Part 1 (1/2)
The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock.
by Ferdinand Brock Tupper.
PREFACE.
In the early part of last year, a box of ma.n.u.scripts and the trunks belonging to Sir Isaac Brock, which had remained locked and unexamined for nearly thirty years, were at length opened, as the general's last surviving brother, Savery, in whose possession they had remained during that period, was then, from disease of the brain, unconscious of pa.s.sing events. With that sensibility which shrinks from the sight of objects that remind us of a much-loved departed relative or friend, he had allowed the contents to remain untouched; and when they saw the light, the general's uniforms, including the one in which he fell, were much moth-eaten, but the ma.n.u.scripts were happily uninjured. On the return of the Editor from South America in May last, he for the first time learnt the existence of these effects; and a few weeks after, having hastily perused and a.s.sorted the letters and other papers, he decided on their publication. Whether this decision was wise, the reader must determine.
If, on the one hand, part of their interest be lost in the lapse of years; on the other, they, and the comments they have elicited, can now be published with less risk of wounding private feelings.
It has been the Editor's study to avoid all unnecessary remarks on the letters in this volume, so as to allow the writers to speak for themselves. But he has deemed it a sacred obligation due to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, to withhold 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 offensive operations.[1] He regrets, however, that in the performance of this duty, he must necessarily give pain to the relatives of the late Sir George Prevost, of whose military government in Canada he would much rather have written in praise than in censure.
Brief memoirs are inserted, at the conclusion of the Appendix, of one of Sir Isaac Brock's brothers, the bailiff or chief magistrate of Guernsey, and of two of their nephews, Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper, of the Chilian service. The premature fate of these two promising young officers is, to those who knew them best, still a source of unceasing regret and of embittering remembrance.
The notices of the celebrated Tec.u.mseh interspersed throughout the volume, and the connected sketch of him near its close, can scarcely fail to interest the reader; that sketch is drawn from various and apparently authentic sources, and the Editor believes that it is more copious than any which has yet appeared of this distinguished Indian chief. A perusal will perhaps awaken sympathy in behalf of a much-injured people; it may also tend to remove the films of national prejudice, and prove that virtue and courage are not confined to any particular station or country, but that they may exist as well in the wilds of the forest, as in the cultivated regions of civilization.
GUERNSEY, January 15, 1845.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: See pages 275-280, 298, 304, 305, 315-317.]
CHAPTER I.
The Guernsey family of BROCK is probably of English origin, but we have been unable to ascertain the period of its first establishment in the island. The parochial register of St. Peter-Port extends only to the year 1563, soon after which time it contains the name of Philip Brock.
By ”Robson's Armorial Bearings of the n.o.bility and Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland,” eight families of the name of Brock appear to bear different arms, one of which was borne by all the Brocks of Guernsey--viz. azure, a fleur de lis or, on a chief argent a lion pa.s.s.
guard. gu.--crest, an escallop or[2]--until the death of Sir Isaac Brock, when new and honorary armorial bearings were granted by the sovereign to his family. Brock is the ancient Saxon name for badger, and as such is still retained in English dictionaries. Froissart,[3] in his Chronicles, makes mention of Sir Hugh Brock, an English knight, keeper of the castle of Derval, in Brittany, for his cousin Sir Robert Knolles, who was governor of all the duchy, and resided in Brest, during the absence of the duke in England. The French overran Brittany at this period, and leaving 2,000 men near Brest, so as to prevent its receiving succours, sat down with ”great engines” before the castle of Derval, to the siege of which came the constable of France, the Duke of Bourbon, the Earls of Alencon and of Perche, and a great number of the barony and chivalry of France. The castle being sore oppressed, Sir Hugh Brock was at length constrained to agree to surrender it at the end of two months, if not relieved by that time. Sir Robert Knolles, hearing this, also began to treat with the French; and while at the head of 30,000 men, he was afterwards defeated by Bertrand du Guesclin. These events occurred in the reign of Edward the Third, about the middle of the fourteenth century, when the English were driven out of France; and as Guernsey is in the direct course between Brittany and England, may not one of Sir Hugh Brock's family, on his pa.s.sage across the Channel, have visited the island and settled there?
The common ancestor of the present Guernsey family of the name of Brock was William Brock, Esq., a native of the island, who died in the year 1776, and was the grandfather of the subject of this volume. He had three sons and one daughter, who became connected by marriage with some of the princ.i.p.al and most ancient families of Guernsey; namely, William, married to Judith, daughter of James De Beauvoir, Esq.;[4] John, married to Elizabeth De Lisle, daughter of the then lieutenant-bailiff of the island; Henry, married to Susan Saumarez, sister of the late Admiral Lord de Saumarez; and Mary, wife of John Le Marchant, Esq[5]
John Brock, Esq., born January 24, 1729, second son of the above-named William, had by his wife, Elizabeth De Lisle, a very numerous family of ten sons and four daughters, of whom eight sons and two daughters reached maturity. He died in June, 1777, at Dinan, in Brittany, whither he had gone for the benefit of the waters, at the early age of forty-eight years.[6] In his youth he was a mids.h.i.+pman in the navy, and in that capacity had made a voyage to India, which was then considered a great undertaking. As he was possessed of much activity of mind and considerable talent, his death was an irreparable loss to his children, who were of an age to require all the care and counsels of a father; the eldest, John, having only completed his seventeenth year. They were left in independent, if not in affluent, circ.u.mstances; but the fond indulgence of a widowed mother, who could deny them no enjoyment, tended, notwithstanding their long minority, to diminish their patrimony.
Isaac Brock, the eighth son, was born in the parish of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey, on the 6th of October, 1769, the year which gave birth to Napoleon and Wellington. In his boyhood he was, like his brothers, unusually tall, robust, and precocious, and, with an appearance much beyond his age, remarkable chiefly for extreme gentleness. In his eleventh year he was sent to school at Southampton, and his education was concluded by his being placed for a twelvemonth under a French Protestant clergyman at Rotterdam, for the purpose of learning the French language. His eldest brother, John, a lieutenant in the 8th, the King's, regiment, being promoted to a company by purchase, Isaac succeeded, also by purchase, to the ensigncy which consequently became vacant in that regiment, and to which he was appointed on the 2d of March, 1785, soon after he had completed his fifteenth year. He joined in England, and was quartered there in different places for a few years.
Having entered the army at so early an age, he happily felt sensible of his deficiencies of education, and for a long period he devoted his leisure mornings to study, locking the door of his room until one o'clock, to prevent intrusion. In 1790 he was promoted to a lieutenantcy, and was quartered in Guernsey and Jersey. At the close of that year he obtained an independent company, by raising the requisite number of men to complete it, and was put on half pay. He exchanged soon after, by giving the difference, into the 49th, which regiment he joined at Barbadoes, in 1791, and he remained doing duty there, and afterwards at Jamaica, until 1793, when he was compelled to return very suddenly to England on sick leave, having nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential effects of the climate, and an immediate embarkation being p.r.o.nounced his only chance of recovery. His first cousin, Lieutenant Henry Brock, of the 13th foot, who was ill at the same time at Jamaica, died of the fever; and the survivor always thought that he was indebted for his life to the affectionate attentions of his servant, Dobson, whom he subsequently ever treated with the kindness of a brother, until he died in his service shortly before himself, in Canada. The mention of the following trait of great determination of character may serve as a guide to other young officers, similarly circ.u.mstanced. When Captain Brock joined the 49th, the peace of the regiment was disturbed by one of those vile pests of society--a confirmed duellist. Captain Brock soon proved to his brother captain, who took advantage of being a dead shot, that he was neither to be bullied nor intimidated, and the consequence was a challenge from the latter, which was promptly accepted. On the ground, Captain Brock, who was very tall and athletic, observed that to stand at twelve paces was not to meet his antagonist on any thing like equal terms, and, producing a handkerchief, insisted on firing across it. This the duellist positively declined, and being in consequence soon after compelled to leave the regiment, the officers were thus relieved, by the firm and resolute conduct of a very young man, of the presence of one with whom all social intercourse had previously been difficult and dangerous. On his return from Jamaica, Captain Brock was employed on the recruiting service in England, and afterwards in charge of a number of recruits at Jersey. On the 24th June, 1795, he purchased his majority, and remained in command of the recruits until the return of the regiment to England the following year. On the 25th of October, 1797, just after he had completed his twenty-eighth year, Major Brock purchased his lieutenant-colonelcy, and soon after became senior lieut.-colonel of the 49th. This was very rapid promotion for one who had not only entered the army during a period of profound peace, but had been five years an ensign, and, having no interest excepting that which his own merit might have procured him, he was generally considered at that time as one of the most fortunate officers in the service. In a little more than seven years, he had risen from an ensign to be a lieut.-colonel. 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 disorganized; but the commander in chief, 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.
In 1798, the 49th was quartered in Jersey, whence it proceeded, to England early the following year, to take part in the projected expedition to Holland, as in 1799 the British Government determined on sending a strong military force to that country, then in alliance with the French republic, which force was to be joined by a Russian army. The first English division, consisting of twelve battalions of infantry, among which was the 49th, and a small body of cavalry, a.s.sembled at Southampton under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and, having embarked, finally sailed from the Downs early in August. On the 26th of that month, the fleet, consisting of fifteen s.h.i.+ps of the line, from forty-five to fifty frigates, sloops, and smaller vessels of war, and about one hundred and thirty sail of transports, anch.o.r.ed along the coast of North Holland, from the mouth of the Texel as far as Calants-Oge. Early the next morning, the flank companies were landed, under the protection of the guns of the fleet. An engagement commenced as the British were about to march forward; but being continually reinforced by the arrival of fresh troops, they compelled the enemy to retreat. This warm engagement lasted till four o'clock in the afternoon, and cost the British about 1,000 men. Sir Ralph Abercromby, having become master of the point, or peninsula, of the Helder, completed his landing, entrenched his advanced posts toward the right, and occupied with his left the point of the Helder, and the batteries there which had been evacuated. In these positions he awaited the arrival of the second division, under the Duke of York, the commander-in-chief, which remained in England until news were received of the landing of the first on the coast of Holland. These two divisions were composed of thirty battalions of infantry, of 600 men each, 500 cavalry, and a fine train of artillery.[7] During this campaign, Lieut.-Colonel Brock distinguished himself in command of his regiment, which, on the 2d of October, in the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen, had Captain Archer and Ensign Ginn killed; and Major Hutchinson, Captains Sharp and Robins, Lieutenant Urquhart and Ensign Hill, wounded; Lieutenant Johnston missing, and supposed to be killed, exclusive of nearly one hundred non-commissioned officers and privates killed and wounded.[8] In this action, Lieut.-Colonel Brock was slightly wounded, although his name does not appear in the returns; and his life was in all probability preserved by his wearing, as the weather was very cold, a stout cotton handkerchief over a thick black silk cravat, both of which were perforated by a bullet, and which prevented its entering his neck: the violence of the blow was, however, so great, as to stun and dismount him. The following letter contains some interesting particulars relative to this campaign, and the part taken in it by the 49th.
_Lieutenant-Colonel Brock, 49th regiment, to his brother, brevet Lieutenant-Colonel John Brock, 81st regiment, at the Cape of Good Hope_.
”LONDON, November 26, 1799.
”I was pretty constant in my correspondence with you whilst the regiment was quartered at Portsmouth, and no opportunity offered from thence direct to the Cape without taking letters and newspapers from either Savery or myself, and often from both; but the very active and busy life I have pa.s.sed since put an end to all such communications. Knowing, however, that you will be gratified in hearing from my own pen the various incidents which have occurred since that time, I proceed to give you the substance of them. You will have seen in the public prints that the 49th embarked among the first regiments under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and that the army, amounting to about 10,000 men, after beating the seas from the 8th to the 27th of August, effected a landing near the Helder; that the enemy most unaccountably offered no opposition to our landing; and that, after a well-contested fight of ten hours, he retreated, and left us in quiet possession of the Heights, extending the whole length of the Peninsula. The 4th Brigade, under General Moore,[9] consisting of the Royals, 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d, landed to the left, where the greatest opposition was expected, as it was natural to suppose that so essential an object as the Helder would be defended to the last, but, to our utter astonishment, the enemy gave us no annoyance; on the contrary, soon after the affair on the right had terminated, he evacuated the town, which we took quiet possession of the following morning, and with it the whole of the fleet. The garrison, consisting of 1,600 men, could easily have been intercepted had it not been for a large body of cavalry and a number of cannon, which completely commanded a plain of a mile and a half in breadth, necessary to be crossed to get to them: as we had neither the one nor the other, it would have been the height of folly to attempt it. The regiments which distinguished themselves most on this occasion were the 23d, 27th, and 55th. The evening of our landing, a reinforcement of 5,000 men arrived, but could not disembark until two days after, owing to the badness of the weather.
During all this time the troops lay exposed on the sand hills, without the least shelter to cover them against the wind and rain. At length the army moved forward eleven miles, and got into cantonments along a ca.n.a.l extending the whole breadth of the country, from the Zuyder sea on the one side to the main ocean on the other, protected by an amazingly strong d.y.k.e, running half a mile in front of the line. In this position we remained unmolested until the 10th of September, on which day the enemy made a most desperate attack in three columns, two on the right and one on the centre of the line: he could not avoid being beaten, as it was the most injudicious step imaginable, and his loss was in proportion very great. The Guards, 20th, and 40th, acted conspicuous parts in this affair. The 49th was here again out of the way, with the exception indeed of Savery, whom nothing could keep from going to see what was doing on the right, and as it happened he proved of great use to Colonel Smith,[10] whom he a.s.sisted from the field after being wounded.
The French soldier was taught to consider the British troops as the most undisciplined rabble in the world, and he advanced confident of conquest; but this affair, and others which followed, made him very soon change his opinion. Nothing remarkable occurred after this until the arrival of the Duke of York with the remainder of the British troops and 16,000 Russians, which increased the army to about 35,000 men.
Continued rain, however, prevented any thing being done before the 19th, when the whole army was put in motion. Sir Ralph took 12,000, of which the 4th Brigade formed a part, to the left on the evening preceding, and got possession of the city of Horn the following morning at daylight, without a shot being fired: 200 prisoners were taken. Horn is a very populous, handsome city, and evidently in the interest of the Prince of Orange.
Nothing could exceed the joy of the inhabitants at our arrival, and in proportion as they rejoiced they mourned our departure, which took place before sun-set, in consequence of a fatal disaster which had befallen the Russians on the right. They of course threw the blame off their own shoulders, and wished to attribute the whole misfortune to the want of concert and a proper support on the part of the British; but I verily believe the real fact to be this. After most gallantly driving the enemy before them as far as Bergen, where it was previously arranged they should halt, they dispersed for the sake of plunder;--the French, hearing of this disorder, renewed the attack, and never gave the Russians an opportunity to form, but continued driving them with the bayonet until they encountered a body of English, under General Manners and Prince William, whose brigades suffered considerably. The Russians were, however, thus happily enabled to effect their retreat without further molestation; they were certainly the original cause of this disaster, but whether the British were sufficiently brisk in coming to their a.s.sistance, is doubted. The Russians in their persons are rather short of stature, and very thick and clumsy; they have nothing expressive in their features, but resemble much the Chinese countenance. I remarked an exception to this rule in a grenadier battalion, who, with tall, elegant persons, possessed remarkably fine, commanding faces. The officers in general are the most despicable wretches I ever saw: accustomed, as they have always been, to fight with troops much inferior to themselves, they thought themselves invincible. They take the field with an immense number of artillery, with which they cover their front and flanks, and thus never dreamed it possible, from their former experience, for troops to rally after being once beaten. This fatal security was the cause of the misfortune which befell the allies on the 19th. After the retreat from Horn, the 4th brigade took its station on the right, preparatory evidently to being actively employed; accordingly, on the 2d of October, the weather not permitting it sooner, the brigade a.s.sembled before daylight at Petten, and formed the advanced guard of a column, consisting of 10,000 men, which was to proceed along the beach to Egmont-op-Zee. After every thing had been properly arranged, it moved forward, supported by 1,000 cavalry, under Lord Paget.
It was intended that the reserve, under Colonel M'Donald, should cover our flank, and that the column should rapidly advance to Egmont, in order to turn the flank of the enemy at Bergen. This was, however, prevented by a strong body of the enemy, who engaged the reserve the moment it ascended the sand hills; and although he retreated before the reserve, he constrained Colonel M'Donald to follow in a different direction to that intended, thereby leaving our left flank uncovered. But this did not impede our moving forward, and it was not until we had proceeded five or six miles that we found the least opposition. The enemy then appeared in small force, and the 25th was ordered up the sand hills, but, he having increased, the 79th followed, and it was not long before the 49th was also ordered to form on the left of that regiment. It is impossible to give you an adequate idea of the nature of the ground, which I can only compare to the sea in a storm. On my getting to the left of the 79th, I found that its flank was already turned, and that the ground, which we were to occupy, did not afford the least shelter: my determination was instantly taken. I had gone on horseback to view the ground, and on my return to the regiment, which I met advancing, I found the left actually engaged with the enemy, who had advanced much beyond our left.