The Order of the Bath
On October 10th the honours were gazetted. It was on October 13th, a date not to be forgotten, that Irving Brock received the short note, written at Detroit: "Rejoice at my good fortune and join me in prayers to heaven. Let me hear you are united and happy." William Brock writes on that day to his brother Savery in Guernsey: "Since I sent you on Tuesday last the Gazette containing the despatches, I have been so engrossed with the one all-exciting subject as to be unable to attend to your business. As I well know that Isaac would not consider his good fortune complete unless a reconciliation took place between Irving and myself, I went up to-day on seeing him and shook hands. He then showed me two lines which he had just received from Isaac. It is satisfactory to me that we shook hands before I was aware of the contents. I have again seen Captain Coore, who told me that the Prince Regent had spoken to him about Isaac for nearly half an hour. His Royal Highness was pleased to say that General Brock had done more in one hour than could have been done in six months' negotiation with Mr. Russell, that he had by his exploit given a lustre to the British army, etc. The very prompt manner in which the red riband has been conferred, confirms the flattering remarks of the prince, and proves the favourable impression of the ministry. I look forward to Isaac receiving the thanks of parliament when it meets again. Captain Coore thinks he will now take Niagara. May Sir Isaac long live to be an example to your Julian and an honour to us all."
While the brothers were rejoicing in his good fortune, the general was passing anxious days and nights. It was apparent that an attack on the frontier was coming, but at what point on the line it was impossible to determine. An American spy had visited the British camp and reported that General Brock had left for Detroit with all the forces he could spare from Niagara. Possibly this report encouraged the American general to hasten his movements.
The night of October 12th was cold and stormy. General Brock sat late at his desk writing despatches and instructions for the officers commanding at different points of the river. His last letter to Sir George Prevost was written then. It reads: "The vast number of troops which have been this day added to the strong force previously collected on the opposite side, convinces me, with other indications, that an attack is not far distant. I have, in consequence, directed every exertion to be made to complete the militia to two thousand men, but I fear that I shall not be able to effect my object with willing, well-disposed characters."
It was past midnight when the general sought repose. Was the beatific vision again vouchsafed him of his brothers once more united and happy? Before the dawn, about four a.m., the sound of distant firing roused him from his short slumber. The hour so long expected had come at last. In a few moments the general was in his saddle, and not waiting even for his aide-de-camp to accompany him, he galloped off by the road to Queenston, seven miles away, whence the ominous sound came.
It was not the general only who had waited with impatience for the decisive moment. One of the young volunteers on guard, Lieutenant Robinson, in his account of that fateful day, writes: "The lines had been watched with all the care and attention which the extent of our force rendered possible, and such was the fatigue which our men underwent from want of rest, and exposure to the inclement weather, that they welcomed with joy the prospect of a field which they thought would be decisive."[[1]]
The river Niagara
All along the river bank from Fort George to Queenston, a mile or two apart, Canadian batteries commanded different points where a crossing might be made. The principal were at Brown's Point, two miles from Queenston, and Vrooman's Point, nearer that village. At the former was stationed a company of York volunteers, under the command of Captain Cameron. The latter, which commanded Lewiston and the landing at Queenston, was guarded by another company of York volunteers under the command of Captain Heward.
Above the village of Queenston the channel of the river narrows, and the banks rise to the height of three hundred feet, thickly covered with trees and shrubs. At the ferry between Lewiston and Queenston the river is one thousand two hundred and fifty feet in breadth, with a depth of from two to three hundred feet and a very rapid current. Half way down the hill, or the mountain, as it was called, was the redan battery, where the flank light company of the 49th Regiment, under Captain Williams was stationed. The other flank company of the 49th, the grenadiers, numbering only forty-six men, under Major Dennis, was at the village of Queenston, where also was stationed Captain Chisholm's company from York, and Captain Hall's company of 5th Lincoln militia. There was a small detachment of artillery in the village, with two 3-pounders, under the command of Lieutenant Crowther and Captain Ball. On the height opposite Queenston, on the American side, was Fort Grey, whose guns commanded that village. From this point the firing first came.
It was about half an hour before daylight, probably about four a.m., in the midst of a violent storm of wind and rain, that, under cover of darkness, the Americans began crossing the river. They were seen by the militia sentinel on guard at Queenston, who immediately ran to the guardhouse to give the alarm. As soon as possible, the grenadier company of the 49th and the militia company stationed there, began firing on them, using also the two 3-pounders with good effect. Colonel Van Rensselaer, a relative of the general, who had charge of the troops crossing, was at this time severely wounded, as well as many of the rank and file, before the boats had gone far from their side of the river. The gun at Vrooman's Point, which commanded the landing at Lewiston, also joined in, and many of the boats were driven back, whilst others in a battered condition drifted down the river and ran ashore near Vrooman's Point. Those on board, many of them wounded, were made prisoners.