FOOTNOTES:
[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.
[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.