The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B Part 6

_Colonel Baynes[33] to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George_.

QUEBEC, March 4, 1811.

Sir James desires me to tell you that he had fully intended writing to you himself by this day's post, but, from the arrival of the January mail and the departure of the Halifax courier to-morrow, he finds himself so much occupied that he has deputed me to explain to you the cause of his not announcing to you by his own pen the resolution he finds himself under the necessity of adopting, of returning to England early in the summer. I think it probable that he will leave this by the July fleet; indeed, the extremely weak and debilitated state of his health will not admit of his deferring his departure longer, lest it might involve him in inconveniences attendant upon an equinoctial or fall pa.s.sage.

It is with the deepest regret I observe that his strength is visibly sinking under his disease, although the latter does not appear to have increased in violence; on the contrary, for this fortnight past he seems in better spirits and to suffer less pain: the first probably arises from the prospect of his being speedily relieved from the weight and anxiety of his public charge, for, with regard to himself, his mind is most perfectly made up, and resigned to a very speedy termination of all his sufferings; and his anxiety has been latterly much excited from the apprehension of his becoming too ill to be able to undertake the voyage, and being obliged to linger out the short remnant of his life in this country.

I a.s.sure you he is very far from being indifferent in regard to forwarding your wishes; but from the necessity of his retiring himself, and even without waiting for leave to do so, he feels it the more indispensably necessary to leave this country in the best state of security he can, and that, under existing circ.u.mstances, he cannot attend to your request for leave. He desires me to say, that he regrets extremely the disappointment you may experience, and he requests that you will do him the favor to accept, as a legacy and mark of his very sincere regard, his favorite horse Alfred, and that he is induced to send him to you, not only from wishing to secure to his old favorite a kind and careful master, but from the conviction that the whole continent of America could not furnish you with so safe and excellent a horse. Alfred is ten years old, but being a high bred horse, and latterly but very little worked, he may be considered as still perfectly fresh.

Sir James will give him up to Heriot, whenever you fix the mode of his being forwarded to you.

I have requested Sir James to allow me to accompany him home, a duty I should feel a most grateful pleasure in performing; but with a kind regard to what he thinks more to my interest, he will not accede to my wishes, but insists on my remaining here, as he thinks that my appointment will be considered permanent. Kempt goes home, his private affairs requiring his presence, and having strong ground to hope that he will be able to resign his staff for an active brigade; although his senior in years and length of service, I must still wait a long time before I can direct my ambition to so desirable an object.

You will have seen by Sir James' speech, the very complete triumph his firmness and energy have obtained over the factious cabal of their most contemptible a.s.sembly. Bedard will be shortly released--that fellow alone of the whole gang has nerve, and does not want ability or inclination to do mischief whenever opportunity offers; the rest, old Papineau and the bl.u.s.tering B----, are all white-livered runagates to a man; but when Sir James' back is turned, they will rally and commence the same bullying attack on his successor, who, I trust, will follow his example.

_Colonel J.A. Vesey to Brigadier Brock._

HAMPTON COURT PARK, April 9, 1811.

I am bound to Sicily in about a fortnight, as a brigadier-general on the staff there, and I am told that Lord William Bentinck, who is destined to command the forces in that island, will be the bearer of instructions to insist upon the command of the Sicilian army likewise.

I thank you much for the interesting details of local politics, both military and civil, which your letter contains, for I feel a more than common wish to know what pa.s.ses in Canada, although I am certainly not partial to that country--quite the reverse. It is a pity that the 49th should be detained there so long, as it will interfere materially with the promotion of your officers. I fear you will have pa.s.sed a lonely winter at Fort George, notwithstanding the addition of my friend Murray and his nice little wife to your society. Pray remember me kindly to them and to my old friend, St. George. Mrs. Vesey has charged me to call her to your recollection in the kindest manner; she and my six children are as well as possible, and a very nice little group they are, all as healthy as can be. I wish I had a daughter old enough for you, as I would give her to you with pleasure.

You should be married, particularly as fate seems to detain you so long in Canada--but pray do not marry there.

_Colonel Vesey to Brigadier Brock._

HAMPTON COURT PARK, May 9, 1811.

I received a few days ago your letter of the 22d February, for which I thank you very much. I am very much obliged to you for taking so much trouble about my grant of land, respecting which I have not taken any steps whatever here, neither shall I so long as Lord Liverpool continues to direct the affairs of the colonial department, for he is not friendly to me, but I will reserve my claims for a more favorable moment. I am not the less thankful for your friendship on the occasion.

I quite feel for you, my good friend, when I think of the stupid and uninteresting time you must have pa.s.sed in Upper Canada--with your ardour for professional employment in the field, it must have been very painful. I did not think Sir James (Craig) would have detained you so long against your will. Had you returned to Europe, there is little doubt but that you would immediately have been employed in Portugal, and, as that service has turned out so very creditable, I regret very much that you had not deserted from Canada. I take it for granted that you will not stay there long, and should the fortune of war bring us again upon duty in the same country, I need not say how I shall hail the event with joy.

If you come to England, I would wish you to call upon the Duke of Kent,[34] who has a high respect for you, and will be happy to see you.

It seems determined that the Duke of York shall return to the command of the army; it would have taken place ere now, but for some ill-natured remarks inserted in some of the newspapers, produced by an over zeal on the part of his friends. Sir David (Dundas) will not be much regretted, and it surely is time that at his advanced period of life he should be relieved from the cares of office.

I am rejoiced to find that you live so comfortably with my friend Murray and his nice little wife. Mrs. Vesey and myself took a great fancy to her the morning she called here, on their way to Portsmouth.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 31: Peter Carey Tupper, Esq., a native of Guernsey, British consul for Valencia at this time, and afterwards for Catalonia. He distinguished himself from 1808 to 1814, in encouraging the Spaniards to resist the invasion of Napoleon; and his name occurs repeatedly in the Duke of Wellington's Dispatches, recently published, as also in the first and fourth volumes of Napoleon's Peninsular War. He died in Madrid in 1825, in the prime of life. His youngest brother was British consul for Caraccas, and afterwards for Riga.]

[Footnote 32: The present General Sir James Kempt, G.C.B., &c, afterwards governor-general of British America, and subsequently master-general of the ordnance in Earl Grey's administration.]

[Footnote 33: Owing to the communication by post between Lower and Upper Canada being so slow at this period, we observe that many of Colonel Baynes' letters to Brigadier Brock, at Fort George, were transmitted through the United States. There was only a post once a fortnight between Montreal and Kingston, and in Upper Canada the post office was scarcely established.]

[Footnote 34: The father of her present Majesty, Queen Victoria.]

CHAPTER V.

On the 4th June, 1811, Brigadier Brock was promoted, and appointed by the prince regent to serve from that day as a major-general on the staff of North America. On the 19th of the same month, Sir James Craig embarked on board his majesty's ship Amelia for England, leaving Mr.

Dunn in charge of the government of the Lower Province, and Lieut.-General Drummond in command of the forces in the Canadas, consisting of 445 artillery, 3,783 regular troops, and 1,226 Fencibles; in all, 5,454 men. He seemed disgusted with the cares of a government, in which he had experienced only crosses and mortification, as his administration was decidedly unpopular among the great ma.s.s of the French Canadians. His health had long been wasting away with a dropsy and other infirmities, and he doubted whether he should live to reach England, where he however survived several months, and met with a most gracious reception from his immediate superiors. Sir James Craig had been from his youth in the service of his country,[35] and he owed to merit alone his rank and consideration in the army. He was corpulent in person, and rather below the middle stature; his features were strong and regular, his aspect was severe and imposing, his deportment, manly and dignified; in society he was polite, frank, and affable. He is said to have been positive in his opinions, and therefore prompt and decisive in his measures. To a clear and comprehensive judgment, he united the best qualities of the heart, and though hasty in temper, he was easily reconciled to those who might involuntarily have incurred his resentment. In fine, he seems to have possessed all the sterling and undisguised virtues that distinguish the soldier, and some of the qualities that const.i.tute the able statesman. Although many differed widely in opinion with respect to his government, yet few could deny him the merit of disinterestedness and integrity in the discharge of his public duties. He may have erred in the performance of the important and complicated functions of his post, but he was guided by sincerity; and it is due to his memory to add, that the objects of his administration, however erroneous the means he pursued for their attainment, were the concord, the happiness, and the prosperity of the people whom he governed for nearly four years.[36]

_Major-General Vesey to Major-General Brock_.

PORTSMOUTH, June 10, 1811.

I congratulate you on your promotion, and you may return me the compliment. I did not expect to appear in the same brevet with you as a major-general; it has so happened, however, and I am not at all sorry to go out to Sicily as major-general instead of a brigadier. You have such a lot of generals in Canada at present, that it is impossible to continue them all upon the staff. Your wish will be to come home, I dare say, and very glad I should be if you were in England at present, while all the arrangements are making. It may perhaps be your fate to go to the Mediterranean, but the Peninsula is the most direct road to the honor of the Bath, and as you are an ambitious man, that is the station you would prefer--so should I, but I have been advised not to solicit for it, but to go where I was ordered; therefore, am I proceeding. I need not say how rejoiced I should be if you were of the party.

The return of the duke of York to the head of the army gives general satisfaction to all military people, and indeed to most others I fancy: his old worn-out predecessor has long been superannuated. I still retain my appointment of deputy barrack master-general in Nova Scotia, to the astonishment of every body, because I suppose they do not like to take it from me _par force_, without giving me something in lieu of it. I have told the treasury that I would not give it up upon any other terms than for my lieutenant-colonelcy, but that they had the power of taking it from me if they chose to do me that injustice: I suppose they will as soon as my back is turned.

Lord William Bentinck is expected down to-day; he goes to Sicily in the Caledonia, with Sir Edward Pellew. As it is possible you may have left Canada, I shall enclose this letter to our friend Bruyeres; bid him read it and forward it if you are yet in that country.

_Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock, at Montreal_.

QUEBEC, August 3, 1811.

We were very much surprised on Thursday last by the arrival of the Rac.o.o.n, sloop of war, from Jamaica, with the duke of Manchester on board, who is come with the view of visiting the lions of Canada previous to his return to England; he is gone, attended by General Drummond, to see the falls of Montmorenci, and the general desires me to let you know that his grace intends leaving this in the stage on Tuesday morning for Montreal. The duke has no attendant except a Colonel Gold, _ci-devant militaire_; he appears to be very affable, and perfectly _sans facon_; he particularly requested that no compliments or ceremony of any kind might be shown him, and that he might be permitted to indulge his fancy by going about as he pleased. His grace is not likely to have many volunteer aides-de-camp, for he treated those who formed his suite yesterday to a walk of half a dozen hours in the sun at mid-day round the works, the towers, plains, &c.; and from which he did not appear to experience the slightest inconvenience, being in the habit, we are told, of taking similar rambles even in the West Indies. The duke will pay you but a very short visit, being limited for time, and anxious to make his tour as extensive as possible. He seems to like a gla.s.s of Madeira, and would match any of the Canadian tribe in smoking cigars; he walks about with one in his mouth at all hours in the day. He begs you will have the kindness to secure for him a boat and a good Canadian crew to proceed to Kingston, and to facilitate his progress from that place, inasmuch as it may be in your power to do so. I apprehend that the movement of the troops may very materially interfere with him, but the duke will not object to embarking with any of the detachments if no other vessel can be spared.

_Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock, at William Henry, Sorel_.

QUEBEC, August 12, 1811.

I have to acknowledge and thank you for your letter of the 8th instant. I regret much that you did not find it convenient to remain at Montreal to receive the duke of Manchester, as I think you would have felt gratified; and if you could have reconciled to your own feelings the want of due preparation for the reception of so great a personage, I am sure, from the specimen we had of his grace here, that he would have been perfectly satisfied, and happy to have shared your fare. He does not appear to be a lady's man--perhaps a little too much the contrary, and I am confident that a dinner with a few gentlemen, and an invitation to smoke, would suit his taste in preference to a formal fete. On an excursion to the Chaudiere, of which Mrs. Drummond and other ladies formed part, his grace appeared to be very little at his ease until he effected his escape out of the frigate's barge into one of the small boats that was in attendance with his _compagnon de voyage_ and the commander of the sloop, when, with the aid of his favorite cigar, he appeared to be perfectly happy. I mention these traits in order that you may be prepared to receive him or not on his return, as you think best. I am sure he would prefer William Henry to sleep at in preference to Montreal.

After an inter-regnum of nearly three months, Sir George Prevost arrived at Quebec in September, and a.s.sumed the government of Lower Canada, having succeeded Sir James Craig in the chief command of the British North American provinces. The known mildness of his character, and the popularity of his administration in Nova Scotia, from which he had been just promoted, afforded a hope that his government of Lower Canada would prove more auspicious to the internal union of the people than that of his predecessor. Sir George Prevost had moreover the advantage of being, we believe, a Canadian born, and, as his name indicates, his family was doubtless of French origin, a circ.u.mstance which the French Canadians could not fail to appreciate. Soon after his arrival, Major-General Brock, in addition to the command of the troops, was appointed president and administrator of the government in Upper Canada, to which office he succeeded on the 9th October, 1811, in place of Lieut.-Governor Gore, who returned to England on leave. At the close of the year, his royal highness the duke of York expressed at length every inclination to gratify Major-General Brock's wishes for more active employment in Europe, and Sir George Prevost was authorized to replace him by another officer; but when the permission reached Canada, early in 1812, a war with the United States was evidently near at hand, and Major-General Brock, with such a prospect, was retained both by honor and inclination in the country.

_Lieut.-General Drummond[37] to Major-General Brock_.

QUEBEC, August 31, 1811.

I have just been favored with your kind letter, and return many thanks for your friendly congratulations. Under present circ.u.mstances, it must be the wish of every military person to seek active employment; I should most willingly sacrifice many domestic comforts to obtain it, but I fear the rank I have just attained will interfere with my prospects. I have often regretted, during my residence in this country, that we have been so much separated, which has deprived me of the opportunity of cultivating your friendship, which I shall ever feel anxious to possess; and be a.s.sured it will always afford me the most sincere satisfaction to renew an acquaintance with one for whom I have so great a regard. Captain Glegg's appointment will be in general orders to-day. Captain and Mrs.

Fulton arrived this morning: I have not seen him yet. I understand Sir George Prevost was to embark three days after the Hunter sailed. I shall probably embark in the Melamphus, for Halifax, and from thence in the packet for England: should you have any commands, I shall be happy to charge myself with them. Mrs. Drummond unites with me in sincere wishes for your health and happiness.

_Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock_.

QUEBEC, October 7, 1811.

I have a letter from Thornton of the 2d of August; the party arrived at Deal on the 27th of July. Sir James (Craig) bore the pa.s.sage remarkably well, and he has received the most flattering and satisfactory a.s.surances that his conduct, civil and military, has met with the most unqualified approbation.

Kempt has experienced a very honorable reception: the duke told him he would give him a _carte blanche_ as to his future destination; he has requested to have a brigade under Lord Wellington, and was preparing to go to the Peninsula. Thornton does not allude to the probability of its effecting his present post, as he says Kempt writes to you at length, and will tell you of himself. Ellice[38] has found great difficulty in effecting an exchange. Dalrymple, Sir Hew's eldest son, had no objection till he found that the duke set his face against the continued exchange of that post, and that he would not permit it to be made a mere stepping stone for the brevet rank. He in consequence declined it, and Ellice is on the hunt for a lazy married major of dragoons, who has no objection to obtain it as a fixture. Thornton has been appointed to a regiment, but he neglects to mention the number, although he enters into a long explanation respecting it, viz. that it is of two battalions, the second in Portugal and the first in the East Indies, but, by a recent regulation, the senior lieutenant-colonel has the option of remaining in command of the second in Portugal if he chooses. Thornton has obtained leave to go, in the first instance, to his corps in Portugal, so as to endeavour to persuade his senior that India is a more desirable quarter: if he fails in his rhetoric, he expects shortly to travel that route himself.