The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock by Ferdinand Brock Tupper

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Sir George has announced his intention of recommending
Battersby to be lieutenant-colonel of the Glengary corps, and
ordered him to take the command of the recruits assembled at
Three Rivers. Your major of brigade[50] will be recommended to
succeed to his majority in the king's regiment.

_Major-Gencral Brock to Sir George Prevost_.

YORK, May 16, 1812.

I have this day been honored with your excellency's
confidential communication, dated the 30th ultimo.

I have long since thought that nothing but the public voice
restrained the United States government from commencing direct
hostilities; and it is but reasonable to expect that they will
seek every opportunity to influence the minds of the people
against England, in order to bring them the more readily into
their measures. It will be my study to guard against every
event that can give them any just cause of complaint; but the
proximity of the two countries will in all probability produce
collisions which, however accidentally brought about, will be
represented as so many acts of aggression. It would not
surprise me if their first attempt to excite irritation were
the seizing of the islands in the channel, to which both
countries lay claim: such was represented to Sir James Craig
on a former occasion to be their intention.

In addition to the force specified by your excellency, I
understand that six companies of the Ohio militia are intended
for Detroit. Our interests with the Indians will materially
suffer in consequence of these extensive preparations being
allowed to proceed with impunity. I have always considered
that the reduction of Detroit would be a signal for a cordial
co-operation on the part of the Indians; and if we be not in
sufficient force to effect this object, no reliance ought to
be placed in them.

About forty regulars were last week added to the garrison of
Niagara, and by all accounts barracks are to be immediately
constructed at Black Rock, almost opposite Fort Erie, for a
large force.

I returned three days ago from an excursion to Fort Erie--the
Grand River, where the Indians of the Six Nations are
settled--and back by the head of the lake. Every gentleman,
with whom I had an opportunity of conversing, assured me that
an exceedingly good disposition prevailed among the people.
The flank companies, in the districts in which they have been
established, were instantly completed with volunteers, and
indeed an almost unanimous disposition to serve is daily
manifested. I shall proceed to extend this system now I have
ascertained that the people are so well disposed--but my means
are very limited.

I propose detaching 100 rank and file of the 41st regiment to
Amherstburg, almost immediately.

_Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock_.

QUEBEC, May 21, 1812.

Sir George has allowed me to make the following extracts from
a dispatch of Mr. Foster's, dated the 28th April, which I do
in the minister's own words: "The American government affect
now to have taken every step incumbent on the executive as
preparatory to war, and leave the ultimate decision to
congress, as vested by the constitution in that body, which is
fluctuating as the sea: there is a great party in the house of
representatives for war, composed principally of the western
and southern states--members who have little to lose, and may
gain, while the northern and eastern states are vehement
against it. The embargo seems to have been resolved upon,
because at the moment they did not know what else to do. The
cabinet wished only sixty days--the senate made it ninety. Our
government leaves no room to expect a repeal of the order in
council, yet they wait for the return of the Hornet. Something
decisive must then be known; perhaps when they become
completely convinced of Bonaparte's playing upon them, it will
end in declaring against France. The question of adjournment
was lost, notwithstanding there was an absolute majority known
a few minutes before in its favor. The ruling party are split
into many; the old revolutionists, jealous of younger men
taking a lead. The army cannot, I conceive, soon be filled
up--they get few recruits."

You will have heard, long ere you receive this, that the 49th
regiment is ordered home; the 41st are by the same authority
to return to Europe, but Sir George will not, under existing
circumstances, attempt to relieve the posts in Upper Canada,
so that there will be no immediate change in your quarter. Sir
George regrets that he has not field officers of the
description you require to command at Kingston and
Amherstburg. The only prospect of relief in that respect which
he has in view, is from the arrival of the absent inspecting
field officers.

The arrangement you propose respecting the unfortunate
delinquents of the 41st regiment, will perfectly meet the
approbation of Sir George, who approved of your not forwarding
the resignation of the younger members, or indeed of any, if
they are worthy of consideration.

Kempt has brought his name into notice in the assault of La
Picurina, an outwork at Badajoz, where he commanded, being on
duty in the trenches. The Glengary levy goes on swimmingly.

_Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock_.

QUEBEC, May 27, 1812.

I was much pleased to find, by your letter of the 22d ultimo,
you had taken precautions to prevent any act occurring within
your control that should afford the government of the United
States a legitimate pretext to add to the clamour artfully
raised by it against England.

The circumstance which happened to the guard stationed
opposite to Queenstown, arrived here much exaggerated. Your
account of it silenced the idle reports in circulation.

I agree with you in deploring the limitation, until the end of
the ensuing session, in the operation of the militia act for
Upper Canada; but as in the event of hostilities it might not
be possible to convene the legislature, then the bill would in
all probability continue in force during the war, provided you
were not induced to make an exertion for a more perfect law.

Colonel Baynes having informed me he had an opportunity of
communicating with you more expeditiously than by post, I
desired him to make you acquainted with the peaceful
intelligence I had just received from Mr. Foster; but although
it comes with a good deal of reservation, still it warrants me
in recommending the most rigid economy in carrying on the
king's service, and in avoiding all expense that has not
become absolutely necessary, as it is with the utmost
difficulty money can be raised for the ordinary service.

I am apprehensive that I cannot look forward to the pleasure
of seeing you before the end of August, as my presence in the
province is become indispensably necessary during the first
operation of the new militia law.

Many thanks for the particulars of the transaction which led
to the censure passed by the house of assembly on Chief
Justice Scott.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 43: He died at Mount Vernon, on the 14th December, 1799, in
the sixty-eighth year of his age, leaving a widow but no issue.]

[Footnote 44: Pictorial History of England.]

[Footnote 45: This and a few of the subsequent letters from Colonel
Baynes are partly in cipher of figures, but of course we have not the
key.]

[Footnote 46: The present Lieut.-General Ellice, colonel of the 24th
regiment of foot. He is the officer mentioned at page 97, but was deputy
adjutant-general in Canada, and not inspecting field officer of militia
as we supposed.]

[Footnote 47: The late Major-General Heriot, C.B., then Captain Heriot,
of the 49th.]

[Footnote 48: The late Admiral Lord de Saumarez, G.C.B., &c.]

[Footnote 49: The present Colonel Le Couteur, Militia Aide-de-Camp to
the Queen, in Jersey. In the _United Service Journal_ for October, 1831,
Colonel Le Couteur has described the winter march of the 104th regiment,
early in 1813, from New Brunswick to Canada.]

[Footnote 50: The present Major-General Thomas Evans, C.B., then a
captain of the 8th foot.]

CHAPTER VII.

It will be assisting the reader, ere we proceed to detail the operations
at the commencement of hostilities, to give a brief description, not
only of the lakes and straits which constitute the water boundaries of
Upper Canada, and of the towns and military posts distributed along
them, as existing in the year 1812, but also of the territory of
Michigan, which was surrendered, with Detroit, to Major-General Brock.
The distances are given in British statute miles.

The most remote piece of water on this frontier worthy of notice is Lake
Superior, a body of fresh water unequalled by any upon the face of the
globe. Lake Superior is of a triangular form; in length 381, in breadth
161, and in circumference about 1,150 miles. Among its islands is one
nearly two-thirds as large as Jamaica. Out of Lake Superior a very rapid
current flows, over immense masses of rock, along a channel of 27 miles
in length, called St. Mary's River, into Lake Huron, at the head of
which is the British island of St. Joseph, containing a small garrison.
This isolated post is distant about 350 miles by water from Amherstburg,
which contained the nearest British garrison.

Lake Huron is in length, from west to east, 218 miles; in breadth, 180;
and in circumference, through its numerous curvatures, 812 miles. Except
the island of St. Joseph, and one or two trading establishments
belonging to the north-west company, the shores of this lake were in a
state of nature, or inhabited only by Indians. When the Americans were
allowed to obtain the dominion of Lake Erie, which they did in 1813, it
was determined at the close of the following year to create a naval
force on Lake Huron in the ensuing season, (1815,) as possessing much
greater security for the construction of vessels than Lake Erie, where
the enemy could at any time destroy them, in the same manner as their
vessels ought to have been previously destroyed by the British. Lake
Michigan, which belongs wholly to the United States, is connected with
Lake Huron at its western angle by a short and wide strait, in the
centre of which is the island of Michilimakinack, belonging to the
United States. This island is about 9 miles in circumference, and, like
St. Joseph, its neighbour, it possessed a small fort and garrison. Lake
Huron flows through the river St. Clair, which is in length about 60
miles, into Lake St. Clair, a small circular lake 30 miles in diameter.
The beautiful river Thames, in Upper Canada, opens into Lake St. Clair,
and it was along the banks of this river that Major-General Proctor
retreated in 1813. From Lake St. Clair, the stream, through the Detroit,
navigable for vessels not drawing more than fourteen feet water,
pursues a course of nearly 40 miles into Lake Erie.

Upon the western side of the Detroit is situate the American town of
that name. About 5 miles below Detroit, upon the opposite side of the
strait, is the British village of Sandwich, then containing scarcely
fifty houses; and 18 miles lower, and within four of the termination of
the strait, is the British village of Amherstburg, then containing about
one hundred houses, and a fort where a small garrison was maintained,
and where the principal vessels for the service of Lake Erie were
constructed. The American village of Brownstown stands nearly opposite
to Amherstburg, which is distant from Quebec by the nearest route by
water 815 miles, from Fort Erie about 250 miles, and from York 315
miles.

Lake Erie, from Miamis Bay to the entrance of the straits of Niagara, is
in length 257 miles, in breadth 64 miles, and in circumference 658
miles. The greatest depth of water is between forty and forty-five
fathoms, but a very rocky bottom renders the anchorage unsafe in blowing
weather. Except Amherstburg, the British have no harbour or naval depot
upon Lake Erie, while the Americans have two or three excellent ones.
_Presqu'ile_ harbour is situate on the southern side of the lake, not
far from the entrance to the Niagara. It is a safe station, but has a
seven feet bar at its entrance, as indeed have all the other harbours on
this lake. The town, named Erie, is situate on the south side of the
harbour, and contains a dock yard, in which the Americans built their
Lake Erie fleet. To the eastward of the town stands a strong battery,
and on the point of the Peninsula forming the harbour, a block house,
for the protection of this naval depot. The rivers Raisin, Sandusky, and
Miami, the scenes of important operations during the war, discharge
themselves into Lake Erie.

On the north-western side of the entrance to the Niagara river stands,
at a distance of 565 miles from Quebec, the British fort Erie, at best a
very inconsiderable work. Near to the same outlet from Lake Erie is
Buffalo Creek, on the border of which is built the American village of
Buffalo; and about 2 miles beyond it, Black Rock, where there is a
battery, and a ferry, about 800 yards across, to Bertie, in Upper
Canada. The Niagara proceeds at a quick rate past several small and one
large island, called _Grande Isle_, 10 miles long; about 2 miles below
which, on the American side, and distant 2 miles from the Falls, is the
site of Fort Schlosser. At about the same distance from the Falls, on
the opposite side, standing on the northern bank of the river Chippewa,
is the British village of the same name, distant from Fort Erie 17
miles. Chippewa consisted chiefly of store houses; and near it was a
small stockaded work, called Fort Chippewa. At the distance of 23 miles
from the entrance to the Niagara, is Goat Island, about half a mile
long, and which extends to the precipice that gives rise to the
celebrated Falls. The larger body of water flows between Upper Canada
and Goat Island, at the upper end of which island the broken water, or
_rapids_, commence. Here the stream passes on both sides of the island,
over a bed of rocks and precipices, with astonishing rapidity; till,
having descended more than fifty feet in the distance of half a mile, it
falls, on the British side 157, and on the New York side 162, feet
perpendicularly.

From the cataract, the river is a continued rapid, half a mile in width,
for about 7 miles. At this point stand, opposite to each other, the
villages of Queenstown and Lewistown. The latter, situate upon the
American side, contained, till destroyed as a retaliatory measure,
between forty and fifty houses. At about six miles and a half from
Queenstown, near to the river side, stands Fort George, then constructed
of earthen ramparts and palisades of cedar, and mounting no heavier
metal than 9-pounders. About half a mile below Fort George, and close to
the borders of Lake Ontario, stood the beautiful and flourishing village
of Newark, which was burnt by the Americans.

Directly opposite to Newark, upon a neck of land projecting partly
across the mouth of the river, which is here 875 yards in width, stands
the American fort of Niagara, the scene of so many conflicts. It was
built by the French in 1751; taken by us in 1759;[51] and, along with
several other frontier posts, ceded to the United States in 1794; and,
though since taken, has again been ceded to the same power. Fort
Niagara, unlike any of the Canadian forts along that frontier, is a
regular fortification, built of stone, on the land side, with breast
works, and every necessary appendage. It mounts between twenty and
thirty heavy pieces of ordnance, and contains a furnace for heating
shot.

The strait of Niagara is about 36 miles in length; and its shores, on
both sides, were, more or less, the scenes of active warfare during the
whole period of hostilities. Lake Ontario, to which the strait leads, is
in length, from west to east, 171, in breadth 50, and in circumference
467 miles. The depth of water varies much, it being in some places three
or four, in others fifty fathoms: towards the centre three hundred
fathoms of line have, it is said, not found the bottom. York harbour
lies on the north side of Lake Ontario; is nearly circular, of about a
mile and a half in diameter, and formed by a narrow peninsula extending
to Gibraltar Point, upon which a blockhouse has been erected. The town
of York, (now called Toronto,) the infant capital of Upper Canada, is in
lat. 43 deg. 35' north, and long. 78 deg. 30' west, and is distant from Fort
George by water about 30 miles. The public buildings consisted of a
government house, the house of assembly, a church, court-house, and a
gaol, with numerous stores belonging to government. Kingston harbour is
situate at the eastern extremity of Lake Ontario. It contains good
anchorage in three fathoms water, and was defended by a small battery of
9-pounders on Mississaga Point, and another, of the same metal chiefly,
on Point Frederick. The town, which was the largest and most populous in
the Upper Province, contained about 370 houses; including several
buildings and stores belonging to government. Its distance from York is
145, from Montreal, in an opposite direction, 198, and from Quebec 378
miles. Opposite to, and distant about half a mile from, the town, is a
long low peninsula, forming the west side of Navy Bay, the principal
naval depot of the British on this lake, and where the ships of war were
constructed.

Of the American military posts on Lake Ontario, the principal one is
Sackett's harbour, distant from Kingston, by the ship channel, 35 miles.
The harbour is small but well sheltered. From the north-west runs out a
low point of land, upon which was the dock yard with large store houses,
and all the buildings requisite for such an establishment. Upon this
point there was a strong work called Fort Tompkins, having within it a
blockhouse two stories high: on the land side it was covered by a strong
picketing, in which there were embrasures; at the bottom of the harbour
was the village, containing about seventy houses; and, to the southward
of it, a large barrack, capable of containing 2,000 men, and generally
occupied by the marines belonging to the fleet. Towards the middle of
1814, there were three additional works, Fort Virginia, Fort Chauncey,
and Fort Kentucky, as well as several new blockhouses; and the guns then
mounted upon the different forts exceeded sixty.[52]

The greatest length of the Michigan territory, from south-east to
north-west, is 500 miles, and the number of square miles both of land
and water is estimated at 150,000. The country was then chiefly in the
possession of the Indians, and the white population amounted by the
previous census to about 5,000. It includes two peninsulas of unequal
size, in addition to which are numerous islands, constituent parts of
the territory. The most important of these is Michilimakinack, already
described. This island, while in the former possession of the British,
was the general rendezvous of the North-West traders and the Indians
they supplied. Here the outfits were furnished for the countries of Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi, Lake Superior and the North-West; and here
the returns of furs were collected and embarked for Montreal. Detroit,
the chief town of the territory, is situated on the right bank of the
strait, 10 miles below Lake St. Clair and 28 miles above Lake Erie. It
then contained above two hundred houses, many of brick, and upwards of
1,200 inhabitants. In the rear of the fort was an extensive common,
skirted by boundless and almost impenetrable forests. We learn from
Morse's American Geography, on the acknowledged authority of Governor
Hull, that Fort Detroit, in 1810, was a regular work of an oblong
figure, "covering about an acre of ground. The parapets were about
twenty feet in height, built of earth and sods, with four bastions, the
whole surrounded with pallisadoes, a deep ditch, and glacis. It stood
immediately back of the town, and had strength to withstand a regular
siege, but did not command the river." And as the American government
had been for some time secretly preparing for war, it may be safely
inferred, that in the meanwhile this fort had been rather strengthened
than permitted to fall to decay; and that it was at least as tenable in
1812 as when Governor Hull, two years before, gave the preceding
description of its defences. The town of Detroit is in lat. 42 deg. 15'
north, and long. 82 deg. 33' west.

About the year 1763, Detroit, then indeed the far west, and containing a
garrison of 300 men, was nearly captured by stratagem by Pontiac, the
celebrated Indian chief of that day, who waged war against the British,
and whose alliance, before the capture of Quebec by Wolfe, in 1759, was
anxiously courted by both the French and English.[53]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 51: The 49th British regiment assisted at the reduction of
this fort in July, 1759.]

[Footnote 52: James' Military Occurrences of the late War between Great
Britain and the United States, 2 vols. London, 1818.]

[Footnote 53: For a description of the deeds of Pontiac, or Pondiac, as
she spells his name, see Mrs. Grant's "Memoirs of an American Lady,"
vol. ii.]

CHAPTER VIII.

The discussions which had been so long pending between Great Britain and
the United States, assumed, during the winter of 1811-12, a very serious
aspect. But many did not believe that the latter power was inclined to
proceed to extremities; while others, who foresaw that it only awaited a
favorable moment to invade the Canadas, which were supposed ripe for
revolt and would therefore fall an easy conquest, were prepared to
expect what soon after followed, a declaration of war against Great
Britain.

As this was not the first time that the American government had
proceeded to menaces, and as the northern and eastern states were known
to be averse to hostilities, the British ministry were deluded into a
belief that peace would yet be maintained. Mr. Foster, the English
minister at Washington, seems to have partaken of this delusion, for it
does not appear that he had taken any precautionary measures to convey
to the governor of the British North American Provinces the earliest
intelligence of the declaration of war on the 18th June, 1812; and, had
it not been for the prudent foresight of some British merchants at New
York, it is possible that the first intimation would have been received
from the mouths of the American cannon. To Upper Canada Mr. Foster sent
no notice whatever of the war, and Major-General Brock was left to learn
it officially through the circuitous and dilatory channel of the
governor-general. Happily, individual diligence made up for this
unpardonable neglect; and the war was known by private expresses at
Montreal, in Lower, and at Fort George, in Upper Canada, on the 24th of
June, or in six days after its declaration at Washington.

At this period the exigencies of the Peninsular war, which depended
chiefly upon English arms and English money, required the almost
undivided attention and energies of the British ministry, who are thus
entitled to some excuse for their neglect of North American affairs; but
they will still remain amenable to the charge of having been guilty of
the folly of too much despising the new enemy arrayed against them at
that most busy and critical moment. The want of a sufficient force for
the protection of the Canadas[54] might have proved fatal, at least to
the Upper Province, had not Major-General Brock, from the first moment
of being placed at the head of his government, been convinced that war
was inevitable; and that in consequence every exertion should be used to
place the province in as respectable a state of defence as his very
limited means would admit. The instant the navigation opened in the
spring, a supply of ordnance and other stores was hurried up to fort St.
Joseph; and its commandant, Captain Roberts, was instructed to be
constantly on his guard. Similar precautions were adopted relative to
Amherstburg, to which post Major-General Brock paid a visit early in
June, and fortunately took with him a reinforcement of 100 men of the
41st regiment. But in the execution of his plans he had to encounter
many obstacles, among which the subordinate nature of his command was
not the least formidable. Even as late as the 27th May, Sir George
Prevost does not seem to have considered hostilities so near, as on that
day he recommended to Major-General Brock the most rigid economy in
carrying on the public service, and in avoiding all expense that was not
absolutely necessary, on the plea of the great difficulty of raising
money. Sir George has, however, been wrongly accused of not sending any
instructions whatever to Major-General Brock for some weeks after he
received intimation of the war, as he did so from Montreal on the 7th
and 10th of July, or in less than a fortnight afterwards; but, either
from his dispatches not being transmitted by express, or from some other
unexplained cause, they did not reach their destination until the 29th
of July, or exactly five weeks after the declaration of war was known
in Upper Canada.

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