No wonder Brock wanted to remain in Quebec, for social life there was lively. In the same letter quoted above, he wrote about “two frigates at anchor, and the arrival of Governor Gore from the Upper Province, have given a zest to society. Races, country and water parties, have occupied our time in a continued round of festivity.” Brock had contributed in the form of “a grand dinner given to Mrs. Gore, at which Sir James Craig was present, and a ball to a vast assemblage of all descriptions.” Lieutenant-Colonel Green wrote about the dinner and ball enjoyed by “as many Ladies as his [Brock’s] rooms could conveniently contain.” They danced in two rooms to the band of the 89th Regiment, “which unquestionably is the best Military Band I ever saw.”[17] Knowing he was going to a much less sophisticated social setting, Brock commented cryptically in his letter, “Such stimulus is highly necessary to keep our spirits afloat.” He concluded, “Heaven preserve you. I shall probably begin my journey upwards in the course of a few days.” He was not going in a cheerful or optimistic mood. His next letter is dated Fort George, September 13, 1810. A new chapter — preparing Upper Canada for war — was beginning in his life.
At least he was able to take with him a long-time colleague as his military aide-de-camp (ADC), John Baskerville Glegg. He had entered the 49th Regiment June 1, 1797, as an ensign and was present in the same actions as Brock in 1799 and 1801. He had attended the Royal Military College between 1803 and 1805. Brock chose him as ADC in July 1810. He would serve at Detroit and, as a result, would be promoted to “Rank of Major in the Army” on October 7, 1812.[18] He was in the thick of the fighting at Queenston Heights on October 13, for which Sheaffe would praise his services. After Brock’s death, Glegg sought to become an aide to Prevost who agreed but there is no record of his taking up the post. He acted briefly as ADC to Sheaffe before serving as major of brigade to Generals Sheaffe, Rottenburg, Vincent, and Drummond. He returned to England and in 1826 went on half-pay. He served briefly as a captain in the Coldstream Guards in 1836 and died April 28, 1861, at Thurstaston Hall. Details of his life are lacking, but what becomes clear is he was a friend as well as an aide to Brock. [19]
Meanwhile, in Quebec City, what seems to have impressed most officers about the new garrison commander, de Rottenburg, was his wife, Julia, thirty years his junior. Colonel Baynes wrote to Brock, September 6, 1810, that Julia de Rottenburg “has made a complete conquest of all hearts. She is in reality remarkably handsome, both in face and figure, and her manners uncommonly pleasing, graceful, and affable.” Several weeks later, Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton wrote to Brock enthusing over the baron’s “cara et dolce sposa: she is young (twenty-three), fair, beautiful, lively, discreet, witty, affable — in short, so engaging, or rather so fascinating, that neither the courier nor my paper will admit of my doing her justice; however from what I have said it is necessary further to add and explain, that it is not my opinion alone but that of the public.” This correspondence would hardly lift the spirits of an officer who enjoyed the company of women. Perhaps that is why on October 4, Baynes wrote to him, “The charms of Mrs. de Rottenburg have not effaced you from the recollection of your friends, who very sincerely regret your absence.”[20]
NOTES
1. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 38, 70. Brock wrote to his brothers, July 20, 1808, that his promotion to brigadier was first announced in the March mail. Turner, “Career,” 61.
2. Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 7, refers to brigadier-general as an appointment rather than a rank for the purpose of enabling colonels “to function as general officers as circumstances demanded.”
3. DCB, 2, 545–48.
4. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 69, Thornton to Brock, April 7, 1808. See also, Edgar, General Brock, 99–101. On the roles and status of the Frobishers see biography of Joseph in DCB, 5, 331–34.
5. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 72, Brock to his brothers, September 5, 1808. On Drummond see Turner, British Generals, 113–16; DCB, 8, 236–39.
6. LAC, RG8, C289, 6–7, Drummond to Lieutenant-Colonel Thornton, May 17, 1810; C549, 52–4, Drummond to Thornton, July 22.
7. Richard Cartwright to Major McKenzie, November 2, 1808, C.E. Cartwright, ed., Life and Letters of Hon R. Cartwright, 144–45. The major is not identified but may have been Holt McKenzie of the 41st Foot.
8. H. Strum, “A Most Cruel Murder: The Isaac Underhill Affair, 1809,” Ontario History, 53 (December 1988), 293–310. Taylor, Civil War of 1812, 109–10.
9. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 76–7, letter dated June 8, 1810.
10. There is little information about him. His father’s biography is in DCB, 4, 190–91. He is mentioned briefly in Ouellet, Lower Canada, 145, 148. On his militia service see L. Lépine, Les officiers de milice du Bas-Canada, 1812–1815 (Montreal: 1996), 96.
11. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 77–9, letter dated July 9, 1810.
12. Turner, British Generals, 103. On de Rottenburg see DCB, 6, 660–62.
13. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 79–80, letter dated July 10, 1810.
14. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 82–3, Colonel Edward Baynes to Brock, October 4, 1810.
15. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 85, Baynes to Brock, October 11, 1810.
16. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 92–4, Brock to Irving, February 19, 1811; Ibid., 99–100, Baynes to Brock, March 4.
17. Green to William Claus, July 5, 1810, NHS, Records of Niagara, #42, 103–04. Winter picnics were another social activity. See Venning, Following the Drum, 193–94.
18. SBD, I, 528–29, Duke of York to Prevost, October 7, 1812.
19. Turner, British Generals, 80 and n. 102. Sutherland, His Majesty’s Gentlemen, 163. Prevost wrote that he was willing to take Glegg “into my family.” LAC, RG8, C1220, 8, Prevost to Sheaffe, October 21, 1812.
20. Tupper, Life and Correspondence, 81, 83–84 for the three letters. Graves, The War of 1812 Journal of Le Couteur, 224; DCB, 6, 660.
CHAPTER FOUR
Brock in Upper Canada, 1810–11
The colony of Upper Canada that Brock entered in September 1810 was a forested land with settlements that merely dotted the landscape from Cornwall in the east to Amherstburg in the west. The population numbered approximately 77,000, mostly clustered along the shores of lakes or banks of rivers. (By contrast, bordering New York State had over 959,000 inhabitants.) Kingston, with about 150 houses and 600 to 1,000 inhabitants, was regarded as the largest town as well as the main naval and shipbuilding centre on Lake Ontario.[1] York, the capital, had about 600 residents and, thirty miles across the lake, Niagara had perhaps 500 inhabitants. Inland, there was only Chatham and a few settlements along the Thames River.
Economically, the upper province was weak. It had practically no industry, only limited capital resources, and depended on lumbering and agriculture for most of its employment. The farms, however, could not be depended on to supply the need for food once the men were taken for military service. Moreover, the vital problem of providing for the many needs of the province from Lower Canada was made even greater by the poor and insecure communications.
In summer, travel was principally by schooner on the lakes and the upper St. Lawrence, bateaux on the St. Lawrence from Montreal to Prescott where the rapids ended, and canoes on smaller rivers.[2] Although water provided the fastest and cheapest means of transportation and communication, it was not without its problems, such as rapids in the St. Lawrence, the barrier of Niagara Falls, storms, and unmarked harbours. Roads in Upper Canada connected the main settlements along the St. Lawrence River and Lake