Part 17 (1/2)

Soon after their landing at Amherstburg, the attention of the troops was suddenly roused by a straggling fire of musketry, which in a few minutes became general, and appeared to proceed from an island in the Detroit river. Colonel Elliott, the superintendent of the Indians, quickly explained that the firing arose from the Indians attached to the British cause, who thus expressed their joy at the arrival of the reinforcement under their white father. Major-General Brock, aware of his scarcity of the munitions of war, sent Colonel Elliott to stop this waste of powder, saying: ”Do, pray, Elliott, fully explain my wishes and motives, and tell the Indians that I will speak to them to-morrow on this subject.” His request was promptly attended to, and Colonel Elliott returned in about half an hour with the Shawanee chief, Tec.u.mseh, or Tec.u.mpthe, already mentioned. Captain Glegg,[65] the aide-de-camp, being present, had an opportunity of closely observing the traits of that extraordinary man, and we are indebted to him for the following graphic particulars: ”Tec.u.mseh's appearance was very prepossessing; his figure light and finely proportioned; his age I imagined to be about five and thirty;[66] in height, five feet nine or ten inches; his complexion, light copper; countenance, oval, with bright hazle eyes, beaming cheerfulness, energy, and decision. Three small silver crowns, or coronets, were suspended from the lower cartilage of his aquiline nose; and a large silver medallion of George the Third, which I believe his ancestor had received from Lord Dorchester, when governor-general of Canada, was attached to a mixed coloured wampum string, and hung round his neck. His dress consisted of a plain, neat uniform, tanned deer skin jacket, with long trousers of the same material, the seams of both being covered with neatly cut fringe; and he had on his feet leather moca.s.sins, much ornamented with work made from the dyed quills of the porcupine.

”The first and usual salutation of shaking hands being over, an allusion was made to the late firing of musketry, and Tec.u.mseh at once approved of the reason given by Major-General Brock for its discontinuance. It being late, the parties soon separated, with an understanding that a council would be held the following morning. This accordingly took place, and was attended by about a thousand Indians, whose equipment generally might be considered very imposing. The council was opened by General Brock, who informed the Indians that he was ordered by their great father to come to their a.s.sistance, and, with their aid, to drive the Americans from Fort Detroit. His speech was highly applauded, and Tec.u.mseh was unanimously called upon to speak in reply. He commenced with expressions of joy, that their father beyond the great salt lake (meaning the king of England) had at length awoke from his long sleep, and permitted his warriors to come to the a.s.sistance of his red children, who had never ceased to remain steady in their friends.h.i.+p, and were now all ready to shed their last drop of blood in their great father's service. After some speeches from other chiefs, and replies thereto, the council broke up. General Brock, having quickly discovered the superior sagacity and intrepidity of Tec.u.mseh, and his influence over the Indians, and not deeming it prudent to develop before so mixed an a.s.semblage the views which were at that moment uppermost in his thoughts, and intended to be carried so quickly into execution, directed Colonel Elliott to inform this Shawanee chief that he wished to see him, accompanied by a few of the oldest chiefs, at Colonel Elliott's quarters. There the general, through the medium of interpreters, communicated his views, and explained the manner in which he intended to carry into execution his operations against Fort Detroit. The chiefs listened with the most apparent eagerness, and expressed their unanimous a.s.sent to the proposed plan, a.s.suring General Brock that their co-operation, as pointed out, might be depended on. On General Brock asking whether the Shawanee Indians could be induced to refrain from drinking spirits, Tec.u.mseh a.s.sured him that his warriors might be relied on, adding, that before leaving their country on the Wabash river, they had promised him not to taste that pernicious liquor until they had humbled the ”big knives,” meaning the Americans. In reply to this a.s.surance, General Brock briefly said: 'If this resolution be persevered in, you must conquer.'”

In a general order on the 14th of August, at Amherstburg, in announcing his arrival in the western district, Major-General Brock observed: ”The major-general cannot avoid expressing his surprise at the numerous desertions which have occurred from the ranks of the militia, to which circ.u.mstance the long stay of the enemy on this side of the river must in a great measure be ascribed. He is willing to believe that their conduct proceeded from an anxiety to get in their harvest, and not from any predeliction for the principles or government of the United States.”

The next day, the American commander was startled by a summons to surrender; and so resolute a demand seems to have struck him with dismay, as at the worst he had never contemplated a pursuit into his own territory.

Head Quarters, Sandwich, Aug. 15, 1812.

The force at my disposal authorizes me to require of you the immediate surrender of Fort Detroit.[67] It is far from my inclination to join in a war of extermination; but you must be aware, that the numerous body of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops, will be beyond my control the moment the contest commences. You will find me disposed to enter into such conditions as will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honor. Lieut.-Colonel M'Donell and Major Glegg are fully authorized to conclude any arrangement that may lead to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood.

ISAAC BROCK, Major-General.

Brigadier-General Hull.

Hull refused to see Captain Glegg, who carried the summons, and, after detaining him upwards of two hours, returned the following answer:

Head Quarters, Detroit, Aug. 15, 1812.

I have received your letter of this date. I have no other reply to make than to inform you, that I am prepared to meet any force which may be at your disposal, and any consequences which may result from any exertion of it you may think proper to make.

W. HULL, Brigadier-General, Commanding the N.W. Army of the U.S.

Nothing daunted, and contrary to the advice of some of his officers, Major-General Brock at once determined on crossing the river, with the view of attempting, by a sudden and resolute attack, the annihilation of the enemy's power in that quarter. In the afternoon, a fire was opened from a battery of five guns, erected opposite to Detroit, under the direction of Captain Dixon, of the Royal Engineers: this cannonade was returned from seven 24-pounders, but the British general, perceiving that little effect was produced by either fire, gave orders that his should cease. The troops retired to their bivouac and lay on their arms, with orders to cross the strait, or river, which is here about three-fourths of a mile in width, on the following morning. Accordingly, at the first blush of dawn, on Sunday, the 16th of August, when the fire from the British battery was resumed, 330 regulars and 400 militia were embarked, with five pieces of light artillery, in boats and canoes of every description, and soon effected a landing without opposition, near Springwell, four or five miles below Detroit. About 600 Indians, under Colonel Elliott, had crossed the river during the night, and were ordered to be so placed as to take the enemy in flank and rear, should he attempt to oppose the landing. The white troops marched towards the fort, while the Indians moved through the woods, and covered the left flank, the right resting upon the river, and protected by the Queen Charlotte, colonial vessel of war. The enemy's effective force was estimated at nearly 2,500 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. Contrary to Major-General Brock's expectation, the Americans abandoned a favorable position, strengthened by pickets and two 24-pounders, and retreated into the fort on the advance of the British, who halted in a ravine within a mile, and, discovering the weakness of the works on the land side, prepared for its a.s.sault. 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 a.s.sented to a capitulation, by which the Michigan territory, Fort Detroit, with thirty-three pieces of cannon,[68] the Adams vessel of war,[69] and about 2,500 troops, including one company of artillery, some cavalry, and the entire 4th U.S. regiment of infantry, with a stand of colours, were surrendered to the British arms. An immense quant.i.ty of stores and the military chest were also taken; and as there was a great deficiency of arms in the Upper Province wherewith to equip the militia, the 2,500 stand of American became a valuable acquisition. To this surrender the after preservation of Upper Canada, at least, may in a great measure be ascribed, as it caused a delay of nearly a whole year in the meditated invasion,[70] and secured the support of some of the Indian tribes, who were hesitating as to the side they should espouse.

It was the more fortunate that Major-General Brock acted with so much prompt.i.tude and vigour, because large reinforcements were on their way to General Hull; and not only would that officer's reverse otherwise have been spared, but the western districts of Upper Canada would probably have fallen before the overwhelming numbers which would soon have been brought against them.

The surrender of Detroit was so unexpected, that it produced an almost electrical effect throughout the Canadas: it was the first enterprize in which the militia had been engaged, and its success not only imparted confidence to that body, but it inspired the timid, fixed the wavering, and awed the disaffected. Major-General Brock from this moment became the idol of the great ma.s.s of those whom he governed; and when he returned to York, whither he arrived on the 27th of August, he was received amidst the heartfelt acclamations of a grateful people, rescued by his prompt.i.tude from the ignominy of submitting to a conqueror. They remembered that in the short s.p.a.ce of nineteen days he had, not only met the legislature and settled the public business of the province under the most trying circ.u.mstances that a commander could encounter, but, with means incredibly limited, he had gone nearly 300 miles in pursuit of an invading enemy of almost double his own force and compelled him to surrender, thus extending the British dominion without bloodshed over an extent of country almost equal to Upper Canada.[71]

The conduct of the American general in so tamely surrendering is inexplicable, as Detroit contained an ample supply of ammunition and provisions for nearly a month, besides an abundance of wheat in the territory, with mills to grind any quant.i.ty into flour. One of his officers, Colonel Ca.s.s, in a long letter to the Honorable William Eustis, the secretary of war at Was.h.i.+ngton, said: ”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 1,030.[72] 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 700. The number of Indians could not be 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 advantage 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 1,800 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. Whether the philanthropic reason a.s.signed 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 event would have been brilliant and successful as it is now disastrous and dishonorable.” Hull's behaviour, then, can only be accounted for by the supposition that the boldness of his adversary's movements led him to believe he had to contend with far greater numbers; or, that having threatened to refuse quarter to the white 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 a.s.sault, it might have been very difficult 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.

”The news of the surrender of Detroit,” says the American historian, Brown, ”was so unexpected, that it came like a clap of thunder to the ears of the American people. No one would believe the first report. The disastrous event blasted the prospects of the first campaign, and opened the northern and western frontiers of Ohio to savage incursions.

”Previous to the surrender of Detroit, the governors of Ohio and Kentucky, in obedience to the directions of the war department, had detached powerful reinforcements to the aid of General Hull. Had he deferred the capitulation but a few days longer, his army, Detroit, and the Michigan territory, would have been saved.

”The forces advancing to his support consisted of 2,000 militia, under Brigadier-General Payne, and a battalion of mounted riflemen, under Colonel R.M. Johnson, from Kentucky; a brigade of Ohio militia, under the orders of Brigadier-General Tupper;[73] and nearly 1,000 regulars, under the command of General Winchester. They had reached the St. Mary's River when the news of the capture of Detroit was received. But for the well-timed arrival of the above force a wide scene of flight and misery, of blood and desolation, must have ensued. Nearly half of the territory of Ohio must have been depopulated, or its inhabitants fallen victims to the scalping knife.”

”The chagrin felt at Was.h.i.+ngton,” observes James in his Military Occurrences, ”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 enterprize 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 whole navy would conquer ours on the ocean. We must take the continent from them. _I wish never to see a peace till we do._ G.o.d has given us the power and the means: we 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 unblus.h.i.+ng apostacy--signed the treaty of peace.”

Tec.u.mseh, who was slain the year following, headed a party of his warriors on this occasion, and in the rough sketch already mentioned, Major-General Brock remarked: ”Among the Indians whom I found at Amherstburg, and who had arrived from distant parts of the country, there were some extraordinary characters. He who most attracted my attention was a Shawanee chief, Tec.u.mseh, the brother of the prophet, who for the two last years has carried on, contrary to our remonstrances, an active war against the United States. A more sagacious or a more gallant warrior does not, I believe, exist. He was the admiration of every one who conversed with him. From a life of dissipation he has not only become in every respect abstemious, but he has likewise prevailed on all his nation, and many of the other tribes, to follow his example.” Previously to crossing over to Detroit, Major-General Brock inquired of Tec.u.mseh what sort of a country he should have to pa.s.s through in the event of his proceeding further.

Tec.u.mseh, taking a roll of elm bark, and extending it on the ground, drew forth his scalping knife, and with the point presently edged upon the back a plan of the country, its hills, woods, rivers, mora.s.ses, and roads--a plan which, if not as neat, was fully as intelligible as if a surveyor had prepared it. Pleased with this unexpected talent in Tec.u.mseh, with his defeat of the Americans near Brownstown, and with his having, by his characteristic boldness, induced the Indians, not of his own tribe, to cross the river prior to the embarkation of the white troops, Major-General Brock, soon after Detroit was surrendered, took off his sash and publicly placed it round the body of the chief.

Tec.u.mseh received the honor with evident gratification, but was the next day seen without the sash. The British general, fearing that something had displeased the Indian, sent his interpreter for an explanation.

Tec.u.mseh told him, that not wis.h.i.+ng to wear such a mark of distinction when an older, and, as he said, an abler warrior than himself was present, he had transferred the sash to the Wyandot chief, Roundhead.[74]

The unfortunate General Hull, on his return to the United States, was tried by a court martial and condemned to death; but the sentence was remitted by the president, in consideration of his age and services during the war of independence.[75] His name was, however, struck off the rolls of the army. His son, and aide-de-camp at Detroit, Captain Hull, was killed in July, 1814, in the hard-fought battle near the Falls of Niagara.

Major-General Brock's services throughout this short campaign, closed by an achievement which his energy and decision crowned with such unqualified success, were highly appreciated by the government at home, and were immediately rewarded with the order of the bath, which was then confined to one degree of knighthood only. He was gazetted to this mark of his country's approbation, so gratifying to the feelings of a soldier, on the 10th of October; but he lived not long enough to learn that he had obtained so honorable a distinction, the knowledge of which would have cheered him in his last moments. Singularly enough his dispatches, accompanied by the colours of the U.S. 4th regiment, reached London early on the morning of the 6th of October, the anniversary of his birth. His brother William, 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 antic.i.p.ations of a beloved brother's increasing fame and prosperity would that day week, one short week, be entombed

”Where Niagara stuns with thundering sound.”