[Footnote 109: The salary attached to th_The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B. Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper

Canada was increased, we believe, shortly before his death to £3,000 a

year.]

[Footnote 110: By an official return, it appears that this monument cost

£1,575 sterling. For inscription, &c, see Appendix A, Section 1, No. 7.]

[Footnote 111: See Appendix A, Section 1, No. 8.]

[Footnote 112: For the address, see Appendix A, Section 1, No. 9.]

[Footnote 113: This column cost nearly £3,000.]

[Footnote 114: For the details of the re-interment, see Appendix A,

Section 1, No. 10.]

[Footnote 115: 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.]

[Footnote 116: 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

reconstruction.]

[Footnote 117: Howison's Sketches of Upper Canada. London, 1821.]

CHAPTER XV.

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. After the battle, he paroled

General Wadsworth and some of the principal American officers, the

remainder proceeding to Quebec. Among the prisoners, 23 were found to be

deserters from English regiments, and British born subjects; and they

were sent to England for trial as traitors. This caused a retaliation

upon British prisoners in the United States, and an equal number were

put by the American government into close confinement as hostages 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 proposed by Sir

George Prevost, it was agreed to by Major-General Sheaffe![118] 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'île by water, which they could not

otherwise have effected, but with immense trouble and expense by land,

and equipped at leisure the fleet which afterwards wrested from us the

command 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 inhabitants of Niagara in

their spirited letter to Sir George Prevost, already quoted (page 279),

"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. Lawrence; 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 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 uncertainty 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, however, 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 strength and

organize at will the means of attacking us anew. He was observed busily

and actively employed, 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 '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,'[119]--who among us can retain his gravity? 'It

is true,' says the general, 'complete success did not ultimately crown

this enterprise; but two great ends were obtained for the country: it

re-established the character of the American 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 throughout the

war;'--truth undeniable!--'and, with his loss, put an end to their then

brilliant career;'--yet the capture of General Wadsworth took place in

less than five hours afterwards.

"The instant we know what the Americans expected 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 discomfiture of the enemy, by breaking their

line of communication, 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 Canadians, and opening a wide and safe

communication for our supplies; we shall save our own land,--wipe 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' 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."

In November, the Americans were already in command of Lake Ontario,[120]

and their fleet, after chasing the Royal George into Kingston, captured

on the 12th the transport sloop Elizabeth, on board of which was Mr.

Brock, paymaster of the 49th. He was paroled by Commodore Chauncey, who,

to his credit be it said, immediately restored "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 express the

obligation of Sir Isaac Brock's family to the commodore for his

generosity on this occasion.

On the 27th April, 1813, York was captured by Major-General Dearborn,

with 1,800 American troops, embarked in fourteen sail of armed vessels,

that post being occupied by 700 regulars and militia, with from 40 to 50

Indians, the whole under the immediate command of Sir Roger Sheaffe. In

resisting the enemy, the grenadier company of the 8th (the king's)

regiment greatly distinguished themselves, losing their captain, M'Neal,

and being nearly annihilated. 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, that an immediate and resolute attack would

probably have sent them back to their ships.[121] The British general

"drew off his regulars and left the rest to capitulate within the town,

wherein considerable public stores were lost;"[122] and the Americans,

having secured their booty, re-embarked and sailed on the 2d 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 early in 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. A few

months after, the Baron de Rottenburg was in his turn succeeded by

Lieut.-General Gordon Drummond, who commanded in Upper Canada to the end

of the war.

We have alluded (page 278) to the discomfiture of Sir George Prevost

before Sackett's Harbour, that naval arsenal whose destruction

Major-General Brock was so unfortunately prevented from undertaking. The

governor-general having proceeded in May from Montreal to Kingston with

Sir James Yeo, who had just arrived from England to command 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 destroyed 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 assailants was certain, Sir George Prevost sent a

precipitate 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 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 enterprize 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."[123] 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![124]

From these humiliating occurrences on Lake Ontario, 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 became the anxious object of the American government. That

army, which eventually outnumbered the former 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 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 encamped 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 reinforced 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

immediate danger, but the day after it was sadly tarnished by the

straggling Indians, who massacred such wounded 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 active

operations for the recovery of the Michigan territory, on the arrival of

considerable reinforcements which he was expecting. Resolved to try the

issue of another 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, which falls into Lake Erie. He ascended 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, mounting eighteen guns,

which he cannonaded from both banks of the Miami, On the 5th of May the

enemy's long-expected reinforcements, under Major-General 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, was 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 Chippewa 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; and as many of the militia were

also returning to their homes, Proctor was compelled to raise the siege

of Fort Meigs. Having re-embarked his small force of regulars, chiefly

of the 41st, and the whole of his ordnance and stores, he proceeded to

Sandwich; while General 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 recommence his attacks

against the American North-Western army, whose head quarters were then

in the neighbourhood of Sandusky Bay, on Lake Erie, he landed on the 1st

of August near the Sandusky river, and soon after invested with 400

regulars and between 3 and 400 Indians, Fort Stephenson, about 20 miles

from its mouth. On the 2d, a fire was opened from two 6-pounders and

two 5-1/2-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 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 had only 1 killed and 7 slightly wounded. The

Indians did not assist in the assault, withdrawing 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 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 powerful 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, Captain 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 wretchedly 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 Lawrence, struck her

colours; but a sudden breeze turned the scale against them, and the

whole of their squadron 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

commander 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 its necessary supplies through Lake Erie,

and a speedy retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario became inevitable.

Stung with grief and indignation, Tecumseh at first refused to agree to

the measure, and in a council of war held at Amherstburg on the 18th of

September, he thus delivered his sentiments against it:

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

us 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 hack 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 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. Our 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 here 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 certainly

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.

General Harrison's troops were soon transported by the American squadron

to _Put-in-Bay_, and they occupied Amherstburg on the 23d of September,

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, evacuated

it and Sandwich on the 26th, also destroying the public property at both

posts; and commenced his retreat along the river Thames, with between

900 and 1,000 regulars, 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 marched in pursuit with rather above 3,000

men, escorted by three gun-boats and a number of bateaux. On the 4th, he

came up with the rear guard, and not only made some prisoners, but

succeeded in capturing a great part of the ammunition and stores. By

this second reverse, the British were left destitute of the means of

subsistence and protracted defence; and their commander being thus

compelled to stake the fate of his small army on a general engagement,

he took up an excellent position on the right bank of the Thames at the

Moravian town, an Indian village 80 miles from Sandwich, his entire

force now mustering barely 900 regulars and about 600 Indians. The

former were posted in single files in two lines, their left resting on

the river, their right on a narrow swamp, beyond which were the Indians,

reaching obliquely backwards to a second and much broader swamp, so that

neither flank of the allies could be easily turned. The enemy commenced

the attack with a regiment of mounted riflemen, the _élite_ 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 continued 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 carried 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 numbers 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. The Americans returned to Sandwich immediately after the action.

Proctor is accused of leaving entire the bridges and roads in the rear

of his retreating army, and of encumbering it with an unnecessary

quantity of his own personal baggage; 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 upwards of

600 officers and soldiers were taken prisoners 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 American 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 240,

including the general and 17 officers. The consequence of these

disasters was the relinquishment, by the British, of the Michigan

territory, with the exception of Michilimakinack; 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 2 or 300, who subsequently joined the centre division

of the army.[125]

Fort George was taken in May, 1813, by a large American force, under

General Dearborn, which compelled Major-General Vincent to withdraw his

troops from Fort Erie and Chippewa, 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

capture of Fort George, General Dearborn pushed forward a body of 3,000

infantry, with nine field pieces and 250 cavalry, for the purpose of

dislodging Major-General Vincent from his position. Lieut.-Colonel

Harvey,[126] deputy adjutant-general, 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 style, and completely succeeded

in surprising the enemy, who evinced a highly creditable state of order

and discipline in repeatedly forming, though compelled as often to

disperse before the resistless energy 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.[127] 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.

The recovery of Michilimakinack 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 the hands of an enemy, for annoying 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 military stores and

provisions, by a back route to Michilimakinack. They embarked in

twenty-four bateaux from Nottawassega Bay on Lake Huron, distant 260

miles from Michilimakinack, and, after a very tempestuous passage of

twenty-five days, reached the fort on the 18th of May. On the 26th 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 Michilimakinack, 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'Donall repulsed every effort of the Americans to

approach the fort; so that they were glad, to re-embark the same evening

in the utmost haste and confusion, 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,[128] "that

Michilimakinack is by nature a perfect Gibraltar, being a high

inaccessible rock on every side,[129] 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." Michilimakinack

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 placed an

equal number of British soldiers into close confinement as hostages. In

consequence, Sir George Prevost, by a general order of the 27th October,

1813, made known that he had received the commands of the prince regent

to put 46 American officers and non-commissioned officers into close

confinement 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 American 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 government, 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 Wilkinson by a 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. In consequence, 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 was

completed over and above those already in confinement. In pursuance of

this order, Generals Winder, Chandler, and Winchester, were confined in

a private house at Quebec, with as little inconvenience as their

security would admit.

On the 15th 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 prisoners 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 traitors, 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,"[130]

was visible to the termination of the contest--a contest in which we are

satisfied the result would have been very different, "if a man of

military genius, courage, quickness, and decision, had held the supreme

command."[131] 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 highlander, who,

contrasting the irresolution of his present general with the deeds of

his former chief, the renowned Grahame,[132] Viscount Dundee, mournfully

exclaimed:

Oh! for one hour of Dundee!

During the progress of the war, the British government 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 negotiations were commenced in earnest at Ghent, in August,

1814, at a time when Great Britain, 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 December, 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. Thus the Americans had only the Canadian and defenceless side

of the Detroit to give in exchange for their fortress of Niagara and

their key possession of Michilimakinack.

Early in 1815, Sir George Prevost was directed to return to England for

the purpose of meeting accusations 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 necessary 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 London on the 5th of January, exactly a week preceding the day

appointed for his trial. Previously to his departure from Lower Canada,

the commons, or French party, voted him the sum of £5,000 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.

Sir George Prevost was of slight, diminutive person, 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 defensive policy at the

commencement of the war, and his subsequent irresolution and infirmity

of purpose, did not tend 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

administration, which we have already eulogized, although _Veritas_, in

his well-known letters, 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 military 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 admitted that claim.[133] It was

unfortunate for Sir George that he was called upon to wage war against

the United States, as his natural and excusable sympathies in favor of a

people among whom he had been born, and at least partly educated, may

have influenced his judgment without any conscious betrayal of the great

charge entrusted to him; and this remark applies with double force to

his school-fellow, 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, and after at

length obtaining leave to return to Europe for that purpose--it was

hard, we repeat, when hostilities did at last break out in America, that

his energies 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 consistently 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,[134] 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, necessarily 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

déplorable que de tels hommes en soient réduits à se consacrer à une

cause étrangère?"

* * * * *

As 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,[135] 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 dispatched with a competent force to punish the

predatory 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 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 completely 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 especially as, from that period to 1812, he laboured

incessantly 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 preventing

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 promised 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 acquired 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, the 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 had been assailed arose from their having

abandoned the mode of life which He had prescribed to them. He declared

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 himself at Greenville, within the boundary

of the United States; but the inhabitants of Ohio becoming alarmed at

the immense assemblage of Indians on their frontier, 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 concerns were

conducted by Tecumseh, who adroitly availed himself of his brother's

spiritual power to promote his favourite scheme of a general

confederacy.

In 1811, Tecumseh, accompanied by several hundred 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 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 respectfully,

said to him: "Warrior, your father, General Harrison, offers you a

seat." "My father!" exclaimed 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 purchased 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 forming 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 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, 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 awaited his return; he

found his town consumed, his bravest warriors slain, and a large deposit

of provisions destroyed. On his departure, the settlement at Tippecanoe

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. The prophet, however, wanted either the

inclination or the authority to follow these injunctions; and the

Americans assert, that murder and rapine occurred now so frequently,

that they were compelled, in their own defence, to punish the

delinquents. 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 the prophet 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 prediction 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, however, Tecumseh eagerly

embraced the opportunity which it afforded, not only to promote his long

meditated 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,)

which regiment claimed the principal merit of having, the preceding

year, defeated his followers and destroyed his settlement.

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 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 warriors 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 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 themselves in the wars of

the whites, Tecumseh was undoubtedly 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. In early life he was 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 acquisition he

was careless of wealth, as, although his presents 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, 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 July, 1812, he pursued, near Sandwich,

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 of 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 Tecumseh had in vain

sought to engage him in the war on the side of the British.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 118: "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,_ April and July, 1822; article,

"Campaigns in the Canadas."]

[Footnote 119: From an American work,--Major-General James Wilkinson's

"Memoirs of my own Time," published in 1816.--ED.]

[Footnote 120: "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. The 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 disregard the importance of

maintaining his superiority!"--_Quarterly Review_.]

[Footnote 121: "General Sheaffe has been much blamed, first for the

injudicious position of the troops, by which the grenadier company of

the 8th regiment, 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_.]

[Footnote 122: Pictorial History of England.]

[Footnote 123: Extract from the Pictorial History of England.]

[Footnote 124: "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 dispatch from his 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_.]

[Footnote 125: "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'île Harbour."--_James' Military Occurrences_.]

[Footnote 126: The present Major-General Sir John Harvey, K.C.B.]

[Footnote 127: 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.]

[Footnote 128: 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?]

[Footnote 129: "The land, in the centre of this island, is high, and its

form somewhat 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 _Michilimakinac_, is the Great

Turtle."--_Henry's Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian

Territories, between the years_ 1760 _and_ 1776.]

[Footnote 130: James' Military Occurrences.]

[Footnote 131: Pictorial History of England.]

[Footnote 132: John Grahame, of Claverhouse, was mortally wounded at the

pass of Killicrankie, in 1689, 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."]

[Footnote 133: 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 evidently 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

exertion, 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 Hertfordshire. His Royal

Highness the Prince Regent, to evince in an especial 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 most signally displayed--the West

Indies and Canada--should be inscribed on the Banners of the

Supporters, granted to be borne by his Family and Descendants.

In testimony 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 unfeigned Love, Gratitude,

and Respect, Catherine Anne Prevost, his afflicted Widow,

caused this Monument to be Erected. Anno Domini 1819."

]

[Footnote 134: Including the editor, ten; viz. two died young, of

scarlet fever, and were buried in the same coffin; two drowned at

different times; 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.]

[Footnote 135: See pages 222, 223, 227, 238, 307, 339, 360, 364 and

366.]

CHAPTER XVI.

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

Commander-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 and on the behalf of his majesty, that the

officers present at the capture of Detroit should be permitted

to bear a medal commemorative of that brilliant victory, I

have to transmit to you the medal[136] 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,

Commander-in-Chief.

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 journey 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 gentlemen 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 memory. 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

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 number, 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: they were, like myself, most

sensibly affected.

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

handful of men to defeat 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 land, but not a house within

eight or nine miles of it; 1,200 acres in Brock township, on

Lake Simcoe; 3,000 acres in Monaghan, on the Rice Lake; and

800 acres in Murray, on Lake Ontario.

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.

_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 brother, 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

veneration 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. observed, an

arduous command devolved upon his brother; he had to protect

an extensive frontier with very limited means, and those

means, feeble as they were, shackled by the trammels of

superior authority; the advance of an hostile army, however,

upon our provincial territory, developed the resources 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 apologized 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 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 prosperity 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 coarse 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,

delivered in the Indian language by Lieut.-Colonel M'Kay[137]

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._[138]

LONDON, April 12, 1825.

I went to Windsor on Wednesday last with the four Indians,

accompanied by my friend Mr. W----, to show 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

imposing they appeared.

The king appointed half-past one on Thursday to receive our

party at the royal lodge, his place of residence. We were

ushered into the library; and now I am going to say somewhat

pleasing to your uncle Savery. As Sir John C---- was in the

act of introducing me, but before he had mentioned my name,

Sir Andrew Barnard[139] interrupted him, and said: "There is

no occasion to introduce me to that gentleman,--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 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 convulsed 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

preliminary 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

principally 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 produced four large and weighty gold coronation

peer medallions of his majesty, suspended by a rich mazareen

blue silk riband. The chiefs, seeing this, dropped 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 earnestness, and kissed it

with an ardour which must have been witnessed to be conceived.

The king appeared sensibly affected by this strong and

unequivocal 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 appeared 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, the following

unpremeditated speech in his native Indian tongue. I say

unpremeditated, because that fine allusion to the sun could

not have been contemplated 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 warriors

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 overpower

me. My heart is full. I am amazed at such unexpected 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 beneficent 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 happiness of his North

American subjects, and would 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 individuals 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 treatment

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 whisper,

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

everywhere, to his stables, menagerie, aviaries, &c., and afterwards he

trusted we would partake of some refreshment. He also offered us the use

of his carriages. The refreshment was a truly royal repast,--we eat on

silver,--the table groaned, as Mr. Heathfield would say, under the

king's hospitality. We made a famous dinner,--pine apple, champagne,

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,)

"Tho' 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

endeavouring 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

presented 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[140] 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 Eliot) were a great deal together during the

war in the Upper Province. The other day, at dinner at the

château, 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 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 Paris, 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 commiseration, 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

promised 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 monument, 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,[141] 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

Canadian, had been compelled to fly into the United States 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 demon'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, nearly

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, and ascended the river abreast, with

the government steamer, containing the lieutenant-governor, Sir George

Arthur, and his staff, leading the way. The British shore was lined with

thousands, and the fleet of steamers filled with hundreds, 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 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 resolutions were moved, and

speeches made, by some of the most eminent and most eloquent men,

holding high official stations in the province;[142] and considering

that amidst this grand and imposing assemblage, there were a great

number of veteran officers of the Canada 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 readily be

conceived; while the grand and picturesque combination 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[143] was attended by about 8,000 persons, and the

animation of the scene was increased by a detachment of royal artillery,

who fired a salute; 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 brave 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 overwhelming.

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 with

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 people

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 witnessed, with me,

the melancholy scene of his interment in one of the bastions

of Fort George.[144] 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 confidence had been reposed. Nor can

they forget the countenances, 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 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 committed 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 people of Canada did not feel that his

precious life was therefore thrown away, deeply as they

deplored his fall. In later periods of the contest, it

sometimes happened 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:

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 me upon

receiving a commission in the army, accompanied with good

wishes for my welfare, which I shall never forget. I 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 honour to the unfortunate victim of a war

now old in history, one is prompted to ask, how it happens

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? In

reply, we might dwell upon his civil and military virtues, his

patriotic self-devotion, his chivalrous gallantry, and his

triumphant achievements. (Here one of the auditors added, "and

that he was an honest man"--an attribute most warmly responded

to on 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, answered 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 realize

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 conspicuous 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 throughout the province at the lawless act,

the effects of which are visible before us.

After the resolutions had been carried by acclamation, 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

Justice Robinson presiding; and at this, as at the morning 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, gentlemen, 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 qualities 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 generous, 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."[145]

It having been resolved by the meeting that the most suitable monument,

to replace the shattered 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 harmonize with the bold and beautiful scenery by which it

will be surrounded. The total height of the base, pedestal, and obelisk,

will be 120 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 having 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[146] have already been contributed, it is expected that the

new structure will be commenced in the spring of 1845.[147]

A concluding notice of Sir Isaac Brock's favorite regiment will scarcely

be deemed superfluous, although, 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 previous to that period. In 1759,

it assisted at the reduction of Fort Niagara, then held by the French,

(page 160,) and 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. 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 embarked for the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1828 proceeded

on to Bengal. In April, 1840, the regiment 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

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 came up, and with little loss."[148] In February,

1843, after the Chinese had been coerced into a peace, the 49th returned

to Calcutta, and the following month embarked for England, where the

head quarters arrived on the 24th August, after an absence of nearly

twenty-two years--an example of the arduous services in which the

British infantry of the line is constantly engaged. The 49th, (the

Princess Charlotte of Wales',) or Hertfordshire regiment, bears on its

colours and appointments the distinctions of Egmont op Zee, Copenhagen,

Queenstown, the Dragon, and China.

On the 27th August, 1844, new colours were presented to the 49th, at

Winchester, by Lady Pakenham, the wife of Major-General the Hon. Sir

Hercules Pakenham, commanding the district, the colours being first

consecrated by Doctor C. R. Sumner, the Lord Bishop of Winchester, who

thus addressed the troops:

Soldiers of the 49th, I have solicited and obtained permission

of your gallant commanding officer to address you a few

moments before I invoke the blessing of Almighty God upon the

colours which are never to be sullied by any act of yours, and

are not to be abandoned but with life itself. And let not any

man marvel that I, a man of peace, come among you, who are men

of war, for I hold that there is not a truer man of peace than

a Christian soldier. When he conquers, it is not for national

aggrandizement, nor the mere raising of your names, but for

the insuring of peace in future time. Many a brave man has

bled on the field, or expired on a bed of agony, that his

countrymen might be preserved from the horrors of war. With

respect to the services of the 49th, I might go back to a time

antecedent to the present century. We must remember what a

debt of gratitude we owe to your companions in arms for their

prowess in many a well-fought field. And what did we not owe

also to the naval power for the preservation of our soil from

the insults and the cruelties of our enemy? I must bid you

look back to the recollection of those days when you won glory

in Holland, Copenhagen, and Canada, and since in India and

China. I remember well the stirring phrases used by the great

captain of the age, the commander-in-chief of the British

army, the Duke of Wellington, when he asked for the thanks of

parliament to the army of China--those were stirring phrases

indeed--they were well worth living to hear, and well worth

dying to deserve; they are for you to treasure up, and your

children yet unborn to hear from your lips. When you unfold

those banners, you look upon them as the memorials of former

days, and in centuries yet to come they will be memorials of

your country's renown, of your country's prosperity, and of

your country's peace. On these grounds I hold that the

Christian soldier is an instrument of good to the nation at

large, and I bid you God speed in the name of the Lord, and,

as a Christian bishop, I would bid you remember Him who is the

God of battles, Him by whom nations are led to victory and

preserved in peace. Be men of resolution and men of energy,

pacific in your profession and disinterested in your

patriotism, observant of your duty to your queen, your

country, and your God.

* * * * *

Of Sir Isaac Brock's brothers, the eldest, John, 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----,[149] 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 brother, Ferdinand, a lieutenant of the 60th regiment, was

slain in the defence of Bâton 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 regretted, as Mr. Brock; and so universal was the feeling

of admiration for his talents and 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.[150] The ninth brother,

Savery, who died on the 7th August, 1844, has been already noticed, and

the tenth, Irving, who died in 1838, at Bath, was "the accomplished

translator of Bernier's Travels in India," and a very powerful writer in

support of the government in 1810, at a very eventful and critical

period.[151] Singularly enough, of the eight brothers of this Family of

the Brocks who reached maturity, no male descendant 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, 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 profession of arms, not one survives, four of the

former and the latter having sadly and prematurely perished, viz: first,

Midshipman Charles Tupper, of his majesty's ship Primrose, drowned at

Spithead, in 1815, by the upsetting of the boat in which he was

accompanying his commander from Portsmouth to the ship; second,

Lieutenant E.W. Tupper,[152] his majesty's ship Sybille, mortally

wounded in action with Greek pirates, near Candia, on the 18th June,

1826; third, Lieutenant William Potenger, adjutant 22d regiment, died on

the 19th November, 1827, of the fever, at Jamaica; fourth, Colonel W.

De Vic Tupper,[153] of the Chilian service, slain in action near Talca,

on the 17th April, 1830; and, fifth, the great nephew, Ensign A.

Delacombe Potenger,[154] of the 5th Bengal Native Infantry, while in

command of the light company, was killed by a bullet, which entered his

breast, in the disastrous retreat of the British army from Cabool, in

January, 1842. The remaining nephew, Captain Eugene Brock, of the 20th

regiment, died at Bermuda, in January, 1844.

* * * * *

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 that was

hitherto unknown and unrecorded. It was that feeling 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 sincerity.

And should we in the course of these pages have inadvertently fallen

into undue panegyrism, that 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[155] was indeed a hero, a hero in the only true and in

the most extensive sense, resembling what history or fable has

represented, 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."

* * * * *

_Additional Notes_.

The garrison of Michilimakinack, when surprised in 1763, (see page 244,)

consisted of the commandant, Major Etherington, two subalterns, and

ninety soldiers; and there were four English traders there. Of these

Lieutenant Jemette, about seventy soldiers, and one trader, were

massacred; but the commandant, Lieutenant Leslie, and the remainder,

were preserved by the Ottawas, and restored at the peace in 1764. The

English trader, who beheld and described the massacre, was Alexander

Henry, whose travels in Canada are cited at page 369.

When peace was concluded at Detroit, by General Bradstreet, with the

Indians, in 1764, Pontiac fled to the Illinois; (see pages 164 and 243;)

but he 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 1767

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.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 136: The medal is a very large and beautifully executed gold

one, made to suspend from the neck. On the obverse is, "Detroit;" 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.]

[Footnote 137: This is doubtless the officer whose name is spelt M'Kec,

at page 252; see also page 294.]

[Footnote 138: The present Mrs. De Beauvoir De Lisle.]

[Footnote 139: The present Lieut.-General Sir Andrew Barnard, G.C.B.]

[Footnote 140: Her husband, who distinguished himself in Upper Canada

during the war, was then serving on the staff in Lower Canada.]

[Footnote 141: On the same day, ten years previously, Sir Isaac Brock's

nephew, Colonel Tupper, was slain in Chile.]

[Footnote 142: Exclusive of the chief justice and Mr. Justice Macaulay,

the speakers were, His Excellency Sir George Arthur; Sir Allan MacNab;

Mr. Thorburn, M.P.P.; Colonel the Hon. W. Morris; Colonel R.D. Fraser;

Colonel Clark; Mr. W.H. Merritt, M.P.P.; Lieut.-Colonel J. Baskin;

Lieut.-Colonel Sherwood; Colonel Stanton; Colonel Kerby; Colonel the

Hon. W.H. Draper; Colonel Angus M'Donell; the Hon. Mr. Sullivan;

Lieut.-Colonel Cartwright; Colonel Bostwick; Colonel M'Dougal; the Hon.

Mr. Justice Hagannan; Colonel Rutton; Lieut.-Colonel Kearnes;

Lieut.-Colonel Kirkpatrick; H.J. Boulton, Esq.; and Lieut.-Colonel

Edward Thomson.]

[Footnote 143: A public meeting of the inhabitants of Montreal was also

held in that city, for the same purpose as that on Queenstown Heights.]

[Footnote 144: We suppose that the chief justice was the lieutenant of

militia, who acted as one of Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell's pall bearers. See

page 332.]

[Footnote 145: The extracts given in inverted commas are from

"Buckingham's Canada," that gentleman being at Toronto at the time, but

unable from illness to attend the "gathering."]

[Footnote 146: In 1841, the Six Nations of Indians had contributed the

(for their diminished numbers and limited means) large sum of £167.]

[Footnote 147: See Appendix A, Section 1, No. 11.]

[Footnote 148: Bernard's Narrative of the combined Naval and Military

Operations in China. London, 1844.]

[Footnote 149: 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.]

[Footnote 150: For a brief memoir of him, see Appendix B.]

[Footnote 151: One of his pamphlets went through four editions.]

[Footnote 152: For a short memoir, see Appendix C.]

[Footnote 153: For a memoir, see Appendix D.]

[Footnote 154: The only son of the Rev. Richard Potenger. (See page

269.) With this fine young man expired the last hope of his family, and

the continuation of his line.]

[Footnote 155: 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.,

49th Foot, in America,--_Duncan's History of Guernsey_.]

APPENDIX A.

SECTION I.--BRITISH AUTHORS.

No. 1. Page 15.

_Lieut.-General Lord Aylmer, Governor-General of British North America,

to J. Savery Brock, Esq_.

SOREL, Lower Canada, August 23, 1834.

I received yesterday your letter of the 19th March.... The

sight of your handwriting reminded me 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 206.

_From Captain Roberts to the Adjutant-General_.

Fort Michilimakinack, 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.

The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B. Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper · 第 21 / 22 章

[Footnote 109: The salary attached to the civil government of Upper