold and violent are becoming every 
 day more audacious ; and the timid, with that impres 
 sion, think it better and more prudent to withdraw 
 altogether from the society of the English, rather 
 than run the chance of being accused hereafter of 
 partiality to them. The consequence is, that little 
 or no intercourse exists between the two races. More 
 troops will be required in this country, were it only 
 to keep down this growing turbulent spirit. The 
 governor will, it is foreseen, have a difficult card to 
 play next month with the assembly, which is really 
 getting too daring and arrogant. Every victory which 
 Napoleon has gained for the last nine years, has 
 made the disposition here to resist more manifest. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his sister-in-law, Mrs. W. Brock. 
 QUEBEC, June 8, 1810. 
 
 It was my decided intention to ask for leave to 
 go to England this fall, but I have now relinquished 
 the thought. Several untoward circumstances com 
 bine to oppose my wishes. The spirit of insubordi 
 nation lately manifested by the French Canadian 
 population of this colony naturally called for pre 
 cautionary measures ; and our worthy chief is induced, 
 in consequence, to retain in this country those on 
 whom he can best confide. I am highly flattered in 
 being reckoned among the number, whatever inward 
 disappointment I may feel. Some unpleasant events 
 have likewise happened in the upper country, which 
 have occasioned my receiving intimation to proceed 
 thither, whether as a permanent station, or merely as 
 a temporary visit, Sir James Craig has not deter 
 mined. Should, however, a senior brigadier to my 
 self come out in the course of the summer, I shall 
 certainly be fixed in the Upper Province, and there is 
 every probability of such an addition very soon. 
 Since all my efforts to get more actively employed 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 77 
 
 have failed ; since fate decrees that the best portion 
 of my life is to be wasted in inaction in the Canadas, 
 I am rather pleased with the prospect of removing 
 upwards. 
 
 There is a lady living at Barnet for whom I feel 
 much interested. If you should by chance drive 
 that way, and do not object to form a new acquaint 
 ance, I wish you to call upon her. She is the wife of 
 Captain Manners, of the 49th, and the daughter of 
 the celebrated Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. She has 
 a most amiable disposition and genteel manners. 
 Her sister, Mrs. Ross Cuthbert, a charming little 
 creature, makes her husband my most intimate 
 friend, and with whom I pass a great part of my 
 leisure hours a most happy man. 
 
 I received the other day a long and exceedingly 
 well written letter from Henrietta Tupper* she is 
 really a charming girl. What! Maria,* (Potenger) 
 do you begin to slacken in your attention to your poor 
 devoted uncle ? 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his brother Irving. 
 
 QUEBEC, July 9, 1810. 
 
 I have a thousand thanks to offer you for the very 
 great attention you have shewn in executing my 
 commissions : the different articles arrived in the 
 very best order, with the exception of the cocked 
 hat, which has not been received a most distressing 
 circumstance, as, from the enormity of my head, I 
 find the utmost difficulty in getting a substitute in 
 this country. 
 
 I proposed writing to you early to-morrow, but 
 Sir James having this instant intimated his intention 
 of sending me upwards immediately, I avail myself 
 of an hour s leisure to do that hastily which I would 
 gladly have done quietly, and, consequently, more 
 fully. If I am to remain in this country, I care little 
 
 * His niece. 
 
78 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 where I am placed ; but going up, as I do now, 
 without knowing whether I am to stay or return, is 
 particularly awkward, and interferes materially in all 
 my future arrangements : perhaps I shall be able to 
 get the point settled before I commence my journey. 
 
 Every thing here remains in a state of perfect 
 quietness. It is but too evident that the Canadians 
 generally are becoming daily more anxious to get rid 
 of the English. This they cannot effect unless a 
 French force come to their aid, and I do not think 
 that Bonaparte would risk the loss of a fleet and 
 army for the chance of getting possession of the 
 country. What infatuation ! No people had ever 
 more cause to rejoice at their fate ; but they are not 
 singular, as all mankind seems prone to change, 
 however disadvantageous or productive of confusion. 
 
 Savery forwarded your pamphlet to me. You 
 have taken a very proper view of the political dissen 
 sions which at this moment disgrace England. Those 
 to whom I have allowed a perusal, and who are infi 
 nitely better judges than I can pretend to be, speak 
 of the purity of the language in terms of high appro 
 bation. You have happily suited the style to the 
 matter. Several copies have, within a few days, 
 been in circulation here. Savery speaks of a letter 
 you received, in consequence, from Lord Melville. 
 I hope you will not fail in sending me a copy, as I 
 am all anxiety for your literary fame. As you differ 
 in sentiment from the Edinburgh Review, I hope 
 that you have made up your mind to an unmerciful 
 lashing. 
 
 I do not see the smallest prospect of my getting 
 away from here, as the disposition manifested by the 
 Canadians will occasion a large military force to be 
 kept in the country, and it will serve as a plea to 
 retain all at their posts. I wish that I could boast 
 of a little more patience than I feel I now possess. 
 
 The fortifications of Quebec are improving pretty 
 rapidly, but workmen cannot be procured in sufficient 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 79 
 
 number to proceed as fast as government would wish. 
 Labourers now get 7s. 6d. a day, and artificers from 
 I2s. to 15s. Upwards of three hundred vessels have 
 already arrived a prodigious number. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his sister-in-law, Mrs. William Brock. 
 QUEBEC, July 10, 1810. 
 
 I cannot allow the frigate to depart without send 
 ing my affectionate love to you. A Guernsey vessel 
 arrived a few days ago, which brought me a letter 
 from Savery of 10th May, and nothing could be 
 more gratifying than the contents. The May fleet, 
 which sailed from Portsmouth the 24th, reached this 
 in thirty days, but as it had not a scrape of a pen for 
 me, its arrival did not interest me. We have been 
 uncommonly gay the last fortnight : two frigates at 
 anchor, and the arrival of Governor Gore from the 
 Upper Province, have given a zest to society. Races, 
 country and water parties, have occupied our time 
 in a continued round of festivity, Such stimulus is 
 highly necessary to keep our spirits afloat. I con 
 tributed my share to the general mirth in a grand 
 dinner given to Mrs. Gore, at which Sir J. Craig 
 was present, and a ball to a vast assemblage of all 
 descriptions. 
 
 I mentioned in a former letter my apprehensions of 
 being ordered to the Upper Province. I return this 
 moment from waiting upon Sir James, who sent for 
 me, to say he regretted he must part with me, as he 
 found it absolutely necessary that I should proceed 
 upwards without delay. I am placed in a very 
 awkward predicament, as my stay in that country 
 depends wholly upon contingencies. Should a bri 
 gadier arrive, I am to be stationary, but otherwise 
 return to Quebec. Nothing could be more provoking 
 and inconvenient than this arrangement. Unless I 
 take up every thing with me, I shall be miserably off, 
 for nothing beyond eatables is to be had there ; and 
 
LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 in case I provide the requisites to make my abode 
 in the winter in any way comfortable, and then be 
 ordered back, the expense will be ruinous. But I 
 must submit to all this without repining, and since 
 I cannot get to Europe, I care little where I am 
 placed. I have the most delightful garden imagina 
 ble, with abundance of melons and other good things, 
 all of which I must now desert. 
 
 What am I to tell you from this out-of-the-way 
 place. Your old friends of the 49th are well, but 
 scattered in small detachments all over the country. 
 They are justly great favorites at head quarters. I 
 mentioned in a former letter my wish that, provided 
 you could make it perfectly convenient, you would 
 call upon Mrs. Manners, the wife of a captain of the 
 49th. I am satisfied that you would, after a short 
 acquaintance, approve of her much she is all good 
 ness. By the last accounts they resided at Barnet. 
 
 I have no doubt that Maria and Zelia (Potenger, 
 his nieces) continue to conduct themselves in such a 
 manner as to reward you amply for the unbounded 
 kindness you have all along shewn them. If I am 
 able in the fall to procure handsome skins for muffs 
 worth their acceptance, I shall send some to the dear 
 little girls ; they ought, however, to write to me. 
 There are few here brought up with the advantages 
 they have received ; indeed, the means for education 
 are very limited for both sexes in this colony. Heaven 
 preserve you. I shall probably begin my journey 
 upwards in the course of a few days. 
 
 Brigadier Brock accordingly proceeded to the Up 
 per Province, Baron de llottenburg having replaced 
 him at Quebec ; and, with the exception of a few 
 months in 1811, during which he visited Lower 
 Canada, he continued in command of the troops 
 there till his death, Lieut.-Governor Gore at first 
 administering the civil government. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 81 
 
 Colonel Bayncs, the Adjutant-General, to Brigadier 
 Brock) at Fort George. 
 
 QUEBEC, September 6, 1810. 
 
 The Brigadier-General (Baron de Rottenburg) is 
 Sir James (Craig) senior in age by a year, but is 
 still strong and active, and looks much younger. I 
 am well pleased with the little I have seen of him, 
 which by the bye is very little, for I only returned 
 yesterday from Sorel. Mrs. de Rottenburg* has 
 made a complete conquest of all hearts. She is in 
 reality remarkably handsome, both in face and figure, 
 and her manners uncommonly pleasing, graceful, 
 and affable. There is, I fancy, a great disparity of 
 years. They both speak English very fluently, and 
 with very little foreign accent. Sir James (Craig) 
 is remarkably well : we celebrated the anniversary 
 of his sixtieth year yesterday at a very pleasant party 
 at Powell Place. Our general court martial is over, 
 and will be published in orders to-morrow. A sol 
 dier, who was under sentence of death for desertion 
 from the 101st regiment, and transferred to the 8th, 
 and a Jonathan of the Canadians, who is considered 
 a ringleader, are sentenced to be shot ; the others, a 
 dozen in number, are to be transported to serve for 
 life in the African corps. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, Sept. 13, 1810. 
 
 My good and dear friends, I have been of late 
 so much upon the move, that I had no thought of 
 writing to you, and no letters of yours put me in 
 mind that I should do so. Here I am stationed for 
 some time, unless I succeed in the application I 
 mean to make shortly for permission to visit England. 
 At present, Vincent, Glegg, and Williams, 49th, 
 enliven this lonesome place. They are here as 
 
 * The mother of the present Lady William Paget. 
 E* 
 
82 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 members of a general court martial, and are soon to 
 depart, when I shall be left to my own reflections. 
 Should I be so lucky as to obtain leave, I shall not 
 commence my journey to New York until after 
 Christmas. Baron de Rotteriburg, a senior briga 
 dier, has arrived at Quebec, where he remains. His 
 presence unquestionably diminishes my prospects in 
 this country, and I should stand evidently in my 
 own light if I did not court fortune elsewhere. 
 
 I have been as far as Detroit, a delightful country, 
 far exceeding any thing I had seen on this continent. 
 
 I have not had a letter from Europe since May, 
 and wish you to write to me by way of New York. 
 I avail myself of an unexpected passenger to scribble 
 this in the presence of many of the court, who tell 
 me it is time to resume our labours ; therefore, my 
 beloved brothers, adieu. I shall write again in a 
 few days, via New York. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George. 
 QUEBEC, October 4, 1810. 
 
 By yesterday s post, I was favored with your 
 letter of the 23d ultimo. I regret that so much 
 trouble should have been occasioned to so little pur 
 pose, the more so as I apprehend an example to be 
 much called for in the 100th regiment. Murray 
 seems sanguine that the regiment will go on better 
 under his rule, arid that he knows the men better. I 
 hope his conjecture may prove well founded, but 
 I fear they are too wild a set to thrive in Upper 
 Canada. 
 
 As I felt at a loss how to introduce the subject of 
 your personal views and wishes, I gave Sir James 
 your letter to read ; it did not, however, draw from 
 him any remark on those topics. I know that he is 
 very strongly impressed with the necessity of having 
 a person like yourself for some time in the Upper 
 Province, that a scrutinizing eye may correct the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 83 
 
 errors and neglect that have crept in, and put all in 
 order again ; and, in confidence between ourselves, I 
 do not think he would be more ready to part with you 
 from that station, in consequence of the arrival of 
 Colonel Murray, who is not at all to his taste, and 
 has managed, by a most indiscreet and indecent 
 conversation at his table, to blot himself out of his 
 good opinion. The conversation was on the subject 
 of Cobbett, and the colonel s the only dissenting voice, 
 which he exerted with the more energy in proportion 
 to the badness of his cause; and after defending him 
 in a style and language highly indecorous, and 
 reprehensible to be held at the table of the governor, 
 he so completely forgot himself as to repeat and 
 justify the very offensive and illiberal publications of 
 Cobbett respecting the German troops and foreign 
 officers, although sitting directly opposite to General 
 de Rottenburg. Sir James, who was suffering 
 extremely from the commencement of a very severe 
 attack of illness, could contain himself no longer, 
 and silenced Murray by a very severe but highly 
 just rebuke. Rottenburg appeared much hurt, and 
 said to me that he was very sorry to find that any 
 officer, entrusted with the honor of commanding a 
 corps, could take a pleasure in exposing such senti 
 ments as he had heard from Colonel M. Colonel 
 Kempt, who naturally feels much interested for his 
 young cousin, (Mrs. Murray,) and who really deserves 
 and merits it for her own sake, was much mortified 
 and vexed at Murray s impropriety.* 
 
 The charms of Mrs. de Rottenburg have not effaced 
 you from the recollection of your friends, who very 
 sincerely regret your absence. 
 
 * Whatever may have been Colonel Murray s indiscretion on this 
 occasion, he approved himself one of the most gallant and enterprising 
 officers in Canada during the war, and particularly distinguished himself 
 in the assault and capture of Fort Niagara, in December, 1813, where he 
 was severely wounded. If Colonel Murray admired Cobbett s writings, he 
 was not singular, as he was perhaps the most forcible political writer in 
 the English language. 
 
84 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Thornton to Brigadier Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, October 4, 1810. 
 
 I was yesterday favored with your letter of the 
 23d ultimo, and have not failed to communicate to 
 Sir James your account and your charity towards 
 the poor old fellow, formerly of the king s.* He has 
 in consequence directed the allowance of the ration 
 to be authorized and continued to him, for which 
 purpose I must request his Christian name and the 
 date of the first issue ; but I am to remind you of the 
 danger of establishing a precedent of this nature, and 
 to request, in the general s, name that you will refrain 
 as much as possible from indulging the natural bene 
 volence of your disposition in this way, as he has 
 hitherto resisted all applications of this sort. 
 
 Your successor, as commandant of Quebec, is cer 
 tainly much to be esteemed a good kind of man, 
 and devoted to his profession but it is vanity in the 
 extreme to attempt to describe the general admiration 
 and estimation of his cara ct dolce sposa : she is 
 young, (twenty-three,) fair, beautiful, lively, dis 
 creet, witty, affable, in short, so engaging, or 
 rather so fascinating, that neither the courier nor my 
 paper will admit of my doing her justice ; however, 
 from what I have said it is necessary further to add 
 and explain, that it is not my opinion alone but that 
 of the public. 
 
 Two hundred volunteers for Colonel Zouch, from 
 other veteran battalions, have just arrived and landed: 
 the regiment is to be completed in this manner to one 
 thousand. 
 
 * Sir Isaac Brock was several years in the 8th regiment, but this old 
 man had probably served with his brother, Lieut.-Colonel John Brock, 
 who was many years in the 8th, in Canada, during and after the first 
 American war, and who on his return home used to describe the dreadful 
 state of solitude in which he lived while a subaltern on detachment in 
 the upper country. The lieutenant-colonel of the 8th at this period 
 amassed a considerable sum by dealing in furs, which he purchased at a 
 cheap rate from the Indians. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 85 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Brigadier Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, October 11, 1810. 
 
 Sir James has conversed with me fully on the 
 subject of your wish for leave, and prefaced it by 
 declaring himself very desirous on his part to forward 
 your views as far as he could do so with propriety, 
 but that he had written in such strong terms, urging 
 the necessity of a third general officer being kept con 
 stantly on the staff of the Canadas, and assigned as a 
 principal reason the advantage of an officer of that 
 rank being stationed in the Upper Province, that he 
 does not conceive himself at liberty to overset an 
 arrangement which he has been two years soliciting 
 the means to carry into effect, and the absolute 
 necessity of which he is highly impressed with. In 
 reply to an observation of mine, that you regretted 
 the inactive prospect before you, and looked with 
 envy on those employed in Spain and Portugal, he 
 said : " I make no doubt of it, but I can in no shape 
 aid his plans in that respect ; I would not, however, 
 be the means of preventing them, and although from 
 his local knowledge I should regret losing him in 
 this country, yet I would not oppose it if he could 
 obtain an appointment to the staff on service ; but in 
 that case I would ask for another general officer 
 being sent in his place immediately to Upper Canada." 
 I tell you this, my dear general, without reserve, and 
 
 five you, as far as I can recollect, Sir James words, 
 f he liked you less, he might perhaps be more 
 readily induced to let you go ; as matters stand, I do 
 not think he will, although I am convinced that he 
 will feel very sincere regret in refusing you on a 
 subject upon which you appear to be so anxious. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to Lieut. -Governor Gore. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, Jan. 6, 1811. 
 
 Having lately received a letter from Colonel Vesey, 
 in which he urges me to ascertain whether it be pos- 
 
86 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sible to secure to his family some benefit from the 
 grant of five thousand acres he has so long unprofit- 
 ably held, I am encouraged by the disposition your 
 excellency has uniformly evinced to serve him, to 
 renew my earnest request thai your influence may be 
 now exerted in his behalf. 
 
 I am given to understand that there are extensive 
 tracts of excellent land at the disposal of the crown 
 on Lake Erie, and that a new township is undergoing 
 a survey near the head of Lake Ontario. Were it 
 possible to ensure Colonel Vesey eligible situations 
 in those districts, he no longer would hesitate in 
 incurring the necessary expense. 
 
 Your excellency having signified your intention of 
 visiting England in the course of next summer, I am 
 impelled to the present application by the considera 
 tion that, before your return, the land, which I have 
 taken the liberty to point out, may be disposed of, 
 and Colonel Vesey thereby lose the fair opportunity 
 of acquiring property upon which he can confidently 
 place some value. 
 
 Lieut. -Governor Gore to Brigadier Brock. 
 
 YORK, January 21, 1811. 
 
 Your letter of the 6th instant should have been 
 earlier acknowledged, but that I was desirous to ren 
 der my answer as satisfactory as possible, and it was 
 necessary to refer to the offices, on the subject of the 
 grant of land ordered for Colonel Vesey. 
 
 I am very sorry now to be constrained to tell you, 
 that it is not in my power to comply with Colonel 
 Vesey s wish in respect of the location, without a 
 special order from the king, as in the case of Colonel 
 Talbot. 
 
 The diagram, by which the town and clergy reserves 
 are recorded, cannot be dispensed with, so that it is 
 now impracticable to obtain in any township five 
 thousand acres in a block. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 87 
 
 The townships lately surveyed are partial excep 
 tions to the general rule, for the express purpose 
 of establishing roads through the province, and the 
 locations in that exception are by an act of government 
 expressly reserved for actual settlers. 
 
 The utmost in my power to do for Colonel Vesey 
 is to adopt the latitude directed by his majesty in 
 favor of General Arnold, which is to permit his re 
 presentative to locate his land in any open township, 
 and to pass the patent without his personal attendance. 
 
 Exclusive of my very strong desire to serve Colo 
 nel Vesey, I beg you will believe that I should have 
 had a very particular gratification in promoting the 
 success of any measure for which you are pleased to 
 express an interest. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his brother Irving. 
 
 NIAGARA, January 10, 1811. 
 
 I cannot sufficiently thank you for your constant 
 attention to me ; you contribute largely to render my 
 present sequestered abode tolerable, and let me entreat 
 you to continue the practice you have lately adopted 
 of sending me a letter every fortnight. In addition 
 to the last daily paper, send me likewise the Observer, 
 or any other weekly depository of domestic news. 
 You, who have passed all your days in the bustle of 
 London, can scarcely conceive the uninteresting and 
 insipid life I am doomed to lead in this retirement. 
 My situation obliges me to maintain some sort of 
 establishment, otherwise I should, from inclination, 
 confine my intercourse to a very limited circle. I 
 have been for some days projecting a jaunt into the 
 interior of the States, and I may probably visit New 
 York before I return, but I shall weigh passing events 
 well, ere I hazard so long a journey. The heavy 
 rains which have fallen for the last ten days have de 
 layed my progress, as I did not choose to undertake 
 the journey on horseback. I by no means admire 
 
88 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 travelling alone in so comfortless a manner, in which 
 the gratification would not repay the inconvenience. 
 
 I purpose directing my steps in the first instance 
 to Ballstown, a medicinal water of great celebrity, 
 about twenty miles north of Albany. I then expect 
 to be joined by James Brock, and probably by some 
 others of the 49th. I shall wait ten days, not only 
 to give him full time to come up, but likewise to try 
 the efficacy of the waters, as I have an idea that they 
 will be serviceable to me. I feel at this moment 
 infinitely better, but am not quite the thing, without 
 knowing what ails me. A sound jolting and change 
 of air will produce wonders, and make me look once 
 more upon a beefsteak with appetite. At present I 
 live very abstemiously, and scarcely ever touch wine. 
 
 I mentioned in a former letter that the new arrange 
 ments deprived me of the comfort of a companion. 
 Expecting to obtain leave to visit England, I thought 
 it of little consequence, but now that such an indul 
 gence is denied me, I feel sadly the want of a lively, 
 communicative associate. I hardly ever stir out, 
 and unless I have company at home, my evenings 
 are passed solus. I read much, but good books are 
 scarce, and I hate borrowing. I like to read a book 
 quickly, and afterwards revert to such passages as 
 have made the deepest impression, and which appear 
 to me most important to remember a practice I 
 cannot conveniently pursue unless the book be mine. 
 Should you find that I am likely to remain here, I 
 wish you to send me some choice authors in history, 
 particularly ancient, with maps, and the best transla 
 tions of ancient works. I read in my youth Pope s 
 Translation of Homer, but till lately never discovered 
 its exquisite beauties. As I grow old, I acquire a 
 taste for study. I firmly believe that the same pro 
 pensity was always inherent in me ; but, strange to 
 tell, although many were paid extravagantly, I never 
 had the advantage of a master to guide and encourage 
 me. But it is now too late to repine. I rejoice that 
 my nephews are more fortunate. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 89 
 
 The president s address is sufficiently hostile, and if 
 I thought that he would be supported to the extent 
 of his wishes, I should consider war to be inevitable. 
 Congress will hesitate before consenting to go the 
 length he proposes. The taking forcible possession of 
 West Florida may provoke a war sooner than any 
 other act, but it is impossible to foresee how such a 
 step may be viewed by the Cortes. We are at this 
 moment in awful suspense the king s illness, the 
 proximity of the armies under Massena and Welling 
 ton, and the measures our government may deem pro 
 per to adopt to meet the hostile proceedings of the 
 Americans, afford serious matter for contemplation. 
 
 I have seen " Thoughts on Political Fanaticism," 
 in answer to your admirable pamphlet. The author 
 appears to me to proclaim his servile attachment to 
 Bonaparte, without in any degree refuting your 
 arguments. When you tell me that Peter Tupper is 
 a son of the jurat, and a member of the Junta of 
 Valencia, you by no means satisfy my curiosity. Is 
 he equal to fill the situation ? Has he discretion, 
 and is he distinguished by a strong mind and un 
 daunted courage, as these are qualities that can alone 
 be serviceable at such a crisis ? I observed his 
 name some little time back in the public prints, 
 without knowing who he could be, and I suppose 
 that he is my junior in age by several years.* 
 
 Colonel Kempt t ( Quartermaster - General ) to Brigadier 
 Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, January 17, 1811. 
 
 Baynes tells ine that he has written to you repeat 
 edly, and most fully and confidentially, on the 
 
 * Peter Carey Tapper, Esq., a native of Guernsey, British consul for 
 Valencia at this time, and afterwards for Catalonia. He distinguished 
 himself from 1808 to 1814, in encouraging the Spaniards to resist the 
 invasion of Napoleon ; and his name occurs repeatedly in the Duke of 
 Wellington s dispatches, recently published, as also in the first and fourth 
 volumes of Napier s Peninsular War. He died in Madrid, in 18 25, in the 
 prime of life. His youngest brother was British consul for Caraccas, and 
 afterwards for Riga. 
 
 t The present General Sir James Kempt, G. C.B., &c., afterwards 
 
90 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 subject of your application for leave. The letters, 
 which I have received from home, explicitly state 
 that the last brevet was made so extensive with the 
 view of doing away with the appointment of briga 
 dier, so that no general officer under the rank of 
 major-general will be in future employed ; indepen 
 dent of this circumstance, you have no reason, believe 
 me, to dread being unemployed in any rank while 
 you have a wish to serve this opinion, my dear 
 general, is not given rashly or upon slight grounds 
 before I came to this country I had, you must know, 
 several opportunities of hearing your name mentioned 
 at head quarters, both by General Calvert and Colo 
 nel Gordon, who unquestionably spoke the sentiments 
 of the then commander-in-chief, and in such a way 
 as to impress me with a thorough conviction that few 
 officers of your rank stood higher in their estimation. 
 In short, I have no manner of doubt whatever that 
 you will readily obtain employment upon active 
 service the moment that you do get home, and with 
 this view I recommend you to express, through 
 Baynes, your sense of his excellency s good inten 
 tions and wishes towards you in respect to leave of 
 absence, and your hopes that when the circumstances 
 of the country are such as will permit him to grant 
 six months leave to a general officer, that this indul 
 gence will be extended in the first instance to you. 
 I am very happy to find that you are pleased with 
 Mrs. Murray : I have just received a long letter 
 from her, giving me an account of a splendid ball 
 given by you to the beau monde of Niagara and its 
 
 governor-general of British America, and subsequently master- general of 
 the ordnance in Earl Grey s administration. Sir James is one of the 
 most distinguished officers in the British army, having served in Holland 
 and Egypt, at Maida, in Spain, and at Waterloo : he has received the 
 Egyptian Medal, and a Cross and three Clasps for Maida, Badajos, Vittoria, 
 Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, and Toulouse. The editor of this memoir takes 
 this opportunity of expressing his grateful remembrance of Sir James 
 Kempt s attention and kindness to him during his lieutenant-governorship 
 of Nova Scotia, when he, (the editor,) a very young man, was in that 
 province upwards of twenty years ago. Neither can he forget the very 
 gratifying manner in which Sir James spoke of his old friend, Sir IsaacBrock. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 91 
 
 vicinity, and the manner in which she speaks of your 
 liberality and hospitality reminds me of the many 
 pleasant hours I have passed under your roof. We 
 have no such parties now, and the indisposition of 
 Sir James having prevented the usual public days at 
 the castle^ nothing more stupid than Quebec now is 
 can be imagined. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George. 
 QUEBEC, February 14, 1811. 
 
 From the sincere and lively interest which I am 
 sure you feel for our worthy chief, I am happy to 
 announce to you that an important change has taken 
 place in his disease, from which his medical atten 
 dants augur, with great confidence, most essential 
 and permanent relief. On Sunday last I received a 
 summons to immediately attend at the castle, where 
 Kempt was also called, and, to our extreme astonish 
 ment, he informed us that he was then about to under 
 go the operation of tapping, as he fully coincided 
 with his medical attendants who advised it. Sir 
 James (Craig) proceeded with great calmness to give 
 me some instructions as his executor, in the event of 
 any fatal consequence following, which he did with 
 a degree of composure, and even cheerfulness, which 
 only a mind like his can assume. We were present, 
 at his request, at the operation, which appeared to 
 me painfully tedious but not an expression, or even 
 a look of impatience, escaped Sir James, whose 
 manner absolutely inspired spirits and fortitude to 
 those around. At the close, he stood up for several 
 minutes to let the water drain from the higher parts 
 of the body, and thirty-six pints, weighing nearly as 
 many pounds, were altogether drawn off. 
 
 Sir James lately received accounts of the 14th of 
 November, that his brother, General Peter Craig, 
 was then so reduced and weak from a long and 
 severe illness, that no hopes were entertained of him. 
 
92 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 You will conceive what a severe shock this has been, 
 the more so as Sir James never harboured a doubt 
 that his elder brother, from his apparently stronger 
 constitution, would have long survived him. Their 
 mutual ties of relationship were in a manner concen 
 trated in each other, for Sir James will have none 
 left but of a very distant degree. 
 
 I am happy to find by a long letter from Mrs. 
 Murray to Colonel Kempt, that you have found the 
 means of enlivening the solitary scene that has so 
 long prevailed at Fort George. I assure you that we 
 rniss you much here, and that the fascinating Mrs. de 
 Rottenburg, with all her charms, has not effaced the 
 very universal regret which your loss occasions in 
 Quebec. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to his brother Irving. 
 
 NIAGARA, February 19, 1811. 
 
 Nothing can be more considerate, nothing more 
 friendly, than your constancy in writing to me. 
 Your last letter is dated the 2Gth of November. What 
 can I say from this remote corner in return for the 
 pleasure I experience at the receipt of your letters ? 
 I have already described my sombre kind of life, but 
 I am sure you will rejoice to hear that my present 
 quiet has been productive of the essential good of 
 restoring my health. I now consider myself quite 
 re-established ; therefore, rny good Irving, dispel all 
 your alarms on my account. I once thought of 
 visiting Ballstown, but, as a trial of the springs there 
 was my chief motive, I gave up the journey the 
 moment I found there was no medical occasion to 
 undertake it. I do not admire the mariners of the 
 American people. I have met with some whose 
 society was every thing one could desire ; and at 
 Boston and New York such characters are, I believe, 
 numerous, but these are the exceptions. Politics run 
 very high at this moment, but the French faction 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 93 
 
 have evidently the preponderance, and they style 
 themselves republicans ! Was ever any thing more 
 absurd? A dreadful crash is not far off I hope 
 your friends have withheld their confidence in their 
 public stocks. There have been many failures at 
 New York, and the merchants there are in a state 
 of great confusion and dismay. 
 
 I returned recently from York, the capital of this 
 province, where I passed ten days with the governor, 
 (Gore) as generous and as honest a being as ever 
 existed. His lady is perfectly well bred and very 
 agreeable. I found ample recompense in their so 
 ciety for the inconvenience of travelling over the 
 worst roads I ever met with. The governor was 
 formerly quartered with the 44th in Guernsey, and 
 recollects vividly the society of those days.* 
 
 I seldom hear from James Brock, who dislikes 
 writing to such a degree, that he hazards the loss of 
 a friend rather than submit to the trouble ; and what 
 is strange, when he sets about it, he expresses himself 
 happily, and is highly entertaining. 
 
 Sir James Craig has triumphed completely over 
 the French faction in the Lower Province. By their 
 conduct they have fully exemplified the character of 
 their ancestors. The moment they found they could 
 not intimidate by threats, they became as obsequious 
 as they had been violent. The house of assembly 
 passed every bill required of them ; among others, one 
 authorizing the governor-general and three councillors 
 to imprison any one without assigning a cause. The 
 state of the country makes such a measure highly 
 necessary. Sir James has been very ill, and it is 
 supposed that he cannot long survive the fierce and 
 
 * At the period alluded to, about the year 1790, Guernsey had compa 
 ratively little communication with England, and the chief characteristic 
 of the insular society was its simplicity, the hours being early, and 
 costly establishments being unknown. Yet there was much genuine 
 hospitality, as the gentry maintained a constant social intercourse with 
 each other, and with the officers of the garrison, very few other strangers 
 then visiting the island. The upper ranks were content with their isola 
 tion and with this primitive mode of life, and it may well be questioned 
 whether increased luxury and refinement have added to their happiness. 
 
94 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 frequent attacks of his disorder. His death, when 
 ever it comes, will be bewailed by all who possess 
 the feelings of Englishmen in this country. He 
 appears determined to keep me near his person, and 
 I hardly know how to accomplish my grand object 
 of visiting England in opposition to his wishes. You 
 may well imagine the regret I feel in being obliged 
 to submit to such a life of complete idleness but 
 fate will have it so. 
 
 We are all impatience and anxiety to learn the 
 ultimate result of the king s indisposition, and the 
 movements of the contending armies in Portugal. 
 If we are to be governed by a regent, I trust that 
 ambition, jealousy, or party interests, will not con 
 spire to diminish or circumscribe his regal powers. 
 These are not times to slacken the reins. 
 
 Colonel Murray, 100th, went home last year, 
 married, and brought out a charming little creature, 
 full of good sense and spirit. They dined with me 
 yesterday, and she appeared a little dejected in con 
 sequence of an idle report of the regiment being 
 destined for the West Indies. 
 
 Care ought to be taken to get William Potenger 
 introduced into a quiet, well-behaved corps ; the 49th 
 would do very well, but I am not partial to Canada 
 for a young soldier ; the regiment has, however, been 
 in it so long, that it cannot be continued many years. 
 Throw him into the sea rather than allow him to join 
 a wild Irish regiment. 
 
 This country is getting very populous and rich. 
 Great emigration from the States ; Quakers especially 
 come in numbers, and bring with them large sums. 
 Assure William of my eternal esteem. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to Sir James Craig, K. B. 
 
 NIAGARA, February 27, 1811. 
 
 I have this day been honored by the receipt of your 
 excellency s letter, dated the 4th instant. The subject 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 95 
 
 to which it refers has occasioned serious reflection in 
 my mind. If unfortunately the Indians be deter 
 mined to commit acts of hostility in the spring, they 
 are at too great a distance for us to succeed in any 
 effort we may be disposed to make to avert so great 
 a calamity. Therefore, the next consideration is the 
 posture we are to assume in case of such an event ; 
 whether we are to remain in a state of strict neutral 
 ity, which doubtless the Americans will call upon us 
 to observe, and thereby sacrifice our influence over 
 the Indians ; or, unmindful of the consequences, 
 continue to them the accustomed supplies of food, 
 arms, and ammunition. 
 
 I lament to think that the Indians retired from the 
 council, in which they declared their resolution of 
 going to war, with a full conviction that, although 
 they could not look for active co-operation on our 
 part, yet they might rely with confidence upon re 
 ceiving from us every requisite of war. 
 
 Our cold attempt to dissuade that much-injured 
 people* from engaging in such a rash enterprise could 
 scarcely be expected to prevail, particularly after 
 giving such manifest indications of a contrary senti 
 ment by the liberal quantity of military stores with 
 which they were dismissed. 
 
 I shall not fail in reporting every circumstance that 
 may come to my knowledge relative to our connec 
 tions with the Indians, which I think your excellency 
 may desire to be acquainted with : I must look to 
 officers commanding at the outposts for such infor- 
 
 * Washington Irving, in his "Astoria," mentions a Sioux Indian being 
 killed by a shot wantonly fired at him by a white man across the banks 
 of the Missouri, here fully half a mile broad, and he observes : " In this 
 way outrages are frequently committed on the natives by thoughtless 
 or mischievous white men ; the Indians retaliate according to a law of 
 their code, which requires blood for blood ; their act, of what with them 
 is pious vengeance, resounds throughout the land, and is represented as 
 wanton and unprovoked ; the neighbourhood is roused to arms ; a war 
 ensues, which ends in the destruction of half the tribe, and their expulsion 
 from their hereditary homes. Such is too often the history of Indian 
 warfare, which in general is traced up only to some vindictive act of a 
 savage; while the outrage of the scoundrel white man that provoked it is 
 sunk in silence." 
 
9G LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 mation, as the lieutenant-governor withholds from 
 me all communications on the subject. 
 
 Mr. Elliot, who has the management of the Indian 
 department at Amherstburg, is an exceedingly good 
 man, and highly respected by the Indians ; but, 
 having in his youth lived a great deal with them, he 
 has naturally imbibed their feelings and prejudices, 
 and partaking in the wrongs they continually suffer, 
 this sympathy made him neglect the considerations 
 of prudence, which ought to have regulated his con 
 duct. If he had delayed the issue of presents until 
 he reported their mission to Lieut. -Governor Gore, 
 they would have returned to their companions, car 
 rying with them the positive sentiments of govern 
 ment. 
 
 Brigadier Brock to Major Taylor, WOth Regiment, 
 commanding at Amherstburg. 
 
 NIAGARA, March 4, 1811. 
 
 You omitted to report to me the important reso 
 lution which the Indians formally announced last 
 autumn in council to have been adopted by the 
 different nations, of going to w r ar with the Americans. 
 Having, however, received advice of the circumstance 
 through other channels, I was enabled to communi 
 cate the interesting fact to head quarters, and now 
 transcribe, for your individual information and future 
 guidance, extracts of his excellency s secret and con 
 fidential answer, dated 4th ultimo : 
 
 " Although the conduct of our intercourse with the Indians 
 is by his majesty s command vested in the civil government 
 of the province of Canada, and consequently the interference 
 of military officers, otherwise than by being present at such 
 councils as may be held as they are directed to be, would be 
 improper, I nevertheless desire that you will instruct the 
 officers in command at the different posts, particularly at 
 Amherstburg, to report confidentially to you what may pass 
 at those councils, as well as any other transactions in which 
 the Indians are concerned, and which may come to their 
 knowledge ; these reports you will forward to me occasion 
 ally, as you may think them of importance." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 97 
 
 The conduct which the military are expected to 
 pursue in their intercourse with the Indian depart 
 ment is so explicitly stated in the above, that I need 
 not say a word more on the subject. But I think 
 it highly necessary to put you in possession of the 
 policy which Sir James Craig is very anxious may 
 be observed in the present uncertain state of our 
 political affairs. 
 
 " I am decidedly of opinion, that upon every principle of 
 policy our interest should lead us to use all our endeavours to 
 prevent a rupture between the Indians and the subjects of 
 the United States. Upon these considerations, I think it 
 would be expedient to instruct the officers of the Indian de 
 partment to use all their influence to dissuade the Indians 
 from their projected plan of hostility, giving- them clearly to 
 understand that they must not expect any assistance from 
 us. The officers, however, should be extremely cautious in 
 pointing out to them that it is for their own good only that 
 this advice is given to them, and not from any dereliction 
 of that regard with which we always view their interests; it 
 will perhaps require some management to avoid exciting 
 their jealousy or resentment ; the doing so must be strongly 
 recommended." 
 
 I wish you to comprehend clearly the sentiments 
 of Sir James upon this essential point ; because 
 although I entertain great respect for the personal 
 character of Mr. Elliott, yet I should be unwilling to 
 place entire dependance, in an affair of such manifest 
 importance, upon a judgment biassed and prejudiced, 
 as his is known to IDC, in every thing that regards the 
 Indians. To act with due prudence, he participates 
 in and feels too keenly the grievous wrongs they have 
 suffered. Should you, therefore, perceive the smallest 
 indication to depart from the line so strongly marked 
 by his excellency for the government of the Indian 
 officers, you will, without creating suspicion of an 
 intention of controlling their measures, offer friendly 
 advice, and even have recourse to written protests 
 to deter them from persevering in any act that may 
 have a tendency to irritate and expose the two nations 
 to endless controversy. All this you, of course, will 
 F 
 
98 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 do as coming; from yourself, and you will be very 
 regular in reporting circumstantially every occur 
 rence that may come to your knowledge, to enable 
 me to conform strictly with the instructions of the 
 commander-in-chief. 
 
 Colonel Baynes* to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George. 
 QUEBEC, March 4, 1811. 
 
 Sir James desires me to tell you that he had fully 
 intended writing to you himself by this day s post, 
 but, from the arrival of the January mail and the 
 departure of the Halifax courier to-morrow, he finds 
 himself so much occupied that he has deputed me to 
 explain to you the cause of his not announcing to 
 you by his own pen the resolution he finds himself 
 under the necessity of adopting, of returning to 
 England early in the summer. I think it probable 
 that he will leave this by the July fleet ; indeed, the 
 extremely weak and debilitated state of his health 
 will not admit of his deferring his departure longer, 
 lest it might involve him in inconveniences attendant 
 upon an equinoctial or fall passage. It is with the 
 deepest regret I observe that his strength is visibly 
 sinking under his disease, although the latter has not 
 increased in violence ; on the contrary, for this fort 
 night past he seems in better spirits and to suffer less 
 pain : the first probably arises from the prospect of 
 his being speedily relieved from the weight and anxi 
 ety of his public charge, for with regard to himself, 
 his mind is most perfectly made up, and resigned to 
 a very speedy termination of all his sufferings ; and 
 
 * Owing to the communication by post between Lower and Upper 
 Canada being so slow at this period, we observe that many of Colonel 
 Baynes letters to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George, were transmitted 
 through the United States. There was only a post once a fortnight 
 between Montreal and Kingston, and in Upper Canada the post office was 
 scarcely established. The military returns were sent from the Upper 
 Province to Quebec once or twice in the winter of 1806-7, by an Indian 
 hired for the purpose ; and in the same winter the mail from England 
 for Canada was lost by the upsetting of the canoe in which an Indian 
 was conveying it. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 99 
 
 his anxiety has been latterly much excited from the 
 apprehension of his becoming too ill to be able to 
 undertake the voyage, and being obliged to linger 
 out the short remnant of his life in this country. 
 
 I assure you he is very far from being indifferent 
 in regard to forwarding your wishes ; but from the 
 necessity of his retiring himself, and even without 
 waiting for leave to do so, he feels it the more indis 
 pensably necessary to leave this country in the best 
 state of security he can, and that, under existing 
 circumstances, he cannot attend to your request for 
 leave. He desires me to say, that he regrets ex 
 tremely the disappointment you may experience ; and 
 he requests that you will do him the favor to accept, 
 as a legacy and mark of his very sincere regard, his 
 favorite horse, Alfred ; and that he is induced to send 
 him to you, not only from wishing to secure to his 
 old favorite a kind and careful master, but from the 
 conviction that the whole continent of America could 
 not furnish you with so safe and excellent a horse. 
 Alfred is ten years old, but being a high bred horse, 
 and latterly but very little worked, he may be con 
 sidered as still perfectly fresh. Sir James will give 
 him up to Heriot, whenever you fix the mode of his 
 being forwarded to you. 
 
 I have requested Sir James to allow me to accom 
 pany him home, a duty I should feel a most grateful 
 pleasure in performing ; but with a kind regard to 
 what he thinks more to my interest, he will not ac 
 cede to my wishes, but insists on my remaining here, 
 as he thinks that my appointment will be considered 
 permanent. Kempt goes home, his private affairs 
 requiring his presence, and having strong ground to 
 hope that he will be able to resign his staff for an 
 active brigade ; although his senior in years and length 
 of service, I must still wait a long time before I can 
 direct my ambition to so desirable an object. 
 
 You will have seen by Sir James speech, the very 
 complete triumph his firmness and energy have ob- 
 
100 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 tained over the factious cabal of their most contemp 
 tible assembly. Bedard will be shortly released 
 that fellow alone of the whole gang has nerve, and 
 does not want ability or inclination to do mischief 
 whenever opportunity offers ; the rest, old Papineau 
 and the blustering B , are all white-livered runa 
 gates to a man ; but when Sir James back is turned, 
 they will rally and commence the same bullying 
 attack on his successor, who, I trust, will follow his 
 example.* 
 
 Colonel J. A. Vesey to Brigadier Brock. 
 HAMPTON COURT PARK, April 9, 1811. 
 
 I am bound to Sicily in about a fortnight, as a 
 brigadier-general on the staff there, and I am told 
 that Lord William Bentinck, who is destined to 
 command the forces in that island, will be the bearer 
 of instructions to insist upon the command of the 
 Sicilian army likewise. 
 
 I thank you much for the interesting details of 
 local politics, both military and civil, which your 
 letter contains, for I feel a more than common wish 
 to know what passes in Canada, although I am cer 
 tainly not partial to that country quite the reverse. 
 It is a pity that the 49th should be detained there so 
 long, as it will interfere materially with the promotion 
 of your officers. I fear you will have passed a lonely 
 winter at Fort George, notwithstanding the addition 
 
 * Part of the discontent of the French Canadians at this period arose 
 from the Constitutional Act of 1791, which divided the two provinces, and 
 gave to each a local legislature, consisting of an elective assembly, and a 
 council of members appointed by the crown for life. These two bodies 
 never harmonized, as the latter was composed of an exclusive class, 
 consisting of office holders and a few wealthy merchants and land-holders ; 
 and the assembly, naturally enough, complained that nearly every mea 
 sure, which it originated, was rejected by the legislative council. Thus 
 the disaffection of the people was not entirely of a national character, or 
 it was not solely a French and English quarrel ; and no government will 
 satisfy that race which has not a just share in its administration and 
 councils. And now, nothwithstanding the continued antagonism of the 
 two races, both appear to unite in demanding responsible government 
 not in form, but in substance ; and Sir James Craig would indeed be 
 astonished if he could arise from his grave, and witness the present 
 relative positions of the governor- general and the house of assembly. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 101 
 
 of my friend Murray and his nice little wife to your 
 society. Pray remember me kindly to them and to 
 my old -riend St. George. Mrs. Vesey has charged 
 me to caL her to your recollection in the kindest 
 manner ; she and my six children are as well as 
 possible, and a very nice little group they are, all 
 as healthy as can be. I wish I had a daughter old 
 enough for you, as I would give her to you with 
 pleasure. You should be married, particularly as 
 fate seems to detain you so long in Canada but 
 pray do not marry there. 
 
 Colonel Vesey to Brigadier Brock. 
 HAMPTON COURT PARK, May 9, 1811. 
 
 I received a few days ago your letter of the 22d 
 February, for which I thank you very much. I am 
 very much obliged to you for taking so much trouble 
 about my grant" of land, respecting which I have not 
 taken any steps whatever here; neither shall I, so long 
 as Lord Liverpool continues to direct the affairs of 
 the colonial department, for he is not friendly to me ; 
 but I will reserve my claims for a more favorable 
 moment. I am not the less thankful for your friend 
 ship on the occasion. 
 
 I quite feel for you, my good friend, when I think 
 of the stupid and uninteresting time you must have 
 passed in Upper Canada with your ardour for pro 
 fessional employment in the field, it must have been 
 very painful. I did not think Sir James (Craig) 
 would have detained you so long against your will. 
 Had you returned to Europe, there is little doubt but 
 that you would immediately have been employed in 
 Portugal; and, as that service has turned out so very 
 creditable, I regret very much that you had not 
 deserted from Canada. I take it for granted that 
 you will not stay there long, and should the fortune 
 of war bring us again upon duty in the same country, 
 I need not say how I shall hail the event with joy. 
 
102 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 If you come to England, I would wish you to call 
 upon the Duke of Kent,* who has a high respect for 
 you, and will be happy to see you. 
 
 It seems determined that the Duke of York shall 
 return to the command of the army ; it would have 
 taken place ere now, but for some ill-natured remarks 
 inserted in some of the newspapers, produced by an 
 over zeal on the part of his friends. Sir David 
 (Dundas) will not be much regretted, and it surely 
 is time that at his advanced period of life he should 
 be relieved from the cares of office. 
 
 I am rejoiced to find that you live so comfortably 
 with my friend Murray and his nice little wife. 
 Mrs. Vesey and myself took a great fancy to her the 
 morning she called here, on their way to Portsmouth. 
 
 * The father of her present majesty, Queen Victoria. The queen visited 
 Guernsey on the 24th August, 1846, and was received by the inhabitants 
 with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of affection, loyalty, and gra 
 titude. Her majesty is the first British sovereign, since the days of King 
 John, who has landed in Guernsey, which in the reign of Edward the 
 Second, and long subsequently, was termed " The Holy Isle." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On the 4tli of June, 1811, Brigadier Brock was 
 promoted, and appointed by the prince regent to 
 serve from that day as a major-general on the staff of 
 North America. On the l9th of the same month, 
 Sir James Craig embarked on board H. M. S. Amelia 
 for England, leaving Mr. Dunn in charge of the go 
 vernment of the Lower Province, and Lieut. -General 
 Drummond* in command of the forces in the Cana- 
 das, consisting of 445 artillery, 3,783 regular troops, 
 and 1,226 Fencibles ; in all, 5,454 men. He seemed 
 disgusted with the cares of a government, in which 
 he had experienced only crosses and mortification, as 
 his administration was decidedly unpopular among 
 the great mass of the French Canadians. His health 
 had long been wasting away with a dropsy and other 
 infirmities; and he doubted whether he should live to 
 reach England, where he however survived several 
 months, and met with a most gracious reception from 
 his immediate superiors. Sir James Craig had been 
 from his youth in the service of his country, and he 
 owed to merit alone his rank and consideration in 
 
 * The present General Sir Gordon Drummond, G! C. B., colonel of the 
 49th foot. He succeeded to the command of the forces in tipper Canada 
 in December, 1813. Lieut. -General Drummond was one step higher in 
 rank than Major-General Brock, although he entered the army four years 
 and a half after him ; and as a proof of the gross favouritism and inequality 
 which prevailed in the British army during the last century, we give the 
 dates of General Drummond s commissions viz. ensign, September 21, 
 1~89 ; lieutenant, March 31, 1791 ; captain, January, 1/92; major, Febru 
 ary 28, l/94j lieut.-colonel, April 22, 1794; colonel, January 1, 1798; 
 major-general, January l, 1805; lieut. -general, June 4, 1811 a general 
 officer in little more than fifteen years ! 
 
104 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the army.* He was corpulent in person, and rather 
 below the middle stature ; in society he was frank 
 and affable. To a clear and comprehensive judgment, 
 he united the best qualities of the heart ; and though 
 hasty in temper, a fault arising much from disease 
 and suffering, he was easily reconciled to those who 
 might involuntarily have incurred his resentment. 
 Although many differed widely in opinion with respect 
 to his government, yet few could deny him the merit 
 of disinterestedness and integrity in the discharge 
 of his public duties. He may have erred in the 
 performance of the important and complicated func 
 tions of his post, but he was guided by sincerity ; and 
 it is due to his memory to add, that the objects of 
 his administration, however erroneous the means he 
 pursued for their attainment, were the concord, the 
 happiness, and the prosperity of the people whom he 
 governed for nearly four years.f 
 
 Major- General Vesey to Major- General Brock. 
 
 PORTSMOUTH, June 10, 1811. 
 
 I congratulate you on your promotion, and you 
 may return me the compliment. I did not expect 
 to appear in the same brevet with you as a major- 
 general ; J it has so happened, however, and I am 
 
 * Sir James Craig commanded from 3 to 4,000 British troops, who, with 
 about 4,000 Russians, were sent at the close of 1805 to Naples for the 
 protection of the then infamous Neapolitan government ; but on the 
 advance of the French, the Russians proceeded to Corfu and the British 
 to Messina, where Lieut.-General Craig retired from ill health, and was 
 succeeded in the command by Sir John Stuart, who a few months after 
 gained the battle of Maida, 4th July, 1806. Major-General Craig was also 
 second in command of the land forces at the capture of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, in 17Q5. 
 
 t Memoirs of the Administration of the Colonial Government of Lower 
 Canada, by Sir James Henry Craig and Sir George Prevost, from the year 
 1807 until the year 1815; comprehending the Military and Naval opera 
 tions in the Canadas during the late War with the United States of 
 America. By R. Christie, Quebec, 1818. 
 
 t The colonels of October 30, 1805, to all the colonels of 1808, were 
 made major-generals on the same day, June 4, 1811, and Colonel Vesey 
 was 79 on the list below Colonel Brock. This strikes us as very wholesale 
 promotion, and as unjust to the senior colonels. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 105 
 
 not at all sorry to go out to Sicily as major-general 
 instead of a brigadier. You have such a lot of 
 generals in Canada at present, that it is impossible 
 to continue them all upon the staff. Your wish will 
 be to come home, I dare say, and very glad I should 
 be if you were in England at present, while all the 
 arrangements are making. It may perhaps be your 
 fate to go to the Mediterranean, but the Peninsula is 
 the most direct road to the honor of the Bath, and 
 as you are an ambitious man, that is the station you 
 would prefer so should I, but I have been advised 
 not to solicit for it, but to go where I was ordered ; 
 therefore, am I proceeding. I need not say how 
 rejoiced I should be if you were of the party. 
 
 The return of the Duke of York to the head of the 
 army gives general satisfaction to all military people, 
 and indeed to most others, I fancy : his old worn-out 
 predecessor has long been superannuated. I still re 
 tain my appointment of deputy barrack master-general 
 in Nova Scotia, to the astonishment of every body, 
 because I suppose they do not like to take it from 
 me par force , without giving me something in lieu 
 of it. I have told the treasury that I would not give 
 it up upon any other terms than for my lieutenant- 
 colonelcy, but that they had the power of taking it 
 from me if- they chose to do me that injustice: I 
 suppose they will as soon as my back is turned. 
 Lord William Bentinck is expected down to-day ; 
 he goes to Sicily in the Caledonia, with Sir Edward 
 Pellew. As it is possible you may have left Canada, 
 I shall enclose this letter to our friend Bruyeres ; 
 bid him read it, and forward it if you are yet in that 
 country.* 
 
 * Major- General Vesey died in Sicily, December 5, 1811. 
 
106 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Bayncs to Major- General Brock, at Montreal. 
 QUEBEC, August 3, 1811. 
 
 We were very much surprised on Thursday last 
 by the arrival of the Racoon, sloop of war, from 
 Jamaica, with the Duke of Manchester* on board, 
 who is come with the view of visiting the lions of 
 Canada previous to his return to England; he is 
 gone, attended by General Drummond, to see the 
 falls of Montmorenci, and the general desires me to 
 let you know that his grace intends leaving this in 
 the stage on Tuesday morning for Montreal. The 
 duke has no attendant except a Colonel Gold, ci- 
 devant militaire ; he appears to be very affable, and 
 perfectly sans fa^on ; he particularly requested that 
 no compliments or ceremony of any kind might be 
 shown him, and that he might be permitted to indulge 
 his fancy by going about as he pleased. His grace 
 is not likely to have many volunteer aides-de-camp, 
 for he treated those who formed his suite yesterday to 
 a walk of half a dozen hours in the sun at mid-day 
 round the works, the towers, plains, &c. ; and from 
 which he did not appear to experience the slightest 
 inconvenience, being in the habit, we are told, of 
 taking similar rambles even in the West Indies. The 
 duke will pay you but a very short visit, being limit 
 ed for time, and anxious to make his tour as extensive 
 as possible. He seems to like a glass of Madeira, 
 and would match any of the Canadian tribe in smok 
 ing cigars ; he walks about with one in his mouth at 
 all hours in the day. He begs you will have the 
 kindness to secure for him a boat and a good Cana 
 dian crew to proceed to Kingston, and to facilitate 
 his progress from that place, inasmuch as it may be 
 in your power to do so. I apprehend that the move 
 ment of the troops may very materially interfere with 
 him, but the duke will not object to embarking with 
 any of the detachments if no other vessel can be 
 spared. 
 
 * The governor of Jamaica. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 107 
 
 Colonel Bayncs to Major-Gencral Brock, at William 
 Henri/) Sorel. 
 
 QUEBEC, August 12, 1811. 
 
 I have to acknowledge and thank you for your 
 letter of the 8th instant. I regret much that you did 
 not find it convenient to remain at Montreal to re 
 ceive the Duke of Manchester, as I think you would 
 have felt gratified ; and if you could have reconciled 
 to your own feelings the want of due preparation for 
 the reception of so great a personage, I am sure, from 
 the specimen we had of his grace here, that he would 
 have been perfectly satisfied, and happy to have 
 shared your fare. He does not appear to be a lady s 
 man perhaps a little too much the contrary, and I 
 am confident that a dinner with a few gentlemen, and 
 an invitation to smoke, would suit his taste in prefer 
 ence to a formal fete. On an excursion to the Chau- 
 diere, of which Mrs. Drummond and other ladies 
 formed part, his grace appeared to be very little at 
 his ease until he effected his escape out of the frigate s 
 barge into one of the small boats that was in attend 
 ance with his compagnon de voyage and the com 
 mander of the sloop, when, with the aid of his favorite 
 cigar, he appeared to be perfectly happy. I mention 
 these traits in order that you may be prepared to re 
 ceive him or not on his return, as you think best. I 
 am sure he would prefer William Henry to sleep at 
 in preference to Montreal. 
 
 After an inter-regnum of nearly three months, Sir 
 George Prevost arrived at Quebec in September, and 
 assumed the government of Lower Canada, having 
 succeeded Sir James Craig in the chief command of 
 the British North American provinces. His military 
 character then stood high, as he had distinguished 
 himself at the conquest of the island of St. Lucie, in 
 1803, and of the island of Martinique, in 1809 ; as 
 
108 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 also in successfully opposing, with a small garrison, 
 the attack made in 1805 by a numerous French force, 
 upon the island of Dominica, of which he was lieu 
 tenant-governor ; but his active service had been 
 confined entirely to the West Indies, not a field suffi 
 ciently important to test the capabilities of a general- 
 in-chief at a critical and momentous period ; and he 
 had been chiefly employed on the staff, having com 
 manded a regiment only for a few months, a battalion 
 of the 60th, composed at that time of foreigners. The 
 known mildness of his disposition, and the popularity 
 of his administration in Nova Scotia, from which he 
 had just been promoted, afforded a hope that his 
 government of Lower Canada would prove more 
 auspicious to the internal union of the people than 
 that of his predecessor. Sir George Prevost was, 
 moreover, neither by birth nor parentage an English 
 man, an advantage to him in ruling a country wrested 
 scarcely fifty years from France ; and, as his name 
 indicates, his family was doubtless of French origin, 
 a circumstance which the French Canadians could 
 not fail to appreciate.* The inhabitants at this time 
 were divided into two parties, termed the English 
 and the Canadian, who viewed each other with consi 
 derable hostility ; and as Sir James Craig had sided 
 with the former, the latter hailed the appearance of 
 his successor with evident gratification. Soon after 
 Sir George Prevost s arrival, Major-General Brock, 
 in addition to the command of the troops, was ap 
 pointed president and administrator of the govern 
 ment in Upper Canada, being the sixth in succession 
 of its rulers, to which office he succeeded on the 9th 
 of October, 1811, in place of Lieut. -Governor Gore, 
 who returned to England on leave. At the close of the 
 year, his royal highness the Duke of York expressed 
 
 * Sir George Prevost was born at New York, May 19, 1767 his father, 
 a native of Geneva, settled in England, and became a major-general in 
 the British army his mother was a daughter of M. Grand, of Lausanne. 
 Sir G. Prevost was created a baronet in 1805, for his services in the West 
 Indies. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 109 
 
 at length every inclination to gratify Major-General 
 Brock s wishes for more active employment in Eu 
 rope, and Sir George Prevost was authorized to 
 replace him by another officer ; but when the per 
 mission reached Canada, early in 1812, a war with 
 the United States, was evidently near at hand, and 
 Major-General Brock, with such a prospect, was 
 retained both by honor and inclination in the country. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, October 7, 1811. 
 
 I have a letter from Thornton of the 2d of August ; 
 the party arrived at Deal on the 27th of July. Sir 
 James (Craig) bore the passage remarkably well, and 
 he has received the most flattering and satisfactory 
 assurances that his conduct, civil and military, has 
 met with the most unqualified approbation. Kempt 
 has experienced a very honorable reception ; the duke 
 told him he would give him a carte blanche as to his 
 future destination ; he has requested to have a brigade 
 under Lord Wellington, and was preparing to go to 
 the Peninsula. Thornton does not allude to the pro 
 bability of its affecting his present post, as he says 
 Kempt writes to you at length, and will tell you of 
 himself. El lice* has found great difficulty in effect 
 ing an exchange. Dalrymple, Sir Hew s eldest son, 
 had no objection till he found that the duke set his 
 face against the continued exchange of that post, and 
 that he would not permit it to be made a mere step 
 ping stone for the brevet rank. He in consequence 
 declined it, and Ellice is on the hunt for a lazy mar 
 ried major of dragoons, who has no objection to obtain 
 it as a fixture. Thornton has been appointed to a 
 regiment, but he neglects to mention the number, 
 although he enters into a long explanation respecting 
 it, viz. that it is of two battalions, the second in Por 
 tugal and the first in the East Indies, but, by a recent 
 
 * Lieutenant-Colonel Ellice, deputy adjutant-general in Canada. 
 
110 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 regulation, the senior lieutenant-colonel has the option 
 of remaining in command of the second in Portugal 
 if he chooses. Thornton has obtained leave to go, in 
 the first instance, to his corps in Portugal, so as to 
 endeavour to persuade his senior that India is a more 
 desirable quarter : if he fails in his rhetoric, he ex 
 pects shortly to travel that route himself. 
 
 The following paragraph is copied verbatim from 
 Thornton s letter ; he is connected with Torrens, and 
 in habits of familiar intimacy, so that I am inclined 
 to think he draws his inference from that quarter: 
 " Pray give a hint in private to Generals Brock arid 
 Sheaffe, that if the former were to ask for a brigade 
 at home, or on European service, and the latter to be 
 put on the staff in Canada, lam almost certain they 
 would succeed. 
 
 In June, 1811, a firm in London, in a rather exten 
 sive business as bankers and general merchants, and 
 of which Mr. William Brock was the senior partner, 
 
 failed. The previous senior partner, Mr. P d, 
 
 who was lord mayor of the city, had a few years 
 before retired with a very large fortune. Mr. Brock 
 had advanced his brother Isaac about ,3,000 for the 
 purchase of his commissions in the 49th regiment, 
 but, having no children and being at the time in 
 affluence, he never intended to exact the payment, 
 although the money was charged in the books. To 
 Major-General Brock, who was not aware of his 
 name appearing as a debtor to the firm, the intelli 
 gence of the failure came like a thunderbolt, not so 
 much for the difficulties in which it involved him, as 
 for the distress to which it reduced his favorite bro 
 ther. But he happily never knew that his brother- 
 in-law, Mr. Tupper, who had then eleven children 
 living, lost eventually between 12 and 13,000 by 
 the failure. His brother Savery was also a sufferer, 
 and the bankruptcy caused a coolness between Wil- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. Ill 
 
 Ham Brock and his brother Irving, who was con 
 nected with the firm, and to which their brother 
 Isaac alludes in some of his subsequent correspond 
 ence, when he entreats of them to be united. The 
 two following letters strike us as highly creditable to 
 Major-General Brock, proving as they do his excel 
 lence of heart, integrity of purpose, and depth of 
 fraternal feeling ; and we have only to add, that the 
 assignees cheerfully accepted his offer of the salary 
 to which his civil situation entitled him as the means 
 of liquidating his debt to the estate. 
 
 Major-General Brock to his brother Savcry. 
 
 YORK, October 7, 1811. 
 
 I have this instant finished a letter to Irving. I 
 attempted to write composedly, but found it impos 
 sible. The newspapers gave me the first intimation 
 of the heavy misfortune we have all sustained. To 
 this day, I am without a single line from any of the 
 family on the subject. Let me know how William 
 and Sally support the sad change in their affairs. I 
 want to be at once apprized of the full extent of our 
 misery. Why keep me in this horrid suspense ? 
 
 I write merely to say, for really my poor head will 
 not allow me to say more, that to-morrow I enter 
 into the official duties of president of this province. 
 The salary attached to the situation is <1,000, the 
 whole of which, I trust, I shall be able to save, and, 
 after a year or two, even more. 
 
 I go to Niagara next week, and shall again write 
 through the States. 
 
 Yesterday was the first truly gloomy birthday I 
 have ever passed. May you be happy. Glegg is 
 with me, and I expect James Brock very soon. 
 
112 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to his brother Irving. 
 
 YORK, October 30, 1811. 
 
 My dear friend, I have at length heard from 
 you. Your letter of the 3d August was only received 
 this day. To what a state of misery are we fallen 
 poverty I was prepared to bear but, oh! Irving, 
 if you love me, do not by any action or word add to 
 the sorrows of poor, unfortunate, William. Remem 
 ber his kindness to me what pleasure he always 
 found in doing me service. Hang the world, it is 
 not worth a thought be generous, and find silent 
 comfort in being so. Oh ! my dear boy, forget the 
 past, and let us all unite in soothing the griefs of one 
 of the best hearts that Heaven ever formed. I can 
 well conceive that the causes of his ruin were excited 
 by too ardent a wish to place us all in affluence 
 his wealth we were sure to divide why refuse him 
 consolation? it is all, alas! I can offer. I shall 
 write to him the instant I feel sufficiently composed. 
 Could tears restore him, he would soon be happy 
 every atom of resolution leaves me at the moment I 
 require it most. I sleep little, but am constrained to 
 assume a smiling face during the day : my thoughts 
 are fixed upon you all, and the last thing that gives 
 me any concern is the call which Savery prepares me 
 to expect from the creditors. I did not think that I 
 appeared in the books the mistake was wholly 
 mine. Let me know the sum. Are my commissions 
 safe, or must they be sold ? Can I not retain out of 
 the wreck my two or three hundred a year ? they 
 would save us all from want, and we might retire to 
 some corner, and be still happy. You know the 
 situation to which I arn lately raised. It will enable 
 me to give up the whole of my salary, <1,000 yearly, 
 and I shall enclose a power of attorney to enable you 
 to receive it do with it what justice demands 
 pay as fast as you receive, unless indeed want among 
 any of you calls for aid ; in that case make use of the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 113 
 
 money, and let the worst corne. I leave every thing 
 to your sober discretion. 
 
 I wrote thus far last evening, and I shall now 
 endeavour to proceed with less agitation. If you 
 possibly can satisfy my creditors, do so it is a pity 
 Savery did not write to say what he was able to 
 effect on the subject. I have been at 300 or 400 
 expense in outfits, which I fear will prevent my 
 remitting any thing home this year, but the next I 
 hope to spare to that amount. Depend upon my 
 exercising the utmost economy ; but I am in a situa 
 tion which must be upheld by a certain outlay. Did 
 it depend upon myself, how willingly would I live 
 upon bread and water. Governor Gore is gone 
 home with a year s leave. I think it probable he 
 will not be required to return so long as the war 
 continues. I ought not, however, to look to retain 
 my situation above two years. I shall make all I 
 can of it by every fair means, for be satisfied that 
 even your stern honesty shall have no just cause to 
 censure any one of my actions. But I cannot look 
 to much popularity in the homely way I am con 
 strained to proceed in the administration : much 
 shew and feasting are indispensable to attract the 
 multitude, especially in a colony like this, where 
 equality prevails to such a degree that men judge of 
 your disposition, of your frankness, by the frequency 
 of the invitations they receive. At present, all 
 classes profess great regard and esteem for me ; but 
 although I hope they may, I cannot expect such 
 sentiments will continue long. If I retain the consi 
 derate and thoughtful, I shall be satisfied, and I shall 
 strive to merit the good opinion of such men. 
 
 Henceforth I shall address you without reference 
 to the past ; we must only consider how to get on 
 for the future. You have read much, and I trust 
 will profit by the lessons philosophers inculcate. 
 Exert, my honest fellow, every power of your mind, 
 but never exclude prudence from any of your actions. 
 Believe me yours till doomsday. 
 
114 LIFE AND CORRESPOIS 7 DENCE OF 
 
 William Brock, Esq., to Major- General Brock. 
 
 STAMFORD HILL, October 31,1811. 
 
 * ******* 
 You have received, or will receive shortly, a 
 letter from our assignees, desiring to be informed in 
 what manner the debt, which appears in our books 
 as owing by you, is to be liquidated. Too well do I 
 know, my dearest Isaac, your inability to pay it of 
 yourself; it now amounts to something above <3,000. 
 The assignees will not, I believe, take any unpleasant 
 steps to enforce the payment, yet it will be natural 
 that they exact some sort of security from you. 
 Some reports had, but very erroneously, been circu 
 lated that they had already commenced legal steps 
 against you ; and upon this report a young gentleman 
 lately arrived from Canada, a Mr. Ellice,* called on 
 Charles Bell to inquire if it were so, and told Bell 
 that rather than any thing unpleasant should happen 
 to you, he would contrive to pay the debt himself, so 
 great was his esteem and friendship for you. I of 
 course told Bell that the report was without founda 
 tion. This trait of friendship on this gentleman s 
 part very much tended to reconcile me "to my unfor 
 tunate situation, for besides his attachment to you, 
 he assured Bell you were so beloved in Canada, that 
 you would not want friends who would feel pleasure 
 to assist you to any amount, if necessary. Let me 
 conjure you, my dearest Isaac, not to refuse the offer 
 of such friends, as you feel you would yourself oblige 
 
 * The present Right Honorable Edward Ellice, M. P. On the editor 
 inquiring by letter of Mr. E. whether he were not the generous individual 
 alluded to, he replied as follows : " Mr. E. has a very vivid recollection 
 of the happy time he spent while travelling in Canada, in his earliest 
 days, in the society of the late Sir Isaac Brock, to whom he was indebted 
 for the greatest courtesy and kindness, and for whose character and 
 virtues he has always entertained the most sincere respect and admira 
 tion. Mr. E. has also some recollection of the incident mentioned in 
 Mr. T. s letter, but he begs that no reference may be made to it in any 
 future edition of the memoirs." The editor regrets that he cannot, 
 without doing Sir Isaac Brock an injustice, suppress an incident which 
 is so honorable to Mr. E., and he claims his indulgence for not complying 
 with his request. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 115 
 
 in a similar situation. I am sure you will believe 
 that had circumstances authorized it, I would have 
 cancelled your debt long since. 
 
 I know your love for me, and shall therefore say a 
 little about myself. Savery was in London when the 
 house stopped, (the 8th June,) and never shall I 
 forget what I owe him for the warmth and interest 
 he has uniformly shewn in this hour of sorrow. 
 After every consideration, it was deemed most advis 
 able that the house should be declared bankrupt, as 
 the only means of extricating ourselves ; for as an 
 underwriter at Lloyd s there was no coming to any 
 compromise, and the demands upon us would have 
 been endless. At the time we stopped there were 
 27,000 sterling due to me for premiums of insur 
 ance, all of which will no doubt be swallowed up by 
 the late seizures in the Baltic ports, and by many of 
 my debtors becoming bankrupts themselves. These 
 Baltic losses, and the house s former losses by bad 
 debts,* may be said to be the cause of our failure, 
 which has been accelerated by the preceding failure 
 
 of our neighbours, Messrs. and of the two 
 
 banks in Guernsey, circumstances which destroyed 
 all confidence, and occasioned what is commonly call 
 ed a run upon the house. 
 
 I am anxious for your return to England, if it 
 were only that you introduce to Lord Bridge- 
 water. At present, I have not the means of keeping 
 him at Oxford he and William, and the two dear 
 girls, are with us. I expect our brother Tupper next 
 week from Guernsey, and I suppose the two boys 
 will return with him. His eldest son, John, passed 
 this way on his return to Guernsey from Spain. He 
 is grown a very fine young man, with a strong judg 
 ment and an amiable temper. His countenance is 
 pleasing, and in figure he is tall and athletic. 
 
 Do not, I pray you, my dearest Isaac, attribute 
 
 * By the failure of one person shortly before, the house lost nearly 
 30,000. 
 
116 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 my former silence to any diminution of affection, but 
 to a depression of spirits, which this final catastrophe 
 has in some measure relieved a reality of misfor 
 tune is probably less painful than the preceding 
 anxiety of it. Let us pray that the prospect will 
 again brighten. In you is all my present pride and 
 future hope. 
 
 November 16, 1811. Savery has within the last 
 few days sent me a copy of your welcome letter of 
 the 19th September from Montreal, and most cheer 
 ing it is to our drooping spirits. May this find you 
 well and hearty in your new honors at York. Surely, 
 my dearest Isaac will not quit his enviable situation, 
 when he has also a prospect of something more 
 lucrative, for a mere major-general s appointment in 
 Europe. I sent our friend, Charles Bell, an extract 
 of your letter, that he might give it to your generous 
 friend Ellice, who will rejoice at your promotion. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Torrens to Major General Brock. 
 
 HORSE GUARDS, October 17, 1811. 
 
 I have had the pleasure of receiving your letter of 
 the 6th of July, and I beg you will be convinced 
 that I should derive much satisfaction from the 
 power of complying with your wishes as far as my 
 situation might enable me to facilitate the accom 
 plishment of the object you have expressed of return 
 ing to England. 
 
 I have made known your wishes to the comman- 
 der-in-chief, and his royal highness has expressed 
 every inclination to comply with them. But until 
 another officer shall join the station, you will be 
 readily aware of the difficulty his royal highness 
 would have in withdrawing you, by leave of absence 
 or otherwise, during the present state of public affairs 
 with the American government. 
 
 Should you wish, however, to quit the Canadian 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 117 
 
 staff with a view to serve in Europe, his royal high 
 ness will not object to your return to this country, 
 under the arrangement of your being immediately 
 succeeded by another officer. And as Major-General 
 Sheaffe is on the spot, and has strong claims to em 
 ployment on the staff, his royal highness will have no 
 objection to furnish Sir George Prevost with an au 
 thority to employ that officer in your room, provided 
 he has not left Canada. 
 
 I trust this arrangement may be acceptable to you. 
 An official communication to the effect of this note 
 will be made to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, October 29, 1811. 
 
 Conceiving that the system, recently established 
 with a view of securing the regular and prompt set 
 tlement of the accompts of the Indian department in 
 this province, is liable to many objections, I beg 
 leave to lay my sentiments on the subject before your 
 excellencv. 
 
 Sir James Craig, on the application of Lieut. - 
 Governor Gore, procured the consent of the lords of 
 his majesty s treasury to the appointment of a deputy 
 commissary -general of accompts, for the purpose of 
 bringing up all arrears in the accompts of the Indian 
 department. But unless means be likewise taken to 
 ensure an immediate examination of such accompts 
 as accrue, the inconvenience, to which the service has 
 long been exposed, will remain undiminished. 
 
 All documents, to which reference is to be had, are 
 lodged with the storekeeper-general at La Chine.* 
 
 * La Chine is a village on the St. Lawrence, nine miles above Montreal. 
 As the rapids of the river between the two places interrupt the navigation, 
 all stores and goods, intended for the upper country, were then conveyed 
 from Montreal to La Chine by land, and there put into flat-bottomed 
 boats, called " bateaux," which were rowed up the St. Lawrence, with 
 incredible labour, by Canadians. La Chine derives its name from the 
 expeditions of M. de la Salle, which were fitted out at this place for the 
 discovery of a North- West passage to China. 
 
118 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Mr. Lane, the officer appointed to investigate the 
 accompts, has been stationed at Fort George, and 
 during the year that he has been employed on this 
 duty, he has proceeded as fast as the receipts of the 
 accompts enabled him ; but he is frequently left idle, 
 and at the slow rate he has gone on, it will require 
 three or four years to complete the voluminous papers 
 remaining for his examination. 
 
 I therefore deem it iny duty to state these facts, 
 and to entreat your excellency to cause the adoption 
 of such measures as will ensure the speedy settlement 
 of the accompts now under examination, in order that 
 those daily accruing may be examined arid audited 
 during the continuance in office of the person under 
 whose responsibility the expense is incurred. But 
 this desirable object cannot be attained as long as the 
 deputy storekeepers at the different posts are required 
 to send their accompts to the storekeeper-general at 
 La Chine, preparatory to their examination by the 
 deputy accornptant-general at Fort George. 
 
 The heavy defalcations, which I fear will be found 
 in some of the accompts, argue strongly for a change 
 of system, and nothing effectual will be done until a 
 storekeeper-general be established in the Upper Pro 
 vince, to perform on the spot the duties which are now 
 required from the storekeeper-general at La Chine. 
 
 The same arguments are equally applicable with 
 regard to the secretary of the department, to whom 
 all cash accompts are referred; but as an assistant- 
 secretary is already on the establishment of this pro 
 vince, no additional expense will be necessary. 
 
 It will appear evident to your excellency, that 
 should the duties connected with the Upper Province 
 be withdrawn from the storekeeper - general at La 
 Chine, little will remain to be done by that officer. 
 I therefore presume to suggest his removal to this 
 province ; or should such an arrangement be thought 
 inconvenient, I venture to recommend that the deputy 
 assistant commissary -general at Fort George may, 
 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 119 
 
 with a reasonable addition to his salary, be nominated 
 to execute that office. This is proposed solely with 
 a view to economy, not being aware that the two 
 situations can be incompatible. 
 
 The service would likewise, in my opinion, be 
 
 freatly promoted, were the presents intended for the 
 ndians in the Upper Province transmitted to Fort 
 George without being delayed, as is customary, at 
 La Chine, as they could be distributed to the different 
 posts early in the spring, which would be the means, 
 I jconfidentially assert, of saving an enormous expense, 
 yearly incurred, in provisioning numerous bodies of 
 Indians, who for weeks together await at Arnherstburg 
 and St. Joseph the arrival of the presents. This 
 practice would likewise keep a supply within reach 
 to meet any emergency. But at present, for instance, 
 the stores are nearly exhausted, and such urgent calls 
 may be made as will compel me to authorize purcha 
 ses of articles at a high rate, whilst abundance of the 
 same are unnecessarily detained at La Chine. 
 
 It was proposed by Lieut-Governor Gore, and 
 approved by Sir James Craig, to establish a board 
 of accompts in the Upper Province similar to that at 
 Quebec. But nothing has as yet been done, nor can 
 I discover its utility under existing circumstances. 
 
 There is another point connected with the military > 
 expenditures, to which I request to call your excel 
 lency s attention. An extraordinary practice has 
 obtained, ever since General Simcoe s administration, 
 of submitting the accompts of the agent of purchases 
 to the executive council of this province, to be audited. 
 This office of agent of purchases was lately directed 
 by the lords of the treasury to be discontinued as 
 unnecessary, but at the joint representation of Sir 
 James Craig and Lieut.-Governor Gore, the order 
 was annulled. I am, however, led to believe that it 
 was intended that his accompts hereafter should be 
 examined by the deputy accomptant-general, and, 
 like all other military expenditures, audited by a 
 
120 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 board of accompts, but no directions have as yet been 
 given on this subject. Mr. M Gill, the agent of pur 
 chases, has a seat in the executive council, which of 
 course occasions an awkwardness in the mode his 
 accompts are audited. In justice, however, to Mr. 
 M Gill I must add, that a more upright character 
 cannot be found, nor one better fitted for the office. 
 
 Your excellency having recently had an opportu 
 nity of getting every information respecting the state 
 of this province from Lieut. -Governor Gore, I need 
 only add that it remains perfectly tranquil. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Ensign N. Freer, Military Secretary. 
 YORK, November 8, 1811. 
 
 Having referred your letter of the 8th ultimo to 
 the deputy superintendent-general of Indian affairs 
 for explanation on the points alluded to, I have the 
 honor herewith to transmit his answer, which I hope 
 will prove satisfactory to the governor-in-chief. 
 
 The high integrity, the unremitting attention of 
 Mr. Glaus to his duty, and the strict regard to 
 economy which Lieut.-Governor Gore constantly 
 bestowed in the expenditure of the public money, 
 convince me that the excess of provisions and rum in 
 the requisition for 1811 was unavoidable. A similar 
 demand has been made for the service of the ensuing 
 year, and I cannot, consistently with my duty, re 
 commend to his excellency the least diminution. 
 
 I avail myself of this opportunity to enclose an 
 extract from the storekeeper-general s letter to Mr. 
 Claus, by which it appears that the goods, for which 
 application has been made by Lieut.-Governor Gore, 
 and transmitted to England in the usual manner, had 
 not been received at a late date ; and that unless the 
 goods arrived, the store was in no state to furnish the 
 necessary supply for the ensuing spring. 
 
 I cannot be too urgent with his excellency in 
 requesting that the storekeeper-general may be in- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 121 
 
 structed to make the necessary purchases in case the 
 articles demanded for the Upper Province do not 
 reach Montreal before the close of the navigation. 
 
 I need not represent to his excellency the confusion 
 which a disappointment would be sure to create 
 among the Indians throughout the Province, and the 
 great additional expense which must inevitably be 
 incurred in provisioning the crowds that would assem 
 ble at each post, awaiting the arrival of the presents. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Ensign N. Freer, Military Secretary. 
 YORK, November 10, 1811. 
 
 Brigade-Major Evans, upon his arrival here, deli 
 vered to the receiver -general ,3,000, which he 
 reported to have received from the deputy paymaster- 
 general at Quebec. 
 
 Conceiving that this sum was remitted in part of 
 the ,5,000, for which Lieut. -Governor Gore made 
 application on the 27th March last to Sir James 
 Craig, and repeated on the 30th of July to Lieut.- 
 General Drummond, and which his excellency in 
 tended for the support of the civil expenditure of this 
 province, I have directed its disposal accordingly. 
 
 The serious inconvenience to which this govern 
 ment will be reduced by the retention of the remain 
 ing ,2,000, obliges me to request his excellency the 
 commander of the forces to have the goodness to 
 direct that sum to be forwarded by the first safe 
 conveyance. 
 
 Major- General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, November 10, 1811. 
 
 Until very lately two oxen were maintained at the 
 public charge, for the purpose of assisting in clearing 
 the vast quantity of heavy timber which grows close 
 to this garrison, and in making roads ; besides being 
 usefully employed in other necessary service. 
 G 
 
122 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 It appears very evident from the trifling progress 
 made by the military in this essential work for some 
 years past, that the oxen were either kept idle or 
 employed for other purposes, which I believe occa 
 sioned their being sold. 
 
 Being anxious to continue the improvements begun 
 by the late General Hunter, I have to request his 
 excellency the commander of the forces will have the 
 goodness to sanction the renewal of an establishment 
 of such evident utility. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Colonel Baynes. 
 
 YORK, November 18, 1811. 
 
 The London Gazette, of the 6th August last, hav 
 ing announced the appointment of Mr. ^Eneas Shaw 
 to an ensigncy in the Nova Scotia Fencibles, and 
 the advanced state of the season precluding the pos 
 sibility of his joining without incurring an expense 
 which he can ill afford, I have presumed to anticipate 
 his excellency s indulgent permission to his remaining 
 here until the opening of the navigation, and to sanc 
 tion in the meantime his doing duty with the 41st 
 regiment. He is a deserving young man, the son of 
 Major-General Shaw, whose high merit, I feel con 
 fident, will claim every indulgence from the com 
 mander of the forces. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, November 21, 1811. 
 
 We fortunately received yesterday the last batch of 
 recruits for the 41st regiment, as from the present 
 state of the weather and appearance of the river, I 
 fear their situation would have been very desperate. 
 They have, poor devils, been sixteen weeks and four 
 days on their passage, and have suffered much from 
 dysentery. Four men have died, and several are 
 sick; but as the former detachment recovered fast 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 123 
 
 when landed and taken care of, I doubt not that these 
 will also : they amount to three hundred, and are in 
 general very fine young men. What a noble battalion 
 they will make when brought together ; and the offi 
 cers say that about two hundred more were left at 
 the depot, for want of room in the transport. 
 
 What do you think of the president s speech ? In 
 any government more consistent, it would mean war. 
 I think that he has committed himself more openly 
 and more unjustifiably than could have been expect 
 ed, in the relation of the affair of the Little Belt, by 
 accusing that poor little sloop of a wanton act of 
 aggression by attacking a huge American frigate, 
 when Commodore Rodgers himself admits that he 
 was for nearly eight hours the chasing vessel. 
 
 Governor Gore has revived the formation of the 
 Glengary Fencibles, and I have shewn Sir George 
 what passed on a former occasion. I hope the latter 
 will be able to provide for his school-fellow, Major- 
 General Sheaffe,* and he expresses himself very anx 
 ious to do so. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Lieut. -General Sir G. Prevost, 
 Bart., at Quebec. 
 
 YORK, December 2, 1811. 
 
 The information contained in the message of the 
 president to congress, relative to the existing differ 
 ences between England and the United States, will 
 justify, I presume to think, the adoption of such pre 
 cautionary measures as may be necessary to meet all 
 future exigencies. Under this impression, I beg leave 
 to submit to your excellency such observations as 
 occur to me, to enable you to form a correct judg 
 ment of the actual state of this province. 
 
 The military force which heretofore occupied the 
 frontier posts being so inadequate to their defence, a 
 
 * The present General Sir Roger H. Sheaffe, Bart., colonel of the 36th 
 regiment, born at Boston, United States, 15th July, 1763, and entered the 
 British army on the 1st May, 1778. 
 
124 LIFE AXD CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 general opinion prevailed that, in the event of hos 
 tilities, no opposition was intended. The late increase 
 of ammunition and every species of stores, the sub 
 stitution of a strong regiment, and the appointment of 
 a military person to administer the government, have 
 tended to infuse other sentiments among the most 
 reflecting part of the community ; and I feel happy 
 in being able to assure your excellency, that during 
 my visit last week at Niagara, I received the most 
 satisfactory professions of a determination on the part 
 of the principal inhabitants to exert every means in 
 their power in the defence of their property and sup 
 port of the government. They look with confidence 
 to your excellency for such additional aid as may be 
 necessary, in conjunction with the militia, to repel 
 any hostile attempt against this province. 
 
 I shall beg leave to refer your excellency to the 
 communications of Lieut-Governor Gore with Sir 
 James Craig, for a correct view of the temper and 
 composition of the militia and Indians. Although 
 perfectly aware of the number of improper characters 
 who have obtained extensive possessions, and whose 
 principles diffuse a spirit of insubordination very ad 
 verse to all military institutions, I am however well 
 assured that a large majority would prove faithful. 
 It is certain that the best policy to be pursued, should 
 future circumstances call for active preparations, will 
 be to act with the utmost liberality, and as if no mis 
 trust existed ; for, unless the inhabitants give an 
 active and efficient aid, it will be utterly impossible 
 for the very limited number of the military, who are 
 likely to be employed, to preserve the province. 
 
 The first point to which I am anxious to call your 
 excellency s attention, is the district of Amherstburg. 
 I consider it the most important, and, if supplied with 
 the means of commencing active operations, must 
 deter any offensive attempt on this province, from 
 Niagara westward. The American government will 
 be compelled to secure their western frontier from the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 125 
 
 inroads of the Indians, and this cannot be effected 
 without a very considerable force. But before we 
 can expect an active co-operation on the part of the 
 Indians, the reduction of Detroit and Michilimacki- 
 nac must convince that people, who conceive them 
 selves to have been sacrificed, in 1794,* to our policy, 
 that we are earnestly engaged in the war. The In 
 dians, I am made to understand, are eager for an 
 opportunity to avenge the numerous injuries of which 
 they complain. A few tribes, at the instigation of a 
 Shawnesef of no particular note, although explicitly 
 told not to look for assistance from us, have already 
 commenced the contest. The stand which they 
 continue to make upon the Wabash, against about 
 2,000 Americans, including militia and regulars, is a 
 strong proof of the large force which a general combi 
 nation of the Indians will render necessary to protect 
 so widely extended a frontier. 
 
 The garrisons of Detroit and Michilimackinac do 
 not, I believe, exceed seventy rank and file each ; 
 but the former can easily be reinforced by the militia 
 in the neighbourhood, which, though not numerous, 
 would be ample for its defence, unless assailed by a 
 force much superior to any we can now command. 
 The Americans will probably draw their principal 
 force, either for offence or defence, from the Ohio, 
 an enterprising, hardy race, and uncommonly expert 
 on horseback with the rifle. This species of force is 
 formidable to the Indians, although, according to 
 reports which have reached me by different channels, 
 but not official, they lately repelled an attack of some 
 magnitude. Unless a diversion, such as I have sug- 
 
 fested, be made, an overwhelming force will probably 
 e directed against this part of the province. The 
 measure will, however, be attended with a heavy 
 
 * In this year the Indians, in a war with the Americans, were com 
 pletely beaten near the Miami by General Wayne, and compelled to cede 
 a large tract of their lands. 
 
 t Doubtless, the afterwards celebrated Tecumseh, or his brother. 
 
126 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 expense, especially in the article of provision, for, not 
 only the Indians who take the field, but their families, 
 must be maintained. 
 
 The numeral force of the militia in the vicinity of 
 Amherstburg exceeds by a trifle seven hundred rank 
 and file ; consequently, very little assistance can be 
 derived from that source in any offensive operation. 
 Should, therefore, the aspect of affairs hereafter give 
 stronger indications of a rupture, I propose augment 
 ing the garrison of Amherstburg with two hundred 
 rank and file from Fort George and York. Such a 
 measure I consider essentially necessary, were it only 
 calculated to rouse the energy of the militia and In 
 dians, who are now impressed with a firm belief, that 
 in the event of war they are to be left to their fate. 
 Great pains have been taken to instil this idea into 
 the minds of the Indians, and no stronger argument 
 could be employed than the weak state of the garrison. 
 
 The army, now assembled upon the Wabash with 
 the ostensible view of opposing the Shawnese, is a 
 strong additional motive in my mind in support of 
 this measure; for I have no doubt that, the instant 
 their service in the field terminates, a large portion of 
 the regulars will be detached to strengthen the gar 
 rison of Detroit. I have prepared Colonel Proctor 
 for such an event, and after weighing the inconve 
 nience to which the service would be exposed if the 
 district were placed iinder a militia colonel, (an event 
 obvious, unless superseded by a regular officer of equal 
 rank,) I have directed Lieut. -Colonel St. George to be 
 in readiness to repair to Amherstburg and assume the 
 command ; and I hope his situation of inspector of 
 militia will not be considered a bar to the arrange 
 ment. The state of the roads will probably stop this 
 projected movement until the end of this month or 
 beginning of the next ; nor do I intend that the troops 
 should leave their present quarters, unless urged by 
 some fresh circumstances. I therefore look to re 
 ceive your excellency s commands previous to their 
 departure. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 127 
 
 From Amherstburg to Fort Erie, my chief depend 
 ence must rest on a naval force for the protection of 
 that extensive coast ; but, considering the state to 
 which it is reduced, extraordinary exertions and great 
 expense will be required before it can be rendered 
 efficient. At present, it consists only of a ship and a 
 small schooner* the latter of a bad construction, old, 
 and in want of many repairs ; yet she is the only 
 king s vessel able to navigate Lake Huron, whilst the 
 Americans have a sloop, and a fine brigf capable of 
 carrying twelve guns, both in perfect readiness for 
 any service. If, consequently the garrison of St. 
 Joseph s is to be maintained, and an attack on Michi- 
 limackinac undertaken, it will be expedient to hire, 
 or purchase from the merchants, as many vessels as 
 may be necessary for the purpose. The Americans 
 can resort to the same means, and the construction 
 and number of their vessels for trade will give them 
 ^reat advantage : besides, their small craft, or boats, 
 in which troops could be easily transported, exceed 
 ours considerably ; indeed, we have very few of that 
 description. | I therefore leave it to your excellency s 
 superior judgment to determine whether a sufficient 
 number of gun-boats for both lakes, so constructed as 
 to draw little water, ought not to be added to our 
 means of offence and defence. It is worthy of re 
 mark, that the only American national vessel on Lake 
 Ontario, built two years ago, and now lying in Sack- 
 
 * The ship Queen Charlotte, and schooner Hunter. 
 
 t This brig was the Adams, captured at Detroit. 
 
 t The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, of January 10, 1846, gives a list of 
 the vessels built by the Americans, in 1845, on Lake Erie and the waters 
 westward to Chicago, with their description, names, tonnage, and cost, of 
 which the following is an abstract, viz. 13 steamers, 4 propellers, 2 brigs, 
 27 schooners, and 2 sloops together 48 vessels, admeasuring 13,207 tons, 
 and the cost 659,000 dollars. In the event of hostilities, the United States 
 would, we fear, possess the entire maritime supremacy of the Lakes, and 
 especially of the upper ones, on which, previous to the year 1812, the 
 principal employment of a few small vessels was the transport of salt 
 and furs. 
 
 " The first vessel of force " that the British ever had on Lake Ontario 
 was a schooner of 40 feet keel, with fourteen oars and twelve swivel guns, 
 launched at Oswego, 28th July, 1755,Entick. 
 
128 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ett s harbour, has remained without seamen until 
 within the last fortnight, when the officers began to 
 enter men as fast as possible. A lieutenant with a 
 party came to Buffalo, a tolerably large village oppo 
 site Fort Erie, and procured several hands, but, not 
 satisfied, a petty officer was sent to our side to in 
 veigle others. The magistrates, hearing of this, sent 
 to apprehend him ; but he escaped with difficulty. 
 
 The strait between Niagara and Fort Erie is that 
 which, in all probability, will be chosen by the Ame 
 ricans for their main body to penetrate with a view to 
 conquest. All other attacks will be subordinate, or 
 merely made to divert our attention. About three 
 thousand militia could, upon an emergency, be drawn 
 by us to that line, and nearly five hundred Indians 
 could also be collected ; therefore, with the regulars, 
 no trifling force could hope for success, provided a 
 determined resistance were made ; but I cannot con 
 ceal from your excellency, that unless a strong regular 
 force be present to animate the loyal and to control 
 the disaffected, nothing effectual can be expected. A 
 protracted resistance upon this frontier will be sure 
 to embarrass the enemy s plans materially. They 
 will not come prepared to meet it, and their troops, 
 or volunteer corps, without scarcely any discipline, 
 so far at least as control is in question, will soon tire 
 under disappointment. The difficulty which they 
 will experience in providing provisions will involve 
 them in expenses, under which their government will 
 soon become impatient. 
 
 The car brigade will be particularly useful in ob 
 structing their passage ; and I cannot be too urgent 
 in soliciting the means, both as to gunners and driv 
 ers, and likewise as to horses, to render this arm com 
 plete for service. A small body of cavalry would 
 also be absolutely necessary, and I have already offers 
 from many respectable young men, to form themselves 
 into a troop. All they seem to require are swords 
 and pistols, which the stores below may probably be 
 able to furnish. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 129 
 
 The situation of Kingston is so very important in 
 every military point of view, that I cannot be too 
 earnest in drawing your excellency s attention to that 
 quarter. The militia, from the Bay of Quinti down 
 to Glengary, is the most respectable of any in the 
 province. Among, the officers, several are on half 
 pay and still retain a sound military spirit. Those 
 from the Bay of Quinti would be properly stationed 
 at Kingston, but all downwards would naturally de 
 sire to be employed to resist any predatory excursions 
 to which their property would be so much exposed 
 from the opposite shore. Besides, I have always 
 been of opinion that a strong detachment would fol 
 low the route of Lord Amherst, and attempt to enter 
 the province by Ozwegatchie.* The militia on the 
 whole of that communication cannot, therefore, be 
 more usefully employed than in watching such a 
 movement ; and should the enemy direct the whole 
 of his force by St. John s, the greater part can with 
 the utmost facility join the army acting upon that 
 frontier. 
 
 The militia act, which I have the honor to enclose, 
 provides for such an emergency, but your excellency 
 will readily observe, that among many wise and salu 
 tary provisions, there are but few means of enforcing 
 them. No exertions, however, shall be wanting in 
 my civil capacity to place that body upon a respect 
 able footing. Mr. Cartwright, the senior militia 
 colonel at Kingston, possesses the influence to which 
 his firm character and superior abilities so deservedly 
 entitle him ; but as I cannot possibly give the neces 
 sary attention to so distant an object, and as a regular 
 officer will be indispensable to direct the operations, 
 one of high rank ought, if possible, to be nominated 
 
 * An American fort on the river St. Lawrence, about seventy miles 
 from Kingston, and one hundred and twenty-five miles from Montreal. 
 Oswegatehie, now known as Ogdensburg, is opposite to the Canadian 
 town of Prescott, and the St. Lawrence here is about 1800 yards across. 
 It was in August, 1/60, that General Amherst proceeded from Oswego, via 
 Oswegatehie, to attack the French army at Montreal, and in September 
 the whole of Canada was surrendered by capitulation to Great Britain. 
 
130 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to that command. So much will remain to be done, 
 and such high expenses to be incurred in the quarter 
 master-general s department, that I cannot too ear 
 nestly request your excellency to select an officer who 
 may be equal to discharge the various duties of that 
 office. A head to the commissariat will be likewise 
 indispensable. 
 
 I have trespassed greatly on your excellency s 
 time, but I beg to be permitted to entreat your excel 
 lency to honor me with such advice and counsel as 
 your experience may suggest, and be assured it will 
 ever be my utmost pride to meet your views and to 
 merit your approbation. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Lieut. -General Sir G. Prevost. 
 YORK, December 3, 1811. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your excellency s dispatch, dated the llth ultimo, 
 with its enclosures. 
 
 My first care, on my arrival in this province, was 
 to direct the officers of the Indian department at 
 Amherstburg to exert their whole influence with the 
 Indians to prevent the attack which I understood a 
 few tribes meditated against the American frontier. 
 But their efforts proved fruitless, as such was the 
 infatuation of the Indians, that they refused to listen 
 to advice j and they are now so deeply engaged, that 
 I despair of being able to withdraw them from the 
 contest in time to avert their destruction. A high 
 degree of fanaticism, which had been for years work 
 ing in their minds, has led to the present event. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Lieut. -General Sir G. Prevost. 
 YORK, December 11, 1811. 
 
 I had the honor yesterday of receiving your excel 
 lency s letter of the 1st ultimo, stating your intention 
 of establishing depots of small arms, accoutrements 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 131 
 
 and ammunition, at the different posts in Upper 
 Canada. 
 
 Since the settlement of the province, several hun 
 dred stands have been at different times issued to the 
 militia, and I have given directions for collecting 
 them, but in all probability great deficiencies will be 
 found ; indeed, it has already been ascertained that 
 those delivered in 1795 by the late Lieut.-General 
 Simcoe are wholly lost to the service. To obviate for 
 the future such an extensive waste, I propose fixing 
 upon proper places at each post, wherein the arms 
 may be deposited after the militia have exercised ; 
 and I have to request your excellency s permission to 
 direct the field train department to attend to their 
 preservation, and keep them in a state of repair, in 
 the same manner as those remaining in store. The 
 expense cannot be great, and in all such cases the 
 infant state of the country obliges the militia to have 
 recourse to the military. 
 
 I have recently had occasion to report, for your 
 excellency s information, the total want of stores at 
 this post, beyond those immediately necessary for the 
 commissariat. I shall consequently be much at a 
 loss to find accommodation for the 2,329 French 
 muskets which your excellency has directed to be 
 sent here; and as the only magazine is a small 
 wooden shed, not sixty yards from the king s house, 
 which is rendered dangerous from the quantity of 
 powder it already contains, I cannot but feel a repug 
 nance to lodge the additional 13,140 ball cartridges 
 intended for this post in a place so evidently insecure. 
 But as these arrangements cannot conveniently take 
 place until the opening of the navigation, there will 
 be sufficient time to contrive the best means to meet 
 your excellency s wishes. 
 
132 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, December 11, 1811. 
 
 I was yesterday honored with your letter of the 
 6th of last month, with its enclosure. Soon after the 
 departure of Lieut. -Governor Gore, the Indian ac- 
 compts, which Mr. Howden states in his letter to 
 Mr. Thomson to have transmitted to his excellency, 
 were forwarded to Mr. Lane, who immediately pro 
 ceeded in their examination. 
 
 Nothing is more certain than that the examination 
 of the cash accompts will best proceed at Quebec, but 
 how far it may be advisable to send future accompts 
 such a distance away from all explanation, is a con 
 sideration of some moment. I am naturally anxious 
 that the examination should, in the first instance, be 
 made on the spot ; and if an accomptant were conti 
 nued on the establishment of this province, and took 
 up the accompts from a recent date, he would be able 
 to proceed almost as fast as others occurred. Trans 
 actions fresh in the memory could be easily explained, 
 and a temporary audit would secure such a degree of 
 accuracy as to leave little to be done on their reach 
 ing Quebec. 
 
 I have ventured to recommend Mr. M Gill to his 
 excellency, as every way qualified to fulfil the duties 
 of an accomptant; and as his bodily infirmities must 
 limit his exertions to some sedentary employment, he 
 cannot, I conceive, be more usefully occupied than 
 in that situation in this province. Mr. Lane shall be 
 directed to proceed to Quebec ; but the roads are in 
 so bad a state, that he cannot possibly travel for some 
 weeks. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-Gcneral Brock. 
 [OFFICIAL.] QUEBEC, December 12, 1811. 
 
 I am directed to transmit herewith a copy of pro 
 posals for raising a corps of Glengary Fencibles. 
 The commander of the forces has selected an officer 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 133 
 
 of the king s regiment, a Captain George M Donell,* 
 an avowed Catholic, and a relation of the Glengary 
 priest of that name, to attempt the formation of a 
 small battalion, to be in the first instance under his 
 command with the rank of major ; and in case a 
 mor respectable body can be collected, a lieutenant- 
 colonel commandant will be appointed. Captain 
 M Donell will leave this in a few days, and he will 
 be directed to take an early opportunity of commu 
 nicating with you as soon as he has felt his ground a 
 little in Glengary, and is able to form a correct idea 
 of the prospect and extent of success that is likely to 
 attend his exertions. 
 
 I shall have the honor of sending you by the next 
 post a regulation for the payment of clergymen 
 performing religious duties for the troops at the dif 
 ferent stations in Canada. The officiating clergy 
 man at York will receive the garrison allowances of 
 a captain, together with a salary of 70, army ster 
 ling, per annum. 
 
 [PRIVATE.] 
 
 Sir George will fill up the new Glengary corps with 
 as many officers as he can from the line, with perma 
 nent rank, and I have availed myself of the oppor 
 tunity to propose one, in whose advancement I know 
 you feel an interest. He has allowed me to note 
 Lieutenant Shaw, of the 49th, for a company ; and 
 you are at liberty to inform his father, the general, of 
 Sir George s favorable intentions towards his son. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, December 24, 1811. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter of the 2d instant, which reached me by 
 the courier on Saturday, and I have not failed to give 
 
 * This officer, as major commanding the Glengary Light Infantry, dis 
 tinguished himself in the capture of Ogdensburff, in February, 1813. 
 
134 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 it that consideration which the importance of the 
 several points, to which it alludes, entitles it. 
 
 In addition to the president s message being full of 
 gunpowder, the report made to congress by its com 
 mittee on the state of the foreign affairs of the United 
 States, conveys sentiments of such decided hostility 
 towards England, that I feel justified in recommend 
 ing such precaution as may place you in a state of 
 preparation for, that event; and with this view you 
 must endeavour to trace an outline of co-operation, 
 compensating for our deficiency in strength. I agree 
 with you as to the advantages which may result from 
 giving, rather than receiving, the first blow ; but it 
 is not my opinion war will commence by a declara- 
 ration of it. That act would militate against the 
 policy of both countries ; therefore, we must expect 
 repeated petty aggressions from our neighbours, be 
 fore we arc permitted to retaliate by open hostilities. 
 It is very satisfactory to observe the professions of the 
 inhabitants of Upper Canada in defence of their pro 
 perty, and in support of their government. 
 
 I will look into the correspondence you refer to, 
 which took place between Sir James Craig and Lieut. - 
 Governor Gore, in 1807, 1808 and 1809, respecting 
 the temper and disposition of your militia, and the 
 policy to be observed in your intercourse with the 
 Indians. 
 
 Your views, in regard to the line of conduct to be 
 observed towards the militia forces, notwithstanding 
 some existing circumstances unfavorable in their 
 composition, are in my estimation wise, and on such 
 conceptions I have hitherto acted. 
 
 There are too many considerations to allow me to 
 hesitate in saying we must employ the Indians, if they 
 can be brought to act with us. The utmost caution 
 should be used in our language to them, and all direct 
 explanation should be delayed, if possible, until hos 
 tilities are more certain ; though, whenever the sub 
 ject is adverted to, I think it would be advisable 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 135 
 
 always to intimate that, as a matter of course, we 
 shall, in the event of war, expect the aid of our bro 
 thers. Although I am sensible this requires delicacy, 
 still it should be done so as not to be misunderstood. 
 
 I shall call the attention of the commissariat to the 
 supply of provisions that may be required in the 
 Upper Province; and I had, previously to the arrival 
 of your letter, given the deputy quartermaster-gene 
 ral directions for the building of another schooner for 
 Lake Erie.* 
 
 I am sorry to observe, both by your militia act and 
 returns, (that) you are embarrassed with officers hold 
 ing the rank of colonel. It is certainly desirable that 
 no higher rank should exist than that of lieutenant- 
 colonel commandant, else, in many cases, the officers 
 of militia on service might be seniors to the officers 
 of the line in command of regiments. It is, I am 
 apprehensive, scarcely possible to revoke the com 
 missions of colonel which have been issued to the 
 commanding officers of battalions of militia, for that 
 of lieutenant-colonel therefore, if commissions can 
 not without serious dissatisfaction be withdrawn, you 
 are authorized in that case, in order to preserve the 
 command of the inspecting field officer, to direct 
 Lieut.-Colonel St. George to act with the local rank 
 of colonel in Upper Canada, giving at the same time 
 (should circumstances make it necessary that the 
 troops of the line and those of the militia be called 
 to act together) a corresponding local brevet to such 
 lieutenant-colonels serving in regiments of the line, 
 immediately under your command, as may appear 
 to you necessary to obviate the inconvenience that 
 may be anticipated from their having junior rank to 
 officers in command of militia regiments ; but as this 
 latter arrangement is not free from considerable ob 
 jection, you must retard the measure as much as 
 circumstances will permit. 
 
 [The remainder of this letter is of no interest.] 
 
 * This vessel, named the Lady Prevost, was employed on the Lake, in 
 August, 1812. 
 
136 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Our memoir having now reached the year 1812, in 
 which the United States of America declared war 
 against Great Britain, we proceed to give a brief 
 review of the causes which led to that event ; and in 
 doing so it will be necessary to go back to the com 
 mencement of the century. 
 
 The first president of America, the immortal Wash 
 ington,* and his successor, Adams, entertained friend 
 ly sentiments towards the British government and 
 people ; but early in 1801, Jefferson succeeded the 
 latter functionary as president, being elected by ten 
 of the sixteen states then constituting the Union. 
 Jefferson was as inimical to England as he was favor 
 able to France, so was his secretary of state, and suc 
 cessor in the presidential chair, Madison. Although 
 there were many intervenient heart-burnings, it was 
 not until the year 1807, when Jefferson was a second 
 time president, that the government of the United 
 States assumed a decidedly hostile attitude towards 
 Great Britain. The Berlin decree, in which the 
 French ruler ventured to declare the British islands 
 in a state of blockade, and to interdict all neutrals 
 from trading with the British ports in any commodi 
 ties whatever, produced fresh retaliatory orders in 
 council, intended to support England s maritime 
 rights and commerce, and to counteract Bonaparte s 
 
 * He died at Mount Vernon, on the 14th December, 1799, in the sixty- 
 eighth year of his age, leaving a widow, but no issue. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 137 
 
 continental system. The Berlin decree was a gross 
 infringement of the law of nations, and an outrage on 
 neutral rights, which especially called for resistance 
 from the Americans, a neutral and trading people,? 
 but they neither resisted nor seriously remonstrated 
 against it. Napoleon intended by this decree to pre 
 vent the trade of England with the continent, but his 
 failure should be a lesson to those statesmen who seek 
 to check the free current of an interchange of pro 
 ducts among nations, as with all his power he could 
 not succeed in stopping the trade by contraband. 
 Other causes of dispute arose from the determination 
 of the British government to exclude the Americans 
 from the blockaded ports of France, and from that 
 inexhaustible source of quarrel, the impressment of 
 British seamen from American vessels, especially as 
 the difficulty of distinguishing British from Ameri 
 can seamen led occasionally to the impressment of 
 American native born citizens. In June, 1807, the 
 rencontre occurred between his majesty s ship Leopard 
 and the Chesapeake, which terminated in the forcible 
 extraction from the American frigate of four deserters 
 from British ships of war. The British government 
 instantly disavowed this act, and recalled Viee-Ad- 
 miral Berkeley, who had given the order to search 
 the Chesapeake. Jefferson, however, not only issued 
 a proclamation interdicting all British ships of war 
 entering the ports of the United States, but proposed 
 to congress to lay an embargo on American vessels, 
 and to compel the trading ships of every other nation 
 to quit the American harbours another wise expe 
 dient, like the Berlin decree, for the encouragement 
 of smuggling across the frontier.* This proposition 
 was warmly opposed by the federalists, or Washing- 
 tonians, but it was nevertheless adopted by large 
 majorities. Thus matters remained, with subsequent 
 slight modifications, from the month of December, 
 1807, to the declaration of war in 1812, an interval 
 * See conclusion of Brigadier Brock s letter, dated Montreal, July 20, 1808, 
 
138 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 which the commercial classes in the United States 
 spent in a hopeless struggle against bankruptcy and 
 ruin. Attempts were not wanting on our part to 
 arrive at a friendly accommodation, but Jefferson 
 demanded, as a preliminary, the revocation of the 
 British orders in council, and the entire exemption 
 of American ships from any search, or from any 
 question as to their crews or cargoes. The British 
 government pledged itself to repeal the orders in 
 council as soon as the French decrees should cease to 
 exist. In 1809, Jefferson was succeeded as president 
 by Madison, who was compelled to yield somewhat 
 to the popular outcry, and to repeal the universal 
 embargo, substituting a non-intercourse act with Eng 
 land and France, both which nations, it must be 
 confessed, having, by restraints on their commerce, 
 given the Americans just grounds for dissatisfaction. 
 On the 21st of April, 1812, the prince regent in 
 council engaged to revoke the obnoxious orders in 
 council of the years 1807 and 1809, whenever the 
 French government should repeal the Berlin and 
 Milan decrees ; and having received notice of such 
 repeal, the orders in council were revoked on the 
 23d of June following, as far as regarded America, 
 with a proviso that the revocation should be of no 
 effect unless the United States rescinded their non- 
 intercourse act with England. It has been thought 
 that the revocation came too late, and that if it had 
 been conceded a few weeks earlier, there would have 
 been no war with America ; but Madison had been 
 treating with Bonaparte s government since the end 
 of the year 1810, and the whole course of his conduct, 
 with his evident desire to illustrate his presidency by 
 the conquest of Canada, proved his determination to 
 brave a war with England. He and his party nicely 
 calculated on which side the greater profit was to 
 be obtained whether the United States would gain 
 more by going to war with England than by hostility 
 against Bonaparte and his edicts. " Every thing in 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 139 
 
 the United States," says James, in his naval history, 
 " was to be settled by a calculation of profit and loss. 
 France had numerous allies England scarcely any. 
 France had no contiguous territory England had 
 the Canadas ready to be marched into at a moment s 
 notice. France had no commerce England had 
 richly-laden merchantmen traversing every sea. Eng 
 land, therefore, it was against whom the death-blows 
 of America were to be levelled." The struggles of 
 England against Napoleon enabled the American go 
 vernment to choose its own time. On the 14th April, 
 congress laid an embargo on all ships and vessels of 
 the United States during the space of ninety days, 
 with the view of lessening the number that would be 
 at the mercy of England when war was finally de 
 clared, and also of manning efficiently their ships of 
 war and privateers. By the end of May their fastest 
 merchant vessels were converted into cruisers, ready 
 to start at a short notice. On the 18th of June, before 
 the revocation of the orders in council was known in 
 the United States, a declaration of war was issued by 
 President Madison, in accordance with the decision 
 of congress on the previous day, the votes in the 
 senate being 19 to 13, and in theliouse of representa 
 tives 79 to 49 ; and its supporters being chiefly from 
 the western and southern states to Pennsylvania in 
 clusive, while the advocates for peace were principally 
 from the northern and eastern states.* The American 
 declaration of war reached London on the 30th July, 
 but in the belief that the repeal of the orders in 
 council would produce a suspension of hostilities, the 
 British government simply ordered the embargo and 
 detention of American ships and property ; and it 
 was not until the 13th of October, the day on which 
 Sir Isaac Brock was slain, that it issued an order 
 granting general reprisals against the ships, goods, 
 and citizens of the United States. 
 
 * Pictorial History of England. 
 
140 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, January 22, 1812. 
 
 It is the opinion of the adjutant-general that you 
 will not wish to avail yourself of the conditional leave 
 of absence I have received authority to grant you. 
 I shall hear with particular satisfaction that Baynes 
 is not mistaken, as I value your services highly. 
 
 If it be the disposition of government to employ 
 Major-General Sheaffe, the death of Major-General 
 Balfour, at Fredericton, and the absence of Major- 
 General Wilder, afford the opportunity of doing so 
 without depriving me of your assistance at this critical 
 period of affairs. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock } at York. 
 QUEBEC, January 23, 1812.* 
 
 Sir George Prevost has commissioned me to inform 
 you that by the October mail, which arrived two days 
 ago, he received a letter from the adjutant-general, 
 authorizing him to permit your return to England for 
 the purpose of being employed on the continent, and 
 sanctioning his appointing Major-General Sheaffe to 
 succeed you on the staff in Canada. But Sir George, 
 viewing the intention of the commander-in-chief as 
 instigated solely by a desire to promote your wishes 
 and advantage, and having learnt from me that, from 
 the tenor of your recent correspondence, I was led to 
 believe that you would prefer retaining your present 
 charge, he has directed me to inform you of the 
 circumstance by a private letter, which will enable 
 you to canvass the subject with more freedom than 
 an official communication would admit of. Your 
 decision to remain longer in Canada will be highly 
 acceptable to him. Sheaffe, I have no doubt, will be 
 very speedily provided for in this country, without 
 
 * This and a few of the subsequent letters from Colonel Baynes are 
 partly in cypher of figures, but of course we have not the key. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 141 
 
 depriving us of your services. Sir George has asked 
 permission to appoint him in General Wilder s place, 
 and there will be two vacancies in Nova Scotia to fill 
 up in the spring. 
 
 Sir George has great pleasure in acceding to your 
 request to be permitted to nominate one or two en 
 signs to the Glengary Fencibles ; and, if you wish, 
 young Shaw may be immediately provided for in 
 that corps, and afterwards transferred to the line. 
 
 The cold here has been severer for the last eight 
 days than has ever been recollected by the oldest 
 inhabitant ; the thermometer falling as low as 33 
 under cipher, accompanied with high wind, and 
 never rising during all that time above 15 below 
 it is at this moment 20 under cipher : fortunate you, 
 that are in a milder climate, for we are suffering 
 dreadfully from excessive cold. By your description 
 of your pastime in shooting wild pigeons, you cer 
 tainly possess a very great advantage over us in 
 these respects.* We have been much plagued with 
 opthalmia, which has been very general in the king s 
 regiment, and the severe cold does not prevent the 
 contagion. 
 
 Major- General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, January, 1812. 
 
 I beg leave to observe, in answer to your letter of 
 the 12th ultimo, that my sole object in making the 
 representation contained in my letter of the 8th of 
 November was to point out the necessity of autho 
 rizing the storekeeper -general to make purchases, 
 provided the Indian presents did not reach this coun 
 try before the close of the navigation their subse 
 quent arrival, however, removes every difficulty. I 
 
 * " Immense flocks of the passenger, or wild pigeon, frequent Upper 
 Canada during spring and autumn ; and myriads of them are killed by 
 fire arms, or caught in nets, by the inhabitants, for they fly so close, and 
 in such numbers, that twenty or thirty may sometimes be brought down 
 at a single shot." Howison s Upper Canada. 
 
142 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 am truly sensible of his excellency s provident care 
 and attention in directing the requisition for the en 
 suing year to be sent by land, as the early receipt of 
 the presents is always, but particularly in these uncer 
 tain times, very desirable. The instructions of the 
 6th of May, 1790, issued by Lord Dorchester, have 
 been continued in full force by my predecessor at the 
 head of the civil administration, on whom the charge 
 of the Indian department devolved in consequence of 
 the Duke of Portland s letter to General Prescott, 
 and the king s additional instructions, dated the 15th 
 of December, 1796. How far this change from the 
 military to the civil superintendence has tended to 
 advance the service I am not prepared to say, but I 
 rather incline to think that, considering the mode in 
 which the expense of the department is defrayed, it 
 is liable to produce confusion. 
 
 The instructions, a copy of which you transmitted, 
 apply to such Indians as live a short distance from 
 the several posts. Vast numbers resort every year, 
 particularly to Amherstburg, from countries at such 
 a great distance, that it is utterly impossible to regu 
 late their attendance. I myself saw, in 1810, about 
 eight hundred at Amherstburg, who had been there 
 upwards of a month receiving rations, awaiting the 
 arrival of the presents which the vessel, in which I 
 embarked the middle of August, carried to that post ; 
 and I understand that this generally occurs every 
 season. I find that in 1808 Lieut. -Governor Gore 
 transmitted to England two requisitions, one amount 
 ing to <9,546. 16s. 3d. for the ordinary service of the 
 Indian department, and the other to ,23,795. Is. 3d., 
 which his excellency represented as necessary in the 
 event of war. I am credibly informed within these 
 few days that both requisitions have been complied 
 with. The fact can be easily ascertained, and, if 
 found correct, the whole of the goods of the war 
 demand must be in store, for I have reason to believe 
 that no call has been made upon it from this province. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 143 
 
 Major-General Brock to Colonel Baynes. 
 
 YORK, January 26, 1812. 
 
 Captain M Donell, accompanied by the priest, 
 arrived here some days ago. The badness of the 
 weather has prevented his return as soon as he first 
 proposed. All the junior commissions being already 
 disposed of among the youths of Glengary, I fear 
 that little will be done in this part of the province 
 towards recruiting the intended corps. A few idlers 
 may be picked up ; but, without the aid of persons of 
 influence, no great number can be expected, unless 
 indeed the militia be called out, and land promised. 
 
 Understanding from Captain M Donell that the 
 commander of the forces had applied to the prince 
 regent for permission to offer some of the waste land 
 of the crown as an inducement to the Scotch emi 
 grants to enlist, I stated the circumstance to council, 
 and have much pleasure in assuring his excellency, 
 that should he be of opinion the present aspect of 
 affairs calls for prompt measures, and that a direct 
 promise of land would accelerate the recruiting, this 
 government will readily pledge itself to grant one, or 
 even two, hundred acres to such as enlist on the 
 terms proposed by his excellency. This will be 
 deviating largely from the king s instructions ; but 
 in these eventful and critical times, the council con 
 ceives that an expression from his excellency of the 
 necessity of the measure will be sufficient to warrant 
 a departure from the usual rules. Should his excel 
 lency think it expedient to act immediately, and 
 authorize a direct offer of land, I have no doubt that 
 a number of young men might be collected between 
 Kingston and Amherstburg, in which case his excel 
 lency may sanction the raising of two additional 
 companies under my superintendence. 
 
144 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, January 26, 1812. 
 
 The very serious inconvenience which the inha 
 bitants of this province experience for want of a suffi 
 cient land communication with Lower Canada, induces 
 me to trouble you on the subject. The Rev. Mr. 
 M Donell, of Glengary, the bearer of this letter, is so 
 well qualified to explain the causes which have 
 hitherto impeded the cutting of a road to connect 
 the two provinces, that I need not detain your excel 
 lency, particularly as reference can be had to Lieut. - 
 Colonel Bruyeres, who, having beeu employed by 
 Sir James Craig to ascertain the grounds upon which 
 a difficulty arose in the attainment of so desirable an 
 object, can give every necessary information. 
 
 If, through your indulgent interference, this impe 
 diment can be overcome, a lasting obligation will be 
 imposed on the inhabitants. 
 
 On the 4th February, 1811, Major-General Brock, 
 accompanied by a numerous suite, opened the session 
 of the legislature at York with the following speech to 
 the legislative council and the house of assembly : 
 
 " Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 
 " I should derive the utmost satisfaction, the first time of 
 my addressing you, were it permitted me to direct your atten 
 tion solely to such objects as tended to promote the peace and 
 prosperity of this province. 
 
 " The glorious contest in which the British empire is en 
 gaged, and the vast sacrifice which Great Britain nobly offers 
 to secure the independence of other nations, might be expect 
 ed to stifle every feeling of envy and jealousy, and at the same 
 time to excite the interest and command the admiration of a 
 free people ; but, regardless of such generous impressions, the 
 American government evinces a disposition calculated to im 
 pede and divide her efforts. 
 
 " England is not only interdicted the harbours of the Unit 
 ed States, while they afford a shelter to the cruisers of her 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 145 
 
 inveterate enemy, but she is likewise required to resign those 
 maritime rights which she has so long exercised and enjoyed. 
 Insulting threats are offered, and hostile preparations actually 
 commenced ; and though not without hope that cool reflec 
 tion and the dictates of justice may yet avert the calamities 
 of war, I cannot, under every view of the relative situation of 
 the province, be too urgent in recommending to your early 
 attention the adoption of such measures as will best secure 
 the internal peace of the country, and defeat every hostile 
 aggression. 
 
 Principally composed of the sons of a loyal and brave 
 band of veterans, the militia, I am confident, stand in need 
 of nothing but the necessary legislative provisions, to direct 
 their ardour in the acquirement of military instruction, to 
 form a most efficient force. 
 
 " The growing prosperity of these provinces, it is manifest, 
 begins to awaken a spirit of envy and ambition. The acknow 
 ledged importance of this colony to the parent state will se 
 cure the continuance of her powerful protection. Her fostering 
 care has been the first cause, under Providence, of the unin 
 terrupted happiness you have so long enjoyed. Your industry 
 has been liberally rewarded, and you have in consequence 
 risen to opulence. 
 
 " These interesting truths are not uttered to animate your 
 patriotism, but to dispel any apprehension which you may 
 have imbibed of the possibility of England forsaking you ; for 
 you must be sensible that if once bereft of her support, if once 
 deprived of the advantages which her commerce and the sup 
 ply of her most essential wants give you, this colony, from its 
 geographical position, must inevitably sink into comparative 
 poverty and insignificance. 
 
 " But Heaven will look favourably on the manly exertions 
 which the loyal and virtuous inhabitants of this happy land 
 are prepared to make, to avert such a dire calamity. 
 
 " Our gracious prince, who so gloriously upholds the dig 
 nity of the empire, already appreciates your merit ; and it will 
 be your first care to establish, by the course of your actions, 
 the just claim of the country to the protection* of his royal 
 highness. 
 
 * I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of announcing to 
 you from this place, the munificent intention of his royal 
 highness the prince regent, who has been graciously pleased 
 to signify that a grant of 100 per annum will be proposed in, 
 the annual estimates, for every future missionary of the Gos 
 pel sent from England, who may have faithfully discharged, 
 for the term of ten years, the duties of his station in this pro 
 vince. 
 
146 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 
 " I have no doubt but that, with me, you are convinced of 
 the necessity of a regular system of military instruction to the 
 militia of this province; on this salutary precaution, in the 
 event of a war, our future safety will greatly depend, and I 
 doubt not but that you will cheerfully lend your aid, to enable 
 me to defray the expense of carrying into effect a measure so 
 conducive to our security and defence. 
 
 " I have ordered the public accounts to be laid before you, 
 and have no doubt but that you will consider them with that 
 attention which the nature of the subject may require. 
 
 " Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council and 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 
 " I have, without reserve, communicated to you what has 
 occurred to me on the existing circumstances of this province. 
 We wish and hope for peace, but it is nevertheless our duty 
 to be prepared for war. 
 
 "The task imposed upon you, on the present occasion, is 
 arduous; this task, however, I hope and trust, laying aside 
 every consideration but that of the public good, you will per 
 form with that firmness, discretion, and promptitude, which a 
 regard to yourselves, your families, your country, and your 
 king, calls for at your hands. 
 
 " As for myself, it shall be my utmost endeavour to co-ope 
 rate with you in promoting such measures as may best contri 
 bute to the security and to the prosperity of this province." 
 
 The addresses of the provincial parliament in reply 
 were highly satisfactory, and in answer Major-General 
 Brock observed : 
 
 " The congratulations offered upon my appointment to the 
 honorable station I hold in this province, and the confidence 
 you so early repose in me, are, be assured, received with 
 pride and heartfelt satisfaction. 
 
 " Impressed with the assurance of your support, I feel a 
 most perfect reliance that the exertions of this province will 
 be found equal to meet every emergency of this important 
 crisis." 
 
 The conclusion of the following letter is descriptive 
 of Major-General Brock s views and intentions in the 
 probable event of a war ensuing between Great Bri 
 tain and the United States, and which a few months 
 afterwards he carried into effect with a success that 
 must have exceeded his most sanguine expectations. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 147 
 
 Major-General Brock to Colonel Baynes, the Adj. -General. 
 
 YORK, February 12, 1812. 
 
 I received yesterday your letter dated the 16th and 
 23d ult. My attention was so much occupied with 
 my civil duties during the stay of Captain Gray* at 
 York, that some military points escaped considera 
 tion, and I shall now advert to them. As no mention 
 is made of withdrawing the 41st from this province, I 
 consider the proposed movement of the 49th as in 
 tended to give me an accession of strength ; and the 
 apprehension occasioned by Captain Gray s report to 
 the contrary, is consequently dispelled. The assur 
 ance, which I gave in my speech at the opening 
 of the legislature, of England co-operating in the 
 defence of this province, has infused the utmost 
 confidence ; and I have reason at this moment to look 
 for the acquiescence of the two houses to every mea 
 sure I may think necessary to recommend for the 
 peace and defence of the country. A spirit has ma 
 nifested itself, little expected by those who conceived 
 themselves the best qualified to judge of the disposition 
 of the members of the house of assembly. The most 
 powerful opponents to Governor Gore s administra 
 tion take the lead on the present occasion. I, of 
 course, do not think it expedient to damp the ardour 
 displayed by these once doubtful characters. Some 
 opposed Mr. Gore evidently from personal motives, 
 but never forfeited the right of being numbered among 
 the most loyal. Few, very few, I believe, were actu 
 ated by base or unworthy considerations, however 
 mistaken they may have been on various occasions. 
 Their character will very soon be put to a severe test. 
 The measures which I intend to propose, are : 
 
 1. A militia supplementary act. Sir George 
 will hear the outlines from Captain Gray. 
 
 * Captain Gray was killed, while acting deputy quartermaster-general, 
 at the attack on Sackett s Harbour, in May, 1813, and was much regretted. 
 He served many years in Guernsey in the Staff Corps ; and in 1816 an 
 excellent topographical map of the islands of Guernsey, Sark, Herm, and 
 Jethou, was published, which had been surveyed and drawn by him. 
 
148 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 2. The suspension of the habeas corpus a 
 copy of the act now enforced in the Lower 
 Province. 
 
 3. An alien law. 
 
 4. The offer of a reward for the better appre 
 hension of deserters. 
 
 If I succeed in all this, I shall claim some praise ; 
 but I am not without my fears. I shall send you the 
 militia act the moment it passes into a law. The 
 more I consider the new provisions, the more I am 
 satisfied (giving, of course, every proper allowance to 
 the disposition of the people) they are peculiarly cal 
 culated to meet the local situation of the country. I 
 have not a musket more than will suffice to arm the 
 active part of the militia, from Kingston westward. 
 I have, therefore, to request that the number of arms 
 may be sent, according to the enclosed requisition, to 
 the places therein specified, on the communication 
 between Glengary and Kingston. Every man ca 
 pable of carrying a musket, along the whole of that 
 line, ought to be prepared to act. The members of the 
 assembly from that part of the country are particu 
 larly anxious that some works may be thrown up as a 
 rallying point and place of security for stores, &c., in 
 the vicinity of Johnstown. I shall request Colonel 
 M Donnell to examine, on his return, the ground 
 which those gentlemen recommend as best suited for 
 that purpose. Being immediately opposite Ozwegat- 
 chie, some precaution of the sort is indispensable, 
 were it only to preserve a free communication between 
 the two provinces. I have been made to expect the 
 able assistance of Captain Marlow. Should he be still 
 at Quebec, have the goodness to direct his attention, 
 on his way up, to that quarter. He had better consult 
 Colonel Frazer and Captain Gilkinson, men of sound 
 judgment, and well acquainted with the country. The 
 militia will have, of course, to be employed on the 
 works. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 149 
 
 I must still press the necessity of an active, enter- 
 prizing, intelligent commander, being stationed on that 
 important line of communication. I wish Colonel 
 Ellice* were here to undertake the arduous task, as it 
 is wholly impossible that I can do so. Every assist 
 ance in my civil capacity I shall always be ready to 
 give, and to that point my exertions must be necessa 
 rily limited. Niagara and Amherstburg will suffi 
 ciently occupy my attention. I deliver my sentiments 
 freely, believing they will not be the less acceptable. 
 
 I discussed every point connected with Amherst 
 burg so completely with Captain Gray, that I do not 
 find any thing very essential was omitted. Colonel 
 M Donnell will be able probably to give us further 
 insight as to the actual state of affairs there. He was 
 to make every inquiry, and, as far as he was permitted, 
 to judge himself of the relative strength of Detroit. 
 
 Lieut-Colonel 1 preceded him by some days, but 
 
 in such a state of mind that forbids my placing any 
 dependance on his exertions. When I first mentioned 
 my intention of sending him to Amherstburg, he seem 
 ed diffident of his abilities, but pleased at the distinc 
 tion. However, when he received his final instruc 
 tions, his conduct in the presence of some officers w r as 
 so very improper, and otherwise so childish, that I 
 have since written to say, if he continued in the same 
 disposition, he was at liberty to return to Niagara. I 
 did not directly order him back, because at this time 
 I consider an officer of rank necessary at Amherst 
 burg, particularly during the absence of Messrs. 
 Elliott and Baby, who are both here attending their 
 parliamentary duties. You will imagine, after what 
 I have stated, that it is the influence of his rank I 
 alone covet, and not his personal aid. He has very 
 fortunately given timely proof that he is in no way 
 
 * The present Lieut.-General Ellice, colonel of the 24th regiment of 
 foot, mentioned at page 109. 
 
 t We suppress the name from consideration to his family he died 
 general officer. 
 
150 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ambitious of military fame, therefore unfit for so im 
 portant a command. Should it please his excellency 
 to place the 41st and 49th at my disposal, I propose 
 sending the former regiment to Amherstburg, as we 
 cannot be too strong in that quarter. I have already 
 explained myself on that point, and Captain Gray is 
 furnished with further arguments in support of the 
 measure. 
 
 I have delayed to the last the mention of a project 
 which I consider of the utmost consequence in the 
 event of hostilities. I set out with declaring my full 
 conviction, that unless Detroit and Michilimackinac 
 be both in our possession immediately at the com 
 mencement of hostilities, not only the district of 
 Amherstburg, but most probably the whole country as 
 far as Kingston, must be evacuated. How necessary, 
 therefore, to provide effectually the means of their 
 capture. From Amherstburg it will be impossible to 
 send a force to reduce Michilimackinac. Unless we 
 occupy completely both banks, no vessel could pass 
 the river St. Clair. What I therefore presume to 
 suggest for his excellency s consideration, is the adop 
 tion of a project which Sir James Craig contemplated 
 three years ago. The north-west company undertook 
 to transport 50 or 60 men up the Ottawa, and I make 
 no doubt would engage again to perform the same 
 service. If, therefore, a war be likely to occur, at the 
 time the canoes start from Montreal I should recom 
 mend 40 or 50 of the 49th light company, and a small 
 detachment of artillery, embarking at the same time 
 for St. Joseph s. Should hostilities commence, the 
 north-west would not object to join their strength in 
 the reduction of Michilimackinac ; and should peace 
 succeed the present wrangling, the 49th detachment 
 could be easily removed to Amherstburg. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 151 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, February 12, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your excellency s letter of the 23d ultimo, with its 
 enclosure, and in answer have to request you to lay 
 my humble acknowledgments before his royal high 
 ness the commander-in-chief, for his gracious com 
 pliance with my solicitation to visit England. Being 
 now placed in a high ostensible situation, and the 
 state of public affairs with the American government 
 indicating a strong presumption of an approaching 
 rupture between the two countries, I beg leave to be 
 allowed to remain in my present command. 
 
 The uniform confidence which your excellency has 
 been pleased to repose in my endeavours to promote 
 the king s service, permit me to assure you, is a 
 strong additional motive with me for entreating per 
 mission to remain at this juncture under the imme 
 diate orders of your excellency. 
 
 Major- General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, February 12, 1812. 
 
 I have directed the assistant deputy commissary- 
 general at Amherstburg to purchase 2,000 bushels of 
 Indian corn. Corn will be absolutely necessary in 
 the event of war ; and, should peace follow the exist- 
 isting discussions, the Indians will gladly receive it 
 in lieu of other food. It is to be procured, if possible, 
 on the American side, that our own stock may re 
 main undiminished. Several agents have already 
 arrived from the Lower Province, and made large 
 purchases of flour ; if, therefore, our contracts are 
 not soon concluded, we shall be at the mercy of those 
 gentlemen. I have not considered myself justified 
 in interfering in the business of the commissariat. I 
 have been informed very lately that my account has 
 been charged with .20, for my portion of the ex 
 pense of a canoe, employed in taking Governor Gore 
 
152 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and myself to York : perhaps his excellency may 
 consider this sum a fair public charge. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, February 20, 1812. 
 
 Captain M Donell has not clearly understood the 
 purport of his mission to Upper Canada, and the 
 general regrets that he should have proceeded the 
 length he has done without having previously received 
 your advice and instructions, to obtain which was the 
 chief object of his visit to York. It is to be hoped, 
 however, that sufficient patronage still remains. open 
 to meet your wishes, as the appointment of three of 
 General Shaw s sons may be considered, from the 
 sentiments of friendship and regard you have testified 
 for that officer, to be almost equivalent to anticipating 
 your own choice of them. And Sir George has di 
 rected me to inform you, that he readily accepts of 
 your proposal to recruit two companies, to be added 
 to the Glengary Fencibles ; the nomination of the 
 officers, viz. two captains, two lieutenants, and two 
 ensigns, to rest entirely with you. The general has 
 approved of the following quotas of men for the res 
 pective ranks ; captains 30, lieutenants 15, and en 
 signs 20; the commissions to be issued on completing 
 the quota, and such as complete their proportion 
 quickest, or exceed in extra number of recruits, will 
 have priority in regimental rank. I am not aware 
 that Sir George purposes nominating a lieutenant- 
 colonel ; but I am sure that you will not feel less dis 
 posed to promote the formation of this corps, when I 
 inform you that it is his intention to recommend me 
 to the commander-in-chief for the appointment of 
 colonel. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, February 22, 1812. 
 
 Sir George is much pleased with the favorable ac 
 count Captain Gray has given him of your proceed- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 153 
 
 ings. Your speech is highly approved of here, and 
 we shall rejoice to find our house following so laud 
 able an example as your commons have shewn them 
 but I am not sanguine ; they have already commenced 
 with great illiberality and violence to vent their spleen 
 and resentment against Sir James (Craig) in votes of 
 censure, and I fancy Sir George, with all his amiable, 
 conciliatory manners, will hardly succeed in keeping 
 them within bounds. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, February , 1812. 
 
 I cannot permit Colonel McDonnell to return home 
 without giving your excellency a short account of 
 our proceedings here. 
 
 I had every reason to expect the almost unanimous 
 support of the two houses of the legislature to every 
 measure the government thought it necessary to re 
 commend; but after a short trial, I found myself 
 egregiously mistaken in my calculations. 
 
 The many doubtful characters in the militia made 
 me anxious to introduce the oath of abjuration into 
 the bill: there were twenty members in the house, 
 when this highly important measure was lost by the 
 casting voice of the chairman. 
 
 The great influence which the numerous settlers 
 from the United States possess over the decisions of 
 the lower house is truly alarming, and ought imme 
 diately, by every practical means, to be diminished. 
 To give encouragement to real subjects to settle in 
 this province, can alone remove the evil. The consi 
 deration of the fees should not stand in the way of such 
 a politic arrangement ; and should your excellency 
 ultimately determine to promise some of the waste 
 lands of the crown to such Scotch emigrants as enlist 
 in the Glengary Fencibles, I have no hesitation in 
 recommending, in the strongest manner, the raising of 
 a Canadian corps upon similar offers, to be hereafter 
 
154 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 disbanded and distributed among their countrymen 
 in the vicinity of Amherstburg. Colonel McDonnell 
 being in full possession of my sentiments on this 
 subject, I beg leave to refer your excellency to him 
 for further information. 
 
 The bill for the suspension of the habeas corpus, 
 I regret to say, was likewise lost by a very trifling 
 majority. A strong sentiment now prevails that war 
 is not likely to occur with the United States, which, 
 I believe, tended to influence the votes of the mem 
 bers ; I mean of such who, though honest, are by 
 their ignorance easily betrayed into error. 
 
 The low ebb of their finances appears to stagger 
 the most desperate democrats in the States, and may 
 possibly delay the commencement of direct hostilities; 
 but should France and England continue the contest 
 much longer, it appears to me absolutely impossible 
 for the United States to avoid making their election ; 
 and the unfriendly disposition they have for some 
 years past evinced towards England, leaves little 
 doubt as to their choice. Your excellency, I am 
 sensible, will excuse the freedom with which I de 
 liver my sentiments. 
 
 Every day hostilities are retarded, the greater the 
 difficulties we shall have to encounter. The Ameri 
 cans are at this moment busily employed in raising 
 six companies of Rangers, for the express purpose of 
 overawing the Indians ; and are besides collecting a 
 regular force at Vincennes, probably with a view of 
 reinforcing Detroit. Indeed, report states the arrival 
 of a large force at Fort Wayne, intended for the 
 former garrison. Their intrigues among the different 
 tribes are carried on openly, and with the utmost acti 
 vity ; and as no expense is spared, it may reasonably 
 i>e supposed that they do not fail of success. Divi 
 sions are thus uninterruptedly sown among our Indian 
 friends, and the minds of many altogether estranged 
 from our interests. Such must inevitably be the con 
 sequence of our present inert and neutral proceedings 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 155 
 
 in regard to them. It ill becomes me to determine 
 how long true policy requires that the restrictions 
 now imposed upon the Indian department ought to 
 continue ; but this I will venture to assert, that each 
 day the officers are restrained from interfering in the 
 concerns of the Indians, each time they advise peace 
 and withhold the accustomed supply of ammunition, 
 their influence will diminish, till at length they lose 
 it altogether. 
 
 I find that ever since the departure of Priest Burke 
 from Sandwich, the .50 per annum paid from the 
 military chest to that gentleman have been withheld, 
 on what account I have not been able to ascertain. 
 The individual at present officiating is highly spoken 
 of; and as several gentlemen of the Catholic persua 
 sion have applied to me to intercede with your excel 
 lency to renew the allowance, I presume to submit 
 the case to your indulgent consideration. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, March 5, 1812. 
 
 I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter of the 12th of February, which I have 
 communicated to Sir George, who is highly pleased 
 to find you are satisfied to retain the important post 
 you fill, and which you appear to govern under such 
 very auspicious prospects. I sincerely trust you will 
 be able to keep your subjects, and particularly your 
 house of representatives, in the same good humour 
 and sound principles which they have hitherto testi 
 fied. You will perceive, in the main sentiments of 
 Sir George s opening address, a perfect accordance 
 with your own : the answer of the assembly led to a 
 very violent and personal debate, which lasted with^ 
 closed doors for nearly eighteen hours. It would 
 have been more to their credit had they left out the 
 allusion which has drawn from Sir George a very 
 appropriate retort. Your friend, James Cuthbert, 
 
156 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was very warm and eloquent upon the occasion ; and 
 the demagogue party seemed sensible of the severity 
 of his satire, when he compared the factious cabal to 
 ^Esop s fable of the ass kicking at the dying lion. 
 Having vented their spleen, they will, I believe, prove 
 a little more tractable : the militia bill has a prospect 
 of being materially amended, and they will, I think, 
 allow a proportion of about 2,000 men, or perhaps a 
 few more, to be incorporated for two or three months, 
 for three successive years ; after the second year to 
 be replaced by a new quota, and to be selected by 
 ballot, and no substitutes permitted to serve in the 
 place of a militiaman drawn by lot ; this will be a 
 great point gained. 
 
 Major-Gcneral Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, March 9, 1812. 
 
 As the transactions which have occurred in the 
 house of assembly, in regard to the chief justice, 
 may be represented at Quebec in a manner to excite 
 wrong impressions, I deem it proper to furnish your 
 excellency with a summary of the whole business. 
 
 The inordinate power assumed by the house of 
 assembly is truly alarming, and ought to be resisted, 
 otherwise the most tyrannical system will assuredly 
 be pursued by men who suffer themselves to be led 
 by a desperate faction, that stop at nothing to gratify 
 their personal resentment. 
 
 Mr. Nichol* is a gentleman of education, and 
 who, in the district in which he resides, has done 
 essential good in opposing the democratic measures 
 of a Mr. Willcocks and his vile coadjutors. The 
 palpable injustice committed against his person, by 
 ^dragging him at midnight, without any previous 
 warning, one hundred miles from his home to the 
 bar of the house, and then committing him to gaol 
 
 * Mr. Nichol was a lieutenant-colonel of militia, and quartermaster- 
 general of that force at the capture of Detroit. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 157 
 
 under the most frivolous pretences, has greatly alarm 
 ed the most reflecting part of the community. Efforts 
 are to be made by several respectable characters to 
 get into the next assembly ; but such is the spirit 
 which unfortunately prevails, that I much fear they 
 will be foiled in their attempt. I was inclined to 
 dismiss the house before the members passed such 
 harsh resolutions against the chief justice, but his 
 friends recommended that they should be allowed to 
 proceed without interruption. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Colonel Baynes. 
 
 YORK, March 9, 1812. 
 
 I received yesterday your letter dated the 20th 
 of February, and have to express my thanks to Sir 
 George Prevost for his readiness in attending to my 
 wishes. 
 
 His excellency having been pleased to authorize the 
 raising of two companies under my superintendence, 
 giving me the nomination of the officers, I have to 
 acquaint you, for his information, that Alexander 
 Roxburgh, Esq., has been appointed by me to raise 
 men for a company, and William M Lean, gentleman, 
 for an ensigncy.* The former is a gentleman strongly 
 recommended to me by Mr. Cart w right, of Kingston ; 
 and the latter, the son of an officer formerly in the 
 25th regiment, who, having settled in this country, 
 has become one of the most influential characters in 
 it. He is a member of the house of assembly for the 
 district of Frontenac. I have not yet determined in 
 respect to the remaining commissions, but will report 
 the instant the individuals are nominated. 
 
 Captain Dixon (royal engineers) proceeded four 
 days ago to Amherstburg, with the gentlemen who 
 were returning from their parliamentary duties. 
 
 * In the action with the enemy near Fort George, May 27, 1813, an 
 Ensign M Lean was killed, and Captain Roxburgh was wounded both 
 of the Glengary regiment. 
 
158 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I request you will have the goodness to inform me 
 of the probable time I may expect the honor of seeing 
 Sir George Prevost, as I shall consider it a duty, 
 which I shall execute with the utmost pleasure, to 
 meet his excellency at Kingston. 
 
 Major-General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, March 9, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter, dated the 20th ultimo, with its enclosures. 
 
 Not having received a statement of the Indian 
 goods, which you inform me his excellency has been 
 pleased to direct the storekeeper-general to forward 
 to the Upper Province, I cannot say how far they 
 are likely to meet the yearly consumption ; but I 
 make no doubt that they will be found sufficient to 
 answer every demand, until the arrival of fresh* sup 
 plies from England. 
 
 The storekeeper-general will receive by this oppor 
 tunity a statement of such articles of Indian presents 
 as I conceive indispensably necessary to be lodged, 
 previous to the closing of the navigation, at the 
 several posts in this province, should appearances 
 continue to indicate an unfriendly disposition on the 
 part of the United States. 
 
 Colonel Proctor reports the difficulty in which he 
 is involved, owing to the scarcity of cash to pay the 
 41st regiment, and probably a supply from Quebec 
 may be necessary. Major M Pherson is under the 
 same embarrassment at Kingston. 
 
 A contractor for building a schooner at this place 
 has commenced with a strong party of workmen, 
 and is likely, judging from the model, to complete a 
 superior vessel. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 159 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, March 19, 1812. 
 
 I regret to find by your late letters to Sir George 
 Prevost, that your expectations from your legislature 
 have not been realised to the extent of your well 
 grounded hopes. Sir George, who is well versed in 
 the fickle and untractable disposition of public as 
 semblies, feels more regret than disappointment. He 
 has a very delicate card to play with his house of 
 assembly here, who would fain keep up the farce of 
 being highly charmed and delighted with his amiable 
 disposition and affable manners : they have even gone 
 the length of asserting, that these traits in his cha 
 racter, have afforded them the most entire confidence 
 that, in his hands, the alien act would not be abused. 
 They have, however, taken the precaution of stripping 
 it of its very essence and spirit, while last year they 
 passed it without a division, when Sir James, (Craig,) 
 on whose mild and affable disposition they did not 
 pretend to rely, told them that it could only alarm 
 such as were conscious of harbouring seditious de 
 signs. They have passed an amendment to the militia 
 bill, which, though not affording all that was required, 
 is still a material point gained : 2,000 men are to be 
 ballotted to serve for three months in two successive 
 summers ; one of their strongest objections was the 
 apprehension of the Canadians contracting military 
 habits and enlisting into the service. 
 
 Sir George has directed me to inform you, that he 
 will be ready to render you any assistance in his 
 power to strengthen the Upper Province ; but that 
 unless reinforcements arrive from England, (in which 
 case you may depend upon having a due proportion 
 put under your immediate command,) his means of 
 doing so are but very limited. His excellency is not 
 sanguine in his expectation of receiving reinforce 
 ments this summer ; on the contrary, the appearance 
 of hostilities beginning to abate at Washington, and 
 
160 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the pledge held out in the prince regent s speech of 
 supporting with energy the contest in Spain and 
 Portugal, are likely to prevent more troops being 
 sent to this quarter, unless a more urgent necessity 
 of doing so should appear. I will not comment on 
 American politics, in which we all appear to agree 
 that the deep-rooted jealousy and hatred of that peo 
 ple must in the end lead to hostilities, and that it 
 behoves us not to lose sight of an event which, if not 
 prepared to meet, we shall find more difficult to re 
 pel; under this impression, Sir George is disposed 
 to promote the several plans you have recommended 
 to him, relating to the general line of conduct you 
 would wish to adopt in defence of the important pro 
 vince committed to your charge. If no additional 
 forces be sent out, he will send up the strong de 
 tachment of the 41st, composed of uncommonly fine 
 young men, and in very good order : the general has 
 it also in view to send you a strong detachment of 
 the Newfoundland regiment, selecting their seamen 
 and marine artificers, who will be most useful in 
 the proposed works to be carried on at York ; and 
 here I am apprehensive that the means of augmenting 
 vour strength must be bounded, unless the Glengary 
 Levy can be rapidly formed, and Sir George is san 
 guine in his expectations of its being speedily placed 
 upon a respectable footing : in that case, it could 
 occupy Kingston and that line of communication 
 between the provinces, which you deem so essential 
 to be guarded. This corps will have the very great 
 advantage of starting with a better selected body of 
 officers than has fallen to the lot of any Fencible 
 regiment in Canada. I hope you will feel inclined 
 to bring forward Shaw as one of your captains, as 
 without your countenance I fear he will find it an 
 arduous task to provide for himself and his brother. 
 The uniform of the corps is to be green, like that of 
 the 95th rifles. 
 
 Sir George expressed himself very sensible of the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 161 
 
 policy of the line of conduct you would wish to 
 pursue respecting the Indians ; but as other consi 
 derations of the greatest political delicacy are so 
 minutely interwoven with them, and as the American 
 government are already inclined to view every trans 
 action with those people with a jealous and suspicious 
 eye, he would recommend the utmost caution and 
 forbearance, lest a different line of conduct might 
 tend to increase the irritation between the two govern 
 ments, which it is evidently the wish of Great Britain 
 to allay. 
 
 Our weather has been, and still continues for the 
 season, severer than ever was recollected by the 
 oldest stagers, and has rather put our Halifax friends 
 out of conceit with the fine climate of Canada, parti 
 cularly as Lady Prevost s* health is delicate, and 
 she is very sensible of cold.f Mrs. Cator and Mrs. 
 Baynes beg to be most kindly remembered to you. 
 General Bowes accompanied Kempt to Portugal in 
 the end of December. 
 
 Major-General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, March 24, 1812. 
 
 The deputy superintendent-general of Indian af 
 fairs having represented the serious inconvenience to 
 which the service would be liable by adhering to the 
 new regulations of the commissary-general, in regard 
 to the mode of issuing provisions to Indians, I here 
 with enclose a copy of his letter for his excellency s 
 consideration. His arguments on the subject I con 
 sider as conclusive, for unless he be allowed to use 
 
 * Lady Prevost was the eldest daughter of Major-General Phipps, of 
 the Royal Engineers : she died in 1821. 
 
 + An opinion prevails in North America that the climate is undergoing 
 a gradual change, in consequence of the continued clearing of the forests 
 that there is now less rain and less snow, and that the winters are 
 milder and shorter than formerly ; but this impression does not appear to 
 be grounded on a careful course of observation, as in the winter of 1831-2 
 the ice was probably as thick, and the year before the snow as deep, as 
 within the memory of man. America Geographically Described. London, 
 IMS. 
 
162 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 his discretion, independently of the interference of 
 the officer commanding the post, in supplying the 
 Indians with provisions at any time that he may 
 judge expedient, much mischief will accrue to the 
 service. Lieut. -Governor Gore was so sensible of 
 the necessity of such a discretion being lodged with 
 the deputy superintendent-general, that he gave direc 
 tions accordingly. It never was customary for the 
 Indians to receive full rations they have always 
 been limited to flour and pork ; and any attempt to 
 issue the small articles to them, would only create an 
 unnecessary waste. I have, on these grounds, taken 
 upon myself to direct that no alteration shall take 
 place in the usual mode of issuing provisions to the 
 Indians, until his excellency s pleasure can be received 
 to this communication. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, April 2, 1812. 
 
 Many thanks for the very kind and friendly note 
 which accompanied your letter of the 9th ultimo, 
 and I beg you to rest assured, that I am very sensible 
 of your friendly disposition towards me, and feel par 
 ticularly grateful and flattered by the kind manner in 
 which you have the goodness to express it. 
 
 The American papers, under the head of English 
 news, as late as the 20th January, give a circumstan 
 tial account of the death of Sir J. Craig, on Sunday, 
 the 12th, at his house in Charlotte Street. There are 
 too many circumstances corroborating an event which 
 was so greatly to be apprehended, to leave a shadow 
 of doubt of the severe loss that all, who were favored 
 with his friendship, have sustained. To me, from ray 
 earliest youth, he has been the best and kindest friend, 
 a steady and powerful patron; for few sons ever ex 
 perienced more truly paternal care and affectionate 
 regard from the best of fathers, than I have received 
 at the hands of that best of men. The grief that I 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 163 
 
 cannot suppress is a selfish tribute to my own irrepar 
 able loss : his release from a state of cruel, lingering 
 suffering, which, as I had so long witnessed, he bore 
 with a degree of fortitude and patient resignation un 
 paralleled, could have been no cause of regret to him, 
 and therefore ought not to be so to those who most 
 sincerely loved him ; but I have so long been accus 
 tomed to cherish the grateful and affectionate senti 
 ments of a highly favored son to the best of parents, 
 that, however I might have been prepared for this 
 inevitable shock, I still feel that there are affections so 
 rooted in our hearts, that this world s changes can 
 never efface the impression. His memory will long 
 be remembered with admiration by all who knew his 
 merit. As a soldier he had few equals, and no knight 
 had a fairer claim to the proud title of sans peur et 
 sans reproche; while the widow, the orphan, and 
 every distressed object that claimed his aid, will testify 
 the generous heart that once animated that good and 
 honorable man. 
 
 The ladies of this house always beg to be remem 
 bered to you, with the sincerest good wishes for your 
 health and happiness. Mrs. Baynes has been plotting 
 with Mrs. Colonel Robertson to elope and pay you a 
 visit, pressing Heriot* into their service as their knight 
 errant. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Lieut. -Colonel Nichol, Commanding 
 2d Regiment Norfolk Militia. 
 
 YORK, April 8, 1812. 
 
 The power which is vested in the person adminis 
 tering the government, by the amended act of the 
 militia, passed the last session of the provincial par 
 liament, of forming two flank companies, to be taken 
 indiscriminately from the battalions, being limited to 
 the end of the ensuing session, would almost deter me 
 from incurring public expense upon a system which 
 
 * The late Major-General Heriot, C.B., then Captain Heriot, of the 49th. 
 
164 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 will cease to operate before its utility and efficacy 
 can well be ascertained. 
 
 But being anxious at this important crisis to orga 
 nize an armed force with a view of meeting future 
 exigencies, and to demonstrate by practical experience 
 the degree of facility with which the militia may be 
 trained for service, I have to request you to. adopt 
 immediate measures for forming and completing, from 
 among such men as voluntarily offer to serve, two 
 companies, not to exceed one captain, two subalterns, 
 two sergeants, one drummer, and thirty-five rank and 
 file each, in the regiment under your command. 
 
 You will have the goodness to recommend two 
 captains, whom you conceive the best qualified to 
 undertake this important duty ; the nominating of the 
 subalterns is left to your discretion. 
 
 Such other regiments as are conveniently situated 
 to receive military instruction, shall have an opportu 
 nity afforded them of shewing their ardour in the 
 public service, which cannot fail of creating a laud 
 able emulation among the different corps. 
 
 Assisted by your zeal, prudence, and intelligence, 
 I entertain the pleasing hope of meeting with very 
 considerable success, and of being able to establish 
 the sound policy of rendering permanent, to the end 
 of the present war, a mode of military instruction 
 little burdensome to individuals, and every way calcu 
 lated to secure a powerful internal defence against 
 hostile aggression. 
 
 Printed rules and regulations, for your future 
 guidance, are herewith forwarded : the most simple, 
 and at the same time the most useful, movements 
 have been selected for the practice of the militia. 
 
 Experience has shewn the absolute necessity of 
 adopting every possible precaution to preserve in a 
 proper state the arms issued to the militia, and of 
 guarding against the heavy defalcations which have 
 heretofore occurred. 
 
 You will make applications to the officer com<* 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 165 
 
 manding at Fort Erie for the number of arms and 
 accoutrements wanting to complete the men actually 
 engaged to serve in the flank companies ; and that 
 officer will be instructed to comply with your requi 
 sition, upon your transmitting to him duplicate re 
 ceipts, one of which is to be forwarded to head quar 
 ters, that you may become responsible for the articles 
 delivered to your order : at the same time, the most 
 liberal construction will be given to any representa 
 tion, accounting for such contingencies as are inciden 
 tal to the service.* 
 
 [The remaining details in this letter are omitted here.] 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Province of Upper Canada. 
 
 Isaac Brock, Esquire, President, administering the 
 Government of the Province of Upper Canada, and 
 Major- General commanding his Majesty s Forces 
 within the same. 
 
 To all whom these Presents shall come, greeting. 
 WHEREAS by an act passed in the forty-fourth year of his 
 majesty s reign, intituled, "An act for granting to his majesty 
 a certain sum of money for the further encouragement of the 
 growth and cultivation of hemp within this province," altered 
 and amended by several subsequent statutes, passed by the 
 legislature of the said province, it is among other things 
 enacted, that at any time or times after the passing thereof, 
 it should and might be lawful for the governor, lieutenant- 
 governor, or person administering the government of the said 
 province, by and with the advice of the executive council 
 thereof, to issue one or more proclamation or proclamations, 
 and therein to name such and so many persons within the 
 said province as to him shall seem meet, as commissioners 
 for the purchasing of merchantable hemp, the growth of the 
 said province. Now, know ye that I, the said Isaac Brock, 
 esquire, president, administering the government of the said 
 province, as aforesaid, by virtue and in pursuance of the 
 said in part recited act, and by and with the advice and con 
 sent of the executive council of the said province, do hereby 
 issue this my proclamation, and do nominate, constitute and 
 
 * The measure detailed in the preceding letter proved a very judicious 
 one, as the flank companies were organized when the war broke out, and 
 they were most useful in 1812-13. 
 
166 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 appoint the Honorable James Baby, of Sandwich, Esquire, 
 and the Honorable Richard Cartwright, of Kingston, Esquire, 
 Thomas Talbot, of Port Talbot, Esquire, William Allan, of 
 York, Esquire, Joseph Edwards, of Niagara, Esquire, and 
 James Gordon, of Amherstburg, Esquire, in the said province, 
 respectively, to be commissioners for the purchasing of mer 
 chantable hemp, the growth of this province, and for the 
 carrying into effect the provisions of the said several acts of 
 the legislature of this province. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal at arms, at York, 
 in the province of Upper Canada, this eleventh 
 day of April, in the year of our Lord one thou 
 sand eight hundred and twelve, and the fifty- 
 second year of his majesty s reign. 
 
 (Signed) ISAAC BROCK, President. 
 By command of his honor, 
 
 WILLIAM JARVIS, Secretary. 
 
 Sir James Saumarez, Hart.,* to Major- General Brock. 
 SPITHEAD, April 14, 1812. 
 
 Lieutenant Le Couteurt being ordered to join his 
 regiment in Canada, permit me to recommend him to 
 your kind notice : he is a promising young officer, 
 and being connected with our family, makes me inte 
 rested for his welfare. I congratulate you upon your 
 present distinguished appointment. A few weeks 
 previous to my leaving town, I was informed by Lord 
 Liverpool that Governor Gore had leave of absence, 
 but that if he did not return to his command, he would 
 be happy in taking your services into consideration. 
 From what his lordship was pleased to add, I have no 
 doubt of your succeeding to the government, in the 
 event of Governor Gore obtaining any other situation. 
 
 I am on the point of returning to the Baltic, where 
 there appears a strong disposition on the part of Rus 
 sia and some of the other powers to resist the aggres 
 sions of Bonaparte I trust with well-founded hopes 
 of ultimate success. 
 
 * The late Admiral Lord De Saumarez, G.C.B., &c. 
 
 t The present Colonel Le Couteur, militia aide-de-camp to the queen, 
 in Jersey. In the United Service Journal for October, 1831, Colonel Le 
 Couteur has described the winter march of the 104th regiment, early in 
 1813, from New Brunswick to Canada. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 167 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, April 22, 1812. 
 
 I had the honor yesterday to receive your excel 
 lency s letter, dated the 21st ultimo, and I entreat you 
 to believe that no act within my control shall afford 
 the government of the United States a legitimate pre 
 text to add to a clamour which has been so artfully 
 raised against England. 
 
 We have received the account of the renewal of the 
 embargo, and that the most rigorous measures have 
 already been adopted to prevent the least infringement 
 of it upon the Niagara river. Armed men, in co 
 loured clothes, are continually patrolling along the 
 shore. These troops are stated to have recently ar 
 rived, but I have not been able to ascertain whether 
 they belong to the new levy or to the militia. They 
 are reported to amount to about 300. Colonel 
 Proctor has doubtless written fully on the subject, 
 but unfortunately the letters, by some negligence, 
 were left at Niagara. The accounts which have 
 reached me are not, therefore, so satisfactory as could 
 be wished. An idle boy is stated to have wantonly 
 fired with ball at the guard opposite Queenstown, and 
 it appears that the Americans were guilty of a similar 
 outrage by firing during the night into a room in 
 which a woman was sitting. Luckily no mischief 
 followed. Being detained here upon civil business, 
 I have sent Captain Glegg over to see how matters 
 stand, and to arrange with both civil and military the 
 best means of preventing a recurrence of a practice 
 which may easily lead to serious consequences. I 
 hope to be at Niagara myself the day after to-morrow. 
 
 I beg leave to assure your excellency, that I receive 
 with no small degree of pride the praise bestowed on 
 my endeavours to improve the militia system of this 
 province ; and as the bill underwent some alterations 
 after the departure of Colonel M Donnell, particu 
 larly in limiting its operation to the end of the ensuing 
 
168 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 session, I shall have the honor to forward for your 
 excellency s information the law as now enforced. I 
 have, by partial and gentle means, already commenced 
 to give it operation, and I make not the least doubt 
 that a sufficient number will be found ready to volun 
 teer to complete the flank companies ; and I here beg 
 leave to call your excellency s attention to the clause 
 which authorizes the training of the flank companies 
 six times in each month ; but as no provision is made 
 for remunerating the men, I presume to submit for 
 your excellency s indulgent consideration, that the 
 commissaries be instructed to issue rations for the 
 number actually present at exercise. These compa 
 nies I expect will be composed of the best description 
 of inhabitants, who in most cases will have to go a 
 great distance to attend parade ; and, unless this libe 
 ral provision be allowed, will be liable to heavy ex 
 pense, or be subject to considerable privations. 
 According to my present arrangements, the number 
 embodied will not exceed 700, and when the compa 
 nies are completed throughout the province, they must 
 be calculated at 1,800 ; and, as during harvest and 
 the winter months few or no parades will take place, 
 the total expense attending the measure can be of no 
 material consequence in a pecuniary point of view, 
 and may in a political light be productive, at this 
 juncture, of considerable benefit. 
 
 I have likewise to request that such portion of 
 clothing as your excellency can conveniently spare 
 from the king s stores, may be forwarded, to enable 
 me to clothe such companies as are the most likely to 
 be called upon duty. 
 
 I am anxious to hear the real object of the em 
 bargo ; should it be directed solely against England, 
 the probability is that it leads to a war ; but should 
 France be included in its operation, nothing of the 
 kind need be dreaded. 
 
 In the expectation of having the honor of seeing 
 your excellency shortly at York, I limit, for the pre- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 169 
 
 sent, the works of the military artificers at this place, 
 to preparing a temporary magazine for the reception 
 of the spare powder at Fort George and Kingston, and 
 the excavation of the ditch for the proposed fortifica 
 tions of the spot on which the government house 
 stands. 
 
 I transmit, for your excellency s perusal, a detailed 
 account of the transactions which led to the unjustifi 
 able censure passed by the house of assembly upon 
 Chief Justice Scott. It is written by Mr. Nichoi 
 himself; and the warmth with which he has expressed 
 his indignation at the wanton exercise of a power yet 
 undefined, as far as regards this province, is not there 
 fore surprising. I am convinced that whenever the 
 business is brought legally before the judges, they 
 will refuse to sanction the enormous power, under the 
 name of privilege, which the house arrogates to itself. 
 The executive will in that case be placed in a very 
 awkward predicament. Mr. Nichoi, having com 
 menced civil actions against the speaker and sergeant 
 at arms for false imprisonment, will, should he suc 
 ceed in obtaining damages, bring the question with 
 double force on the tapis. The violence and igno 
 rance which, in all probability, will mark the pro 
 ceedings of the house, cannot fail of producing a 
 dissolution. I apply forcibly to ministers for instruc 
 tions, but should they be contrary to the opinion 
 which the judges of the court of king s bench have 
 formed of the law, I am led to believe they will not 
 influence the members ; therefore, one of two alterna 
 tives must be resorted to, either the appointment of 
 more docile judges, or the decision of the question by 
 a British act of parliament. I trust, for the tranquil 
 lity and prosperity of the province, that the latter 
 mode may be preferred. I have thus freely, and per 
 haps with rather too much haste to be sufficiently 
 explicit, stated the difficulties which in all likelihood 
 I shall have to encounter at the next meeting of the 
 legislature. 
 
170 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Should the effect of the embargo appear to be di 
 rected solely at Great Britain, I shall avail myself of 
 the confidence placed in me, and order the purchase 
 of horses, to enable the car brigade to act in case of 
 necessity. This, being a service which requires infi 
 nite trouble and practice to bring to any degree of 
 perfection, cannot be too soon attended to. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Ensign N. Freer, Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, April 23, 1812. 
 
 I transmit herewith,, for the information of the 
 commander of the forces, a copy of a letter received 
 from the Earl of Liverpool, authorizing an increase 
 of .200 per annum to the salary of Colonel Claus, 
 deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, to commence 
 from the 1st of January last. 
 
 The inconvenience to which the public service has 
 already been exposed, owing to a scarcity of specie; 
 the likelihood of the evil being increased by the 
 operation of the embargo ; and the almost total impos 
 sibility, in the event of war, of getting a sufficient 
 supply to defray the ordinary expenses of govern 
 ment, have led me to consider the best means of 
 obviating so serious a difficulty. And having con 
 sulted with some of the principal merchants as to the 
 practicability of introducing a paper currency with 
 any probability of success, I think myself warranted 
 in stating that such an arrangement would, particu 
 larly in the event of war, be generally supported 
 throughout the province. The old inhabitants under 
 stand perfectly the circulation of paper as a substitute 
 for specie ; and having been formerly in the habit of 
 receiving the notes of private individuals, they would 
 not hesitate taking the more certain security of go 
 vernment, especially if convinced that payment could 
 not be made in any other way. 
 
 The commissaries ought to be instructed to receive 
 this paper as cash, giving bills in return on Quebec. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 171 
 
 It is supposed that the circulation of 10 or ,15,000 
 would answer every purpose. No note under 5s. or 
 above <10 should be issued. The accompanying 
 letter from Mr. Selby, the receiver-general, will fully 
 elucidate the business. 
 
 I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
 the 1st of April. The commissary-general will doubt 
 less have been apprized that his instructions to Mr. 
 M Gill arrived in time to supersede those he received 
 from me. Too great dependance ought not to be 
 placed on the surplus of the several species of stores 
 at the different posts. I have reason to think that at 
 Arnherstburg nearly the entire excess will be found 
 damaged and unserviceable. Being desirous to ascer 
 tain the actual state of the stores at that post, I 
 directed, a month ago, a regular survey to be taken of 
 every article, and the moment I receive the report, 
 it shall be forwarded to head quarters. 
 
 Flour has risen to eight dollars and one half per 
 barrel. The effect of the embargo is not yet felt. 
 Upwards of 40,000 barrels, the produce of the south 
 of Lake Ontario, will be kept by it from the Montreal 
 market. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, April 30, 1812. 
 
 I have just heard from Mr. Foster that the secre 
 tary at war, at Washington, has transmitted orders to 
 Governor Tompkins, of New York, to send 500 of the 
 state militia to Niagara; 500 to the mouth of the 
 Black River, opposite to Kingston ; and 600 to 
 Champlain, in consequence of the hostile appearances 
 in Canada. Mr. Foster is of opinion the government 
 of the United States calculates that something will 
 happen on the part of these men to produce a quarrel 
 with the British troops, which may lead to retaliation 
 on both sides, and occasion hostilities to commence, 
 as in this way alone, it seems thought, an unjust war 
 
172 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 can be forced on the American people, who are repre 
 sented as really averse to it. We must, therefore, 
 use every effort in our power to prevent any collision 
 from taking place between our forces and the Ame 
 rican. 
 
 I have also received information that the American 
 garrison at Fort Chicago, not exceeding 60 men, has 
 been ordered to Detroit, in consequence of apprehen 
 sions from the Indians. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, May 14, 1812. 
 
 I have great satisfaction in telling you, that I have 
 reported the Glengary light infantry* more than 
 complete to the establishment of 400 rank and file, 
 and have received Sir George Prevost s commands to 
 recruit for a higher establishment ; indeed, the quotas 
 the officers have engaged to fulfil will nearly amount 
 to double that number ; and from the very great suc 
 cess that has attended our exertions, I have no doubt 
 of succeeding by the end of this year. Two officers 
 have divided Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for 
 their hunting ground, and are permitted to recruit 
 Acadians; and Lieutenant Ronald M Donnell, of the 
 Canadians, proceeds in a few days to Pictou and the 
 highland settlements on the coast and gulf: he is an 
 officer that appears to be eminently qualified for that 
 service, and he is sanguine that the proffer of lands in 
 the Scotch settlements of Upper Canada will induce 
 great numbers to enter. I am assured from various 
 channels that the men I have got are generally young, 
 rather too much so, and of a good description, there 
 being very few Yankees amongst them. 
 
 I have long letters from my friends at home, giving 
 me a detailed account of the death of my excellent 
 
 * On the 27th of May, 1813, near Fort George, the Glengary regiment 
 had 1 captain, l ensign, l sergeant, 24 rank and file, killed ; 1 captain, 1 
 lieutenant, l ensign, 3 sergeants, 20 rank and file, wounded} 1 lieutenant, 
 2 sergeants, 23 rank and file, wounded and missing. 
 
SIB ISAAC BROCK. 173 
 
 and best of friends : the duke of York sat by his bed 
 side for half an hour the day before he died, and, 
 Somerville says, was extremely affected. Sir James, 
 (Craig,) on the contrary, rallied from the pleasure he 
 had experienced from this condescending kindness. 
 Sir James had a codicil written fair for his signature, 
 the chief object of which was to add a legacy for a 
 female cousin whom he did not know to be in exis 
 tence, and to direct the sale of the priory and freehold, 
 which cost 12,000 guineas, to enable the payment of 
 the legacies : this instrument, not having been exe 
 cuted, will lead to what he most deprecated and 
 wished to avoid, a lawsuit. The heirs at law will 
 possess the freehold ; andWilkie, who, besides .6,000, 
 is left the two houses in London, furniture, &c., as 
 residuary legatee, will be stripped of the whole that is 
 not given by special bequest, to make up the legacies : 
 he will however, I believe, have at least .10,000 left 
 very ample payment for his services. 
 
 Sir George has announced his intention of recom 
 mending Battersby to be lieutenant-colonel of the 
 Glengary corps, and ordered him to take the com 
 mand of the recruits assembled at Three Rivers. 
 Your major of brigade* will be recommended to suc 
 ceed to his majority in the king s regiment. 
 
 Major- General Srock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, May 16, 1812. 
 
 I have this day been honored with your excellency s 
 confidential communication, dated the 30th ultimo. 
 
 I have long since thought that nothing but the 
 public voice restrained the United States government 
 from commencing direct hostilities ; and it is but 
 reasonable to expect that they will seek every oppor 
 tunity to influence the minds of the people against 
 England, in order to bring them the more readily into 
 
 * The present Major-General Thomas Evans, C.B., then a captain of the 
 
174 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 their measures. It will be my study to guard against 
 every event that can give them any just cause of com 
 plaint ; but the proximity of the two countries will in 
 all probability produce collisions which, however 
 accidentally brought about, will be represented as so 
 many acts of aggression. It would not surprise me if 
 their first attempt to excite irritation were the seizing 
 of the islands in the channel, to which both countries 
 lay claim : such was represented to Sir James Craig 
 on a former occasion to be their intention. 
 
 In addition to the force specified by your excel 
 lency, I understand that six companies of the Ohio 
 militia are intended for Detroit. Our interests with 
 the Indians will materially suffer, in consequence of 
 these extensive preparations being allowed to proceed 
 with impunity. I have always considered that the 
 reduction of Detroit would be a signal for a cordial 
 co-operation on the part of the Indians; and if we be 
 not in sufficient force to effect this object, no reliance 
 ought to be placed in them. 
 
 About forty regulars were last week added to the 
 garrison of Niagara, and by all accounts barracks are 
 to be immediately constructed at Black Rock, almost 
 opposite Fort Erie, for a large force. 
 
 I returned three days ago from an excursion to 
 Fort Erie the Grand River, where the Indians of 
 the Six Nations are settled and back by the head of 
 the lake. Every gentleman, with whom I had an 
 opportunity of conversing, assured me that an exceed 
 ingly good disposition prevailed among the people. 
 The flank companies, in the districts in which they 
 have been established, were instantly completed with 
 volunteers, and indeed an almost unanimous disposi 
 tion to serve is daily manifested. I shall proceed to 
 extend this system now I have ascertained that the 
 people are so well disposed but my means are very 
 limited. 
 
 I propose detaching 100 rank and file of the 41st 
 regiment to Amherstburg., almost immediately. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 175 
 
 Major-General Brock to the Military Secretary. 
 
 YORK, May 16, 1812. 
 
 I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 
 19th ultimo. I thought Mr. Gilmore premature in 
 representing to Lieut. -Colonel St. George the neces 
 sity of entering into contracts for the purchase of 
 flour and pork, and stated my opinion accordingly ; 
 but I did not imagine that the directions I gave for 
 the purchase of Indian corn could be considered as 
 authorizing and justifying the measure. 
 
 It was far from my intention to recommend that 
 any officer of the Indian department should possess 
 an unrestrained power in the issue of provisions ; 
 but I thought that partial issues, at the discretion of 
 the head at Fort George and Amherstburg, such as 
 Lieut.-Governor Gore sanctioned, might be continued 
 without risk or detriment to the service. The case 
 stands thus : an hour is fixed by the commander of 
 the post for the issue of presents and provisions, his 
 other avocations naturally precluding his further at 
 tendance during the day, unless something very extra 
 ordinary should arise. Such Indians, therefore, as 
 arrive after that time, must either go without food, or 
 be supplied by the officers of the department at their 
 own cost. To obviate this individual inconvenience 
 the order was given. I have not unfrequently wit 
 nessed every morsel of pork in Mr. Glaus house 
 consumed by the subsequent arrival of Indians ; and 
 he would forfeit every claim to their good will if he 
 allowed them to rest without a meal. I have been 
 thus prolix, as I am unwilling that the commander of 
 the forces should think I ever proposed that which 
 was unreasonable, or likely to involve, by removing 
 every degree of control, the safety of the troops. 
 
176 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, May 21, 1812. 
 
 Sir George has allowed me to make the following 
 extracts from a dispatch of Mr. Foster s, dated the 
 28th April, which I do in the minister s own words : 
 " The American government affect now to have taken 
 every step incumbent on the executive as preparatory 
 to war, and leave the ultimate decision to congress, 
 as vested by the constitution in that body, which is 
 fluctuating as the sea : there is a great party in the 
 house of representatives for war, composed principally 
 of the western and southern states members who 
 have little to lose, and may gain, while the northern 
 and eastern states are vehement against it. The em 
 bargo seems to have been resolved upon, because at 
 the moment they did not know what else to do. The 
 cabinet wished only sixty days the senate made it 
 ninety. Our government leaves no room to expect a 
 repeal of the order in council, yet they wait for the 
 return of the Hornet. Something decisive must then 
 be known ; perhaps when they become completely 
 convinced of Bonaparte s playing upon them, it will 
 end in declaring against France. The question of 
 adjournment was lost, notwithstanding there was an 
 absolute majority known a few minutes before in its 
 favor. The ruling party are split into many ; the old 
 revolutionists, jealous of younger men taking a lead. 
 The army cannot, I conceive, soon be filled up they 
 get few recruits." 
 
 You will have heard, long ere you receive this, that 
 the 49th regiment is ordered home ; the 41st are by 
 the same authority to return to Europe, but Sir 
 George will not, under existing circumstances, at 
 tempt to relieve the posts in Upper Canada, so that 
 there will be no immediate change in your quarter. 
 Sir George regrets that he has not field officers of the 
 description you require to command at Kingston and 
 Amherstburg. The only prospect of relief in that 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 177 
 
 respect which he has in view, is from the arrival of 
 the absent inspecting field officers. 
 
 The arrangement you propose respecting the unfor 
 tunate delinquents of the 41st regiment, will perfectly 
 meet the approbation of Sir George, who approved of 
 your not forwarding the resignation of the younger 
 members, or indeed of any, if they are worthy of con 
 sideration.* 
 
 Kempt has brought his name into notice in the as 
 sault of La Picurina, an outwork at Badajoz, where 
 he commanded, being on duty in the trenches. The 
 Glengary levy goes on swimmingly. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, May 27, 1812. 
 
 I was much pleased to find, by your letter of the 
 22d ultimo, you had taken precautions to prevent any 
 act occurring within your control that should afford 
 the government of the United States a legitimate pre 
 text to add to the clamour artfully raised by it against 
 England. 
 
 The circumstance which happened to the guard 
 stationed opposite to Queenstown, arrived here much 
 exaggerated. Your account of it silenced the idle 
 reports in circulation. 
 
 I agree with you in deploring the limitation, until 
 the end of the ensuing session, in the operation of the 
 militia act for Upper Canada ; but as in the event of 
 hostilities it might not be possible to convene the 
 legislature, then the bill would in all probability con 
 tinue in force during the war, provided you were not 
 induced to make an exertion for a more perfect law. 
 
 * We learn from the United Service Magazine for March, 1846, p. 444 r 
 that some young officers of the 4 1st, having indulged at Fort George to a 
 late hour at the mess table, got into a squabble amongst themselves, 
 which was of course reported to General Brock. The offence was visited 
 by the expulsion of one or two, and a severe reprimand to the remainder. 
 But judging from the above letter, the general seems to have acted with 
 every possible forbearance. 
 
 T* 
 
178 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Baynes having informed me he had an 
 opportunity of communicating with you more expedi- 
 tiously than by post, I desired him to make you 
 acquainted with the peaceful intelligence I had just 
 received from Mr. Foster ; but although it comes 
 with a good deal of reservation, still it warrants me in 
 recommending the most rigid economy in carrying 
 on the king s service, and in avoiding all expense that 
 has not become absolutely necessary, as it is with the 
 utmost difficulty money can be raised for the ordinary 
 service. 
 
 I am apprehensive that I cannot look forward to the 
 pleasure of seeing you before the end of August, as 
 mv presence in the province is become indispensably 
 necessary during the first operation of the new militia 
 law. 
 
 Many thanks for the particulars of the transaction 
 which led to the censure passed by the house of as 
 sembly on Chief Justice Scott. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 1/9 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 It will be assisting the reader, ere we proceed to 
 detail the operations at the commencement of hostili 
 ties, to give a brief description, not only of the lakes 
 and straits which constitute the water boundaries of 
 Upper Canada, and of the towns and military posts 
 distributed along them, as existing in the year 1812, 
 but also of the territory of Michigan, which was sur 
 rendered, with Detroit, to Major-General Brock. 
 The distances are given in British statute miles. 
 
 The most remote piece of water on this frontier 
 worthy of notice is Lake Superior, a body of fresh 
 water unequalled by any upon the face of the globe. 
 Lake Superior is of a triangular form ; in length 370, 
 in breadth 160, and in circumference about 1,550 
 miles. The water is nearly 800 feet deep, so that its 
 bottom is about 170 feet below the surface of the 
 Atlantic. It contains five large islands, one of which, 
 Isle Royale, is said to be nearly 100 miles long by 40 
 broad. The lake is well stored with fish, particu 
 larly trout, white fish, and sturgeon. Out of Lake 
 Superior a very rapid current flows, over immense 
 masses of rock, along a channel of 40 miles in length, 
 called St. Mary s River, into Lake Huron, at the 
 head of which is the British island of St. Joseph, 
 containing a small garrison. This isolated post is 
 distant about 350 miles by water from Amherstburg, 
 which contained the nearest British garrison. 
 
 Lake Huron is in length, from west to east, 220 
 miles ; in breadth, 200, and in circumference, through 
 
180 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 its numerous curvatures, about 1,100 miles. It is in 
 many parts 450 feet in depth. Except the island of 
 St. Joseph, and one or two trading establishments 
 belonging to the north-west company, the shores of 
 this lake were in a state of nature, or inhabited only 
 by Indians. When the Americans were allowed to 
 obtain the dominion of Lake Erie, which they did in 
 1813, it was determined at the close of the following 
 year to create a naval force on Lake Huron in the 
 ensuing season, (1815,) as possessing much greater 
 security for the construction of vessels than Lake 
 Erie, where the enemy could at any time destroy 
 them, in the same manner as their vessels ought to 
 have been previously destroyed by the British. Lake 
 Michigan, which, lies wholly within the United States, 
 is connected with Lake Huron at its western ansjle 
 by a strait 6 miles long by 4 miles wide, in the 
 centre of which is the island of Michilimackinac, 
 (usually called Mackinaw by the Americans,) be 
 longing to the United States, and forming an excel 
 lent point d appui for military or naval operations 
 in that quarter. This island is about 3 miles long 
 and 9 miles in circumference, and, like St. Joseph, 
 its British neighbour, it possessed a small fort and 
 garrison. Michilimackinac is very beautiful, and, 
 when seen from a distance, has the form of a turtle 
 sleeping on the water.* It possesses now no large or 
 lofty timber, but a perpetual succession of low, rich 
 groves. There is on the eastern coast a natural arch 
 or bridge, where the waters of the lake have under 
 mined the rock, and left a fragment thrown across a 
 chasm 200 feet high. By the treaty of the 19th of 
 November, 1794, Michilimackinac, Detroit, Fort 
 
 * " The land, in the centre of this island, is high, and its form some 
 what resembles that of a turtle s back. Mackinac, or Mickinac, signifies 
 a turtle, and michi (mishi), or missi, signifies great, as it does also, several, 
 or many. The common interpretation of the word Michilimackinac, is 
 the Great Turtle." Henry s Travels and Adventures in Canada and the 
 Indian Territories, between the years 1760 and 177^. 
 
 In Henry s time, fort Michilimackinac was situated on a strait, and 
 distant about two leagues from the island of the same name. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 181 
 
 Miami, Fort Niagara, and Oswego,. were ceded to 
 the Americans, as within the boundary lines assigned 
 by the treaty of peace to the United States ; and 
 they were given up in 1796, when Michilimackinac 
 was strengthened and garrisoned by a detachment of 
 General Wayne s army. While in the possession of 
 the British, this island was the general rendezvous of 
 the North-West traders, and the Indians they supplied. 
 Here the outfits were furnished for the countries of 
 Lake Michigan and the Mississipi, Lake Superior, 
 and the North -West ; and here the returns of furs 
 were collected and embarked for Montreal. Lake 
 Huron flows through the river St. Clair, which is in 
 length about 33 miles, into Lake St. Clair, a small 
 circular lake 30 miles in diameter. At the entrance 
 of the river St. Clair, the Americans have now a 
 fort (Gratiot) and garrison ; and it is only recently 
 (1845) that orders have been given to fortify Port 
 Sarnia.,* on the opposite or British side. The beau 
 tiful river Thames, in Upper Canada, opens into 
 Lake St. Clair, and it was along the banks of this 
 river that Major-General Proctor retreated in 1813. 
 From Lake St. Clair, the stream, through the De 
 troit, navigable for vessels not drawing more than 
 fourteen feet water, pursues a course of 29 miles into 
 Lake Erie.f 
 
 Upon the western side of the Detroit is situate the 
 American town of that name. Within 4 miles below 
 Detroit, upon the opposite side of the strait, is the 
 British village of Sandwich, then containing scarcely 
 fifty houses ; and 16 miles lower, and 3 from the 
 termination of the strait, is the British village of 
 Amherstburg, then containing about one hundred 
 houses, and a fort where a small garrison was main 
 tained, arid where the principal vessels for the service 
 
 * Sarnia is the ancient name of the island of Guernsej , and the Upper 
 Canadian Sarnia was so named by Sir John Colborne, (the present Lord 
 Seaton,) who was formerly lieutenant-governor of Guernsey. 
 
 t " The mouth of the Detroit river, in which there are several islands, 
 forms a safe and commodious harbour." Howison s Upper Canada. 
 
182 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of Lake Erie were constructed. The fort, which 
 was never completed, was above the town, and most 
 injudiciously placed. The proper site for the fortifi 
 cations is the island of Bois Blanc, immediately 
 opposite to Amherstburg, as this island commands 
 the mouth of the river, and the channel on either 
 side. In the event of another war, or preparatory to 
 it, this island should be fortified, as a battery at each 
 end would prevent the American vessels from passing 
 up and down the river.* The American village of 
 Brownstown stands nearly opposite to Amherstburg, 
 which is distant from Quebec by the nearest route 
 fully 800 miles, from Fort Erie* about 250 miles, 
 and from York 310 miles, all by water. 
 
 Lake Erie, from Miamis Bay to the entrance of 
 the straits of Niagara, is in length 257 miles, in 
 breadth 64, and in circumference about 700 miles. 
 The average depth of water is not more than seventy 
 feet, but a very rocky bottom renders the anchorage 
 unsafe in blowing weather. Except Amherstburg, 
 the British had no harbour or naval depot upon Lake 
 Erie, while the Americans had two or three excellent 
 ones. Presqu ile harbour is situate on the southern 
 side of the lake, not far from the entrance to the 
 Niagara. It is a safe station, but has a seven feet 
 bar at its entrance, as indeed have all the other har 
 bours on this lake. The town, named Erie, is situate 
 on the south side of the harbour, and contains a dock 
 yard, in which the Americans built their Lake Erie 
 fleet. To the eastward of the town stands a strong 
 battery, and on the point of the Peninsula forming 
 the harbour, a block-house, for the protection of this 
 naval depot. The rivers Raisin, Sandusky, and 
 Miami, (or Maumee,) the scenes of important opera 
 tions during the war, discharge themselves into Lake 
 Erie. 
 
 On the north-western side of the entrance to the 
 Niagara river stood, at a distance of 560 miles from 
 
 * United Service Magazine, June, 1845. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 183 
 
 Quebec, the British fort Erie, at best a very incon 
 siderable work.* Near to the same outlet from Lake 
 Erie is Buffalo Creek, on the border of which is 
 built the American village of Buifalo ; and about 
 2 miles beyond it, Black Rock, where there was a 
 battery, and a ferry, about 800 yards across, to 
 Bertie, in Upper Canada. The Niagara proceeds at 
 a quick rate past several small and one large island, 
 called Grande Isle, 10 miles long ; about 2 miles 
 below which, on the American side, and distant 
 2 miles from the Falls, is the site of Fort Schlosser. 
 At about the same distance from the Falls, on the 
 opposite side, standing on the northern bank of the 
 river Chippawah,+ is the British village of the same 
 name, distant from Fort Erie 17 miles. Chippawah 
 consisted chiefly of storehouses ; and near it was a 
 small stockaded work, called Fort Chippawah. At 
 the distance of 23 miles from the entrance to the 
 Niagara, is Goat Island, about half a mile long, and 
 which extends to the precipice that gives rise to the 
 celebrated Falls. The larger body of water flows 
 between Upper Canada and Goat Island, at the upper 
 end of which island the rapids, or broken water, 
 commence. Here the stream passes on both sides of 
 the island, over a bed of rocks and precipices, with 
 astonishing rapidity ; till, having descended more 
 than fifty feet in the distance of half a mile, it falls, 
 on the British side 157, and on the New York side 
 162, feet perpendicularly. The roar of the waters 
 can sometimes be heard at thedistar.ee of forty miles. 
 From the cataract, the river is a continued rapid, 
 half a mile in width, for about 7 miles. At this 
 point stand, opposite to each other, the villages of 
 Queenstown and Lewistown. The latter, situate upon 
 the American side, contained, till destroyed as a 
 retaliatory measure, between forty and fifty houses. 
 
 * There is at present no defence or military station at Fort Erie, and 
 the position has been abandoned for many years, 
 t Chippawah is the English corruption of the Indian tribe Ojibwah. 
 
184 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 At abont six miles and a half from Queenstown, near 
 to the river side, stood Fort George, then constructed 
 of earthen ramparts and palisades of cedar, and 
 mounting no heavier metal than 9-pounders. It was 
 a low square fort, without tower or block-house of any 
 description, excepting log, loop-holed barracks ; and 
 it was so badly placed, that it could be enfiladed 
 upon every face by the enemy s shot.* About half a 
 mile below Fort George, and close to the borders of 
 Lake Ontario, stood the beautiful and flourishing 
 town of Niagara, or Newark, which was burnt by the 
 Americans, and which, before York was built, was 
 the seat of government for the province. 
 
 Directly opposite to Niagara, or Newark, upon a 
 neck of land projecting partly across the mouth of 
 the river, which is here 875 yards in width, stands 
 the American fort Niagara, the scene of so many 
 conflicts. It was built by the French in 1751 ; f 
 taken by the English in 1759 ; J and delivered to the 
 United States in 1796. Fort Niagara, unlike any of 
 the Canadian forts along that frontier, was a regular 
 fortification, built of stone on the land side, with 
 breast works, and every necessary appendage. It 
 mounted between twenty and thirty heavy pieces of 
 ordnance, and contained a furnace for heating shot. 
 
 * Fort George is now in a very delapidated state, and can scarcely be 
 said to be upheld as a military post, although a few soldiers are still 
 quartered in it. 
 
 t According to Knox, (London, 1/69,) Beatson, (London, I/pO,) and 
 James; but according to Buckingham, in 1/25. There was probably a 
 French trading post at Niagara even earlier than the last named period, 
 and it was probably secured by pickets or other defences. 
 
 t Brigadier Prideaux, commanding the besieging army, was killed on 
 the IQth July, while walking in the trenches, by a cohorn shot, "care 
 lessly by his own gunner," and was the first British general officer slain 
 in Canada. The French garrison, consisting of between 6 and 700 men, 
 was sent to New York. 
 
 A little tract published in 1757, speaking of Niagara, says : 
 " Niagara commands, in a manner, all the interior parts of North 
 America, and is a key, as it were, to that whole continent opens or 
 obstructs a communication with all the natives of North America, the Six 
 Nations, Ohios, Shawanees, Miamis, Twightwies, Illinois, Pontewatimis, 
 Nadouessians, Hurons, Utawas, Messesagues, and many others awes 
 and commands all those people lies in the midst of the extensive terri- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 185 
 
 The strait of Niagara is about 35 miles in length ; 
 and its shores, on both sides, were, more or less, the 
 scenes of active warfare during the whole period of 
 hostilities. Lake Ontario, to which the strait leads, 
 is in length, from west to east, 185, in breadth 50, 
 and in circumference 460 miles. The depth of water 
 varies much, it being in some places three or four, in 
 others fifty fathoms : towards the centre, it is about 
 600 feet, or 100 fathoms in depth. York harbour 
 lies on the north side of Lake Ontario ; is nearly 
 circular, of about a mile and a half in diameter, and 
 formed by a narrow peninsula extending to Gibraltar 
 Point, upon which a block-house has been erected. 
 The town of York, (now called Toronto,) the infant 
 capital of Upper Canada, is in lat. 43 40 north, and 
 long. 78 30 west, and is distant from Fort George 
 by water about 30 miles. The public buildings con 
 sisted of a government house, the house of assembly, 
 a church, court-house, and a gaol, with numerous 
 stores belonging to government. In the spring of 
 1794, when the site was fixed upon for building the 
 new capital, the spot contained a solitary Indian 
 wigwam, and was covered by a dense forest. In six 
 years from that time, Y r ork had assumed a respect 
 able appearance, although in 1812 it did not contain 
 above 800 inhabitants. In 1845, the population ex 
 ceeded 20,000. 
 
 Kingston harbour is situate at the eastern extremity 
 of Lake Ontario. It contains good anchorage in 
 
 tories of the Six Nations, and commands their beaver country entirely 
 secures their fur trade, and all the other inland trade of North America. 
 " It commands all the great lakes, and secures the navigation of them, 
 that extends 12 or 1,300 miles prevents or secures the junction of the 
 two French colonies in Canada and Louisiana cuts off or maintains 
 their passage to the river Ohio, Mississipi, Lake Erie, le Detroit, Sandoski, 
 Miamis, Fort St. Joseph, Illinois, Kaskaskis, &c. stops the farther pro 
 gress of the English or of the French (whichever are possessed of it) in 
 North America lays our colonies open to the inroads and incursions 
 both of the French and Indians whilst it would secure them from both 
 in our hands and unite the frontiers of our northern and southern colo 
 nies together, for their mutual defence and security, which might all be 
 secured by this one place, while they could not by many hundreds 
 without it." 
 
186 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 three fathoms water, and was defended by a small 
 battery of 9-pounders on Mississaga Point, and ano 
 ther, of the same metal chiefly, on Point Frederick. 
 The town, which was the largest and most populous 
 in the Upper Province, contained about 370 houses, 
 including several buildings and stores belonging to 
 government. Its direct distance from York is 155 ; 
 from Montreal, in an opposite direction, 195 ; and 
 from Quebec 375 miles. Opposite to, and distant 
 about half a mile from, the town, is a long low 
 peninsula, forming the west side of Navy Bay, the 
 principal naval depot of the British on this lake, and 
 where the ships of war were constructed. 
 
 Of the American military posts on Lake Ontario, 
 the principal one is Sackett s Harbour, distant from 
 Kingston, by the ship channel, 35 miles. The har 
 bour is formed by a peninsula of limestone rock, in 
 many places not more than one rod wide, which 
 perfectly shelters a sheet of water containing about 
 ten acres. From the north-west runs out a low point 
 of land, upon which was the dock yard with large 
 storehouses, and all the buildings requisite for such 
 an establishment. Upon this point there was a strong 
 work called Fort Tompkins, having within it a block 
 house two stories high : on the land side it was 
 covered by a strong picketing, in which there were 
 embrasures ; at the bottom of the harbour was the 
 village, containing about seventy houses ; and, to the 
 southward of it, a large barrack, capable of contain 
 ing 2,000 men, and generally occupied by the marines 
 belonging to the fleet. Towards the middle of 1814, 
 there were three additional works, Fort Virginia, 
 Fort Chauncey, and Fort Kentucky, as well as seve 
 ral new block-houses ; and the guns then mounted 
 upon the different forts exceeded sixty.* 
 
 The great Canadian lakes lie in four terraces, dif 
 fering in elevation, of which Lake Superior occupies 
 
 * James Military Occurrences of the late War between Great Britain 
 and the United States, 2 vols. London, 1818. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 187 
 
 the highest, its surface being 627 feet above the sea 
 level. The second terrace contains Lakes Michigan 
 and Huron, which are 595 feet above the sea level. 
 Lake Erie is on a terrace only 30 feet lower, but 
 Lake Ontario is 330 feet lower than Lake Erie, its 
 surface being only 234 feet above the sea. These 
 lakes, as already stated, are connected by narrow 
 channels ; but it is only the channel between Lake 
 Huron and Lake Erie that is navigable, as the bed of 
 this channel descends only 30 feet in 90 miles. These 
 inland seas are never entirely frozen over, and the 
 islands with which they abound, as well as their 
 shores, afford convenient harbours for those who 
 navigate them, and they will one day be the scenes of 
 an active commerce, and probably of fierce contests 
 for naval supremacy or maritime rights.* 
 
 The greatest length of the Michigan territory, from 
 south-east to north-west, is 500 miles, and its whole 
 area is estimated at 59,700 square miles. The lake 
 coast has been computed at 1,400 miles. The country 
 was then chiefly in the possession of the Indians, and 
 the white population amounted by the previous cen 
 sus to about 5,000. It is bounded on the south by 
 Ohio and Indiana, and includes two peninsulas of 
 unequal size, in addition to which are numerous 
 islands, constituent parts of the territory. The 
 most important of these islands is Michilimackinac, 
 already described. Detroit, the chief town of the 
 territory, is situated on the right bank of the strait, 
 10 miles below Lake St. Clair and 28 miles above 
 Lake Erie, and is one of the oldest places in Canada, 
 having been settled by the French in the year 1/02. 
 It then contained above two hundred houses, many 
 of brick, and upwards of 1,200 inhabitants. In the 
 rear of the fort was an extensive common, skirted by 
 boundless and almost impenetrable forests. We learn 
 from Morse s American Geography, on the acknow 
 ledged authority of Governor Hull, that Fort Detroit, 
 
 * America Geographically Described. London, 1845. 
 
188 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 in 1810, was a regular work of an oblong figure, 
 " covering about an acre of ground. The parapets 
 were about twenty feet in height, built of earth and 
 sods, with four bastions, the whole surrounded with 
 pallisadoes, a deep ditch, and glacis. It stood imme 
 diately back of the town, arid had strength to with 
 stand a regular siege, but did not command the 
 river." And as the American government had been 
 for some time secretly preparing for war, it may be 
 safely inferred, that in the meanwhile this fort had 
 been rather strengthened than permitted to fall to 
 decay ; and that it was at least as tenable in 1812 as 
 when Governor Hull, two years before, gave the 
 preceding description of its defences. The town of 
 Detroit is in lat. 42 15 north, and long. 82 33 west, 
 and the winters are comparatively short. 
 
 About the year 1763, Detroit, then indeed the far 
 west, and containing a garrison of 300 men, was 
 nearly captured by stratagem by Pontiac, the cele 
 brated Indian chief of that day, who waged war 
 against the British, and whose alliance, before the 
 capture of Quebec, by Wolfe, in 1759, was anxiously 
 courted both by the French and English. 
 
SIB ISAAC BROCK. 189 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The discussions which had been so long pending 
 between Great Britain and the United States, as 
 sumed, during the winter of 1811-12, a very serious 
 aspect. But many did not believe that the latter 
 power was inclined to proceed to extremities ; while 
 others, who foresaw that it only awaited a favorable 
 moment to invade the Canadas, which were supposed 
 ripe for revolt, and would therefore fall an easy 
 conquest, were prepared to expect what soon after 
 followed, a declaration of war against Great Britain. 
 
 As this was not the first time that the American 
 government had proceeded to menaces, and as the 
 northern and eastern states were known to be averse 
 to hostilities, the British ministry, unmindful that 
 coming events usually cast their shadows before 
 them, were deluded into a belief that peace would 
 yet be maintained.* Mr. Foster, the English minister 
 at Washington, seems to have partaken of this delu 
 sion, for it does not appear that he had taken any 
 precautionary measures to convey to the governor of 
 the British North American Provinces the earliest 
 intelligence of the declaration of war, on the 18th 
 June, 1812 ; and, had it not been for the prudent 
 foresight of the agent of the British north-west com 
 pany at New York, who sent the intelligence by 
 express, it is possible that the first intimation would 
 
 * See post, Sir George Prevost s letter to Major-General Brock, Sep 
 tember 14, 1812. 
 
190 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 have been received from the mouths of the American 
 cannon. To Upper Canada Mr. Foster transmitted 
 no notice whatever of the war, and Major-General 
 Brock was left to learn it officially through the cir 
 cuitous and dilatory channel of the governor-general. 
 Happily, individual diligence made up for this un 
 pardonable neglect; and the war was known by 
 private expresses at Montreal, in Lower, and at Fort 
 George, in Upper Canada, on the 24th of June, or 
 in six days after its declaration at Washington. 
 
 At this period the exigencies of the Peninsular 
 war, which chiefly depended upon English arms and 
 English money, required the almost undivided atten 
 tion and energies of the British ministry, who are 
 thus entitled to some excuse for their neglect of 
 North American affaf>s ; but they will still remain 
 amenable to tbcTcharge of having been guilty of the 
 folly of too much despising the new enemy arrayed 
 against them at that most busy and critical moment. 
 The want of a sufficient force for the protection of 
 the Canadas* might have proved fatal, at least to the 
 Upper Province, had not Major-General Brock, from 
 the first moment of being placed at the head of his 
 government, been convinced that war was inevitable ; 
 and that in consequence every exertion should be 
 used to place the province in as respectable a state of 
 defence as his very limited means would admit. The 
 instant the navigation opened in the spring, a supply 
 of ordnance and other stores was hurried up to fort 
 St. Joseph ; and its commandant, Captain Roberts, 
 was instructed to be constantly on his guard. Similar 
 precautions were adopted relative to Amherstburg, to 
 which post Major-General Brock paid a visit early in 
 
 * At this time, the British regular force in the Canadas consisted of the 
 8th, 4lst, 4Qth, and 100th regiments, a small detachment of artillery, the 
 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, and the Canadian, Newfoundland, and 
 Glengary Fenciblesj amounting, in the whole, to 4,450 men. These were 
 distributed along the different posts from the telegraph station, about 250 
 miles below Quebec, to St. Joseph s, but so unequally divided, that, in the 
 Upper Province, whose front extends to nearly 1,300 out of the 1,700 
 miles, there were but 1,450 men. James 1 Military Occurrences, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 191 
 
 June, and fortunately took with him a reinforcement 
 of 100 men of the 41st regiment. But in the execu 
 tion of his plans he had to encounter many obstacles, 
 among which the subordinate nature of his command 
 was not the least formidable. Even as late as the 27th 
 of May, Sir George Prevost does not seem to have 
 considered hostilities so near, as on that day he re 
 commended to Major-General Brock the most rigid 
 economy in carrying on the public service, and in 
 avoiding all expense that was not absolutely necessary, 
 on the plea of the great difficulty of raising money. 
 Sir George lias, however, been wrongly accused of 
 not sending any instructions whatever to Major-Gene 
 ral Brock for some weeks aft~he received*intimation 
 of the war, as .he did so from Montreal on the 7th 
 and 18th of July,^ or in less than a fortnight after 
 wards ; but, either from his dispatches not being- 
 transmitted by express, or from some other unex 
 plained cause, they did not reach their destination 
 until the 20th of July, or exactly five weeks after the 
 declaration of war was known in the Upper Province.* 
 On the breaking out of hostilities, the regular force 
 in Upper Canada amounted to barely 1,500 men, 
 including seamen, as under : 
 
 41st Regiment 900 
 
 10th Veterans 250 
 
 Newfoundland Regiment 250 
 
 Royal Artillery 50 
 
 Provincial Seamen. ., -j-rf/.f 50* ~ 
 
 Total 1,500. 
 
 This force had to occupy the forts St. Joseph, 
 Amherstburg, and Chippawah Fort Erie and Fort 
 George and York and Kingston to maintain the 
 superiority on the lakes; to preserve the communica 
 tion and escort convoys between Coteau de Lac and 
 Kingston ; and to defend an assailable frontier of 
 
 * Now intelligence could be transmitted from Quebec to Toronto in five 
 days by the ordinary post, and in summer in three days. 
 
192 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 nearly 800 miles, reckoning from the confines of 
 Lower Canada to Amherstburg, and excluding the 
 British coast from the Detroit to Fort St. Joseph. 
 With this very inadequate force, it was the opinion 
 of the highest authorities that the country could not 
 be maintained. Major- General Brock was well 
 aware that, in carrying the war along so extensive 
 a frontier, uncovered by a single fortress of strength, 
 and with such a handful of regular troops, he could 
 only expect success in the aid and zealous co-operation 
 of the people, whose numbers then, it is believed, did 
 not exceed 70,000. But the province had long been 
 torn by intestine disputes, and the prevailing faction 
 which had been originally established by one of the 
 judges, and which after his departure was fostered 
 by one of his zealous supporters had been for years 
 hostile to the measures of the government. We have 
 already given Major-General Brock s speech to the 
 provincial parliament, on his meeting it for the first 
 time ; the session, although obstructed by party dis 
 sensions and unlooked - for opposition, terminated 
 better than was anticipated, as the rancorous spirit of 
 many was subdued by his frank and conciliatory 
 demeanour ; and laws were passed which enabled 
 him to organize the flank companies of the militia, 
 unaccompanied, however, by the desired oath of 
 abjuration, so as to exclude settlers from the United 
 States and persons of doubtful loyalty. A troop of 
 volunteer cavalry was also incorporated, and on his 
 return to York from Amherstburg, about the 20th of 
 June, Major-General Brock was gratified by the 
 gratuitous offer of horses for the equipment of a car 
 brigade, under Captain Holcroft, of the royal artil 
 lery, which offer he gladly accepted. 
 
 Major-General Brock was at York when he re 
 ceived intelligence of the war an event which he 
 had long anticipated, and which therefore did not 
 take him by surprise. A few hours had scarcely 
 elapsed before the two companies of the 41st regi- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 193 
 
 ment, in garrison at York, were embarked in boats, 
 and dispatched to the Niagara frontier. After assem 
 bling his council and summoning an extra session of 
 the legislature, he hastened in a small open boat,* 
 with his brigade major, Evans, and his aide-de-camp, 
 Captain Glegg, to Fort George, on the Niagara fron 
 tier, where he immediately established his head quar 
 ters. It was at first his intention to capture the 
 opposite American fort Niagara ; but the high respon 
 sibility he was about to assume, of acting without 
 instructions or an official communication, being re 
 presented to him, he confined himself to collecting 
 and preparing his small force for offensive or defen 
 sive operations. Early in July, he procured a " Na 
 tional Intelligencer," which contained the act of 
 congress declaratory of war and the message of the 
 president accompanying it ; and this information was, 
 of course, decisive. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, June 25, 1812. 
 
 Sir George Prevost desires me to inform you, that 
 he has this instant received intelligence from Mr. 
 Richardson, by an express to the north-west com 
 pany, announcing that the American government had 
 declared war against Great Britain. This dispatch 
 left New York on the 20th instant, and does not 
 furnish any other circumstance of intelligence what 
 ever. His excellency is induced to give perfect and 
 entire credit to this report, although it has not yet 
 reached through any official channel. Indeed, the 
 extraordinary dispatch which has attended this cou 
 rier, fully explains his not having received the minis 
 ter s letters, of which he will not fail to give you the 
 earliest intimation. 
 
 Mr. Richardson informs his excellency that it is 
 
 * He crossed this passage in an open boat at least twice during the 
 war an act which was then rare, as it is now, and considered dangerous. 
 K 
 
194 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the intention of the company to send six large canoes 
 to receive their furs by the Grand River, (or Ottawa,) 
 and, should it be thought expedient to reinforce the 
 post of St. Joseph, that they will be able to carry 
 six soldiers in each boat.* Anxious as Sir George 
 feels to render you every aid in his power, and to 
 afford every possible assistance and protection to the 
 north-west company, who have on their part assured 
 his excellency of their ready and active co-operation 
 to the utmost of their ability, his excellency, never 
 theless, does not think it advisable, under existing 
 circumstances, to weaken the 49th regiment, which 
 occupies so important and critical a station ; nor can 
 he hold out any certain prospect of any further rein 
 forcement until the arrival of the troops he has been 
 led to expect from England, but directs me to assure 
 you of his cordial wish to render you every efficient 
 support in his power. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, July 3, 1812. 
 
 I have been anxiously expecting for some days to 
 receive the honor of your excellency s commands in 
 regard to the measures the most proper to be pursued 
 in the present emergency. 
 
 The accounts received, first through a mercantile 
 channel, and soon after repeated from various quar 
 ters, of war having been declared by the United 
 States against Great Britain, would have justified, 
 in my opinion, offensive operations. But the reflec 
 tion that at Detroit and Michilimackinac the weak 
 state of the garrisons would prevent the command 
 ers from^ accomplishing any essential service, con 
 nected in any degree with their future security, and 
 that my means of annoyance on this communication 
 were limited to the reduction of Fort Niagara, which 
 
 * In answer to Major-General Brock s suggestions on the subject, see 
 page 150. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 195 
 
 could easily be battered at any future period, I relin 
 quished my original intention, and attended only 
 to defensive measures. My first object has been the 
 calling out of the flank companies of militia, which 
 has produced a force on this line of about 800 men. 
 They turned out very cheerfully, but already shew 
 a spirit of impatience. The king s stores are now 
 at so low an ebb, that they scarcely furnish any 
 article of use or comfort. Blankets, hammocks and 
 kettles, are all to be purchased ; and the troops, when 
 watching the banks of the river, stand in the utmost 
 need of tents. Mr. Couche has adopted the most 
 efficacious means to pay the militia in paper currency. 
 I cannot positively state the number of militia that 
 will be embodied, but they cannot exceed, throughout 
 the province, 4,000 men. 
 
 The Americans are very active on the opposite 
 side, in the erection of redoubts ; we are not idle on 
 our part, but unfortunately, having supplied Amherst- 
 burg with the guns which that post required from 
 Fort George, depending upon getting others from 
 Kingston to supply their place, we find ourselves at 
 this moment rather short of that essential arm. I 
 have, however, every reason to think that they are 
 embarked on board the Earl Moira, which vessel, 
 according to Major M Pherson s report, was to have 
 sailed on the 28th ultimo. The Americans have, I 
 believe, about 1,200 regulars and militia between 
 Fort Niagara and Black Rock, and I consider myself 
 at this moment perfectly safe against any attempt 
 they can make. About 100 Indians from the Grand 
 River have attended to my summons ; the remainder 
 promise to come also, but I have too much reason to 
 conclude that the Americans have been too successful 
 in their endeavours to sow dissension and disaffection 
 among them. It is a great object to get this fickle 
 race interspersed among the troops. I should be 
 unwilling, in the event of a retreat, to have three or 
 four hundred of them hanging on my flank. I shall 
 
196 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 probably have to sacrifice some money to gain them 
 over, and the appointment of a few officers with 
 salaries will be absolutely necessary. 
 
 The Americans make a daily parade of their force, 
 and easily impose on the people on this side in regard 
 to their numbers. I do not think they exceed 1,200, 
 but they are represented as infinitely more numerous. 
 
 For the last fortnight every precaution has been 
 taken to guard against the least communication, and 
 to this day we are ignorant whether the president has 
 sanctioned the war resolutions of the two houses of 
 congress; that is, whether war be actually declared. 
 
 The car brigade has been completed for service 
 with horses belonging to gentlemen, who spared them 
 free of expense. 
 
 I have not been honored with a line from Mr. 
 Foster, nor with all my endeavours have I been able 
 to obtain information of any consequence. The Prince 
 Regent* made her first voyage this morning, and I 
 purpose sending her to Kingston this evening, to 
 bring such articles as are absolutely necessary, which 
 we know have arrived from Quebec. I trust she will 
 out-sail the Oneida brig.f 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 4, 1812. 
 
 We have a report here of your having commenced 
 operations by levelling the American fort at Niagara. 
 The general is most anxious to hear good and recent 
 intelligence from your quarter. There is no consider 
 able assembly of troops in our neighbourhood as yet ; 
 the flank companies, embodied under Colonel Young, 
 are on their march, and the 2,000 militia will form a 
 chain of posts from St. John s to La Prairie. The 
 town militia of this and Quebec, to the amount of 
 3,000 in each city, have volunteered being embodied 
 
 * This vessel had been built and equipped since the month of March 
 preceding. See p. 158, t American vessel of war. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 197 
 
 and drilled, and will take their proportion of garrison 
 duty to relieve the troops. The proclamation for de 
 claring martial law is prepared, and will be speedily 
 issued. All aliens will be required to take the oath of 
 allegiance, or immediately to quit the province. Our 
 cash is at its last issue, and a substitute of paper must 
 per force be resorted to. This has been Sir George s 
 principal object in calling the legislature together. 
 You have a very arduous and difficult card to play, 
 and have our sincere and confident wishes for your 
 success. Sir George strongly recommends extreme 
 moderation in the use of the Indians, and to keep 
 them in control as much as possible. 
 
 [This letter contains the details of a large and armed assembly at La 
 Chine, near Montreal, of French Canadians, who refused to serve in the 
 embodied militia. They were dispersed by the light company of the 49th, 
 and a detachment of artillery with two field pieces, under the command 
 of Major Plenderleath, of the 49th, but not before one Canadian was killed, 
 and another dangerously wounded.] 
 
 PROCLAMATION 
 Province of Upper Canada. 
 
 Isaac Brock, Esquire, President, administering the 
 Government of the Province of Upper Canada, and 
 Major-General commanding his Majesty s Forces 
 within our said Province. 
 
 To all whom these Presents shall come, greeting. 
 WHEREAS on the seventeenth day of June last the congress 
 of the United States of America declared that war then 
 existed hetween those States and their territories, and the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the de 
 pendencies thereof; and whereas, in pursuance of such decla 
 ration, the subjects of the United States have actually 
 committed hostilities against the possessions of his majesty 
 and the persons and property of his subjects in this province : 
 now, therefore, by and with the advice of his majesty s exe 
 cutive council in the affairs of the province, I do hereby 
 strictly enjoin and require all his majesty s liege subjects to 
 be obedient to the lawful authorities, to forbear all commu 
 nication with the enemy or persons residing within the terri 
 tory of the United States, and to manifest their loyalty by a 
 zealous co-operation with his majesty s armed force in defence 
 of the province, and repulse of the enemy. And I do further 
 require and command all officers, civil and military, to be 
 
198 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 vigilant in the discharge of their duty, especially to prevent 
 all communication with the enemy, and to cause all persons 
 suspected of traitorous intercourse to be apprehended and 
 treated according to law. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal at arms, at York, 
 in the province of Upper Canada, this sixth 
 day of July, in the year of our Lord one thou 
 sand eight hundred and twelve, and in the fifty- 
 second of his majesty s reign. 
 
 ISAAC BROCK, President. 
 By command of his honor, 
 
 WILLIAM JARVIS, Secretary. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 7, 1812. 
 
 It was only on my arrival at Montreal that I 
 received Mr. Foster s notification of the congress of 
 the United States having declared war against Great 
 Britain ; the fact had been previously ascertained 
 through mercantile channels. 
 
 I am convinced you have acted wisely in abstaining 
 from offensive operations, which in their effect might 
 have united a people governed by public opinion, 
 and among whom too much division exists, at this 
 moment, to admit of its influence in promoting vigo 
 rous measures against us. 
 
 The manner of the flank companies of militia turn 
 ing out must have been very satisfactory to you. I 
 hope your supplies of ordnance and ordnance stores, 
 on their way from Kingston, have arrived safe. 
 
 I have caused arms, accoutrements, and ammuni 
 tion, to be forwarded for the use of the Cornwall, 
 Stormont, and Dundas battalions of militia. Camp 
 equipage for 500 men shall be sent to you as soon as 
 possible, together with muskets. 
 
 We are on the eve of substituting paper for bullion. 
 I am aware of the Canadian prejudice against such 
 a circulating medium, but it must give way to the 
 imperious necessity of the times. 
 
 It is highly proper you should secure the services 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 199 
 
 of the Indians; but restrain and control them as 
 much as you can. Whatever appointments you deem 
 indispensably necessary, you are authorized to make, 
 as well as the sacrifice of some money to gain them 
 over. It is proper we should maintain our ascend 
 ancy over the Indians, and feed with proper food 
 their predeliction for us. 
 
 Colonel Lethbridge, an inspecting field officer, is 
 under orders for Kingston, and there to wait your 
 commands. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 8, 1812. 
 
 I was highly gratified yesterday in receiving your 
 letters of the 3d of July, for we have felt extremely 
 anxious about you ever since we have learnt the un 
 expected declaration of war, which has been so long 
 threatened that no one believed it would ever seriously 
 take place ; and even now it is the prevailing opinion 
 that, from the opposition testified by the eastern 
 states, offensive measures are not likely to be speedily 
 adopted against this country. Sir George is inclined 
 to let these sentiments take their course ; and as little 
 advantage would accrue by more active measures on 
 our part, our present plans are all defensive.* General 
 de Rottenburg is arrived,- and the flank companies 
 embodied are on their way : this corps, with the 
 embodied militia, will form a chain from La Prairie 
 to St. John s, with a light corps advanced in their 
 front. We have reports of the 103d regiment being 
 in a river, and, it is added, recruits for the 100th 
 regiment. 
 
 Sir George has had applications from so many 
 
 * It shows an extraordinary want of correct information with the British 
 minister at Washington, or a strange remissness in communicating it, 
 that on the 8th of July Sir G. Prevost should think that offensive measures 
 were not likely to be speedily adopted, as by the succeeding chapter, it 
 will be seen that General Hull commenced his march for Detroit on the 
 1st of June, and was at this very period in the vicinity of that fortress, 
 preparing to invade Upper Canada. 
 
200 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 quarters for militia below Kingston, that to ensure a 
 general arrangement and to adopt the best system that 
 circumstances will admit, he has directed Colonel 
 Lethbridge, the inspecting field officer here, to pro 
 ceed through the line of settlements to see the several 
 colonels and corps of militia, so as to fix their quotas, 
 and afterwards to proceed to Kingston and assume 
 the command of that post, if necessary : he will be 
 placed under your orders, but you will perhaps not 
 wish to bring him in contact with the 41st regiment, 
 as he is senior to Colonel Proctor. 
 
 Sir George desires me to say, that he does not 
 attempt to prescribe specific rules for your guidance 
 they must be directed by your discretion and the 
 circumstances of the time : the present order of the 
 day with him is forbearance, until hostilities are more 
 decidedly marked. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 10, 1812. 
 
 Colonel Lethbridge s departure for Kingston affords 
 me an opportunity of replying more fully and confi 
 dentially to your letter of the 3d instant, than I could 
 venture to have done the day before yesterday by an 
 uncertain conveyance. That officer has been desired 
 to transmit to you, together with this dispatch, a 
 copy of the instructions given to him for his guidance 
 until the exigencies of the service make it necessary 
 in your estimation to substitute others, or to employ 
 the colonel in any other situation of command. In 
 them you will find expressed my sentiments respect 
 ing the mode of conducting the war on our part, 
 suited to the existing circumstances ; and as they 
 change, so must we vary our line of conduct, adapting 
 it to our means of preserving entire the king s pro 
 vinces. 
 
 Our numbers would not justify offensive operations 
 being undertaken, unless they were solely calculated 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 201 
 
 to strengthen a defensive attitude. I consider it 
 prudent and politic to avoid any measure which can 
 in its effect have a tendency to unite the people in 
 the American States. Whilst disunion prevails 
 among them, their attempts on these provinces will 
 be feeble ; it is, therefore, our duty carefully to 
 avoid committing any act which may, even by con 
 struction, tend to unite the eastern and southern states, 
 unless, by its perpetration, we are to derive a consi 
 derable and important advantage. But the govern 
 ment of the United States, resting on public opinion 
 for all its measures, is liable to sudden and violent 
 changes ; it becomes an essential part of our duty to 
 watch the effect of parties on its measures, and to 
 adapt ours to the impulse given by those possessed of 
 influence over the public mind in America. 
 
 Notwithstanding these observations, I have to as 
 sure you of my perfect confidence in your measures 
 for the preservation of Upper Canada. All your 
 wants shall be supplied as fast as possible, except 
 money, of which I have so little, as to be obliged to 
 have recourse to a paper currency. 
 
 The adjutant-general has reported to you the aid 
 we have afforded, in arms and ammunition, to your 
 militia at Cornwall, Glengary, Dundas, and Stormont. 
 
 To prevent an interruption to the communication 
 between the two provinces, it is fit a system of convoy 
 should be established between Montreal and King 
 ston ; and as Major-General de Rottenburg is to 
 remain here in command of a cordon of troops, 
 consisting of regulars and militia, (established in this 
 neighbourhood to prevent an irruption for the plunder 
 of Montreal,) whilst I attend to parliamentary duties 
 at Quebec, on that subject you may communicate 
 direct with the major-general, as he has my instruc 
 tions to co-operate with you in preserving this im 
 portant object. 
 
202 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, July 12, 1812. 
 
 With the exception of occasional firing from the 
 opposite shore, (the unauthorized act of an undis 
 ciplined militia,) nothing of a hostile nature has 
 occurred on this communication since I last had the 
 honor of addressing your excellency. 
 
 The enemy is busy constructing batteries at differ 
 ent points on the river, but he does not appear to 
 have yet received cannon to place in them. We are 
 doing* all we can on this side to counteract his views, 
 and the arrival of the Royal George* and the vessels 
 Tinder her convoy, bringing various pieces of ordnance, 
 will give us in this respect a decided superiority. 
 
 The militia, which assembled here immediately on 
 the account being received of war being declared by 
 the United States, have been improving daily in dis 
 cipline ; but the men evince a degree of impatience 
 under their present restraint, that is far from inspiring 
 confidence. So great was the clamour to return and 
 attend to their farms, that I found myself in some 
 measure compelled to sanction the departure of a 
 large proportion ; and I am not without my appre 
 hensions that the remainder will, in defiance of the 
 law, which can only impose a fine of <20, leave the 
 service the moment the harvest commences. There 
 can be no doubt that a large portion of the population 
 in this neighbourhood are sincere in their professions 
 to defend the country ; but it appears likewise evident 
 to me that the greater part are either indifferent to 
 what is passing, or so completely American as to 
 rejoice in the prospect of a change of government. 
 Many, who now consider our means inadequate, 
 would readily take an active part were the regular 
 troops increased. These cool calculators are nume 
 rous in all societies. 
 
 * The British squadron on Lake Ontario consisted at this time of the 
 ship Royal George, of 24 guns, the brig Moira, of 16 guns, and the Prince 
 Regent, and two other schooners. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 203 
 
 The alacrity and good temper with which the 
 militia, in the first instance, marched to the frontiers, 
 have tended to infuse in the mind of the enemy a 
 very different sentiment of the disposition of the inha 
 bitants, who, he was led to believe would, upon the 
 first summons, declare themselves an American state. 
 The display for several days of a large force was 
 made, I have every reason to believe, in that ex 
 pectation. 
 
 Nearly the whole of the arms at my disposal have 
 been issued. They are barely sufficient to arm the 
 militia immediately required to guard the frontier. 
 Were I furnished with the means of distributing arms 
 among the people, in whom confidence can be placed, 
 they would not only overawe the disaffected, but 
 prove of essential use in the event of invasion. The 
 militia assembled in a wretched state in regard to 
 clothing ; many were without shoes, an article which 
 can scarcely be provided in the country. 
 
 After the cannon, which have arrived this morn 
 ing, are mounted, I shall consider my front perfectly 
 secure. I do not imagine the enemy will hazard a 
 water excursion with a view to turn my flanks. He 
 probably will wait until winter, when the ice will 
 enable him to cross with the utmost facility to any 
 part between Fort Erie and as far as Long Point. 
 My situation will then depend upon the force the 
 enemy may bring to invade the province. Should 
 the troops have to move, the want of tents will be 
 severely felt. 
 
 A person, who left Sandwich yesterday week, pre 
 tends that the enemy was then in the act of cannon 
 ading the place. I have not heard from Lieut.- 
 Colonel St. George since my last letter to your 
 excellency. 
 
 An officer is so absolutely necessary to command 
 in the eastern district, that I have consented to Major- 
 General Shaw proceeding thither in that capacity. 
 I have full confidence in his judgment, and his con- 
 
204 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 duct in the field is undoubted. He of course will 
 assume the command in virtue of his militia rank, 
 and will be liable to be superseded by any lieutenant- 
 colonel your excellency may be pleased to appoint. 
 
 The expense of defending this province will un 
 questionably be great; upon a rough calculation, and 
 supposing that 4,000 militia be constantly embodied, 
 it cannot be estimated at less than ,140,000 per 
 annum. However great the sum, it will be applied 
 to very considerable advantage, provided your excel 
 lency be enabled to send reinforcements, as without 
 them it is scarcely possible that the government of 
 the United States will be so inactive or supine as to 
 permit the present limited force to remain in posses 
 sion of the country. Whatever can be done to pre 
 serve it, or to delay its fall, your excellency may rest 
 assured will be exerted. 
 
 Having been suddenly called away from York, I 
 had not time to close my dispatch, giving your excel 
 lency an account of my proceedings during my stay 
 at Amherstburg. I now have the honor to forward 
 two documents, detailing the steps taken by the 
 Indian department to prevail on that unfortunate 
 people to accommodate their differences with the 
 American government. 
 
 Extract from an American Newspaper. 
 
 BUFFALO, July 14, 1812. 
 
 Major-General Brock is at, present at Newark, superin 
 tending the various defences on the river. He is stated to be 
 an able and experienced officer, with undoubted courage. 
 He came from Little York soon after hearing the declaration 
 of war, and, it was believed, with a serious intention of 
 attacking Fort Niagara, but, contrary to what has been 
 reported, he made no demand of a surrender. 
 
 Expecting a descent from the American army, the Cana 
 dians have, for ten days past, been removing their families 
 and effects from the river into Ihe interior. At Newark, 
 Queenston,and other villages on the river, there are no inha 
 bitants except a few civilians and officers and soldiers. It is 
 even said, that an immense quantity of specie, plate, &c., 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 205 
 
 from various parts of the province, have been boxed up, and 
 destined for Quebec. 
 
 The British are understood to have about six or seven 
 hundred regular troops stationed between the lakes, from 
 Fort George to Fort Erie. These men are generally those 
 who have "seen service" in various parts of the world. The 
 militia of the province are ordered out en masse. 
 
 It is stated by gentlemen of intelligence at Lewistown, that 
 the government of Canada have in their employment, under 
 pay, about 250 Indians, armed complete : a part of them are 
 mounted. 
 
 Brigadier -General William Wadsworth, from Genesee, 
 commands the troops on our frontiers. His aids are Major 
 Adam Hoops and Major W. H. Spencer. His head quarters 
 are now at Lewistown. It is impossible to state the precise 
 number of troops under his command, because the militia 
 ordered on the lines are returning, and the companies com 
 posing the regiments under his command have not all arrived ; 
 but from what we learn, there are in regular troops, volun 
 teers, and detached militia, above 4,000 stationed at Rock, 
 Lewistown, Youngstown, and Fort Niagara. The troops are 
 in excellent health, in good spirits, and well supplied. They 
 appear quite impatient for want of employment. There has 
 been some firing from the sentries on both sides of the river. 
 
 It was reported at Fort Niagara last week, that the British 
 have sent from Little York every armed ship in pursuit of the 
 brig Oneida. 
 
 The British armed ship Queen Charlotte, lying at Fort 
 Erie, soon after the declaration of war was received, left her 
 moorings and proceeded up the lake is now understood to 
 be at Fort Maiden, the great depot of Indian supplies. His 
 majesty s sloop of war Hunter has gone up the straits of 
 Mackina, and passed into Lake Michigan, and captured an 
 American merchant vessel, said to be either the Mary or 
 Salina. We understand an official account of the capture 
 has been received at Fort Erie. 
 
206 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The American government, in anticipation of its 
 declaration of war, had detached from the state of 
 Ohio to the Michigan territory an army of about 
 2,000 men, under the command of Brigadier-General 
 Hull, who, said President Madison in his message to 
 congress, " possessing discretionary authority to act 
 offensively, passed into Canada with a prospect of 
 easy and victorious progress. " The enemy evidently 
 confided in the very limited defensive means of the 
 Upper Province, and in the impossibility of its re 
 ceiving early assistance from the mother country. 
 They relied also on the supposed disaffection of many 
 of its inhabitants, and they expected confidently that, 
 weak and divided, it would fall an easy prey to the 
 invaders ; but they were soon undeceived. This 
 army marched from Dayton, in Ohio, on the 1st of 
 June, and arrived on the 7th at Urbana. On the 
 llth, Colonel M Arthur s regiment of militia was 
 detached to open a road as far^as the Scioto river, on 
 the south bank of which two block-houses, connected 
 by a strong stockade, were erected, and named Fort 
 M< Arthur. From this post to the rapids of the 
 Miami (or Maumee) the distance is about 125 miles, 
 and the route of the army was through a thick and 
 almost trackless forest, as the north-western part of 
 Ohio was at that time scarcely inhabited, so that it 
 became necessary to open a road the whole way for 
 the passage of the many baggage waggons. To 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 207 
 
 guard against the attacks of the hostile Indians at 
 night, the plan of encampment was a hollow square, 
 defended usually by a temporary breast-work of felled 
 trees. On the 26th of June, General Hull received 
 intelligence, by express from Chillicothe, of the decla 
 ration of war, and on the 30th the troops suddenly 
 emerged from a gloomy wilderness to a full view of 
 the broad Miami with a village on the opposite bank, 
 when a beam of joy animated every countenance, 
 and repaid the men for the fatigues of a long and 
 dreary march. Here a small schooner was engaged 
 to carry a quantity of baggage, belonging to the 
 army, to Detroit ; but she fell into the hands of the 
 British near Amherstburg, while on her voyage. 
 On the 4th of July, the army reached the Huron 
 river, 21 miles from Detroit, and the next day en 
 camped at Spring Wells, about 4 miles from that 
 town. On the 8th, the encampment at Spring Wells 
 was abandoned, and the army took up a position in 
 the rear of Detroit, when it was joined by 600 of the 
 Michigan militia, and the necessary preparations 
 were made for the intended invasion. Having cross 
 ed his army over with several field pieces to the 
 Canadian village of -Sandwich on the 12th of July, 
 Hull issued on that day the following insidious but 
 able proclamation, which was doubtless indited at 
 Washington. It will be seen that the American 
 general was made to say, that he did not ask the 
 assistance of the Canadians, as he had no doubt of 
 eventual success, because he came prepared for every 
 contingency with a force which would look down all 
 opposition, and that that force was but the vanguard 
 of a much greater ! 
 
 Inhabitants of Canada ! After thirty years of peace and 
 prosperity, the United States have been driven to arms. 
 The injuries and aggressions, the insults and indignities of 
 Great Britain, have once more left them no alternative but 
 manly resistance or unconditional submission. 
 
 The army under my command has invaded your country, 
 and the standard of union now waves over the territory of 
 
208 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitant, it brings 
 neither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not 
 to make them. I come to protect, not to injure you. 
 
 Separated by an immense ocean, and an extensive wilder 
 ness from Great Britain, you have no participation in her 
 councils, no interest in her conduct. You have felt her 
 tyranny, you have seen her injustice but I do not ask you 
 to avenge the one or redress the other. The United States 
 are sufficiently powerful to afford you every security, consis 
 tent with their rights and your expectations. I tender you 
 the invaluable blessings of civil, political, and religious liber 
 ty, and their necessary result, individual and general pros 
 perity that liberty which gave decision to our councils and 
 energy to our conduct in our struggle for independence, and 
 which conducted us safely and triumphantly through the 
 stormy period of the revolution that liberty which has raised 
 us to an elevated rank among the nations of the world, and 
 which has afforded us a greater measure of peace and secu 
 rity, of wealth and improvement, than ever yet fell to the lot 
 of any people. 
 
 In the name of my country, and by the authority of my 
 government, I promise protection to your persons, property, 
 and rights. Remain at your homes pursue your peaceful 
 and customary avocations raise not your hands against 
 your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedom 
 and independence we now enjoy. Being children, therefore, 
 of the same family with us, and heirs to the same heritage, 
 the arrival of an army of friends must be hailed by you with 
 a cordial welcome. You will be emancipated from tyranny 
 and oppression, and restored to the dignified station of 
 freemen. 
 
 Had I any doubt of eventual success, I might ask your 
 assistance but I do not. I come prepared for every con 
 tingency. I have a force which will look down all opposition, 
 and that force is but the vanguard of a much greater. If, 
 contrary to your own interests and the just expectation of 
 my country, you should take part in the approaching con 
 test, you will be considered and treated as enemies, and the 
 horrors and calamities of war will stalk before you. If the 
 barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and 
 the savages be let loose to murder our citizens, and butcher 
 our women and children, this war will be a war of extermin 
 ation. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt 
 with the scalping knife, will be the signal of one indiscrimi 
 nate scene of desolation. No white man, found fighting by 
 the side of an Indian, will be taken prisoner instant des 
 truction will be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty, 
 justice, and humanity, cannot prevent the employment of a 
 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 209 
 
 force which respects no rights and knows no wrong, it will be 
 prevented by a severe and relentless system of retaliation. 
 
 I doubt not your courage and firmness I will not doubt 
 your attachment to liberty. If you tender your services 
 voluntarily, they will be accepted readily. The United States 
 offer you peace, liberty, and security. Your choice lies 
 between these and war, slavery and destruction. Choose, 
 then, but choose wisely ; and may He who knows the justice 
 of our cause, and who holds in his hand the fate of nations, 
 guide you to a result the most compatible with your rights 
 and interests, your peace and prosperity. 
 
 W. HULL. 
 By the General, A. F. HULL. 
 
 Capt. 13th Regt. U. S. Infantry, and 
 Head Quarters, Aide-de-Camp. 
 
 Sandwich, July 12, 1812. 
 
 The following counter-proclamation* was published 
 by Major-General Brock, "a proclamation as re 
 markable for the solid reasoning and dignity of its 
 language, as that of the American for its presump 
 tion, "i and it had an immediate and most salutary 
 effect. 
 
 The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of 
 America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
 Ireland, and its dependencies, has been followed by the 
 actual invasion of this province, in a remote frontier of the 
 western district, by a detachment of the armed force of the 
 United States. 
 
 The officer commanding that detachment has thought 
 proper to invite his majesty s subjects, not merely to a quiet 
 and unresisting submission, but insults them with a call to 
 seek voluntarily the protection of his government. 
 
 Without condescending to repeat the illiberal epithets be 
 stowed in this appeal of the American commander to the 
 people of Upper Canada, on the administration of his majesty, 
 every inhabitant of the province is desired to seek the confu 
 tation of such indecent slander in the review of his own 
 particular circumstances. Where is the Canadian subject 
 who can truly affirm to himself that he has been injured by 
 the government, in his person, his property, or his liberty ? 
 Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so 
 rapid in prosperity and wealth, as this colony exhibits ? 
 
 * It will be seen in the sequel, that Mr. Justice Powell is believed in 
 Upper Canada to have been the author of this counter-proclamation, 
 t Christie s Memoirs, already cited. 
 
210 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Settled, not thirty years, by a band of veterans, exiled from 
 their former possessions on account of their loyalty, not a 
 descendant of these brave people is to be found, who, under 
 the fostering liberality of their sovereign, has not acquired a 
 property and means of enjoyment superior to what were 
 possessed by their ancestors. 
 
 This unequalled prosperity would not have been attained 
 by the utmost liberality of the government, or the persevering 
 industry of the people, had not the maritime power of the 
 mother country secured to its colonists a safe access to every 
 market, where the produce of their labour was in request. 
 
 The unavoidable and immediate consequences of a separa 
 tion from Great Britain must be the loss of this inestimable 
 advantage ; and what is offered you in exchange ? To become 
 a territory of the United States, and share with them that 
 exclusion from the ocean which the policy of their govern 
 ment enforces ; you are not even flattered with a participation 
 of their boasted independence ; and it is but too obvious 
 that, once estranged from the powerful protection of the 
 United Kingdom, you must be re-annexed to the dominion 
 of France, from which the provinces of Canada were wrested 
 by the arms of Great Britain, at a vast expense of blood and 
 treasure, from no other motive than to relieve her ungrateful 
 children from the oppression of a cruel neighbour. This 
 restitution of Canada to the empire of France, was the stipu 
 lated reward for the aid afforded to the revolted colonies, 
 now the United States ; the debt is still due, and there can 
 be no doubt but the pledge has been renewed as a consider 
 ation for commercial advantages, or rather for an expected 
 relaxation in the tyranny of France over the commercial 
 world. Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become 
 willing subjects, or rather slaves, to the despot who rules the 
 nations of continental Europe with a rod of iron ? If not, 
 arise in a body, exert your energies, co-operate cordially 
 with the king s regular forces to repel the invader, and do 
 not give cause to your children, when groaning under the 
 oppression of a foreign master, to reproach you with having 
 so easily parted with the richest inheritance of this earth 
 a participation in the name, character, and freedom of 
 Britons! 
 
 The same spirit of justice, which will make every reason 
 able allowance for the unsuccessful efforts of zeal and loyalty, 
 will not fail to punish the defalcation of principle. Every 
 Canadian freeholder is, by deliberate choice, bound by the 
 most solemn oaths to defend the monarchy, as well as his 
 own property ; to shrink from that engagement is a treason 
 not to be forgiven. Let no man suppose that if, in this 
 unexpected struggle, his majesty s arms should be compelled 
 to yield to an overwhelming force, the province will be even- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 211 
 
 tually abandoned j the endeared relations of its first settlers, 
 the intrinsic value of its commerce, and the pretensions of 
 its powerful rival to repossess the Canadas, are pledges that 
 no peace will be established between the United States and 
 Great Britain and Ireland, of which the restoration of these 
 provinces does not make the most prominent condition. 
 
 Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the com 
 mander of the enemy s forces to refuse quarter, should an 
 Indian appear in the ranks. The brave bands of aborigines 
 which inhabit this colony were, like his majesty s other sub 
 jects, punished for their zeal and fidelity, by the loss of their 
 possessions in the late colonies, and rewarded by his majesty 
 with lands of superior value in this province. The faith of 
 the British government has never yet been violated the 
 Indians feel that the soil they inherit is to them and their 
 posterity protected from the base arts so frequently devised 
 to over-reach their simplicity. By what new principle are 
 they to be prohibited from defending their property? If 
 their warfare, from being different to that of the white 
 people, be more terrific to the enemy, let him retrace his 
 steps they seek him not and cannot expect to find women 
 and children in an invading army. But they are men, and 
 have equal rights with all other men to defend themselves 
 and their property when invaded, more especially when they 
 find in the enemy s camp a ferocious and mortal foe, using 
 the same warfare which the American commander affects to 
 reprobate. 
 
 This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quar 
 ter, for such a cause as being found in arms with a brother 
 sufferer, in defence of invaded rights, must be exercised with 
 the certain assurance of retaliation, not only in the limited 
 operations of war in this part of the king s dominions, but in 
 every quarter of the globe ; for the national character of 
 Britain is not less distinguished for humanity than strict 
 retributive justice, which will consider the execution of this 
 inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject 
 of the offending power must make expiation. 
 
 ISAAC BROCK, 
 
 Head Quarters, Major-Gen, and President. 
 
 Fort George, July 22, 1812. 
 
 By order of his honor the president. 
 
 J. B. GLEGG, 
 Captain and Aide-de-Camp. 
 
212 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, July 20, 1812. 
 
 My last to your excellency was dated the 12th 
 instant, since which nothing extraordinary has occur 
 red on this communication. The enemy has evidently 
 diminished his force, and appears to have no intention 
 of making an immediate attack. 
 
 I have herewith the honor of enclosing the copy of 
 two letters which I have received from Lieut. -Colonel 
 St. George, together with some interesting documents 
 found on board a schooner, which the boats of the 
 Hunter captured on her voyage from the Miami to 
 Detroit. 
 
 From the accompanying official correspondence 
 between General Hull and the secretary at war, it 
 appears that the collected force which has arrived at 
 Detroit amounts to about 2,000 men. I have re 
 quested Colonel Proctor to proceed to Amherstburg, 
 and ascertain accurately the state of things in that 
 quarter. I had every inclination to go there myself, 
 but the meeting of the legislature on the 27th instant 
 renders it impossible. 
 
 I receive this moment a dispatch, dated the 15th 
 instant, from Lieut. -Colonel St. George, giving an 
 account of the enemy having landed on the 12th, and 
 immediately after occupied the village of Sandwich. 
 It is strange that three days should be allowed to 
 elapse before sending to acquaint me of this important 
 fact. I had no idea, until I received Lieut. -Colonel 
 St. George s letter a few days ago, that General Hull 
 was advancing with so large a force. 
 
 The militia, from every account, behaved very ill. 
 The officers appear the most in fault. Colonel Proctor 
 will probably reach Amherstburg in the course of to 
 morrow. I have great dependance in that officer s 
 decision, but fear he will arrive too late to be of 
 much service. The enemy was not likely to delay 
 attacking a force that had allowed him to cross the 
 river in open day without firing a shot. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 213 
 
 The position which Lieut. -Colonel St. George oc 
 cupies is very good, and infinitely more formidable 
 than the fort itself. Should he therefore be compelled 
 to retire, I know of no other alternative than his 
 embarking in the king s vessels and proceeding to 
 Fort Erie. 
 
 Were it possible to animate the militia to a proper 
 sense of their duty, something might yet be done 
 but I almost despair. 
 
 Your excellency will readily perceive the critical 
 situation in which the reduction of Amherstburg will 
 place me. 
 
 I do not imagine General Hull will be able to xle- 
 tach more than 1,000 men, but even with that trifling 
 force I much fear he will succeed in getting to my 
 rear. The militia will not act without a strong regu 
 lar force to set them the example ; and as I must 
 now expect to be seriously threatened, I cannot in 
 prudence make strong detachments, which would not 
 only weaken my line of defence, but, in the event of 
 a retreat, endanger their safety. 
 
 I am now given to understand that General Hull s 
 insidious proclamation, herewith enclosed, has already 
 been productive of considerable effect on the minds 
 of the people. In fact, a general sentiment prevails 
 that, with the present force, resistance is unavailing. 
 I shall continue to exert myself to the utmost to 
 overcome every difficulty. Should, however, the 
 communication between Kingston and Montreal be 
 cut off, the fate of the troops in this part of the pro 
 vince will be decided. I now express my apprehen 
 sions on a supposition that the slender means your 
 excellency possesses will not admit of diminution ; 
 consequently, that I need not look for reinforcements. 
 It is evidently not the intention of the enemy to make 
 any attempt to penetrate into the province by this 
 strait, unless the present force be diminished. He 
 seems much more inclined to work on the flanks, 
 aware that if he succeed every other part must very 
 soon submit. 
 
214 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 My last official communication from the Lower 
 Province is dated the 25th ultimo, when the adju 
 tant-general announced the receipt of intelligence, by 
 a mercantile house, of war being declared by the 
 United States against Great Britain. 
 
 Major- General Sir Thomas Saumarez, Kt.,* to Major- 
 General Brock. 
 
 HALIFAX, July 22, 1812. 
 
 Being this moment informed that an express is to 
 be dispatched immediately from hence to Quebec, I 
 have great pleasure in having an opportunity to 
 inquire after your health and welfare, and to acquaint 
 you that your relation, Lady Saumarez, f and myself, 
 arrived here about a month since. I assure you we 
 consider ourselves particularly fortunate in not having 
 fallen into the enemy s hands, as the Americans had 
 declared war a week before we reached this. We 
 came out in a very valuable ordnance store ship, 
 which would have been a great acquisition to the 
 enemy, at the breaking out of a war especially ; and 
 the loss to us would have been seriously felt here, as 
 all the stores on board were very much required. 
 Another ship with naval stores accompanied us ; 
 they were much wanted by our squadron, and possi 
 bly as much so by the ships of the enemy. Our 
 squadron on this station has been very active. Prizes 
 arrive here daily, I could almost say hourly. The 
 Emulous brig brought in ten yesterday, and 30,000 
 dollars were found on board some of them. Mr. 
 Foster, late ambassador to the American States, has 
 been here nearly a week ; he is to sail for England 
 to-day. According to the best information we can 
 
 * General Sir Thomas Saumarez, then commandant at Halifax, and in 
 1813 president of the council and commander-in-chief of New Brunswick ; 
 now in his 85th year, and brother of the late Admiral Lord de Saumarez. 
 
 t Lady Saumarez was Harriet Brock, his first cousin. Another of his 
 first cousins, Emily Brock, was the wife of Lieut.- General Sir John 
 Cameron, K. C. B., colonel of the 9th foot, and a very distinguished officer 
 in the Peninsular war. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 215 
 
 obtain here, the Northern and Eastern States of Ame 
 rica are extremely inimical to, and dissatisfied with, 
 the war ; so much so, that there is reason to suppose 
 they will dissolve the Union shortly, and declare 
 themselves totally independent of the Southern and 
 Western States. 
 
 The American privateers are extremely numerous 
 and daring in this neighbourhood ; and, I am sorry 
 to add, they have proved but too successful, having 
 captured several of our vessels bound to Quebec and 
 New Brunswick, and some to this port. I received 
 a note about an hour ago from Lieut. -Colonel Pear 
 son, who sailed from hence last Sunday, with his 
 wife and family, for Quebec, being appointed inspect 
 ing field officer in Canada, to inform me that he had 
 been made prisoner by an American privateer. Most 
 of our ships are looking out for the squadron the 
 Americans have at sea, under Commodore Rodgers, 
 who is supposed to have sailed from New York with 
 a view to intercept our West India fleet, homeward 
 bound. 
 
 We are as busy here as possible in placing all our 
 out-posts in the best state of defence. I suppose you 
 are not less so. 
 
 A transport, with 140 men of the Royals, from the 
 West Indies to Quebec, was boarded by the Essex, 
 American frigate, about ten days ago, and permitted 
 to proceed, on condition that the master of the vessel 
 promised to pay a ransom of 12,000 dollars for her ; 
 and that the officer commanding considered himself 
 on parole, and gave his assurance that the troops 
 would not fight against the Americans during the 
 war. The transport arrived here yesterday, and the 
 remainder of the battalion is supposed to have reached 
 Quebec. 
 
 You have probably heard of the many improve 
 ments in our little island. An excellent road was 
 finished from town to Vazon Bay, and from Fort 
 George to Rocquaine ; also one from town to Lan- 
 
216 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 cresse. The Brave du Yalle is now under a state of 
 cultivation. Roads of communication were nearly 
 finished ; one of them from what is called the Long 
 Store passes Amherst Barracks and my house, and 
 joins the great road to the Forest and St. Martin s : 
 the opening of all these have discovered many beau 
 tiful views, which we did not know Guernsey pos 
 sessed. 
 
 If there should be any thing I can do for you or 
 my nephew, James Brock, I beg that you will afford 
 me the pleasure of executing your commissions. I 
 have not time to add more, but to assure you both of 
 Lady S. s and my best wishes and regards. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, July 25, 1812. 
 
 Since my dispatch to your excellency of the 20th 
 instant, I have received information of the enemy 
 having made frequent and extensive inroads from 
 Sandwich up the river Thames. I have in conse 
 quence been induced to detach Capt. Chambers* with 
 about 50 of the 41st regiment to the Moravian town, 
 where I have directed 200 militia to join him. From 
 the loud and apparently warm professions of the In 
 dians residing on the Grand River, I made no doubt 
 of finding at all times a large majority ready to take 
 the field and act in conjunction with our troops ; but 
 accounts received this morning state that they have 
 determined to remain neutral, and they have con 
 sequently refused, with the exception of about fifty, 
 to join Captain Chambers detachment. 
 
 I meditated a diversion to the westward, the mo 
 ment I could collect a sufficient number of militia, in 
 Ihe hope of compelling General Hull to retreat across 
 the river; but this unexpected intelligence has ruined 
 the whole of my plans. The militia, which I destined 
 
 * Senior lieutenant-colonel of the 4 1st regiment in India, in 1828, and 
 aC.B. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 217 
 
 for this service, will now be alarmed, and unwilling 
 to leave their families to the mercy of 400 Indians, 
 whose conduct affords such wide room for suspicion ; 
 and really to expect that this fickle race will remain 
 in a state of neutrality in the midst of war, would be 
 truly absurd. The Indians have probably been led to 
 this change of sentiment by emissaries from General 
 Hull, whose proclamation to the Six Nations is here 
 with enclosed. 
 
 I have not deemed it of sufficient consequence to 
 commence active operations on this line, by an attack 
 on Fort Niagara. It can be demolished, when found 
 necessary, in half an hour, and there my means of 
 annoyance would terminate. To enable the militia 
 to acquire some degree of discipline without inter 
 ruption, is of far greater consequence than such a 
 conquest. Every thing in my power shall be done to 
 overcome the difficulties by which I am surrounded ; 
 but without strong reinforcements, I fear the country 
 cannot be roused to make exertions equal to meet 
 this crisis. 
 
 I proceed immediately to York, to attend the 
 meeting of the legislature, and I hope to return on 
 Wednesday. The charge of this frontier will in the 
 mean time devolve on Lieut. -Colonel Myers, who 
 appears worthy of every confidence. The actual in 
 vasion of the province has compelled me to recall 
 that portion of the militia, whom I permitted to return 
 home and work at harvest. I am prepared to hear 
 of much discontent in consequence ; the disaffected 
 will take advantage of it, and add fuel to the flame. 
 But it may not be without reason that I may be ac 
 cused of having already studied their convenience and 
 humour to the injury of the service. 
 
 I should have derived much consolation in the 
 midst of my present difficulties had I been honored, 
 previously to the meeting of the legislature, with your 
 excellency s determination in regard to this province. 
 That it cannot be maintained with its present force is 
 
218 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 very obvious ; and unless the enemy be driven from 
 Sandwich, it will be impossible to avert much longer 
 the impending ruin of the country. Numbers have 
 already joined the invading army; commotions are 
 excited ; and the late occurrences at Sandwich have 
 spread a general gloom. I have not heard from 
 Lieut. -Colonel St. George, or from any individual at 
 Amherstburg, since I last had the honor of addressing 
 your excellency, which makes me apprehensive that 
 Colonel Proctor has been detained on his journey too 
 long for the good of the service. 
 
 The enemy s cavalry, amounting to about fifty, are 
 led by one Watson, a surveyor from Montreal of a 
 desperate character. This fellow has been allowed to 
 parade with about twenty men of the same description 
 as far as Westminster,* vowing as they went along 
 the most bitter vengeance against the first characters 
 in the province. Nothing can shew more strongly 
 the state of apathy which exists in most parts of the 
 country ; but I am perhaps too liberal in attributing 
 the conduct of the inhabitants to that cause. 
 
 Mr. Couche has represented to the head of his 
 department the total impracticability of carrying on 
 the public service without a remittance of specie, or a 
 government paper substitute. He was in expectation 
 of making arrangements with some individuals that 
 would have enabled him to proceed, but I much fear 
 that the whole project has fallen to the ground. The 
 militia on this communication were so clamorous for 
 their pay, that I directed Mr. Couche to make the 
 necessary advances, and this has drained him of the 
 little specie in his possession. 
 
 My present civil office not only authorizes me to 
 convene general courts martial for the trial of offend 
 ers belonging to the militia, but likewise the infliction 
 of the sentence of death ; whilst in regard to the mi 
 litary, my power is limited to the mere assembling of 
 the court. I beg leave to submit to the consideration 
 
 * About 110 miles in the interior, or east of Sandwich. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 219 
 
 of your excellency, whether in times like the present 
 I ought not to be invested with equal authority over 
 each service. 
 
 I herewith have the honor to transmit two letters, 
 one from Captain Roberts, commanding at St. Jo 
 seph s, and the second from Mr. Dickson, a gentleman 
 every way capable of forming a correct judgment of 
 the actual state of the Indians. Nothing can be more 
 deplorable than his description ; yet the United States 
 government accuse Great Britain of instigating that 
 people to war. Is not the true cause to be found in 
 the state of desperation to which they are reduced by 
 the unfriendly and unjust measures of that govern 
 ment towards them ? 
 
 On the 27th of July, 1812, Major-General Brock 
 returned to York from Fort George, on which day, 
 accompanied by a numerous suite, he opened the 
 extra session of the legislature, and delivered the fol 
 lowing speeches. 
 
 Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 
 The urgency of the present crisis is the only consideration 
 which could have induced me to call you together at a time 
 when public, as well as private, duties elsewhere, demand 
 your care and attention. 
 
 But, gentlemen, when invaded by an enemy whose avowed 
 object is the entire conquest of the province, the voice of 
 loyalty, as well as of interest, calls aloud to every person in 
 the sphere in which he is placed to defend his country. 
 
 Our militia have heard that voice, and have obeyed it; 
 they have evinced, by the promptitude and loyalty of their 
 conduct, that they are worthy of the king whom they serve, 
 and of the constitution which they enjoy ; and it affords me 
 particular satisfaction, that while I address you as legislators, 
 I speak to men who, in the day of danger, will be ready to 
 assist, not only with their counsel, but with their arms. 
 
 We look, gentlemen, to our militia, as well as to the regu 
 lar forces, for our protection ; but I should be wanting to 
 that important trust committed to my care, if I attempted to 
 conceal (what experience, the great instructor of mankind, 
 
220 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and especially of legislators, has discovered,) that amendment 
 is necessary in our militia laws to render them efficient. 
 
 It is for you to consider what further improvements they 
 still may require. 
 
 Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 
 From the history and experience of our mother country, we 
 learn that in times of actual invasion or internal commotion, 
 the ordinary course of criminal law has been found inadequate 
 to secure his majesty s government from private treachery 
 as well as from open disaffection ; and that at such times its 
 legislature has found it expedient to enact laws restraining, 
 for a limited period, the liberty of individuals, in many cases 
 where it would be dangerous to expose the particulars of the 
 charge ; and although the actual invasion of the province 
 might justify me in the exercise of the full powers reposed in 
 me on such an emergency, yet it will be more agreeable to 
 me to receive the sanction of the two houses. 
 
 A few traitors have already joined the enemy, have been 
 suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have 
 been harboured and concealed in the interior; yet the general 
 spirit of loyalty which appears to pervade the inhabitants of 
 this province, is such as to authorize a just expectation that 
 their efforts to mislead and deceive will be unavailing. The 
 disaffected, I am convinced, are few to protect and defend 
 the loyal inhabitants from their machinations, is an object 
 worthy of your most serious deliberation. 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 I have directed the public accounts of the province to be 
 laid before you, in as complete a state as this unusual period 
 will admit ; they will afford you the means of ascertaining to 
 what extent you can aid in providing for the extraordinary 
 demands occasioned by the employment of the militia, and I 
 doubt not but to that extent you will cheerfully contribute. 
 
 Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and 
 
 Gentlemen of the House of Assembly. 
 We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By 
 unanimity and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour in our 
 operations, we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a coun 
 try defended by free men, enthusiastically devoted to the cause 
 of their king and constitution, can never be conquered ! 
 
 The invasion of the western district by Brigadier- 
 General Hull, and the artful and threatening language 
 of his proclamation, were productive at the outset of 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 221 
 
 very unfavorable effects among a large portion of 
 the inhabitants of Upper Canada; arid so general was 
 the despondency, that the Norfolk militia, consisting, 
 we believe, chiefly of settlers of American origin, 
 peremptorily refused to march. The majority of the 
 members of the house of assembly were impressed 
 with the same gloomy forebodings, and that body 
 appeared by its proceedings rather to court the favor 
 of the enemy than fearlessly to perform its duty. It 
 was, therefore, prorogued upon passing the money 
 bills, as no advantage could result from its remaining 
 longer in session. The state of the province required 
 the most prompt and decisive measures for its pre 
 servation, and Major-General Brock considered its 
 situation at this moment as extremely critical. With 
 the concurrence of his counsel, to whom he represent 
 ed his many difficulties, he is said to have resolved 
 on exercising martial law whenever he should find it 
 necessary, although the house of assembly had reject 
 ed its enactment, even in a modified form. Not only 
 among the militia was a disposition evinced to sub 
 mit tamely, but five hundred in the western district 
 sought the protection of the enemy. It is true that 
 the people there were far removed from the seat of 
 government, and the more subject to hostile influence, 
 as they were principally composed of French Cana 
 dians and of the natives of the United States, or their 
 immediate descendants ; but even the Indians, who 
 were located on the Grand River, in the heart of the 
 province, positively refused, with a few exceptions, 
 to take up arms ; and they announced their intention, 
 after the return of some of their chiefs from General 
 Hull, to remain neutral, as if they wished the autho 
 rities to believe that they could be tranquil in the 
 midst of warfare. Major-General Brock had not 
 long administered the government of the province, 
 but where he was individually known, and where his 
 personal influence extended, a better sentiment pre 
 vailed; and his counter-proclamation served not only 
 
222 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to animate the well-disposed, but to counteract the 
 machinations of the disaffected. The confident tone of 
 his address to the provincial parliament was also pro 
 ductive of the best effects, whatever inward misgiv 
 ings he might have felt ; and those who were dastardly 
 enough to join the invaders of their native or adopted 
 country, were quickly taught to repent of their base 
 ness and treason. And the British general s empha 
 tic assurance to the legislature, prophetic as it proved 
 in this contest, should not be forgotten in a future 
 war by those Canadians who seek to preserve "the 
 richest inheritance of this earth a participation in 
 the name, character, and freedom of Britons." * 
 
 "BY UNANIMITY AND DISPATCH IN OUR COUNCILS, 
 AND BY VIGOUR IN OUR OPERATIONS, WE MAY TEACH 
 THE ENEMY THIS LESSON, THAT A COUNTRY DEFENDED 
 BY FREE MEN, ENTHUSIASTICALLY DEVOTED TO THE 
 CAUSE OF THEIR KING AND CONSTITUTION, CAN NEVER 
 BE CONQUERED ! " 
 
 * Major-General Brock s proclamation, in answer to that of General 
 Hull, ante. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 223 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 We have mentioned that Major-General Brock had 
 in the spring provided for the protection of Fort St. 
 Joseph, a small British post, distant by water nearly 
 700 miles from York, and situate about 50 miles, also 
 by water, to the north-east of the American island 
 and fort of Michilimackinac, or as now often abbre 
 viated, Mackinaw, which island is in latitude 45 30 
 north, and longitude 84 30 west;* and one of his 
 first cares, on hearing of the declaration of the war, 
 was to send, on the 26th of June, a notification of it 
 to Captain Roberts, who was stationed at St. Joseph 
 with a detachment of the 10th Royal Veteran Batta 
 lion, accompanied by orders to make an immediate 
 attack upon Michilimackinac, if practicable ; or, in 
 the event of an attack by the Americans upon St. 
 Joseph, to defend it to the utmost. Captain Roberts 
 
 * For a description of this island, see page 180. 
 
 " Fort Michilimackinac was built by order of the governor. general of 
 Canada, and garrisoned with a small number of militia, who, having 
 families, soon became less soldiers than settlers. Most of those, whom I 
 found in the fort, had originally served in the French army. 
 
 " The fort stands on the south side of the strait which is between Lake 
 Huron and Lake Michigan. It has an area of two acres, and is enclosed 
 with pickets of cedar wood; (thuya occidentalls;) and it is so near the 
 water s edge, that, when the wind is in the west, the waves break against 
 the stockade. On the bastions are two small pieces olf brass English 
 cannon, taken some years since by a party of Canadians, who went on 
 a plundering expedition against the posts of Hudson s Bay, which they 
 reached by the route of the river Churchill. 
 
 Within the stockade are thirty houses, neat in their appearance, and 
 tolerably commodious ; and a church, in which mass is celebrated, by a 
 Jesuit missionary. The number of families may be nearly equal to that 
 of the houses; and their subsistence is derived from the Indian traders, 
 who assemble here, in their voyages to and from Montreal. Henry s 
 Travels, (1761,) cited ante. 
 
224 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 received at the same time another letter from Major- 
 General Brock, dated the 27th of June, suspending 
 the orders for the attack from the uncertainty he was 
 under of the declaration of war. In a third letter, 
 dated Fort George, the 28th of June, Major-General 
 Brock, being sufficiently informed of such a decla 
 ration, directed Captain Roberts to adopt the most 
 prompt and effectual measures to possess himself of 
 Michilimackinac, and for this purpose to summon to 
 his assistance the Indians within his influence, as well 
 as the gentlemen and dependants of the British fur 
 companies near his post. On the day that Captain 
 Roberts received this letter, another reached him 
 from. Sir George Prevost, dated Quebec, 25th of 
 June, by which he was directed to take every pre 
 caution to secure his post against any attempt by the 
 enemy, and in case of necessity to effect his retreat. 
 Thus it would seem that the commander-in-chief had 
 forgotten Major-General Brock s* advice a few months 
 previously, and it never occurred to him that the best 
 way to secure St. Joseph was to capture Michili 
 mackinac. This contrariety of instructions from the 
 two general officers did not fail to perplex Captain 
 Roberts, who, however, with great promptitude and 
 decision made preparations for the attack, By ano 
 ther dispatch of the 4th of July, from Major-General 
 Brock, Captain Roberts was left at his own discretion 
 to adopt either offensive or defensive measures, as 
 circumstances might dictate. On the 16th of July, 
 he accordingly set out with a flotilla of boats and 
 canoes, in which were embarked 45 officers and men 
 of the 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, about 180 Ca 
 nadians, and nearly 400 Indians, the whole convoyed 
 by the Caledonia brig, belonging to the North -West 
 company ; and on the ensuing morning, the British 
 force effected a landing before Michilimackinac, t 
 the garrison of which, consisting only of 61 officers 
 
 * See his letter of the 12th of February, 1812, to Colonel Baynes. 
 t See Captain Roberts Dispatch, Appendix A, Sec. 1, No. 2. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 225 
 
 and men, immediately surrendered by capitulation. 
 A quantity of military stores and seven hundred 
 packs of furs were found in the fort, and its sur 
 render had a very favorable effect upon the Indians, 
 a large number of whom now joined in open hostility 
 against the Americans. It will be found by a letter 
 of the 12th of August, from Sir George Prevost, who 
 appears to have seen no safety but in defensive mea 
 sures, that he would not have approved of the attack 
 on Michilimackinac if it had occurred prior to Hull s 
 invasion ! And yet that officer, in his official dispatch 
 relative to the capture of his army and the surrender 
 of Detroit, attributed his disasters partly to the fall 
 of Michilimackinac, which he said opened the north 
 ern hive of Indians against him ! * 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, July 29, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith a dispatch 
 this instant received from Captain Roberts, announ 
 cing the surrender by capitulation, on the 17th in 
 stant, of Fort Michilimackinac. 
 
 The conduct of this officer since his appointment 
 to the command of that distant post, has been distin 
 guished by much zeal and judgment, and his recent 
 eminent display of those qualities, your excellency 
 
 * In his dispatch to the Hon. W. Eustis, the American Secretary at 
 War, dated Fort George, August 26, 18i2, Genera) Hull, who is however 
 accused by his own countrymen with having greatly magnified his diffi 
 culties, said : " After the surrender of Michilimackinac, almost every tribe 
 and nation of Indians, excepting a part of the Miamies and Delawares, 
 north from beyond Lake Superior, west from beyond the Mississippi, 
 south from the Ohio and Wabash, and east from every part of Upper 
 Canada, and from all the intermediate country, joined in open hostility, 
 under the British standard, against the army I commanded, contrary to 
 the most solemn assurance of a large portion of them to remain neutral ; 
 even the Ottowa chiefs, from Arbecrotch, who formed the delegation to 
 Washington the last summer, in whose friendship I know you had great 
 confidence, are among the hostile tribes, and several of them distinguished 
 leaders. Among the vast number of chiefs who led the hostile bands, 
 Tecumseh, Marpplt, Logan, Walk-in-the-Water, Split-log, &c., are con. 
 sidered the principals." 
 
 T* 
 
226 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 will find, has been attended with the most happy 
 effect.* 
 
 The militia stationed here volunteered this morning 
 their services to any part of the province, without the 
 least hesitation. I have selected 100, whom I have 
 directed to proceed without delay to Long Point, 
 where I purpose collecting a force for the relief of 
 Amherstburg. This example, I hope, will be followed 
 by as many as may be required. By the militia law, 
 a man refusing to march may be fined <5, or con 
 fined three months ; and although I have assembled 
 the legislature for the express purpose of amending 
 the act, I much fear nothing material will be done. 
 Your excellency will scarcely believe that this infatu 
 ated house of assembly have refused, by a majority of 
 two, to suspend for a limited time the habeas corpus. 
 
 The capture of Michilimackinac may produce great 
 changes to the westward. The actual invasion of the 
 province justifies every act of hostility on the Ame 
 rican territory. 
 
 It was not till this morning that I was honored 
 with your excellency s dispatches, dated the 7th and 
 10th instant. Their contents, I beg to assure your 
 excellency, have relieved my mind considerably. I 
 doubt whether General Hull had instructions to cross 
 to this side of the river ; I rather suspect he was 
 compelled by a want of provisions. I embark im 
 mediately in the Prince Regent for Fort George. 
 I return here the day after to-morrow, and shall 
 probably dissolve the legislature. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, July 31, 1812. 
 
 I have received your letter of the 20th instant, ac 
 companied by the copy of two letters from Lieut.- 
 
 * It strikes us as singular that Captain Roberts was not promoted to at 
 least a brevet majority for the capture of this important post, although he 
 had an overwhelming force, and took it without resistance. Was this 
 promotion withheld because the capture was effected contrary to Sir 
 George Prevost s orders ? 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 227 
 
 Colonel St. George, who is in command at Amherst- 
 burg, and some interesting documents found on board 
 a schooner, which had been taken by the boats of the 
 Hunter. 
 
 In consequence of your having desired Colonel 
 Proctor to proceed to Amherstburg, and of your pre 
 sence being necessary at the seat of government to 
 meet the legislature of Upper Canada, I have taken 
 upon myself to place Major-General Sbeaffe on the 
 staff, to enable me to send him to assist you in the 
 arduous task you have to perform, in the able execu 
 tion of which I have great confidence. He has been 
 accordingly directed to proceed without delay to 
 Upper Canada, there to place himself under your 
 command.* 
 
 I believe you are authorized by the commission 
 under which you administer the government of Upper 
 Canada, to declare martial law in the event of inva 
 sion or insurrection ; it is, therefore, for you to con 
 sider whether you can obtain any thing equivalent to 
 that power from your legislature. I have not suc 
 ceeded in obtaining a modification of it in Lower 
 Canada, and must therefore, upon the occurrence of 
 either of those calamities, declare the law martial 
 unqualified, and of course shut the doors of the courts 
 of civil law. 
 
 The report transmitted by Captain Dixon, of the 
 Royal Engineers, to Lieut. -Colonel Bruyeres, of the 
 state of defence in which he had placed Fort Am- 
 herstburg, together with the description of the troops 
 allotted for its defence, give me a foreboding that the 
 result of General Hull s attempt upon that fort will 
 terminate honorably to our arms. 
 
 If Lieut.-Colonel St. George be possessed of the 
 talents and resources required to form a soldier, he is 
 
 * This accidental appointment gained Major-General Sheaffe a baro 
 netcy a few weeks afterwards, and subsequently a regiment. Such is 
 fortune ! At this time Major-General Shaw, a senior officer to Major- 
 General Sheaffe, was serving as a colonel of militia in Upper Canada. 
 See page 203. 
 
228 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fortunate in the opportunity of displaying them. 
 Should General Hull be compelled to relinquish his 
 operations against Amherstburg, it will be proper his 
 future movements should be most carefully observed, 
 as his late march exhibits a more than ordinary 
 character of enterprize. 
 
 Your supposition of my slender means is but too 
 correct ; notwithstanding, you may rely upon every 
 exertion being made to preserve uninterrupted the 
 communication between Kingston and Montreal, arid 
 that I will also give all possible support to your 
 endeavours to overcome every difficulty. 
 
 The possession of Maiden, which I consider means 
 Amherstburg, appears a favorite object with the go 
 vernment of the United States. I sincerely hope you 
 will disappoint them. 
 
 Should the intelligence, which arrived yesterday 
 by the way of Newfoundland, prove correct, a re 
 markable coincidence will exist in the revocation of 
 our orders in council as regards America, and the 
 declaration of war by congress against England, both 
 having taken place on the same day in London and at 
 Washington, the 17th June. 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, August 1, 1812. 
 
 Sir George yesterday received your letter of the 
 20th with its several enclosures, which are, I assure 
 you, highly interesting to all, and doubly so to those 
 who feel warmly and sincerely attached to you ; and 
 few, I believe, possess more friends and well wishers 
 than yourself. 100 effective of the Newfoundland, 
 and 50 picked men of the Veterans, left this in boats 
 on Thursday, and, as it has blown a gale of east wind 
 ever since, have I trust made great progress : they 
 were intended to reinforce the garrison of Kingston, 
 and to relieve the company of the 49th that escorted 
 stores to that place. Sir George regrets extremely 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 2*29 
 
 his inability to render you a more efficient aid, but, 
 under existing; circumstances, he does not feel him 
 self warranted to do more. I regret to find your 
 militia at Sandwich so lukewarm, to call it by no 
 harsher name ; but I fear that little can be expected 
 from those recently settled, or of American extraction, 
 and with our Canadians we have found a very reluc 
 tant compliance. I trust we may still look to consi 
 derable reinforcements from home this year. We 
 are led to expect the 1st battalion of the Royals from 
 the West Indies immediately, destined indeed to 
 relieve the 41st. I hope we shall not be disappointed, 
 as our militia will feel bold if well backed ; and I 
 am sure Sir George will rejoice in receiving the 
 means of rendering you further assistance. It ap 
 pears to be credited that the orders in council were 
 rescinded, in as far as regarded America, on the 17th 
 June, the day the war vote was carried : this will 
 strengthen the oppositionists in the States, and the 
 timid will feel alarmed, not without reason, when 
 they read the glorious and judicious exploit of Cap 
 tain Hotham, in the Northumberland, 74, in destroy 
 ing, under circumstances of great difficulty and peril, 
 two French 44-gun frigates and a sloop, which re 
 ceived a superior degree of protection from batteries 
 on the shore than can be afforded to Commodore 
 Rodgers in any harbour of the States. 
 
 The Americans are forming depots in the neighbour 
 hood of the Montreal frontier and building bateaux 
 on the lake, (Cham plain,) but they have not brought 
 forward any considerable shew of strength ; on this 
 appearance of weakness we cannot rely, as it would 
 answer no good end making a parade before they 
 intended to attack. If they be serious in their views 
 on this province, the attempt will be probably backed 
 by predatory incursions on various points. A corps 
 of militia is kept on the Point Levi side. 
 
 Our legislature meet this day to terminate the 
 session. One great object has been accomplished in 
 
230 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the house, adding the provincial security to the army 
 money note bill ; the province pays the interest 
 accruing upon the notes and the expense of the esta 
 blishment, and they are constituted a legal tender. 
 Without this step we were completely at a stand, for 
 we could not obtain money to pay the last month s 
 subsistence to the troops : great benefit is expected to 
 accrue from the operation of the bill. The clergy 
 have engaged to promote the circulation of the notes, 
 all of which above twenty-five dollars bear interest, 
 and all under are payable on demand. 
 
 Adieu, my dear general may every success and 
 good fortune attend you in the arduous task before 
 you : we cannot command success, but I am sure 
 you will not fail to merit it. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Bruyeres, Royal Engineers, to Major- General 
 Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, August 1, 1812. 
 
 I take the favorable advantage of this being deli 
 vered to you by General Sheaife, to assure you of the 
 sincere interest I feel in the very arduous and impor 
 tant position you are now placed in to protect and 
 defend a chain of posts, and a country that has been 
 so long neglected. This difficult task placed in any 
 other hands, I should consider very discouraging ; 
 but I acknowledge that I look with a certain degree 
 of confidence to your abilities and perseverance in 
 surmounting every difficulty that must unavoidably 
 occur in a service of this nature. I most fervently 
 and earnestly hope that every possible success may 
 attend all your proceedings. I trust that you will 
 always meet with zeal and activity in the officers of 
 my department, to perform every part of the duty 
 allotted to their charge. It is very difficult at this 
 distance to suggest any ideas that might be useful, 
 as every operation in which you are engaged must 
 depend so entirely upon local circumstances, and the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 231 
 
 conduct which the enemy may pursue towards attain 
 ing the object he has in view. I am glad to find that 
 the new arrival of the Royals, expected at Quebec 
 to-morrow, will give you the reinforcement of the 
 49th regiment, which, with the detachments of the 
 Newfoundland and Veterans, and gun-boat No. 7, 
 will add something to your present strength. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, August 2, 1812. 
 
 Last evening an officer of the 98th regiment arrived 
 here express from Halifax, the bearer of dispatches 
 to me, dated on the 22d ultimo, from Mr. Foster, 
 who was then in Nova Scotia. 
 
 I lose no time in making you acquainted with the 
 substance of this gentleman s communication. He 
 informs me that he had just received dispatches from 
 England, referring to a declaration of ministers in 
 parliament, relative to a proposed repeal of the orders 
 in council, provided the United Stales govefnment 
 would return to relations of amity with us, the con 
 tents of which may possibly induce the American 
 government to agree to a suspension of hostilities as 
 a preliminary to negotiations for peace; that he 
 proposed sending his majesty s hired armed ketch 
 Gleaner to New York, with letters to Mr. Baker, 
 whom he had left at Washington in a demi-official 
 capacity, with directions to communicate with the 
 American minister, and to write to me the result of 
 his interview. Should the president of the United 
 States think proper to signify that hostile operations 
 should cease on the American side, Mr. Foster sug 
 gests the expediency of my being prepared to make a 
 similar signification on our part. 
 
 As I propose sending Colonel Baynes immediately 
 into the United States, with a proposal for a cessation 
 of hostile operations, I enclose for your information 
 the copy of my letter to General Dearborn, or the 
 commander-in-chief of the American forces. 
 
232 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Mr. Foster also submits the propriety of our ab 
 staining from an invasion of the United States terri 
 tory, as only in such an event could the American 
 government be empowered to order the militia out of 
 the States. I am led to believe from this, that 
 General Hull, in possessing himself of Sandwich, 
 has exceeded his instructions ; particularly as Mr. 
 Foster informs me that Mr. Monroe had told him 
 Fort Maiden (Amherstburg) would not be attacked, 
 but that General Hull had stated to a friend of his, 
 some time ago, that he would attempt it. 
 
 A report has been made to me that a frigate and 
 six transports, with the Royal Scots (1st battalion) 
 on board, from the West Indies, are just below Bic ; 
 in consequence of this reinforcement, I have ordered 
 the company of the 49th regiment, sent to Kingston, 
 to remain there ; and in addition to the Royal New 
 foundland Regiment, and a detachment of an officer 
 and 50 Veterans most fit for service, now on their 
 route to that station, I shall order Major Ormsby, 
 with three companies of the 49th regiment, to pro 
 ceed from Montreal to the same post, to be disposed 
 of as you may find it necessary. 
 
 Lieut-General Sir J. C. Sherbrooke has informed 
 me that, one of the transports, with part of the Royals 
 on board, has been captured by the United States 
 frigate, the Essex ; that she has been ransomed and 
 the officers and troops allowed to proceed, upon con 
 dition that they are not to serve against America 
 until regularly exchanged. The vessel and troops 
 had arrived at Halifax, and will shortly be sent 
 hither. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, August 4, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to enclose a statement made by 
 me yesterday to his majesty s executive council, 
 which will fully apprize your excellency of my situ- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 233 
 
 ation. The council adjourned for deliberation, and 
 I have no doubt will recommend the prorogation of 
 the assembly and proclamation declaring martial law ; 
 but doubts occurred in contemplation of such an 
 event, which I take the liberty to submit to your 
 excellency, and request the aid of your experience 
 and superior judgment. 
 
 1. In the event of declaring martial law, can I, 
 without the sign manual, approve and carry into 
 effect the sentence of a general court martial ? 
 
 2. Can I put upon a general court martial, after 
 martial law is proclaimed, any person not a commis 
 sioned officer in his majesty s regular forces ? In 
 other words, can officers of militia sit in conjunction 
 with those of the line ? 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, August 12, 1812. 
 
 Your letter of the 4th instant, enclosing the pro 
 ceedings of the executive council of the 3d ; Captain 
 Glegg s letter of the 5th instant, transmitting copies 
 of letters from Colonel Proctor to you of 26th and 
 30th July, with the correspondence between Briga 
 dier-General Hull and Lieut. -Colonel St. George, 
 and the intercepted correspondence of the former, 
 together with your letter to Colonel Baynes, of the 
 4th instant, were all delivered to me on my arrival 
 at this place yesterday. The information they con 
 tain is highly interesting, and I lose no time in dis 
 patching to you Brigade -Major Shekleton, as the 
 bearer of this letter, and for the purpose of receiving 
 whatever communication you may have to make in 
 return. Being fully aware of the necessity of afford 
 ing you such reinforcements as the exigencies of the 
 service in other parts of the two provinces would 
 permit, I had, previous to the receipt of your letter, 
 made arrangements for that purpose. 
 
 Major Ormsby, with three companies of the 49th 
 
234 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 regiment, protecting a considerable supply of ord 
 nance and ordnance stores, left La Chine on the 6th 
 instant for Kingston and Fort George, taking with 
 him .2,500 for the payment of the regular and 
 militia forces. Major Heathcote, with one company 
 of the 49th regiment, about 110 men of the New 
 foundland regiment, and 50 picked Veterans, are to 
 leave La Chine on the 13th instant. With this de 
 tachment, an additional supply of ordnance stores 
 and camp equipage for 500 men will be forwarded 
 for Upper Canada ; and as soon as a sufficiency of 
 bateaux can again be collected at La Chine, Colonel 
 Vincent is under orders to proceed to Kingston with 
 the remainder of the 49th regiment, and a subaltern 
 of the royal artillery and ten gunners, with two 
 3-pounders.* 
 
 When these reinforcements reach you, they will, 
 I trust, enable you successfully to resist the internal, 
 as well as external, enemies opposed to you, and 
 materially aid the able measures you have adopted 
 for the defence of Upper Canada. 
 
 With regard to the queries you have submitted to 
 me on the subject of martial law, I have to observe, 
 that it has not fallen within my experience to see 
 martial law proclaimed, except in those places where 
 it has been declared under the authority of a provin 
 cial legislature, which of course regulated the mode 
 in which it was to be executed. As the martial law 
 which you purpose declaring is founded on the king s 
 commission, and upon the extreme case of invasion 
 alluded to in it, I am inclined to think that whatever 
 power is necessary for carrying the measure into 
 effect, must have been intended to be given you by 
 the commission, and consequently, that the power of 
 assembling courts martial and of carrying their sen- 
 
 * The Canadians row at the rate of three miles an hour when the wea 
 ther is perfectly calm, and, of course, rather more when they have a 
 favorable breeze to assist them ; but, at best, they never go further than 
 thirty miles in twenty-four hours. The average length of the passage 
 from La Chine to Kingston is seven days. Howisori s Upper Canada, 1821. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 235 
 
 fence into execution, is included in the authority for 
 declaring martial law. The officers of militia becom 
 ing themselves subject to martial law when it is 
 declared, I conceive they may sit upon courts mar 
 tial with officers of his majesty s regular forces ; but 
 upon both these points I desire not to be understood 
 as speaking decisively extreme cases must be met 
 by measures which, on ordinary occasions, would not 
 perhaps be justified. Your situation is such as to 
 warrant your resorting to any step which, in your 
 judgment, the public safety may require. I should 
 therefore think that, after taking the best opinions 
 you can obtain from the first law characters you 
 have about you respecting the doubts you entertain 
 on this subject, you need not hesitate to determine 
 upon that line of conduct which you shall think will 
 best promote the good of the service, trusting, if you 
 do err, to the absolute necessity of the measures you 
 may adopt, as your justification for them to his 
 majesty s government. 
 
 Your letters of the 26th, 28th and 29th July, with 
 the several enclosures and papers accompanying them, 
 were received by me shortly previous to my leaving 
 Quebec, the last containing Captain Roberts official 
 account of the capture of Fort Michilimackinac. 
 Great credit is certainly due to that officer for the 
 zeal and promptitude with which he has performed 
 this service ; at the same time I must confess, my 
 mind has been very much relieved by finding that 
 the capture took place at a period subsequent to 
 Brigadier-General Hull s invasion of the province, 
 as, had it been prior to it, it would not only have 
 been in violation of Captain Roberts orders, but 
 have afforded a just ground for the subsequent con 
 duct of the enemy, which, I now plainly perceive, 
 no forbearance on your part would have prevented. 
 The capture of this place will, I hope, enable the 
 Indian tribes in that quarter to co-operate with you 
 in your present movements against the enemy/ by 
 
236 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 threatening his flanks, a diversion which would 
 greatly alarm him, and probably have the effect of 
 compelling him to retreat across the river. 
 
 I send you enclosed a copy of the official repeal of 
 the orders in council, which I received last night by 
 express from Quebec. Although I much doubt whe 
 ther this step on the part of our government will 
 have any effect upon that of the United States, the 
 circulation of the paper evincing their conciliatory 
 disposition may tend to increase and strengthen the 
 divisions which subsist amongst the people upon the 
 subject of the war. I therefore recommend to you to 
 have a number of copies struck off and distributed. 
 
 Colonel Baynes is still absent upon his mission to 
 the enemy s camp. Your letter to him of the 29th 
 ultimo was received at the same time with those I 
 have last acknowledged. Colonel Lethbridge I have 
 directed to return to Montreal. 
 
 The issue of army bills has taken place at Quebec, 
 and I hope to be able shortly to send you a supply of 
 them. 
 
 We have previously alluded (page 225) to that 
 part of the preceding letter which relates to the cap 
 ture of Michilimackinac. This capture appears to 
 have been effected contrary to Sir George Prevost s 
 orders, as Fort St. Joseph being nearly 350 miles 
 from Detroit and Sandwich, and as the expedition 
 left the fort only four days after Hull s invasion, it 
 was scarcely possible that Captain Roberts was then 
 aware of that circumstance. Neither in his letter to 
 the adjutant-general, announcing the capture, does 
 he excuse himself by stating that he had heard of the 
 invasion. In his dispatch to Earl Bathurst, written 
 exactly a fortnight after the preceding letter, and 
 dated Montreal, August 26, Sir George Prevost, 
 who ought now to have seen the impolicy of his 
 half-way course, in communicating the surrender of 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 237 
 
 Detroit, expressed himself in very altered language, 
 as he said : 
 
 "In these measures he* was most opportunely aided hy 
 the fortunate surrender of Fort Michilimackinac, which, 
 giving spirit and confidence to the Indian tribes in its neigh 
 bourhood, part of whom assisted in its capture, determined 
 them to advance upon the rear and flanks of the American 
 army, as soon as they heard that it had entered the province." 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Earl Bathurst. 
 
 MONTREAL, August 4, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith, for your lordship s 
 information, the copy of a report which has been forwarded 
 to me by Major-General Brock, of the surrender, by capitu 
 lation, of the American post of Michilimackinac to a detach 
 ment of his majesty s troops from St. Joseph s, under the 
 command of Captain Roberts, of the 10th Royal Veteran 
 Battalion. This report is accompanied by a return of pri 
 soners taken, and of the stoves which were found in the fort. 
 
 In addition to these, I have a further report of the crews of 
 two vessels, to the number of forty-three, who were in the 
 fort, having fallen into our hands, together with seven hun 
 dred packs of furs. 
 
 * Major-General Brock. 
 
238 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Whilst Major-General Brock impatiently lingered 
 on the Niagara frontier, so as to give time to the 
 legislature to assemble at York, he dispatched Colonel 
 Proctor, of the 41st regiment, to assume the com 
 mand at Amherstburg, where he arrived on the 26th 
 July. Its garrison consisted of a subaltern s detach 
 ment of the royal artillery, of 300 men of the 41st 
 regiment, and of about the same number of militia. 
 Captain Chambers was also detached from Fort 
 George, with 50 men of the 41st regiment, to the 
 Moravian town, for the purpose of collecting the 
 militia and Indians in the neighbourhood, and then 
 advancing upon the left flank of the enemy. Of the 
 same regiment, 60 men were further sent to Amherst 
 burg, and 40 to Long Point, to collect the militia in 
 that quarter. General Hull, after crossing to Sand 
 wich, remained for some time nearly inactive, con 
 tenting himself with a petite guerre of out-posts, 
 under the pretext of making preparations for the 
 reduction of Amherstburg, or Maiden, as the Ame 
 ricans called it, which lay but sixteen miles below 
 him, and was not in a condition to withstand a regu 
 lar siege.* During this pause, three detachments of 
 his army were on three successive days foiled in 
 attempts to cross the bridge at the river Canard, 
 
 * General Hull s head quarters were established at Mr. Baby s house, 
 nearly opposite to Detroit, and around which most of his troops were 
 encamped in a hollow square, a breast-work being erected on three sides, 
 and the fourth, which bounded the river, being defended by artillery. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 scarcely four miles from Amherstburg ; and it was 
 on one of these occasions that the afterwards cele 
 brated Tecumseh first made himself conspicuous as a 
 most valuable auxiliary on the British side, the enemy 
 retreating before him. Michilimackinac had fallen 
 since the invasion, and the Indians from that quarter 
 were flocking to the British standard. Our naval 
 force being superior on the lake, Colonel Proctor 
 pushed over to Brownstown, an American village, 
 about 25 miles from Detroit, and nearly opposite to 
 Amherstburg, a small detachment of the 41st regi 
 ment, and some Indians under Tecumseh, who, with 
 70 of the latter, awaited in ambush near that village 
 a party of 200 Americans, under Major Van Home, 
 on their march* from Detroit to the River Raisin, 
 (40 miles south of Detroit,) to meet a detachment of 
 volunteers from Ohio, with a convoy of provisions 
 for Hull s army. The Indians, firing suddenly, kill 
 ed 20, including 5 officers, and wounded about the 
 same number of the Americans, who hastily retreated, 
 and were pursued seven miles by the warriors alone, 
 not a British soldier being engaged. In this affair, 
 which occurred on the 5th of August, General Hull s 
 dispatches and the correspondence of his troops fell 
 into the hands of Tecumseh, and it was partly the 
 desponding nature of their contents which afterwards 
 induced Major-General Brock to attempt the capture 
 of the American army. Foiled in the reduction of 
 Fort Amherstburg; disappointed in his hope of a 
 general insurrection of the Canadians ; and, " above 
 all, dismayed at the report of General Brock s reso 
 lution to advance against him," f Hull s schemes of 
 conquest vanished ; and he who, less than a month 
 
 * The captain of the spies was killed and scalped on the march. " Thus 
 fell the brave, generous, and patriotic Me Culloch, captain of the spies," 
 and in a foot note a few pages before "Captain Me Culloch, of the 
 spies, scalped an Indian, whom he killed in the engagement," in Upper 
 Canada ! We quote from Brown s American History, so it appears that 
 at least one patriotic American could scalp as well as the Indians ! 
 
 t Christie s Memoirs, before cited. 
 
240 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 before, had landed in Canada boastful of his strength 
 and breathing extermination, now saw no other alter 
 native than a hasty return to Detroit, under the pre 
 tence of concentrating his forces ; and after re-opening 
 his communication with the rivers Raisin and Miami, 
 through which he received his supplies, of resuming 
 offensive operations. Accordingly, on the 7th and 
 8th of August the American army re-crossed the 
 river, with the exception of a garrison of 250 men 
 left in charge of a small fortification they had thrown 
 up on the British side, a little below Detroit, and 
 which they evacuated and destroyed before the arrival 
 of Major-General Brock.* On the 9th of August, 
 a body of 600 Americans, accompanied by a detach 
 ment of artillery with one 6-pounder and one howit 
 zer, sent to dislodge the British from Brownstown 
 and to open a communication with the Rivers Raisin 
 and Miami, was met by the white troops and Indians 
 under Captain Muir, of the 41st, at Maguaga, between 
 Brownstown and Detroit ; and here fell the first 
 British soldiers who were slain in that war. The 
 British force, consisting of 75 men of the 41st, 60 
 militia, and 190 Indians - total, 325 men was 
 compelled to retreat with some loss, but in such 
 order that the enemy was content to encamp on the 
 battle ground, from which he retraced his steps two 
 days afterwards to Detroit. The Indians under 
 Tecumseh, flushed by their recent success, fought 
 with great obstinacy, and about 40 are said by the 
 American historian, Brown, to have been found dead 
 on the field ; but this number of slain is doubtless 
 grossly exaggerated. 
 
 From the moment that Major-General Brock heard 
 of the invasion of the western district, he determined 
 on proceeding thither in person after he had met the 
 legislature, and dispatched the public business. Hav 
 ing expressed a wish of being accompanied by such 
 of the militia as might voluntarily offer their services, 
 
 * Christie s Memoirs. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 241 
 
 500, principally the sons of veteran soldiers who had 
 settled in the province, cheerfully came forward for 
 that purpose. The threatening attitude, however, of 
 the enemy on the Niagara frontier, obliged the general 
 to content himself with half this number; and he 
 left York on the 6th of August for Burlington Bay, 
 whence he proceeded by land for Long Point, on 
 Lake Erie. In passing the Mohawks village, on the 
 Grand River, or Ouse, he desired the Indians there 
 to tell him who were, and who were not, his friends ; 
 and at a council held on the 7th of August, they 
 promised that about 60 of their number should follow 
 him on the ensuing Monday, the 10th. At Long 
 Point, 40 regulars and 260 militia embarked with 
 him on the 8th of the same month in boats of every 
 description, collected among the neighbouring far 
 mers, who usually employed them for transporting 
 their corn and flour. The distance from Long Point 
 to Amherstburg is about 200 miles along the shore, 
 which in many parts is a precipitous bank of red 
 clay and sand, from one to two hundred feet high, 
 with scarcely a creek for shelter. The little flotilla 
 encountered heavy rain and tempestuous weather, 
 but nothing could for a moment retard its progress, 
 or diminish the confidence of the men in their inde 
 fatigable leader.* Among his general orders, from 
 the commencement of hostilities, the only one relating 
 to this voyage is the following, which, from the sin 
 gularity of the circumstances attending it, is thought 
 worthy of being preserved : 
 
 G. O. HEAD QUARTERS, 
 
 Pointe aux Pins, August 12, 1812. 
 
 It is Major-General Brock s intention, should the wind 
 continue fair, to proceed during the night ; officers com- 
 
 * "In consequence of the shallowness of Lake Erie, it becomes rough 
 and boisterous when the wind blows strongly from any point of the 
 compass. At these times, a very high and dangerous surf breaks upon 
 its shores, which, in many places, resemble the beach of the sea, being 
 strewed with dead fish and shells, and infested with aquatic birds of 
 .various kinds. Scarcely a summer passes in which there is not some 
 shipping lost on Lake Erie." Howison s Upper Canada. 
 M 
 
242 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 manding boats will, therefore, pay attention to the order of 
 sailing, as directed yesterday ; the greatest care and attention 
 will be required to prevent the boats from separating or fall 
 ing behind. A great part of the banks of the lake, where 
 the boats will this day pass, is much more dangerous and 
 difficult of access than any we have passed ; the boats will, 
 therefore, not land except in the most extreme necessity, and 
 then great care must be taken to choose the best place for 
 beaching. 
 
 The troops being now in the neighbourhood of the enemy, 
 every precaution must be taken to guard against surprise. 
 
 By Order. J. B. GLEGG, 
 
 Aide-de-Camp. 
 
 [The manuscript copy gives the date as "Pointe au Prince," but this 
 appears to be a misnomer either of Captain Glegg or of the copyist. 
 Pointe aux Pins signifies literally in English, the Point of Pine Trees.] 
 
 After five days and nights of incessant exertion, 
 the little squadron reached Amherstburg* shortly 
 before midnight on the 13th, and in a rough sketch 
 in the handwriting of Major-General Brock, he ob 
 served : " In no instance have I seen troops who 
 would have endured the fatigues of a long journey in 
 boats, during extremely bad weather, with greater 
 cheerfulness and constancy ; and it is but justice to 
 this little band to add, that their conduct throughout 
 excited my admiration." f 
 
 Soon after their landing at Amherstburg, the at 
 tention of the troops was suddenly roused by a strag- 
 
 * The American historian, Brown, observes : " In the meanwhile, 
 Michilimackinac surrendered to the British without resistance. The 
 indefatigable Brock, with a reinforcement of 400 regulars, arrived at 
 Maiden ; and several Indian tribes, before hesitating in the choice of 
 sides, began to take their ground and array themselves under the British 
 standard." Vol. i, page 64. 400 regulars ! 
 
 t "The bravery of the Canadian militia, which was brilliantly conspi 
 cuous on many occasions, has neither been sufficiently known, nor duly 
 appreciated, on the other side of the Atlantic. The regular troops on 
 foreign service have generally a good opportunity of securing to them 
 selves all the glory that results from a successful campaign, although a 
 part only may belong to them ; as they are always inclined to undervalue 
 the services of the militia, and often treat them with contempt and ridi 
 cule, merely because they have not been initiated into the minutiae of 
 military discipline and parade. I am aware that the gallantry of the 
 native battalions of Upper Canada has been kept in the back ground, by 
 this want of generosity which prevails among the regular troops." 
 Howison s Upper Canada, 1821. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 243 
 
 gling fire of musketry, which in a few minutes became 
 general, and appeared to proceed from an island in 
 the Detroit river. Colonel Elliott, the superintendent 
 of the Indians, quickly explained that the firing arose 
 from the Indians attached to the British cause, who 
 thus expressed their joy at the arrival of the rein 
 forcement under their white father. Major-General 
 Brock, aware of his scarcity of the munitions of war, 
 sent Colonel Elliott to stop this waste of powder, 
 saying : " Do, pray, Elliott, fully explain my wishes 
 and motives, and tell the Indians that I will speak 
 to them to-morrow on this subject." His request was 
 promptly attended to, and Colonel Elliott returned in 
 about half an hour with the Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, 
 or Tecumpthe, already mentioned. Captain Glegg,* 
 the aide-de-camp, being present, had an opportunity 
 of closely observing the traits of that extraordinary 
 man, and we are indebted to him for the following 
 graphic particulars : " Tecumseh s appearance was 
 very prepossessing ; his figure light and finely pro 
 portioned ; his age I imagined to be about five and 
 thirty ;f in height, five feet nine or ten inches; his 
 complexion, light copper ; countenance, oval, with 
 bright hazle eyes, beaming cheerfulness, energy, and 
 decision. Three small silver crowns, or coronets, 
 were suspended from the lower cartilage of his aqui 
 line nose ; and a large silver medallion of George the 
 Third, which I believe his ancestor had received from 
 Lord Dorchester, when governor-general of Canada, 
 was attached to a mixed coloured wampum string, 
 and hung round his neck. His dress consisted of a 
 plain, neat uniform, tanned deer -skin jacket, "with 
 long trousers of the same material, the seams of both 
 being covered with neatly cut fringe ; and he had 
 on his feet leather mocassins, much ornamented with 
 work made from the dyed quills of the porcupine. 
 " The first and usual salutation of shaking hands 
 
 * Now Colonel Glegg, of Thursteston Hall, Cheshire, 
 t His age was then about forty. 
 
244 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 being over, an allusion was made to the late firing 
 of musketry, and Tecumseh at once approved of the 
 reason given by Major- General Brock for its dis 
 continuance. It being late, the parties soon sepa 
 rated, with an understanding that a council would be 
 held the following morning. This accordingly took 
 place, and was attended by about a thousand Indians, 
 whose equipment generally might be considered very 
 imposing. The council was opened by General Brock, 
 who informed the Indians that he was ordered by 
 their great father to come to their assistance, and, 
 with their aid, to drive the Americans from Fort 
 Detroit. His speech was highly applauded, and 
 Tecumseh was unanimously called upon to speak in 
 reply. He commenced with expressions of joy, that 
 their great father beyond the great salt lake (meaning 
 the king of England) had at length awoke from his 
 long sleep, and permitted his warriors to come to the 
 assistance of his red children, who had never ceased 
 to remain steady in their friendship, and were now 
 all ready to shed their last drop of blood in their 
 great father s service. After some speeches from 
 other chiefs, and replies thereto, the council broke 
 up. General Brock, having quickly discovered the 
 superior sagacity and intrepidity of Tecumseh, and 
 his influence over the Indians ; and not deeming it 
 prudent to develop before so mixed an assemblage 
 the views which were at that moment uppermost in 
 his thoughts, and intended to be carried so quickly 
 into execution, directed Colonel Elliott to inform this 
 Shawanee chief that he wished to see him, accompa 
 nied by a few of the oldest chiefs, at Colonel Elliott s 
 quarters. There the general, through the medium of 
 interpreters, communicated his views, and explained 
 the manner in which he intended to carry into execu 
 tion his operations against Fort Detroit. The chiefs 
 listened with the most apparent eagerness, and ex 
 pressed their unanimous assent to the proposed plan, 
 assuring General Brock that their co-operation, as 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 245 
 
 pointed out, might be depended upon. On General 
 Brock asking whether the Shawanee Indians could 
 be induced to refrain from drinking spirits, Tecumseh 
 assured him that his warriors might be relied on, 
 adding, that before they left their country on the 
 Wabash river, they had promised him not to taste 
 that pernicious liquor until they had humbled the 
 " big knives," meaning the Americans. In reply to 
 this assurance, General Brock briefly said : If this 
 resolution be persevered in, you must conquer. " 
 
 From a general order issued at Amherstburg on 
 the 14th of August, by Major-General Brock, in 
 which his arrival in the western district was an 
 nounced, we extract the following passages ; the 
 mention of the three brigades, none of which could 
 have exceeded 250 men, reminding us of the equally 
 weak divisions of Cortes, when he landed in Mexico, 
 in the year 1519, with about 600 men. 
 
 "The major-general cannot avoid expressing his surprise 
 at the numerous desertions which have occurred from the 
 ranks of the militia, to which circumstance the long stay of 
 the enemy on this side of the river must in a great measure 
 be ascribed. He is willing to believe that their conduct pro 
 ceeded from an anxiety to get in their harvest, and not from 
 any predeliction for the principles or government of the 
 United States. 
 
 " He requests officers commanding corps to transmit to him 
 the names of such militiamen as have remained faithful to 
 their oaths and duty, in order that immediate measures may 
 be taken to discharge their arrears of pay. 
 
 "Captains Muir, Tallon, and Chambers, 41st regiment; 
 Captain Glegg, 49th regiment ; Captain Mockler, Royal New 
 foundland Regiment ; and Captain Dixon, Royal Engineers, 
 are appointed to the rank of majors, so long as the local 
 service, on which they are employed, continues. 
 
 " The troops in the western district will be formed into 
 three brigades. 
 
 " First brigade, under Lieut.-Colonel St. George, to consist 
 of a detachment Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and of the 
 Kent, and 1st and 2d regiments of Essex militia. 
 
 " Second brigade, under Major Chambers, to consist of 50 
 men 41st regiment, and the whole of the detachments of the 
 York, Lincoln, Oxford, and Norfolk militia. 
 
246 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 "Third brigade, under Major Tallon, to consist of the re 
 mainder of the 41st regiment. 
 
 " Colonel Proctor will have charge of the whole line under 
 the orders of the major-general. 
 
 "James Giveins, Esq., late captain of the 5th regiment, is 
 appointed provincial aide-de-camp, with the rank of major 
 in the militia." 
 
 On the following day, the American commander 
 was startled by a summons to surrender ; and so 
 resolute a demand seems to have struck him with 
 dismay, as at the worst he had never contemplated 
 a pursuit into his own territory. 
 
 Head Quarters, Sandwich, Aug. 15, 1812. 
 The force at my disposal authorizes me to require of you 
 the immediate surrender of Fort Detroit.* It is far from my 
 inclination to join in a war of extermination ; but you must 
 be aware that the numerous body of Indians who have at 
 tached themselves to my troops, will be beyond my control 
 the moment the contest commences. You will find me dis 
 posed to enter into such conditions as will satisfy the most 
 scrupulous sense of honor. Lieut.-Colonel M Donell and 
 Major Glegg are fully authorized to conclude any arrange 
 ment that may lead to prevent the unnecessary effusion of 
 blood. 
 
 ISAAC BROCK, 
 Brigadier-General Hull. Major-Gen eral. 
 
 Hull refused to see Captain Glegg, who carried 
 the summons, and, after detaining him upwards of 
 two hours, returned the following answer : 
 
 Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 15, 1812. 
 I have received your letter of this date. I have no other 
 reply to make than to inform you, that I am prepared to 
 meet any force which may be at your disposal, and any conse 
 quences which may result from any exertion of it you may 
 think proper to make. 
 
 W. HULL, Brigadier-General, 
 Commanding the N.W. Army of the U. S. 
 
 * The American historian, Thomson, in his "Sketches of the War," 
 says that General Hull surrendered " to a body of troops inferior in quality 
 as well as number 1" and he adds : "When General Brock said that the 
 force at his disposal authorized him to require the surrender, he must 
 have had a very exalted opinion of the prowess of his own soldiers, or a 
 very mistaken one of those who were commanded by the American 
 general." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 247 
 
 Nothing daunted, and contrary to the advice of 
 Colonel Proctor and other of his officers, Major- 
 General Brock at once determined on crossing the 
 river, with the view of attempting, by a sudden and 
 resolute attack, the annihilation of the enemy s power 
 in that quarter. In the afternoon, a fire was opened 
 from a battery of five guns, erected opposite to De 
 troit, under the direction of Captain Dixon, of the 
 Royal Engineers : this cannonade was returned from 
 seven 24-pounders, but the British general, perceiving 
 that little effect was produced by either fire, gave 
 orders that his should cease. The troops retired to 
 their bivouac and lay on their arms, with orders to 
 cross the strait, or river, which is here about three- 
 fourths of a mile in width, on the following morning. 
 Accordingly, at about six o clock, on Sunday, the 
 16th of August, the fire from the British battery 
 having been previously resumed, 330 regulars and 
 400 militia were embarked, with five pieces of light 
 artillery, in boats and canoes of every description, 
 and soon effected a landing, without opposition, near 
 Springwell, four or five miles below Detroit. About 
 600 Indians, under Colonel Elliott, had crossed the 
 river during the night, and were ordered to be so 
 placed as to take the enemy in flank and rear, should 
 lie attempt to oppose the landing. The white troops 
 marched towards the fort, while the Indians moved 
 through the skirts of the woods, and covered the left 
 flank, the right resting upon the river, and protected 
 by the Queen Charlotte, colonial vessel of war. The 
 enemy s effective force was estimated at nearly 2,500 
 men, and, supported as they were by a neighbouring 
 fortress, it required no little daring to pursue them 
 on their own ground with such unequal numbers. 
 But the race is not always to the swift, or the battle 
 to the strong, and perhaps at this moment the British 
 general remembered the remark of the eloquent Taci 
 tus : " In rebus bellicis maxime dominatur fortuna" 
 Contrary to Major-General Brock s expectation, the 
 
248 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Americans abandoned u commanding eminence, 
 strengthened by pickets and two 24-pounders,* and 
 retreated into the fort on the advance of the British, 
 who halted in a ravine within a mile and a half, and, 
 discovering the weakness of the works on the land 
 side, prepared for its assault. While the various 
 columns were forming for that purpose, a boat with 
 a flag of truce was seen crossing the river to Sand 
 wich, and soon after another flag, borne by Captain 
 Hull, emerged suddenly from the fort Lieut.-Colonel 
 M Donell and Captain Glegg accompanied him back ; 
 and at mid-day the British troops marched in with 
 General Brock at their head, the American general 
 having assented to a capitulation, by which the 
 Michigan territory, Fort Detroit,! with thirty-three 
 pieces of cannon, J the Adams brig of war, and about 
 2,500 troops, including one company of artillery, 
 some cavalry, and the entire 4th U. S. regiment of 
 infantry, with a stand of colours, were surrendered to 
 the British arms. An immense quantity of stores and 
 the military chest were also taken ; and as there was 
 a great deficiency of arms in the Upper Province 
 wherewith to equip the militia, the 2,500 stand of 
 American became a valuable acquisition. To this 
 surrender the after preservation of Upper Canada, 
 at least, may in a great measure be ascribed, as it 
 caused a delay of nearly a whole year in the success 
 ful meditated invasion, and secured the support of 
 some of the Indian tribes, who were hesitating as to 
 the side they should espouse. The event indeed il 
 lustrated a maxim of Napoleon, " that, in war, the 
 moral is to the physical force as three parts to one." |j 
 It was the more fortunate that Major-General Brock 
 
 * The 24-pounders were each loaded with six dozen grape shot. 
 
 t A description of Michigan and Detroit is given at page 187-8. 
 
 t Including two or three brass field pieces, captured with General Bur- 
 goyne, at Saratoga, In 1777, and which were retaken by the Americans, 
 at the battle of the Thames, in October, 1813. 
 
 Appendix A, Section 2, No. 1. Jefferson s Correspondence. 
 
 || Napier s Peninsular War, vol. i, page 141. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 249 
 
 acted with so much promptitude and vigour, because 
 large reinforcements were on their way to General 
 Hull ; and not only would that officer s reverse 
 otherwise have been spared, but the western districts 
 of Upper Canada would probably have fallen before 
 the overwhelming numbers which would soon have 
 been brought against them. 
 
 The surrender of Detroit was so unexpected, that 
 it produced an almost electrical effect throughout the 
 Canadas : it was the first enterprise in which the 
 militia* had been engaged, and its success not only 
 imparted confidence to that body, but it inspired the 
 timid, fixed the wavering, and awed the disaffected. 
 Major-General Brock from this moment became the 
 idol of the great mass of those whom he governed ; 
 and when he returned to York, whither he arrived 
 on the 27th of August, he was received amidst the 
 heartfelt acclamations of a grateful people, rescued by 
 his recent success from the ignominy of submitting 
 to a conqueror. They remembered that in the short 
 space of nineteen days he had not only met the legis 
 lature and settled the public business of the province 
 under the most trying circumstances that a com 
 mander could encounter, but, with means incredibly 
 limited, he had gone nearly 300 miles in pursuit of 
 an invading enemy of double his own force and 
 compelled him to surrender ; thus, without bloodshed, 
 extending the British dominion over an extent oif 
 country almost equal to Upper Canada. t 
 
 The conduct of the American general in so tamely 
 surrendering is inexplicable, as Detroit contained an 
 ample supply of ammunition and provisions for near 
 ly a month, besides an abundance of wheat in the 
 territory, with mills to grind any quantity into flour. 
 
 * In his general orders at Detroit, Major-General Brock expressed his 
 admiration of the conduct of the several companies of the militia who 
 had accompanied him; and he requested " Major Salmon, Captains Hatt, 
 Heward, Bostwick, and Robinson, to assure the officers and men under 
 their respective commands that their services had been duly appreciated, 
 and would never be forgotten." 
 
 t Christie s Memoirs. 
 M* 
 
250 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 One of his officers, Colonel Lewis Cass,* in a long 
 letter to the Honorable William Eustis, the secretary 
 of war at Washington, said : " I have been informed 
 by Colonel Findley, who saw the return of the quar 
 termaster-general the day after the surrender, that 
 their whole force, of every description, white, red, and 
 black, was l,030.f They had twenty-nine platoons, 
 twelve in a platoon, of men dressed in uniform. 
 Many of these were evidently Canadian militia. The 
 rest of their militia increased their white force to 
 about 700. The number of Indians could not be 
 ascertained with any degree of precision not many 
 were visible. And in the event of an attack upon 
 the town and fort, it was a species of force which 
 could have afforded no material advantage to the 
 enemy. . . . That we were far superior to the enemy 
 that upon any ordinary principles of calculation we 
 would have defeated them the wounded and indig 
 nant feelings of every man there will testify .... I 
 was informed by General Hull, the morning after 
 the capitulation, that the British forces consisted of 
 1,800 regulars, and that he surrendered to prevent 
 the effusion of human blood. That he magnified 
 their regular force nearly five-fold, there can be no 
 doubt. Whether the philanthropic reason assigned 
 by him is a sufficient justification for surrendering 
 a fortified town, an army, and a territory, is for the 
 government to determine. Confident I am, that had 
 the courage and conduct of the general been equal to 
 the spirit and zeal of the troops, the event would have 
 been brilliant and successful, as it is now disastrous 
 and dishonorable." J Hull s behaviour, then, can 
 
 * The same officer who, as General Cass and senator from Michigan, 
 evinced so hostile a disposition towards Great Britain on the subject of 
 the Oregon, in the session of Congress of 1845-6. 
 
 t Doubtless an error for 1330, the entire British force. 
 t Colonel Cass appeared to think the following couplet from the works 
 of a poet, who flourished two centuries before, applicable to the general, 
 whose unhappy destiny it was to render the lines singularly prophetic : 
 Or with pretence of chasing thence the Brock, 
 Send in a cur to worry the whole flock. 
 
 Ben Jonson, Sad Shepherd. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 251 
 
 only be accounted for by the supposition that the 
 boldness of his adversary s movements led him to 
 believe he had to contend with a far greater propor 
 tion of regular troops; or, that having threatened to 
 refuse quarter to the white man found fighting by the 
 side of the Indian, he was apprehensive, in the event 
 of defeat, that this threat would be visited with severe 
 retaliation, particularly by the Indians, whose fury, 
 in a successful assault, it might have been very diffi 
 cult to restrain. To their honor, however, be it said, 
 that although they took a few prisoners on the ad 
 vance, the enemy sustained no loss of life beyond 
 that caused by the British batteries ; and in general 
 orders, at Detroit, they were told, that in nothing 
 could they testify more strongly their love to the 
 king, their great father, than in following the dictates 
 of honor and humanity by which they had hitherto 
 been actuated. 
 
 " The news of the surrender of Detroit," says the 
 American historian, Brown, " was so unexpected, 
 that it came like a clap of thunder to the ears of 
 the American people. No one would believe the first 
 report. The disastrous event blasted the prospects 
 of the first campaign, and opened the northern and 
 western frontiers of Ohio to savage incursions. 
 
 " Previous to the surrender of Detroit, the go 
 vernors of Ohio and Kentucky, in obedience to the 
 directions of the war department, had detached power 
 ful reinforcements to the aid of General Hull. Had 
 he deferred the capitulation but a few days longer, 
 his army, Detroit, and the Michigan territory, would 
 have been saved. 
 
 " The forces advancing to his support consisted of 
 2,000 militia, under Brigadier-General Payne, and a 
 battalion of mounted riflemen, under Colonel R. M. 
 Johnson, from Kentucky ; a brigade of Ohio militia, 
 under the orders of Brigadier-General Tupper ; and 
 nearly 1,000 regulars, under the command of General 
 
252 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Winchester. They had reached the St. Mary s river 
 when the news of the capture of Detroit was received. 
 But for the well-timed arrival of the above force, a 
 wide scene of flight and misery, of blood and deso 
 lation, must have ensued. Nearly half of the terri 
 tory of Ohio must have been depopulated, or its 
 inhabitants fallen victims to the scalping knife." 
 
 " The chagrin felt at Washington," observes James 
 in his Military Occurrences, " when news arrived of 
 the total failure of this the first attempt at invasion, 
 was in proportion to the sanguine hopes entertained 
 of its success. To what a pitch of extravagance those 
 hopes had been carried, cannot better appear than in 
 two speeches delivered upon the floor of congress, in 
 the summer of 1812. Dr. Eustis, the secretary at 
 war of the United States, said : We can take* the 
 Cariadas without soldiers ; we have only to send offi 
 cers into the provinces, and the people, disaffected 
 towards their own government, will rally round our 
 standard/ The honorable Henry Clay seconded his 
 friend thus : * It is absurd to suppose we shall not 
 succeed in our enterprise against the enemy s pro 
 vinces. We have the Canadas as much under our 
 command as she (Great Britain) has the ocean ; and 
 the way to conquer her on the ocean is to drive her 
 from the land. I am not for stopping at Quebec, or 
 any where else ; but I would take the whole conti 
 nent from them, and ask them no favors. Her fleets 
 cannot then rendezvous at Halifax, as now ; and, 
 having no place of resort in the north, cannot infest 
 our coast as they have lately done. It is as easy to 
 conquer them on the land, as their whole navy would 
 conquer ours on the ocean. We must take the conti 
 nent from them. I wish never to see a peace till tve 
 do. God has given us the power and the means : we 
 are to blame if we do not use them. If we get the 
 continent, she must allow us the freedom of the sea. 
 This is the gentleman who, afterwards, in the charac- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 253 
 
 ter of a commissioner and it stands as a record of 
 his unblushing apostacy signed the treaty of peace." 
 
 Tecumseh, who was slain in the year following, 
 headed a party of his warriors on this occasion, and 
 in the rough sketch already mentioned, Major-General 
 Brock remarked : " Among the Indians whom I 
 found at Amherstburg, and who had arrived from 
 distant parts of the country, there were some extra 
 ordinary characters. He who most attracted my 
 attention was a Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, the bro 
 ther of the prophet, who for the last two years has 
 carried on, contrary to our remonstrances, an active 
 war against the United States. A more sagacious or 
 a more gallant warrior does not, I believe, exist. 
 He was the admiration of every one who conversed 
 with him. From a life of dissipation he has not only 
 become in every respect abstemious, but he has like 
 wise prevailed on all his nation, and many of the 
 other tribes, to follow his example." Previously to 
 crossing over to Detroit, Major-General Brock in 
 quired of Tecumseh what sort of a country he should 
 have to pass through in the event of his proceeding 
 further. Tecumseh, taking a roll of elm bark, and 
 extending it on the ground, drew forth his scalping 
 knife, and with the point presently edged upon the 
 back a plan of the country, its hills, woods, rivers, 
 morasses, and roads a plan which, if not as neat, 
 was fully as intelligible as if a surveyor had prepared 
 it. Pleased with this unexpected talent in Tecumseh ; 
 with his defeat of the Americans near Brownstown ; 
 and with his having, by his characteristic boldness, 
 induced the Indians, not of his own tribe, to cross 
 the river prior to the embarkation of the white troops, 
 Major-General Brock, soon after Detroit was sur 
 rendered, took off his sash and publicly placed it 
 round the body of the chief. Tecumseh received the 
 honor with evident gratification, but was the next 
 day seen without the sash. The British general, 
 
254 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fearing that something had displeased the Indian, 
 sent his interpreter for an explanation. Tecuinseh 
 told him, that not wishing to wear such a mark of 
 distinction when an older, and, as he said, an abler 
 warrior than himself was present, he had transferred 
 the sash to the Wyandot chief, Roundhead.* 
 
 The unfortunate General Hull, on his return to the 
 United States, was tried by a court martial and con 
 demned to death ; but the sentence was remitted by 
 the president, in consideration of his age and services 
 during the war of independence. t His name was, 
 however, struck off the rolls of the army. He had 
 evidently lost the energy of character which had 
 marked his early career ; and although it is most 
 strange that he did not either meet the British in the 
 open field, or try the effect of a few discharges of 
 grape shot on their advancing column, yet it is due 
 to him to add, that two or three 12 Ib. shot fell into 
 the fort from the British battery, killing and wound 
 ing a few officers and men,:}: and that the fort itself 
 was much crowded, not merely with troops, but with 
 the terrified inhabitants of Detroit, who sought refuge 
 there from the Indians, believing that, with the 
 beginning of the conflict, they would rush into the 
 town, and commence an indiscriminate slaughter. 
 Thus very few disapproved of the surrender at the 
 critical moment, although so many were loud in 
 condemning it afterwards. The general s son and 
 aide-de-camp at Detroit, Captain Hull, was killed in 
 July, 1814," in the hard- fought battle of Lundy s 
 Lane, near the Falls of Niagara. 
 
 * James Military Occurrences. 
 
 t For his revolutionary services, see Appendix A, Section 2, No. 2. 
 
 $ Among the killed was Captain Hanks, the commandant of Michili- 
 mackinac at the time of its surrender. 
 
 | General Hull in his dispatch, already quoted, said : " The fort at this 
 time was filled with women, children, and the old and decrepit people of 
 the town and country : they were unsafe in the town, as it was entirely 
 open and exposed to the enemy s batteries. Back of the fort, above or 
 below it, there was no safety for them on account of the Indians." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 255 
 
 Major-General Brock s services throughout this 
 short campaign, closed by an achievement which his 
 energy and decision crowned with such unqualified 
 success, were highly appreciated by the government 
 at home, and were immediately rewarded with the 
 order of the bath, which was then confined to one 
 degree of knighthood only. He was gazetted to this 
 mark of his country s approbation, so gratifying to 
 the feelings of a soldier, on the 10th of October;* 
 but he lived not long enough to learn that he had 
 obtained so honorable a distinction, the knowledge of 
 which would have cheered him in his last moments. 
 Singularly enough, his dispatches, accompanied by 
 the colours of the U. S. 4th regiment, reached London 
 early on the morning of the 6th of October, the anni 
 versary of his birth. His brother William, who was 
 residing in the vicinity, was asked by his wife why 
 the park and tower guns were saluting. " For Isaac, 
 of course," he replied ; * do you not know that this 
 is his birth-day?" And when he came to town he 
 learnt, with emotions which may be easily conceived 
 emotions rendered the more acute by his recently 
 altered circumstances that what he had just said in 
 jest was true in reality; little thinking, however, that 
 all his dreams, all his anticipations of a beloved bro 
 ther s increasing fame and prosperity would that day 
 week one short week be entombed near 
 
 " Where Niagara stuns with thundering sound." 
 
 In the first chapter (page 14) we have made men 
 tion of a gallant Irishman, who, in a very few years, 
 rose from the ranks to the adjutantcy of the 49th ; 
 and as his example may serve as an incitement to 
 young soldiers especially now that merit among 
 them is oftener rewarded by a commission than it 
 
 * "WHITEHALL, October 10, 1812. Hisroyal highness the prince regent 
 has been pleased, in the name and on the behalf of his majesty, to nomi 
 nate and appoint Major-General Isaac Brock to be an Extra Knight of 
 the Most Honorable Order of the Bath." 
 
256 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was at that period we give a few interesting parti 
 culars of his life, reiterating our hope that in doing 
 so we do not betray his confidence. When we begged 
 of him, soon after the first edition was published, to 
 point out any errors, either of omission or commis 
 sion, into which we might have inadvertently fallen, 
 he replied : " I write this short note merely to ac 
 knowledge the receipt of yours, and to give you an 
 assurance of my great desire to be at all instrumental, 
 even in the humblest degree, in adding to the fame 
 of my earliest and best benefactor. And if there 
 were another man for whom I felt an almost equal 
 degree of regard and gratitude, that man was John 
 Savery Brock .... That I might do honor to the 
 general s memory, I have ever striven to serve my 
 country well ; and the Almighty has blessed my poor 
 efforts more than in early life I had ever anticipated. 
 The poor, uneducated, private soldier, raised up by 
 Sir Isaac Brock until he held in turn his majesty s 
 commissions of ensign, lieutenant, and captain in the 
 army, has been promoted in the civil service of 
 Canada to a silk gown, which he has worn for the 
 last eighteen years. In honor of the general s me 
 mory I make this hurried statement, and not to 
 gratify any personal feeling of my own/ Having 
 subsequently received from him several letters, com 
 posed with singular perspicuity and elegance, and 
 containing much valuable matter, as well as many 
 incidents which were new to us, we could not forbear 
 expressing to him our surprise that he should write 
 so well, and he then said : " This too I owe to Sir 
 Isaac Brock when at York, in 1803, he told me 
 that he intended to recommend me for the adjutantcy, 
 adding : * I not only desire to procure a commission 
 for you, but I also wish that you qualify yourself to 
 take your position among gentlemen. Here are my 
 books make good use of them. The orderly room . 
 of the 49th I have sometimes called my grammar 
 school, and the mess room my university. Lieute- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 257 
 
 nants Stretton, Brackenbury, and Loring, were ray 
 kind teachers. The first died a colonel he was 
 last of the 40th regiment; the second retired from 
 the 17th Light Dragoons as a captain, and I know 
 not what has become of him ; he was the son of a 
 clergyman in Lincolnshire, and was an accomplished 
 scholar, and a noble fellow; and the third is the 
 present Colonel Loring, now residing in Toronto." 
 It was in August, 1802, at Quebec, that Lieut. - 
 Colonel Brock made this "noble fellow" sergeant- 
 major, to the surprise of the entire regiment, as he 
 was then only in his twenty-second year, and he 
 further tells us : "In September, 1802, at Montreal, 
 Colonel Brock dictated to me while I wrote for him 
 in the orderly room. On writing the last word, I 
 had to pronounce it that he might proceed. Once 
 the last word was " ascertain," which I pronounced 
 " ascerten," when he turned to me (for he was walk 
 ing to and fro in the room) and said : " Ascertain, 
 young man!" At that time my ignorance of my 
 deficiencies was very great, and I thought myself 
 quite sufficient master of the language. But this 
 discovery of one error roused me, and I went into 
 town the same day and purchased a grammar and a 
 dictionary, books which I had never even seen before, 
 and on studying them I was amazed at my great 
 ignorance of every thing which the grammar taught; 
 for although I could write and speak pretty accu 
 rately, because I had read much, chiefly silly ro 
 mances sold in Ireland to the peasantry, and some 
 ancient history, yet of grammar technically I knew 
 absolutely nothing." He adds, that his father held 
 a small farm of fourteen acres and a half, for which 
 he paid in annual rent one guinea per acre, and that 
 he worked on this farm until he enlisted into the 
 49th, as his brothers worked also. " Whether my 
 success in the army stimulated them, I know not, 
 but one of them is now a queen s counsel in Ireland." 
 The gratitude of this gallant and self-taught veteran 
 
258 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 to his early patron knows no bounds, as he writes 
 " that he would think a long life well spent in mani 
 festing his gratitude for all he owes to Sir Isaac Brock 
 and to his family ;" but we feel acutely that the man 
 ner in which he has so ably come forward to rescue 
 some of his benefactors best deeds from oblivion, 
 has immeasurably repaid the obligation. And who 
 that reads this episode does not think with us, that 
 the protege was well worthy of his patron, or does 
 not entertain towards him, : who was once " a poor, 
 uneducated, private soldier," sentiments, as we do, of 
 the highest regard and reverence ? 
 
 Upon some occasion, at Quebec, in 1805, Colonel 
 Brock asked his youthful sergeant-major why he had 
 not done something he had ordered him to do. The 
 sergeant-major replied that he found it impossible to 
 do it, when the colonel exclaimed : " By the Lord 
 Harry, sir, do not tell me it is impossible ! Nothing 
 should be impossible to a soldier; the word impossible 
 should not be found in a soldier s dictionary ! " Two 
 years afterwards in October, 1807 when the same 
 sergeant-major was an ensign in the regiment, he 
 ordered him to take a fatigue party to the bateau 
 guard, and bring round to the lower town twenty 
 bateaux, to embark troops suddenly for Montreal, an 
 apprehension being then entertained that the Ameri 
 cans were about to invade the province, in conse 
 quence of the affair between the Leopard and Chesa 
 peake. On arriving near the bateaux, the party 
 discovered that the tide had left them, and that about 
 two hundred yards of deep mud intervened between 
 them and the water, over which the ensign thought it 
 was impossible to drag the bateaux, which were large, 
 heavy, flat boats. He therefore gave the word, " To 
 the right face," intending to return and report that it 
 was impossible to move the bateaux to the water. 
 But it suddenly occurred to him, that in answer to 
 his report the colonel would ask : " Did you try it, 
 sir ? " and that on replying in the negative, he would 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 259 
 
 sharply rebuke and send him back. He therefore 
 gave the word, " Front," and said to the soldiers : 
 " I think it impossible for us to put these bateaux 
 afloat, but you know it will not do for me to tell 
 Colonel Brock so, unless we try it ; let us, therefore, 
 try there are the boats ; I am sure if it be possible 
 for men to put them afloat, you will do it : go at 
 them" and in half an hour the boats were afloat. 
 The ensign then determined never after to consider 
 any thing impossible, before trial, that was not mani 
 festly so. And he tells us that it must be clear to any 
 one reading this statement, that it was the spirit of 
 Colonel Brock which led to the accomplishment of 
 his orders, and which was, at the time, of some im 
 portance, as it enabled the troops to be embarked a 
 day earlier than if the boats had not at once been 
 conveyed round to the lower town. " In this way," 
 he adds, " it is that the indomitable spirit of a mili 
 tary commander is, as it were, infused into the minds 
 of all who serve under him." 
 
 While traversing the northern shore of Lake Erie 
 in open Canadian bateaux, in August, 1812, on his 
 way to Arnherstburg, with reinforcements to attack 
 General Hull, as already narrated, the bateau in 
 which General Brock was ran upon a sunken rock. 
 Oars and poles were immediately employed to shove 
 her off, but, seeing that this was not quickly done, 
 the general jumped overboard, and, as must be sup 
 posed, every one else in the boat was overboard 
 instantly. The boat consequently floated at once, 
 and the crew getting on board again, she proceeded 
 on her way. The general then took his liquor case, 
 and gave each man a glass of spirits, to prevent injury 
 from their wet clothes. Several gentlemen, accom 
 panying the expedition, mentioned frequently after 
 wards that this single act of the general in jumping 
 overboard had the most animating effect upon all 
 present, the greater part of the men being raw militia. 
 
 At Amherstburg, Major-General Brock assembled 
 
260 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 a council of war, or perhaps we should rather say, he 
 assembled his principal officers, to consult on the 
 propriety of crossing the river to attack the American 
 army and Fort Detroit. Only one of them agreed 
 with him on the propriety of the decision he had 
 already come to in his own mind. Lieut. -Colonel 
 Nichol,* the quartermaster -general of the militia, 
 eagerly seconded the general, telling him that, as he 
 had resided for some time at Detroit, he knew every 
 feature of (he town and fort, and that he would lead 
 the troops to any point selected for the attack. Upon 
 this the general said : " I have decided on crossing, 
 and now, gentlemen, instead of any further advice, I 
 entreat of you to give me your cordial and hearty 
 support." 
 
 When the troops had crossed over, the next morn 
 ing, they formed and advanced in column, at whose 
 head the general placed himself. On approaching 
 the point where the guns of the fort would bear on 
 the column, Colonel Nichol went up to him, and 
 said : " Pardon me, general, but I cannot forbear 
 entreating you not to expose yourself thus. If we 
 lose you, we lose all j let me pray you to allow the 
 troops to pass on, led by their own officers." To 
 which the general answered : " Master Nichol, I 
 duly appreciate the advice you give me, but I feel 
 that in addition to their sense of loyalty and duty, 
 many here follow me from a feeling of personal re 
 gard, and I will never ask them to go where I do 
 not lead them." The general continued at the head 
 of the column, and as the Americans retreated into 
 the fort, without firing their guns outside, the fears of 
 the British for the safety of their chief were not 
 realized. 
 
 Of this gallant Colonel Nichol we are enabled to 
 give the following notice. In 1804, while Colonel 
 Brock was commanding at Fort George, there resided 
 
 * "This was a splendid little fellow I knew him well." Colonel Le 
 Couteur, already mentioned. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 261 
 
 in the neighbourhood of Fort Erie an individual who 
 kept what in Canada is termed a "store," that is, a 
 shop for supplying such wares and merchandize as 
 the farmers and other inhabitants require. .It was a 
 retail store of little consideration. With this indivi 
 dual, by name Robert Nichol a smart little Scotch 
 manColonel Brock somehow became acquainted, 
 and, to the surprise of the officers of the 49th, invited 
 him to the mess from time to time. During that 
 year, Mr. Nichol drew up, at the colonel s request, a 
 sketch of Upper Canada, shewing its resources in 
 men, horses, provisions, &c. its most vulnerable and 
 assailable points were indicated -and it was, in fact, 
 a military statistical memoir, embracing every detail 
 which a commander of an army in the country could 
 desire in the event of a war. Our informant adds : 
 " Here is a curious instance of Sir Isaac Brock s 
 foresight. I saw the document in 1813, and by that 
 time every statement was proved to be most accurate 
 and valuable." 
 
 On the calling out of the militia, in 1812, General 
 Brock immediately appointed Mr. Nichol to be his 
 quartermaster-general of that force, with the rank of 
 lieutenant-colonel, although the appointment gave 
 great offence at the time to some of those high in 
 station in the provincial government. The services 
 of Colonel Nichol were, after the war, rewarded by a 
 pension from the British government of .200 per 
 annum for his life. He died in 1824.* 
 
 The following was related to our informant by one 
 who was present when General Brock first met Te- 
 cumseh and his Indians : 
 
 * Colonel Nichol was really an extraordinary man naturally eloquent, 
 possessing a prodigious memory and great spirit, and, considering his 
 opportunities, his acquirements were in many respects surprising. Vanity 
 was his foible, which however impelled him, as it has done many others, 
 to soar far above mediocrity. Lest he might be thought servile and 
 dependent in consequence of his having a pension, he became, after the 
 peace, the leader of the opposition in the house of assembly, and gave 
 infinite trouble to the provincial government. It is believed by one who 
 knew him well, that "he would have followed Sir Isaac Brock into the 
 crater of Vesuvius," so great was his regard for his friend and patron. 
 
262 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Among other topics touched upon by the general 
 in a brief speech, he observed to him : " I have 
 fought against the enemies of our great father, the 
 king, beyond the great lake, and they have never 
 seen my back. I am come here to fight his enemies 
 on this side the great salt lake, and now desire with 
 my soldiers to take lessons from you and your war 
 riors, that we may learn how to make war in these 
 great forests." After a pause, Tecumseh, who was 
 evidently struck with the commanding figure and 
 fine countenance of the general, turning round to his 
 people, stretched out his hand, and exclaimed with a 
 long ejaculated Ho-o-o-e : u This is a man !" 
 
 The general used to call Tecumseh " the Welling 
 ton of the Indians." 
 
 Captain Robinson, then a very young man, and an 
 elder brother of the present chief justice of Upper 
 Canada, commanded a militia rifle company, com 
 posed of the farmers sons who lived around him, 
 on the expedition to Detroit. Major-General Brock, 
 being anxious to return from thence as expeditiously 
 as possible, embarked in a small schooner, and took 
 this company with him, partly as a guard on the 
 voyage across Lake Erie. The general, who was 
 always fond of young people, was pleased with the 
 zeal and activity displayed by Captain Robinson, and 
 evinced his satisfaction not only by his friendly and 
 unreserved intercourse with the captain, but by his 
 kind and benevolent deportment towards his men, so 
 that he won golden opinions from them all. Among 
 other remarks, the general is said to have observed 
 to Captain Robinson : " If this war last, I am afraid 
 that I shall do some foolish thing, for if I know 
 myself, there is no want of courage in my nature 
 I hope I shall not get into a scrape." 
 
 In one of his letters to his brothers, (page 82,) 
 Major-General Brock said that he had visited De- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 263 
 
 troit, the neighbourhood of which was a delightful 
 country, far exceeding any thing he had seen on 
 that continent, and a cursory description of it, as it 
 appeared in 1812, may prove interesting. 
 
 The Detroit river, which connects Lake St. Clair 
 and Lake Erie, extends from about latitude 41 48 
 to 42 IS north, and divides that part of Canada 
 from the United States. Possessing a salubrious cli 
 mate, a productive soil, and a water communication 
 with the upper and lower lakes and the river St. 
 Lawrence, we can scarcely conceive any thing more 
 favorable than the geographical position of the adja 
 cent country. Michigan afforded a rich field for 
 " fowling" and fishing, and its forests were plentifully- 
 supplied with various kinds of game. It was the opi 
 nion of a former governor of Upper Canada, Simcoe, 
 that the peninsula of that province, formed by Lakes 
 Huron, St. Clair, Erie, Ontario, Rice, and Simcoe, 
 would alone furnish a surplus of wheat sufficient for 
 the wants of Great Britain. The banks of the Detroit 
 were in many places thickly peopled and in a fair 
 state of cultivation.* The inhabitants on the Canadian 
 side were chiefly of French origin, who began to 
 occupy the country when Canada was still under the 
 dominion of France. They still retained that urba 
 nity of manners which distinguishes them from the 
 peasantry of most countries. Further back, the 
 country was settled principally by Americans, partial 
 to the United States. Three or four years after the 
 war, the houses upon the banks of the Detroit were 
 so numerous and so close together, that there was an 
 appearance of a succession of villages for more than 
 ten miles. The farms were very narrow in front, 
 extending a long way back, and were allotted in this 
 
 * " From Detroit, to the mouth of Lake Huron, is called a distance of 
 eighty miles. From the fort to Lake St. Clair, which is only seven miles, 
 the lands are cultivated on both sides the strait, and appeared to be laid 
 out in very comfortable farms. In the strait, on the right hand, is a 
 village of Hurons, and at the mouth of Lake St. Clair, a village of Ottawas." 
 Henry s Travels, 1764. 
 
264 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 awkward and inconvenient form, that their respective 
 occupants might be able to render each other assist 
 ance when attacked by the Indians, who were at one 
 time very numerous and troublesome in this vicinity. 
 
 The banks of the river Detroit are the Eden of 
 Upper Canada, in so far as regards the production of 
 fruit. Apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes, and 
 nectarines, attain the highest degree of perfection, 
 and exceed in size, beauty, and flavour, those raised 
 in any other part of the province. Cider abounds at 
 the table of the meanest peasant, and there is scarcely 
 a farm that has not a fruitful orchard attached to it. 
 The fineness of the fruit is one consequence of the 
 amelioration of climate, which takes place in the vi 
 cinity of the Detroit river and Lake St. Clair. The 
 seasons there are much milder and more serene than 
 they are a few hundred miles below, and the weather 
 is likewise drier and less variable. Comparatively, 
 little snow falls during the winter, although the cold 
 is often sufficiently intense to freeze over the Detroit 
 river so strongly, that persons, horses, and even load 
 ed sleighs, cross it with ease and safety. The springs 
 are somewhat cold and lingering, in consequence of 
 the ice on Lakes Huron and St. Clair breaking up 
 late and floating down through the Detroit. In 
 summer, the country presents a forest of blossoms, 
 which exhale the most delicious odours ; a cloud 
 seldom obscures the sky, while the lakes and rivers, 
 which extend in every direction, communicate a re 
 viving freshness to the air and moderate the warmth 
 of a dazzling sun ; and the clearness and elasticity 
 of the atmosphere render it equally healthy and 
 exbilirating.* 
 
 The fort of Detroit was originally constructed to 
 over-awe the neighbouring Indian nations, and its 
 military importance as the key of the upper lakes 
 appears to have been well known to them. But, 
 neither possessing battering cannon nor understanding 
 
 * Howison s Upper Canada. London, 1821. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 265 
 
 art of attacking fortified places, they could only re 
 duce them by stratagem or famine, and Detroit could 
 always be supplied with provisions by water. In the 
 year 1763, the Indian chief, Pontiac, whose name 
 has already appeared, (page 188,) formed a powerful 
 confederacy of the diiferent tribes, for the purpose of 
 revenging their past wrongs and of preventing their 
 total extirpation, which they were erroneously led to 
 believe was contemplated. In a sudden, general, and 
 simultaneous irruption on the British frontier, they 
 obtained possession, chiefly by stratagem, of Michili- 
 rnackinac,* Presqu ile, Le Boeuf, and Venango, with 
 other smaller posts ; but there still remained three 
 fortresses formidable alike by their strength and posi 
 tion, which it was necessary the Indians should sub 
 due before they could reap any permanent advantage 
 from their successes. These were Detroit, Niagara, 
 and Pittsburgh an( i the first and last, although so 
 remote from each other, were invested almost at the 
 same moment. The consummate address which the 
 Indians displayed in this alarming war, was support 
 ed by a proportionate degree of courage, determina 
 tion, and perseverance ; and never did they approve 
 themselves a more stubborn and formidable enemy 
 than in this final stand against the encroachments of 
 European dominion and civilization in North Ame 
 rica. General Amherst, sensible of the danger, sent 
 
 * The garrison of Michilimackinac was surprised, not being aware of 
 the war, and the Indians massacred three-fourths of the English, in 
 number about 100. The troops consisted of the commandant, Major 
 Etherington, two subalterns, and ninety soldiers ; and there were, more 
 over, four English traders there. Of these, Lieutenant Jemette, about 
 seventy soldiers, and one trader, were killed; but the commandant, 
 Lieutenant Leslie, and the remainder were preserved by the Ottawas, and 
 restored at the peace in 1764. An English trader, Alexander Henry, 
 whose travels in Canada are occasionally cited ante, having been con 
 cealed in the house of one of the French inhabitants, beheld the massacre 
 from an aperture which afforded him a view of the area of the fort. He 
 describes it as follows : " I beheld, in shapes the foulest and most terrible, 
 the ferocious triumphs of barbarian conquerors. The dead were scalped 
 and mangled ; the dying were writhing and shrieking, under the insatiated 
 knife and tomahawk ; and from the bodies of some, ripped open, their 
 butchers were drinking the blood scooped up in the hollow of joined 
 hands, and quaffed amid shouts of rage and victory." 
 
 t The site of the old French post, Fort Duquesne, in Pennsylvania. 
 N 
 
266 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 immediate succours to those two western garrisons, 
 and thus prevented their fall. Captain Dalzell, after 
 conducting, in July, a strong reinforcement to Detroit, 
 was induced to think that he could surprise the In 
 dian force encamped about three miles from the fort, 
 and he sat out at night with 270 men, adopting the 
 most judicious precautions for the secrecy and good 
 order of his march. But the Indians, apprized of 
 his design, were prepared to defeat it ; and every step 
 from the fort only conducted the English troops 
 further into the jaws of destruction. Their advance 
 was suddenly arrested by a sharp fire on their front, 
 which was presently followed by a similar discharge 
 on their rear, and then succeeded by destructive vol- 
 lies from every side. In the darkness, neither the 
 position nor the numbers of the Indians could be 
 ascertained. Dalzell was slain early, and his whole 
 detachment was on the brink of irretrievable confu 
 sion and ruin, when Captain Grant, the next in com 
 mand, perceiving that a retreat, now the last resource, 
 could only be accomplished by a resolute attack, 
 promptly rallied the survivors, who, steadily obeying 
 his orders, charged the Indians with so much spirit 
 and success, as to repulse them on all sides to some 
 distance. Having thus extricated themselves from 
 immediate peril, the British hastily regained the 
 shelter of the fort, with the loss of 70 killed and 40 
 wounded ; * and the Indians, unable to reduce the 
 fort by a regular siege, and pausing long enough to 
 ascertain that the garrison was completely on its 
 guard against stratagem and surprise, broke up their 
 camp and abandoned for a short time the immediate 
 vicinity of Detroit. 
 
 The Indians, thus grievously disappointed in their 
 designs on Detroit and Pittsburg, now closely be 
 leaguered Niagara, which they justly considered as 
 nof less important. They hoped to reduce it by 
 
 * The rivulet, near which they fell, is said to have run with blood, and 
 it now bears the name of " The Bloody Run." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 267 
 
 famine, and on the 14th of September, surrounding a 
 convoy of provisions which had nearly reached its 
 destination, they succeeded in making it their prey 
 by a sudden attack, in which 70 of the British sol 
 diers were slain. Shortly after, as a schooner was 
 crossing Lake Erie with supplies for Detroit, she was 
 attacked by a numerous fleet of canoes, in which 
 were nearly 400 Indians. But this attempt was less 
 successful ; and, after a warm engagement, the Indian 
 flotilla was repulsed with considerable loss, as, in a 
 conflict with an armed vessel, they were exposed to 
 the same disadvantages which attended their opera 
 tions against fortified places. Niagara having at 
 length been powerfully reinforced and well supplied, 
 the Indians abandoned all hope of reducing it, and 
 thenceforth confined themselves to their wonted pre 
 datory hostility.* 
 
 In July of the following year, (1764,) General 
 Bradstreet proceeded with 3,000 men from Fort 
 Niagara, for the threefold purpose of relieving De 
 troit, which was still blockaded by Pontiac, and 
 defended by Major Gladwyn of re- garrisoning 
 Michilimackinac and of compelling the Indians to 
 sue for peace, or, in their phrase, to bury the hatchet. 
 For the transport of the army on Lake Erie, barges 
 had been built, capable of carrying 100 men each, 
 with their provisions. The troops, having embarked 
 at Fort Schlausser on the 14th, coasted the southern 
 side of the lake, and on the fifth day reached Pres- 
 qu ile, where the barges were dragged over the neck 
 of land, probably with more loss of time than if they 
 had been rowed round it. On the twentieth day the 
 flotilla was off the mouth of the river, which falls 
 into Sandusky bay, and it was determined in a coun 
 cil of war to attack the Indian villages on the Miami ; 
 but as the troops entered the river for that purpose, 
 they were received by a deputation offering peace, 
 and the chiefs agreed to meet the British general in 
 
 * Grahame s History of the United States. 
 
268 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 fifteen days at Detroit, whither the army arrived on 
 the 8th of August. The chiefs of the Miami were 
 punctual, and the Indians being unable to contend 
 with so overwhelming a force, a general peace was 
 quickly concluded, the terms of which were dictated 
 by the English, when Pontiac, * who was abandoned 
 by his followers, and was unwilling to trust his for 
 tunes with the white men, fled to the Illinois. f He 
 and the Indians of his day appear to have been much 
 attached to the dominion of France in North Ame 
 rica ; and it is well known that although that unfor 
 tunate aboriginal people now prefer the English to 
 the Americans, they formerly preferred the French 
 to the English. " Whatever may have been the 
 cause," observed General Cass, previously mentioned 
 the governor of Michigan, and subsequently Ame 
 rican minister at the court of Louis Philippe " the 
 fact is certain, that there is in the French character a 
 peculiar adaptation to the habits and feelings of the 
 Indians, and to this day the period of French domi 
 nation is the era of all that is happy in Indian remi 
 niscences." 
 
 * Pontiac appears subsequently to have joined the English, and to have 
 received a handsome pension from them to secure his attachment. Carver, 
 in his "Three Years Travels" in North America, relates that in 1/67 
 Pontiac held a council in the Illinois, in which he spoke against the 
 English, and that in consequence an Indian, who was attached to their 
 cause, plunged a knife into his heart, and laid him dead on the spot. 
 
 For a description of the deeds of Pontiac, or Pondiac, as she spells his 
 name, see Mrs. Grant s "Memoirs of an American Lady," vol. ii. There 
 is a life of him in Thatcher s Indian Biography, a work which we have 
 been unable to consult, as it could not be procured by purchase in London. 
 
 t Henry s Travels and Adventures in Canada. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The following letters* relate chiefly to the enterprise 
 against Detroit, aud although not in the chronological 
 order we have hitherto observed, will form, with 
 some passing comments, the subject of this chapter. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 16, 1812. 
 
 I hasten to apprize your excellency of the capture 
 of this very important post : 2,500 troops have this 
 day surrendered prisoners of war, and about 25 pieces 
 of ordnance have been taken without the sacrifice of 
 a drop of British blood. I had not more than 700 
 troops, including militia, and about 600 Indians, to 
 accomplish this service. When I detail my good 
 fortune, your excellency will be astonished. I have 
 been admirably supported by Colonel Proctor, the 
 whole of my staff, and I may justly say, every indi 
 vidual under my command. 
 
 Major-General JSrock to Sir George Prevost. 
 Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 17, 1812.f 
 
 I have had the honor of informing your excellency, 
 that the enemy effected his passage across the Detroit 
 river, on the 12th ultimo, without opposition ; and 
 
 * We can discover none from Colonel Baynes on the subject. 
 t This dispatch was published in a Gazette Extraordinary, in London, 
 on the 6th of October. 
 
270 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that, after establishing himself at Sandwich, he had 
 ravaged the country as far as the Moravian town. 
 Some skirmishes occurred between the troops under 
 Lieut.-Colonel St. George and the enemy, upon the 
 river Canard, which uniformly terminated in his be 
 ing repulsed with loss. I judged it proper to detach 
 a force down the river Thames, capable of acting in 
 conjunction with the garrison of Amherstburg offen 
 sively ; but Captain Chambers, whom I had appointed 
 to direct this detachment, experienced difficulties that 
 frustrated my intentions. The intelligence received 
 from that quarter admitting of no delay, Colonel 
 Proctor was directed to assume the command, and 
 his force was soon after increased with 60 rank and 
 file of the 41st regiment. 
 
 In the mean time, the most strenuous measures 
 were adopted to counteract the machinations of the 
 evil-disposed, and I soon experienced the gratification 
 of receiving voluntary offers of service from that por 
 tion of the embodied militia the most easily collected. 
 In the attainment of this important point, gentlemen 
 of the first character and influence shewed an exam 
 ple highly creditable to them ; and I cannot, on this 
 occasion, avoid mentioning the essential assistance 
 I derived from John M Donell, Esq., his majesty s 
 attorney-general, who, from the beginning of the war, 
 has honored me with his services as my provincial 
 aide-de-camp. A sufficiency of boats being collected 
 at Long Point for the conveyance of 300 men, the 
 embarkation took place on the 8th instant, arid in 
 five days we arrived in safety at Amherstburg. 
 
 I found that the judicious arrangements which had 
 been adopted immediately upon the arrival of Colonel 
 Proctor had compelled the enemy to retreat, and 
 take shelter under the guns of his fort : that officer 
 commenced operations by sending strong detachments 
 across the river, with a view of cutting off the enemy s 
 communication with his reserve. This produced two 
 smart skirmishes on the 5th and 9th instant, in which 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 271 
 
 the enemy s loss was considerable, whilst ours amount 
 ed to 3 killed and 13 wounded ; * amongst the latter, 
 I have particularly to regret Captain Muir and Lieu 
 tenant Sutherland, f of the 41st regiment ; the former 
 an officer of great experience, and both ardent in his 
 majesty s service. Batteries had likewise been com 
 menced opposite Fort Detroit, for one 18-pounder, 
 two 12 and two 5J-inch mortars, all of which opened 
 on the evening of the 15th ; (having previously sum 
 moned Brigadier-General Hull to surrender ;) and 
 although opposed by a well-directed fire from seven 
 24-pounders, such was their construction under the 
 able direction of Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engi 
 neers, that no injury was sustained from its effect. 
 
 The force at my disposal being collected in the 
 course of the 15th in the neighbourhood of Sandwich, 
 the embarkation took place a little before daylight 
 on the following morning ; and by the able arrange 
 ments of Lieutenant Dewar, of the quartermaster- 
 general s department, the whole was in a short time, 
 without the smallest confusion, landed at Spring Well, 
 a good position, three miles west of Detroit. The 
 Indians, who had in the mean time effected their 
 landing two miles below, moved forward and occu 
 pied the woods, about a mile and a half on our left. 
 
 The force, which I instantly directed to march 
 against the enemy, consisted of 30 artillery, 250 41st 
 regiment, 50 royal Newfoundland regiment, 400 mi 
 litia, and about 600 Indians, to which were attached 
 three 6-pounders and two 3-pounders. The services 
 of Lieutenant Troughton, an active and intelligent 
 officer, commanding the royal artillery, being required 
 in the field, the direction of the batteries was entrust 
 ed to Captain Hall and the marine department, and 
 I cannot withhold my entire approbation of their 
 conduct on this occasion. 
 
 * This loss does not appear to include that of the Indians on the 9th of 
 August, at Maguaga. 
 t Lieutenant Sutherland died of his wounds. 
 
272 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 I crossed the river, with an intention of awaiting in 
 a strong position the effect of our force upon the ene 
 my s camp, and in the hope of compelling him to 
 meet us in the field ; but receiving information upon 
 landing that Colonel M Arthur,* an officer of high 
 reputation, had left the garrison three days before 
 with a detachment of 500 men ; and hearing, soon 
 afterwards, that his cavalry had been seen that 
 morning three miles in our rear, I decided on an 
 immediate attack. Accordingly, the troops advanced 
 to within one mile of the fort, and having ascertained 
 that the enemy had taken little or no precaution to 
 wards the land side, I resolved on an assault, whilst 
 the Indians penetrated his camp. Brigadier-General 
 Hull, however, prevented this movement, by propo 
 sing a cessation of hostilities, for the purpose of 
 preparing terms of capitulation. Lieut. -Colonel J. 
 M Donell and Captain Glegg were accordingly de 
 puted by me on this mission, and returned within 
 an hour with the conditions, which I have the honor 
 herewith to transmit. Certain considerations after 
 wards induced me to agree to the two supplementary 
 articles. f 
 
 The force thus surrendered to his majesty s arms 
 cannot be estimated at less than 2,500 men. In this 
 estimate, Colonel M Arthur s detachment is included, 
 as he surrendered, agreeably to the terms of capitula 
 tion in the course of the evening, with the exception 
 of 200 men, whom he left escorting a valuable convoy 
 at some little distance in his rear ; but there can be 
 no doubt the officer commanding will consider him 
 self equally bound by the capitulation. 
 
 The enemy s aggregate force was divided into two 
 troops of cavalry ; one company of artillery, regulars ; 
 the 4th United States regiment ; detachments of the 
 1st and 3d United States regiments, volunteers; 
 
 * Colonel M Arthur was second in command of the American army. 
 t In Appendix A, Section l, No. 3, will be seen a copy of these docu 
 ments, from the originals found among Sir Isaac Brock s papers. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 273 
 
 three regiments of the Ohio militia ; one regiment 
 of the Michigan territory. 
 
 Thirty-three pieces of brass and iron ordnance have 
 already been secured. 
 
 When this contest commenced, many of the Indian 
 nations were engaged in active warfare with the 
 United States, notwithstanding the constant endea 
 vours of this government to dissuade them from it. 
 Some of the principal chiefs happened to be at Am- 
 herstburg, trying to procure a supply of arms and 
 ammunition, which for years had been withheld, 
 agreeably to the instructions received from Sir James 
 Craig, and since repeated by your excellency. 
 
 From that moment they took a most active part, 
 and appeared foremost on every occasion ; they were 
 led yesterday by Colonel Elliott and Captain M Kee, 
 and nothing could exceed their order and steadiness. 
 A few prisoners were taken by them during the ad 
 vance, whom they treated with every humanity ; and 
 it affords me much pleasure in assuring your excel 
 lency, that such was their forbearance and attention 
 to what was required of them, that the enemy sus 
 tained no other loss in men than what was occasioned 
 by the fire of our batteries. 
 
 The high sense I entertain of the abilities and 
 judgment of Lieut.-Colonel Myers,* induced me to 
 appoint him to the important command at Niagara ; 
 it was with reluctance I deprived myself of his assist 
 ance, but I had no other expedient ; his duties, as 
 head of the quartermaster-general s department, were 
 performed to my satisfaction by Lieut.-Colonel Nichol, 
 quartermaster-general of the militia. 
 
 Captain Glegg, my aide-de-camp, will have the 
 honor of delivering this dispatch to your excellency ; 
 
 * So bare was Major-General Brock of experienced officers at this time, 
 that Lieut.-Colonel Myers, who had recently joined, was considered a 
 most valuable acquisition ; nor could the general have left Niagara, had 
 it not been for the confidence he reposed in Colonel Myers. Every enter 
 prising staff officer, who could, was at this period serving under Lord 
 Wellington, in the Peninsula. 
 
 N* 
 
274 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 he is charged with the colours taken at the capture of 
 Fort Detroit, and those of the 4th United States 
 regiment. 
 
 Captain Glegg is capable of giving your excellency 
 every information respecting the state of this pro 
 vince, and I shall esteem myself highly indebted to 
 your excellency, to afford him that protection to 
 which his merit and length of service give him a 
 powerful claim.* I have the honor to be, &c. 
 
 P. S. I have the honor to enclose a copy of a 
 proclamation which I issued immediately on taking 
 possession of this country. 
 
 I should have mentioned in the body of my dis 
 patch, the capture of the Adams ; she is a fine vessel, 
 and recently repaired, but without arms. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 Head Quarters, Montreal, Aug. 30, 1812. 
 
 I received on the 25th, whilst at St. John s, your 
 dispatch, by express from Detroit, of the 16th instant. 
 I do most sincerely congratulate you upon the com 
 plete success which has attended your measures for 
 the preservation of Amherstburg. The surrender of 
 Detroit, the capture of General Hull s army with so 
 large a proportion of ordnance, are circumstances of 
 high importance to our country, and which have 
 evinced your talents as an officer in command, and 
 reflect honor upon you, and upon Lieut.-Colonel St. 
 George and Colonel Proctor. 
 
 I propose sending an aide-de-camp to England 
 with your short dispatch, together with such details 
 as I am in possession of, respecting Brigadier-General 
 Hull s previous invasion of Upper Canada, and of his 
 foiled attempts to invade Amherstburg; but I shall 
 delay his departure from hence until the 1st of Sep 
 tember, in hopes of obtaining from you, before that 
 
 * Captain Glegg was made a brevet-major for the capture of Detroit. 
 Sir George Prevost s aide-de-camp, Captain Coore, was also made a brevet- 
 major for taking the dispatches to England. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 275 
 
 time, further particulars of the operations which led 
 to General Hull s disgrace. 
 
 Well aware of the difficulties you have surmounted 
 for the preservation of your government entire, I shall 
 endeavour to do justice to your merit, in my report to 
 his majesty s minister upon the success which has 
 crowned your energy and zeal. 
 
 A warrant, giving to you more extensive power 
 over the sentence of such general courts martial as 
 you may be called on to assemble, was signed by me 
 ten days since, and has I hope reached you. 
 
 I am in hourly expectation of receiving from Gene 
 ral Dearborn intelligence respecting the reception of 
 the proposed suspension of hostilities, in consequence 
 of the revocation of the orders in council, which are 
 the plea for war in the American cabinet ; and also 
 whether Mr. Baker has been allowed to assume, 
 pro tempore, the character of a charge d affaires at 
 Washington, where Mr. Foster had left him in a 
 demi-official capacity. I consider the arrangement 
 entered into by General Dearborn with Colonel 
 Baynes, requiring the confirmation of the president, 
 to establish its sacredness. 
 
 The king s government having most unequivocally 
 expressed to me their desire to preserve peace with 
 the United States, that they might, uninterrupted, 
 pursue, with the whole disposable force of the coun 
 try, the great interest committed in Europe, I have 
 endeavoured to be instrumental in the accomplishment 
 of their views ; but I consider it most fortunate to 
 have been enabled to do so without interfering with 
 your operations on the Detroit. 
 
 I have sent you men, money, and stores of every 
 kind. 
 
 P. S. I have addressed to you a public letter, con 
 taining my sentiments upon Major-General SheafFe s 
 alterations in the original conclusive and binding 
 conditions transmitted to him by the adjutant-general. 
 
 
276 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major~ General Brock. 
 
 Head Quarters, Montreal, Aug. 31, 1812. 
 
 I had scarcely closed the letters I addressed to 
 you yesterday, when an aide-de-camp from Major- 
 General Dearborn made his appearance, and delivered 
 to me the dispatch herewith transmitted. It will 
 expose to your view the disposition of the president 
 of the United States on the provisional measure tem 
 porarily agreed upon between the American com- 
 mander-in-chief and myself, in consequence of an 
 earnest desire not to widen the breach existing be 
 tween the two countries, the revocation of the orders 
 in council having removed the plea used in congress 
 for a declaration^ war against Great Britain. 
 
 I am much disappointed that the particulars of the 
 surrender of Detroit have not as yet reached me, 
 particularly as my aide-de-camp, Captain Coore, is 
 to leave Montreal this evening for Quebec, where a 
 ship of war is on the point of sailing for Halifax, 
 from whence I expect the admiral will give him a 
 conveyance for England. 
 
 Being unacquainted with the conditions attached 
 to the surrender of Brigadier-General Hull s army, 
 and giving scope to your expressions of prisoners of 
 war, I have made arrangements for increasing their 
 security against any attempt to rescue them, by 
 ordering Captain Gray to proceed with two flank 
 companies to Prescott. 
 
 [The dispatch from General Dearborn, dated Greenbush, August 26, 
 was to announce the discontinuance of the temporary armistice agreed 
 to between him and Colonel Baynes, in four days after the receipt of the 
 communication at the frontier posts in Canada. The American general 
 added : " If a suspension of offensive operations shall have been mutually 
 consented to between General Hull and the commanding officer of the 
 British forces at and near Detroit, as proposed, they will respectively be 
 authorized, at the expiration of four days subsequent to their receiving 
 copies of this communication, to consider themselves released from any 
 agreement thus entered into."] 
 
 As we have already commented on Sir George 
 Prevost s management of the war, and shall have 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 277 
 
 occasionally to do so again, we gladly give him cre 
 dit for the very handsome manner in which he spoke 
 of Major- General Brock, in his dispatch to Earl 
 Bathurst, one of his majesty s principal secretaries of 
 state, announcing the surrender of Detroit, and dated 
 Montreal, 26th of August, 1812. 
 
 " It was under these circumstances at this critical 
 period, and when the enemy were beginning to con 
 sult their security by entrenching themselves, that 
 General Brock entered Amherstburg with a rein 
 forcement, which he was fortunately enabled to do on 
 the 13th instant, without the smallest molestation, in 
 consequence of our decided naval superiority on the 
 lakes. To his active and intelligent mind, the advan 
 tages which his enemy s situation afforded him over 
 them, even with his very inferior force, became imme 
 diately apparent ; and that he has not failed most 
 effectually to avail himself of those favorable cir 
 cumstances, your lordship will, I trust, be satisfied, 
 from the letter which I have the honor of transmitting. 
 
 " Having thus brought to your lordship s view the 
 different circumstances which have led to the success 
 ful termination of the campaign on the western fron 
 tier of Upper Canada, I cannot withhold from Major- 
 General Brock the tribute of applause so justly due 
 to him for his distinguished conduct on this occasion ; 
 or omit to recommend him, through your lordship, 
 to the favorable consideration of his royal highness 
 the prince regent, for the great ability and judgment 
 with which he planned, and the promptitude, energy, 
 and fortitude with which he has effected, the preserv 
 ation of Upper Canada, with the sacrifice of so little 
 British blood in accomplishing so important a service. 
 
 " My aide-de-camp, Captain Coore, will have the 
 honor of delivering to your lordship this dispatch ; 
 and as he is well qualified to give your lordship 
 information respecting the military resources of this 
 command, I shall beg leave to refer your lordship to 
 him for further particulars." 
 
278 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 At the same time, truth compels us to add, that 
 Sir George Prevost took credit to himself, to which 
 he was not entitled, when he wrote to Lord Bathurst : 
 * General Brock, relying upon the strong assurances 
 I had given him of a reinforcement as prompt and as 
 effectual as the circumstances by which I was placed 
 by this new war would permit me to send, adopted 
 the most vigorous measures for the safety of that part 
 of the frontier which had been attacked." And 
 again : " The certainty of the expected reinforce 
 ments, and the weakness of the enemy on the Niagara 
 frontier, had in the mean time induced General 
 Brock," &c.* The last dispatch which, we believe, 
 Major-General Brock had received from Sir George 
 Prevost, when on the 6th of August he left York for 
 Detroit, was dated the 10th, and received on the 29th 
 of July ; and in that dispatch (see page 200) no 
 reinforcements were promised, and indeed offensive 
 operations were deprecated. The first reinforcement 
 sent from Lower to Upper Canada, appears to have 
 consisted of about 100 men of the Newfoundland 
 regiment and 50 of the Veterans, who left Quebec on 
 the 30th of July for Kingston, to strengthen that 
 post; and the adjutant-general, on the 1st of August, 
 (page 228,) wrote that Sir George Prevost regretted 
 extremely his inability to render Major-Generaf Brock 
 more efficient aid. It was, only on the 2cl of August 
 that Sir George Prevost promised an additional rein 
 forcement of four companies of the 49th regiment, 
 (page 232,) and on the 12th of the same month the 
 remainder of the regiment, (page 234.) Mr. Justice 
 Powell confirms this view of the subject, in his admir 
 able letter, page 283. It will be seen in the sequel 
 that, on the 13th of August, the adjutant-general 
 
 * In consequence of these assertions, Lord Bathurst wrote to Sir George 
 Prevost on the 10th of October, 1812, in reply to his letter announcing the 
 capture of General Hull : "I am further commanded by his royal highness 
 to say, that in giving every credit to Major-General Brock, and the army 
 under his command, he is fully sensible how much your exertions and 
 arrangements have contributed to the fortunate conclusion of the cam 
 paign in Upper Canada." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 279 
 
 wrote that he had strongly urged Sir George Prevost 
 to send further reinforcements, as he was sure they 
 could be spared. As to the remark relative to the 
 weakness of the enemy on the Niagara frontier, we 
 shall only mention that Major-General Brock states, 
 in a MS. before us, that it was the strong American 
 force on that frontier which compelled him to take 
 with him to Detroit only half of the militia who 
 volunteered. 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Earl Bathurst. 
 
 Head Quarters, Montreal, Sept. 1, 1812. 
 
 Since I had the honor of transmitting to your 
 lordship my letter of the 26th ultimo, in charge of 
 my aide-de-camp, Captain Coore, I have received 
 from Major-General Brock a dispatch, of which the 
 enclosed is a copy, containing the particulars of 
 Brigadier-General Hull s invasion of Upper Canada, 
 which has terminated most gloriously to his majesty s 
 arms, in that officer s defeat and surrender as a pri 
 soner of war, with the whole of the north-western 
 army, together with the fort Detroit, and thirty-three 
 pieces of ordnance. 
 
 I forward this dispatch express, in the expectation 
 of its reaching Captain Coore previously to his leaving 
 Canada, which, with the colours of the 4th United 
 States regiment accompanying it, I trust that officer 
 will have the honor of delivering to your lordship. 
 
 Earl Bathurst to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 DOWNING STREET, October 10, 1812. 
 I have had the honor of receiving your dispatch, 
 dated the 26th of August, together with its enclo 
 sures, from Major-General Brock, and I lost no time 
 in laying intelligence so important and satisfactory 
 before his royal highness the prince regent. 
 
 I am commanded by his royal highness to desire 
 you to take the earliest opportunity of conveying his 
 
280 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 royal highness approbation of the able, judicious, 
 and decisive conduct of Major-General Brock ; of the 
 zeal and spirit manifested by Colonel Proctor and 
 the other officers ; as well as of the intrepidity of the 
 troops under the command of Major-General Brock. 
 
 By the united exertions of this little army, the en 
 terprise of the American army has been defeated ; 
 the territories of his majesty in Upper Canada have 
 been secured ; and on the enemy s fort of Detroit, 
 important to that security, the British standard has 
 been happily placed. 
 
 You will inform Major-General Brock that his 
 royal highness, taking into consideration all the diffi 
 culties by which Major-General Brock was surround 
 ed from the time of the invasion of the province by 
 the American army, under the command of General 
 Hull, and the singular judgment, firmness, skill, and 
 courage, with which he was enabled to surmount 
 them so effectually has been pleased to appoint him 
 an extra knight of the most honorable order of the 
 bath. 
 
 Major-General Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 16, 1812.* 
 
 My dear Brothers and Friends, Rejoice at my 
 good fortune, and join me in prayers to Heaven. I 
 send you a copy of my hasty note to Sir George. 
 
 [Here follows his short dispatch of that day. See page 269.] 
 
 Let me hear that you are all united and happy. 
 
 [Chief Justice Robinson, of Upper Canada, who formed part of the 
 reinforcement taken by General Brock to Detroit, and who also fought at 
 Queenstown, in a letter to the editor, dated Toronto, IQth of January, 
 1846, writes : " There is something peculiarly touching in the short note 
 of the good and noble general to his brothers, written, I suppose, within 
 a few minutes after his glorious success. Join me in prayers to Heaven, 
 and Let me hear that you are all united and happy. The union of such 
 sentiments in his mind at the instant of victory, and amid the exciting 
 and tumultuous scenes and feelings of such a moment, shew a heart 
 
 * This letter, addressed to his brother Irving in London, reached him, 
 we believe, on the 13th of October, the very day on which the writer was 
 slain. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 281 
 
 worthy of all admiration and lore. I am delighted to have seen these 
 traits in his character. To those who cherish the recollection of him, 
 this little note is invaluable. It shews how pure the joy was which he 
 derived from his splendid achievement : gratitude to God, and the in 
 creased happiness of those he held most dear, were the thoughts upper 
 most in his mind. Among the interesting records of him, contained in 
 this volume, this hasty letter to his brothers, and that of September 3, 
 which follows, and his letter to Sir George Prevost, of 2d December, 1811, 
 give us proofs, as it appears to me, that while General Brock possessed 
 foresight, ability, judgment, and decision equal to great emergencies, he 
 had also a heart that entitled him to the kindest regards of the world." ] 
 
 William Brock) Esq., to his brother Savery, in Guernsey. 
 LONDON, Tuesday, October 13, 1812. 
 
 Since I sent you, on Tuesday last, the Gazette 
 containing the dispatches, I have been so engrossed 
 with the one all-exciting subject, as to be unable to 
 
 attend to your business with C and B As 
 
 I well knew that Isaac would not consider his good 
 fortune complete unless a reconciliation took place 
 between Irving and myself, I went up to-day on see 
 ing him and shook hands. He then shewed me two 
 lines which he had just received from Isaac, and 
 which he was going to send me. I give you the 
 copy verbatim. 
 
 [Here follows a transcript of the short letter to his brothers, dated 
 Detroit, August 16, as given ante.] 
 
 It is satisfactory to me that we shook hands before 
 I was aware of the contents. I have written a long 
 letter* to Isaac since the dispatches have arrived, 
 and I have again seen Captain Coore, who told me 
 that the prince regent had spoken to him about Isaac 
 for nearly half an hour. His royal highness was 
 pleased to say, that General Brock had done more in 
 an hour than could have been done in six months 
 negociation with Mr. Russell that he had by his 
 exploit given a lustre to the British army that the 
 dispatches had afforded him (his royal highness) 
 more pleasure than any he had received for some 
 time, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 * Unfortunately, we cannot find this letter. 
 
282 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Captain Coore also said that Mr. Vansittart* had 
 expressed himself on the occasion with greater glee 
 than even the other ministers ; and certainly the very 
 prompt manner in which the red riband has been 
 conferred, confirms the flattering remarks of the 
 prince, and proves the favorable impression of the 
 ministry. I look forward to Isaac receiving the 
 thanks of parliament when it meets again. Captain 
 Coore thinks that he will next take Niagara. 
 
 What is your opinion of Isaac s proclamation, in 
 answer to that of Hull, and of his dispatches to 
 Prevost? I think them admirably written, and so 
 does every person with whom I have conversed on 
 the subject. 
 
 Let me know what effect the good news have had 
 upon you all. I have scarcely slept for the last 
 week, I can tell you. 
 
 May Sir Isaac long live to be an example to your 
 Julius,f and an honor to us all.J With my hearty 
 congratulations, believe me, &c. 
 
 The following letter strikes us as singularly appro 
 priate and pleasing, and as creditable to him who 
 wrote it as it must have been gratifying to him who 
 received it. Mr. Justice Powell, who. was then the 
 senior puisne judge of the court of king s bench, be 
 came chief justice of Upper Canada in the year 1816. 
 
 * Then chancellor of the exchequer created Lord Bexley,in 1823. 
 
 t Julius Brock, the only son of Savery, died in boyhood. 
 
 t How futile frequently is human hope. Sir Isaac Brock had fallen 
 that very morning, and was then lying a bleeding corse in a house in the 
 village of Queenstown. Many need rejoice in trembling. 
 
 Chief Justice Powell retired from the bench in 1825, and died about 
 ten years afterwards. His abilities were of a very superior order, and he 
 is believed, in Upper Canada, to have been the author of General Brock s 
 proclamation, in answer to that of Hull. He was at the time a member of 
 the executive council, and, with his numerous duties, the British general 
 would naturally avail himself of Judge Powell s talents on such an occa 
 sion. If so, the proclamation was the happy effort of one who, both in 
 speaking and writing, usually acquitted himself with felicity. Its clear 
 and logical language was justly admired, and it did much good both in 
 and out of the Canadas. Mrs. Powell, the widow of the late chief justice, 
 is still living ; she is about ninety-two, and in the full possession of her 
 faculties. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 283 
 
 The Hon. William Dummer Powell to Major-General Brock. 
 
 KINGSTON, August 27, 1812. 
 
 I cannot persuade myself to offer my hearty con 
 gratulations through the medium of a third person, 
 and hope you will believe that no one sympathizes 
 more cordially than myself in your feelings on the 
 late happy event. I shall never again regret little 
 disappointments, when I consider to what they may 
 lead : had your early representations been attended to, 
 and produced their proper effect, you would probably 
 not have to boast of the most brilliant success, with 
 the most inadequate means, which history records. 
 There is something so fabulous in the report of a 
 handful of troops, supported by a few raw militia, 
 leaving their strong post to invade an enemy of dou 
 ble numbers in his own fortress, and making them all 
 prisoners without the loss of a man, that, although 
 your report may be sanctioned by Sir George Prevost, 
 it seems to me that the people of England will be 
 incredulous until they see the exterminating boaster a 
 prisoner in London. We find in a cover by General 
 Sheaffe, that the first report of the cannon taken was 
 one-third short of the real number. I shall hardly 
 sleep until I have the satisfaction of hearing particu 
 lars of the wonderful excursion, for it must not be 
 called a campaign. The veni, vidi, vici, is again the 
 faithful report. Your good fortune in one instance is 
 singular, for if your zeal had been thwarted by such 
 adverse winds as frequently occur on the lake, the 
 armistice might have intercepted your career.* That 
 it did not, I heartily thank God, and pray that no 
 thing may occur to damp the entire satisfaction of 
 yourself and family in the glory so well earned. I 
 am impatient to hear from Colonel M Donell, but 
 have no doubt that he justified your warmest expec 
 tations in every trial. May I beg to be presented to 
 Glegg, and that you, Sir, will believe me, &c. 
 
 * " South-west winds prevail much" (on Lake Erie) " during- a great 
 part of the year, and often, for wee.ks together, prevent vessels from 
 sailing westward." Howison s Upper Canada. 
 
284 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to his Brothers. 
 
 LAKE ONTARIO, Sept. 3, 1812. 
 
 You will have heard of the complete success which 
 attended the efforts I directed against Detroit. I 
 have received so many letters from people whose 
 opinion I value, expressive of their admiration of the 
 exploit, that I begin to attach to it more importance 
 than I was at first inclined. Should the affair be 
 viewed in England in the light it is here, I cannot 
 fail of meeting reward, and escaping the horror of 
 being placed high on a shelf, never to be taken down. 
 
 Some say that nothing could be more desperate 
 than the measure ; but I answer, that the state of the 
 province admitted of nothing but desperate remedies. 
 I got possession of the letters my antagonist addressed 
 to the secretary at war, and also of the sentiments 
 which hundreds of his army uttered to their friends. 
 Confidence in the general was gone, and evident 
 despondency prevailed throughout. I have succeeded 
 beyond expectation. I crossed the river, contrary to 
 
 the opinion of Colonel Proctor, , &c. ; it is, 
 
 therefore, no wonder that envy should attribute to 
 
 food fortune what, injustice to my own discernment, 
 must say, proceeded from a cool calculation of the 
 pours and centres. 
 
 It is supposed that the value of the articles cap 
 tured will amount to 30 or ,40,000; in that case, 
 my proportion will be something considerable. If it 
 enable me to contribute to your comfort and happi 
 ness, I shall esteem it my highest reward. When I 
 returned Heaven thanks for my amazing success, I 
 thought of you all; you appeared to me happy 
 your late sorrows forgotten ; and I felt as if you 
 acknowledged that the many benefits, which for a 
 series of years I received from you, were not unwor 
 thily bestowed. Let me know, my dearest brothers, 
 that you are all again united. The want of union 
 was nearly losing this province without even a strug- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 285 
 
 gle, and be assured it operates in the same degree in 
 regard to families. 
 
 A cessation of hostilities has taken place along this 
 frontier. Should peace follow, the measure will be 
 well ; if hostilities recommence, nothing could be 
 more unfortunate than this pause. I cannot give 
 you freely an account of my situation it is, how 
 ever, of late much improved. The militia have been 
 inspired, by the recent success, with confidence 
 the disaffected are silenced. The 49th have come to 
 my aid, besides other troops. I shall see Vincent, 
 I hope, this evening at Kingston. He is appointed 
 to the command of that post a most important one. 
 I have withdrawn Plenderleath from Niagara to 
 assist him. Plenderleath is sitting opposite to me, 
 and desires to be remembered. James Brock is 
 likewise at Kingston. I believe. he considers it more 
 his interest to remain with the 49th than to act as my 
 private secretary ; indeed, the salary is a mere pit 
 tance. Poor Leggatt is dead, and has left his family 
 in the most distressing circumstances. His wife died 
 last year. 
 
 Major Smelt and Captain Brown have sent me 
 your letters, for which I thank you. Let Richard 
 Potenger be assured that his letter afforded me the 
 highest gratification. I trust in Heaven that the 
 whole of his thoughts will be directed to study, and 
 to qualify himself for the holy profession he has 
 chosen. Ignorance is despised in most men, but 
 more particularly in the clergyman educated at one 
 of the universities, who must have neglected so many 
 opportunities of acquiring knowledge. 
 
 I received the other day a long letter from Sir 
 Thomas Saumarez, from Halifax. I regret the death 
 of the two Harry Brocks.* I have likewise been 
 particularly unfortunate in the loss of two valuable 
 military friends. f I begin to be too old to form new 
 
 * Henry Frederick Brock^ Esq., jurat of the Royal Court of Guernsey, 
 and Lieutenant Henry Brock, R. N r 
 t Major-General Vesey, mentioned ante, was probably one. 
 
286 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 friendships, and those of my youth are dropping 
 off fast. 
 
 General Sheaffe has lately been sent to me. There 
 never was an individual so miserably off for the 
 necessary assistance. Sir George Prevost has kindly 
 hearkened to my remonstrances, and in some measure 
 supplied the deficiency. The 41st is an uncommonly 
 fine regiment, but, with few exceptions, badly offi 
 cered.* You mention John Tupper f in a manner as 
 to leave hope that he may still be living. God grant 
 it ! He is a great favorite of mine, and I should 
 lament any disaster happening to him. Perhaps 
 Glegg may be sent home by Sir George, and in that 
 case I hope he will allow you to see the colours taken 
 from the 4th U. S. regiment. The generality of the 
 English will esteem them very little : nothing is 
 prized that is not acquired with blood. 
 
 KINGSTON, September 4. 
 
 I this instant receive your letters by Mr. Todd. 
 So honest John Tupper is gone ! I could not have 
 loved a son of my own more ardently. Hostilities I 
 this instant understand are to be renewed in four 
 days ; and though landed only two hours, I must 
 return immediately to Niagara, whence I shall write 
 fully. 
 
 Chief Justice Sewell, of Lower Canada, to Major-General 
 Brock. 
 
 QUEBEC, Sept. 3, 1812. 
 
 In your present situation, I am perfectly sensible 
 of your occupations, and know that your time is 
 
 * The only field officer with the 41st at this time was, we believe, Colo 
 nel Proctor ; and owing to the long stay of the regiment in Canada, the 
 promotion had been so slow, that two of the captains were brevet-lieute 
 nant-colonels, and two others brevet- majors. 
 
 t His nephew, John E. Tupper, Esq., aged twenty, perished at sea in 
 January, 1812, in the Mediterranean, the vessel in which he was a passen 
 ger from Catalonia to Gibraltar having never been heard of after sailing. 
 He was educated at Harrow at the same time as Lord Byron, Sir Robert 
 Peel, &c. Mention is made of this fine but ill-fated young man at page 1 1 5. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 287 
 
 precious. Yet I take the liberty to intrude upon 
 you with my congratulations upon the brilliant suc 
 cess which has attended the measures which you have 
 pursued with so much judgment in Upper Canada; 
 and the thanks of an individual who feels the benefits 
 which he, in common with every other subject of 
 his majesty in British America, derives from your 
 exertions. 
 
 The next letter is from General Maitland,* who 
 was colonel of the 49th foot from the 25th of May, 
 1768, to the period of his death, in February, 1820, 
 or nearly fifty -two years !f Major-General Brock 
 held this gallant veteran in high estimation, having re 
 ceived from him much attention and kindness, which 
 were continued to some of his relatives after his fall, 
 and it will be seen that the feeling was mutual. 
 
 General the Honorable Alexander Maitland to Major-General 
 Brock. 
 
 TOTTERIDGE, October 8, 1812. 
 
 Yesterday being mail day for America, I dispatched 
 my usual monthly letter to the regiment, and in 
 which, as I always do, I desired to be remembered 
 to you, with my best and warmest wishes for your 
 health, happiness, and success. I had not then heard, 
 but did a few hours after, of your glorious victory 
 over our most unnatural enemies, (such an one as can 
 hardly be equalled in the annals of history,) that of 
 not only beating, but taking prisoners, more than 
 double your numbers ; and now that you have con 
 quered them in the field, I trust that their wrong- 
 headed government will be brought to reason and 
 
 * Created a baronet on the 30th of November, 1818. 
 
 t Although General Maitland was so many years colonel of the 49th, 
 yet we find that the Marquis of Drogheda held a similar appointment for 
 a longer period, being colonel of the 18th Hussars from the 3d of August, 
 1762, to October, 1821, when that regiment was disbanded, or above fifty- 
 nine years ! 
 
288 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 peace ; for it will prove to them, if they persevere, 
 that they will be forced to it, and terms dictated to 
 them. Therefore allow me, Sir, with the warmest 
 feelings of an old friend, to congratulate you, as I do 
 the public, on the essential service you have done 
 the country on the present occasion ; as I do my 
 friend, your aide-de-camp, Captain Glegg, so far as 
 the sphere of his duty could assist in the great work ; 
 and I glory to say you are both 4Q-thers. I could 
 write sheets on the subject, but, not to take up your 
 valuable time longer than I have done to express my 
 pleasure and feelings, I will stop by adding the 
 sincere congratulations of all related to me here as 
 well as elsewhere. But I cannot help now observing 
 how prophetic I was in what I wrote to Colonel 
 Vincent yesterday concerning you, which was, that 
 if you were properly supported, I thought the enemy 
 would never cross the line of your command, a proof 
 of which I had a few hours afterwards. 
 
 When you see any of our friends of the 49th, pray 
 remember me in the kindest manner to them, and I 
 am sure they will thank you that they are safe and 
 warm in their quarters, in place of having a winter 
 campaign in so severe a climate. And now I will 
 only add my warmest wishes for your health and 
 happiness, and that the same good fortune that has 
 hitherto attended you may continue ; and I beg that 
 you will be so good as to convey the same to my 
 friend, your aide-de-camp. Believe me to be, my 
 dear general, &c. 
 
 P. S. I send this after the mail, which left London 
 last night, in hope it may overtake it at Falmouth, as 
 I know the packet seldom sails for some days after 
 her time. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 Major- General John Burnet to Sir Isaac Brock, K. B.* 
 STRABERRY, Ireland, Oct. 11, 1812. 
 
 There has existed too long and too sincere a friend 
 ship between us for me not to feel the most lively 
 interest in the event which has added such eclat to 
 your achievement at my old quarter, Detroit.t 
 
 To evince to you how much I regard you, and 
 how much I have talked of you, a friend of mine at 
 the Horse Guards enclosed rne the Extraordinary 
 Gazette, saying he knew how much I should be 
 gratified: judge then, my friend, of my feelings that 
 you had acquitted yourself with such address ; arid 
 I feel some degree of pride that my opinion was so 
 justly formed of your conduct, whenever you should 
 have an opportunity to display your talents. Accept, 
 then, the very sincere congratulations of an old friend 
 on this occasion, and be assured of the happiness it 
 gives me, as well as Mrs. Burnet, who is with me, 
 and sends her love to you. 
 
 With respect to my situation, I offered my services 
 to go to the Peninsula as soon as our promotion took 
 place, and at one time flattered myself I should have 
 gone there; but superior interest prevailed, and I 
 was placed on the staff of Ireland. I first went to 
 Londonderry, but have been here six months, as more 
 central to the brigade under my command. 
 
 I have my hands full of business, and little time 
 for private correspondence ; but I could not resist the 
 impulse on an occasion so highly to the honor of an 
 old friend. Believe me, my dear Brock, &c. 
 
 P. S, If Commodore Grant be still alive, pray 
 remember me warmly to him and Mrs. Grant. 
 
 * This letter is apparently written with the left hand, as if the writer 
 had lost his right. 
 
 t John Burnet was a lieutenant of the 8th (king s) regiment, in Upper 
 Canada, during and after the first American war ; and was captain lieute 
 nant of that regiment when Isaac Brock entered it in 1785. Detroit was 
 retained by the British until the year 1796, when it was given over to the 
 Americans. See pages 180, 181, ante. 
 
290 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lieutenant- Colonel Nichol, Quartermaster-General of 
 Militia, to Major- General Brock. 
 
 DETROIT, August 25, 1812. 
 
 I have been just informed by Colonel Proctor that 
 he intends sending an express to-morrow to Fort 
 George, which gives me an opportunity to forward 
 a few printed copies of your proclamation, and to 
 inform you that, in order to carry it into effect, it has 
 been found absolutely necessary to organize the civil 
 government. Under existing circumstances, I have 
 advised Colonel Proctor to assume the administration 
 until your pleasure is known, to which he has agreed, 
 and the necessary arrangements consequent thereto 
 have been adopted and promulgated. In Judge 
 Woodward, who has been appointed secretary pro 
 tern, he will find an able coadjutor ; and as your 
 object undoubtedly was to tranquillize the public 
 mind and to give the inhabitants a proof of the mo 
 deration and benevolence of his majesty s government, 
 as well as to ensure the due administration of the 
 laws, I do not think a more judicious choice could 
 have been made. In all the discussions which took 
 place on this subject, Colonel Proctor did me the 
 honor to consult me ; and I have no hesitation in 
 saying, that I urged him to the step he has taken, 
 of which I hope you will, as it is only temporary, 
 approve. We have had much difficulty in collecting 
 the public cattle and horses, and have suffered great 
 ly from the predatory spirit of the Indians ; indeed, 
 their conduct has been infamous. There is hardly 
 a house on either side of the river that has not been 
 robbed by them ; they have taken away the greater 
 part of the captured horses and cattle, and without 
 our being able to prevent it. It has not been in my 
 power as yet to send a statement of all that we have 
 captured, as the property is so scattered, but I hope 
 to finish this week. We got upwards of .1,200 in 
 money, and have sent down a hundred packs, worth, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK, 291 
 
 I suppose, .1,500 more. I have reason to think the 
 captured property will not be much under 40,000. 
 
 We have still 350 prisoners to ship off, but I hope 
 to get rid of them in a few days. Public confidence 
 seems to be partially restored ; business is again 
 going on, and I hope that the country will become 
 perfectly quiet. 
 
 It is impossible for me to say when I shall get 
 done here. I hope, however, it will not be long. 
 I regret that we are not able to send you complete 
 returns of every thing ; but the captured property is 
 in so many different places, and so scattered, that it 
 cannot be done. 
 
 Extract from a Canadian Newspaper. 
 
 Montreal, September 12, 1812. 
 
 Last Sunday evening the inhabitants of this city were gra 
 tified with an exhibition equally novel and interesting. 
 
 That General Hull should have entered into our city so 
 soon, at the head of his troops, ratber exceeded our expect 
 ations. We were, however, very happy to see him, and. 
 received him with all the honors due to his high rank and 
 importance as a public character. The following particulars, 
 relative to his journey and reception at Montreal, may not be 
 uninteresting to our readers : 
 
 It appears that General Hull and suite, accompanied by 
 about 25 officers and 350 soldiers, left Kingston, under an 
 escort of 130 men, commanded by Major Heathcote, of the 
 Newfoundland regiment. At Cornwall, the escort was met 
 by Captain Gray, of the quartermaster-general s department, 
 who took charge of the prisoners of war, and from thence 
 proceeded with them to La Chine, where they arrived about 
 two o clock on Sunday afternoon. At La Chine, Captains 
 Richardson and Ogilvie, with their companies of Montreal 
 militia, and a company of the king s, from Lower Chine, 
 commanded by Captain Blackmore, formed the escort till 
 they were met by Colonel Auldjo, with the remainder of the 
 flank companies of the militia, upon which Captain Black- 
 more s company fell out and presented arms as the general 
 and line passed, and then returned to La Chine, leaving the 
 prisoners of war to be guarded by the militia alone. The 
 line of march then proceeded to the town in the following 
 order, viz. 
 
292 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 1. Band of the king s regiment. 
 
 2. The first division of the escort. 
 
 3. General Hull in a carriage, accompanied by Captain 
 Gray. Captain Hull and Major Shekleton followed in the 
 second, and some wounded officers occupied four others. 
 
 4. The American officers. 
 
 5. The non-commissioned officers and soldiers. 
 The second division of the escort. 
 
 It unfortunately proved rather late in the evening for the 
 vast concourse of spectators assembled to experience that 
 gratification they so anxiously looked for. This inconve 
 nience was, however, in a great measure remedied by the 
 illuminations of the streets through which the line of march 
 passed. When they arrived at the general s house, the ge 
 neral was conducted in, and presented to his excellency Sir 
 George Prevost, and was received with the greatest politeness, 
 and invited to take up his residence there during his stay at 
 Montreal. The other officers were accommodated at Holmes 
 hotel, and the soldiers lodged in the Quebec barracks. The 
 general appears to be about sixty years of age, and is a good 
 looking man ; and we are informed by those who have had 
 frequent opportunities of conversing with him, that he is a 
 man of general information. He is communicative, and 
 seems to bear his misfortunes with a degree of philosophical 
 resignation that but few men in similar circumstances are 
 gifted with. On Thursday last General Hull, with eight 
 American officers, left this city for the United States, on 
 their parole. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 After issuing a proclamation to the inhabitants of 
 the Michigan territory, by which their private pro 
 perty was secured and their laws and religion con 
 firmed, and leaving as large a force under Colonel 
 Proctor as could be spared at Detroit, Major-General 
 Brock hastened to return to the Niagara frontier ; 
 and while on his voyage across Lake Erie, in the 
 schooner Chippawa, he was met on the 23d of August 
 by the provincial schooner Lady Prevost, of 14 guns, 
 the commander of which, after saluting the general 
 with seventeen guns, came on board and gave him 
 the first intelligence of the armistice which Sir George 
 Prevost had unfortunately concluded with the Ame 
 rican general, Dearborn. Major-General Brock could 
 not conceal his deep regret and mortification at the 
 intelligence, which he feared would prevent his con 
 templated attack on Sackett s Harbour.* Sir George 
 Prevost, early in August, on hearing of the repeal of 
 the British orders in council, which were the prin 
 cipal among the alleged causes of the war, had pro 
 posed a suspension of hostilities until the sentiments 
 of the American government were received on the 
 subject ; and to this suspension General Dearborn 
 readily agreed, with the exception of the forces under 
 
 * " Leaving Colonel Proctor in command on the Detroit frontier and in 
 the newly acquired territory, General Brock hastened his return to the 
 Niagara line, with the intention of sweeping it of the American garrisons, 
 which he knew were then unprepared for vigorous resistance. But the 
 first intelligence which he received on his arrival at Fort George paralyzed 
 his exertions." Quarterly Review. 
 
294 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 General Hull, who, he said, acted under the imme 
 diate orders of the secretary at war. But, by the 
 terms of the truce, General Hull had the option of 
 availing himself of its provisions if he thought fit, 
 and that he would gladly have done so there can be 
 no doubt. Happily, however, owing to the rapidity 
 of Major-General Brock s movements, the news of 
 the armistice did not reach the belligerent command 
 ers in time to prevent the surrender of the one, or to 
 snatch well-earned laurels from the brow of the 
 other. This armistice was attended with very preju 
 dicial consequences, as it not only marred the attempt 
 on Sackett s Harbour, but it rendered unavailing the 
 command of the lakes, which was then held by the 
 British.* 
 
 The successful commander, in transmitting by 
 Captain Glegg his dispatches to the governor-general 
 at Montreal, expressed, through his aide-de-carnp, 
 his intention of proceeding immediately to Kingston, 
 and from thence to the attack of the naval arsenal at 
 Sackett s Harbour, on Lake Ontario. t Had its de 
 struction been accomplished and no one can doubt 
 that this was the proper period to attempt it, as the 
 enemy, dispirited by the capture of Detroit, would 
 probably have offered but a feeble resistance the 
 Americans could not, without much additional diffi 
 culty and future risk of destruction, have built and 
 equipped the fleet which subsequently gave them the 
 naval ascendancy on that lake, and enabled them, 
 twice in 1813, to capture the capital of Upper Canada. 
 The armistice, however, caused a delay of nearly a 
 fortnight in the necessary preparations, as Major- 
 
 * See extract from Letters of Veritas on this point. Appendix A, Sec 
 tion 1, No. 4. 
 
 t The general s words to his aide-de-camp, as nearly as the latter can 
 remember, were these : " You may inform Sir George that it is my intention 
 to proceed immediately with the gallant little army, that has enabled me 
 to capture Fort Detroit and the first invading force of the Americans, to 
 the attack of the naval arsenal at Sackett s Harbour ; and you may expect 
 to hear of my arrival at Kingston soon after you reach Monti eal, from 
 whence an immediate report of my intentions shall be transmitted for 
 approval to his excellency." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 295 
 
 General Brock returned from Detroit to Fort George 
 on the 24th of August, and the cessation of the truce 
 was not known to him until his arrival at Kingston, 
 on the 4th of September. The distance by water 
 between Fort George and Kingston is about 160 
 miles, and from Kingston to Sackett s Harbour only 
 35 miles ; so that the destruction of the arsenal might 
 have been effected early in September, had not the 
 armistice prevented the attempt. But, unhappily for 
 the interests of his country and the credit of his own 
 fame, Sir George Prevost disapproved of the propo 
 sition, and commanded Major-General Brock to 
 relinquish all idea of the contemplated enterprise, 
 although the official intelligence of the president s 
 refusal to continue the suspension of hostilities reached 
 him at Montreal on the 30th of August, a day or 
 two before Captain Glegg, with the dispatches and 
 trophies of the capture of Detroit. At the com 
 mencement of the war, a defensive attitude was per 
 haps excusable, especially as the British cabinet seems 
 to have been anxious to accommodate the differences 
 between the two countries ; but after the American 
 government had refused to continue the armistice, it 
 appears to us that Sir George Prevost was pursuing 
 a suicidal course in foregoing the advantages of his 
 decided naval superiority, and forgetting the maxim 
 of " Non progredi est regredi," as to wait for the ene 
 my till he shall have prepared his forces and passed 
 your frontiers, to plunder your towns and ravage 
 your country, is a very recent expedient recognized 
 by no government, and practised by no people of 
 ancient or modern times. But, notwithstanding the 
 delay caused by the armistice, the proposed attack 
 could still have been carried into effect after its ces 
 sation ; and it was only relinquished by express or 
 ders from the commander-in-chief. We seek not to 
 impugn his motives, as they probably originated in 
 a mistaken sense of duty, and evidently from an 
 impression that to attack the Americans again on 
 
296 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 their own frontier would be to render the contest 
 more popular among them. It was under this im 
 pression that, in a general order* issued at Montreal 
 on the 31st of August, the commander-in-chief was 
 weak enough to offer an indirect apology to the 
 American people for the invasion of their territory 
 at Detroit. Whether this continued defensive policy 
 was such as, under all the circumstances, ought to 
 have been observed, we leave it to others to determine ; 
 but certainly the result did not justify its expediency, 
 and the tree is usually judged of by its fruit. For 
 bearance in war, where success is probable, strikes 
 us as a positive evil that a very doubtful good may 
 ensue it is seldom properly appreciated; and the 
 governor-general appears to have seen his error when 
 too late, as in the following year he was himself ig 
 nobly foiled in an attack on Sackett s Harbour. We 
 cannot understand why the attack under Sir George 
 Prevost, in May, 1813, was more politic than it 
 would have been in September, the year preceding, 
 under Major-General Brock ; and although Captain 
 Glegg met with a very chilling reception from the 
 former officer, yet we would willingly acquit him of 
 any jealous feeling where such important interests 
 were at stake. At the same time, it is due to the 
 memory of this unfortunate officer to add, that his 
 civil administration was as able as his military one in 
 Canada was inglorious ; and that although his con 
 duct as a soldier was, on more than one occasion, the 
 subject of much and just animadversion in England, 
 yet he acquired the warm attachment of the French 
 Canadians, who speak highly of him to this day. 
 Those leading men who, during the administration 
 of Sir James Craig, had been considered almost as 
 enemies, were treated with confidence by his succes 
 sor, who gradually appointed them to situations of 
 trust, and by this wise measure secured their aid and 
 
 * Appendix A, Section 1, No. 5. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 297 
 
 influence in the defence of the province.* Certain it 
 is, on the other hand, that Major-General Brock did 
 not approve of the defensive warfare to which he was 
 restricted ; and subsequent events too truly proved, 
 that had he been permitted to pursue that course 
 which his zeal and foresight dictated, his valuable 
 life might have been spared, and a very different 
 series of incidents in that war claimed the attention 
 of the historian. The high-minded soldier could not 
 brook a state of inaction with such promising pros 
 pects before him. His best feelings revolted at being 
 compelled to languish within the strict pale of mili 
 tary obedience, when so rich a field for doing good 
 service presented itself ; and in place of becoming 
 the assailant, he was soon doomed, by awaiting the 
 attacks of his opponents, to sacrifice not only life, 
 but, what is far dearer, the opening prospects of 
 honorable ambition. 
 
 On the 16th of December, 1812, the inhabitants of 
 the Niagara district addressed a spirited letter to Sir 
 George Prevost, from which we copy the following 
 extract, as confirming what we have already stated 
 on the same subject : " Nevertheless, such was the 
 popularity of the general, such the confidence he had 
 inspired, that he was enabled to carry with him to 
 Detroit, though under great privations, a large body 
 of volunteers, which, in addition to the small regular 
 force at Amherstburg, enabled him to capture an 
 entire army of our invaders, with the fortress from 
 which they had made their descent into Canada a 
 success unparalleled in the annals of war. Here, for 
 
 * On the other hand, the British Critic for May, 1823, in some observa 
 tions upon the civil administration of Sir George Prevost, in Canada, 
 asserts, among other allegations, " that his domestic management of the 
 colony was no less censurable than his military conduct. That finding 
 that the Canadian party gave him most trouble, his object was to obtain 
 a temporary popularity for his own administration, and a peaceable resi 
 dence for himself, by every possible species and degree of weak concession, 
 which he dignified with the name of conciliation." These assertions are 
 denied by his family, and we certainly think that Sir George Prevost was 
 both wise and politic in conciliating the French Canadians, who had been 
 too long treated as a conquered people. 
 
298 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the first time, we got a supply of good arms. The 
 success of this first enterprise, in which the militia 
 were engaged, acted like an electric shock throughout 
 the country : it awed the disaffected, of whom there 
 were many; it confirmed the timid and the wavering; 
 and it induced the Six Nation Indians, who had until 
 that time kept aloof, to take an active part in our 
 favor. At that moment, such was the energy and 
 confidence that had been excited by our illustrious 
 chief and the success of his plans, that had he been 
 permitted, he could, and would, have destroyed and 
 laid waste the whole American frontier, from San- 
 dusky to St. Regis.* Your excellency doubtless re 
 collects the armistice which immediately preceded 
 the capture of Detroit, which gave the enemy an 
 opportunity to recover from their consternation, to 
 fortify and strengthen their lines, to accumulate in 
 security the means of annoying us at pleasure along 
 our whole frontier, and which sent at least 800 of our 
 Indian allies in disgust to their own homes." 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, August 13, 1812.f 
 
 I wrote to you from Albany on the 8th instant, 
 but as my letter was submitted to the inspection of 
 General Dearborn, I of course confined myself to the 
 sole subject of the armistice entered into with that 
 oificer .... A clause, admitting reinforcements to 
 pass with stores, was readily agreed to on my part. 
 General Dearborn told me that a considerable rein 
 forcement with stores was on its way to Niagara, and 
 that he could not delay or alter its destination. I 
 informed him that we were also forwarding reinforce- 
 
 * From Sandusky, at the head of Lake Erie, to St. Regis, on the river 
 St. Lawrence, the distance by water is about 550 miles. 
 
 t This letter was forwarded by Brigade-Major Shekleton with that of 
 the 12th of August, (inserted ante,) from Sir George Prevost, who doubt 
 less wrote another the following day relative to the armistice, but we 
 cannot find it among Major. General Brock s papers. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 299 
 
 ments and stores, and that it would be advisable to 
 agree that all movements of that nature on either 
 side should be suffered to proceed unmolestedly by 
 troops under instructions to preserve defensive mea 
 sures. I am apprehensive that General Dearborn 
 may not explicitly explain all these points ; and I 
 have, therefore, cautioned all the officers to whom I 
 have communicated them, to act with the utmost 
 caution, and to be prepared for all events that may 
 arise. I feel extremely prepossessed in favor of 
 General Dearborn, whose manners appear to evince 
 great candour and sincerity : he assured me that no 
 event of his life would afford him so much satisfaction 
 and happiness as resigning his command, in conse 
 quence of our honorable adjustment of differences. 
 He told me that General Hull was placed under his 
 orders merely for form sake, but that he acted by 
 particular instructions from the war department, and 
 would not consider himself bound to obey any order 
 that was not in conformity to them. 
 
 [Colonel Baynes describes at length the incipient state of 
 military preparation for the invasion of Lower Canada, which 
 he witnessed on his journey ; and after mentioning- that the 
 Americans had sent the most efficient of their forces to the 
 Niagara frontier, he adds : ] 
 
 Under all these circumstances, which I have repre 
 sented to Sir George, I have strongly urged his 
 sending you further reinforcements, which I am sure 
 can be spared : we are at present checked from the 
 want of conveyance, but I trust after the corps, now 
 on their route, are dispatched, that Sir George will 
 be induced to send you further aid, and that of the 
 best description. I think it of the highest import 
 ance, particularly if we are likely to arrange matters 
 with the States, that the balance of military events 
 should be unequivocally in our favor. I found a 
 very general prejudice prevailing with Jonathan, of 
 his own resources and means of invading these pro 
 vinces, and of our weakness and inability to resist, 
 
300 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 both exaggerated in a most absurd and extravagant 
 degree a little practical correction of this error 
 would be attended with the best effects. 
 
 The 1st battalion of the royals are upwards of 1,100 
 strong, but sickly, having suffered from their long 
 residence in the West Indies, and they are in conse 
 quence marked for the Quebec garrison. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Colonel Proctor. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, August 25, 1812., 
 
 I wrote to you yesterday, informing you that a 
 cessation of hostilities had been agreed upon between 
 Sir George Prevost and General Dearborn, and re 
 questing you in consequence to postpone any attempt 
 upon Fort Wayne, or any other post of the enemy. 
 I consider the present forbearance may lead to such 
 consequences, that I cannot refrain from sending a 
 second express, to urge you to restrain the Indians 
 likewise in their predatory excursions : this, however, 
 ought to be done with the utmost caution, and on 
 grounds foreign from the present considerations. 
 
 Colonel Myers tells me that he forwarded, on the 
 llth instant, a dispatch received from Sir George 
 Prevost to me, in which his excellency so clearly 
 stated the principles of moderation upon which he 
 thought it expedient to act, that I fully expect, 
 should you have received the dispatch and perused 
 his sentiments, you will forbear from any hostile 
 aggression ; in fact, act completely upon the defensive. 
 
 Should every thing remain quiet in the vicinity of 
 Detroit, you will proceed hither, bringing to Fort 
 Erie the detachments which Captain Chambers and 
 Lieutenant Bullock took to Amherstburg. All the 
 spare ordnance is to be transported to Fort Erie. 
 
 I should also think that Lieutenant Troughton and 
 a few of his men could be spared for some time from 
 the duties at Amherstburg ; in that case, you will 
 have the goodness to order them to accompany you. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 301 
 
 Major-General Brock arrived at Kingston, where 
 he was greeted with a salute from the royal artillery 
 and every demonstration of attachment, on the 4th of 
 September, and left it on the 6th for Fort George. 
 During this hasty visit he reviewed the militia, and 
 expressed his satisfaction at its evolutions and appear 
 ance. He also received a flattering address from the 
 magistrates, officers of militia, and other inhabitants ; 
 and in reply he told them with much tact, that it was 
 the confidence inspired by the admirable conduct of 
 the York and Lincoln regiments of militia which had 
 induced him to undertake the expedition which ter 
 minated in the capture of Detroit; and that from the 
 report of the officers of the garrison at Kingston, he 
 relied w T ith the same confidence on the bravery and 
 the discipline of the militia of that district. In the 
 same manner, to an address a few days before from 
 the inhabitants of York, he replied : 4 Gentlemen, I 
 cannot but feel highly gratified by this expression of 
 your esteem for myself; but, in justice to the brave 
 men at whose head I marched against the enemy, I 
 must beg leave to direct your attention to them, as 
 the proper objects of your gratitude. It was a confi 
 dence, founded on their loyalty, zeal, and valour, 
 that determined me to adopt the plan of operations 
 which led to so fortunate a termination. Allow me 
 to congratulate you, gentlemen, at having sent out 
 from among yourselves a large portion of that gallant 
 band ; and that at such a period a spirit had mani 
 fested itself, on which you may confidently repose 
 your hopes of future security. It will be a most 
 pleasing duty for me to report to our sovereign a 
 conduct so truly meritorious." 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 KINGSTON, September 4, 1812. 
 Upon my arrival here an hour ago, Captain Fulton 
 delivered me your excellency s dispatch, dated the 
 
302 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 31st ultimo, enclosing a letter from General Dear 
 born, in which the president s disapproval of the 
 armistice is announced. I am in consequence in 
 duced to return without loss of time to Fort George. 
 Captain Fulton having expressed a wish to accom 
 pany me, I have the more readily consented, as he 
 will be able to give you full information of our actual 
 state. The enemy was very busy upon Fort Niagara, 
 and appeared inclined to erect additional batteries. 
 I may perhaps think it proper to stop their career. 
 
 I enclose several documents lately received from 
 Colonel Proctor, at Detroit. That officer appears to 
 have conducted himself with much judgment. I 
 likewise transmit a memorial which I have received 
 from some merchants in the Niagara district, but of 
 course I cannot judge of its merits. 
 
 I shall be obliged to your excellency to direct the 
 remittance of the ,5,000, for which I sent a requisi 
 tion some time ago, on account of the civil expendi 
 ture of this province, either in government paper or 
 specie, as you may deem most convenient. I doubt 
 not the former meeting a ready currency. 
 
 The very flattering manner in which your excel 
 lency is pleased to view my services, and your kind 
 ness in having represented them to his majesty s 
 ministers in such favorable light, are gratifying to 
 my feelings, and call for my grateful acknowledgments. 
 
 Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, September 9, 1812. 
 
 I have been honored with your excellency s dis 
 patch, dated the 24th ultimo, and have to thank you 
 for ordering a company of the Glengary regiment to 
 strengthen Colonel Lethbridge at Prescott, whose 
 force you have been led to believe was weakened in 
 consequence of my interference, but which, I beg 
 leave to state, was done without my knowledge, and 
 contrary to my intention. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 303 
 
 The enclosed copies of letters will inform you of 
 the state of affairs to the westward. It appears evi 
 dent the enemy meditates a second attempt on Ani- 
 herstburg. The greater part of the troops, which are 
 advancing, inarched from Kentucky with an intention 
 of joining General Hull. How they are to subsist, 
 even for a short period, in that already exhausted 
 country, is no easy matter to conceive. This diffi 
 culty will probably decide them on some bold mea 
 sure, in the hope of shortening the campaign. If 
 successfully resisted, their fate is inevitable. 
 
 The Indians, it appears by the accompanying docu 
 ments, were adverse to retreating without first mak 
 ing a trial of their strength. Taking, however, every 
 circumstance into consideration, I am inclined to 
 think that Captain Muir acted judiciously. Should 
 the Indians continue to afford a willing co-operation, 
 I entertain not the smallest doubt of the result that 
 awaits this second attempt to turn my right ; but 
 your excellency will easily perceive that doubts and 
 jealousies have already seized their minds. The offi 
 cers of the Indian department will, I trust, be able to 
 remove all such impressions. Although, from the 
 daily observations of what is passing on the opposite 
 shore, a single man can ill be spared from this line, I 
 have notwithstanding determined to send the two 
 flank companies of the royal Newfoundland regiment 
 to Amherstburg. Fresh troops are daily arriving, 
 supposed to belong to the Pennsylvania quota of 
 2,000 men, known to be intended for this frontier. 
 After the whole arrive, an attack, I imagine, cannot 
 be long delayed. The wretched state of their quotas, 
 and the raggedness of the troops, will not allow them 
 to brave the rain and cold, which during the last 
 week have been so severely felt. 
 
 Between 200 and 300 Indians have joined, and 
 augmented the force on the other side. Their brethren 
 here feel certain that they will not act with any spirit 
 against us so I imagine, if we continue to shew a 
 
304 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 bold front ; but in the event of a disaster, the love of 
 plunder will prevail, and they will then act in a 
 manner to be the most dreaded by the inhabitants of 
 this country. 
 
 I beg leave to recommend to your excellency s 
 indulgent consideration, Colonel Proctor s application 
 for an increase of pay as commanding a district, which 
 I request may commence from the 16th of August last. 
 
 Colonel Baynes* to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, September 10, 1812. 
 
 Sir George writes to you so fully upon the several 
 subjects to which your letters refer, that I have little 
 left to communicate to you. Major Heathcote leaves 
 this to-day, with all the small description of ordnance 
 stores intended for Amherstburg, but we have detained 
 the 12-pounders arid shot : as you have helped your 
 self so amply at Detroit, it is imagined you do not 
 now want them. I enclose a letter from Captain 
 Roberts, who was, I suppose, induced to address 
 himself direct to head quarters, by an opportunity of 
 doing so offering itself at the moment. The North- 
 West gentlemen are very urgent in recommending a 
 reinforcement in that quarter; but Sir George has 
 told them that their representations must be addressed 
 to you, who will act as you deem proper. 
 
 Your friend, Mr. Isaac Todd,f is arrived, and 
 looking much better for his trip ; he was suffered 
 to pass by Albany and the lake. He tells me that 
 Mr. M Donell is confirmed as attorney-general, and 
 that the governor s salary is increased ,1,000 a year. 
 I sincerely trust that it will soon be your own. Sir 
 
 * Colonel Baynes became a major-general in June, 1814, and died in 
 that rank, at Sidmouth, in 1829. 
 
 * Several letters in the collection written by Mr. Todd to Sir Isaac 
 Brock s family after his death, prove him to have been a warm admirer 
 and friend of the general. We learn in "Astoria," that the armed ship, 
 " Isaac Todd," of 20 guns, was prepared by the North-West Company, in 
 1813, with which to form an establishment at the mouth of the Columbia 
 river. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 305 
 
 George has, in his official dispatches, after paying 
 that tribute of praise so justly your due, stated as his 
 confirmed opinion, that the salvation of the Upper 
 Province has, in a very great measure, arisen from the 
 civil and military authority being combined in able 
 hands. The prisoners, with their general, arrived 
 here on Sunday night ; as they had not halted since 
 they left Kingston, and were in a very dirty state, 
 we kept them here on Monday, and they yesterday 
 proceeded to William Henry, on their way to Quebec ; 
 the officers are to be on parole in Charlesbourg, and 
 the men confined on board two transports in the river. 
 Sir George has permitted most of the officers, who 
 have families with them, to return on their parole ; 
 four of them are proposed to be exchanged for the 
 officers of the Royal Scots, taken by the Essex, frigate. 
 Sir George has also consented to allow General Hull 
 to return upon his parole : he is loud in his complaints 
 against the government at Washington, and the gene 
 ral thinks that his voice, in the universal cry, may be 
 attended with beneficial effects, and has allowed him 
 to return and enter the lists. General Hull appears 
 to possess less feeling and sense of shame than any 
 man in his situation could be supposed to do. He 
 seems to be perfectly satisfied with himself, is lavish 
 of censure upon his government, but appears to think 
 that the most scrupulous cannot attach the slightest 
 blame to his own immediate conduct at Detroit. The 
 grounds upon which he rests his defence are not, I 
 fancy, well founded, for he told us that he had not 
 gunpowder at Detroit for the service of one day. Sir 
 George has since shewn him the return of the large 
 supply found in the fort ; it did not create a blush, 
 but he made no reply. He professes great surprise 
 and admiration at the zeal and military preparation 
 that he has everywhere witnessed ; that it was entirely 
 unlocked for, and that he has no doubt that his friend, 
 General Dearborn, will share his fate, if he has the 
 imprudence to follow his example. Hull seems cun- 
 
306 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 mng and unprincipled : how much reliance is to be 
 placed on his professions, time will shew. 
 
 General Dearborn has certainly left Albany for 
 Skeensborough, at the head of the lake, where great 
 preparations have been making in collecting boats 
 and sending the regulars from Greenbush to the sta 
 tions in our vicinity. Major Cotton, with about 300 
 men, half of the king s regiment, is stationed at Isle 
 aux Noix,* and two gun-boats have been carried into 
 that river, as the enemy s preparations seem to indi 
 cate that quarter as their point of attack. Colonel 
 Murray commands at St. John s, and will give them 
 a warm reception. I do not feel a doubt of Jona 
 than s complete discomfiture and disgrace, if he make 
 the attempt : we could, I fancy, bring as many men 
 as he will be able to persuade into the field, and of 
 very superior stuff, for our militia have really im 
 proved beyond all expectation in discipline, and with 
 it in spirit and confidence. This town would turn 
 out 2,000 volunteer militia, a great proportion of 
 whom are clothed and very tolerably drilled. We 
 have destroyed all the roads of communication in our 
 front, leaving open the water route only ; and these 
 woody positions will be shortly occupied by the 
 Indians of this neighbourhood, and a corps of volun 
 teer voyaycur Canadians. The enemy s preparations, 
 however, may be a feint to cover some plans in agita 
 tion against your province. 
 
 I send you a long letter from Kempt for your 
 perusal, with a sketch of Badajos, though no longer 
 recent news. I am sure the interest you lake in the 
 success of our arms, and in his share in particular, 
 will induce you to read it with pleasure. 
 
 * " Coteau du Lac and Isle aux Noix are the keys of Lower Canada ; 
 the former completely commands the navigation of the St. Lawrence, 
 between the Upper and Lower Provinces, and the latter had been so 
 decidedly regarded as the barrier of Lower Canada from the Champlain 
 frontier, that it excited the particular attention of the French engineers 
 in the last defence of the country, and was afterwards fortified at consi 
 derable expense by General llaldimand, during the war of the American 
 revolution." Quarterly Review. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 307 
 
 Colonel Proctor to Major- General Brock. 
 
 DETROIT, September 10, 1812. 
 
 I have just received your letter from Kingston, of 
 the 4th instant, and shall act accordingly. Enclosed 
 I send a return of the ordnance and ordnance stores 
 sent in the Queen Charlotte ; no shot were sent, 
 because, as I understand, there is already a quantity 
 of each calibre at Fort George. The remainder of 
 the prisoners of war, excepting some sick and wound 
 ed, were also sent on board the Charlotte, with a 
 guard of two subaltern officers and forty men of the 
 41st regiment, whom I now cannot afford to part 
 with. I had ordered the deserters on board, but 
 have had the dissatisfaction to find that they have 
 not been sent. Annexed is also a list of provisions 
 and stores captured on the IGth ultimo. I assented 
 to the absence of Lieut. -Colonel Nichol for a short 
 time, on the urgency of his private affairs, and the 
 probability of the armistice continuing. Major 
 Givens has been of great assistance to me in his 
 department. I regret his going, but I could not 
 detain him longer than there was a probability of my 
 returning soon to Fort George. As you directed, a 
 sergeant of the 41st regiment (Leonard Smith) has 
 been appointed to act as deputy barrackmaster at this 
 place. I shall be much gratified if it should be con 
 firmed. I found on my arrival here, that the boats 
 and the engages of the South -West Company had 
 been detained, and employed in the service. They 
 have been under the direction of Lieutenant Bender, 
 41st regiment, and have been of the greatest use. 
 They have been provisioned, and I suppose are enti 
 tled to pay as militia. I am sending a detachment 
 of the 41st regiment and militia, with 3-pounders, to 
 aid the Indians against Fort Wayne. It shall be 
 conducted with every prudence and expedition. The 
 Detroit will sail in a few days for Fort Erie : Judge 
 Campbell goes in her. I have required 100 more of 
 
308 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the militia, making them 400, besides the 30 mounted, 
 who are to keep up the communication with the 
 Moravian town. 150 of the Mackina Indians are 
 arrived ; they met the express sixty miles on this side 
 of Mackina : they are just in time for Fort Wayne. 
 The Hunter shall sail without delay. 
 
 [Several months after our first edition was published, we heard from an 
 officer, formerly of the 4Qth, that the materials relative to Colonel (after 
 wards Major- General) Proctor, in the "Campaigns in the Canadas" 
 Quarterly Review, No. 54, already cited were furnished by Captain 
 Proctor, his nephew and son-in-law. We had always suspected that they 
 were the production of Major- General Proctor or of his friends, as they 
 bear internal evidence of being so. In that article, comparatively little is 
 said of Sir Isaac Brock, while General Proctor is unduly eulogized, and 
 always cruelly at the expense of Sir George Prevost, because he saw fit to 
 speak of the battle of the Moravian town with unqualified censure. In 
 the same manner, more credit is given in the Review (see extract in 
 Appendix A, Section l, No. 6,) with what justice the reader must deter 
 mineto Colonel Proctor, for the capture of Detroit, than to Major - 
 General Brock, although the former advised the latter not to cross the 
 river ! andTecumseh, by his capture of the American dispatches, certainly 
 contributed far more to the success than Colonel Proctor. Captain 
 Proctor furnished his materials ten years after Sir Isaac Brock s death, 
 forgetting perhaps that although dead men tell no tales, their private 
 
 letters sometimes do. Did Captain P ever hear of an anecdote of 
 
 Tecumseh, who used to remark in his broken English : " General Brock 
 say, Tecumseh, come fight Yankee : General Proctor say, Tecumseh, 
 go fight Yankee. "] 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major- General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, September 14, 1812. 
 Captain Fulton arrived on the llth instant with 
 your letter of the 7th ; * the intelligence you have 
 communicated by it convinces me of the necessity 
 of the evacuation of Fort Detroit, unless the opera 
 tions of the enemy on the Niagara frontier bear a 
 character less indicative of determined hostile mea 
 sures against your line in their front, than they did 
 when you last reported to me. You will, therefore, be 
 pleased, subject to the discretion I have given you 
 under the circumstances to which I have alluded, to 
 take immediate steps for evacuating that post, toge- 
 
 * We cannot discover a copy of Major- General Brock s letter of the 
 7th September, to Sir George Prevost, to which the latter officer refers in 
 his letter of the 14th. We may add, that we have given every letter of 
 interest which passed between these two officers that we have found, but 
 some letters from Sir George Prevost, especially those enjoining defensive 
 measures, are evidently missing. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 309 
 
 tlier with the territory of Michigan ; by this measure 
 you will be enabled to withdraw a greater number of 
 the troops from Amherstburg, instead of taking them 
 from Colonel Vincent, whose regular force ought not, 
 on any account, to be diminished. 
 
 I have already afforded you reinforcements to the 
 full extent of my ability ; you must not, therefore, 
 expect a further supply of men from hence until I 
 shall receive from England a considerable increase to 
 the present regular force in this province ; the posture 
 of affairs, particularly on this frontier, requires every 
 soldier who is in the country. 
 
 In my last dispatch from Lord Bathurst, dated the 
 4th of July, he tells me, "that his majesty s govern 
 ment trusts I will be enabled to suspend with perfect 
 safety all extraordinary preparations for defence which 
 I may have been induced to make in consequence of 
 the precarious state of the relations between this 
 country and the United States ; and that as every 
 specific requisition for warlike stores and accoutre 
 ments which had been received from me had been 
 complied with, with the exception of the clothing of 
 the corps proposed to be raised from the Glengary 
 emigrants, he had not thought it necessary to direct 
 the preparation of any further supplies." This will 
 afford you a strong proof of the infatuation of his 
 majesty s ministers upon the subject of American 
 affairs, and shew how entirely I have been left to my 
 own resources in the event which has taken place. 
 
 Judging from what you have already effected in 
 Upper Canada, I do not doubt but that, with your 
 present means of defence, you will be able to maintain 
 your position at Fort George, and that the enemy 
 will be again foiled in any further attempts they may 
 make to invade the province. 
 
 . I leave to your discretion to decide on the necessity 
 of sending a reinforcement to Michilimackinac. 
 
 
310 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major-General Brock to Colonel Proctor. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, September 17, 1812, 
 
 I have had before me your several communications 
 to the llth instant, addressed to myself and to Major- 
 General Sheaffe. I approve of your having detached 
 a party to aid in the reduction of Fort Wayne, not 
 only because its destruction will render your position 
 more secure, but also from the probable result of sav 
 ing the garrison from sharing the fate of that of Chi 
 cago ; but it must be explicitly understood, that you 
 are not to resort to offensive warfare for purposes of 
 conquest. Your operations are to be confined to mea 
 sures of defence and security. With this view, if you 
 should have credible information of the assembling of 
 bodies of troops to march against you, it may become 
 necessary to destroy the fort at Sandusky, and the 
 road which runs through it from Cleveland to the foot 
 of the rapids : the road from the river Raisin to De 
 troit is perhaps in too bad a state to offer any aid to 
 the approach of an enemy, except in the winter ; and 
 if a winter campaign should be contemplated against 
 you, it is probable that magazines would be formed in 
 Cleveland and its vicinity, of all which you will of 
 course inform yourself. In carrying on our opera 
 tions in your quarter, it is of primary importance that 
 the confidence and good will of the Indians should be 
 preserved, and that whatsoever can tend to produce a 
 contrary effect should be most carefully avoided. I, 
 therefore, most strongly urge and enjoin your acting 
 on those principles on every occasion that may offer, 
 inculcating them in all those under your influence, 
 and enforcing them by your example, whether in your 
 conduct towards the Indians or what may regard 
 them, or in your language when speaking to, or of, 
 them. I am aware that they commit irregularities at 
 times, which will make this a difficult task ; but you 
 must endeavour to perform it attending, at the same 
 time, to the means already suggested to you for pre- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 311 
 
 venting, as much as possible, a repetition of disorderly 
 conduct. 
 
 Colonel E is a respectable, gentlemanly man, 
 
 but he by no means possesses the influence over the 
 Indians which Captain M K does. I recom 
 mend to you to promote, as far as in you lies, a good 
 understanding with and between them, and to observe 
 a conciliating deportment and language towards the 
 latter, that his great influence may be secured and 
 employed in its fullest extent for the benefit of your 
 district, and for the general good. In conversation 
 with him, you may take an opportunity of intimating, 
 that I have not been unmindful of the interests of the 
 Indians in my communications to ministers ; and I 
 wish you to learn (as if casually the subject of con 
 versation) what stipulations they would propose for 
 themselves, or be willing to accede to, in case either 
 of failure or of success. 
 
 I understand that salvage has been demanded from 
 individuals on several accounts, for property recovered 
 or restored, for patents, &c. &c. I lament that such 
 a course has been adopted, for it was my intention, 
 and it is now my wish, that our conduct in those mat 
 ters should be governed by the broadest principles of 
 liberality. You will, therefore, be pleased to have 
 returned to the several individuals the amount which 
 each may have paid as salvage on any account. 
 
 With respect to calling out the militia, I am parti 
 cularly desirous that it should not be resorted to but 
 in cases of urgent necessity, and then only in such 
 numbers as shall be actually required. It appears to 
 me that the cavalry employed exceed the number that 
 may be indispensably necessary : if, without risk or 
 detriment to the public service, any of either of those 
 corps can be spared, let them be dismissed. 
 
 I wish the engineer to proceed immediately in 
 strengthening Fort Amherstburg, his plan for which 
 I shall be glad to see as soon as possible. 
 
 Of the ordnance stores of every description, you 
 
312 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 will reserve such proportions as may be absolutely 
 required for the public service in your district, and 
 cause the remainder to be embarked and sent down to 
 Fort Erie with the least possible delay. 
 
 I cannot at present make the change in the distri 
 bution of the 41st regiment which you propose, but 
 whenever circumstances may permit, I shall be happy 
 to accede to your wishes. 
 
 Major-General S. V. Rensselaer to Major- General Brock. 
 Head Quarters, Lewiston, Sept. 17, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 
 your letter of yesterday evening; an extract of a 
 letter addressed to you on the 15th instant by Captain 
 Dyson, of the United States regiment of artillery ; 
 also a packet addressed to the Honorable Albert 
 Gallatin, secretary of the treasury of the United 
 States. 
 
 Colonel Van Rensselaer will have the honor to 
 deliver this communication, and I have entrusted him 
 to solicit your permission for an interview with Captain 
 Dyson, for the purpose, of ascertaining, particularly, 
 the condition of the prisoners of war under his charge, 
 to the end that they may be relieved from Fort Niagara, 
 if practicable ; and if not, that I may, without delay, 
 state their condition to the government, that they may 
 receive from the proper department the earliest pos 
 sible supplies. 
 
 The women and children, and such other persons 
 as have accompanied the detachment from Detroit, 
 and ought to be here received, I will immediately 
 receive at Fort Niagara, or such other convenient 
 place as you may order them to be landed at. 
 
 In a communication which I some time since had 
 the honor of receiving from Lieut. -Colonel Myers, he 
 assured me that it had been the constant study of the 
 general officer commanding on this line to discounte 
 nance, by all means in his power, the warfare of sen- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 313 
 
 tinels ; yet the frequent recurrence of this warfare 
 within a few days past, would warrant the presump 
 tion that a different course lias been adopted. I wish 
 to be assured of this fact. 
 
 Major- General J3rock, to Major- General S. V. Rensselaer. 
 Head Quarters, Fort George, Sept. 17, 1812. 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 letter of this date. Captain Dyson has obtained my 
 permission to cross on his parole .to the United States; 
 he has, however, requested to remain till to-rnorrow, 
 to settle with the men of his detachment. He shall in 
 the mean time have an interview with Colonel Van 
 Rensselaer. 
 
 Measures will be immediately taken to land the 
 women and children at Fort Niagara. 
 
 It has been with the utmost regret that I have per 
 ceived within these few days a very heavy firing from 
 both sides of the river. I am, however, given to 
 understand, that on all occasions it commenced on 
 yours ; and from the circumstance of the flag of truce, 
 which I did myself the honor to send over yesterday, 
 having been repeatedly fired upon, while in the act of 
 crossing the river, I am inclined to give full credit to 
 the correctness of the information. Without, how 
 ever, recurring to the past, you may rest assured on 
 my repeating my most positive orders against the con 
 tinuance of a practice, which can only be injurious to 
 individuals, without promoting the object which both 
 our nations may have in view. 
 
 We cannot find the dispatch from Sir George 
 Prevost of the 7th of September, to which the next 
 letter is an answer, but it could not have been of a 
 very pleasing character. 
 
314 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, September 18, 1812. 
 
 I have been honored with your excellency s dis 
 patch, dated the 7th instant. I have implicitly fol 
 lowed your excellency s instructions, and abstained, 
 under great temptation and provocation, from every 
 act of hostility. The information received from a 
 deserter, and which I had the honor to detail in my 
 last, is far from correct, and, where credit is to be 
 given, the facts apply solely to the regular force. The 
 militia, being selected from the most violent demo 
 crats, are generally inclined to invade this province 
 provisions are in tolerable plenty the only complaint 
 arises from a want of vegetables. It is currently 
 reported that the enemy s force is to be increased to 
 7,000, and that on their arrival an attack is immedi 
 ately to be made. I am convinced the militia would 
 not keep together in their present situation without 
 such a prospect, nor do I think the attempt can be 
 long deferred. , Sickness prevails in some degree 
 along the line, but principally at Black Rock. 
 
 The flank companies of the royal Newfoundland 
 have joined me. A sergeant and twenty-five rank 
 and file of the Veterans arrived at the same time, 
 whom I propose sending to Michilimackinac. 
 
 The enclosed letter from Colonel Proctor will in 
 form your excellency of a force having been detached, 
 under Captain Muir, for the reduction of Fort Wayne.* 
 I gave orders for it previous to my leaving Amherst- 
 burg, which must have induced Colonel Proctor to 
 proceed, upon receiving intelligence of the recom 
 mencement of hostilities, without waiting for further 
 directions. I regret exceedingly that this service 
 
 * Fort Wayne is situated at the junction of the St. Mary and St. Joseph 
 rivers, which form the Miami of the lake, and not more than twelve miles 
 from the navigable waters of the Wabash. This post is nearly in the cen 
 tre of the Indian settlements on this side the Mississippi. Many Indian 
 villages lay from twelve to sixty miles from this place. Brown s Ameri 
 can History. Auburn, 1815. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 315 
 
 should be undertaken contrary to your excellency s 
 wishes ; but I beg leave to assure you, that the prin 
 cipal object in sending a British force to Fort Wayne 
 is with the hope of preserving the lives of the garrison. 
 By the last accounts, the place was invested by a nu 
 merous body of Indians, with very little prospect of 
 being relieved. The prisoners of war, who know per 
 fectly the situation of the garrison, rejoiced at the 
 measure, and give us full credit for our intentions.* 
 
 The Indians were likewise looking to us for assist 
 ance : they heard of the armistice with every mark of 
 jealousy, and, had we refused joining them in the 
 expedition, it is impossible to calculate the conse 
 quences. I have already been asked to pledge my 
 word that England would enter into no negotiation 
 in which their interests were not included ; and, could 
 they be brought to imagine that we should desert 
 them, the consequences must be fatal. 
 
 I shall be obliged to your excellency to direct 
 ,5,000 to be transmitted to the receiver-general, for 
 the civil expenditure of this province. Army bills, I 
 make no doubt, will answer every purpose. 
 
 This dispatch is entrusted to Lieut. -Colonel Nichol, 
 quartermaster-general of this militia, whom I take the 
 liberty to introduce to your excellency, as perfectly 
 qualified, from his local knowledge and late return, to 
 afford every information of the state of affairs in the 
 western district. He is instructed to make extensive 
 purchases of necessaries for the use of the militia, and 
 I have to entreat your excellency to indulge him with 
 the means of a speedy conveyance back to this place. 
 
 Major- General Brock to his brother Savery. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, September 18, 1812. 
 You doubtless feel much anxiety on my account. 
 I am really placed in a most awkward predicament. 
 
 * Captain Muir, while on his inarch in the state of Ohio, was prevented 
 from reaching Fort Wayne by the unexpected approach of a superior 
 American force, and compelled to return. 
 
316 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 If I get through my present difficulties with tolerable 
 success, I cannot but obtain praise. But I have al 
 ready surmounted difficulties of infinitely greater 
 magnitude than any within my view. Were the 
 Americans of one mind, the opposition I could make 
 would be unavailing ; but I am not without hope that 
 their divisions may be the saving of this province. A 
 river of about 500 yards broad divides the troops. 
 My instructions oblige me to adopt defensive mea 
 sures, and I have evinced greater forbearance than 
 was ever practised on any former occasion. It is 
 thought that, without the aid of the sword, the Ame 
 rican people may be brought to a due sense of their 
 own interests. I firmly believe I could at this mo 
 ment sweep every thing before me between Fort Nia 
 gara and Buffalo but my success would be transient. 
 I have now officers in whom I can confide : when 
 the war commenced, I was really obliged to seek 
 assistance among the militia. The 41st is an uncom 
 monly fine regiment, but wretchedly officered. Six 
 companies of the 49th are with me here, and the re 
 maining four at Kingston, under Vincent. Although 
 the regiment has been ten years in this country, drink 
 ing rum without bounds, it is still respectable, and 
 apparently ardent for an opportunity to acquire dis 
 tinction : it has five captains in England, and two on 
 the staff in this country, which leaves it bare of expe 
 rienced officers. The U. S. regiments of the line 
 desert over to us frequently, as the men are tired of 
 the service : opportunities seldom offer, otherwise I 
 have reason to think the greater part would follow the 
 example. The militia, being chiefly composed of 
 enraged democrats, are more ardent and anxious to 
 engage, but they have neither subordination nor disci 
 pline. They die very fast. You will hear of some 
 decided action in the course of a fortnight, or in all 
 probability we shall return to a state of tranquillity. 
 I say decisive, because if I should be beaten, the 
 province is inevitably gone j and should I be vie- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 317 
 
 torious, I do not imagine the gentry from the other 
 side will be anxious to return to the charge. 
 
 It is certainly something singular that we should be 
 upwards of two months in a state of warfare, and that 
 along this widely extended frontier not a single death, 
 either natural or by the sword, should have occurred 
 among the troops under my command, and we have 
 not been altogether idle, nor has a single desertion 
 taken place. 
 
 I am quite anxious for this state of warfare to end, 
 as I wish much to join Lord Wellington, and to see 
 you all. 
 
 Has poor Betsey recovered the loss of my young and 
 dear friend, John Tupper ? 
 
 Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock. 
 
 MONTREAL, September 25, 1812. 
 
 It no longer appears, by your letter of the 13th, 
 that you consider the enemy s operations on the Niagara 
 frontier indicative of active operations. If the govern 
 ment of America inclines to defensive measures, I can 
 only ascribe the determination to two causes : the first 
 is, the expectation of such overtures from us as will 
 lead to a suspension of hostilities, preparatory to nego 
 tiations for peace ; the other arises from having ascer 
 tained, by experience, our ability in the Canadas to 
 resist the attack of a tumultuary force. 
 
 In consequence of your having weakened the line 
 of communication between Cornwall and Kingston, a 
 predatorjr warfare is carrying on there very prejudi 
 cial to the intercourse from hence with Upper Canada. 
 I have ordered a company of the Glengary to Pres- 
 cott to strengthen Colonel Lethbridge, and, under pre 
 sent circumstances, you are not to expect further aid. 
 
 I agree in opinion with you, that so wretched is the 
 organization arid discipline of the American army, 
 that at this moment much might be effected against 
 them ; but as the government at home could derive 
 
318 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 no substantial advantage from any disgrace we might 
 inflict on them, whilst the more important concerns of 
 the country are committed in Europe, I again request 
 you will steadily pursue that policy which shall ap 
 pear to you best calculated to promote the dwindling 
 away of such a force by its own inefficient means. 
 
 I shall receive with much satisfaction Colonel 
 Proctor s report of having saved the garrison of Fort 
 Wayne from the inhuman fury of the Indians. I am 
 particularly anxious that class of beings should be 
 restrained and controlled as much as possible, whilst 
 there exists a pretence of implicating the national 
 character in their cruelties. 
 
 The next letter not only explains the impolicy of 
 obeying Sir George Prevost s provisional orders for 
 the evacuation of Detroit and the Michigan territory, 
 but also ably deprecates any abandonment of our 
 Indian allies. With such leaders as its author and 
 Tecumseh, what might not have been done in that 
 war to obtain the security and regeneration of this 
 much injured people ? But, alas ! these " kindred 
 spirits" lived not long enough to plead their cause, 
 and in the negociations for peace their interests were 
 shamefully overlooked or cruelly forgotten ; * al 
 though, in the first American war, the Indians had 
 also, with few exceptions, taken part with Great 
 Britain against the colonists in their contest for inde 
 pendence, f It is true that their mode of warfare is 
 abhorrent to Europeans, as differing from the more 
 
 * " The Indians on this occasion " (the defence of Michilimackinac, in 
 1814,) "behaved with exemplary zeal and fidelity in our cause ; and 
 indeed their attachment throughout has been such as to make me blush 
 for my country, in the dereliction of their interests in the negociations at 
 Ghent, after so many promises made them, and so fair a prospect at the 
 commencement of these negociations." Letters of Veritas. 
 
 t In the life of Robert Jackson, M.D., inspector- general of army hos 
 pitals, who served in the first American war, it is stated, that "the colo 
 nial government acted with flagrant bad faith and injustice towards the 
 Indian nations ; nor has the republican government atoned for the trans 
 gressions of its parent, but added sins of its own." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 319 
 
 honorable slaughter of civilized combatants, and as 
 eschewing the courtesies and the formalities of modern 
 strife ; but Sir Isaac Brock proved that they were to 
 be restrained, and Tecumseh was as humane as he 
 was brave. Moreover, we should not condemn their 
 previous excesses without remembering the many in 
 juries they had received. They knew from sad expe 
 rience that they could place no faith in the whites, 
 who had long considered them as legal prey, and too 
 often treated them as the brute animals of the forest. 
 Expelled from the coasts, and dispossessed of their 
 hunting grounds, they had been gradually driven 
 westward, until they had too much cause to apprehend 
 that the cupidity of their invaders would be satisfied 
 only with their utter extermination. "The red men 
 are melting," to borrow the expressive metaphor of a 
 celebrated Miami chief of the last century, " like 
 snow before the sun," and their total extinction seems 
 to be rapidly and irresistibly approaching. And we 
 must not forget that the aboriginal denizens of the 
 west were formerly numerous, moral, and happy, 
 although they are now languishing and pining away 
 before the inroads of civilization, until many nations 
 have become nearly extinct ; and the present degene 
 rate scions of the last of their noble race, shorn of 
 their power, scarcely retain even a vestige of those 
 honorable, virtuous, and manly traits of character, 
 for which their ancestors were once so pre-eminently 
 distinguished. Indeed, it is melancholy to reflect, 
 that the aborigines of both continents of America 
 have, from their first intercourse with Europeans or 
 their descendants, experienced nothing but fraud, 
 spoliation, cruelty, and ingratitude. 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 YORK, September 28, 1812. 
 
 I have been honored with your excellency s dis 
 patch, dated the 14th instant. I shall suspend, under 
 
320 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the latitude left by your excellency to my discretion, 
 the evacuation of Fort Detroit. Such a measure 
 would most probably be followed by the total extinc 
 tion of the population on that side of the river, or the 
 Indians, aware of our weakness and inability to carry 
 on active warfare, would only think of entering into 
 terms with the enemy. The Indians, since the Miami 
 affair, in 1793, have been extremely suspicious of our 
 conduct ; but the violent wrongs committed by the 
 Americans on their territory, have rendered it an act 
 of policy with them to disguise -their sentiments. 
 Could they be persuaded that a peace between the 
 belligerents would take place, without admitting their 
 claim to an extensive tract of country, fraudulently 
 usurped from them, and opposing a frontier to the 
 present unbounded views of the Americans, I am 
 satisfied in my own mind that they would imme 
 diately compromise with the enemy. I cannot con 
 ceive a connection so likely to lead to more awful 
 consequences. 
 
 If we can maintain ourselves at Niagara, and keep 
 the communication to Montreal open, the Americans 
 can only subdue the Indians by craft, which we 
 ought to be prepared to see exerted to the utmost. 
 The enmity of the Indians is now at its height, and 
 it will require much management and large bribes to 
 effect a change in their policy ; but the moment they 
 are convinced that we either want the means to pro 
 secute the war with spirit, or are negociating a sepa 
 rate peace, they will begin to study in what manner 
 they can most effectually deceive us. 
 
 Should negociations for peace be opened, I cannot 
 be too earnest with your excellency to represent to 
 the king s ministers the expediency of including the 
 Indians as allies, and not leave them exposed to the 
 unrelenting fury of their enemies. 
 
 The enemy has evidently assumed defensive mea 
 sures along the strait of Niagara. His force, I appre 
 hend, is not equal to attempt an expedition across the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. , 321 
 
 river with any probability of success. It is, how 
 ever, currently reported that large reinforcements are 
 on their march ; should they arrive, an attack cannot 
 be long delayed. The approach of the rainy season 
 will increase the sickness with which the troops are 
 already afflicted. Those under my command are in 
 perfect health and spirits. 
 
 I have the honor to transmit the purport of a con 
 fidential communication* received in my absence by 
 Brigade-Major Evans from Colonel Van Rensselaer. 
 As your excellency s instructions agree with the line 
 of conduct he is anxious I should follow, nothing of 
 a hostile nature shall be attempted under existing 
 circumstances. 
 
 D. G. O. FORT GEORGE, September 22, 1812. 
 
 The major-general commanding returns his particular 
 thanks to the militia for the handsome manner in which they 
 have, on all occasions, volunteered their services for duties of 
 fatigue, and is pleased to direct that, for the present, service 
 for such duty shall be dispensed with. 
 By Order. 
 
 THOMAS EVANS, B. M. 
 
 * This communication, of which we have no particulars, is the more sin 
 gular, as Colonel Van Rensselaer commanded the advance of the American 
 attacking party on the 13th of October, when Sir Isaac Brock lost his 
 life. Colonel Van Rensselaer was severely wounded on that day. 
 
32*2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1 He bleeds, he falls, his death-bed is the field ! 
 His dirge the trumpet, and his bier the shield ! 
 His closing eyes the beam of valour speak, 
 The flush of ardour lingers on his cheek ; 
 Serene he lifts to heaven those closing eyes, 
 Then for his country breathes a prayer, and dies ! " 
 
 Mrs. HEMAXS. 
 
 The Americans, burning to wipe away the stain of 
 their discomfiture at Detroit, and apparently deter 
 mined to penetrate into Upper Canada at any risk, 
 concentrated with those views, along the Niagara 
 frontier, an army consisting, according to their own 
 official returns, of 5,206 men, under Major-General 
 Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia; exclusive 
 of 300 field and light artillery, 800 of the 6th, 13th, 
 and 23d regiments, at Fort Niagara ; making a total 
 of 6,300 men. Of this powerful force, 1,640 regulars, 
 tinder the command of Brigadier Smyth, were at 
 Black Rock ; 386 militia at the last named place 
 and Buffalo ; and 900 regulars and 2,270 militia at 
 Lewistown, distant from Black Rock 28 miles. Thus 
 the enemy had, along their frontier of 36 miles, 3,650 
 regulars and 2,650 militia.* To oppose this force 
 Major-General Brock, whose head quarters were at 
 Fort George, had under his immediate orders part 
 of the 41st and 49th regiments, a few companies of 
 militia, amounting to nearly half these regulars, and 
 from 200 to 300 Indians in all about 1,500 men 
 but so dispersed in different posts at and between 
 
 * James Military Occurrences. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 323 
 
 Fort Erie and Fort George, (34 miles apart,) that 
 only a small number was quickly available at any one 
 point. With unwearied diligence the British com 
 mander watched the motions of the enemy ; but under 
 these circumstances it was impossible to prevent the 
 landing of the hostile troops, especially when their pre 
 parations were favored by the obscurity of the night. 
 On the 9th of October, the brig Detroit, of 200 
 tons and 6 guns, (lately the U. S. brig Adams,) and 
 the North- West Company s brig Caledonia, of about 
 100 tons, having arrived the preceding day from 
 Detroit, were boarded and carried opposite Fort 
 Erie, before the dawn of day, by Lieutenant Elliott, 
 of the American navy, with 100 seamen and soldiers 
 in two large boats. This officer was at this time at 
 Black Rock, superintending the equipment of some 
 schooners, lately purchased for the service of Lake 
 Erie. But for the defensive measures to which 
 Major-General Brock was restricted, he would pro 
 bably have destroyed these very schooners, for whose 
 equipment, as vessels of war, Lieutenant Elliott and 
 50 seamen had been sent from New York. The two 
 British brigs contained 40 prisoners, some cannon 
 and small arms, captured at Detroit, exclusive of a 
 valuable quantity of furs belonging to the South- 
 West Company, in the Caledonia. Joined by the 
 prisoners, the Americans who boarded numbered 140, 
 and the crews of the two brigs, consisting of militia 
 and Canadian seamen, amounted to 68. After the 
 capture, Lieutenant Elliott succeeded in getting the 
 Caledonia close under the batteries at Black Rock, 
 but he was compelled by a few well-directed shots 
 from the Canadian shore, to run the Detroit upon 
 Squaw Island. Here she was boarded by a subal 
 tern s detachment from Fort Erie, and the Americans 
 soon after completed her destruction by setting her 
 on fire. Some lives were lost on this occasion, and 
 among the Americans a Major Cuyler was killed by 
 a shot from Fort Erie, as he was riding along the 
 
324 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 beach on the opposite side of the river. It will be 
 seen by the following letter that Sir George Prevost 
 is tacitly reproached for having, by his instructions, 
 prevented the destruction, or at least the attempt, of 
 the incipient American navy on Lake Erie, and which 
 the following year wrested its command from the 
 British. But Sir Isaac Brock s hands were tied, 
 and he was doomed to " the bitterest of all griefs, to 
 see clearly and yet to be able to do nothing." 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 FORT GEORGE, October 11, 1812. 
 
 I had scarcely closed my dispatch to your excel 
 lency, of the 9th, when I was suddenly called away 
 to Fort Erie, in consequence of a bold, and, I regret 
 to say, successful attack by the enemy on his majes 
 ty s brig Detroit, and the private brig Caledonia, 
 which had both arrived the preceding day from Am- 
 herstburg. It appears by every account I have been 
 able to collect, that a little before day a number of 
 boats full of men, dropped down with the current 
 unobserved, boarded both vessels at the same moment, 
 and, cutting their cables, were proceeding with them 
 to the American shore, when Major Ormsby, who 
 witnessed the transaction, directed the batteries to 
 open upon them, and soon compelled the enemy to 
 abandon the Detroit, which grounded about the cen 
 tre of Squaw Island, a little more than a mile below 
 Black Rock. She was then boarded by a party of 
 the 49th regiment ; but as no anchor remained, and 
 being otherwise unprovided with every means by 
 which she could be hauled off, the officer, throwing 
 her guns overboard, after sustaining a smart fire of 
 musketry, decided to quit her. A private, who is 
 accused of getting drunk, and a prisoner of war, who 
 was unable from his wounds to escape, with about 
 twenty prisoners brought by the Detroit from Am- 
 herstburg, remained however behind ; these it became 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. - 325 
 
 necessary to remove before the vessel could be de 
 stroyed, and Cornet Pell Major, of the provincial 
 cavalry, offered his services. Being unfortunately 
 wounded as he was getting on board, and falling 
 back into the boat, a confusion arose, during which 
 the boat drifted from the vessel, leaving on board 
 two of the 41st, who had previously ascended. In 
 the mean time the Caledonia was secured by the 
 enemy, and a cargo of furs, belonging to the South- 
 West Company, landed. 
 
 The batteries on both sides were warmly engaged 
 the whole of the day, but I am happy to say no mis 
 chief was sustained by the enemy s fire. I reached 
 the spot soon after sun-set, and intended to have 
 renewed the attempt to recover the Detroit, which I 
 had every prospect of accomplishing, assisted by the 
 crew of the Lady Prevost, which vessel had anchored 
 a short time before ; but before the necessary arrange 
 ments could be made, the enemy boarded her, and in 
 a few minutes she was seen in flames. 
 
 This event is particularly unfortunate, and may 
 reduce us to incalculable distress. The enemy is 
 making every exertion to gain a naval superiority on 
 both lakes, which if they accomplish I do not see 
 how we can retain the country. More vessels are 
 fitting out for war on the other side of Squaw Island, 
 which I should have attempted to destroy but for 
 your excellency s repeated instructions to forbear. 
 Now such a force is collected for their protection as 
 will render every operation against them very hazard 
 ous. The manner our guns were served yesterday, 
 points out the necessity of an increase, if possible, of 
 artillerymen to our present small number of regulars. 
 The militia evinced a good spirit, but fired without 
 much effect. The enemy, however, must have lost 
 some men ; and it is only wonderful that, in a contest 
 of a whole day, no life was lost on our side. The fire 
 of the enemy was incessant, but badly directed, till 
 the close of the day, when it began to improve. 
 
326 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Lieutenant Rolette, who commanded the Detroit, 
 had, and I believe deservedly, the character of a 
 brave, attentive officer. His vessel must, however, 
 have been surprised an easy operation where she 
 lay at anchor ; and I have reason to suspect that this 
 consideration was not sufficiently attended to by the 
 officers commanding on board and on shore.* 
 
 We have not only sustained a heavy loss in the 
 vessel, but likewise in the cargo, which consisted of 
 four 12-pounders, a large quantity of shot, and about 
 200 muskets, all of which were intended for Kingston 
 and Prescott. 
 
 The only consolation remaining is, that she escaped 
 the enemy, whose conduct, after his first essay, did 
 not entitle him to so rich a prize. The enemy has 
 brought some boats over land from Schlosher to the 
 Niagara river, and made an attempt last night to 
 carry off the guard over the store at Queenstown. I 
 shall refrain as long as possible, under your excel 
 lency s positive injunctions, from every hostile act, 
 although sensible that each day s delay gives him an 
 advantage. 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock to Colonel Proctor, at Detroit. 
 
 The unfortunate disaster which has befallen the 
 Detroit and Caledonia will reduce us to great dis 
 tress. They were boarded whilst at anchor at Fort 
 Erie and carried off: you will learn the particulars 
 from others. A quantity of flour and a little pork 
 were ready to be shipped for Amherstburg ; but as I 
 send you the flank companies of the Newfoundland, 
 no part of the provisions can go this trip in the Lady 
 Prevost. It will be necessary to direct her to return 
 with all possible speed, bringing the Mary under her 
 convoy. You will husband your pork, for I am sorry 
 to say there is but little in the country. 
 
 * Sir Isaac Brock was much displeased, and justly, at the want of pre 
 caution which allowed these two vessels to be captured under the guns 
 of Fort Erie ; and, we believe, that he immediately entrusted its command 
 to Lieut.-Colonel Myers, in whom he had great confidence. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 3*27 
 
 An active, interesting scene is going to commence 
 with you. I am perfectly at ease as to the result, 
 provided we can manage the Indians and keep them 
 attached to your cause, which in fact is theirs. 
 
 The fate of the province is in your hands. Judg 
 ing by every appearance, we are not to remain long 
 idle in this quarter. Were it not for the positive 
 injunctions of the commander of the forces, I should 
 have acted with greater decision. This forbearance 
 may be productive of ultimate good, but I doubt its 
 policy but perhaps we have not the means of judg 
 ing correctly. You will of course adopt a very 
 different line of conduct. The enemy must be kept 
 in a state of constant ferment. If the Indians act as 
 they did under Tecumseh, who probably might be 
 induced to return to Amherstburg, that army will 
 very soon dwindle to nothing. Your artillery must 
 be more numerous and effective than any the enemy 
 can bring, and your store of ammunition will enable 
 you to harass him continually, without leaving much 
 to chance. 
 
 I trust you will have destroyed every barrack and 
 public building, and removed the pickets and other 
 defences around the fort at Detroit. 
 
 You will have the goodness to state the expedients 
 you possess to enable us to replace, as far as possible, 
 the heavy loss we have sustained in the Detroit. 
 Should I hear of reinforcements coming up, you may 
 rely upon receiving your due proportion. Nothing 
 new at Montreal on the 25th ult. Lord Wellington 
 has totally defeated Marmont, near Salamanca.* I 
 consider the game nearly up in Spain. May every 
 possible success attend you. 
 
 [The preceding letter is transcribed from a rough copy in the general s 
 handwriting, and, not being- dated, may not have been transmitted, as it 
 was written only a day or two before his death.] 
 
 * " It is also creditable to the military character of the little island of 
 Guernsey, that of the five British generals killed in action in 1812, two, 
 whose names follow in the obituary of the Annual Army List for 1813, 
 were Major- General Le Marchant, 6th Dragoon Guards, at the battle of 
 Salamanca, and Major- General Sir Isaac Brock, K. B., 4Qth foot, in 
 America." Duncan s History of Guernsey. 
 
328 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Major- General Brock to Sir George Prevost. 
 
 October 12, 1812. 
 
 The vast number of troops which have been this 
 day added to the strong force previously collected on 
 the opposite side, convinces me, with other indica 
 tions, that an attack is not far distant. I have in 
 consequence directed every exertion to be made to 
 complete the militia to 2,000 men, but fear that I 
 shall not be able to effect my object w r ith willing, 
 well-disposed characters. Were it not for the num 
 bers of Americans in our ranks, we might defy all 
 their efforts against this part of the province. 
 
 [The above letter is also from a copy written hurriedly by Sir Isaac 
 Brock only a few hours before his death, and it may not have been 
 forwarded. This was probably the last time he ever wrote.] 
 
 A day or two prior to the battle of Queenstown, 
 Major-General Brock wrote copious instructions for 
 the guidance of the officers commanding at the dif 
 ferent posts on the Niagara river, in the event of their 
 being attacked, and he explained the probable points 
 which he thought the enemy would, select for accom 
 plishing his descent. He evidently entertained a high 
 opinion of the discipline and prowess of the British 
 soldier, as in these instructions he observed : " If we 
 weigh well the character of our enemy, we shall find 
 him more disposed to brave the impediments of nature, 
 when they afford him a probability of accomplishing 
 his end by surprise, in preference to the certainty of 
 encountering British troops ready formed for his re 
 ception." The original draft of these instructions in 
 the general s writing, contains scarcely an erasure or 
 correction. 
 
 On the 4th of October, an American spy was sent 
 to the British side, and returned with information 
 that Major-General Brock had proceeded to Detroit 
 with all the force that could be spared from the 
 Niagara frontier. Encouraged by these false news, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 329 
 
 which perhaps the American general circulated to 
 induce his troops to cross over, every preparation was 
 made for a descent upon Queenstown. On the morn 
 ing; of the llth, the enemy assembled a force at Lewis- 
 town, opposite to Queenstown, with the view of mak 
 ing an immediate attack on the latter; but, through 
 some mismanagement in conducting the boats to the 
 place of embarkation, the attack was delayed. Early 
 on the morning of Tuesday, the 13th, the enemy s 
 troops were again concentrated and embarked in 
 thirteen boats at Lewistown, under cover of a com 
 manding battery of two 18 and two 6-pounders, 
 which, with two field-pieces, completely commanded 
 every part of the opposite shore, from which musketry 
 could be effectual in opposing a landing. The only 
 British batteries from which the enemy could be 
 annoyed in the passage were one, mounting an 18- 
 pounder, upon Queenstown Heights, and another, 
 mounting a 24-pound carronade, situate a little below 
 the village. Three of the boats put back, while the 
 remaining ten, with 225 regulars, besides officers, 
 struck the shore a little above the village of Queens- 
 town, and immediately returned for more troops. 
 The British force in Queenstown consisted of the two 
 flank companies of the 49th regiment and the York 
 volunteer militia, amounting in all to about 300 rank 
 and file. Of these about 60, taken from the 49th 
 grenadiers, and Captain Hatt s company of militia, 
 under Captain Dennis,* of the 49th, advanced at four 
 o clock, a. m., with a 3-pounder against the first 
 division of the enemy, under Colonel Van Rensselaer, 
 who had formed his men near the river, and was 
 awaiting the arrival of the next boats. The Ameri 
 cans were driven with some loss behind a steep bank, 
 close to the water s edge, where they were reinforced 
 by afresh supply of troops, and whence they returned 
 the fire of the British. In the mean time, the re- 
 
 * The present Colonel Sir James Dennis, K. C. B., lieut.-colonel 3d foot : 
 an officer of above fifty years full-pay service, and several times wounded. 
 
330 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 mainder of the 49th grenadiers and of the militia 
 company joined Captain Dennis ; while the 49th 
 light company, under Captain Williams, with Cap 
 tain Chisholm s company of militia, stationed on the 
 brow of the hill, fired down upon the invaders. 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock for some days had suspected this 
 invasion, and the evening preceding it he called his 
 staff together, and gave to each the necessary instruc 
 tions. Agreeably to his usual custom, he rose before 
 daylight, and hearing the cannonade, awoke Major 
 Glegg and called for his horse, Alfred, which Sir 
 James Craig had presented to him. His first impres 
 sion is said to have been, that the attack indicated by 
 the firing was only a feint to draw the garrison from 
 Fort George, and that an American force lay con 
 cealed in boats around the point on which Fort 
 Niagara stands, ready to cross over as soon as the 
 ru.w had succeeded. He, therefore, determined to 
 ascertain personally the nature of the attack ere he 
 withdrew the garrison ; and with this view he gal- 
 lopped eagerly from Fort George to the scene of 
 action, passing, with his two aides-de-camp, up the 
 hill at full speed in front of the light company, under 
 a heavy fire of artillery and musketry from the 
 American shore. On reaching the 18-pounder bat 
 tery at the top of the hill, they dismounted and took 
 a view of passing events, which at that moment 
 appeared highly favorable. But in a few minutes a 
 firing was heard, which proceeded from a strong de 
 tachment of American regulars under Captain Wool,* 
 who had succeeded in gaining the crest of the heights 
 in rear of the battery, by a fisherman s path up the 
 rocks, which, being reported as impassable, was not 
 guarded. Sir Isaac Brock and his aides-dc-carnp 
 had not even time to remount, but were obliged to 
 retire precipitately with the twelve men stationed in 
 the battery, which was quickly occupied by the ene- 
 
 * This officer is, we believe, the American general of that name, now 
 engaged in the war against Mexico. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 331 
 
 my. He now dispatched orders to Major-General 
 Sheaffe to hasten up with the troops from Fort 
 George, and also for the battering of the American 
 fort Niagara.* Captain Wool having sent forward 
 about 150 regulars, Captain Williams detachment, 
 of about 100 men, advanced to meet them, personally 
 directed by the general, who, observing the enemy to 
 waver, ordered a charge, which was promptly exe 
 cuted ; but as the Americans gave way, the result 
 was not equal to his expectations. Captain Wool 
 admits that he reinforced his regulars, "notwith 
 standing which the whole were driven to the edge of 
 the bank." f Here some of the American officers 
 were on the point of hoisting a white flag, with an 
 intention to surrender, when Captain Wool tore it off, 
 and reanimated his dispirited troops. They now 
 opened a heavy fire of musketry ; and conspicuous 
 from his dress, his height, and the enthusiasm with 
 which he animated his little band, the British com 
 mander was soon singled out, and he fell about an 
 hour after his arrival, the fatal bullet entering his 
 right breast and passing through his left side. He 
 had that instant said : " Push on the York volun 
 teers ; " and he lived only long enough to request 
 that his fall might not be noticed or prevent the 
 advance of his brave troops, adding a wish, which 
 could not be distinctly understood, that some token 
 of remembrance should be transmitted to his sister. J 
 He died unmarried, and on the same day a week 
 previously, he had completed his forty-third year. 
 The lifeless corpse was immediately conveyed into a 
 
 * This was done with so much effect by Brigade-Major Evans who 
 was left in charge, that its fire was sileuced, and its garrison was com 
 pelled to abandon it. 
 
 t See Captain Wool s letter, Appendix A, Section 2, No. 3. 
 
 t An old pensioner, mentioned in the second chapter, and now residing 
 in Guernsey, who was in the light company of the u)th. at Qneenstown, 
 tells us that he was close to the general when he was shot that he fell 
 on his face, and that on one of the men running; up to ask him if he were 
 hurt, he answered : " Push on, don t mind me." The pensioner also Htys, 
 that he never saw so many gentlemen and ladies shed tears as at General 
 Brock s funeral, and that even the Indians and their wives wept bitterly. 
 
332 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 house at Queenstown, where it remained until the 
 afternoon, unperceived by the enemy. His provincial 
 aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel M Donell, of the mili 
 tia, and the attorney-general of Upper Canada a 
 fine promising young man was mortally wounded 
 soon after his chief, and died the next day, at the 
 early age of twenty-five years. Although one bullet 
 had passed through his body, and he was wounded in 
 four places, yet he survived twenty hours ; and dur 
 ing a period of excruciating agony, his thoughts and 
 words were constantly occupied with lamentations 
 for his deceased commander and friend. He fell 
 while gallantly charging, " with the hereditary cou 
 rage oif his race," up the hill with 190 men, chiefly 
 of the York volunteers, by which charge the enemy 
 was compelled to spike the 18-pounder in the battery 
 there ; and his memory will be cherished as long as 
 courage and devotion are reverenced in the province. 
 The flank companies of the 49th having suffered 
 severely, and both their captains being wounded, the 
 disputed ground was lost soon after the death of the 
 general, and the troops retreated in front of Vromont s 
 battery, where they awaited the expected reinforce 
 ments. The Americans remained in quiet possession 
 of the heights of Queenstown for some hours, during 
 which they were but partially reinforced, as their 
 militia, who a day or two before were so anxious to 
 invade Canada having heard from the wounded 
 men sent back what they must expect if they came in 
 contact with the 49th, " the green tigers," as they 
 called them from their green facings could not 
 now be induced, either by threat or entreaty, to cross 
 the river. Indeed, the flank companies of the 49th, 
 in the excitement arising from the loss of their late 
 beloved colonel, are said to have fought with such 
 animosity throughout the day, as to have fully sup 
 ported this new title. In the meanwhile, Major- 
 General Sheaffe arrived from Fort George with 
 nearly 400 of the 41st regiment, under Captain 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 333 
 
 Derenzy, from 2 to 300 militia, and 250 Indians ; 
 and after being joined by the remnant of the 49th 
 flank companies and the militia, engaged in the 
 morning, and leaving two field -pieces with 30 men 
 in front of Queenstown, to prevent its occupation by 
 the Americans he proceeded by a circuitous route 
 to the right, to gain the crest of the heights upon 
 which the enemy was posted, and thus took them in 
 flank. Here he was reinforced by the arrival of the 
 41st grenadiers and some militia from Chippawah, 
 the whole of the British and Indian force thus assem 
 bled rather exceeding 1,000 men of all grades, of 
 whom nearly 600 were regulars. In numbers the 
 Americans were about equal courage they had, but 
 they wanted the confidence and discipline of British 
 soldiers. The undoubted prowess of the latter needs 
 not to be raised at the expense of truth ; and in com 
 mon justice it must also be added, that the enemy 
 had only one field-piece, a 6-pounder, while General 
 Sheaffe in his dispatch, observed : " I am particu 
 larly indebted to Captain Holcroft, of the royal artil 
 lery, for his judicious and skilful co-operation with 
 the guns and howitzers under his immediate superin 
 tendence ; their well directed fire contributed mate 
 rially to the fortunate result of the day. * 
 
 The Indians, being more active than the white 
 troops in ascending the hill, first came, at about two 
 
 * In a brief record of Sir Roger Sheaffe s services, in Hart s Annual 
 Army List, it is stated, that at Queenstown the American general surren 
 dered himself and his surviving 1 troops, "their numbers far exceeding 
 the assailants." We cannot reconcile this statement with that of "James," 
 a very correct writer, or with Major-General Sheaffe s own dispatch, 
 dated Fort George, October 13, but written deliberately a day or two 
 afterwards, as, after mentioning that "many officers, with 900 men, have 
 been made prisoners," he adds : " I have not been able to ascertain yet 
 the number of (our) troops, or of those of the enemy engaged ; ours, I 
 believe, did not exceed the number of the prisoners we have taken." 
 Thus, a day or two after the battle, General Sheaffe believed that his 
 troops engaged amounted to at least Q50 men, including probably only 
 the rank and file, and, if so, about 1050 of all ranks. And, notwithstand 
 ing, in the United Service Gazette of November 22, 1845, it is asserted, 
 apparently on the authority of Sir, R. Sheaffe, that " the force under his 
 command amounted, by official returns, to 740 men, not one half of whom 
 were regulars, and the prisoners captured to 950 " ! ! If this assertion be 
 correct, which we much doubt, every authority that we have consulted, 
 not excepting the above dispatch, is singularly "at fault. 
 
334 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 o clock in the afternoon, in contact with the enemy, 
 and drove him before them ; but the Americans soon 
 rallied and repulsed their assailants, who fell back 
 upon the main body. The British, after a little 
 firing, and setting up a shout, which was accompanied 
 by the war-whoop of the Indians, advanced at the 
 double quick or running pace, when the enemy, 
 perceiving the hopelessness of resistance, fled down 
 the hill after a very feeble contest.* The slaughter 
 was unhappily protracted, because the Indians could 
 not at first be restrained. The Americans, who at 
 tempted to escape into the woods, were quickly driven 
 back by the Indians ; and many, cut off in their 
 return to the main body, and terrified at the sight of 
 these exasperated warriors, flung themselves wildly 
 over the cliffs, and endeavoured to cling to the bushes 
 which grew upon them ; but some, losing their hold, 
 were dashed frightfully on the rocks beneath ; while 
 others, who reached the river, perished in their at 
 tempts to swim across it. Such, alas ! are the dread 
 ful horrors too often arising from human warfare ! 
 A flag of truce soon came from the American com 
 mander, with the offer of an unconditional surrender; 
 and Brigadier Wadsworth, and about 950 officers 
 and privates, were made prisoners. Of these a large 
 proportion were officers, there being, by an American 
 list before us, in which the names and ranks are 
 given, 51 officers (exclusive of two sergeant-majors) 
 of the New York militia, and 20 only of the regulars ; 
 total, 71 officers. The death of the British general 
 is said to have cost the invaders many a life on that 
 day, which otherwise had been spared. Their- loss 
 was 90 killed and about 100 wounded, while that of 
 the British and Indians was 16 killed and 69 wound 
 ed, f Nearly, if not, the whole of these were killed 
 
 * " The Americans sustained but a short conflict, ere they fled with 
 precipitation towards the point at which they had first landed." James 
 Military Occurrences. 
 
 t Major-General Sheaffe, in his dispatch of 13th October, eulogizes 
 Captains Dennis and Williams, of the 49th ; Captains Derenzy and Bui- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 335 
 
 or wounded early in the morning. The victory, 
 though easily won, was complete ; but it was felt by 
 the conquerors as a poor compensation for the loss of 
 the British chieftain, thus prematurely cut off in the 
 pride of manhood and in the noon-tide of his career ; 
 while the sorrow manifested throughout both pro 
 vinces proved that those who rejoiced in the failure 
 of this second invasion, would gladly have forgone 
 the triumph, if by such means they could have 
 regained him who rendered the heights of Queens- 
 town memorable by his fall. 
 
 Joy s bursting shout in whelming grief was drowned, 
 And Victory s self unwilling audience found ; 
 On every brow the cloud of sadness hung, 
 The sounds of triumph died on every tongue ! 
 
 " The news of the death of this excellent officer," 
 observed the Quebec Gazette, " has been received 
 here as a public calamity. The attendant circum 
 stances of victory scarcely checked the painful sen 
 sation. His long residence in this province, and 
 particularly in this place, had made him in habits 
 and good offices almost a citizen ; and his frankness, 
 conciliatory disposition, and elevated demeanour, an 
 estimable one. The expressions of regret as general 
 as he was known, and not uttered by friends and 
 acquaintance only, but by every gradation of class, 
 not only by grown persons, but young children, are 
 the test of his worth. Such too is the only eulogium 
 worthy of the good and brave, and the citizens of 
 Quebec have, with solemn emotions, pronounced it 
 on his memory. But at this anxious moment other 
 
 lock, of the 41st; Brigade-Major Evans, Colonel Glaus, Captain Vigoreaux, 
 R. E., Captains Powell and Cameron, of the militia artillery ; Lieutenants 
 Crowther and Fowler, 4lst regiment; Captain Glegg, aide-de-camp j 
 Lieutenant Kerr, Glengary Fencibles; Lieut.-Colonels Butler and Clark, 
 and Major Merritt, of the militia; and Captains Hatt, Durand, Rowe, 
 Applegarth, James, Crooks, Cooper, Robert Hamilton, M Ewen, and 
 Duncan Cameron ; and Lieutenants Richardson and Thomas Butler, 
 commanding flank companies of the York and Lincoln militia ; Captain 
 A. Hamilton ; Volunteers Shaw, Thomson, and Jarvis, attached to the 
 flank companies of the 4Qth regiment ; and the Indian chief, Norton. 
 
336 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 feelings are excited by his loss. General Brock had 
 acquired the confidence of the inhabitants within his 
 government. He had secured their attachment per 
 manently by his own merits. They were one people 
 animated by one disposition, and this he had gradual 
 ly wound up to the crisis in which they were placed. 
 Strange as it may seem, it is to be feared that he had 
 become too important to them. The heroic militia 
 of Upper Canada, more particularly, had knit them 
 selves to his person ; and it is yet to be ascertained 
 whether the desire to avenge his death can compensate 
 the many embarassments it will occasion. It is in 
 deed true that the spirit, and even the abilities, of a 
 distinguished man often carry their influence beyond 
 the grave ; and the present event furnishes its own 
 example, for it is certain, notwithstanding General 
 Brock was cut off early in the action, that he had 
 already given an impulse to his little army, which 
 contributed to accomplish the victory when he was 
 no more. Let us trust that the recollection of him 
 will become a new bond of union, and that, as he 
 sacrificed himself for a community of patriots, they 
 will find a new motive to exertion in the obligation 
 to secure his ashes from the pestilential dominion of 
 the enemy." 
 
 A Montreal newspaper of the clay also contained 
 the following observations : " The private letters from 
 Upper Canada, in giving the account of the late 
 victory at Queenstown, are partly taken up with en 
 comiastic lamentations upon the never-to-be-forgotten 
 General Brock, which do honor to the character and 
 talents of the man they deplore. The enemy have 
 nothing to hope from the loss they have inflicted ; 
 they have created a hatred which panteth for revenge. 
 Although General Brock may be said to have fallen 
 in the midst of his career, yet his previous services in 
 Upper Canada will be lasting and highly beneficial. 
 When he assumed the government of the province, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 337 
 
 he found a divided, disaffected, and, of course, a 
 weak people. He has left them united and strong, 
 and the universal sorrow of the province attends his 
 fall. The father, to his children, will make known 
 the mournful story. The veteran, who fought by his 
 side in the heat and burthen of the day of our deli 
 verance, will venerate his name."* 
 
 In his dispatch to Sir George Prevost, dated Fort 
 George, October 13, Major-General Sheaffe said : 
 " On receiving intelligence of it, (the attack on 
 Queenstown,) Major-General Brock immediately 
 proceeded to that post ; and, I am excessively grieved 
 in having to add, that he fell whilst gallantly cheer 
 ing his troops to an exertion for maintaining it. 
 With him the position was lost .... Our loss I 
 believe to have been comparatively small in numbers : 
 no officer was killed besides Major-General Brock, 
 one of the most gallant and zealous officers in his 
 majesty s service, whose loss cannot be too much 
 deplored, and Lieut.-Colonel M Donell, provincial 
 aide-de-camp, whose gallantry and merit render him 
 worthy of his chief." t And Sir George Prevost, in 
 transmitting this letter, observed : " His majesty and 
 the country have to deplore the loss of an able and 
 most gallant officer in Major-General Brock, who 
 fell early in the battle, at the head of the flank com 
 panies of the 49th regiment, whilst nobly encouraging 
 them to sustain their position in opposition to an infi 
 nitely superior force, until the reinforcements he had 
 ordered to advance to their support would arrive." 
 The remarks of both generals strike us as somewhat 
 tame and hackneyed ; J but it is not every Nelson 
 
 * " Death and Victory : " a sermon under this title was preached by the 
 Rev. William Smart, at Brockville, Elizabethtown, November 15, on the 
 death of Major-General Brock, and published at the request of the officers 
 stationed at that post, and of the gentlemen of the village. The text was : 
 " How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle." 
 
 f Lieut.-Colonel M Donell died on the 14th of October. 
 
 t Brigadier Townshend, who, in consequence of the death of Wolfe and 
 the wounds of Brigadier Monckton, wrote the dispatch announcing the 
 Q 
 
338 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 whose death in battle is recorded by a Collingwood, 
 and the sentiments of the British government on the 
 melancholy occasion were far more appropriately and 
 elegantly expressed in a dispatch from Earl Bathurst, 
 the secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir George 
 Prevost, dated December 8, 1812 : " His royal high 
 ness the prince regent is fully aware of the severe loss 
 which his majesty s service has experienced in the 
 death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. This would 
 have been sufficient to have clouded a victory of 
 much greater importance. His majesty has lost in 
 him not only an able and meritorious officer, but one 
 who, in the exercise of his functions of provisional 
 lieutenant-governor of the province, displayed quali 
 ties admirably adapted to awe the disloyal, to recon 
 cile the wavering, arid to animate the great mass of 
 the inhabitants against successive attempts of the 
 enemy to invade the province, in the last of which he 
 unhappily fell, too prodigal of that life of which his 
 eminent services had taught us to understand the 
 value." * 
 
 His lordship added : " His royal highness has 
 been also pleased to express his regret at the loss 
 which the province must experience in the death of 
 the attorney-general, Mr. M Donell, whose zealous 
 co-operation with Sir Isaac Brock will reflect lasting 
 honor on his memory/ 
 
 The Montreal Herald of April 29, 1815, blames 
 Sir George Prevost for having suppressed all but the 
 
 victory near Quebec, 13th September, 1759, has been justly accused of an 
 ungenerous indifference to the memory of the great man who led him to 
 victory, because in that dispatch, dated 20th September, or a week after 
 the victory, the only mention he made of the hero was the following : 
 " Our troops reserved their fire till within fifty yards, which was then so 
 well continued, that the enemy every where gave way. It was then that 
 our illustrious general fell at the head of Bragge s and the Louisburg 
 grenadiers, advancing with their bayonets; and about the same time 
 Brigadier- General Monckton received his wound at the head of Lascelles." 
 
 * The prince regent, afterwards George the Fourth, told the late John 
 Julius Angerstein, Esq., who was a friend of one of Sir Isaac Brock s 
 brothers, that if the general had survived the battle of Queenstown, his 
 royal highness would have made him a baronet, and conferred upon him 
 a pension of, we think, 1,200 a year. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 339 
 
 first sentence of Lord Bathurst s letter relating to Sir 
 Isaac Brock, which sentence only was given in his 
 general order to the army of 10th March, 1813, 
 "because the sentiments expressed by the prince are 
 those of the loyal people of Upper Canada, who 
 would be glad to have seen them soon after the offi 
 cial letter arrived in Canada." And " considering 
 the character of the distinguished chief who fell on 
 the British side at the Queenstown battle," * we 
 certainly do think that this very handsome acknow 
 ledgment of his services and eloquent tribute to his 
 memory should, even as a matter of policy, have been 
 immediately published without mutilation. 
 
 The Canadian boat songs are well known for their 
 plaintive and soothing effect, and a very beautiful 
 one was composed on the death of Major-General 
 Brock. The writer of this memoir, while sailing one 
 evening in the straits of Canso, in British North 
 America the beautiful and picturesque scenery of 
 which greatly increased the effect of the words 
 remembers to have heard it sung by a Canadian boat 
 man, and he then thought that he had never listened 
 to vocal sounds more truly descriptive of melancholy 
 and regret. Even the young in Canada invoked the 
 Muse in expression of their sympathy, and the fol 
 lowing lines were indited by Miss Ann Bruyeres, 
 described as " an extraordinary child of thirteen 
 years old," the daughter of the general s friend, 
 Lieut-Colonel Bruyeres, of the Royal Engineers, 
 who died not long after him in consequence of disease 
 contracted in the field : 
 
 As Fame alighted on the mountain s t crest, 
 She loudly blew her trumpet s mighty blast ; 
 Ere she repeated Victory s notes, she cast 
 A look around, and stopped : of power bereft, 
 Her bosom heaved, her breath she drew with pain, 
 Her favorite BROCK lay slaughtered on the plain ! 
 Glory threw on his grave a laurel wreath, 
 And Fame proclaims " a hero sleeps beneath." 
 
 * James Military Occurrences. 
 
 t The mountain above Queenstown, where Major-General Brock was 
 slain. 
 
340 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 As if to complete the double allusion to Fame in 
 the preceding lines, singularly enough the mournful 
 intelligence of Sir Isaac Brock s death was brought 
 from Quebec to Guernsey by the ship FAME, belong 
 ing to that island, on Tuesday, the 24th November, 
 two days before it was known in London. 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock, after lying in state at the govern 
 ment house, where his body was bedewed with the 
 tears of many affectionate friends, was interred on the 
 16th of October, with his provincial aide-de-camp, at 
 Fort George.* His surviving aide-de-camp, Major 
 Glegg, recollecting the decided aversion of the gene 
 ral to every thing that bore the appearance of osten 
 tatious display, endeavoured to clothe the distressing 
 ceremony with all his " native simplicity." But at 
 the same time there were military honors that could 
 not be withheld, and the following was the order of 
 the mournful procession, " of which," wrote Major 
 Glegg, " I enclose a plan ; but no pen can describe 
 the real scenes of that mournful day. A more solemn 
 and affecting spectacle was perhaps never witnessed. 
 As every arrangement connected with that afflicting 
 ceremony fell to my lot, a second attack being hourly 
 expected, and the minds of all being fully occupied 
 with the duties of their respective stations, I anxiously 
 endeavoured to perform this last tribute of affection 
 in a manner corresponding with the elevated virtues 
 of my departed patron. Conceiving that an inter 
 ment in every respect military would be the most 
 appropriate to the character of our dear friend, I 
 made choice of a cavalier bastion in Fort George, 
 which his aspiring genius had lately suggested, and 
 which had been just finished under his daily super 
 intendence." 
 
 * The survivors of the flank companies of the 49th were marched from 
 Queenstown to be present at the funeral, and they wer.e severally admitted 
 to view the coffin, which contained the remains of their late beloved 
 commander. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 341 
 
 Fort Major Campbell. 
 
 Sixty Men of the 4 1st Regiment, commanded by a Subaltern. 
 Sixty of the Militia, commanded by a Captain. 
 
 Two Six-Poundeis firing minute guns. 
 
 Remaining Corps and Detachments of the Garrison, with about 200 In 
 dians, in reversed order, forming a street through which the procession 
 passed, extending from the government house to the garrison. 
 
 Band of the 4 1st Regiment. 
 
 Drums, covered with black cloth, and muffled. 
 
 Late General s Horse, fully caparisoned, led by four Grooms. 
 
 Servants of the General. 
 
 The General s Body Servant. 
 
 Surgeon Muirhead. Doctor Kerr. 
 
 Doctor Moore. Staff Surgeon Thorn. 
 
 Reverend Mr. Addison. 
 
 (The Body of Lieut. -Colonel M Donell, P.A.D.C.) 
 Capt. A. Cameron. EHB Lieut. Jarvis.* 
 
 Lieut. J. B. Robinson.f 
 
 J. Edwards, Esq. 
 
 Supporter, 
 Mr. Dick son. 
 
 Chief Mourner, 
 Mr. M Donell. 
 
 Lieut. Ridout. 
 
 Capt. Crooks. 
 
 Supporter, 
 Captain Cameron. 
 
 (The Body of Major-General Brock.) 
 
 Supporter, 
 James Coffin, Esq., D. A. C. G. 
 
 Capt. Vigoreaux, R. E. 
 Capt. Derenzy, 41st Regt. 
 Capt. Dennis, 4Qth Regt. 
 Capt. Holcroft, R. A. 
 
 Supporter, 
 Brigade-Major Evans. 
 
 Supporter, 
 Captain Williams, 49th Regt. 
 
 Major Merritt, L. H. Lin. Mil. 
 Lieut.-Col. Clark, Lin. Mil. 
 Lieut.-Col. Butler. 
 Colonel Claus. 
 
 Supporter, 
 Captain Glegg, A. D. C. 
 
 MajoriGeneral Sheaffe. 
 Ensign Coffin, A. D. C. 
 
 Chief Mourners. 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Myers, D. Q. M. G. 
 Lieut. Fowler, A. D. Q. M. G. 
 The Civil Staff. 
 Friends of the Deceased. 
 Inhabitants.* 
 
 * Lieutenant : (afterwards Colonel) Jarvis of the militia, accompanied 
 Major-General Brock to Amherstburg, and fought bravely at Queenstown . 
 
 t Lieutenant Robinson also accompanied the general to Amherstburg, 
 and fought gallantly at Queenstown ; he is now the eminent chief justice 
 of Upper Canada. 
 
 t Extracted from the York Gazette, October 24, 1812. 
 
342 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Such was the esteem in which Sir Isaac Brock was 
 held by the enemies of his country, for he had or 
 could have no personal enemies, that Major-General 
 Van Rensselaer, in a letter of condolence, informed 
 Major-General SheafFe that immediately after the 
 funeral solemnities* were over on the British side, a 
 compliment of minute guns would be paid to the 
 hero s memory on theirs ! ! ! Accordingly, the cannon 
 at Fort Niagara were fired, " as a mark of respect 
 due to a brave enemy." f How much is it then to 
 be regretted that we should ever come into collision 
 with those who possess the same origin and the same 
 language as ourselves, and who, by this generous 
 feeling and conduct, proved that they are a liberal, 
 as they undoubtedly are a gallant, people ; and may 
 the future rivalry of both powers be, not for the un 
 natural destruction of each other, but for the benefit 
 of mankind. No words can better express the favor 
 able opinion entertained by the Americans of the de 
 ceased than the language of their president, Madison, 
 who, alluding to the battle of Queenstown in his 
 annual message to congress, observed : " Our loss 
 has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. 
 That of the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more 
 felt, as it includes amongst the killed the commanding 
 general, who was also the governor of the province." 
 
 * Extract from D. G. 0. for the Funeral. 
 
 The officers will wear crape on their left arms and on their sword knots, 
 and all officers will, throughout the province, wear crape on their left 
 arm for the space of one month. 
 
 Captain Holcroft will be pleased to direct that minute guns be fired 
 from the period of the bodies leaving government house until their 
 arrival at the place of interment ; and also, after the funeral service shall 
 have been performed, three rounds of seven guns from the artillery. 
 
 By order. THOMAS EVANS, B. M. 
 
 t " I well remember the tribute of respect paid by the enemy, and the 
 melancholy satisfaction it afforded to those who were so bitterly lamenting 
 their irreparable loss. General Brock was not only admired and respected 
 by the American people ; but he was in truth very kindly regarded by 
 them. In his arrangements consequent on the capture of Fort Detroit, 
 they had an opportunity of observing that honest frankness, and warm 
 benevolence of heart, which characterized him. He showed the greatest 
 liberality and most indulgent consideration in dealing with and disposing 
 of the various descriptions of force which surrendered to him on that 
 occasion. I believe no man ever heard either friend or foe speak unkindly 
 of General Brock." Chief Justice Robinson. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 343 
 
 Ere we proceed to delineate the person and cha 
 racter of this able soldier and excellent man, we shall 
 transcribe the sketches of two strangers,* lest the 
 portrait of a relative should be deemed too highly 
 coloured, That portrait has been drawn by them 
 with a master hand, especially the first ; and although 
 feelingly alive to our incompetency for the task, we 
 also must endeavour, with a trembling pen, to do 
 justice to the memory of the hero. 
 
 " Thus ended in their total discomfiture," says 
 Christie in his Historical Memoirs, already cited, 
 " the second attempt of the Americans to invade 
 Upper Canada. The loss of the British is said to 
 have been about 20 killed, including Indians, and 
 between 50 and 60 wounded. The fall of General 
 Brock, the idol of the army and of the people of 
 Upper Canada, was an irreparable loss, and cast a 
 shade over the glory of this dear-bought victory. He 
 was a native of Guernsey, of an ancient and reputable 
 family, distinguished in the profession of arms. He 
 had served for many years in Canada, and in some of 
 the principal campaigns in Europe. He commanded 
 a detachment of his favorite 49th regiment, on the 
 expedition to Copenhagen with Lord Nelson, where 
 he distinguished himself. He was one of those extra 
 ordinary men who seem born to influence mankind, 
 and mark the age in which they live. Conscious of 
 the ascendancy of his genius over those who sur 
 rounded him, he blended the mildest of manners with 
 the severity and discipline of a camp ; and though 
 his deportment was somewhat grave and imposing, 
 the ncble frankness of his character imparted at once 
 confidence and respect to those who had occasion to 
 approach his person. As a soldier, he was brave to 
 a fault, and not less judicious than decisive in his 
 measures. The energy of his character was strongly 
 expressed in his countenance, and in the robust and 
 
 * For brief extracts relative to Sir Isaac Brock from other authors, see 
 Appendix; A, Section 1, No. 7. 
 
344 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 manly symmetry of his frame. As a civil governor, 
 he was firm, prudent, and equitable. In fine, whether 
 we" view him as a man, a statesman, or a soldier, he 
 equally deserves the esteem and respect of his con 
 temporaries and of posterity. The Indians who 
 flocked to his standard were attached to him with 
 almost enthusiastic affection, and the enemy even 
 expressed an involuntary regret at his untimely fall. 
 His prodigality of life bereft the country of his servi 
 ces at the early age of forty-two years. The remains 
 of this gallant officer were, during the funeral service, 
 honored with a discharge of minute guns from the 
 American, as well as the British, batteries ; and with 
 those of his faithful aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel 
 M Donell, were interred in the same grave at Fort 
 George, on the 16th October, amidst the tears of an 
 affectionate soldiery and a grateful people, who will 
 cherish his memory with veneration, and hand to 
 their posterity the imperishable name of BROCK." 
 
 " General Brock was killed at the battle of Queens- 
 town heights," observes Howison in his Sketches of 
 Upper Canada, " and the place where he fell was 
 pointed out to me. The Canadians hold the memory 
 of this brave and excellent man in great veneration, 
 but have not yet attempted to testify their respect for 
 his virtues in any way, except by shewing to strangers 
 the spot On which he received his mortal wound. He 
 was more popular, and more beloved by the inhabi 
 tants of Upper Canada, than any man they ever had 
 among them, and with reason ; for he possessed in 
 an eminent degree those virtues which add lustre 
 to bravery, and those talents that shine alike in the 
 cabinet and in the field. His manners and disposi 
 tions were so conciliating as to gain the affection of 
 all whom he commanded, while his innate nobleness 
 and dignity of mind secured him a respect almost 
 amounting to veneration. He is now styled the Hero 
 of Upper Canada, and, had he lived, there is no 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 345 
 
 doubt but the war would have terminated very differ 
 ently from what it did. The Canadian farmers are 
 not over-burthened with sensibility, yet I have seen 
 several of them shed tears when an eulogium was 
 pronounced upon the immortal and generous-minded 
 deliverer of their country. 
 
 " General Brock was killed close to the road that 
 leads through Queenstown village, and an aged thorn 
 bush now marks the place where he fell, when the 
 fatal ball entered his vitals. This spot may be called 
 classic ground, for a view of it must awaken in the 
 minds of all those who duly appreciate the greatness 
 of his character, and are acquainted with the nature 
 of his resources and exertions, feelings as warm and 
 enthusiastic as the contemplation of monuments con 
 secrated by antiquity can ever do." 
 
 Nature had been very bountiful to Sir Isaac Brock 
 in those personal gifts which appear to such peculiar 
 advantage in the army, and at the first glance the 
 soldier and the gentleman were seen. In stature he 
 was tall,* erect, athletic, and well proportioned, al 
 though in his latter years his figure was perhaps too 
 portly ; arid when a young man, at the head of his 
 company of grenadiers, he attracted general observa 
 tion by his martial presence. His fine and benevolent 
 countenance was a perfect index of his mind, and his 
 manners were courteous, frank, and engaging, al 
 though both denoted a fixedness of purpose which 
 could not be mistaken. In society he was a modest 
 man, greatly disliking parade or ostentation, and one 
 who knew him well never remembers him to have 
 made an illnatured remark. Brave, liberal, and 
 humane ; devoted to his sovereign, and loving his 
 country with romantic fondness ; in command so 
 gentle and persuasive, yet so firm, that he possessed 
 the rare faculty of acquiring both the respect and the 
 attachment of all who served under him. When, in 
 
 * In height about, or nearly, six feet two inches. 
 Q* 
 
346 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 July, 1805, he resigned the charge of the troops in 
 Quebec to Colonel Bowes, it was remarked how 
 much the discipline of the garrison had improved 
 under his command. Had his talents been exerted 
 on a European field, there is every reason to suppose 
 that his sphere of fame, if not of usefulness, would 
 have been greatly extended; but as his memory is 
 warmly cherished by the people among whom he 
 fell, his fate, premature as it was, is still enviable, 
 notwithstanding that their applause fell on " the dull, 
 cold ear of death." If his anxiety ever to shew a 
 good example by being foremost in danger, induced 
 him to expose himself more than strict prudence or 
 punctilio warranted, it must be remembered that 
 every thing depended on that example, as he had 
 scarcely a staff officer of trust and experience with 
 him, enterprising officers of that day striving to serve 
 in the Peninsula that of his two regular regiments, 
 the 41st was then with few exceptions badly officered, 
 and the 49th had five captains in England and that 
 the militia required to be led and animated. But even 
 if he erred on this point, his error was that of a 
 soldier. * Elevated to the government of Upper 
 Canada, he reclaimed many of the disaffected by 
 mildness, and fixed the wavering by the argument 
 of success ; and having no national partialities to 
 gratify, that rock on which so many provincial go 
 vernors have split, he meted equal favor and justice 
 to all. British born subjects soon felt convinced 
 that with him their religion or their birth-place was 
 no obstacle to their advancement. Even over the 
 minds of the Indians Sir Isaac Brock gained, at and 
 after the capture of Detroit, an ascendancy altogether 
 
 * When Nelson although a rear-admiral and a knight of the Bath, 
 and he had so distinguished himself at the battle of St. Vincent with his 
 barge s crew of eleven men, exclusive of Captain Fremantle and himself, 
 engaged a Spanish armed launch, carrying an officer and twenty-six 
 men, near Cadiz, in 1/97, and captured her after a desperate hand to hand 
 fight with swords, in which eighteen of the Spaniards were killed, and all 
 the rest wounded, he might equally have been charged with rashness, 
 had he failed or fallen. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 347 
 
 unexampled, and which he judiciously exercised for 
 purposes conducive equally to the cause of humanity 
 and to the interests of his country. He engaged 
 them to throw aside the scalping knife, implanted in 
 their breasts the virtues of clemency and forbearance, 
 and taught them to feel pleasure and pride in the 
 compassion extended to a vanquished enemy. In 
 return they revered him as their common father, and 
 while under his command were guilty of no excesses.* 
 Indeed his letters shew how warmly he espoused 
 their cause and how deeply he commiserated their 
 wrongs and misfortunes, w r ell knowing that in their 
 natural state they possess many of the virtues, with 
 few of the vices, of civilization, f He felt for them 
 as if they were human beings entitled to all the rights 
 and immunities of an aboriginal race, and he thought 
 it not meet that they should be exterminated because 
 "the scoundrel white man" chose first to deprive 
 them of their lands, and next warred upon them to 
 punish outrages which his own perfidy and cupidity 
 had provoked. And for no official act of Sir Isaac 
 Brock do w r e honor him more than for his earnest 
 representation of the expediency of including the In 
 dians as allies, yea, as allies in the negotiations for 
 peace, that they might not be " exposed to the unre 
 lenting fury of their enemies." It is well known that 
 this untutored people, the children of the forests, 
 value personal much more highly than mental quali 
 ties, but the union of both in their leader was happily 
 calculated to impress their haughty and masculine 
 minds with respect and admiration ; and the speech 
 delivered by Tecumseh, after the surrender of De- 
 
 * For council of condolence, see Appendix A, Section I, No. 8. 
 
 t " I fearlessly assert to the world, and I defy contradiction, that the 
 North American Indian is every where, in his native state, a highly moral 
 and intellectual being, endowed by his Maker with an intuitive knowledge 
 of some great Author of his being, and the Universe ; in dread of whose 
 displeasure he constantly lives, with the apprehension before him of a 
 future state, where he expects to be rewarded or punished according to 
 the merits he has gained or forfeited in this world." Catlin s North 
 American Indians, third edition. London, 1842. 
 
348 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 troit, is illustrative of the sentiments with which he 
 had inspired these warlike tribes. " I have heard," 
 observed that chief to him, " much of your fame, 
 and am happy again to shake by the hand a brave 
 brother warrior. The Americans endeavour to give 
 us a mean opinion of British generals, but we have 
 been the witnesses of your valour. In crossing the 
 river to attack the enemy, we observed you from a 
 distance standing the whole time in an erect posture, 
 and, when the boats reached the shore, you were 
 among the first who jumped on land. Your bold 
 and sudden movements frightened the enemy, and 
 you compelled him to surrender to half their own 
 force." 
 
 Of all the good qualities which adorned this ac 
 complished soldier none was more prominent than 
 his decision, and it was ever under the guidance of 
 a sound judgment. His strong attachment to the 
 service, and particularly to his regiment, formed 
 another distinguishing feature in his character. Hav 
 ing, while in command at Fort George, received a 
 letter announcing the execution of the mutineers 
 and deserters at Quebec, as related in the second 
 chapter the last act of that mournful tragedy he 
 ordered every man under arms that he might read to 
 them the contents of the letter. Having done so 
 with visible emotion, he proceeded to address the 
 men, and said : " Since I have had the honor to 
 wear the British uniform, I have never felt grief like 
 this, as it pains me to the heart to think that any 
 members of my regiment should have engaged in a 
 conspiracy which has led to their being shot like so 
 many dogs ! " Here he, who a few months before 
 had secured the ringleaders with such singular cool 
 ness and decision, was so affected as to be utterly 
 unable to continue ; but the involuntary pause had 
 more effect than the most persuasive eloquence, as 
 the soldiers, who beheld the glistening tear and heard 
 the faltering voice of their colonel, were equally moved 
 

 SIR ISAAC BROCK. 349 
 
 by this touching scene, so that, as our informant, 
 who was present, assures us, there was not a dry eye 
 among them all. Indeed, there was a correspondence 
 of regard between him and his officers, and even the 
 non-commissioned officers and privates, that, with 
 this solitary exception, produced the picture of a 
 happy family. Those extremities of punishment, 
 which the exactions of discipline will sometimes oc 
 casion, rarely reached his men. And yet shortly 
 before he succeeded to the command of the regiment, 
 it was in a sad state of disorganization, from the 
 causes already explained. (Page 6.) During the 
 mutiny on board the fleet at the Nore, in May, 1797, 
 the 49th was quartered on the borders of the river 
 Thames ; and as the privates evidently sympathized 
 with the seamen, Major Brock not only seldom went 
 to bed till nearly daylight, but slept with loaded 
 pistols, while during the day he frequently visited 
 the mess-rooms, to tear down or erase such inscrip 
 tions as " The Navy for Ever." But soon after he 
 became the lieutenant-colonel, by happily blending 
 conciliation with firmness, and bringing to a court 
 martial one or two officers, whose misconduct could 
 not be overlooked, he quickly restored the discipline 
 of the corps. Having effected this, he afterwards 
 governed it by that sentiment of esteem which he 
 himself had created, and the consolation was given 
 him to terminate a brief but brilliant course in the 
 midst of his professional family. A part of the regi 
 ment assisted at his last obsequies ; and those who 
 knew the commander and his men will be convinced, 
 that on the day of his funeral there was an entire 
 detachment in tears.* 
 
 It deserves to be recorded as an instance of good 
 fortune, unprecedented perhaps in military annals, 
 
 * The officers of the 4Qth, after his death, instructed the regimental 
 agent in London to procure them a likeness of Sir Isaac Brock, that it 
 might be placed in their mess-room, and allotted a handsome sum for this 
 purpose. The agent applied to the family for a copy, but unfortunately 
 they possessed no good likeness of the general. 
 
350 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and especially in a country where the advantage and 
 facility of escape were so great, that from the^Gth of 
 August, the day on which Major-General Brock left 
 York for Detroit, to the period immediately preced 
 ing the battle of Queenstown, the force under his 
 personal command suffered no diminution in its num 
 bers either by|desertion, natural death, or the sword.* 
 This comprehended a period of nearly ten weeks, 
 during which an army and fortress were captured, and 
 a journey of several hundred miles, by land and water, 
 accomplished with extreme rapidity. 
 
 In compiling this memoir, we have been much 
 struck with the swiftness of Major-General Brock s 
 movements : he appears to have been everywhere, 
 and, as Veritas observed of him, to have "flown, as 
 it were." To-day at York, engaged in his civil and 
 military duties to-morrow at Fort George, super 
 intending the defences of the Niagara frontier, or at 
 Kingston, reviewing and animating the militia. To 
 day at Fort George, watching the enemy the next 
 at York, dissolving the legislature and a fortnight 
 after, on his return from the capture of Detroit ! 
 To-day at Fort George again a few hours after at 
 Fort Erie, endeavouring to retake the brigs Detroit 
 and Caledonia. And yet this most active and ener 
 getic officer was compelled, by his defensive instruc 
 tions, tamely to look on the offensive preparations of 
 the Americans for the invasion of the province com 
 mitted to his charge ! 
 
 In conclusion, it is due to the memory of this ex 
 cellent man to declare that, eminent and undisputed 
 as were his public virtues, he was no less estimable in 
 private life. At the time of his death, a youth of 
 about nine years of age had been residing under his 
 roof and protection for nearly two years, it being the 
 general s intention to provide for him ; he was the 
 
 * It is the more remarkable that no disease occurred, when it is consi 
 dered that the expedition took place at a season when the heat is exces 
 sive, and that circumstances admitted of but little preparation being made 
 for the comfort of the men. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 351 
 
 illegitimate son of Captain Hercules E , of the 
 
 49th, who was unfortunately drowned on his passage 
 from Canada to England two or three years pre 
 viously, the vessel in which he embarked having 
 never been heard of after sailing.* In his own 
 family Isaac Brock was the object of the warmest 
 affection, and his servants carefully preserved relics 
 of their " dear master," as they styled him to their 
 dying day. His cares and anxieties had no reference 
 to the wealth he should amass, but to the sum of 
 human misery he might relieve ; and towards the 
 close of his brief career, as the prospect of increasing 
 honors and emoluments opened to his view, it will 
 have been seen that he contemplated his good fortune 
 only as the means of diffusing felicity, of drying the 
 tear of affliction, t Some of his nearest relatives have 
 since been cut off more prematurely, and far more 
 cruelly, than himself; but those who still survive 
 him possess the never-failing consolation which arises 
 from the remembrance of his virtues, and from the 
 reflection that, although his blessed spirit fled early 
 from this world, they may meet again in the mansions 
 of futurity. 
 
 Though the dead heed not human praise, yet the 
 living act wisely in commemorating the fall of a 
 distinguished chief the example is never thrown 
 away and on this occasion it is gratifying to reflect, 
 that every posthumous honor was paid to the memory 
 of one who had merited the distinction so well. A 
 public monument, J having been decreed by the im 
 perial parliament, was raised a few years since in St. 
 Paul s, and a view of it is said to have awakened in 
 an astonished Indian more surprise and admiration 
 than any thing he witnessed in England. In con- 
 
 * After the general s fall, Major Glegg kindly took charge of the youth, 
 and sent him to school, but we know not what has since become of him. 
 
 t The salary attached to the civil government of Upper Canada was 
 increased, we believe, shortly before his death to ^3,000 a year. 
 
 t By an official return, it appears that this monument cost ^6*1,575 ster 
 ling. For inscription, &c., see Appendix A, Section 1, No. 9. 
 
 See Appendix A, Section 1, No. 10. 
 
352 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 sequence of an address* from the commons of Upper 
 Canada to the prince regent, a munificent grant of 
 12,000 acres of land in that province was bestowed 
 on the four surviving; brothers of Sir Isaac Brock, 
 who, in addition, were allowed a pension of 200 a 
 year for life, by a vote of the imperial parliament. 
 To " the Hero of Upper Canada," t as he is still 
 affectionately termed in that country, the provincial 
 legislature erected a lofty column J on Queenstown 
 Heights, to which his remains, and those of his gal 
 lant aide-de-camp, were removed from Fort George 
 in solemn procession, on the 13th of October, 1824. 
 Although twelve years had elapsed since the inter 
 ment, the body of the general had undergone little 
 change, his features being nearly perfect and easily 
 recognized, while that of Lieut. -Colonel M Donell 
 was in a complete mass of decomposition. One of 
 his regimental companions, Colonel Fitzgibbon, in 
 transmitting a detail of the ceremonies of the day, 
 thus pathetically expressed himself: " Nothing, cer 
 tainly, could exceed the interest manifested by the 
 people of the province upon the occasion ; and num 
 bers from the neighbouring state of New York, by 
 their presence and conduct, proved how highly the 
 Americans revere the memory of our lamented chief. 
 Of the thousands present not one had cause to feel so 
 deeply as I, and I felt as if alone, although surround- 
 
 * For the address, see Appendix A, Section 1, No. 11. 
 
 t The following is a description of two copper halfpenny tokens, in 
 circulation in British North America a few years ago. One of the coins 
 bears on the obverse a sepulchral urn standing on a pedestal, on which 
 are inscribed, "FELL OCTOBER 13, 1813." Two winged genii hover over 
 the urn, and crown it with a wreath of laurel : the whole is surrounded 
 with the legend, "SiR ISAAC BROCK, THE HERO OF UPPER CANADA." 
 The reverse bears the date 1816, with the legend, " SUCCESS TO COMMERCE, 
 AND PEACE TO THE WORLD." 
 
 The other coin bears on the one side a three-masted ship in full sail, 
 with the legend, "SUCCESS TO THE COMMERCE OF UPPER AND LOWER 
 CANADA ; and on the other side, " SIR ISAAC BROCK, THE HERO OF 
 UPPER CANADA, WHO FELL AT THE GLORIOUS BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN 
 HEIGHTS, ON THE 13TH OCTOBER, 1812." 
 
 t This column cost nearly -=3,000, Halifax currency. See acts of the 
 provincial legislature, Appendix A, Section 1, No. 12. 
 
 For the details of the re-interment, see Appendix A, Section 1, No. 13. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 353 
 
 ed by the multitude. He had been more than a 
 father to me in that regiment which he ruled like a 
 father, and I alone of his old friends in that regiment 
 was present to embalm with a tear his last honored 
 retreat. What I witnessed on this day would have 
 fully confirmed me in the opinion, had confirmation 
 been wanting, that the public feeling in this province 
 has been permanently improved and elevated by Sir 
 Isaac Brock s conduct and actions while governing 
 its inhabitants. These, together with his dying in 
 their defence, have done more towards cementing our 
 union with the mother country than any event or 
 circumstance since the existence of the province. Of 
 this our leading men are aware, and are careful to 
 seize every opportunity of preserving recollections so 
 productive of good effects." The ceremony of re 
 interment was indeed a most imposing one, and it 
 was attended by the lieutenant-governor, Sir Pere 
 grine Maitland, and other officers of rank, the judges, 
 the members of the executive and legislative councils 
 and of the house of assembly, the Indian chiefs of the 
 Five Nations, the entire 76th regiment, several regi 
 ments of militia, &c. &c. " The time occupied in 
 moving from the fort to Queenstown, a distance of 
 nearly seven miles, was about three hours, including 
 stoppages. Being arrived opposite the spot where 
 the lamented hero received his mortal wound, the 
 whole procession halted, and remained for a few mi 
 nutes in solemn pause !" The height of the column,* 
 which commanded a view of the surrounding country 
 for about fifty miles, was from the base to the sum 
 mit 13-5 feet, and from the level of the Niagara 
 river, which runs nearly under it, 485 feet. It was 
 built with grey coloured limestone of primitive form 
 ation, and approaching to white, all the exterior being 
 
 * It was a Tuscan column on a rustic pedestal, with a pedestal for a 
 statue ; the diameter of the base of the column was seventeen feet six 
 inches, and the abacus of the capital was surrounded with an iron railing. 
 The centre shaft, containing the spiral wooden staircase, was ten feet in 
 diameter. 
 
354 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 executed with cut stone of superior workmanship. 
 The following inscription was engraven on this splen 
 did tribute to the unfading remembrance of a grateful 
 people : * 
 
 UPPER CANADA 
 
 HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B. 
 
 PROVISIONAL LIEUT. -GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES 
 
 IN THIS PROVINCE, 
 WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH. 
 
 OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY, 
 HE FELL IN ACTION N3AR THESE HEIGHTS, 
 
 ON THE 13th OCTOBER, 1312, 
 IN THE 43rd YEAR OF HIS AGE, 
 
 REVERED AND LAMENTED 
 BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED, 
 
 AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN 
 TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED. 
 
 The cataract of Niagara is supposed to have com 
 menced on the heights of Queenstown, and to have 
 gradually receded, or worn its way backwards to its 
 present site, seven miles above, near Chippawah, the 
 banks of the river on both sides between the two spots 
 being perpendicular, 250 to 300 feet in height, chiefly 
 of solid rock, and of the same level as the fall.f 
 
 " The village of Queenstown is beautifully situated 
 at the foot of a hill, and upon the side of the Niagara 
 river, the bank of which is high and precipitous. The 
 imagination is agreeably struck with the first view of 
 the place. On one side of the village is a mountain 
 covered with a shrubbery and verdure; behind, a 
 rich and cultivated plain extends backwards, which 
 
 * We speak in the past tense, because the column, as will be seen 
 in the sequel, was so much injured in 1840 as to require its recon 
 struction. 
 
 t Mr. Bakewell estimates the recession during the present century at 
 three feet per year, while Mr. Lyell, the celebrated geologist, thinks one 
 foot a more probable estimate, and computes that it must have taken at 
 least 35,000 years to wear away the intervening space ! ! 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 355 
 
 is bounded in every direction by luxuriant woods ; 
 while in front, the Niagara river glides in majestic 
 stillness, and may be traced, with all its windings, 
 till its waters are swallowed up in the vast expanse of 
 Lake Ontario. The soil around Queenstown consists 
 chiefly of a red clay, the bright colour of which, upon 
 the roads and declivities where it is exposed, forms a 
 singular contrast, during summer, with the pure 
 green of the trees and fields in the vicinity 
 
 " Queenstown must infallibly acquire magnitude 
 and importance when the province becomes populous 
 and flourishing, for it is situated at the commence 
 ment of a portage which never can be evaded by 
 any improvement in the navigation, it being rendered 
 necessary by the falls of Niagara ; therefore, all 
 vessels containing goods and stores destined for the 
 western parts of Upper Canada must unload and 
 leave their cargoes at Queenstown, that they may be 
 conveyed overland to Chippewa, where the Niagara 
 river again becomes navigable. Even now, a good 
 deal of this carrying business jroes on during the 
 summer months. The North-West Company for 
 ward a considerable quantity of stores to the Indian 
 territories by this route, and the country merchants 
 receive annual supplies of goods from Montreal, and 
 send down pork, flour, staves, and potash, in return.* 
 
 " The environs of Queenstown are beautifully pic 
 turesque and romantic, and nothing can be finer than 
 the prospect up the Niagara river. Immediately 
 above the village its channel narrows very much, and 
 the banks rise to the height of 300 feet perpendicular, 
 while at the same time they become wild and rocky, 
 and are thickly covered with trees of various kinds. 
 In some places they partly over-arch the river, and 
 throw an appalling gloom upon its waters, now dashed 
 into turbulence and impetuosity by the ruggedness of 
 their sloping bed. 
 
 * The construction of the Welland canal has since furnished better 
 means of transport between the two lakes by another route, and Queens- 
 town has in consequence lost the advantage which it once possessed. 
 
356 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 " At the ferry, the Niagara river is 1,250 feet in 
 breadth, and from 200 to 300 in depth. The current 
 is very rapid, and the wreathing and perturbed ap- 
 pQarance of the water shews that its course is much 
 impeded by the narrowness of the channel, which 
 must be entirely composed of rocks ; for, otherwise, 
 the continual and rapid attrition of such a large river 
 as that which flows through it, would undermine and 
 wear away the banks, and thus gradually enlarge and 
 widen its course. 
 
 " The prospect from the top of Queenstown moun 
 tain is the finest and most extensive that Upper 
 Canada affords, and, in an eminent degree, combines 
 the beautiful and the magnificent. The wild and 
 majestic precipices which engulf one part of the 
 Niagara river, the windings and mirrored expanse of 
 that noble body of water, the dim and undiscoverable 
 extent of Lake Ontario, together with the verdant 
 orchards, thick forests, and improved fields, glow 
 ing beneath a pure sky, collectively form a scene of 
 admirable effect and composition. Even York, which 
 is 36 miles distant, and lies very low, can be seen 
 from the summit of this hill during clear weather." * 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAL BROCK. 
 
 Low bending o er the rugged bier 
 The soldier drops the mournful tear, 
 For life departed, valour driven, 
 Fresh from the field of death to heaven. 
 
 But time shall fondly trace the name 
 
 Of BROCK upon the scrolls of Fame, 
 
 And those bright laurels, which should wave 
 
 Upon the brow of one so brave, 
 
 Shall flourish vernal o er his grave. 
 
 J. H. R. 
 
 * Howison s Sketches of Upper Canada. London, 1821. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 357 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ( HISTORICAL. ) 
 
 " If I might give a short hint to an impartial writer, it would be to tell 
 him his fate. If he resolves to venture upon the dangerous precipice of 
 telling unbiassed truth, let him proclaim war with mankind neither to 
 give nor to take quarter." DB FOE. 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock was succeeded in his civil and 
 military commands in Upper Canada by Major- 
 General Sheaffe, * who was created a baronet for the 
 dearly bought victory of Queenstown, which was 
 scarcely achieved ere he agreed, on the same after 
 noon of the fatal 13th of October, to a cessation of 
 firing for three days, on condition of the Americans 
 destroying their bateaux, which they complied with ; 
 and the truce was prolonged on the 16th to an indefi 
 nite period. t After the battle, General Wadsworth 
 and some of the principal American officers were 
 paroled, the remainder proceeding to Quebec. Among 
 the prisoners, 23 were found to be deserters from 
 English regiments, and British born subjects ; and 
 
 * Both the Canadas were now governed by British officers, born in the 
 United States. 
 
 t "D.G.O. Fort George, 13th October, 1812. A cessation of firing hav 
 ing been agreed on by Major-General Sheaffe and Major-General Van 
 Rensselaer, commanding the American troops at Lewistown, &c., for three 
 days, ending on Friday, the 16th instant, at four o clock, p. m., the officers 
 commanding the several posts on the line will regulate their conduct 
 accordingly. THOMAS EVANS, B. M." 
 
 "D.G.O. Fort George, l6th October, 1812. A prolongation of the 
 cessation of hostilities having been agreed upon between Major-General 
 Sheaffe and Major-General Van Rensselaer for an undefined period, the 
 officers commanding posts along the line will strictly govern themselves 
 accordingly until further orders. By order. THOMAS EVANS, B.M." 
 
358 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 they were sent to England for trial as traitors. T.his 
 caused a retaliation upon British prisoners in the 
 United States, and an equal number were put by the 
 American government into close confinement as host 
 ages for the security of the traitors. 
 
 On the 18th of October, General Smyth assumed 
 the command at Niagara, and applied to the British 
 general for an armistice ; and notwithstanding the 
 well-known prejudicial effect of the former one pro 
 posed by Sir George Prevost, it was also agreed to 
 by Major-General Sheaife ! * This unaccountable 
 proceeding, as might easily have been foreseen, proved 
 of material detriment to the British on Lake Erie, 
 as the Americans availed themselves of so favorable 
 an occasion to forward their naval stores unmolested 
 from Black Rock to Presqu ile by water, which they 
 could not otherwise have effected but with immense 
 trouble and expense by land, and equipped at leisure 
 the fleet which the next year wrested from us the com 
 mand of that lake. When the enemy was prepared 
 for a third invasion of Upper Canada, General Smyth 
 did not fail to give the thirty hours notice required 
 for the cessation of the armistice, which terminated 
 on the 20th of November. 
 
 " After the surrender of Detroit," said the inha 
 bitants of Niagara in their spirited letter to Sir 
 George Prevost, already quoted, (page 297,) "the 
 enemy were suffered unmolested to concentrate a 
 large force on the Niagara, at Sackett s Harbour on 
 Lake Ontario, and at Ogdensburg on the St. Law 
 rence ; they were not interrupted in bringing forward 
 to these places a large quantity of field and heavy 
 artillery, with the requisite supplies of ammunition, 
 and in equipping a flotilla, to dispute with us the 
 superiority of the lakes. When their preparations 
 
 * "But General Sheaffe, like his superior, was a lover of armistices, 
 and after the action he concluded one of his own with the American 
 general, for which no reason, civil or military, was ever assigned. " 
 Quarterly Review, July, 1822; article, " Campaigns in the Canadas." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 359 
 
 were complete when our regular and militia forces 
 were nearly exhausted with incessant watching and 
 fatigue, occasioned by the movements of the enemy, 
 which kept them constantly on the alert by uncer 
 tainty as to the point of attack they at length, on 
 the 13th of October, attacked our line at Queenstown. 
 The behaviour of both regulars and militia on that 
 memorable occasion is well known to your excellency, 
 and added another wreath to the laurels they had 
 gained at Detroit : the glories of that day were, how 
 ever, obscured by the death of our beloved and now 
 lamented chief, whose exertions had prepared the 
 means of achieving this great victory. This was 
 another triumph for the militia ; they had fairly 
 measured their strength with the enemy, and derived 
 additional confidence from the glorious result. Here 
 was another opportunity that slipped away without 
 being improved : Fort Niagara was abandoned by 
 the enemy, and might have been with the greatest 
 ease destroyed, and its guns brought away by a 
 trifling force. It is neither necessary, nor do we feel 
 inclined to enter into the causes why it was not done ; 
 we have, however, the strongest reason to believe 
 that, had General Brock survived, it would have 
 been attempted.* In addition to this (as we consider 
 it) capital error, Major Mullaney, and other natural 
 born subjects of his majesty, actually taken in arms 
 as commissioned officers in the service of the United 
 States, were released and allowed to return on parole 
 to that country ; and a partial armistice was agreed 
 to, liable to be broken off at thirty hours notice, 
 which could be productive of no real advantage to 
 us, nor give any repose to our harassed and suffering 
 militia, though it enabled the enemy to recruit his 
 
 * " Such was the dismay of the enemy at the result of the action at 
 Queenstown, that had General Sheaffe, who commanded after the death 
 of Brock, crossed over immediately afterwards, as it is said he was 
 strongly urged by his officers to do, the fort of Niagara, which its garrison 
 had even evacuated for some time, might have been captured, and the 
 whole of that line cleared of the American troops." Quarterly Revieu 
 
360 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 strength and organize at will the means of attacking 
 us anew. He was observed busily and actively em 
 ployed, throughout a great part of the month of 
 November, collecting boats on the Fort Erie end of 
 the line ; and when his preparations were complete, 
 he gave notice of the termination of the armistice on 
 the 20th." 
 
 " When General Wilkinson complains," observes 
 the British historian, James, " that the executive has 
 not rendered l common justice to the principal actors 
 in this gallant scene, not exhibited it to the country 
 
 * in its true light, and shewn what deeds Americans 
 are still capable of performing, * who among us 
 can retain his gravity ? It is true, says the general, 
 complete success did not ultimately crown this en 
 terprise ; but two great ends were obtained for the 
 country : it re-established the character of the Ame 
 rican arms; it did indeed! and deprived the 
 enemy, by the death of General Brock, of the best 
 officer that has headed their troops in Canada through 
 out the war; truth undeniable! * and, with his 
 loss, put an end to their then brilliant career; yet 
 the capture of General Wads worth took place in less 
 than five hours afterwards. 
 
 "The instant we know what the Americans expect 
 ed to gain, a tolerable idea may be formed of what 
 they actually lost by the attack upon Queenstown. 
 General Van Rensselaer, in a letter to Major-General 
 Dearborn, written five days previously, says thus : 
 
 * Should we succeed, we shall effect a great discom 
 fiture of the enemy, by breaking their line of com 
 munication, driving their shipping from the mouth 
 of this river, leaving them no rallying point in this 
 part of the country, appalling the minds of the Cana 
 dians, and opening a wide and safe communication 
 for our supplies; we shall save our own land wipe 
 
 * From an American work Major- General James Wilkinson s "Me- 
 moirs of my own Time," published in 1816. ED. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 361 
 
 away part of the score of our past disgrace get 
 excellent barracks and winter quarters, and at least 
 be prepared for an early campaign another year/ 
 
 " It is often said, that we throw away by the pen 
 what we gain by the sword. Had General Brock 
 been less prodigal of his valuable life, and survived 
 the Queenstown battle, he would have made the 13th 
 of October a still more memorable 7 day, by crossing 
 the river and carrying Fort Niagara, which, at that 
 precise time, was nearly stripped of its garrison. 
 Instead of doing this, and thus putting an end to the 
 campaign upon the Niagara frontier, Major-General 
 Sheaffe, General Brock s successor, allowed himself 
 to be persuaded to sign an armistice." 
 
 Having given these two extracts, we think it due 
 to Major-General SheafFe and to truth to add, that as 
 regards the attack on Fort Niagara, much allowance 
 should be made for his being so suddenly and unex 
 pectedly called to the chief command, even if such 
 an attack had been prudent and feasible, which, 
 however, admits of much doubt. But of the impo 
 licy of the armistice there can, we conceive, be no 
 question ; and we are assured, on the best authority, 
 that it excited very general disgust at the time. 
 
 In November, the Americans were already in 
 command of Lake Ontario,* Commodore Chauncey 
 having sailed from Sackett s Harbour on the 6th with 
 one brig and six schooners, mounting altogether 40 
 guns, and carrying 430 men, including marines ; and 
 their fleet, after chasing the Royal George into King 
 ston, captured on the 12th the transport sloop Eliza 
 beth, on board of which was Mr. Brock, f paymaster 
 
 * " But the most fatal and palpable error of the commander-in-chief was 
 his neglect to preserve that ascendancy on Lakes Erie and Ontario which 
 was actually enjoyed by the British at the opening of the contest. Tile 
 command of these lakes is so evidently an object of primary consideration, 
 in the defence of the Canadas, that it is perfectly inconceivable how any man 
 in Sir George Prevost s situation could have been so infatuated as to disre 
 gard the importance of maintaining his superiority." Quarterly Review. 
 
 t James Brock was first a lieutenant of the 8Qth regiment, and next 
 paymaster of the 4gth, in which situation he died of cholera at Benares, 
 R 
 
362 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of the 49th. He was paroled by Commodore Chaun- 
 cey, who, to his credit be it said, immediately re 
 stored "the plate and effects belonging to his late 
 illustrious relative," which he was conveying from 
 Fort George to Kingston. The box of letters and 
 other papers, from which this little work has been 
 principally compiled, was, we believe, among these 
 effects ; and we gladly seize this opportunity to ex 
 press the obligation of Sir Isaac Brock s family to 
 the commodore for his generosity on this occasion.* 
 The propriety of Major-General Brock s intention of 
 attacking Sackett s Harbour only two months before 
 must now be manifest, as had it fallen, as is probable, 
 this very squadron would doubtless have been found 
 in the course of preparation, and the whole of the 
 vessels brought off or destroyed. 
 
 Sir Roger Sheaffe appears to have been so alarmed 
 by the ascendancy of the enemy on Lake Ontario, 
 that he proposed immediately to Sir Georgte Prevost 
 to abandon the Niagara frontier, and, as a natural 
 consequence, the whole of Upper Canada west of 
 either York or Kingston, probably the latter. The 
 governor-general seems to have lent a willing ear to 
 this proposal, and to have given instructions to save 
 the troops at all hazards ; but General Sheaffe was 
 happily restrained from his purpose by the pressing 
 remonstrances of the militia field officers and other 
 leading men of the frontier, who urged him to main- 
 
 in India. Five other Brocks, first cousins of the general, were in the 
 army ; among them was Major James Brock, of the 16th Light Dragoons, 
 who died young, and the present Colonel Saumarez Brock, who served as 
 a captain of the 43d Light Infantry throughout the Peninsular war and at 
 New Orleans, and has a pension for wounds. Another first cousin, Philip 
 Brock, midshipman of H. M. S. Echo, was overtaken on shore by a snow 
 storm in Newfoundland, and frozen to death. 
 
 * " It has already been noticed, that a vessel captured on Lake Ontario, 
 in which was Captain Brock, had on board, among other valuable arti 
 cles, 12,000 dollars in specie. This appears to have been the private 
 property of the late Major-General Brock ; and the fact being made known 
 to our sailors, they unanimously agreed to relinquish it. Thus do our 
 tars beat the enemy, as well in generosity as in gallantry." Niles Weekly 
 Register, Baltimore, December 12, 1812. Not one word of truth as regards 
 the specie, and three-fourths of the tars were probably British subjects. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 363 
 
 tain his position, and to evince a firm determination 
 of resistance to the last. The inhabitants of the dis 
 trict were naturally indignant at the intention of 
 being thus hurriedly abandoned ; and in their letter 
 of December 16, 1812, already twice cited, they 
 expressed themselves in terms which, however dis 
 pleasing to the two commanders, became free and 
 gallant men, anxious to defend their homes and pro 
 perties. On the other hand, the situation of the 
 British troops, both on the Niagara and Detroit, 
 must have been one of much anxiety, as had the 
 enemy possessed sufficient enterprise to embark a 
 strong land force on board their squadron, and to 
 debark it on the Canadian shore in the rear of Sir 
 Roger Sheaffe s division, the latter might not only 
 have been taken in reverse, but placed between two 
 fires; and the retreat of Colonel Proctor s little army 
 have been equally endangered or cut off. 
 
 On the 27th of April, 1813, York was captured by 
 Major-General Dearborn, with about 1,700 American 
 troops, embarked in fourteen sail of armed vessels, 
 that post being occupied by 650 regulars and militia, 
 with from 40 to 50 Indians, the whole under the 
 immediate command of Sir Roger Sheaffe. In re 
 sisting the enemy, the grenadier company of the 8th 
 (the king s) regiment greatly distinguished themselves, 
 losing their captain, M Neal, and being nearly anni 
 hilated.* By an explosion of the powder magazine, 
 to which a train had been laid, 260 of the Americans 
 were killed or wounded, including Brigadier Pike 
 among the former ; and they were thrown into such 
 confusion, f that an immediate and resolute attack 
 
 * There were only two companies of the 8th engaged at York, and they 
 had 1 captain, l sergeant-major, 3 sergeants, 40 rank and file killed 
 total, 45 killed and 49 wounded, partly, however, by the explosion of a 
 wooden powder magazine an unusually severe loss and little known, 
 because their gallantry was exerted on an unfortunate occasion. At the 
 battle of Maida, the entire loss of the British army in killed was precisely 
 the same as that of these two companies, viz. l officer, 3 sergeants, and 
 41 rank and file. 
 
 t " General Sheaffe has been much blamed, first for the injudicious 
 position of the troops, by which the grenadier company of the 8th regi- 
 
364 LIFE A.ND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 would probably have sent them back to their ships. 
 The British general " drew off his regulars and left 
 the rest to capitulate within the town, wherein consi 
 derable public stores were lost;"* and the Americans, 
 having secured their booty, re-embarked and sailed 
 on the 2nd of May for Niagara. The inhabitants of 
 York do not appear to have been satisfied with the 
 conduct of Major-General SheafFe in this affair; and, 
 although it was not ascertained whether his removal 
 was the result of the displeasure of the commander- 
 in-chief, he was replaced in June or July by Major- 
 General de Rottenburg, and on his arrival in the 
 Lower Province he assumed the command of the 
 troops in the district of Montreal. f As the number 
 of the American troops, although all were not landed, 
 exceeded that of the British in proportion of nearly 
 three to one, the dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of 
 York certainly does seem, at this distance of time, to 
 have been unreasonable ; and if this were the only 
 cause for removing Sir Roger SheafFe, we conceive 
 that he was treated with harshness and injustice ; 
 although, on the other hand, we believe that he was 
 in the same category as very many other officers, 
 who, however well they may discharge subordinate 
 duties, are unequal, in an emergence like this, to the 
 complicated functions of the command of an army 
 and the government of a province. A few months 
 after, the Baron de Rottenburg was in his turn suc 
 ceeded by Lieut-General Gordon Drummond, who 
 commanded in Upper Canada to the end of the war, 
 having been sent out from England expressly for that 
 purpose in the Ethalion frigate, with a strong convoy 
 for Quebec, in the autumn of 1813, and accompanied 
 by Major-General Riall, as his second in command. 
 
 ment, who behaved with great gallantry, were exposed to be cut to pieces 
 in a wood, and again for not returning to the attack, after the explosion 
 of a powder magazine had destroyed 250 of the enemy, and thrown them 
 into confusion." Quarterly Review. 
 
 * Pictorial History of England. t Christie s Memoirs, before cited. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 365 
 
 We have alluded (page 296) to the discomfiture 
 of Sir George Prevost before Sackett s Harbour, 
 that naval arsenal whose destruction Major-General 
 Brock was so unfortunately prevented from under 
 taking. The governor-general having proceeded in 
 May, 1813, from Montreal to Kingston with Sir James 
 Yeo, who had just arrived from England to com 
 mand the British naval forces on the lakes the 
 squadron on Lake Ontario now consisting of two 
 ships, a brig, and two schooners the public was on 
 the tiptoe of expectation for some decisive dash on 
 the enemy s flotilla on that lake. An attack upon 
 Sackett s Harbour, in the absence of their fleet at 
 Niagara, was resolved upon, so as to destroy "the 
 forts, the arsenals, and the dock-yard, where the 
 Americans had a frigate almost ready for launching, 
 and several other vessels; but when this wavering 
 and spiritless general reconnoitred the place, he 
 would not venture an attack, and returned across the 
 water towards Kingston. Then he changed his mind 
 and went back to Sackett s Harbour ; and (but not 
 without more wavering and loss of time) our troops, 
 about 750 strong, were landed. The Americans were 
 presently driven at the bayonet s point into some 
 loop-holed barracks and forts ; and so panic-stricken 
 were they, that they immediately set fire to their new 
 frigate, their naval barracks and arsenal, and destroy 
 ed a gun-brig and all the stores which had so recently 
 been captured at York. While the arsenal was in 
 flames, while the Americans were flying through the 
 village, and when the complete success of the assail 
 ants was certain, Sir George Prevost sent a precipi 
 tate order for retreat, merely because a momentary 
 resistance was offered by a party of Americans, who 
 had taken refuge in the log-barracks ! The British 
 troops reluctantly obeyed their general s order and 
 returned to their boats, men and officers being acutely 
 sensible to his folly, and wondering by what means 
 so incompetent a commander had been placed over 
 
366 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 them. If Sir George Prevost had studied the history 
 of the war of the American revolution, it could only 
 have been with an eye to copy all the indecisions and 
 blunders of the formalising, badly instructed English 
 generals of that period. But the Howes, Clintons, 
 and Burgoynes, were at least always ready to fight. 
 As soon as the Americans could believe that the 
 English were really abandoning their enterprise at 
 the moment that it was all but completed, they 
 rushed back to stop the conflagration : they were too 
 late to save the stores which had been brought from 
 York, the navy barracks, or the brig, but the frigate 
 on the stocks, being built of green wood, would not 
 easily burn, and was found but little injured. If the 
 destruction at Sackett s Harbour had been completed, 
 we should have deprived the Americans of every 
 prospect of obtaining the ascendancy on the lake."* 
 And, as if to crown this miserable failure, the details 
 were narrated by the adjutant-general, in a dispatch 
 to Sir George Prevost, as if Colonel Baynes had 
 commanded in chief, and the governor-general had 
 been present as a mere spectator !f 
 
 From these humiliating occurrences on Lake On 
 tario, we turn to the captured post of Detroit, which, 
 it will be remembered, was left by Major-General 
 Brock in charge of Colonel Proctor. No sooner 
 had intelligence of the surrender of Hull reached 
 Washington, than the renewal of the North- Western 
 army for the recovery of the Michigan territory be 
 came the anxious object of the American government. 
 That army, which eventually^outnumbered the former 
 
 * Extract from the Pictorial History of England. 
 
 + " Sir George Prevost was beyond all doubt the immediate commander 
 of this expedition. But he found it convenient not to appear in that 
 character ; and the only detail of operations was in the shape of a dis 
 patch from the adjutant-general to himself, obligingly communicating 
 what was already sufficiently known to him. By this ingenious device, 
 he in some measure averted the exposure of miscarriage from himself, 
 and generously yielded his laurels, such as they were, to his grateful and 
 submissive follower." Quarterly Review. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 367 
 
 one, was placed under the command of Major-General 
 Harrison, (who died a few years since, while president 
 of the United States,) and in September was in full 
 march for the Miami (or Maumee) rapids, the spot 
 assigned as the general rendezvous. In January, 1813, 
 Colonel Proctor received information that a brigade 
 of that army, under Brigadier Winchester, was en 
 camped at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, 40 miles 
 south of Detroit. The British commander, although 
 he had. orders not to act on the offensive, promptly 
 determined to attack this brigade before it was rein 
 forced by the main body, a few days march in the 
 rear ; and with his disposable force, consisting of 500 
 regulars, militia, and seamen, he made a resolute 
 assault, at dawn on the 22d, on the enemy s camp, 
 which was completely successful. In this affair, the 
 Americans lost between 3 and 400 men killed ; and 
 Brigadier Winchester, 3 field officers, 9 captains, 20 
 subalterns, and upwards of 500 men, in prisoners. 
 This gallant exploit secured Detroit from any imme 
 diate danger, but the day after it was sadly tarnished 
 by the straggling Indians, who massacred such wound 
 ed prisoners as were unable to walk, the guard left 
 for their protection deserting their charge on a false 
 alarm of General Harrison s approach. This success, 
 for which Colonel Proctor was immediately promoted 
 to the rank of brigadier, together with the spoil 
 obtained at Frenchtown, brought down several warlike 
 tribes of Indians from the river Wabash, and even 
 from the more distant Mississippi, to join the British 
 standard. Towards the end of March, Proctor learnt 
 that General Harrison intended to commence actiye 
 operations for the recovery of the Michigan territory, 
 on the arrival of considerable reinforcements, which 
 he was expecting. Resolved to try the issue of ano 
 ther attack before the enemy, already much superior 
 in numbers, gained a fresh acquisition of strength, 
 Proctor embarked at Amherstburg with 520 regulars 
 and 460 militia, and made for the mouth of the Miami, 
 
368 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 (or Maumee, ) which falls into Lake Erie. He as 
 cended that river, about 1,200 Indians co-operating 
 with him, and landed his troops, stores, and ordnance, 
 on the 28th of April, near Fort Meigs, (about twelve 
 miles from its mouth,) mounting eighteen guns, which 
 he cannonaded from both banks of the Miami. On 
 the 5th of May, the enemy s long-expected reinforce 
 ments, under Brigadier Clay, came suddenly down 
 the river ; they were 1,300 strong, but newly-raised 
 militia ; and as the boats drew near, Harrison ordered 
 Clay to storm the British batteries on the opposite or 
 north side of the river, while a sortie was made from 
 the fort for the purpose of capturing the three British 
 guns on the southern bank. For a short period, the 
 British batteries on both sides were in the hands of 
 the enemy, but they were quickly regained by bayonet 
 charges ; and on the north bank Colonel Dudley, after 
 spiking the captured guns, having marched with 400 
 men to attack the British camp, w r as drawn into an 
 ambuscade by the Indians, and himself and about 
 half his men were slain. Of the Americans, about 
 550 men were made prisoners, and their killed and 
 wounded were estimated at nearly as many more. 
 The far-famed Tecumseh* buried his tomahawk in the 
 head of a Chippawah chief, whom he found actively 
 engaged in massacring some of the prisoners. But 
 as the Indians retired, as is their wont after success, to 
 enjoy their plunder, Tecumseh and less than twenty 
 warriors only remaining ; and as half of the militia 
 also returned to their homes, Proctor was compelled 
 to raise the siege of Fort Meigs. Having re-embark 
 ed his small force of regulars, chiefly of the 41st (the 
 Welsh) regiment, and the whole of his ordnance and 
 stores, he proceeded to Sandwich; while General 
 
 * "Among the Indians that joined General Proctor from the Wabash, 
 was the highly gifted and celebrated chief, Tecumseh, who united in his 
 person all those heroic qualities which romance has even delighted to 
 attribute to the children of the forest, and, with them, intelligence and 
 feelings that belonged not to the savage. He possessed such influence 
 among his brethren, that his presence was an acquisition of the utmost 
 importance." Qwarterty Review, 1822. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 369 
 
 Harrison abandoned all intention of advancing against 
 Detroit until the American squadron had gained the 
 command of Lake Erie. 
 
 Major-General Proctor having determined to re 
 commence his attacks against the American North- 
 Western army, whose head quarters were then at 
 Seneca-town, near Sandusky Bay, on Lake Erie, he 
 landed a second time near Fort Meigs late in July, 
 which he blockaded for a few days, in the hope that 
 Major-General Harrison would advance to its relief; 
 but the latter was too wily to trust to the issue of a 
 conflict with the Indians in the woods, which sur 
 rounded the fortress. A stratagem was then tried by 
 the Indians under Tecumseh, to provoke the garrison 
 to a sortie, by firing briskly for some time, and then 
 retreating, as if a reinforcement from Sandusky was 
 endeavouring to fight its way into the fort ; and so 
 well was the ruse managed, that General Clay could 
 scarcely prevent his men from sallying out to assist 
 their supposed friends. The Indians were now con 
 vinced that nothing was to be done against Fort 
 Meigs, and many of them hastily returned to Am- 
 herstburg. Proctor next re -embarked his troops, 
 and landed on the 1st of August near the Sandusky 
 river, investing immediately, with nearly 400 regulars 
 and between 200 and 300 Indians, Fort Stephenson, 
 about eighteen miles from its mouth. On the 2d, a 
 fire was opened from two 6-pounders and two 5J-inch 
 howitzers against the fort, which appears to have 
 possessed only one masked 6-pounder, and to have 
 been garrisoned by about 180 men, under Major 
 Croghan ; but as the fire produced no impression, the 
 place was ordered to be stormed. The assailants 
 reached the ditch which was raked by the masked 
 gun, and sustained in consequence so severe a loss, 
 that they retreated precipitately, having their gallant 
 leader, Brevet Lieut. -Colonel Short, of the 41st, 
 with 3 officers and 52 men, killed or missing, besides 
 3 officers and 38 men wounded ; while the Americans 
 
370 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 had only 1 killed and 7 slightly wounded ; and not 
 withstanding some of their historians have been bom 
 bastic enough to compare the defence of this little 
 fort to that of the pass of Thermopylae, probably 
 conceiving also Major Croghan to be another Leo- 
 nidas. The Indians did not assist in the assault, with 
 drawing to a ravine out of gun shot. Thus foiled, 
 Proctor retired on the 3d, and after abandoning 
 " considerable baggage and a gun-boat laden with 
 cannon ball," he returned to Amherstburg. The 
 attack is said, even by the British, to have been 
 " ill digested," and the expedition to have ended with 
 " some disgrace." * 
 
 Towards the end of August, (1813,) the American 
 squadron, under Commodore Perry, became too pow 
 erful for the British, under Captain Barclay, who 
 now remained at Amherstburg to await the equipment 
 of the Detroit, recently launched. The British forces 
 in the neighbourhood falling short of various supplies, 
 for which they depended chiefly upon the fleet, Cap 
 tain Barclay had no other alternative than to risk a 
 general engagement. With this purpose he sailed on 
 the 9th of September, with his small squadron wretch 
 edly manned, and the next day encountered the enemy. 
 For some time the fate of the battle poised in favor of 
 the British, as the principal American ship, the Law 
 rence, struck her colours; but a sudden breeze turned 
 the scale against them, and the whole of their squa 
 dron was compelled to surrender, after a desperate 
 engagement of upwards of three hours. Captain 
 Barclay was dangerously wounded; Captain Finnis, 
 of the Queen Charlotte, killed; and every comman 
 der and officer second in command was either killed 
 or wounded. 
 
 Major-General Proctor s army was deprived, by 
 this disastrous defeat, of every prospect of obtaining 
 
 * " The retreat of Proctor was precipitate. It is difficult to account for 
 his leaving a gun-boat in the possession of the yictors, as it was not 
 exposed, to the fire of the fort." Brown s American History. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 371 
 
 its necessary supplies through Lake Erie, and a 
 speedy retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario 
 became inevitable. Stung- with grief and indignation, 
 Tecuraseh at first refused to agree to the measure ; 
 and in a council of war held at Amherstburg on the 
 18th of September, he delivered his sentiments against 
 it in the following extemporaneous oration, which 
 combines so much pathos and dignity mingled with 
 sarcasm and reproach so affecting a recital of past 
 injury and correct an apprehension of future abandon 
 ment such a religious fervour and resignation to 
 the Divine will that it must command for this un 
 lettered chief the love and respect of the good and 
 brave ; and yet the harangue, simply eloquent as it 
 is, suffers under all the disadvantages of translation, 
 arid is indeed but the shadow of the substance, because 
 the gestures and commanding presence, the intonation 
 and rounded periods of the speaker, are neither heard 
 nor seen : 
 
 Father, listen to your children ! you have them now all 
 before you. 
 
 The war before this, our British father gave the hatchet to 
 his red children, when our old chiefs were alive. They are 
 now dead. In that war our father was thrown on his back 
 by the Americans, and our father took them by the hand 
 without our knowledge ; and we are afraid that our father 
 will do so again at this time. 
 
 The summer before last, when I came forward with my red 
 brethren, and was ready to take up the hatchet in favor of 
 our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that 
 he had not yet determined to fight the Americans. 
 
 Listen ! When war was declared, our father stood up and 
 gave the tomahawk, and told us that he was then ready to 
 strike the Americans ; that he wanted our assistance ; and 
 that he would certainly get us back our lands, which the 
 Americans had taken from us. 
 
 Listen ! You told us, at that time, to bring forward our 
 families to this place, and we did so ; and you promised to 
 take care of them, and that they should want for nothing, 
 while the men would go and fight the enemy ; that we need 
 not trouble ourselves about the enemy s garrisons ; that we 
 knew nothing about them, and that our father would attend 
 to that part of the contest. You also told your red children 
 
37*2 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 that you would take good care of your garrison here, which 
 made our hearts glad. 
 
 Listen ! When we were last at the Rapids, it is true we 
 gave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live 
 like ground hogs.* 
 
 Father, listen ! Our fleet has gone out ; we know they 
 have fought ; we have heard the great guns ; but we know 
 nothing of what has happened to our father with that arm. 
 Onr ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished 
 to see our father tying up every thing and preparing to run 
 away the other, without letting his red children know what 
 his intentions are. You always told us to remain here and 
 take care of our lands ; it made our hearts glad to hear that 
 was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, and 
 you represent him. You always told us that you would never 
 draw your foot off British ground ; but now, father, we see 
 you are drawing back, and we are sorry to observe our father 
 doing so without seeing the enemy. We must compare our 
 father s conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail upon its 
 back, but, when affrighted, it drops it between its legs, and 
 runs off. 
 
 Father, listen ! The Americans have not yet defeated us 
 by land ; neither are we sure that they have done so by water : 
 we therefore wish to remain and fight our enemy, should they 
 make their appearance. If they defeat us, we will then retreat 
 with our father. 
 
 At the battle of the Rapids, last war, the Americans cer 
 tainly defeated us ; and, when we retreated to our father s 
 fort in the neighbourhood, the gates were shut against us. 
 We were afraid that it would again be the case ; but, instead 
 of closing the gates, we now see our British father preparing 
 to march out of his garrison. 
 
 Father ! You have got the arms and ammunition which 
 our great father sent for his red children. If you intend to 
 retreat, give them to us, and you may go, and welcome for 
 us. Our lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. We are 
 determined to defend our lands, and if it be His will, we wish 
 to leave our bones upon them. 
 
 The bulk of General Harrison s army, amounting 
 altogether to fully 6,000 men, was transported in 
 boats on the 21st and 22d of September from the 
 mouth of the Portage river to Put-in- J3ay island, 
 16 miles distant, while Colonel Johnson s mounted 
 regiment, consisting of upwards of 1,000 horsemen, 
 
 * Metaphor apart people who secure themselves by deep entrenchments. 
 
SI*R ISAAC BROCK. 373 
 
 proceeded from Fort Meigs by land to Detroit. The 
 troops were detained two days in Put-in-Bay by 
 unfavorable winds, but they re-embarked on the 25th, 
 and in the evening reached a small island containing 
 only three or four acres, called the Eastern Sister, 
 18 miles from Amherstburg and 7 from the coast. 
 On the 26th it blew so fresh, that it became necessary 
 to haul up the boats, to prevent their staving. The 
 next day the troops proceeded in 16 vessels of war 
 and about 100 boats, and landed at 4 o clock, p. m. 
 three miles from Amherstburg, which they imme 
 diately occupied, Proctor having previously fallen 
 back upon Sandwich, after setting fire to the navy 
 yard, barracks, and public stores at the former place. 
 The British general, seeing the enemy determined to 
 follow up his first success by an immediate attack 
 upon Detroit,* and being unable with his very inferior 
 numbers to dispute the occupancy of that post, eva 
 cuated it and Sandwich on the 26th, also destroying 
 the public property at both posts ; and commenced 
 his retreat on the evening of the 27th, along the river 
 Thames, with scarcely 900 officers and privates, chiefly 
 of the 41st regiment. In this reverse of fortune, 
 Tecumseh still adhered to the British standard with 
 unswerving fidelity, and with the Indians covered 
 the retreat. On the 2d of October, General Harrison 
 proceeded from Sandwich in pursuit with about 3,500 
 men, accompanied part of the way by three gun 
 boats and a number of bateaux up the Thames, which 
 is a fine deep stream, navigable for vessels of a con 
 siderable burthen. On the 3d and 4th, the Americans 
 succeeded in capturing a few prisoners, a large num 
 ber of muskets, and two 24-pounders, with a quantity 
 of balls and shells this exclusive of three boats 
 
 * "No place in the United States presents such a series of events in 
 teresting in themselves, and permanently affecting, as they occurred, 
 both its progress and prosperity. Five times its flag has changed ; three 
 different sovereignties have claimed its allegiance ; and since it has been 
 held by the United States, its government has been thrice transferred : 
 twice it has been besieged by the [ndians, once captured in war, and 
 once burned to the ground." Historical Sketches of Michigan. 
 
374 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 laden with arms and ordnance, and other stores, 
 which were set on fire by the British. On the morn 
 ing of the 5th, the pursuit was eagerly renewed, and 
 before nine o clock two gun-boats, and several ba 
 teaux, were captured, with which the American army 
 was enabled to cross over to the right or opposite 
 bank of the river, when it was ascertained that the 
 British were halted in a position twelve miles higher, 
 and scarcely two miles from the Moravian village, 
 (an Indian settlement, eighty miles from Sandwich,) 
 to prevent, if possible, the further advance of the 
 enemy. Proctor s entire force now mustered barely 
 850 regulars, including nearly 100 in the hospital, 
 and perhaps 1,000 Indians.* The former were drawn 
 up in a straggling wood, in open files and in two 
 lines, their left secured by the river, a gun flanking 
 the road, and their right extending towards the 
 Indians, who were posted where the wood thickened, 
 so as to form a retiring angle with them, and to turn 
 the enemy s flank on their advance. The extreme 
 right of the allies was, moreover, covered by an 
 impassable swamp, and, thus flanked, the position 
 was calculated to render the immense superiority of 
 the pursuing force in a great degree unavailing:. This 
 description of the battle field was apparently fur 
 nished by Major-General Proctor, or his friends, to 
 the Quarterly Review, and it is confirmed by an 
 American account before us ; but, on his court mar 
 tial, f he was found guilty of having " neglected to 
 
 * The Quarterly Review says, that not more than 500 warriors remained 
 with Tecumseh. General Harrison states, in his dispatch, that there 
 were considerably upwards of 1,000 Indians in the action ; and Sir George 
 Prevost mentions, that 1,200 Indian warriors accompanied the British 
 army on its retreat so difficult is it to arrive at the truth. The Quarterly 
 Review estimates Proctor s force at only 500 effectives, whereas 600 regu 
 lars were made prisoners, and 246 escaped ! 
 
 t By the court martial held at Montreal, in December, 1814, and January, 
 1815, on Major-General Proctor, he was adjudged " to be publicly repri 
 manded, and to be suspended from rank and pay for the period of six 
 calendar months." Owing to some informality in the proceedings, the 
 prince regent only confirmed the former part of the sentence, but con 
 veyed at the same time his high disapprobation of Major-General Proctor s 
 conduct. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 375 
 
 occupy the heights above the Moravian village, al 
 though he had previously removed his ordnance, 
 with the exception of one 6-pounder, to that position, 
 where, by throwing up works, he might have awaited 
 the attack of the enemy, and engaged them to great 
 advantage ; and that after the intelligence had reached 
 him of the approach of the enemy on the morning of 
 the said 5th of October, he halted the said division, 
 notwithstanding it was within two miles of the said 
 village, and formed it in a situation highly unfavor 
 able for receiving the attack." The enemy com 
 menced the attack at four o clock, p. m., with a 
 regiment of mounted riflemen, the elite of their army, 
 formed into two divisions of 500 men each, one of 
 which charged the regulars with great impetuosity, 
 while the other advanced with a company of foot 
 against the Indians. The regulars, dissatisfied by 
 fancied or real neglect, and dispirited by long conti 
 nued exposure and privation, made but a very feeble 
 resistance ; their ranks were pierced and broken, and, 
 being placed between two fires, they immediately 
 surrendered, with the trifling loss of 12 killed and 
 22 wounded, the British general and a part of the 
 troops seeking safety in flight,* But the Indians car 
 ried on the contest with the left of the American line 
 with great determination, and did not retreat until 
 the day was irretrievably lost, and 33 of their num 
 bers had been slain, including the noble Tecumseh 
 a warrior not less celebrated for his courage than for 
 his humanity, his eloquence, and his influence over 
 the different tribes. t The Americans returned to 
 Sandwich immediately after the action, in which they 
 
 * " The ardour which had, till the fatal 5th of October, distinguished 
 the 41st regiment, affords a strong belief it was not cowardice that made 
 that corps surrender so tamely, no matter to what superiority of force. 
 The privations the troops had undergone, and the marked neglect which 
 - had been shewn at head quarters to the representations of their com 
 mander, had probably possessed them with an idea, that any change would 
 be an improvement in their condition." James* Military Occurrences. 
 
 t " Had the men of the 41st regiment at all emulated the Indians, the 
 fate of the day might have been changed." Ibid. 
 
376 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 had only 7 killed and 22 wounded. Proctor, who 
 until this retreat possessed the reputation of an active 
 and zealous officer, is accused of leaving entire the 
 bridges and roads in the rear of his retiring army, of 
 encumbering it with a cumbrous quantity of his own 
 personal baggage, and of unnecessarily halting the 
 troops for several whole days ; and certain it is that 
 his defeat led to the harshest recrimination between 
 Sir George Prevost and himself. The general order 
 of the former on the subject was of unparalleled 
 severity, as he said : " On this disgraceful day up 
 wards of 600 officers and soldiers were taken pri 
 soners almost without a struggle, of whom but very 
 few appeared to have been rescued by an honorable 
 death from the ignominy of passing under the Ame 
 rican yoke, nor are there many whose wounds plead 
 in mitigation of this reproach." * The fugitives 
 made the best of their way to Ancaster, at the head of 
 Lake Ontario; and on the 17th of October they 
 numbered there 246, including the general and 17 
 officers. The consequence of these disasters was the 
 relinquishment, by the British, of the Michigan terri 
 tory, with the exception of Michilimackinac ; the 
 abandonment of the posts in Upper Canada to the 
 westward of the Grand River, or Ouse ; and the loss 
 of the services of the whole of the north-western 
 Indians, with the exception of 200 or 300, who sub 
 sequently joined the centre division of the army.f 
 
 General Harrison, after garrisoning Detroit and 
 Amherstburg, and discharging his Ohio and Kentucky 
 
 * Killed, wounded and missing, in the retreat and in the action of the 
 5th of October, 1813 : 1 inspecting field officer, 1 deputy assistant quarter 
 master-general, 1 fort adjutant, 1 hospital mate, 1 lieutenant-colonel, 
 6 captains, 12 lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 1 paymaster, 1 assistant-surgeon, 
 34 sergeants, 13 drummers, 559 rank and file, 46 horses j total, officers and 
 privates, 634. 
 
 t " The reader now sees the fatal consequences ; first, of not having, 
 in the autumn of 1812, destroyed the two or three schooners which were 
 equipping at Buffaloe by Lieutenant Elliott ; secondly, of not having, in 
 the spring of 1813, secured the possession of Sackett s Harbour ; thirdly, 
 of not having, in the summer of the same year, captured or destroyed 
 the whole American fleet, as it lay, unmanned, in Presqu ile Harbour." 
 James 1 Military Occurrences. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 377 
 
 volunteers, embarked on the 22d of October, with his 
 disposable regular force, on board of Commodore 
 Perry s squadron, to join the troops on the Niagara 
 frontier. About the same time, the prisoners taken 
 at the Moravian-town were transported by water from 
 Detroit to the portage on Lake Erie, distant 45 miles, 
 and thence marched to Franklin-town, 130 miles 
 further. Here they were sent in boats 100 miles 
 down the Scioto to Chillicothe, at which place some 
 of the sergeants and privates were detained. The 
 remainder of the prisoners again proceeded by the 
 Scioto to Cincinnati on the Ohio, where, and at 
 Newport-town, a military depot, half a mile across 
 the river, nearly all the remaining non-commissioned 
 officers and privates were retained. The small rem 
 nant, consisting almost wholly of commissioned offi 
 cers, proceeded to the ultimate point of destination, 
 Frankfort in Kentucky, 600 miles from Detroit, and 
 about the same distance from the nearest Atlantic port.* 
 
 Fort George was taken in May, 1813, by a large 
 American force, under General Dearborn, which 
 compelled Brigadier Vincent to withdraw his troops 
 from Fort Erie and Chippawah, and to retreat to 
 Burlington Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario, 
 the British losing 52 killed, besides upwards of 300 
 wounded and missing. Immediately after the cap 
 ture of Fort George, General Dearborn pushed for 
 ward to Stoney Creek a body of 3,000 infantry, with 
 nine field pieces and 250 cavalry, for the purpose 
 of dislodging Brigadier Vincent from his position. 
 Lieut.-Colonel Harvey, t the deputy adjutant-general, * 
 and a very zealous and intelligent officer, proposed a 
 night attack on this body, which was approved ; and 
 with the 49th, under Major Plenderleath, and five 
 companies of the 8th, under Major Ogilvie, (the 
 whole only 704 firelocks,) he led the attack in gallant 
 
 * James Military Occurrences. 
 
 t The present Major-General Sir John Harvey, K. C. B. 
 
378 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 style ; and at two o clock on the morning of the 6th 
 of June, the British, with fixed bayonets, rushed 
 into the centre of the American camp. The enemy, 
 although completely surprised, evinced a highly cre 
 ditable state of order and discipline in repeatedly 
 forming, though compelled as often to disperse before 
 the resistless power of the British bayonet. Two 
 brigadiers, (Chandler and Winder,) 7 other officers 
 and 116 men, with three guns and one brass howitzer, 
 were taken in this intrepid attack, which, as it reduced 
 the Americans from offensive to defensive operations, 
 was of the greatest importance to the salvation of the 
 Upper Province. The enemy, however, occupied 
 Fort George till the month of December, when they 
 were compelled to evacuate it and retreat across the 
 Niagara.* In that month, Colonel Murray surprised, 
 and very gallantly captured by a night assault, Fort 
 Niagara, which was retained by the British till the 
 end of the war. 
 
 From July to September, 1814, the Canadian bank 
 of the Niagara became the theatre of a succession of 
 obstinate and sanguinary conflicts ; but the struggle 
 finally closed by leaving the contending armies in the 
 same positions they had occupied in the preceding 
 spring. The details of these operations are very inte 
 resting, but we must content ourselves with stating, 
 that Upper Canada was again invaded on the 3d July 
 by General Brown, who landed with two strong 
 brigades near Fort Erie, which post was garrisoned 
 
 by only 70 men under Major B , of the 8th, (the 
 
 king s,) more with a view of causing a temporary 
 check to an invading force than of defending it against 
 a regular siege, of which it was incapable. But it 
 was tamely surrendered without firing a shot, or even 
 a shew of resistance. The battles of Chippawah and 
 
 * While the Americans retained Fort George, the graves of Sir Isaac 
 Brock and Lieut.-Colonel M Donell, in the cavalier bastion there, remained 
 sacred, and were also respected. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 379 
 
 Lundy s Lane* followed in the same month, (July,) 
 in the latter of which the Canadian militia was con 
 spicuous for its bravery. But " it still remains a 
 doubt to whom the victory" at Lundy s Lane belong 
 ed, as the Americans were allowed to return unmo 
 lested to Fort Erie the next day, and the British 
 general has been blamed for not pursuing them sharp 
 ly, as he might have reached the fort almost as soon 
 as the enemy, and thus repossessed himself of it with 
 out the loss of life and time attendant on a siege. f 
 On the night of the 14th August, the British attempt 
 ed to retake Fort Erie by storm, and, after a desperate 
 conflict, succeeded in making a lodgment, through 
 the embrasures of the demi-bastion. But a tremen 
 dous explosion ensued, by which nearly all the troops 
 who had entered the fort were dreadfully mangled ; 
 and a panic being the consequence, the assailants 
 were compelled to retire after a very severe loss, 
 Colonels Scott and Drummond being included among 
 the killed. In September, the Americans were re 
 pulsed in a sortie from Fort Erie, after which General 
 Drummond raised its investment, and fell back upon 
 Chippawah. General Brown, on finding that the 
 American squadron on Lake Ontario was incapable 
 of co-operating with him, evacuated Fort Erie in 
 November, and retired to his own territory, thus 
 leaving the long harassed inhabitants of the Niagara 
 district once more to tranquillity and repose. 
 
 The recovery of Michilimackinac had long been 
 seriously contemplated by the American government, 
 and would have been attempted in the fall of 1813 
 but for the lateness of the season, when the expulsion 
 of the British from the banks of the Detroit had 
 opened the passage into Lake Huron. On the other 
 hand, the necessity of retaining a post so favorably 
 situated, if in possession of an enemy, for annoying 
 
 * The latter called by the Americans the battle of Bridgewater. 
 t A correspondent in the United Service Magazine, June, 1845. 
 
380 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the British north-western trade, pressed itself on Sir 
 George Prevost; and in April, 1814, a reinforcement 
 of about 90 men, under an active and zealous officer, 
 Lieut. -Colonel M Douall, was forwarded with mili 
 tary stores and provisions, by a back route to Michi- 
 limackinac. They embarked in twenty-four bateaux 
 from Nottawassega Bay on Lake Huron, distant 260 
 miles from Michilimackinac, and, after a very tem 
 pestuous passage of twenty-five days, reached the 
 fort on the 18th of May. *On the 26th of July, an 
 American expedition from Lake Erie, consisting of 
 three brigs and two schooners of war, under Captain 
 Sinclair, with nearly 800 troops on board, appeared 
 off Michilimackinac, and a landing was effected by 
 them on the 4th of August. The British force on the 
 island amounted to only 190 men, including regulars, 
 militia, and Indians, with which Lieut.-Colonel 
 M Douall repulsed every effort of the Americans to 
 approach the fort ; so that they were glad to re-em 
 bark the same evening in the utmost haste and con 
 fusion, leaving 17 dead on the ground, while the 
 garrison had only one Indian killed. Captain Sinclair 
 stated, what does not appear to have been known to 
 Lieutenant Hanks, when he surrendered the island in 
 1812 to Captain Roberts, " that Michilimackinac is 
 by nature a perfect Gibraltar, being a high inaccessi 
 ble rock on every side, except the west, from which 
 to the heights you have nearly two miles to pass 
 through a wood so thick, that our men were shot in 
 every direction, and within a few yards of them, 
 without being able to see the Indians- who did it." 
 Michilimackinac remained unmolested to the end of 
 the war, when it was restored, by the treaty of peace, 
 to its former possessors. 
 
 It has already been mentioned, that among the 
 prisoners taken at the battle of Queenstown, 23 were 
 sent to England for trial as British born subjects and 
 deserters, and that the American government had 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 381 
 
 placed an equal number of British soldiers into close 
 confinement as hostages. In consequence, Sir George 
 Prevost, by a general order of the 27th of October, 
 1813, made known that he had received the com 
 mands of the prince regent to put 46 American 
 officers and non-commissioned officers into close con 
 finement, as hostages for the 23 soldiers confined by 
 the American government. He at the same time 
 apprized that government, that if any of the British 
 soldiers should suffer death by reason of the guilt and 
 execution of the traitors taken in arms against their 
 country, he was instructed to select out of the Ame 
 rican hostages double the number of the British 
 soldiers who might be so unwarrantably put to death, 
 and to cause them to suffer death immediately. The 
 governor-general also notified to the American go 
 vernment, that in the event of their carrying their 
 murderous threat into execution, the commanders of 
 the British forces, by sea and land, were instructed 
 to prosecute the war with unmitigated severity against 
 all the territory and inhabitants of the United States. 
 On the 10th of December, Sir George Prevost 
 received a communication from Major-General Wil 
 kinson by flag of truce, stating that the American 
 government, adhering unalterably to their previously 
 declared purpose, had placed 46 British officers into 
 close confinement, there to remain until the same 
 number of American officers and non-commissioned 
 officers were released. Among the officers thus con 
 fined, Lieut. -Colonels Evans and Warburton, and 
 Captains Muir and Chambers were, with other offi 
 cers taken prisoners at the Moravian -town, and to 
 the disgrace of the American executive, imprisoned 
 in the penitentiary at Frankfort, in Kentucky, with 
 forty convicts therein incarcerated for murder and 
 other heinous crimes ! In retaliation, the governor- 
 general ordered all the American officers, prisoners of 
 war, without exception of rank, to be placed into 
 close confinement as hostages, until the number of 46 
 
382 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 was completed over and above those already in con 
 finement. In pursuance of this order, Brigadiers 
 Winder, Chandler, and Winchester, were confined in 
 a private house at Quebec, with as little inconvenience 
 as their security would admit. 
 
 On the 15th of April, 1814, after some negotiation, 
 opened at the solicitation of the American government, 
 a convention was entered into at Montreal, by which 
 it was agreed to release the hostages and to make an 
 exchange of prisoners, the American government 
 relinquishing its pretensions to retaliate for the pri 
 soners sent to England for legal trial as traitors to 
 their country. This convention was ratified in July, 
 at Champlain, near the lines ; but, whether by 
 previous agreement or tacit understanding, the trai 
 tors, we believe, escaped the just punishment of their 
 crime. 
 
 The remaining events of the war in Canada during 
 the campaigns of 1812, 13, and 14, do not fall within 
 the scope of this memoir. Some we might chronicle 
 with pride, but a few we could not record without 
 shame; and, on the whole, we cannot but think that 
 the same withering influence, which bound the hands 
 and repressed the energies of " him who undoubtedly 
 was the best officer that headed our troops throughout 
 the war, 7 * was visible to the termination of the 
 contest a contest in which we are satisfied the result 
 would have been very different, u if a man of military 
 genius, courage, quickness, and decision, had held 
 the supreme command. "f Indeed, when we reflect 
 upon the management of that eventful war, we are 
 often forcibly reminded, in the fatal loss of Sir Isaac 
 Brock, of the pathetic lament of the gallant high- 
 lander, who contrasting the irresolution of his present 
 general with the deeds of his former chief, the re- 
 
 * James Military Occurrences. 
 t Pictorial History of England. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 nowned Grahame,* Viscount Dundee, mournfully 
 exclaimed: 
 
 Oh ! for one hour of Dundee ! 
 
 During the progress of the war, the British govern 
 ment made several overtures for a reconciliation ; 
 and at length, when Napoleon s disasters commenced, 
 and the Eastern States were threatening to dissolve 
 the union, Madison expressed a wish to treat with 
 England, . even at the end of 1813. The negotia 
 tions were commenced in earnest at Ghent, in August, 
 1814, at a time when Great Britian, being at peace 
 with the remainder of the world, was in a condition 
 to prosecute the contest with all her energies ; but her 
 people wished for repose after the long and arduous 
 struggle in which they had been engaged; and a 
 treaty of peace, signed at Ghent on the 24th of De 
 cember, was ratified by the two governments, the 
 plenipotentiaries on both sides waiving every question 
 at issue before the war, and restoring every acquisition 
 of territory during its progress.f Thus the Americans 
 had only the Canadian and defenceless side of the 
 Detroit to give in exchange for their fortress of Nia 
 gara and their key possession of Michilimackinac. 
 
 Should Great Britain unfortunately be driven into 
 another American war, as is too probable amid so 
 many elements of discord, added to the reckless pre 
 tensions of the Southern, and more especially of the 
 Western States of the Union, it is to be hoped that 
 
 * John Grahame, of Claverhouse, was mortally wounded at the pass of 
 Killicrankie, in 168Q, and died the next day. With him expired the cause 
 of James the Second in Scotland, as, although the war languished in the 
 highlands for two years after, nothing of importance occurred. When 
 William was urged to send more troops into Scotland, he replied : " It is 
 unnecessary, the war has ended with Dundee s life." 
 
 t With Great Britain the war was purely defensive. She fought not 
 for new conquests, or to establish new claims, but for the protection of 
 her colonies and the maintenance of rights, which had received the solemn 
 confirmation of time. And these objects were completely secured; the 
 ratification of the treaty of Ghent by America was a tacit abandonment 
 of every assumption against which the government of this country had 
 contended. Quarterly Review, July, 1822. 
 
384 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 the Britisli government will profit by the fatal expe 
 rience of the past, and that it will not again seek to 
 entwine the olive branch around the sword. The 
 prophetic words of Sir Isaac Brock should be remem 
 bered when, alluding to the deadly armistice of 1812, 
 he said : " A cessation of hostilities has taken place 
 along this frontier. Should peace follow, the mea 
 sure will be well ; if hostilities recommence, nothing 
 can be more unfortunate than this pause."* But 
 pax in bello is not the shortest path to peace, and, as 
 might have been foreseen, peace did not follow " this 
 pause." If the North-Eastern States, whose interests 
 and natural sympathies incline them to the British 
 alliance, cannot avert hostilities because the Whigs, 
 as the American conservatives are termed, have lost 
 their proper influence, and the dominant party of the 
 Union is no longer to be found in New York or New 
 England let them sever a connection which they 
 cannot control. But if they hesitate to do this if 
 they prefer submitting to the rule of the lawless 
 denizen of the west, or of the more aristocratic slave 
 holder of the south let then the British lion be let 
 loose on them with his wonted strength, and let not 
 the Northerns be spared, who, with superior wealth 
 and intelligence, permit the backwoodsman to pro 
 voke a war, of which the calamities cannot reach 
 him. While Great Britain preserves her naval pre 
 ponderance and may she long preserve it for right 
 eous purposes both the Northern and Southern 
 States can be easily assailed ; the former through 
 their commercial marine, the latter in arming and 
 assisting their slaves to acquire freedom, which would 
 indeed be a holy work. Unless, however, a better 
 policy arid truer economy obtain in England s coun 
 cils, her navy will be shorn of half its power, by her 
 seamen being again driven from their country by 
 their only fear, impressment, that national stain of 
 former wars, and fighting under the American banner 
 
 * See page 285. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 385 
 
 of "free trade" and "seamen s rights." But if 
 they be no longer treated with injustice and oppres 
 sion, and their pay and rewards be wisely commen 
 surate with the fair and marketable value of their 
 services and surely the seaman of all men is most 
 worthy of his hire, then may Britons be " confident 
 against a world in arms," and the sea board of the 
 Union will quickly acknowledge the majesty of Bri 
 tain s strength. And to ensure the hearty co-operation 
 of the colonists in this vigorous course, as well as to 
 preserve their affection and allegiance, let them be 
 taught to feel that they are not excluded from the 
 influences of self-government, or from the distribu 
 tion of colonial patronage until recently their great 
 causes of complaint and that they enjoy more sub 
 stantial liberty than in the United States, where the 
 air is tainted with slavery, Lynch or mob-law obtains, 
 and the fair discussion of adverse opinions is prevented 
 by ruthless attacks on life and property. The colo 
 nists cannot desire to incorporate themselves with a 
 people who retain three millions of their fellow men 
 in bondage, and who breed slaves in one State for the 
 supply of another, even permitting the parent to sell 
 his child ! The entire Union participates in the guilt, 
 and in vain does a single State boast of its liberties, 
 while such are a federation s unhallowed offerings at 
 the shrine of freedom. 
 
 Early in 1815, Sir George Prevost was directed 
 to return to England for the purpose of meeting ac 
 cusations relative to his conduct at Plattsburg, which 
 had been preferred by Commodore Sir James Yeo, 
 who, after some delay, produced his charges in legal 
 form ; and to afford time for the arrival of the neces 
 sary witnesses from Canada, the general court martial 
 was postponed to the 12th of January, 1816. In the 
 mean time the health of the late governor-general, 
 naturally of a delicate cast, became seriously affected, 
 partly from anxiety of mind ; and he died in his 49th 
 
386 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 year, in London, on the 5th of January, exactly a 
 week preceding the day appointed for his trial, leav 
 ing a widow, one son, and two daughters. Previously 
 to his departure from Lower Canada, the commons, 
 or French party, voted him the munificent sum of 
 .0,000 for the purchase of a service of plate, as a 
 tribute of respect, which vote was approved of by the 
 prince regent ; but the legislative council, or English 
 party, refused their assent to a bill for that purpose. 
 As Sir George was probably aware of this hostile 
 feeling towards him on the part of the British race, 
 he should have at once declined the doubtful gift, 
 and asked his supporters, as Phocion did in Athens, 
 " Of what indiscretion have I been guilty?" 
 
 Sir George Prevost was of slight, diminutive per 
 son, and unsoldierlike appearance ; his manners are 
 represented as unassuming and social, and his temper 
 as placid and forgiving. His public speeches or 
 addresses are said to have partaken of even classical 
 elegance, and his dispatches and general orders also 
 afford proofs of his literary acquirements. Discredit 
 can only be thrown on his character as a general ; 
 and indeed his best friends must admit that his defen 
 sive policy at the commencement of the war, and his 
 subsequent irresolution and infirmity of purpose, did 
 not tend either to raise the glory of England, or to 
 advance his own fame, and that of every enterprizing 
 officer who served under him. And yet soon after 
 his death, notwithstanding that the lamentable failures 
 at Sackett s Harbour and Plattsburg were fresh in 
 the public recollection, new and honorary armorial 
 bearings, with supporters, were solicited and obtained 
 by his family, in seeming approbation of his services 
 in Canada, the supporters being two grenadiers of the 
 16th foot, of which regiment Sir George was colonel, 
 each bearing a flag, gules ; the dexter flag inscribed, 
 " West Indies" the sinister, " Canada" ! If these 
 distinctions were conferred in honor of his civil admi 
 nistration, which we have already eulogized, although 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 387 
 
 others have stoutly denied him any merit even on 
 this point, they were, we believe, justly bestowed ; 
 but if they were intended as an approval of his mili 
 tary conduct during the contest, certain it is that his 
 contemporaries indignantly refused to concede his 
 claim to them, and that no historian has as yet ad 
 mitted that claim.* It was unfortunate for Sir George 
 that he was called upon to wage war against the 
 United States, as his natural and excusable sympa 
 thies in favor of a people among whom he had been 
 born, and at least partly educated, may have influ 
 enced his judgment without any conscious betrayal 
 of the great charge entrusted to him ; and this remark 
 applies with double force to his schoolfellow, Sir 
 Roger Sheaffe, whose entire family and connexions 
 were American. In any case, it was hard on Sir 
 Isaac Brock, after being retained in Canada by Sir 
 James Craig, when he was so anxious to serve in the 
 Peninsula, because that officer could not spare him, 
 
 * While these remarks were in type, we heard accidentally of a large 
 monument, in the cathedral at Winchester, to the memory of Sir George 
 Prevost, with a laudatory inscription, for a copy of which we immediately 
 wrote to a friend, and which we now transcribe without comment, as we 
 respect the feelings of conjugal affection by which the epitaph was evi 
 dently dictated. 
 
 " Sacred to the Memory of Lieut.- General Sir George Prevost, Baronet, 
 of Belmont, in this County, Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief 
 of the British Forces in North America ; in which command, by his wise 
 and energetic measures, and with a very inferior force, he preserved the 
 Canadas to the British Crown from the repeated invasions of a powerful 
 enemy. His constitution at length sank under incessant mental and 
 bodily exertions, in discharging the duties of that arduous station ; and 
 having returned to England, he died shortly afterwards in London, on 
 the 5th of January, 1816, aged 48, thirty-four years of which had been 
 devoted to the service of his Country. He was intered near the remains 
 of his father, Major-General Augustus Prevost, at East Barnet, in Hert 
 fordshire. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, to evince in an espe 
 cial manner the sense he entertained of his distinguished conduct and 
 services during a long period of constant active employment, in stations 
 of great trust, both Military and Civil, was pleased to ordain, as a lasting 
 Memorial of His Majesty s Royal Favor, that the names of the Countries 
 where his Courage and Abilities had been signally displayed the West 
 Indies and Canada should be inscribed on the Banners of the Sup 
 porters, granted to be borne by his Family and Descendants. In testi 
 mony of his Private Worth, his Piety, Integrity and Benevolence, and all 
 those tender, domestic virtues, which endeared him to his Family, his 
 Children, his Friends, and his Dependants, as well as to prove her un 
 feigned Love, Gratitude, and Respect, Catherine Anne Prevost, his afflicted 
 Widow, caused this Monument to be erected. Anno Domini 1819. 
 
388 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 and after at length obtaining leave to return to Europe 
 for that purpose it was hard, we repeat, when hosti 
 lities did at last break out in America, that his ener 
 gies should have been so cramped by the passive 
 attitude of his superior. Remembering, however, the 
 maxim, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, the editor has 
 refrained from transcribing aught reflecting on the 
 memory of that superior when he could do so con 
 sistently with truth, although he feels acutely that the 
 death of Sir Isaac Brock hastened, as he believes 
 it was, by the defensive policy and mistaken views of 
 Sir George Prevost was an irreparable loss to his 
 many brothers,* who were at that period just rising 
 into manhood, and in consequence required all the 
 interest for their advancement which their uncle would 
 probably have possessed. One especially, who closely 
 resembled him both in appearance and character, and 
 who would have been an ornament to any service, 
 was compelled to embrace the profession of arms, for 
 which he had been educated, under the banners of a 
 foreign and far distant country. In that country, 
 Chile, Colonel Tupper cruelly fell at the early age of 
 twenty-nine years ; and if the reader will turn to the 
 memoir of this daring soldier in the Appendix, neces 
 sarily brief as it is, he will probably agree with the 
 British consul who wrote, that he had " for many 
 years looked upon his gallant and honorable conduct 
 as reflecting lustre upon the English name;" and he 
 will think with the French traveller, who, after highly 
 eulogizing him, said : " N est-il pas deplorable que 
 de tels homines en soient reduits a se consacrer a une 
 cause etrangere?" 
 
 * Including the editor, ten ; viz. two died young, of scarlet fever, and 
 were buried in the same coffin ; two drowned at different times j two 
 slain ; two died at sea, while passengers on board his majesty s packets 
 from Rio de Janeiro to Falmouth, on the same day of the same month 
 (15th August) in different years, 1833 and 1837 and only two still survive. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 389 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 (TECUMSEH.) 
 
 As the heroic and undaunted Tecumseh* was so 
 conspicuous in the annals of this war for his fidelity 
 and devotion to the British crown, and as his name 
 has occurred so often in these pages, a chapter, 
 with a concluding and connected notice of him, will 
 surely be deemed but an act of justice to his memory. 
 
 This renowned aboriginal chief was a Shawanee, 
 and was born in 1769 or 1770, about the same year 
 as his " brave brother warrior," Sir Isaac Brock. 
 He may be said to have been inured to war from his 
 infancy, as the Indian nations continued in hostility 
 against the United States after their independence 
 was achieved, alleging that they infringed on their 
 territories. In 1790, about which period Tecumseh 
 first gave proofs of that talent and daring which so 
 distinguished his after-life, General Harmer was dis 
 patched with a competent force to punish the preda 
 tory incursions of the Indians ; but he was glad to 
 return, with the loss of many of his men. In the 
 following year, General St. Clair proceeded with 
 another army to ravage the Miami and Shawanee 
 settlements, and was even more unfortunate than his 
 predecessor, as the Indians boldly advanced to meet 
 him on the way, attacked his encampment, and put 
 his troops to a total rout, in which the greater part 
 were cut off and destroyed. In 1794, however, a 
 
 * " Tecumseh was pronounced Tecumthe, and is said by some to have 
 signified a crouching panther; by others, a. falling star." Note in Tecum 
 seh, a Poem, by G. H. Cotton. New York, 1842. 
 
390 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 much more formidable expedition, under General 
 Wayne, entered the Indian territory ; the warriors 
 gradually retired as the Americans advanced, but at 
 length imprudently determined on making a stand. 
 In the battle which ensued, the Indians were so com 
 pletely discomfited, that, the following year, they 
 agreed to the treaty of Greenville, by which they 
 were compelled to cede a large tract of country as an 
 indemnity for past injuries ! As Tecumseh had then 
 scarcely completed his twenty-fifth year, and as the 
 Indians pay great deference to age, it is not probable 
 that he had any hand in this treaty, the more espe 
 cially as, from that period to 1812, he laboured inces 
 santly to unite the numerous aboriginal tribes of the 
 North American continent in one grand confederacy, 
 for the threefold purpose of endeavouring to regain 
 their former possessions as far as the Ohio, of resisting 
 the further encroachments of the whites, and of pre 
 venting the future cession of land by any one tribe, 
 without the sanction of all, obtained in a general 
 council. With this object he visited the different 
 nations ; and having assembled the elders, he enforced 
 his disinterested views in strains of such impassioned 
 and persuasive eloquence, that the greater part pro 
 mised him their co-operation and assistance. But, 
 to form a general alliance of so many and such various 
 tribes, required a higher degree of patriotism and 
 civilization than the Indians had attained. From 
 the numbers, however, who ranged themselves with 
 Tecumseh under the British standard, on the breaking 
 out of the war in 1812, it is evident that he had ac 
 quired no little influence over them, and that his 
 almost incredible exertions, both of mind and body, 
 had not been altogether thrown away. 
 
 About the year 1804, Els-kwa-ta-wa, brother of 
 Tecumseh, proclaimed himself a prophet, who had been 
 commanded by the Great Spirit, the Creator of the 
 red, but not of the white, people, to announce to his 
 children, that the misfortunes by which they were 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 391 
 
 assailed arose from their having abandoned the mode 
 of life which He had prescribed to them. He de 
 clared that they must return to their primitive habits 
 relinquish the use of ardent spirits and clothe 
 themselves in skins, and not in woollens. His fame 
 soon spread among the surrounding nations, and his 
 power to perform miracles was generally believed. 
 He was joined by many, and not a few came from a 
 great distance and cheerfully submitted to much 
 hardship and fatigue, that they might behold the 
 prophet, and then return. He first established him 
 self at Greenville, within the boundary of the United 
 States ; but the inhabitants of Ohio becoming alarmed 
 at the immense assemblage of Indians on their fron 
 tier, the American authorities insisted on his removal. 
 Accordingly he proceeded, in 1808, to the Wabash, 
 and fixed his residence on the northern bank of that 
 river, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe. Here his 
 popularity declined, but, through the influence of 
 Tecumseh, he was again joined by many among the 
 neighbouring tribes. The prophet s temporal con 
 cerns were conducted by Tecumseh, who adroitly 
 availed himself of his brother s spiritual power to 
 promote his favorite scheme of a general confederacy. 
 In 1811, Tecumseh, accompanied by several hun 
 dred warriors, encamped near Vincennes, the capital 
 of Indiana, and demanded an interview with the 
 governor of that state, Major-General Harrison, the 
 same officer who, in 1813, commanded the victorious 
 troops at the battle of the Thames, in which Tecumseh 
 lost his life. The interview was agreed to, and the 
 governor inquired whether the Indians intended to 
 come armed to the council. Tecumseh replied that 
 he would be governed by the conduct of the white 
 people ; if they came armed, his warriors would be 
 armed also ; if not, his followers would come unarmed. 
 The governor informed him that he would be attended 
 by a troop of dragoons, dismounted, with their side 
 arms only, and that the Indians might bring their 
 
392 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 war clubs and tomahawks. The meeting took place 
 in a large arbour, on one side of which were the 
 dragoons, eighty in number, seated in rows ; on the 
 other, the Indians. But besides their sabres, the 
 dragoons were armed with pistols. The following 
 incident is said to have occurred at this interview. 
 Tecumseh looked round for a seat, but not finding 
 one provided for him, he betrayed his surprise, and 
 his eyes flashed fire. The governor, perceiving the 
 cause, instantly ordered a chair. One of the council 
 offered the warrior his chair, and, bowing respect 
 fully, said to him : " Warrior, your father, General 
 Harrison, offers you a seat." "My father!" ex 
 claimed Tecumseh, extending his hand towards the 
 heavens, " the sun is my father, and the earth is my 
 mother ; she gives me nourishment, and I will repose 
 on her bosom." He then threw himself on the ground. 
 When the governor, who was seated in front of the 
 dragoons, commenced his address, Tecumseh declared 
 that he could not hear him, and requested him to 
 remove his seat to an open space near himself. The 
 governor complied, and in his speech complained of 
 the constant depredations and murders which were 
 committed by the Indians of Tippecanoe ; of the 
 refusal on their part to give up the criminals ; and of 
 the increasing accumulation of force in that quarter, 
 for the avowed purpose of compelling the United 
 States to relinquish lands which they had fairly pur 
 chased of the rightful owners. Tecumseh, in his 
 answer, denied that he had afforded protection to the 
 guilty, but manfully admitted his design of forming 
 a confederacy of all the red nations of that continent. 
 He observed, that " the system which the United 
 States pursued, of purchasing lands from the Indians, 
 he viewed as a mighty water, ready to overflow his 
 people, and that the confederacy which he was form 
 ing among the tribes, to prevent any tribe from selling 
 land without the consent of the others, was the dam 
 he was erecting to resist this mighty water." And 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 393 
 
 he added, " your great father, the president, may sit 
 over the mountains and drink his wine, but if he 
 continue this policy, you and I will have to meet on 
 the battle field." He also admitted, that he was then 
 on his way to the* Creek nation, about 600 miles 
 distant from the Wabash, for the purpose he had just 
 avowed, and he continued his journey two days after, 
 with twelve or fifteen of his warriors. Having visited 
 the Creek and other southern tribes, he crossed the 
 Mississippi, and continued a northern course as far as 
 the river Demoins, whence he returned to the Wabash 
 by land. But a sad reverse of fortune awailed his 
 return ; he found his town consumed, his bravest 
 warriors slain, and a large deposit of provisions de 
 stroyed. On his departure, the settlement at Tippe- 
 canoe was left in charge of his brother, the prophet, 
 with strict injunctions to prevent all hostile incursions, 
 as they might lead to extremities before his plans were 
 matured. Els-kwa-ta-wa, however, wanted either the 
 inclination or the authority to follow these injunc 
 tions ; and the Americans assert, that murder and 
 rapine occurred now so frequently, that they were 
 compelled, in their own defence, to punish the delin 
 quents. Accordingly, General Harrison proceeded 
 with nearly 1,000 men to Tippecanoe, and on his 
 approach, in November, 1811, was met by about 600 
 warriors; a battle ensued, in which the Indians, 
 deprived by the absence of their chief of his counsel 
 and example, were defeated, but with nearly equal 
 loss on both sides. Assured by the prophet that the 
 American bullets would not injure them, they rushed 
 on the bayonets with their war clubs, and exposed 
 their persons with a fatal fearlessness. But Els-kwa- 
 ta-wa himself remained during the battle in security 
 on an adjacent eminence ; he was chaunting a war 
 song, when information was brought to him that his 
 men were falling.* " Let them fight on, for my pre- 
 
 * " Els-kwa-ta-wa was tall, but too slight to be well proportioned, with 
 a keen eye and a thin gloomy visage. Tecumseh, says Thatcher in 
 
394 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 diction will soon be verified," was the substance of 
 his reply, and he resumed his song in a louder key ! 
 
 The hostility of Tecumseh to those whom he had 
 ever considered as the spoilers of his country, was, if 
 possible, redoubled by this severe act of retaliation. 
 General Harrison, in particular, incurred his personal 
 enmity, and he declared openly that he would seek 
 for vengeance. Nor was he backward in putting his 
 threats into execution.* Early in 1812, the Indians 
 renewed their hostile incursions, but they were now 
 treated with unusual forbearance, in the hope that 
 they would remain neutral in the war with Great 
 Britain, which the American government well knew 
 was near at hand. On its declaration in June, how 
 ever, Tecumseh eagerly embraced the opportunity 
 which it afforded, not only to promote his long medi 
 tated public views, but to avenge his private injuries ; 
 and, hastening with his warriors to Upper Canada, 
 he had soon the gratification of witnessing, at Detroit, 
 the surrender of the 4th U. S. infantry, (or heroes of 
 Tippecanoe, as they were then denominated,) w r hich 
 regiment claimed the principal merit of having, the 
 preceding year, defeated his followers and destroyed 
 his settlement. After the surrender, Major-General 
 Brock desired Tecumseh to prevent the Indians from 
 ill-treating the prisoners, and the chief promptly re 
 plied : " I despise them too much to injure them." 
 
 Previously to the battle of the Thames, already 
 noticed, the position chosen to await the attack of the 
 American army, and the disposition of the British 
 
 his excellent biography, was frank, warlike, persuasive in his oratory, 
 popular in his manners, irreproachable in his habits of life. Els-kwa-ta-wa 
 had more cunning than courage; and a stronger disposition to talk than 
 to fight, or exert himself in any other way. But he was subtle, fluent, 
 persevering, and self-possessed. They were, however, well formed to 
 scheme and execute their plans together. The one became a prophet, 
 crafty and cruel, haranguing wherever he could get a hearer; the other 
 carried out his designs, thus supported, into boldness and energy of 
 action." Note in Tecumseh, a Poem, already cited. 
 
 * " By whom are the savages led ? was the question, for many years, 
 during the wars between the Americans and Indians. The name Tecum 
 seh was itself a host on the side of the latter." James. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 395 
 
 force, were approved of by Tecumseh, and his last 
 words to General Proctor were : " Father, tell your 
 young men to be firm, and all will be well." He 
 then repaired to his people, and harangued them 
 before they occupied their post. While the white 
 troops were so quickly overcome, Tecumseh and his 
 w r arriors almost as rapidly repelled the enemy ; and 
 the Indians continued to push their advantage in 
 ignorance of the disaster of their allies, until their 
 heroic chief, who had previously received a musket 
 ball in the left arm, fell by a rifle bullet, while in the 
 act of advancing to close with Colonel Johnson, who 
 was on horseback, commanding his regiment of 
 mounted riflemen.* 
 
 Of the many Indian chiefs who distinguished them 
 selves in the wars of the whites, Tecumseh was un 
 doubtedly the greatest since the days of Pontiac. Sir 
 Isaac Brock has expressed his warm admiration of 
 him, and it is well known that the feeling was mutual ; 
 but it is said that after the death of his friend and 
 patron, Tecumseh " found no kindred spirit with 
 whom to act." t In early life he \vas addicted to 
 inebriety, the prevailing vice of the Indians ; but his 
 good sense and resolution conquered the habit, and, 
 in his later years, he was remarkable for temperance. 
 Glory became his ruling passion, and in its acquisi 
 tion he was careless of wealth, as, although his pre 
 sents and booty must have been of considerable value, 
 he preserved little or nothing for himself. In height 
 he was five feet ten inches, well formed, and capable 
 of enduring fatigue in an extraordinary degree. His 
 carriage was erect and commanding, and there was 
 an air of hauteur in his countenance, arising from an 
 elevated pride of soul, which did not forsake it when 
 life was extinct. He was habitually taciturn, but, 
 
 * " It seems extraordinary that General Harrison should have omitted 
 to mention, in his letter, the death of a chief, whose fall contributed so 
 
 the whole north-western frontier of the United States." Jat 
 t Lieutenant Francis Hall s Travels in Canada, in 1816 and 1817. 
 
396 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 when excited, his eloquence was nervous, concise, 
 and figurative. His dress was plain, and he was 
 never known to indulge in the gaudy decoration of 
 his person, which is the common practice of the 
 Indians. On the day of his death, he wore a dressed 
 deer-skin coat and pantaloons. He was present in 
 almost every action against the Americans, from the 
 period of Harmer s defeat to the battle of the Thames 
 was several times wounded and always sought 
 the hottest of the fire.* On the 19th of July, 1812, 
 he pursued, near the river Canard, in Upper Canada, 
 a detachment of the American army under Colonel 
 M Arthur, and fired on the rear guard. The colonel 
 suddenly faced about his men and gave orders for a 
 volley, when all the Indians fell flat on the ground 
 with the exception of Tecumseh, who stood firm on 
 his feet, with apparent unconcern ! After his fall, 
 his lifeless. corpse was viewed with great interest by 
 the American officers, who declared that the contour 
 of his features was majestic even in death. And 
 notwithstanding, it is said by an American writer, 
 that " some of the Kentuckians disgraced themselves 
 by committing indignities on his dead body. He 
 was scalped, and otherwise disfigured" He left a 
 son, who fought by his side when he fell, and was 
 then about seventeen years old. The prince regent, 
 in 1814, as a mark ef respect to the memory of the 
 father, sent a handsome sword as a present to the son. 
 A nephew of Tecumseh and of the prophet, (their 
 sister s son,) who was highly valued by the Americans, 
 was slain in their service, in November, 1812, on the 
 northern bank of the river Miami. Having been 
 brought up by the American general, Logan, he had 
 adopted that officer s name. He asserted that Tecum 
 seh had in vain sought to engage him in the war on 
 the side of the British. 
 
 * " Few officers in the United States service were so able to command 
 in the field as this famed Indian chief. He was an excellent judge of 
 position ; and not only knew, but could point out, the localities of the 
 whole country through which he had passed." James, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 397 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 (MISCELLANEOUS.) 
 
 Thomas Porter, a faithful servant of Sir Isaac 
 Brock, was sent to England with his effects, and at 
 the request of the family, was discharged from the 
 49th regiment, in which he was borne as a soldier, 
 and in which he had an only brother ; their father 
 having been killed, while also in the regiment, on 
 board the Monarch, at Copenhagen. The command- 
 er-in-chief readily sanctioned the discharge of Porter, 
 " as a small tribute to the memory of a most gallant 
 and valuable officer." 
 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of York to W. Brock, Esq. 
 
 HORSE GUARDS, December, 1815. 
 The prince regent having been graciously pleased 
 to command, in the name arid on the behalf of his 
 majesty, that the officers present at the capture of 
 Detroit should be permitted to bear a medal comme 
 morative of .that brilliant victory, I have to transmit 
 to you the medal* which would have been conferred 
 upon the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, and 
 which the prince regent has been pleased to direct 
 should be deposited with his family, as a token of 
 the respect which his royal highness entertains for 
 the memory of that officer. 
 
 I am, Sir, yours, FREDERICK, 
 
 Command er-in-Chief. 
 
 * The medal is a very large and beautifully executed gold one, made to 
 suspend from the neck. On the obverse is, "Detroit 5" on the reverse, 
 the figure of Britannia; and round the rim, "Major-General Sir Isaac 
 Brock." The medal was given only to the principal officers. 
 
398 LIFE AND* CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 In the year 1817, Mr. Savery Brock visited the 
 United States and Canada, and, while in the latter 
 country, received the grants of the 12,000 acres of 
 land voted by the legislature of the Upper Province 
 to the four brothers of Sir Isaac Brock. The letters 
 written by him during his travels were highly prized 
 at the time, and the following are brief extracts from 
 them : 
 
 YORK, Upper Canada, Aug. 20 to 25, 1817. 
 
 I travelled with three gentlemen from New York 
 as far as Fort George, where they left me on "their 
 return by Montreal. We crossed at Buffalo on the 
 9th instant, at which place we arrived half an hour 
 before the President ; and although one of our party 
 (Mr. Gouverneur) was his nephew, we did not delay 
 our jour.ney to have a view of his countenance, and 
 came over to Fort Erie, or, properly speaking, its 
 remains. Seven miles from the fort, we stopped the 
 next morning to breakfast at a house where Isaac 
 had lived six months, and the landlord told me with 
 tears : " He was a friend and a father to me. I was 
 close to him when he was shot ;" with these words, 
 unable from his feelings to add more, he walked 
 away quickly up his orchard .... On paying my 
 respects to Mrs. Powell, the lady of the present chief 
 justice, and to Mrs. Claus, they were greatly affected, 
 and shed tears ; and Mr. Scott,* on whom I called 
 yesterday, was equally so. Every one here is most 
 kind Isaac truly lived in their hearts: from one 
 end of Canada to the other, he is beloved to a degree 
 you can scarcely imagine his memory will long 
 live among them. * To your brother, Sir, we are 
 indebted for the preservation of this province," is a 
 sentiment that comes from the heart, and is in the 
 mouths of too many to be flattery. This is pleasing, 
 no doubt, to me, but it is a mournful pleasure, and 
 recalls to me the past. I dine at five with the gen- 
 
 * The then late chief justice. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK i 399 
 
 tlemen of this town, and I see a splendid table laid 
 out up stairs the garrison is invited. I found no 
 way to avoid these marks of respect to Isaac s me 
 mory. I assure you that it is truly unpleasant to me 
 to see so many persons putting themselves in some 
 degree out of their way to gratify me, as I think it, 
 though I am aware that they do it to satisfy their own 
 feelings. I should also mention, that last Saturday I 
 dined at Fort George, by invitation of the gentlemen 
 there and its environs ; we were forty-nine in num 
 ber, and it was the anniversary of the capture of 
 Detroit ! I was invited, without their remembering 
 the day of the month it was a curious coincidence. 
 The clergyman, who was of the party, made allusion 
 during divine service next morning to Isaac, and to 
 my being in the church. I mention these particulars, 
 that you may fully judge of the kindness of all. 
 After the service, three fine young farmers came up 
 to me and wished to shake hands, having been at , 
 Detroit and Queenstown. Nothing could exceed 
 their marks of attachment. Every body, they said, 
 connected with Isaac would always be seen with 
 pleasure : thev were, like myself, most sensibly af 
 fected. 
 
 I hear of such misconduct on the part of most of 
 the generals, of such negligence that was occasioned 
 by it on the part of other officers, that it is only 
 surprising we retained the country. Every general 
 required so much urging to permit an attack, that 
 it was really a favor for any enterprising officer, who 
 grieved that nothing was done, to be allowed a hand 
 ful of men to beat the enemy with. Poor York ! 
 how miserably defended ; but I shall not enter into 
 particulars ; as no interest is now entertained for these 
 affairs. 
 
 MONTREAL, October 24. 
 
 I have had 7,000 acres granted in East and West 
 Flamborough, at the head of Lake Ontario, about 
 twelve miles from its margin ; this is the best of our 
 
400 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 land, but not a house within eight or nine miles of 
 it ; 1,200 acres in Brock township, on Lake Sinicoe ; 
 3,000 acres in Monaghan, on the Rice Lake ; and 
 800 acres in Murray, on Lake Ontario. 
 
 I crossed from York to Kingston in a steam boat 
 of 722 tons, 150 feet keel, and 30 feet beam in a 
 bateau to La Chine, and reached Montreal on the 
 13th instant. On the 16th I left this at six o clock 
 a.m. in a steamer of 610 tons, and reached Quebec 
 the next day (Friday) at about one o clock, p. m., 
 having anchored all night, the channel being too nar 
 row to pass in the dark. I remained until Tuesday 
 night at Quebec, and arrived here last evening at 
 seven o clock this is quick and pleasant travelling 
 the cabin of these boats is good, and the meals, four 
 a day, excellent passage, including board and wine, 
 24 dollars down and up. 
 
 The principal gentlemen of this place have formed 
 a committee of eight persons, and waited on me to 
 fix a day to dine with -them. Tuesday is named. 
 So very civil is every one, that I am quite overcome 
 with their politeness. Colonel M Bean, of the 99th, 
 and all his officers, have also called. Isaac s memory 
 is so cherished all loved him sincerely. At Quebec, 
 I dined with Sir John Sherbrooke, &c., visited the 
 falls of Montmorenci, &c., and was much pleased 
 with my trip there. 
 
 October 25. The name of Isaac is highly vene 
 rated, and it is most gratifying to me to find it so 
 universally so, whilst the names of many other gene 
 rals, who commanded during the war, are spoken of 
 with much indifference.* 
 
 " On Mr. Brock s return home in January, 1818, he brought the model 
 <.-. a steam vessel which he had had constructed at New York, steam 
 navigation being then in its infancy in England. He exhibited this 
 model at the admiralty, post office, and treasury, and strongly urged the 
 first-named board to construct and employ a steamer in the suppression of 
 smuggling. In an interview at the admiralty with one of the naval lords, 
 Mr. Brock was asked by him if he thought the people of England would 
 ever suffer a ship of war to be navigated without canvass, and gave this 
 answer : " Sir, do you believe that the people of England can ever prevent 
 the sun shining upon them ? for as surely as they cannot, so surely will 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 401 
 
 Extract from the Montreal Herald of November 1, 1817. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 28th ultimo, the principal inhabitants of 
 Montreal gave a public dinner at the Mansion House, to 
 John Savery Brock, Esq., of the island of Guernsey, as a 
 tribute of respect justly due to the memory of his late bro 
 ther, the deceased Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. 
 
 Sir John Johnson, Bart., took the chair at six o clock, 
 supported by Messrs. Forsyth and St. Dizier, vice-presidents, 
 who conducted the arrangements of the table in a manner 
 worthy of the occasion which the company had assembled to 
 commemorate. 
 
 After the cloth was removed, a series of appropriate toasts 
 were given from the chair. When " the memory of the late 
 Major-General Sir Isaac Brock " was pledged and drunk, 
 Mr. B. availed himself of the universal silence it created to 
 address the company. In a short speech, he expressed his 
 acknowledgments for the very flattering and distinguished 
 manner they were pleased, through him, to testify their vene 
 ration for the memory of his deceased brother, whose public 
 and private qualities, he was proud to observe, were so highly 
 appreciated by the inhabitants of Montreal, in whose society 
 he had for a period been domesticated, and of whose kindness 
 and hospitality he always retained a grateful remembrance. 
 
 At the commencement of the American war, Mr. B. ob 
 served, an arduous command devolved upon his brother ; he 
 had to protect an extensive frontier with very limited means, 
 arid those means, feeble as they were, shackled by the tram 
 mels of superior authority ; the advance of an hostile army, 
 however, upon our provincial territory, developed the re 
 sources of his military genius, and afforded him a glorious 
 opportunity of proving to his country what he might have 
 achieved under different circumstances. Mr. Brock apolo 
 gized to the company for detaining them a few minutes 
 longer, in reading some extracts of letters he had received 
 from the late general, at different times, previous to the battle 
 of Queenstown. These extracts corroborated what Mr. B. 
 had previously stated ; and it is remarkable that in one of 
 them, with a spirit almost prophetic, the hero foretold the 
 issue of that eventful day, when the hand of victory was 
 destined to mingle the cypress and the laurel over his grave. 
 Mr. Brock s feelings were a good deal affected in addressing 
 so numerous an assemblage of his late brother s personal 
 friends ; and we may venture to add, that never were feelings 
 
 steam boats navigate the British channel." Although foiled and unheeded 
 at this time, Mr. Brock lived to witness the fulfilment of his views and 
 proposals, which were then treated as visionary. (See Guernsey and 
 Jersey Magazine, vol. v. p. 117-) He was a man of great decision and 
 energy of character, of which many interesting anecdotes are related. 
 
402 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 of the same description more sacredly participated than those 
 of Mr. B. on this occasion. Mr. B. concluded his speech by 
 drinking the health of the company, and " success and pros 
 perity to the city of Montreal." 
 
 At eleven o clock the president retired, and was succeeded 
 in the chair by the Hon. W. M Gillivray, who immediately 
 proposed the health of the worthy baronet, with three times 
 three. 
 
 The band of the 99th regiment attended and played a 
 variety of beautiful airs, which, in addition to a number of 
 excellent songs given in the course of the evening, seduced 
 the party to remain until the " little hours" stole upon them. 
 
 We regret that want of room prevents us from noticing as 
 we could wish the neat and soldierlike address of thanks from 
 Lieut.-Colonel M Bean, on behalf of the garrison of Montreal, 
 or of recording a translation of the figurative speeches, deli 
 vered in the Indian language by Lieut.-Colonel M Kay and 
 A. Shaw, Esq., excited from those gentlemen by a recurrence 
 to the co-operation of the gallant warrior, Tecumseh, with 
 the lamented chief whose immortal memory forms the subject 
 of this article. 
 
 Irving Brock, Esq., to his niece, Miss Caroline Tupper.* 
 LONDON, April 12, 1825. 
 
 I went to Windsor on Wednesday last with the 
 
 four Indians, accompanied by my friend Mr. W , 
 
 to shew them the castle, Frogmore, &c. ; but the 
 chief object, which I had secretly in mind, was to 
 have them introduced to his majesty. Sir John 
 
 C , the late mayor of Windsor, assisted me very 
 
 effectually, and the upshot of the matter is, that the 
 king expressed his desire to see the Indian chiefs, 
 although every body treated this as a most chimerical 
 idea. They wore, for the first time, the brilliant 
 clothes which Mr. Butterworth had had made for 
 them, and you cannot conceive how grand and im 
 posing they appeared. 
 
 The king appointed half-past one on Thursday to 
 receive our party at the royal lodge, his place of resi 
 dence. We were ushered into the library ; and now 
 I am going to say somewhat pleasing to your uncle 
 
 * The present Mrs. De Beauvoir De Lisle. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 403 
 
 Savery. As Sir John C was in the act of intro 
 ducing me, but before he had mentioned my name, 
 Sir Andrew Barnard* interrupted him, and said: 
 " There is no occasion to introduce me to that gentle 
 man I know him to be General Brock s brother 
 he and Colonel Brock, of the 81st, were my most 
 intimate friends I was in the 81st with the colonel. 
 There was another brother whom I also knew he 
 who was paymaster of the 49th he was a gallant 
 fellow. By the bye, sir, I beg your pardon ; perhaps 
 I am speaking to that very gentleman." 
 
 In the library there was also present, Marquess 
 Conyngham, Lord Mount Charles, Sir Edmund Nagle, 
 &c. &c. We remained chatting in the house above 
 half an hour, expecting every moment to see the king 
 enter ; and I was greatly amused to observe Mr. 
 W and Sir John C start and appear con 
 vulsed every time there was a noise outside the door. 
 We were admiring the fine lawn when the Marquess 
 Conyngham asked the Indians if they would like to 
 take a turn, at the same time opening the beautiful 
 door that leads to it. The party was no sooner out 
 than we saw the king standing quite still, and as 
 erect as a grenadier on a field day, some forty yards 
 from us. We were all immediately uncovered, and 
 advanced slowly towards the handsomest, the most 
 elegant, the most enchanting man in the kingdom ; 
 the Indians conducted by Marquess Conyngham, Sir 
 Edmund Nagle, Sir Andrew Barnard, Lord Mount 
 Charles, &c. &c. The range of balconies was filled 
 
 with ladies. Sir John C , Mr. W and I, 
 
 allowed the party to approach his majesty, while we 
 modestly halted at a distance of twenty yards. It 
 was worth while being there only to see the benign 
 countenance of the greatest monarch in the world, 
 and to witness his manner of uncovering his head. 
 The four chiefs fell on their knees. The king desired 
 them to rise, and entered into a great deal of prelimi- 
 
 * The present Lieut-General Sir Andrew Barnard, G. C. B. 
 
404 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 nary conversation. I saw him turn towards the 
 marquess, and after a few seconds he said, with his 
 loud and sonorous voice : " Pray, Mr. Brock, come 
 near me I pray you come near me." I felt a little 
 for my companions who continued unnoticed, and 
 especially for Sir John C , to whom I was prin 
 cipally indebted for the royal interview. 
 
 The king addressed the Indians in French, very 
 distinctly, fluently, and loud : " I observe you have 
 the portrait of my father ; will you permit me to 
 present you with mine?" The marquess then pro 
 duced four large and weighty gold coronation peer 
 medallions of his majesty, suspended by a rich maza 
 rine blue silk riband. The chiefs, seeing this, drop 
 ped again upon their knees, and the king took the 
 four medallions successively into his hand, and said : 
 " Will some gentleman have the goodness to tie this 
 behind?" upon which Sir Edmund Nagle, with 
 whom we had been condoling on account of the gout, 
 while waiting in the library, and who wore a list 
 shoe, skipped nimbly behind" the chiefs, and received 
 the string from the king, tying the cordon on the 
 necks of the four chiefs. We were much amused to 
 observe how the royal word can dispel the gout. 
 The instant the grand chief was within reach of the 
 medallion, and before the investiture was completed, 
 he seized the welcome present with the utmost ear 
 nestness, and kissed it with an ardour which must 
 have been witnessed to be conceived. The king ap 
 peared sensibly affected by this strong and unequi 
 vocal mark of grateful emotion. The other chiefs 
 acted in a similar way, and nothing could have been 
 managed more naturally, or in better taste. After 
 this ceremony, the king desired them to rise and to 
 be covered. They put on their hats, and, which ap 
 peared extraordinary to me, his majesty remained 
 uncovered all the time. Here it was that the grand 
 chief, as if incapable of repressing his feelings, poured 
 out in a most eloquent manner, by voice and action, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 405 
 
 the following unpremeditated speech in his native 
 Indian tongue. I say unpremeditated, because that 
 fine allusion to the sun could not have been contem 
 plated while we were waiting in the library, the room 
 where we expected the interview to take place. I 
 was pleased to find that the presence of this mighty 
 sovereign, who governs the most powerful nation 
 upon earth, did not drive from the thoughts of the 
 pious chief, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 
 The instant he had finished, the chief of the war 
 riors interpreted in the French language, and I wrote 
 down the speech as soon as I left the royal lodge. It 
 should be observed, that the chiefs had been previously 
 informed by me that, according to etiquette, they 
 should answer any questions which his majesty might 
 be pleased to ask, but not introduce any conversation 
 of their own. The sun was shining vividly. 
 
 THE SPEECH. 
 
 I was instructed not to speak in the royal presence, unless 
 in answer to your majesty s questions. But my feelings over 
 power me. My heart is full. I am amazed at such unex 
 pected grace and condescension, and cannot doubt that I 
 shall be pardoned for expressing my gratitude. The sun is 
 shedding his genial rays upon our heads. He reminds us of 
 the great Creator of the universe of Him who can make 
 alive and who can kill. Oh ! may that gracious and benefi 
 cent Being, who promises to answer the fervent prayers of 
 his people, bless abundantly your majesty. May He grant 
 you much bodily health, and, for the sake of your happy 
 subjects, may He prolong your valuable life ! It is not alone 
 the four individuals, who now stand before your majesty, 
 who will retain to the end of their lives a sense of this kind 
 and touching reception the whole of the nations, whose 
 representatives we are, will ever love and be devoted to you, 
 their good and great father. 
 
 His majesty felt deeply every word of the speech, 
 when interpreted by the chief of the warriors. The 
 king answered, that he derived high satisfaction from 
 the sentiments they had expressed, and assured them 
 that he should always be much interested in the hap 
 piness of his North American subjects, and would 
 
406 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 avail himself of every opportunity to promote their 
 welfare, and to prove that he was indeed their father. 
 After acknowledging in gracious terms the pleasure 
 which the speech of the grand chief had afforded 
 him, he mentioned, in an easy and affable manner, 
 that he had once before in his life seen some indivi 
 duals of the Indian nations, but that was fifty-five or 
 fifty-six years ago. He inquired of their passage to 
 this country, the name of the ship and of the master, 
 and was persevering in his questions as to the treat 
 ment they had experienced at his hands, whether 
 they had been made comfortable in all respects, and 
 if he had been polite and attentive. 
 
 While the grand chief was delivering his speech in 
 the Huron language, it seemed as if it would never 
 end ; and, observing the king look a little surprised, 
 I informed the Marquess Conyngham, in a loud whis 
 per, that this was the mode in which they expressed 
 their sense of any honor conferred, and that the chief 
 of the warriors would interpret the speech in the 
 French language. The king asked me to repeat what 
 I had been saying, and George and Irving conversed 
 for some time. His majesty, on another occasion, 
 asked me under what circumstances the Indians had 
 been introduced to me. I answered that they were 
 recommended to my notice, because they had been 
 invested with the medallions of his late majesty by 
 my brother. 
 
 His majesty hoped the Indians had seen every thing 
 remarkable in Windsor, and told us we were welcome 
 to see the interior of the lodge and pleasure grounds, 
 that Sir Andrew Barnard would accompany us every 
 where, to his stables, menagerie, aviaries, &c., and 
 afterwards he trusted we would partake of some re 
 freshment. He also offered us the use of his car 
 riages. The refreshment was a truly royal repast 
 we eat on silver the table groaned, as Mr. Heath- 
 field would say, under the king s hospitality. We 
 made a famous dinner pine apple, champagne, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 407 
 
 claret, &c. servants in royal liveries behind our 
 chairs. After dinner the Indians gave us the war 
 song, when, (in your uncle Savery s poetry about 
 Maria Easy,) 
 
 " Though the dogs ran out in a great fright, 
 The ladies rushed in with much delight." 
 
 [NOTE. These four Indians came to England for the purpose of endea 
 vouring to recover lands which had been given to their tribe by Louis the 
 Sixteenth, but it appears that they did not succeed. They were very 
 pious Roman Catholics, and those who saw them were much amused with 
 their simple and primitive manners. ED.] 
 
 Extract of a Letter from Walter Bromley, Esq., dated London, 15th April, 
 
 1825. From a Halifax N. S. newspaper. 
 
 The Indian chief, who accompanied me to England, sailed in the Ward, 
 for New Brunswick, a few days ago, loaded with presents to his family 
 and people. I think his appearance here has been more beneficial than if 
 volumes had been printed on Indian civilization, and I am in hope that 
 on both sides of the Atlantic a general sympathy has been excited. The 
 four Canadian chiefs have attracted much attention, and have been pre 
 sented to his majesty by the brother of the late General Brock ; they are 
 the most interesting characters I ever saw are extremely polite and 
 speak French fluently. 
 
 Mrs. (Lieut. Colonel) Eliot* to her sister, in Guernsey. 
 QUEBEC, January 12, 1831. 
 
 With my kindest love to the Tuppers tell them 
 that I often see Colonel Glegg, who was Sir Isaac 
 Brock s aide-de-camp : he is now Lord Aylmer s" 
 civil secretary, and we meet very often. He speaks 
 affectionately* of his old patron, and has made many 
 inquiries relative to the family : the tears come into 
 his eyes when he talks to me of old times. He and 
 George ( Lieut. - Colonel Eliott) were a great deal 
 together during the war in the Upper Province. The 
 other day, at dinner at the chateau, he told me that 
 he had had a visit from Sir Isaac s old housekeeper, 
 who is still living here in a similar situation to the 
 House of Assembly, and gets 50 a year salary. 
 He knew her directly, and seemed quite affected 
 when telling me that she had brought her credentials 
 
 * Her husband, who distinguished himself in Upper Canada during the 
 war, was then serving on the staff in Lower Canada. 
 
408 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 with her in case he had not recognized her, as many 
 years had elapsed since they met ; and she opened a 
 pocket book carefully, which she had in her hand, 
 and took a piece of a shirt with the initials of General 
 Brock s name, which she said she had cut off when 
 the body was brought in to be buried at Fort George, 
 and preserved it as a relic of her dear master. This 
 little, trifling, affectionate remembrance of the old 
 creature, shews her real attachment. Colonel Glegg 
 gave her a new snuff box, filled with snuff from Pa 
 ris, and told her to come again to see him. Perhaps 
 the Tuppers will be pleased to hear this little anecdote. 
 
 [Mrs. Eliot, whose maiden name was Jane M Crea, is the daughter of 
 an American loyalist and a gallant field officer, now deceased, and the 
 niece and namesake of the unfortunate Jane M Crea, whose tragical fate 
 in the American revolutionary war excited so much commisseration, and 
 gave rise to a correspondence between the American general, Gates, and 
 General Burgoyne. The former wrote : " Miss M Crea, a young lady, 
 lovely to the sight, of virtuous character and amiable disposition, engaged 
 to an officer of your army, was with other women and children, taken out 
 of a house near Fort Edward, carried into the woods, and there scalped 
 and mangled in a most shocking manner .... The miserable fate of Miss 
 M Crea was particularly aggravated by being dressed to receive her pro 
 mised husband, but met her murderer employed by you." The latter, 
 in his reply, stated, that "two chiefs, who had brought her off for the 
 purpose of security, not of violence to her person, disputed which should, 
 be her guard, and in a fit of savage passion in one, from whose hands she 
 was snatched, the unhappy woman became the victim." ] 
 
 We have in a preceding chapter described the mo 
 nument, on Queenstown Heights, to the memory of 
 Sir Isaac Brock, a monument which " the popularity 
 of the general had caused to be regarded with more 
 affectionate veneration than any other structure in the 
 province." On Good Friday, the 17th of April, 
 1840,* a miscreant, of the name of Lett, introduced a 
 quantity of gunpowder into this monument with the 
 fiendish purpose of destroying it ; and the explosion, 
 effected by a train, caused so much damage as to 
 render the column altogether irreparable. Lett, who 
 was by birth an Irishman and by settlement a Cana 
 dian, had been compelled to fly into the United States 
 
 * On the same day, ten years previously, Sir Isaac Brock s nephew, 
 ex sorore, Colonel Tupper, was slain in Chile. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 409 
 
 for his share in the recent rebellion ; and " well 
 knowing the feeling of attachment to the name and 
 memory of General Brock, as pervading all classes 
 of Canadians, he sought to gratify his own malicious 
 and vindictive spirit, and at the same time to wound 
 and insult the people of Upper Canada" by this de 
 mon s deed. The universal indignation of that people 
 was aroused, and a public meeting was appointed to 
 be held on Queenstown Heights, on the 30th of July 
 following, for the purpose of adopting resolutions for 
 the erection of another monument, the gallant Sir 
 Allan Mac Nab* especially making the most stirring 
 exertions to promote this great object. The gathering, 
 as it was called, was observed in Toronto (late York) 
 as a solemn holiday $ the public offices were closed 
 and all business was suspended, while thousands 
 flocked from every part of the province to testify 
 their affection for the memory of one who, nearlv 
 thirty years before, had fallen in its defence ! History, 
 indeed, affords few parallels of such long cherished 
 public attachment. " Steam vessels, engaged for the 
 occasion, left, their respective ports of Kingston and 
 Coburg, of Hamilton and Toronto, in time to arrive 
 at the entrance of the Niagara river about ten o clock 
 in the forenoon. The whole of these, ten in number, 
 then formed in line, arid ascended the river abreast, 
 with the government steamer, containing the lieute 
 nant-governor, Sir George Arthur, f and his staff, 
 leading the way. The British shore was lined with 
 thousands, and the fleet of steamer? filled with hun 
 dreds, each shouting and responding to the cheers of 
 welcome from ship to shore, and from shore to ship 
 again. The landing being effected, the march to the 
 
 * " Sir Allan Mac Nab, a native of Canada, is the son of a British officer, 
 who, decorated with thirteen wounds, accompanied General Simcoe to 
 the Upper Province when it was a dense and unpeopled wilderness." Sir 
 F. B. Head s recent work, The Emigrant. 
 
 t Colonel Sir George Arthur, knight, with the local rank of major- 
 general in Canada he was created a baronet in 1841, and in June, 1842, 
 took his seat as governor of Bombay, which office he vacated through ill 
 health, in August, 1846.., 
 T 
 
410 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 ground was accompanied by military guards and a 
 fine military band. The public meeting was then 
 held in the open air, near the foot of the monument, 
 and Sir George Arthur was in the chair. The reso 
 lutions were moved, and speeches made, by some of 
 the most eminent and most eloquent men, holding 
 high official stations in the province ; * and consider 
 ing that amidst this grand and imposing assemblage, 
 there were a great number of veteran officers of the 
 Canadian militia, who had fought and bled with the 
 lamented chief, whose memory they were assembled 
 to honor, and whose monument they had come to 
 re-establish over his remains, the enthusiasm with 
 which the whole mass was animated may easilv be 
 conceived ; while the grand and picturesque combi 
 nation of natural objects of scenery, beheld from the 
 heights on which they were met, and the brightness 
 of the day, added greatly to the effect of the whole." 
 The gathering f was attended by about 8,000 persons, 
 and the animation of the scene was increased by a 
 detachment of the 1st dragoon guards, with their 
 bright helmets glittering in the sun ; and by the 93d 
 regiment, (Highlanders,) in full costume. 
 
 There were altogether eleven resolutions, of which 
 the fifth was the following : 
 
 Resolved, That we recall to mind, with admiration and 
 gratitude, the perilous times in which Sir Isaac Brock led 
 the small regular force, the loyal and gallant militia, and the 
 hrave and faithful Indian warriors, to oppose the invaders 
 when his fortitude inspired courage, and his sagacious policy 
 gave confidence, in despite of a hostile force apparently over 
 whelming. 
 
 * Exclusive of the chief justice and Mr. Justice Macaulay, the speakers 
 were : His Excellency Sir George Arthur ; Sir Allan Mac Nab ; Mr. Thor - 
 burn, M.P. P. ; Colonel the Hon. W. Morris; Colonel R. D. Fraserj 
 Colonel Clark ; Mr. W. H. Merritt, M. P. P. ; Lieut-Colonel J. Baskin ; 
 Lieut.-Colonel Sherwood ; Colonel Stanton ; Colonel Kerby ; Colonel the 
 Hon. W. Draper; Colonel Angus M Donell; the Hon. Mr. Sullivan; 
 Lieut.-Colonel Cartwright ; Colonel Bostwick ; Colonel M Dougal ; the 
 Hon. Mr. Justice Hagarman ; Colonel Rutton ; Lieut.-Colonel Kearnes ; 
 Lieut.-Colonel Kirkpatrick; H. J. Boulton, Esq.; and Lieut.-Colonel 
 Edward Thomson. 
 
 t A public meeting of the inhabitants of Montreal was also held in 
 that city, for the same purpose as that on Queenstown Heights. 
 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 411 
 
 We cannot refrain from transferring to these pages 
 parts of the long and eloquent speech of the chief 
 justice, Robinson,* who on advancing to the front 
 of the hustings to move the sixth resolution, was 
 received amid the most enthusiastic cheers. 
 
 If it were intended by those who committed this shameful 
 outrage, that the injury should be irreparable, the scene 
 which is now before us, on these interesting- heights, shews 
 that they little understood the feelings of veneration for the 
 memory of BROCK which still dwell in the hearts of the peo 
 ple of Upper Canada. No man ever established a better 
 claim to the affections of a country ; and, in recalling the 
 recollections of eight and twenty years, there is no difficulty 
 in accounting for the feeling which has brought us together 
 on this occasion. Among the many who are assembled here 
 from all parts of this province, I know there are some who 
 saw, as I did, with grief, the body of the lamented general 
 borne from the field on which he fell and many who wit 
 nessed, with me, the melancholy scene of his interment in 
 one of the bastions of Fort George. They can never, I am 
 sure, forget the countenances of the soldiers of that gallant 
 regiment which he had long commanded, when they saw 
 deposited in the earth the lamented officer who had for so 
 many years been their pride ; they can never forget the 
 feelings displayed by the loyal militia of this province, when 
 they were consigning to the grave the noble hero who had so 
 lately achieved a glorious triumph in the defence of their 
 country : they looked forward to a dark and perilous future, 
 and they felt that the earth was closing upon him in whom, 
 more than in all other human means of defence, their confi 
 dence had been reposed. Nor can they forget the counte 
 nances, oppressed with grief, of those brave and faithful 
 Indian warriors, who admired and loved the gallant Brock, 
 who had bravely shared with him the dangers of that period, 
 and who had most honorably distinguished themselves in the 
 field, where he closed his short but brilliant career. 
 
 ****** 
 
 It has, I know, Sir, in the many years that have elapsed, 
 been sometimes objected, that General Brock s courage was 
 greater than his prudence that his attack of Fort Detroit, 
 though it succeeded, was most likely to have failed, and was 
 
 * Chief Justice Robinson is, from all we hear of him, the most eminent 
 and talented man in British America. Sir Francis Head, who, in his work 
 The Emigrant, most highly, and, we believe, most justly eulogizes his 
 public and private worth, states that he is a native born Canadian, and is 
 the son of a British officer, who served during the first American war, 
 and accompanied General Simcoe to Canada. 
 
412 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 therefore injudicious and that a similar rashness and want 
 of cool calculation were displayed in the manner of his death. 
 
 Those who lived in Upper Canada while these events were 
 passing, can form a truer judgment; they know that what 
 may to some seem rashness, was, in fact, prudence ; unless, 
 indeed, the defence of Canada was to be abandoned, in the 
 almost desperate circumstances in which General Brock was 
 placed. He had with him but a handful of men, who had 
 never been used to military discipline few, indeed, that had 
 ever seen actual service in the field ; and he knew it must be 
 some months before any considerable reinforcement could be 
 sent to him. He felt, therefore, that if he could not impress 
 upon the enemy this truth, that wherever a major-general 
 of the British army, with but a few gallant soldiers of the 
 line, and of the brave defenders of the soil, could be assembled 
 against them they must retire from the land which they 
 had invaded, his cause was hopeless. If he had begun to 
 compare numbers, and had reserved his small force in order 
 to make a safer effort on a future day, then would thousands 
 upon thousands of the people of the neighbouring States 
 have been found pouring into the western portions of this 
 province ; and when at last our mother country could send, 
 as it was certain she would, her armies to our assistance, they 
 would have had to expend their courage and their strength 
 in taking one strong position after another, that had been 
 erected by the enemy within our own territory. 
 
 And at the moment when the noble soldier fell, it is true 
 he fell in discharging a duty which might have been com 
 mitted to a subordinate hand ; true, he might have reserved 
 himself for a more deliberate and stronger effort ; but he felt 
 that hesitation might be ruin that all depended upon his 
 example of dauntless courage of fearless self-devotion. Had 
 it pleased Divine Providence to spare his invaluable life, who 
 will say that his effort, would have failed ? It is true his 
 gallant course was arrested by a fatal wound such is the 
 fortune of war ; but the peopfe of Canada did not feel that 
 his precious life was thrown away, deeply as they deplored 
 his fall. In later periods of tbe contest, it sometimes hap 
 pened that the example of General Brock was not very 
 closely followed. It was that cautious calculation, which 
 some suppose he wanted, which decided the day against us 
 at Sackett s Harbour it was the same cautious calculation 
 which decided the day at Plattsburg; but no monuments 
 have been erected to record the triumphs of those fields 
 it is not thus that trophies are won. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Justice Macaulay, in moving the 
 third resolution, thus elegantly expressed himself: 
 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 413 
 
 It was not my good fortune to serve in the field under the 
 illustrious Brock, but I was under his command for a short 
 period when commandant of the garrison of Quebec, thirty 
 years ago, and well remember his congratulating rne upon 
 receiving a commission in the army, accompanied with good 
 wishes for my welfare, which I shall never forget. 1 feel 
 myself a humble subaltern still when called upon to address 
 such an auditory, and upon such a topic as the memory of 
 Brock. Looking at the animated mass covering these heights 
 in 1840, to do further honor to the unfortunate victim of a 
 war now old in history, one is prompted to ask, how it hap 
 pens that the gallant general, who has so long slept the sleep 
 of death, left the lasting impression on the hearts of his 
 countrymen which this scene exhibits ; how comes it that 
 the fame of Brock thus floats down the stream of time, broad, 
 deep, and fresh as the waters of the famed river with whose 
 waters, it might be almost said, his life s blood mingled ? la 
 reply, we might dwell upon his civil and military virtues, his 
 patriotic self-devotion, his chivalrous gallantry, and his tri 
 umphant achievements. (Here one of the auditors added, 
 " and that he was an honest man" an attribute most 
 warmly responded to one every side, for an honest man is 
 the noblest work of God.) Still it might be asked, What 
 peculiar personal qualities predominated and gave him the 
 talismanic influence and ascendancy over his fellow men, 
 which he acquired and wielded for his country s good ? I 
 answer, Are there any seamen among you? (Yes, yes, an 
 swered from the crowd) then I say it was the Nelsonian 
 spirit that animated his breast; it was the mind intuitively 
 to conceive, and the soul promptly to dare, incredible things 
 to feeble hearts with a skill and bearing which infused this 
 chivalrous and enterprising spirit into all his followers, and 
 impelled them energetically to realise whatever he boldly led 
 the way to accomplish. It displayed itself too, not only in 
 the ranks of the disciplined soldiers, but in those also of the 
 untrained militia of Upper Canada, as was amply proved on 
 this memorable ground. Such were the shining and conspi 
 cuous qualities of the man that have rendered very dear his 
 memory and his fame. Gentlemen, the resolution which I 
 hold in my hand is expressive of the indignation felt through- 
 cut the province at the lawless act, the effects of which are 
 visible before us. 
 
 After the resolutions had been carried by acclama 
 tion, and the public proceedings had terminated, 600 
 persons sat down to dinner in a temporary pavilion 
 erected on the spot where the hero fell, " Chief Jus- 
 
414 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 tice Robinson presiding; and at this, as at the morn 
 ing meeting, great eloquence was displayed in the 
 speeches, great loyalty evinced in the feelings, and 
 great enthusiasm prevailed." After the queen s health 
 had been drunk, the chief justice rose and said : 
 
 I have now to propose the memory of the late gallant Sir 
 Isaac Brock, of Colonel M Donell, and those who fell with 
 them on Queenstown Heights. That portion of you, gentle 
 men, who were inhabitants of Upper Canada while General 
 Brock served in its defence, are at no loss to account for the 
 enthusiastic affection with which his memory is cherished 
 among us. It was not merely on account of his intrepid 
 courage and heroic firmness, neither was it solely because of 
 his brilliant success while he lived, nor because he so nobly 
 laid down his life in our defence ; it was, I think, that he 
 united in his person, in a very remarkable degree, some qua 
 lities which are peculiarly calculated to attract the confidence 
 and affection of mankind there was, in all he said and did, 
 that honesty of character which was so justly ascribed to him 
 by a gentleman who proposed one of the resolutions there 
 was an inflexible integrity, uncommon energy and decision, 
 which always inspire confidence and respect a remarkable 
 union in his whole demeanour of benevolence and firmness 
 a peculiarly commanding and soldierlike appearance a gene 
 rous, frank, and manly bearing and, above all, an entire 
 devotion to his country. In short, I believe I shall best 
 convey my own impression, when I say it would have required 
 much more courage to refuse to follow General Brock, than 
 to go with him wherever he would lead. 
 
 " The meeting presented a proud display of high 
 and noble feelings, honorable to the memory of the 
 dead, and equally so to the character of the living. 
 It was conducted with great dignity and judgment, 
 and no accident occurred to interrupt the pleasures 
 of the day ; the steam vessels re-embarking their 
 passengers soon after sun-set, and conveying back the 
 individuals composing this congregated multitude to 
 their respective homes in safety/ * 
 
 It having been resolved by the meeting that the 
 most suitable monument, to replace the shattered 
 
 * The extracts given in invented commas are from "Buckingham s 
 Canada," that gentleman being at Toronto at the time, but unable from 
 illness to attend the gathering." 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 415 
 
 column, would be an obelisk on the site of the 
 mutilated structure, the committee offered a premium 
 for a design, which, in February, 1843, was awarded 
 to Mr. T. Young, architect to the university of king s 
 college, Toronto. The style of the intended obelisk 
 is the simplest and purest Egyptian, the artist having 
 strictly avoided all minuteness of detail in order that 
 the massive proportions of the design might harmon 
 ize with the bold and beautiful scenery by which it 
 will be surrounded. The total height of the base, 
 pedestal, and obelisk, will be 175 feet. The obelisk 
 will measure at the lower base 16 feet 6 inches square, 
 diminishing to 10 feet at the base of the upper, the 
 proportions of that known as Cleopatra s needle hav 
 ing been strictly adhered to. The estimated cost of 
 this obelisk is about <5,000 currency, the materials 
 of the old monument being used as far as possible ; 
 and as above ,4,000* have already been contributed, 
 it is expected that the new structure will be commen 
 ced in the spring of 1845. f 
 
 A concluding notice of Sir Isaac Brock s favorite 
 regiment will scarcely be deemed superfluous, al 
 though, as the records of the 49th were destroyed at 
 the evacuation of Fort George, in May, 1813, we 
 cannot give many further details of its services pre 
 vious to that period. It served in the American 
 revolutionary war, as, by the records still existing, 
 the flank companies were to be permitted to wear, 
 the grenadiers a black, and the light company a red, 
 feather, for services at Bunker s Hill ; but the books 
 being lost, the regiment cannot shew the authority, 
 and consequently is not allowed this distinction. The 
 49th was repeatedly engaged in Upper Canada, and 
 was especially distinguished at the battles of Stoney 
 Creek and Chrystler s Farm. The presence of mind 
 and resolution of one of the subalterns in that country 
 
 * In 1841, the Six Nations of Indians had contributed the (for their 
 diminished numbers and limited means) large sum of sg\Q7. 
 
 t See Appendix A, Section l, No. 14. 
 
416 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 deserve a brief notice. In June, 1813, soon after the 
 affair of Stoney Creek, Lieutenant Fitzgibbon, * of the 
 49th, was allowed at his own request to range in front 
 of the enemy with fifty chosen men of that regiment. 
 An American force of about 600f officers and men, 
 including 50 cavalry and 2 field pieces, were detached 
 under Colonel Boerstler from Fort George, on the 
 23d of June, to cut off Lieutenant Fitzgibbon s party, 
 then near the Beaver Dam, about 16 miles from that 
 fort. The next morning, they encountered in the 
 woods about 200 Indians, who fired u.pon them. 
 Hearing the firing, Fitzgibbori rode forward to recon 
 noitre, and soon after sent for his party, consisting of 
 Lieutenant Winder, 3 sergeants, and 43 rank and file. 
 He found the enemy, whose force he distinctly ascer 
 tained, occupying an eminence cleared of timber; 
 and by the time his party came up, the Indians were 
 beginning to retire, but fortunately unknown to the 
 enemy. Fearing that the Americans would now be 
 permitted to move off without further molestation, 
 Fitzgibbon conceived the idea of summoning them to 
 surrender ; and, after passing their front with his 
 men under a discharge which did no execution, he 
 placed his small force in the woods with the apparent 
 intention of cutting off the enemy s retreat. He then 
 shewed a white handkerchief as a flag of truce, and 
 soon after a white flag was hoisted over one of the 
 enemy s guns, when a captain of artillery came out to 
 meet Lieutenant Fitzgibbon. The latter magnified 
 the British force, and spoke of the impossibility of 
 restraining the Indians in the event of an attack. 
 After some little parley, during which the 49th de 
 tachment was joined by Captain Hall and 14 provin 
 cial dragoons, Colonel Boerstler was finally allowed 
 only five minutes for a definite answer ; and, although 
 he had previously sent to Fort George for reinforce 
 ments, he then agreed to surrender. Major de Haren, 
 
 * The present Colonel Fitzgibbon, already mentioned. 
 
 t James, in his "Military Occurrences," says 6/3 officers and men. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 417 
 
 of the Canadian Fencibles, soon after came up with 
 about 220 men, but the entire merit of thus capturing 
 23 officers and 490 non-commissioned officers and 
 privates of the regular army, (exclusive of 28 militia 
 men, who were paroled,) with two field pieces and a 
 stand of colours, belonged to Lieutenant Fitzgibbon 
 and his small detachment ; and he was accordingly 
 promoted to a company.* In alluding to this event, 
 the gallant officer wrote to a friend : " When I brought 
 in these 500 prisoners and delivered them up to 
 General Vincent, I then thought I would have given 
 the world s wealth that General Brock were alive, 
 that I might say to him : Here, sir, is the first in 
 stalment of my debt of gratitude to you for all you 
 have done for me. In words I have never thanked 
 you sufficiently, because words could never express 
 my gratitude for such generous protection as you 
 have hitherto unceasingly extended to me. ; 
 
 In 1815, the regiment returned to England, after 
 an absence of above thirteen years ; and in January, 
 1816, " in consequence of its doing duty over her 
 royal highness the princess Charlotte of Wales, at 
 Weymouth, she was graciously pleased to nominate 
 it her regiment." In December, 1821, the 49th em 
 barked for the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1828 
 proceeded on to Bengal. In April, 1840, the regi 
 ment embarked for China, where it distinguished 
 itself, and suffered much from climate. In gaining 
 possession of the heights which overlook the city of 
 Canton, on the 25th of May, 1841, "as the two 
 brigades advanced together, there was some little 
 rivalry between the 49th and 18th regiments, as to 
 which should have the honor of commencing the 
 attack upon the two forts. The 49th, having the 
 advantage of a shorter and perhaps rather better road, 
 got the lead, which they maintained ; so that the left 
 brigade carried BOTH the eastern forts before the 18th 
 
 * The particulars of this exploit are abridged from " The Soldier s Com 
 panion, or Martial Recorder." 
 
 m* 
 
418 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 came up, and with little loss." * In February, 1843, 
 after the Chinese had been coerced into a peace, the 
 49th returned to Calcutta, and in the following month 
 embarked for England, where the head quarters 
 arrived on the 24th of August, after an absence of 
 nearly twenty-two years an example of the arduous 
 service in which the British infantry of the line is 
 constantly engaged. The 49th, (the Princess Char 
 lotte of Wales ,) or Hertfordshire regiment, bears on 
 its colours and appointments the distinctions of Eg- 
 mont op Zee, Copenhagen, Queenstovvn, the Dragon, 
 and China. 
 
 Of Sir Isaac Brock s brothers, the eldest, John,f a 
 brevet lieutenant-colonel in the 81st regiment, was 
 killed in a duel, in July, 1801, at the Cape of Good 
 
 Hope, by Captain M ,j in consequence of his 
 
 having, as steward of a public ball, very properly 
 resisted the introduction, by his antagonist, of a 
 female of disreputable character. The second bro 
 ther, Ferdinand, a lieutenant of the 60th regiment, 
 was slain in the defence of Baton Rouge, on the 
 Mississippi, 21st September, 1779, at the early age 
 of nineteen. The third brother, Daniel De Lisle, a 
 man of distinguished ability, was bailiff and president 
 of the States of Guernsey. No chief magistrate of 
 the island was ever so beloved, honored, and regret 
 ted, as Mr. Brock; and so universal was the feeling 
 of admiration for his talents arid services, that the 
 Royal Court decreed him a public funeral at the 
 public expense a tribute of respect never previously 
 paid by that body to any individual. || The ninth 
 
 * Bernard s Narrative of the combined Naval and Military Operations 
 in China. London, 1844. 
 
 + While an ensign in the 8th regiment, he was quartered at Fort Niagara, 
 n July, 1/77. 
 
 t Captain M , the son of a baronet, fell as a major and aide-de-camp 
 
 to Lord Lake, at the siege of Bhurtpore, in 1805. 
 
 Ensign 8th February, 1776; Lieutenant 25th December, 1778. 
 
 |) For a brief memoir of him, see Appendix B. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 419 
 
 brother, Savery, who died on the 7th August, 1844, 
 has been already noticed; and the tenth, Irving, who 
 deceased in 1838, at Bath, was "the accomplished 
 translator of Bernier s Travels in India," and a 
 powerful amateur writer in support of the government 
 in 1810, at a very eventful and critical period.* Sin 
 gularly enough, of the eight brothers of this family 
 of the Brocks who reached maturity, no male descen 
 dant of their name is now in existence. Of their two 
 sisters, who grew to womanhood, the elder, Elizabeth, 
 now the only survivor of the family and in her 81st 
 year, married John E. Tupper, Esq., of Guernsey; 
 and the younger, Mary, was the wife of Thomas 
 Potenger, Esq., of Compton, in Berkshire, first cousin 
 to the Countess of Bridgewater. 
 
 Of the five nephews and one great nephew of Sir 
 Isaac Brock, who have hitherto embraced the profes 
 sion of arms, not one survives, four of the former and 
 the latter having sadly and prematurely perished, 
 viz: first, Midshipman Charles Tupper, of his majes 
 ty s ship Primrose, drowned at S pithead, in 1815, by 
 the upsetting of the boat in which he was accompany 
 ing his commander from Portsmouth to the ship ; 
 second, Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, f his Majesty s ship 
 Sybille, mortally wounded in action with Greek pi 
 rates, near Candia, on the 18th of June, 1826 ; third, 
 Lieutenant William Potenger, adjutant 22d regiment, 
 died on the 19th November, 1827, of the fever, at Ja 
 maica ; fourth, Colonel W. De Vic Tupper, ;{: of the 
 Chilian service, slain inaction, nearTalca, on the 17th 
 April, 1830 ; and, fifth, the great nephew, Ensign A. 
 Delacombe Potenger, of the 5th Bengal Native In 
 fantry, while in command of the light company, was 
 killed by a bullet which entered his breast, in the dis- 
 
 * One of his pamphlets went through four editions. 
 
 t For a short memoir, see Appendix C. 
 
 t For a memoir, see Appendix D. 
 
 The only son of the Rev. Richard Potenger, mentioned ante. With 
 this fine young man expired the last hope of his family, and t; o continu 
 ation of his line. 
 
420 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 astrous retreat of the British army from Cabool, in 
 January, 1842. The remaining nephew, Captain 
 Eugene Brock, of the 20th regiment, died at Ber 
 muda, in January, 1844. And to this melancholy 
 catalogue may be added the name of another nephew, 
 John E. Tupper, who perished at sea in the Mediter 
 ranean in 1812, and of whom mention has been made 
 in the preceding pages. 
 
 Our memoir is concluded, and even if in its 
 progress we have but feebly and imperfectly narrated 
 the career and portrayed the character of him who is 
 the subject, we trust that our labour has not been in 
 vain, because we feel that we have rescued much 
 from oblivion, relative to his services in Canada, that 
 was hitherto unknown and unrecorded. To preserve 
 the memory of so good a man to prolong, as it 
 were, a career which, unhappily for the interests of 
 his country, was too brief to hold up his benevo 
 lence in command as an example to other officers 
 to prove to them that military discipline can be better 
 maintained by humanity and kindness than by harsh 
 ness and severity seemed to us little less than a 
 duty. Such were the feelings which prompted us to 
 undertake this work ; and, in completing our task, 
 we are not without hope that the simple language of 
 soberness and truth will be preferred to a memorial 
 composed with more art, but dictated by less since 
 rity. It has been well observed by Doctor Johnson, 
 " that there has rarely passed a life, of which a judi 
 cious and authentic narrative would not be useful ;" 
 and perhaps this will not be thought the exception. 
 And should we in the course of these pages have 
 inadvertently fallen into undue panegyrism, that very 
 common error of biographers, our excuse must be, 
 that we could scarcely avoid eulogizing one of whom 
 it was written, soon after his untimely fall, by a 
 bosom friend : " General Brock was indeed a hero, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 421 
 
 a hero in the only true and in the most extensive 
 sense, resembling what history or fable has repre 
 sented, rather as the offspring of the imagination than 
 a personage that could have real existence, so entirely 
 was every great and good quality comprehended in 
 his character." 
 
 [ SUPPLEMENTARY. ] 
 
 The three letters following were received too late 
 to be inserted in their proper places : 
 
 Colonel Brock to James Cuthbert, Esq., Berthier, District of 
 Montreal. 
 
 QUEBEC, October 12, 1807. 
 
 You may well suppose that the principal subject 
 of conversation at head quarters is the military state 
 of this country. I have been careful, in justice to 
 you, to mention to Sir James Graig the public spirit 
 you have manifested in forming a company from 
 among the inhabitants of your seigneurie without the 
 least pecuniary aid, or any other assistance from go 
 vernment. 
 
 His excellency is exceedingly pleased to find a 
 principle in some measure established by your indi 
 vidual exertions, the basis of which he means to pur 
 sue in forming an extensive, and, he trusts, an effi 
 cient system of defence ; and he requests you to state 
 the nature of the engagements under which the men 
 assemble for exercise, and the degree of service they 
 are under promise to perform. 
 
 You must be aware that in any future general 
 arrangement it will become an essential object with 
 government to secure a more substantial hold on the 
 services of the men than their mere promise ; and as 
 
422 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 it is intended to give every possible latitude to their 
 prejudices, and to study in every thing; their conve 
 nience, it is thought no regulation to that effect can 
 operate to diminish the number of voluntary offers. 
 
 As you have been the first to set such a laudable 
 example, Sir James thinks it but just that Berthier 
 should take the lead in any new project he may 
 adopt, and he desires me to ask your opinion in 
 regard to the following points. 
 
 Government will undertake either to provide or 
 give an allowance for clothing. 
 
 Arms and accoutrements must, for obvious reasons, 
 be provided as far as practicable by the individuals 
 themselves. 
 
 One shilling will be allowed every time the volun 
 teer assembles for exercise, not to exceed thirty days 
 during the year. 
 
 The men to be bound to attend drill whenever 
 ordered, and to be in constant readiness to march to 
 any part of the province in case of emergency, at the 
 discretion of the governor-general. From the mo 
 ment they receive the order to march, to be placed 
 precisely upon the same footing with his majesty s 
 regular troops in regard to pay and allowances. 
 
 Such are the chief conditions which I understood 
 Sir James to say he wished might be adopted : he, 
 however, will be always ready to attend to any sug 
 gestion that tends to improve, and give spirit to, the 
 object in view. 
 
 A proportionate number of non-commissioned offi 
 cers will unquestionably be allowed. 
 
 I can say nothing in regard to the officers they, 
 of course, will not be forgotten in the arrangement, 
 but they cannot expect to be exalted to such a height 
 as to interfere with the just pretensions of the regulars. 
 
 Being in some measure pledged for the success of 
 the experiment, I shall be under considerable anxiety 
 until I hear your sentiments. 
 
 Every consideration of policy ought to make the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 423 
 
 proposal to appear to come from yourself; therefore, 
 when you consult those around you, it will be|unne- 
 cessary to state your having received a communication 
 on the subject. 
 
 Colonel Brock to James Cuthbert, Esq., Berthier. 
 
 QUEBEC, December 13, 1807. 
 
 You will do me the justice to believe that I did 
 not lose a moment in laying the clear and satisfactory 
 statement you sent me, of the constitution and charac 
 ter of the volunteer company under your command, 
 before the governor. 
 
 His excellency has likewise seen your letter of the 
 7th instant, and I cannot more strongly express the 
 sense he entertains of your exertions, or more clearly 
 point out the line he wishes you to pursue, than by 
 transcribing the note he wrote to me in consequence. 
 
 " Colonel Brock is requested to reply to Mr. Cuth- 
 bert s letter, that the governor has by no means lost 
 sight of his object, but that some legal difficulties 
 have arisen which are now under discussion, and 
 which he trusts will be got over immediately. Arms, 
 such accoutrements as we have, and a supply of am 
 munition, are in readiness, and shall be forwarded as 
 soon as the business is brought to a conclusion ; but 
 Mr. Cuthbert must send a return of his people, that 
 the number requisite may be ascertained : more than 
 is indispensably necessary cannot be spared. 
 
 " Mr. C is requested to take every measure 
 
 for keeping up the spirit his people have hitherto 
 manifested, and he may assure them that the governor 
 will not be unmindful of it. " (Signed) J. H. C." 
 
 That something will shortly be done there is no 
 doubt, although the prevailing idea here is against a 
 war with our neighbours : they imagine the Americans 
 will not dare to engage in the contest, but as I consi 
 der their councils to be directed solely by French 
 influence, it is impossible to say where it will lead 
 them. The true interests of that country will be little 
 consulted in their decision. 
 
424 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Colonel Brock to James Cuthbert, Esq., Berthier. 
 
 MONTREAL, July 7, 1808. 
 
 It was only yesterday I received your letter of the 
 15th ultimo. I was exceedingly glad to hear young 
 
 A had been reinstated. I do not understand that 
 
 any transport is intended to proceed from this country 
 to England ; such transports as do come are merely 
 chartered out, and the moment they get rid of th*e 
 men, they have done with the service. Should I, 
 however, hear of a conveyance in which the ensign 
 may embark free of expense, I shall not fail interfer 
 ing in his behalf, but do not calculate upon such 
 good fortune. 
 
 Be assured the general has very substantial reasons 
 for objecting to any issue of arms at this time. Were 
 your corps the sole consideration, be satisfied he would 
 not hesitate a moment ; but he cannot shew you such 
 marked preference without exciting a degree of jea 
 lousy and outcry, which might occasion unpleasant 
 discussions. 
 
 I am sorry you have deprived yourself of the very- 
 handsome dagger your partiality induced you to send 
 me. No such proof was required to convince me of 
 your friendship, and this additional instance can in 
 no degree aid to keep alive the fixed sentiments of 
 regard I entertain for you. 
 
 We have not a word of intelligence here, more than 
 what the Quebec papers give. The Americans ap 
 pear to me placed in a curious and ridiculous predi 
 cament. War with that republic is now out of the 
 question, and I trust we shall consider well before we 
 admit them as allies. 
 
 What can be the object in appointing you a justice 
 of the peace for Three Rivers ? Ross ought, I should 
 think, to have been nominated ; but you at such a 
 distance can be of very little good. A few dismissals 
 in that district would have been productive of consi 
 derable benefit j but it is a delicate affair to meddle 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 425 
 
 with the independence of a jud^e. Oh ! he is as vile 
 a fellow as ever filled the chair ! Best regards and 
 high respects. 
 
 [The Honorable James Cuthbert, the father of James and Ross Cuth- 
 bert, Esqs., mentioned in this volume, served in early life in the navy as 
 lieutenant in the flag ship at the siege of Carthagena, and carried home 
 the intelligence of its fall ; he was afterwards appointed to the command 
 nf one of the Independent Companies at Inverness, called the Highland 
 Watch, and was appointed to the 42d at its formation. He was present, 
 in the 15th regiment, at the capture of Louisburg, and served under 
 Wolfe at Quebec, conveying to England the dispatches of Brigadier 
 Murray, to whom he was aide-de-camp. He was appointed by Lord 
 Dorchester one of the members of the first legislative council after the 
 conquest, having left the army and become a settler in Canada. During 
 the American revolutionary war, he was particularly active, visiting the 
 enemy s camp at Sorel to obtain information, and in consequence he was 
 seized upon at Berthier by the Americans, who sent him in irons to 
 Albany, burnt the manor house, and destroyed his property to a consider 
 able amount.] 
 
 THE LAUREL OF GLORY. 
 
 Elegiac Stanza, on the Death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. 
 
 The laurel of glory eternal shall bloom, 
 Triumphant, and branch o er the warrior s tomb ! 
 O er the patriot, that battled his country to save, 
 The laurel of glory shall circle his grave. 
 
 Nor climate, nor season, nor time s iron hand, 
 E er injure or sap it, in Britain s proud land ; 
 O er the manes of the soldier, for ever shall wave 
 The laurel of glory, the meed of the brave ! 
 
 Nor envy, nor faction s fell venom be seen, 
 
 To wither a leaf of its beautiful green ! 
 
 Like the life buds of spring shall new A^erdure e er find, 
 
 And wave o er the worth of the hero enshrin d. 
 
 Tho age after age may moulder away, 
 
 The fame of the patriot can never decay ; 
 
 Like the oak of the forest, each tempest can brave, 
 
 And the laurel of glory wave over his grave. 
 
426 LIFE AXD CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 (JUSTIFICATORY, &c.) 
 
 SIR GEORGE PREVOST, BART. 
 
 While the first sheet of this, the second, edition 
 was in the press, I accidentally met with " Some 
 Account of the Public Life of the late Sir George 
 Prevost," published by his family in the year 1823, 
 in reply to the strictures on his military character, 
 contained in the Quarterly Review for July, 1822. 
 Of the existence of this volume I was previously igno 
 rant, and I think that it successfully refutes some of 
 those strictures, the vituperative spirit of which is 
 much to be regretted, the more so as that spirit has 
 been copied by later writers with increased acrimony, 
 one dismissing this unfortunate officer with the 
 following cruel malediction : " Disease and a natural 
 death saved him from the vengeance of military law ; 
 but as a warning and example may shame and infamy 
 rest upon his grave ! " * It is true that, unhappily for 
 his fame as a soldier, he sought to oppose the vis 
 inertia, to the enemy s insatiable thirst for the con 
 quest of the Canadas, a mode of defence only suited 
 to arid deserts or a pestilential climate ; but the 
 Quarterly and its copyists do not appear to have been 
 aware that the British government approved of Sir 
 George Prevost s pacific policy at the commencement 
 of the war, as on the 1st of October, 1812, or before 
 the refusal of the American president to ratify the 
 
 * Pictorial History of England. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 427 
 
 armistice was known in England, Earl Bathurst wrote 
 to the governor-general : " The desire which you 
 have unceasingly manifested to avoid hostilities with 
 the subjects of the United States, is not more in con 
 formity with your own feelings than with the wishes 
 and intentions of his majesty s government, and there 
 fore your correspondence with General Dearborn 
 cannot fail to receive their cordial concurrence." 
 Giving, however, Sir George Prevost every benefit 
 of this approval, my opinion, as expressed in this 
 memoir, of his defensive course after the rejection of 
 the armistice, and while the British were in the 
 ascendant on the lakes, remains unchanged. That 
 he was an able provincial governor, as well as an 
 amiable man in private life, and that in his military 
 station he anxiously exerted himself to the best of his 
 ability, I see reason to believe ; but although I think 
 that his friends labour in vain in attempting to con 
 vince the public that he was either a skilful or an 
 energetic commander, or that the deplorable affairs 
 of Sackett s Harbour and Plattsburg were not dis 
 graceful to the British arms, yet they may justly 
 urge his early services, his limited force at the outset 
 of the American war, and his redeeming qualities in 
 a civil capacity, as entitling him to the indulgent, if 
 not to the favorable, judgment of posterity. F. B. T. 
 
 SIR ROGER HALE SHEAFFE, BART. 
 
 Having ascertained from this officer himself, after 
 the sheet containing the account of the afternoon con 
 flict at Queenstown had been struck off, that his force 
 on that occasion amounted to only 740 men, including 
 less than 50 Indians, his evidence as to this disputed 
 point would of course be quite conclusive, if unfor 
 tunately he had not forgotten whether the officers are 
 included in this number, so that he evidently is not in 
 possession of the official returns. I therefore feel 
 
428 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 called upon, in my own justification, to cite the autho 
 rities on which I have stated that force as " rather 
 exceeding 1,000 men of all grades, of whom nearly 
 600 were regulars," (see page 333,) not thinking it 
 just to enumerate the entire force on the American 
 side, and to deduct a tithe on that of the British, by 
 including rank and file only. 
 
 1. Major-General Sheaffe s own dispatch, as quot 
 ed in foot note at page 333. He moreover mentions 
 twelve officers as commanding flank companies of the 
 Lincoln and York militia, which, at only 35 men per 
 company, would give 420 militia. 
 
 2. James, the celebrated naval historian who, 
 in his " Military Occurrences" of the second Ame 
 rican war, appears to be singularly accurate in his 
 statements, although often minute to tediousness 
 after mentioning that about 50 Indians, under the 
 chief Norton, attacked the Americans, and that they 
 retired, after a sharp conflict, " towards the reinforce 
 ment of regulars and militia, under Major-General 
 Sheaffe, which hgd just arrived from Fort George, 
 adds : " This reinforcement, consisting of about 380 
 rank and file of the 41st regiment, under Captain 
 Derenzy, and about 300 militia, accompanied by one 
 3-pounder, joined the remnant of the 49th flank com 
 panies ; and the whole proceeded to the heights, by a 
 route through the enclosures ; the Indians pointing 
 out to the troops the best track for ascending the 
 mountain. As soon as the British column had reach 
 ed a field adjoining the road to the falls, about 60 of 
 the 41st, under Captain Bullock, and a party of 
 militia, arrived from Chippawah. The whole British 
 and Indian force, thus assembled, did not amount to 
 1,000 rank and file, of whom about 560 were regular 
 troops." 
 
 3. "General SheafFe soon came up with a rein 
 forcement of 300 men of the 41st regiment, two com 
 panies of militia, and 250 Indians. Reinforcements 
 having also arrive J from Chippawah, the British gene- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 429 
 
 ral collected his whole force, amounting to upwards 
 of 800 men," &c. Christies Memoirs. 
 
 4. A militia officer, in a MS. copy of a long letter 
 before me, dated Brown s Point, Niagara, October 
 15, 1812, after describing both the morning and after 
 noon conflicts at Queenstown, in the former of which 
 he was wounded, says : " But General Sheaffe arriv 
 ing from Niagara with a detachment of the 41st of 
 about 300 men, some militia, and about 250 Indians, 
 and being joined by all that he could collect of the 
 troops who were originally engaged, they ascended 
 the mountain some distance to the right of the Ame 
 ricans," &c. 
 
 5. A correspondent in the United Service Maga 
 zine for March, 1846, page 441, who was serving in 
 Canada with the 41st regiment when the battle of 
 Queenstown was fought, remarks : " It is no dispa 
 ragement to the gallantry of the 49th regiment to say, 
 that they were beaten at Queenstown, but it is never 
 theless true that, unable to keep their ground, they 
 were driven down the mountain, and did not resume 
 the offensive until, when the enemy were in full pos 
 session of the heights, the 41st (400 strong) made 
 their appearance from Fort. George, under Captain 
 Derenzy, and the grenadier company, mustering 
 nearly 100 bayonets, under Captain Bullock, from 
 Chippawah." 
 
 With these authorities before me, I estimated, and 
 I think reasonably, Major -General Sheaffe s total 
 force as follows : 
 
 From Fort George, 41st foot 400 
 
 Militia 250 
 
 ,, Chippawah, 41st grenadiers 90 
 
 Militia 40 
 
 Remnants of 49th flank companies 100 
 
 ,, of militia, engaged in the morning 100 
 
 Exclusive of the Indians . . . 980 
 
430 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 Sir Roger Sheaffe having evinced so much cour 
 tesy and good feeling in a correspondence between us 
 relative to this Memoir, which he commenced by 
 sending me various documents, " being willing to 
 believe that I was in search of truth," I gladly seize 
 this opportunity of recording my sense of the gentle 
 manly manner and tone of his communications, which 
 have indeed fully justified the opinion entertained of 
 him by one of my informants, who is " as gallant an 
 officer as ever lived," (I quote this character of my 
 informant from the Naval and Military Gazette,) and 
 who, after detailing the causes of the deplorable 
 mutiny of the 49th regiment ai Fort George, in 1803, 
 writes : " But he at length became a good commander 
 of a regiment, for he was at heart kind, benevolent, 
 and religious ; but these sentiments were, in his ear 
 lier days of command, nearly, if not entirely, over 
 ruled by his extreme ideas of military authority, and 
 by his high opinion of his talent for drill, and of his 
 unqualified zeal in the public service." In justice to 
 Sir Roger Sheaffe, I also willingly add, that another 
 gallant officer of the 49th, Lieut.-Colonel Plender- 
 leatb, who was present at Fort George when the 
 mutiny was suppressed, and from whom I sought 
 information on the subject, in his reply expressed 
 " the high regard he entertained of Sir Roger Sheaffe s 
 great benevolence and love of doing kind offices," 
 and his conviction " that no officer ever had more at 
 heart the good of the soldier." Having done this 
 justice to Sir Roger Sheaffe, I may perhaps be per 
 mitted, as "the moping owl does to the moon com 
 plain," to mourn that this love of doing kind offices 
 was not, alas ! extended to a youth who had not only 
 some claim on his kindness, but possessed many of 
 the characteristics of " the admirable Crichton," and 
 whose cruel disappointment and untimely fate have 
 been one of the embittering circumstances of my exis 
 tence. My present emotions on this painful subject 
 are, however, more those of sorrow than of resent- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 431 
 
 ment, because Sir Roger Sheaffe has written to me 
 with a feeling which does him honor, that, " being 
 unable to assist my brother, he would derive comfort 
 from the belief that Sir Isaac Brock s nephew could 
 need no aid from him." It has been asserted, and 
 may again be urged, that what I conceive to have 
 been the ungenerous treatment of my brother has 
 prompted rne to speak disparagingly of Sir Roger 
 Sheaffe s services in Upper Canada ; but while I 
 candidly admit that this impression has enabled me 
 to write more impartially of General Sheaffe than I 
 could have done had I felt under obligation to him, 
 I unequivocally deny that I have narrated one word 
 which my authorities did not. bear me out in believing 
 to be strictly true. When I informed Sir Roger 
 Sheaffe that the second edition was in the course of 
 publication, I told him : " In that edition Mr. Tupper 
 thinks it due to Sir Roger to tell him candidly that 
 he has not hesitated to narrate what he believes to be 
 facts ;" and indeed I hold that truth is not always to 
 be withheld because its expression may wound the 
 feelings of public men, whose official acts have sub 
 jected them to public censure if it were, history 
 and biography would cease to be guiding stars, and, 
 above all, would offer no wholesome restraint to the 
 cruel, or corrupt, or incompetent exercise of autho 
 rity. Had I thrown the rckole blame of the conspi 
 racy at Fort George on the unfortunate sufferers, so 
 as to exonerate their commander, and shield myself 
 from personal responsibility, I should have written 
 what I believed to be false, and, to spare the living, 
 have committed a gross injustice on the memory of 
 the dead. It is, however, very probable that the 
 mutineers were not altogether blameless, as the proxi 
 mity of the United States possibly rendered them 
 impatient of discipline and desirous of change ; but 
 certain it is, that at their trial they urged Colonel 
 Sheaffe s rigour in extenuation of their guilty design, 
 and I am assured by an officer of the 49th, that they 
 
432 LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 were in a great measure the victims of language and 
 annoyance, which were too prevalent in the British 
 army in those days, but which would not no\v be 
 tolerated for a moment. F. B. T. 
 
 41sT, (THE WELSH,) REGIMENT. 
 
 In the United Service Magazine for March, 1846, 
 there is an able but plausible commentary on Sir 
 Isaac Brock s unfavorable opinion of the officers of 
 the 41st regiment in 1812, as expressed in the preced 
 ing correspondence. This commentary, signed in the 
 Welsh motto of that regiment, " GWELL AUGAU NEU 
 CHWILYDD," is, however, descriptive of great admira 
 tion of the general, as among other tributes of praise, 
 the author observes : * That no soldier, who has ever 
 had the honor of serving under him, could entertain a 
 higher opinion of General Brock than I do, will be 
 made sufficiently apparent to the compiler," &c. The 
 author states himself to have been a young volunteer, 
 serving with the 41st for his commission at the cap 
 ture of Detroit; and he asserts, that not only is the 
 charge of that regiment being badly officered an erro 
 neous one, but " that a finer body of officers was 
 never united in the same corps." In proof of this 
 assertion, he gives several instances of their personal 
 intrepidity, and adds that, as " General Brock was 
 never more correct than when he described the men 
 as an uncommonly fine regiment," so " the officers 
 were not less remarkable for the manliness and ele 
 gance of their appearance." 
 
 It is very possible that Sir Isaac Brock may have 
 been mistaken in his estimate of the officers of the 
 41st; but it must be borne in mind, that Colonel 
 Proctor was the only regimental field officer with the 
 corps at that time, and that, owing to its having been 
 so long in Canada, the promotion had been unusually 
 slow, two of the captains being brevet lieutenant-colo- 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 433 
 
 nels, and two others brevet majors. Even these 
 brevet officers appear to have been absent, as they 
 were not at Detroit ; and at Queenstown nearly 500 
 men of the 41st were commanded by a captain. 
 These disadvantages, added to the dispersed state of 
 the regiment for many years, were sufficient to repress 
 the energies of the most zealous, and to account for the 
 inexperience and inefficiency of any body of officers. 
 My assailant I use the term because I cannot 
 conveniently designate him by his long signature 
 thinks it very ungrateful in Sir Isaac Brock to have 
 held the opinion he did of officers to whom he was 
 principally indebted for his knighthood of the Bath 
 at Detroit ; but he forgets to add, that the general 
 crossed the river to attack the enemy, contrary to the 
 opinion of Colonel Proctor, of the 41st; and that of 
 the British force, composed of 1330 regulars, militia, 
 and Indians, only 250 men belonged to that regiment, 
 or less than one-fifth of the whole number ! Surely, 
 the detachments of the royal artillery and Newfound 
 land regiment, the 400 militia, and the 600 Indians, 
 (among them the noble Tecumseh,) are entitled to 
 some credit on this occasion. Not having stated in 
 the Memoir that the battle of Queenstown was gained 
 by Sir Isaac Brock, I cannot comprehend Jiow he, 
 as my assailant insinuates, was again chiefly indebted 
 to the 41st for a victory which he never won. There 
 were two conflicts at Queenstown, the morning and 
 the afternoon ; in the former, Sir Isaac Brock and 
 his gallant provincial aide-de-camp, Lieut.-Colonel 
 M Donell, fell ; and I have often wondered that the 
 American general, seeing the backwardness of his 
 troops in crossing over to reinforce their companions 
 on the British side of the river, and well knowing? 
 the irreparable loss which the latter had inflicted, did 
 not recall the invaders, as he must have expected that 
 they would be quickly attacked by at. least equal 
 numbers. In the second or afternoon conflict, the 
 invaders were so completely crest-fallen by the rouo-h 
 v 
 
434 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 handling they had experienced in the morning, and 
 by the refusal of their comrades to join them, that 
 on the advance of the British they fled and surren 
 dered with the utmost precipitation. Certain it is 
 that the 41st had not more than two men killed 
 throughout the day ; and as Lieutenant Crowther, of 
 that regiment, who was acting as an artillery officer 
 in the morning, had probably a few of his own corps 
 with him as gunners in the batteries, these two men 
 may have fallen in the first engagement. 
 
 I have too high a conception of the matchless 
 prowess of British soldiers to exult much in such a 
 victory as that of Queenstown, and especially when 
 I feel that the loss far exceeded the gain, but of its 
 successes at Frenchtown and Miami the 41st may be 
 fairly proud ; and, as far as my limits would admit, 
 I have endeavoured to do justice to its gallantry on 
 those occasions. Would that I could throw a veil 
 over its unfortunate surrender at the Moravian town, 
 in October, 1813, just a year after the death of Sir 
 Isaac Brock ; but as this surrender is matter of his 
 tory, and rendered more notorious by Sir George 
 Prevost s general order, (see page 376,) I may be 
 permitted to tell my assailant that before he attempts 
 to impugn Sir Isaac Brock s opinion, he should first 
 establish the incorrectness of that general order, one 
 which I believe has no parallel for severity in the 
 British army. Indeed, it goes far to prove General 
 Brock s penetration and judgment, as perhaps the 
 reader will think with me that the officers were in 
 some measure to blame for a defeat which called forth 
 so much censure and reproach. 
 
 My assailant accuses me of want of "good taste 
 and sound judgment" in not omitting the remarks 
 relative to the officers of the 41st ; but after the lapse 
 of thirty-three years, when I knew that not an officer 
 of 1812 remained in the regiment, I saw no necessity 
 for suppression ; and yet he does not hesitate to 
 ascribe the surrender at the Moravian town to the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 435 
 
 "incapacity" of Major-General Proctor, who was 
 so long lieutenant-colonel of the 41st, and who led 
 the regiment to its trophies at Frenchtown and Miami. 
 Sir Isaac Brock wrote generally, and " with few 
 exceptions" my assailant names an officer long 
 deceased, whose incapacity, if the charge be well 
 founded, would afford an additional argument against 
 himself, on the principle of " like master like man," 
 or on that of a good colonel making good officers, 
 and a bad one the reverse. 
 
 I am really not aware, as my assailant accuses me, 
 of having drawn any invidious comparison between 
 the 41st and 49th regiments, and it was certainly 
 never my intention to do so : they both did good 
 service in Upper Canada, and if the character of the 
 former suffered at the Moravian town, it has since 
 amply redeemed its reputation in Ava and Candahar, 
 at Ghuznee, and in Cabool. 
 
 T cannot conclude this reply without adding how 
 sincerely I respect the motives which have induced 
 my assailant to come forward with so much tact and 
 ability to the rescue of his former companions in 
 arms; and he perhaps will do me the justice to 
 believe, that in this reply I seek not so much to 
 vindicate my editorial labours as to uphold the 
 memory of one whom he highly eulogizes and yet 
 indirectly arraigns, as failing in discrimination and 
 gratitude. F. B. T. 
 
 We trust that we shall not be deemed guilty of a 
 breach of confidence in giving extracts from a very 
 long letter from Chief Justice Robinson, in reply to 
 our solicitation that he would have the goodness to 
 point out any error which he might discover in the 
 first edition of this work. Although this letter was 
 written in haste, and certainly not intended for publi 
 cation, it does no little credit to the head and heart 
 of its author. 
 
436 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 Chief Justice Robinson to F. B. Tupper, Esq. 
 
 TORONTO, January 19, 1846. 
 
 The perusal of the Life of Sir Isaac Brock has certainly 
 convinced me that he only required a more enlarged sphere 
 of action to have risen rapidly to an eminence which few 
 men are permitted to attain. Though I was old enough to be 
 upon the expedition to Detroit, and in the action at Queens- 
 town, I was too young to be in a position to know more of 
 General Brock than could be observed by seeing him in 
 public, but I retain a very distinct recollection of his person 
 and manner. I had always thought of him, more exclusively 
 I now see than was just, as a man admirably qualified to 
 distinguish himself as a soldier ; but it is quite evident from 
 his correspondence that he valued highly the endowments of 
 the mind, and was ardently bent on improving them. He 
 was master too of a style clear, accurate, and pleasing. If he 
 had been thrown, in the course of his service, into situations 
 which required the application of various powers of the mind, 
 he would have earned, I am persuaded, no small portion of 
 such praise as has been awarded to the great and good Lord 
 Collingwood. It is manifest from what was seen of him in his 
 brief but most arduous service here, that besides his heroic 
 courage, he possessed most, if not all, of those great qualities 
 which can alone enable a man to maintain a difficult and 
 highly responsible station with credit. He was not only 
 clear and decided in his plans, but rapid and fearless in their 
 execution, and could direct his attention to various points at 
 the same moment, foreseeing difficulties, and preventing 
 them by timely application to details. Providence placed 
 him here in a position in which his services were of immense 
 value, filling, at a moment of great peril, a post which 
 scarcely another man could so nobly have sustained but he 
 was formed for greater things . . . . 
 
 I do most sincerely believe that no person whom I have 
 ever seen could so instantly have infused, under such discou 
 raging circumstances, into the minds of a whole people, the 
 spirit which, though it endured long after his fall, was really 
 caught from him. His honesty, firmness, frankness, bene 
 volence his earnest warmth of feeling, combined with dig 
 nity of manner, and his soldierlike appearance and bearing 
 all united to give him the ascendancy which he held from 
 the first moment to the last of his command. It seemed to 
 be impressed upon all, and at once, that there could be no 
 hesitation in obeying his call, and that, while he lived, all 
 was safe. The affection with which the memory of General 
 Brock has ever been regarded in this province is as strong as 
 the feeling of admiration, and these feelings still pervade the 
 whole population. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 437 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 SECTION I. BRITISH AUTHORS. 
 
 No. 1. Page 13. 
 
 Lieut. -General Lord Aylmer, Governor- General of British 
 North America, to J. Savery JBrock, Esq. 
 
 SOREL, Lower Canada, August 23, 1834. 
 
 I received yesterday your letter of the 19th March 
 
 The sight of your handwriting reminded ine of old times, and 
 brought back the recollection of scenes which almost appear 
 
 to have taken place in another state of existence I 
 
 made a tour in Upper Canada last summer, and visited with 
 a feeling of love and reverence the monument at Queenstown, 
 erected to the memory of one who was as brave as he was 
 good, and a better man never breathed; to have enjoyed his 
 friendship and good opinion, is to me a source of pride and 
 satisfaction. Yours, my dear Savery, very sincerely, 
 
 AYLMER. 
 
 [Extract of a note from Lord Aylmer to the Editor. "LONDON, 
 August 5, 1844. I am very glad to learn by your letter that a work is 
 shortly to appear, intituled The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac 
 Brock, for sure I am that the more of him that is made known to the 
 public, the more highly will his valuable services be appreciated."] 
 
 No. 2. Page 224. 
 From Captain Roberts to the Adjutant- General. 
 
 Fort Michilimackinac, July 17, 1812. 
 
 On the 15th instant I received letters, by express, from 
 Major-General Brock, with orders to adopt the most prudent 
 measures either for offence or defence, which circumstances 
 might point out ; and having received intelligence from the 
 best information, that large reinforcements were expected to 
 be thrown into this garrison, with the thorough conviction 
 that my situation at St. Joseph s was totally indefensible, I 
 determined to lose no time in making the meditated attack 
 on this fort. 
 
438 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 On the 16th, at ten o clock in the morning, I embarked 
 my few men, with about one hundred and eighty Canadians, 
 and two iron 6-pounders. The boats arrived without the 
 smallest accident at the port of rendezvous, at three o clock 
 the following morning : by the exertions of the Canadians, 
 one of the guns was brought up a height commanding the 
 garrison, and ready to act about ten o clock. A summons 
 was then sent in ; a copy of the capitulation which followed 
 I have the honor to enclose. At twelve o clock, the American 
 colours were hauled down, and those of his majesty were 
 hoisted. A committee has been appointed to examine into 
 the state of the public stores. 
 
 Enclosed also are the returns of the ordnance and military 
 stores found in the fort, and the strength of the garrison. 
 The greatest praise is due to every individual employed in the 
 expedition ; to my own officers I am indebted, in particular, 
 for their active assistance in carrying all my orders into effect. 
 
 No. 3. Page 272. 
 General Brock. Detroit, 16th Aug. 1812. 
 
 I propose a cessation of hostilities for one hour, to open, 
 a negociation for the surrender of Detroit. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 [Address.] WILLIAM HULL, 
 
 Sandwich. Br. Gen. Com. 
 
 Sir, Detroit, 16th Aug. 1812. 
 
 The object of the flag, which passed the river, was to 
 propose a cessation of hostilities for one hour, for the purpose 
 of entering into a negociation for the surrender of Detroit- 
 am, &c. 
 
 WILLIAM HULL, 
 General Brock. Br.-Gen. Com. 
 
 Camp of Detroit, 16th August, 1812. 
 
 Capitulation for the surrender of Fort Detroit entered into 
 between Major-General Brock, commanding his Britannic 
 majesty s forces on the one part, and Brigadier-General Hull, 
 commanding the north-western army of the United States, on 
 the other part. 
 
 1st. Fort Detroit, with all the troops, regulars as well as 
 militia, will be immediately surrendered to the British forces 
 under the command of Major-General Brock, and will be 
 considered prisoners of war, with the exception of such of the 
 militia of the Michigan territory who have not joined the army. 
 
 2d. All public stores, arms, and all public documents, 
 including every thing else of a public nature, will be imme 
 diately given up. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 3d. Private persons and property of every description will 
 be respected. 
 
 4th. His Excellency Brigadier-General Hull having ex 
 pressed a desire that a detachment from the State of Ohio, 
 on its way to join his army, as well as one sent from Fort 
 Detroit, under the command of Colonel M Arthur, should be 
 included in the above capitulation it is accordingly agreed 
 to. It is, however, to be understood, that such part of the 
 Ohio militia as have not joined the army will be permitted to 
 return to their homes, on condition that they will not serve 
 during the war ; their arms, however, will be delivered up, if 
 belonging to the public. 
 
 5th. The garrison will march out at the hour of twelve 
 o clock this day, and the British forces will take immediate 
 possession of the fort. 
 
 J. MACDONELL, Lt.-Col. Militia, 
 
 P. A. D. C. 
 
 J. B. GLEGG, Major, A. B.C. 
 JAMES MILLER, Lt.-Col. 
 
 5th U. S. Inf. 
 E. BRUSH, Col. Com. 
 
 Approved. 1st Reg. Michigan Militia. 
 
 W. HULL, Br.-General, 
 
 com. the N. W. Army. 
 ISAAC BROCK, 
 
 Major-General. 
 
 An Article supplemental to the Articles of Capitulation, 
 
 concluded at Detroit, the iQth of August, 1812. 
 It is agreed {hat the officers and soldiers of the Ohio 
 militia and volunteers shall be permitted to proceed to their 
 respective homes, on this condition that they are not to 
 serve during the present war, unless they are exchanged. 
 W. HULL, Br.-General, 
 
 Com. N. W. Army, U. S. 
 ISAAC BROCK, Major-General. 
 
 An Article in addition to the Supplemental Article of the 
 Capitulation, concluded at Detroit, the IQth of August, 
 A.D. 1812. 
 
 It is further agreed that the officers and soldiers of the 
 Michigan militia and volunteers, under the command of 
 Major Witherell, shall be placed on the same principles as the 
 Ohio militia and volunteers are placed by the supplemental 
 article of the 16th instant. 
 
 W. HULL, Br.-General, 
 
 Cora. N. W. Army, U. S. 
 ISAAC BROCK, Major-General. 
 
440 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 No 4. Page 294. 
 
 Extracts from " The Letters of Vcritas ; * containing a 
 succinct Narrative of the Military Administration of Sir 
 George Prevost during his command in the Canadas, 
 whereby it will be manifest that the merit of preserving 
 them from conquest belongs not to him. 8vo. Montreal, 
 July, 1815. 
 
 Then or before, was communicated to him (Major- 
 General Brock) the information of that deadly armistice 
 concluded by Sir George Prevost with General Dearborn, 
 which had so fatal an effect upon all the future operations, 
 and which tied up the hands of the gallant Brock from 
 executing his intended plan of sweeping the American posts 
 to Sackett s Harbour, inclusive an operation that most 
 certainly would have been then effected. 
 
 This armistice, proposed by Sir George Prevost, merits 
 serious consideration, from its operation being so greatly in 
 favour of the enemy at that time, and so disadvantageous to 
 us. A period most precious to us, if we had profited by it 
 with vigour, was thereby lost in inaction, and the enemy in 
 consequence allowed to recover from the panic into which 
 they were thrown by Hull s capture. 
 
 The transport of the American stores, ordnance, and 
 provisions, of each of which they were much in want, not 
 being prohibited by that armistice, was accordingly protected 
 and facilitated by it on Lake Ontario and along the Niagara 
 frontier beyond the enemy s most sanguine hopes, whilst 
 their then only disposable and invading force, under General 
 Hull, on the Detroit frontier, was left at full liberty to profit 
 by circumstances, the armistice as to him being at his option. 
 
 Most fortunately, however, Hull s business was settled 
 by capitulation before the armistice was known to General 
 Brock or him ; but had it reached him in time, he of course 
 would gladly have accepted it, to gain delay for the arrival of 
 reinforcements and a supply of provisions, from which would 
 
 * "The Letters of Veritas were originally printed in a weekly paper 
 published at Montreal, in Lower Canada, and subsequently collected into 
 the little volume before us. Within a small compass these unpretending 
 letters contain a greater body of useful information upon the campaigns 
 in the Canadas than is any where else to be found. They are, we believe, 
 the production of a gentleman in Montreal, of known respectability. 
 Though not a military man, he enjoyed the best opportunities for 
 acquaintance with the circumstances of the war; and as these letters, 
 which excited great attention in the Canadas, appeared in successive 
 papers while Montreal was filled with almost all the officers of rank who 
 had served in the country, it may reasonably be presumed that his errors, 
 had he committed any, would not have escaped without censure. Yet no 
 reply was ever attempted to his statements, no doubt ever expressed in 
 the provinces, of the correctness of his assertions." Quarterly Review, 
 July, 1822. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 441 
 
 have resulted the salvation of his army, the prejudicial 
 consequences whereof to us are incalculable ; for, had a 
 knowledge of it reached the Indian nations at that time, such 
 a disgust and distrust would have been thereby excited as could 
 never have been removed ; and the first effect of which would 
 have appeared in the immediate dispersion of the Indians, 
 whose powerful and indispensable aid at that early period of 
 the contest would have been totally lost to us. 
 
 Madison s rejection of this armistice was followed by that 
 chilling defensive system which General Brock was instructed 
 by Sir George to follow, and which palsied his operations until 
 his country had to mourn over his fatal loss at the battle of 
 Queenstown, on the 13th of October, 1812. 
 
 Such, however, was the impulse he had given, and the 
 valour and zeal wherewith the regular troops, militia, and 
 Indians, had been inspired, that the valuable effects thereof 
 survived him ; and gave a brilliant victory on that day to his 
 successor, General Sheaffe, a lover of armistices also, who, in 
 proof thereof, made one of his own, which threw away most 
 of the advantages of that victory; for he neglected (although 
 strongly urged thereto) to take Fort Niagara, which could 
 have been done on the afternoon of the day of the Queenstown 
 battle, without loss, as the enemy had entirely, or almost 
 entirely, then evacuated it ; had he done this, and at the 
 same time crossed over a part of his force to Lewistown, as he 
 was urged to do, and as Brock would have done had he 
 survived, the whole Niagara line would have been cleared of 
 the enemy, and all our after disasters in that quarter 
 prevented. 
 
 It has been urged in favor of Sir George s timid defensive 
 system, that it was proper in order to avoid irritating the 
 enemy, and thereby uniting them ; as also, that his force was 
 inadequate to offensive warfare. Now, no positions were 
 ever more untenable, for to think of conciliating an enemy 
 by leaving to him the full benefit of maturing in security all 
 his means of annoyance against you, and at the same time 
 muzzling yourself, is a most extraordinary doctrine ; surely, 
 to do so must ensure success to that enemy, as we know that 
 success will unite discordant parties and interests, whilst 
 defeats promote disunion, and would have strengthened the 
 anti-war party in the States by furnishing to them unanswer 
 able arguments when depicting the folly and impolicy of the 
 war, which had been so wantonly declared by the Madi- 
 sonian party. 
 
 Were facts in support of this view of the subject necessary, 
 they would be found in the effects upon the public mind in 
 that country, produced by the capture of Michilimackinac 
 and Detroit, with Hull s army. Did these events irritate and 
 
 v * 
 
442 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 unite the enemy against us? No, they increased irritation, it 
 is true, but against their own government. 
 
 (In his tenth or concluding letter, Veritas recapitulated his 
 preceding arguments, and observed :) That to General Brock s 
 zeal and energy, left as he was without orders, along with 
 other causes independent of Sir George, the preservation of 
 Upper Canada, in the first instance, and of Lower Canada as 
 a consequence, are mainly to be ascribed. 
 
 No. 5. Page 296. 
 
 Extract from Sir George Prevost s General Order, Montreal, 
 August 31, 1812, in announcing the refusal qftJie American 
 President to continue the armistice. 
 
 The invasion of the Upper Province, undertaken so 
 immediately after the declaration of war, shews in the 
 strongest manner how fully they had prepared themselves 
 for that event, and how highly they had flattered themselves 
 with finding it an easy conquest, from the supposed weakness 
 of the force opposed to them, and the spirit of disaffection 
 which they had previously endeavoured to excite amongst its 
 inhabitants. Foiled as they have been in this attempt by 
 the brave and united efforts of the regular forces, militia, and 
 Indians of that province, under the command of their 
 distinguished leader, their whole army with its general 
 captured, and their only remaining fortress and post in the 
 adjoining territory wrested from them, it is not to be doubted 
 but that the American government will keenly feel this 
 disappointment of their hopes, and consequently endeavour 
 to avail themselves of the surrender of Detroit, to term it an 
 invasion of their country, and to make it a ground for calling 
 upon the militia to march to the frontiers for the conquest of 
 the Canadas. A pretext so weak and unfounded, though it 
 may deceive some, will not fail to be received in its proper 
 light by others; and it will be immediately perceived by 
 those who will give themselves the trouble to reflect on the 
 subject, that the pursuit of an invading army into their own 
 territory, is but a natural consequence of the first invasion ; 
 and the capture of the place, to which they may retire for 
 safety, a measure indispensably necessary for the security and 
 protection of the country originally attacked. 
 
 No C. Page 308. 
 
 "Early in the year 1812, the American government had 
 assembled a force near the Detroit frontier, with the intention 
 of invading Canada ; and as soon as their projected declaration 
 of war was issued, 2,500 men crossed the Detroit under 
 General Hull, and took possession of the British village of 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 443 
 
 Sandwich. Upon the garrison of Amherstburgh, however, 
 under Lieutenant-Colonel St. George, who shut himself up in 
 total inaction, the American general made no attempt. As 
 soon as General Brock learnt the entrance of Hull into Canada, 
 he sent up Colonel Procter from the Niagara frontier to 
 assume the command at Amherstburgh, and that officer s 
 operations were so prompt and judicious, that Hull hastily 
 recrossed the strait, and encamped under the walls of fort 
 Detroit, against which Colonel Procter, advancing to Sand 
 wich, threw up batteries on the British side. Here, General 
 Brock arriving with a reinforcement, the enemy, already 
 reduced to extremities before his appearance,* capitulated 
 on the 16th of August, to the number of 2,500 men, with 33 
 pieces of cannon. The fort of Detroit, its ordnance, stores, 
 and a fine vessel in the harbour, fell into the hands of the 
 victors. * * * 
 
 " Hull certainly evinced great incapacity after his passage 
 oi the Detroit, in not immediately marching upon Amherst 
 burgh with his whole force, for he would, in all probability, 
 have carried the place had he made the attempt before 
 Colonel Procter s arrival. By lingering, however, at Sandwich 
 until that officer took the command, cut off his communica 
 tions, and closed the Indians on his rear, he could not 
 subsequently effect a retreat." Quarterly Review, July, 1822. 
 
 In the " Preface to the Second Edition of Travels in Canada 
 
 and the United States, in 1816 and 1817, by Lieutenant 
 
 Francis Hall, Uth Light Dragoons, H. P.," the author 
 
 observes, in allusion to Major- General Proctor: 
 
 Soon after the publication of these travels, the author 
 
 received an anonymous communication, charging him with 
 
 misrepresenting the conduct of the officer who succeeded Sir 
 
 Isaac Brock in the command of our forces in Upper Canada. 
 
 The passages complained of are : the expression, (p. 227,) that 
 
 Tecumseh, after that general s death, "found no kindred 
 
 spirit with whom to act;" the passages of Tecumseh s 
 
 speech, quoted in the note; and the expression he is said 
 
 to have subsequently used, "Tell the dog," &c.t 
 
 * This is incorrect Hull was not reduced to extremity; he was on his 
 own territory, in the neighbourhood of a fortress, with an ample supply 
 of provisions, stores, &c., and his troops had suffered no essential check 
 or privation. And if the American general were reduced to such extremity, 
 why did Colonel Proctor advise Major-General Brock not to cross the 
 strait to attack him ? F. B. T. 
 
 f This passage is contained in a foot note in Lieutenant Hall s Travels, 
 and is as follows : " On another occasion, when by way of pacifying his 
 remonstrances with a metaphor, in the Indian manner, our commander 
 professed his readiness to lay his bones by his side, Tell the dog, said 
 the angry warrior, he has too much regard for his carcass to lay his 
 bones any where. " 
 
444 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 The only insinuation intended to be conveyed by the terms 
 " no kindred spirit," was, that the general who succeeded Sir 
 Isaac Brock was inferior to him in talents, and was so consi 
 dered by Tecumseh. This is a mere matter of opinion ; but 
 such as the author conceives every man is free to deliver, with 
 respect to the conduct of an individual employed in a public 
 capacity ; nor, however he may be unfortunate enough to 
 differ in it from his correspondent, does he believe it would, 
 by any means, be considered a singular opinion by the officers 
 who, at that time, served in Upper Canada. 
 
 His correspondent denies that Tecumseh ever used the 
 expressions, "Tell the dog," &c. ; upon which the author 
 cannot forbear observing, that, as he has stated no particular 
 occasion on which they were used, it seems scarcely possible 
 his correspondent, unless he was never from Tecumseh s side, 
 can have the means of nroving they were never uttered at all. 
 The author conceives his authority on this point to be such, 
 as fully to warrant him in believing his statement to be 
 correct ; at the same time, he would be understood as drawing 
 no conclusion from it to the disparagement of (he officer in 
 question ; he quoted it merely to shew the nature of the 
 Indian chieftain s feelings, and the light in which he regarded 
 measures, on the propriety of which the author wishes to be 
 considered as stirring no controversy. 
 
 No. 7. Page 343. 
 
 "To Colonel Brock, of the 49th, who commanded at the 
 fort, I am particularly indebted for his kindness to me during 
 the fortnight I remained at Niagara. Among many pleasant 
 days which I passed with him and his brother officers, that 
 of our visit to the Tuscorora Indians was not the least 
 interesting. They received us in all their ancient costume ; 
 the young men exhibited for our amusement in the race, the 
 bat game, &c., while the old and the women sat in groups 
 under the surrounding trees, and the picture altogether was 
 as beautiful as it was new to me." Note in Moore s JSpistles, 
 Odes, Sfc. 
 
 e( At Queenstown the battle was fought in which General 
 Brock fell, and the inhabitants point out a thorn bush at the 
 bottom of the heights, where it is said he received his mortal 
 wound. His career was a short but a brilliant one; and had 
 the direction of the affairs of the Upper Province, after his 
 death, been characterized by an equal degree of courage, 
 prudence, and humanity, a very different series of subsequent 
 events would have claimed the attention of the historian." 
 Duncan s Travels in the United States and, Canada, in 1818 
 and 1819. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 445 
 
 "Close to the spot where we landed in Canada, there 
 stands a monument to the gallant General Brock, who was 
 killed during the battle of Queenstown, in the act of repelling 
 an invasion of the frontier by the Americans, during the late 
 
 war The view from the top of the monument extended 
 
 far over lake Ontario, and showed us the windings of the 
 Niagara, through the low and woody country which hangs 
 like a rich green fringe along the southern skirts of that great 
 sheet of water." Captain Basil Hall s Travels in North 
 America, in 1827 and 1828. 
 
 Travelling in the state of New York, the author observes : 
 " The late Sir Isaac Brock was, by some accident, mentioned. 
 The canal agent spoke of him in terms of great respect, as the 
 best commander the British had ever sent to Canada equally 
 regretted on both sides of the St. Lawrence 
 
 " From Niagara Falls we proceeded by the stage first to 
 Queenstown, (seven miles,) near which a monument has been 
 erected to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, from the top of 
 which, about 120 feet high, there is a noble view of Lake 
 Ontario and the adjoining country, and thence to the village 
 of Newark, (seven miles,) formerly called Fort George, on the 
 Niagara river." Stuart s Three Years in America. 
 
 " Immediately above Queenstown stands Brock s monu 
 ment, on the heights where the battle was fought in which 
 that hero was killed. His body was removed to it from Fort 
 George, in 1824. The view from this fine column is probably 
 the most beautiful in Upper Canada." McGregor s British 
 America, vol. ii. 
 
 <l Seven miles south of Fort George, and at the foot of the 
 romantic heights of the same name, which have become 
 famous in Canadian history as the scene of a battle wherein 
 General Brock fell, is the village of Queenstown, pleasantly 
 situated on the Niagara, and opposite to the American 
 village of Lewistown. The monument, built to the memory 
 of the gallant general and his companions, on the loftiest part 
 of these, heights, forms a prominent object to the numerous 
 voyageurs who are constantly arriving at this portage, in 
 elegantly fitted up steam boats, from York and Kingston, 
 to view the neighbouring falls of the Niagara. The village 
 contains a church, court house, large government stores, and 
 a population of between 400 and 500 inhabitants." The 
 CanadaS) by Andrew Picken. 
 
 " Leaving a garrison in Detroit sufficiently strong to keep 
 the inhabitants in awe, General Brock lost no time in 
 quitting the conquered post and hastening to Niagara a 
 
446 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 command he had only relinquished fo* the purpose of 
 undertaking an achievement which the gallantry and deter 
 mination of his character could alone have crowned with 
 
 such unqualified success 
 
 "The month of October was marked by an event of the 
 most melancholy nature the death of General Brock, who 
 fell a victim to the intrepidity and daring of his character. . . . 
 The loss of their leader, however, cast a gloom over every 
 English brow, and an advantage thus purchased was deemed 
 at too high a price. General Brock was beloved by the 
 soldiery, particularly the 49th, of which he had long been 
 lieutenant-colonel, and the indignation of their grief for his 
 loss cost the Americans many a life on that day, that had 
 otherwise been spared. At Amherstburg, the account of his 
 death was received with heartfelt concern, and not a man 
 was there of those he had lately led to victory who failed 
 to pay that tribute to his memory, which the gallantry 
 and magnanimity of this glorious chief were so every way 
 calculated to awaken in the breast of of the soldier." A 
 Candian Campaign, by a British Officer, in the New Monthly 
 Magazine for December, 1826, and February, 1827. 
 
 " Immediately opposite the town of Prescott, on the shore 
 of the United States, is the town of Ogdensburg ; and twelve 
 miles higher up, on the Canadian shore, stands the delightful 
 village of Brockville, so called in honour of the late lamented 
 Sir Isaac Brock. This enchanting little spot unites in its 
 situation every beauty of nature. In front of it flows the 
 river St. Lawrence, interspersed with numerous islands, 
 variously formed and thickly wooded ; behind it is an 
 assemblage of small hills rising one above another in l gay 
 theatric pride ; and on each side are a number of well cleared 
 farms, in an advanced state of cultivation. Every thing 
 combines to render it pre-eminently beautiful. The dwellings 
 are built of wood, and tastefully painted ; and the court house, 
 in an elevated situation at the back of the village, seems, 
 from its superior size, to be the guardian of the villagers an 
 idea of my fancy, which I did not seek to confirm by entering 
 within its doors. Brockville contains 450 souls. It has a 
 parsonage house, but no church has hitherto been erected." 
 Five Years in Canada, by E. A. Talbot. 
 
 " We remained an hour or two at Brockville, the village of 
 palaces ; arid few villages have I seen more attractive than 
 this one. It is situated on a shelving bank, with & southern 
 aspect, and groves of trees round it. The houses and churches 
 are built of grey stones, and, being covered with tin, have a 
 light and pleasant appearance." Alexander s Transatlantic 
 Sketches. London, 1833. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 447 
 
 [NOTE. Brockville contained in 1846 about 2,000 inhabitants. There is 
 also a township named Brock, and another large district of the same name 
 in Canada.] 
 
 No. 8. Page 347. 
 
 At a General Council of Condolence, held at the Council 
 House, Fort George, 6th November, 1812. 
 
 Present The Six Nations, Hurons, Potawatitirnies,and 
 
 Chippawahs. 
 
 William Glaus, Deputy Superintendent- 
 General. 
 Captain Norton. 
 Captain J. B. Rosseaux, and several others 
 
 of the Indian Department. 
 Kasencayont Cayonga Chief, Speaker. 
 Brothers, The Americans have long threatened to strike 
 us, and in the beginning of the summer they declared war 
 against us, and lately they recommenced hostility by invading 
 the country at Queenstown. In this contest, which, with the 
 help of God, terminated in our favor, your much lamented 
 commander and friend, General Brock, his aide-de-camp, 
 Colonel M Doriell, and several warriors, have fallen. 
 
 Brothers, We therefore now, seeing you darkened with 
 grief, your eyes dim with tears, and your throats stopped with 
 the force of your affliction, with these strings of wampum 
 we wipe away your tears, that you may view clearly the 
 surrounding objects. We clear the passage in your throats 
 that you may have free utterance for your thoughts, and we 
 wipe clean from blood the place of your abode, that you may 
 sit therein comfort, without having renewed the remembrance 
 of your loss by the remaining stains of blood. 
 
 Delivered eight strings of white wampum.* 
 
 Brothers, That the remains of our late beloved friend and 
 commander, General Brock, shall receive no injury, we cover 
 it with this belt of wampum, which we do from the grateful 
 sensations which his kindness towards us continually inspired, 
 as also in conformity with the customs of our ancestors ; and 
 we now express, with the unanimous voice of the chiefs and 
 warriors of our respective bands, the great respect in which 
 
 * Wampum is the current money among the Indians. It is of two sorts, 
 white and purple : the white is worked out of the insides of the great 
 Congues into the form of a bead, and perforated so as to be strung on 
 leather ; the purple is worked out of the inside of the muscle shell. They 
 are wove as broad as one s hand, and about two feet long ; these they call 
 belts, and give and receive them at their treaties, as the seals of friendship. 
 For less motives, a single string is given ; every bead is of a known 
 value ; and a belt of a less number is made to equal one of a greater, by so 
 many as are wanted being fastened to the belt by a string. Buchanan s 
 North American Indians. 
 
448 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 we hold his memory, and the sorrow and deep regret with 
 which his loss has filled our breasts, although he has taken his 
 departure for a better abode, where his many virtues will be 
 rewarded by the great Dispenser of good, who has led us on 
 the road to victory. 
 
 A large white belt. 
 
 Brothers, We now address the successor of our departed 
 friend, to express the confidence we feel that his heart is 
 warmed with similar sentiments of affection and regard 
 towards us. We also assure him of our readiness to support 
 him to the last, and therefore take the liberty to speak strong 
 to all his people to co-operate with vigour, and, trusting in 
 the powerful arm of God, not to doubt of victory. 
 
 Although our numbers are small, yet, counting Him on our 
 side, who ever decides on the day of battle, we look for 
 victory whenever we shall come in contact with our enemy. 
 
 Five strings of white wampum. 
 
 (Signed) W. CLAUS, D. S. G. 
 
 No. 9. Page 351. 
 Extract from a Description of St. Paul s Cathedral. 
 
 In the western ambulatory of the south transept is a tabular 
 monument to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, by the same 
 artist (Westmacott). 
 
 A military monument, on which are placed the sword 
 and helmet of the deceased ; a votive record, supposed to 
 have been raised by his companions to their honored com 
 mander. 
 
 His corpse reclines in the arms of a British soldier, whilst 
 an Indian pays the tribute of regret his bravery and humanity 
 elicited. 
 
 ERECTED AT THE PUBLIC EXPENSE 
 TO THE MEMORY OF 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL 
 
 SIR ISAAC BROCK, 
 
 WHO GLORIOUSLY FELL 
 
 ON THE 13th OF OCTOBER, 
 
 M.DCCC.XII. 
 IN RESISTING AN ATTACK 
 
 ON 
 
 QUEENSTOWN, 
 IN UPPER CANADA. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 449 
 
 No. 10. Page 351. 
 
 "This chief of the branch of the once great tribe of the 
 Hurons visited England some time ago. I afterwards saw 
 him in Quebec, and had a good deal of conversation with 
 him. When asked what had struck him most of all that he 
 had seen in England, he replied, without hesitation, that it 
 was the monument erected in St. Paul s to the memory of 
 General Brock. It seemed to have impressed him with a 
 high idea of the considerate beneficence of his great father, 
 the king of England, that he not only had remembered the 
 exploits and death of his white child, who had fallen beyond 
 the big salt lake, but that he had even deigned to record, on 
 the marble sepulchre, the sorrows of the poor Indian weeping 
 over his chief untimely slain." Hon. F. F. De Rocs Travels 
 in North America, in 1826. 
 
 No. 11. Page 352. 
 
 To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of the 
 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 The humble address of the Commons of Upper Canada, 
 in Parliament assembled, 
 
 May it please your Royal Highness, 
 
 We, his Majesty s most dutiful and loyal subjects the 
 Commons of Upper Canada, in Provincial Parliament assem 
 bled, beg leave to ofTer to your Royal Highness the homage 
 of our unfeigned attachment to his Majesty s sacred person 
 and government, and of our filial reverence for the great and 
 magnanimous nation of which we have the honor to form a 
 part. 
 
 While we pray your Royal Highness to accept of our most 
 cordial congratulations on the splendid achievements of his 
 Majesty s forces, and of those of his allies in various parts of 
 the globe, and in particular on the extraordinary successes 
 which, under Divine Providence, have attended his Majesty s 
 arms in this portion of his dominions; we should do injustice 
 to the memory of our late truly illustrious president, Major- 
 General Brock, under whose auspices the latter were during 
 his lifetime principally achieved, did we omit to accompany 
 them with feelings of the most poignant sorrow for his fall. 
 
 He had endeared himself to us by his able, virtuous, and 
 disinterested administration of the civil government, and by 
 the zeal, military talent, and bravery, which characterized 
 and marked his conduct in the field. 
 
 To his energy, his promptitude, and his decision, dU we feel 
 ourselves in a great degree indebted, for having at this 
 
 
450 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 moment the happiness of enjoying the privileges of his 
 Majesty s subjects. His disinterested and manly conduct 
 aroused the spirit of the country, and called it forth for self- 
 defence against a most insidious foe. 
 
 In appreciating, as we do, his talents and eminent services, 
 most deeply do we lament our inability to bestow on them 
 any other reward than our praise. Without revenue for even 
 the ordinary purposes of the government, we have no funds 
 from whence to reward merit, however exalted and deserving. 
 
 We derive, however, much pleasure from beholding that 
 the services of our ever- to-be-lamented president and general 
 have been appreciated by your Royal Highness ; and while 
 we feelingly regret that he did not survive to enjoy the high 
 honors conferred upon him by your Royal Highness in his 
 Majesty s name, we, with all humility, would beg to suggest 
 that a grant to his family of a portion of his Majesty s most 
 valuable waste lands in this province would be most grati 
 fying to us. It would, we doubt not, be acceptable to them, 
 and it would be the means of perpetuating the connection 
 4hat had taken place between us, as well as the name of 
 Brock, in a country in defence of which the general so nobly 
 fell ! ! ! and which his exertions had so eminently contributed 
 to save. 
 
 That your Royal Highness may long be preserved to fill the 
 exalted station to which you have been called for the 
 advancement of the happiness, honor, and glory of the British 
 nation, is the fervent prayer of his Majesty s faithful subjects, 
 the Commons of Upper Canada. 
 
 Passed the Commons House of Assembly, the Sixth Day 
 of March, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirteen. 
 
 No. 12. Page 352. 
 
 An Act to provide for the erection of a Monument to the 
 memory of the late President, Major -General Sir Isaac 
 Brock. 
 
 [Sixth Parliament, 55th Geo. III.] [Passed 14th March, 1815.] 
 
 Most Gracious Sovereign, 
 
 Whereas at the declaration of war by the United States of 
 America against Great Britain, the government of this pro 
 vince was administered with great uprightness and ability by 
 the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock ; And whereas by the 
 wisdom of his councils, the energy of his character, and the 
 vigor with which he carried all his plans into effect, the 
 inhabitants of this province, at a time when the country was 
 almost destitute of regular troops, were inspired with the 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 451 
 
 fullest confidence in him and in themselves, and were thereby 
 induced most cordially to unite with and follow him in every 
 operation which he undertook for their defence ; And whereas 
 after having achieved the most brilliant success, and performed 
 the most splendid actions, that truly illustrious commander 
 contending at the head of a small body of regular troops and 
 militia, against a very superior force of the enemy, devoted 
 his most valuable life ; And whereas the inhabitants of this 
 province, reverencing his character, feel it a tribute due to 
 his memory to express the same by a public and lasting 
 testimonial, &e. 
 
 [Preamble. ^1000 granted for the constructing a monument to the 
 memory of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.] 
 
 An Act to grant a further sum of money for the completion of 
 the Monument to the memory of the late Major-General 
 Sir Isaac Brock. 
 
 [Passed 30th January, 1826. 
 Most Gracious Sovereign, 
 
 Whereas it has been represented by the surviving com 
 missioner appointed under an act of the parliament of this 
 province, passed in the fifty-fifth year of his late majesty s 
 reign, intituled, "An act to provide for the erection of a 
 monument to the memory of the late President, Major- 
 General Sir Isaac Brock," that a further sum of money is 
 required to complete the said monument upon a scale which 
 appears to the commissioner worthy of the object : And 
 whereas the legislature of this province are happy in testifying 
 on this occasion to your majesty the continued veneration 
 with which they regard the memory of the late Sir Isaac 
 Brock : May it please your majesty that it may be enacted, &c. 
 
 [^6*600 granted to complete the monument to the memory of the late 
 Major-General Sir Isaac Brock.] 
 
 No. 13. Page 352. 
 
 Anniversary of the Battle of Queenstown, and the reinter 
 ment of the late much-lamented Major-General Sir Isaac 
 Brock. 
 
 There is something so grand and imposing in the spectacle 
 of a nation s homage to departed worth, which calls for the 
 exercise of so many interesting feelings, and which awakens 
 so many sublime contemplations, that we naturally seek to 
 perpetuate the memory of an event so pregnant with instruc 
 tion, and so honorable to our species. It is a subject that in 
 other and in older countries has frequently exercised the 
 pens, and has called forth all the descriptive powers of the 
 
452 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 ablest writers.* But here it is new; and for the first time 
 since we became a separate province, have we seen a great 
 public funeral procession of all ranks of people, to the amount 
 of several thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented 
 heroes to their last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand 
 national monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the 
 most magnificent section of one of the most magnificent 
 countries in the world. 
 
 "The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle 
 of Queenstown, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously 
 chosen as the most proper day for the removal of the remains 
 of the genera], together with those of his gallant aide-de 
 camp, Lieutenant-Colonel M Donell, to the vaults prepared 
 for their reception on Queenstown heights. f 
 
 "The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o clock 
 a very large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, 
 had assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort 
 George, in a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited 
 for twelve years.* 
 
 " One hearse, covered with black cloth, and drawn by four 
 black horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. 
 Soon after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments 
 of Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George, 
 and their left extending along the road towards Queenstown, 
 the ranks being about forty paces distant from each other : 
 within this line was formed a guard of honor of the 7Cth 
 regiment, in parade order, having its left on the fort. As 
 the hearse moved slowly from the fort, to the sound of 
 solemn music, a detachment of royal artillery began to fire 
 the salute of nineteen guns, and the guard of honor presented 
 arms. 
 
 " On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honor 
 broke into a column of eight divisions, with the right in front, 
 and the procession took the following order : 
 
 * It is impossible here to forget (however different were the circum 
 stances and character of the two warriors) that fine passage by the 
 splendid historian of Rome, wherein he immortalizes the death and 
 funeral of the ferocious Attila, in language at once musical and sublime, 
 and which is probably without an equal in the whole range of English 
 literature : " His body was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, 
 under a silken pavillion ; and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling 
 round in measured evolutions, chaunted a funeral song to the memory of 
 a hero, glorious in his life, invincible in his death, the father of his people, 
 the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world." 
 
 t The monument itself is not yet finished ; we shall therefore defer our 
 description of the edifice until it is completed. 
 
 t It is remarkable that, on inspecting the remains, the body of Colonel 
 M Donell was found to be almost entirely decomposed, whilst that of 
 the general was still firm and nearly entire ; some of the flesh and 
 lineaments of his martial countenance being yet visible. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. . 453 
 
 A Staff Officer. 
 Subdivision of Grenadiers. 
 
 Band of Music. 
 Right Wing of the 76th Regiment. 
 
 THE BODY. 
 Aide-de-Camp to the late Major-General Sir ISAAC BROCK. 
 
 Chief Mourners. 
 Relatives of the late Colonel M DONELL. 
 
 Commissioners for the Monument. 
 Heads of Public Departments of the Civil Government. 
 
 Judges. 
 Members of the Executive Council. 
 
 His Excellency and Suite. 
 
 Left Wing of the 76th Regiment. 
 
 Indian Chiefs of the Five Nations. 
 
 Officers of Militia not on duty junior ranks First forward, 
 
 Four deep. 
 
 Magistrates and Civilians, 
 
 With a long Cavalcade of Horsemen, and Carriages of every 
 description. 
 
 " As the procession passed along the lane of militia, the 
 latter wheeled inwards by subdivisions in succession, as soon 
 as its own front was clear, and followed the procession. At 
 a certain distance from Fort George the quick march was 
 taken up, and arms were sloped ; the members of the proces 
 sion then took their carriages, preserving as nearly as possible 
 the order abovementioned, and the whole proceeded on the 
 road to Queenstown. The 2d and 3d regiments of Lincoln 
 militia, in like manner, formed a lane, its left resting on the 
 heights, near the entrance to the monument, and extending 
 along the road towards the village of Queenstown. On 
 reaching the commencement of this lane, the procession 
 resumed its formation, all hoi-ses, carriages, &c., keeping in 
 the rear ; and when the head of the column approached the 
 monument, it inclined to the right, to allow the body to 
 proceed direct to the entrance. The guard of honor then 
 halted and formed in parade order ; the 2d and 3d Lincoln 
 regiments following the procession in like manner as the 1st 
 and 4th. 
 
 "The time occupied in moving from the fort to Queenstown, 
 a distance of nearly seven miles, was about three hours, 
 including stoppages. Being arrived opposite the spot where 
 the lamented hero received his mortal wound, the whole 
 procession halted, and remained for a few minutes in solemn 
 pause. It then ascended the heights, and to the spectator 
 who had his station on the summit near the monument, 
 nothing could be finer than the effect of the lengthened 
 column winding slowly up the steep ascent in regular order, 
 surrounded by scenery no where surpassed for romantic beauty. 
 On the bodies being removed from the hearse and deposited 
 in the vault, the guard of honor presented arms, whilst the 
 artillery, (which had been taken from the enemy during the 
 
454 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 last war,) posted on the heights, fired a salute of nineteen 
 guns. The troops then marched in ordinary time round the 
 monument, and immediately separated to their respective 
 parades. 
 
 "All those who were inclined to visit the interior of the 
 vault were then permitted to enter in small parties. The 
 remains of the brave M Donell lie to the left of those of the 
 general. On the general s coffin, which is otherwise quite 
 plain and covered with black cloth, are two oval plates of 
 silver, each six inches by four, one above the other. On the 
 first is the following inscription : 
 
 Here lie the earthly remains of a brave 
 
 and virtuous hero, 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, 
 Commander of the British Forces, 
 
 and President administering 
 
 the Government of Upper Canada, 
 
 who fell, when gloriously engaging the enemies 
 
 of his country, 
 at the head of the Flank Companies 
 
 of the 4Qth Regiment, 
 
 in the town of Queenstown, 
 
 on the morning of the 13th October, 1812, 
 
 Aged 42 years. 
 
 j. B. GLEGG, A.;D. c. 
 
 " And on the second plate the following additional inscrip 
 tion is engraved : 
 
 The remains of the late 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B. 
 
 removed from Fort George to this vault, 
 
 on the 13th of October, 1824. 
 
 " Upon a similar plate, on the lid of the aide-de-camp s 
 coffin, was engraved : 
 
 The remains of 
 
 LIEUT.-COL. JOHN M DONEIL, 
 Provincial Aide- de-Camp to the late 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL BROCK, 
 
 who died on the 14th of October, 1812, 
 
 of wounds received in action the day before, 
 
 Aged 25 years. 
 
 " Several printed papers, having the following extract from 
 the government dispatches of the day, were handed about : 
 
 [See dispatch from Earl Bathurst to Sir George Prevost, page 338. ED.] 
 
 " Besides which, on large placards, to the number of several 
 hundreds, copies of the inscription to be placed on the tablet, 
 over the entrance of the monument, were distributed amongst 
 the assembled multitudes, and which is as follows : 
 
 "The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated this Monument to the 
 very eminent civil and military services of the late Sir Isaac Brock, 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. . 455 
 
 Knight of the Most Hon. Order of the Bath, Provisional Lieutenant- 
 Governor, and Major- General commanding the Forces in this Province, 
 whose remains are deposited in the vault beneath. Having expelled the 
 North Western Army of the United States, achieved its capture, received 
 the surrender of Fort Detorit, and the territory of Michigan, under 
 circumstances which have rendered his name illustrious, he returned to 
 the protection of this frontier; and advancing with his small force to 
 repel a second invasion of the unemy, then in possession of these heights, 
 he fell in action, on the 13th of October, 1812, in the forty-third year of his 
 age, honoured and beloved by the people whom he governed, and deplored 
 by his Sovereign, to whose service his life had been devoted." 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 " By the best computation we could make, and avoiding 
 all exaggeration, at the time the procession reached the 
 monument there could not be less than five thousand persons 
 present, many of whom were from the United States. Gen 
 eral Brock, indeed, was a man no less esteemed by the enemy 
 than he was admired and almost adored by his friends and 
 soldiery ; and we heard several Americans say, who had 
 served against him and saw him fall, that they lamented his 
 death as much as they would have done that of any of their 
 own generals, on account of his humanity, and the great 
 attention he had uniformly shewn to his prisoners. 
 
 " His excellency the lieutenant-governor (Major-General 
 Sir Perigrine Maitland, K. C. B.) was in full dress, and, we 
 are happy to say, appeared in good health after his late 
 fatiguing journey of inspection to the Lower Province. The 
 two M Donells and Captain Wilkinson, of the 2d Glengary 
 regiment, relatives of the deceased Lieut.-Colonel M Donell, 
 in the highland costume, appeared in the procession to great 
 advantage, and seemed to excite much attention. 
 
 " But among the assembled warriors and civilians, none 
 excited a more lively interest than the chiefs of the Indian 
 nations from the Grand River, whose warlike appearance, 
 intrepid aspect, picturesque dress and ornaments, and majestic 
 demeanour, accorded well with the solemn pomp and general 
 character of a military procession amongst these, young 
 Brant, Bears Foot, and Henry, were distinguished. In our 
 mind we never saw a dress more elegant in its kind, and fit 
 for active service in the woods, than that worn by young 
 Brant, who, with his tomahawk in hand, was a perfect 
 resemblance of all that could be imagined of the accomplished 
 Indian warrior. 
 
 "Amongst the numerous gentlemen in the procession, we 
 observed that old veteran, Lieutenant M Dougall, of his 
 majesty s 8th (the king s) regiment, who, like a brave and 
 loyal man, came from Sandwich to attend the re-interment." 
 Upper Canada Gazette, October, 1824. 
 
456 APPENDIX A. SECTION I. 
 
 " We had the melancholy pleasure of attending, on Wednes 
 day last, the removal of the mortal remains of Major-General 
 Sir Isaac Brock, and those of his deceased aide-de-camp, Lieut.- 
 Colonel M Donell, from Fort George to the monument at 
 Queenstown Heights. 
 
 " The day was remarkably fine the persons who attended to 
 pay this last tribute of respect to their memories were highly 
 respectable and numerous. There could not be less than 
 10,000 persons present. 
 
 " His Excellency, Major Hillier, Ensign Maitland, Colonels 
 Fosters, Coffin, and Fitzgibbon, appeared on the ground half 
 an hour before the procession moved from Fort George. 
 ***** 
 
 " About the hour of 10 o clock, the 1st and 4th regiments of 
 Lincoln militia, were formed in lines 40 yards apart at Fort 
 George. Within the lines was a guard of honor, consisting of 
 a company of the 76th regiment. On the hearse being 
 brought out of the fort, the guard presented arms, and the 
 royal artillery fired a salute of nineteen guns. 
 
 " The procession moved in the following order: 
 
 Captain Brown, 37th Regiment. 
 Grenadiers of the 76th Regiment. 
 
 Band of do. 
 
 Right wing of 76th Regiment. 
 Isaac Swayze, Esq. 
 
 THE HEARSE, 
 
 Drawn by four Black Horses. 
 
 Chief Mourners : Colonel Givens, of the West York Militia, and 
 
 Colonel Donald M Donell. 
 
 Supporters to the Chief Mourners: Lt.-Colonel Duncan M Donell, and 
 
 Capt. Wilkinson, of the Glengary Regiment, in full uniform. 
 
 Commissioners for the Monument. 
 
 Gentlemen of the Press. 
 
 Barristers. 
 
 Medical Gentlemen. 
 
 Members of the House of Assembly. 
 
 Members of the Legislative Council. 
 
 Sheriffs, Coroners, and Magistrates. 
 
 Officers of the Army and Navy on half pay. 
 
 Heads of public Departments. 
 
 Judges of the Court of King s Bench. 
 
 Members of the Executive Council. 
 
 His Excellency Sir Peregrine Maitland and Suite. 
 
 Colonels Wardlaw and Leonard. 
 
 Left Wing of the 76th Regiment. 
 
 Officers of the West York Militia, under the command of 
 
 Lieut.-Col. Bakie. 
 
 Captain George Dennison, of the York Dragoons. 
 Officers of the East York Militia, under the command of 
 
 Lieut. -Colonel Heward. 
 Colonel John Beverley Robinson and Major Radenhurst, of the second 
 
 East York Militia. 
 
 Chiefs from each Tribe of the Five Nations : Captain Brant, 
 
 Ahyonwaeghs, Tehanagarene, Tewaserakc, Skayentakaen, 
 
 Thalotatro, Kaghnitake, Teyothorewen. 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 457 
 
 Markham Cavalry : Captain and Lieutenant Button. 
 Gore Militia: ColonelJames Crooks, Captain M. Crooks, 
 
 Lieutenant Findlay, and Dr. Hamilton. 
 Oxford Militia : Colonel Horner and Dr. Cornish. 
 
 560 Gentlemen on horseback. 
 
 285 Carriages, Gigs, and pleasure Waggons, filled with well dressed 
 Ladies and Gentlemen. 
 
 "The pedestrians were numerous. 
 
 "The procession ascended the mountain ten minutes after 
 two o clock, and marched through a lane formed by the 2d 
 and 3d regiments of Lincoln militia, to the monument. 
 
 " Upon the bodies being taken from the hearse and depo 
 sited in the vault within the monument, the guard presented 
 arms, and the artillery, posted on the heights, fired a salute 
 of nineteen guns." York Observer, October 18, 1824. 
 
 No. 14. Page 415. 
 
 " Queenstown, at which place the steam boats start for 
 Toronto, is situated in a delicious valley, through which the 
 Niagara river, in colour a deep green, pursues its course. It 
 is approached by a road that takes its winding way among 
 the heights by which the town is sheltered, and, seen from 
 this point, is extremely beautiful and picturesque. On the 
 most conspicuous of these heights stood a monument, erected 
 by the provincial legislature in memory of General Brock, 
 who was slain in a battle with the American forces, after 
 having won the victory. Some vagabond, supposed to be a 
 fellow of the name of Lett, who is now, or who lately was, in 
 prison as a felon, blew up this monument two years ago; 
 and it is now a melancholy ruin, with a long fragment of 
 iron railing hanging dejectedly from its top, and waving to 
 and fro like a wild ivy branch or broken vine stem. It is of 
 much higher importance than it may seem that this statue 
 should be repaired at the public cosl, as it ought to have been 
 long ago ; first, because it is beneath the dignity of England 
 to allow a memorial, raised in honor of one of her defenders, 
 to remain in this condition, on the very spot v/here he died; 
 secondly, because the sight of it in its present state, and the 
 recollection of the unpunished outrage which brought it to 
 this pass, are not very likely to soothe down border feelings 
 among English subjects here, or compose their border quarrels 
 and dislikes." Dickens American Notes, vol. ii., pp. 187, 188. 
 
 W 
 
458 APPENDIX A. SECTION II. 
 
 SECTION II. AMERICAN AUTHORS. 
 
 No. 1. Page 248. 
 
 Extract from Jefferson s Correspondence. Monticello, 
 October I, 1812. 
 
 " I fear that Hull s surrender has been more than the mere 
 loss of a year to us. Besides bringing on us the whole mass 
 of savage nations, whom fear, and not affection, had kept in 
 quiet, there is danger that, in giving time to an enemy who 
 can send reinforcements of regulars faster than we can raise 
 them, they may strengthen Canada and Halifax beyond the 
 assailment of our lax and divided powers. Perhaps, how 
 ever, the patriotic efforts from Kentucky and Ohio, by 
 recalling the British force to its upper posts, may yet give 
 time to Dearborn to strike a blow below. Effectual posses 
 sion of the river from Montreal to Chaudiere, which is 
 practicable, would give us the upper country at our leisure, 
 and close for ever the scenes of the tomahawk and scalping 
 knife." 
 
 No. 2. Page 254. 
 
 tl Revolutionary Services of General Hull, as taken from his 
 Defence before the Court Martial) in March, 1814. 
 
 "For more than half a century I supported a character 
 without reproach. My youth was devoted to the service of 
 my country ; I fought her battles in that war which achieved 
 her liberty and independence, and which was ended before 
 many of you, gentlemen, who are my judges, were born. If 
 upon any occasion a man may speak of his own merits, it is 
 at such a time as this : and I hope I may be permitted to 
 present to you, in very few words, a narration of my life, while 
 I was engaged in scenes which were calculated to prove a 
 man s firmness and courage. I shall do it with less reluctance, 
 because the testimony I have offered of the venerable men 
 who served with me in the revolutionary war, will vouch for 
 all I have to say. In the year 1775, at the age of about 
 twenty-one years, I was appointed a captain in one of the 
 Connecticut regiments; during that campaign, and until 
 March, 1776, when the enemy evacuated Boston, I served 
 with the army at Cambridge and Roxbury, and in the imme 
 diate command of General Washington. I was with that 
 part of the army, in March, 1776, which took possession of 
 Dorchester heights the movement which compelled the 
 enemy to evacuate Boston. The next day, the regiment to 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 459 
 
 which I belonged marched for New York. I was on Long 
 Island when the enemy landed, and remained until the night 
 the whole army retreated. I was in several small skirmishes, 
 hoth on Long Island and York Island, before the army retired 
 to the White Plains. I then belonged to Colonel Charles 
 Webb s regiment, of Connecticut. 
 
 " This regiment was in the severest part of the action on 
 Chatterdon s Hill, a little advanced of the White Plains, a 
 few days after the main body of the army abandoned New 
 York. This battle is memorable in the history of our country ; 
 and the regiment to which I belonged received the particular 
 thanks of General Washington, in his public orders, for its 
 bravery and good conduct on the occasion. It was particu 
 larly distinguished from all the other troops engaged in the 
 action. I received a slight wound by a musket ball in my 
 side, but it did not prevent me from remaining at the head of 
 my company. 
 
 " I was in the battle of Trenton, when the Hessians were 
 taken, in December, 1776 ; and, being one of the youngest 
 captains in the army, was promoted by General Washington 
 the day after the battle, to a majority, for my conduct on that 
 occasion. The 1st of January, 1777, I was in the battle of 
 Princeton. In the campaign of the same year, the regiment 
 to which I belonged served in the northern array. I was early 
 in the spring ordered to Ticonderoga, and commanded the 
 regiment (being the senior officer present) under General St. 
 Clair, and I was with that officer in his retreat from that post. 
 
 "After General St. Glair s army formed a junction with 
 General Schuyler s army on the North River, at Fort Edward, 
 the regiment to which I belonged was detached, and marched 
 to Fort Schuyler, and relieved that p.ost, which was besieged 
 by General St. Leger. 
 
 " On the retreat of General Schuyler s army from Fort 
 Edward, I commanded the rear guard of the army ; and, 
 being two miles in the rear, was attacked by a large body of 
 British troops and Indians at daylight in the morning, in 
 which action were killed and wounded between thirty and 
 forty of my guard. And I received the particular thanks of 
 General Schuyler for my conduct on the occasion. 
 
 (t I was in the two memorable battles, on the 19th of 
 September and the 7th of October, on Bemis heights, 
 against General Burgoyne s army, previous to its surrender. 
 In the action of the 19th of September, I commanded a 
 detachment of three hundred men, who fought the principal 
 part of the afternoon, and more than one half of them were 
 killed or wounded. 
 
 " On the 7th of October, I likewise commanded a detach 
 ment from the Brigade which assisted in attacking the enemy 
 on the left of our position, defeated him, followed him to .the 
 
460 APPENDIX A. SECTION II. 
 
 right of his lines, stormed his entrenchments, and took and 
 held possession of the right of his position, which compelled 
 him to retreat to Saratoga, and there to capitulate. 
 
 "After the memorable event of the capitulation of General 
 Burgoyne s army, the regiment to which I belonged was 
 ordered to Pennsylvania, to join the army under the command 
 of General Washington. I remained with the army the 
 winter of 1777, at Valley Forge; and in the spring of 1778, 
 when the British army evacuated Philadelphia, I was in the 
 battle of Monmouth. 
 
 "From December, 1778, to May, 1779, I commanded the 
 American posts in advance of the White Plains, near Kings- 
 bridge, during which time I had various skirmishes with the 
 enemy. In May, 1779, the principal part of the British army 
 advanced up the North River to Verplank s and Stoney Point, 
 and I was ordered to retreat before them to West Point. 
 
 "I then joined the light infantry, under the command of 
 General Wayne, and was in the memorable attack on Stoney 
 Point, with a separate command of four hundred light infantry. 
 
 " For my conduct on this occasion I received the particular 
 thanks of General Wayne, General Washington, and congress. 
 
 "In the summer and autumn of 1780, I commanded the 
 advanced posts of the army ; and in December of that year, 
 .1 commanded an expedition against the enemy, stationed at 
 Morrissina, which was successful, and for which I received 
 the thanks of General Washington, in his general orders to 
 the army, and likewise the thanks of congress. General 
 Washington, in his orders, I well remember, made use of these 
 words: He thanked me for my judicious arrangements in 
 the plan of operations, and for my intrepidity and valour in 
 the execution. 
 
 " From the conclusion of the revolutionary war I have 
 lived with the respect of my countrymen, and have enjoyed 
 repeated marks of their confidence in the offices which have 
 been bestowed upon me. When I found that the independence, 
 for which I had so often fought, was assailed, that again my 
 country must appeal to arms to avenge her wrongs, and to 
 protect her rights, I felt that I might yet do her some service. 
 For though many years had passed since I had fought under 
 her standard, and though my own arm might not have had 
 its wonted strength, yet my spirit was unbroken, and my 
 devotion to her unimpaired. I thought in the field, where 
 there could be but few who had any military experience, what 
 I had learned in the most active scenes of a seven years war, 
 might be useful. I fondly hoped that in my age, as well as 
 in my youth, I might render services that should deserve the 
 gratitude of my country that if I fell by the sword of her 
 enemies, my grave would be moistened with the tears of my 
 countrymen; that my descendants would be proud of my 
 
SIR ISAAC BROCK. 461 
 
 name and fame. But how vain is anticipation ! I am now 
 accused of crimes which would blast my former honors, and 
 transmit my memory with infamy to posterity. And in that 
 hideous catalogue, there is none from the imputation of which 
 my nature and my feelings have more recoiled than from that 
 of cowardice, to which I am to answer." 
 
 "The appearance of General Hull was venerable and prepossessing;. 
 Beneath snowy locks, of nearly sixty winters bleaching, he exhibited a 
 countenance as fresh and blooming as a youth of eighteen . His eloquence 
 was perspicuous and graceful." American History. 
 
 No. 3. Page 331. 
 
 Letter from Captain Wool to Colonel Van Rensselaer. 
 " BUFFALOE, October 23, 1812. 
 
 " I have the honor to communicate to you the circumstances 
 attending the storming of Queenstown battery, on the 13th 
 instant; with those which happened previously you are 
 already well acquainted. 
 
 " In pursuance of your order, we proceeded round the 
 point and ascended the rocks, which brought us partly in rear 
 of the battery. We took it without much resistance. I 
 immediately formed the troops in rear of the battery, and 
 fronting the village, when I observed General Brock with 
 his troops formed, consisting of four companies of the 49th 
 regiment, and a few militia, marching for our left flank. I 
 immediately detached a party of one hundred and fifty men, 
 to take possession of the heights above Queenstown battery, 
 and to hold General Brock in check ; but in consequence of his 
 superior force they retreated. I sent a reinforcement ; notwith 
 standing which, the enemy drove us to the edge of the bank ; 
 when, with the greatest exertions, we brought the troops to a 
 stand, and ordered the officers to bring their men to a charge 
 as soon as the ammunition was expended, which was exe 
 cuted with some confusion, and in a few moments the enemy 
 retreated. We pursued them to the edge of the heights, 
 when Colonel M Donell had his horse shot from under him, 
 and himself was mortally wounded. In the interim, General 
 Brock, in attempting to rally his forces, was killed, when the 
 enemy dispersed in every direction. As soon as it was 
 practicable I formed the troops in a line on the heights 
 fronting the village, and immediately detached flanking 
 parties, which consisted of Captain Machesney, of the 6th 
 regiment, Lieutenant Smith and Ensign Grosvenor, with a 
 small detachment of riflemen, who had that moment arrived; 
 at the same time, I ordered Lieutenant Ganesvoort and 
 Lieutenant Randolph, with a detachment of artillery, to drill 
 out an 18-pounder which had been previously spiked, and, if 
 
46*2 APPENDIX A. SECTION II. 
 
 possible, to bring it to bear upon the village. The wounded 
 and prisoners I ordered to be collected, and sent to the 
 guard-house. About this time, which was about three or 
 four o clock in the afternoon, Lieut.-Colonel Christie arrived, 
 and took the command. He ordered me across the river to 
 get my wounds dressed. I remained a short time. Our 
 flanking parties had been driven in by the Indians; but 
 General Wadsworth and other officers arriving, we had a 
 short skirmish with them, and they retreated, and I crossed 
 the river." 
 
 [NOTE. Captain Wool, in stating 1 that he was opposed to four companies 
 of the 4Qth, only doubled the number of companies ; but this exaggeration 
 is a trifle compared with the following gross and liudibrastic mis-statements, 
 relative to the battle of Queenstown in " Ramsay s History of the United 
 States," viz. " The 4Qth British regiment, signalized in Egypt under 
 Colonel, since Lieutenant-General, Brock, and usually called the Egyp 
 tian Invincibles, was among the prominent corps, and was led by its 
 favorite commander. In the second engagement, this regiment of British 
 regulars, 600 strong, encountered a body of 320 American regulars, 
 supported by a few militia and volunteers, the whole under Colonel 
 Chrystie. They mutually resorted to the bayonet, and after a bloody 
 conflict, the famous invincibles yielded to the superior energy of their 
 antagonists, although the latter were so far inferior in numbers. They 
 were rallied by Lieut.-General Brock, who was killed in conducting them 
 a second time to the charge. The American prisoners were kindly 
 treated by this brave regiment, who, after the battle was over, acknow 
 ledged they had never opposed more gallant adversaries." The 49th, not 
 having been with the British army in Egypt, could not be called the 
 "Egyptian Invincibles;" and instead of this regiment, 600 strong, being 
 led by Major ( not Lieutenant) General Brock, only the flank companies 
 were present, with a small body of militia, together about 300 men. In 
 fact, four companies of the 49th were at Kingston, 160 miles distant, and 
 the remaining four battalion companies were, we believe, at Fort Erie, 27 
 or 28 miles from Queenstown; and therefore, the assertion that the 
 " famous invincibles" yielded to far inferior numbers, is something worse 
 than ridiculous. Such, however, is the correctness of this American 
 historian on the subject, and with such materials is history too often 
 compiled. ED.] 
 
 " REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN " (Extracts.) 
 
 " Captain Wool discovered the British troops forming at 
 Queenstown, and formed the troops under his command in 
 line. General Brock was at the head of the British troops, 
 and led them round about to the heights in the rear of the 
 battery. Captain Wool detached 160 men to meet the 
 British; this detachment was driven back, reinforced, and 
 the whole driven to the brink of the precipice, forming the 
 bank of the Niagara river, above Queenstown. 
 
 "At this moment some of the officers put a white hand 
 kerchief on a bayonet to hoist as a flag, with intention to 
 surrender. Captain Wool inquired the object. It was 
 answered that the party were nearly without ammunition, 
 and that it was useless to sacrifice the lives of brave men. 
 Captain Wool tore off" the flag, ordered the officers to rally 
 
DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 463 
 
 the men, and bring: them to the charge. The order was 
 executed, but in some confusion. The boasted 49th could 
 not stand the American bayonet. The British troops were 
 routed, and Major-General Brock, in gallantly exerting 
 himself to rally them, was killed. His aid, Colonel M Donell , 
 fell mortally wounded at the same time. 
 
 "The British being completely driven from the heights 
 about ten o clock, the line was reformed and flanking parties 
 sent out." Niles Weekly Register, 1812. 
 
 Extracts from Niles 1 Weekly Register, Baltimore, 1812. 
 
 "Extract of a letter from a gentleman at Detroit to his 
 friend in Pittsburg, dated July 7, 1812. General Hull is 
 making preparations to cross the river this evening or 
 to-morrow, and it is expected that an immediate attack is 
 contemplated on Maiden (Amherstburg). The army are all 
 in health and good spirits, and wait with anxiety to be put 
 on the other shore : they are certainly as fine looking men 
 as I ever saw. " 
 
 "We have several reports of the capture of Fort Maiden. 
 General Hull has sent expresses to the governors of Ohio and 
 Kentucky for further supplies of troops, supposed for the 
 purpose of maintaining the ground he may take, and to keep 
 the allies in check. We trust he may religiously adhere to 
 his proclamation, whatever General Brock may say, and give 
 no quarters to the white savages when found fighting by the 
 side of the Indians, for whose extensive murders the British 
 should be made responsible." 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 
 BAILIFF OF GUERNSEY. 
 
 This able magistrate, the third son of John Brock, Esq., 
 was born in Guernsey on the 10th of December, 1762, and 
 closed a long and useful career on Saturday evening, the 24th 
 September, 1842, at the age of 79 years and nearly 1o months. 
 After receiving such rudiments of education as the island 
 
464 APPENDIX B. 
 
 could furnish in those days, he was placed at Alderney, to 
 learn the French language, under M. Vallatt, a Swiss protes- 
 tan clergyman, and a man of talent, who was afterwards 
 rector of St. Peter-in- the- Wood, in Guernsey. From Alderney 
 he was sent to a school at Richmond, in Surrey, where he 
 remained only two years, as at the early age of fourteen he 
 went to Dinan with his father, who died there. The premature 
 death of his parents was an irreparable loss to the son, as it 
 was the cause of his not returning to school, where he had 
 already shown that he possessed a vigour of intellect much 
 beyond his years. His two elder brothers were in the army, 
 and the pardonable fondness of his mother induced her to 
 retain at home the only one of her sons, who could in some 
 measure replace the counsels of her husband. 
 
 In 1785, he went by sea to the Mediterranean, and spent 
 upwards of a year in visiting Spain, Malta, Sicily, Italy, 
 Switzerland, and France. In 1798, he was elected jurat of 
 the Royal Court; and the greater part, if not the whole, of 
 the public documents of that body, were from that period 
 written by him. In 1821, he obtained the high and respon 
 sible appointment of bailiff, or chief magistrate, of Guernsey. 
 
 "It has been truly said that the history of Guernsey, for 
 the last fifty years, was, in fact, the history of Daniel De 
 Lisle Brock. So exclusively has the better part of Mr. 
 Brock s life been devoted to the service of his country so 
 completely have his affections been wrapped up in her welfare 
 so ardently, so zealously, and so unceasingly has he la 
 boured to promote her prosperity arid to protect her privi 
 leges and so intimately has he been connected with all the 
 important occurrences of the period alluded to that in read 
 ing the history of the island, we read the history of this, the 
 most able and devoted of its friends." 
 
 Between the years 1804 and 1810, Mr. Brock was deputed 
 by the States and Royal Court of Guernsey no less than four 
 times, as their representative to government, in matters 
 connected with the trade and privileges of the island ; and 
 he also went once to Jersey, to confer with the Royal Court 
 there on the same subject. In these missions, Mr. Brock 
 distinguished himself by his luminous and argumentative 
 papers,* and the authority of the Royal Court was happily 
 preserved intact by his representations and unremitting exer 
 tions. In one of his official visits to London, he became 
 known to the Duke of Northumberland, at whose table he 
 was an occasional guest. The Duke mentioned to him that 
 his grandfather, who had been Governor of Guernsey (a sine- 
 
 * " There are some of the public papers written by Mr. Brock which may 
 be profitably studied as models of this kind of composition." Guernsey 
 Star, September 26, 1842. 
 
DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 465 
 
 cure) from the year 1742 to his death in 1750, had expressed 
 his surprise that, during that period, he had never been asked 
 for a single favor by any inhabitant of the island. In those 
 days the natives, with their simple habits and moderate wants, 
 were happily more independent of the smiles or frowns of 
 power than they are at present, as, possessing no parliamen 
 tary influence, they have little chance in the distribution of 
 government patronage. 
 
 " In 1821, an act of parliament having been passed prohi 
 biting the importation of foreign corn into the Channel 
 Islands, whenever its entry for consumption was prohibited 
 in England, to wit, until it reached the price of 80s. per 
 quarter, Mr. Brock was again deputed to London to contend 
 against a measure fraught with such fatal consequences to 
 the islands, and at the same time to obtain some modifica 
 tions in the navigation laws. Mr. Brock, who was essentially 
 assisted in this business by Mr. James Carey, jurat, succeeded 
 in both these objects. The obnoxious corn law was repealed 
 so far as the Channel Islands were concerned, and some 
 important privileges conceded to their trade and navigation, 
 especially in granting them free intercourse with the British 
 colonies, and the American continent and islands. So highly 
 were these last services appreciated, that when Mr. Brock 
 returned to Guernsey, on the 24th July, 1822, he was received 
 with unexampled enthusiasm. On landing in the morning, 
 he was saluted with deafening cries of " Brock for ever!" 
 " Long may he lire ! " &c. The public joy was manifested on 
 this occasion in many different ways. The shipping in the 
 harbour hoisted their flags ; crowns and garlands of flowers, 
 flags, loaves of bread, with ears of corn, were tastefully 
 arranged, and suspended in almost every street; mottos and 
 devices, expressive of unbounded gratitude, were exhibited 
 in every direction, and in the greatest variety; and the 
 church bells throughout the island rang merry peals during 
 the day. Bands of music paraded the town, followed by 
 crowds, on whose happy countenances " Mirth, admit me of 
 thy crew," was expressed. The musicians wore various co 
 loured bands round their hats, with the motto of " Long live 
 Bailiff Brock I" They surrounded a banner crowned with 
 flowers^ bearing the following inscription : 
 
 " The grateful inhabitants of Guernsey, to the worthy Bailiff, 
 
 DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK. 
 
 Happy is he who labours to promote the happiness of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 He will secure their eternal gratitude. They will unceasingly exclaim : 
 
 May God preserve our friend, our benefactor, and our parent. " 
 
 "This inscription, having been borne in triumph in every 
 part of the town, was presented to the object, of well-merited 
 praise, and accepted. Preparations had been made by the 
 W* 
 
466 APPENDIX B, 
 
 militia bands to receive this distinguished patriot at the 
 landing place; but their good intentions were thwarted, in 
 consequence of the early hour at which the arrival took 
 place. At a public meeting of the inhabitants, it was de 
 termined to present a piece of plate to Mr. Brock, as a 
 testimony of the value attached to his public services, and in 
 the hope that this faint evidence of their attachment might 
 serve to stimulate others to follow his steps, and might des 
 cend as a memorial to his posterity. Upwards of 300 were 
 quickly raised for this purpose, and other less valuable, but 
 not less gratifying, testimonials were presented to him. Nor 
 was Jersey less grateful, as a public meeting was held in the 
 town of St. Helier, when the thanks of the island and a 
 handsome piece of plate were unanimously voted to him." 
 
 In 1826, General Sir John Doyle, Bart, and G. C.B., for 
 many years lieutenant-governor of Guernsey, visited the 
 island ; and at a public dinner, given to him on the 29th 
 August, at the Assembly Rooms, he rose and spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 "Gentlemen, Having received permission from the chair, I rise to 
 propose a toast which would be well received in any society where the 
 enlightened individual is known. But here I anticipate it will be met by 
 acclamation and enthusiasm. I do not propose his health, merely be 
 cause he is my friend, although I feel truly honored by his friendship ; 
 and the more so, as I know that it originated and was cemented by his 
 conviction of my honest zeal for the public good, and the deep interest I 
 took in the welfare of his native land. But I give him as a public man, 
 who, to a sound, vigorous, and cultivated understanding, joins a liberal 
 and enlightened mind an innate love of justice, and hatred of oppression 
 an inflexible adherence to that which appears to him to be right a 
 man too wise to be cunning. Armed with the mens conscia recti, he 
 marches straightforward to his object, nor turns into the devious path of 
 crooked policy, and left-handed wisdom. To these qualities are added 
 indefatigable industry, and a patience not to be exhausted. This is the 
 man, who, as a public magistrate in high station, I offer for your accep 
 tance. Of his private worth, I dare not say all that I feel. He is present. 
 You know him, and can duly appreciate his value. You will have 
 anticipated that I mean the bailiff of Guernsey. I now propose to you 
 The health of the bailiff, and unalloyed happiness to the island of 
 Guernsey. " 
 
 " In 1832, one of the most ancient and vital privileges of 
 Guernsey the right of the inhabitants to be tried in their 
 own local court was placed in peril, it being assailed by no 
 less a character than Lord Chief Justice Tenterden, who 
 sought to extend the power of the writ of habeas corpus to 
 this island. The history of this event would occupy much 
 more space than we can now devote to it. Suffice it here to 
 say, that after much correspondence on the subject, Mr. 
 Brock and Mr. Charles De Jersey, the king s procureur, were 
 deputed to London, to act in conjunction with the bailiff and 
 procureur of Jersey in opposing the measure. The mission 
 
DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 467 
 
 was successful, and the independence of the insular jurisdic 
 tions was maintained. 
 
 " The last occasion on which Mr. Brock went to England 
 in the service of his native island, was in the year 1835, when 
 the Channel Islands were menaced with being deprived of tire 
 privilege of sending their corn into England, duty free. An 
 idea had obtained ground that this privilege was abused; 
 and, in consequence, a bill was brought into parliament to 
 deprive the islands of this important branch of their trade. 
 Deputies were therefore appointed by the islands to proceed 
 to London, for the purpose of advocating their rights, and 
 Mr. Brock was again fixed on as the representative of Guern 
 sey. Owing to the remonstrances of this deputation, a select 
 committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire 
 into the matter, and the result was that the bill was with 
 drawn. So highly were Mr. Brock s services on this occasion 
 valued by both islands, that the States of Jersey voted him 
 a piece of plate of the value of 100, whilst the States of 
 Guernsey voted that portrait which now adorns the interior 
 of the court-house, and which will afford to succeeding 
 generations 1 the means of contemplating the intellectual coun 
 tenance and venerable form of one whom they will ever 
 remember as the firmest friend, and ablest administrator of his 
 country. 
 
 " From the period here alluded to, until within a few days 
 of his death, Mr. Brock was unremittingly engaged in la 
 bouring for the public good. The records of the island will 
 show how indefatigably he devoted himself to its service ; 
 and it may be truly said of him, that to his latest moment 
 the desire to secure its welfare was the reigning impulse of 
 his heart." 
 
 Mr. Brock left one son, Eugene, a captain in the 20th 
 regiment, since deceased, unmarried ; and one daughter, now 
 also unmarried. In countenance and robustness of frame, 
 although not so tall, as well as in vigour of intellect and 
 decision of character, the bailiff strongly resembled his bro 
 ther, Sir Isaac Brock ; and when a friend of the latter, Sir 
 James Kempt, visited Guernsey, in his official capacity as 
 master-general of the ordnance, he was struck with the per 
 sonal resemblance, notwithstanding that Mr. Brock was then 
 in his 71st year. 
 
 The Royal Court, having met on the 26th September, to 
 appoint a judge delegate to replace pro tempore the late bai 
 liff, unanimously requested the family of the deceased to 
 allow him to be buried at the expense of the States of Guern 
 sey, and the funeral was in consequence a public one. " For 
 though Mr. Brock had enriched his country with numerous 
 and inappreciable benefits though he bequeathed to it an 
 inestimable heritage in his deeds and in his example he 
 
468 APPENDIX B. 
 
 died in honorable and ennobling poverty, resulting from his 
 disinterestedness, his integrity, and his patriotism.* The 
 public, we say, were pleased, were gratified, were proud in 
 seeing that their representatives and rulers so promptly and 
 so handsomely anticipated and fulfilled their wishes, and they 
 looked forward to the moment of paying to their departed 
 benefactor the last mournful honors with feelings in which 
 complacency was not unmingled with their grief. 
 
 "Some hours before the time appointed for the ceremony, 
 the inhabitants of the country parishes, mostly clothed in 
 respectable mourning, were seen thronging into town ; and 
 by eleven o clock a considerable crowd was collected in the 
 front of Mr. Savery Brock s house, from whence the proces 
 sion was to issue. Punctually at the time appointed, (twelve 
 o clock,) the authorities and other gentlemen invited to take 
 part in the ceremony, together with a large number of per 
 sons who attended spontaneously to pay the last mark of 
 respect to the deceased, were assembled ; and having been 
 marshalled by the deputy sheriffs and the special constables, 
 in the manner laid down in the programme, the mournful 
 cortege, comprising nearly five hundred persons, issued into the 
 Grange Road in the following order of procession : 
 
 Four Assistant Constables, 
 (each with his Staff of office,) 
 
 Two Deputy Sheriffs. Deputy Greffier. Deputy Sergeant. 
 Deputy Harbour Master. Postmaster. 
 
 Surveyor of Works. 
 
 Receiver of Impost. Assistant Supervisor. Harbour Master. 
 The Principal Officer and the Comptroller of 
 
 Her Majesty s Customs. 
 Deputy Judge Advocate. Barrack Master. 
 
 Ordnance Storekeeper. 
 
 Fort Major. Government Secretary. 
 
 Officers of the five Regiments of Guernsey Militia. 
 
 Officers of the 48th Depot. 
 
 Officers of the Royal Artillery. Colonel Moody, R.E. 
 Clerk of the Town Parish. Clerk of St. Martin s Parish. 
 Rev. W. Le Mottee. Rev. Henry Benwell. 
 
 Rev. E. Guille. Rev. George Guille. 
 
 Rev. F. Jeremie. Rev. Peter Carey. 
 
 Rev. Daniel Dobree. Rev. W. L. Davies. 
 
 Rev. William Guille. Rev. W. J. Chepmell. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Brock. The Very Rev. the Dean. 
 
 * " Mr. Brock was no doubt ambitious, but his ambition was gratified in 
 beholding the advancement of his country. Personal advantage indi 
 vidual distinction were things that never occurred to his imagination, 
 or occured only to be contemned. He might have had an augmentation 
 of salary he might have received the honour of knighthood he might 
 have had the sources of fortune opened to him but these would have 
 brought no advantages to Guernsey, and he rejected them." Guernsey 
 Star, September 26, 1842. 
 
DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 469 
 
 Frederick Mansell, Jurat. ^1 ^A Hilary O. Carre", Jurat. 
 John Hubert, Jurat. flE ^A John Le Messurier, Jurat, 
 
 James Carey, Jurat. ^B John Guille, Jurat. 
 
 Rev. R. Potenger. > Tv Tniirnpro / F. B. Tupper. 
 John Carey, Jun. J Mourners. ( Henry Tupper. 
 Lieut. -General Sir James Douglas. His Excellency Major-General 
 
 W. F. P. Napier, Lieut.-Governor. Lieut. -General Ross. 
 Peter B. Dobre. \ T,,v Q fc / T - W. Gosselin. 
 Thomas Le Retilley. / Jurai;s - \ H. Dobree, jun. 
 The Queen s Procureur. The Queen s Comptroller. Her Majesty s 
 Receiver -General. Greffier. Sheriff. 
 
 The Advocates of the Royal Court. 
 
 The late Bailiff s Medical Attendants. 
 
 The Douzeniers of each parish, headed by their respective 
 
 Constables, four abreast. 
 
 Relatives, with Hat Bands, four abreast. 
 
 The Order of Rechabites in full procession. 
 
 A Deputation of the Total Abstinence Society, 
 
 headed by Mr. Edmund Richards. 
 
 " The procession proceeded in solemn order down the 
 Grange Road, until it reached the College, when it turned 
 to the left, and passed on to the eastern entrance of the new 
 burying ground, and from thence proceeded to the grave, 
 near the opposite extremity of the cemetery, which was 
 destined, to be the final resting place of the aged patriot. 
 The persons who composed the cortege having been formed 
 in order round the grave, the sublime and solemn ritual of 
 the Church of England was read in a feeling and impressive 
 manner by the Very Reverend the Dean, the coffin being at 
 the proper period of the service committed to the bosom of 
 the earth in profound and solemn silence. When the service 
 was concluded, a great many persons approached the border 
 of the grave to take a farewell look at the narrow tenement 
 which now contained the remains of a man who, but a few 
 short hours back, had occupied so prominent a position in 
 his native land. Many a sigh was breathed, many a tear 
 was shed upon that grave ; and many and various were the 
 expressions of affection and regret which there found ut 
 terance, and which seemed to say 
 
 We ne er shall look upon his like again. 
 
 " On no similar occasion had there ever been collected so 
 large a concourse of persons in this island. Some pains 
 were taken to ascertain the number of those who entered the 
 
470 APPENDIX B. 
 
 burial ground, and it is believed that they considerably 
 exceeded 4,000. An equal, or perhaps a larger number, 
 were dispersed, as spectators, in the Grange Road and ad 
 jacent parts. Every house that commanded a glimpse of the 
 procession, or the interment, was crowded. The windows, 
 even to the attics, were peopled; whilst walls, gardens, and 
 every spot from which any thing could be seen, were in like 
 manner occupied. Notwithstanding the extraordinary num 
 ber of persons collected, a very creditable degree of order and 
 decorum was maintained throughout the whole of the pro 
 ceedings." * 
 
 The union jack was hoisted half mast at Fort George and 
 Castle Cornet from the day succeeding the bailiff s death to 
 that of his funeral, on which days also the bells of the parish 
 church of St. Peter-Port were tolled, and the flags of the 
 vessels in the two harbours and roadstead were hoisted half 
 mast. On the day of the interment, the shops in St.. Peter- 
 Port were entirely closed until the mournful ceremony was 
 completed. 
 
 The lieutenant-governor of the island, Major-General Na 
 pier, the celebrated historian of the Peninsular war, evinced, 
 in a manner as creditable to his feelings as it was gratifying 
 to those of the family, an anxious desire to pay every respect 
 to the memory of the deceased, his excellency, with the offi 
 cers of his staff, and Lieut.-General Ross, and Lieut.-General 
 Sir James Douglas, ex-lieutenant-governors, attending the 
 funeral in full uniform, as did all the officers of the five 
 regiments of militia. All the civil and military authorities, 
 as well as the whole of the clergy of the island, were present. 
 
 The following remarks are extracted from a long and most 
 ably written article of nearly two columns, in the Guernsey 
 Star of Monday, September 26, 1842, in which the last mo 
 ments and character of Mr. Brock were feelingly portrayed 
 by the editor, an English gentleman : 
 
 "Mr. Brock s career, his talents, his services, and his amiable qualities, 
 are so familiar to every native and inhabitant of Guernsey they have, 
 as it were, become so much the common property of the community 
 they have been so much the objects of their study so constantly the 
 theme of their praise and admiration that it may seem almost a work 
 of supererogation in us to make any observation on them on the present 
 melancholy occasion. We cannot, however, allow the grave to close 
 upon him without strewing it with some of those offerings of respect and 
 praise which spontaneously spring to our hand as we pen the notice of 
 his death. We feel that we enjoy considerable latitude on this occasion, 
 because, from having been for years the political antagonists of Mr. 
 
 * The extracts in inverted commas are from the Guernsey Star of 
 Thursday, 29th September, 1842. 
 
DANIEL DE LISLE BROCK, ESQ. 471 
 
 Brock, and having braved his hostility when living, our tribute to his 
 memory cannot be looked on as other than the genuine offspring of our 
 feeling and our judgement. 
 
 " Mr. Brock was not an ordinary man. He was constituted of mate 
 rials which would have led their owner to distinction in whatever sphere 
 he might have been placed. Indebted but little to early education, he 
 possessed within himself a faculty of extracting knowledge from every 
 thing that came within his observation ; and, gifted with a powerful 
 memory, a reflecting mind, and the art of methodizing and arranging the 
 ideas and information which he acquired, he was enabled at all times to 
 bring a mass of well digested and pertinent knowledge to bear upon and 
 illustrate any subject which he was required to discuss. He had a sin 
 gular talent for comprehending principles and for seizing information, 
 and arranging and applying it; so that there were few subjects upon 
 which he entered, on which he could not lay down sound principles, 
 and illustrate and maintain them by sound arguments. Too confident 
 of his strength, and perhaps over-elated with his many victories, he 
 would sometimes venture on untenable ground, and expose himself to 
 the inroads of an able enemy ; but these indiscretions were of rare oc 
 currence, and the memory of his temporary checks was generally can 
 celled by the skilfulness of his retreats. 
 
 If Mr. Brock was thus distinguished for his mental powers, he was no 
 less so by the strength and felicity of his style of writing. He had the 
 rare talent of putting proper words in their proper places. He wrote 
 English with English plainness and English force. There was nothing 
 affected or modish in his manner. He gave his readers an impression 
 that he was clear in the conception of his own meaning, and he made it 
 equally so to them. He aimed at no ornament : the beauty of his writ 
 ings consisted in their perspicuity and strength. A verbal critic might 
 discover inaccuracies in his compositions, but the man of sense would 
 find in them nothing unmeaning nothing useless nothing vapid. He 
 was not a turner of fine periods he was not a fine writer but he wrote 
 with strength, precision, and lucidity ; and his compositions, even where 
 they failed to produce conviction, could never be read without creating 
 respect for the masculine talents of their author 
 
 " But the main ground on which the memory of Daniel De Lisle Brock 
 must rest its claims on the affection, the respect, and the gratitude of his 
 fellow-countrymen, is the devoted the engrossing love which, during 
 his whole life, he bore to his native land. Every thought, every wish, 
 every feeling of pride or ambition, centered in his beloved Guernsey. 
 She was the idol of his affections the object of all his solicitude the 
 glory of his inmost heart. His endeavours for her welfare may occa 
 sionally have been misdirected his objections to change in her institu 
 tions may have been ill-founded but his motives have ever been beyond 
 the reach of suspicion or reproach. They were concentrated in the desire 
 for her good. Her people, her soil, her laws, her customs, nay, even her 
 prejudices, were dear to him they were his household gods. He wor 
 shipped them, he lived for them, and he would have died for them 
 
 "The private character of Mr. Brock presents an embellishing and 
 graceful adjunct to his public qualities. Bold even to temerity in his 
 acts; firm even to obstinacy in his opinions; entertaining an exalted 
 estimate of the office that he filled, and of the interests that he embodied 
 or represented in his person, he was, at the same time, simple, courteous, 
 and benevolent in his private manner, to a degree that was as honorable 
 to himself, as it was gratifying to those who came in contact with him. 
 Mr. Brock on the bench, and Mr. Brock in private, were distinct charac 
 ters. In the former position, conscious, probably, of his talents and his 
 authority, he was firm, and sometimes, though rarely, in appearance 
 even imperious; in the latter, resigning himself to the feelings of the 
 gentleman, he was affable, kind, and even diffident. In his privacy he 
 displayed all the attributes of a superior mind. He was entirely devoid 
 of pride and ostentation : his mind was superior to the weakness they 
 
472 APPENDIX C. 
 
 denote. He disdained the conventional habits of society, for nature had 
 created him a gentleman, and he needed not the aid of art. He mingled 
 not in that society where he might have received the homage to which 
 his talents were entitled. He spent his time in study, or working for the 
 public welfare ; his relaxations being in his fields and garden, or in the 
 conversation of casual visitors who, uninvited, occasionally resorted to 
 his unceremonious and hospitable roof. Ardent as he was in political 
 discussions, prone as he was to enter into controversy, the feelings of 
 animosity which he expressed died in their utterance. The adversary of 
 to-day was the welcome guest of the morrow. The hand which had 
 distilled the gall of disputation at one moment, was readily extended in 
 kind fellowship the next. Mr. Brock was probably not exempt from 
 failings, but he had certainly nothing of littleness about him. He res 
 pected an honorable and open adversary, more than a flattering and 
 servile friend. His hostility was strong, but it was shortlived : his 
 enmity was vigorous, but it had no memory. In other respects, too, he 
 evinced a generous and benevolent heart. At all seasons and under all 
 circumstances, his time and attention were willingly devoted to those 
 who sought his assistance or advice. He was the friend and counsellor 
 of all. Many is the angry feeling he has allayed many the law.suit he 
 has prevented many the family division he has closed. His kind offices 
 were at the command of all. No labour was too great for him, when 
 called on for his assistance ; but if at any time he found himself obliged 
 to reject a claim which was made on him, he so softened his refusal with 
 courtesy and kindness, that the disappointed seldom left him without 
 experiencing a sense of obligation. 
 
 " Possessing these characteristics, which are hastily sketched by the 
 pen of a political opponent, Mr. Brock, it must be admitted, was a dis 
 tinguished man. His sphere of action was limited, but within that sphere 
 he acted an honorable, a useful, and a noble part. Had he been cast 
 upon a wider stage, there can be little doubt that his talents and his 
 resolution would have acquired for him a more extensive reputation ; 
 but, even as it is, his fate is enviable. He sought the welfare of his 
 country, and desired its respect and gratitude as his reward. Both 
 objects have been attained ; and he now sleeps, at the close of a long 
 and honorable life, regarded by all his countrymen as the most able, the 
 most useful, the most disinterested, and the most patriotic of the rulers 
 to which its destinies have ever been committed. No man has been 
 more beloved and respected in his life, and none more regretted at his 
 death. Peace to his manes ! " 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 LIEUT. E. WILLIAM TUPPER, R. N. 
 
 This young officer was descended from John Tupper, Esq., 
 who was the common ancestor of the Guernsey family of his 
 name, having married and settled in the island about the 
 year 1592. He was an English gentleman, of German ex 
 traction, his forefather, it appears, having, about the year 
 1525, fled from Cassel during the religious persecution in the 
 
LIEUT. E. WILLIAM TUPPER, R. N. 473 
 
 reign of Charles the Fifth. The elder son of this John 
 Tupper married Elizabeth, daughter of Hilary Gosselin,* 
 procurear du roi, or attorney-general the younger removed 
 to England. 
 
 In the memorable year of 1692, John Tupper, Esq., (the 
 grandson of the said John Tupper and Elizabeth Gosselin,) 
 at some expense and risk of capture, conveyed to Admiral 
 Russell, who commanded the combined English and Dutch 
 fleets lying at St. Helen s, the intelligence that the French 
 fleet, under Admiral Tourville, was in the channel. This 
 intelligence led to the battle of La Hogue : and as a reward 
 for this patriotic service, Mr. Tupper was presented by his 
 sovereigns, William and Mary, with a massive gold chain 
 and medal, which are now in possession of his heir male ; 
 his descendants being permitted to bear them as an honorable 
 augmentation to their arms and crest. t 
 
 The elder son of John Tupper, who acquired the medal, by 
 his wife, Elizabeth Dobree, of Beauregard, had three sons, of 
 whom the eldest died without issue, the second was Elisha, 
 a much-respected jurat of the Royal Court, who died in 
 1802, leaving five surviving children ; t and the youngest was 
 John, who obtained, in 1747, a commission, by purchase, in 
 General Churchill s regiment of marines, that corps being 
 then differently constituted to what it is now. He served as 
 a captain at the celebrated defeat of the French fleet in 
 Quiberon bay, by Sir Edward Hawke, in 1759; as a major 
 and commandant of a battalion at Bunker s Hill, in 1775, 
 where he was slightly wounded, and where the marines, having 
 greatly distinguished themselves, won the laurel which now 
 encircles their device ; and as a lieutenant-colonel in Rod 
 ney s victory of the 12th of April, 1782, having been espe 
 cially sent from England to command the marines in the 
 fleet, about 4,000 men, in the event of their being landed on 
 any of the enemy s West India islands. At his decease, in 
 January, 1795, he was a major-general in the army, and 
 commandant-in-chief of the marines. Had the honors of 
 the Bath been extended in those days to three degrees of 
 
 * Eldest son of N. Gosselin, Esq., jurat, one of the clerks of the coun 
 cil to Queen Elizabeth, by his wife, a daughter of Lewis Lempri&re, Esq., 
 bailiff of Jersey and grandson of Hilary Gosselin, bailiff of Guernsey 
 ?.n four reigns, Henry the Eighth to Elizabeth. 
 
 t Duncan s History of Guernsey, page 124. 
 
 t Viz. two sons Daniel, married Catherine, daughter of John Tupper, 
 Esq., jurat; and John, married Elizabeth, daughter of John Brock, Esq. 
 and three daughters, Emilia, wife of Sir. P. De Havilland, bailiff; Eli 
 zabeth, wife of W. Le Marchant, Esq. ; and Margaret, wife of I. Carey, Esq. 
 
 Major Tupper succeeded to the command of the marines, of whom 
 there were two battalions at Bunker s Hill, after the fall of the gallant 
 Major Pitcairn, and was honorably mentioned in the general orders of 
 the day. 
 
474 APPENDIX C. 
 
 knighthood as they have been since, he would doubtless 
 have been a knight commander of that order. 
 
 The fatality which has attended the sons and grandsons of 
 the two brothers just named, will appear in the following 
 brief summary : 
 
 1. Lieutenant Carre Tupper, of his majesty s ship Victory, 
 only son of Major-General Tupper, slain at the siege of 
 Bastia, 24th April, 1794. He was made a lieutenant in 1782, 
 at seventeen, and after distinguishing himself at Toulon, in 
 1793, was killed in the Victory s pinnace, while endeavouring 
 to land at night in a volunteer, and most desperate attempt 
 to obtain information of the state of the garrison. His lifeless 
 corpse was carried on board his ship, and afterwards buried 
 under the walls of Bastia.* 
 
 2. William De Vic Tupper, (son of E. Tupper, Esq,) mor 
 tally wounded in 1798, in a duel in Guernsey, with an officer 
 of the 27th regiment, and died the day following. Five of his 
 nephews also perished prematurely, viz. 
 
 3. John E. Tupper, aged twenty, perished at sea, in 1812, in 
 the Mediterranean, the vessel in which he was a passenger, 
 from Catalonia to Gibraltar, having never been heard of since. 
 
 4. Charles James Tupper,t aged sixteen, captain s mid 
 shipman of his majesty s 18-gun brig Primrose, drowned on 
 the 17th August, 1815, at Spithead, by the upsetting of the 
 boat in which he was accompanying his commander, Captain 
 Phillott, to the ship. 
 
 5. Lieutenant E. William Tupper, of his majesty s ship 
 Sybille, aged twenty-eight, mortally wounded in her boats, 
 June 18, 1826, in action with a strong band of Greek pirates, 
 near the island of Candia. 
 
 6. Colonel William De Vic Tupper, Chilian service, aged 
 twenty-nine, slain in action near Talca, in Chile, April 17, 
 1830. The four last were sons of John E. Tupper, Esq. 
 
 7. Colonel William Le Mesurier Tupper, of the British 
 Auxiliary Legion in Spain, and a captain in the 23d, or 
 Royal Welsh Fusiliers, mortally wounded near San Sebastian, 
 May 5, 1836, and died the 13th, aged thirty-two.:): 
 
 * See United Service Journal for 1840, pages 174, 341, and Duncan s 
 History of Guernsey, page 598. 
 
 t The Primrose, while this young officer was serving in her, was 
 actively employed during the war, and in one engagement had fifteen 
 officers and men killed and wounded. In 1815, he accompanied Captain 
 Phillott, in the boat expedition up the river St. Mary, in the United 
 States, in which that officer was wounded. 
 
 t "Colonel Tupper was a man of the most daring courage, and an 
 excellent officer. Though his loss is deeply regretted, yet his death may 
 be said to have been expected, as almost every one who saw him, and 
 amongst those the Spanish officers at Vittoria, prophesied that he would 
 fall in the first serious affair in which he should be engaged." Times. 
 London, May 23, 1836. See Duncan s History, page 623, and United 
 Service Journal, July, 1836, page 431. 
 
LIEUT. E. WILLIAM TUPPER, R. N. 475 
 
 E. William, third son of John E. Tupper, Esq., by Eliza- 
 zabelh Brock, his wife, was educated at Harrow, and com 
 menced his naval career in 1810, in the Victory, of 110 guns, 
 under Ihe care and patronage of the late Lord de Saumarez, 
 with wiiom lie continued some time in the Baltic. He served 
 on the American coast during the latter part of the war, in 
 the Asia, 74, and was present at the disastrous attack of New 
 Orleans, in January, 1.815, forming one of a party landed 
 from the fleet, to co-operate with 1 he army. On the night 
 of the storm, this parly, in conjunction with the 85th light 
 infantry, under Colonel Thornton,* attacked some fortified 
 works on the right bank of the Mississipi, and were complete 
 ly successful ; but the failure of the main assault rendered this 
 success unavailing. In the same year he joined the flag ship 
 of Sir Thomas Fremantle, who, having been a friend of his 
 late uncle, Sir Isaac Brock, kindly assured him of his influ 
 ence and support; but peace taking place before he had 
 attained Ihe requisite age for promotion, all the bright, pros 
 pects with which he entered the service were blighted. In 
 November, 1817, on his return in the Active frigate, Captain 
 Philip Carte> et, from the Jamaica station, he passed at the 
 naval college at Portsmouth, and was one of four midship 
 men complimented as having undergone a superior examina 
 tion. In 1823, he was appointed to the Revenge, Sir Harry 
 Neale s flag ship, in the Mediterranean, and placed on the 
 admiralty list for advancement. Early in 1S2G, he was at 
 length promoted into tue Seringapatam frigate ; but Sir John 
 Pechell, under whom he had previously served for a short 
 time, prevailed upon the admiral to transfer him to his own 
 ship, the Sybille, of 48 guns, "a crack frigate," in a high 
 state of discipline, the crew of which was remarkable for its 
 skill in gunnery. 
 
 The Sybille was at Alexandria, when intelligence arrived 
 there of the plunder of a Maltese vessel, under atrocious 
 circumstances, by a nest of G"-eek pirates, on the southern 
 coast of Candia. Sir John Pechell set sail immediately in 
 quest of these lawless and desperate men. On Sunday, the 
 18th of June, 1826, at daylight, two misticoes were observed 
 under sail, near Cape Matala, standing towards the frigate ; 
 but on discovering their mistake, they made for the land, 
 and were followed by the Sybille, into the narrow creek 
 formed by a rocky islet and the mainland of Candia. On 
 this islet were posted from 200 to 300 armed Greeks, chiefly 
 the crews of three or four piratical misticoes at anchor in the 
 creek ; and in a desperate attempt to cut out these misticoes, 
 with the boats, Midshipman J. M. Knox and twelve men 
 were killed ; and the first lieutenant, Gordon, dangerously ; 
 
 * The same officer whose letters have been given in this volume. 
 
476 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Lieutenant Tupper, mortally ; Midshipmen William Edmon- 
 stone and Robert Lees, both very severely j and twenty-seven 
 men were wounded, of whom five died in a few days. Two 
 of the misticoes were afterwards sunk, and many of the 
 pirates were killed and wounded by the frigate s guns.* 
 
 Lieutenant Tupper commanded the launch, and although 
 severely wounded in three places, he stood up the whole time, 
 and retained the command of her until he returned to the 
 ship. The bullet, which proved fatal, entered his right 
 breast, and was extracted from under the skin over the false 
 ribs. Having gone into action with his coat and epaulette, 
 he was doubtless particularly aimed at, as the four midship 
 men, H. M. E. Allen, the Hon. Frederick Pelham, Robert 
 Spencer Robinson, and the Hon. Edward Plunkett (now all 
 captains) who were in the launch, escaped unhurt. He lin 
 gered until the 26th June, when he breathed his last, in a 
 state of delirium, on board the Sybille, at Malta, where his 
 remains were interred, and a monument was erected to his 
 memory by his captain and messmates. In person he was 
 rather above the middle height, with a pleasing and intelli 
 gent countenance ; and when his brother Charles and he were 
 midshipmen together in the Victory, in the Baltic, they were 
 designated on board as the handsome brothers, t 
 
 The surgeon of the Sybille, in a letter to the family in 
 Guernsey, wrote of Lieutenant Tupper : 
 
 " When I first saw him, he was firm and cool. He asked me to give my 
 opinion without reserve, and knowing him to be possessed of great forti 
 tude, I told him that the wound in the chest was of a most dangerous 
 nature, but not necessarily fatal. He had by this time lost a great deal of 
 blood, but the internal hemorrhage, though the most alarming, was slight. 
 He remained so low for three days, that it was expected he would have 
 sunk, though he still continued collected and firm. On the fourth day he 
 rallied, his pulse became more distinct, and he evidently encouraged 
 hopes. Need I say that I felt myself incapable of destroying them 
 indeed I was not altogether without hope myself. The principal danger 
 was from hemorrhage upon the separation of the sloughs, and my fears 
 were fatally verified, for on the 25th, at noon, it commenced and increased 
 internally, until his lungs could no longer perform their functions, and 
 he died at about three o clock on the morning of the 26th. During the 
 whole time he was resigned, evincing the greatest strength of mind .... 
 As it was with unfeigned sorrow that I saw a fine and gallant young 
 man fall a victim to such a cause, so it was with admiration that I 
 witnessed his heroic bearing when the excitement was past, and hope 
 itself was almost fled. I have seen many support their firmness amidst 
 danger and death, but it belongs to few to sustain it during protracted 
 suffering, which is indeed a trial often too severe for the bravest, but 
 through which your lamented brother came with a spirit and resignation 
 which reflected lustre upon himself and family, and endeared him to all 
 his shipmates." 
 
 *See " United Service Journal," March, 1841, pp. 332-3. 
 
 t By a singular coincidence, the two brothers commenced their career 
 in the same ship, the Victory, to which their near relative, Lieutenant 
 Carre Tupper, belonged when he was killed in the Mediterranean, in one 
 of her boats, and all three lost their lives in boats ! 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPFER. 477 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 COLONEL V7ILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 
 
 My beautiful, my brave! 
 
 Ah ! who can tell how many a soul sublime 
 Has felt the influence of malignant star, 
 And waged with Fortune an unequal war : 
 
 This highly gifted young man was a brother of the subject 
 of the preceding memoir, their father having had ten sons 
 and three daughters. He was born in Guernsey, on the 28th 
 of April, 1800, and derived his Christian names from a pater 
 nal uncle who fell in that island in a duel with an officer of 
 the 27th regiment. Having received an excellent education 
 in England, partly under a private tutor at Dosthill, in War 
 wickshire, he was sent, on the restoration of the Bourbons, in 
 1814, to a college in Paris, in which he continued until the 
 arrival of Napoleon from Elba, when he was gratified by a 
 glimpse of that extraordinary man. When he landed in 
 France, although he had barely completed his fourteenth 
 year, his stature was so tall and athletic as to give him the 
 appearance of a young giant ; and on being asked his age at 
 the police office, that it might be inserted in his passport, his 
 reply was received with a smile of astonishment and incredu 
 lity, which afforded much subsequent amusement to his elder 
 fellow-travellers. At the age of sixteen, his strength and 
 activity were so great that few men could have stood up 
 against him with any chance of success. On his return to 
 Guernsey, every interest the family possessed was anxiously 
 exerted to indulge his wish of entering the British army, but 
 owing to the great reductions made after the peace of 1815, 
 he was unable to obtain a commission, even by purchase. 
 Those relatives who could best have forwarded his views, had 
 been slain in the public service ; and in that day, few claims 
 were admitted, unless supported by strong parliamentary 
 influence. In January, 1816, he attended the levee of the 
 commander-in-chief, in deep mourning for his next elder 
 brother, Charles, a midshipman, who had been drowned in 
 
478 APPENDIX D. 
 
 the navy a few months before : his royal highness promised 
 to take his memorial into early consideration, and it was 
 hoped by the family that his tall and strikingly handsome 
 person would have had some influence ; but unfortunately 
 the youth, then under sixteen, waited alone on the Duke of 
 York, and had no one to plead his cause or to promote his 
 wishes. He was accompanied as far as the Horse Guards by 
 the late Lieut.-Colonel Eliot, (mentioned ante,} who there, or 
 in the neighbourhood, introduced him to Sir Roger Sheaffe, 
 whom they met accidentally : but the general took little or 
 no notice of the nephew of one to whom he was under much 
 obligation, and whose fall had been his rise ! It is true that 
 Sir Roger Sheaffe was also about to solicit an ensigncy for 
 his own nephew, whose brother had a few months previously 
 (September, 1815,) received one in the 49th regiment ; but 
 sure we are, that had Sir Isaac Brock met the nephew of a 
 gallant predecessor under similar circumstances, he would 
 have presented him to the commander-in-chief, and urged 
 his claims with all the warmth of companionship and grati 
 tude. And is it not mortifying to think, that two nephews 
 of Sir Roger Sheaffe obtained that without purchase, which 
 was withheld from the nephew of Sir Isaac Brock, even by 
 purchase and that nephew of as noble a spirit as ever 
 breathed? But while we freely mention Sir Roger Sheaffe s 
 coldness and indifference, we appreciate, highly appreciate, 
 his paternal solicitude for these two nephews, who had 
 previously lost their father, a surveyor of the excise at 
 Mallow, in Ireland. Had, however, Sir Isaac Brock been as 
 careful of his person as were one or two general officers 
 that we could name,* who served during the war in Canada, 
 he would, doubtless, have also obtained an ensigncy for his 
 nephew ; but he was dead, and the dead trouble not. This 
 treatment of his nephew, a perfect counterpart of himself,t 
 certainly reflects no credit on the military authorities of that 
 day, over whom the mantle of Pericles had, alas! not been 
 thrown, as the Athenians like th3 British, a naval people 
 were moved by him, in a funeral oration, which remains to 
 this time a fitting testimonial of his eloquence and his grati 
 tude, to set apart a stipend for the widows and orphans of 
 their countrymen, who had fallen in the first campaign of the 
 Peloponnesian war. And be it remembered that Sir Isaac 
 Brock left neither widow nor children, and that his only sur 
 viving sister, who had a very numerous family of sons, had 
 
 * Or as Chief Justice Robinson expressed it in more courtly language 
 at "the gathering" on Queenstown Heights, in July, 1840: "in later 
 periods of the contest, it sometimes happened that the example of General 
 Brock was not very closely followed." (See ante.) 
 
 t Sir Thomas Fremantle was struck with De Vic Tupper s resemblance 
 to Sir Isaac Brock, when he saw him in Guernsey, in 1815. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 479 
 
 derived no benefit whatever from his death. But young 
 Tupper might then have uttered this reproach. 
 
 " Man wrongs, and time avenges, and my name 
 May form a monument not all obscure." 
 
 He remained in Guernsey for nearly two years in the vain 
 hope of a commission, and, being thus cruelly disappointed, 
 he proceeded in December, 1817, in his eighteenth year, to 
 Catalonia, of which province a relative, P. C. Tupper, (men 
 tioned ante,} was British consul. He travelled through 
 France at a time when there was a very hostile feeling 
 towards the English, as the army of occupation was then in 
 that country, and we learn from his fellow-traveller, who was 
 a few years older than himself, that they met frequently at 
 the tables d hote with French officers, with whom Tupper had 
 warm discussions, as they were any thing but friendly or 
 civil, and boasted that they had beaten the British army in 
 almost every engagement. " We beat you at Salamanca and 
 Vittoria, at Toulouse and Waterloo," was the retort ; the 
 officers looked fierce and curled their mustachoes, but they 
 probably liked not the gigantic frame and resolute bearing 
 of the young Englishman, as they abstained from personal 
 insult. On one occasion, the officers omitted to pass down 
 the viands to the two travellers, who were sitting below 
 them, the waiter came in with a roast duck, "Garc,on, 
 apportez-moi ce canard," said Tupper, authoritatively, and 
 cutting it in two, he gave half to his companion, and kept the 
 other half for himself. The officers were evidently much 
 annoyed, but contented themselves with calling twice or 
 thrice for the duck ; and the elder companion tells us that he 
 was very glad to cross the frontier with his young friend, safe 
 and sound, into Spain, as he was in daily dread of a hostile 
 rencontre between the disputants. 
 
 In Catalonia young Tupper spent two or three years, and 
 at Barcelona, where he was well known and an especial 
 favorite, he received the public thanks of the municipality 
 for having boldly exposed his life to extinguish a conflagra 
 tion which threatened to destroy a whole barrier of the city. 
 Here his vanity was constantly excited by exclamations, in 
 the streets, on the manly beauty of his person. There was at 
 Barcelona at this time a Spanish lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, 
 who had served in South America, and was in the habit of 
 bullying both the military and civilians. In going one even 
 ing to his seat in the pit at the opera, young Tupper had to 
 pass this officer, who sat with his feet so extended as to reach 
 the opposite bench. Tupper begged of him to draw in his 
 feet " pass over them ! " was the answer. Tupper asked him 
 a second time, and received the same reply, upon which he 
 kicked the officer s feet out of his way, and passed on. The 
 
480 COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 
 
 officer followed, and said he wished to speak to him outside. 
 Tupper immediately rose, and in going out, beckoned to an 
 English gentleman, who was sitting in the boxes, and from 
 whom we have the particulars, to come out also. It was 
 quickly agreed that they should find themselves at a certain 
 coffee-house the next morning at eight o clock, each with a 
 friend, to choose the weapons and fix the place of meeting, 
 young Tupper telling the Spaniard that he might choose 
 either broad or small sword, or the pistol, as, although he 
 was a civilian, either weapon was indifferent to him. And he 
 was, in fact, an excellent shot and an equally good swords 
 man. The next morning the two Englishmen went punc 
 tually to the coffee house, which was soon crowded with 
 military and civilians, anxious to know the result of the 
 meeting, as the colonel was much disliked. Nine and ten 
 o clock came, and no colonel, when Tupper asked the officers 
 present whether they thought he was in honor bound to 
 remain any longer. They replied that he was not, and 
 Tupper and his friend returned home. The same day the 
 former met the colonel on the public walk with two ladies 
 he went up and said that he wished to speak to him alone. 
 The colonel left the ladies, and having walked some little 
 distance, Tupper asked him why he had not kept his appoint 
 ment, upon which he made some frivolous excuse, when 
 Tupper horsewhipped him, and lastly applied his foot once to 
 the bully s seat of honor. Another Spanish officer, whom 
 the colonel had previously insulted with impunity, soon after 
 upbraided him with his cowardice on this occasion, and the 
 colonel was glad to leave Barcelona. We could give several 
 other anecdotes of similar daring in young Tupper, but these 
 must suffice ; and in truth we must add, that in his early 
 days his disposition, like that of his uncle and namesake, 
 was somewhat too pugnacious, the disputes of both being 
 generally, however, with military men, who presumed as 
 such. He was now a junior partner in a British commercial 
 house in Catalonia, but with hife adventurous spirit and boil 
 ing courage he was unfitted for any pursuit excepting the 
 profession of arms. His father, who, although a younger son, 
 had inherited nearly 25,000 sterling, was at this period 
 labouring under heavy losses and the expenses of his large 
 family ; and young Tupper preferred seeking his fortune in 
 South America to continuing in business, or becoming a 
 burthen on his parent, and he embarked in Guernsey in 
 October, 1821, for Rio de Janeiro, whence he proceeded to 
 Buenos Ayres, and thence over-land to Chile, then struggling 
 for her independence of Spain. His family was averse to his 
 joining the patriot cause, as it was then termed, and he 
 arrived at Santiago a mere soldier of fortune without, we 
 believe, a single letter of introduction to those in authority. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 481 
 
 But his appearance and manners, and a perfect knowledge of 
 three languages, English, French, and Spanish, all of which 
 he spoke fluently, soon procured him friends and active 
 military employment. The Italian, in a less degree, was also 
 another of his acquirements, and he was a fair classical 
 scholar. He rose rapidly, and his deeds have been compared 
 to those of the renowned Sir William Wallace. 
 
 In this necessarily brief memoir, it is, however, quite impos 
 sible to depict the career of young Tupper in the land of his 
 unhappy adoption; and we have only space for a few details 
 of his services. Soon after his arrival in Chile, the garrison 
 of Valdivia having revolted, Colonel Beauchef, who had served 
 in Europe, and who led with Major Miller the troops in the 
 successful attack of that fortress by Lord Cochrane, was sent 
 from the capital to endeavour to bring the mutineers to 
 submission, and he requested that young Tupper might 
 accompany him. They landed there alone, and, with great 
 personal risk, succeeded in securing the ringleaders, who had 
 ordered their men to fire on them as they approached in a 
 boat ; but, Colonel Beauchef having previously commanded 
 them and obtained their regard, the men fortunately refused 
 to proceed to extremities with their old commander. Young 
 Tupper is also said to have excited their astonishment by the 
 manner in which he seized on one of the ringleaders, a very 
 athletic and powerful man, and led him captive to the boat. 
 For this service, and for his conduct in a campaign against 
 the fierce Araucanians, whom the Spaniards had never been 
 able to subjugate, he was made in January, 1823, over the 
 heads of all the lieutenants, captain of the grenadier company 
 of battalion No. 8, commanded by the same gallant French 
 man, Colonel Beauchef. This company consisted of upwards 
 of 100 exceedingly fine men, and accompanying the battalion 
 shortly after in an expedition to Arica, it excited the surprise 
 of the comparatively diminutive Peruvians, and to which its 
 captain appears not a little to have contributed. This expe 
 dition was soon recalled from Peru to proceed under the 
 director, General Ramon Freire, against the islands of Chiloe, 
 so long and so bravely defended by the Spanish governor, 
 Quintanilla. On the return voyage from Arica to Coquimbo, 
 the vessel, which conveyed the grenadiers of No. 8, was short 
 of both provisions and water, and of the latter only a wine 
 glassful was at last served out in twenty-four hours to each 
 individual. Although the heat was intense, and two of the 
 grenadiers died, the company, when drawn up to receive the 
 scanty draught, invariably refused to touch it until their 
 captain had tasted of each glass ; and one dying soldier would 
 confess himself to no one but his captain, so strong a hold 
 had he already gained on the affections of those he com 
 manded, notwithstanding their difference of religion. 
 x 
 
482 APPENDIX D. 
 
 We have just said that an attempt wa, about to be made 
 to wrest the islands of Chiloe from the dominion of the 
 Spaniards. In pursuance of this object, battalion No. 8 was 
 embarked at Coquimbo in January, 1824, and landed on the 
 small island of Quinquina, in the bay of Talcahuano, where 
 it remained until the preparations were completed. The 
 troops were formed into three divisions, and Captain Tupper 
 was named second in command of the third, but the nomi 
 nation giving great umbrage to several majors and lieutenant- 
 colonels who had been passed over, this arrangement was 
 annulled, and battalion No. 8 was directed to take the ad 
 vance. The expedition reached Chiloe on the 24th of March, 
 and the next day battalion No. 8 gained possession of the 
 fort of Chacao, which offered but a slight resistance. On 
 the 31st, a detachment consisting of two battalions, Nos. 7 
 and 8, and the grenadier company of No. 1, disembarked at 
 Delcague, and at noon on the 1st of April commenced its 
 march, through a very woody arid broken country, towards 
 the town of San Carlos. Two companies of grenadiers, under 
 Captain Tupper, formed the vanguard of this detachment. 
 A strong Spanish force awaited them in ambush at Mocopulli, 
 which is an immense bog surrounded by underwood, having 
 a masked gun on an adjacent eminence. The grenadiers arid 
 No. 8 marched through the mouth of the defile perfectly 
 unconscious of their clanger, and when within a few paces of 
 the enemy so murderous a fire was opened upon them that 
 they were thrown into the utmost confusion. The enemy 
 was invisible, and in a short time 200 of the patriots had 
 fallen, while No. 7 halted in the rear and refused to advance. 
 Captain Tupper is represented as having behaved here with 
 the most devoted heroism, charging twice into the thickets 
 with the few grenadiers who would follow him to so perilous 
 a service. In the second charge three men only accompanied 
 him, one of whom was killed and another received a bayonet 
 wound in the face, while Captain Tupper was himself slightly 
 wounded in the left side by a bullet another perforated his 
 cap and a Spanish sergeant made a blow at him with a 
 fixed bayonet, which he struck down with his sabre, and it 
 went through his leg. The bushes, however, favored their 
 escape, and, after being nearly surrounded, they rejoined the 
 battalion, which had retreated a short distance. Colonel 
 Beauchef, as a " dernier ressort," now boldly resolved on 
 attacking the enemy in close column. Animated by their 
 gallant commander, the men formed, although they were 
 previously in complete disorder and No. 7 had retreated, and 
 carried the position at the point of the bayonet, pursuing the 
 royalists for about half a mile. But the field was dearly 
 purchased, the detachment engaged, of scarcely 500 men, 
 having 320 killed and wounded, including 13 out of 18 officers, 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPFER. 483 
 
 and 71 of 136 grenadiers composing the vanguard. The 
 division having thus suffered so severely, and the nature of 
 the country being so favorable to its defenders, Colonel 
 Beauchef returned next day to the ships ; and the lateness 
 of the season, added to the intelligence of the arrival in the 
 Pacific, from Spain, of the Asia, of 64 guns, and Achilles, 
 brig, compelled the squadron to sail for Chile. Captain Tup 
 per was rewarded with a brevet majority for his conduct in 
 this disastrous affair, and he wrote nearly two years after 
 wards, in allusion to some remarks relative to the Chile 
 
 troops, as follow : " The observations in F s letters, 
 
 respecting our troops, are not at all just ; the Chile soldiers 
 are as fine a class of men as I have ever seen, extremely 
 brave and very capable of fatigue, indeed to a degree of 
 which your English soldiers have no idea. Moreover, they 
 
 are very robust, and so contrary to what F supposes, we 
 
 have not a single black in the regiment. The discipline is 
 tolerable now, and the clothing is superior to any I have 
 seen in Spain. I perhaps speak passionately, as I dote on 
 all my brave fellows, particularly on my old company of 
 grenadiers, with the fondness of a brother ; the feelings of 
 absolute adoration with which they regard me, and of which 
 so many have given me such melancholy proofs, are surely 
 sufficient to draw my heart towards them. I wish you could 
 see my gallant servant as he now stands before me his 
 dark and sparkling eye intently fixed on my countenance, 
 his sun-burnt visage, his black mustachoes, and his athletic- 
 figure, altogether forming as fine a soldier as can well be seen." 
 The decisive battle of Ayacucho having, with the solitary 
 exception of the fortress of Callao, effected the liberation of 
 the whole continent of Spanish America, it was resolved to 
 renew the attempt to drive the Spaniards from the islands of 
 Chiloe, which form the natural keys of the Pacific when 
 approached from Cape Horn. Another expedition in conse 
 quence, commanded again by the director in person, set sail 
 from Valparaiso in November, 1825, and, after touching at 
 Valdivia, reached Chiloe in January, when barely 2,000 men 
 were disembarked. Major Tupper commanded the grenadier 
 companies of Nos. 6 and 8, forming part of the advanced 
 divisioii, and was left by its commander, Colonel Aldunate, 
 chiefly to his own direction. The enemy, in force consider 
 ably above 3,000 men, including 400 cavalry, occupied a 
 strong entrenched position, his right flank resting upon the 
 sea, his left guarded by impenetrable woods, his front pali 
 saded and strengthened by a deep and muddy rivulet, which 
 offered but two passes, one near the wood defended by 300 
 men, the other on the beach. On the 14th, Colonel Aldunate, 
 with six flank companies, took the beach, while Major Tupper, 
 with his two companies, carried the pass near the wood in a 
 
484 APPENDIX D. 
 
 few minutes, with little loss, by jumping over the palisade, 
 when he escaped almost miraculously, as, before his men could 
 join him, he was exposed to a tremendous discharge of mus 
 ketry, which covered him with mud, and shot away one of 
 his epaulettes. The royalists having been driven also from a 
 second position, their cavalry attempted a charge, but were 
 completely routed by the grenadier company of No. 8. The 
 enemy now retreated to his last and strongest position on the 
 heights of Bella Vista on the road to Castro, the principal 
 town of the island, and was attacked unsuccessfully three 
 different times by five flank companies. Colonel Aldunate 
 then called Major Tapper, and, pointing to the royalists, 
 said : " The glory is reserved for you dislodge the enemy 
 immediately." This was a most desperate service, as the 
 road, or rather path, was so narrow as to admit of only three 
 or four men abreast ; but taking a flag in his left hand, Major 
 Tupper ordered his grenadiers to follow him without firing a 
 shot. By running quickly, he reached the crest of the heights 
 with the loss of only six men killed behind him, his escape 
 appearing so astonishing to the survivors that they were 
 convinced he wore a charm. Here he encountered a Spanish 
 officer, named Lopez, commanding we believe the rear guard, 
 who resolutely maintained his ground ; a personal combat 
 ensued, and the Spaniard was killed by a sabre cut, which 
 nearly clove his head in two. There was unhappily no alter 
 native, as the gallant Lopez would neither surrender nor give 
 way. In the mean time fourteen or fifteen of the Spaniards 
 having fallen by the bayonet, the remainder fled, and were 
 vigorously pursued for about a league on the road to Castro, 
 when orders were brought to the grenadiers to halt. In this 
 pursuit a colonel and about 50 men were made prisoners. 
 The action lasted altogether nearly four hours, and on the 
 whole the enemy, whose troops consisted partly of militia, 
 shewed but little conduct or courage, having indeed been 
 routed by the eight companies, which were the only troops 
 seriously engaged on the side of the patriots, whose entire 
 loss did not exceed 175 men in killed and wounded. A gal 
 lant North American, Lieutenant Oxley, of the navy, was 
 killed in an attack on two gun-boats, the stronger of which 
 was taken. Major Tupper, having volunteered, assisted at 
 its capture, although, as a Chileno officer of his regiment, 
 from whom we derive the information, writes : " It was not 
 necessary that he should, as an officer of the army, seek to 
 fight by sea, particularly when he was not ordered." The 
 surrender of the island was the immediate consequence of 
 these successes, and Major Tupper was rewarded with a brevet 
 lieutenant-colonelcy, although much more was promised him 
 when the impression, which his behaviour left, was fresh in 
 the mind of the director. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 485 
 
 Colonel Aldunate, having been appointed as governor of 
 Chiloe, remained there with No. 4 ; but in May following 
 that battalion revolted in favor of O Higgins, and compelled 
 the governor to embark for Valparaiso. Lieut. -Colonel Tup- 
 per volunteered to accompany him back, and they left 
 Valparaiso with less than 300 men on the 25th of June, 1826, 
 the greatest danger apprehended being from the winter season, 
 during which the gales of wind on the coast are very violent. 
 
 " In horrid climes, where Chiloe s tempests sweep, 
 Tumultuous murmurs o er the troubled deep." Campbell. 
 
 On the 12th of July, the Resolution, transport, in which were 
 Tupper and most of the troops, was nearly wrecked on a very 
 dangerous reef, and the lives of all on board were for some 
 time in imminent danger. During the night of the 13th and 
 14th, Tupper landed with 100 men in the cove of Remolinos, 
 and before daylight surprised and captured the garrisons of 
 two batteries, when he marched towards the port of Chacao, 
 and took the battery there. Colonel Aldunate having landed 
 the next afternoon with the remainder of the troops, the 
 insurgents submitted without further difficulty ; and on his 
 return from Chiloe to Santiago in August, Tupper learnt that 
 he had been made lieutenant-colonel effective for his recent 
 services. In December, he joined at Talca the army of the 
 South, and commanded one of three divisions employed to 
 destroy a horde of bandits, composed chiefly of Indians and 
 of nearly a thousand strong, who ravaged the province of 
 Conception in summer, retiring on the approach of winter to 
 the eastern side of the Cordillera. Their leader was Pincheira, 
 the son of a European by an Indian mother, who held the 
 rank of colonel in the Spanish service, and committed his 
 depredations under the Spanish standard. With a squadron 
 of dragoons, Tupper passed the Cordillera, parallel with the 
 town of Chilian, in pursuit of the bandits, and went to the 
 eastward as far as the river Nanken, in the province of 
 Mendoza. Pincheira contrived, however, to elude all pursuit, 
 and, soon after his return to Santiago, Tupper was appointed, 
 on the 1st May, 1827, by General Pinto, who had replaced 
 General Freire as president, first aide-de-camp to the supreme 
 government an honorable and responsible office, in which 
 he was actively engaged in suppressing two or three dangerous 
 revolts, incited by a party, whose private interests had suf 
 fered by many exclusive privileges being abolished. On the 
 retirement of Colonel Beauchef in June, 1829, Tupper unfor 
 tunately accepted the command of his old battalion, No. 8, 
 and on the following month he was made full colonel. This 
 command necessarily embroiled him in the civil warfare which 
 almost immediately ensued j and a few weeks before hosti- 
 
486 APPENDIX D. 
 
 lilies commenced, with a presentiment which was too soon to 
 be realized, he thus wrote to his family in Guernsey : 
 
 " I naturally cannot consider my life of long duration ; I 
 am too immediately acted upon by every revolution in this 
 country not to be prepared for death, and to be perfectly 
 resigned to it when the day sh;ill arrive ; even in my time 
 how many foreign officers have not perished by climate and 
 by the sword. I shall have lived long enough if I leave my 
 children a subsistence and a name unblemished. My late 
 elevation in rank is an earnest of my rising reputation, and 
 I have perhaps reason to hope that when I fall, my rank and 
 the circumstances of my death will place an obligation on 
 Chile towards my family, which she may be willing to ac 
 knowledge."* 
 
 In June, 1829, General Pinto was re-elected president of 
 the republic for five years, but unfortunately he declined the 
 office, and this unexpected refusal not only compromised his 
 best friends, but was the main cause of all the bloodshed 
 which followed. In the subsequent crisis General Freire s 
 conduct was inconsistent and vacillating ; and General Prieto, 
 under the guise of obtaining the recall and return to power of 
 the exiled Director O Higgina, whose aide-de-camp he had 
 formerly been, having marched his troops from Conception 
 towards the capital, a coalition of the disaffected there was 
 formed to support him, and through his means to seize on the 
 reins of government. The mob, ever fond of change, was 
 induced by large bribes and the hope of plunder to act under 
 this coalition, which, if at first weak in numbers, was very 
 formidable in resources. General Freire attempted to assume 
 the command of the garrison of Santiago, but the field officers 
 of the different corps refused to obey his orders, and resolved 
 to acknowledge only the existing authorities. Thus foiled, 
 he introduced himself into the barracks of No. 8, during the 
 absence of the colonel, and ordering the battalion under 
 arms, he endeavoured in an insidious harangue to gain over 
 the soldiers to his own purposes, well knowing that their 
 defection, as composing the finest battalion in the service, 
 would prove fatal to the constitutional cause. Colonel Tup- 
 per, being quickly informed of the attempt, mounted his 
 horse and galloped furiously to the barracks. He rushed in, 
 and the difficulty of his situation will be easily conceived a 
 foreigner opposed singly to a native of the highest present 
 military and late civil rank, and beloved also by the sol 
 dierybut the result will best prove the attachment of his 
 men towards him. Addressing them in Spanish, he spoke 
 briefly to this effect: " Soldiers ! the captain general has led 
 
 * By his wife, Maria I. de Zegers, a native of Madrid, grand-daughter 
 of Manuel de Zegers, Count de Waserberg, in Flanders, he left two infant 
 daughters, and a posthumous son, born a few weeks after his death. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 487 
 
 you to victory your colonel has also led you to victory; 
 whom do you obey, your colonel or General Freire?" The 
 whole battalion instantaneously responded as one man, 
 "We obey our colonel Viva el Coronel Tupper!" and 
 General Freire and his suite, among whom was Admiral 
 Blanco, were happy to escape unhurt, the soldiers having, 
 we believe, levelled their muskets at them. On their way to 
 the barracks they were followed by a large mob, who attempt 
 ed (o force the gates, but on hearing Colonel Tupper order 
 the guard to prime and load, the people, well knowing his 
 resolute character, dispersed in a moment. This attempt 
 was the more dangerous, as battalion No. 1 was quartered in 
 the same barracks, and would have immediately followed the 
 secession of No. 8. Freire, on his return home, was taunted 
 by his wife with the baseness and inconsistency of his conduct 
 on this occasion. Her family belonged to the constitutional 
 party, and this beautiful young woman told her husband that 
 the soldiers had acted like men of honor, and in her indig 
 nation she threw a plate on a marble table, whence it glanced 
 off and shattered a large and valuable mirror into pieces. 
 She was probably the cause of his returning to that party 
 which he should never have forsaken. It may be added here 
 that. Colonel Tupper, during his short command, had been 
 enabled, from his personal influence with the president, to 
 do much for the welfare of his battalion, which, having been 
 repeatedly distinguished in battle, was proud and jealous of 
 its reputation ; and the officers, who were principally very 
 young men of the first families in the country, adhered to 
 their colonel to the last with inviolable fidelity. He had 
 established a school in the regiment, and whenever the pay 
 of the men was in arrear, he borrowed money on his own 
 responsibility from his friends, and discharged the claims of 
 his soldiers. 
 
 Amid the distrust and confusion which prevailed during 
 this eventful period in Santiago, General Prieto arrived by 
 easy marches in the neighbourhood, and encamped his army 
 on some heights within a league of the city. General Lastra, 
 an old man and without experience, having served chiefly in 
 the navy, being a native Chileno, was appointed to command 
 the constitutional troops, and daily skirmishes preceded the 
 general action of the 14th December. In that action, in 
 which Colonel Tupper bore a very conspicuous part, the rebel 
 troops were beaten ; but owing to the weakness or treachery 
 of Lastra, Prieto gained that by perfidy which he could not 
 effect by the sword ; arid when Colonel Tupper resigned in 
 disgust, the earnest entreaties of his old commander, Freire, 
 who by mutual consent had succeeded to the command of 
 both armies, unhappily induced him to accept the govern 
 ment of Coquimbo. He was at Valparaiso, preparing to 
 
488 APPENDIX D. 
 
 embark for that province, when Freire arrived, Prieto having, 
 as Colonel Tapper had all along apprehended, attempted to 
 take him prisoner, and compelled him to seek security in 
 flight from the capital. In this manner Prieto obtained 
 possession of a fine park of field artillery, and incorporated 
 the constitutional cavalry with his own. This gross treachery 
 compelled Colonel Tupper to resume the command of his 
 regiment ; and on the 26th January, 1830, two days before he 
 embarked with it for Conception, which province was favor 
 able to the liberal cause, he clearly described in a long but 
 hurried letter to his brother the last which his family in 
 Europe ever received from him the origin of the contest, 
 the objects of the different leaders, the battle of the 14th of 
 December, and the part which he took in this trying moment, 
 but we regret that we have only room for a very short extract. 
 
 " I was at this time quartered with my corps in Santiago, 
 and I considered it my duty to support the government and 
 congress, because I think that the case is extremely rare in 
 which a military man can with honor do otherwise, and 
 because I was satisfied that the matter in question was not 
 one in which the interference of the military was at all called 
 for, the greatest grievance urged by the rebels being confined 
 to the allegation that the letter of the law had not been 
 adhered to in the election of the vice-president. I knew more 
 over that all parties, whatever their avowed object might be, 
 only sought the furtherance of their private views that they 
 all wished to be in place, and to plunder the country at dis 
 cretion and above all, I considered that no free government 
 or orderly state could exist an hour if the military were once 
 allowed to throw the sword into the scale, and decide points 
 of legislation by the force of arms, as is now too generally 
 the case in South America. Fortunately the chiefs, who 
 were in garrison in the capital, were much of this opinion. 
 We determined to give Prieto battle in support of legitimate 
 authority, and the several corps therefore left Santiago." 
 
 On the voyage to Conception, Colonel Tupper touched at 
 Juan Fernandez for water, and in February, while command 
 ing at Talcahuano, he narrowly escaped with life in attempt 
 ing to carry by boarding at night the Achilles, a 20 gun brig 
 of war, in possession of Prieto s party, and then blockading 
 the harbour. In ascending the side, his left hand was pierced 
 by a pike, a bullet perforated his sleeve, and he was knocked 
 overboard by a violent contusion on the breast, but being an 
 admirable swimmer, he reached a boat at some distance, and 
 was lifted in completely exhausted. He was soon after 
 equally exposed in attacking by assault, on the night of the 
 9th March, the garrison of Chilian, as he was among the 
 first to mount the ladders. The outwork was carried, although 
 bravely defended ; but as the garrison retired into some inner 
 fortification, the assailants were finally compelled to retire. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 489 
 
 General Freire, having been repulsed from Coquimbo, 
 landed near the river Maule, after sustaining the, to him, 
 irreparable loss of a vessel laden with arms and ammunition, 
 and was soon joined by Colonel Tupper, who found his troops 
 badly clothed and paid, as he would not follow the example 
 of his opponents, who impressed, without hesitation, every 
 necessary supply for their army. They had, moreover, under 
 their control all the resources of the capital, of which Freire 
 had been so treacherously dispossessed ; and the faithless 
 Prieto commenced his march from Santiago for the south 
 under highly favorable circumstances. When the deep and 
 rapid Maule, whose fords are not always practicable for 
 cavalry, much less for infantry, alone separated the rival 
 armies, Colonel Tupper requested to be allowed to cross over 
 with 400 or 500 infantry, for the purpose of making a night 
 attack on the enemy s camp, which, in the desperate state of 
 affairs, was the best expedient that could be devised ; but 
 unfortunately General Freire would not sanction the attempt, 
 as, in the fatal persuasion that his popularity would carry 
 him through the contest, he had allowed himself to be de 
 ceived by some of Prieto s chiefs, who, probably at the insti 
 gation of their general, had promised to join him with their 
 troops at the first convenient opportunity. In consequence, 
 Colonel Tupper is said, by one of his officers, to have been 
 completely disgusted at Freire s evident infatuation or inca 
 pacity, and to have anticipated the fate which awaited him 
 with gloomy resolution. He well knew that his enemies 
 were too anxious for his fall to shew him any quarter, and as 
 a husband and a father he could not but feel deeply the 
 forlorn and desolate condition in which his death would leave 
 his wife and children. He had, however, gone too far to 
 recede, and in any extremity his high sense of honor would 
 have prevented his withdrawing himself on the eve of a 
 battle from the cause he had espoused. On the 15th of 
 April, 1830, General Freire crossed the river, and marched 
 three leagues without obstruction to Talca, the principal town 
 of the province, beautifully situated midway on the high 
 road from Santiago to Conception, and about 200 miles from 
 either city. Here his army was received with the greatest 
 enthusiasm, and a council of war being called, it was resolved 
 that, as the enemy was so much superior in cavalry and 
 artillery, the constitutional troops should remain in the vici 
 nity of the town, where they could not be attacked but under 
 a very great disadvantage, as Talca is skirted by enclosures 
 and ditches. On the 16th, Prieto endeavoured to bring on 
 an engagement, but could not draw the constitutionalists 
 from their vantage ground. Early on the 17th, Freire pro 
 ceeded with the cavalry to the adjoining plain of Cancha- 
 rayada, for the purpose probably of making a reconnaissance, 
 
490 APPENDIX D. 
 
 and soon after he sent most unaccountably for the reinai 
 of his forces. It was on this plain that General San M; 
 manoeuvred, in March, 1818, to bring the Spanish Gei 
 Osorio to battle; but the latter being inferior in num 
 retreated southwards to the. same position in front of T 
 which Freire had just abandoned. Nothing could be 
 ill-judged or imprudent, as his army, which consisted of a 
 1,700 men, had only two weak squadrons of regular ca 
 and four pieces of artillery, while that of Prieto, amoui 
 to fully 2,200 men, had 800 veteran cavalry, and 11 
 pieces of artillery. The Chile cavalry is very formidable 
 men being most expert riders, mounted on active and p< 
 ful horses, and generally armed with long- lances, which 
 use with great dexterity. Prieto, observing this inexpli 
 movement, succeeded without difficulty in placing his t 
 between the constitutional army and Talca. In this m; 
 its return to the town was completely cut off, and it I 
 fight in an extensive open plain with the enemy in fron 
 flanks unprotected, and the river Lircay, a tributary c 
 Maule, close in the rear. After a long engagement, Fi 
 cavalry, consisting of about 600 men, including militis 
 Indians, fled completely discomfited, and abandone 
 infantry, composed of three weak battalions, to its fate, 
 situation was now indeed desperate, as the ground \* 
 favorable to cavalry, and the neighbourhood offered th 
 accessible place of defence or refuge. When they forme 
 squares to resist the hostile cavalry, they were mowed 
 by artillery; and, when they deployed into line, the c; 
 was upon them. In this dreadful emergency they main 
 the conflict for nearly an hour, with all the obstim 
 despair; and at length, in attempting to charge in cc 
 they were completely broken. There are two lines 1 
 immortal Byron so concisely, and yet so faithfully, desc 
 of a similar last effort, that we cannot avoid transcribing 
 
 " One effort one to break the circling host ! 
 They form unite charge waver all is lost ! " 
 
 The loss in Freire s army fell chiefly on the devoted in 
 and included eighteen officers among the killed. Th 
 officers mentioned as slain, in Prieto s hurried dispatch 
 17th of April, are Colonel Elizalde, chief of the staff; ( 
 Tupper, and his gallant Major Varela, a young man of 
 six and twenty. Colonel Tupper is said to have ex 
 the most reckless valour during the clay, and to have 
 his battalion several times. Having dismounted to em 
 his men, he was unable, in the m eUe when all was . 
 find his horse ; and the accounts of the manner of hi 
 are so contradictory, that it is impossible to reconcile 
 All agree, however, in stating that he was particularly 
 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DE VIC TUPPER. 491 
 
 after, and that orders were given to shew him no quarter. 
 Certain it is that, he was overtaken, and "sacrificed to the 
 fears of Prieto, who justly considered him the sword and 
 buckler of the irresolute and vacillating Freire." He was 
 pronounced by an English traveller, as " the handsomest 
 man he had ever seen in either hemisphere," and undoubtedly 
 his tall, athletic, and beautifully proportioned person, his 
 almost Herculean strength, the elegance of his manners, and 
 his impetuous valour in battle, gave the impression rather of 
 a royal knight of chivalry, than of a republican soldier. The 
 influence and popularity which in a few short, years he acquired 
 in his adopted country, by his own unaided exertions, and 
 under the many disadvantages of being a stranger in a strange 
 land, best prove that his talents were of the first order, and 
 that he was no common character. And that fraternal 
 affection may not be supposed to have dictated this eulogium, 
 the following impartial testimonies of its correctness are 
 appended, in justice to the memory of one whom a combina 
 tion of cruel circumstances drove to a distant land to shed 
 that blood, and to yield that life, which he had in vain sought 
 \ to devote to his own country : 
 
 \ " Alas ! how bitter is his country s curs.e, 
 
 \ To him who for that country would expire." 
 
 \ An English gentleman, of ancient family, and author of 
 tVavels in South America, who knew Colonel Tupper inti- 
 
 ately, thus wrote of him : 
 
 He was certainly one of the finest fellows I ever knew one of those 
 beings whose meteor-like flame traverses our path, and leaves an impe 
 rishable recollection of its brilliancy I have often held him up 
 
 as an example to be followed of scrupulous exactness, and of a probity, I 
 fear, alas ! too uncompromising in these corrupt times." 
 
 The American charge cC affaires and consul-general in Chile, 
 said, in a letter to Captain P. P. King, then of his majesty s 
 ship Adventure, both perfect strangers to the family:* 
 
 " The heroism displayed by Tupper surpassed the prowess of any indi 
 vidual that I have ever heard of in battle ; but, poor fellow ! he was hor 
 ribly dealt with after getting away with another officer. A party of 
 cavalry and Indians was sent in pursuit, and they boast that poor Tupper 
 was cut to pieces. They seemed to be more in terror of him, on account 
 of his personal bravery and popularity, than of all the others. Guernsey 
 has cause to be proud of so great a hero a hero he truly was, for nature 
 made him one." 
 
 And one of the British consuls in Chile wrote to the editor : 
 
 "I trust you will believe that any member of the family of Colonel 
 Tupper, who may require such services as I am at liberty to offer, will be 
 always esteemed by one who for many years, has looked upon his gallant 
 and honorable conduct as reflecting lustre upon the English name in 
 these new and distant states." 
 
 * The editor was at Rio de Janeiro when Captain King, whose ship had 
 recently arrived there from the Pacific, received this letter, and he kindly 
 sent it to him through a mutual friend. 
 
 ma 
 
492 APPENDIX D. 
 
 An anonymous French traveller, who published in 
 newspaper, Le Semeur, of the 4th April, 1832, his " S- 
 d un Sejour au Chili," thus expressed himself: 
 
 "Les Chiliens sont jaloux des Strangers qui prennent du ser 
 eux, et il est assez naturel qu ils le soient, quoiqu on ne puisse n 
 aient de grandes obligations k plusieurs de ceux qui ont fait C 
 patrie adoptive. Depuis mon retour en Europe, un de ces homm 
 d une haute estime, a cesse de vivre. Je veux parler du Colone 
 qui a etc" fait prisonnier & la t6te de son regiment; et qui, apres 
 tenu, pendant une heure, dans 1 incertitude sur son sort, fut cru 
 mis a mort par les ennemis. Le Colonel Tupper e"tait un homi 
 grande bravoure et d un esprit eclaire" ; ses formes etaient athlet 
 1 expression de sa physionomie pleine de franchise. II se serait < 
 partout ou il aurait e"te employe", et dans quelque situation qu 
 place". N est-il pas deplorable que de tels hommes en soient re"( 
 consacrer k une cause e"trangere ? 
 
 " J espere que le temps n est pas e"loign ou Ton saura apprdcie: 
 le patriotisme et 1 energie, dont le Colonel Tupper a donne 1 exei 
 
 And in a pamphlet published at Lima, in 1831, by 
 Freire, in exposition of his conduct during the civil 
 Chile, 1829-30, is the following extract translated fr 
 Spanish : 
 
 " It does not enter into my plan to justify the strategic me 
 which preceded the battle of Lircay. The disproportion beb 
 contending forces was excessive. Neither tactics nor prodigies 
 could avail against this immense disadvantage. The liberals wer 
 Would that I could throw a veil, not over a conquest which pr 
 ther courage nor talent in the conqueror, but over the horrid 
 which succeeded the battle. The most furious savages, the mos 
 cipled bandits, would have been ashamed to execute the orders v 
 rebel army received from General Prieto, and yet which were exec 
 mournful fidelity. Tupper illustrious shade of the bravest of 
 of the most estimable of men ; shade of a hero to whom Gr 
 Rome would have erected statues your dreadful assassinatioi 
 avenged. If there be no visible punishment for your murdere 
 vengeance will overtake him.* It will demand an account of t 
 mous sentence pronounced against all strangers by a man t w 
 time was the pupil and the tool of a vagabond stranger, t indebti 
 elevation and his bread to the generosity of Chile." 
 
 * These two sentences in the original are as follows : " Tur 
 sombra ilustre del mas valiente de los militares, del mas aprecia! 
 hombres : sombra de un heroe k quien hubieran alzado estatuas 
 Roma : tu asesiiiato espantoso serk vengado. Si no hay castig 
 para tu verdugo, la justicia Divina lo tomara a su cargo." 
 
 + General Prieto. t Garrido, a Spanish renegade. 
 
 S. Barbet, Printer, Guernsey. 
 
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