No. 57 EXHIBIT 98. Sir George Prevost to the Earl of Liverpool.1 QUEBEC 15th July 1812. MY LORD, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's dispatches of the 30th March, 2nd and 20th April, No. 8, 10 & 15, to which I now beg leave to reply, & to offer some observations for Your Lordship's consideration. On the subject of the Glengary Levy, I have already had the honor to report, from time to time, the unprecedented success which has attended its recruiting, and in my Letter of the 26th May last, Your Lordship will have been informed, that this Corps was more than complete to its original Establishment, and that I had given permission for encreasing its strength to Six hundred, in consequence of the strong indications of War being soon declared by the Congress of the United States against the British Empire. Extract from the Commander in Chief 19. Sep. It is proper I should apprize Your Lordship that in the formation of this Corps, which is composed of men chiefly of Scotch Extraction; recourse has been had to the several British American Provinces, and that not a sufficient proportion has been raised in Glengary to give the Corps a claim to bear that name. The Corps of Canadian Voltigeurs I have limited at Three Hundred, as the exhausted state of the Military Chest did not permit me to proceed with that and the Glengary Levy at the same time. I have the pleasure to acquaint Your Lordship that the Transports with the 103d Regiment have arrived safe, and that Corps has been landed at Quebec in good order. Under the present circumstances of War having been declared by the Government of America to exist between Great Britain. and the United States, it has become necessary to establish a Cordon of Troops, consisting of Regular and Militia Forces, upon the Frontier, in the space between the Saint Lawrence and the Riche 'Canadian Archives, Q. 118, p. 39. lieu Rivers, to prevent irruptions into this Province, and to secure Montreal from the effects of a predatory War; This indispensable measure will prevent the possibility of my parting with the 100th Regiment for the Service of Nova Scotia, nor can I believe it to be any longer the desire of His Majesty's Government that the 41st or 49th Regts. should be removed from the Canadas, where those Corps are become essential for the preservation of this part of His Majesty's Dominions. The lateness of the Season will, it is feared, preclude the arrival of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots at Quebec this summer, and in the event of delay, as Instructions have been given for its being conducted to Halifax to winter there, it will afford a favourable reinforcement to Nova Scotia, and may be considered for the present a sufficient substitute for the 100th Regiment. I find by a communication from Major General Brock commanding in Upper Canada, that the American General Officer commanding the District of Niagara, having received early information from his Government of the declaration of war, had projected the surprize of Fort George, but fortunately the reports of the approach of hostilities, and of the preparations making for them, brought Major General Brock to the Fort, where the display of his vigilance and activity, induced them to relinquish the attempt. Major General Brock has received certain accounts of war having been declared by the United States against Great Britain, and has reported to me that in consequence, it was his opinion he should be justified in offensive operations, but upon the reflection, that at Detroit and St. Joseph's, the weak state of our Garrisons would prove any essential Service connected with their future security, and that his only means of annoyance at present was limited to the reduction of Fort Niagara, which could be battered at any future period. He had therefore relinquished his original intention, and should attend only to defensive measures. I have repeatedly recommended to Major General Brock, and to the Officers in command of the other Districts of British America, an adherence to this system, and I have expressed to them my sentiments respecting the mode of conducting the War on our part, suited to existing circumstances, and as they changed so should we vary our line of conduct, adapting it to our own means of preserving entire the King's Provinces. Our numbers would not justify offensive operations being undertaken, unless they were solely calculated to strengthen a defensive attitude : In the present state of Politics in the United States, I consider it prudent to avoid every measure which can have the least tendency to unite the people of America, whilst disunion prevails among them their attempts on the British American Provinces will be feeble, it is therefore my wish to avoid committing any Act which may even by a strained construction tend to unite the Eastern and Southern States, unless from its perpetration we are to derive an immediate considerable and important advantage. Major General Brock has called out the Flank Companies of the Militia, which has produced a Force in the line of the Niagara River of about 800 men. They turned out very cheerfully, but already show a spirit of impatience : The Americans are very Active on the opposite side of that communication in the erection of Redoubts, in this respect we are not idle. The Americans have 1,200 Regulars and Militia between Fort Niagara and Black Rock, but Major General Brock who has taken his station at Fort George, considers himself at present perfectly safe against any attempt they can make. About 100 Indians from the Grand River have attended to his Summons the remainder promise to come also. A report has been made to me by Major Macpherson commanding at Kingston on Lake Ontario, that the Americans have taken possession of Carleton Island, near that Post, and have made Prisoners of the small Party of the 10th Royal Veteran Battalion stationed on it. We continue to possess a superiority in Vessels of War upon Lake Ontario & Lake Erie. At this moment while every exertion is making for the defence of these threatened Provinces, I find myself seriously embarrassed by the scarcity of Arms for the Militia of Upper & Lower Canada, who have evinced a decided attachment to His Majesty's Government, and an earnest desire to co-operate with the Regular Forces, in the defence of their Country, exceeding my expectations, and also (unfortunately) the means I possess of rendering their Services effectively useful at this moment, by arming all those worthy and capable of bearing them. I entertain some apprehension for the safety of the Cambo Transport, on board of which 6,000 stand of Arms were embarked for this place last Autumn-A report having been made to me that this Vessel sailed from Bermuda on the 21st April last, under Convoy of His Majesty's Ship Julia bound to Halifax.-they parted Company on the 26th and on the 27th a very heavy gale from N. W. was experienced by the Julia, which was dismasted and got back to Bermuda in 25 days after the Gale. The Cambo had not reached Halifax at the end of June, nor have any accounts been since heard of her : In consequence of this Intelligence which leaves me no hopes of the arrival of the Cambo at Quebec this Season, I have directed Lieut. General Sir John Sherbrooke to send hither immediately one half of the arms remaining in the Ordnance Store at Halifax, which may probably exceed 1,000 Stands, and I submit to Your Lordship the propriety of authorizing a supply of more than double that number to be sent to Nova Scotia, to replace them as soon as possible, and I request, that in the event of the loss of the Cambo, that a further supply of at least 5,000 stand complete with accoutrements may be sent to this place as early in the next Spring as practicable. The series of difficulties long experienced in obtaining specie for the subsistence of the Forces under my command, are at an end, by the declaration of War on the part of the Congress of the United States, which closes the source from which it came; it has therefore become imperiously necessary to establish a paper medium as a substitute for money, as it appears none can be sent for the Service in Canada from England, and I am now about seeking the aid of the Provincial Parliament to give it value and Currency; upon which measure I shall have the honor to report more fully to Your Lordship when the arrangement for the operation of the intended substitute is complete-My total inability to supply Upper Canada with Specie, compelled Major General Brock to resort to a paper Currency upon the war commencing, a measure which has been attended with considerable success, according to his report to me on the subject, by enabling him to pay his Militia Forces now embodied, amounting to about 4,000, It becomes my duty to state to Your Lordship, that in the distribution of the Regular Troops and Militia for the defence of these Provinces, I feel most severely the want of General Officers to carry the plans I have laid into operation: (Extract) There is only One General Officer (Major General De Rottenburg) besides myself in Lower Canada, at present on the Staff, which may occasion my availing myself of the services of Major General Sheaffe who is on the spot, a measure which if resorted to, I hope will be approved of by His Royal Highness The Prince Regent, particularly as I am induced to believe the Major General will prove himself a valuable Officer to the Service from his ability to command, and his extensive local information. Major General Brock is the only General Officer in the extensive District of Upper Canada. I have the honor to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's most Obedient and most humble Servant, The Right Honourable The Earl of Liverpool, &c., &c., &c. Quebec 15 July 1812, Lt. Genl. Sir G. Prevost, No. 56 Copy SIR: EXHIBIT 99. General Brock to Sir George Prevost.1 Head Quarters, Detroit, August 16th 1812. I hasten to apprize Your Excellency of the Capture of this very important Post. 2,500 Troops have this day surrendered Prisoners of War, and about 25 pieces of Ordnance have been taken without the Sacrifice of a drop of British blood; I had not more than 700 Troops, including Militia and about 600 Indians to accomplish this Service. When I detail my good 'Canadian Archives, Q. 118, p. 218. |