The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B.: Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic TupperBrock, Isaac, Sir
History
The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock, K.B.: Interspersed with notices of the celebrated Indian chief, Tecumseh, and comprising brief memoirs of Daniel De Lisle Brock, Esq., Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper
Our memoir is concluded, and even if in its progress we have but feebly
and imperfectly narrated the career and portrayed the character of him
who is the subject, we trust that our labour has not been in vain,
because we feel that we have rescued much from oblivion that was
hitherto unknown and unrecorded. It was that feeling which prompted us
to undertake this work; and, in completing our task, we are not without
hope that the simple language of soberness and truth will be preferred
to a memorial composed with more art, but dictated by less sincerity.
And should we in the course of these pages have inadvertently fallen
into undue panegyrism, that common error of biographers, our excuse must
be, that we could scarcely avoid eulogizing one of whom it was written,
soon after his untimely fall, by a bosom friend:
"General Brock[155] was indeed a hero, a hero in the only true and in
the most extensive sense, resembling what history or fable has
represented, rather as the offspring of the imagination than a personage
that could have real existence, so entirely was every great and good
quality comprehended in his character."
* * * * *
_Additional Notes_.
The garrison of Michilimakinack, when surprised in 1763, (see page 244,)
consisted of the commandant, Major Etherington, two subalterns, and
ninety soldiers; and there were four English traders there. Of these
Lieutenant Jemette, about seventy soldiers, and one trader, were
massacred; but the commandant, Lieutenant Leslie, and the remainder,
were preserved by the Ottawas, and restored at the peace in 1764. The
English trader, who beheld and described the massacre, was Alexander
Henry, whose travels in Canada are cited at page 369.
When peace was concluded at Detroit, by General Bradstreet, with the
Indians, in 1764, Pontiac fled to the Illinois; (see pages 164 and 243;)
but he appears subsequently to have joined the English, and to have
received a handsome pension from them to secure his attachment. Carver,
in his "Three Years Travels" in North America, relates that in 1767
Pontiac held a council in the Illinois, in which he spoke against the
English, and that in consequence an Indian, who was attached to their
cause, plunged a knife into his heart, and laid him dead on the spot.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 136: The medal is a very large and beautifully executed gold
one, made to suspend from the neck. On the obverse is, "Detroit;" on the
reverse, the figure of Britannia; and round the rim, "Major-General Sir
Isaac Brock." The medal was given only to the principal officers.]
[Footnote 137: This is doubtless the officer whose name is spelt M'Kec,
at page 252; see also page 294.]
[Footnote 138: The present Mrs. De Beauvoir De Lisle.]
[Footnote 139: The present Lieut.-General Sir Andrew Barnard, G.C.B.]
[Footnote 140: Her husband, who distinguished himself in Upper Canada
during the war, was then serving on the staff in Lower Canada.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account