HIS HANDS ARE TIED
BROCK’S spectacular capture of Fort Detroit brought all Canada to his
feet. Foremost in admiration was Sir George Prevost. Had Brock failed,
Sir George no doubt, would have been as brusque in condemnation as, now
that Brock had conquered, he was fulsome in praise. He had done his best
to hamper Brock, and indeed at the last minute had sent a staff officer
commanding him not to undertake the proposed Detroit expedition, but the
messenger, happily alike for Canada and Brock, had failed to arrive in
time. Provincial authorities and friends rained their congratulations,
while Lord Bathurst, the British Secretary for War and the Colonies,
commended him for his “firmness, skill, and bravery.” Bathurst’s case
was similar to Prevost’s, for he had adjured the governor-general by
repeated messages not to assume the offensive lest the Americans become
unduly aggravated and thus possibly have some genuine cause of
complaint. Nothing could better show the smallmindedness of the class of
officialdom to which Bathurst and Prevost belonged than their
willingness, now that victory was achieved, to share in the credit
therefore. Bathurst wrote to Brock that “the Prince Regent had honored
him for his services by making him an extra Knight of the Bath.”
Unhappily, the man whom the Prince thus delighted to honor and who, one
likes to think, would have honored the order by accepting it, died
before he received word.
Brock’s victory did something to offset the misfortunes which had piled
upon the British in Europe. Just before the news of the capture of Fort
Detroit was received in London, Britain had been beaten in a naval duel.
The American ship _Constitution_ had thrashed the British battleship
_Guerriere_. The shame which Britain felt on this account was deepened
by the knowledge that she had been beaten on her own element by what was
once a colony of hers. News of Brock’s victory, therefore, was
opportune, and the British government was able to point out to the
people that, if America had won a victory on the sea, she had more than
lost it by the surrender of Detroit.
October 6th was Brock’s birthday, the day on which the news of the
victory at Detroit reached London. Brock’s brother William and his wife
happened to be walking in a London park, and Mrs. Brock asked the reason
of the flag-waving and the firing. “Do you not know,” said William,
“that it is Isaac’s birthday? It is in honor of him.” What William said
in jest turned out to be the very truth.
If Brock’s victory had a happy effect on the people of Britain the
opposite was the case in the United States. The Jeffersons, the Clays,
and the Hulls of the United States had led the people to believe that
their northerly neighbor could very easily be conquered. It was a sad
blow to American self-esteem when it became known that Detroit and
Michigan had fallen to a country which they had been taught to regard as
an enemy hardly worth considering. Gloom and discouragement were
everywhere evident, and President Madison ordered the churches
throughout the country to hold services of prayer that success might
come to American arms.
Between Black Rock and Fort Niagara part of the American army was
camped. It did nothing to hearten them for the task that lay before them
to see the men whom Brock had taken prisoners at Detroit, and who had
come by boat to Fort Erie, march along the Niagara River to Fort George.
From there the prisoners were sent down the St. Lawrence to Montreal,
and in some cases, to Quebec. Some Canadian cities, therefore, had an
opportunity of seeing that when Brock bared his arm it was not for
nothing. They might indeed feel hopeful under such a leader. On the
other hand, the American army, badly disciplined, ill in health, and
surprisingly inexperienced were gloomy and morose.
Brock, having left the arrangements for the future government of Detroit
in the hands of Colonel Procter, left for Fort Erie. Hardly had his
schooner passed Amherstburg when it was hailed by the _Lady Prevost_
coming up the lake. The commander gave Brock the news that an armistice
had been concluded between Sir George Prevost and the American
commander-in-chief, General Dearborn, and until President Madison had
ratified or discountenanced this armistice, all actual warfare must
cease.
Brock was dumbfounded. Instead of being allowed to finish the task he
had got so well under way, that of clearing the borders of American
troops, he found his hands tied.
General Brock’s plans were all laid. Procter, whom Brock had left at
Detroit, was marching against Fort Wayne in the Miami country with some
regulars and some Indians, and there was little doubt of his success. As
the fort contained supplies, its capture would seriously hamper American
operations. Its defenders were few and were in deadly fear of a horde of
Indians who, intoxicated with their success at Detroit, desired only
further chance to display their prowess. Brock knew that they would show
the garrison at Fort Wayne no quarter, and it was as much to save the
lives of the men of this garrison as to secure the fort that he had
despatched Procter. Now, of course, he had to countermand his
instructions. His plans for raiding Sackett’s Harbor were likewise
spoiled, though the capture of that port would have given the British
complete power over Lake Ontario.
A personal incident in Brock’s voyage to Fort Erie showed how mentally
distraught he was at this time. His schooner, the _Chippewa_, ran into a
fog. The commander lost his bearings and, when the mist lifted, found
himself very near to the American shore. No doubt news of the armistice
had not reached as far down the shore as this, and had the Americans
known of the proximity of the victorious British general, they certainly
would have made an effort to capture the schooner. Brock, who was vexed
and heart-broken, instantly suspected treachery and cried to the captain
of the _Chippewa_: “You scoundrel! you have betrayed me. Let but one
shot be fired from that shore and,” pointing aloft, “I will run you up
on the instant to that yard-arm.”
There does not seem room for doubt that the captain was quite innocent,
and loyal to Brock. Luckily the _Queen Charlotte_, which had preceded
the _Chippewa_ by several days, heard a shot which was fired from the
latter and bore down on the vessel which held the commanding general.
Ultimately she towed the _Chippewa_ to safety.
When Brock arrived at York the joy of the people knew no bounds. They
presented him with an address in which they tried to tell him how
grateful to and proud of him they were. Brock, always generous, took
little credit to himself for the victory, but ascribed it to the
confidence he had in the loyalty, zeal, and valor of the Canadian
volunteers. His exact words are worth quoting: “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 confidence founded on their loyalty, zeal, and
valor, 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 yourselves a large portion of that gallant band,
and that at such a period a spirit had manifested 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 conduct so truly
meritorious.”
Brock went on to Kingston and employed the time spent on the schooner,
which bore him thither, in writing to his brothers. In the letter which
appears to have been addressed to his brother William, he says: “They
say that the value of the articles will amount to thirty or forty
thousand pounds; in that case my portion will be something considerable.
If it enabled me to contribute to your comfort and happiness, 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
unworthily bestowed. Let me know, my dearest brothers, that you are
again united. The want of union was nearly losing this province without
even a struggle, and be assured it operates in the same degree in regard
to families.”
It is well for us that we are able to catch a glimpse of the humanity of
this man of action. Neither political success nor failure, neither
military advantage nor setback, could exclude from his great heart the
thought of the loved ones at home. He joyed in his successes, because
they would bring pleasure and possibly more practical gratification to
those he loved and who loved him. It was a heavy grief to him that his
brothers were estranged. Though he was never to know it they buried
their difference. By a strange chance this happened upon the very day of
Brock’s glorious death at Queenston. His influence, great in many
things, was greater in nothing than in this, the amity and affectionate
regard which his brothers came to have for each other.
At Kingston, Brock learned that the armistice arranged by Sir George
Prevost and General Dearborn had been refused by President Madison.
September 8th saw the renewal of hostilities between the two countries.
No doubt Sir George had entered into the armistice thinking he acted for
the best. He appears to have been moved by his knowledge that the New
England and several other States were opposed to the war and also by the
fact that the orders in council, which had been the cause of the trouble
between the United States and Britain had been repealed. And he may have
believed that in attempting to avoid a conflict in America he was
relieving Britain of a minor task which was hampering her in her contest
with Napoleon. But to the student and reader of later years the
armistice was an utterly foolish move.
When Brock learned that the armistice had come to an end, he proposed to
Prevost that he immediately attack Sackett’s Harbor from Kingston. Again
the governor-general said him nay, and Brock, disheartened and annoyed,
returned to Fort George there to deal, as best he could, with the
threatened invasion at Niagara.
Naturally enough the United States forces had made great use of the time
granted by the armistice. In very sight of the British supplies of food
had been brought up to the American army at Lewiston. Heavy guns had
been placed at strategic points on the American shore. Large detachments
of troops were sent to the Niagara frontier. Ships which had been held
at Ogdensburg, covered by the British guns at Prescott, had been rushed
to Sackett’s Harbor. Had there been no armistice, General Brock could
have cleared the Fort Niagara district of enemy troops, but now he had,
by reason of the delay, to face four times as large an army.
Let us take stock of the situation. On the shores of the Niagara River,
there were enough United States troops to have conquered Upper Canada.
There were over six thousand men between Black Rock and Fort Niagara,
while Brock had only fifteen hundred men, and these distributed at
several points between Fort Erie and Fort George. Thus he had about a
quarter the number of men of the enemy and while their forces were
concentrated his were scattered over a line forty miles long. Again the
odds looked against him. Volunteers in Upper Canada, however, had
rallied to his standard, and he was able to arm them by the very arms he
had captured at Detroit. And once again it should be emphasized that the
Canadian forces had much better _morale_ than that of the Americans.
They felt that they had indeed “their quarrel just.” Moreover, they were
fighting in defence of their homes and families. And they had unbounded
confidence in their commander.
It came to Brock’s ears about October 1st that the United States
commanders planned their invasion somewhere along the British forty mile
line. It later appeared that Queenston was the point decided upon. The
plan of attack seems to have been to capture Queenston, and there to
collect a large army with which, next year, an attempt would be made to
reach Montreal. Luckily for Brock and Canada too many cooks spoil the
broth. There was dissension in the American higher command as to the
precise point at which the attack should be made.
The British suffered a loss on October 9th. The Americans under
Lieutenant Elliott captured two British vessels, the _Caledonia_ and the
_Detroit_. This victory gave a fillip to the now jaded spirits of the
United States troops, and General Van Rensselaer, now that his men had
cheered up, decided to invade Canada. This seems to have been in
disagreement with the views of the other American commander, General
Smyth. Van Rensselaer sent a spy into the British camp. The spy returned
with the information that Brock had set out, with a large force, for
Detroit. The spy, however, did his work but poorly. Brock had left Fort
George, but he had gone only to the other end of the line, Fort Erie.
It still remains somewhat of a mystery why Van Rensselaer, who had a
large army, did not steal along the shore of Lake Ontario, cross the
Niagara at the mouth and try to catch the tail of Brock’s army. Instead
of this, on October 10th, he prepared his boats and got his troops ready
to cross the Niagara River where it whirls and swirls at the base of
Queenston. The British, on the Canadian side, were quite unprepared for
the attack. Very early in the morning of October 11th the first boat of
American soldiers put out. In this boat was Lieutenant Sims. History
does not tell us what happened to Sims. He may have landed on the
Canadian side, but it is more likely that he was caught in the current
and tried to return to the American shore. Whatever became of him, he
had with him the oars for the remaining boats, thus preventing his
comrades following him across the river. To attempt his rescue was
impossible. They waited till dawn, but were finally driven, sodden by
the rain and terror-stricken by the storm, to their camp.
Next day a Major Evans, of the British forces, presented a flag of truce
to Van Rensselaer, which truce was for the purpose of exchange of
prisoners. While this was under way, Evans’s sharp eye noticed that
preparations were being made for what could not be other than an attack
on Queenston. He returned to Queenston and warned Captain Dennis,
commanding the men there, that large boats were concealed on the other
side ready, he thought, for an attack. Brock, at Fort George, must also
be given news at once, thought Evans, and he hastened away to acquaint
the commander with what was afoot.
Evans was right. The fate of the October 11th expedition did not deter
Van Rensselaer from another attempt. This was to be made before dawn
next day.