The Astonishing General. Wesley B. Turner

soldiers spent their time in taverns and often got into trouble. He wanted to use some empty adjacent land for a new officers’ quarters as well as space for soldiers’ recreation and parades, which officers could easily supervise. Previously, Dunn had agreed with Brock’s suggestion, but in May refused to allow it. Brock was convinced that private interests (who had other plans for the vacant land) had produced Dunn’s change of mind. He continued to refuse even though Brock made suggestions to accommodate other interests, but the colonel wisely kept his troops off the disputed land. This problem continued, for in 1811 Sir George Prevost sought the same improvement that Brock had suggested. In 1812, Prevost was given permission to proceed with barrack improvements.[43]

      Another problem facing the garrison that Brock tried to solve was lack of proper hospital facilities in Quebec. His suggested plan for the construction of a hospital was not approved and the problem continued.[44] Brock had encountered difficulties upon his first arrival in Lower Canada. His persistent attempts to improve conditions for his soldiers was certainly laudable.

      NOTES

      1. LAC, RG8, C922, 8, Brock to Major Green, September 20, 1802. On Plenderleath see Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 300.

      2. Hunter was also lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. DCB, 5, 439–43.

      3. Firth, Town of York, 72, Brock to Green, July 29, 1803. Lord Selkirk’s description of York cited in Ibid., 253. The population in 1802 was 320 and in 1804, 432. Ibid., lxxvii. Green was also military secretary to commander of the forces at Quebec and for a time, military secretary to Colonel Isaac Brock. See DCB, 6, 298–300.

      4. Turner, “Career,” 28–9; see discussion in n. 4. Taylor, Civil War of 1812, 106–10.

      5. DCB, 9, 264–67. FitzGibbon, A Veteran of 1812, 16–33. He described his experiences as a prisoner of war.

      6. DCB, 9, 264. He became ensign and adjutant in 1806 and a lieutenant in 1809. FitzGibbon, A Veteran of 1812, 50–1, 56–8. Enid Mallory claims that Brock also taught FitzGibbon “the manners and lifestyle of a gentleman.” The Green Tiger, 13. See also, 37. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 14–16, 256–59.

      7. Turner, “Career,” 28–9. FitzGibbon, A Veteran of 1812, 52–3.

      8. Turner, “Career,” 29–32.

      9. Turner, “Career,” Appendix A; DCB, 5, 111. Hitsman, Incredible War, 14–5, 19. The battalion had ten companies totaling 650 men. Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 6.

      10. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 72–4.

      11. On courts martial see Whitfield, Tommy Atkins, 76–7, and Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 9–10.

      12. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 348; cited in Turner, “Career,” 31–2. Fryer, Bold, Brave, 248, asserts that the executions took place in Montreal.

      13. Whitfield, Tommy Atkins, 59–71.

      14. Simcoe to Major General. Clarke, July 27, 1793. AO, MS83, Simcoe Letterbook, 332–33. DCB, 6, 152, R.S. Allen writes of William Claus, in command of militia and British troops at Fort George and Queenston in June and July 1812, that “much of his time was devoted to stemming desertion.” Lieutenant Colonel Bisshopp wrote about American inducements to British troops along the Niagara frontier. From Fort Erie, March 21, 1813, Allen, “Bisshopp Papers,” 25. For further discussions of the problem see Holmes, Redcoat, 316–17; Hickey, Don’t Give Up the Ship!, 255–62.

      15. Cited in Turner, British Generals, 86–7. The matter is fully discussed in Turner, “Career,” 282–84. The letter, dated February 8, 1804, is in Canadian Archives, RG 4, v. 923, 12–6. For a different view see Whitfield, Battle of Queenston Heights, 32, 48–9.

      16. The problem of desertion from Sheaffe’s command did not completely end. See Sheaffe to Green, York, August 9, 1805, in Firth, Town of York, 73.

      17. Fryer, Bold, Brave, 56–7, 87, speculates that Sheaffe, five years older than Brock, may have felt some jealousy about Brock’s rank and his easy manner as commander.

      18. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 32, Tupper’s reporting of evidence is usually carefully done. What exactly this complaint was about is uncertain. My discussions with experts on the period suggest Sheaffe may have wanted to restrict the soldiers’ leisure activities (fishing, visiting town) and “white trowsers” may have meant their work overalls, which would have been none too clean. Brock allowed the men to fish wearing fatigues which were undress uniform and as such would be neater and cleaner than overalls.

      19. LAC, RG8, C923, 18–20, Brock to Lieutenant-Colonel. Green, Feruary 19, 1804.

      20. This paragraph is based on Turner, “Career,” 33.

      21. Turner, “Career,” 34–5. Fryer, Bold, Brave, 92, suggests that Brock was uneasy about leaving Sheaffe in command of the regiment.

      22. Turner, “Career,” 36–40. Hitsman, Incredible War, 21–2.

      23. DCB, 5, 205–13. His civil secretary was Herman W. Ryland, who favoured an assimilationist policy towards the Canadiens. Ouellet, Lower Canada, 63–4, 92–4, and Edgar, General Brock, 91–3.

      24. Dunn was administrator from 1805 to 1807. See DCB, 5, 287–93.

      25. Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 60. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 69, Thornton to Brock, April 7, 1808, mentions that Lieutenant-General Prevost was made second in command to Craig. There is very little information on Baynes, who is not included in the usual biographical dictionaries. He may have first joined the army in 1783. When he arrived in Canada he was a lieutenant-colonel in the Nova Scotia Fencibles. He had been ADC to Craig and would serve as adjutant general to the forces until February 1815. He returned to England as a major-general and died in 1829. On Thornton see DNB, 9, 789–90, and Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 355–56. He had served as ADC to Craig from 1803–06 and returned with Craig to England in 1811. Thornton later served in the Peninsula and under Major-General Robert Ross in the capture of Washington, D.C., where he was wounded and captured. He was wounded again in the attack on New Orleans.

      26. This paragraph is based on Ouellet, Lower Canada, Chapters 2 and 3.

      27. Ouellet, Lower Canada, 92–3; see also, Stanley, War of 1812, 54–7; Edgar, General Brock, Chapter 9. The scholarly literature dealing with this period is vast. The following quotation is from M. Wade, The French Canadians, 1760–1967, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1968), 107.

      28. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 92–4. See also, 82–3, Baynes to Brock, October 4, 1810; 85, Baynes to Brock, October 11; and 98–100, Baynes to Brock, March 4, 1811.

      29. Dudley, Naval War, I, 26–36; Turner, “Career,” 39–43; Prucha, The Sword of the Republic, 97. Before the increase, the army had three regiments and a corps of engineers. Skelton, “High Army Leadership,” 254.

      30. Horsman, “On To Canada,” 9: “In July 1807 … Jefferson told a visitor, ‘If the English do not give us the satisfaction we demand, we will take Canada.’”

      31. Cited in Kingston Gazette, November 19, 1811. On December 10, this newspaper printed the correspondence between the British minister to Washington and James Monroe that settled the Chesapeake dispute. York Gazette, on November 20, published a special supplement containing President Madison’s message of November 5. Hickey, War of 1812, 29–32.

      32. Dudley, Naval War, 1, 40–50; Adkins, War for all the Oceans, 362–65.

      33. LAC, RG8, C676, 12–3, Dunn to Brock, July 29, 1807. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 65–6, Brock to Colonel Gordon, September 6, 1807.

      34. The documents are in LAC, RG8, C1214, no. 11, 332–34, and the gist is given in Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 60–1. Turner, “Career,” 39–43.

      35. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 65–6, Brock to Gordon, September 6, 1807; see Edgar, General Brock, 94–7.

      36. Johnston, The Glengarry Light Infantry, 6.

      37.