Nearly the whole of the arms at my disposal have been issued. They are barely sufficient to arm the militia immediately required to guard the frontier. Were I furnished with the means of distributing arms among the people, in whom confidence can be placed, they would not only overawe the disaffected, but prove of essential use in the event of invasion. The militia assembled in a wretched state in regard to clothing; many were without shoes, an article which can scarcely be provided in the country.

After the cannon, which have arrived this morning, are mounted, I shall consider my front perfectly secure. I do not imagine the enemy will hazard a water excursion with a view to turn my flanks. He probably will wait until winter, when the ice will enable him to cross with the utmost facility to any part between Fort Erie and as far as Long Point. My situation will then depend upon the force the enemy may bring to invade the province. Should the troops have to move, the want of tents will be severely felt.

A person who left Sandwich yesterday week, pretends that the enemy was then in the act of cannonading the place. I have not heard from Lieut.-Colonel St. George since my last letter to your excellency.

An officer is so absolutely necessary to command in the eastern district, that I have consented to Major-General Shaw proceeding thither in that capacity. I have full confidence in his judgment, and his conduct in the field is undoubted. He of course will assume the command in virtue of his militia rank, and will be liable to be superseded by any lieutenant-colonel your excellency may be pleased to appoint.

The expense of defending this province will unquestionably be great; upon a rough calculation, and supposing that 4,000 militia be constantly embodied, it cannot be estimated at less than L140,000 per annum. However great the sum, it will be applied to very considerable advantage, provided your excellency be enabled to send reinforcements, as without them it is scarcely possible that the government of the United States will be so inactive or supine as to permit the present limited force to remain in possession of the country. Whatever can be done to preserve it, or to delay its fall, your excellency may rest assured will be exerted.

Having been suddenly called away from York, I had not time to close my dispatch, giving your excellency an account of my proceedings during my stay at Amherstburg. I now have the honor to forward two documents, detailing the steps taken by the Indian department to prevail on that unfortunate people to accommodate their differences with the American government.

Extract from an American Newspaper.

BUFFALO, July 14, 1812.

Major-General Brock is at present at Newark, superintending the various defences on the river. He is stated to be an able and experienced officer, with undoubted courage. He came from Little York soon after hearing the declaration of war, and, it was believed, with a serious intention of attacking Fort Niagara, but, contrary to what has been reported, he made no demand of a surrender.

Expecting a descent from the American army, the Canadians have, for ten days past, been removing their families and effects from the river into the interior. At Newark, Queenston, and other villages on the river, there are no inhabitants except a few civilians and officers and soldiers. It is even said, that an immense quantity of specie, plate, &c, from various parts of the province, have been boxed up, and destined for Quebec.

The British are understood to have about six or seven hundred regular troops stationed between the lakes, from Fort George to Fort Erie. These men are generally those who have "seen service" in various parts of the world. The militia of the province are ordered out en masse.

It is stated by gentlemen of intelligence at Lewistown, that the government of Canada have in their employment, under pay, about 250 Indians, armed complete: a part of them are mounted.

Brigadier-General William Wadsworth, from Genesee, commands the troops on our frontiers. His aids are Major Adam Hoops and Major W. H. Spencer. His head quarters are now at Lewistown. It is impossible to state the precise number of troops under his command, because the militia ordered on the lines are returning, and the companies composing the regiments under his command have not all arrived; but from what we learn, there are in regular troops, volunteers, and detached militia, above 4,000 stationed at Rock, Lewistown, Youngstown, and Fort Niagara. The troops are in excellent health, in good spirits, and well supplied. They appear quite impatient for want of employment. There has been some firing from the sentries on both sides of the river.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 54: At this time, the British regular force in the Canadas consisted of the 8th, 41st, 49th, and 100th regiments, a small detachment of artillery, the 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, and the Canadian, Newfoundland, and Glengary Fencibles; amounting, in the whole, to 4,450 men. These were distributed along the different posts from the telegraph station, about 250 miles below Quebec, to St. Joseph's, but so unequally divided, that, in the Upper Province, whose front extends to nearly 1,300, out of the 1,700 miles, there were but 1,450 men.—James' Military Occurrences.]

[Footnote 55: In answer to Major-General Brock's suggestions on the subject, see page 127.]



CHAPTER IX.

The American government, in anticipation of its declaration of war, had detached from the state of Ohio to the Michigan territory an army of about 2,500 men, under the command of Brigadier-General Hull, who, said President Madison in his message to congress, "possessing discretionary authority to act offensively, passed into Canada with a prospect of easy and victorious progress." The enemy evidently confided in the very limited defensive means of the Upper Province, and in the impossibility of its receiving early assistance from the mother country. They relied also on the supposed disaffection of many of its inhabitants, and they expected confidently that, weak and divided, it would fall an easy prey to the invaders; but they were soon undeceived. Having crossed over to the Canadian village of Sandwich on the 12th July, Brigadier-General Hull issued on that day the following insidious but able proclamation, which was doubtless written at Washington. It will be seen that the American general was made to say, that he did not ask the assistance of the Canadians, as he had no doubt of eventual success, because he came prepared for every contingency with a force which would look down all opposition, and that that force was but the vanguard of a much greater!

Inhabitants of Canada!—After thirty years of peace and prosperity, the United States have been driven to arms. The injuries and aggressions, the insults and indignities of Great Britain, have once more left them no alternative but manly resistance or unconditional submission.

The army under my command has invaded your country, and the standard of union now waves over the territory of Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitant, it brings neither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not to make them. I come to protect, not to injure you.

Separated by an immense ocean, and an extensive wilderness from Great Britain, you have no participation in her councils, no interest in her conduct. You have felt her tyranny, you have seen her injustice—but I do not ask you to avenge the one or redress the other. The United States are sufficiently powerful to afford you every security, consistent with their rights and your expectations. I tender you the invaluable blessings of civil, political, and religious liberty, and their necessary result, individual and general prosperity—that liberty which gave decision to our councils and energy to our conduct in our struggle for independence, and which conducted us safely and triumphantly through the stormy period of the revolution—that liberty which has raised us to an elevated rank among the nations of the world, and which has afforded us a greater measure of peace and security, of wealth and improvement, than ever yet fell to the lot of any people.

In the name of my country, and by the authority of my government, I promise protection to your persons, property and rights. Remain at your homes—pursue your peaceful and customary avocations—raise not your hands against your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedom and independence we now enjoy. Being children, therefore, of the same family with us, and heirs to the same heritage, the arrival of an army of friends must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. You will be emancipated from tyranny and oppression, and restored to the dignified station of freemen.

Had I any doubt of eventual success, I might ask your assistance; but I do not. I come prepared for every contingency. I have a force which will look down all opposition, and that force is but the vanguard of a much greater. If, contrary to your own interests and the just expectation of my country, you should take part in the approaching contest, you will be considered and treated as enemies, and the horrors and calamities of war will stalk before you. If the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and the savages be let loose to murder our citizens, and butcher our women and children, this war will be a war of extermination. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalping knife, will be the signal of one indiscriminate scene of desolation. No white man, found fighting by the side of an Indian, will be taken prisoner—instant destruction will be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty, justice, and humanity, cannot prevent the employment of a force which respects no rights and knows no wrong, it will be prevented by a severe and relentless system of retaliation.

I doubt not your courage and firmness—I will not doubt your attachment to liberty. If you tender your services voluntarily, they will be accepted readily. The United States offer you peace, liberty, and security. Your choice lies between these and war, slavery and destruction. Choose, then, but choose wisely; and may He who knows the justice of our cause, and who holds in his hand the fate of nations, guide you to a result the most compatible with your rights and interests, your peace and prosperity.

W. HULL. By the General, A.F. HULL. Capt. 13th Regt. U.S. Infantry, and Aide-de-Camp. Head Quarters, Sandwich, July 12, 1812.

The following counter-proclamation was published by Major-General Brock, "a proclamation as remarkable for the solid reasoning and dignity of its language, as that of the American for its presumption."[56]

The unprovoked declaration of war by the United States of America against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and its dependencies, has been followed by the actual invasion of this province, in a remote frontier of the western district, by a detachment of the armed force of the United States.

The officer commanding that detachment has thought proper to invite his majesty's subjects, not merely to a quiet and unresisting submission, but insults them with a cell to seek voluntarily the protection of his government.

Without condescending to repeat the illiberal epithets bestowed in this appeal of the American commander to the people of Upper Canada, on the administration of his majesty, every inhabitant of the province is desired to seek the confutation of such indecent slander in the review of his own particular circumstances. Where is the Canadian subject who can truly affirm to himself that he has been injured by the government, in his person, his property, or his liberty? Where is to be found, in any part of the world, a growth so rapid in prosperity and wealth, as this colony exhibits? Settled, not thirty years, by a band of veterans, exiled from their former possessions on account of their loyalty, not a descendant of these brave people is to be found, who, under the fostering liberality of their sovereign, has not acquired a property and means of enjoyment superior to what were possessed by their ancestors.

This unequalled prosperity would not have been attained by the utmost liberality of the government, or the persevering industry of the people, had not the maritime power of the mother country secured to its colonists a safe access to every market, where the produce of their labour was in request.

The unavoidable and immediate consequences of a separation from Great Britain must be the loss of this inestimable advantage; and what is offered you in exchange? To become a territory of the United States, and share with them that exclusion from the ocean which the policy of their government enforces; you are not even flattered with a participation of their boasted independence; and it is but too obvious that, once estranged from the powerful protection of the United Kingdom, you must be reannexed to the dominion of France, from which the provinces of Canada were wrested by the arms of Great Britain, at a vast expense of blood and treasure, from no other motive than to relieve her ungrateful children from the oppression of a cruel neighbour. This restitution of Canada to the empire of France, was the stipulated reward for the aid afforded to the revolted colonies, now the United States; the debt is still due, and there can be no doubt but the pledge has been renewed as a consideration for commercial advantages, or rather for an expected relaxation in the tyranny of France over the commercial world. Are you prepared, inhabitants of Canada, to become willing subjects, or rather slaves, to the despot who rules the nations of continental Europe with a rod of iron? If not, arise in a body, exert your energies, co-operate cordially with the king's regular forces to repel the invader, and do not give cause to your children, when groaning under the oppression of a foreign master, to reproach you with having so easily parted with the richest inheritance of this earth—a participation in the name, character, and freedom of Britons!

The same spirit of justice, which will make every reasonable allowance for the unsuccessful efforts of zeal and loyalty, will not fail to punish the defalcation of principle. Every Canadian freeholder is, by deliberate choice, bound by the most solemn oaths to defend the monarchy, as well as his own property; to shrink, from that engagement is a treason not to be forgiven. Let no man suppose that if, in this unexpected struggle, his majesty's arms should be compelled to yield to an overwhelming force, the province will be eventually abandoned; the endeared relations of its first settlers, the intrinsic value of its commerce, and the pretensions of its powerful rival to repossess the Canadas, are pledges that no peace will be established between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, of which the restoration of these provinces does not make the most prominent condition.

Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of the enemy's forces to refuse quarter, should an Indian appear in the ranks. The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this colony were, like his majesty's other subjects, punished for their zeal and fidelity, by the loss of their possessions in the late colonies, and rewarded by his majesty with lands of superior value in this province. The faith of the British government has never yet been violated—the Indians feel that the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity protected from the base arts so frequently devised to over-reach their simplicity. By what new principle are they to be prohibited from defending their property? If their warfare, from being different to that of the white people, be more terrific to the enemy, let him retrace his steps—- they seek him not—and cannot expect to find women and children in an invading army. But they are men, and have equal rights with all other men to defend themselves and their property when invaded, more especially when they find in the enemy's camp a ferocious and mortal foe, using the same warfare which the American commander affects to reprobate.

This inconsistent and unjustifiable threat of refusing quarter, for such a cause as being found in arms with a brother sufferer, in defence of invaded rights, must be exercised with the certain assurance of retaliation, not only in the limited operations of war in this part of the king's dominions, but in every quarter of the globe; for the national character of Britain is not less distinguished for humanity than strict retributive justice, which will consider the execution of this inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject of the offending power must make expiation.

ISAAC BROCK, Major-Gen, and President. Head Quarters, Fort George, July 22, 1812. By order of his honor the president. J.B. GLEGG, Captain and Aide-de-Camp.

Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost.

FORT GEORGE, July 20, 1812.

My last to your excellency was dated the 12th instant, since which nothing extraordinary has occurred on this communication. The enemy has evidently diminished his force, and appears to have no intention of making an immediate attack.

I have herewith the honor of enclosing the copy of two letters which I have received from Lieut.-Colonel St. George, together with some interesting documents found on board a schooner, which the boats of the Hunter captured on her voyage from the Miami to Detroit.

From the accompanying official correspondence between General Hull and the secretary at war, it appears that the collected force which has arrived at Detroit amounts to about 2,000 men. I have requested Colonel Proctor to proceed to Amherstburg, and ascertain accurately the state of things in that quarter. I had every inclination to go there myself, but the meeting of the legislature on the 27th instant renders it impossible.

I receive this moment a dispatch dated the 15th instant, from Lieut.-Colonel St. George, giving an account of the enemy having landed on the 12th and immediately after occupied the village of Sandwich. It is strange that three days should be allowed to elapse before sending to acquaint me of this important fact. I had no idea, until I received Lieut.-Colonel St. George's letter a few days ago that General Hull was advancing with so large a force.

The militia, from every account, behaved very ill. The officers appear the most in fault. Colonel Proctor will probably reach Amherstburg in the course of to-morrow. I have great dependence in that officer's decision, but fear he will arrive too late to be of much service. The enemy was not likely to delay attacking a force that had allowed him to cross the river in open day without firing a shot.

The position which Lieut.-Colonel St. George occupied is very good, and infinitely more formidable than the fort itself. Should he therefore be compelled to retire, I know of no other alternative than his embarking in the king's vessels and proceeding to Fort Erie.

Were it possible to animate the militia to a proper sense of their duty, something might yet be done—but I almost despair.

Your excellency will readily perceive the critical situation in which the reduction of Amherstburg will place me.

I do not imagine General Hull will be able to detach more than I,000 men, but even with that trifling force I much fear he will succeed in getting to my rear. The militia will not act without a strong regular force to set them the example; and as I must now expect to be seriously threatened, I cannot in prudence make strong detachments, which would not only weaken my line of defence, but, in the event of a retreat, endanger their safety.

I am now given to understand that General Hull's insidious proclamation, herewith enclosed, has already been productive of considerable effect on the minds of the people. In fact, a general sentiment prevails, that with the present force resistance is unavailing. I shall continue to exert myself to the utmost to overcome every difficulty. Should, however, the communication between Kingston and Montreal be cut off, the fate of the troops in this part of the province will be decided. I now express my apprehensions on a supposition that the slender means your excellency possesses will not admit of diminution; consequently, that I need not look for reinforcements. It is evidently not the intention of the enemy to make any attempt to penetrate into the province by this strait, unless the present force be diminished. He seems much more inclined to work on the flanks, aware that if he succeed every other part must very soon submit.

My last official communication from the Lower Province is dated the 25th ultimo, when the adjutant-general announced the receipt of intelligence, by a mercantile house, of war being declared by the United States against Great Britain.

Major-General Sir Thomas Saumarez, Kt.,[57] to Major-General Brock.

HALIFAX, July 22, 1812.

Being this moment informed that an express is to be dispatched immediately from hence to Quebec, I have great pleasure in having an opportunity to inquire after your health and welfare, and to acquaint you that your relation, Lady Saumarez, and myself, arrived here about a month since. I assure you we consider ourselves particularly fortunate in not having fallen into the enemy's bands, as the Americans had declared war a week before we reached this. We came out in a very valuable ordnance store ship, which would have been a great acquisition to the enemy, at the breaking out of a war especially; and the loss to us would have been seriously felt here, as all the stores on board were very much required. Another ship with naval stores accompanied us; they were much wanted by our squadron, and possibly as much so by the ships of the enemy. Our squadron on this station has been very active. Prizes arrive here daily, I could almost say hourly. The Emulous brig brought in ten yesterday, and 30,000 dollars were found on board some of them. Mr. Foster, late ambassador to the American States, has been here nearly a week; he is to sail for England to-day. According to the best information we can obtain here, the Northern and Eastern States of America are extremely inimical to, and dissatisfied with, the war; so much so, that there is reason to suppose they will dissolve the Union shortly, and declare themselves totally independent of the Southern and Western States.

The American privateers are extremely numerous and daring in this neighbourhood; and, I am sorry to add, they have proved but too successful, having captured several of our vessels bound to Quebec and New Brunswick, and some to this port. I received a note about an hour ago from Lieut.-Colonel Pearson, who sailed from hence last Sunday, with his wife and family, for Quebec, being appointed inspecting field officer in Canada, to inform me that he had been made prisoner by an American privateer. Most of our ships are looking out for the squadron the Americans have at sea, under Commodore Rodgers, who is supposed to have sailed from New York with a view to intercept our West India fleet homeward bound.

We are as busy here as possible in placing all our outposts in the best state of defence. I suppose you are not less so.

A transport, with 140 men of the Royals, from the West Indies to Quebec, was boarded by the Essex American frigate about ten days ago, and permitted to proceed, on condition that the master of the vessel promised to pay a ransom of 12,000 dollars for her; and that the officer commanding considered himself on parole, and gave his assurance that the troops would not fight against the Americans during the war. The transport arrived here yesterday, and the remainder of the battalion is supposed to have reached Quebec.

You have probably heard of the many improvements in our little island. An excellent road was finished from town to Vazon Bay, and from Fort George to Rocquaine; also one from town to Lancresse. The Braye du Valle is now under a state of cultivation. Roads of communication were nearly finished; one of them from what is called the Long Store passes Amherst Barracks and my house, and joins the great road to the Forest and St. Martin's: the opening of all these have discovered many beautiful views, which we did not know the island possessed.

If there should be any thing I can do for you or my nephew James Brock, I beg that you will afford me the pleasure of executing your commissions. I have not time to add more, but to assure you both of Lady S.'s and my best wishes and regards.

Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost.

FORT GEORGE, July 25, 1812.

Since my dispatch to your excellency of the 20th instant, I have received information of the enemy having made frequent and extensive inroads from Sandwich up the river Thames. I have in consequence been induced to detach Capt. Chambers with about 50 of the 41st regiment to the Moravian town, where I have directed 200 militia to join him. From the loud and apparently warm professions of the Indians residing on the Grand River, I made no doubt of finding at all times a large majority ready to take the field and act in conjunction with our troops; but accounts received this morning state that they have determined to remain neutral, and they had consequently refused, with the exception of about fifty, to join Captain Chambers' detachment.

I meditated a diversion to the westward, the moment I could collect a sufficient number of militia, in the hope of compelling General Hull to retreat across the river; but this unexpected intelligence has ruined the whole of my plans. The militia, which I destined for this service, will now be alarmed, and unwilling to leave their families to the mercy of 400 Indians, whose conduct affords such wide room for suspicion; and really to expect that this fickle race will remain in a state of neutrality in the midst of war, would be truly absurd. The Indians have probably been led to this change of sentiment by emissaries from General Hull, whose proclamation to the Six Nations is herewith enclosed.

I have not deemed it of sufficient consequence to commence active operations on this line, by an attack on Fort Niagara. It can be demolished, when found necessary, in half an hour, and there my means of annoyance would terminate. To enable the militia to acquire some degree of discipline without interruption, is of far greater consequence than such a conquest. Every thing in my power shall be done to overcome the difficulties by which I am surrounded; but without strong reinforcements, I fear the country cannot be roused to make exertions equal to meet this crisis.

I proceed immediately to York, to attend the meeting of the legislature, and I hope to return on Wednesday. The charge of this frontier will in the mean time devolve on Lieut.-Colonel Myers, who appears worthy of every confidence. The actual invasion of the province has compelled me to recall that portion of the militia whom I permitted to return home and work at harvest. I am prepared to hear of much discontent in consequence; the disaffected will take advantage of it, and add fuel to the flame. But it may not be without reason that I may be accused of having already studied their convenience and humour, to the injury of the service.

I should have derived much consolation in the midst of my present difficulties had I been honored, previously to the meeting of the legislature, with your excellency's determination in regard to this province. That it cannot be maintained with its present force is very obvious; and unless the enemy be driven from Sandwich, it will be impossible to avert much longer the impending ruin of the country. Numbers have already joined the invading army; commotions are excited; and the late occurrences at Sandwich have spread a general gloom. I have not heard from Lieut.-Colonel St. George, or from any individual at Amherstburg, since I last had the honor of addressing your excellency, which makes me apprehensive that Colonel Proctor has been detained on his journey too long for the good of the service.

The enemy's cavalry, amounting to about fifty, are led by one Watson, a surveyor from Montreal of a desperate character. This fellow has been allowed to parade with about twenty men of the same description as far as Westminster, vowing as they went along the most bitter vengeance against the first characters in the province. Nothing can shew more strongly the state of apathy which exists in most parts of the country; but I am perhaps too liberal in attributing the conduct of the inhabitants to that cause.

Mr. Couche has represented to the head of his department the total impracticability of carrying on the public service without a remittance of specie, or a government paper substitute. He was in expectation of making arrangements with some individuals that would have enabled him to proceed, but I much fear that the whole project has fallen to the ground. The militia on this communication were so clamorous for their pay, that I directed Mr. Couche to make the necessary advances, and this has drained him of the little specie in his possession.

My present civil office not only authorizes me to convene general courts martial for the trial of offenders belonging to the militia, but likewise the infliction of the sentence of death; whilst, in regard to the military, my power is limited to the mere assembling of the court. I beg leave to submit to the consideration of your excellency, whether in times like the present I ought not to be invested with equal authority over each service.

I herewith have the honor to transmit two letters, one from Captain Roberts, commanding at St. Joseph's, and the second from Mr. Dickson, a gentleman every way capable of forming a correct judgment of the actual state of the Indians. Nothing can be more deplorable than his description; yet the United States government accuse Great Britain of instigating that people to war. Is not the true cause to be found in the state of desperation to which they are reduced by the unfriendly and unjust measures of that government towards them?

* * * * *

On the 27th of July, Major-General Brock returned to York from Fort George, on which day, accompanied by a numerous suite, he opened the extra session of the legislature, and delivered the following speeches.

Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

The urgency of the present crisis is the only consideration which could have induced me to call you together at a time when public, as well as private duties elsewhere, demand your care and attention.

But, gentlemen, when invaded by an enemy whose avowed object is the entire conquest of the province, the voice of loyalty, as well as of interest, calls aloud to every person in the sphere in which he is placed to defend his country.

Our militia have heard that voice, and have obeyed it; they have evinced, by the promptitude and loyalty of their conduct, that they are worthy of the king whom they serve, and of the constitution which they enjoy; and it affords me particular satisfaction, that while I address you as legislators, I speak to men who, in the day of danger, will be ready to assist, not only with their counsel, but with their arms.

We look, gentlemen, to our militia, as well as to the regular forces, for our protection; but I should be wanting to that important trust committed to my care, if I attempted to conceal (what experience, the great instructor of mankind, and especially of legislators, has discovered,) that amendment is necessary in our militia laws to render them efficient.

It is for you to consider what further improvements they still may require.

Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

From the history and experience of our mother country, we learn that in times of actual invasion or internal commotion, the ordinary course of criminal law has been found inadequate to secure his majesty's government from private treachery as well as from open disaffection; and that at such times its legislature has found it expedient to enact laws restraining for a limited period the liberty of individuals, in many cases where it would be dangerous to expose the particulars of the charge; and although the actual invasion of the province might justify me in the exercise of the full powers reposed in me on such an emergency, yet it will be more agreeable to me to receive the sanction of the two houses.

A few traitors have already joined the enemy, have been suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have been harboured and concealed in the interior; yet the general spirit of loyalty which appears to pervade the inhabitants of this province, is such as to authorize a just expectation that their efforts to mislead and deceive will be unavailing. The disaffected, I am convinced, are few—to protect and defend the loyal inhabitants from their machinations, is an object worthy of your most serious deliberation.

Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

I have directed the public accounts of the province to be laid before you, in as complete a state as this unusual period will admit; they will afford you the means of ascertaining to what extent you can aid in providing for the extraordinary demands occasioned by the employment of the militia, and I doubt not but to that extent you will cheerfully contribute.

Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By unanimity and dispatch in our councils, and by vigour in our operations, we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a country defended by free men enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their king and constitution, can never be conquered!

The invasion of the western district by Brigadier-General Hull, and the artful and threatening language of his proclamation, were productive at the outset of very unfavourable effects among a large portion of the inhabitants of Upper Canada; and so general was the despondency, that the Norfolk militia, consisting, we believe, chiefly of settlers of American origin, peremptorily refused to march. The majority of the members of the house of assembly were impressed with the same gloomy forebodings, and that body appeared by its proceedings rather to court the favor of the enemy than fearlessly to perform its duty. It was therefore prorogued upon passing the money bills, as no advantage could result from its remaining longer in session. The state of the province required the most prompt and decisive measures for its preservation, and Major-General Brock considered its situation at this moment as extremely critical. With the concurrence of his council, to whom he represented his many difficulties, he is said to have resolved on exercising martial law whenever he should find it necessary, although the house of assembly had rejected its enactment, even in a modified form. Not only among the militia was a disposition evinced to submit tamely, but five hundred in the western district sought the protection of the enemy. It is true that the people then were far removed from the seat of government, and the more subject to hostile influence, as they were principally composed of French Canadians and of the natives of the United States, or their immediate descendants; but even the Indians, who were located on the Grand River, in the heart of the province, positively refused, with a few exceptions, to take up arms; and they announced their intention, after the return of some of their chiefs from General Hull, to remain neutral, as if they wished the authorities to believe that they would remain in peace in the midst of war. Major-General Brock had not long administered the government of the province, but where he was individually known, and where his personal influence extended, a better feeling prevailed; and his counter-proclamation served not only to animate the well disposed, but to counteract the machinations of the disaffected. The confident tone of his address to the provincial parliament was also productive of the best effects, whatever inward misgivings he might feel; and those who were dastardly enough to join the invaders of their native or adopted country, were quickly taught to repent of their baseness and treason.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 56: Christie's Memoirs, already cited at page 90.]

[Footnote 57: General Sir Thomas Saumarez, now in his 85th year, and brother of the late Admiral Lord de Saumarez.]



CHAPTER X.

We have mentioned that Major-General Brock had in the spring provided for the protection of Fort St. Joseph, a small British post, distant by water nearly 700 hundred miles from York, and situate about 40 miles, also by water, to the north-east of the American island and fort of Michilimakinack, or Makinack, which island is in latitude 45 deg. 35' north, and longitude 84 deg. 30' west; and one of his first cares, on hearing of the declaration of the war, was to send, on the 26th of June, a notification of it to Captain Roberts, who was stationed at St. Joseph with a detachment of the 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, accompanied by orders to make an immediate attack upon Michilimakinack, if practicable; or, in the event of an attack by the Americans upon St. Joseph, to defend it to the utmost. Captain Roberts received at the same time another letter from Major-General Brock, dated the 27th June, suspending the orders for the attack from the uncertainty he was under of the declaration of war. In a third letter, dated Fort George, the 28th June, Major-General Brock, being sufficiently informed of such a declaration, directed Captain Roberts to adopt the most prompt and effectual measures to possess himself of Michilimakinack, and for this purpose to summon to his assistance the Indians within his influence, as well as the gentlemen and dependants of the British fur companies near his post. On the day that Captain Roberts received this letter, another reached him from Sir George Prevost, dated Quebec, 25th of June, by which he was directed to take every precaution to secure his post against any attempt by the enemy, and, in case of necessity, to effect his retreat.[58] This contrariety of instructions from the two general officers did not fail to perplex Captain Roberts, who, however, with great promptitude and decision made preparations for the attack. By another dispatch of the 4th of July, from Major-General Brock, Captain Roberts was left at his own discretion to adopt either offensive or defensive measures, as circumstances might dictate. On the 16th July, he accordingly set out with a flotilla of boats and canoes, in which were embarked 45 officers and men of the 10th Royal Veteran Battalion, about 180 Canadians, and nearly 400 Indians, the whole convoyed by the Caledonia brig, belonging to the North-West company; and on the ensuing morning, the British force effected a landing before Michilimakinack,[59] the garrison of which, consisting only of 61 officers and men, immediately surrendered by capitulation. A quantity of military stores and seven hundred packs of furs were found in the fort, and its surrender had a very favorable effect upon the Indians, a large number of whom now joined in open hostility against the Americans. It will be found by a letter of the 12th August, from Sir George Prevost, who appears to have seen no safety but in defensive measures, that he would not have approved of the attack on Michilimakinack if it had occurred prior to Hull's invasion! And yet that officer, in his official dispatch relative to the capture of his army and the surrender of Detroit, attributed his disasters partly to the fall of Michilimakinack, which he said opened the northern hive of Indians against him!

Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost.

YORK, July 29, 1812.

I have the honor to transmit herewith a dispatch this instant received from Captain Roberts, announcing the surrender by capitulation, on the 17th instant, of Fort Michilimakinack.

The conduct of this officer since his appointment to the command of that distant post, has been distinguished by much zeal and judgment, and his recent eminent display of those qualities your excellency will find has been attended with the most happy effect.

The militia stationed here volunteered this morning their services to any part of the province without the least hesitation. I have selected 100, whom I have directed to proceed without delay to Long Point, where I purpose collecting a force for the relief of Amherstburg. This example, I hope, will be followed by as many as may be required. By the militia law, a mail refusing to march may be fined L5, or confined three months; and although I have assembled the legislature for the express purpose of amending the act, I much fear nothing material will be done. Your excellency will scarcely believe, that this infatuated house of assembly have refused, by a majority of two, to suspend for a limited time the habeas corpus.

The capture of Michilimakinack may produce great changes to the westward. The actual invasion of the province justifies every act of hostility on the American territory.

It was not till this morning that I was honored with your excellency's dispatches, dated the 7th and 10th instant. Their contents, I beg to assure your excellency, have relieved my mind considerably. I doubt whether General Hull had instructions to cross to this side of the river; I rather suspect he was compelled by a want of provisions. I embark immediately in the Prince Regent for Fort George. I return here the day after to-morrow, and shall probably dissolve the legislature.

Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock.

QUEBEC, July 31, 1812.

I have received your letter of the 20th instant, accompanied by the copy of two letters from Lieut.-Colonel St. George, who is in command at Amherstburg, and some interesting documents found on board a schooner, which had been taken by the boats of the Hunter.

In consequence of your having desired Colonel Proctor to proceed to Amherstburg, and of your presence being necessary at the seat of government to meet the legislature of Upper Canada, I have taken upon myself to place Major-General Sheaffe on the staff, to enable me to send him to assist you in the arduous task you have to perform, in the able execution of which I have great confidence. He has been accordingly directed to proceed without delay to Upper Canada, there to place himself under your command.

I believe you are authorized by the commission under which you administer the government of Upper Canada, to declare martial law in the event of invasion or insurrection; it is therefore for you to consider whether you can obtain any thing equivalent to that power from your legislature. I have not succeeded in obtaining a modification of it in Lower Canada, and must therefore, upon the occurrence of either of those calamities, declare the law martial unqualified, and of course shut the doors of the courts of civil law.

The report transmitted by Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers, to Lieut.-Colonel Bruyeres, of the state of defence in which he had placed Fort Amherstburg, together with the description of the troops allotted for its defence, give me a foreboding that the result of General Hull's attempt upon that fort will terminate honorably to our arms.

If Lieut.-Colonel St. George be possessed of the talents and resources required to form a soldier, he is fortunate in the opportunity of displaying them. Should General Hull be compelled to relinquish his operations against Amherstburg, it will be proper his future movements should be most carefully observed, as his late march exhibits a more than ordinary character of enterprize.

Your supposition of my slender means is but too correct; notwithstanding, you may rely upon every exertion being made to preserve uninterrupted the communication between Kingston and Montreal, and that I will also give all possible support to your endeavours to overcome every difficulty.

The possession of Malden, which I consider means Amherstburg, appears a favorite object with the government of the United States. I sincerely hope you will disappoint them.

Should the intelligence, which arrived yesterday by the way of Newfoundland, prove correct, a remarkable coincidence will exist in the revocation of our orders in council as regards America, and the declaration of war by congress against England, both having taken place on the same day in London and at Washington, the 17th June.

Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock.

QUEBEC, August 1, 1812.

Sir George yesterday received your letter of the 20th with its several enclosures, which are, I assure you, highly interesting to all, and doubly so to those who feel warmly and sincerely attached to you; and few, I believe, possess more friends and well wishers than yourself. 100 effective of the Newfoundland, and 50 picked men of the Veterans, left this in boats on Thursday, and, as it has blown a gale of east wind ever since, have I trust made great progress: they were intended to reinforce the garrison of Kingston, and to relieve the company of the 49th that escorted stores to that place. Sir George regrets extremely his inability to render you a more efficient aid, but, under existing circumstances, he does not feel himself warranted to do more. I regret to find your militia at Sandwich so lukewarm, to call it by no harsher name; but I fear that little can be expected from those recently settled, or of American extraction, and with our Canadians we have found a very reluctant compliance. I trust we may still look to considerable reinforcements from home this year. We are led to expect the 1st battalion of the Royals from the West Indies immediately, destined indeed to relieve the 41st. I hope we shall not be disappointed, as our militia will feel bold if well backed; and I am sure Sir George will rejoice in receiving the means of rendering you further assistance. It appears to be credited that the orders in council were rescinded, in as far as regarded America, on the 17th June, the day the war vote was carried: this will strengthen the oppositionists in the States, and the timid will feel alarmed, not without reason, when they read the glorious and judicious exploit of Captain Hotham, in the Northumberland, 74, in destroying, under circumstances of great difficulty and peril, two French 44-gun frigates and a sloop, which received a superior degree of protection from batteries on the shore than can be afforded to Commodore Rodgers in any harbour of the States.

The Americans are forming depots in the neighbourhood of the Montreal frontier and building batteries on the lake, but they have not brought forward any considerable shew of strength;—on this appearance of weakness we cannot rely, as it would answer no good end making a parade before they intended to attack. If they be serious in their views on this province, the attempt will be probably backed by predatory incursions on various points. A corps of militia is kept on the Point Levi side.

Our legislature meet this day to terminate the session. One great object has been accomplished in the house, adding the provincial security to the army money note bill; the province pays the interest accruing upon the notes and the expense of the establishment, and they are constituted a legal tender. Without this step we were completely at a stand, for we could not obtain money to pay the last month's subsistence to the troops: great benefit is expected to accrue from the operation of the bill. The clergy have engaged to promote the circulation of the notes, all of which above twenty-five dollars bear interest, and all under are payable on demand.

Adieu, my dear generals—may every success and good fortune attend you in the arduous task before you: we cannot command success, but I am sure you will not fail to merit it.

Lieut.-Colonel Bruyeres, Royal Engineers, to Major-General Brock.

QUEBEC, August 1, 1812.

I take the favorable advantage of this being delivered to you by General Sheaffe, to assure you of the sincere interest I feel in the very arduous and important position you are now placed in to protect and defend a chain of posts, and a country that has been so long neglected. This difficult task placed in any other hands, I should consider very discouraging; but I acknowledge that I look with a certain degree of confidence to your abilities and perseverance in surmounting every difficulty that must unavoidably occur in a service of this nature. I most fervently and earnestly hope that every possible success may attend all your proceedings. I trust that you will always meet with zeal and activity in the officers of my department, to perform every part of the duty allotted to their charge. It is very difficult at this distance to suggest any ideas that might be useful, as every operation in which you are engaged must depend so entirely upon local circumstances, and the conduct which the enemy may pursue towards attaining the object he has in view. I am glad to find that the new arrival of the Royals, expected at Quebec to-morrow, will give you the reinforcement of the 49th regiment, which, with the detachments of the Newfoundland and Veterans, and gun-boat No. 7, will add something to your present strength.

Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock.

QUEBEC, August 2, 1812.

Last evening an officer of the 98th regiment arrived here express from Halifax, the bearer of dispatches to me, dated on the 22d ultimo, from Mr. Foster, who was then in Nova Scotia.

I lose no time in making you acquainted with the substance of this gentleman's communication. He informs me that he had just received dispatches from England, referring to a declaration of ministers in parliament, relative to a proposed repeal of the orders in council, provided the United States government would return to relations of amity with us, the contents of which may possibly induce the American government to agree to a suspension of hostilities as a preliminary to negotiations for peace;—that he proposed sending his majesty's hired armed ketch Gleaner to New York, with letters to Mr. Baker, whom he had left at Washington in a demi-official capacity, with directions to communicate with the American minister and to write to me the result of his interview. Should the president of the United States think proper to signify that hostile operations should cease on the American side, Mr. Foster suggests the expediency of my being prepared to make a similar signification on our part.

As I propose sending Colonel Baynes immediately into the United States, with a proposal for a cessation of hostile operations, I enclose for your information the copy of my letter to General Dearborn, or the commander-in-chief of the American forces.

Mr. Foster also submits the propriety of our abstaining from an invasion of the United States territory, as only in such an event could the American government be empowered to order the militia out of the States. I am led to believe from this, that General Hull, in possessing himself of Sandwich, has exceeded his instructions; particularly as Mr. Foster informs me that Mr. Monroe had told him Fort Maiden (Amherstburg) would not be attacked, but that General Hull had stated to a friend of his, some time ago, that he would attempt it.

A report has been made to me that a frigate and six transports, with the Royal Scots (1st battalion) on board, from the West Indies, are just below Bic;—in consequence of this reinforcement, I have ordered the company of the 49th regiment, sent to Kingston, to remain there; and in addition to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, and a detachment of an officer and 50 Veterans most fit for service, now on their route to that station, I shall order Major Ormsby, with three companies of the 49th regiment, to proceed from Montreal to the same post, to be disposed of as you may find it necessary.

Lieut.-General Sir J.C. Sherbrooke has informed me that one of the transports, with part of the Royals on board, has been captured by the United States frigate the Essex; that she has been ransomed and the officers and troops allowed to proceed, upon condition that they are not to serve against America until regularly exchanged. The vessel and troops had arrived at Halifax, and will shortly be sent hither.

Major-General Brock to Sir George Prevost.

YORK, August 4, 1812.

I have the honor to enclose a statement made by me yesterday to his majesty's executive council, which will fully apprize your excellency of my situation. The council adjourned for deliberation, and I have no doubt will recommend the prorogation of the assembly and proclamation declaring martial law, but doubts occurred in contemplation of such an event, which I take the liberty to submit to your excellency, and request the aid of your experience and superior judgment.

1.—In the event of declaring martial law, can I, without the sign manual, approve and carry into effect the sentence of a general court martial?

2.—Can I put upon a general court martial, after martial law is proclaimed, any person not a commissioned officer in his majesty's regular forces? In other words, can officers of militia sit in conjunction with those of the line?

Sir George Prevost to Major-General Brock.

MONTREAL, August 12, 1812.

Your letter of the 4th instant, enclosing the proceedings of the executive council of the 3d.; Captain Glegg's letter of the 5th instant, transmitting copies of letters from Colonel Proctor to you of 26th and 30th July, with the correspondence between Brigadier-General Hull and Lieut.-Colonel St. George, and the intercepted correspondence of the former, together with your letter to Colonel Baynes, of the 4th instant, were all delivered to me on my arrival at this place yesterday. The information they contain is highly interesting, and I lose no time in dispatching to you Brigade Major Shekleton, as the bearer of this letter, and for the purpose of receiving whatever communication you may have to make in return. Being fully aware of the necessity of affording you such reinforcements as the exigencies of the service in other parts of the two provinces would permit, I had, previous to the receipt of your letter, made arrangements for that purpose.

Major Ormsby, with three companies of the 49th regiment, protecting a considerable supply of ordnance and ordnance stores, left La Chine on the 6th instant for Kingston and Fort George, taking with him L2,500 for the payment of the regular and militia forces. Major Heathcote, with one company of the 49th regiment, about 110 men of the Newfoundland regiment, and 50 picked Veterans, are to leave La Chine on the 13th instant. With this detachment, an additional supply of ordnance stores and camp equipage for 500 men will be forwarded for Upper Canada; and as soon as a sufficiency of bateaux can again be collected at La Chine, Colonel Vincent is under orders to proceed to Kingston with the remainder of the 49th regiment, and a subaltern of the royal artillery and ten gunners, with two 3-pounders.

When these reinforcements reach you, they will, I trust, enable you successfully to resist the internal, as well as external, enemies opposed to you, and materially aid the able measures you have adopted for the defence of Upper Canada.

With regard to the queries you have submitted to me on the subject of martial law, I have to observe, that it has not fallen within my experience to see martial law proclaimed, except in those places where it has been declared under the authority of a provincial legislature, which of course regulated the mode in which it was to be executed. As the martial law which you purpose declaring is founded on the king's commission, and upon the extreme case of invasion alluded to in it, I am inclined to think that whatever power is necessary for carrying the measure into effect, must have been intended to be given you by the commission, and consequently, that the power of assembling courts martial and of carrying their sentence into execution, is included in the authority for declaring martial law. The officers of militia becoming themselves subject to martial law when it is declared, I conceive they may sit upon courts martial with officers of his majesty's regular forces; but upon both these points I desire not to be understood as speaking decisively—extreme cases must be met by measures which, on ordinary occasions, would not perhaps be justified. Your situation is such as to warrant your resorting to any step which, in your judgment, the public safety may require. I should therefore think, that after taking the best opinions you can obtain from the first law characters you have about you respecting the doubts you entertain on this subject, you need not hesitate to determine upon that line of conduct which you shall think will best promote the good of the service, trusting, if you do err, to the absolute necessity of the measures you may adopt, as your justification for them to his majesty's government.

Your letters of the 26th, 28th and 29th July, with the several enclosures and papers accompanying them, were received by me shortly previous to my leaving Quebec; the last containing Captain Roberts' official account of the capture of Fort Michilimakinack. Great credit is certainly due to that officer for the zeal and promptitude with which he has performed this service; at the same time I must confess, my mind has been very much relieved by finding that the capture took place at a period subsequent to Brigadier-General Hull's invasion of the province, as, had it been prior to it, it would not only have been in violation of Captain Roberts' orders, but have afforded a just ground for the subsequent conduct of the enemy, which, I now plainly perceive, no forbearance on your part would have prevented. The capture of this place will, I hope, enable the Indian tribes in that quarter to co-operate with you in your present movements against the enemy, by threatening his flanks, a diversion which would greatly alarm him, and probably have the effect of compelling him to retreat across the river.

I send you enclosed a copy of the official repeal of the orders in council, which I received last night by express from Quebec. Although I much doubt whether this step on the part of our government will have any effect upon that of the United States, the circulation of the paper evincing their conciliatory disposition may tend to increase and strengthen the divisions which subsist amongst the people upon the subject of the war. I therefore recommend to you to have a number of copies struck off and distributed.

Colonel Baynes is still absent upon his mission to the enemy's camp. Your letter to him of the 29th ultimo was received at the same time with those I have last acknowledged. Colonel Lethbridge I have directed to return to Montreal.

The issue of army bills has taken place at Quebec, and I hope to be able shortly to send you a supply of them.

* * * * *

We have previously alluded (page 206) to that part of the preceding letter which relates to the capture of Michilimakinack. This capture appears to have been effected contrary to Sir George Prevost's orders, as Fort St. Joseph being nearly 350 miles from Detroit and Sandwich, and as the expedition left the fort only four days after Hull's invasion, it was scarcely possible that Captain Roberts was then aware of that circumstance. Neither in his letter to the adjutant-general, announcing the capture, does he excuse himself by stating that he had heard of the invasion. In his dispatch to Earl Bathurst, written exactly a fortnight after the preceding letter, and dated Montreal, August 26, Sir George Prevost, in communicating the surrender of Detroit, expressed himself in very altered language, as he said:

"In these measures he[60] was most opportunely aided by the fortunate surrender of Fort Michilimakinack, which, giving spirit and confidence to the Indian tribes in its neighbourhood, part of whom assisted in its capture, determined them to advance upon the rear and flanks of the American army, as soon as they heard that it had entered the province."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 58: This order strikes us as an unmilitary interference on the part of Sir George Prevost with Major-General Brock's authority, Captain Roberts being under the immediate command of the latter general.]

[Footnote 59: See Captain Roberts' Dispatch, Appendix A, Sec. 1, No. 2.]

[Footnote 60: Major-General Brock.]



CHAPTER XI.

Whilst Major-General Brock impatiently lingered on the Niagara frontier, so as to give time to the legislature to assemble at York, he dispatched Colonel Proctor, of the 41st regiment, with such reinforcements as could be spared, to assume the command at Amherstburg. General Hull, after crossing to Sandwich, remained for some time inactive, under pretext of making preparations for the reduction of Amherstburg, or Malden, as the Americans called it, which lay but eighteen miles below him, and was not in a condition to withstand a regular siege. During the delay, three detachments of his army were on three successive days beaten back by a small number of the 41st regiment and a few Indians. Michilimakinack had fallen since the invasion, and the Indians from that quarter were flocking to the British standard. Our naval force being superior on the lake, Colonel Proctor pushed over to Brownstown, an American village, about 25 miles from Detroit, and nearly opposite to Amherstburg, a small detachment of the 41st regiment, and some Indians under the celebrated Tecumseh, who, with 70 of the latter, awaited in ambush near that village a party of 200 Americans, under Major Van Home, on their march[61] from Detroit to the River Raisin, (40 miles south of Detroit,) to meet a detachment of volunteers from Ohio, with a convoy of provisions for Hull's army. The Indians, firing suddenly, killed 20, including 5 officers, and wounded about the same number of the Americans, who hastily retreated, and were pursued seven miles by the warriors alone, not a British soldier being engaged. In this affair, General Hull's dispatches and the correspondence of his troops fell into the hands of Tecumseh, and it was partly the desponding nature of their contents which afterwards induced Major-General Brock to attempt the capture of the American army. Foiled in the reduction of Fort Amherstburg; disappointed in his hope of a general insurrection of the Canadians; and, "above all, dismayed at the report of General Brock's resolution to advance against him,"[62] Hull's schemes of conquest vanished; and he who, less than a month before, had landed in Canada boastful of his strength and with threats of extermination, now saw no other alternative than a hasty return to Detroit, under the pretence of concentrating his forces; and after re-opening his communication with the rivers Raisin and Miami, through which he received his supplies, of resuming offensive operations. Accordingly, on the 7th and 8th of August the American army re-crossed the river, with the exception of a garrison of 250 men left in charge of a small fortification they had thrown up on the British side, a little below Detroit, and which they evacuated and destroyed before the arrival of Major-General Brock.[63] On the 9th of August, a body of 600 Americans, sent to dislodge the British from Brownstown and to open a communication with the Rivers Raisin and Miami, was met by the white troops and Indians under Captain Muir, of the 41st, at Maguaga, between Brownstown and Detroit, but, after a severe conflict, Captain Muir was compelled to retreat.

From the moment that Major-General Brock heard of the invasion of the western district, he determined on proceeding thither in person after he had met the legislature and dispatched the public business. Having expressed a wish of being accompanied by such of the militia as might voluntarily offer their services, 500, principally the sons of veteran soldiers who had settled in the province, cheerfully came forward for that purpose. The threatening attitude, however, of the enemy on the Niagara frontier, obliged the general to content himself with half this number; and he left York on the 6th of August for Burlington Bay, whence he proceeded by land for Long Point, on Lake Erie. In passing the Mohawks' village, on the Grand River, or Ouse, he desired the Indians there to tell him who were, and who were not, his friends; and at a council held on the 7th of August, they promised that about 60 of their number should follow him on the ensuing Monday, the 10th. At Long Point, a few regulars and nearly 300 militia embarked with him on the 8th of the same month in boats of every description, collected among the neighbouring farmers, who usually employed them for transporting their corn and flour. The distance from Long Point to Amherstburg is about 200 miles along the shore, which in many parts is a high precipitous bank of red clay, with scarcely a creek for shelter. The little flotilla encountered heavy rain and tempestuous weather, but nothing could for a moment retard its progress, or diminish the confidence of the men in their indefatigable leader. Among his general orders from the commencement of hostilities, the only one relating to this voyage is the following, which, from the singularity of the circumstances attending it, is thought worthy of being preserved:

G.O. Head Quarters, Pointe au Prince, Aug. 12, 1812.

It is Major-General Brock's intention, should the wind continue fair, to proceed during the night; officers commanding boats will therefore pay attention to the order of sailing, as directed yesterday; the greatest care and attention will be required to prevent the boats from separating or falling behind. A great part of the banks of the lake, where the boats will this day pass, is much more dangerous and difficult of access than any we have passed; the boats will, therefore, not land except in the most extreme necessity, and then great care must be taken to choose the best place for beaching.

The troops being now in the neighbourhood of the enemy, every precaution must be taken to guard against surprise. By Order.

J.B. GLEGG, Aide-de-Camp.

After five days and nights of incessant exertion, the little squadron reached Amherstburg[64] shortly before midnight on the 13th, and in a rough sketch in the handwriting of Major-General Brock, he observed: "In no instance have I seen troops who would have endured the fatigues of a long journey in boats, during extremely bad weather, with greater cheerfulness and constancy; and it is but justice to this little band to add, that their conduct throughout excited my admiration."

Soon after their landing at Amherstburg, the attention of the troops was suddenly roused by a straggling fire of musketry, which in a few minutes became general, and appeared to proceed from an island in the Detroit river. Colonel Elliott, the superintendent of the Indians, quickly explained that the firing arose from the Indians attached to the British cause, who thus expressed their joy at the arrival of the reinforcement under their white father. Major-General Brock, aware of his scarcity of the munitions of war, sent Colonel Elliott to stop this waste of powder, saying: "Do, pray, Elliott, fully explain my wishes and motives, and tell the Indians that I will speak to them to-morrow on this subject." His request was promptly attended to, and Colonel Elliott returned in about half an hour with the Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, or Tecumpthe, already mentioned. Captain Glegg,[65] the aide-de-camp, being present, had an opportunity of closely observing the traits of that extraordinary man, and we are indebted to him for the following graphic particulars: "Tecumseh's appearance was very prepossessing; his figure light and finely proportioned; his age I imagined to be about five and thirty;[66] in height, five feet nine or ten inches; his complexion, light copper; countenance, oval, with bright hazle eyes, beaming cheerfulness, energy, and decision. Three small silver crowns, or coronets, were suspended from the lower cartilage of his aquiline nose; and a large silver medallion of George the Third, which I believe his ancestor had received from Lord Dorchester, when governor-general of Canada, was attached to a mixed coloured wampum string, and hung round his neck. His dress consisted of a plain, neat uniform, tanned deer skin jacket, with long trousers of the same material, the seams of both being covered with neatly cut fringe; and he had on his feet leather mocassins, much ornamented with work made from the dyed quills of the porcupine.

"The first and usual salutation of shaking hands being over, an allusion was made to the late firing of musketry, and Tecumseh at once approved of the reason given by Major-General Brock for its discontinuance. It being late, the parties soon separated, with an understanding that a council would be held the following morning. This accordingly took place, and was attended by about a thousand Indians, whose equipment generally might be considered very imposing. The council was opened by General Brock, who informed the Indians that he was ordered by their great father to come to their assistance, and, with their aid, to drive the Americans from Fort Detroit. His speech was highly applauded, and Tecumseh was unanimously called upon to speak in reply. He commenced with expressions of joy, that their father beyond the great salt lake (meaning the king of England) had at length awoke from his long sleep, and permitted his warriors to come to the assistance of his red children, who had never ceased to remain steady in their friendship, and were now all ready to shed their last drop of blood in their great father's service. After some speeches from other chiefs, and replies thereto, the council broke up. General Brock, having quickly discovered the superior sagacity and intrepidity of Tecumseh, and his influence over the Indians, and not deeming it prudent to develop before so mixed an assemblage the views which were at that moment uppermost in his thoughts, and intended to be carried so quickly into execution, directed Colonel Elliott to inform this Shawanee chief that he wished to see him, accompanied by a few of the oldest chiefs, at Colonel Elliott's quarters. There the general, through the medium of interpreters, communicated his views, and explained the manner in which he intended to carry into execution his operations against Fort Detroit. The chiefs listened with the most apparent eagerness, and expressed their unanimous assent to the proposed plan, assuring General Brock that their co-operation, as pointed out, might be depended on. On General Brock asking whether the Shawanee Indians could be induced to refrain from drinking spirits, Tecumseh assured him that his warriors might be relied on, adding, that before leaving their country on the Wabash river, they had promised him not to taste that pernicious liquor until they had humbled the "big knives," meaning the Americans. In reply to this assurance, General Brock briefly said: 'If this resolution be persevered in, you must conquer.'"

In a general order on the 14th of August, at Amherstburg, in announcing his arrival in the western district, Major-General Brock observed: "The major-general cannot avoid expressing his surprise at the numerous desertions which have occurred from the ranks of the militia, to which circumstance the long stay of the enemy on this side of the river must in a great measure be ascribed. He is willing to believe that their conduct proceeded from an anxiety to get in their harvest, and not from any predeliction for the principles or government of the United States."

The next day, the American commander was startled by a summons to surrender; and so resolute a demand seems to have struck him with dismay, as at the worst he had never contemplated a pursuit into his own territory.

Head Quarters, Sandwich, Aug. 15, 1812.

The force at my disposal authorizes me to require of you the immediate surrender of Fort Detroit.[67] It is far from my inclination to join in a war of extermination; but you must be aware, that the numerous body of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops, will be beyond my control the moment the contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honor. Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg are fully authorized to conclude any arrangement that may lead to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood. ISAAC BROCK, Major-General. Brigadier-General Hull.

Hull refused to see Captain Glegg, who carried the summons, and, after detaining him upwards of two hours, returned the following answer:

Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 15, 1812.

I have received your letter of this date. I have no other reply to make than to inform you, that I am prepared to meet any force which may be at your disposal, and any consequences which may result from any exertion of it you may think proper to make. W. HULL, Brigadier-General, Commanding the N.W. Army of the U.S.

Nothing daunted, and contrary to the advice of some of his officers, Major-General Brock at once determined on crossing the river, with the view of attempting, by a sudden and resolute attack, the annihilation of the enemy's power in that quarter. In the afternoon, a fire was opened from a battery of five guns, erected opposite to Detroit, under the direction of Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers: this cannonade was returned from seven 24-pounders, but the British general, perceiving that little effect was produced by either fire, gave orders that his should cease. The troops retired to their bivouac and lay on their arms, with orders to cross the strait, or river, which is here about three-fourths of a mile in width, on the following morning. Accordingly, at the first blush of dawn, on Sunday, the 16th of August, when the fire from the British battery was resumed, 330 regulars and 400 militia were embarked, with five pieces of light artillery, in boats and canoes of every description, and soon effected a landing without opposition, near Springwell, four or five miles below Detroit. About 600 Indians, under Colonel Elliott, had crossed the river during the night, and were ordered to be so placed as to take the enemy in flank and rear, should he attempt to oppose the landing. The white troops marched towards the fort, while the Indians moved through the woods, and covered the left flank, the right resting upon the river, and protected by the Queen Charlotte, colonial vessel of war. The enemy's effective force was estimated at nearly 2,500 men, and, supported as they were by a neighbouring fortress, it required no little daring to pursue them on their own ground with such unequal numbers. Contrary to Major-General Brock's expectation, the Americans abandoned a favorable position, strengthened by pickets and two 24-pounders, and retreated into the fort on the advance of the British, who halted in a ravine within a mile, and, discovering the weakness of the works on the land side, prepared for its assault. While the various columns were forming for that purpose, a flag of truce, borne by Captain Hull, was unexpectedly seen emerging from the fort,—Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Captain Glegg accompanied him back; and shortly after the British troops marched in with Major-General Brock at their head, the American general having assented to a capitulation, by which the Michigan territory, Fort Detroit, with thirty-three pieces of cannon,[68] the Adams vessel of war,[69] and about 2,500 troops, including one company of artillery, some cavalry, and the entire 4th U.S. regiment of infantry, with a stand of colours, were surrendered to the British arms. An immense quantity of stores and the military chest were also taken; and as there was a great deficiency of arms in the Upper Province wherewith to equip the militia, the 2,500 stand of American became a valuable acquisition. To this surrender the after preservation of Upper Canada, at least, may in a great measure be ascribed, as it caused a delay of nearly a whole year in the meditated invasion,[70] and secured the support of some of the Indian tribes, who were hesitating as to the side they should espouse. It was the more fortunate that Major-General Brock acted with so much promptitude and vigour, because large reinforcements were on their way to General Hull; and not only would that officer's reverse otherwise have been spared, but the western districts of Upper Canada would probably have fallen before the overwhelming numbers which would soon have been brought against them.

The surrender of Detroit was so unexpected, that it produced an almost electrical effect throughout the Canadas: it was the first enterprize in which the militia had been engaged, and its success not only imparted confidence to that body, but it inspired the timid, fixed the wavering, and awed the disaffected. Major-General Brock from this moment became the idol of the great mass of those whom he governed; and when he returned to York, whither he arrived on the 27th of August, he was received amidst the heartfelt acclamations of a grateful people, rescued by his promptitude from the ignominy of submitting to a conqueror. They remembered that in the short space of nineteen days he had, not only met the legislature and settled the public business of the province under the most trying circumstances that a commander could encounter, but, with means incredibly limited, he had gone nearly 300 miles in pursuit of an invading enemy of almost double his own force and compelled him to surrender, thus extending the British dominion without bloodshed over an extent of country almost equal to Upper Canada.[71]

The conduct of the American general in so tamely surrendering is inexplicable, as Detroit contained an ample supply of ammunition and provisions for nearly a month, besides an abundance of wheat in the territory, with mills to grind any quantity into flour. One of his officers, Colonel Cass, in a long letter to the Honorable William Eustis, the secretary of war at Washington, said: "I have been informed by Colonel Findley, who saw the return of the quartermaster-general the day after the surrender, that their whole force, of every description, white, red, and black, was 1,030.[72] They had twenty-nine platoons, twelve in a platoon, of men dressed in uniform. Many of these were evidently Canadian militia. The rest of their militia increased their white force to about 700. The number of Indians could not be ascertained with any degree of precision—not many were visible. And in the event of an attack upon the town and fort, it was a species of force which could have afforded no material advantage to the enemy.... That we were far superior to the enemy, that upon any ordinary principles of calculation we would have defeated them, the wounded and indignant feelings of every man there will testify.... I was informed by General Hull, the morning after the capitulation, that the British forces consisted of 1,800 regulars, and that he surrendered to prevent the effusion of human blood. That he magnified their regular force nearly five-fold, there can be no doubt. Whether the philanthropic reason assigned by him is a sufficient justification for surrendering a fortified town, an army, and a territory, is for the government to determine. Confident I am, that had the courage and conduct of the general been equal to the spirit and zeal of the troops, the event would have been brilliant and successful as it is now disastrous and dishonorable." Hull's behaviour, then, can only be accounted for by the supposition that the boldness of his adversary's movements led him to believe he had to contend with far greater numbers; or, that having threatened to refuse quarter to the white man found fighting by the side of the Indian, he was apprehensive, in the event of defeat, that this threat would be visited with severe retaliation, particularly by the Indians, whose fury, in a successful assault, it might have been very difficult to restrain. To their honor, however, be it said, that although they took a few prisoners on the advance, the enemy sustained no loss of life beyond that caused by the British batteries; and in general orders, at Detroit, they were told, that in nothing could they testify more strongly their love to the king, their great father, than in following the dictates of honor and humanity by which they had hitherto been actuated.

"The news of the surrender of Detroit," says the American historian, Brown, "was so unexpected, that it came like a clap of thunder to the ears of the American people. No one would believe the first report. The disastrous event blasted the prospects of the first campaign, and opened the northern and western frontiers of Ohio to savage incursions.

"Previous to the surrender of Detroit, the governors of Ohio and Kentucky, in obedience to the directions of the war department, had detached powerful reinforcements to the aid of General Hull. Had he deferred the capitulation but a few days longer, his army, Detroit, and the Michigan territory, would have been saved.

"The forces advancing to his support consisted of 2,000 militia, under Brigadier-General Payne, and a battalion of mounted riflemen, under Colonel R.M. Johnson, from Kentucky; a brigade of Ohio militia, under the orders of Brigadier-General Tupper;[73] and nearly 1,000 regulars, under the command of General Winchester. They had reached the St. Mary's River when the news of the capture of Detroit was received. But for the well-timed arrival of the above force a wide scene of flight and misery, of blood and desolation, must have ensued. Nearly half of the territory of Ohio must have been depopulated, or its inhabitants fallen victims to the scalping knife."

"The chagrin felt at Washington," observes James in his Military Occurrences, "when news arrived of the total failure of this the first attempt at invasion, was in proportion to the sanguine hopes entertained of its success. To what a pitch of extravagance those hopes had been carried, cannot better appear than in two speeches delivered upon the floor of congress, in the summer of 1812. Dr. Eustis, the secretary at war of the United States, said: 'We can take the Canadas without soldiers; we have only to send officers into the provinces, and the people, disaffected towards their own government, will rally round our standard.' The honorable Henry Clay seconded his friend, thus: 'It is absurd to suppose we shall not succeed in our enterprize against the enemy's provinces. We have the Canadas as much under our command as she (Great Britain) has the ocean; and the way to conquer her on the ocean is to drive her from the land. I am not for stopping at Quebec, or any where else; but I would take the whole continent from them, and ask them no favors. Her fleets cannot then rendezvous at Halifax, as now; and, having no place of resort in the north, cannot infest our coast as they have lately done. It is as easy to conquer them on the land, as their whole navy would conquer ours on the ocean. We must take the continent from them. I wish never to see a peace till we do. God has given us the power and the means: we are to blame if we do not use them. If we get the continent, she must allow us the freedom of the sea.' This is the gentleman who, afterwards, in the character of a commissioner—and it stands as a record of his unblushing apostacy—signed the treaty of peace."

Tecumseh, who was slain the year following, headed a party of his warriors on this occasion, and in the rough sketch already mentioned, Major-General Brock remarked: "Among the Indians whom I found at Amherstburg, and who had arrived from distant parts of the country, there were some extraordinary characters. He who most attracted my attention was a Shawanee chief, Tecumseh, the brother of the prophet, who for the two last years has carried on, contrary to our remonstrances, an active war against the United States. A more sagacious or a more gallant warrior does not, I believe, exist. He was the admiration of every one who conversed with him. From a life of dissipation he has not only become in every respect abstemious, but he has likewise prevailed on all his nation, and many of the other tribes, to follow his example." Previously to crossing over to Detroit, Major-General Brock inquired of Tecumseh what sort of a country he should have to pass through in the event of his proceeding further. Tecumseh, taking a roll of elm bark, and extending it on the ground, drew forth his scalping knife, and with the point presently edged upon the back a plan of the country, its hills, woods, rivers, morasses, and roads—a plan which, if not as neat, was fully as intelligible as if a surveyor had prepared it. Pleased with this unexpected talent in Tecumseh, with his defeat of the Americans near Brownstown, and with his having, by his characteristic boldness, induced the Indians, not of his own tribe, to cross the river prior to the embarkation of the white troops, Major-General Brock, soon after Detroit was surrendered, took off his sash and publicly placed it round the body of the chief. Tecumseh received the honor with evident gratification, but was the next day seen without the sash. The British general, fearing that something had displeased the Indian, sent his interpreter for an explanation. Tecumseh told him, that not wishing to wear such a mark of distinction when an older, and, as he said, an abler warrior than himself was present, he had transferred the sash to the Wyandot chief, Roundhead.[74]

The unfortunate General Hull, on his return to the United States, was tried by a court martial and condemned to death; but the sentence was remitted by the president, in consideration of his age and services during the war of independence.[75] His name was, however, struck off the rolls of the army. His son, and aide-de-camp at Detroit, Captain Hull, was killed in July, 1814, in the hard-fought battle near the Falls of Niagara.

Major-General Brock's services throughout this short campaign, closed by an achievement which his energy and decision crowned with such unqualified success, were highly appreciated by the government at home, and were immediately rewarded with the order of the bath, which was then confined to one degree of knighthood only. He was gazetted to this mark of his country's approbation, so gratifying to the feelings of a soldier, on the 10th of October; but he lived not long enough to learn that he had obtained so honorable a distinction, the knowledge of which would have cheered him in his last moments. Singularly enough his dispatches, accompanied by the colours of the U.S. 4th regiment, reached London early on the morning of the 6th of October, the anniversary of his birth. His brother William, who was residing in the vicinity, was asked by his wife why the park and tower guns were saluting. "For Isaac, of course," he replied; "do you not know that this is his birth-day?" And when he came to town he learnt, with emotions which may be easily conceived, that what he had just said in jest was true in reality; little thinking, however, that all his dreams, all his anticipations of a beloved brother's increasing fame and prosperity would that day week, one short week, be entombed

"Where Niagara stuns with thundering sound."

* * * * *

In one of his letters to his brothers, (page 63,) Major-General Brock said that he had visited Detroit, the neighbourhood of which was a delightful country, far exceeding any thing he had seen on that continent, and a cursory description of it, as it appeared in 1812, may prove interesting.

The Detroit river, which connects Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, extends from about latitude 41 deg. 48' to 42 deg. 18' north, and divides that part of Canada from the United States. Possessing a salubrious climate, a productive soil, and a water communication with the upper and lower lakes and the river St. Lawrence, we can scarcely conceive any thing more favorable than the geographical position of the adjacent country. Michigan afforded a rich field for "fowling" and fishing, and its forests were plentifully supplied with various kinds of game. It was the opinion of a former governor of Upper Canada, Simcoe, that the peninsula of that province formed by Lakes Huron, St. Clair, Erie, Ontario, Rice, and Simcoe, would alone furnish a surplus of wheat sufficient for the wants of Great Britain. The banks of the Detroit were in many places thickly peopled and in a fair state of cultivation. The inhabitants on the Canadian side were chiefly of French origin, who began to occupy the country when Canada was still under the dominion of France. They still retained that urbanity of manners which distinguishes them from the peasantry of most countries. Further back, the country was settled principally by Americans, partial to the United States. Three or four years after the war, the houses were so numerous and so close together upon the banks of the Detroit, that there was an appearance of a succession of villages for more than ten miles. The farms were very narrow in front, extending a long way back, and were allotted in this awkward and inconvenient form, that their respective occupants might be able to render each other assistance when attacked by the Indians, who were at one time very numerous and troublesome in this vicinity.

The banks of the river Detroit are the Eden of Upper Canada, in so far as regards the production of fruit. Apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes, and nectarines, attain the highest degree of perfection, and exceed in size, beauty, and flavour, those raised in any other part of the province. Cider abounds at the table of the meanest peasant, and there is scarcely a farm that has not a fruitful orchard attached to it. This fineness of the fruit is one consequence of the amelioration of climate, which takes place in the vicinity of the Detroit river and Lake St. Clair. The seasons there are much milder and more serene than they are a few hundred miles below, and the weather is likewise drier and less variable. Comparatively little snow falls during the winter, although the cold is often sufficiently intense to freeze over the Detroit river so strongly, that persons, horses, and even loaded sleighs, cross it with ease and safety. In summer, the country presents a forest of blossoms, which exhale the most delicious odours; a cloud seldom obscures the sky; while the lakes and rivers, which extend in every direction, communicate a reviving freshness to the air, and moderate the warmth of a dazzling sun; and the clearness and elasticity of the atmosphere render it equally healthy and exhilarating.[76]

The fort of Detroit was originally constructed to overawe the neighbouring Indian nations, and its military importance as the key of the upper lakes appears to have been well known to them. But, neither possessing battering cannon nor understanding the art of attacking fortified places, they could only reduce them by stratagem or famine, and Detroit could always be supplied with provisions by water. In the year 1763, the Indian chief, Pontiac, whose name has already appeared, (page 164), formed a powerful confederacy of the different tribes, for the purpose of revenging their past wrongs and of preventing their total extirpation, which they were erroneously led to believe was contemplated. In a sudden, general, and simultaneous irruption on the British frontier, they obtained possession, chiefly by stratagem, of Michilimakinack,[77] Presqu'ile, and several smaller posts; but there still remained three fortresses formidable alike by their strength and position, which it was necessary the Indians should subdue before they could reap any permanent advantage from their successes. These were Detroit, Niagara, and Pittsburg; and the first and last, although so remote from each other, were invested almost at the same moment. The consummate address, which the Indians displayed in this alarming war, was supported by a proportionate degree of courage, determination, and perseverance; nor ever did they approve themselves a more stubborn and formidable enemy than in this final stand against the encroachments of European dominion and civilization in North America. General Amherst, sensible of the danger, sent immediate succours to those two western garrisons, and thus prevented their fall. Captain Dalzell, after conducting, in July, a strong reinforcement to Detroit, was induced to think that he could surprise the Indian force encamped about three miles from the fort, and he sat out at night with 270 men, adopting the most judicious precautions for the secrecy and good order of his march. But the Indians, apprized of his design, were prepared to defeat it, and every step from the fort only conducted the English troops further into the jaws of destruction. Their advance was suddenly arrested by a sharp fire on their front, which was presently followed by a similar discharge on their rear, and then succeeded by destructive vollies from every side. In the darkness neither the position nor the numbers of the Indians could be ascertained. Dalzell was slain early, and his whole detachment was on the brink of irretrievable confusion and ruin when Captain Grant, the next in command, perceiving that a retreat, now the only resource, could only be accomplished by a resolute attack, promptly rallied the survivors, who, steadily obeying his orders, charged the Indians with so much spirit and success as to repulse them on all sides to some distance. Having thus extricated themselves from immediate peril, the British hastily regained the shelter of the fort, with the loss of 70 killed and 40 wounded; and the Indians, unable to reduce the fort by a regular siege, and pausing long enough to ascertain that the garrison was completely on its guard against stratagem and surprise, broke up their camp and abandoned the vicinity of Detroit.