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Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont film6s en commenpant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole -^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s 6 des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est film6 d partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 BROCKS MONUMENT, ON QUEENSTON HEIGHTS. UPPER CANADA. .r FAMILY RECORDS; CONTAIN IN(i M E M O 1 H S Ol' MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC JMIOCK, K H LIEUTENANT E. W. TIPPER, K.N. AND COLONEL WILLLVM DE V\C TCPPER. WITH NOIICKS or MAJOR-GENEHAI. Tl PPER AND LIKIT. ( Tll'l'IlH, |{. \ TO WIIICK \ni; ADDKI) THE LIFE OF TE-CUM-SEIJ, A MEMOIR OF COLONEL IIAVILLAM) LE MESUniEn. \c'. kf. \c. BY FEKDINAXD BROCK TL'PJM']!;, KS'J. ' 1 cannot but rcmcinhcr such things were, That wi'ie most iirocious to nic, " •-Ft.xKsi'i-. Mil; GUEllASEY: PRINTi;)) AMI PUBLISHED UY STKPIIEN BARBET. NEW-STREET. MAV ALSO UK HAI» OK BALDWIN AND C'RADOCK, LONDON. 1835. I I lil D<:hvi i53.\ .S( <7'^<^/ // / C O N T E N T S . Memoir (.f Sir Isaac lirock ''"^'j . Lieutenant E. W. Tapper j | - Colonel Tnpi)er ,- Notice of Major- (Jeneral 'i'upper ,„j, Lieutenant Carre Tupper j 13 N'isit of Indian Chiefs to (ieorire I\- , , - " I lit Appendix A.— Sir Isaac Tirock. Section I.— British Authors. 1. Military F:xccution at Quebec ]23 2. Extract from Sir G. Prevost's General Order 121 .'{. Extracts of a letter from Major Glcjrg 12.-, 4. Extract from Quebec Gazette ." jo^; '>. Indian Council of Condolence at Fort Geor^re |-jh [J. Verses on the Death of Sir Isaac Urock . ]2!) 7. Extracts from James's INIilitary Occurrences ' l;jO "^ • ' Quarterly Review |,j() ^- ~ Lieutenant F. Hall's Travels 114 ^^- ■" Howison's Upper Canada 117 ^ '• De Roos' Travels ' . .' i.-,|, '-• various Authors i/j ^'^- ^«'evv Monthly Mairazine. K,'^ ' "•• Talbot's Canada n, 15. Description of xMonument in St. Paul's Cathedral! . 1;)3 16. Re-interment of Sir Isaac Brock n, Section II.— American Authors. 1. Extracts from Niles' Weekly Register J58 2. Revolutionary Services of General Mull l()2 ."'. Letter from Captain Wool |(j^ 4. Extract from Jelferson's Correspondence ](;; il M / Ml COXTEXI'S. Appciiilix li. — Lii'iiti'uiiiil Iv W . 'I'uppiT. I . PoststTipt oi' the (.DuricT I()8 ■J. (luernst'v -^ilar ib. ',i. Extract from Whychcoltc of St. John's Kiy 1. relative to Captain Edward Gordon 1"! ."». from a Portsmouth Newspaper ib. (i. Transcript of a Letter from (i. li. Hamilton, Esq.. . 172 Appendix C. — Colonel 'I'upper. 1. Certificate relatinj; to a Fire at Barcelona 173 2. Extracts from Lieut. Bowers Naval Adventures. . . . ib, 3. Kot/ebucs Voyage 175 -1. Manifesto (in Spanish) "del Batallon I'udeto". ... i7G ."). Extracts from (iencral jNIiller's Memoirs i/>. (i. relative to Colonel Tupper 177 7. (in Krencii) from " Le Semeur" 17^ S. (in Spimish) from (ieneral Frcire's pam])lilt't, with translation I 79 !). Attack on brig Achilles by Colonel Tupper 180 Appendix 1). — Coinciderces relative to Sir Isaac Brock, &c. . . 1H2 Appendix E. — Speech of Sir John Doyle, ^c 18j Appendix F. — Life of Te-cum-seh, with various extracts 188 Supplement. — Memoir of Colonel PL Le Mesuricr 211 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. Brock's Monument to front Title Page. Ooorl Harbour Pa^e ;i:i- .Mcilal I'agc 48, C O li R I G !•: N n A . Page 103.— Note *.—Fiir No. 0, ft'iiil No. 7. Page I'.'H.— Line :t.— Ktic Potawatiniics, reuri Potawatiniie'. l','i|fe ;gi,— Line y.— lu ^ome copies.; For liosoni, 'etui bosom. liiH il>. J fiy j;i ib. :s(,... 172 I7.i s. . . . ib. 175 .... 176 ib. . . . ] 77 .... 1 7^ >lilt't, . ... 1 79 180 c. . . ] H'J .... 18.3 1 88 ....21J iMEMOlU OK 11 IE I..V1'E atajoii-ge:>tjial sir isaac brock, k. b. .loy's l)Uistiim- slioiit ill whcliiiiiitc grief was dniwiiil. And Victory's self iiinvilliiiff audience found j On every hrou- the cloud (jf Miilncss hunir,— 'I'lii" simmN of triuiuiih died on every tonune ' This officer was born in Guernsey on tlie Gth of October, 1700, and was the eiglitli son of Jolni Brock, Esq., wbo by bis wife, Ebzabetb De Lisle, daugbter of Daniel De Lisle, Esq., Lieutenant Bailitt', had fourteen cbildren. His family was nearly con- nected by marriage with those of De Beauvoir, Le Marcbant, and Saumarez, some of the most ancient in this island.* One of his brothers, John, a lieuto-- nant-colonel, was killed, in 1802, at the Cape of Good Hope, in a duel with Captain M , the son of a baronet : as steward of a public ball, he very pro- perly resi.^ted the introduction, by his antagonist, of a female of a disreputable character, and the result was his melancholy fall. Another brother, Ferdinand, a subaltern of the (iOth regiment, was slam in the * .Afajoi-Cnicral T.c ^iliirctiaiit and liis oldest son, a captain in the Foot Guards, wlio both toll in Spain during' the lato war; and Cai.tain Sanmaic/, uho was Lord Anson's (irst lieutenant in the Centurion, and was slain in 17 1?) while eommandinj? the Nottingham, of ()4 guns were menihcrs of these families, as is the present Admiral Lord De haiimarez, ennobled for his :listin;juished naval services, A MK.MOIU OK SIU ISAAC lUlOCK. (lercncc ol" IJiitoii llou2;e, on tlic Mississippi, in the first American war. The subject of tiiis memoir [mr- chased an ensigncy in the 8th regiment shortly after the termination of tliat war, and at the age of twenty- one he obtained an independent company, by raising the rc(|uisite number of men to com])lete it. Kx- clianging iuunediately after into the 49th, he j)roceeded witli liis regiment to Jamaica, but was compelled to retiu'n to Rn2:hind very suddenly , liavina; nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential efl'ects of the climate, and an immediate embarkation being pronounced his only chance of recovery. Another near relative, Lieute- nant Brock, who was ill with him, died of the fever, and the survivor always thought that he was indebted for his life to the aflectionate attentions of his servant, whom he afterwards ever treated with the kindness of a brother, until he died in his service, sliortly before himself, in Canada. Having purcliased the succeed- ing steps with unusual rapidity, he became lieutenant- colonel commanding tlie 49tli regiment, on the 25th October, 1797, just after he had completed his twenty- eighth year. Owing to gross mismanagement and peculation on the part of his predecessor, who was in consequence recommended privately to sell out if he did not wish to stand the ordeal of a court martial, the regiment was sadly disorganised ; but the late Duke of York was heard to declare that Lieut.- Colonel Brock, from one of the worst, had made the 49th one of the best regiments in the service. During the campaign in Holland, in 1799, he distinguished himself at the head of his regiment ; a horse was shot under him, and his life w^as in all probability pre- served in action, on a very cold day, by his wearing several black silk cravats, which were all perforated , in the oir [)iir- tly after twentv- ■ raisiiifr t. Ex- oceedcd elled to y fallen ite, and lis only Lieutc- e fever, 11 deb ted ;ervant, Iness of before Licceed- tenant- le 25th wenty- it and I was in if he lartial, ie late jieut.- le the MKMOIR OF SIR ISAAC 13U0CK. 3 mr •ing lished shot pre- [aring Irated by a bullet, and ubicb prevented its entering his neck. lie was second in connnand of the land forces at the memorable attack of Co))enbagen by Lord Nelson, in ISOI, and was aj)p()inted to lead the 4!)th in storming the principal of the Treckroner batteries, in conjunction with five hundred seamen under C'ai)tain Fremantle ; but the jjrotracted and heroic defence of the Danes rendering the attcfnpt imj)raeticable, Lieut. -Colonel Jirock, during this hard-fought battle, continued on board the Ganges, of 74 guns, com- manded by that excellent officer, the late Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle. Another of his brothers, Savery, served under him in the 49th in Holland, and at Copenhagen. AN bile in the act of pointing one of the guns of the Ganges, his cocked hat was torn from his head by a cannon or grape shot, and a naval officer, who was present, recently described the scene which followed this narrow escape in these W'ords : "I now hear Sir Isaac exclaim. Ah! poor Saverv is dead ! ]^ut Saverv was not an instant on his back; in the same moment he rubbed bis head, assured his brother that he was not injured, and fired the gun with as much coolness as if nothing had happened."* In the following year Lieut. - Colonel Brock proceeded to Canada w ith his favorite 49th, and there remained, with only one intermission, wiien he returned on leave to Europe, until the period of his death. In 1803 or 1804, he quelled a serious mutiny which was on the point of breaking out in the regiment, part of which was in garrison at Niagara, under the command of the junior lieutenant-colonel, while the head quarters were fixed at York, the * The effect of tlie i)all passing so near him was such, that altlioimh a reniarkahly tall, athletic; youtij^ man, he was knocked down and stunned for a moment. 1 4 MKMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. cai)ital of the U})ptM' IVoviiicc. This otlicer, it seems, more hy useless annoyance tlian by actual severity, had exasperated the men to tliat degree, that at length they formed a plot to rise on their ofHcers, and to avenge themselves on the few who had incurred their resentment. Far be it from us to justify the attempt, which indeed was highly criminal, hut in all such extreme cases we hold that a sad abuse of power, or a gross want of tact, must be the predominant cause, and that, even in the passive obedience of a military life, there may be a limit to human endurance. The proximity of the United States rendered this plot a very feasible one, as the men in a body could have crossed the river without molestation or difficulty. Colonel Brock was privately informed, it appears, by one of the men, of the conspiracy, and he inmiediately proceeded in an open boat from York to Fort George. On his arrival he ordered the detachment under arms, and walking up to a sergeant, whom he knew to be the ringleader, commanded him to lay down his pike. The sergeant, taken by surprise, mechanically obeyed, and those most culpable were fortunately secured without the slightest resistance, although, we believe, the plot was to have been carried into effect that very day. On being tried by a court martial four were condemned to suffer death, and, with three deserters, were shot early in the month of March, in presence of the garrison at Quebec. A most awful and affect- ing sight it was : the wind was easterly, strong, and cold, — a thick drift of snow added to the gloom, — and, as if to increase the horror of the scene, a few of the firing party, fifty -six in number, instead of advancing to within eight yards of the prisoners as was intended, owing to some mistake, commenced firing at the 'I to be pike, jcyed, cured ieve, very were ters, sence fect- and and, f the icing ided, the i MEMOIR OK SIR ISAAC BROCK. 5 distance oi at least filty yards, Tlic consequence was, that the unliappy wretclies were only partially wounded, and dropped one after another. Nearly forty shots were fired before one poor lellow in the centre fell, although he was wounded throui^h the abdomen at the tirst discharge. The men, who had reserved their fire, were at length ordered up, and, lodging the contents of their muskets in the breasts of the culprits, by that means put them out of torture. The unfortunate sufferers declared publicly that, had they continued under the command of Colonel Rrock, they would have escaped their melancholy end ; and, as may be easily conceived, he felt no little anguish that those, who had so recently and so bravely fought under him, were thus doomed to end their lives, the victims of their unruly passions infiamed by vexatious authority. He was now directed to assume the com- mand at Fort George, or Niagara, and all complaint and desertion instantly ceased. The following are extracts from two of his private letters, bevond which few or none have unfortunatelv been preserved : — " Quebec, September 5, 1808. — I have been here but a few days, having been superseded at Montreal by Major- General Drummond. I do not approve much of the change. Being separated from the 49tli is a great annoyance to me. But soldiers must accustom themselves to frequent movements ; and as they have no choice, it often happens that they are placed in situations little agreeing with their inclina- tions. My nominal appointment has been confirmed at home, so that I am really a brigadier. Were the 49th ordered hence, the rank would not be a sufficient * Appendix A, Section 1, No. 1. ■'i ■ •'i 1 6 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK, inducement to keep me in this country. In such a case I would throw it up wilHngly." " Quehec, June 8, 1810. — It was my decided inten- tion to have asked for leave to go to England this fall, but I have now relinquished the thought. Several untoward circumstances combine to oppose my wishes. The spirit of insubordination lately manifested by the French Canadian population of this colony naturally called for precautionary measures, and our worthy chief is induced in consequence to retain in this country those on whom he can best confide. I am liighly flattered in being reckoned among the number, whatever inward disappointment I may feel. Some unpleasant events have likewise happened in the Upper Country, which have occasioned my receiving intimation to proceed thither, whether as a permanent station, or merely as a temporary visit. Sir James Craig has not determined. Should, however, a senior brigadier to myself come out in the course of the summer, I shall certainly be fixed in the Upper Province, and there is every probability of such an addition very soon. Since all my efforts to get more actively employed have failed ; since fate decrees that the best portion of my life is to be wasted in inaction in the Canadas, I am rather pleased with the prospect of removing upwards." Brigadier-General Brock was accordingly soon after detached to the Upper Province, and continued to command there with the exception of a short period, during which he returned in June, 1811, to Quebec, to act, we believe, as temporary governor-general, Sir James Craig having proceeded to England pre- viously to the arrival of his successor, Sir George Prevost. During his brief residence in Quebec he •f MEMOIR OF Sill ISAAC BUOCK. 7 1 such a ;d inten- tliis fall, Several f wishes. [1 by the mturally worthy in this . I am number, Some in the eceiving rmanent r James [a senior of the Upper such an et more decrees isted in vith the 3n after lued to period, iuebec, eneral, id pre- George bee he 4 obtained his promotion as a major-general, and he at the same time anxiously repeated his a[)plication to the commander-in-chief for more active employment in Europe. At the close of that year His Royal Highness at length expressed every inclination to gratify his wishes, and Sir George Prevost was autho- rised to replace him by another officer ; but when the permission reached Canada, a war with the United States of America was evidently near at hand, and Major- General Brock, with such a pros})ect, was retained both by honor and inclination in the country. At the commencement of the second American war, in June, 1812, Great Britain having long been engaged in an arduous struggle in Europe, was totally unprepared to protect the Canadas with that force which an extended frontier of eight hundred miles* demanded ; and Major-General Brock, who was admi- nistering the civil as well as the military government of the Upper Province, could scarcely collect fifteen hundred regular troops for its immediate defence. With this very inadequate force, it was the opinion of the highest authorities that the Province could not be maintained ; but fortunately the major-general had so gained on the affections of all within his control, that, in the trying period of invasion, the Upper Cana- dians, with few exceptions, displayed a zealous and even enthusiastic loyalty, which surprised those most who believed they knew them best. These excep- tions occurred in the western districts, far removed from the seat of government, and which were the * From Qiiel)ec to Aiiilierstl)iir;?li, at the head of Lakft Erie. At the opening of the war in .July, 1HI2, the regular force in the Canailas consisted of s('V(!n resinicnts of infantry, tiuce of wliich were fencihlc hat- tahons, one of veterans or invalids, and a dptuhinint of artilli'ry, anioiinting in all to less than four thousand five hundred miii. The incorporated uulitiaof the two provinces probably amounted to an ((luai number.— ^^udWtr/// Uevicw, I» MEMOru OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. more subject to hostile influence, as the population was partly composed of natives of the United States, or their descendants ; but there the machinations of the evil-disposed were quickly counteracted by that good spirit which animated the people generally, and Major-General Brock soon experienced the gratifica- tion of receiving voluntary offers of service from the militia most easily embodied. In the attainment of this important object gentlemen of the first character and respectability eagerly came forward ; and no sooner had the British commander reached Amherst- burgh, than he was joined by the Indian warriors in considerable numbers, among whom the gallant Te-cum-seh was conspicuous. The Americans com- plained loudly of the employment of men whom they termed savages ; but the major-general, with his limited means, could not consistently refuse the assist- ance of such willing and useful auxiliaries, the more particularly as, in compliance with his wishes, they submitted in some degree to the restraints of discipline, and promised to treat their prisoners with huma- nity, — a promise which they faithfully performed. The American government, previously to its decla- ration of w^ar, had detached to the Michigan territory an army of about two thousand five hundred men, under the command of Brigadier-General Hull, who, said the president in his message to congress, "pos- sessing discretionary authority to act offensively, passed into Upper Canada with a prospect of easy and victorious progress." The enemy evidently con- fided in the very limited defensive means of the Province, and in the impossibility of its receiving early assistance from the mother country. They relied also on the supposed disaffection of many of i i ;t pulatioii States, tions of by that 11 y, and ratitica- 'om the neiit of laracter and no mherst- varriors gallant s com- im they ith his 5 assist- e more s, thev :;ipline, huma- ed. decla- rritory men, who, pos- sively, easy con- )f the eiving They ny of (( MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 9 its inhabitants, and they anticipated confidently that, weak and divided, it would fall an easy prey to the invaders ; but they were soon undeceived. Having reached the village of Sandwich, Brigadier- General Hull issued on the 12th of July an ably written proclamation to the Canadians, from which the fol- lowing extract deserves to be recorded here. " Had I," he observed, '* 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 interest 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 em- ployment of a force which respects no rights and knows no wrong, it will be prevented by a severe and relentless system of retaliation." Major-General Brock, in a counter proclamation, assured the inha- bitants ** that Great Britain would consider the execu- tion of this inhuman threat as deliberate murder, for which every subject of the offending power must make expiation ;" and, alluding to the Indians, added : n 'fi; 10 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. ** By what ne\y principle are they to be prevented from defending tlieir property ? If their warfare, from being different to that of white people, be more terrible 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 them- selves and their property when invaded." The deeds of the American general, however, but ill accorded with his boasted and real superiority of force ; and as his threats had not the effect which he intended, it had been better in him to have withheld them. After wasting nearly a month in preparjitions for .the siege of Fort Amherstburgh, and not meeting with the welcome from the inhabitants in the neigh- bourhood which he had fondly anticipated, he retraced his steps precipitately to Fort Detroit, whither he returned with his army on the 8tli of August. Major- General Brock reached Amherstburgh by water on the 13th, with a reinforcement of three hundred men, chiefly militia, having traversed Lake Erie in open boats, when he immediately determined on following the enemy into his own territory, and on attempting, by a sudden and resolute attack, the annihilation of his power in that quarter. With this view the troops marched with the utmost expedition to Sandwich, where a few guns were placed in battery, from which a fire was opened against Fort Detroit on the 1 5th of August. On this day Major- General Brock trans- mitted a summons to his adversary, in which he declared, " that the force at his disposal authorised him to require the immediate surrender of Fort Detroit, and that he was disposed to enter into such conditions as would satisfy the most scrupulous sense i 'I MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 11 ^» evented warfare, be more , They len and I en, and d them- rer, but ority of hich he k^ithheld orations meeting neigh- e traced her he Major- ter on men, open owing ipting, ion of roops dwich, which 5th of trans- ch he orised Fort such sense of honor." Brigadier-General Hull rejihed, on the same day, that he was prepared to meet any force which might be at the disposal of the British general ; •who, nothing daunted, and contrary to the opinion of the next in command, issued orders to cross the strait, or river, which is here about three fourths of a mile in width, on the following morning, in the liope of inducing the enemy to meet his little force in the field. Accordingly, at the first blush of dawn, on Sunday the IGth of August, thirty men of the royal artillery, two hundred and fifty of the 41st regiment, fifty of the Newfoundland regiment, together three hundred and thirty regulars, with four Imndred militia and about six hundred Indians, were embarked, with five pieces of light artillery, in boats and canoes of every description, and soon effected a landing without opposition ; the white troops at Springwell, three miles below Detroit, and the Indians two miles lower down. The former marched tow'ards the fort, along the banks of the river, while the latter moved forward through the woods, and covered the left flank. We learn from Morse's American Geography, on the acknowledged authority of Governor Hull, that Fort Detroit, in 1810, was a regular work of an oblong figure, "covering about an acre of ground. The parapets were about twenty feet in height, built of earth and sods, with four bastions, the whole sur- rounded with pallisadoes, a deep ditch, and glacis. It stood immediately back of the town, and had strength to withstand a regular siege, but did not command the river." And as the American government had been for some time secretly preparing for war, it may be safely inferred, that in the mean while this fort had been rather strengthened than permitted to fall l\ 1> 12 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. t i to decay, and that it was at least as tenable in 1812 as when Governor Hull, two years before, gave the preceding description of its defences. The enemy's effective force was estimated at nearly two thousand five hundred 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. Having received information on landing that a detachment of three hundred and fifty men had left the garrison a day or two previously, and learning soon after that this detachment had been seen that morning within a few miles on its return, Major-General Brock decided on an immediate attack. Contrary to his expectation, the Americans abandoned a favorable position strengthened by pickets and two twenty-four pounders, and retreated into the fort on the advance of the British. Ascertaining that the enemy had taken little precaution on the land side, the major-general resolved on attempting to carry the fort by 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,* the Adams vessel of war, and about two thousand five hundred troops, including one company of artillery, some cavalry, and the entire 4th U. S. regiment of infantry, were surrendered to the British arms. To * Incliidin^i; six or pight brass field pieces, captured with General Burgoyne at Saratoga, in 1777 ; some of whicli were retaken by the Americans at the battle of the Thames, in October, 1SI3. MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 13 •^r :i -fcD British their to a Fort the five llery, nt of To rgojne at the this surrender the after preservation of Upper Canada at least, may in a j^reat measure be ascribed, as it caused a delay of nearly a whole year in the meditated invasion, imparted confidence to the Canadian miUtia, and secured the support of some of the Indian tribes, who were wavering as to the side they should espouse. The conduct of Brigadier -General Hull is almost inexpHcable, and can only be accounted for by the supposition that the boldness of his adversary's move- ments led him to believe he had to contend with far greater numbers ; or, that having threatened to refuse quarter to the wliite 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 diffi- cult 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. Leaving a small force in the captured post to keep tlie inhabitants in awe, Major-General Brock hastened to Niagara, a command he had only relinquished for the purpose of undertaking an achieve- ment which his energy and decision crowned with such unqualified success. His services, on this occa- sion, were on the 10th of October rewarded with the order of the Bath ; but he lived not long enough to learn that he had obtained so gratifying a distinction, the knowledge of which would have cheered him in \^ (I ■f I'll If, dl 14 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. his last moments. Singularly enough his dispatches, accompanied by the colours of the U. S. 4th regi- ment, reached London early on the morning of the Gtli of October, the anniversary of his birth. One of his brothers, 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 tluind'ring sound." The unfortunate General Hull, on his return to the United States, was tried by a court martial and con- demned to death ; but the sentence was remitted by the president, in consideration of his age and services during the war of independence.* His name was, however, struck off the rolls of the army. His son, and aid-de-camp at Detroit, Captain Hull, was killed in July, 1814, in the hard-fought battle near the falls of Niagara. The successful commander, in transmitting his dis- patches to the governor-general at Montreal, expressed his intention of proceeding immediately with his gal- lant little army to Kingston, and from thence to the attack of the naval arsenal at Sackett's Harbour, on Lake Ontario. Had its destruction been accom- plished, — and no one can doubt that this was the proper period to attempt it, as the enemy, dispirited by the capture of Detroit, would probably have offered * For his revolutionary services, see Appendix A, Section 2. 1 UEMOTR OF STR ISAAC HROCK. 1 patches, th regi- ; of the One of ity, was ms were d; "do nd when ich may I in jest that all rother's y week, 1 to the nd con- tted by services le was, is son, 5 killed he falls lis dis- Dressed lis gal- to the irbour, iccom- as the pirited Difered hut a feeble resistance, — the Americans couhl nol, witliout much additional dithcultv, have built and equipped the fleets, which subsequently gave them the naval ascendency on those waters. But unhap- pily for the interests of his country and for the credit of his own fame. Sir George Prevost, whose civil administration was as able as his military one in Canada was inefficient, disapproved of the contem- plated enterprise, and commanded Major-General Brock to remain on the Niagara frontier. We seek not to impugn his motives, as they doubtless originated in a sense of duty, however mistaken, and evidently from an impression that to attack the Americans again on their own territory would be to render the contest more popular among them.* Forbearance in war, when success is probable, is a positive evil that a very doubtful good may ensue, — it is seldom properly appreciated ; and the governor-general appears to have seen his error when too late, as in the following year he was himself somewhat ignobly foiled in an attack on Sackett's Harbour. At the same time it is due to the memory of this unfortunate officer to add, that although his conduct on two or three occasions was the subject of much and just animadversion in England J yet he acquired the attachment of the French Canadians, who speak highly of him to this day. Certain it is, on the other hand, that Major-General Brock, thus frustrated in his intention and restricted to defensive warfare, felt the disappointment most acutely ; and subsequent events too truly proved that had he been permitted to pursue that course which his zeal and foresight dictated, his valuable life might have been spared, and a very different series of inci- • Appendix A, Section 1, No. 2. I Hi MEMOIH OF SlU ISAAC HROCK. dents ill that war claimed the attention of the liistorian. rhe hiij;h-ininded soicher (.'oiild not hrooU a state ol inaction with sucii promising j)rosi)ects before him. His best feelinii;s revolted at being comi)elled to lan- guish witiiin the strict pale of military obedience, when so rich a field for doing good service presented itself; and in place of becoming the assailant, he was soon doomed, by awaiting the attacks of his oppo- nents, to sacrifice not only life, but, what is far dearer, the opening prospects of honorable ambition. The Americans, burning to wipe away the stain of their recent discointiture, and apparently determined to penetrate into Upper Canada at any risk, concen- trated with those views, along the Niagara river, an army, by their own account, of about six thousand men, partly militia, under the command of Major- General Van Renssalaer. To oppose this force Major- General Brock, whose head quarters were at Fort George, had under his immediate orders part of the 4 1st and 49th regiments, a few companies of militia, and from two to three hundred Indians, in all about fifteen hundred men, but so dispersed in different posts at and between Fort Erie and Fort George,* (thirty-four miles apart,) that only a small number was quickly available at any one point. Under these circumstances it was impossible to prevent the landing of the hostile troops when favored by the obscurity of the night ; they crossed over from Lewistown in a considerable body before daybreak, on the 13tli of October, and after some loss, gained possession of the shore near Queenston, a pretty village, seven miles from Fort George. The cataract of Niagara is sup- * On the opposite or American shore stands Fort Niagara, '.vliicli, while in the hands of tlie Froncii, was the scene of so many coiitlicts. Tiie -liUh regi- ment assisteil at the rediictinn of this fort, in Jnly, 17)9 ! J'S MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 17 ])osed to have commenced on the adjacent heights, and to have gradually receded, or worn its way back- wards to its present site seven miles above, the banks of the river on both sides between the two spots being precipitous, chietly of solid rock, and of the same height as the fall. For some days the British com- mander suspected that the enemy meditated an attack, and the evening previously he called his staff together, and gave to each the necessary instructions. Agree- ably to his usual custom he arose before daylight, and, hearing the report of cannon and musketry, H directed Major-General Sheaffe to bring up the troops as soon as they were assembled. He then galloped eagerly from Fort George to the scene of action, and, on his arrival there at a quarter before seven, found the flank companies only of the 49th regiment, w4th a few of the militia, warmly engaged with the enemy. The light company, under Captain Williams, was on the road leading up the heights watching the enemy below, and the grenadiers, under Captain Dennis, the senior officer, were guarding the village and covering two three pounders, whose fire swept the banks of the river. The general rode up the hill in front of the light company under a tremendous fire of artillery and musketry from the American shore. Soon after the enemy gained possession, by a fisherman's path- way, of the summit of the heights, and the light company was compelled, by dint of numbers, to retreat slowly down the hill into the village of Queen- ston, where they formed across a street, while the grenadiers came up with the three pounders, and formed on the right of the enemy. Sir Isaac Brock, observing the Americans to waver, ordered a charge, which he personally accompanied, but, as they gave B I » !l 11 18 MEMOIU OF SilK ISAA( MU()( K. way, the result was not c([ual to liis expectations. Retreating on their main l)ody, the whole o|)ene(l a heavy tire of musketry ; and conspicuous from his dress, liis heigiit, and the enthusiasm with whicli he animated his little band, the British commander was soon singled out by their ritlemen, whose celebrity for unerring aim was never more cruelly justified. While within pistol shot of the American lines, about an hour after his arrival, the fatal bullet entered his right breast, and passed through his left side. He lived only long enough to utter this dying exhortation : "My fall must not be noticed, or impede my brave companions from advancing to victory !" and then to express a wish that some token of remembrance, which could not be distinctly understood, should be transmitted to his sister. On the same day, a week previously, he had completed his forty-third year. The lifeless corpse was immediately conveyed into a house at Queenston, where it remained until the afternoon unperceived by the enemy. His provincial aid-de-camp, Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell, of the militia, a fine promising young man, and the attorney-general of Upper Canada, was mortally wounded nearly at the same instant as his chief, and died the next day at the early age of twenty-four. Although one ball had passed through his body, and he was wounded in four places, yet he survived twenty hours, and, during a period of excruciating agony, his words and thoughts were constantly occupied with lamentations for his deceased commander and friend. The flank companies having suffered considerably, and both their captains being severely wounded, the disputed ground was lost soon after the fall of the general. The Americans remained in quiet possession 1 ['tations. peiu'd a mm his hicli he idcr was brity for While bout an lis right le lived rtation : ly brave then to ibrance, lould be a week d year. 1 into a itil the ovincial militia, general at the day at )all had in four iring a oughts for his erably, d, the of the session I MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC IIUOCK. 19 of tlie heights and village if Quoenston for some hours, during which they were hut partially reinforced, as their militia could not be iiuhiced, either bv threat or entreaty, to cross the liver. In the mean while Major-General Sheaffe* collected a force from Fort George and Chippewa, and in the afternoon com- menced an attack on the enemv. The Jiiitish, now equal in number, and superior in discipline, easily drove the invaders from their })osition at the point of the bayonet. Pressed to the edge of the precii)icc which overhangs the river, they fought with despe- ration for a moment, but quickly discovering that resistance was hopeless, the greater part threw down their arms, and called for quarter. Of those who attempted to escape into the woods, some were soon driven back by the Indians ; while others, cut off in their return to the main body, and terrified at the sight of these exasperated warriors, flung themselves wildly over the cliffs, and endeavoured to cling to the bushes which grew upon them, but many, losing their hold, were dashed frightfully on the rocks beneath ; and several who reached the river perished in their attempts to swim across it. Such, alas, are the dreadful horrors too often arising from human warfare ! Few returned to tell the tale of their disaster, and upwards of nine hundred men, with their commander, Brigadier-General Wadsworth, re- mained as prisoners. The death of the British general is said to have cost the invaders many a life on that day which otherwise had been spared. The detachment of the 49th above all, in the excite- * Tliis officer was made a baronet after the battle of Queenston ; he is a native of New England, and was succeeded in 181 :<, in the connnand of Uppc r Canada, by Major-General l)e Kottenbiirji^h, a German, we believe, who was in his turn soon superseded by Lieut. -General (now Sir Gordon) Drunnnond. ,1 20 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. ment arising from the loss of their late heloved colonel, fought with such animosity that the few Americans, who escaped to their own shore, described them to their companions as the "green tigers," from their green facings ; and the fame of their desperate prowess, on this occasion, W'as long re- membered by the enemy's invading army. But the success, though complete, was felt by the victors as a poor compensation for the fate of the British chief- tain, thus prematurely cut off in the midst of his career ; and the sorrow manifested throughout both provinces proved that those who rejoiced in the result of this second invasion would gladly have foregone the triumph, if by such means they could have regained him who rendered the heights of Queenston memorable by his fall. ' ' The news of the death of this excellent officer (observed the Quebec Gazette) has been received here as a public calamity. The attendant circum- stances of victory scarcely checked the painful sen- sation. His long residence in this province, and particularly in this place, had made him in habits and good offices almost a citizen ; and his frankness, conciliatory disposition, and elevated demeanour, an estimable one. The expressions of regret as general as he was known, and not uttered by friends and acquaintance only, but by every gradation of class, not only by grow^n persons, but young children, are the test of his worth. Such too is the only eulogium worthy of the good and brave, and the citizens of Quebec have, with solemn emotions, pronounced it on his memory. But at this anxious moment other feelings are excited by his loss. General Brock had acquired the confidence of the inhabitants within MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 21 jeloved he few scribed tigers," if their >ng re- 3ut the iters as 1 chief- of his lit both e result oregone d have eenston t officer •eceived circum- ul sen- e, and habits fikness, 3ur, an general ds and class, en, are logium ens of iced it other k had within I his government. He had secured their attachment permanently by his own merits. They were one people animated by one disposition, and this he had gradually wound up to the crisis in which they were placed. Strange as it may seem, it is to be feared that he had become too important to them. The heroic militia of Upper Canada, more particularly, had knit themselves to his person ; and it is yet to be ascertained whether the desire to avenge his death can compensate the many embarrassments it will occasion." A Montreal newspaper of the day also contained the following observations: "The private letters from Upper Canada, in giving the account of the late victory at Queenston, are partly taken up with encomiastic lamentations upon the never-to-be- forgotten General Brock, which do honor to the character and talents of the man they deplore. The enemy have nothing to hope from the loss they have inflicted ; they have created a hatred which panteth for revenge. Although General Brock may be said to have fallen in the midst of his career, yet his previous services in Upper Canada will be lasting and highly beneficial. When he assumed the government of the province he found a divided, disaffected, and, of course, a weak people. He has left them united and strong, and the universal sorrow of the Province attends his fall. The father, to his children, will make known the mournful story. The veteran, who fought by his side in the heat and burthen of the day of our deliverance, will venerate his name." And the sentiments of the British government, on the melancholy occasion, were thus expressed in a dis- patch from Earl Bathurst, the secretary of state for the colonies, to Sir George Prevost : — "His Royal if I. :i •I > .IS ^ ')') MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. , I Highness the Prince Regent is fully aware of the severe loss which his Majesty's service has expe- rienced in the death of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. This would have heen sufficient to have clouded a victory of much greater importance. His Majesty has lost in him not only an ahle and meritorious officer, hut one who, in the exercise of his functions of provisional lieutenant-governor of the province, displayed qualities admirahly adapted to awe the disloyal, to reconcile the wavering, and to animate the great mass of the inhabitants against successive attempts of the enemy to invade the province, in the last of which he unhappily fell, too prodigal of that Ufe of which his eminent services had taught us to understand the value." The Canadian boat songs are wxll known for their plaintive and soothing effect, and a very beautiful one w^as composed on the death of Major-General Brock. The writer of this memoir, while sailing one evening in the straits of Canso, in British North America, the beautiful and pictures(iue scenery of which greatly increased the effect of the words, remembers to have heard it sung by a Canadian boatman, and he then thought that he had never listened to vocal sounds more truly descriptive of melancholy and regret. Sir Isaac Brock, after lying in state at the govern- ment house, where his body was bedewed with the tears of many affectionate friends, was interred, with every military honor, at Fort George, in a cavalier bastion, which he had suggested, and which had been just finished under his daily superintendence. His surviving aid-de-camp, Major J. B. Glegg, at the same time recollecting the decided aversion of the general to every thing that bore the appearance of ■( MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 23 of the s expe- t Brock, juded a Majesty •itorious inctions rovince, Lwc the animate ccessive !, in the of that it us to •or their tiful one Brock, evening ica, the reatly o have le then sounds govern- itli the d, witli [cavalier id been . His at the of the mce of ostentatious display, endeavoured to clothe the dis- tressing ceremony with all his native simplicity. Such was the esteem in which he was held by the enemies of his countrv, for he had or could have no personal enemies, that Major-General Van Renssalaer, in a letter of condolence, informed Major-General Sheatfe that immediately after the funeral solemnities were over on the British side, a compliment of minute guns would be paid to his memory on theirs ! ! ! Ac- cordingly, the cannon at Fort Niagara were fired, " as a mark of respect due to a brave enemy." How much is it then to be regretted that we should ever come into collision with those who possess the same origin and the same language as ourselves, and who, by this generous feeling and conduct, proved that they are a liberal, as they undoubtedly are a gallant, people ; and may the future rivalry of both powers be, not for the unnatural destruction of each other, but for the benefit of mankind.* No words can bet- ter express the favorable opinion entertained by the Americans of the deceased than the language of their president, Madison, who, alluding to the battle of Queenston in his annual message to congress, ob- served : "Our loss has been considerable, and is deeply to be lamented. That of the enemy, less ascertained, will be the more felt, as it includes amongst the killed the commanding general, who was also the governor of the province." Nature had been very bountiful to Sir Isaac Brock * The Americans have been frcciuently traduced for dcclarini); war with Great Britain wlien tlio {j'^atei" Y'axX. of Europe was arrayed aj^aiiist tier, Ijut wc imist admit, in common candour, that tiiey had received many provo- cations ; their citizens had been impressed, tlicir sliips captured, their commerce restrained, and, above all, their coasts had been iusnited ; and national warfare has yet to be vvaK<'d on more ijencrous principles, if the ;it:;gres!3cd await the convenience of the aggrcs.io. . I,' I J X \ 24 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. in those personal gifts which appear to such peculiar advantage in the army, and at the first glance the soldier and the gentleman were seen. In stature lie was tall, erect, athletic, and well proportioned, although in his latter years his figure was perhaps too portly ; and when a young man, at the head of his company of grenadiers, he attracted general observation by his martial presence. His fine and benevolent counte- nance w^as a perfect index of his mind, and his manners w^ere courteous, frank, and engaging. His character has already been so fully developed in the preceding pages that it may appear superfluous to add a brief sketch of its more prominent features. Brave, liberal, and humane ; devoted to his sovereign, and loving his country with romantic fondness ; in command so gentle and persuasive, yet so firm, that he possessed the rare faculty of acquiring both the respect and the attachment of all who served under him. When urged by some friends, shortly before his death, to be more careful of his person, he replied : " How can I expect my men to go where I am afraid to lead them ;" and although perhaps his anxiety ever to shew a good example, by being foremost in danger, induced him to expose himself more than strict prudence or formality warranted, yet, if he erred on this point, his error was that of a soldier. Elevated to the government of Upper Canada, he reclaimed the disaffected by mildness, and fixed the wavering by argument ; and having no national par- tialities to gratify, that rock on which so many provincial governors have split, he meted equal favor and justice to all. British born subjects soon felt convinced that with him their religion or their birth place was no obstacle to their advancement. Even i 1 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 25 peculiar nee the ture lie Ithough portly ; ompany I by his counte- md his 5. His I in the nous to eatures, i^ereign, ess ; in m, that oth the i under ' before replied : afraid anxiety nost in than if he soldier, da, he ed the al par- many favor )n felt birth Even over the minds of the Indians Sir Isaac Brock gained an ascendancy altogether unexampled, and which he judiciously exercised for purposes conducive equally to the cause of humanity and to the interests of his country. He engaged them to throw aside the scalp- ing knife, implanted in their breasts the virtues of clemency and forbearance, and taught them to feel pleasure and pride in the compassion extended to a vanquished enemy. In return they revered him as their common father, and whilst he lived were guilty of no excesses. It is well known that this untutored people, the children of the forests, value personal much more highly than mental qualities, but the union of both in their leader was happily calculated to im- press their haughty and masculine minds with respect and admiration ; and the speech delivered, after the capture of Detroit, by the celebrated Te-cum-seh,* who also fell during the war, is illustrative of the sentiments with which he had inspired these warlike tribes. " I have heard," observed that chief to him, " much of your fame, and am happy to shake by the hand a brave brother warrior. The Americans endea- vour to give us a mean opinion of British generals, but we have been the witnesses of your valour. In crossing the river to attack the enemy, we observed you from a distance standing the whole time in an erect posture, and, when the boats reached the shore, you were among the first who jumped on land. Your bold and sudden movements frightened the enemy, and you compelled them to surrender to half their own force." Of all the good qualities which adorned this accom- plished soldier none was more prominent than his * For a narrative of his life, &c., see coDclusion of Appendix. 26 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC HROCK. decision, and it was ever under the guidance of a sound judgment. His strong attachment to the ser- vice, and particularly to his regiment, formed another distinguishing feature in hi« character. There was a correspondence of regard between him and his officers, and even the non-commissioned officers and privates, that produced the picture of a happy family. Those extremities of punishment, which the exactions of discipline will sometimes occasion, rarely reached his men. He governed them by that sentiment of esteem which he himself had created, and the consolation was given him to terminate a brief but brilliant course in the midst of his professional family. They per- formed his last obsequies, and those who knew the commander and his men will be convinced that on the dav of his funeral there was an entire detachment in tears. It deserves to be recorded, as an instance of good fortune, unprecedented perhaps in military annals, and especially in a country where the advantage and facility of escape were so great, that from the 5th of August, the day on which Major-General Brock left York for Detroit, to the period immediately preceding the battle of Queenston, the force under his personal command suffered no diminution in its numbers either by desertion, natural death, or the sword. This com- prehended a period of nearly ten weeks, during which an army was captured, and a journey of several hundred miles, by land and water, accomplished with extreme rapidity. In conclusion it is due to the memory of this excel- lent man to declare that, eminent and undisputed as were his public virtues, he was no less estimable in private life. In his own family he was the object of 4 1 1 )■ 1 3e of a ;he ser- another e was a officers, rivates, Those ions of heel his ' esteem solation t course ley per- lew the that on ichment of good annals, age and 5th of Dck left eceding ersonal either is com- whicli several ;d with excel- uted as able in )ject of i MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 27 the warmest affection, and his servants carefully pre- served relics of their dear master, as they style hiui to this da^^ His cares and anxieties had no reference to the wei'th he should amass, but to the sum of human mif^ery he might relieve ; and towards the close of lis brief career, as the prospect of increasing honors ard emoluments opened to his view, he con- templated his good fortune only as the means of diffusing felicity, of drying the tear of affliction. Indeed so totally devoid was he of every mercenary consideration, that although he enjoyed an ample income from his appointments, by which he might have been enriched, or at least repaid for the purchase of his commissions, yet he left literally nothing but his fair name behind him. Some of his nearest rela- tives have since been cut off" more prematurely, and far more cruelly than himself; but those who still survive him possess the never -failing consolation which arises from the remembrance of his virtues, and from the reflection that, though his blessed spirit hath fled for ever from this world, they may meet again in the mansions of futurity. Though the dead heed not human praise, yet the living act wisely in commemorating the fall of a distinguished chief, — the example is never thrown away, — and on this occasion it is gratifying to reflect, that every posthumous honor was paid to the memory of one who had merited the distinction so well. A public monument, having been decreed by the impe- rial parliament, was raised a few years since in St. Paul's, and a view of it is said to have awakened in an astonished Indian more surprise and admiration than any thing he witnessed in England.* To " the * Ap|H>n(U\ A, Section I, No. II. ' ,* ■:<|( 28 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. ! i \i hero of Upper Canada," as he is still termed in that country, the provincial legislature has recently erected a lofty column on Queenston heights, to which his remains, and those of his gallant aid-de-camp, were removed from Fort George in solemn procession, on the 13th of October, 1824.* Although twelve years had elapsed since the interment, the body of the general had undergone little change, his features being nearly perfect and easily recognised, while that of Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell was in a complete mass of decomposition. One of his regimental companions. Colonel Fitzgibbon, in transmitting a detail of the ceremonies of the day, thus pathetically expressed himself: "Nothing, certainly, could exceed the inte- rest manifested by the people of the province upon the occasion ; and numbers from the neighbouring state of New York, by their presence and conduct, proved how highly the Americans revere the memory of our lamented chief. Of the thousands present not one had cause to feel so deeply as I, and I fell as if alone, although surrounded by the multitude. He had been more than a father to me in that regiment which he ruled like a father, and I alone of his old friends in that regiment was present to embalm with a tear his last honored retreat. What I witnessed on this day would have fully confirmed me in the opinion, had confirmation been wanting, that the public feeling in this province has been permanently improved and elevated by Sir Isaac Brock's conduct and actions while governing its inhabitants. These, together with his dying in their defence, have done * A nmiiificent tyrant of twelve thousand acres of land in Upper Canada was also bestowed by the Provincial Le<^islature on Sir Isaac Brock's four surviving brothers, who in addition were allowed a pension for life of Two Hundred Pounds a year each, by a vote of the British Parliament. 1 MEMOIR OF SIR ISAAC BROCK. 29 .i in that erected ich his p, were ion, on e years of the !S being that of nass of anions, of the pressed le inte- e upon Douring Dnduct, lemory mt not It as if ;. He giment lis old n with nessed in the the nently )nduct These, done Canada jk's four of Two It. more towards cementing our union with tlie mother country than any event or circumstance smce t!ie existence of the province. Of this our leading men are aware, and are careful to seize every opportunity of preserving recollections so productive of good efiects." The height of the column, which commands a view of the surrounding country for about fifty miles, is from the base to the summit one hundred and twenty-seven feet, and from the level of the Niagara river, which runs nearly under it, four hun- dred and seventy-seven feet. The following inscription is engraven on this splendid tribute to the unfading remembrance of a grateful people : — UPPKR CANADA HAS DEDICATED THIS MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE MA.IOR- GENERAL SIR ISA.*C BROCK, KB. PROVISIONAL LIEUT.. GOVERNOR AND COMMANDER Ol' THE FORCES IN THIS PROVINCE, WHOSE REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED IN THE VAULT BENEATH. OPPOSING THE INVADING ENEMY, HE FELL IN ACTION NEAR THESE HEIGHTS, ON THE 13th OCTOBER, 1812, IN THE 43r(l YEAR OF HIS AGE, REVERED AND LAMENTED BY THE PEOPLE WHOM HE GOVERNED, AND DEPLORED BY THE SOVEREIGN TO WHOSE SERVICE HIS LIFE HAD BEEN DEVOTED. February, 1832. » apiek. t Second son of tlic Earl of t'liichester. t Son of Sir .John Robinson, Bart. ^ Son of Lord Dunsany. Amonar the midsiiipmen in the other boats were the present Captains Hon. E. G. Howard and II. G. Hamilton, and Lieutenant Hon. ,1. Denman. '] •1* ' i (; ' I t ! ul I i ;« m 40 MEMOIR OF LIEUT. TUPPEU. who were in the launch, escaped unhurt. After lin- gering for eight days, he breathed his last in a state of delirium on board the Sybille, at Malta, and passed from time to eternity totally unconscious of the awful change that was awaiting him. His remains were interred in the quarantine burial ground, where a monument was erected by his captain and messmates, with this inscription of their esteem and regard. TO THE MEMORY OP LIEUT. E. W. TUPPER, I.ATE H. M. S. SYBIIXE, WHO DIED 26th JUNE, 1826, FROM WOUNDS RECEIVED IN AN ATTACK AGAINST PIRATES. HE WILL LONG BE REGRETTED BY THOSE WHO KNEW HIM. It was placed between the tombs of Charles Locke, Esq., British consul general for Egypt, and Theodore Gatton, Esq., the only mementos of the living then seen throughout the cemetery to indicate that aught, which once breathed, was laid below. Captain Gordon and Mr. George Johnstone, the surgeon, in letters to the family in Guernsey, after their return to England, thus feelingly and eloquently expressed themselves. The former said : — " It will be some consolation to an afflicted family to learn that no one had been more esteemed, and none more regretted, by his captain, brother officers, and shipmates, than poor WiUiam. He was a good officer and an excellent seaman, and in whom Sir John Pechell had always the greatest reliance Your poor brother was too amiable and honorable a young man not to have possessed proper religious feelings. He bore his sufferings with fortitude, — during the six days previous to my being landed I never heard him complain, although I have little doubt he was conscious that his wounds were mortal." fter liu- a state 1 passed le awful IS were vhere a smates, 1. PES. IM. Locke, lieodore ig then aught, Gordon tters to igland, iselves. family d, and iicers, a good r John Your young elings. ig the heard e was :-( MEMOIR OF LIEUT. TUPPEU. 41 The surgeon wrote : — "Wiien I first saw hiui he was firm and cool, Jfc asked me to give my opinion without reserve, and knowing hiin to be possessed of great fortitude, I told him that the wound in the chest was of a most dan- gerous nature, but not necessaribj fatal. He had by this time lost a great deal of blood, but the internal hemorrhage, though the most alarming, was slight. He remained so low for three days that it was ex- pected he would have sunk, though he still continued collected and firm. On the fourth day he rallied, his pulse became more distinct, and he evidently encou- raged hopes. Need I say that I felt myself incapable of destroying them, — indeed I was not altogether without hope myself. The principal danger was from hemorrhage upon the separation of the sloughs, and my fears were fatally verified, for on the 25th, at noon, it commenced and increased internally, until his lungs could no longer perform their functions, and he died at about three o'clock on the morning of the 26th. During the whole time he was resigned, evincing the greatest strength of mind As it was with unfeigned sorrow that I saw a fine and gal- lant young man fall a victim to such a cause, so it was with admiration that I witnessed his heroic bear- ing when the excitement was past, and hope itself was almost fled. I have seen many support their firmness amidst danger and death, but it belongs to few to sustain it during protracted suffering, which is indeed a trial often too severe for the bravest, but through which your lamented brother came with a spirit and resignation which reflected lustre upon himself and family, and endeared him to all his shipmates." ■'!) '1^ \ ..-fi ^J! i r •f! •ii I I, A! Ml % 42 MEMOIR OF LIEUT. TUI'PER. i i The spot on which this desperate encounter took j)h\cc is called, in modern (ireek, Kalosliniionas, which, in English, signifies " 'J'he Fair Havens ;" and altlious;h its [)ositi()n does not exactly accord with that of the same name laid down in a recent scriptural chart of St. Paul's voyage, still, as the identity of the appellations is so remarkahle, as the latitude corres- ponds, and as there is only a slight difference of longitude, it is very possible that the present Kalos- limionas is The Fair Havens mentioned in the twenty- seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. "And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria, sailing into Italy, and he put us therein. " Anil when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not sutlering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone. " And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The Fair Havens, nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea." That this promising young officer should have fallen by such hands w^as the more severely felt by his disconsolate family, because, a few months previously, some of its members had it in their power to be of service to the officers and crew of the Greek brig of war, Cimoni, wrecked on Alderney in November, 1825. The commander, Captain Miaulis, son of the celebrated Greek admiral of that name, thus expressed his thanks in a letter on the subject to the Greek deputies in London. [TRANSLATION.] "Portsmouth, 1st January, 1826. — Being on the point of quitting England, I consider myself obliged by duty to express the sincere gratitude which I, my officers, and crew,* entertain towards the inhabitants * Each scam.-in, besides iboil and raiment during his stay, received £5 on his departure from the island. i .i IN MEMOIR OF LIEUT. TUPI'ER. 43 k 11 of Guernsey in general, and particularly towards the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colhoriie, and the family of Mr. Tupper, resident in that island, for their most benevolent and generous conduct towards us. " If any thing can possibly alleviate the misfortunes of those who are shipw^recked on a foreign coast, lar from their native country, unaccpiainted with the language of the people among whom chance has thrown them, it is the meeting with men of liberality and humanity. Such, we thank Heaven, has been our lot, and we can assure the inhabitants of Guernsey that, whilst we live, their conduct will remain inde- libly engraven on our hearts. " You will oblige me and my officers by giving publicity to this letter. Treatment, like that we met with, should not remain unrecorded." Of this crew very possibly some, urged by want and desperation, were among the pirates at Good Harbour, — one mav have inflicted the fatal wound which deprived Lieutenant Tupper of his life, and if so, it is melancholy to reflect, as the orientals pathe- tically express it, that the arrow which pierced the eagle's heart was poised with an eagle's feather, — that a Greek, lately cherished in his victim's native isle, " ffjive the final hlow, Or helped to plant the wound that laid liini low. So the struck eagle, stretched upon the plain, No more through rolling clouds to soar sigain, Viewed his own feather on the fatal dart. And winged the shaft that (juivered in his heart. Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel; While the same plumage that had warmed his nest, Drank the last life drop of his bleeding breast." lii HON. In person Lieutenant Tupper was rather above the middle height, with a pleasing and intelligent counte- il 1 1 '1 ' . t' fi 44 MKMOIU OF LIKUT. TUI'l'EK. ■"I iiiincc, and he and his next hrotlier, Charles, when inidshipnien in the Vietory together, were desij^nated on board as the handsome brothers.* His love of reading continued in its full force to the last, and as he possessed a very coi)ious fund of information, particularly on naval subjects, he was often referred to on a disputed point. Cruelly cut oft* in the open- ing bud of manhood, when fortune seemed at length propitious, and life in consequence was become doubly dear to him, the onlv consolation left to his near rela- tives is, that he, unlike his brother De Vic, died in the service of his own country. He, who sketches this feeble tribute to his memory, was the elder com- panion of his childhood, and the friend of his later years ; uiyJ he still feels, from sad experience, how impossible it is to forget him, and how poignant is the ever recurring thought of their earthly separation. Who indeed has not observed that in this world there are griefs of a nature which time cannot oblite- rate, which sympathy cannot assuage, — that there are secret sorrows which embitter our happiest hours, and terminate only in the grave, — that there are sudden bereavements wdiose wounds heal but for a moment, or perhaps never cease to bleed ? And in this instance the void, which the premature loss of an amiable young man will ever cause in the hearts of those who knew him best, is the surest testimony of departed worth, and the only eulogium worthy of the good, the unfortunate, and the brave. The truly gallant Captain Gordon was, as soon as he recovered in some degree from his desperate * By a singular coincidence the two brothers commenced their career in the same ship, the Victory, to which their near relative, Lieutenant Carre Tapper, belonged when he was killed in the Mediterranean in one of licr boats, and all three lost their lives in boats ! • , - - X k ,1,' ' }--^'^-'l' !'i ^ S^.P\'CN • N AV V i NT . AMU.ET,// ■ - >^R- 2t MAY 109.^,, ;X . (1 i )i ■ii 'I'i I ,,h! 1 ! d MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 49 elder fellow travellers. At the age of sixteen his strength and activity were so great, that few men could have stood up against him with any chance of success. On his return to Guernsey, every interest the family possessed was anxiously exerted to indulge his wish of entering the British army, but owing to the great reductions made after the peace of 1815, he was unable to obtain a commission, even by purchase. Those relatives, who could best have forwarded his views, had been slain in the public service, and in that day few claims were admitted, unless supported by strong parliamentary influence. He attended the levee of the commander-in-chief, who promised to take his memorial into early consideration ; but His Royal Highness had first to satisfy the cravings of an insatiable oligarchy, whose iniquitous misrule has at length succumbed to the desperation of a long-injured people. This was a cruel disappointment to one, whom nature ever intended for a military life, and it ultimately drove him to a distant land to shed that blood, and to yield that breath, which he in vain sought to devote to his native country.* Happy for him and for his friends had it been otherwise, as it will quickly be seen that he was endowed with quali- ties, which must have rendered him conspicuous in any service, but which, in a civil strife, only hastened his destruction. Thus disappointed, he spent t v/o or three years in Catalonia, of which province a relative f * How different is the success of members of the same family in the same pursuit! His first cousin, William Le Mesurier Tupper, entered the army in the 23d Royal Welsh Fusileers, in September, 1823, and in August, 1826, was a captain in that distinguished regiment. t The late P. Carey Tupper, Esq., who enjoyed a pension of t'60O sterling a year for his services in Spain during Napoleon's invasion, and for which he declined the offer of an English baronetcy and a Spanish barony. During a long residence in that country he formed a very valuable collection of paintings and cartoons, part of which were sent to England. A younger brother was British consul at Caraccas, and subsequently at Riga. D I I 1 '! ■(■ ■ ! '.' I If I 50 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. !!!■ was British consul, and "the young EngUshman" received the pubhc thanks of the municipaUty of Barcelona, for having boldly exposed his life to extin- guish a conflagration, which threatened to destroy a whole barrier of the city. Here his vanity was constantly excited by exclamations in the streets on the manly beauty of his person. The profession of arms continuing his ruling passion, he embarked at Guernsey late in 1821 for Rio de Janeiro, whence he proceeded to Buenos Ayres, and thence over land to Chile. His family was averse to his joining the patriot cause, as it vvas then termed, and he arrived at Santiago a mere soldier of fortune, — without, we believe, a single letter of introduction to those in authority. But his appearance and manners, and a perfect knowledge of three languages, English, French, and Spanish, all of which he spoke fluently, soon procured him friends. The Italian, in a less degree, was also another of his acquirements. The garrison of Valdivia having revolted. Colonel Beauchef, who had served in Europe, and who led with Major Miller the troops in the successful attack of that fortress by Lord Cochrane, was sent from the capital to endea- vour to bring the mutineers to submission, and he requested that young Tupper might accompany him. They landed there alone, and, with great personal risk, succeeded in securing the ringleaders, who had ordered their men to fire on them as they approached in a boat ; but Colonel Beauchef having previously commanded them and obtained their regard, the men fortunately refused to proceed t'" extremities with their old commander. Young Tup] is also said to have excited their astonishment ^ / Jne manner in which he seized on one of the ingleaders, a very \ MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 51 hman" lity of I extin- Jestroy ty was 3ets on sion of 'ked at mce he land to ng the arrived )ut, we lose in , and a French, r, soon degree, athletic and powerful man, and led him captive to the boat. For this service, and for his conduct in a campaign against the fierce Araucanians, whom the Spaniards had never been able to subjugate, he was made in January, 1823, over the heads of all the lieutenants, captain of the grenadier company of battalion No. 8, commanded by the same gallant Frenchman, Colonel Beauchef. This company ^f^r>- sisted of upwards of one hundred exceedingly iine men, and accompanying the battalion shortly after in an expedition to Arica, it excited the surprise of the comparatively diminutive Peruvians, and to which its captain appears not a little to have contributed. This expedition was soon recalled from Peru to proceed under the director, General Ramon Freire, against the island of Chiloe,* so long and so bravely defended by the Spanish Governor Quintanilla. On the return voy- age from Arica to Coquimbo the vessel, which conveyed the grenadiers of No. 8, was short of both provisions and water, and of the latter only a wine glass full was at last served out in twenty-four hours to each indi- vidual. Although the heat was intense, and two of the grenadiers died, the company, when drawn up to receive the scanty draught, invariably refused to touch it until their captain had tasted of each glass, and one dying soldier would confess himself to no one but his captain, so strong a hold had he already gained on the affections of those he commanded. We have already said that an attempt was about to be made to wrest the island of Cliiloe from the * Lord Cochrane's next attempt was upon the island of Chiloe, the larp^est of an archipelago of seventy-two islands, stretching along the inhospitable coast between Valdivia and the straits of Magellan. The navigation is very intricate, on account of eddies, currents, and whirlpools; and a tremendous surf renders the coast almost every where unapproachable. — Modern Tra- veller, Peru, Chile, 1829, H) ' 11 a I ' t < m 52 MKMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. (- !ii! :l, 1 ii ^ : ill 1 1 0: f dominion of the Spaniards. In pursuance of this object, battalion No. 8 was embarked at Coquimbo in .January, 1824, and landed on tho small island of Quiritjuina, in the bay of Talcahuano, where it re- mained until the preparations were completed. The troops were formed into three divisions, and Cp.^^tain Tupper was named second in comma. 1 of the third, but the nomination giving great umbrage to several majors and lieutenant-colonels who had been passed over, this arrangement was annulled, and battalion No. 8 was directed to take the advance. The exp'j- dition reached Chiloe on the 24th of March, and the next d£iy battalion No. 8 gained possession of the fort of Chacao, which offered but a slight resistance. On the 31st, a detachment consisting of two battalions, Nos. 7 and 8, and the grenadier company of No. 1, disembarked at Delcague, and at noon on the 1st of April commenced its march, through a very woody and broken country, towards the town of San Carlos. Two companies of grenadiers, under Captain Tupper, formed the vanguard of this detachment. A strong Spanish force awaited them in ambush at MocopuUi, which is an immense bog surrounded by underwood, having a masked gun on an adjacent eminence. The grenadiers and No. 8 marched through the mouth of the defile perfectly unconscious of their danger, and when within a few paces of the enemy so murderous a fire was opened upon them that they were thrown into the utmost confusion. The enemy was invisible, and in a short time two hundred of the patriots had fallen, while No. 7 halted in the rear and refused to advance. Captain Tupper is represented as having behaved here with the most devoted heroism, charging twice into the thickets with the few grenadiers who MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 53 of this imbo in land of e it re- 1. The Cp.^ytain e third, several I passed )attaUon le exp'j- and the . of the sistance. ttalions, f No. 1, e 1st of ' woody Carlos, upper, strong opuUi, Twood, The outh of r, and derous hrown isible, ts had sed to aving rging who would follow him to so perilous a service. In the second charge three men only accompanied him, one of whom was killed and another received a bayonet wound in the face, while Captain Tupper was himself slightly wounded in the left side by a bullet, — another perforated his cap, — and a Spanish sergeant made a blow at him with a fixed bayonet, which he struck down with his sabre, and it went through his leg. The bushes, however, favored their escape, and, after being nearly surrounded, they rejoined the battalion, which had retreated a short distance. Colonel Beau- chef, as a " dernier ressort," now boldly resolved on attacking the enemy in close column. Animated by their gallant commander, the men formed, although they were previously in complete disorder and No. 7 had retreated, and carried the position at the point of the bayonet, pursuing the royalists for about half a mile. But the field was dearly purchased, the detach- ment engaged of scarcely five hundred men having three hundred and twenty killed and w^ounded, inclu- ding thirteen out of eighteen oflicers, and seventy-one of one hundred and thirty-six grenadiers composing the vanguard. The division having thus suffered so severely, and the nature of the country being so favorable to its defenders. Colonel Beauchef returned next day to the ships ; and the lateness of the season, added to the intelligence of the arrival in the Pacific from Spain, of the Asia, of 64 guns, and Achilles brig, of 20 guns, compelled the squadron to sail for Chile.* The latter vessel is the same which Colonel Tupper attempted, in 1830, to carry by boarding. He was rewarded with a brevet majority for his con- duct in this disastrous affair, and he wrote nearly * Vide Appendix C, No. 2. ■If ^! ' i \.i\ :m' ! H%r\ 54 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. u 'I ! M ' ir'i III'*' two years afterwards, in allusion to some remarks relative to the Chile troops, as follow: — "The obser- vations in F 's letters, respecting our troops, are not at all just ; the Chile soldiers are as fine a class of men as I have ever seen, extremely brave and very capable of fatigue, indeed to a degree of which your English soldiers have no idea. Moreover, they are very robust, and so contrary to what F supposes, we have not a single black in the regiment. The dis- cipline is tolerable now, and the clothing is superior to any I have seen in Spain. I perhaps speak passion- ately, as 1 dote on all my brave fellows, particularly on my old company of grenadiers, with the fondness of a brother ; the feelings of absolute adoration with which they regard me, and of which so many have given me such melancholy proofs, are surely sufficient to draw my heart tow^ards them. I wish you could see my gallant servant as he now stands before me, — his dark and sparkling eye intently fixed on my countenance, his sun-burnt visage, his black musta- choes, and his athletic figure, altogether forming as fine a soldier as can well be seen." Early in the year 1825 Major Tupper expressed an anxious wish to obtain an appointment in one of the British mining associations, wliich at that ^-^riod were established in Chile, and, as his letter on the subject contains other information, we extract the following particulars : — "Santiago, 25th May, 1825. — MiUfary services are here no longer required, and foreign officers are therefore looked upon as a burthen, which, sooner or later, must be shaken off. A feeling of envy attends us, which renders our situation extremely galling to every man of honour ; and some of my companions MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 55 in arms are indeed to be pitied, who, iiaving lost their limbs in the service, are totally dependent upon the generosity of this ungrateful republic. As to myself 1 cannot so much complain, as I suffer little or no inconvenience now from the bayonet wound I received in the last action, my leg only swelling occasionally in cold weather. " Nor is it easy to steer a safe course in a country so disposed to anarchy : a congress has been esta- blished in three different ^eriods, and has always terminated its sessions in tumult and disorder. There is no stability in affairs, and the director, Freire, is totally destitute of political courage ; he dare not be absolute, and the mass of the people is much too ignorant to admit of other government than the iron hand of a despot. ** Chile contains about nine hundred thousand inha- bitants, exclusive of the Indians or aborigines ; it extends from the desert of Atacama to the borders of Patagonia, comprising about twenty degrees of lati- tude, and its extreme breadth, from the Andes to the sea, does not exceed one hundred leagues. The provinces of Coquimbo and Conception have lately declared indirectly their independence of Santiago, which is too weak to enforce their obedience. Co- quimbo is a pretty town of about eight thousand inhabitants, and the province is extremely rich in gold, silver, and copper mines. Conception has been a fine town, but it is now reduced to about six thou- sand residents ; the whole province is very rich and picturesque, abounding in wood and pastures. It has for many years been subject to the inroads of the Araucano Indians, and exposed to the depredations of a numerous banditti, as the lofty Andes, the trackless ,'1 u n lii < I ■; 56 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. k I ■ I. • ! ii I I j''l lorests, and the magnificent rivers of tiiis immense territory, afford so many means of refuge to the savage hordes of Inthan cmd Creole robbers, that it is inii)ossible for the government, in its present debili- tated state, to clear the country of them. "The Araucano Indians extend from the river Bio Bio, which laves the southern side of Conception, to Valdivia. They are the fiercest and most warlike of all the tribes, and the best horsemen in the world. Their property consists in herds of cattle, which they drive before them on the approach of an enemy, and the women cultivate the potatoe, bean, and maize. They arc a fine robust people, and jjossess great mus- cular strength. Polygamy is universally in practice, and the women are virtuous to a surpiising degree. I never could discover any other sign of religion than what is to be deduced from the fact that they bury spurs, provisions, &c., with their dead. Their worst characteristic, in common with all savages, is their utter faithlessness and total disregard of compact or treaty, and they are moreover cruel beyond all con- ception of cruelty. I was ten months campaigning in their territory, and I suffered hardships which in- deed required all my constitution to resist. Half a dozen of them will put to flight any number of our cavalry, but they dare not face infantry ; their arms are sabres and lances about twenty feet long. With our battalion of three hundred men we defeated six or seven hundred of them twice." In October, 1825, the director, Freire, was deposed by an aristocratical faction ; and the conduct of Major Tupper, now effective of No. 8, on the occasion will be best explained in other extracts from his letters, dated at Santiago in 1826, and addressed to his family. ' ( our arms With isix or )osed [ajor will Itters, iiy- MEMOIR OF COLONEL TlTpPEK. 5/ " February 18. — The director has wished frequently to make me his aid-de-cainp, and I have as often declined the situation. In a country like this, dis- tracted by party and still subject to all the disorders of the revolution, the stout heart and the stal worth arm are of more effect when they are backed by a few good soldiers. About a month before our departure for Chiloe, the director was deposed by tbe efforts of a party supported by two regiments, — he was obliged to leave the city in the morning ; at two in the after- noon Colonel Sanches was elected in his place ; in the night I formed a counter revolution in my own corps, brought over No. 7, and, in spite of the other two regiments, replaced Freire in his situation before ten o'clock the next morning. Mr. Nugent, the British consul-general, expressed himself well pleased with my conduct in this affair, but Freire is not a man to recollect the services of his best friends, and he is losing them fast. I shall be surprised if he be director six months hence." "May 29. — I perceive that honorable mention is made of my name in the Representative* of January 25th last. I believe that I alluded, in one of my former letters, to the circumstances which gav*. ise to this commendation, — they were in themselves of a very unpleasant nature to me. In October last a party had prevailed so far in Santiago as to procure the spurious election of another director. Many of Freire's measures having given great disgust, and his incapacity for government becoming every day more evident, the election was strongly supported, particu- larly by two of the corps forming the garrison of Santiago. My commanding officer, Colonel Beauchef, * A London daily newspaper. Id ? 1 I r ^tlr \ ■m I f 58 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. li ' ^ I r 1 \ ii.l i: h ■: 'I, !J1 to whom I have so many and great obHgations, was impHcated with the rest. I was aware, however, that the faction was composed of bad and dangerous men, — moreover, that the provinces of Coquimbo and Con- ception would certainly support Freire, and therefore, that a civil war must be the result of the election in the city. 1 represented all this to Beauchef in the strongest terms ; I endeavoured to convince him that civil war must always be a losing game for foreign officers, — he, however, would not see it as I did, and I felt myself under the disagreeable necessity of taking the command of the regiment from him. This may appear strange, but it was easily effected. I called the officers together, and made them a spirited exhor- tation in my uncle Savery's style ; they all swore upon their drawn swords to support me to the last. I distributed thirty rounds of ball cartridge to each man, — of their love and confidence I had no doubt, — I believe they would follow me to perdition itself. All this was done at midnight. Beauchef soon after came into the barracks ; I made it evident to him that the corps was no longer under his orders ; I once again urged him not to ruin himself for ever, and he at last submitted to lead the battalion to the assistance of the director, and the whole business was quelled with the banishment of about twenty indivi- duals. Our corps being considered a crack one, other battalions were induced to follow the example we had set, and a counter revolution was in conse- quence effected without difficulty." The commendation in the Representative we have not seen, but the Morning Chronicle in January, 1826, concluded an account of this political commo- tion in the following words : — »^.l ever, to the tss was indivi- one, [ample jonse- have luary, Immo- MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 59 "While the conduct of an English officer, Major Tupper, is mentioned in terms of high commendation for the firmness and steadiness with which he pre- vented the troops from being drawn aside from their duty, we are, on the other hand, very sorry to per- ceive the manner in which French influence has been exerted on this and other occasions in Chile." Among the individuals banished was Colonel Viel, a Frenchman, who went to Peru, and of whom fre- quent mention will be made in the sequel ; but either from some jealousy on the part of General Freire, or very possibly from a dread of giving offence to many powerful individuals implicated in this conspiracy, Major Tupper received no immediate advancement or reward for his verv decisive interference. If the former motive were the cause, that jealousy probably arose from the circumstance of Major Tupper having been in some degree a rival in the affections of the young lady whom the director had recently married, and who had, it is natural to suppose, evinced a pre- ference for the equally young major ; but in Chile, as in older countries, parents do not always consult the inclinations of their children, and attachment is sacri- ficed at the shrine of wealth or ambition. General Freire, a native of Talcahuano, was at that time about forty-six years of age, and, without any of the usual advantages of education, had raised himself from a humble origin to the high situation he then occupied. Represented as possessing a stately and pleasing exterior with a frank and conciliatory address, he was doubtless indebted, in a great measure, to these advantages for his success, as he displayed neither talent nor energy from the date of his fatal elevation to power.* * Vide Appendix C, No. 3. ( \ lif ' ;i Kl J ' t .'■ ■ I ; 1; •i'i, i\ n : i i' I I ■ I '1 hi .I'l 'i! GO MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. The decisive battle of Ayacucho having, with the solitary exception of the fortress of Callao, effected the liberation of the whole continent of Spanish Ame- rica, it was resolved to renew the attempt to drive the Spaniards from the islands of Chiloe, which form the natural keys of the Pacific when approached from Cape Horn. Another expedition in consequence, commanded again by the director in person, set sail from Valparaiso in November, 1825, and, after touch- ing at Valdivia, reached Chiloe in January, when barely two thousand men were disembarked. Major Tupper commanded the grenadier companies of Nos. 6 and 8, forming part of the advanced division, and was left by its commander, Colonel Aldunate, chiefly to his own direction. The enemy, in force consider- ably above three thousand men, including four hundred cavalry, occupied a strong entrenched position, his right flank resting upon the sea, his left guarded by impenetrable woods, his front palisaded and strength- ened by a deep and muddy rivulet, which offered but two passes, one near the wood defended by three hundred men, the other on the beach. On the 14th Colonel Aldunate, with six flank companies, took the beach, while Major Tupper, with his two companies, carried the pass near the wood in a few minutes, with little loss, by jumping over the palisade, when he escaped almost miraculously, as before his men could join him he was; exposed to a tremendous discharge of musketry, which covered him with mud, and shot away one of his epaulettes. The royalists having been driven also from a second position, their cavalry attempted a charge, but were completely routed by the grenadier company of No. 8. The enemy now retreated to his last and strongest position MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 01 H men idous mud, alists their etely The ition on the heights of Bella Vista on the road to Castro, the principal town of the island, and was attacked unsuccessfully three diffcx'-t times by five flank com- panies. Colonel Aldunate then called Major Tupper, and pointing to the royalists, said, " The glory is re- served for you, — dislodge the enemy immediately." This was a most desperate service, as the road, or rather path, was so narrow as to admit of only three or four men abreast, but taking a flag in his left hand, Major Tupper ordered his grenadiers to follow him without firing a shot. By running quickly he reached the crest of the heights with the loss of only six men killed behind him, his escape appearing so astonishing to the survivors that they were convinced he wore a charm. Here he encountered a Spanish officer, named Lopez, commanding we believe the rear guard, who resolutely maintained his ground ; a personal combat ensued, and the Spaniard was killed by a sabre cut, which nearly clove his head in two. There was unhappily no alternative, as the gallant Lopez would neither surrender nor give way. In the mean time fourteen or fifteen of the Spaniards having fallen by the bayonet, the remainder fled, and were vigorously pursued for about a league on the road to Castro, when orders were brought to the grenadiers to halt. In this pursuit a colonel and about fifty men were made prisoners. The action lasted altogether nearly four hours, and on the whole the enemy, whose troops consisted partly of militia, shewed but little conduct or courage, having indeed been routed by the eight companies, which were the only troops seriously engaged on the side of the patriots, whose entire loss did not exceed one hundred and seventy-five men in killed and wounded. A h 1,^ ■I ,'; m\ / ■ I \' V, ill!' is !■ 1 ; r > :!i I 'mI' ill! G2 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. gallant North American, Lieutenant Oxley of the navy, was killed in an attack on two gun boats, the stronger of which was taken. Major Tupper, having volunteered, assisted at its capture, although, as a Chileno officer of his regiment, from whom we derive the information, writes, "it was not necessary that he should, as an officer of the army, seek to fight by sea, particularly when he was not ordered." Major Tupper mentioned, that throughout the action "Colo- nel Aldunate had distinguished himself much, and that General Borgono had given great proofs of ability." The surrender of the island* was the imme- diate consequence of these successes, and Major Tupper was rewarded with a brevet lieutenant-colo- nelcy, although much more was promised him when the impression, which his behaviour left, was fresh in the mind of the director. But a foreign officer in any country must naturally expect that his gallantry and devotion will be viewed by many a native with a jealous eye, and indeed too often treated with frigid indifFerepoe when his services are no longer required. Alluding to this subject Major Tupper wrote from Santiago on the 14th of March, 1826, as follows : — ' ' Long ere you receive this the public papers will have informed you of the success of our late expedi- tion against Chiloe. I have been fortunate enough to find my name inserted in the dispatches, and not- withstanding I feel convinced that there exists a strong feeling in the army that my services have been disguised and glossed over ; many causes are assigned for this injustice ; it is extraordinary, as politically * General Rodil, after resolutely sustainitij^ a siege in Callao for thirteen months, surrendered from famine 19th January, lb2G, and thus the dominion of Spain in Peru and Chile was severed nearly on the same day, and douht- loss for ever. li frigid will pedi- gh to not- sts a been gned cally ^irteen linion Idouht- MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 0.3 speaking I have been his best friend, — I allude to the director Freire. I cannot think so meanly of him as to allow myself to suppose with some people, that jealousy in a foolish love affair, has had any influence on his mind. I shall, however, receive my commis- sion as lieutenant-colonel as soon as he arrives from Conception." The chief part of the expedition having returned to Chile, and Colonel Aldunate being appointed governor of the islands. No. 4 was left in garrison ; but in May following that battalion revolted in favor of O'Higgins, and the governor arrived at Valparaiso for assistance, having been made prisoner by the insurgents, and compelled to embark. Lieut. -Colonel Tupper volunteered to accompany him back, and they proceeded with less than three hundred men to Chiloe. On the 12th of July the Resolution trans- port, in which was Lieut. -Colonel Tupper with the troops, Colonel Aldunate being in the Achilles brig of war, was obliged to bring up to the eastward of the island of San Sebastian, the tide running out so strong that she could not stem it. They attempted to reach the Achilles, anchored on the opposite coast, with the flood, but the ebb making again before they could do so, they were driven so fast on the island of San Sebastian that they had scarcely time to drop an anchor, which brought them up with a very dangerous reef on their lee quarter. Here they remained for several hours in imminent danger of losing both the ship and their lives, when they fortunately drove past the reef in consequence of the anchor breaking. On their a-^rival near the small island of Lacao on the 13th, at sunset, Lieut. -Colonel Tupper was ordered to attack the fort of Chacao with one hundred men, 1 i 'V ■I ' f ii ,^' iV «■ ♦! \ 1 . < " I 'li^ i 64 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. nr ! I '11' • Ijjf i1. r 'I 1 ii.: and he left the ship at midnight with his favorite company of grenadiers of No. 8 and a few soldiers of No. 1, landing in the cove of Remolinos, where he surprised a neighbouring battery, making prisoners the few artillerymen who garrisoned it. From them he learnt that in the battery of San Gallan, which occupied a strong position on the road from Lacao to Chacao, there were two officers and fifty men of the insurgents, and instantly directing himself towards it by a road almost impassable, as it was very boggy and intersected by fallen trees, he reached the battery at five o'clock a. m. Advancing alone with the guide he perceived that no sentry was guarding the land side, " and throwing himself on the enemy with intrepidity he managed to take them prisoners, not me, except an officer, escaping. In the attainment of this object no more than twenty soldiers could keep up with their commander, owing to the narrow- ness of the road, and also because it was necessary that those in advance should push forward, so as to arrive before daylight. On our part there was no loss whatever, and on that of the enemy only four wounded. This undertaking being completed, Lieut. - Colonel Tupper marched towards the port of Chacao, and took the battery there, which was abandoned by the enemy. On receiving intelligence of these opera- tions we made sail at eleven o'clock a. m., and at five in the afternoon anchored in the said port."* Colonel Aldunate having landed with the remainder of the troops, the insurgents were reduced to submis- sion without further difficulty, as the natives in great numbers presented themselves, and offered to act * Extract translated from Colonel Aldunate's dispatch. Of the dispatches, in which we know that honorable mention was made of Colonel Tnpper's iianic, this only has accidentally reached us. .' (.; ;essary as to ^as no [y four ieut.- |hacao, led by [opera- it five linder ^bmis- great 10 act jiatclies, ["upper's MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPEU. Of) against them. Indeed ihe greatest danger appte- hended throughout was from the season, the gales of wind on that coast being very violent during the winter. " In liorrid climes, where Cliiloc's tempests sweep, Tumultuous murmurs o'er the trouWed deep." A newspaper, pubHshed in English at Buenos Ay res, observed in reference to the departure of this small expedition, which left Valparaiso in the Achilles and Resolution on the 25th June :* ' ' Colonel Aldunate is an officer of honor, and if he has been surprised once, he will, for this reason, know how to take better precautions hereafter. Besides, he is accompanied by Major Tupper, whose character is well known, and whose valour cannot be better estimated than in the words of our correspondent : ' four hundred brave soldiers, and Tupper at their head, are sufficient to annihilate all the royalists there may be in Chiloe.' " The above extract reached England in October, 1826, and about the same time the BailifF,f or chief magistrate of Guernsey, received the following letter from a British officer]: of high rank and reputation, who had previously been lieutenant-governor of the island : — " Though I always like to converse with you, yet I do not know that I should have sat down to write to you exactly at this time, but that I have had a long conversation with Mr. Miller, who is brother to a celebrated general of that name in * On this day his brother. Lieutenant Tupper, mortally wounded, was in the last agonies of death on board H. M. S. Sybille, at Malta, t Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., succeeded the late Sir Peter De Havilland as Bailiff, in 1821. + The late General Sir John Doyle, Bart., G.C.B., &c. K n 1 1 ill !)1 i ! 'I -' :.'i 1 m iM'*"' i .'I ' ' 1 0« MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. = ! hi^ ! 1^ 1. ) V HI 1^ the Peruvian army, and who has himself lately arrived from Santiago. " He there knew your nephew^ young Tupper, and his account is so creditable to that fine fellow, so honorable to our country, and must be so gratifying to his highly respectable family, that I cannot defer communicating it to you. He says that in point of appearance he is the handsomest man he has ever seen in either hemisphere ; that he is esteemed one of their best soldiers, extremely active and habile ; and stands so wtU with all parties, that no change in the local politics of the country could be in any way disadvantageous to him ; and he adds, that he is perfectly idolized by the troops he commands, parti- cularly those who have served w^ith him in action ; and to crown all, he says, with a partiality very justi- fiable, especially to so distinguished a brother, that when they speak of young Tupper they call him another General Miller. This at all events, in com- ing from my friend, is the acme of panegyric, for the brother is really a first rate character. I could not resist telling you all this upon the testimony of a cool, sensible, and unprejudiced observer. Pray re- member me to Savery and my other friends, and believe me, &c." Lieut. -Colonel Tupper, on his return from Chiloe to Santiago, in August, 1826, learnt that he had become lieutenant-colonel effective, in consideration of his services in the recent reduction of that island. In December he joined at Talca the army of the south, under General Borgono, whose object was to destroy a horde of bandits composed chiefly of In- dians, and of nearly a thousand strong, who ravaged the province of Conception in summer, retiring on MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 67 the approach of winter to the eastern side of the Cordillera.* Their incursions had been of late so frequent and destructive, that it was absolutely neces- sary to put them down. Three divisions, to act on different points, were accordingly formed, and Lieut. - Colonel Tupper was appointed to command a squadron of dragoons, with which he passed the Cordillera, parallel with the town of Chilian, in pursuit of the bandits, and went to the eastward as far as the river Nanken, in the province of Mendoza. Pincheira contrived, however, to elude all pursuit, and before the end of the campaign Lieut. -Colonel Tupper was sent by General Borgono on a mission to the capital, where he arrived in April, 1827, and on the 1st of May following was appointed first aid-de-camp to the supreme government, an office of trust and respecta- bility. At this time General Pinto, a statesman of liberal principles and enlightened views, although perhaps wanting in political firmness, wat elected president in the place of General Freire. Much wc.0 expected from the administration of the new president, and it was hoped that he would be powerful enough to remove many existing abuses, but those interested in their continuance proved in the end the stronger party. General Pinto, having been employed in a diplomatic capacity in England, was a warm admirer of every thing English, and his chief aid-de-camp ever found in him a sincere and steadfast friend. He wrote on June 27th : — " I consider my commission in this service as secure as an employment under any South American govern- ment can well be. My pay is that of a lieutenant- * They were cointnancied by Pincheira, tlie son of a European by an Indian mother, who held the rank of colonel in the Spanish service, and (omniitted his d>'predations under the Spanish standard. !! I \ i i !ii i^ :i'- I I 1 ' 1 > I .'J livi 1% Y m (is MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. "I' I ; , i > I I ; 'I i hi colonel of" ( avalry, Avith one hundred and fifty dollars per month, and my situation is at present * Edecan Mayor,' or aid-de-camp in chief to the president of the repubhc, General Pinto, a very clever man, who has resided in England for some time. This situation I shall probably hold for some years if I continue in the service." And on August 4, 1827 : — **The president mentioned to me some time back, that should the present governor of Chiloe resign, as was expected, he would send me there. My pay would then be four thousand dollars per annum, and there are other advantages." In October, 1827, a midshipman of H. M. S. Doris unfortunately killed a Chileno sergeant, who had attacked him with his bayonet during some disturb- ance in the theatre at Valparaiso. It appears that this young officer was stabbed twice by the sergeant, who was intoxicated, when in his own defence he drew out a pocket pistol and shot him dead. Sir John Sinclair, who commanded the frigate, gave up the midshipman to the authorities on shore, the inha- bitants of the town declaring that they would have vengeance either of him or of some other British officer ; and the president of Chile ordered a court martial, which was composed partly of foreign officers in the service of the republic. At the solicitation of the British consul-general, Lieut. -Colonel Tupper undertook the defence, and it is said conducted it wdth so much ability that the result was an acquittal, although it was generally expected that the prisoner would have been found guilty of murder, such was the irritation of the public mind against him, and in that case the consequence might have been fatal. •! MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 0!) r), Lieut. -Colonel Tupper again wrote on April 1828, as follows:— " Our congress met on the 25tli of February ; it is very badly composed, and will not, I fear, do much good. The provinces begin to bo greatly divided, thanks to the system of federalism. I think the wiiole of South America is in a dreadful state of anarchy and confusion, — so much ignorance and so little morality. I believe it is impossible that the different states can constitute themselves for many an age, and what Moore says of another country applies particularly to them : — 'And there is certainly a close approximation to savage life, not only in the liberty which they enjoy, but in the violence of party spirit, and of private animosity which results from it.' " While acting as aid-de-camp, Lieut. -Colonel Tupper was engaged in the suppression of two or three dan- gerous revolts, incited by the party to which we have just alluded, and whose private interests had suffered when in 1823 many exclusive privileges were abo- lished. Their first object was to supplant General Pinto in his high office, so as to accomplish their hisidious designs under the cloak of legal authority. We subjoin extracts from two letters which the sub- ject of this memoir wrote to a brother at this period. ** Santiago, August 17, 1828. — My long silence has been owing to a trip which I made last month to San Fernando, (forty leagues south of Santiago,) to suppress a mutiny among the forces quartered there. General Borgono, having been ordered to take com- mand of the troops destined to put down the mutineers, requested the president to allow me to accompany him, which was acceded to. We left this place on the 4th of July, with two hundred infantry, and were ! i'; i I SV<' iUossavn, in Miers' Chile. \x n MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 83 "There is little doubt that matters woukl have still gone well had General Freire acted with his accus- tomed integrity, but this weak man was completely led by two or three of the ' Estanqueros,' and, though the natural enemy of Prieto, he positively refused to support Vicuna, — on the contrary, leaning consider- ably to the other side. " I was at this time quartered with my corps in Santiago, and I considered it my duty to support the government and congress, because I think that the case is extremely rare in which a military m;; i can with honor do otherwise, and because I was p lied that the matter in question was not one in which the interference of the military was at all called for, the greatest grievance urged by the rebels being confined to the allegation that the letter of the law had not been adhered to in the election of vice-president. I knew moreover that all parties, whatever their avowed object might be, only sought the furtherance of their private views, — that they all wished to be in place, and to plunder the country at discretion, — and above all, I considered that no free government or orderly state could exist an hour if the military were once allowed to throw the sword into the scale, and decide points of legislation by the force of arms, as is now too generally the case in South America. Fortunately the chiefs, who were in garrison in the capital, were much of this opinion. We determined to give Prieto battle in support of legitimate authority, and the several corps therefore left Santiago. The enemy was encamped about a league from the city, on ground higher than ours, though not otherwise favorable to him, as many ditches and walls (with the exjep- tion of the position itself low) rendered ineffectual r I H - i I lu h. ; 'Hi « . it n 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / O m>. 7i V^ <^ /a ^/: 'W ^^ ■' 0%'^ ^'^ "2 y >^ 1.0 I.I S IS iio L25 ill 1.4 Photographic Sciences Corporation 1.6 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (7)6) 873-4503 " f I. : 84 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. his immense superiority in cavalry. He shewed us his front, his right resting on a farm house called Ezaguirre, much strengthened hy walls and ditches, and his left on another called Ochagavia, scarcely less capahle of defence. A large body of cavalry was stationed on the right of Ezaguirre. We marched in parallel columns ; the battalions in close columns of companies, Pudeto* forming the left of the line. Each flank was protected by two pieces of artillery, — a howitzer in the centre ; our cavalry, about one hundred and eighty strong, was advanced considerably before our left flank. "The battle began by a charge which the enemy's cavalry, posted at Ezaguirre, made upon our cavalry, which, being much weaker, fled instantly. The enemy's cavalry pursued ours so vigorously, that the greater part passed our column within fifty paces ; the rear companies faced about and opened fire, which soon obliged them to retire. " Our column had already halted on coming within range, and a very smart cannonade opened on both sides ; the enemy's guns were extremely well served, but did little execution notwithstanding, as, owing to the chance of the ricochet, every ball went directly over the column it was intended for, and one went through my flag. " We had halted in front of Ochagavia, at the dis- tance of little more than half a mile from the house. Our three light companies were ordered to move to the right and to attack the left of Ochagavia ; I was ordered to lead the attack in front ; we expected to * His rojifimcnt, No. 8, so called from a place in Cliiloo, where the two flank conipanii's of the huttalion distinf^uishcd themselves in the battle of McUa Vista. The two other battalions in the action were No. 1 , or (Ihacabuco, and No. 7, or Conception. MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 85 have much to do, but wc'c mistaken, as the enemy abandoned the house after skirmishing a Httle, and we occupied it immediately. "We now held possession of the position which had originally covered the enemy's left flank, having experienced a very trifling loss ; however, our light companies, supported by the grenadiers, commenced a sharp firing in the direction of Ezaguirre, and No. 1 , or Chacabuco, was ordered to support them, Pudeto and Conception bringing up what now might be termed the reserve. This was twice charged by the enemy's cavalry, which had formed behind Ochagavia's house, but these charges were rendered ineftectual by the steadiness of both battalions and by the nature of the ground, which was not favorable to cavalry. The enemy behaved well, and evidently suffered much from these charges, as well from musketry as from grape shot, and made off' quite discomfited. " In the meanwhile the light companies and grena- diers, vanquishing all opposition, beat the enemy's infantry out of Ezaguirre's house in a very short time, and occupied the second position, making many pri- soners, among whom the Choco Silva with his host. My major, Varela,* even took all the knapsacks of No. 3 ; and he has assured me on his word of honor, that Arequita, the major of that battalion, sent an officer to him to beg that he would cease firing, and that they would lay down their arms. This was complied with, and all the soldiers who had not dis- persed were disarmed and made prisoners. The firing had of course then become very slack, and in fact the battle was considered to be over by those who occupied Ezaguirre's house. * Slain also at Lircai on the 17th April, WM. '1 » t ! 1 It il M m 'H^ i »• J\ ? I 1 4 I t ' I ll s i|i ■ » I-, I t i 8G MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. " Immediately on repulsing the cavalry, the batta- lions of Conception and Padeto marched towards Ezaguirre's house. On arriving near it, the firing having now almost ceased, I saw General Pricto ride up a little to the left of my column to Colonel Rondisoni, and, as I then understood, gave himself up a prisoner of war. I soon after received an order to cease further aggression, and to recall the skir- mishers, which I immediately complied with. "A small part of the enemy's infantry, about two hundred and fifty men, which still held together, was situated some ten paces on the other side of a wall close to us ; the soldiers were resting on their arms, and appeared, to all intents and purposes, to have yielded themselves prisoners of war. We formed our corps in line along the wall, and I asked General Lastra's permission to disarm these troops, but he would not consent, saying it was useless to humiliate the enemy further." Here the letter thus abruptly terminates without even a signature, owing to the writer having sailed so soon after from Valparaiso, and been doubtless busily employed in the intermediate time in consulting with General Freire, and in superintending the preparations for the conveyance of his battalion. This sudden termination is the more to be regretted, as the writer was evidently about to narrate, — what, however, is too well authenticated to admit of the slightest doubt, — the perfidious conduct of General Prieto, who, when he found that the battle was lost, rode up to Colonel Rondisoni, and endeavoured to obtain by stratagem what he could not by the force of arms. Taking the colonel by the hand, he declared that the contest was over, and that he was anxious to avoid the further MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 87 effusion of blood, Witli these professions he was permitted to pass on unguarded to the rear, where Colonel Viel appears to have been deceived by similar declarations, as he not only ordered that the swords of the officers, who had surrendered, should be re- turned to them, but allov/ed Prieto to proceed to the farm house of Ochagavia, accompanied by part of one of his battalions, which had also surrendered, but had not been disarmed ! From Ochagavia, Prieto sent officers to Lastra and Viel, with assurances of his anxiety to terminate at once the strife which was desolating the country, and with entreaties that they would come to him to hold a conference for that purpose. They went, and, by this second imaccount- able step, suspicions of something worse than incapa- city or indifference to the constitutional cause are doubly excited. On their arrival, Prieto told them that they were his prisoners, and pretended that not he, but they, had sought the cessation of the combat. He next sent for the remaining constitutional chiefs, under the pretext that their presence was requisite to assist in the conference ; but Colonel Tupper, " this chief, whose eulogium our pen is too feeble to com- pose worthily, — this bold chief, v^hose memory will live in the hearts of all true Chilenos, even after his brilliant course is run, — this diief, we say,"* after consulting his companions, returned for answer, that unless Lastra and Viel were released in a few minutes, Prieto would be attacked, and himself and his fol- lowers be put to the sword. Prieto now became alarmed and released his dupes, but not until the feeble Lastra had been compelled to sign a treaty, by which he agreed to suspend all offensive operations * Extract translated from a printed "Aviso al Publico." I ,1 ^ ^ t' \ •i \i I ill » I 1 lii'l ■> m ' ■'■;' ill J i': 1|! iP ■. '■Ji li :- n i;_;in 88 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. for the present, alleging afterwards that he did so to regain his liberty. In confirmation of this account, gleaned from public docuinents, the truth of which might otherwise be questioned, it nay be as well to add the following extract from a private letter, dated Santiago, 14th December, 1830, and written by one Englishman to another, both perfect strangers to Colonel Tupper's family : — " This being agreed to, Lastra and Viel went over, but they were no sooner arrived than Prieto said, * Deliver your swords, — you are my piisoners.' They were greatly enraged at so felonious an action. Prieto requested Lastra to sign a document to the effect that Tupper should surrender with his battalion ; but, be this true or not, certain it is that Prieto sent to Tupper, stating that his presence was necessary, as Lastra and Viel could not come to any decision withou!: him. Tupper replied that he would not go over, and insisted on Lastra and Viel immediately returning to their stations. After waiting a short time, and no appearance of these officers, he sent to Prieto to say that, if they were not released in five minutes, he would immediately attack, and shew no quarter either to him (Prieto) or to any other who might fall into his hands. This had the desired effect ; the officers were given up, but Prieto implored that the war should cease, and that a treaty should be entered into." Notwithstanding that a convention, obtained under such circumstances, was any thing but binding on General Lastra, whose first act should have been to punish him by whom he had been so grossly deceived, an armistice of forty-eight hours took place, during which General Freire was appointed, by mutual con- 2 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPl'ER. H{) sent, to the command of both armies, Prieto and his troops being most imprudently, if not most treacherously, admitted into the capital, although liis infantry had, or might have, been made prisoners, his artillery captured, and his cavalry completely discomfited. This action was fought on the morning of the 1 4th of December ; the numbers on each side were, we believe, about two thousand men ; and fully two hundred men appear to have fallen, the greater part of whom belonged to Prieto's army. Colonel Tupper is represented to have behaved on this day with more than usual gallantry, although his letter is so barren as to his own conduct ; but he had the bitter morti- fication of seeing the success, to which he had mainly contributed, rendered perfectly unavailing by this ridiculous treaty. During the battle about one hun- dred and fifty of Prieto's mounted followers penetrated into the city, either in search of plunder or in the hope of causing a diversion ; and after sacking the French consulate, fo*' which outrage a compensation of thirty thousand dollars was exacted by a French squadron in 1831 , and committing other depredations, they proceeded to the house of Colonel Tupper with the view, it would seem, of murdering his wife, who was far advanced in pregnancy. Not finding her at home, and understanding that she had taken refuge at the bishop's residence, they galloped thither, and, breaking open the portal, declared that they were come to kill "la muger del Ingles Tupper." The bishop approached them in his robes, with a large crucifix in his hands, and the demons fled almost as soon as they saw him. On hearing their cries, a deep swoon happily came to the relief of their in- t N ! i (: ' 1)0 MEMOIR OF COLONKL TUPPER. tended victim ; but tlie previous ant^uish of this unhappy young woman, then in her twenty -third year, may be more easily conceived than described. She had heard, during the morning, every shot fired by the contending armies, and did not yet know the fate of her liusband ! Tlie dav after the action, Colonel Tupper waited in plain clothes on General Freire, and resigned the command of his regiment, determined to serve no longer under such leaders and in such a cause ; but unfortunately he was prevailed upon by his old commander to accept the appoint- ment of commandant of arms, or military governor, of the town and province of Coquimbo, a very desira- ble part of the country, and a situation of emolument, as well as, at that time, of great responsibility. To a young officer, with an increasing family and limited means, the offer was too tempting to be refused, although he never entertained a favorable opinion of General Freire's abilities, giving him credit only for good intentions. He was at Valparaiso, preparing to embark for Coquimbo, when Freire arrived in the former town, Prieto having, as Colonel Tupper had all along foreseen and apprehended, attempted to take him prisoner, and compelled him to seek security in flight from the capital. In this manner Prieto ob- tained possession of a fine park of field artillery, and incorporated the constitutional cavalry with his own. Among other charges of duplicity, General Freire accused Prieto, in a letter of January 1 8th, which was published, of having excited the authorities of Coquimbo not to receive Colonel Tupper, whom he had destined for that command in the conviction that he was best fitted for it. Colonel Tupper, now bound in honor not to abandon Freire in his difficulties, MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPEIl. !)1 very reluctantly resumed the coiiirnaiul of his l)atta- lion, and proceeded with it to Conception, vvliich province was in favor of the liberal party. The three battalions of infantry, which had fought against Prieto on the 14th of December, followed the fortunes of Freire ; each, previously to their departure from Val- paraiso, issued a manifesto to the citizens, and we translate that of Pudeto, or No. 8, which was by far the most poignant and uncompromising ; and although written in an inflated tone of defiance, the language was well suited to the Spanish character of those to whom it was addressed. " The battalion of Pudeto, ever faithful to its oaths, swears to maintain the constitution. Fellow citizens, confide in its honor which has never been violated. Enemies of order, tremble : you well know Pudeto. *' His Excellency Captain-General Freire leads us to victory. His name electrifies the hearts of the brave, and guarantees the pacific citizen in his employments. * ' The infamous Prieto will be for ever intimidated ; this soldier without honor, who, deriding in repeated instances the most sacred engagements, aspires to despotism by the most unjust means. ** Valparaiso, 27th January, 1830."* Prieto doubtless never forgave this fearless, but perhaps imprudent, mention of his treachery, and probably the commandant of the battalion was from that moment marked out as the object of his san- guinary vengeance. Colonel Tupper described the voyage to Conception as the most comfortless and painful he had ever made, and after landing at the island of Juan Fernandez for * Vide Appendix C, No. 4. tl J !ti dl I j i W il: » I, ■ I i 02 MRMOIR OF COLONEL TUPI'EU. water, it was by mere hazard that tliey escai)e{l cap- ture by the Achilles, a very large '20-gun brig, in possession of Prieto's party. While commanding at Talcahuano, the seaport of the city of Conception, he attemi)ted to carry by boarding, during the night of the 1 7th of February, the same Achilles, which was then blockading the harbour, and whose crew were unconscious of the meditated attack. He set out with six boats and about eighty men, but after traver- sing the whole of the extensive bay, the captain of the port was unable to find the object of their search, although she was at anchor. Two of the boats having separated, Colonel Tupper concealed himself all the next day, with the four others, in the small and picturesque cove of Tome,* surrounded by rocks and immense trees, with a little village in the upper corner, almost hid in the foliage. From hence he wrote to Colonel Viel, who was in the neighbourhood, for a reinforcement to be sent to the rendezvous at the small island of Quinquina. This reinforcement of four boats arrived, and on the night of the 1 8th he returned again to the attack, with eight boats and about one hundred and thirty men ; but the enemy was now perfectly prepared, and he was repulsed with the loss of seven men killed and twenty- three wounded, and one of the boats sunk by a cannon ball. It deserves to be recorded, as an instance of the reckless courage of British sailors, that twelve of the crew of an English whaler in the bay volunteered to accompany him, and on these men he placed his chief dependance, well knowing that soldiers, however brave, are not fitted for such a service. These sailors did not deceive him, — they were in fact almost the * Captain Basil Hall's Journal contains a description of the bay of Talcahuano. MEMOIR OK C UOXEL TUl'PRR. \):\ only men who hoarded, and one was killed and five wounded. Indeed, had all done their duty, the hrig niii^ht possihly have heen carried, but some of the boats remained behind, and only three approached near enouj;h to be of any service. The commander of the whaler was the first who ascended the side, — Colonel Tupper the second. The former escaped with two slight wounds, — the latter's left hand was pierced by a pike ; his sleeve was perforated by a bullet from a musket, the muzzle of which almost touched him ; and he was then knocked overboard head foremost by a violent blow on the breast, but being an admirable swimmer, he reached a boat at some distance, so weak and exhausted, however, from the effects of the contusion, that he was unable to get in alone. The English captain arrived first at Talca- huano, and stated that Colonel Tupper was dead, as he had seen him fall wounded into the sea. When the latter at length appeared, he found his soldiers in tears, and even their wives were uttering loud cries ; but on seeing him, they and the officers rent the air with their acclamations, and w^elcomed him as one risen from the dead. Numbers had come from Con- ception to the port, a distance of twelve miles, to make inquiries relative to his fate, and in that city, whither a messenger was instantly dispatched, the church bells were rung to celebrate his return. The report of his death was quickly conveyed to Santiago, and of such consequence was it deemed by the oppo- site party, that they evinced their joy by music and bonfires in the streets ; while at Valparaiso, they were barbarous enough to proceed to the lodgings of his wife, and under the windows to proclaim the fate of her husband. But when his safety was ascertained. !i 1 \ I I :V\ IIP ill f !i4 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPEll. some verses were published on " Lii Muerte del Coro- iiel Tupper," in ridicule of this premature rejoicing, and in exultation at his escape. Having recovered from his wounds, Colonel Tupper j)roceeded northwards to Chilian, which town was garrisoned by three hundred and fifty hostile infantry. Its reduction was highly desirable, and Colonel Viel, the superior in rank, thought that by taking an out- work, they would be enabled to command the main defences of the place. Accordingly, on the night of the 9th of March, Colonel Tupper made the attack indicated with one hundred and forty-six old and tried soldiers of his battalion, all he had with him, and they carried the outwork by assault, although strongly entrenched and bravely defended. But as the garrison retired into an inner fortification, which could not be reach 3d by musketry, it became neces- sary to abandon the redoubt, after sustaining a severe loss of good soldiers, who could but ill be spared at that moment. Two of his officers were severely wounded, one the brave Captain Say ago. Colonel Tupper was also much exposed in this affair, as, ever prodigal of his person, he was one of the first to mount the ladders amid a shower of bullets. Two days after, in a letter to his wife, he assured her that, unless in the event of a foreign invasion, this cam- paign would be the last he would make, and added : "Enfin, il me restait ce compromis avec le General Freire, — il a fallu le remplir, — je sais que j'ai pousse la delicatesse tr^s-loin, — en tout cas, je ne serai que plus digne de toi." General Freire, having been repulsed from Coquim- bo, landed near the river Maule, after sustaining the, to him, irreparable loss of a vessel laden with arms n o Ci 1 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUl'I'ER. 0. and ainmunitioii, and was soon joined by CuIoikI.-. \ iel and 'J\i[)[)ci', wlio found liis troops badly clotht'd and paid, as be would not follow tbe example of bis opjionents, wbo impressed, witbout besitation, every necessary supj)ly for tbeir army. Tbey bad, more- over, under tbeir control all tbe resources of tbe cai)ital, of wbicb Freire bad allowed bimself so fooU isbly to be dispossessed ; and tbe infamous Prieto,* having organized a well-appointed force, conunenced bis marcb from Santiago for tbe soutb under bigbly favorable circumstances. Tbe duplicity of tbis man, after be was so comi)letely beaten on tbe 14tb of December, could only be exceeded by tbe base collu- sion or extreme incapacity of tbose wbo treated with bim. But it appears tbat be was only tbe willing tool of an unprincipled party, as be is represented as possessing neitber military talents nor even personal courage ; and certain it is that his victory at Lircai was stained with tbat cruelty which is ever the at- tendant of cowardice. A battle, which was to decide the fate of one party, and which, it was foreseen, would be very sanguinary, was near at hand. The hostile armies approached each other with highly exasperated feelings ; tbe chiefs of the one w^re conscious of their inferioritv of force, but they burned to punish the treachery of which they were the victims, while those of the other well knew that they had forfeited all claim to honor- able treatment, and were anxious to wipe away the disgrace of their late defeat. The deep and rapid Maule, whose fords are not always practicable for cavalry, much less for infantry, now alone separated the combatants. Colonel Tupper requested to be al- * Piicto, in Spanish, signifies bliickisli, narrow-minded. \ ! I n I • ' III ' ^f ill. n i -n '^ ■I MS < ' 96 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. lowed to cross over with a column of four or five hundred infantry, for the purpose of making a night attack on the enemy's camp, which, in the desperate state of aft'airs, was the best expedient that could be devised ; but unfortunately General Freire would not sanction the attempt, as, in t'lt fatal persuasion that his popularity would carry him through the contest, he had allowed himself to be deceived by some of Prieto's chiefs, who, probably at the instigation of their general, had promised to join him with their troops at the first convenient opportunity. In conse- quence, Colonel Tupper is said, by one of his officers, to have been completely disgusted at Freire's evident infatuation or incapacity, and to have anticipated the fate which awaited him with gloomy resolution. He well knew that his enemies were too anxious for his death to show him any quarter, and as a husband and a father he could not but feel deeply the forlorn and desolate condition in which his death would leave his wife and children.* He had, however, gone too far to recede, and in any extremity his high sense of honor would have prevented his withdrawing himself on the eve of a battle from the cause he had espoused. On the 15th of April, 1830, General Freire crossed the river, and marched three leagues without obstruc- tion to Talca, the principal town of the province, beautifully situated midway on the high road from Santiago to Conception, and about two hundred miles from either city. Here his army was received with the greatest enthusiasm, and a council of war being called, it was resolved that, as the enemy w^as so much superior in cavalry and artillery, the consti- * Unhappily for him and for tlieni, a letter from tlic editor, containing the offer of a very dcsirahlc situation in Rio de Janeiro, did not reach Chile till shortly after his death. MEMOIR OF COLONRT, TUPPER. 97 tutional troops should remain in the vicinity of the town, where they could not he attacked hut under a very great disadvantage, as Talca is skirted hy enclo- sures and ditches. Had this decision been adhered to, Prieto must have retraced his steps towards the capital for want of forage and other supplies, and having necessarily to pass several defiles and rivers, he might have been much harassed in his retreat. On the 16th, Prieto endeavoured to bring on an engagement, but could not draw the constitutionalists from their vantage ground. Early on tlie 17th, General Freire proceeded, with Colonel Viel and the cavalry, to the adjoining plain of Cancharayada, for the purpose, we suppose, of making a reconnaissance ; but from some unexplained and unaccountable mo- tive, he sent suddenly for the remainder of his forces. It was on this plain that General San Martin man(Eu- vred, in March, 1818, to bring the Spanish General Osorio to battle, but the latter being inferior in numbers, retreated southwards to the same position in front of Talca,* which Freire had just abandoned. Nothing could be more ill judged or imprudent, as his army, which consisted of about seventeen hun- dred men, had only two weak squadrons of regular cavalry and four pieces of artillery, while that of Prieto, amounting to fully two thousand tw^o hun- dred men, had eight hundred veteran cavalry, and eleven or twelve pieces of artillery. The Chile cavalry is very formidable, the men being most expert riders, mounted on active and powerful horses, and generally armed with long lances, which they use with great dexterity. Prieto, observing this inexplicable move- ment, succeeded without difficulty in placing his troops * Vide Appendix C, No. .'}.— Extract from Miller's Memoirs. G Ml !• , I '^1 r i\ \t !" i ^i! i; !l >■ .! 1 ill !ii 'Ir ( ''II \ '. •It ?; ■ I i; 98 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. between the constitutional army and Talca, In this manner its return to the town was completely cut off, and it had to fight in an extensive open plain with the enemy in front, the flanks unprotected, and the river Lircai, a tributary of the Maule, close in the rear. The first shot was fired at half-past ten in the morning, and the action continued, with some inter- vals in effecting changes of position, until nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, when the rout was complete. The result is said to have been doubtful until two o'clock, at which period Freire's cavalry, which con- sisted of about six hundred men, including militia and Indians, and commanded by Colonel Viel, being decoyed too far in a charge, was taken in flank, and fled across the river Lircai, towards the north, com- pletely discomfited, and accompanied, w^e believe, by General Freire, who thus abandoned the infantry to its fate. The situation of the three weak battahons, Nos. 1, 7 and 8, was now indeed desperate, as the ground was so favourable to cavalry, and the neigh- bourhood offered them no accessible place of defence or refuge. To complete the disaster, their few pieces of artillery were yoked to oxen, which soon became furious and unmanageable, while that of Prieto, being drawn by horses, was moved quickly over the field. When they formed into squares to resist the hostile cavalry, they were mowed down by artillery, and, when they deployed into line, the cavalry was upon them. In this dreadful emergency they maintainer' the conflict for nearly an hour, with all the obstinacy of despair ; and at length, in attempting to charge in column, they were completely broken. There are two lines by the immortal Byron so concisely, and I MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER, 99 ) I yet SO faithfully, descriptive of a similar last effort, that we cannot avoid transcribing them : "One t'ftoit— one — to break the circling liost! They form — unite — charge^ waver — ail is lost!" The loss in Freire's army fell chiefly on the devoted infantry, and appears to have exceeded considerably one third of the original number, including eighteen officers among the killed. The only officers mentioned as slain in Prieto's hurried dispatch of the 17th of April, are Colonel Elizalde, chief of the staff, Colo- nel Tupper, and his gallant Major Varela, a young man of five or six and twenty. Colonel Tupper is said to have exhibited the most reckless valour du- ring the day, and to have rallied his little battalion several times. Thrice he led it to the charge, and in the last charge he was slightly wounded in the foot by a spent cannon ball. Having previously dismounted to encourage his men, he was unable, in the mdlee which succeeded, to find his horse ; and the accounts of the manner in which he got away, when all was lost, are so contradictory, that it is impossible lo reconcile them. All agree, however, in stating that he was particularly sought after, and that a Major Baquedano* gave orders to his dragoons to show him no quarter. A party of these dragoons and some Indians overtook him, and find- ing that they would not spare his life, he reproached them with their brutality, and drew his sword to * This miscreant par excellence, it seems, had some private pi()iic against Colonel Tupper, who hail probably treated him with the contempt he de- served. His worthy chief, Prieto, promoted him after the battle for this sicceptable service. Baquedano had been a domestic servant in the family of General Carrera, and boasted that he had killed a Spanish officer, a prisoner and defenceless, in the battle of Maipu. Long shunned by every man of honor, he was a disgrace even to the cause in which he served, and in 1831 he was brought to a court martial by his own officers, for embcx/.ling money from the regimental chest, but was of course acquitted. ! A li I ( i ' ) I ' ; H' I ^!'' '■.; 1 1^1 «ii, ii 100 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER, defend himself ; but being surrounded, an Indian from behind ran him through the body with his lance, when he fell, and a few sabre cuts soon terminated his sufferings. One of the barbarians immediately severed a finger, on which the victim wore a ring, and conveyed it to his commander as a proof that one they so much dreaded, would trouble them no more. A Captain Garcia, of Baquedano's regiment, who was also promoted after the battle, stood by during this barbarous murder, without interfering to j)revent it. The corpse was sought out the next day by a friend, and interred in the spot on which the deceased breathed his last.* Another brave Englishman, Cap- tain Bell, of the Chilian navy, was also butchered in the pursuit. It was the general opinion, even of the natives themselves, that had Colonel Tupper commanded the army either on the 14th of December, near Santiago, or on this unfortunate day, a very different result would have awaited the constitutional cause. A private letter written by a gentleman in Chile, the charge d'affaires of the United States of America, and which was never intended to meet the eye of the family, as it was addressed to a British officer commanding a ship on the South American * Nearly three years after, tlie corpse was exhiimctJ for the purpose of hcin;; conveyed to the capital for interment ; but being found in an extraor- dinary state of preservation, it was, for the convenience of carriage, con- sumed to ashes, which, on the 1st of February, 1833, were deposited in a plain monument raised to liis memory in the pantheon of Santiago, with the following simple inscription : — A LA MEMOKIA DEL COKONEL Gl 1 I I '■ < i : I 'I i UAA :j) 104 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUl'l'KU. of ten brothers. The eldest, John, a contem])orary ot Lord Byron at Harrow, perished at sea, in the Medi- terranean, in 1812, aged twenty ; the vessel in which he was a passenger from Catalonia to Gibraltar having never been heard of since.* The third brother, William, aged twenty-eight, was mortally wounded near Can- dia, in 182G, as related in the preceding memoir. The fourth, Charles, aged sixteen, a midshipman of the Primrose, a fine 18-gun brig, was drowned in 1815 at Spithead, by the upsetting of the boat in which he was accompanying his commander, Captain C. G. R. Phillott, from Portsmouth to the ship at St. Helen's ; he had just returned from the North American station, where the crew of the Primrose had been actively engaged during the war, in the destruction of priva- teers and in boat expeditions. The fifth brother, De Vic, is the subject of this memoir. The sixth, Brock, aged thirty, died in 1833, on board H. M's. packet Rinaldo, on his passage from Rio de Janeiro to Falmouth, for change of climate, and his remains were committed to the deep. The seventh, Frederick, when only nine years of age, was brought home insen- sible and speechless, and apparently at the point of death, having, in an attempt to reach the mast head of a vessel in the pier of Guernsey, fallen about twenty- five feet head foremost on the edge of the quay, whence he rebounded off into the harbour at low water, a further distance of sixteen feet : his skull was frightfully fractured and indented, and his life des- paired of for some time. A young officer of the 45th regiment, who was betrothed to their eldest sister, was * He went to the Peninsiiia with a friend of the family, Lieut.-Colonel Frederick Barlow, of the 6lst regiment, and with his first cousin, M'illiam Potenger. The former fell gallantly soon after, at the head of his battalion, and the latter, an officer of the 22d regiment, died of the fever at Jamaica. i I 1 i I \V' MKMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. 1 ()') orary ot e Medi- n which " having ^Villiam, ar Can- 3ir. The I of the in 1815 rhich he y. G. R. lelen's ; station, actively f priva- brother, 3 sixth, I. M's. Janeiro 'emains derick, & insen- oint of st head wenty- quay, at low uU was des- e45th r, was .-Colonel William )attalion, Jamaica. niuitally wounded at the siege of Badajos, in ]H\2, — this hcreavcnient, and tlie untimely end of so many of iicr brothers, undermined a naturally vigorous con- stitution, and iiurried her prematurely to the grave : she died in December, 1830, and, possessing tlic graces both of mind and person, her memory is still fondly cherished by those who knew her worth. Of their uncles, four fell by the bullet, viz. their mother's brothers, Major- General Sir Isaac lirock, K. 13., Lieut. -Colonel John Brock, and Lieutenant Ferdinand Brock, and their father's brother, William De Vic Tupper, Esq., as already mentioned. Another near relative, Lieutenant Carre Tupper, of the Victory, Lord Hood's flag ship, and only son of Major-General Tupper, was also slain in the Mediterranean : after distinguishing himself at Toulon and being in con- sequence assured of the first commander's vacancy, he volunteered to bring oflf an enemy's sentinel from Bastia to the fleet, for the purpose of gaining intel- ligence, and was shot dead in the gallant but des- perate attempt. General Freire, irretrievably undone by the defeat at Lircai, was discovered some weeks subsequently in concealment at or near Santiago, and banished to Peru ; while Colonel Viel, after capitulating witli the remnant of the cavalry, with which he escaped to the northward of the capital, was compelled to take refuge on board a French ship of war at Valparaiso, Prieto having again attempted to violate the treaty between them. His desertion of the infantry in the hour of need perhaps could not be avoided, as he may have been unable to prevent the shameful flight of the cavalry, but his behaviour on this day, as well as on the 14th of December, will not tend to I' I': :m M ;, li li I : y 'i '' >: i '1,1 ( : I' i-i ■I i ii 1 lUG MKMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER. establish a military reputation, which a])i)ears to iiave been ])reviously somewhat equivocal. Of Freire's inex|)licable movements at Lircai we would fain s])eal\ with leniency : he is in exile, and as he was even more sinned against than sinning, our feelings towards him are those of commiseration, not of resentment, — but manifest it is that as at the com- mencement of the unfortunate contest, his conduct was weak and vacillating, so at its melancholy ter- mination it was marked neither by ordinary prudence nor capacity, and that an onset of tergiversation was succeeded by a close of disastrous unskilfulness, to both of which the constitutional cause and many of its supporters were sacrificed. Prieto was elected president of Chile in 1831, as the reward of his perfidy, although the liberal and enlightened Chilenos were decidedly averse to the change of rulers thus forcibly effected. When the country is more worthy of liberty, the people will achieve it ; but until then, it is neither to be expected nor desired that a party, whose cause was so wretchedly mismanaged during this unhappy contest, wall succeed in returning again to power. Despotism is ever vigilant, while freedom too often slumbers in fancied security, — the one main- tains itself by its fears, the other is frequently lost by its fearlessness, — but as a government based on deceit, inhumanity, and violence, can flourish only for a season, those who would break the chains which now bind Chile in thraldom may be assured, that " They never fail who die In a great cause : the block may soak their gore ; Their heads may sodden in the sun, their limbs Be strung to city gates and castle walls— But still their spirit walks abroad ! ! " Bybon. February, 1832. 1 to have* Frcire's ukl fain he was ieclings not of lie com- eonduct loly ter- )rudence ;ion was ness, to d many elected 1 of his I^hilenos Jrs thus worthy il then, party, during g again "reedoni B main- lost by deceit, for a ;h now NoTK. — April, IH.'}.'). — As the iviuk-r nmy wi^li fo know llic present political sdite of ( hile, the editor suhjoiiis the following; extract from the last letter which lie has received from that country, and dated Santiatjo, J'id September, IH.'M : — " I am happy to say tliat the country still enjoys perfect quiet. Liberal ideas, and the freedom of the press, are daily becominsj; more unknown. The power of the priesthood is every where unchecked ; but you know too well the value of tranquillity to us foreigners in these countries to suppose that we repine." "Amongst the guests was a ( hileno who had been in the United States as charge d'attaires. Speaking of our country, and those things which struck him as curious, he told the gentlemen that our ' prisons are secure without military guards, and that he had seen no soldiers in the country except the volunteer corps on holidays :' contrasted with the countries of South America, where even the municipal police consists of soldiers, this circumstance is striking. 'J'his gentleman remarked farther, that ' previous to the revolution of 1829, Chile had advanced in slow vsure steps; but since that period society had split into political parties, and the social inter- course created and cherished by the Sociedad Filarmonica had almost ceased.' " The Philharmonic Society was instituted in 182", for improving and fostering the native taste for music, and creating a more gene- rally social intercourse." — Three Years in the Pavijic, 1831-1834, by an Officer in the United States' Navy." From the same author we learn that, in the Chilian constitution of May 1833, it is decreed that the religion of the republic is " the Roman Catholic Apostolic. The nation protects it by all the means that conform to the spirit of the Evangelist, and will not permit the exercise of any other." I! i 1 \\ \\ n '^ • r ill .t 1? If Ti -n ; :'! ' i 1 1 ' H ■ 4 V \ V; 1 'ill ] ( t 1 i 6 \ J tl s tl a ^^ d b tl a MAJOR-GENERAL TUPPER. T»is officer, the tliird son of Daniel Tupper, Esq,, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of E. Dohree, Esq., of Beauregard, was born in Guernsey, 25th September, 1727, and was brother of E. Tupper,* jurat, grand- father of the subjects of the two preceding memoirs. He obtained his commission by purchase in General Churchill's regiment of marines, that corps being then somewhat differently constituted to what it is now ; and it also then appears to have been a more favorite service, although none has ever been more distinguished, as in the annual army list for 1777 we tind the only six majors to be John Tupper ]Mar.3(), 1771 I William Souter . . . July 27, 177."» Hon. Frs. Napior . . J uly 21, 1771 ' Hon. J. Maitland . . Oct.. 1 , 1 77^* Jolm Hughes Apr. 1 2. 1 773 I Alf xander Trotter . Nov. 1 5, 1 77 o Major Tupper was employed in North America at the commencement of the revolutionarv war, and he succeeded to the command of the marines, of whom there were two battalions at Bunker's Hill, in 1775, after the fall of the gallant Major Pitcairn, when he was honorably mentioned in the general orders of the day. A bullet grazed his right cheek, and drew blood. In this sanguinary attack the marines behaved with their usual gallantry, and it was they who, after the regiments of the line had been twice repulsed by a most murderous tire, carried the provincial defences by storm. Cooper, the American novelist, in his * See page 48. ! \ \\ A- A !' ! ill- j ,! \' no M A J O R - G E N E U A L T I' I'PE R . "Lionel Lincoln," thus describes a scene in the battle :— " Push on with the th ! " cried tlie veteran major of marines — "push on, or the IHtli will get the honor of the day !" " We cannot," murmured the soldiers of the th ; " their fire is too heavy !" " Then break, and let the marines pass through you." * 'I'lie feeble battalion melted away, and the warriors of the deep, trained to conflicts of hand to hand, sprang forward, with a shout, in their ])laces The Americans, exhausted of their ammunition, now sunk sullenly back, a few hurling stones at their foes, in desperate indignation. The cannon of the British had been brought to enfilade the short breast-work, which was no longer tenable ; and as the columns approached closer to the low ram- part, it became a mutual protection to the adverse parties. "Hurrah ! for the Royal Irish !" again shouted M'Fuse, rushing up the trifling ascent, \\hich was but of little more than his own height. "Hurrah!" repeated Pitcairn, waving his sword on another angle of the work — "the day's our own !" One more sheet of flame issued out of the bosom of the work, and all those brave men, who had emulated the examples of their oflicers, were swept away, as if a whirlwind passed along. The grenadier gave his war-cry once more, and pitched headlong among his enemies ; while Pitcairn fell back into the arms of his own child. The cry of "Forward, 47th!" rang through the ranks, and in their turn this veteran battalion mounted the ramparts. In the shallow ditch Lionel passed the expiring marine, aud caught the dying and despairing look from his eye, and in another instant he found himself in the presence of his foes. As company followed company into the defenceless redoubt, the Americans sullenly retired by its rear, keeping the bayonets of the soldiers at bay, with clubbed muskets and sinewy arms. When the whole issued upon the open ground, the husbandmen received a close and fatal fire from the battalions, which were now gathering around them on three sides. A scene of wild and savage confusion succeeded to the order of the fight, and many fatal blows were given and taken, the m(;l^e rendering the use of fire-arms nearly impossible for several minutes. * Tliis circnmst.ince, as, iiulotul, most of tlio otliers, is believed to he accurately true. a1 cJ wl i\1 in the of marines li ; " their ." * the deep, h a shout, munition, ■ foes, in liad been 10 longer low ram- , rushing 1 his own another he work, of their f. The a; among lis own ranks, rts. In cauglit instant 'ollowed luUenly Ely, with d upon iital fire lem on 1 to the en, the several I to I )e MAJOR-GENERAL TUTPEIl. Ill Major Tupper was promoted about two years after, and on the 16th May, 1781, obtained the rank of colonel. In the life and correspondence of Lord Rodney we find two letters in the second volume, of which the following are extracts : — SiK Georgk Rodxey to Philip Stkpiikxs, Esq., Secretary of the Admiralty. Arrogant, Cawsnnd Bay, 3Uth Dec. 1781. On considering the great number of marines belonging to the fleet their Lordships have put under my command, and that the very important service on which I am ordered may render it neces- sary for his Majesty's service to land bodies of them to attack the public enemy, and co-operate with his Majesty's land forces, I must beg leave to suggest to their lordships the utility of field-othcers to command the different bodies of marines that it may be necessary to land in the different operations in which I may be employed. Experience has taught me that captains of marines are not proper officers to command large detachments of troops, and that discipline is not so well maintained as when field-olficers of rank command them. I therefore hope their lordships will take the matter into consideration, and that I shall have the pleasure of seeing marine field-olHcers arrive in the West Indies in the squa- dron which their lordships have appointed to follow me. I will venture to affirm that it will be attended with great consequences to his INIajesty's service, and may prevent mucli confusion, whenever it may be necessary to employ the marines on shore. Eakl of Sandwich to Sir Gkobcje Rodnky. January '2(1, 17f<-2. Though I hope this letter will not find you still at Plymouth, I cannot avoid letting it take its chance, in order to tell you that I entirely approve of your idea of having some field-officers of marines. We shall therefore give immediate orders, that three field-officers of that corps do either go with you, or come out in the next ships that are ordered to join you. Colonel Tupper was in consequence selected to command the marines in the fleet, consisting of nearly forty sail of the line, ten or twelve frigates, and seve- lii [ > I ± '^■'i.i ■ 1 i. \ i t r. 112 MAJOR-GENERAL TUPPER. ral smaller vessels ; and taking his passage in the Duke, of 90 guns, Captain Gardner, he arrived in the West Indies in March, and thus participated in the victory of 12th April, 1782, over the French fleet, being on board the Repulse, 64, Captain Dumaresq. Sir George Rodney had at once offered him a birth on board his flag ship, but as Captain Dumaresq was an intimate friend, he requested permission to join the Repulse. Colonel Tupper became a major-general on the 12th October, 1793, and, having attained the rank of commandant in chief of the marines, he died in London in January, 1795, his decease being pro- bably hastened by the fall of his only son, at Bastia, a few months previously. Major General Tupper married, at Cork, Ann Chil- cott, the daughter of a gentleman who had been a captain in the fusileers. He had two children, Carre* and Ann ; the latter, famed for her beauty, survived him, — she was the wife of Lieut. -Colonel 'Council, of the Limerick militia. Subjoined is an extract from the London Star of 19th November, 1794:— The marine corps feel the utmost satisfaction at the appoint- ment of Major-General Tupper to be colonel commandant of that corps, in the room of the late Lieut.-General Smith. On Friday last the officers of the Chatham division, which General Tupper has for some time commanded with great credit and honor to himself, waited on him in a body to congratulate him on his appointment, and to express their sincere acknowledgments for his kind and polite attentions to them, so uniformly and happily blended upon every occasion with the due and necessary authority of military discipline. On Saturday the officers gave a dinner to the general, at their mess-room, on his resignation of the divisional command to Colonel Barclay until the arrival of Major-General Innes, who is appointed to it. * So named from Mr, Carri', his mother's uncle, and a wealthy banker in Dublin. LIEUT. CARRE TUPPER, of H. M. S. VICTORY. A brief mention is made of this officer at page 105. He was born on the 11th February, 17G5, and ob- tained his lieutenantcy in 1782, at the early age of seventeen, but the peace between 1783 and 1793 retarded his further advancement. Soon after the declaration of the war in 1793, he was actively em- ployed in the Mediterranean, and he had already given fair promise of reaching the summit of his profession when he was suddenly cut off* at Bastia, in the island of Corsica. We have heard that he was, unknown to himself, a commander, having been promoted by the admiralty for his recent services at Toulon ; and it is certain that Lord Hood, from the same cause, promised him the first commander's vacancy, which occurred a very few days after his death, and which was given in consequence to the present Vice-Admiral Sir John Gore, K.C.B., then also a lieutenant of the Victory. In person he was tall and remarkably handsome, and " Tupper was a dashing, gallant fellow," was an ob- servation made to the editor by a distinguished British admiral, now living, who knew him. The following are extracts relative to his brief career : — From Sir Sidney Smith's official Letter to Admiral Lord Hood, describing the destruction of the ships and arsenal at Toulon, on the night of the 18th December, 1793. In this situation we continued to wait most anxiously for the hour concerted with the governor for the inflammation of the trains. The moment the signal was made, we had the satisfaction to see tlie flames rise in every quarter. Lieutenant Tupper was charged with the burning of the general magazine, the pitch, tar, tallow, H < Mil 1.1 I I I Vi' ( i .HI 114 LIEUT. CARRE TLPPER. :{'! 'I: i r i; and oil store houses, and succeeded most perl'ectly : the hemp magazine was included in this bla/e. It being nearly calm was unfavorable to the spreading of the flames, but two hundred and fifty barrels of tar, divided among the deals and other timber, insured the rapid ignition of the whole quarter which Lieutenant Tupper had undertaken. From James' Naval History. Third Edition. After describing minutely the conflagration at Toulon, &c., the author adds : — As well as we can collect from the official accounts published on the subject, the following were the British naval officers who ac- companied Sir Sidney Smith in his perilous undertaking : Captains C. Hare and W. Edge, Lieutenants C. Tupper, John Gore, — (and several others whose names follow.) — Vol. I, page 114. At length on the 21st May, 1/91, after a siege of thirty-seven and a negociation of four days, the town and citadel of Kastia, with the several posts upon the neighbouring heights, surrendered on terms highly honorable to the besieged, whose bravery in holding out so long excited the admiration of the conquerors. The possession of this important post was accomplished with the slight loss to the army of seven privates killed and dead of their wounds, two captains and nineteen privates wounded, and six pri- vates missing ; and to the navy, of one lieutenant (Carr^ Tupper, of the Victory,) and six seamen killed, :\nd one lieutenant (G. Andrews^ of the Agamemnon,) and twelve men wounded. — Ibid, page 2/2. Lieutenant Tupper was buried in a sequestered spot under the walls of Bastia, with this epitaph : — HERE LIES THE BODY OF CARRfi TUPPER, ESQ. LIEUTENANT OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S SHIP VICTORY. HE WAS KILLED BY A MUSKET BALL IN BRAVELY ATTEMPTING TO LAND, DURING THE SIEGE OF BASTIA, ON THE 24th APRIL, 1/94, AGED TWENTY -NINE YEARS. HIS ASSOCIATES IN ARMS DEEPLY REGRETTED AN EVENT WHICH DEPRIVED THEM OF AN INTREPID, EXCELLENT OFFICER, A WORTHY, AMIABLE MAN. HE WAS BORN THE 11th FEBRUARY, I76r,. VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS to GEORGE IV. Transcript of a Letter from Irving Brock, Esq., to Miss Caroline 'Flipper, dated London, ^pril 12, 1825. " I went to Windsor on Wednesday last with the four Indians, accompanied by my friend Mr. W , to show them the castle, Frogmore, &c. ; but the chief object, which I had secretly in mind, was to have them introduced to his Majesty. Sir John C , the late mayor of Windsor, assisted me very effectually, and the upshot of the matter is, that the king expressed his desire to see the Indian chiefs, although every body treated this as a most chimerical idea. They wore, for the first time, the brilliant clothes which Mr. Butterworth had had made for them, and you cannot conceive how grand and impo- sing they appeared. ' ' The king appointed half-past one on Thursday to receive our party at the royal lodge, his place of residence. We were ushered into the library ; and now I am going to say somewhat pleasing to your uncle Savery. As Sir John C was in the act of introducing me, but before he had mentioned my name. Sir Andrew Barnard interrupted him, and said : ' There is no occasion to introduce me to that gentle- man, — I know him to be General Brock's brother, — he and Colonel Brock, of the 8 1st, were my most intimate friends, — I was in the 81st with the colonel. There was another brother whom I knew, — he who was also in the 49th, — he was a gallant fellow. By ■ \ V ■■ « n I ! IIG VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS. ; I I i, » t the bye, sir, 1 beg your pardon ; perhaps I am speak- ing to that very gentleman.' " In the library there was also present Marquess Conyngham, Lord Mount Charles, Sir Edmund Nagle, &c. &c. We remained chatting in the house above half an hour, expecting every moment to see the king enter, and I was greatly amused to observe Mr. W and Sir John C start and appear convulsed every time there was a noise outside the door. We were admiring the fine lawn when the Marquess Conyngham asked the Indians if they would like to take a turn, at the same time opening the beautiful door that leads to the lawn. The party was no sooner out than we saw the king standing quite still, and as erect as a grenadier on a field day, some forty yards from us. We were all immediately uncovered, and advanced slowly towards the hand- somest, the most elegant, the most enchanting man in the kingdom, the Indians conducted by Marquess Conyngham, Sir Edmund Nagle, Sir Andrew Barnard, Lord Mount Charles, &c. &c. The range of balconies was filled with ladies. Sir John C , Mr. W and I, allowed the party to approach his Majesty, while we modestly halted at a distance of twenty yards. It was worth while being there only to see the benign countenance of the greatest monarch in the world, and to witness his manner of uncovering his head. The four chiefs fell on their knees. The king desired them to rise, and entered into a great deal of preliminary conversation. I saw him turn towards the marquess, and after a few seconds he said, with his loud and sonorous voice : ' Pruy, Mr. Brock, come near me, — I pray you come near me.' I felt a little for my companions who continued un- t i i I < VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS. 117 noticed, and especially for Sir John C , to whom I was principally indebted for the royal interview. "The king addressed the Indians in French, very distinctly, fluently, and loud : * I observe you have the portrait of my father ; will you permit me to present you with mine?' The marquess then pro- duced four large and weighty gold coronation peer medallions of his Majesty, suspended by a rich maza- reen blue silk riband. The chiefs, seeing this, dropped again upon their knees, and the king took the four medallions successively into his hand, and said : * Will some gentleman have the goodness to tie this behind ?' — upon which Sir Edmund Nagle, with whom we had been condoling on account of the gout, while waiting in the library, and who wore a list shoe, skipped nimbly behind the chiefs, and received the string from the king, tying the cordon on the necks of the four chiefs. We were much amused to observe how the royal word can dispel the gout. The instant the grand chief was within reach of the medallion, and before the investiture was completed, he seized the welcome present with the utmost earnestness, and kissed it with an ardour which must have been wit- nessed to be conceived. The king appeared sensibly affected by this strong and unequivocal mark of grateful emotion. The other chiefs acted in a similar way, and nothing could have been managed more naturally, or in better taste. After this ceremony the king desired them to rise and to be covered. They put on their hats, and which appeared extraor- dinary to me, his Majesty remained uncovered all the time. Here it was that the grand chief, as if inca- pable of repressing his feelings, poured out in a most eloquent manner, by voice and action, the following I i i ' I : I !i II ,1 i! f if h il! t; Hii I! > 118 VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS. unpremeditated speech in his native Indian tongue, I say unpremeditated, because that fine allusion to the sun could not have been contemplated while we were waiting in the library, the room where we ex- pected the interview to take place. I was pleased to find that the presence of this mighty sovereign, who governs the most powerful nation upon earth, did not drive from the thoughts of the pious chief, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. "The instant he had finished, the chief of the warriors interpreted in the French language, and I wrote down the speech as soon as I left the royal lodge. It should be observed, that the chiefs had been previously informed by me that, according to etiquette, they should answer any questions which his Majesty might be pleased to ask, but not introduce any conversation of their own. The sun was shining vividly. THE SPEECH. I was instructed not to speak in the royal presence, unless in answer to your Majesty's questions. But my feelings overpower me. My heart is full. I am amazed at such unexpected grace and condescension, and cannot doubt that I shall be pardoned for expressing my gratitude. The sun is shedding his genial rays upon our heads. He reminds us of the great Creator of the universe, — of Him who can make alive and who can kill. Oh ! may that gracious and beneficent Being, who promises to answer the fervent prayers of his people, bless abundantly your Majesty. May He grant you much bodily health, and, for the sake of your happy subjects, may He prolong your valuable life ! It is not alone the four individuals, who now stand before your Majesty, who will retain to the end of their lives a sense of this kind and touching reception, — the whole of the nations, whose representatives we are, will ever love and be devoted to you, their good and great father. " His Majesty felt deeply every word of the speech, when interpreted by the chief of the warriors. The i^ It. VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS. 119 king answered, that he derived high satisfaction from the sentiments they had expressed, and assured theai that he should always be much interested in the ha piness of his North American subjects, and would avail himself of every opportunity to promote their welfare, and to prove that he was indeed their father. After acknowledging in gracious terms the pleasure which the speech of the grand chief had afforded him, he mentioned, in an easy and affable manner, that he had once before in his life seen some indivi- duals of the Indian nations, but that was fifty-five or fifty- six years ago. He inquired of their passage to this country, the name of the ship and of the master, and was persevering in his questions as to the treat- ment they had experienced at his hands, whether they had been made comfortable in all respects, and if he had been polite and attentive. *' While the grand chief was delivering his speech in the Huron language, it seemed as if it would never end, and, observing the king look a little surprised, I informed the Marquess Conyngham, in a loud whis- per, that this was the mode in which they expressed their sense of any honor conferred, and that the chief of the warriors would interpret the speech in the French language. The king asked me to repeat what I had been saying, and George and Irving conversed for some time. His Majesty, on another occasion, asked me under what circumstances the Indians had been introduced to me. I answered that they were recommended to my notice, because they had been invested with the medallions of his late Majesty by my brother. " His Majesty hoped the Indians had seen every thing remarkable in Windsor, and told us we were { ' 1' ! 1 i [ ^ :tli i 1r V :4 '' Vi 120 VISIT OF INDIAN CHIEFS. welcome to see the interior of the lodge and pleasure grounds, that Sir Andrew Barnard would accompany us everywhere, to his stables, menagerie, aviaries, &c., and afterwards he trusted we would partake of some refreshment. He also offered us the use of his car- riages. The refreshment was a truly royal repast, — we eat on silver, — the table groaned, as Mr. Heathfield would say, under the king's hospitality. We made a famous dinner, — pine apple, champagne, claret, &c. — servants in royal liveries behind our chairs. After dinner the Indians gave us the war song, when (in your uncle Savery's poetry about Maria Easy), Tho' the dogs ran out in a great fright, The ladies rush'd in with much delight." Note. — These four Indians carae to England for the purpose of endeavouring to recover lands which had been given to their tribe by Louis XIV. but it appears that they did not succeed. They were very pious Roman Catholics, and those who saw them were much amused with their simple and primitive manners. — Ed. Extract of a Letter from Walter Bromley, Esq., dated London, \5th April, 1825. — From a Halifax N. S. newspaper. "The Indian chief, who accompanied me to Eng- land, sailed in the Ward, for New Brunswick, a few days ago, loaded with presents to his family and people. I think his appearance here has been more beneficial than if volumes had been printed on Indian civilization, and I am in hope that on both sides of the Atlantic a general sympathy has been excited. The four Canadian chiefs have attracted much atten- tion, and have been presented to his Majesty by the brother of the late General Brock ; they are the most interesting characters I ever saw, — are extremely polite, — and speak French very fluently." I t pleasure L'ornpany 'ies, &c., of some his car- epast, — eathfield made a t, &c. — After hen (in urposc of leir tribe hey were ire much APPENDIX London, ) Eng- a few y and more [ndian des of tcited. atten- jy the i most emely '' .!• ill s tl o e: m iii c Ms ser pri res hoi ba( snc car APPENDIX A. SECTION I.— BIUTISH AUTHORS. No. I. Extract of a Letter to one of the ( aptains of the Vjth, at Fort Georye, dated Montreal, March 17, ISO I. — .Sec pp. '.i to ;'). "The execution of the four mutineers and three deserters took place at Quebec on the '2d instant, and as I have a letter of the 3d, giving the most minute account that I have seen of it, 1 t]iereft)re transcribe part of the same to you. — ' I embrace the earliest opportunity of saying that the seven mutineers and deserters were executed yesterday. At a quarter past ten, a.m., tlie procession moved off from the prison in the following order : — Two Bu^lc. Horns. Mf\jor Campbell with a large party of the 4Ist as the advanced guard. Artillery with a Field Piece. The Firing Party, fifty-six in number. Seven Coffins borne by two men each. Escort with the Prisoners attended by four Roman Catholic Priests and the Rev. Mr. Mountain. Surgeons of the Garrison and Regiments. Band of Music of the 41st playing a Dirge. General Mann and Staff Officers of the Garrison. Field Piece. Colonel Glasgow with the main body of the Artillery. Field Piece. Colonel Proctor at the head of the 41st Regiment, with the Colours. Major Muter, of the 0th, with the two flank Companies of that Regiment. New Brunswick Volunteers, about seventy in number, without arms. *At about half-past ten they arrived on the ground, when the sentence and warrant of execution were read ; after which the prisoners about to suffer were led to their coffins, upon which they respectively kneeled : they were kep* nearly three quarters of an hour in prayer, during which time the weather was very cold and bad, a strong wind blowing from the eastward with a great drift of snow. The whole was conducted with the greatest propriety till it came to the firing, when, by some mistake, instead of the party < I ' I, 1^1 ' 'J ■ ! ' ii li^^'i -., f'l r. t ! I'll il'rf ' ! I If i 124 SIR ISAAC BROCK. advancing to within eight yards of the prisoners and firing in three divisions, upon the signal being given for tliat purpose, the ser- geants, commanding the divisions, ordered the men to make ready, and immediately after about ten muskets in the centre went off; this created confusion, and many other single shots were fired, and from a distance of at lei's^ fifty yards; the consequence was, that the poor wretches fell one after another, and, being partially wounded, some of them cried out bitterly. Forty shots must have been fired before one poor fellow in the centre fell, although it appeared that he received a ball through the lower part of the belly on the first discharge, as he was seen to put his hands down and cry out : the party was now ordered up singly, that is, each man, who had not fired off his piece, went and lodged the contents of it in the breasts of the culprits, and by that means put them out of torture. It was on the whole an awful and affecting sight, and from the appearance of the soldiery, seemed to have made a very proper impression.' " Requesting my best compliments to Colonel Brock and the other gentlemen of the regiment, I remain," &c. No. 2. Extract from General Order, Head Quarters, Montreal, August 3 1 , 1812.— See p. 15. " Captain Pinkney, aid-de-camp to General Dearborn, arrived at nine o'clock last night, being the bearer of despatches from the commander in chief of the American forces, with the information that the president of the United States of America had not thought proper to authorise a continuance of the provisional measures entered into by his Excellency and General Dearborn, through the adjutant- general. Colonel Baynes, and that consequently the armistice was to cease in four days from the time of the communication reaching Montreal, and the posts at Kingston and Fort George That the conquest of the Canadas, either for the purpose of extending their own territories or of gratifying their desire of annoying and embarrassing Great Britain, was one amongst others of these objects, cannot be doubted. The invasion of the Upper Province, under- taken so immediately after the declaration of war, shews in the strongest manner how fully they had prepared themselves for that event, and how highly they had flattered themselves with finding it an easy conquest, from the supposed weakness of the force opposed to them, and the spirit of disaffection which they had previously .( *;■' APPENDIX A, 125 r a g in three , the ser- ike ready, went off; fired, and was, that partially nust have though it ' the belly lown and ach man, ents of it im out of ight, and de a very and the endeavoured to excite amongst its inhabitants. Foiled as they have been in this attempt by the brave and united efforts of the regular forces, militia, and Indians of that province, under the command of their distinguished leader, their whole army with its general captured, and their only remaining fortress and post in the adjoining territory wrested from them, it is not to be doubted but that the American government will keenly feel this disappointment of their hopes, and consequently endeavour to avail themselves of the surrender of Detroit, to term it an invasion of their country, and to make it a ground for calling upon the militia to march to the frontiers for the conquest of the Canadas. A pretext so weak and unfounded, though it may deceive some, will not fail to be received in its proper light by others, and it will be immediately perceived by those who will give themselves the trouble to reflect on the subject, that the pursuit of an invading army into their own territory, is but a natural consequence of the first invasion, and the capture of the place to which they may retire for safety, a measure indispensably necessary for the security and protection of the country originally attacked." M I ! 11 ■ \ ■I tgust 31, rrived at 'rom the )rmation thought entered djutant- tice was 'caching That tending ing and objects, under- in the for that iding it >pposed viously No. 3. Extracts of a Letter from Major Glcgg to IVilliam Brock, Esq., dated York, Upper Canada, 25th October, 1812. "Since announcing to you on the 14th the heavy public and private loss that we sustained on the preceding day, by the fall of my beloved general, at the battle of Queenston, I have devoted every thought and m.oment to the painful discharge of my remaining duties. His funeral took place on the IGth, and a more solemn and affecting spectacle was perhaps never witnessed. I enclose a plan of the melancholy procession, but no pen can describe the real scenes of that mournful day. As every arrangement connected with that afflicting ceremony fell to my lot, a second attack being hour!/ expected, and the minds of all being fully occupied with the duties of their respective stations, I anxiously endeavoured to per- form this last tribute of affection in a manner corresponding with the elevated virtues of my departed patron. Conceiving that an interment in every respect military would be the most approprisite to the character of our dear friend, I made choice of a cavalier bastion in Fort George, which his aspiring genius had lately sug- gested, and which had been just finished under his daily superin- tendence. Not trusting, however, wholly to my own ideas on a ■it'i I t I t. U V2G SIR ISAAC BROCK. I point of so much interest, I consulted with Major-General MieaH'c and some other friends, who, I am happy to assure you, were unanimous in preferring military ground as the place of interment. His remains, by being always guarded by the respectful vigilance of admiring valour, will for ever remain sacred ; his public and private worth have been justly appreciated in this province, and the high character, which he so modestly supported when living, will remain recorded in the memory of those who survive him. Our lamented friend was interred with every military honor that was due to his exalted station ; at the same time recollecting his decided aversion to every thing that bore the appearance of osten- tatious display, 1 endeavoured to clothe the distressing ceremony conformably with his native simplicity. My gallant friend and colleague Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell, whose noble soul hurried him on to revenge the fall of our beloved chief, appeared determined to accompany him to the regions of eternal bliss. Wounded in four places, he was carried off the field, and, though one ball passed through his body, he survived twenty hours, and, during a constant period of excruciating suffering, his words and thoughts appeared ever occupied with lamentations for his lost friend. My heart is overpowered with sorrow when I reflect on that awful and eventful day. I can almost fancy I see and hear your brave brother's cheering voice when our small band of 49th heroes were a third time charging the enemy in the streets of Queenston, who were treble our numbers ; forgetful of himself, he was occasionally exhorting others to be more prudent, — every one did more than his duty, — and alas ! in this glorious struggle for the country two heroes fell. They were deposited in the same grave close to each other." Note. — ^The contents of Major Glegg's first letter, dated Fort George, 14th October, are embodied in Sir Isaac Brock's Memoir ; the remainder of the second letter, as above, relates chiefly to the private affairs of the general. — Ed. No. 4. Conclusion of Extract from Quebec Gazette of 29th October, 1812, given in pp. 20, 2 ! . " It is indeed true that the spirit, and even the abilities, of a distinguished man often carry their influence beyond the grave, and the present event furnishes its own example, for it is certain, not- withstanding General Brock was cut off early in the action, that he had already given an impulse to his little army, which contributed tl tl al al II t , 1812. !S, APPENDIX A. 127 to accomplish the victoi^" when he was no more. Let us trust that the recollection of him will become a new bond of union, and that, as he sacrificed himself for a community of patriots, they will find a new motive to exertion in the obligation to secure his ashes from the pestilential dominion of the enemy. "(ienerul Brock was a native of Guernsey. His family always belonged to the profession of arms. He entered the army early in life, and has been continually on service during the last and present wars. He made several campaigns on the European continent, and particularly distinguished himself in Holland, where he had a horse killed under him. He was shortly afterwards employed on board the Ganges, with his favorite 49th regiment, in the battle of Copenhagen, on the famous 2d of April, 1801. In the following year he came to this country as lieutenant-colonel commanding that regiment. His strong attachment to it made it a distinguish- ing feature in his character. There was a correspondence of esteem and regard between him and his orticers and privates, with an addition of veneration on the part of these, that produced the picture of a happy family. Those movements of feeling, which the exactions of discipline will sometimes occasion, rarely reached his men. He governed them by that sentiment of esteem which he himself had created. The consolation was given him to terminate an useful and brilliant course in the midst of his professional family. They have performed his last funeral obsequies, and those who knew the commander and his men will be convinced that on the day of his interment there was an entire regiment in tears. " His fate has been attended by a circumstance almost intolerable to a high-minded soldier. His enemy was not worthy such a catastrophe. The spirit of the victim often rebuked the hard destiny that denied him a field where it might be desirable to die. But brave and generous Brock the opinion of your country shall correct the errors of fortune. It shall estimate your efforts the more for having been made against an enemy without reputation, though powerful, and who, in waging this war, has shewn how destitute he is of every principal element that can constitute true greatness. It shall grant you all the fame that manly courage and heroic enterprise, skilfully and successfully employed, have the power to yield. Monuments shall rise to your glory in the public square of that province you have twice saved, and under the dome of the first cathedral in Europe." i; : :„ ) > u i f Illij 128 m % ] \\^ \ ' i./i ill SIR ISAAC BROCK. No. ".f^/ « General Couticil of Condolence held at the Council House, Fori George, Gth November, 1812, "Present — The Six Nations, Hurons, Potawatimics, and Chippawas. William Claus, Deputy Superintendent-Gen'. Captain Norton. Captain J. B. Rosseaux, and several others of the Indian Department. Kasencayont Cayonga Chief, Speaker. " Brother, — The Americans have long threatened to strike us, and in the beginning of the summer they declared war against us, and lately they recommenced hostility by invading the country at Queenston. In this contest, which, with the help of God, termi- nated in our favor, your much lamented commander and friend General Brock, his aid-de-camp Colonel M'Donell, and several warriors, have fallen. "Brother, — We therefore now, seeing you darkened with grief, your eyes dim with tears, and your throats stopped with the force of your affliction, with these strings of wampum we wipe away your tears that you may view clearly the surrounding objects. We clear the passage in your throats that you may have free utterance for your thoughts, and we wipe clean from blood the place of your abode, that you may sit there in comfort, without having renewed the remembrance of your loss by the remaining stains of blood. Delivered eight strings of white wainpum.* " Brother, — That the remains of our late beloved friend and commander General Brock shall receive no injury, we cover it with this be]' of wampum, which we do from the grateful sensations which his kindness towards us continually inspired, as also in con- formity with the customs of our ancestors ; and we now express, with the unanimous voice of the chiefs and warriors of our respec- tive bands, the great respect in which we hold his memory, and the * Wampum is the current mon^y among the Indians. It is of two sorts, wliite and piu'ple : the white is worked out of the insidcs of the great Congnes into the form of a bead, and perforated so as to be strung on leather; the purple is worked out of the inside of the muscle shell. They are wove as broad as one's hand, and about two feet long ; these they call belts, and give and receive them at their treaties, as the seals of friendship. For lesser motives a single string is given ; every bead is of a known value ; and a belt of a less number is made to c(iual one of a greater, by so many as is wanted being fastened to the belt by a string. — Buchanan's North American Indians. '\ i:i APPENDIX A. 129 sorrow and deep regret with which his loss has tilled our breasts, although he has taken his departure for a better abode, wliere his many virtues will be rewarded by the great Dispenser ot'good, who has led us on the road to victory. A large white belt. " Brother, — We now address the successor of our departfd friend to express the confidence we feel that his heart is warmed with similar sentiments of aflection and regard towards us. \Ve also assure him of our readiness to support him to the last, and therefore take the ^i )erty to speak strong to all his people to co-operate with vigour, and trusting in the powerful arm of God, not to lioubt of victory. "Although our numbers are small, yet, counting Him on our side, who ever decides on the day of battle, we look for victory whenever we shall come in contact with our enemy. Five strhtgs of white wampum. (Signed) "W. CLAUS, J). S.(,." It ■ .i No. 6. IMPROMPTU ON READING THE ACCOUNT OF THE DEATH OF THE r.AM.ANT MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC DRUCK. Whence sprung that sigh of sorrow deep. Those plaints that pierce the troubled air ! Whose that fair form that seems to weep With tresses loose, and bosom bare ? Ah ! now I know that form divine. Whose looks her heartfelt grief declare ; Queen of the seagirt isle ! 'tis thine. And thine those plaints that pierce the air. Thou mourn' st thy brave defender's fate Far distant o'er yon western tide, — The victim of illiberal hate Fostered by French intrigue and pride ! Thou mourn'st the loss of valiant Brock, Chastiser of o'erweening pride, Who fell in battle's furious shock, By Niagara's thundering side ! 1 ifi. .1 *• ■\\ m ,Mf\ '•i I . rr ' I (;.' i: ii \ II; 'If m 30 SIR ISAAC BROCK. In freedom's cause the liero fell, — His relics rest on glory's bed ; Twice vanquished, let Columbia tell How gallantly he fought and died. hakisc. VERSES ON THE DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAI, BnOCK. Low bending o'er the rugged bier The soldier drops the mournful tear. For life departed, valour driven. Fresh from the field of death to heaven. But time shall fondly trace the name Of Brock upon the scrolls of fame, And those bright laurels, which should wave Upon the brow of one so brave, Shall flourish vernal o'er his grave. j. h. r. No. 7. Extracts from "James Military Occurrences of the late War between Great Britain and the United States of America." — 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1818. "Major-General Brock, the president of Upper Canada, was at York when the news of war reached him. He, with his accustomed alacrity, sent immediate notice of it to Lieut. -Colonel St. George, commanding a small detachment of troops at Amherstburg, and to Captain Roberts, commanding part of a company of the 1 0th R. V. battalion, at St. Joseph's. A second despatch to the last named officer contained the major-general's orders, that he should adopt the most prudent measures, either for offence or defence. Captain Roberts, accordingly, on the day succeeding the arrival of his orders, embarked with forty -five officers and men of the 1 0th royal veteran battalion, about one hundred and eighty Canadians, three hundred and ninety-three Indians, and two iron six pounders, to attack the American fort of Michilimacinac. This force reached the island on the following morning. A summons was immediately sent in 3 and the fort of Michilimacinac, with seven pieces of ordnance, and sixty-one officers and privates of the United States army, surrendered, by capitulation, without a drop of blood having been spilt. — Vol. I., pp. 56, 57. \ ■ I . !S a.' APPENDIX A. 131 "General Brock had just arrived at Fort George from \'ork, when he heard of General Hull's invasion. It was his intention to attack, and there is no doubt he would have carried, Fort Niagara ; but, Sir George Prevt c not having sent him any official account of the war, nor any orddr to guide his proceedings, the general was restrained from acting according to the dictates of his judgment and the natural energy of his mind. After issuing a proclamation, to defeat the object of that circulated by General Hull, General Brock returned to York, to meet the legislature of Upper Canada ; which, on account of the war, he had called together for an extra session. This session was short ; and, on the 5th of August, the general again left York for Fort George, and for Long Point on Lake Erie. On the 8th he embarked at the latter place, with foi ty rank and file of the 4 1 st regiment, and two hundred and sixty of the militia forces ; leaving the important command on the Niagara frontier to his quarter- master-general, Lieut.-Colonel Myers, an able and intelligent officer. " General Brock and his little party landed safe at Amherstburg on the evening of the 12th, when that enterprising officer lost not a moment, but, with the reinforcement he procured at this place, pushed on for Sandwich. Here he found that the Americans had evacuated and destroyed a small fort which they had constructed soon after their arrival. On the morning of the 15th, General Brock sent across a flag of truce, with a summons, demanding the immediate surrender of the garrison j to which an answer was returned, that "the town and fort would be defended to the last extremity." That being the case, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the British batteries, which had been constructed for one eighteen pounder, two twelve pounders, and two 5^ inch howitzers, opened upon the enemy, and continued to throw their shells into the fort until midnight. One shell killed three or four officers, and pro- duced great alarm in the garrison. The fire was returned by seven twenty-four pounders, but without the slightest effect. " At daylight the next morning the firing recommenced ; and the major-general, taking with him thirty of the royal artillery, two hundred and fifty of the 41st regiment, fifty of the royal Newfound- land regiment, and four hundred militia, crossed the river, and landed at Springwell, a good position, three miles west of Detroit. The Indians, six hundred in number, under the brave Tecumseh, had effected their landing two miles below ; and they immediately occupied the woods about a mile and a half on the left of the army. H' 'f : 'J ii li 1 '{;■ i^i^ \32 SIR ISAAC BROCK. I'l -..i M The direction of the batteries on the opposite shore had, in the mean time, been left to an intelligent oilicer. " At about ten o'clock the troops advanced, in close column, twelve in front, along the bank of the river towards the fort, and halted at about a mile distant j by which time the Indians had penetrated the enemy's camp. When the head of the British column had advanced to within a short distance of the American line, General Hull, and the troops under his command, retreated to the fort, without making any use of two twenty-four pounders, advantageously posted on an eminence, and loaded with grape shot. "Just as the British were about to commence the attack, a white flag was seen suspended from the walls of the fort. So unexpected a measure caused General Brock to despatch an officer in front, to ascertain the fact. Shortly afterwards the capitulation was signed ; and the fort of Detroit, its ordnance and military stores, a fine vessel in the harbour, the whole north-western army, including the detached parties, also the immense territory of Michigan, its forti- fied posts, garrisons, and inhabitants, were surrendered to the British arms. — Ibid, pp. 68 to 70. "One reason for General Brock's marching so comparatively small a force against Detroit, was a deficiency of arms wherewith to equip the Upper Canada militia. Many of the latter were obliged, in consequence, to remain behind ; and even the arms that had been distributed among their companions, were of the very worst quality ; so that General Hull's ' two thousand five hundred stands of arms,' which were indeed of the very best quality, became a valuable acquisition. The success that attended this first enter- prise in which the militia had been called upon to act, produced an electrical eft'ect throughout the two provinces. It inspired the timid, settled the wavering, and awed the disaffected ; of which latter there were many. It also induced the Six Nations of Indians, who had hitherto kept aloof, to take an active part in our favor. — Ibid, pp. 73, 74. " Brigadier-General Hull was arlerwards exchanged for thirty British prisoners ; and his trial commenced at Albany on the 5th of January, and ended on the 8th of March, 1814. The particulars may not be uninteresting, and are therefore extracted from the pages of Mr. O'Connor's book : — " ' Three charges were presented against him ; to wit, treason against the United States ; cowardice; and neglect of duty, and unofficer- Hke conduct; to all which he pleaded Not Guilty. — The general id, in tlic i column, fort, and (lians had le British American treated to pounders, ;rape shot, k, a white nexpected 1 front, to as signed ; ■es, a fine [uding the , its forti- ed to the paratively wherewith Ltter were arms that the very hundred , became rst enter- duced an pired the of which |f Indians, favor. — •r thirty the 5th irticulars Ifrom the treason lunofficer- general 11 APPENDIX A. 133 having protested against the competency of the court to try the first charge, the court declined making any formal decision on it ; but yet gave an opinion that nothing appeared to them which coiild justify the charge. " 'The court acquitted him of that part of the third specification, which charges him with having forbidden the American artillery to fire on the enemy, on their march towards the said Fort Detroit, and found him guilty of the first, second part of the third, and the fourth specifications. On the third charge, the court found the accused guilty of neglect of duty, in omitting seasonably to inspect, train, exercise, and order the troops under his command, or cause the same to be done. They also found him guilty of part of the fourth and fifth specifications, and the whole of the sixth and seventh ; and acquitted him of the second and third, and part of the fourth and fifth specifications. " ' The court sentenced the said Brigadier-General William Hull to be shot to death, two-thirds of the court concurring in the sen- tence ; but, in consideration of his revolutionary services, and his advanced age, recommended him to the mercy of the president of the United States. The president approved the sentence, remitted the execution, and ordered the name of General Hull to be erased from the list of the army.' — Ibid, pp. 75, 76. "The chagrin felt at Washington, 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 enterprise 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 i; 1 I 'i\ ;i!u 'H W li . i w 134 SIR ISAAC BROCK. whole navy would conquer ours on the ocean. We must take the continent from them. / wish never to see a peace till we do. God has given us the power and the means ; vvc 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 tmblushing apo.stacy, — signed the treaty of peace. " Upon Major-General lirock's arrival at Fort George, he first iieard of that most impolitic armistice, which, grounded on a letter from Sir (ieorge Prevost to Major-General Dearborn, had been concluded between the latter and Colonel Baynes, Sir George's adjutant-general. It provided that neither party should act offen- sively before the decision of the American government was taken on the subject. To the circumstance of the despatch, announcing the event, not having reached the gallant Brock before he had finished the business at Detroit, may the safety of the Canadas, in a great measure, be attributed. The armistice was already suffi- ciently injurious. It paraly/ed the efforts of that active officer, who had resolved, and would doubtless have succeeded, in sweeping the American forces from the whole Niagara line. It enabled the Americans to recover from their consternation, to fortify and strengthen their own, and to accumulate the means of annoyance along the whole of our frontier. It sent nearly eight hundred of our Indian allies, in disgust, to their homes. It admitted the free transport of the enemy's ordnance stores and provisions by Lake Ontario, which gave increased facility to all his subsequent opera- tions in that quarter. — Ibid, pp. 7G to 78. '' This army, comaiiiaded by Major-General Van Rensselaer, of the New York militia, consisted, according to American official returns, of five thousand two hundred and six men ; exclusive of three hundred field and light artillery, eight hundred of the 6th, 13th, and 23d regiments, at Fort Niagara; making a total of six thousand three hundred men. Of this powerful force, sixteen hun- dred and fifty regulars, under the command of Brigadier-General Smyth, were at Black Rock ; three hundred and eighty-six militia at the latter place and Buffaloe ; and nine hundred regulars, and two thousand two hundred and seventy militia, at Lewistown, dis- tant from Black Rock twenty-eight miles. So that, including the eleven hundred men at Fort Niagara, the Americans had, along thirty-six miles of their frontier, a force of six thousand three hun- dred men, of whom nearly two-thirds were regular troops ; while AITKNDIX A, 135 I hu Hritish, alon<^ their line from Fort (ieorge, where Mujor-Cicnenil Sheaffe commanded, to Fort Erie, whitlier JMajor-General lirock had just proceeded, could not muster twelve hundred men, nearly iialf of whom were militia. — Ibid, p, 80. " The only British batteries from which the troops could be annoyed in the passage, were one, mounting an eighteen pounder, upon Queensto'vu heights, and another, mounting a twenty-four pound carrwnade, situate a little below the town. The river at Queenstown is scarcely a quarter of a mile in width, and the point chosen for crossing was not fully exposed to either of the British batteries ; v/hile the American batteries of two eighteen and two six pounders, and the two six pounder field pieces, brought up by Lieut. -Colonel Scott, completely commanded every part of the op- posite shore, from which musketry could be effectual in opposing a landing. With these important advantages the troops embarked ; but, a grape shot striking the boat in which Lieut. -Colonel Christie was, and wounding him in the hand, the pilot and boatmen became so alarmed, that they suffered the boat to fall beloVv the point of landing, and were obliged, in consequence, to put back. Two other boats did the same. The remaining ten, with two hundred and twenty-five ."egulars, besides officers, including the commander of the expedition. Colonel Van Rensselaer, struck the shore ; and, after disembarking the men, returned for more troops. " The only force at Queenstown consisted of the two flank com- panies of the 49th regiment, and a small detachment of militia j amounting, in all, to about three hundred rank and file. Of these about sixty, taken from the 49th grenadiers and Captain Hatt's company of militia, having in charge a three pounder, advanced, at four o'clock in the morning, with Captain Dennis of the 49th at their head, towards the river, near to which Colonel Van Rensselaer had formed his men, to await the arrival of the next boats. A well directed and warmly continued fire killed and wounded several American officers and privates, including, among the wounded. Colonel V^an Rensselaer and three captains, and drove the Ameri- cans behind a steep bank, close to the water's edge. In the mean time, a fresh supply of troops had effected a landing, and remained, with the others, sheltered behind the bank ; whence they returned the fire of the British, killing one man and wounding four. The remaining subdivisions of the 49th grenadiers and of the militia company had now joined Captain Dennis ; and the 49th light in- fantry, under Captain Williams, with Captain Chisholm's company •?> / 130 SIR ISAAC BROCK. i '< of militirt, slalionod on tin- brow ot" llie hill, were firing down upon the invaders. " Of five or six boats tluit attempted to land a body of American regulars inider Major INIullany, one was destroyed by a shot from the hill battery, commanded by Lieutenant Crowther, of the 4 1st regiment ; two others were capturt-d ; and the remainder, foiled in their object, returned to the American side. Daylight appeared ; and, at the same instant, General lirock arrived at the hill battery from Fort (Jeorge. Observing the strong reinforcements that were crossing over, the general instantly ordered Captain Williams to descend the hill, and support Captain Dennis. No sooner were Captain Williams and his men seen to depart, than the Americans formed the resolution of gaining the heights. Accordingly, sixty American regulars, headed by Captain ^Vool, and accompanied by Major Lush, a volunteer, also by a captain, six lieutenants, and an ensign of the 13th regiment, ascended a fisherman's path up the rocks, which had been reported to General IJrock as impassable, Ri^d therefore was not guarded. The Americans were thus enabled, unseen by our troops, to arrive at a brow, about thirty yards in the rear of the hill battery. Reinforcements kept rapidly arriving by the concealed path ; an^! the whole formed on the brow, with their front towards the village of Qiueenstown. " The moment General Brock discovered the unexpected advance of the American troops, he, with the twelve men stationed at the battery, retired ; and Captain Wool, advancing from the rear with his more tiian ten-fold force, ' took it without much resistance.' Captain Williams, and his detachment of regulars and militia, were now recalled ; and General Brock, putting himself at the head of this force, amounting, in all, to about ninety men, advanced to meet a detachment of one hundred and fifty picked American regu- lars, which Captain Wool had sent forward to attack him. The American captain says that, in consequence of the general's ' supe- rior force,' his men retreated ; adding, ' I sent a reinforcement, notwithstanding which, the enemy drove us to the edge of the bank.' While animating his little band of regulars and militia to a charge up the heights. General Brock received a mortal wound in the breast, and immediately fell. " At this moment the two flank companies of the York militia, with Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell, the general's provincial aid-de-camp, at their head, arrived from Brown's Point, three miles distant. By this time, also, Captain Wool had sent additional reinforcements to .^'\' APPENDIX A. \:\: «l Captain Ogih'ie, making the latter's force ' three hundred and twenty reguhirs, supported by a few militia and vohmteers,' or, in the whole, full five hundred men. Colonel M'Donell and his one hundred and ninety men, — more than two-tliirds Canadian militia, — rushed boldly up the hill, in defiance of the continued stream <>f mu-lccti-y pouring down upon them ; compelled the Americans to spike the eighteen pounder ; and would have again driven them to the rocks, had not the colonel and Captain ^^'illiams been wounded, almost at the sjime instant, — the former mortally. The loss of their commanders created confusion among the men, and they again retreated. Hearing of the fall of (ieneral Jirock, Captain Dennis proceeded from the valley towards the foot of the heights, and, mounting the general's horse, rode up, and tried to rally the troops. He succeeded in forming a few ; but the number was so inconsiderable that, to persist in a contest, would have been mad- ness. A retreat wxs accordingly ordered, by the ground in the rear of the town ; and the men of the lOtli, accompanied by many of the militia, formed in front of Vromont's battery, there to await the expected reinforcement from Fort Geor ■. " While we had, at this period, not ab(>\ c two hundred unwounded men at Queenstown, the Americans, by their own account, had upwards of eight hundred, and General Van Rensselaer tells us, that * a number of boats now crossed over unannoyed, except by the one unsilenced gun,' or that at Vromont's battery ; conse- quently, more troops were hourly arriving. lirigadier-Generai Wadsworth was left as commanding officer of the Americans on the Queenstown hill ; and General Van Rensselaer, considering the victory as complete, had himself crossed over, in order to give directions about fortifying the camp which he intended to o(cupy on the British territory. — Ibid, pp. 8C to 91. " When General Wilkinson complains that the executive has not rendered ' common justice to the principal actors in this gallant scene,' — not exhibited it to the country * in its true light, and shewn what deeds Americans are still capable of performing,'* — who among us can retain his gravity ? ' It is true,' says the general, ' complete success did not ultimately crown this enterprise ; but two great ends were obtained for the country : it re-established the character of the American arms ;' — it did indeed ! — 'and deprived the enemy, by the death of General Brock, of the best officer that * From an Americaii work,— Major-Gcneral James Wilkinson's "Memoirs of my own Time," piiMiancd in 1816. i ' I II' •;rl ed his exertions. The com- mander in chief, Lieut. -General Sir George Prevost, had concluded an armistice with the American general. Dearborn, which provided that neither party should act offensively until the government at AVashington should ratify or annul the suspension of hostilities ! Of the inactivity thus forced upon General Brock, the enemy made the best use. As the armistice did not prohibit them from trans- porting ordnance, stores, and provisions, of all of which they were greatly in need, from Lake Ontario along the Niagara line, they had time to recover the panic which had seized them on the sur- render of Hull, and to fortify their frontier. The president of the United States then refused, as might have been anticipated, to confirm the armistice, but not before an American force of six thousand three hundred men had assembled on the Niagara frontier. The British on the same frontier under General Brock, who now received orders from Sir George Prevost to act upon the defensive only, did not exceed twelve hundred regulars and militia. " The enemy now prepared to carry the war across the Niagara. Opposite the village of Queenston on that strait, they concentrated three thousand men of their force, and at daylight, on the 13th of October, effected a landing on the Canadian shore, notwithstanding tl \v ii til 01 '.M' f-' APPENDIX A. 141 e resulted 1 territory, !, by Lake n country pitulation, th-western with the ed by this in it, and ardly less and awed it frontier >tened his ? it of the pared for I received rhe com- oncluded provided nment at )stilities ! tny made m trans - ley were ne, they the sur- it of the ated, to of six frontier. ho now efensive s^iagara. intnited 13th of landing the gallant opposition of a British detachment of three hundred men which was posted at the village. By this handful of troops the passage was long and obstinately contested, until General Brock, who arrived, unattended, from Fort George during the struggle, fell in the act of cheering on his little band to a charge. With him the post was lost : a retreat, was effected, and sixteen hundred of the enemy established themselves in position on the heights of Queenston. Mc iiiwhile, the whole of the British disposable force on the Niagara, of about one thousand men, of whom five hun- dred and sixty were regulars, had assembled near Queenston ; at three in the afternoon, they advanced against the American line, and, after a short and spirited contest, put the enemy completely to rout, capturing on the field Brigadier-General Wadsworth, nine hundred men, a piece of cannon, and a stand of colours. Many of the enemy were drowned in the attempt to swim to their own shore, and four hundred of them were killed and wounded, while the whole British loss did not exceed one hundred men. " Such was the dismay of the enemy at the result of the action at Qi 'cr on. that had General Sheaffe, who commanded after the death o. . )> :, crossed over immediately afterwards, as it is said he was „\y..giy urged by his officers to do, the fort of Niagara, which its garrison had even evacuated for some time, might have been captured, and the whole of that line cleared of the American troops. But General Sheaffe, like his superior, was a lover of armistices, and after the action he concluded one of his own with the American general, for which no reason, civil or military, was ever assigned. Such were the principal occurrences of the cam- paign of 1812, in Upper Canada 3 those in the lower province were utterly insignificant. " In reviewing the campaign in the Canadas of 1812, the most striking feature is the failure of the enemy in attempting the subjugation of the British provinces. So extravagant were the hopes of the American government regarding the issue of the contest, that their secretary at war declared from his seat in congress, that they * could take the Canadas without soldiers ; they had only to send officers into the provinces, and the people, disaffected towards their own government, would rally round the American standard.' Mr. Clay, of Virginia, added, that ' it was absurd to suppose that the enterprise would fail of success ; he was not for stopping at Quebec, or any where else ; he would take the continent from the British ; he never wished to see a i : ) -I •'I !i'; fh 142 SIR ISAAC BROCK. peace until this was done.' Yet this Mr. Clay was afterwards one of the American commissioners who signed the treaty of Ghent ! " The first act of the commander in chief, on learning the Ame- rican declaration of war, was an earnest of his future irresolution. He dispatched orders to the commanding officer at fort St. Joseph's to re.aain upon the defensive ; but Captain Roberts knew that, if attacked, his post was untenable ; he was aware that the enemy at Michilimackinac must shortly be reinforced, and he boldly preferred to follow the directions of his immediate commander, General Brock, to assault that place if he found it advisable. The important result has already been told. To General Brock him- self. Sir George Prevost sent no instructions whatever for some weeks after he received intimation of the war. Whether this neglect was intentional, to leave that officer to his own respon- sibility, or was merely the natural effect of the infirmity of purpose which the commander in chief afterwards so repeatedly evinced, the consequences were equally mischievous ; for General Brock had moved from York to Fort George with the intention of attack- ing the American fort of Niagara, then unprepared for defence, and was only restrained from that measure by the perplexity of his situation in being left without orders. Hull's invasion, however, put it beyond doubt that he should do right in opposing him, and the capture of that force preceded his receipt of the first dispatches from the commander in chief. These dispatches, indeed, were of such a nature, that it was fortunate they arrived no sooner. They announced, as we have already stated, the conclusion of that impolitic armistice between Sir George Prevost and General Dear- born at the moment which should have been devoted to active exertion against the American posts on the frontier. By the terms of this truce. General Hull was to determine, at his option, whether or not the suspension of arms should be binding upon his division. If he had not already capitulated before he could make his choice, what might not have been the fatal consequences of permitting him to claim the benefit of the armistice ? " No sooner was the suspension of arms, to which Sir George had agreed, at an end, than he issued positive orders along the whole extent of frontier, that no offensive operations whatever should be attempted against the different points of the enemy's line. The short-sightedness of such a system of defence needs perhaps little exposition, but a practical illustration of its tendency M .1 APPENDIX A. 143 afterwards ; treaty of J the Ame- •resolution. it. Joseph's knew that, the enemy he boldly )mmander, ible. The •rock him- for some ether this n respon- of purpose f evinced, ral Brock of attack- r defence, ity of his however, sing him, the first s, indeed, o sooner, n of that ral Dear- to active By the s option, upon his lid make ences of * George ong the vhatever enemy's !e needs endenry was afforded, before the close of the year, in the unopposed devas- tation of great part of the Indian country by General Harrison, while Colonel Proctor was compelled by his orders to refrain from advancing to the aid of our allies. This want of co-operation had a most unfavourable effect upon the minds of the Indians, and was an impolitic and unmanly desertion of them." — Campaigns in the Canadas. Note. — Although the editor does not approve of the spirit of acrimony towards Sir George Prevost, which is manifested throughout tlie article in the Quarterly Review, from which the preceding extracts are tiaken, yet he feels it a sacred obligation due to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock to with- hold nothing descriptive of his energetic views and intentions, and of the obstacles he experienced in the vigorous prosecution of the contest, — obstacles which his gallant spirit could not brook, and which necessarily exposed " his valuable life" much more than it would have been in offen- sive operations. Sir George Prevost was most unfortunately induced to propose the armistice, in the expectation that the American government would stay all hostility on learning the repeal of the British orders in council, which were the chief among the alleged causes of the war ; and this measure was attended with very prejudicial consequences, as it ren- dered un.ivailing the command of the lakes, which was then held by the British. It also caused a delay of nearly a fortnight in the contemplated attack of Sackett's Harbour by Sir Isaac Brock, as he returned from Detroit to Fort George on the 24th August, and the cessation of the armistice waa not known at the latter post until the 4th September. This attack, how- ever, could have been still carried into effect, and it was only relinquished by express orders from the commander in chief. The armistice was doubt- less entered into as well from an error in judgment as from expectations which were not realized ; but as the official intelligence of the president's refusal to continue the suspension of hostilities reached Sir George Prevost, at Montreal, on the 30th August, — a day or two before Captain Glegg, with the dispatches of the capture of Detroit, — it is difficult to account for his motive (unless it were that assigned at page 15) in preventing the attempt on Sackett's Harbour, as proposed to him by Major-General Brock, through his gallant aid-de-camp, a meritorious and talented officer. The distance, by water, between Fort George and Kingston, riA York, is one hundred and eighty miles, and from Kingston to Snckett's Harbour only thirty-six miles, so that the destruction of the arsenal at the last named post could have been effected by the 1st of September, had not the armistice prevented it. Since the first memoir was printed, the editor has been informed by a provincial officer, who commanded the schooner Lady Prevost, of 14 guns, that on the 23d August he met Major-General Brock on Lake Erie, return- ing in the schooner Chippewa from the capture of Detroit, and, after saluting him with seventeen guns, he went on board the latter vessel, and gave the first intelligence of the armistice to the general, who, on hearing it, could not conceal his deep regret and mortification. — Ed. , ) : i - l< H i :H'^ ' L I V ■'. ? I lii ; 11 lii Hi: ,1 .ill life j i'i :i I'i '' ■i M ■1 144 SIR ISAAC BROCK. No. 9. Prr/ace to the Second Edition of Travels in Canada and the United States, in ISIG and 1817, by Lieutenant Francis Hall, Wth Liyht Dragoons, II. P. " Soon after the publication of these travels, the author received an anonymous communication, charging him with misrepresenting the conduct of the officer who succeeded Sir Isaac Jirock in the command of our forces in Upper Canada. The passages com- plained of are : the expression, (p. 227.,) that Tecumseh, after that general's death, ' found no kindred spirit with whom to act ; ' — the passages of Tecumseh's speech, quoted in the notej — and the expression he is said to have subsequently used, * Tell the dog,' &c. "The author regrets that this communication, (which was con- veyed in the most gentlemanly terms,) by being anonymous, left him no opening for private explanation, which he cannot but think would, on the whole, have proved more satisfactory than a discus- sion in print : as it is, it only remains for him to commit the litigated points to the judgment of the public. "The only insinuation intended to be conveyed by the terms ' no kindred spirit,' was, that the general who succeeded Sir Isaac Brock was inferior to him in talents, and was so considered by Tecumseh. This is mere matter of opinion ; but such as the author conceives every man is free to deliver, with respect to the conduct of an individual employed in a public capacity ; nor, however he may be unfortunate enough to differ in it from his correspondent, does he believe it would, by any means, be consi- dered a singular opinion by the officers who, at that time, served in Upper Canada. " With regard to the application of the passages quoted from Tecumseh's speech, the author conceives he cannot do better than make his readers the judges of it, by printing an entire copy of the speech, with which his correspondent has been kind enough to furnish him. " His correspondent denies that Tecumseh ever used the ex- pressions, ' Tell the dog,' &c. ; upon which the author cannot forbear observing, that, as he has stated no particular occasion on which they were used, it seeiu- "arcely possible his correspon- dent, unless he was never from >cumseh's side, can have the means of proving they were n ver uttered at all. The author conceives his authority on this ) jint to be such, as fully to warrant < V APPENDIX A. 145 the Unitrd MM Light tr received presenting jck in the ages com- iseh, after to act J ' — — and the J dog,' &c. . was con- mous, left but tliink 1 a discus- •mmit the the terms Sir Isaac idered by ^\i as the ct to the tyj nor, rom his De consi- served in ited from tter than py of the ijugh to the ex- cannot occasion rrespon- lave the author warrant him in believing his statement to be correct ; at the same time, he would be understood as drawing no conclusion fi-om it to the dispa- ragement of the officer in question : he quoted it merely to show the nature of the Indian chieftain's feelings, and the light in which he regarded measures, on the propriety of which the author wishes to be considered as stirring no controversy." Note. — ^The officer alluded to in the precedinp; preface was not Major- General Sheaffe, the successor of Sir Isiiac Brock, but tlie officer coinmiind- ing at Detroit, Amherstburgh, &c. The passages and speecli will be given in the notice of Tecuraseh. — Vide Post. — Ed. No. 10. Extracts from Howisons Sketches of Upper Canada. — London, 1821. " The village of Queenston is beautifully situated at the foot of a hill, and upon the side of the Niagara river, the bank of which is high and precipitous. The imagination is agreeably struck with the first view of the place. On one side of the village is a moun- tain covered with shrubbery and verdure ; — behind, a rich and cultivated plain extends backwards, which is bounded in every direction by luxuriant woods, while in front, the Niagara river glides in majestic stillness, and may be traced, with all its windings, till its waters are swallowed up in the vast expanse of Lake Ontario. The soil around Queenston consists chiefly of a red clay, the bright colour of which, upon the roads and declivities where it is exposed, forms a singular contrast, during summer, with the pure green of the trees and fields in the vicinity. " The narrowness of the river here, and its suitableness for a ferry, renders this one of the principal channels of communication between Upper Canada and the United States ; consequently, there is a continual interchange of waggons, cattle, passengers, &c. which makes Queenston rather more lively than it would otherwise be. However, all its external attractiveness depends upon the fineness of its situation. The buildings are irregular and inelegant j and an air of depression and inactivity pervades the whole place, to a degree I never saw equalled in any village of the same extent. " Queenston must infallibly acquire magnitude and importance when the province becomes populous and flourishing, for it is situated at the commencement of a portage, which never can be evaded by any improvement in the navigation, it being rendered necessary by the falls of Niagara ; therefore, all vessels containing goods and stores destined for the western parts of Upper Canada, K i i '< f [■! 146 SIR ISAAC BROCK. I.i.<:' must unload and leave their cargoes at Queenston, that they may be conveyed overland to Chippewa, where the Niagara river again becomes navigable. Even now, •. good deal of this carrying business goes on during the summer months. The north-west company forward a considerable quantity of stores to the Indian territories by this route, and the country merchants receive annual supplies of goods from Montreal, and send down po.K, flour, staves, and potash, in return. " The environs of Queenston arc beautifully picturesque and romantic, and nothing can be finer than the prospect up the Niagara river. Immediately above the village its channel narrows very much, and the banks rise to the height of three hundred feet perpendicular, while at the same time they become wilH and rocky, and are thickly covered with trees of various kinds. In some places they partly over-arch the river, and throw an appalling gloom upon its waters, now dashed into turbulence find impetuosity by the ruggedness of their sloping bed. It was night when I first view this scene, and as the moon gradually rose, she threw a broken light successively upon different portions of the stream, and some- times brought to view the foamy bosom of a rapid, at other times unveiled the struggling and heaving waters of a whirlpool, while the mingled roar, on all sides, excited a shuddering curiosity about those parts of the river that rolled along in darkness. " Over the precipice, on the summit of which I stood while I contemplated this scene, many of the American soldiers had rushed at the close of the battle of Queenston heights. They were so warmly pressed by our troops and the Indians, and had so little prospect of obtaining quarter from the latter, that a great number wildly flung themselves over the steep, and tried to save their lives by catching hold of the trees that grew upon it j but many were frightfully dashed to pieces by the rocks, and others who reached the river perished in their attempts to swim across it. Several, who had dropped among the cliffs without receiving any injury, were afterwards transfixed and killed by falling upon their own bayonets, while in the act of leaping from one spot to another. I almost imagined I saw these unfortunate men writhing in all the agonies of a protracted death, and gazing with envy at their companions, who were convulsively catching for breath among the sullen waters below. AVere the Canadians inclined to be superstitious, they could not select a more suitable place than this for the haunt and appearance of unearthly beings. The wildness of the scenery, the k*' APPENDIX A. 147 gloom of the clip's, and the melancholy incident I have just related, would subject Queenston heights to the suspicion of any people more under the influence of imagination than the Canadians are, and make them conjure up half a dozen bleeding sentinels at the top of the precipice every night after sunset. " At the ferry, the Niagara river is twelve hundred and fifty feet in breadth, and from two to three hundred in depth. The current is very rapid, and the wreathing and perturl)ed appearance of the water shews that its course is much impeded by the narrowness of the channel, which must be entirely composed of rocks ; for, other- wise, the continual and rapid attrition of such a large river as that which flows through it, would undermine and wear away the banks, and thus gradually enlarge and widen its course. I could not survey this noble stream witliout awe, when I contrasted it in the state in which it flowed before me, with the appearance it has when mingling with the ocean. I recollected having beat about the mouth of the St. Lawrence during two days, and having been alarmed by the prospect of shipwreck, while in the vessel that conveyed me to Lower Canada ; but now the waters which formed the dangerous gulf all passed silently before me, within the narrow limits occupied by the Niagara river. The St. Lawrence derives but a small pro- portion of its torrents from tributary streams, the Ottawa being the only river of great magnitude that joins it. The rivers Chaudi^re, Saguenai, Pepechaissinagau, IJlack River, &c., are trifling indeed, when compared with that into which they discharge themselves. " The Niagara river is subject to those periodical alterations in height, which, as I have already mentioned, occur in the lakes. This can be satisfactorily proved by the wharfs at Queenston, some of which are five feet higher above the surJ'ace of the river than they were in the year 1817, and also by the water marks left on the perpendicular sand banks near the ferry. " General Brock was killed at the battle of Queenston heights, and the place where he fell was pointed out to me. The Canadians hold the memory of this brave and excellent man in great venera- tion, but have not yet attempted to testify their respect for his virtues in any way, except by shewing to strangers the spot on which he received his mortal wound. He was more popular, and more beloved by the inhabitants of Upper Canada, than any man they ever had among them, and with reason ; for he possessed, in an eminent degree, those virtues which add lustre to bravery, and those talents that shine alike in the cabinet and in the field. His ' ( w \ I . 1 I i I i "1 JJ 148 SIR ISAAC BROCK. ' ). manners and dispositions were so conciliating as to gain the affec- tion of all whom he commanded, while his innate nobleness and dignity of mind secured him a respect almost amounting to venera- tion. He is now styled the Hero of Upper Canada, and, had he lived, there is no doubt but the war would have terminated very differently from what it did. The Canadian farmers are not over- burthened with sensibility, yet I have seen several of them shed tears when an eulogium was pronounced upon the immortal and generous-minded deliverer of their country. " General Brock was killed close to the road that leads through Queenston village, and an aged thorn bush now marks the place where he fell, whefi the fatal ball entered his vitals. This spot may be called classic ground, for a view of it must awaken in the minds of all those who duly appreciate the greatness of his cha- racter, and arc acquainted with the nature of his resources and exertions, feelings as warm and enthujiastic as the contemplation of monuments consecrated by antiquity can ever do. — Pages 70 to 76. " The prospect from the top of Queenston mountain is the finest and most extensive that Upper Canada affords, and, in an eminent degree, combines the beautiful and the magnificent. The wild and majestic precipices which engulf one part of the Niagara river, the windings and mirrored expanse of that noble body of water, the dim and undiscoverable extent of Lake Ontario, together with the verdant orchards, thick forests, and improved fields, glowing beneath a pure sky, collectively form a scene of admirable effect and composition. Even York, which is thirty-six miles distant, and lies very low, can be seen from the summit of this hill during clear weather. — Page 87. "The Detroit river, which connects Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, is forty miles long, and divides tha part of Canada, which it traverses, from the United States. Its banks are in many places thickly peopled, and in a high state of cultivation. The inhabitants here are chiefly French Canadians, who began to occupy the coun- try when Canada was still under the jurisdiction of France. They still retain that amenity of manners wJiich distinguishes them from the peasantry of most countries. The houses are so numerous and so close together upon the banks of the Detroit river, that there is the appearance of a succession of villages for more than ten miles. The farms are very narrow in front, and extend a great way back. The lots were laid out in this awkward and inconvenient form, that iheir respective occupants might be able to render one another APPENDIX A. 14!) Hssistiince wlien attacked by the Indians, wlio wero ul one time very numerous and troublesome in this part of the country. "The banks of the Detroit river arc 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 per- fection there, and exceed in si/c, 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 hun- dred miles below, and the w atlier is likewise drier and less variable. Comparatively little snow falls during the winter, though 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 j a cloud seldom obscures the sky } while the lakes and rivers, which extend in every direction, com- municate a reviving freshness to the air, and moderate the warmth of a dazzling suuj and the clearness and elasticity of the atmo- sphere render it equally healthy and exhilarating. '* About twenty miles down the Detroit river stands the village of Sandwich, which contains thirty or forty houses, and a neat church. Below this the soil becomes rather inferior in quality, being some- what cold and swampy. The settlement is likewise partial and circumscribed, and a tract of land six miles in length, which belongs to the Huron Indians, does not contain a single inhabitant. A little above the mouth of the Detroit river, and head of Lake Erie, is the town of Amherstburgh, which forms the most westerly settle- ment in the Upper Province. The population of this place amounts to more than a thousand souls, a proportion of whom are merchants, who derive support in the way of trade from the farmers residing upon the shores of Lake Erie. Many of the inhabitants of Am- herstburgh are persons of wealth and respectability, and the circle which they collectively compose is a more refined and agreeable one than is to be met with in any other village in the province. "The mouth of the Detroit river, in which there are several islands, forms a safe and commodious harbour. The river itself is navigable for vessels of any size ; and a chain of water communica- tion extends westward, without interruption, to the head of Lake 'I 150 SIR ISAAC nnocK. Superior, which is more than a thousand niiles distant from Lake Erie. The country nortli-west of Amherstburu;h being entirely uninhabited, except by tribes of wandering Indians, is but littii- known ; however, it wouhl appear that many parts of it are well adapted for agriculture." — Pages I!)!) to 202. I 1 No. II. " This chief of the branch of the once great tribe of the Ilurons visited England sonic time ago. I afterwards saw him in Quebec, and had a good deal of conversation with him. When asked what had struck him most of all that he had seen in England, he replied, without hesitation, that it was the monument erected in St. Paul's to the memory of General Brock. It seemed to have impressed him with a high idea of the considerate beneficence of his great father, the king of England, that he not only had remembered the exploits and death of his white child, who had fallen beyond the big salt lake, but that he had even deigned to record, on the marble sepulchre, the sorrows of the poor Indian weeping over his chief untimely slain." — Hon. F. F. I)e Itoos' Travels in North America, in 1826. No. 12. "To Colonel Brock, of the 49th, who commanded at the fort, I am particularly indebted for his kindness to me during the fort- night I remained at Niagara. Among many pleasant days which I passed with him and his brother officers, that of our visit to the Tuscorora Indians was not the least interesting. They received us in all their ancient costume ; the young men exhibited for our amusement in the race, the bat game, &c., while the old and the women sat in groups under the surrounding trees, and the picture altogether was as beautiful as it was new to me." — Note in Moore's Epistles, Odes, SfC. "At Queenston the battle was fought in which General Brock fell, and the inhabitants point out a thorn bush at the bottom of the heights, where it is said that he received his mortal wound. His career was a short but a brilliant one ; and had the direction of the affairs of the Upper Province, after his death, been charac- terized by an equal degree of courage, prudence, and humanity, a very different series of subsequent events would have claimed the attention of the historian." — Duncans Travels in the United States and Canada, in 1818 and 1819. h ' AIM'KNDIX A. \'}\ from Laki- ig entirely i but little- it arc well he Ilurons in Quebec, isked what he replied, St. Paul's impressed ' his great d)ered the eyond the ;he marble ' his chief ! America, the fort, the fort- s which I sit to the ceived us for our 1 and the e picture 1 Moore s al Brock ottom of wound, direction charac- nanity, a med the ?d States "('lose to the spot where we landed in Canada there stands a monument to the gallant (ieneral l»r(»ck, who was killed during the battle of Qucenston, in the act (»f repelling an invasion of tiiu frontier by the Americans, during the late war The view from the top of the monument extended far over Lake Ontario, and showed us the windings of the Niagara, through the low and woody country which hangs like a rich green fringe along the southern skirts of that great sheet of water." — Captain Basil I lull's Travels in North Amnrica, in 1827 and 1828. Travelling in the state of New York, the author observes : "'J'he late Sir Isaac Brock was, by some accident, mentioned. The canal agent spoke of him in terms of great respect, as the best com- mander the British had ever sent to Canada, — equally regretted on both sides of the St. Lawrence "From Niagara Falls we proceeded by the stage first to Queer- ston, (seven miles,) near which a monument has been erected to the memory of Sir Lsaac Brock, from the top of which, about one hundred and twenty feet high, there is a noble view of Lake Ontario and the adjoining country, and thence to the villaj. (if Newark, (seven miles,) formerly called Fort George, on the Ni \gar:! river." — Stuart's Three Years in America. " Immediately above Queenston stands Brock's monument, on the heights where the battle was fought in which that hero was killed. His body was removed to it from Fort George in 1824. The view from tliis fine column is probably the most beautiful in Upper Canada. — M'Gregors British America, Vol. II. "Seven miles south of Fort George, and at the foot of the romantic heights of the same name, which have become famous in Canadian history as the scene of a battle when "n General Brock fell, is the village of Queenston, pleasantly situaiv '.I v xi the Niagara, and opposite to the American village of Lewiston. The monument, built to the memory of the gallant general and his companions, on the loftiest part of these heights, forms a prominent object to the numerous voyageurs who are constantly arriving at this portage, in elegantly fitted up steam boats, from York and Kingston, to view the neighbouring falls of the Niagara. The village contains a church, court house, large government stores, and a population of between four hundred and five hundred inhabitants." — The Canadas, by Andrew Picken. M I I. I 152 SIR ISAAC BROCK. i ! m. ill »i • No. 13. "Leaving a garrison in Detroit sufficiently strong to keep the inhabitants in awe. General Brock lost no time in leaving the con- quered post and hastening to Niagara, — a command he had only relinquished for the purpose of undertaking an achievement which the gallantry and determination of his character could alone have Crowned with such unqualified success "The month of October was marked by an event of the most melancholy nature, — the death of General Brock, who fell a victim to the intrepidity and daring of his character The loss of their leader, however, cast a gloom over every English brow, and an advantage thus purchased was deemed at too high a price. General Brock was beloved by the soldiery, particularly the 49th, of which he had long been lieutenant-colonel, and the indignation of their grief for his loss cost the Americans many a life on that day, that had otherwise been spared. At Amherstburg, the account of his death was received with heartfelt concern, and not a man was there of those he had lately led to victory who failed to pay that tribute to his memory, which the gallantry and magnanimity of this glorious chief were so every way calculated to awaken in the breast of the soldier." — 'A Canadian Campaign,' by a British Officer, in the New Monthly Magazine for December, 1826, and February, 1827. No. 14. " Immediately opposite the town of Prescott, on the shore of the United States, is the town of Ogdensburg ; and twelve miles higher up, on the Canadian shore, stands the delightful village of Brockville, so called in honor of the late lamented Sir Isaac Brock. This enchanting little spot unites in its situation every beauty of nature. In front of it flows the river St. Lawrence, interspersed with numerous islands, variously formed and thickly wooded ; behind it is an assemblage of small hills, rising one above another in 'gay theatric pride;' and on each side are a number of well cleared farms, in an advanced state of cultivation. Every thing combines to render it pre-eminently beautiful. The dwellings are built of wood, and tastefully painted ; and the court house, in an elevated situation at the back of the village, seems, from its superior size, to be the guardian of the villagers, — an idea of my fancy, which I did not seek to confirm by entering within its doors. Brockville contains four hundred and fifty souls. It has a par- W i APPENDIX A. 153 keep the J the con- had only jnt which lone have the most 1 a victim he loss of row, and a price, the 49th, dignation i on that e account ot a man d to pay ;nanimity vaken in a British i26, and re of the ve miles illage of 3 Brock. eauty of rspersed /^ooded J another of well thing ngs are in an uperior fancy, doors. a par- sonage house, but no church has hitherto been erected." — Five Years in Canada, by E. A. Talbot. Note. — Brockville was originally named Elizabpth Town in compliniont to the general's mother, and the township or county, in which the village is situated, is still called Elizabeth. — Ed. No. 15. Extract from a Description of St. Pauls Cathedral. " In the western ambulatory of the south transept is a tabular monument to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, by the same artist (Westmacott). " A military monument, on which are placed the sword and helmet of the deceased ; a votive record, supposed to have been raised by his companions to their honored commander. " His corpse reclines in the arms of a British soldier, whilst an Indian pays the tribute of regret his bravery and humanity elicited. ERECTED AT THE PUBLIC EXPENSE TO THE MEMORY OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, WHO GLORIOUSLY FELL ON THE 13th OF OCTOBER, M.DCCC.XIJ. IN RESISTING AN ATTACK ON QUEENSTOWN, IN UPPER CANADA. No. 16. "Anniversary of the Battle of Queenston, and the Re-interment of the late much -lamented Major- General Sir Isaac Brock. " There is something so grand and imposing in the spectacle of a nation's homage to departed worth, which calls for the exercise of so many interesting feelings, and which awakens so many sublime contemplations, that we naturally seek to perpetuate the memory of an event so pregnant with instruction, and so honorable to our species. It is a subject that in other and in older countries has frequently exercised the pens, and has called forth all the descriptive powers of the ablest writers.* But here it is new ; and for the first * It is impossihlc here to forget (however different were the circumstances and character of the two warriors) that fine passage by the splendid historian 1 '/ ! 1 r } ft i|r 1" i 'I ill I I I! i 5! ' jK 1 I "i m 154 SIR ISAAC BROCK. time, since we became a separate province, have we seen a great public funeral procession of all ranks of people, to the amount of several thousands, bearing the remains of two lamented heroes to their last dwelling on earth, in the vaults of a grand national monument, overtopping the loftiest heights of the most magnificent section of one of the most magnificent countries in the world. "The 13th of October, being the anniversary of the battle of Queenston, and of the death of Brock, was judiciously chosen as the most proper day for the removal of the remains of the general, together with those of his gallant aid-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel M'Donell, to the vaults prepared for their reception on Queenston heights, t " The weather was remarkably fine, and before ten o'clock a very large concourse of people, from all parts of the country, had assembled on the plains of Niagara, in front of Fort George, in a bastion of which the bodies had been deposited for twelve years. X " One hearse, covered with black cloth, and drawn by four black horses, each with a leader, contained both the bodies. Soon after ten, a lane was formed by the 1st and 4th regiments of Lincoln militia, with their right on the gate of Fort George, and their left extending along the road towards Queenston, the ranks being about forty paces distant from each other : within this line was formed a guard of honor of the 76th regiment, in parade order, having its left on the fort. As the hearse moved slowly from the fort, to the sound of solemn music, a detachment of royal artillery began to fire the salute of nineteen guns, and the guard of honor presented arms. "On moving forwards in ordinary time, the guard of honor of Rome, wherein he iiniiiortulizes the deatli and funeral of the ferocious Attila, in lan<^ua^'e at once musical and sublime, and which is probably without an equal in the whole range of English literature: "His body was solemnly exposed in the midst of the plain, under a silken pavilion; and the chosen squadrons of the Huns, wheeling round in measured evolutions, chaunted a funeral song to the memory of a hero, glorious in his life, invinci- ble in his death, the fa'ier of his people, the scourge of his enemies, and the terror of the world." t The monument itself is not yet finished ; we shall therefore defer our description of the edifice until it is completed. t It is remarkable that, on inspecting the remains, the body of Colonel M*Donell was found to be almost entirely decomposed,— whilst that of the general was still fiini and nearly entire ; some of the flesh and lineaments of his martial countenance being yet visible. APPENDIX A. 155 * Vf I' en a great imount of heroes to I national lagnificent 3rld. battle of chosen as e general, it-Colonel iueenston )ck a very ntry, had orge, in a years. I four black ^oon after f Lincoln and their nks being line was de order, Tom the artillery of honor of honor ferocious probably body was ; and the evolutions, e, invinci- s, and tlie defer our f Colonel lat of the anients of broke into a column of eight divisions, with the right in front, and the procession took the following order : — \ Staff Officer. i i',1>''jvision of Grenadiers'. Band of Music. Riglit Wing- of 7(jtli Regiment. THE BODY. Aid-de-Camp to the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. Chief Mourners. Relatives of the late Colonel M'Donelf.. Commissioners for the Monument. Heads of Public Departments of the Civil tJovernment. Judges. Members of the Executive Council. His Excellency and Suite. Left Wing of the 7(>th Regiment. Indian Chiefs of the Five Nations. Officers of Militia not on duty — junior ranks — First forwsxvd, Four deep. Magistrates and Civilians, With a long Cavalcade of Horsemen, and Carriages of every description. "As the procession passed along the lane of militia, the latter wheeled inwards by subdivisions in succession, as soon as its own front was clear, and followed the procession. At a certain distance from Fort George the quick march was taken up, and arms were sloped ; the members of the procession then took their carriages, preserving as nearly as possible the order above mentioned, and the whole proceeded on the road to Queenston. The 2d and 3d regi- ments of Lincoln militia, in like manner, formed a lane, its left resting on the heights, near the entrance to the monument, and extending along the road towards the village of Queenston. On reaching the commencement of this lane, the procession resumed its formation, all horses, carriages, &c., keeping in the rear ; and when the head of the column approached the monument, it inclined to the right, to allow the body to proceed direct to the entrance. The guard of honor then halted and formed in parade order ; the 2d and 3d Lincoln regiments following the procession in like manner as the 1st and 4th. "The time occupied in moving from the fort to Queenston, a distance of nearly seven miles, was about three hours, including stoppages, lieing arrived opposite the spot where the lamented hero received liis mortal wound, the whole procession halted, and remained for a few minutes in solemn pause. It then ascended the ! I \ It M i ifl f U M iJ , 'Pi M^f 156 SIR ISAAC BROCK. heights, and to the spectator who had his station on the summit near the monument, nothing could be finer than the effect of the lengthened column winding slowly up the steep ascent in regular order, surrounded by scenery no where surpassed for romantic beauty. On the bodies being removed from the hearse and depo- sited in the vault, the guard of honor presented arms, whilst the artillery, (which had been taken from the enemy daring the last war,) posted on the heights, fired a salute of nineteen guns. The troops then marched in ordinary time round the monument, and immediately separated to their respective parades. "All those who were inclined to visit the interior of the vault were then permitted to enter in small parties. The remains of the brave M'Donell lie to the left of those of the general. On the general's coffin, which is otherwise quite plain and covered with black cloth, are two oval plates of silver, each six inches ^y four, one above the other. On the first is the following inscription : — Here lie the earthly remains of a brave and virtuous hero, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, Commander of the British Forces, and President administeriag the Government of Upper Canada, who fell when gloriously engaging the enemies of his country, at the head of the Flank Companies of the 49th Regiment, in the town of Queenston, on the morninr' of the 13th of October, 1812, Aged 42 years. J. B. GLEGG, A. D. C. And on the second plate the following additional inscription is " ■ The remains of the late Major-Oeneral Sir Isaac Brock, K. B. removed from Fort George to this vault, on the 13th of October, 1824. Upon a similar plate, on the lid of the aid-de-camp's coffin, was ° ■ The remains of Lieut.-Col. John M'Donell, Provincial Aid-de-Camp to the late Major -General Brock, who died on the 14th of October, 1812, of wounds received in action the day before, Aged 25 years. APPENDIX A. 157 " Several printed papers, having the following extract from the government dispatches of the day, were handed about : [See dispatch from Earl Bathurst to Sir George Prevost, pp. 21, 22.— Ed.] " Besides which, on large placards, to the number of several hun- dreds, copies of the inscription to be placed on the tablet, over the entrance of the monument, were distributed amongst the assembled multitudes, and which is as follows : — "The Legislature of Upper Canada has dedicated this Monument to llio very eminent civil and military services of the late Sir Isaac Brock, Knight of the Most Hon. Order of the Bath, Provisional Lieutenant-Governor, and Mtyor-General commanding the Forces in this Province, whose remains are deposited in the vault beneath. Having expelled the North Western Army of the United States, achieved its capture, received the surrender of Fort Detroit, and the territory of Michigan, under circumstances which have rendered his name illustrious, he returned to the protection of this frontier ; and advancing with his small force to repel a second invasion of the enemy, then in possession of these heights ; he fell in action, on the 13th of Octo- ber, 1812, in the forty-third year of his age, honoured and beloved by the people whom he governed, and deplored by his Sovereign, to whose service his life had been devoted." I '/ (I ( (' i RKMARKS. "By the best computation we could make, and avoiding all exaggeration, at the time the procession reached the monument there could not be leas than five thousand persons present, many of whom were from the United States. General Brock, indeed, was a man no less esteemed by the enemy than he was admired and almost adored by his friends and soldiery ; and we heard several Americans say, who had served against him and saw him fall, that they lamented his death as much as they would have done that of any of their own generals, on account of his humanity, and the great attention he had uniformly shewn to his prisoners. " His excellency the lieutenant-governor (Major- General Sir Peregrine Maitland, K. C. B.) was in full dress, and, we are happy to say, appeared in good health after his late fatiguing journey of inspection to the Lower Province. The two M'Donells and Captain Dickinson, of the 2d Glengarry regiment, relatives of the deceased Lieut. -Colonel M'Donell, in the highland costume, appeared in the procession to great advantage, and seemed to excite much attention. " But, amongst the assembled warriors and civilians, none excited a more lively interest than the chiefs of tlie Indian nations from the Grand River, whose warlike appearance, intrepid aspect, pic- •ii> t i, ! 158 SIR ISAAC BROCK. tnresque dress and ornaments, and majestic demeanour, accorded well with the solemn pomp and general character of a military pro- cession — amongst these, young Brant, Bears Foot, and Henry, were distinguished. In our mind we never saw a dress more elegant of its kind, and fit for active service in the woods, than that worn by young IJrant, who, with his tomahawk in hand, was a perfect resemblance of all that could be imagined of the accomplished Indian warrior. " Amongst the numerous gentlemen in the procession, we ob- served that old veteran, Lieutenant M'Dougall, of his Majesty's 8th, or king's regiment, who, like a brave and loyal man, came from Sandwich to attend the re-interment." — Upper Canada Gazette, October, 1824. SECTION II. — AMERICAN AUTHORS. No. 1. Extracts from Niks' Weekly Register, Baltimore, 1812. " Extract of a letter fi'om a gentleman at Detroit to his friend in Pittsburg, dated July 7, 1812. — 'General Hull is making prepara- tions to cross the river this evening or to-morrow, and it is expected that an immediate attack is contemplated on Maiden (Amherst- burg) . The works of that place are not very strong, but they are well defended with artillery, having, I am told, forty pieces mounted and above two hundred regulars, with all the militia they can collect, the number not known : there is no doubt but there will be hard fighting before the place is taken. The army are all in health and good spirits, and wait with a: \iety to be put on the other shore : they are certainly as fine looking men as ever I saw.' "We have several reports of the capture of Fort INIalden, or Amherstburg. General Hull has sent expresses to the governor of Ohio and Kentucky for further supplies of troops, supposed for the purpose of maintaining the ground he may take, and to keep the allies in check. We trust he may religiously adhere to his procla- mation, whatever General Brock may say, and give no quarters to the white savages when found fighting by the side of the Indians, for whose extensive murders, on so many parts of our frontier, the British should be made responsible. "September f). — We have this week to announce a signal cala- mity, — General Hull, with the whole north western army, consisting m APPENDIX A, 1 ;■)!) \ < of two thousand five hundred men, witli twenty-five j)ie('es of cannon, has surrendered ta the Hritish and Indians, conunanded by Major-Generul lirock, idthout a buttle, — without any apparent effort to maintain the honor of his country. "As yet this lamentable transaction is involved in mystery. Our army appears to have been well supplied with all sorts of stores, — to have had an abundance of provisions, with every muni- tion of war, — and the liritish force (without taking into view the advantages that might have been expected from the strong fortifi- cations at Detroit) seems inferior in point of numbers to the troops under General Hidl. We are lost in astonishment on reflecting on this disaster, — how it has been brought about is yet incomprehen- sible ; a strange misfortune, mighty error, or horrid treason has befallen us ; but as we are uninformed of the particulars, it is right to suspend our opinion until the facts shall appear, all of which shall be carefully recorded. " The western papers, and private letters from that quarter, abound with the severest animadversions on General Hull, — charg- ing him with incompetency, or insinuating something worse. This is also surprising, for few men ever entered upon a command with greater popularity than that gentleman. " Extracts of a letter from Colonel Lewis Cass, 3d regiment Ohio volunteers, to the Honorable William Eustis, secretary of war, dated Washington, September 10, 1812. — 'Sir, having been or- dered on to this place by Colonel M'Arthur, for the purpose of communicating to the government such particulars respecting the expedition lately commanded by Brigadier-General Hull, and its disastrous result, as might enable them correctly to appreciate the conduct of the officers and men, and to develope the causes which produced so foul a stain upon the national character, I have the honor to submit for your consideration the following statement : — " ' When the forces landed in Canada, they landed with an ardent zeal and stimulated with the hope of conquest. No enemy appeared within view of us ; and had an immediate and vigorous attack been made upon Maiden, it would doubtless have fallen an easy victory The plan of attacking Maiden was abandoned, and instead of acting offensively we broke up our camp, evacuated Canada, and re-crossed the river in the night, without even the shadow of an enemy to injure us. We left to the tender mercy of the enemy the miserable Canadians who had joined us, and the protection we afforded them was but a passport to vengeance I GO SIR ISAAC BROCK. I) If On the 13th (August) the British took up a position oj)posite to Detroit, and began to throw up works. During that and the two following days, they pursued their object without interruption, and established a battery for two eighteen pounders and an eight-inch howitzer. About sunset on the 14th, a detachment of three hun- dred and fifty men, from the regiments commanded by Colonel M'Arthur and myself, was ordered to march to the river Raisin, to escort the provisions which had some time remained there, pro- tected by a party under the command of Captain Brush. '"On Saturday the l.'ith, about one o'clock, a flag of truce arrived from Sandwich, bearing a summons from General Brock for the surrender of the town and fort of Detroit, stating he could no longer restrain the fury of the savages. To this an immediate and spirited refusal was returned. About four o'clock their batteries began to play upon the town.' The fire was returned, and conti- nued without interruption, and with little effect, till dark. Their shells were thrown till eleven o'clock. " ' At daylight the firing on both sides recommenced ; about the same time the enemy began to land troops at the Springwells, three miles below Detroit, protected by two of their armed vessels. Between six and seven o'clock they had effected their landing, and immediately took up their line of march. They moved in a close column of platoons, twelve in front, upon the bank of the river. " * The 4th regiment was stationed in the fort ; the Ohio volun- teers and a part of the Michigan militia behind some pickets, in a situation in which the whole flank of the enemy would have been exposed. The residue of the Michigan militia were in the upper part of the town, to resist the incursions of the savages. Two twenty-four pounders, loaded with grape shot, were posted on a commanding eminence, ready to sweep the advancing column. In this situation the superiority of our position was apparent, and our troops, in the eager expectation of victory, awaited the approach of the enemy When the head of their column arrived within about five hundred yards of our line, orders were received from General Hull for the whole to retreat to the fort, and for the twenty-four pounders not to open on the enemy. One universal burst of indignation was apparent upon the receipt of this order. Those, whose conviction was the deliberate result of a dispassionate examination of passing events, saw the folly and impropriety of crowding eleven hundred men into a little work, which three hun- dred could fully man, and into which the shot and shells of the APPENDIX A. 161 enemy were falling. The fort was in this manner filled ; the men were directed to stack their arms, and scarcely was an opportunity aftbrded of moving. Shortly after a white flag was hung out upon the walls. A British officer rode up to inquire the cause Our morning report had that morning made our effective men, present fit for duty, ten hundred and sixty, without including the detachment before alluded to, and without including three hundred of the Michigan militia on duty. About dark on Saturday evening, the detachment, sent to escort the provisions, received orders from General Hull to return with as much expedition as possible. About ten o'clock the next day they afiived within sight of Detroit. Had a firing been heard, or any resistance visible, they would have im- mediately advanced and attacked the rear of the enemy. The situation in which this detachment was placed, although the result of accident, was the best for annoying the enemy, and cutting off his retreat, that could have been selected. With his raw troops enclosed between two fires, and no hopes of succour, it is hazarding little to say that very few would have escaped. ** * 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 ten hundred and thirty. 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 seven hundred. The number of Indians could not 'e 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 ad- vantage 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 eighteen hundred 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. ^Vhether 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 ■ I i > .i, i ;, i i".l 162 SIR ISAAC BROCK. i 1 event, would have been brilliant and successful as it is now disas- trous and dishonorable. I have the honor to be,' C, at the age of about twenty- one years, I was appointed a captain in one of the Connecticut regiments ; during that campaign, and until INIarch, I / 7(i, when the enemy evacuated Boston, I served with the army at Cambridge and Roxbury, and in the immediate commatul of (Jeneral Wash- ington. I was with that part of the army, in March, I77'>, which took possession of Dorchester heights ; the movement which com- pelled the enemy to evacuate Boston. The next duv , the regiment to which I belonged marched for New York. I was on Long Island when the enemy landed, and remained until the night the whole army retreated. I was in several small skirmishes, both on Long Island and York Island, before the army retired to the White Plains. I then belonged to Colonel Charles Webb's regiment, of Connecticut, " This regiment was in the severest part of the action on Chat- terdon's Hill, a little advanced of the White Plains, a k\\ days after the main body of the army abandoned New York. This battle is memorable in the history of our country, and the regiment to which I belonged received the particular thanks of General Washington, in his public orders, for its braTcry and good conduct on the occasion. It was particularly distinguished from all the other troops engaged in the action. I received a slight wound by a musket ball in my side, but it did not prevent me from remaining at the head of my company. " I was in the battle of Trenton, when the Hessians were taken in December, 177C, and being one of the youngest captains in the army, was promoted by General Washington the day after the battle, to a majority, for my coiuluct on that occasion. The 1st of January, 1777, I was in the battle of Princeton. In the campaign of the same year, the regiment to which I belonged served in the northern army. I was early in the spring ordered to Ticonderoga, and commanded the regiment (being the senior officer present) under General St. Clair, and I was with that officer in his retreat from that post. " After General St. Clair's army formed a junction with General Schuyler's army on the North River, at Fort Edward, the regiment to which I belonged was detached, and marched to Fort Schuyler, and relieved that post, which was besieged by General St. Leger. '! 1. i 164 SIR ISAAC BROCK. > l> i: "On the retrofit of (ieneral Schuyler's nrmy froni ' t-.' Kdward, I conimiinded the rear miarti of the army, unci, being t, aiiles in the rear, was attacked by a hirge body of British troops and Indians at daylight in the morning, in which action were killed and wounded between thirty and forty of my guard. And I received the parti- cular thanks of General Schuyler for my conduct r)n the occasion. "I was in the two memorable battles, on the 19th of Septen»ber and the 7th of October, on Hemis' heights, against General Jiur- goyne's army, previous to its surrender. In the action of the 1 9th of September, I commanded a detachment of three hundred men, who fought the principal part of the afternoon, and more than one half of them were killed or wounded. "On the 7th of October, I likewise commanded a detachment from the brigade which assisted in attacking the enemy on the left of our position, defeated him, followed him to the right of his lines, stormed his entrenchments, and took and held possession of the right of his position, which compelled him to retreat to Saratoga, and there to capitulate. " After the memorable event of the capitulation of General Bur- goyne's army, the regiment to which I belonged was ordered to Pennsylvania, to join the army under the command of General Washington. I remained with the army the winter of 1777, at Valley Forge ; and in the spring of 1778, when the British army evacuated Philadelphia, I was in the battle of Monmouth. "From December, 1778, to May, 1779, I commanded the Ame- rican posts in advance of the White Plains, near Kingsbridge, during which time I had various skirmishes with the enemy. In May, 1779, the principal part of the British army advanced up the North River to ^■erplank's and Stoney Point, and I was ordered to retreat before them to West Point. " I then joined the light infantry, under the command of General Wayne, and was in the memorable attack on Stoney Point, with a separate command of four hundred light infantry. "For my conduct on this occasion I received the particular thanks of General Wayne, General Washington, and congress. " In the summer and autumn of 1 780, 1 commanded the advanced posts of the army, and in December of that year, I commanded an expedition against the enemy, stationed at Morrissina, which was successful, and for which I received the thanks of General Wash- ington, in his general orders to the army, and likewise the thanks of congress. General Washington, in his orders, I well remember, u^ APPENDIX A. I or. tnude u.sc of these words: 'lie thanked nic for my Judicious ar> ran^cments in the plan of operations, and for my intrepidity and vahmr in the execution.' "From the conchision of the revohitionary war I have lived with the respect of my countrymen, and have enjoyed repeated marks of their confidence in the otFices which have been bestowed upon me. When I found that the independence, for which I had so often fougiit, was assailed, — that again my country must appeal to arms to avenge her wrongs, and to protect her rights, — I felt that I might yet do her some service. For though many years had passed since I had fought under her standard, and though my own arm might not have had its wonted strength, yet my spirit was un- broken, and my devotion to her unimpaired. I thought in the field, where there could be but few who had any military expe- rience, what I had learned in the most active scenes of a seven years' war, might be useful. I fondly hoped that in ray age, as well as in my youth, I might render services that should deserve the gratitude of my country. That if I fell by the sword of her enemies, my grave would be moistened with the tears of my coun- trymen ; that my descendants would be proud of my name and fame. But how vain is anticipation ! I am now accused of crimes which would blast my former honors, and transmit my memory with infamy to posterity. And in that hideous catalogue, there is none from the imputation of which my nature and my feelings have more recoiled than from that of cowardice^ to which I am to answer." "The appearance of General Hull was venerable and prepossessing. Beneath snowy locks, of sixty winters' bleaching, he exhibited a counte- nance as fresh and blooming as a youth of eighteen. His eloquence was perspicuous and graceful." — American History' \ No. 3. Letter from Captain Wool to Colonel Van Rensselaer. "Buffaloe, Oct. 23, 1812. " Dkar Sir, — I have the honour to communicate to you the circumstances attending the storming of Queenstown battery, on the 1 3th instant; with those which happened previously you are already well acquainted. " In pursuance of your order, we proceeded round the point and ascended the rocks, which brought us partly in rear of the 166 SIR ISAAC BROCK. 1 t il ii'; '^1 p I battery. We took it without much resistance. I immediately formed the troops in rear of the battery, and fronting the village, when I observed General Brock with his troops formed, consisting of four companies of the 49th regiment, and a few militia, marching for our left flank. I immediately detached a party of one hundred and fifty men, to take possession of the heights above Queen stown battery, and to hold General lirock in check ; but in consequence of his superior force they retreated. I sent a reinforcement ; notwithstanding which, the enemy drove us to the edge of the bank : when, with the greatest exertions, we brought the troops to a stand, and ordered the oflicers to bring their men to a charge as soon as the ammunition was expended, which was executed with some confusion, and in a few moments the enemy retreated. We pursued them to the edge of the heights, when Colonel M'Donell had his horse shot from under him, and himself was mortally wounded. In the interim. General Brock, in attempting to rally his forces, was killed, when the enemy dispersed in every direction. As soon as it was practicable, I frtrmed the troops in a line on the heights fronting the village, and immediately detached flanking parties, which consisted of Captain Machesney, of the 6th regiment. Lieutenant Smith and Ensign Grosvenor, with a small detachment of riflemen, who had that moment arrived ; at the same time, I oi'dered Lieutenant Ganesvoort and Lieutenant Randolph, with a detacliment of artillery, to drill out an eighteen pounder which had been previously spiked, and if possible to bring it to bear upon the village. The wounded and prisoners I ordered to be collected, and sent to the guard-house. About this time, which was about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, Lieut. -Colonel Christie arrived, and took the command. He ordered me across the river to get my wounds dressed. I remained a short time. Our flanking parties had been driven in by the Indians ; but General Wadsworth and other oflicers arriving, we had a short skirmish with them, and they retreated, and I crossed the river. " The officers engaged in storming the battery, were Captains Wool and Ogilvie ; Lieutenants Kearney, Hugouin, Carr, and Simmons, of the 43d regiment ; Lieutenants Ganesvoort and Randolph, of the light artillery, and Major Lush, of the militia. " I recommend to your particular notice Lieutenants Randolph, Carr, and Kearney, for their brave conduct exhibited during the whole of the action. I have the honour to be," &c. o is r( APPENDIX A. 167 Note.— Captain Wool, in stating that he was opposed lo lour conipanirs of tlie 49th, only douhled the number of companies ; but tliis exaggeration is a trifle compared with the following gross and hudihrasfie mis-statements, relative to the battle of Qiieenston in " Ramsay's History of the United States," viz: — "The 4!)th British regiment, signalized in Egypt under Colonel, since Lieut. -General, Brock, and usually e;illed the " Egy])tiau Invincibles," was among the prominent corps, and was led by its favorite commander. In the second engagement, this regiment of British regulars, six huiulred strong, encountered a body of three Inmdred and twenty American regulars, supjjorted by a few militia an{l volunteers, the whole under Colonel Chrystie. They mutually resorted to the bayonet, and after a bloody conflict, the famous invincibles yielded to the superior energy of tlieir antagonists, although the latter were so far inferior in numbers. They were rallied by Lieut.-General Brock, who was killed in conducting them a second time to the charge. The American prisoners were kindly treated by this brave regiment, who, after the battle was over, acknowledged they had never opjjosed more gallant adversaries."— The 4!)th, not having been with the British army in Egypt, could not be called the " Egyptian Invincibles," and instead of this regiment, six hundred strong, being led by Major (not Lieutenant) General Brock, only the flank companies were present, with a small body of militia, together about three hundred men. In fact, the head quarters of the 49th were at Kingston, one hundred and eighty miles distant, with, we believe, the whole of the battalion companies ; and therefore, the assertion that the "famous invincibles" yielded to far inferior numbers, is something worse than ridiculous. Such, however, is the correctness of this American historian on the subject, and with such materials is history too often compiled. — Ed. I, No. 4. Extract from Jefferson s Correspondence. — Monticello, Oct. 1, 1812. " I fear that Hull's surrender has been more than the mere loss of a year to us. Beside^ bringing on us the whole mass of savage nations, whom fear, and not affection, had kept in quiet, there is danger, that in giving time to an enemy who can send reinforce- ments of regulars faster than we can raise them, ihey may strengthen Canada and Halifax beyond the assailmcnt of our lax and divided powers. Perhaps, however, the patriotic efforts from Kentucky and Ohio, by recalling the British force to its upper posts, may yet give time to Dearborn to strike a blow below. Effectual possession of the river from Montreal to the Chaudiere, which is practicable, would give us the upper country at our leisure, and close for ever the scenes of the tomahawk and scalping knife." APPENDIX B. t : f No. 1. Postscript of the 'Courier.' — London, July 25, 1826. "The following extract of a letter was this morning received at Lloyd's. It is dated Malta, June 26, and gives an account of a serious affray between his Majesty's frigate Sybille and some Greek pirates in the Mediterranean, attended with a considerable loss of life on both sides. These daring outrages must at once be put an end to, and the perpetrators of them signally punished. If the Greek government have the power to restrain them, it is at once their interest and their duty to do so ; but, : t all events, our own government will take prompt and decisive measures for protecting the British flag, as well as British lives and property. " ' The Sybille frigate arrived here on Saturday, after having had a serious affair with two Greek pirates off Candia, the crews of which got on shore and attacked the Sybille's boats with such im- petuosity, that twelve officers and men were killed, and twenty-nine wounded ; of the latter an officer, Lieutenant Tupper, and three men have died since their arrival here. The first lieutenant, Gordon, had three balls lodged in him, and a midshipman, Mr. Edmonstone, had his chin shot away; another midshipman, and, I believe, the assistant-surgeon, were killed in the engagement. " ' The pirate vessels were destroyed, and a great number of the pirates killed. " ' The piracies in the Levant have become most alarming, for the Greeks attack all vessels, and frequently maltreat the crews.' " if. ' No. 2. Extract from the Postscript of the Guernsey ' Star.'— July 31, 1826. " The sympathy that the Greek cause has excited in England is spreading rapidly in France, but in reality one half the Greeks are not worth saving : the robberies and murders they have lately committed will prove this assertion. But what will the brave Miaulis feel when he sees that some of his desperate countrymen APPENDIX B. 109 have destroyed a Tapper, a name to which he is so much indebted ? There is little doubt but that the Greeks are harassed and driven to desperation, but they ought to respect every thing that is English." No. 3. Extract from " IVhychcottc of St. John's." — 2 vols., London, 1834. After some favorable notices of the late Captain Honorable Sir Robert Spencer, then commanding the Naiad frigate, on the Medi- terranean station, the author proceeds : — " Though it is rather difficult, in a time of such complete inacti- vity, actually to ' distinguish one's self,' yet it is somewhat singular, that more marked and decisive characters should not display them- selves on the arena of a large station such as the Mediterranean. On looking back to those most prominent at this period, there were few who stood forth in any particular position which pointed them out from the general run of their profession. Sir Samuel, then Captain, Pechell, of the Sybil, was among the few, — nay, he was almost the sole exception. He was on intimate terms with Sir Robert Spencer, whose character his somewhat resembled. Like Sir Robert, he had his caprices and prejudices ; and, like St. Vincent, he could shew the wrong side of his tongue occasionally ; but he was noted for being a smart officer, and having his crew under admirable discipline. Add to this, the gunnery of the Naiad and of the Sybil were among the boasts of the station. " Sir Samuel had some fantastic notions about the aristocracy of naval officers, but this did not prevent him froni f;iN^ing a severe lesson to a certain Captain , son rf Sir T. B , hen serving on board his ship as a junior lieutenant, wlio had I^e. ji ^.'romoted while a beardless boy, over the heads of many old iiud experienced officers, through the overwhelming interest o " his indeta^igable parent. As the story then ran, it appeared i-u; (nis youth was an ignorant of his profession and as unequal to his du*;y as any young gentleman 'promoted through friendship' could possibly desire. Sir Samuel, justly indignant, refused to allow the lieutenant to take charge of the w'atch, which it was h.'s proper office to keep, and promoted to the trust the mate of the lower deck, a passer', mid- shipman ; while the lieutenant received orders to carry into exef'u- tion a subordinate task. Nor was this all. Strange to say, Mr. was compelled to sign a written bulletin, declaring hinscif, by his own admission, to be utterly incapable of performing the Il " : f I'l^i ' 1 : 1 ' ■ * j .'' .!' 170 LIEUTENANT TUPPER. This was rigorous it must be acknowledged. duties of a lieutenant. JFas it not also just ? " Sir Samuel, like his brother captain, Sir Robert, chiefly exercised his industry in reaping the scanty laurels of his profession among the pirates of the Archipelago. Of several rencontres, one in the island of Candia became noted. It was a brave action, but unfor- tunate in its issue. Some pirates having taken refuge in one of the bays of the island, and established themselves in a secure position on the shore. Sir Samuel sent in his boats manned and armed to the attack. The Greek pilot, who belonged to the Sybil, declined accompanying the party, aware of the desperate character of the defendants, and the inaccessible nature of their position. He very sagaciously observed, that ' he had nothing whatever to do with the fighting of the ship ; and that if he fell, — for few would escape, — government would never trouble themselves about securing from starvation his wife and family.' " The boats started under the command of Lieutenant Tupper.* On their approaching within shot of the Greeks, who were hidden by the rocks, the murderous aim of Candian rifles made itself appa- rent. Four shots had not been fired by their determined antagonists before the lieutenant and coxswain were for ever dismissed from mortal struggle, and five others severely wounded. "Enraged to absolute fury by their loss, the men cheered, pulled in with redoubled quickness, and landed. A fatal aifray took place. It ended m their being obliged to retreat, leaving a prisoner in the hands of the pirates. Not one escaped uninjured ; and tne ablest man among them had to row off to the frigate, by shifting his oar from one side to the other, and stooping down at intervals, to escape the shot fired at him by the ruffians on shore. " Their prisoner the pirates threatened with instant immolation before the eyes of his shipmates, unless certa'n conditions of non- molestation were conceded by Sir Samuel. The latter rightly estimated the life of his marine far higher than the gratification of any petty feelings of vengeance, and sending on shore a flag of truce, recovered his man. " Such, as nearly as I can recollect at this distance of time, were the heads of an affair which then excited no slight feeling on the station. The Sybil's time hpving expired, she was soon afterwards ordered home, inspected at Spithead, and great praise awarded to Sir Samuel Pechell for the high state of excellence to which he had * Incorrect— Lieutenant Gordon commanded the boats. — Ed. APPENDIX B. 171 raised the science of gunnery on board his Irigafo." — Second Edition, Vol I., pp. 2:3/ to 242. No. 4. Extract relative to the late Captain Edzoard Gordon. " The Highflyer tender unexpectedly returned to us,* having fallen in with a heavy American privateer. A severe action hatl ensued, in which her brave commander. Lieutenant Lewis, was killed. Mr. CJordon, midshipman, (the same who so distinguished himself up the Archipelago in the boats of the Sybille, and who commanded the z\corn, sloop of war, when she foundered on the coast of America,) gallantly continued the contest till the enemy hauled off j but the Highflyer was so cut up in her rigging that Mr. Gordon was unable to follow her. She had only one long gun a- midships, and her crew were greatly exposed from having no bulwark, while their heavy antagonist was sheltered by one. The conduct of Mr. Gordon, who was then quite a lad, was highly commended by the rear admiral, and, as an earnest of his opinion, young Gordon was permitted to keep the command of the vessel, and dispatched to fulfil the orders of his late commander, after removing all the wounded on board the Marlborough, and filling up the vacancies in his own ship's company. " It appears »he vessel that engaged the Highflyer was the American privateer ' Roger Quarles, of fourteen guns, and full of men.' (Vide Niles' Register, Vol. IV., p. 228.) The American account states the action to have lasted from nine o'clock till eleven p. m. As the Americans are not in the liable c^f exaggerating their own force, this circumstance throws additional credit upon the gallant coihluct of the late Captain Edward ('ordon, and must be read by his friends with melancholy satisfaction." — Recollections of a Naval Life, by Captain James Scott, R. N. — Vol. III., p. 11". No. 5. From a Portsmouth N:ivspaper, December 31, 182.5. — See p. 42. " This morning sailed the Aurora for Hydra, having on board forty of the crew of the Greek brig of war, Cimoni, lately wrecked on the isle of Alderney, from whence they were taken to Guernsey, where they received the greatest kindness and attention from the * The Chesapeake station under the command of Hear Admiral Sit GcorRC Cockbuin. — Ed. 1! w 1 ' V 1 1 i: :iil i^ '\ '\i r ;-;i ,!:i ! I)' I 172 LIEUTENANT TUPPER. lieutenant-g(n ernor. Sir John Colborne, and the inhabitants, who, in addition to having provided them with food, clothing, and lodging whilst on the island, raised for them a most liberal subscription, and gave five pounds to each of the crew on their leaving Guernsey. We are requested to state, that for the kindness they have received from the governor and inhabitants of Guernsey, they feel the deepest gratitude, and beg to return their most grateful thanks. It is perhaps impossible to express the high sense they entertain of the kindness they experienced better than in their own words, which were : ' The people of Guernsey behaved to us like angels, not like meu.' " No. 6. Transcript of a Letter from George B. Hamilton, Esq., to the Editor, partly relating to Lieutenant E. JV. Tapper, and luted Admiralty, June 7, 1825. " Lord Melville has directed me to acknowledge the rtceipL of -'■rowr letter of the 26ih March last, with its inolosure, and to return you his lordship's thanks for the observations you have thought j. voper to make j but the subject to ivhich you refer has lately been under the consideration of the Board of Admiralty. " With regard to your brother's claims to promotion. Lord Melville has lirected me to state that he is perfectly aware of them, and took an opportunity, not long since, of recommending him to the commander in chief in. the Mediterranean, and I have no doubt but his advancement will be the result of such recommendation at no very distant period." APPENDIX C. No. 1. [Translated from the Spanish.— See page 50.] "Dr. Francisco Altes, yice- Secretary of the most excellent Constitutional Ayuntamiento of this city of Barcelona, capital of the province of Catalonia. " T certify that in the dreadful conflagration which, on the 13th instant so unfortunately broke out in the house of Dr. Juan I'lanas, in the street of Regoniir, at the comer of that of Lignas, among all the worthy citizens, who with the greatest intrepidity impeded its progress, the young Englishman, Don Guillermo Tapper, out- shone in valour and heroism, — several times exposing his life to suffocate the flames, which would certainly have burnt down the whole barrier. And in order that the gratitude of the most excellent Ayuntamiento may be manifested in the most authentic manner for his resolute and beneficent courage, knowing how to appreciate so sublime an effort in favour of humanity, the present certificate is drawn out by order of their excellencies. " Signed by my hand, and authorised with the common seal of my office. " Francisco Altes, Vice- Secretary. "J?n Barcelona, February 17, 1821." No. 2. Extracts from Lieutenant Bower's Naval Adventures. — 2 vols., London, 1833. ''Chiloe, from its geographical position, good harbours, and numerous resources, in the hands of an enlightened and enterprising people, might soon becon.e the key to the eastern part of the South Pacific " San Carlos, the principal port, situated at the north-west extre- mity of the island, in latitude 41° 45' south, is of easy entrance in tolerably clear weather, and is a good harbour at all seasons, there being several anchoring grounds. Well defended by art not less *iV^: ^1 174 COLONEL TUPPER. y • hi \ v> ii ' I 'r^^j ' than nature, it is a place of great strength, capable of resisting any ordinary means of attack 'J'he town of Castro lies on the east side, between which and the main are scattered an archipelago of smaller islands, about eighty in number, all inhabited, and the greater part even more susceptible of a ready cultivation than their principal, Chiloe, which is nearly one uniform dense forest of immense trees. The export trade consists of hams, lard, and timber Hogs are numerous Fish is good and abun- dant. Of shell fish, more especially, there is a surprising variety, on which, with potatoes, and the bucha, or rock weed, the indigent classes subsist The north winds blow long and heavily during the winter season, and rain, often in torrents, prevails more or less the greater part of the year " The population of San Carlos and Castro, including the garri- son of the former, is computed at about eleven thousand ; the total of all the islands a hundred thousand.* The inhabitants, principally Creoles, descended from Spaniards and natives, with some few of the aborigines, are a strong, active, and well formed race. "The Chilotes are brave, and make better soldiers than others along the coa^^. When 1 last visited the island, in 1 828, they mustered fourttc *' )usand able bodied men,* enrolled by Quinta- nilla as militia In the time of the royalists, a large garrison was kept up, which was regularly paid from the royal treasury at Lima. " Conception, or Penco, for the goodness of its port, (Talca- huano,) the salubrity of its climate, and the fertility of the neigh- bouring district, is superior to every other part of Chile, and, in my opinion, much to be preferred as the site of its capital Conception is rapidly increasing in trade and importance, promising, ere long, to become one of the most flourishing sea port towns in South America Plenty of good coal is found in the neigh- bourhood, as well as materials for brick and lime. The anchorage of this magnificent bay, extending from one extreme to the other a distance of five miles, and sheltered by the fine island of Quiri- quina, is excellent ; the shores abound with shell fish, and the muscles in particular, large and fat, are held in much estimation. " Between Conception and Valparaiso is the river and port of Maule, the ingress and egress to which are rendered difficult by a bar formed of the drifting sand, that often shifts the course of the channel, which however is always sufficiently deep for vessels of * Tliese numbers arc evidently ovei-ratccl.— En. APPENDIX C. 17/ O three hundred tons Tlie river is navigable for small vessels and barges, through a fertile and well inhabited country, where every article of produce is cheaper than at Conception or Valparaiso, as far as the city of Talca." (See page .0;i.) Lord Cochrane, after the capture of Valdivia, attacked Chiloc in 1820, but was repulsed with some loss. Major (now the celebrated General) Miller was severely wounded at Chiloe, and in his me- moirs speaks highly of the courage and devotion of the C^hile soldiers, who exposed their lives to bring him off, when his \vounds rendered him incapable of retreating. By a census of 1827, the population of the archipelago of Chiloe was ascertained to be forty-three thousand two hundred and ninety souls. Public instruction was gaining ground, and four thousand four hundred and eighty-nine children then attended the schools. Captain Tupper wrote in 1824, that Quintanilla had done much towards the advancement of these islands, that they were covered with sheep, and were in a high state of cultivation. He added, that potatoes grew almost spontaneously, and that the country was beautiful, much like England. — Eu. No. 3. Extract from " Kotzebues Voyage round the World.'' At anchor off Talcahuana, January, 1824. — Speaking of the president. General Freire, at that time in Conception, and about to proceed with three thousand men against Chiloe, the captain observes : — " Freire, who had already distinguished himself as a general, is a stately looking man, at that time about forty-five years of age, and of a very agreeable exterior ; he was born at Talcahuana, of very poor parents, and, without enjoying any particular advantage of education, he raised himself, by his own merit alone, to the high rank he occupies. " The little town (Talcahuana) was soon filled with warlike tumult. A grenadier regiment from Conception marched in with drums beating, and a very good band playing. The uniform was in the French fashion, clean and substantial ; the muskets were in the best order." in 1 1 1 n f ; ■ ti 170 COLONEL TUPPER. No. 4. [Sun Trunslation, page 01.] " Los (jc/ps y Officinlcs del Batullon Pudeto, cl sus C.ompatriotas, " El Biitallon Pudeto siempre fiel a sus juramentos, protesta sostener la Constitucion. Conciudadanos, confiad ei. este honor que jamas fue tachado. Enemigos del orden, temblad : ya cono- ceis t\ Pudeto. " S. E. (1 Capitan General Freire nos Ueva a la victoria, Su nombre electriza el cora/on de los valientes, y garanti/a el empleo de la fuerza ante el pacifico ciudadano. " Quedarti cscarmentado para siempre el infame Prieto, ese militar sin honor, que burlando en repetidas ocasiones los mas sagrados compromisos, aspira al despotismo por los medios mas inicuos. <' Valparaiso, Encro 27 de 1830," No. 5. Cancharayada and Lircai. — See page ^7. General Miller, in his memoirs, after stating that the Spanish general, Osorio, advanced from Talcahuana towards Santiago, with about six thousand effective men, and that to meet him General San Martin formed a junc ion with the Director O'lliggins and Colonel Las Heras, at San Fernando, the united patriot forces amounting tvj seven thousand infantry, fifteen hundred cavalry, thirty-three field pieces, and two howitzers ; thus continues : — " Ignorant of the numbers and movements of his opponents, the royalist general crossed the river Maule, and was proceeding on to Santiago, when, on the 18th of March, (1818,) the van guard of each army came in contact at Quechereguas. In the affair which took place, the royalist advance was worsted, Osorio having ascertained the superiority of the patriots, countermarched with evident precipitation. General San Martin obliqued to his own left, for the purpose of interposing between the royalists and the ford of the Maule. The two armies crossed the river Lircay at the same time, at the distance of four miles from each other, on the morning of the 19th, and continued to march in almost parallel but gradually approximating columns over five leagues of open country. The patriots advanced in the finest ore' r, and with the utmost regularity. The Spaniards quickened their march in some slight confusion, and were the first to reach the town of Talca, in ) ' APPENDIX C. 17 triotas. protesta ■ite honor ya cono- »ria. Su el empleo se militar sagraclos iUOS. I Spanish ago, with i General gins and 3t forces cavalry, s : — ponents, oceeding an guard lir which having led with his own and the ircay at ther, on : parallel of open vith the in some "alca, in front of which they took up a position an hour before sunset, amongst enclosed fields. The patriot coluuins approached, and, whilst they drew up in line on the plain of Cancharayada, some sharp skirmishing took place. A regiment of Chileno cavalry charged, but, having committed the error of getting into a gallop at too great a distance from the enemy, formed behind a ravine which had not been perceived, it was repulsed, but retired in good order, under cover of the Chileno artillery, which was commanded by Lieut. -C(»lonel lU'nco, and particularly well served. (Jn this occa- sion, Lieutenant CJerard, a brave young Scotchman, who had distin- guished himself the day before at Quechereguas, was killed. He formerly belonged to the British rifle corps. " General San jNIartin purposed to attack on the morning of the 20th. The situation of the royal army had b( e extremely criti- cal. The able manner in which General San dn manceuvred on the preceding day, gave the royalists little room to hope for success in risking a battle ; whilst to retire to the difficvdt ford of the Maulc, still five leagues off, in the presence of a superior enemy, threatened to expose their army to destruction." — Vol. L, page 173. General Miller next proceeds to relate the surprise of the patriots, during the night, by a Spanish column, which completely dispersed them. No. 6. Brief Extracts relative to the late Colonel Tapper. "Fev/ situations can be more distressing than those of foreign officers, who, having entered the service of the new republics, in order to combat the foreign enemy, have in the end found them- selves involved in the domestic cUsputes of their adopted country, and at times either from principle, old attachments, or other strong causes, have been in a manner obliged to take active service with one or other of the parties. "These observations have been elicited from us on reading a letter from Chile, which, although dated in December last, throws some light upon the situation in which the late Colonel Tuppcr was placed ; an officer who, in the war for the independence of Chile, was one of its most distinguished heroes, and had gathered ' golden opinions from all sorts of people,' and yet he fell a victim to civil dissensions." — British Packet, Buenos ^i/rto, July 17, 1830. A letter from Valparaiso, of the 20th April, says : " In a battle near the Maule, on the 17th of this month, efght hundred men fell. M IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. :/. 1.0 I.I If liM m L25 i 1.4 2.0 i.6 V <^ /J Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. M580 (716) 872-4503 iV ■1>^ \\ ^^^^ -^^ '^"^ .