Public School History of England and Canada/Canada/Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV.
THE WAR OF 1812.
1. The Beginning of Parliamentary Government.—When the Constitutional Act was passed Canada had a population of one hundred and fifty thousand, of which about twenty thousand belonged to the Western Province. There were few villages or towns then in Upper Canada, the more important being Kingston and Newark (now Niagara). Newark was chosen as the place of meeting for the first Parliament of Upper Canada; but a few years after, in 1797, Parliament was moved to the village of York, or Toronto, because Newark being situated at the mouth of the Niagara river, and just opposite an American fort, it was not considered safe for the seat of Government to be so near the guns of a possible enemy. On the 17th September 1792, twenty-three men came, mostly from farm and store, to Newark to form a Legislative Council and Assembly; seven belonging to the Council and sixteen to the Assembly. They were busy men, and time was precious, so they set to work in earnest. The Governor Sir John Graves Simcoe was equally sturdy and energetic, and equally anxious to build up the Western Province. The first session saw English Civil Law and Trial by Jury introduced, and bills passed to collect small debts, to regulate tolls for millers, and to erect jails and court-houses in the four districts in which the Province was divided. These districts were the Eastern or Johnstown; the Midland or Kingston; the Home or Niagara; and the Western or Detroit. The session lasted less than two months. Parliament met the next year in May, and passed bills offering rewards for wolves’ and bears’ heads; and what was more important, provided for the doing away with slavery in Upper Canada. There were not many slaves in the province, but the Act passed in 1793, forbade the bringing of any more slaves into the country, and made all children, who were slaves, free at the age of twenty-five. During the time Parliament met at Newark, a government newspaper, the Gazette, was started—the first newspaper in Upper Canada.
The Parliament in Lower Canada met in December, 1792, at Quebec, and was composed of fifteen members of the Legislative Council and fifty of the Legislative Assembly. Of the latter, fifteen were of British origin, the rest were French. It was soon found that there were two languages used by the members, so it was decided that a member could speak in either language; but all notices, bills, laws and other papers must be printed in both English and French, and thus the law has remained ever since. Too soon, jealousies and ill-feeling arose between the two races, and the newspapers on both sides helped to increase the mutual dislike. The Lower Canadian Parliament did not pass any law against slavery, but in 1803, Chief Justice Osgoode gave a decision to the effect that slavery was against the laws of England, and this led to the few slaves (about three hundred) in the Province being set free.
2. Founding of Upper Canada.—As already stated, there were only twenty thousand people in Upper Canada in 1791, and this small population was scattered along the St. Lawrence, around the Bay of Quinté and along the Niagara and St. Clair rivers. Settlers preferred to take up farms near the rivers and lakes, because it was very difficult to get in or out of the settlements except by water. The land was covered with forests, and every farm was a bush farm. The settler had to chop down the trees before he could plant or sow a crop of any kind. The fallen trees had to be burnt, and among the blackened: stumps, with a rude “drag,” drawn generally by oxen, he covered up the “seed.” Sometimes his crop was planted and tended with the spade and hoe. His dwelling place was a log-hut or “shanty,” often built in a small “clearing” in the heart of the forest, and covered with bark or “troughs.” There, sheltered by the trees from the rude winter, his family lived, every member able to work doing something to lighten the settler’s toil, and improve the common lot. Fortunately, the soil was fertile, and for the amount of seed sown the crop was plentiful. Mills for grinding grain of any kind were very scarce, and often the settler had to make his own flour or meal by pounding the grain in the hollow of a hard-wood stump, or by using a steel hand-mill, provided in these days by the Government. Instances were not rare of a man trudging forty miles to get a bushel of wheat ground by a grist-mill, and then trudging home again with his load lightened by the miller’s toll. Roads were few and rough, made, as they were, through the woods. Frequently there was nothing more than a “blazed” path for the foot-traveller or the solitary horseman. In other places swampy and low ground was bridged over by logs laid side by side, forming the famous “corduroy roads” our fathers and orandfathers tell about, and the remains of which are to be found in many localities to-day. The daily life of these hardy people (for they usually had good health and strong frames) was very simple and free from luxury of any kind, unless the abundance of game and fish may be called such. They wore home-made clothing, had very rude furniture, often, also, home-made, and rode in carts and sleds drawn by oxen. Yet, notwithstanding these hardships, they lived happy, contented lives. They were very sociable with their few neighbours, helped each other in their “logging bees,” and their house and barn “raisings,” which gatherings were sometimes marred by the rather free use of distilled liquors. Once in a long time, they were visited by a travelling preacher, who, by almost incredible toil, made his way to the “sheep” scattered in the “wilderness.” Then, in some rude log-cabin, the few settlers gathered together to listen to a sermon, have their children baptized, and perchance, other solemn religious rites performed. Of education, there was little or none. Not that the settlers despised it, but the inhabitants were too few, too busy, and too poor to employ competent teachers and send their children to school after they could help on the farm. Later on, as we shall find, the Government tried to help the people in this respect, but the aid they got for many years was of little value. Old and worn-out pensioners took to teaching to get a scanty livelihood, and paid for their “board” and small salary by giving the youths of the school district a very imperfect knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic. The salary of the teacher was too small to enable him to pay for his board, so it was arranged that he should “board around” among the different families sending their children to the school. The prudent teacher usually managed to spend the most of his time in the homes where the most comfort prevailed.
3. Political Discontent.—The early settlers cared little for politics, aside from the aid the Government could give in the way of building roads, bridges, and opening up the country for settlement. Nevertheless the defects of the Constitutional Act were soon so apparent and hurtful, that the people of both Upper and Lower Canada began to complain. In both provinces, the Executive Council and the Legislative Council did not consider they were responsible to the people, and used their power to further the interests of themselves and their friends. Judges and other salaried officials were often members of these councils, and the union of law-making and law-interpreting did not work well. The Governors, as a rule, took the advice of their Executive Councils and paid no attention to the remonstrances of the Legislative Assembly. There was no way of getting rid of these men who abused their trust by putting their needy friends into government offices and by granting wild lands to speculators, who hoped by holding the lands until the neighbouring settlers made improvements, to be able to sell at a good profit. They were also accused of spending corruptly the money intended for the U. E. Loyalists and other settlers, and for the Indian tribes. In our day, the people’s representatives would refuse to vote any money for the public expenditure, until their wrongs were righted; but, at that time, such a course was impossible, for nearly all the revenue was under the control of the Governor and his Executive Council. In Lower Canada, besides these abuses, they had to contend against race jealousies and religious animosities. The British in that province usually were on the side of the Governor and the Councils while the French supported the Legislative Assembly, the majority of which was French. The Assembly demanded that judges should not sit in Parliament, and after a struggle the Governor and the Legislative Council yielded. Another demand was that the revenue of the Province should be expended by the Assembly. This, however, was not granted for many years. But the quarrels between the Assemblies and the Governors were, in 1812, dropped to meet a pressing common danger.
4. Cause of the War of 1812.—To explain this danger we must refer to what had been going on in Europe for nearly twenty years. In 1793 England was drawn into a war with France, and, except for a brief period in 1802-3, there had been a continuous struggle against the power of the French General and Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1806, when Napoleon had conquered the most of Europe, he issued a “‘decree” from Berlin in Prussia to the effect that English goods were not to be bought or sold on the Continent of Europe, and that other nations should not trade with England. England, who had been for many years the mistress of the sea, retaliated by forbidding all neutral nations to trade with France, and threatening their vessels with seizure if they did not call at English ports. These “Orders-in-Council,” as they were called, pressed very hard on American vessel owners as they could not trade with either England or France without their vessels being liable to seizure. Besides, England, anxious to secure men for her navy, stopped American vessels on the seas, and searched them for runaway sailors and British subjects. It was said that this was often a mere pretext to take American sailors to man British war-ships. The American Congress complained loudly against England’s abuse of power, but got no redress. At last the United States, which just then was governed by the Democratic party—a party, from the time of the Revolution, always hostile to England and friendly to France—declared war, although the hateful “Orders-in-Council” were repealed within a few days of the declaration.
5. The Campaign of 1812.—The declaration of war was made on the 18th of June, and was very much against the wishes of a considerable portion of the American people. The New England States were anxious for peace, for war to them meant loss of trade and injury to their commerce. Consequently they refused to give any active aid, and thus, although the population of the United States was eight millions, and that of Canada only about one quarter of a million, the difference in numbers did not really show the difference in military strength of the two countries. The United States hoped to take Canada with very little effort; for it was known that only 4,500 regular soldiers were in the colony, and a few militia scattered along a frontier of fifteen hundred miles. It was also known that England was too busy fighting Napoleon in Spain to be able to give Canada any immediate help. When the war broke out, Sir George Prevost was the Governor-General of Canada, and General Sir Isaac Brock the acting Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, in the absence of Mr. Francis Gore then in England.
The American plan of campaign was to invade Canada with three armies. One was to cross at Detroit, a second at the Niagara frontier, and the third by the way of Lake Champlain. These were the armies of the West, the Centre, and the North respectively, General Dearborn being the Commander-in-Chief.
The first blow was struck at Fort Michillimackinac at the entrance of Lake Michigan. This post was held by the Americans, and was important on account of its trade with the western Indians. Acting under orders from General Brock, Captain Roberts with a small body of men from St. Joseph, took the fort by surprise, and by so doing secured the support and confidence of the Indian tribes of the West and North-west. On the 12th of July, the American general, Hull, crossed over from Detroit, and by a proclamation invited the Canadians to throw off the yoke of England; but the invitation met with no response. General Brock immediately sent Colonel Proctor with a few regulars to Fort Malden, near Amherstburg. Here Proctor was joined by the famous Indian chief, Tecumseh, who brought a number of warriors to help the English in the struggle against the Americans. Tecumseh was a Shawnee, and for years had sought to unite the various Indian tribes against the Americans, for he saw very clearly that the Indians were being pushed back, farther and farther, by the steady encroachments of the white people. At this time, Tecumseh was in the prime of his noble manhood, and wielded a great influence over the Indian tribes, who believed him to be of supernatural birth.
For a short time, Hull remained in Canada, and then getting afraid of Indian attacks, returned to Detroit and shut himself up in that strong fort. On the 5th of August, Brock set out for Detroit with a small force of regulars and York militia. A week later he reached Amherstburg, and there met Tecumseh with seven hundred warriors. Tecumseh sketched for Brock, on a piece of birch bark, the plan of Detroit, and it was resolved to attempt its capture, although Brock had only fourteen hundred men, half of them Indians, while Detroit was defended by over two thousand. Brock demanded the surrender of the fort, and the demand being refused, crossed the river and made preparations for an attack. Greatly to the surprise of the English and the Indians, and to the garrison itself, Hull surrendered the fort and the territory of Michigan without a shot being fired, he and all his men being made prisoners. Brock sent the regulars of Hull’s army to Montreal as prisoners of war; the militia were allowed to return home. A large quantity of military supplies, ammunition and cannon, fell into the hands of the English, which proved a very timely aid to Brock in carrying on the war. Brock then returned to Toronto,-and found that General Prevost had agreed to an armistice, by which the war was stopped for a time on Lake Champlain and the Niagara frontier. This gave the Americans an opportunity to collect their armies and carry supplies along Lake Ontario to Niagara. Before the month of August ended, war was renewed, and the Americans gathered six thousand men under General Van Rensselaer at Lewiston, opposite Queenston, on the Niagara river, with the intention of invading Canada. To oppose this force, Brock had only fifteen hundred men, mostly militia and Indians. Brock’s troops were scattered all along the Niagara river from Fort George, at its mouth, to Queenston, seven miles up the stream. His men were kept on a constant watch against attempts of the Americans to cross.
On the 13th of October, in the early morning, the American army began crossing the river at a point below Queenston Heights. The few regulars and militia stationed there poured a destructive fire into the boats of the Americans as they approached the shore, many of which were sunk, and their occupants killed or taken prisoners. The Canadians thought they had driven back the invaders, when it was discovered that a large force of Americans had, under cover of the night, made their way to the top of Queenston Heights. Hearing the sound of firing, Brock, who was at Fort George, galloped in hot haste for the scene of conflict, leaving his aides to follow him, and hurrying forward the troops as he sped past them. When he reached Queenston and saw that the Americans had succeeded in getting a footing on the Heights, he put himself at the head of a small body of men and rushed up the mountain side eager to dislodge the enemy. While cheering his followers on, he was struck in the breast by a musket ball and fell, mortally wounded. His tall figure and bright uniform had made him a mark, all too good, for the American riflemen. His brave soldiers, though few in number, were anxious to avenge his death, and again made an attempt to dislodge the foe—but only to be driven back with heavy loss. Among those who fell in this second attempt was Brock’s aide-de-camp, Colonel MacDonnell of Glengarry, a noble young man only twenty-five years of age, whose life was full of promise. Soon after General Sheaffe arrived from Fort George with three hundred men and some artillery. All the men that could be mustered were now marched through the fields back of Queenston, and unperceived they ascended the Heights, and concealed themselves among the trees. The Americans in the meantime were landing fresh troops, and carrying off their dead and wounded. About three o’clock in the afternoon, the British moved rapidly through the woods against the unsuspecting Americans. A number of Indians who were in the Canadian army, as soon as they saw the enemy raised the terrible war-whoop, and rushed on their prey. The rest of the troops joined in the shout and the onslaught. The Americans gave one volley and then fled. But there was no escape, save by the brow of the mountain overhanging the river. In their terror many of the enemy threw themselves over the precipice, only to be dashed on the rocks, or drowned in the river. The American shore was lined with their fellow-countrymen, but no help was given. Soon two American officers ascended the mountain side bearing a white flag, and with difficulty the slaughter was brought to an end. One thousand Americans were made prisoners and a hundred slain. Thus dearly was the death of Brock avenged. In one of the batteries of Fort George, amid the booming of minute guns from friend and foe, Brock and MacDonnell side by side found a resting place. A'month’s armistice was unwisely agreed to by General Sheaffe, which enabled the Americans to gather troops for another attack on the Niagara frontier. Towards the end of November, General Smythe, who succeeded Van Rensselaer, attempted a landing near Fort Erie, but his men were driven back by a small force of Canadians. This ended the attempts, in 1813, of the army of the Centre to gain a footing on Canadian soil.
Nor was the army of the North under General Dearborn more successful. In November, Dearborn advanced with an army of ten thousand men by way of Lake Champlain to take Montreal. The French Canadian militia under Major-de Salaberry, felled trees, guarded the passes, and used every possible means to check his advance. At Lacolle, near Rouse’s Point, a British outpost was attacked by Dearborn’s troops, but in the darkness of the early morning, his men became confused and fired into each other’s ranks. When they discovered their mistake, disheartened and cowed, they returned to Lake Champlain, and Dearborn finding the Canadian militia on the alert, gave up his attempt.on Montreal and retired to Plattsburg.
To sum up :—The results of the land campaign of 1812 were the capture of Detroit, the surrender of Michigan, the great victory at (Queenston Heights, and the repulse of Dearborn at Lacolle by a small body of Canadian militia. On.the sea, however, the Americans were more successful, gaining several victories over British men-of-war, and controlling the great lakes.
6. Campaign of 1813.—General Sheaffe succeeded General Brock as Lieut. Governor of Upper Canada, and the Parliaments of both Provinces met to vote money for the defence of the country. They issued Army Bills, or promises to pay, instead of gold and silver, and this paper money was not to be exchanged for coin until the war was over. The Americans made great preparations this year to conquer Canada, and, as in 1812, placed three large armies on the frontier. That in the west was led by General Harrison; that on the Niagara frontier by General Dearborn; and that in the east by General Hampton. A regiment of British soldiers arrived in the depth of winter from New Brunswick to help the Canadians. The war was continued throughout the winter; Major Macdonald capturing Ogdensburg, with a large quantity of arms and supplies, and Colonel Proctor in the west, defeating General Winchester in a battle at Frenchtown, a place about twenty miles south of Detroit. Vessels were built on the lakes by both sides, but the Americans were the sooner equipped, and sailing out of Sackett’s Harbor General Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey with two thousand men attacked and captured York, which was defended by only six hundred men, regulars, militia, and Indians. General Sheaffe retired from the old French fort at York, to Kingston, taking the regulars with him, and was replaced in Upper Canada by General de Rottenburg, Sheaffe’s conduct at York being blamed. Having taken York the American fleet and army sailed across Lake Ontario to the mouth of the Niagara river to take Fort George. General Vincent with fourteen hundred men held the fort for some time against Dearborn, and then, his ammunition failing, retreated to a strong position on Burlington Heights, having first spiked his guns and blown up his magazine. Fort George was now taken possession of by the Americans. While Chauncey was at Fort George, Sir George Prevost and Sir James Yeo, a naval officer just arrived from England, crossed the lake from Kingston with a large force and attacked Sackett’s Harbor, hoping to destroy the naval stores there. When on the point of success, Prevost withdrew his men, imagining the Americans were trying to entrap him. These disasters were more than balanced by two brilliant exploits, one at Stony Creek, near Hamilton, the other at Beaver Dams. At the former place, on the 4th of June, Colonel Harvey, of General Vincent's army, with seven hundred men, made a night attack on four thousand Americans who had advanced from Fort George to drive Vincent from his post on Burlington Heights. The attack was completely successful, the Americans taken by surprise, after a brief resistance, retreating hastily with the loss of four cannon, and one hundred and twenty prisoners, including two generals. At Beaver Dams (near the present town of Thorold), Lieutenant Fitzgibbon with a small force was stationed. General Dearborn hoped to surprise this post, and for that purpose sent six hundred men from Fort George, under Major Boerstler. A Canadian heroine, Mrs. Laura Secord, became aware of the plan, and set out on foot to warn the British of the intended attack. To avoid the American sentries she had to walk twenty miles, a journey that took all day, from early morning till sunset. Fitzgibbon, warned, made such a skilful arrangement of his few men in the woods, that the Americans thought they were surrounded by a large force, and, after a brief resistance, surrendered to only one half of their own number of men. The Americans were now, in turn, besieged in Fort George by Vincent and his small army.
Two serious disasters now befell the Canadians. Captain Barclay, with six British vessels, was defeated on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry, with nine American vessels; and this loss compelled Colonel Proctor and Tecumseh to abandon Detroit and retreat into Canada, as their supplies could no longer come to them by the lakes. Proctor was closely followed by General Harrison with a large force drawn from the west, many of them Kentucky riflemen accustomed to border warfare. Tecumseh urged Proctor to make a stand against the Americans, but Proctor continued his retreat until he reached Moraviantown, on the Thames river. There, at last, on the 5th Oct., Tecumseh persuaded him to prepare for battle on a favourable ground. Soon Harrison and his men appeared, and a fierce struggle began. Almost at the beginning of the fight, Proctor fled and left Tecumseh and his Indians to uphold the honour of British arms. Tecumseh and his warriors fought with desperate courage and great skill, but they were soon over-powered and Tecumseh was Killed. Had Proctor stood his ground, the battle of Moraviantown might have ranked in our history with that of Queenston Heights, and other brave deeds. The few of Proctor’s men, that escaped, fled and joined General Vincent.
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Chateauguay and Chrysler’s Farm.
The Americans had now possession of the western part of Canada, and hoped soon by two large expeditions to take Montreal. The first of these, nine thousand strong, under General Wilkinson set out from Sackett’s Harbour, in boats, expecting to take Kingston and Brescott, and then float down the St. Lawrence and make a junction with General Hampton, who was to approach Montreal by Lake Champlain. Kingston was not molested, and Wilkinson was so annoyed by the Canadians along the bank of the St. Lawrence, that he landed below Prescott with four thousand men, to beat back his enemies. Here, in an open field, called Chrysler’s Farm, with only eight hundred men Colonel Morrison and Colonel Harvey, the hero of Stony Creek, on the 11th Nov., inflicted so heavy a defeat on the forces of Wilkinson, that they were glad to return to their own side of the river. The other expedition under General Hampton, with three thousand men, had been defeated by Colonel de Salaberry, with four hundred Canadian militia, at the battle of Chateauguay, Sept. 26th. These two victories put an end for a time to the attempts to take Montreal.
In Upper Canada, General Vincent had been compelled by the defeat of Proctor, to retreat again to Burlington Heights, and the Americans had the control of the Niagara peninsula. But the bad news from the east led the American general, McClure, to abandon Fort George; not, however, before he had committed the inhuman act of burning the village of Niagara, turning the people out of their homes in the depth of a very severe winter. After the retreat of the Americans to their own side of the river, the British under General Drummond, arrived on the frontier, and determined to avenge the burning of Niagara. Fort Niagara on the American side was surprised, and three hundred prisoners taken. Lewiston, Black Rock, Buffalo, and other American villages were burned, the destruction of Buffalo closing the campaign of 1813.
7. 1814 and the Close of the War.—The winter of 1814 was used by the Canadians to carry, on sleds, supplies from Montreal to Kingston and Toronto for the troops in the west.
The Americans had gained a footing in the western peninsula by their success at Moraviantown, but General Harrison returned to Detroit and took no further part in the war. Lower Canada was the first to be attacked this year. In March, General Wilkinson with five thousand men tried in vain to take a strong stone mill at Lacolle defended by five hundred Canadians. He was repulsed with heavy loss, and retreated to Plattsburg. In May, General Drummond and Sir James Yeo made a successful raid on Oswego, and carried off a large quantity of supplies. The Niagara frontier was the scene of two bloody battles. The Americans, four thousand strong, crossed at Buffalo, took Fort Erie and then pushed on to Chippewa. General Riall, with two thousand men, tried to check their progress, but was defeated at the battle of , July 5th. He then retreated to Lundy’s Lane, now a street in the village of Niagara Falls South. The American soldiers began plundering and burning the buildings of the farmers, and destroyed the pretty village of St. David’s. They then advanced against Riall at Lundy’s Lane. General Drummond heard of the invasion, and the battle at Chippewa, and hurried from Kingston to aid General Riall. He reached Fort Niagara on the morning of July 25th, and with eight hundred men pushed forward to Lundy’s Lane. At five o’clock in the afternoon he met General Riall retreating before a strong body of American troops under Generals Brown, Ripley, and Scott. Drummond at once stopped the retreat, and ,_p.235.jpg)
THE NIAGRA FRONTIER faced the foe. The Americans were four thousand strong, the Canadians had three thousand. From five o’clock till midnight the battle raged. The utmost stubbornness and courage were shown by both armies in the fierce struggle for the British guns. General Riall was taken prisoner and three American generals, Scott, Brown, and Porter, were wounded. At last, worn out in the vain effort to force the British position, the Americans retreated, leaving their dead to be burned by the victors, for the number of slain was so great that burial was impossible. The loss to the enemy was nearly nine hundred; to the British, about the same. The scene of this battle, the best contested and bloodiest of the whole war, is marked to-day by a little church and graveyard in which many a Canadian hero sleeps.
The war was drawing to a close. The Americans after the battle retired to Fort Erie, which they held for some time in spite of the attacks of General Drummond, and then withdrew across the river. In the meantime the war in Europe had been brought to an end by Napoleon’s defeat and his retirement to the island of Elba, England could now assist Canada, and in August sixteen thousand men arrived, A great expedition was planned against Plattsburg, in which eleven thousand men, and the fleet on Lake Champlain were to take part. Sir George Prevost led the land army, and Captain Downie commanded the British flag-ship, Prevost waited for the British vessels to attack the American fleet before proceeding against Plattsburg which was defended by a small force. Unfortunately the British ships were defeated and many of them destroyed in the engagement that followed, and Prevost, without any good reason, retreated without striking a blow. His officers were so chagrined that they broke their swords, vowing they would serve no longer. Meanwhile, in August, the British entered Chesapeake Bay, captured Washington, the capital of the United States, and burned the public buildings, including a valuable library. This was in revenge for the burning of Niagara by General McClure. At last, on the 24th of December, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, which restored to the United States and to Canada their losses, but did not settle the points in dispute which led to the war. Two weeks after the peace was made in Europe, a bloody battle was fought at New Orleans, where the British general, Pakenham, endeavored to‘carry by assault a strong line of entrenchments defended by General Jackson. The English general did not know that the war was over, and many of Wellington’s veterans fell in a worse than useless contest.