Whose passion for and services in the name of history are at once my inspiration and my pride....

As this book is published, Canada is celebrating her fiftieth birthday. The thoughts of all of us travel back along the line of those fifty years since Confederation swept away all divisions and made the people of what is now Canada one in name, that they might become one in purpose, ideal, and spirit. We see our country served by a succession of great men. Their greatness consisted in trying to weld Canada into this oneness and in trying to develop our illimitable resources. For this fifty year

The year 1769 was an important one for Europe. In it were born two men who were destined between them to change the face of that continent. These were Wellington and Napoleon. There was another man who first saw the light in that year. His name was Isaac Brock, and while his life and work were hardly comparable in their effect and result to those of the two great Europeans, they were nevertheless an important factor in shaping the destiny of Canada. It may, perhaps, be laying undue stress on the

Brock was soon to realize his dream of active service. Europe was in a turmoil. Bonaparte’s ambition was insatiable, and unless effective opposition was offered quickly, he was in a fair way to over-run the Continent. England, under Pitt, was averse to participation in the Continental wars, but the prime minister saw that to keep out meant real danger. In 1798 Pitt agreed with Russia that an army should be sent to Holland, which was at that time occupied by France under the name of the Batavian

Brock collected his men and returned to England. At Copenhagen it will be remembered that he had part of the regiment with him on the Ganges , but others had been on different vessels. In August of 1801 he reviewed the 49th at Colchester, to which place they were ordered. They were now experienced, in some sort, in battle and had shown themselves to be brave soldiers. Brock could look with pride on the men he had trained. In the spring of the next year the 49th Regiment was ordered to Canada. Pr

Brock , in 1805, was made full colonel. After the incident of the mutiny he had taken over the active command at Fort George as well as at York, and at the former, as at the latter, a new and kindlier order of discipline was worked out. In this, Lieutenant-Colonel Sheaffe seems to have helped. No doubt he was influenced by reflecting on the trouble he had helped to cause. Later on, in reporting the excellent discipline of the 49th, Brock gave a good deal of the credit to Sheaffe. Desertions were

In 1809 Brock learned that Brigadier-General Baron de Rottenberg was coming to Canada. He knew that as the Baron was his senior in the service he would probably be the appointee of Sir James Craig to the commanding position. About this time he wrote to his sister-in-law, Mrs. W. Brock: “The spirit of insubordination lately manifested by the French Canadian population of this colony naturally called for precautionary measures, and our worthy chief (Sir James) is induced, in consequence, to retain

“ A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The United States was not a union—for war. While Henry Clay and ex-President Jefferson were breathing out their threatenings and slaughter, New England refused to concur in the country’s wisdom in declaring war, and Boston flew its flags at half-mast. And if the United States was not whole in spirit, she was certainly not in material things. Her soldiers though many, were raw. Her treasury was empty. Canada, however, was even worse off. Prevost was

August 16th, then, sees Major-General Isaac Brock and his men embarked for the American shore. Tecumseh had not waited for the main body, but with Colonel Elliott and six hundred Indians had crossed the night before, as an advance guard to hold the enemy should they attempt to hinder Brock. We can picture the crossing of this comparative handful of men—382 British regulars, 362 Canadian militiamen, and the remainder of the Indians. They set out to the accompaniment of the booming of the guns fro

Brock’s spectacular capture of Fort Detroit brought all Canada to his feet. Foremost in admiration was Sir George Prevost. Had Brock failed, Sir George no doubt, would have been as brusque in condemnation as, now that Brock had conquered, he was fulsome in praise. He had done his best to hamper Brock, and indeed at the last minute had sent a staff officer commanding him not to undertake the proposed Detroit expedition, but the messenger, happily alike for Canada and Brock, had failed to arrive i

It has been pointed out that the forces under Brock were widely scattered. His main body was at Fort George, seven miles from Queenston. At Brown’s Point, three miles away, there was a battery, and a single gun was mounted at Vrooman’s Point, a mile distant. In the village of Queenston Captain Dennis commanded the grenadier company of the 49th Regiment; Captain Chisholm was stationed there with a company of the second York; Captain Hall’s company of the 5th Lincoln Militia brought the whole forc

If Brock’s prowess at Detroit called forth universal admiration, his death was the occasion of a wonderful outpouring of affectionate regard and regret. When the news reached England Earl Bathurst wrote to Sir George Prevost: “His Majesty has lost in him not only an able and meritorious officer, but one who displayed qualities admirably adapted to dismay the disloyal, to reconcile the wavering, and to animate the great mass of the inhabitants against successive attempts of the enemy to invade th

“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 enemie

“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 call to seek voluntarily th