THE STORY OF
ISAAC BROCK
HERO, DEFENDER AND SAVIOUR OF
UPPER CANADA
1812
BY
WALTER R. NURSEY
TORONTO:
WILLIAM BRIGGS
1908
Copyright, Canada, 1908, by Walter R. Nursey.
A WORD TO THE READER
That Isaac Brock is entitled to rank as the foremost defender of theflag Western Canada has ever seen, is a statement which no one familiarwith history can deny. Brock fought and won out when the odds were allagainst him.
At a time when almost every British soldier was busy fighting Napoleonin Europe, upon General Brock fell the responsibility of upholdingBritain's honour in America. He was "the man behind the gun"—theundismayed man—when the integrity of British America was threatened bya determined enemy.
His success can be measured by the fact that it is only since the war of1812-14 that the British flag has been properly respected in the westernhemisphere. It is also a fact that after the capture of Detroit theUnion Jack became more firmly rooted in the affections of the Canadianpeople than ever.
It must not be forgotten that the capture of this stronghold was almostas far-reaching in its ultimate effect as the victory of Wolfe on thePlains of Abraham, and was fraught with little, if any, less import toCanada.[Pg iv]
What with the timidity of Prevost, and the tactical blunders of bothhimself and Sheaffe, the immediate influence upon the enemy of thevictories at Detroit and Queenston was almost nullified. Had Brocksurvived Queenston, or even had his fixed, militant policy been allowedto prevail from the first, it is safe to say there would have been noarmistice, no placating of a clever, intriguing foe, and no two years'prolongation of the war. Had the capitulation of Detroit, the crushingdefeat at Queenston, and the wholesale desertion of Wadsworth's cowardlylegions at Lewiston, been followed up by the British with relentlessassault "all along the line"—before the enemy had time to recover hisgrip—then our hero's feasible plan, which he had pleaded with Prevostto permit, namely, to sweep the Niagara frontier and destroy Sackett'sHarbor—the key to American naval supremacy of the lakes—could, thereis no good reason to doubt, have been carried out. The purpose of thislittle book is not, however, to deal in surmises.
The story of Sir Isaac Brock's life should convey to the youth of Canadaa significance similar to that which the bugle-call of the trumpeter,sounding the advance, conveys to the soldier in the ranks. Reiterationof Brock's deeds should help to develop a better appreciation of hiswork, a truer conception of his heroism, a wiser understanding of hissacrifice.
Many a famous man owes a debt of inspiration to some[Pg v] other great lifethat went before him. Not until every boy in Canada is thoroughlyfamiliar with "Master Isaac's" achievements will he be qualified toexclaim with the Indian warrior, T