"Truly extracted from my book,
"John Clarke,
"Captain-Adjutant-General of Militia, 1812, '13, '14."
Colonel Clarke says of himself: "I was placed on duty by General Brock from the commencement of the war of 1812, as Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 4th Lincoln flank companies. In March I was promoted to the rank of Captain-Assistant-Adjutant-General of Militia by General Sir Roger H. Sheaffe, Administrator of the Government of Upper Canada; which place I retained until the peace of 1815."—"I served throughout the rebellion of 1837 and 1838—being invested with the command of an organized regiment of militia, the First Frontier Light Infantry."
Colonel Clarke's recollections and reminiscences are in every respect reliable, and are very valuable, extending to nearly 300 manuscript quarto pages, in the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa (entitled "U.E. Loyalists"). His own contributions are entitled, "Memoirs of Colonel John Clarke, of Port Dalhousie, C.W.; born in Canada in 1783: giving an account of the family's early arrival in the country in 1768; the progress of the settlers; the arrival of Governor Simcoe, his improvements and government; settlement of the Indians; the war of 1812—full particulars; the rebellion of 1837; the Welland Canal, and various other things connected with the progressive growth of Upper Canada."
TREATMENT OF CANADIANS BY THE AMERICANS WHO INVADED CANADA.
"In 1812 General Hull invaded the British province of Upper Canada, and took possession of the town of Sandwich. He threatened (by proclamation) to exterminate the inhabitants if they made any resistance. He plundered those with whom he had been on habits of intimacy for years before the war. Their plate and linen were found in his possession after his surrender to General Brock. He marked out the loyal subjects of the King as objects of his peculiar resentment, and consigned their property to pillage and conflagration.
"In the autumn of 1812, several houses and barns were burnt by the American forces near Fort Erie, Upper Canada.
"In 1813—April—the public buildings of York, the capital of Upper Canada, were burnt by the troops of the United States, contrary to the articles of capitulation. These public buildings consisted of two elegant halls, with convenient offices for the accommodation of the Legislature and the Courts of Justice. The library and all the papers and records belonging to these institutions were consumed at the same time. The Church was robbed, and the town library perfectly pillaged. Commodore Chauncey, who has generally behaved honourably, was so ashamed of this last transaction, that he endeavoured to collect the books belonging to the town and legislative library, and actually sent back two boxes filled with them; but hardly any were complete. Much private property was plundered, and several houses left in a state of ruin.
"In June, 1813, Newark, Niagara, came into possession of the army of the United States, and its inhabitants were repeatedly promised protection to themselves and property by Generals Dearborn and Boyd. In the midst of these professions, the most respectable of them, although non-combatants, were made prisoners and sent to the United States.