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

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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 L5,000 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
deplorable que de tels hommes en soient reduits a se consacrer a une
cause etrangere?"

* * * * *

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.

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