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CORNELL 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 F 1059G5 M13 
 
 Sketches Illustrating the early history 
 
 3 1924 028 900 640 
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Cornell University 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028900640 
 
SKETCHES 
 
 ILLUSTRATING THE 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT AND. HISTORY OF 
 
 GLENGARRY IN CANADA 
 
 RELATING PRINCIPALLY TO THE 
 
 REVOLUTIONARY WAR OF 1775-83, THE WAR OF 1812- 
 14 AND THE REBELLION OF 1837-8, AND THE 
 SERVICES OF THE KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF 
 NEW YORK, THE 84TH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND 
 EMIGRANT REGIMENT, THE ROYAL CAN- 
 ADIAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT, 
 THE GLENGARRY FENCIBLE OR BRITISH 
 HIGHLAND REGIMENT, THE GLEN- 
 GARRY LIGHT INFANTRY REGI- 
 MENT, AND THE GLENGARRY 
 MILITIA. 
 
 — BY — 
 
 J. A. MACDONELL 
 
 [OF GREENFIELD]. 
 
 " I beg to state that the County of Glengarry has on every 
 occasion been distinguished for good conduct, and will on any 
 emergency turn out more fighting men in proportion to its population 
 than any other in Her Majesty's dominions." — Extract from a letter 
 from Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael, Particular Service, to Lieuten- 
 ant-Gcneral Sir James Macdonell, K.C.B., K.C.H., commanding 
 Brigade ol Guards and second in command of Her Majesty's Furces 
 in Canada, dated December, 1840. 
 
 MONTREAL 
 
 Wm. Foster, Brown & Co. 
 
 1893. 
 
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the 
 year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety-Three, by John 
 Alexander ilacdonell, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
To His Excellency 
 
 SIR HUGH MACDONELL, K.C.M.G., C.B. 
 H. M. Envoy to the King of Denmark. 
 My Dear Aberchalder, 
 
 It jvas my intention to have dedicated these little sketches re- 
 lating principally to the military services of the Glengarry people in 
 Canada to your brother, General Sir Alexander Macdonell, K.C.B., 
 Colonel-Commandant of the 2nd Battalion P. CO. Rifle Brigade, 
 but poor Sir Aleck's recent death rendered it impossible. 
 
 His services in the Crimea as A.D.C. to Sir George Brown, 
 when in command of the Light Division, and where he himself after- 
 wards commanded the 2nd Battalion of his distinguished Regiment ; 
 in the Indian Mutiny, where he commanded the 3rd Battalion, as 
 well as in the campaign on the Northwest Frontier of India, and in 
 the Expedition against the Mohmund Tribes, which he led, and the 
 distinctions conferred upon him by his Sovereign, pr ed his merit 
 as a soldier, and maintained the record of what was once known in 
 Scotland as a fighting name. 
 
 Your father was (together with his elder brother, who was the 
 Speaker of the first House of Assembly of this Province) one of the 
 two first members for the County of Glengarry when what was pre- 
 viously known as the Upper Country of Canada was erected into a 
 separate Provmce and Parliamentary Institutions accorded to it. 
 He had been, with his father, his brothers and other kinsmen — all 
 of them holding commissions in the King's Royal Regiment of Nerv 
 York and other Loyalist Corps— one of those who had fought 
 through the Revolutionary War, and who on its termination settled 
 here, a body of men deservedly held in high esteem by following 
 generations of Canadians, known to us in Canada as United Em- 
 pire Loyalists. Colonel Simcoe, who was nominated Lieutenant 
 Governor of the Province, appointed him to be the first Adjutant- 
 General of the Militia of Upper Canada, and he was largely instru- 
 mental in laying the foundation of the Militia system which still 
 exists. He had served also in command of a Company of the 2nd 
 Battalion of his brother's Regiment, the Royal Canadian Volunteer 
 Regiment of Foot, which for several years (1796-1802) garrisoned 
 the posts of this Province, as did the ist Battalion of the same 
 
Regiment, under one of the most distingaished of the King's new- 
 subjects, Lieutenant-Colonel the Baron de Longueuil, that of Lower 
 Canada during the same period. 
 
 His association, therefore, with this Province, and with the 
 County of Glengarry in particular, could scarcely have been more 
 intimate, while the distinction of his after career in the service of 
 his Sovereign, under the patronage of his friend and benefactor 
 H.R.H. the Duke of Kent, was such as to prove a just source of 
 satisfaction to his relatives and friends who remained on this side of 
 the Atlantic. 
 
 It affords me pleasure, therefore, to dedicate to one of his sons, 
 whose present position proves that ixis own career in the Diplomatic 
 Service of the country has not been without merit as it has not been 
 without the recognition of his Sovereign, and to whose assistance I 
 have been much indebted in their preparation, these fragments 
 which relate to matters in which we have a common interest. 
 I am, my dear Aberchalder, 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 J. A. MACDONELL. 
 
 Glengarry, Canada, August 22nd, 1892. 
 
SKETCHES OF GLENGARRY. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 Glengarry in Scotland. — Result of the Disarming, Pro- 
 scribing AND OTHER ACTS INTRODUCED INTO THE SCOTTISH 
 
 Law.— Formation of Highland Regiments and Emigra- 
 tion.. — -A large number leave Glengarry in Scotland in 
 1773 at the instigation of Sir William Johnson and 
 settle in the Mohawk Valley, in the Province of New 
 York. — Death of Sir William in 1774. — His Services, 
 Influence and Character. 
 
 In much that has«of recenfyears been written on the very in- 
 teresting subject of the United Empire LoyaHst settlement of this 
 Province, the War of 1812, '13, '14, and the Rebellion of 1837-8, 
 there is but little, if any, mention made of the part which the High- 
 landers of Glengarry took in the American Revolutionary War of 
 1776-83, and the early settlement of the country at the close of the 
 War, its defence in 18 12-14, s^nd the suppression of the rebellion. 
 Others, the York Volunteers in particular, come in for at least their 
 fair share of credit. Their flags are paraded, and their deeds are 
 made to speak again after a lapse of many years, and the inference 
 is given, with painful reiteration, that to them and theirs among the 
 local forces of the country, is the credit chiefly due on these occa- 
 sions ; while, in some instances, individuals who never left their pro- 
 vision shops except to take to the woods when York was a second 
 time surrendered, and poor Dr. Strachan left to negotiate with the 
 Americans, would appear to have become of late great military com- 
 nianders of those days — the very saviours of their country, in fact, 
 in the hour of its utmost need ! 
 
 I venture the assertion that the County of Glengarry contained 
 at least as many Loyalist settlers who had fought for the Crown 
 during the first War as any other of the earliest settled counties, and 
 
6 
 
 contributed on both the latter occasions more fighting men for the 
 preservation of the country, its connection with the Mother Land, and 
 the maintenance of our Institutions, than any other part of the 
 Province, and this without wishing to detract in the least from the 
 services of the good burghers of York, or of others, vaunted though 
 they be. 
 
 I submit it to the judgment of my readers whether I cannot 
 make that statement good. I shall speak by the record, and shall 
 give my authorities. 
 
 It is of importance, first, to consider the circumstances under 
 which the County of Glengarry was originally settled, as the settlers 
 for the most part, previous to the War of 1812, came to Canada under 
 circumstances which redound to their credit as loyal and faithful 
 subjects of the British Crown. 
 
 We are now so far removed from the struggles made in Scotland 
 on behalf of the House of Stuart, that we can recall them dispassion- 
 ately. Practically, that race is extinct. If represented at all, it is 
 in the person of our present gracious Sovereign, who, like her immedi- 
 ate predecessors, has no more loyal subjects than the descendants of 
 the men who fought with such chivalry for those they recognized as 
 Kings by the Right Divine. They were unsuccessful in their efforts, 
 but the history of Great Britain does not contain a. more glorious 
 chapter than that which tells of the struggles of the Highland 
 Jacobite Chiefs and Clans, and how they poured out their blood like 
 water for those they called their Kings. The strongest Hanoverian, 
 the staunchest Orangeman, cannot read what notably Sir Walter 
 Scott, the Ettrick Shepherd, Edmonstoun Aytoun, as well as the 
 Scottish ballads, have handed down to us, without admitting — without 
 any abatement of principle — the devotion and heroism of those who 
 risked and lost their all. 
 
 Conspicuous among the Jacobites were the people of Glengarry. 
 With other Scottish Cavaliers, they had rallied around Montrose, and 
 " throughout his campaigns were one of the mainsprings which kept 
 up the astonishing movements of the chivalrous enterprise ;" (i) 
 they were foremost among the Highland forces under John Grahame 
 of Claverhouse, the Viscount of Dundee, and bore the brunt at 
 Killiecrankie, when that great Leader fell ; in greater number than 
 almost any other Highland Clan they joined the Earl of Mar in 1715." 
 
 (i) Mac Inn's Sketches ; title, " Glengarry." 
 
7 
 On a later occasion their Chief was selected from amongst the High- 
 land Chiefs and Noblemen to be the bearer of an address to Prince 
 Charles Stuart signed with their blood (i) In 1745 their leaders 
 were the most trusted adherents of Prince Charles and their men as 
 brave as the bravest of his soldiers ; they paid the penalty like men 
 of valour as they were, some in death, others in expatriation, and all, 
 from the proud Chief to the humblest of the clansmen, in the 
 devastation of their homes. 
 
 " They stood to the last, and when standing was o'er, 
 All sullen and silent they dropped the claymore, 
 And yielded, indignant, their necks to the blow, 
 Their homes to the flame, and their lands to the foe." 
 But the principle of Monarchy was an innate and cardinal 
 article of their faith, and each succeeding generation has never since 
 failed to prove it to the House of Guelph when there ceased to be 
 any question as to the Dynasty. 
 
 The result of the Disarming and Proscribing Acts, the Jurisdic- 
 tion Act, and other alterations adopted into the law of Scotland in 
 consequence of the long series of Conflicts which culminated in 
 " the '45," together with the introduction of the system of sheep- 
 farming in the Highlands, for which its people were unfitted, and the 
 abolition of the feudal system of Clanship, which gave way under the 
 absence of many heads of Clans who were exempted from the Act of 
 Indemnity of 1747, and the impoverishment of others, was to force a 
 large number of the Highland people to emigrate, though many 
 thousands, brought up to the trade of arms, availed themselves of 
 the opportunity afforded by the genius of Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord 
 Chatham, who was then Prime Minister, and entered the military 
 service of the Crown under the liberal plan devised in 1757, when 
 Letters of Service were issued for raising the Highland Regiments. 
 Mr. Fullarton, in his "History of the Highland Clans and Regiments," 
 quotes from an anonymous writer, who says : — - 
 
 " This call to arms was responded to by the Clans, and 
 Battalion on Battalion were raised in the remotest parts of the 
 Highlands among those who a few years before were devoted to, and 
 too long had followed, the Race of Stuart : Erasers, Macdonalds, 
 Camerons, Macleans, Macphersons and others of disaffected names 
 and Clans were enrolled ; their Chiefs and connections obtained 
 commissions, and the clansmen, always ready to follow with eager- 
 ness, endeavored who should be first listed." 
 
 (i) Burke's Dormant and Extinct Peerage : title, " Lord Macdonell and Aros. ' 
 
With what glory to the Nation they acquitted themselves is 
 matter of history. " To them, under the generalship of Wolfe, is 
 largely due the fact that Canada is to-day a possession of the British 
 Crown ; they battled under Hutchinson and Abercrombie, pushed 
 the French at Aboukir, and bore the brunt of the Turkish cavaliers 
 at Rosetta," says Colonel Coffin in his Chronicle of the War of 1812. 
 Indeed, wherever Great Britain had any fighting to do they were on 
 hand to do it, and those were days when Britain needed her bravest 
 and her best. In 1776 the Earl of Chatham was able to utter in 
 Parliament his famous eulogy on the Highland Regiments : — 
 
 " I sought for merit wherever it could be found. It is my boast 
 that I was the first Minister who looked for it and found it in the 
 Mountains of the North. I called it forth, and drew into your 
 service a hardy and intrepid race of men ; men who left by your 
 jealousy became a prey to the artifices of your enemies, and had 
 gone nigh to have overturned the State in the War before last. 
 These men in -the last War were brought to combat on your side; 
 they served with fidelity as they fought with valor, and conquered 
 for you in every quarter of the world." 
 
 BufaT present we have to do \vith those who emigrated to the 
 Colonies of the Crown in America. Others were left in Glengarry 
 who, as will be seen hereafter, did as other Highlanders, and en- 
 rolhng themselves under their young Chief, fought as was to be 
 expected when the opportunity was afforded them. The Emigrants 
 had naturally looked for peace, and hoped in the new world to repair 
 the disaster and retrieve the hard fortune of the old, but the time 
 was not far distant when once more they were to fly to arms and 
 across the Atlantic assert the principle of the Monarchy, and, 
 regardless of the Dynasty, fight for George as they had fought for 
 King James ; once more, " for Conscience sake^ to leave all aside 
 and still keep true whate'er betide " — even though for a second time 
 they should nave, as eventually they were obliged, to leave behind 
 thtm their homes, which this time they had made for themselves. 
 
 It «as not long after the last unsuccessful effort had been made 
 in Scotland on behalf of the House of Stuart, that a number of the 
 people of Glengarry and Knoydart, under the leadership of several 
 gentlemen of the Clan, called after the properties of their famihes in 
 Scotland : Macdonell of Aberchalder, Leek (or Licks, as I see the 
 name is spelt in an old map of Scotland), CoUachie and Scotas (or 
 Scothouse) — emigrated to America, settling in what was then called 
 
9 
 Tryon County in the Mohawk Valley, in the Province of New York, 
 about thirty nailes from Albany. The name of the county was, during 
 the Revolutionary War, in 1784, changed to Montgomery, after the 
 American General, who was killed at the siege of Quebec in December, 
 1775, "the former appellation having fallen into disfavor owing to the 
 fact that William Tryon, who had previously been Governor of the 
 Province of New York, then of Carolina and afterwards of New 
 York again, was one of the most prominent and devoted Loyalists. 
 The County, as originally formed, embraced all that part of the 
 present State of New York lying west of a line running north 
 and south nearly through the centre of the present County of 
 Schoharie. It was divided into five districts, which were again 
 subdivided into smaller districts or precincts ; the county buildings 
 being at Johnstown, where was the residence of Sir William Johnson. 
 The settlement of these Highlanders in that part took place at the 
 instigation of Sir William, who had acquired a vast property in the 
 vicinity, and who, having learned the Indian language, studied their 
 methods and conciliated their regard by long and fair dealing with 
 them, was possessed of an influence over the Indians, particularly 
 those of the Six Nations such as no other man had ever enjoyed. 
 In the war which terminated in the cbnquest of Canada from the 
 French, Sir William had taken a most active part, being entrusted 
 with the command of the provincial troops of New York, and at the 
 same time being Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs of that 
 Province. In 1759, he -commanded the provincial troops under 
 Brigadier-General Prideaux in the expedition against Niagara, and on 
 the death of the latter, succeeded to the command, eventually taking 
 Niagara, when about 600 men were made prisoners of war. This 
 event broke ofiF the communication which the French intended to 
 estabhsh between Canada and Louisiana. When Amherst embarked 
 at Oswego in June, 1760, to proceed on the expedition to Canada, 
 Johnson brought to him at that place 1,000 Indians of the Iroquois, 
 or Six Nations, which, it is alleged, was the largest number of Indians 
 ever seen in arms at one lime in the cause of Britain. For his 
 previous signal services in the cause of the King, His Majesty, on 
 the 27th November, 1755, had been graciously pleased to create him 
 a Baronet of the United Kingdom, and at the same time conferred 
 upon him a large pension, (i) 
 
 (i) Morgan's Celebrated Canadians. 
 
lO 
 
 From the nature of the pursuits in which Sir William Johnson 
 was engaged, the then unsettled state of the country, and the fact 
 that these Highlanders were, like their countrymen of that and pre- 
 ceding generations, trained to arms from their very infancy, accus- 
 tomed to hardships and as active as the Indians themselves, it can 
 easily be conceived that they would prove the most desirable class 
 of neighbours and aUies to Sir William. He did not, however, long 
 survive. The Amencan historian. Stone, states in his life of Brant : 
 
 " Sir William Johnson was too observing and sagacious a man 
 not to note the signs of the times " (the reference, of course, bemg 
 to the impending revolution). " He saw the gathering tempest, and 
 it is believed to have given him great uneasiness. His sympathies, 
 according to the testimony of those who knew him, were undoubt- 
 edly with the people- He was from the body of the people himself, 
 having been the architect of his own rank and fortunes ; and those 
 wno were acquainted with and yet (1832) survive him, represent the 
 struggle in his bosom to have been great between those sympathies 
 and his own straight principles of liberty on the one hand, and his 
 duty to his Sovereign on the other — a Sovereign whom he had served 
 lojg and faithf Lilly, and who in turn had loaded him with princely 
 benefactions. His domains in the Valley of the Mohawk were ex- 
 tensive ; and his influence through a large number of subordinate 
 officers and a number of tenantry, was correspondingly great. To 
 the Indians, not only of the Six Nations, but those far in the West 
 beyond, who had fallen within the circle of his influence after the 
 conquest of Canada and the subjugation of Pontiac, he had been a 
 father and they looked up to him with veneration. Long association 
 with him and great respect for his character — which for its blunt 
 honesty, frankness and generosity, not altogether void of that rough 
 life incident to a border population, was well calculated to secure 
 the attachment of such people — had also given to his opinions the 
 force of Royal authority among the colonists. The population, aside 
 from the Indians, was chiefly Dutch in the lower part of Mohawk 
 Valley, while in the interesting Vale of the Schoharie and in the 
 upper district of the Mohawk it was composed of the descendants 
 of the German pahtinates who had been planted there 50 years 
 before. It was not at that time a very intelligent population ; and 
 the name of Sir William, who had been their friend and companion, 
 in peace, and their leader in war, like that of the King, was a tower 
 of strength. It was very natural, therefore, that their opinions upon 
 the great political questions then agitating the country, should take 
 their complexion for the most part from those entertained by him. 
 Hence, when the storm of civil war commenced, the Loyalists in 
 that Valley were probably more numerous in proportion to the whole 
 number ot the population than in almost any other section of the 
 Northern Colonies. 
 
"In connection with the troubles which every man of ordinary 
 sagacity could not but perceive were fermenting, Sir William visited 
 England for the last time in the autumn of 1773, returning in the 
 succeeding spring. He probably came back with his loyal feelings 
 somewhat strengthened. It was not his fortune, however, good or 
 ill, to see the breaking out of the tempest, the near approaches of 
 which he had been watching with an intentness of observation cor- 
 responding with the magnitude of his own personal interests, which 
 must necessarily be involved. He died suddenly, at Johnson Hall, 
 about the 24th June, 1774." 
 
 He was succeeded in his title and estates by his son, Sir John 
 Johnson, 2nd Baronet, and in his office of Superintendent General 
 of Indian Affairs by his son-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson, who had 
 long been in office as Assistant Superintendent, he having for his 
 deputy Colonel Daniel Claus, who had likewise married a daughter 
 of Sir William. Sir John Johnson, on his father's death, became 
 Commandant of the Militia of the Province of New York. They 
 derived great aid in the subsequent administration of affairs, especi- 
 ally amongst the Indians, from the celebrated Joseph Brant (Thayen- 
 danegea), who became Secretary to Colonel Guy Johnson, and who 
 had been much in the service of Sir William during the latter years 
 of his life ; as also from his sister, Mary Brant, who was a woman 
 of singular talent and character, and who was the last wife of Sir 
 William Johnson, though I believe their marriage had taken place 
 according to Indian custom only, and may at may not therefore 
 have been legal. Be that as it may, it was largely instrumental in 
 securing their powerful influence to the side of Britain in the long 
 struggle which then ensued. 
 
12 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 Breaking Out of the Revolutionary War.— The " Committee 
 OF Safety" at Albany Warned against Sir John Johnson, 
 
 AND notified THAT THE SCOTCHMEN WERE ARMING. ^ThE 
 
 Whigs " daily scandalized, provoked and threatened " 
 BY THE Loyal Catholic Highlanders.— Correspondence 
 between Sir John and Governor Tryon, and the latter 
 AND Lord George Germaine.— General Schuyler, 03f the 
 Revolutionary Army, invades Tryon County. — Negotia- 
 tions BETWEEN him AND SiR JOHN AND JM. K. M aCQONSLL, 
 
 {Collachie). — Sir John and the Highlanders escape to ^ 
 Canada. — Lady Johnson taken prisoner. — Her Letter 
 TO General Washington. 
 
 At the time of the arrival and settlement of the Glengarry 
 people in the Mohawk Valley, affairs in Amenca were, then, in a very 
 unsettled condition. In order to meet the military expenditure 
 therein, the British Parliament had a short time previously imposed 
 a stamp duty on all legal documents. This was met with a denial 
 on the part of the discontented colonists of the right of the Imperial 
 Legislature to impose taxes upon them without their consent. The 
 Stamp Act was repealed the year following its enactment, but it was 
 contended that the principle of taxation without representation was 
 maintained by a light duty of three pence per pound which was 
 
 placed on tea — one fourth of that paid in England at the time 
 
 and nominal duties on other articles. On the i6th December. 1773, 
 occurred in Boston Harbour that episode which Mr. Erastus Wiman 
 has lately designated as the "Boston tea party," when a number o f 
 persons disguised as Indians threw into the harbour from the Eas t 
 India vessels some three hundred and forty chests of tea. The por 1 
 of Boston was thereupon closed, and troops sent to enforce sub 
 mission. 
 
 A "Continental Congress" was then decided upon and convened 
 at Philadelphia in September, 1774, and an effort made to iniuce 
 the people of Canada, who had but lately passed under British rule 
 
13" 
 
 to join in it by sending represeatatives. "The Quebec Act " which 
 was then in contemplation, however, and the principles of which 
 were known- to the King's New Subjects fully satisfied the French 
 Canadians, guaranteeing to them as it did their own laws, language 
 and customs, and they tacitly declined to participate in the proposed 
 Congress, although some sons of sedition within the Province en- 
 deavored to stir up their tellow countrymen to hostility against the 
 form of government, and went to the expense of translating, printing 
 and circulating the letter sent to them by the promoters of the 
 Continental Congress, (i) 
 
 In April, 1775, occurred the first colKsion between the armed 
 Colonists and the soldiers of the King, and throughout the Thirteen 
 Colonies measures were taken with a view to procuring their ultimate 
 independence. ^ — 
 
 On the 1 8th of May the provincial Committee of the Palatinate 
 District or State of New York addressed the " Committee ofSafety " 
 at Albany, stating that the Johnsons and their powerful allies in the 
 Mohawk District, had succeeded by threats, intimidation and an 
 array of military strength, in preventing any open adoption of a de- 
 claration approving of the proceedings of the Continental Congress. 
 Says the Palitinate Committee : — 
 
 " This County has for a series of years been ruled by one 
 family, the several branches of which are still strenuous in dissuading 
 the people from coming into Congressional measures, and have, even 
 last week, at a numerous mseting of the Mohawk District, appeared 
 with all their dependents armed, to oppose the people considering 
 of their grievances ; their number being so large and the people 
 unaimed, that they struck terror into most of them, and they dis- 
 persed." 
 
 Mr. Stone adds that : — 
 
 " The Committee further notified their friends in Albany that 
 Sir John Johnson was fortifying the Baronial Hall by planting several 
 swivels around it ; and he had paraded part of the Regiment of 
 Miliiia which he commanded on the day previous for the purpose of 
 intimidation, as it was conjectured. It was likewise reported that 
 the Scotch Highlanders, settled in large numbers in and about 
 Johnstown, who were Roman Catholics, had armed themselves to 
 the number of 150, ready to aid in the suppression of any popula 
 outbreak in favor of the growing cause of liberty. (2) 
 
 During the course of the summer, the tension became strongerr 
 
 (i) Sir Guy Carleton to Earl Dartmouth, April 6, 1775, 
 (2) Vslamn i ,pagc 54. 
 
14 
 The Dutch or German settlers divided in their allegiance, Mr. Stone 
 stating that the majority of them declared themselves as Whigs, as 
 the American sympathizers were called-the Loyalists bemg termed 
 by the Revolutionists, Tories. The first shot in the war West of the 
 Hudson was fired when the Loyalist Sheriff of the County arrested 
 a Whig named John Fonda, at whom he fired when he resisted 
 arrest. It was immediately returned by the discharge of a number 
 of firelocks of the rebels at the Sheriff, which, however, were not 
 very deadly, as the only effect was a slight wound in his breast. 
 The doors of the house were broken, and an effort made to seize 
 the Sheriff, when a gun was fired at the hall by Sir John. ^ " This 
 was known to be a signal for his retainers and Scotch partisans to 
 rally to arms, and as they would muster 500 men in a very short 
 time, the Whigs thought it more prudent to disperse." (Stone). 
 
 From this out, the relations of the neigbours to each other 
 became more and more strained. The LoyaUsts threw every impe- 
 diment in the way of the Committee, and no method of embarrassing 
 them was left untried ; they called public- meetings themselves, and 
 chose counter-committees, covered the Whig Committees with ridicule, 
 and charged them, most properly, with illegal and tyrannical conduct 
 — the consequence being mutual exasperation between near neigh- 
 bours, and the reciprocal engendering of hostile feelings between 
 friends, who ranged themselves under opposing banners. These 
 incipient neighborhood quarrels occasioned, in the progress of the 
 contest which ensued, some of the most bitter and bloody conflicts 
 that ever marked the annals of Civil War. 
 
 On the 7th September, 1775, the Whig Committee wrote the 
 Provincial Congress in New York, denouncing the conduct of Sir 
 John Johnson, and that of his associates — particularly the High- 
 landers, who, to the number of 200, were said to be gathered about 
 him, and by whom the Whigs " were daily scandaUzed, provoked 
 and threatened." 
 
 It appears that from the following correspondence in January, 
 1776, Sir John and the Highlanders took active preliminary steps 
 towards armed resistance to the Congressional authorities : — 
 
 GOVERNOR TRYON TO LORD GEORGE GERMAINE. 
 
 " On board H.M.S. Duchess of Gordon, ") 
 " New York Harbour, 3rd January, 1776. f 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " The gentleman who dehvered me the enclosed letter from Sif 
 
IS- 
 John Johnson, assured me that by Government complying With its 
 contents Sir John could muster five hundred Indians to support the 
 cause of Government, and that these with a body of regulars might 
 retake the forts. If Sir John had the title of Superintendent of In- 
 dian Affairs it Would give the greatest Weight to His Majesty's Indian 
 affairs, the Indians having the greatest affection for the son of their 
 late benefactor. I wish Your Lordship m-ay think as favourably of 
 Sir John's proposals as I do. &c., &c." 
 
 [Enclosure iti the above. J 
 
 sir john johnson to governor tryon. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I hope the -occasion and intention of this letter may plead my 
 excuse for the liberty I take in introducing to Your Excellency the 
 bearer hereof, Mr.^lkn Jdacdpiieil, who will inform you of many 
 particulars which cannot at this time be safely communicated in 
 writing. The distracted, and convulsed state that this unhappy 
 country is now worked up to, and the situation that I am in here, 
 together with the many obligations that our family are under to the 
 best of Sovereigns, induce me to iall upon a plan that may, I hope 
 be of service to the country, the propriety of which I entirely submit 
 to Your Excellency's better judgment, depending on the friendship 
 which you have been pleased to honour me with, for your advice on, 
 and representation to, His Majesty, of what I propose. 
 
 " Having consulted with all my friends in this quarter, among 
 whom are many old and good officers, 1 have come to the resolution 
 of forming a Battalion, and have named all the officers, most of 
 whom have a good deal of interest in their respective neighborhoods, 
 and have seen a great number of men ready to complete the plan. 
 We must, however, not think of sdrring until support and supplies 
 of many necessaries to enable us to carry our design into execution 
 are received — of all which Mr. Macdonell will inform Your Excel' 
 lency. "^ 
 
 '" I make not the least doubt of the success of this plan should 
 we be supported in time. As to news, I must beg leave to refer you 
 to Mr. Macdonell, who will inform you of everything that has been 
 done in Canada that has come to our knowledge. As I find by the 
 papers you are soon to sail for England, I despair of having the 
 pleasure of paying my respects to you, but most sincerely wish you 
 an agreeable voyage and a happy sight of your family and friends. 
 " I am. Your Excellency's 
 
 " Most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " John Johnson." 
 
 Doubtless the organization and other preparations indicated in 
 the above letter, some knowledge of which must have transpired, 
 "induced Congress in the same month to direct the expedition into 
 
1 6 
 Tryon County of General Schuyler of the Revolutionary Army, the' 
 forces under his command n-imbering some 3,000 men. He ad- 
 dressed a letter to Sir John Johnson from Schenectady, requesting 
 an interview, and pledging his word of honour that he and the offi- 
 cers with him would come and go in safety. Sir John, attended by 
 several of his leading friends among the Scotchmen, and two or three 
 others, met him about sixteen miles from Schenectady. Negotia- 
 dons were then entered upon ia writing between General Schuyler 
 on the one part and Sir John and Mr. Allan MacdoaeJl (CoUaqhie), 
 -IS representing the Highlanders, on the other. The fourth article 
 of the terms offered by General Schuyler was as follows : 
 
 " That the Scotch inhabitants of the said County shall, without 
 any kind of exception, immediately deliver all arms in their pos- 
 session, of what kind soever they may be ; and that they shall each 
 solemnly promise that they will not at any time hereafter, during the 
 continuance of this unhappy contest, take up arms without the per- 
 mission of the Continental Congress or of their General Officers ; 
 md for the more faithlal performance of this article, the General 
 insists that they shall immediately deliver up to him six hostages of 
 his own nomination." 
 
 Sir John having answered the written offer of terms, agreeing to 
 deliver up their arms, but as to the fourth article declining on the 
 part of the Scotch inhabitants to give hostages — no one man having 
 command over another, or power sufficient to deliver such — General 
 Schuyler declared the answer to his terms to be wholly unsatisfactory, 
 md required immediate compliance with his demands in all respects 
 >efore midnight. Sir John Johnson is alleged by the Americans then 
 10 have given his parole of honornot to take up arms against America, 
 jeneral Schuyler was to be at liberty to take away six of the Scotch- 
 inhabitants prisoners, without resistance, the others- all to surrender 
 their arms ; the six prisoners to be maintained agreeable to their 
 respective ranks ; to be allowed a few days to settle their private 
 affairs, and, being gentlemen, to wear their side arms. 
 
 ^ " Fifth : Neither Sir John Johnson nor the Scotch gentlemen can 
 •iiake any engagements for any other persons than those over whom. 
 •ney may have mfluence. They give their word and honour that, so 
 
 'int.^.'jnf''^!! i-r '^''°' *' '"habitants shall give up their arms knd 
 -mtermto the hke engagement as the Scotch inhabitants;" 
 
 To this General Schuyler agreed, stating that he would take six 
 
 ■4f the- Scotch inhabitants prisoners, since they preferred it to going 
 
 a? hostages, and undertaking on behalf of Congress to pay all defer- 
 
^7 
 ence due to their rank, they to be confined for the present either at 
 Reading or Lancaster in Pennsylvania. They were eventually sent 
 to the latter place, Mr. Allan Macdonell being one of the prisoners. 
 On the same afternoon Sir John delivered up the arms and ammuni- 
 tion in his possession, Mr. Stone naively remarking that the quantity 
 &{ both was much smaller than was expected : 
 
 " On Saturday, the 20th, General Schuyler paraded his troops 
 at noon to receive the arms of the Highlanders, who to the number 
 of two or three hundred, marched to the front and grounded their 
 arms. These having been secured, the Scotchmen were dismissed 
 with an exhortation to remain peaceable, and with an assurance of 
 protection if they did. (i) 
 
 The American authors allege that Sir John Johnson did not 
 <3bserved the compact of neutrality, nor the obligations of his parole, 
 and further that General Schuyler was in receipt of information con- 
 vincing him that Sir John was secretly instigating the Indians to 
 hostilities. " To prevent such a calamity,'' says Mr. Stone, " it was 
 though advisable to secure the person of Sir John, and once more 
 to quell the rising spirit of disaffection in the neighborhood of John- 
 town, especially among the Highlanders," and in June following the 
 event already narrated. Colonel Dayton, with a part of his regiment 
 then on its way to Canada, was despatched by General Schuyler to 
 prosecute the enterprise. Sir John, however, was warned in time of 
 the proceedings of the enemy, and hastily collecting his friends, 
 made his way to Canada, arriving after nineteen days of severe 
 hardships at Montreal, "having encountered all the sufferings that it 
 seemed possible for man to endure." Mr. Sparks, in his life of 
 Washington, states that Lady Johnson was removed to Albany, where 
 she was retained, but without any particular insult, except the indig- 
 nity offered to a gentlewoman of high station and in a delicate state 
 of health, as a kind of hostage for the peaceable conduct of her 
 husband. 
 
 Lady Johnson was a daughter of the Honourable John Watts, 
 for some time President of the Council of New York, and a first 
 cousin once removed of General Schuyler, to whom she had so deep 
 an aversion, as appears from the following letter of hers addressed 
 to General Washington, apprising him of her being taken prisoner : 
 "Sir "Albany, June 16, 1776. 
 
 " I take the liberty of complaining to you, as it is from you I 
 
 (xj Stone, page 142. 
 
i8 
 
 expect redress. I was compelled to leave home, much against my 
 inclination, and am detained here by General Schuyler, who, I am 
 convinced, acts more out of ill nature to Sir John than for any rea- 
 son that he or I have given him. As I am not allowed to return 
 home, and my situation here made as disagreeable as it can be by 
 repeated threats and messages from General Schuyler too indelicate 
 and cruel to be expected from a gentleman, I should wish to be 
 with my friends at New York, and would prefer my captivity under 
 Your Excellency's protection to being in the power of General 
 Schuyler, who rules with more severity than could be wished by 
 Your Excellency's 
 
 " Humble Servant, 
 
 "M. Johnson. 
 
 " To His Excellency General Washington." 
 ■• Lady Johnson was obliged, however, to remain at Albany for 
 six months longer before she was allowed to piaceed to New York. 
 
 Sir John and Lady Johnson had been married in New York in 
 1773. She died at Montreal in 1815. 
 
19 
 
 CHAPTER S. 
 
 Formation of the King's Royal Regiment of New York under 
 Sir John Johnson. — ^It is placed on the Establishment. — 
 A Second Battalion Authorized. — List of Glengarry 
 Genlemen to whom Commissions were Granted in that 
 AND other Loyalist Corps. — Arrest of Wives and 
 Families of the Highland Loyalists. — Retribution.' — The 
 Valley of the Mohawk Rendered "a scene of Widespread, 
 Heart Sickening and Universal Desolation."- — Battle of 
 Oriskany. — ^Dr. Moses Younglove's Alleged " Brutalities." 
 --Highlanders Rescue their Families. — Capture of 
 Exeter and Fort Wintermoot by Butler's Rangers., — 
 Americans Abandon Fort Wyoming. — Highlanders make 
 Another Incursion into the Scoharie Settlement. 
 
 The arrival of Sir John Johnson and his Highland followers 
 in Canada was communicated by the Governor General, Sir Guy 
 Carleton, to Lord George Germaine, then Secretary of State for 
 American and Colonial Affairs, as follows : — 
 
 "Chamblie, 8 July, 1776, 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " The day after His Majesty's Troops took possession of Mont- 
 real, and the communication with the Upper Country thereby became 
 open, Sir John Johnson and about two hundred followers arrived 
 there from the Province of New York. He represents to me that 
 there are considerable numbers of people in the part of the 
 country he comes from who remain steadily attached to His Majesty's 
 Government, and who would take up arms in its defence had they 
 sufficient encouragement ; on which account, in the meantime, they 
 suffer all the miseries that the persecuting spirit of the Rebels is able 
 to inflict upon them. 
 
 " In consequence of this representation, and taking it for grant- 
 ed that the King's pleasure is not only to furnish all his good and 
 loyal subjects with the means of defending themselves against rapine 
 and violence, but further to grant them all possible assistance, I have 
 therefore given Sir John Johnson a Commission to raise on that 
 
20 
 
 Frontier of this Province a Battalion of men (to be called the K.ing s 
 Royal Regiment of New York) of equal numbers with other of His 
 Majesty's marching Regiments serving in America, and I have 
 appointed him Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant thereof. 
 " I am, with all due respect, 
 " My Lord, 
 " Your Lordship's Most Obedient and Most Humble Servant, 
 
 " Guy Carleton. 
 " Lord George Germaine." 
 
 The Deputy Adjutant-General in his letter to Sir John John- 
 son authorizing the tormation of the Regiment, instructed him that 
 the officers of the new Corps were to be divided so as to assist those 
 distressed by the Rebenion,( i ) and in order to provide against an abuse 
 then common in the Service, but which it was considered undesirable 
 to transplant, it was intimated " that there were to be no pluraUties 
 of officers in the Corps." It was soon placed on an efficient footing, 
 as on the 13th January, 1777- Sir Guy wrote to General PhiUips, 
 applauding the spirit of the Royal Regiment of New York, and sug- 
 gesting arrangements for the care of refugees with the Corps, many 
 of the Loyalists havmg placed themselves under its protection, oi 
 whom in December, 1776, a large contingent had arrived from New 
 York under the Messieurs Jessup, doubtless the same body of men 
 subsequently embodied under Majaiijessup, and known__as^ the 
 Loyal Rangers, who, on being disbanded on thFcIose of the war, 
 settled in the vicinity of what is now Brockville. , On the 24th March, 
 1777, Lord George Germaine wrote from Whitehall, London, to Sir 
 Guy Carleton that he had received notice of Sir John Johnson's 
 arrival in Montreal, that the distress and loyalty of the people in that 
 part of the country from which he came justified the raising of a Bat- 
 tahon there, and that the King approved of it and of Sir John John- 
 son having been placed in command. (2) In July, 1780, authority 
 was given to Sir John to raise a second Battalion, which was done 
 with expedition, as on the 28th November General Haldimand wrote 
 Lord George Germaine, highly commending the conduct of Sir John 
 Johnson, and stating that the second Battalion was in a forward 
 state. In the following year, Lord George Germaine announced 
 that the Regiment had been placed on the Establishment 
 
 (i) Haldimand Collection, B 39, p 170. 
 (2) Ibid, B38. p. s. 
 
21 
 
 of the British Army, and referred in complimentary terms 
 to the conduct of Sir John Johnson. It had previously 
 been settled, and Sir Henry Clinton informed, that officers of 
 Provincial Corps were to take rank with British officers of the 
 Regular Army, to receive gratuities for wounds, and to hold perman- 
 ent rank in America. 
 
 This Regiment is commonly referred to by the American writers 
 Sparks, Stone, Sebine and others, as well as by Dr. Canniff, as 
 " The Royal Greens^" possibly because their facings may have been 
 of that colour. Sir John Johnson, its Colonel Commandant, was 
 appointed by General Order of ist October, 1782, Brigadier-General 
 of the King's Provincial Troops, with Captain Scott, S3rd Regiment, 
 as his Major of Brigade (i), a just tribute to himself, and a mark of 
 distinction to the Regiment which he commanded. Many interest- 
 ing particulars relating to this Regiment will be found in Judge 
 Pringle's most valuable book, " Lunenburg, or the Old Eastern Dis- 
 trict," pp. 172-83. Many of his relatives, as well as those of his wife, 
 served in the Royal Regiment of New York with honour to them- 
 selves and advantage to the Loyal cause. 
 
 In this Regiment, Butler's Rangers — which also was largely 
 composed of Loyalists from the Mohawk Valley, and was command- 
 ed by Colonel John Butler, who greatly distinguished himself during 
 the War — and the Eighty- Fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regi- 
 ment also then raised, the Highland gentlemen who had emigrated 
 from Glengarry in 1773, and settled, as we have seen, in Tryon 
 County, received commissions and the men enlisted. On the ter- 
 mination of the War and the reduction of these Regiments, returns 
 were made of the officers of these Corps and other Regiments, copies 
 of which are now amongst the Archives at Ottawa, and from them I 
 take the following list of the Scottish officers who had come from 
 Glengarry in Scotland. I think it will be admitted that it is a toler- 
 ably fair one. It shows more gentlemen of one name than of all the 
 names of those well known and distinguished families in the early 
 settlement and history of the Province, who afterwards- comprised 
 the Family Compact, combined. Should anyone feel disposed to 
 dispute this statement of a historic fact the lists are there to speak for 
 themselves. Many of them eventually settled in Glengarry in Canada 
 
 (i) Haldimand Collection, B 43, p. 64. 
 
22 
 
 and gave the name to the County; several of them afterwards 
 representing it when Parhamentary institutions were accorded to the 
 Province. The number of the private soldiers of the same name 
 was in proportion to the officers, as a glance at Lord Dorchester's 
 list will show. The following is a hst of Officers, with rank, name, 
 place of nativity, length of service, and remarks, as follows : — 
 
 FIRST BATTALION KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Captain Alexander Macdon- 
 , ell (Aberchalder) 
 
 Captain 
 
 Angus Macdonell 
 
 Place of 
 Nativity 
 
 Service 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Captain 
 
 John Macdonell 
 (Scotas) 
 
 
 Captain 
 
 Captain 
 Lieut. 
 
 Lieut. 
 
 Ensign 
 
 Archibald Macdon- 
 ell (Leek) 
 Allan Macdonell 
 (Leek) 
 
 Hugh Macdonell 
 (Aberchalder) 
 
 Miles Macdonell 
 (Scotas) 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 Scotland 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 8 years 200 acres of land in fee 
 simple, under Sir John 
 Johnson, at yearly an- 
 nual rent of ,£6 per 100. 
 
 25 yrs Ensign in 60th Regt., 
 8th July, J 760 ; Lieut, in 
 do. Dec. 27, 1770; sold 
 out on account of bad 
 health, May 22, 1775. 
 Had no Is^nds. 
 
 8 years Had landed property, 
 500 acres, purchased 
 and began to improve 
 in April, 1774. 
 Merchant; had no lands 
 
 8 years 
 8 years 
 
 7 years 
 3 years 
 
 Held 200 acres in fee 
 simple under Sir John 
 at £6 per 100 acres. 
 Son of Captain Mac- 
 donell. 
 
 Son of Captain Jol^n 
 Macdonell. \Li;f-'~\ 
 
 SECOND BATTALION KING'S ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Captain 
 
 James Macdonell 
 
 Scotland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Held ■ — acres in fee 
 simple under Sir John 
 at £6 per 100 acres. 
 
 Lieut. 
 
 Ranald Macdonell 
 (Leek) 
 
 Scotland 
 
 3 years 
 
 Farmer. ^ 
 
n 
 
 CORPS OF butler's RANGERS, COMMANDEt) BV WEUTENAirt' 
 COLONEL JOHN BUTLER. 
 
 Rank. 
 Captain 
 
 John Macdonell 
 (Aberchalder) 
 
 First 
 Lieut. 
 
 Second 
 Lieut. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Inverness 
 
 'shire, 
 
 Scotland 
 
 AlexanderMacdon- 
 ell (Collachiej 
 
 Place of 
 
 Nativity 
 
 Service 
 
 ChichesterMacdon 
 ell (Aberchalder) 
 
 Inverness 
 
 -shire, 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Inverness 
 
 -shire, 
 
 Scotland 
 
 9 years 
 
 7 years 
 
 6 years 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Came to America with 
 his father and othef 
 Highland Emigrants in 
 1773, settled in Tryon 
 County, near Johns^ 
 town, in the Province 
 of New York ; entered 
 His Majesty's Service 
 as a Subaltern Officer 
 June 14, 1775, in the 
 84th or Royal Higt 
 land Emigrants. 
 Came to America with 
 his father and other 
 Highland Emigrants in 
 1773, settled in Tryon 
 County, near Johns- 
 town, in the Province 
 of New York ; entered 
 His Majesty's Service 
 as a Volunteer in the 
 84th or Royal High* 
 land Emigrants. 
 Came to America with 
 his father and other 
 Highland Emigrants in 
 1773, and settled near 
 Johnstown ; entered 
 His Majesty's Service 
 as a Volunteer in the 
 King's Royal Regiment 
 of New York in the 
 year 1778. 
 
 EIGHTY-FOURTH OR ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANT REGIMENT. 
 
 Captain 
 
 Lieut. 
 Lieut. 
 
 Allan Macdonell 
 
 (CoUachie) 
 Ranald Macdonell 
 Arch'd. Macdonell 
 
 40 yrs 
 8 years 
 
 Prisoner at Lancaster 
 in Pennsylvania. 
 
 SEVENTY FIRST REGIMENT. 
 
 Lieut. I Angus Macdonell 
 
24 
 
 In giving' the pYonrinence that I do to the above genfleraen of 
 this name, I am far from wishing it to be miderstood that they and 
 those of their name were the only Highlaod-.U-nited Empire LoyaHsts" 
 who settled in the Mohawk Valley and other parts of the United 
 States, and, having fought through the war, on its termination took 
 tip their abode in what is now Glengarry, Far from it. The names 
 of those above mentioned are conspicious and easily distinguished 
 and identified by reason of the fact of their having held commissions, 
 and on that account of more prominence than others of equal merit, 
 and who made equal sacrifices, but who served either as non- 
 commissioned officers or in the ranks, and where names are not, 
 therefore, now distinguishable one from another. 
 
 The figures given hereafter will show that while other Scottish 
 Clans were represented among these most deserving men, there were 
 so many more from Glengarry in Scotland than from any other part 
 of it, that it cannot be matter of surprise that among thena were 
 many men whose position and other qualifications entitled them to 
 commissions in the Regiments raised. The fact is, that while from 
 other parts there had been individuals who had emigrated before the 
 breaking out of the War, from Glengarry there had come a very 
 considerable portion of the Clan, all at one time, settHng in the same 
 place, of the same name and religious and political faith, and at their 
 head many persons of station and education, and all, without a 
 solitary exception, taking up arms in defence of a principle binding 
 upon their consciences, and in defence of which they were bound, if 
 necessary, to die. So large, indeed, was the proportion of the Glen- 
 garry people in comparison with others that to that fact is due 
 undoubtedly, the name given to the County. And that alone, if no 
 other reason existed, would constitute a sufficient one for the mention 
 of these names. I have, however, gone most carefully over Lord 
 Dorchester's list and other sources of information, and the only other 
 ijames of Commissioned Officers that I can find who settled in 
 Glengarry are those of Major Gray, Lieutenants Sutherland and 
 McMartin, of the King's Royal Regiment of New York ; the Rev. 
 Mr. Bethune, Chaplain of the Eighty-Fourth Regiment, and Captain 
 Wilkinson, of the Indian Branch of the Service. There were, of 
 cour.se, many commissioned officers of other Scottish names but 
 they did not settle in Glengarry. Of the Fras^rs, for instance, there 
 
25 
 
 were four, but all of them settled in the neighborhood of whal is now 
 Brock ville. 
 
 It is also to be understood that of those mentioned above, sev- 
 eral settled in Stormont and Dandas, and one in the County of 
 Prince Edward, though the majority of them Were identified with 
 Glengarry, and, as I think the sequel will shew, served it and its 
 people with sufficient fideUty and distinction to Warrant the tribute 
 paid to their memory by the mention of their name. 
 
 Such of the Scotch Loyalists as yet remained in Tryon County 
 shortly afterwards left, Mr. Stone stating that early in the month of 
 May, 1777: 
 
 " The residue of the Roman Catholic Scotch settlers in the 
 neighborhood of Johnstown ran off to Canada, together with some of 
 the Loyalist Germans, all headed by two men named McDonell, who 
 had been permitted by General Schuyler to visit their families. The 
 fact that the wives and families of the absconding Loyalists were 
 holding communication with them and administering to their subsist- 
 enceon the outskirts of the settlements, had suggested their arrest 
 and removal to a place of safety, to the number of four hundred^-a 
 measure that was approved by General Herkimer and his officers." 
 Such treatment of Women and children, however, was scarcely 
 calculated to placate the Loyalists. 
 
 I could not attempt, within the limits I have laid down for my 
 narrative, to enter at any length into the various events of the Revo- 
 lutionary War, or to narrate at all circumstantially, even, those 
 relatuig to the engagements in which Sir John Johnson and his Regi- 
 ment — which, on its disbandment, principally contributed from 
 among its officers and men the first settlers of our Ctiunty, and has 
 therefore for us the most interest— were engaged. This Regiment, 
 with Butler's Rangers, and the Indians under Brant, harassed time 
 and time again the northern part of New York, and that part of the 
 State west of Albany, especially the Mohawk Valley, as well as 
 Pennsylvania. They were evidently bound to have it out with their 
 former neighbours, whom they regarded not only as traitors to the 
 Sovereign, but doubfless also as the immediate cause of all the mis- 
 fortunes which had fallen to their lot— the loss of home, severance 
 for years from kindred, imprisonment of friends, and death of others, 
 personal indignities, with hardships, persecution and suffering un- 
 speakable. Mr. Stone declares that :— 
 
 " No other section or district of country in the United States, 
 of the like extent, suffered in any comparable degree as much from 
 
26 
 
 the War of the Revolution as did the Mohawk ; for month after 
 month, for seven long years, were its towns and villages, its humbler 
 settlements and isolated habitations, fallen upon by an untiring and 
 relentless enemy, until, at the dose of the contest, the appearance 
 of the whole district was that of widespread, heart-sickening and 
 universal desolation. In no other section of the Confederacy were 
 so many campaigns performed, so many battles fought, so many 
 dwellings burnt, or so many murders committed. Those who were 
 left at the return of peace were literally a people ' scattered and 
 peeled.' It was the computation, two years before the close of the 
 War, that one-third of the population had gone over to the enerny ; (i) 
 that one-third had been driven from the country or slain in battle 
 and by private assassinations, and yet among the inhabitants of the 
 other remaining third, in June, 1783, it was stated at a pubhc meet- 
 ing held at Fort Plain, that there were three hundred widows and 
 two thousand orphan children." 
 
 It was the Loyalist soldiers of these Regiments principally who 
 under Colonel St. Leger, fought and won the Battle of Oriska,ny, 
 on the 6th July, 1777, which was one of the severest, and, for the 
 numbers engaged, one of the most bloody Battles of the Revolution. 
 In his despatch to General Bourgoyne, Colonel St. Leger stated that 
 four hundred of the Americans were killed, amongst whom were almost 
 all the principal leaders of Rebellion in that part of the country, in- 
 cluding their Commander, General Herkimer, who was a brave and 
 distinguished Officer, with Colonels Cox, Seeber, Paris and others, 
 while upwards of two hundred of them were taken prisoners. The 
 British loss was also severe, falHng principally on Sir John Johnson's 
 and Butler's corps. St. Leger did not state the number of his own 
 killed and wounded. Mr. Stone claims that their loss was as serious 
 as that of the Americans, but the statement does not appear to be 
 borne out by the facts. One of the many Macdonells, a Captain in 
 the Royal Regiment of New York, was killed, and two of his brother 
 officers desperately wounded, and Captains Wilson and Hare, of 
 Butler's Rangers, killed. The Americans allege that the " Indians 
 and Tories " behaved on this occasion with great cruelty to their 
 prisoners, but to show the character of the evidence upon which they 
 base so grave a charge, it is only necessary to give a specimen and 
 to bear in mmd that the maker of the affidavit is vouched for by 
 
 An,i;i J Vh' ^ ^ had adhered o the Sovereign. Mr. Stone speaks, of course, as an 
 Amencnn Thtit he was an ab e historian ,s unquestionable, but his prejudices are apparent 
 throughout his work, though his facts are doubtless, ill ihe main, correct apparent 
 
27 
 
 their historians as being " a respectable man, incapable of any 
 designed misstatements of facts !" (i) : — 
 
 "Moses Younglove, Surgeon of General Herkimer's Brigade of- 
 Militia, deposeth and saith : That being in the Battle of said 
 Militia above Oriskany on the 6th of August last, towards the close 
 of said Battle he surrendered himself a prisoner to a savage, who 
 immediately gave Him up to a Sergeant of Sir John Johnson's Regi- 
 ment ; soon after which, a Lieutenant in the Indian Department 
 came up, in company with several other Tories, when said Mr. 
 Grinnis by name, drew his tomahawk at this deponent, and with a 
 deal of persuasion was hardly prevailed on to spare his life. He 
 then plundered him of his watch, buckles, spurs, &c. ; and other 
 Tories, following his example, stripped him almost naked with a 
 great many threats, while they were stripping and massacring pri- 
 soners on every side. That this deponent, on being brought before 
 Mr. Butler, Sr., who demanded of him what he was fighting for, to 
 which this deponent answered, ' he fought for the liberty that God 
 and nature gave him, and to defend himself and dearest connections 
 from the massacre of savages.' To which Butler replied, ' You are a 
 damned impudent rebel,' and so saying, immediately turned to the 
 savages, encouraging them to kill him, and if they did not, the 
 deponent and the other prisoners should be hanged on a gallows 
 then preparing. That several prisoners were then taken forward 
 toward the enemy's headquarters, with frequent scenes of horror and 
 massacre, in which Tories were active as well as savages ; and, in 
 particular, one Davis, formerly known in Tryon County on the 
 Mohawk River ; that Lieutenant Singleton, of Sir John Johnson's 
 -Regiment, being wounded, entreated the savages to kill the prisoners, 
 which they accordingly did, as nigh as this deponent can judge, 
 six or seven." 
 
 " That Isaac Paris, Esq., was also taken the same road, without 
 receiving from them any remarkable insults, except stripping, until 
 •ozne Tories came up, who kicked and abused him ; after which the 
 ''lavages, thinking him a notable offender, murdered him barbarously; 
 tkat those prisoners who were delivered up to the Provost Guards, 
 Were kept without victuals for many days, and had neither clothes, 
 Ijlankets, shelter nor fire ; while the guards were ordered not to use 
 any violence in protecting the prisoners from the savages, who came 
 every day in large companies with knives, feeling the prisoners, to 
 know who were fattest j that they dragged one of the prisoners out 
 of the guard with the naost lamentable cries, tortured him for a long 
 time, and this deponent was informed, by both Tories and Indians, 
 that they ate him, as appears they did another on an island in Lake 
 Ontarro, by bones found them neariy picked, just after they had 
 cSrossed the lake with the prisoners ; that the prisoners who 
 
 ■I ^^ - . 1 — ■ „■. . J .^ . „ I »_ — , — a.' — ■ ■- I -■ ■ .,.- ^. .. 
 
 (i) Stone, Volume i, Appendi* XXXIII, 
 
28 
 
 were not delivered up were murdered in considerable numbers from 
 day to day round the camp, some of them so nigh that their shrieks 
 were heard ; that Captain Martin, of the batteaux-men, was delivered 
 to the Indians at Oswego, on the pretence of having kept back some 
 useful intelligence ; that this deponent during his imprisonment, and 
 his fellows, were kept almost starved foi- provisions, and what they drew 
 were of the worst kind, such as spoilt pork, biscuit full of maggots 
 and mouldy, and no soap allowed, or other method of keeping clean ; 
 a:id were insultjd, struck, &c., without mercy by the guards, without 
 any provocation given ; that this. deponent was informed by several 
 Sergeants, orderly on General St. Leger, that twenty dollars were 
 offered in general orders for every American scalp." 
 
 There can be little doubt but that on both sides there was much 
 done that cannot be reconciled with the methods of modern warfare, 
 but such apparent falsehoods as those to which this " reputable " Dr. 
 Younglove deposed under oath bear their own refutation on their 
 face. Even as late as the War of 181^2, it was a favourite allegation 
 of theirs that our Indians were encouraged to scalp, while it was 
 proved beyond a shadow of a doubt(i) that the first scalp of the War 
 was taken by an American — an Officer at that — who boasted of it in 
 a letter written to his wife which was found in his pocket when he 
 was killed a day or two later. (2) 
 
 Even at this very time. General Arnold,' (3)' then in command of 
 their forces in this di.stact, concluded a proclamation with the omin- 
 ous assertion that if the- Loyalists, " blind to their own interest and 
 safety, obstinately persist in their wici:ed courses, determined to draw 
 
 (1) James, Volume I., 59-62. 
 
 (2) This shocking operation was performed by a cii-cular incision bein!? made up in the crown 
 of the head of about three inches oi*more in diameter, according to the iena;th of the hair. The 
 foot of the opiyator was then placed on the neck or bod^f of the victim, and the sc^lp or tuft of 
 skin and hair torn frnm the skull bv strength of arm. Tn case the hnir was so short as not to 
 admit of being grasped by the hand, the artist first with his knife turning up one edge of the 
 circle, applied his teeth to the part, and by that means quite as effectually disengaged the scalp. 
 In order to preser\e the interesting relic, it was then stretched and dried upon a small osier hoop. 
 It would be well for the civilization of America had this teriible indignity O'lly have been perpe- 
 trated by the savages on their victims, but history records the fact that the brave Tecumseth, 
 distinc^uished above .all Indians for his humanity, was himself sc ilped after the IBattle of the 
 Thames j.Moravian Town), in October, 1813, by some of the Kentucky soldiers. The admission, 
 quoted by Mr. Janaes-iniiis " .Military Occurrences of the War," is made in " Burdick's Political 
 and Historical Register," pge 84: "Somenf the Kentuckians disgraced themselves by commit- 
 ting indignities on his (Tecumseth's' dead bo 'y. He was sca'ped and otherwise disfigured." 
 The truth being, as stated by Mr. James, that his body was flayed and the skin cut into strips 
 which were carefully treasured as "trophies" by these inhuman wretches, 
 
 (3I The first mention of this name, the most infamous in the annals of 'America, tbat I am 
 able to find is m .1 despatch fr.im Sir Guy Carleton to Lord Dartmouth of 7th June, 1775 : " Hazen 
 brings word that Benedict Arnold, a native of I onnecticut and a horse jockey, has surprised tha 
 d'ji.ichme' t at .--t. John's, seized the King S sloop, batteaux and military stores, and carried theiO 
 off with the prisoners." The war b=ing over .and liiBtr.-achery accomplished, first to the Kmg, 
 ffliose s bject he vva.;, and then to the Contlnfental Government, which he served but tp bctr.iv 
 tlvj l.tllowing IS extracted from Lord Horchester's List of Names of United Empire Loyalists : 
 "Arnold, GeneVal Benedict," "Arnold, Lieutenant Heu'-y," wi h this emphatic word follow- 
 ing their respective names, "Expunged."' The soil of Upper ( anada was not to be dtsecraled 
 by sucu as Benedict Arnold or his son. 
 
29 
 
 on themselves the just vengeance of Heaven and this exasperated 
 country, they must expect no mercy from either," and they certainly 
 received but little from the latter. Our neighbours must explain 
 away Sullivan's devastation of the Seneca and Six Nation country 
 undertaken by the direction of their Commander-in-chief, " to cut off 
 their setdements, destroy their corps, and inflict upon. them-£very 
 other mischief which time and circumstances woiild permit "(i) before 
 they can accuse the British of being the sole participants in the 
 cruelties which made this War an ever memorable one. 
 
 Again in June, 1778, a number of the Loyahsts who had gone 
 to Canada with Sir John Johnson performed what Mr. Stone states 
 was a most bold and remarkable exploit, which naturally suggests 
 the enquiry where were the Whigs of Tryon County at the time, and 
 in what were they eligaged ? 
 
 " The incident to which reference is had was the return of those 
 self-same Loyahsts for their families, whom they were permitted to 
 collect together, and with whom they were suffered to depart into the 
 country and active service of the enemy. Nor was this all ; not 
 only was no opposition made to their proceedings, but on their way 
 they actually committed acts of flagrant hostility, destroyed property 
 and took several prisoners. Having completed their arrangements, 
 they moved northward from Fort Hunter, through Fonda's bush, 
 making four prisoners on their way thither, and at Fonda's bush five 
 others. From this place they proceeded across the great marsh to 
 Sir William Johnson's fish-house, on the Sacondaga, capturing a 
 man named Martin on the way, and at the fish-house taking a brave 
 fellow named Solomon Woodworth and four others. They burnt the 
 house and outbuildings of Godfrey Shew at this place, and departed 
 with their prisoners. Embarking on the Sacondaga in light canoes, 
 previously moored at that place for the purpose, they descended 
 twenty-five miles to the Hudson, and thence, by the way of Lakes 
 George and Champlain, proceeded to St. Johns in safety. The day 
 after his capture, Woodworth succeeded in making his escape. At 
 St. Johns, Shew and four others were given to the Indians, by whom 
 they were taken to their village in Canada. They were neither con- 
 sidered nor treated exactly as prisoners of war ; and Shew, with 
 three of his companions, soon afterwards escaped and returned home. 
 From St. Johns the Loyal party proceeded down the St. Lawrence 
 to Quebec, where the prisoners were kept in close confinement about 
 four months. Some of the number died, and the remainder were sent 
 to Halifax, and thence exchanged by the way of Boston. This move- 
 ment of the Tories-back in a body to their deserted homes, and its 
 success, form one of the most extraordinary incidents, though in 
 
 (i) Letter of General Washington to Governor Clinton and General Gates, 4th March, 1779, 
 
30 
 itself comparatively unimportant, which transpired during the wars 
 of the Mohawk country."(i) 
 
 Shortly after this, another expedition was despatched from 
 Niagara to the Whig settlements in Pennsylvania under Colonel John 
 Butler, who also had with him, in addition to his Rangers, about 
 five hundred Mohawks under Brant, They entered the Valley of 
 Wyoming through a gap of mountains near its northern extremity, 
 took possession of two forts, Exeter and Lackawanna, also known as 
 Fort Wintermoot, the former of which was burnt ; Colonel Butler 
 estabUshing his headquarters in the latter. He was shortly afterwards 
 attacked by the Provincials under a namesake of his own — Colonel 
 Zebulon Butler, and on the 3rd of July a very desperate battle was 
 fought, which resulted in the total defeat of the Whigs, less than 
 sixty out of four hundred of them escaping, amongst the dead being 
 one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Major, ten Captains, six Lieutenants 
 and two Ensigns. Those who survived, with the women and 
 children of the neighbourhood, took refuge in Fort Wyoming. The 
 following day its surrender was demanded, when Zebulon Butler 
 made good his escape with such regular troops as he had with him, 
 his subordinate. Colonel Dennison, entering into articles of capitula- 
 tion with the British Commander, it being agreed that the Americans, 
 upon being disarmed, the garrison demoHshed, public stores given 
 up, and the property of " the people called Tories " made good, 
 should be permitted to return peacefully to their farms, their lives 
 and property being preserved. Colonel Butler, however, was unable 
 to restrain his native allies, and scenes were enacted in the Valley 
 almost equalling the outrages perpetrated shortly afterwards on the 
 Indians in the Seneca country by the American forces under General 
 Sullivan. Much fiction has, however, been written with regard to 
 this affair by American writers, and is admitted to be false by Mr. 
 Stone, such for instance as the account of the marching out of a large 
 body of Americans from one of the Forts to hold a parley by agree- 
 ment, and then being drawn into an ambuscade and all put to death ; 
 also that seventy Continental soldiers were butchered after having 
 surrendered, while equally untrue is pronounced to be the story of 
 the burning of houses, barracks and forts filled with women and 
 children. The Poet Campbell, in his mawkish sentimentality en- 
 titled " Gertrude of Wyoming," has had much to say about " the 
 
 (ij Life of Brant, page 309. 
 
3J 
 
 monster Brandt " in connection with these events, but then Edflion- 
 stoun A.ytoun, in the " Execution of Montrose," terras a Chief of 
 the Campbell Clan, in whom they take great pride, " the monster* 
 fiend Argyle." I suppose if Poets were allowed no license we would 
 have no poetry ! 
 
 At the close of the War, the Mohawk tribe almost to a man, 
 under Brant's leadership, quit their beautiful Valley and retired to 
 Canada with the other Loyalists. Brant was a Christian and a 
 member of the Church of England. In 1786 he built a Church on 
 the Grand River, wherein was placed the first " Church-going bell " 
 that ever tolled in Upper Canada. Shortly before his death he built 
 a commodious dwelling house for himself near Burlington Bay, where 
 he died on the 24th November, 1807, aged sixty-four years and eight 
 months, and after a painful illness borne with true Indian fortitude 
 and Christian patience and resignation. Mr. Stone states that while 
 his manner was reserved, as was customary with his people, never- 
 theless he was affable though dignified, on all occasions and in all 
 society comporting himself as would be expected in a well-bred 
 gentleman. His great quality was his strong, practical, good sense 
 and deep and ready insight into character. He had a keen sense of 
 humour and was an excellent conversationalist, while in letters he 
 was in advance of some of the Generals against whom he fought 
 and of even still greater military men who have flourished before his 
 day and since. Though not without failings, they were redeemed 
 by high quaUties and commanding virtues ; in business relations he 
 was a model of promptitude and integrity ; the purity of his private 
 morals has never been questioned, and his house was the abode of 
 kindness and hospitality. As a warrior he was cautious, sagacious 
 and brave, watching with sleepless vigilance for opportunities of 
 action, and allowing neither dangers nor difficulties to divert him 
 from his well-selected purpose. His constitution was hardy, his 
 capacity of endurance great, his energy untiring, and his firmness 
 indomitable. On the occasion of his visits to Great Britain, he was 
 treated by the Royal Family, the leaders of the Nobility and the 
 Political chiefs with the most distinguished consideration. He had 
 during the Revolutionary War made the personal friendship of several 
 officers of high social station, among others being Earl Moira, after- 
 wards Marquis of Hastings, who had served in America as Lord 
 Rawdon, who presented him with his miniature, set in gold ; General 
 
32 
 
 Sir Charles Stuart, a younger son of the Earl of Bute, and the Duke 
 of Northumberland, who had as Lord Percy been on terms of inti- 
 mate friendship with hira, and with whom he maintained a corres- 
 pondence until his death. Many of these letters are given by Mr. 
 Stone in his "Life of Brant," the Duke, himself by the way a warrior 
 of the Mohawk Tribe by adoption, always addressing Brant as " My 
 dear Joseph," and signing himself, "Your affectionate friend and 
 brother, Northumberland Thorighwigeri," in which Indian' title he 
 rejoiced, and which had been conferred upon him by Brant himself. 
 The name signified " The Evergreen Brake," a pretty conceit, indi- 
 cating that a titled house never dies, like the leaves of this pecuhar 
 species of brake, in which, when the old leaf falls, the young is in 
 fresh and full existence. Brant, on his part, fully aware of the cus- 
 toms of the great, always addressed His Grace as " My Lord Duke," 
 signing himself, " Your Grace's faithful friend and brother warrior, 
 Jos. Brant, T^yendanegeaJ' The Earl of Warwick was another of 
 his friends, andT'oTwhom he sat for his picture, as he had done for 
 the Duke of Northumberland. 
 
 When presented at Court, he decHned to kiss the King's hand, 
 but with equal gallantry and address offered to kiss that of the 
 Queen, which the kind-hearted Monarch took in excellent part. He 
 stood equally well in the graces of the Prince Regent, who took 
 great delight in his company, and by whom he was frequently enter- 
 tained. It was quite the mode to affect him, and the Carlton House 
 set. Fox, Sheridan and others, taking in this as in much else their 
 cue from " the first gentleman of Europe,'' lavished attention and 
 civilities on him. 
 
 A laughable episode occurred at a fancy dress ball which was 
 given during his stay in London. Brant attended the masquerade, 
 which was got up on a scale of great splendour, and at the sugges- 
 tion of Lord Moira dressed himself in the costume of his nation, 
 wearing no mask, but painting one-half of his face. His plumes 
 nodded proudly in his cap and his tomahawk glistened at his side, 
 no character in all the brilliant pageant being more picturesque or 
 attracting greater attention. Among others who were present was 
 a Turkish diplomat of high rank, who scrutinized the Chief very 
 closely, and mistaking his rouge et noir complexion for a painted 
 visor, took him by the nose, intending, probably, to remove the 
 
33 
 mask and have a look to see who was concealed thereunder ! 
 Brant, to carry out the joke, feigned intense indignation, raised his 
 appalling war-whoop, which made the blood of the merry-makers 
 curdle in their veins, flashed his tomahawk around the head of the 
 terrified Turk, who doubtless was a remarkably " sick man" at that 
 particular time, and left the screaming women under the impression 
 that they would be the unwilling witnesses of the scalping of the 
 poor Turk. The joke had been carried far enough, however, and 
 the Mussulman was ^ left in possession of his hair, the matter was 
 explained, and the incident accounted quite the feature of the even- 
 ing. Mr. Stone states that some of the London papers represented 
 that Brant raised his weapon in serious earnest, having taken the 
 freedom of the Turk for an intentional indignity, but this of course 
 is ridiculous. Readers of Mr. John Gait's work, " The Steamboat,'' 
 will remember another instance in which Printing House Square 
 was imposed upon in connection with another Chief, not unknown 
 to the Clansmen of Glengarry, when at the Coronation of George 
 IV. a lady's hysterics at seeing a Highlander in full dress almost 
 created a panic, and the " Times," under the heading of " A Mys- 
 terious Circumstance,'' absolutely gave the impression that it was a 
 deep-laid Jacobite scheme for the destruction of the Royal Family. 
 
 But to resume. 
 
 Later in the summer, one of the Macdonells who had formerly 
 lived in Tryon County, and according to Mr. Stone was a Loyalist 
 Officer " distinguished for his activity," made a sudden irruption into 
 the Schoharie settlements at the head of about three hundred Indians 
 and " Tories,"^ burning houses and killing and making prisoners of 
 such of the male inhabitants as came in their way, the American 
 force in the fortress at Schoharie being afraid to come out. 
 
 Colonel Gansevoort, however, with a squadron of Cavalry, 
 arrived to the assistance of his countrymen, and Macdonell and his 
 men, having accomplished the object of their mission, returned to 
 headquarters. 
 
S4 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 Sullivan's Expedition against the Senacas and Cayugas. — 
 Intended Capture of Niagara frustrated. — Sir John 
 Johnson and his Regiment return to Tryon County. — 
 Brant destroys Canajoharie. — Still another Invasion 
 into the Schoharie Country— Investment of Fort Middle- 
 berg — Americans fire on a Flag of- Truce. — Immense; 
 Destruction of Grain and other Property. — Caughna- 
 waga and Stone Arabia laid in ashes. — Defeat of 
 Americans at Fort Keyser. — Haldimand's approbation of 
 Sir John Johnson's zeal. — Negotiations for return of 
 Prisoners. — Sufferings of Loyalist families. — Fight at 
 Schell's Settlement, near Fort Dayton. — A brave 
 disciple of Martin Luther. — Americans victorious in 
 TWO engagements near Johnstown. — Death of Walter 
 Butler. — Awful Massacre by American miscreants of 
 THE Moravian tribe of non-combatant Indians. — Con- 
 clusion OF THE War. 
 
 In the Spring of 1779, it was determined by the Americans that 
 active measures should be taken against the Indians, especially the 
 Senacas and Cayugas, that those tribes should in fact be annihilated 
 and with this object in view a division of their army from Pennsyl- 
 vania under General Sullivan, who was in command of the expedi- 
 tion, and another from the north under General Clinton, effected a 
 junction at Newton, the site of the present town of Elmira. Their 
 joint forces amounted to five thousand men. They were there met 
 by a gallant band of five hundred Indians under Brant, with two 
 hundred and fifty British under Colonel John Butler, associated with 
 whom were Sir John and Guy Johnson, Major Walter N. Butler and 
 Captain John Macdonell (Aberchalder). A desperate resistance 
 was made against such tremendous odds, but without present suc- 
 cass, yet the ultimate ^.nd indeed the principal object Of the cam- 
 'paign, which was the capture of Niagara, thie headquarters of the 
 British in that region, and the seat of influence and power among the 
 
35 
 
 Indians, was abandoned, and the Americans reaped but litde advan- 
 tage from, the expedition except that they scourged a broad extent of 
 country, and laid more towns in ashes than ever had been destroyed 
 on the continent before. Such of the redmen as were not massacred 
 were with their women and children driven from their country, their 
 habitations were left in ruin, their fields laid waste, their orchards ' 
 uprooted, their altars overthrown, and the tombs of their fathera 
 desecrated — all of which is admitted by the American historians, and 
 was in strict accordance with General Washington's orders, and for 
 which General Sullivan received the thanks of Congress (November 
 30th, 1779). And yet they complained of the atrocities of the In- 
 dians I 
 
 Still again, in May, 1780, Sir John Johnson, at the head oi five 
 hundred men, composed of some Regular troops, a detachment of 
 his own Regiment, and about two hundred Indians and "Tories," 
 re-visited the scene of their once habitation, a visit highly unpopular 
 to their former neighbours, and the immediate object of which was 
 to recover Sir John's family plate, which had been buried in the cel- 
 lar of Johnson Hall at the time of his flight in 1776, the place of 
 deposit being confided only to a faithful slave. It was found and 
 distributed among forty of his soldiers, who brought it back to 
 Montreal. After the custom of the day, they destroyed all the 
 buildings, killed the sheep, cattle and a number of obnoxious Whigs, 
 and appropriated all the horses to their own use. Their ranks were 
 recruited by a considerable number of Loyalists, while Sir John also 
 obtained possession of some thirty of his negro slaves. A number of 
 prisoners were also taken and sent to Chambly. We are of course 
 told thai ■' this irruption was one of the most indefensible aggressions 
 upon an unarmed and slumbering people which stain the annals of 
 British arms." It made much difference on which leg the boot was 
 placedj and the Indians in sympathy and alliance with the British 
 were to abstain from all acts of violence, while not only the men of 
 their race, but the women and children as well, were to be massacred 
 in cold blood, their very extermination being the object in view — ^and 
 the Loyalists were to strike no blow for the Cause they held so dear, 
 and against those who had deprived them of every earthly posses- 
 sion. The following is Sir John Johnson's report of this expedition : 
 
36 
 
 "St. Johns, 3rd June, 1780, 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I have the honour to report to Your Excellency the arrival of 
 the troops and Indians under my command at this place. We 
 arrived at the setdement, within five miles of Johnson Hall, on the 
 2 1 St of last month, in the evening, previous to which I had made 
 known to the Indians the plan I wished to pursue, a.nd I thought I 
 had little reason to doubt their joining heartily, in it, but upon 
 assembling them to obtain their final answer, I was not a little 
 mortified to find them totally averse to it, or even to a division of 
 their body. I therefore found myself under the disagreeable 
 necessity of adopting their plan, which was for them to proceed 
 to Tripe's Hill, within a mile and a half of Fort Johnson, while the 
 troops under my command were to march by Johnstown to Caghna- 
 waga, where the whole were to join and proceed up the river to the 
 nose, and from thence to Stone Arabia. We accordingly proceeded, 
 and met at the house of Dow Fonda, at Caghnawaga, destroying all 
 before us as we marched along. From thence we proceeded to with- 
 in a mile of the nose, where a halt was found absolutely necessary, 
 the troops and Indians being much fatigued and in want of refresh- 
 ment, having marched from six in the morning of the 21st till ten in 
 the morning the day following. Some of the Indians and Rangers 
 continued burning and laying waste everything before them, till they 
 got above the nose. Most of the inhabitants fled to the opposite 
 shore with their best effects, securing their boats, which prevented 
 their crossing the river. After the men were sufficiently rested and 
 refreshed, I pioposed moving on to Stone Arabia, to which the 
 Indians objected, alleging that the troops, as well as themselves, 
 were too much fatigued to proceed any further, and that the 
 inhabitants were all fled into their forts with their effects, and that 
 there was nothing left but empty houses, which were not worth the 
 trouble of going to burn ; indeed, many of them moved off with their 
 plunder, with which they were all loaded, before I knew their inten- 
 tion. I therefore found myself under the necessity of following them. 
 We burned several houses on our return to Johnstown, where we 
 arrived about one o'clock the same day. After providing provisions, 
 etc., we marched back by the same route we came to the Scotch 
 settlement. The number of houses, barns, mills, etc., burnt, amounts 
 to about one hundred and twenty. The Indians, contrary to my 
 expectation, killed only eleven men, among them Colonel Fisher, 
 Captain Fisher, and another brother, of what rank I know not. The 
 prisoners taken amounted to twenty-seven. Fourteen of them I suf- 
 feied to return, being either too old or too young to march, and I 
 was induced by the earnest desire of the Loyal famiUes left behind 
 to set at liberty two of the principal prisoners we had taken, in order to 
 protect them from the violence of the people, which they most solemnly 
 
37 
 promised to do ; and in order to make them -pay the utmost atten- 
 tion to their engagements, I assured them that the rest of the prison- 
 ers should be detained as hostages for the performance of this pro- 
 mise. I also sent a Captain Veeder back in exchange for Lieuten- 
 ant Singleton, of my Regiment, which I hope will meet with Your 
 Excellency's approbation. Vast quantities of flour, bread, Indian 
 corn, and other provisions were burnt in the houses and mills, and a 
 great number of arms, cash, etc.; many catde were killed, and about 
 seventy horses brought off. One hundred and forty-three Loyalists, 
 and a number of women and children, with about thirty blacks (male 
 and female), came off with us. Seventeen of the latter belong to 
 Colonel Claus, Johnson and myself. Some are claimed by white 
 men and Indians, who are endeavouring to dispose of them ; I should 
 therefore be glad to have Your Excellency's directions concerning 
 them. I enclose Your Excellency the only papers I could procure, 
 with sundry letters, which will shew the early intelligence they had 
 of our approach. I must beg leave to refer Your Excellency to Cap- 
 tain Scott for further particulars, and beg you will excuse this imper- 
 fect account of our proceedings. I shall transmit exact returns of 
 the Loyalists and Indians from the Mohawk Village, who have come 
 in, by the next post. I beg leave to recommend my cousin. Ensign 
 Johnson, to Your Excellency for the vacancy in the Forty-Seventh, 
 if not pre-engaged, as he was of great service in preventing the 
 Indians from committing many irregularities, which I was very appre- 
 hensive of, and he has been promised the first vacancy. I must also 
 beg Your Excellency will be pleased to grant a flag for the relief of 
 the families left in Tryon County who may choose to come into this 
 Province, which is most earnestly wished for by their husbands and 
 parents. 
 
 '' I have the honour to be, with great respect, 
 " Your Excellency's 
 
 " Most obedient and 
 
 " Most humble servant, 
 
 "John Johnson. 
 " His Excellency, ) 
 
 General Haldimand."(i) J 
 
 Later in that year (August, 1780), Brant with his Indians paid a 
 visit on his own account to the settlements of the Mohawk, destroyed 
 the forts at Canajoharie, and rendered the fairest district of the 
 Valley in a single day a scene of wailing and desolation, sixteen of 
 the inhabitants being killed, fifty-three dwelhng houses, as many bams, 
 together with a grist mill, the church and growing crops destroyed, 
 and between fifty and sixty prisoners taken, though it is admitted 
 
 (i) Haldimand Papers, Series B, vo!. 158, p. 128. 
 
38 
 that " no outrages were committed orf defenceless women and child- 
 ren other than carrying them into captivity " — a circumstance which 
 Mr. Stone is good enough to attribute to the absence of the wicked 
 " Tories " in this expedition. 
 
 In October of the same year another and more extensive expe- 
 dition was planned and carried out against the unfortunate WHigs of 
 the same district, in retaliation for Sullivan's merciless crusade, under 
 Sir John Johnson, Thayendanegea and a famous Seneca Chieftain, a 
 half-breed named O'Bail, styled by the Indians " Com Planter " — 
 the force consisting, besides Mohawks, of three Companies of the 
 Royal Regiment of New York, one Company of German Yagers, a 
 Detachment of two hundred of Butler's Rangers, and one Company 
 of Regulars, under the command QfCaptain Richard Duncan, the 
 son of an opulent gentleman resrdihgprevions— to—the War in the 
 -neighborhood of Schenectady, and who was afterwards a Well-known 
 pioneer of the County of Dundas, which, if I am not mistaken, he 
 represented in the early Parliaments of Upper Canada, and was also 
 in later life one of the Judges of the Province — for the District of 
 Lunenberg, as the Eastern portion of the Province was first known. 
 Their total number is variously estimated from eight hundred to over 
 fifteen hundred. Sir John'.s troops were collected at Lachine, whence 
 they ascended the St. Lawrence to Oswego. Thence they crossed 
 the country to the Susquehanna, where they were joined by the 
 Indians and some " Tories." Each soldier and Indian had eighty 
 rounds of cartridges. 
 
 The Americans on this occasion, when Sir John had invested 
 the Fort of Middleberg, showed their appreciation of the rules of 
 honourable warfare by firing three different times on British officers 
 bearing flags of truce with a summons to surrender, their reason 
 being, as is alleged, '' The savages, and their companions the Tories 
 still more savage than they, had shown no respect to age, sex or 
 condition, and it was not without force that the question was 
 repeated, are we bound to exercise a forbearance totally unrecipro- 
 cated by the enemy ?" " Besides," it was added, " let us show that 
 we will neither take nor give quarter ; and the enemy, discovering 
 our desperation, will most likely withdraw." Such conduct as this 
 was likely to meet with reprisals, and it did. The march was con- 
 tinued in the direction of Fort Hunter, at the confluence of the 
 Schoharie-kill with the Mohawk River, in the course of which were 
 
39 
 
 desttoyed the buildings and produce of every description. OefierSil 
 Washington, in his message to the President of Congress, stated that 
 the destruction of grain was so great as to threaten the most alarm- 
 ing consequences, in respect to the forming of magazines for the 
 public service at the north, and that but for that event the settlement 
 of Schoharie alone would have delivered 80,000 bushels of grain. 
 The houses and bams were burnt, the horses and cattle killed of 
 taken, "and not a building known to belong to a Whig Was saved ; 
 the Whigs, however, in retaliation, immediately after reducing the 
 houses of the Tories to the common lot. Sir John ordered his forces 
 to spare the Church at the Upper Fort, but his niandate was dis- 
 obeyed, tt is alleged that over one hundred of the inhabitants were 
 killed, but this is probably a gross exaggeration. Whatever was left 
 of CaughnaWaga at the time of the irruption of Sir John in the spring, 
 and all that had been rebuilt, was destroyed by fire, and both sides 
 of the Mohawk River laid in waste. A Major Fonda, a prominent 
 Whig, was a principal sufferer, his houses and property in the ToWn 
 of Palatine to the value of sixty thousand dollars being destroyed^ 
 At Fort Keyser a battle took place, which resulted in the entire dis- 
 comforture of the Americans, their leader, Colonel Brown, and some 
 forty-five of his men being killed, the remainder seeking safety in 
 flight, and Stone Arabia was then reduced to the condition of a de- 
 sert. By this time, however, reinforcements had arrived for the 
 Americans, under the command of General Van Renssalaer, whose 
 forces were in every respect superior to the British. In the engage- 
 ment which followed, the British Indians did not act with their usual 
 bravery, and though the Regulars and Rangers are admitted to have 
 fought with great spirit. Sir John and his forces were obliged to retire. 
 He succeeded, however, by a very skilful manoeuvre, in capturing a 
 strong detachment of the Americans under Captain Vrooman, and 
 made his way to Oswego without further molestation. Sir Frederick 
 Haldimand, writing to Lord George Germaine, stated : " I cannot 
 finish withoiit expressing to Your Lordship the perfect satisfaction 
 which I have for the zeal, spirit and activity with Which Sir John 
 Johnson has conducted this arduous enterprise." 
 
 About this time some Very acrimonious correspondence was 
 taking place between British and American officers, each accusing 
 the other of cruelty to prisoners. Thus, General Watson Powell 
 writes to the American Colonel Van Schaick, in returning some 
 
40 
 American prisoners .- " The attention whicli has been shown to Mrs. 
 Campbell and those in her unfortunate circumstances, as well as the 
 good treatment of the prisoners, which it is hoped they will have the 
 candour to acknowledge, is referred to for comparison to those by 
 whose orders or permission His Majesty's subjects have experienced 
 execution, the horrors of a dungeon loaded with irons, and the miser- 
 ies of want," and he enclosed a Ust of some families of men belong- 
 ing to the Eighty-Fourth Regiment whose return was demanded. 
 The hst is as follows : John McDonell's family, Donald McGruer's, 
 Duncan McDonell's, John Mcintosh's, Duncan McDonell's, Donald 
 McDonald's, Kenneth McDonell's, and John McDonell's father and 
 mother. Colonel Gansevoort replied, denying the accusation which 
 General Powell made in a previous portion of his letter, of a breach 
 of faith on the part of the Americans in regard to the cartel of the 
 Cedars, and denying also that, except in some few cases by way of re- 
 taUation for the many cruelties alleged by him to have been perpetrated 
 by the British, any prisoners or Loyalists had been treated with 
 cruelty or indignity. Colonel Gansevoort, however, is upon their 
 own admission, proven to have lied twice in the same letter, and his 
 maxim being, as is stated, "his country, right or wrong" — his denial 
 of cruelty to prisoners is worthless. It is apparent, 3,nd perhaps 
 after all but natural, that their wrongs all through the War were 
 magnified to the utmost extent, and in others the most preposterous 
 stories were fabricated, while they carefully conceal, minimize or 
 totally deny well-founded accusations of cruelty to prisoners in their 
 hands, and other offences. Some of their violations of the rules 
 which govern hostile States and Governments are, however, notori- 
 ous, and are matters of history, as when Congress itself broke the 
 plighted faith of their General (Arnold) in regard to the cartel 
 entered into at the Cedars for the exchange of prisoners. They are 
 unable to deny or explain that breach of national honour, and are 
 obhged to admit that the violation of the stipulations made on that 
 occasion created difficulties in regard to the exchange of prisoners 
 during the whole War, and was frequently a source of embarassment 
 and, mortification to General Washington during its entire continua- 
 tion. 
 
 The Haldimand papers shew the vicissitudes and hardships 
 undergone by the families of many of the officers. In series B, vol. 
 158, p. 351, appears the following : 
 
4S 
 
 "To His Excellency General Haldimand, Genferal and Commander 
 in Chief of all His Majesty^s. Forces in Canada and the Fronrt 
 tiers thereof, ; , L ^ n . j'J'^-''- 
 
 " The memorial of JohA and Alexander Macdonelf, 'Captains 
 in the King's Royal Regiment ol New York, humbly sheweth, 
 
 " That your Memorialist, John Macdonell's, family are at present 
 detained by the rebels in the County of Try on, within the Province 
 of New York, destitute of every support but such as they may receive 
 from the few friends to Government in said quarters, in Which situa- 
 tion they have been since 1777. 
 
 " And your Memorialist, Alexander Macdonell, on behalf of his 
 brother, Captajn^Aji|mJ^Iasd onell, of t he Eighty- Fourth Regiment ; 
 that the fami1y"ot his'^id brotH"6r have-brerrd-etamed'by the Rebels 
 in and about Albany since the year 1775, and that unless it was for 
 the assistance they have met with from Mr. James EUice, of Sche- 
 nectady, merchant, they must have perished. 
 
 "Your Memorialists therefore humbly pray Your Excellency 
 will be graciously pleased to take the distressed situation of said 
 famihes into consideration, and to grant that a flag be sent to demand 
 them in exchange, or otherwise direct towards obtaining their release- 
 ment, as Your Excellency in your wisdom shall see fit, and your 
 Memorialists will ever pray as in duty bound. 
 
 "(Signed,) ' John MacdonSll, 
 
 " Alexander Macdonkll." 
 
 The above memorial is dated 27th July, but the year is not 
 given. It was probably 1779 or 1 780. 
 
 A petition from a number of the men of the King's Royal Regi- 
 ment of New York is as follows : — 
 
 To the Honourable Sir John Johnson, Lieutenant-Colonel Com- 
 mander of the King's Royal Regiment of New York. 
 
 The humble petition of sundry soldiers of said Regiment 
 sheweth, — 
 
 That your humble petitioners, whose names are hereunto sub- 
 scribed, have families in different places of the Counties of Albany 
 and Tyron, who have been and are daily being ill-treated by 
 the enemies of Government. 
 
 Therefore we do humbly pray that Your Honour would be 
 pleased to procure permission for them to come to Canada. 
 
 And your petitioners will ever pray. 
 
 John McGlenny, Alex. Ferguson, 
 
 Thomas Ross, Thomas Taylor, 
 
 Alexander Cameron, William Cameron, 
 
 FrediiRick Goose, George MurdofF, 
 
 Wm. Urghad,* William CHESsiM,f 
 
 • Probably Urquhart, t Probably Chisholm. 
 
42 
 
 JoHff CHRisrr, 
 Daniel Campbell, 
 Donald Ross, 
 Donald CHissEM,f 
 Roderick McDonald, 
 Alexander Grant, 
 
 Duncan McIntire, 
 Andrew Mileross, 
 Donald McCarter, 
 Allen Grant, 
 Hugh Chisholm, 
 Angus Grant, 
 John McDonald. 
 
 The names and number of each family intended in the withm 
 petition : — 
 
 Name of Fajhilv Consisting of No. 
 
 1, Duncan Mclntyre's 
 3, John Christy's 
 
 3, George Mordoff's 
 
 4, Daniel Campbell's 
 
 5, Andrew Milross' 
 
 6, William Urghad's 
 
 7, Donald McCarter's 
 
 8, Donald Ross' 
 
 9, Allan Grant's 
 
 10, William' Chissim's 
 
 11, Donald Chissim's 
 iz, Hugh Chissim's 
 
 13, Roderick McDonald's - 
 
 14, Angus Grant's 
 
 1 5, Alexander Grant's 
 
 16, Donald Grant's 
 
 17, John McDonald's 
 
 18, John McGlenny's 
 
 19, Alexander Ferguson 
 
 20, Thomas Ross' 
 
 21, Thomas Taylors' 
 
 22, Alexander Cameron's - 
 
 23, William Cameron's 
 
 24, Frederick Goose's 
 
 Endorsed— Memorial from several soldiers of Sir John John- 
 son's Corps, received 27th July. (The year is not given, it was 
 probably 1779 or 1780.) (i) 
 
 In August, 1 78 1, Donald McDonald, one of the Loyalists from 
 Tryon County, who had come to Canada at the head of a small band 
 of sixty-two Indians and Tories, and accompanied by " two 
 notorious traitors named Empie and Kasselman," as Mr. Stone is 
 good enough to term two prominent German Loyalists, whose 
 
 t Probably Chisholm. 
 
 (i) Haldimand Papers, Series B, vol. 158, p. 352, as given by J udge Pringle. 
 
 Wife, Sister and- Child 
 
 3, 
 
 Wife and 
 
 3 Children 
 
 4 
 
 do 
 
 6 do 
 
 7 
 
 do 
 
 5 do 
 
 - 6 
 
 Wife 
 
 
 r 
 
 Wife and 
 
 . 3 Children 
 
 - ■ 4: 
 
 do 
 
 3 do 
 
 4 
 
 do 
 
 I Child 
 
 2 
 
 do 
 
 1 do 
 
 2 
 
 do 
 
 I do 
 
 z 
 
 do 
 
 2 Children 
 
 3 
 
 do 
 
 5 do 
 
 6 
 
 do 
 
 4 do 
 
 5 
 
 do 
 
 5 do 
 
 - 6 
 
 do 
 
 4 do 
 
 5 
 
 do 
 
 4 do 
 
 5 
 
 Wife 
 
 
 I 
 
 Wife and 
 
 2 Children 
 
 3 
 
 do 
 
 5 do 
 
 6 
 
 do 
 
 4 do 
 
 5 
 
 do 
 
 I Child 
 
 2 
 
 do 
 
 3 Children 
 
 4 
 
 do 
 
 3 do 
 
 4 
 
 do 
 
 4 do 
 
 5 
 
43 
 descendants now live in the County of Stormont, made a raid upon 
 the settlement at Schell's bush near Fort Dayton. A number of 
 Whigs took refuge in Schell's house, and defended it bravely against 
 several attempts to fire it. McDonald at length procured a crowbar 
 and attempted to force the door, but while thus engaged received a 
 -shot in the leg from Schell's musket which placed him hors de com- 
 bat, and none of his men being sufficiently near, Schell, quick as 
 lightning, opened the door and made him prisoner, making use of 
 the - cartridges with which he was amply provided to fire upon his 
 comrades, several of whom were killed and others wounded. Where- 
 upon Mr. Schell, out of compliment to McDonald's religion no doubt, 
 immediately caused to be sung the hymn which was a favourite with 
 Luther during the perils and affiictions of the great Reformer in his 
 controversies with the Pope. While thus engaged, McDonald's 
 forces returned to the fight, and made a desperate attempt to carry 
 the fortress by assault and rescue their leader. Rushing up to the 
 walls, five of them thrust the muzzles of their guns through the loop- 
 holes, but had no sooner done so than Mrs. Schell, seizing an axe, 
 by quick and well-directed blows, ruined every musket by bending 
 the barrels. Schell afterwards managed to escape to Dayton. 
 McDonald was so desperately wounded that his men were unable to 
 remove him, so they took Schell's boys as hostages, charging their 
 wounded leader to tell the Americans that if they would be kind to 
 him they would take care of Schell's boys. McDonald was the next 
 day removed to Fort Dayton by Captain Small, where his leg was 
 amputated, but the blood could not be staunched and the brave 
 man died in a few hours. ^ Mr. Stone is authority for the statement 
 that he wore a silver mounted tomahawk, which was taken from him 
 by Schell, that it was marked by thirty scalp notches, " showing that 
 few Indians could have been more industrious than himself in 
 gathering this description of military trophies" — but Mr. Stone is not 
 impartial or thoroughly trustworthy on such subjects. Eleven 
 British were 'killed and six wounded, and the boys who were 
 returned after the War .reported that nine wounded died before they 
 arrived in Canada. Schell was subsequently killed during the War 
 by Indians, one of liis sons being killed and another wounded in 
 their efforts to save him. It must be conceded that he fought with 
 pluck and that Martin Luther had every reason to be proud of his 
 disciple. 
 
44 
 
 The last expedition against this neighborhood was destined to be 
 a still more unfortunate one for the British. In October, 1781, a 
 force was organized at Buck's Island, in the St. Lawrence, a few 
 miles below Kingston, consisting of about seven hundred men, 
 composed of twenty-five men of the Eighth Regiment, one hundred of 
 the Thirty-fourth Regiment, one hundred of the Eighty-fourth (Royal 
 Highland Emigrants), thirty-six Highlanders, one hundred and twenty 
 of Sir John Johnson's, forty of Lake's Independents, one hundred 
 and fifty of Butler's Rangers, twelve Yagers, with one hundred and 
 thirty Indians, the whole under the command of Major Ross, -vyho 
 was, I believe, a brother-in-law of Captain John Macdonell of Aber- 
 ^chaldef, having mafried-^his si'Ster. 
 
 A hard contested battle took place in the neighborhood of 
 Johnstown on the 24th October, the fortune of war varying from time 
 to time, but eventuating in that of the Americans, whose loss was 
 forty killed, the British losing the same number in killed and some 
 fifty prisoners. A day or two later, another engagement occurred, 
 about twenty of the British being killed, amongst whom was the 
 brave Walter Butler, son of Colonel Butler of the Scouts, one of 
 the most enterprising and indeiatigable officers, who was shot 
 through the head by an Oneida Indian and promptly scalped. It is 
 necessary to peruse a full narrative of the war properly to appreciate 
 the dauntless courage, activity and endurance of this gallant soldier. 
 The Americans disgraced their nation by refusing burial to his body. 
 " In re-passing the battle ground, the body of Butler was discovered 
 as it had been left, and there, without sepulchre, it was suffered to 
 remain.(i) 
 
 This expedition closed the active warlike operations in the north for 
 that year, and the following was a period rather of armed neutrality 
 than active war, while on the 30th November, 1782, provisional 
 Articles of Peace on the basis of a treaty, by which the independence 
 of the United States was acknowledged, were entered into, and the 
 people oi the Mohawk Valley were left in peace, though that region 
 of country had been so utterly laid waste that little more was to be 
 accomplished. The Loyalists lost their homes, but the land on 
 which their own dwellings once stood was all that they left to their 
 opponents. The last act of the War is a fitting satire upon the pro- 
 testations of the Americans of the humane manner in which they 
 
 (i) Stone, vol. 2, page 192. 
 
45 
 conducted it : the massacre of every man, woman and child belong- 
 ing to the Moravian Tribe of Indians by a band of some three hun- 
 dred wretches under the command of a miscreant named Colonel 
 David Williamson. These Indians had been peaceable during the 
 whole War — the tenets of their religious faith, for they were Christ- 
 ians, and their religious principles, which would appear to have been 
 somewhat similar to those of the Quakers, forbidding them to fight. 
 They are described as a humble, devout and exemplary community, 
 simple tillers of the soil of their forefathers. Their brains were bat- 
 tered out, old men and matrons, young men and maidens and children 
 at their mothers' breasts being massacred, two only of the whole 
 settlement escaping, while the American papers of the day applauded 
 it as a very commendable achievement. It was as base, as brutal 
 and as treacherous as the massacre of Glencoe — perhaps worse, if 
 that be possible. Mr. Thomas Campbell might have composed a 
 sequel to his " Gertrude of Wyoming !" 
 
 The provisional articles of Peace, signed on the 30th Novem- 
 ber, 1782, were forwarded by Lord Sydney to General Haldimand 
 on the 14th February, 1783. On the 8th of August following, Lord 
 North wrote to General Haldimand, ordering the disbandment of the 
 two Battalions of the King's Royal Regiment of New York and of 
 the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment, the latter replying on the 
 1 8th of November that it would be impossible to disband them until 
 the spring. The necessary preliminaries appear, however, to have 
 been carried out during the winter of 1 783-4, but the disbanded sol- 
 diers received assistance from Government for three years, until they 
 were able to reap some return from the lands allotted to them in 
 Upper Canada. 
 
 The Treaty of Versailles, establishing the Peace between Great 
 Britain and the United States, and settling the boundary between 
 Cfnada and the States, was signed on the 3rd September, 1783. 
 
46 
 
 CHAPTER B. 
 
 Settlemen't of the Disbanded Soldiers ix Glengarry and 
 Adjacent Counties of Stormont and Dundas — List ok 
 Officers of the First and Second Battalions of the 
 King's Royal Regiment of New York. — Colonel Ste- 
 wart's Account of the Royal Highland Emigrant 
 Regiment (Old Eighty-Fourth). — List of "Officers. 
 
 The Revolutionary War being over, the Highland soldiers of 
 the various Regiments mostly settled in the eastern part of what after- 
 wards became the Province of Upper Canada, and what now consti- 
 tutes the County of Glengarry, being principally settled by those 
 from Glengarry in Scotland, they called it after the well-loved name 
 of the home of their forefathers ; others were allotted land in what 
 now constitute the adjacent Counties of Stormont and Dundas. The 
 officers and men of the F ^rst Batta lion of the King's Royal Regiment 
 of Xew York, stationed at the close of the War at Isle aux Xoix and 
 Carleton Island, with their wives and children, tolKeliumber ofone 
 thousand four hundred and sixty-two, settled in a body in the first 
 fi\e townships west of the boundary line of the Province of Quebec, 
 being the present Townships of Lancaster, Charlottenburgh, Corn- 
 wall, Osnabruck and Williamsburg ; those of the Second^attalion of 
 the King's Royal Regiment of New York going further west to the 
 Bay of Quinte. The following list shows the officers of the First 
 Battalion of Sir John Johnson's Regiment, with length of sendee, &c.: 
 
41 
 
 RETURN OP THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE FIRST BATTALION, KlNtfS 
 ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 I 
 
 
 Names. 
 
 Lt.- Sir John Johnson 
 
 Col. j Birt. 
 
 Com 
 
 'dnt I 
 
 Maj.ljames Gray 
 
 Capt 
 
 Capt 
 
 Angus McDonell 
 
 John Munro 
 
 — Capt' Patrick Daly 
 Capti Richard Duncan 
 
 Capt 
 Capt 
 
 Capt 
 
 Sam'l. Anderson 
 John McDonell 
 
 Alex. McDonell 
 '/ f- 
 
 I < o [-1 
 Place of o""*™ 
 en ^ 
 
 Nativity. 
 
 America 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 Ireland 
 Scotland 
 America 
 Scotland 
 
 Scodand 
 
 8 years 
 
 26 yrs 
 
 25 yrs 
 
 8 years 
 
 9 years 
 13 yrs 
 8 years 
 8 years 
 
 8 years 
 
 Former Situations and 
 Remarks. 
 
 Succeeded his father,the late 
 Sir Wm. Johnson, as a Maj.» 
 Gen. of the Northern Dis. of 
 the Prov. of New York ; was 
 in possession of near 200,- 
 000 acres of valuable land, 
 lost in consequence of the 
 rebeUion. 
 
 Ensign in Lord Loudon's 
 Regt., 1745 ; lieut. and capt. 
 in ye 42nd till after taking 
 the Havannah, at which time 
 he sold out.(r) Had some 
 landed property, part of 
 which is secured to his son, 
 ye remnant lost in conse- 
 quence of tli^ rebellion. 
 Ensign in 60th Regt., July 
 8th, 1760; lieut. in same 
 regt., 27th Dec, 1770. Sold 
 out on account of bad state 
 of health, 22nd May, 1775. 
 Had no lands. 
 
 Had considerable landed 
 property lost in consequence 
 of ye Rebellion, and served 
 in last war in America. 
 Lieut, in the 84th Regt. at 
 the Siege of Quebec, 1775-76. 
 Five years Ensign in the 
 55 th Regiment. 
 Had landed property, and 
 served in last War in America 
 Had landed property, 500 
 acres, purchased, and began 
 to improve in April, i 774. 
 200 acres of land in fee 
 simple, under Sir John John- 
 son, Bart., ye annual rent of 
 £6 per 100. 
 
 (ij Havannah was taken in 1762, Gray sold oi ft in 1763, 
 
?3 
 
 B 
 
 "Capt 
 
 Capt 
 
 -Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Arch. McDonell 
 Allan McDonell 
 
 Mai. McMartin 
 
 Peter Everett 
 John Prentiss 
 
 Names. 
 
 Place of 
 Nativity. 
 
 Scotland 
 Scotland 
 
 Scotland 
 
 America 
 America 
 
 <: o (-1 
 
 Former Situations and 
 Remarks. 
 
 HughMcDoneil Scotland 
 J ohn F. Holland; Ame rica 
 
 William Coffin 
 
 Jacob Farrand 
 William Claus 
 
 America 
 
 America 
 America 
 
 Lt. Hugh Munro America 
 Lt. Joseph Anderson A'nerica 
 -Lt. iThomas Smith I Ireland 
 -E.ns. John Connolly ; Ireland 
 Ens. Jacob Glen America 
 
 Ens. 
 Ens. 
 Ens. 
 
 Ens. 
 Ens. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 Miles McDonell 
 Eben'r Anderson 
 DuncanCameron 
 
 John Mann 
 Francis McCar- 
 thy 
 John Valentine 
 
 Ch'p John Doty 
 
 lain 
 
 Adjtjjames Valentine 
 
 Q.M Isaac Mann 
 
 Surg, Charles Austin 
 
 M'tei James Stewart 
 
 Scotland 
 America 
 Scotland 
 
 America 
 Ireland 
 
 America 
 
 America 
 
 Ireland 
 America 
 England 
 Scotland 
 
 8 years Merchant. Had no lands. 
 8 years! Held 200 acres of land un- 
 
 ider Sir John Johnson, at £6 
 
 iper 100. 
 
 8 years Held 100 acres of land un- 
 
 der Sir John Johnson, at £6. 
 7 years Had some landed property. 
 
 9 years A Volunteer at the Siege of 
 
 Quebec, 1775-76. 
 7 years Son of Capt. McDonell 
 
 5 years Son of Major Holland, Sur^ 
 
 veyor-General, Province of 
 Quebec. 
 
 3 years Son of Mr. Coffin, merchant, 
 
 late of Boston. 
 7 yea,rs Nephew to Major Gray. 
 
 7 years Son of Col. Claus, deputy 
 
 agent Indian Affairs. 
 
 6 years Son of Capt. John Munro. 
 
 6 years Son of Capt.Sam'l. Anderson. 
 
 4 years Son of Dr. Smith. 
 
 2 years Private Gentleman. 
 
 3 years Son of John Glen, Esq., of 
 
 Schenectady. Had consider- 
 able landed property. > 
 
 3 years Son of Capt. John McDonell.' 
 6 years Son of Capt. Sam'l. Anderson. 
 14 yrs In service last war preced- 
 ing this one. 
 
 8 years Private gentleman. 
 
 28 yrs Formerly sergeant in the 
 
 34ih Regiment. 
 24 yrs i8 years in 55th and 62nd 
 
 Regiments. 
 8 years Formerly minister of the 
 
 Gospel at Schenectady. 
 
 4 years Son of Ens. John Valentine. 
 8 years'Merchant. 
 
 22 yrs T4 years in hospital work. 
 14 yrs Surgeon's mate in the 42nd 
 Regf. the war before last. 
 
49 
 
 RETURN OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LATE SECOND BATTALION, KING'S 
 ROYAL REGIMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 ^ 
 
 Names, 
 
 Place of 
 
 <; (-1 
 
 Former Situations and 
 
 fr 
 
 Nativity. 
 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Maj. 
 
 Robert Leake 
 
 England 
 
 7 years 
 
 Had large landed property, 
 &c., lost in consequence of 
 the rebellion. 
 
 Capt 
 
 Thos.Gummesell 
 
 Eiigland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Formerly merchant in New 
 York. 
 
 Capt 
 
 Jacob Maurer 
 
 Foreigner 
 
 28 yrs 
 
 Served in ye army in the 
 60th Reg.t.,fromi7s6toi763, 
 afterwards in the Quarter- 
 Master General's Dept. 
 
 Capt 
 
 Wm. Morrison 
 
 Scotland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Was lieut., 19th June, 1776, 
 in ist Batt.; capt, isth Nov., 
 1781, in 2nd Batt. 
 
 Capt 
 
 James McDonell 
 
 Scotland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Held 200 acres of land in 
 iee simple, under Sir John 
 Johnson, at £6 per 100. 
 
 -Capt 
 
 Geo. Singleton 
 
 Ireland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Formerly merchant. 
 
 Capt 
 
 Wm. Redford 
 Crawford 
 
 America 
 
 8 years 
 
 Held lands under Sir John 
 Johnson. 
 
 ^Capt 
 
 — Byrns 
 
 Ireland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Held lands under Sir John 
 Johnson. 
 
 Capt 
 
 — Lepscomb 
 
 England 
 
 7 years 
 
 Midshipman, Royal Navy. 
 
 Capt 
 
 — McKenzie 
 
 Scotland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Held lands under Sir John 
 Johnson. 
 
 _Lt. 
 
 Patrick Langan 
 
 Ireland 
 
 7 years 
 
 Private gentleman. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Walter Suther- 
 land 
 
 Scotland 
 
 10 yrs 
 
 Soldier and non-commission- 
 ed officer in 26th Regt.; en- 
 sign, 17th Oct., 1779, in ist 
 Batt.; lieut, Nov., 1781, in 
 2nd Batt 
 
 Lt 
 
 William McKay 
 
 Scotland 
 
 15 yrs 
 
 7 years volunteer and ser- 
 geant in 21st Regt 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Neal Robertson 
 
 Sco tland 
 
 8 years 
 
 Merchant. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Henry Young 
 
 America 
 
 8 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 It. 
 
 John Howard 
 
 Ireland 
 
 13 yrs 
 
 Farmer; served "6 years last 
 war, from 1755 to 1761, as 
 soldier and non-commission- 
 ed officer in 28th Regt. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Jeremiah French 
 
 America 
 
 7 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Phil. P. Lansingh 
 
 America 
 
 4 years 
 
 High Sheriff, Chariot county. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Hazelt' nSpencer 
 
 America 
 
 7 years'Farmer. 
 
so 
 
 7^ 
 p 
 
 
 Place of 
 
 <: 1— 1 
 0^^ 
 
 Former Situations and . 
 
 
 Names. 
 
 Nativity, 
 
 7 5- 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Oliver Church 
 
 America 
 
 1 
 
 7 years 1 Farmer. 
 
 Lt, 
 
 William Eraser 
 
 Scotland 
 
 7 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Lt. 
 
 Christian Wher 
 
 Foreign' r 
 
 7 years 
 
 Fanner. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 Alex. McKenzie 
 
 N.Britain 
 
 4 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 Ron. ]McDone!l 
 
 N. Britain 
 
 3 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 — Hay 
 
 America 
 
 3 years Son of Gov. Flay at Detroit. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 Samuel McKay 
 
 America 
 
 3 years Son of the late Capt. McKay. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 Timothy Thomp 
 
 America 
 
 3 years Private gentleman. 
 
 Ens. 
 
 son 
 John McKay ' 
 
 America 3 years Son of the late Capt.McKay. 
 
 Ejis. 
 
 — Johnson 
 
 Ireland 
 
 2 years; Nephew to the late Sir Wm. 
 Johnson, Bart.' 
 
 Ens. 
 
 — Crawford 
 
 America 
 
 4 years Son of Capt. Crawford. 
 
 Ch'p 
 
 John Stuart 
 
 America 
 
 3 years 
 
 Missionary for the Mohawk 
 
 lain 
 
 
 
 
 Indians at Fort Hunter. 
 
 Adjt 
 
 — Eraser 
 
 Scotland 
 
 10 yrs 
 
 7 years soldier and non-com- 
 missioned officer in 34th 
 Regiment. 
 
 Q-M 
 
 — Dies 
 
 America 
 
 7 years 
 
 Farmer. 
 
 Sur. 
 
 R. Kerr 
 
 Scotland 
 
 3 years^Assistant surgeon. 
 
 The latter Battalion, as already stated, both officers and men, with 
 some few exceptions, settled principally about Cataraqui, as Kings- 
 ton was then called, on the Bay of Quinte, in the Counties of Lennox 
 and Prince Edward, where their descendants are now to be found. 
 Each soldier received a certificate as follows, entitling him to land. 
 The descendants of the soldier mentioned still worthily occupy the 
 land so well earned by their ancestor, lot one in the ninth concession 
 of Charlottenburgh : 
 
 His Majefty's Provincial Regiment, called the King's Royal 
 Regiment of New York, whereof Sir John Johnson, Knight and Bar- 
 onet is Lieutenant-Colonel, Commandant. 
 
 These are to certify that the Bearer hereof, Donald McDonell, 
 soldier in Capt. Angus McDonell's Company, of the aforesaid Regi- 
 ment, bom in the Parifh of Killmoneneoack, in the County of Inver- 
 nefs, aged thirty-five years, has served honeftly and faithfully in the 
 faid regiment Seven Years ; and in confequence of His Majesty's 
 Order for Difbanding the faid Regiment, he is hereby difcharged, is 
 
51 
 entitled, by His Majesty's late Order, to the Portion of Land allotted 
 to each soldier of His Provincial Corps, who wifhes to become a 
 Settler in this Province. He having firft received all juft demands of 
 Pay, Cloathing, &c., from his entry into the faid Regiment, to the 
 Date of his Difcharge, as appears from his Receipt on the back 
 hereof 
 
 Given under my Hand and Seal at Arms, at Montreal, this 
 twenty-fourth Day of December, 1783. 
 
 John Johnson. 
 
 I, Donald McDonell, private soldier, do acknowledge that I 
 have received all my Cloathing, Pay, Arrears of Pay, and all De- 
 mands whatfoever, from the time of my Inlifting in the Regiment 
 and Company mentioned on the other Side, to this prefent Day of 
 my Difcharge, as witnefs my Hand this 24th day of December, 1783. 
 
 Donald McDonell. 
 
 Mr. Croil states that each soldier was entitled to one hundred 
 acres on the river front, besides two hundred acres at a distance 
 remote from the River. If married and with a family, or if at any 
 future time he should marry, he was entitled to fifty acres more for 
 his wife and fifty for every child, besides which each son and daugh- 
 ter on coming of age was entitled to a further grant of two hundred 
 acres. This, I believe, is what the men ultimately got, yet the Order 
 in Council of 22nd October, 1788 (although the discharge as given 
 above, the original of which was lent me, would seem to indicate that 
 there had been a previous Order on the subject) recited that on the 
 raising of the Eighty-fourth Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants) the 
 men were promised that onlheir being reduced the allotment of land 
 should be as follows : Field Officers, 5,000 acres ; Captains, 3,000 ; 
 Subalterns, 2,000; Non-commissioned Officers, 200; Privates, 50, 
 and referring to the Petitions of Sir John Johnson and Lieutenant- 
 Colonel John Butler, on behalf of the King's Royal Regiment of New 
 York and the late Corps of Rangers, directed that those Regiments 
 should be placed on the same footing as regards land as the Eighty- 
 Fourth. 
 
 Although on the termination of the War the original settlers in 
 Glengarry and the adjacent district were, as we have seen, principally 
 
52 
 
 composed of the men of Sir John Johnson's Regiment, yet many 
 families of men who belonged to the ist Battalion of the old Eighty- 
 fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment also settled in the 
 County and neighborhood, and an account of the raising and the 
 services of that Battalion may not be out of place. It is given in 
 Colonel (afterwards General) Stewart's " Sketches of the Highlanders 
 of Scotland " which also contains details of the miUtary service of the 
 Highland Regiments. This work of the gallant Stewart of Garth, 
 himself a soldier of high renown, seamed all over with the scars 
 of Egypt and Spain, is most valuable and interesting. It is doubtful 
 if any man except Sir Walter Scott ever did more to gather the 
 fragments which relate to the proud history of Scotland. 
 
 When Colonel Stewart submitted them to Sir Walter for his per- 
 usal, and asked him to suggest a motto for them, I have somewhere 
 seen it stated that he mentioned these lines from Shakespeare, which 
 were adopted : 
 
 'Tis wonderful 
 That an invisible instinct should frame them 
 To loyalty unlearned : honour untaught ; 
 Civility not- seen from others ; valour 
 That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop 
 As if it had been sowed. 
 
 Any one who doubts the entire appropriateness of those lines 
 had better read the book. 
 
 The Eighty-Fourth, or Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment 
 (originally embodied in 1775, but not regimented or numbered till 
 1778), was to consist of two battalions. Lieutenant-Colonel Allan 
 McLean, of the late One Hundred and Fourth Highland Regiment, was 
 appointed Lieutenant Colonel Commandant of the first battalion,which 
 was to be raised and embodied from the Highland Emigrants in 
 Canada, and the discharged men of the Forty Second, of Eraser's and 
 of Montgomery's Highlanders who had settled in the country after 
 the Peace of 1763. Cagtaia— feluuSmall, formerly of the Forty 
 Second and then of the Twenty First^Regiment, was appointed 
 Major-Commandant of the Second Battalion, which was to be 
 
S3 
 
 completed in Nova Scotia from Emigrant and discharged Highland 
 soldiers. The establishment of both was Seven Hundred and Fifty- 
 men, with officers in proportion. The Commissions were dated the 
 1 4th June, 1775. "~-"' 
 
 Officers sent to the back settlements to recruit found the 
 discharged soldiers and emigrants loyal and ready to serve His 
 Majesty. The emigration from the Highlands, previous to this period, 
 had been very limited. With many the change of abode was 
 voluntary, and consequently their minds, neither irritated nor discon- 
 tented, retained their former attachment to their native country and 
 government. But there was much difficulty in conveying the parties 
 who had enlisted to their respective destinations. One of these 
 detachments, from Carolina, had to force its way through a 
 dangerous and narrow pass, and across a bridge defended by 
 cannon and a strong detachment of the rebels ; " but aware that the 
 Americans entertained a dread of the broadsword, from experience of 
 its effects in the last War, with more bravery than prudence, and 
 forgetting that they had only a few swords and fowling pieces used in 
 the settlements, they determmed to attack the post sword in hand, 
 and pushed forward to the attack.'' But they found the enemy too 
 strong and the difficulties insurmountable. They were forced to 
 relinquish the attempt with the loss of Captain Macleod and a number 
 of men killed. Those who escaped made their way by different 
 routes to their destination. Colonel Maclean's Battalion was 
 stationed in Quebec, when Canada was threatened with invasion by 
 the American General, Arnold, at the head of dixe2_.ihousAnd„ men. 
 Colonel Maclean, who had been detached up the River St. Lawrence, 
 returned by forced marches, and entered Quebec on the evening of 
 the 13th November, 1776, without being noticed by Arnold. He 
 had previously crossed the river, and on the night of the Fourteenth 
 made a smart attack with a view of getting possession of their out- 
 works, but was repulsed with loss, and forced to retire to Pointe aux 
 Trembles. The fortifications of the city had been greatly neglected, 
 and were now in a ruinous state. The garrison consisted of fifty 
 men of the Fusiliers, three hundred and fifty of Maclean's newly raised 
 Emigrants and about seven hundred Militia and Seamen. General 
 Guy Carlton, the Com;nander-in-Chief, being occupied with 
 
54 
 preparations for the general defence of the Colony, the defence of 
 the town was entrusted to Colonel Maclean, an able and intelligent 
 officer. 
 
 Arnold having been reinforced by a body of troops under Gen-, 
 eral Montgomery, determined to attempt the town by assault. On 
 the morning of the 31st December, both Commanders, leading 
 separate points of attack, advanced with great boldness, but were 
 completely repulsed at all points, with the loss of General Mont- 
 gomery killed and General Arnold wounded. The Highland Emi- 
 grants, though so recently embodied, contamed a number of old 
 soldiers, who, in this affair did honour to the character of the Corps 
 in which they served. 
 
 General Arnold, disappointed in this attempt, established him- 
 self on the Heights of Abraham, with the intention of intercepting all 
 supplies, and blockading the town. In this situation he reduced the 
 garrison to great straits, all communication with the country being 
 entirely cut off. This blockade he soon turned into an active siege ; 
 he erected batteries and made several attempts to get possession of 
 the Lower Town, but was foiled at every point by the vigilant and 
 intelligent defender, Colonel .Maclean. On the approach of spring, 
 Arnold, despairing of success, raised the siege, and evacuated the 
 whole of Canada. 
 
 After this service, the Battalion remained in the Province dur- 
 ing the War, and was principally employed in small but harassing 
 enterprises. In one of these. Captain D. Robertson, Lieutenant 
 Hector Maclean and Ensign Grant, with the Grenadier Company, 
 marched twenty days through the woods with no other direction than 
 a compass and an Indian guide. The object to be accomplished 
 was to surprise and dislodge the enemy from a small post, which 
 they occupied in the interior. This service was accomplished with- 
 out loss. By long practice in marching through the woods the men 
 had become very inteUigent and serviceable in this kind of warfare. 
 
 With every opportunity and much temptation to desert, in con- 
 sequence of offers of land and other incitements held out by the 
 Americans, it is but Justice to the memory of these brave and loyal 
 men to state, on the most unquestionable authority, that not one 
 native Highlander deserted, and only one Highlander was brought to 
 the halberts during the time they were embodied. 
 
ss 
 
 JR.ETORN OF OFFICERS OP THE FIRST BATTALION OF HIS MAJESTY'S 
 REGIMENT OF ROYAL HIGHLAND EMIGRANTS.(l) 
 
 Isle aux Noix, 15th April, 1778. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Lieut-Col. 
 
 Major 
 
 Captain 
 
 Lieuteaant 
 
 11^ 
 
 Ensign 
 
 Names. 
 
 Chaplain 
 Adjutant 
 Q'r-Master 
 Surgeon 
 Surg's Mate 
 
 Allan McLean 
 
 Donald McDonald. 
 
 William Dunbar 
 
 John Nairne 
 
 Alexander Fraser 
 
 George McDougall 
 
 Malcolm Fraser 
 
 Daniel Robertson 
 
 George Laws 
 
 Neil McLean (prisoner) 
 
 John McLean 
 
 Alexander Firtelier 
 
 Lachlan McLean 
 
 Fran. Damburgess (prisoner) 
 
 David Cairns 
 
 Don. McKinnon 
 
 Ronald McDonald 
 
 JohnMcDonel] 
 
 Alexaiider- Stratton(prisoner) 
 
 Hector McLean 
 
 Ronald McDonald 
 
 Archibald Grant 
 
 David Smith 
 
 George Daine 
 
 Archibald McDonald 
 
 William Wood 
 
 John Pringle 
 
 Hector McLean (prisoner 
 
 John Bethune (prisoner) 
 
 "Ronald McDonald 
 
 Lachlan McLean 
 
 James Davidson 
 
 James Walker 
 
 Former Rank in the Army, 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 Capt. late 78th Regt. 
 
 Lieut, late 78th Regt. 
 Lieut. 60th Regt. 
 Lieut, late 8th Regt. 
 Lieut. 42nd Regt. 
 
 Lieut. 7 th Regt. 
 Ensign late 114th Regt 
 
 Ensign 21 Nov., 1775. 
 Ensign ist June, 1775. 
 Ensign 20th Nov., 1775. 
 Ensign 14th June, i775> 
 Ensign 14th June, i774«- 
 
 The Second Battalion was very quickly embodied in Nova 
 Scotia, and was composed of the sam^ description of men as the 
 first, but with a greater proportion of Highlanders, among whom 
 Major Small was held in high estimation. [He Was a native of 
 
 (x) Haldimand Collection, B 213, page 15. 
 
56 
 
 Strathardale in Athole. His first Commission was in the Scotch 
 Brigade. In 1747 he obtained an Easigacy in the old Highland 
 Regiment, and served in it till the Peace of 1763, when he was 
 reduced as Captain. He died Major-General and Governor of 
 Guernsey in 1796.] No chief of former days ever more firmly 
 secured the attachment of his Clan, and no chief, certainly, ever 
 deserved it better. With an enthusiastic and even romantic love of 
 his country and countrymen, it seemed as if the principal object of 
 his life had been to serve them and promote their prosperity. 
 Equally brave in leading them in the field, and kind, just and con- 
 ciliating in quarters, they would have indeed been ungrateful if they 
 had regarded him otherwise than as they did. There was not an 
 instance of desertion in their Battalion. Five Companies remained 
 in Nova Scotia and the neighboring settlements during the War. 
 The other five joined General CUnton and Lord CornwalUs' Armies 
 to the southward. The Flank Companies were in the Battalion of 
 that description. At Eataw Springs the Grenadier Company was 
 in the Battalion, which, as Colonel Alexander Stewart, of the Third 
 Regiment, states in his despatches, drove all before them. 
 
 It was not till 1778 that this Regiment was numbered the 
 Eighty-Fourth. The Battalions, which were previously known only 
 as the Royal Highland Emigrants, were now ordered to be augment- 
 ed to one thousand men each. Sir Henry Clinton being appointed 
 Colonel in Chief and the two Commandants remaining as before. 
 The uniform was the full Highland garb, with purses made of 
 racoons' instead of badgers' skins. The officers wore the broad- 
 sword and dirk, and the men a half-basket sword. All those who 
 had been settled in America previously to the War remained and 
 took possession of their lands, but many of the others returned 
 home. 
 
 The men of-Colonel Maclean's Battalion settled in Canada, and 
 of Colonel Small's in Nova Scotia, where they formed a settlement 
 or township, as it was called, and gave it the name of Douglas. 
 
 I am unable to procure a list of officers of this Battalion. 
 
57 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 United Empire Loyalists. — List of Scottish names appear- 
 ing IN Lord Dorchester's list. — A " Distinguished 
 Individual's " opinion of the Highlanders of that Gen* 
 ERATiON.— Mr. Croil's description of the situation and 
 condition of the Loyalist Settlers in the United 
 Counties. 
 
 A reference to the " Old U. E. List,'' compiled by Government 
 by direction of Lord Dorchester, shows the original United Empire 
 Loyalists in the Province. In many instances, however, instead of 
 the Township being given, it is merely stated that lands were allotted 
 in the Eastern District. My only plan will, therefore, be to insert in 
 the appendix the names of all who appear to have settled in that 
 district, showing the respective Townships when given, and omitting 
 those who are stated to have settled in Townships outside Glengarry. 
 
 This list was prepared in pursuance of the'Order-in-Council of 
 gth November, 1789, wherein it was stated that it was His Excel- 
 lency's desire " to put a Marke of Honour upon the families who had 
 adhered to the unity of the Empire and joined the Royal Standard in 
 America before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783 * * 
 
 to the end that their posterity may be discriminated from future 
 settlers * * as proper objects by their presevering in the 
 
 Fidelity and Conduct so honourable to their ancestors for distinguished , 
 Benefits and Privileges." 
 
 The list is preserved on record in the Crown Lands Department, 
 and it shows that those of the name of the Clan which gave its name 
 to Glengarry outranked in number those of any other individual 
 name in the Province, and that there were more Loyalists of that 
 name than any three English names combined in the whole Province. 
 But though there were more Macdonells from Glengarry in Scotland 
 than any others, there were, as previously stated, representatives of 
 alrhOst every Highland Clan and every Scottish name. A list of the 
 names will prove it, and as the statement has been made by one who 
 professes to speak authoritatively on the subject, and to know whereof 
 
ss i 5 . 
 
 bespeaks, and writes that " the Scotch and Irislielement/in the United 
 Empire LoyaHsts is too small as compared with the preponderating 
 English and German to be taken into account," I give it, with the 
 number of each name : 
 
 Anderson 
 
 23 
 
 Malcolm 
 
 I 
 
 Andrews 
 
 2 
 
 Miller 
 
 20 
 
 Armstrong 
 
 5 
 
 Morrison 
 
 5 
 
 Bethune 
 
 2 
 
 Munro 
 
 12 
 
 Bruce 
 
 6 
 
 Murchison 
 
 5 
 
 Campbell 
 
 28 
 
 Murray 
 
 2 
 
 Cameron 
 
 25 
 
 Mc Alpine 
 
 I 
 
 Carr 
 
 h 
 
 McArthur 
 
 10 
 
 Kerr 
 
 McAuley 
 
 2 
 
 Chisholm 
 
 13 
 
 McBain 
 
 4 
 
 Christie 
 
 3 
 
 McCallum 
 
 I 
 
 Clarke 
 
 }» 
 
 McCrimmon 
 
 I 
 
 Clark 
 
 McDonald 
 
 8 
 
 Crawford 
 
 4 
 
 McDonell 
 
 84 
 
 Cuniming 
 
 4 
 
 McDougall 
 
 5 
 
 Edgar 
 
 I 
 
 McDuff 
 
 I 
 
 Ferguson 
 
 IS 
 
 McFall 
 
 3 
 
 Fraser 
 
 27 
 
 McGillis 
 
 5 
 
 Gordon 
 
 2 
 
 McGregor 
 
 6 
 
 Grant 
 
 35 
 
 McGruer 
 
 4 
 
 Graham 
 
 8 
 
 Mclntyre 
 
 7 
 
 Gray 
 
 4 
 
 Mcintosh 
 
 1 1. 
 
 Gunn 
 
 I 
 
 McKay 
 
 10 
 
 Haggart 
 
 2 
 
 McKenzie 
 
 8 
 
 Livingstone 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 I quote from 
 
 the original list. 
 
 Ni 
 
 added, from time 
 
 to time, by Order 
 
 in 
 
 McLaren 
 
 4 
 
 McLaughlin 
 McLean 
 
 5 
 II 
 
 McLellan 
 
 4 
 
 McLeod 
 
 4 
 
 McMartin 
 
 3 
 
 McMaster 
 
 I 
 
 McMillan 
 
 I 
 
 McNabb 
 
 3 
 
 McNairn 
 
 1 
 
 McNaughton 
 McNeil 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 McNish 
 
 3 
 
 McPhee 
 
 I 
 
 McPherson 
 
 6 
 
 Ramsey 
 Robertson 
 
 2 
 8 
 
 Rose 
 
 IS 
 
 Ross 
 
 20 
 
 Scott 
 
 4 
 
 Stewart 
 
 5 
 
 Stuart 
 
 6 
 
 Sutherland 
 
 8 
 
 Young 
 
 20 
 
 Names were subsequently 
 Council, on the special 
 application of those who had omitted to take the precaution in the 
 first instance. The additions would not alter the proportion of the 
 above nomenclature. I am satisfied, however, from facts within my 
 knowledge, that many of the Highlanders never took the trouble of 
 having their names inserted at all, first or last. Thus Bishop Mac- 
 donell (who came to Canada over twenty years after the Loyalists 
 had settled here) writing subsequently, states, " I had not been long 
 in the Province when I found that few or none of even those of you 
 who were longest settled in the country had legal tenures of your 
 properties. Aware that if trouble or confusion took place in the Pro- 
 vince your properties would become uncertain and precarious, and 
 under this impression I proceeded to the seat of Government, where,. 
 
59 
 
 after some months hard and unremitting labour, through the public 
 offices, I procured for the inhabitants of Glengarry and Stormont 
 patent deeds for one hundred and twenty-six thousand acres of landJ^- 
 When they would not trouble about taking out their patents, many 
 of them would not think of having their names inserted on the roll. 
 
 The above list is, I submit, a fair representation of those who 
 to-day comprise what the author of the essay referred to, Mr. George 
 Sandfield Macdonald, B.A., of Cornwall, is pleased to designate as 
 the " Keltic " population of the Province of Ontario. For further 
 information on the subject and a comparison of the number of the 
 '' Kelts " with the English and Germans amongst the Loyalist settlers 
 of the Eastern District I refer him to Lord Dorchester's list, simply 
 stating that of the three English names most frequently met with? 
 Smith, Jones and Brown, there were, all told, just eighty, or four 
 less than of one Highland Clan, while of the Germans, taking as a 
 criterion all the names to which the prefix "Van " is attached, from 
 Van Allen tO Van Vorst, there were but forty-two, exactly half of the 
 number of those from whom the County of Glengarry took its name. 
 
 The statement to which I have referred, however, is not the only 
 one in this singular essay, which was read before the Celtic Society 
 of Montreal, which requires explanation and correction. We are 
 gravely informed that the " ' Keltic ' settlers in Canada of the period 
 spoken of" (the early settlement of Glengarry, 1783-6) "had no 
 mental qualifications to entirie them to take rank with the founders of 
 the American plantations," that " unlike the Puritans of New Eng- 
 land, the Catholics of Maryland, the Cavaliers of Virginia, the 
 Huguenots of South Carolina and the followers of William Penn, the 
 compelHng force leading to change of country was in contrast to the 
 motives of a higher order, as in those cases," that " long subjection to 
 the despotism of chiefs and landlords had numbed the finer qualities 
 and instincts," and that "even the physique had degenerated' 
 under oppression." We are told, too, that an analysis is required of 
 the generations which have succeeded the original settlers, psycho- 
 logical and sociological no less, to grasp the full significance of the 
 lives and actions of those he is pleased to consider " distinguished 
 individuals," and the " people " among whom they deigned to move, 
 which was a very gracious condescension on the part of these 
 distinguished individuals, seeing that " the experience and ideas of 
 the ' people ' were confined within the smoke of their own bush 
 
6o 
 
 fires." Now, all this may be very fine writing, and display a large 
 amount of culture in one doubtless a t}'pical specimen of the mod- 
 em distinguished individuals referred to, but it is very grievous 
 rubbish nevertheless, and a most uncalled for and gross calumny on 
 the men who left Scotland and settling in Canada, after fighting 
 through the War, were largely instrumental, not only in preserving it 
 by their prowess, but developing it from the primeval forest to 
 the fruitful land it is to-day. Their descendants will neither credit 
 nor relish the unworthy sneers at the stunted limbs and intellects and 
 ignoble motives of those to whom they have every reason to look 
 back with pride, and who laid the foundations of the homes and 
 Institutions we now enjoy. 
 
 This, however, is a digression. The facts are there to speak for 
 themselves, and are themselves a refutation of the theories and 
 allegations of the essayist — as well might he tell us that the men of 
 the same generation who entered the Highland Regiments, and to 
 whom Pitt referred, were feeble and stunted of limb, with their finer 
 qualities numbed and their instincts dwarfed by years of oppression 
 and tyranny of " so-called cliieftains." 
 
 Glengarry, where they settled, is the most easterly County of 
 what is now the Province of Ontario, " the upper country of Can- 
 ada," to the south being the River St. Lawrence, on the east the 
 Counties of Soulanges and Vaudreuil in the Province of Quebec, to 
 the north the County of Prescott, and the west that of Stormont. 
 Alexandria, which may be considered the centre of the County, is 
 about mid-way between the St. Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers, and is 
 about equi-distant from the political and commercial capitals of the 
 Dominion — or to be precise, fifty-six miles from Ottawa and fifty- 
 four from Montreal. The United Empire Loyalists of course settled 
 largely in the front of the County, along the banks of the River St. 
 Lawrence, the later emigrants locating themselves in rear of the pre- 
 ceding ones to the north. 
 
 Mr. Croil, in his " Sketch of Canadian History," gives an 
 admirable description of the situation and condition of the United 
 Empire Loyalist soldier-settler in the adjacent County of Dundas 
 equally applicable, of course, to his late comrade in arms in Glen- 
 garry. The circumstances of the officers and their families were 
 necessarily somewhat better, as having the pensions of their respect- 
 ive ranks at the date of the reduction of the various corps 
 
6i 
 they could rely upon a supply of ready money at certain stated 
 intervals, and though the amount was comparatively small, yet money 
 went far in those primitive days, and their families had but few 
 opportunities of indulging any extravagant tastes they might have 
 acquired from their former circumstances of life. Owing to the 
 number of officers who settled in the Eastern District of the Province 
 they formed among themselves a society quite equal to that of any 
 portion of the Province, while their birth and education enabled them 
 to hold their own with the official circles at York or among the 
 largely mercantile aristocracy of Montreal when occasion arose for 
 them to visit either of those places. Such was their number that a 
 Board of Officers, composed of Colonel John Macdonell (Aberchal- 
 der), of Glengarry, Captain John Macdonell (Scotus), oi Cornwall, 
 and the Reverend John Stuart (formerly Chaplain Second Battalion, 
 King's Royal Regiment of New York), of Kiiigston, was required 
 to administer the necessary oaths to enable them to draw their 
 pensions from time to time. 
 
 Mr. Croil states the Proclamation of Peace between Great 
 Britain and the United States of America witnessed at least a partial 
 fulfilment of the prophecy that " men shall beat their swords into 
 plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks." The brave and 
 loyal subjects, who during the fierce struggle which then culminated 
 had remained faithful to the British Crown, being no longer required 
 to fight their country's battles, were now destined in a very different 
 way to add to their country's greatness. It was determined that 
 liberal grants of land should be freely given to the disbanded 
 soldiers. This was simply characteristic of that principle of high 
 honour and justice which, in every period of its history, has distin- 
 guished the British Government. The properties of all who had 
 withstood the Republican Government in the States were of course 
 confiscated, and peace being proclaimed, not only was the soldier's 
 occupation gone, but his farm and all his earthly possessions were 
 forfeited for ever. 
 
 Having arrived at Cornwall, or " New Johnstown " as it was then 
 called, in compliment to Sir John and the capital of their former 
 settlement in the fertile Mohawk Valley, the soldiers found the Gov- 
 ernment Land Agent, and forthwith proceeded to draw by lottery 
 the lands that had been granted to them. The townships in which 
 the different corps were to settle being first arranged, the lots were 
 
6z 
 
 numbered on small slips of paper, and placed in a hat, when each 
 soldier in turn drew his own. As there was no opportunity for 
 examining the comparative quality of the lands, so there was little 
 choice in the matter ; but by exercising a spirit of mutual accommo- 
 dation, it frequently resulted, that old comrades who had stood side 
 by side in the ranks, now sat down side by side, on the banks of the 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 With what feelings of intense interest, mingled even with awe 
 and melancholy, must these settlers have regarded this introduction 
 to their new wilderness home ! How impatient each to view the 
 particular spot where his lot had been cast ! Everywhere save in the 
 neighbourhood of the Longue Sault Rapids the landscape wore an 
 aspect of wild and gloomy solitude : its solemn stillness interrupted 
 only by the deep murmuring of the mighty river as it rolled along its 
 flood to the ocean. On leaving the river, the native grandeur of the 
 woods, tenanted only by the Indian hunter and his scarce more sav- 
 age prey, must have filled them with amazement. Well might they 
 exclaim, is this our inheritance, our future home ! Are these to be 
 at once our enemies and our associates ! Can it be that these giant 
 denizens of the forest are to succumb to our prowess, and that this 
 vast wilderness is to be converted into fruitful fields ! 
 
 The first operation of the new settler was to erect a shanty. 
 Each, with his axe on his shoulder, turned out to help the other, and 
 in a short time every one in the little colony was provided with a 
 snug log cabin. All were evidently plaimed by the same architect, 
 differing only in size, which was regulated by the requirements of the 
 family, the largest not exceeding twenty feet by fifteen feet inside, 
 and of one storey in height. They were built somewhat similar to 
 the modern back-woodman's shanty. Round logs, roughly notched 
 together at the comer, and piled one above another, to the height of 
 seven or eight feet, constituted the walls. Openings for a door, and 
 one small window, designed for four lights of glass seven by nine, 
 were cut out — the spaces between the logs were chinked with small 
 splinters, and carefully plastered outside and inside, with clay for 
 mortar Smooth straight poles were laid lengthways of the building, 
 on the walls, to serve as supports for the roof This was composed 
 of stripes of elm bark, four feet in length, by two or three feet in 
 width, in layers, overlapping each other, and fastened to the poles by 
 withs. With a sufficient slope to the back, this formed a roof which 
 
63 
 was prooF against wind and weather. An ample hearth, made of 
 flat stones, was then laid out, and a fire back of field stone or small 
 boulders, rudely built, was carried up as high as the walls. Above 
 this the chimney was formed of round poles notched together, and 
 plastered with mud. The floor was oi the same materials as the 
 walls, only that the logs were spUt in two, and flattened so as to make 
 a tolerably even surface. As no boards were to be had to make a 
 door until they could be sawn out by the whip saw, a blanket sus- 
 pended from the inside for some time took its place. By and by, 
 four little panes of glass were stuck into a rough sash, and then the 
 shanty was complete ; strangely contrasting with the convenient 
 appliances and comforts of later days. The total absence of furni- 
 ture of any kind whatever, was not to be named as an inconvenience 
 by those who had lately passed through the severest of hardships. 
 Stern necessity, the mother of invention, soon brought into play the 
 ingenuity of the old soldier, who, in his own rough and ready way, 
 knocked together such tables and benches as were necessary for 
 household use. 
 
 As the sons and daughters of the U. E.'s became of age, each 
 repaired to Cornwall, and presented a petition to the Court of Quar- 
 ter Sessions, setting forth their rights ; when, having properly identi- 
 fied themselves, and complied with the necessary forms, the Crown- 
 Agent was authorized to grant each of them a deed for two hundred 
 acres of land, the expenses incurred not exceeding in all two dollars. 
 In addition to the land spoken of, the settlers were otherwise pro- 
 vided by Government with everything that their situation rendered 
 necessary — food and clothes for three years, or until they were able 
 to provide these for themselves ; besides, seed tq sow on their new 
 clearances, and such implements of husbandry as "were required. 
 Each received an axe, a hoe and a spade ; a plough and one cow 
 were allotted to two families; a whip and cross cut-saw to every 
 fourth family, and even boats were provided for their use, and placed 
 at convenient points of the river. They were of little use to them 
 for a time, as the first year they had no grists to take to mill. 
 
 But that nothing might seem to be awanting, on the part of Gov- 
 ernment, even portable com mills, consisting of steel plates, turned by 
 hand like a coffee mill, were distributed amongst the settlers. The 
 operation of grinding in this way, was of necessity very slow ; it came 
 besides to be considered a menial and degrading employment, and. 
 
64 
 us tfie men wefe all occupied out of doors^ it usually fell to the lot 
 of the women, reminding us forcibly of the Hebrew women of old; 
 similarly occupied, of whom we have the touching allusion in Holy 
 Writ, " Two Women shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be 
 taken and the other left." 
 
 In most cases, the settlers repaired to Cornwall each spring and 
 {all, or during the winter, and dragged up on the ice, by the edge of 
 the river, as much as he could draw on a hand sled. Pork was then, 
 as now, the staple article of animal food ; and it was usual for the 
 settlers, as soon as they had received their rations, to smoke their 
 bacon, and then hang it up to dry ; sometimes it was thus left incau- 
 tiously suspended outside all night : the result not unfrequently was, 
 that, while the family was asleep, the quarter's store of pork would 
 be unceremoniously carried off by the wolves, then very numerous 
 and troublesome, and in no wise afraid of approaching the shanty of 
 the newly arrived settler. Frequently, too, during the night, would 
 they be awakened by these marauders, or by the discordant sounds 
 of pigs and poultry clustering round the door to escape from their 
 fangs. 
 
 There was in farmer times a deal of valuable timber standing in 
 the Counties. Huge pine trees were cut for ship's masts, measuring 
 from ninety to one hundred and twenty feet in length, and from forty 
 to forty-eight inches in diameter, when dressed for market. One such 
 piece of timber must have weighed from twenty or twenty-five tons. 
 These mast trees were dragged from the woods by from twelve 
 to sixteen pairs of horses. A single tree was sold in Quebec as a 
 bow-sprit for $200. Of white oak, averaging when dressed from 
 forty-five to sixty-five cubic feet, and of the best Canadian quality, 
 there was abundance ; this found a ready market at from 2S. 6d. to 
 3s. per foot ; inferior quaUty of this timber was converted into stave 
 blocks, and also shipped to Quebec. At a later period, large quan- 
 tities of elm and ash were sent to market from this County, while 
 beech and maple, then considered worthless, were piled up in log 
 heaps and burned, the ashes being carefully gathered and sold to 
 the merchants, to be made into potash. 
 
 There being ample employment on the father's farm, yet un- 
 cleared, for all his sons, there was little inducement tor these to think 
 of setting up for themselves ; as a consequence, the lands the child- 
 ren had drawn were of little value to them in the meantime. U. E. 
 
tights "became a staple article of commerce, and Were readily bought 
 lip by speculators, almost as fast as they came into the hands of the 
 rising generation. A portion of what remained to the farmer or his 
 family was soon sold in payment of taxes, at sheriff's sales, and these 
 lots, too, usually fell into the hands of land jobbers. Many of the 
 lots had never been seen by the parties who drew them, and 
 their comparative value Was determined either by their distance 
 from the river, or the pressing necessity of the party holding 
 them. It thus happened that lands in the rear townships, which in 
 a very few years brought from twenty to thirty dollars per acre, were 
 then considered worthless j and lots even more favourably situated, 
 in respect to locality, were sold, if not for an old song, at least for a 
 new dress, worth perhaps from three to four dollars in cash. We 
 have even been told credibly that two hundred acres of land, upon 
 which now stands a flourishing village in the adjoining County of 
 Dundas, was, in these early days, actually sold for a gallon of rum. 
 The usual price of fair lots Was from $25 to $30, some even as high 
 as $50 per 200 acres. At $30 the price would be fifteen cents per 
 acre. The same lands were even then resold to settlers, as they 
 gradually came in from Britain and the United States, at a price of 
 from $2 to $4 per acre, thus yielding a clear profit to the speculator 
 of 1000 per cent, on his investment, a profit in comparison With 
 which, the exorbitant interest of later days sinks into utter insignifi^ 
 cance. 
 
 The summer months Were occupied by the early settlers in 
 burning up the huge logs that had previously been piled together, 
 and in the sooty and laborious work of re-constructing their charred 
 and smouldering remains into fresh heaps ; the surface was than raked 
 clear of chips and other fragments, and in the autumn the wheat Was 
 hoed in by hand. During winter every man Was in the woods, mak- 
 ing timber, or felling the trees to make way for another fallow. The 
 winters were then long, cold and steady, and the fall wheat seldom 
 saw the light of day till the end of April ; the Weather then setting 
 in warm, the dormant breaks of wheat early assumed a healthy and 
 luxuriant vegetation. Thistles and burdocks, the natural result of 
 slovenly farming, were unknown, and neither fly nor rust, in these 
 good old days, were there to blight the hopes of the primitive farmer. 
 The virgin sold yielded abundantly her increase ; ere long there was 
 plenty in the land for man and beast, and, with food and raiment, 
 the settler was contented and prosperous. 
 
66 
 
 There was in the character of the early settlers that which com- 
 manded the admiration and respect of all who were brought into 
 contact with them. Naturally of a hardy and robust constitution, 
 tJiey were appalled neither by danger nor difficulties, but manfully 
 looked them fair in the face, and surmounted them all. Amiable in 
 their manners, they were frugal, simple and regular in their habits. 
 They were scrupulously honest in their dealings, affectionate in all 
 their social relations, hospitable- to strangers, and faithful in the dis- 
 charge of duty. 
 
 While we say this much of the early settler, let us not be under- 
 stood as wishing to hold them up as paragons of perfection — as 
 examples in all things to their descendants. They had their failings, 
 as well as their virtues, but we must make allowances for the circum- 
 stances in which they were placed. They were charged by the 
 early missionaries, and perhaps with some degree of truth, 
 " as wofully addicted to carousing and dancing," but these were the 
 common and allowed amusements of the times in which they lived. 
 It may, however, be said with truth, that forms of licetiousness and 
 profligacy, which are not uncommon in the present day, would have 
 aroused the indignation of the early settler, and met with reprobation, 
 if not chastisement at their hands. It is true, they were not of those 
 who made broad their phylacteries, or were of a sad countenance, dis- 
 figuring their faces, and for a pretence made long prayers. Innured 
 to a life of hardship and toil, — without the check of a Gospel 
 ministry, and exposed to the blunting influence of the camp, the 
 barrack and the guard room, we must be content to find them but 
 rough examples of Christian life. The scrupulous and distrustful 
 vigilance, however, with which modem professors of every creed eye 
 their fellow men, and require every pecuniary engagement, no matter 
 how trivial, to be recorded in a solemn written obligation, stands out 
 in striking contrast to the practice of the early settlers, among whom 
 all such written agreements were unknown, every man's word being 
 accounted as good as his bond. Lands were conveyed and pay- 
 ments promised by word of mouth, and verbal agreements were held 
 as sacred as the most binding of modem instruments. 
 
 In course of a few years the settlers were enabled to supply 
 themselves with the necessaries of life from the mill and the store, 
 and the roving and dissipated life of the soldier was forgotten, in the 
 staid and sober habits of the hard working farmer. A few of a more 
 
two women, 
 three children. 
 
 67 
 adventurous turn of mind at times would man a boat, and, ascending 
 the river to Oswego, take a circuitous route by lakes and rivers, 
 betimes carrying their boats shoulder high for miles at a stretch, and 
 finally reach the green valley of the Mohawk, dear to them still in. 
 memory. Returning, they brought such articles of merchandize with 
 them as they could transport, and, providing themselves with a pass- 
 port at Carleton Island, they swiftly glided down the river. The 
 following is a copy of such a passport : — 
 
 Inward. Permit the boat going from this to pass to 
 
 John Loucks, Kingston with their provisions, family, clothing, 
 two men Ibeding, household furniture and farming utensils, 
 they having cleared out at this post, as appears 
 by their names in the margin. Given under my 
 hand at Fort Ontario, 21st day of May, i79S. 
 
 To whom concerned. A. McDONELL, P.O. (1) 
 
 Having sufficiently trespassed on Mr. Croil's pages,- 1 shall now 
 quote from those of Judge Pringle.(2) The latter is himself a des- 
 cendant of a United Empire Loyalist family, and has certainly done 
 much towards collecting such records relating to them as are at this 
 late date accessible : 
 
 It is unfortunate that no effort was made in the early days of the 
 settlement to preserve records of the services, the labours and the 
 sufferings of the U. E. Loyalists both before and after their coming to 
 Canada. 
 
 One can easily understand why such records are so few. For 
 many years after 1784 there were but few who were able to keep 
 a diary, and they, in common with the rest of the settlers, were too 
 busy, too much engaged in the stern work of subduing the forest and 
 making new homes, to have much time for anything but the struggle 
 for existence. 
 
 Each U. E. Loyalist had some story to tell of the stirring times 
 through which he had passed. Some of the older men could speak 
 of service in the French war, under Howe, Abercrombie, Wolfe, 
 Amherst or Johnson ; perhaps of the defeat of Braddock, or of the 
 desperate fight at the outworks of Ticonderoga, where Montcalm 
 drove back Abercrombie's troops ; of success at Frontenac or 
 Niagara ; of scaling the Heights at Quebec, and of victory with Wolfe 
 on the Plains of Abraham ; of the long and perilous voyage down the 
 
 (i) Croil's "Dundas, or a Sketch of Canadian History,"pp. 129-141. 
 (2) "Lunenburg, or Old Eastern District," p 29, et seq. 
 
68 
 St. Lawrence with Amherst, and of the capitulation of Montreal. 
 There were but few who could not tell of adventures in the Seven 
 Years' War from 1776 to 1783, and of loss of home, property and 
 friends, for the part they took in it ; while many could speak from 
 personal experience of cruel wrong and persecution suffered by them 
 as a punishment for their loyalty. ' No doubt when neighbours met 
 together on a winter evening to chat beside the great fireplace filled 
 with blazing logs, many an hour was passed in the telling of tales of 
 the troubles and adventures they had encountered. These stories 
 have gradually faded and become dim in the recollection of the 
 people ; here and there a few facts can be got from some family that 
 has cherished the remembrance of them as an heirloom. A Fraser 
 could teU of the imprisonment and death of a father ; a Chisholm of 
 imprisonment, and escape through the good offices of a brother 
 Highlander in the French service ; a Dingwall of the escape of a 
 party through the woods, of sufferings from cold and hunger, of 
 killing for food the faithful dog (1.) that followed them, and dividing 
 the carcase into scanty morsels ; a Ferguson of running the gauntlet, 
 imprisonment, sentence of death, and escape ; an Anderson of 
 service under Amherst, of the offer first of a company, then of a 
 battalion, in the Continental Army, as the price of treason, of being 
 imprisoned and sentenced to death, and of escape with his fellow- 
 prisoner to Canada. 
 
 It is probable that not a few of the Highlanders could tell of 
 service on one side or the other in the abortive rising under " Bonnie 
 Prince Charlie" in 174S, which, after successful actions at Preston 
 Pans and Falkirk, was quenched in blood on CuUoden Muir in 1746. 
 Some, like John McDonell (Scotus), (2) might be able to show a 
 claymore with blade dented by blows on the bayonets of Cumber- 
 land's Grenadiers. 
 
 (i) One of the party got the dog's tail, which he ate with great relish, declaring it to be the 
 sweetest morsel he ever tasted. 
 
 (2) Grandfather of the late Donald ^neas McDonell, at one time SheriiF of the Eastern 
 District and for many years Warden of the Kingston Penitentiary. John Macdonell, who was a 
 Captain in the K. R. R. N. Y., was known as " Spanish John," from the feet of his having been 
 long in the Spanish Service. 
 
69 
 
 CHAPTER 7. 
 
 Loyalists in the Upper Country of Canada Desire a 
 Change in the Tenure of Land and Separation from 
 the Province of Quebec. — Address to Lord Dorchester 
 FROM Leading Settlers in Glengarry and Vicinity. — 
 His Reply. — He Recommends Acquiescence in Request 
 OF Loyalists. — Formation of Districts of Lunenburg, 
 Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse by Proclamation, 24TH 
 July, 1788. — Province of Upper Canada Established 
 and Constitutional Government Assigned' to its People, 
 26TH December, 1791. — Divided into Counties. — First 
 Commission of the Peace, Eastern District. — Extracts 
 from records of first Court of the District. 
 
 Shortly after their settlement in the Upper Country, some 
 among the leaders of the Loyalists took strong exception to the 
 tenure of land in Canada, alleging that it subjected them to the 
 rigorous rules, reservations and restrictions of the French laws and 
 customs, which they found far different from the mild tenures to 
 which they had ever been accustomed, and on behalf of the officers 
 and soldiers of the Provincial Troops and Indian Department, they 
 forwarded in April, 1785, a petition to the King, in which they pro- 
 posed as a remedy against the hardships -indicated that a- district 
 from Point au Boudet (the south-east limit of the present County of 
 Glengarry and of the now Province of ■ Ontario) westward should be 
 formed, distinct from the Province of Quebec ; that it should be 
 divided into counties, with Cataraqui (now Kingston) for its metro- 
 polis, and that the land therein should be held on the same tenure, 
 practically, as existed in England. 
 
 The reasons and considerations respecting the proposals are 
 given at length by the petitioners in a very able document. They 
 alleged that they had been born British Subjects, and had ever been 
 accustomed to the government and laws of England ; that it was to 
 restore that government and be restored to those laws, for which from 
 husbandmen they became soldiers, animated with the hope that, 
 
70 
 even in the most gloomy aspect of public affairs, should they fail in 
 their attempts to recover their former habitations by a restoration of 
 the King's Government, they would still find a refuge in some part of 
 the British Dominions where they might enjoy the blessings to which 
 they had been accustomed, and that they still professed the greatest 
 confidence that through His Majesty's gracious interposition they 
 would be exempt from the burden of the tenures complained of, which, 
 however congenial they might be to men bom and bred under them, 
 were nevertheless in the highest degree exceptionable to Englishmen. 
 They cited the case of the settlers in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 
 and asked to be placed in the same relative situation with the inhab- 
 itants of those Provinces. 
 
 Again, on the return to Canada of Sir Guy Carleton, now Lord 
 Dorchester, who. had a second time been appointed Governor- 
 General of Canada, and who was much beloved by his old soldier 
 comrades of the earlier period of the Revolutionary War, (i) addresses 
 were presented to him from the leading settlers in the neighborhood 
 of New Johnstown (Cornwall), Oswegatchie (Oswego and vicinity) 
 and Cataraqui (Kingston), in which latter the matter of land tenure 
 was again alluded to. 
 
 That from New Johnstown was as follows : — 
 " To His Excellency the Right Honourable Lord Dorchester, 
 
 Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's 
 
 Forces in British America, &c., &c. 
 
 " The address of the subscribers on behalf of themselves and 
 the other inhabitants in the neighbourhood of New Johns Town, 
 
 (i) Sir Guy Carleton had been Govemor-fjeneral and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadas 
 from 1768 to June, 1778, when he was replaced by Sir Frederick Haldimand. He was, on hia 
 elevation to the Peerage as Baron Dorchester, re-appointed to his former position and command 
 in October, 1786, and so continued until July, 1796, and thus served longer by far than any other 
 Governor-General since the t onquest of Canada.. He was the descendant of an ancient family 
 whic h had lived in Cornwall, England, for centuries previous to the Norman Conquest. He was 
 ■^om") about 1725, and entered the army at an early age. He accompanied Wolfe's Expedition «r 
 Canada, was present at the first and second battles on the Plains of Abraham; was specially 
 mentioned in despatches by both Townshend and Murray : continued under the command of the 
 latter and became Brigadier-General. To his bravery, activity and self-jiossession, may largely 
 be attributed the salvation of Canada at the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, when with 
 but 800 men at his disposal he successfully resisted the attacks of the American Generals Arnold, 
 Montgomery and Mor^n. Upon Burgoyne being appointed Commander-in-Chief in America, 
 considering himself shghted by the Government, he, ma despatch to Lord George Germaine 
 
 his reign." In 1782 he was appointed to succeed Sir Henry Clinton as t'ommander-in-(- hief of 
 all His Majesty's Forces in Ajnerica. When elevated to the Peerage in 1786, Parliament voted 
 him a pension of ;^i,ooo per annum during his life, th -t of his wife and eldest son. It is impos- 
 sible to estimate the value of his pubUc services to Canada. He married a daughter of the second 
 Earl of Effingham, by whom he left a large farai'^. He died in 1808, aged eighty-three years. 
 His name is commemorated in the metropoUtan County of Carleton in Ontario and the County of 
 Dorchester in Quebec — Morgan's Celebrated Canadians. 
 
tofiiprehending six Townships from Point au Boudet upwards. 
 
 " Permit us, my Lord, to congratulate you upon your safe arriyftl 
 once more into this Province, and to participate in the general joy 
 which this event has occasioned, a joy which can be only equalled 
 by the regret which was felt upon your departure. 
 
 " Our warmest thanks are due to Your Lordship for your early 
 attention to our wants. This proof of your regard, with many others, 
 will never be erased from the memory of us or our posterity. We 
 shall teach our children to venerate the name and the memory of the 
 man who at all times and on all occasions has ever distinguished 
 himself as our advocate and our friend. 
 
 " We feel the most sensible pleasure on the marks of honour as 
 Well as power conferred on Your Lordship by Our Most Gracious 
 -Sovereign, who is ever desirous to reward distinguished merit, and 
 We are thankful to Providence for having dictated a choice which of 
 all others is the most approved of by the unitersal voice of all classes 
 and all denominations of people. 
 
 " We cannot omit this opportunity of acknowledging our grati' 
 tude to His Majesty for his Royal favour and patronage, and we must 
 request Your Lordship to be so good as to signify to Our Most Gra- 
 cious Sovereign that this infant settlement, though at a remote dis- 
 tance from the Throne, is nevertheless peopled with subjects ani- 
 mated with sentiments of the Warmest zeal and attachment to His 
 Person and Government. 
 
 " To conclude, may you My Lord, Lady Dorchester and your 
 family enjoy every pleasure that health, honor and affluence, united 
 to the conciousness of having contributed to the happiness of many, 
 C3,n bestow. 
 
 " New Johnstown, and December, 1786. 
 
 " James Gray, Major King's Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Richard Duncan, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Allan Macdonell, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Alexander Macdonell, Captain late Royal Regiment New York. 
 Arch'd Macdonell, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York* 
 Jno. Macdonell, Captain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Hugh MACDokELL, Lieut, late King's Royal Regiment New York. 
 S. Anderson, t^aptain late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Malcolm McMartin, Lieut, late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Rich'd Wilkinson, Lieut, late Six Nations Indian Department. 
 Peter Everitt, Lieut. late Royal Regiment of New Yoik. 
 Neil McLean, Lieut, late Eighty-Fourth Regiment, 
 J. Anderson, Lieut, late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 Jacob Farrand, Lieut, late Royal Regiment of New York. 
 William Faulkner, C.P. 
 Walter Sutherland, Lieut, late Royal Regiment of New York." 
 
 His Lordship's reply to these addresses, directed to Mr. Stephen 
 
7« 
 DekhCy, who had been charged with the presentation of thent, W3S 
 as follows :- 
 
 " Quebec, 14th December, 1786. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " You will communicate to the inhabitants of the Townships of 
 New Johnstown, Oswegatichie and Cataraqui, my thanks for their 
 professions of regard for me. You will at the same time assure them 
 that nothing could be Jnore acceptable to me than the sense of grati- 
 tude they testify for His Majesty's paternal attention to their situa- 
 tion, and which they so warmly and so dutifully express. Agreeable 
 to their request, the memorials shall be transmitted and laid at the 
 foot of the Throne. 
 
 " I am, with regard, 
 
 " Your most obedient servant, 
 
 " Dorchester." 
 " Stephen Delancy, > 
 
 " Inspector of Loyalists.'' j 
 
 The addresses were transmitted to the Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies, with the following communication Irom His Excellency : 
 
 "Quebec, 3rd January, 1787. 
 "MyLord, 
 
 " The addresses from the settlements of New Johnstown, Oswe- 
 gatchie and Cataraqui are sent to Your Lordship, as it is requested 
 that their sentiments of gratitude and zeal and attachment to His 
 Majesty may be transmitted. 
 
 " They also express hopes that the same privileges and indul- 
 gences which their fellow-sufferers and fellow-subjects enjoy in the 
 other new formed settlements in British America will be extended to 
 them. I asked Mr. Delancy, who presented the addresses, what 
 their general expressions meant. He answered that he thought they 
 regarded the terms on which they were to hold their lands. 
 
 " The conditions of lands held in Canada en roture is in truth 
 much more heavy and disadvantageous than in any other Province in 
 America, but of this I hope to be able to write more fully to Your 
 Lordship in the course of next summer. My answer is also enclosed. 
 " Many other addresses have been presented, but as they con- 
 tained no matter which requires particular notice, I have not trans- 
 mitted them to Your Lordship. 
 
 " I am, with respect and esteem, 
 
 " Your Lordship's most obedient 
 
 " And most humble servant, 
 
 " Dorchester. 
 " The Right Honourable 
 " Lord Sydney, 
 
 "&c., &c." 
 
73 
 
 Up to this time, the Province of Quebec was divided into two 
 Districts, viz.: those of Quehec and Montreal, the latter containing 
 the whole of the territory which the Loyalists thus sought to have 
 erected into a separate District, and which now constitutes the great 
 Province of Ontario. Lord Dorchester was as good as his word to 
 the Western Loyalists, and having represented the matter to the 
 Home Government, he, by the King's instructions, on the 24th July, 
 1788, issued a proclamation whereby four new Districts were formed, 
 that of Lunenburg, extending from the eastern limit of Lancaster 
 northerly to Point Fortune on the Ottawa, and westerly to the mouth 
 of the River Gananoque. It comprehended the Townships of Lan- 
 caster, Charlottenburg, Cornwall, Osnabruck, Williamsburg, Matilda, 
 Edwardsburg, Augusta and Elizabethtown, all of them extending 
 northward to the Ottawa River. The other Districts were Mecklen- 
 burg, extending from Gananoque to about Belleville, Nassau from 
 the latter place to Long Point on Lake Erie, and Hesse comprising 
 the rest of Canada to the western boundary of the present Province 
 of Ontario. The territorial nomenclature was calculated to inspire 
 the House of Guelph with a lively interest in the welfare of the 
 infant settlement ! Previous to the formation of the four new Dis- 
 tricts, and while the upper country still formed portion of the District 
 of Montreal, magistrates had been appointed, though the Commis- 
 sion under which they acted cannot now be found nor its date ascer- 
 tained. Judge Pringle states, however, that it must have been pre- 
 vious to the 29th July, 1786, as there is a commission dated on that 
 day to " Samuel Anderson, of New Johnstown (Cornwall), one of 
 His Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the District of 
 Montreal," authorizing him to administer oaths to certain parties in 
 a matter before the court, and he is of the opinion that the gentlemen 
 who held commissions in the disbanded battaHons were generally 
 appointed magistrates. He mentions that there is no record of their 
 having held any Courts of General Sessions of the Peace before the 
 issuing of Lord Dorchester's proclamation, though there are tradi- 
 tions of Magistrates' Courts having been held, and of rough and 
 ready justice being summarily dealt out to offenders. 
 
 The same authority, and there is none better, states : 
 " The first Court in the District of Lunenburgh, of which any 
 record exists, was the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, held at 
 Osnabruck on the isth day of June, 1789. It is not stated in what 
 
14^ 
 pa^rt of Osnabrack the Court met ; the place must hare Been m the 
 front, probably near what is now known as Dickinson's Landing. 
 The records of the Courts of General Sessions for the District of 
 Lunenburgh — afterwards the Eastern District, and now the United 
 Counties- of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry — ^have been very care- 
 fully kept; the books containing the minutes of the proceedings 
 from the I5tb of June, 1789, until the present time, are in the office 
 of the Qerk of the Peace at Cornwall. They contain the names of 
 Magistrates, Officers of the Court, Jurors, and parties to cases tried, 
 and not a httle information of. the olden time that may be of interest 
 to the present generation. 
 
 The magistrates who had been appointed before the Province of 
 Upper Canada was formed, continued to act and to hold the Courts 
 of General Quarter Sessions, until Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe 
 issued a new Commission of the Peace for the Eastern District. This 
 Commission, which is now among the records in the office of the 
 Clerk of the Peace at Cornwall, is dated at the Government House, 
 Navy Hall, * on the loth day of June, 1793. The old magistrates 
 were re-appointed, and some new ones were added to the original 
 number. The names of those in the commission of 1793 are : The 
 Honourable William Osgoode, Chief Justice (i) ; William Dummer 
 Powell, Esquire (2) ; the Honourable Alexander Grant (3) ; the 
 Honourable Peter Russell (4) ; the Honourable James Baby (5) ; 
 Richard Duncan (6), John McDonell (7), John Munro (8), James 
 Gray (9), Edward Jessup (10), Walter Sutherland (n), William 
 Falkner (12), Richard Wilkinson (13), William Byrnes (14), Thomas 
 Swan (15), Jeremiah French (16), Archibald McDonell (17), Allen 
 McDonell (18), Wilham Eraser (19), Peter Drummond (20), Justus 
 Sherwood (21), Ephraim Jones (22), William Buel (23), Thomas 
 ■ Sherwood (24), Alexander McMillan (25), Alexander McDonell (26), 
 Samuel Anderson (27), Joseph Anderson ( 2 §)7~JaTire's 5513^1^(29), 
 Allan Patterson (30), Malcolm McMartin (31), Samuel Wright (32), 
 James Brackenridge (33), Alexander Campbell, of Augusta (34) ; 
 Neil McLean (35), Miles McDonell (36), Vermiel Lorimier (37), 
 Hugh McDonell (38), Alexander Campbell, of Johnstown (39) ; 
 Thomas Eraser (40), Andrew Wilson (41) and Neil Robertson {42)f, 
 
 * At Niagara, then the seat of Government. 
 
 f I have taken considerable trouble to trace the record of these gentlemen. The first five 
 were ex-ofiicio commissioners. It will be seen that the remainder were almost without exception 
 officers of the disbanded Loyalist Regiments. The petsonnel of Commission contrasts not 
 
75 
 Esquires, who are directed " to enquire the truth most fully, by the 
 oath of good and lawful men of the aforesaid District, of all and all 
 manner of felonies, poisonings, inchantments, sorceries, arts magick, 
 trespasses, lorestallings, regratings, ingrossings, and extortions what- 
 soever, and of all and singular other crimes and offences of which 
 the Justices of the Peace may or ought lawfully to enquire." 
 
 On the 26th December, 1791, the division of the Provinces of 
 Upper and Lower Canada took place. Constitutional Government 
 was granted, and the people, through their representatives, were 
 placed in a position to settle the tenure of their lands and other 
 matters for themselves. Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe issued a 
 Proclamation, dated the i6th day of June, 1792, dividing the Province 
 into Counties, the easternmost of which were then, as now, styled Glen- 
 garry, Stormont and Dundas. At the 6rst session of the Legislature 
 of Upper Canada, in 1792, an Act was passed changing the names of 
 the Districts. Under that Act the District of Lunenburgh became 
 the Eastern District. 
 
 The oldest book of the records of the Court of General Quarter 
 Sessions of the Peace for the District of Lunenburgh shows that the 
 first session of that Court began- at Osnabruck on the 15th day of 
 June, 1789. The magistrates present were : — 
 
 John McDonell, Justus Sherwood, 
 
 Richard Duncan, Ephriam Jones, 
 
 James Gray, William Falkner, 
 
 Thomas Swan, William Eraser, 
 
 Jereniiah French, Archibald McDonell. 
 
 unfavorably, with those of the present dav in the Province of Ontririo : — t. Chif{ Justice of Upper 
 Canada. 2. Tiien Commissioner of Oyer and Terminer of Upper Canada; Chief Justice, iSrg. 
 3, 4 and 5. Members of the Executive and Legislative Council of Upper Canada. 6. Legislative - 
 ('ouncillorof Upper Canada; formerly a Captain First Battalion King's Royal Regrimeht of r^ew 
 York:.— 7. Formerly'a Captain Butler's Corps of Rangers: Speaker First Parliament of Upper 
 Canada and Lieutenant-Colonel Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteer Regiment 
 of Foot. 8. Formerly Captain King's Royal Regiment of N.V., First Battalion, q. Form- 
 erly iVIajor K.R. R. N.Y. 10. Formerly Major Commandant I^oyal Raneers. ri. Formerly 
 Lieutenant K il. R. N' Y. 12. Name on Lord Dorchester's list as U. E; Corps and rank not 
 stated. 13. Lieutenant Six Nations Indian Department 14. Captai 1 K. R. R. N. Y. 
 15. Name on Lord Dorchester's list as U.E ; Corps and rank not stated 16. Lieutenant K.R. 
 R.N Y., Second Battalion. 17. Captain K R.R.N. Y., First Battalion. 18. Captain-Lieutenant 
 K R.R.N.Y 19. Captain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps). 20. Captain Loyal Rangers tjessup's 
 Corps). 21. Captain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's Corps). 22, An Officer of the < ommissariat 
 Department. 23. Stated in Lord Dorchester's list to have betfn Ensign, Royal Rangers ; n .me 
 does not appear in list of officers on reduction of Regiment. 24 Ensign Lova) Rangers (Jessup's 
 Corpse 25. An officer in DeLancie's Bngade. 26. Greenfield. 27. Captain K.R.R.N.Y , First 
 Battalion. 28. Lieutenant K.R.R M.Y., First Battalion. 29 "burgeon's Mate K.R.R.N.Y. 30. 
 Cannot trace this gentleman. 31. Lieut K.R R.N.Y. i.st Katt. 32. Name on Lord Dorchester's 
 list as U.E. ; liorps and rank not stited. 33. Capt lin Loyal Rangers ( Rodger's Corps). 34 and 
 39 One a Lieutenant Royal Rangers. 35. Lieute .ant Eighty-Fourth or Roya) Highland 
 Emigrant Regiment. '36. Ensign K.R. El. N.Y., First B.ittahon. 37. lannot trace this gentle- 
 man. 38. Lieutenant K. K.K.N. Y, First Battalion. 40. 1 aptain Loyal Rangers (Jessup's 
 Corps). 41. Cannot trace this gentleman. 42. Lieiiten mt K.R. R.N.Y. 
 
76 
 It is not stated who the Chairman was. The Grand Jurors 
 empannelled were : — 
 
 1 Alexander Campbell (Foreman), 13 Gideon Adams, 
 
 2 Peter Drummond, 14 John Dulmage, 
 
 3 Thomas Eraser, 15 James Campbell, 
 
 4 John McKenzie, 16 Alex'r Campbell, 
 
 5 George Stewart, 17 David Brackenridge, 
 
 6 John Seymour, 18 Ephriam Curry, 
 
 7 Malcolm McMartin, 19 John Jones, 
 
 8 Neil McLean, 20 Elijah Bottom, 
 
 9 Martin Walter, 21 Wilham Snyder, 
 
 10 John Pescod, 22 Daniel Campbell, 
 
 11 Ranald McDonell, Jr., 23 Matthew Howard, 
 13 Ranald McDonell, Sr,, 24 Thomas Robertson. 
 
 The first case was tried on Tuesday, the i6th day of June, 1789. 
 The following is an exact copy of the entry of the proceedings, and 
 I regret that Judge Pringle's researches compel me to chronicle the 
 fact that the defendant was a namesake of my own, candour, however, 
 obliging me to acknowledge that I am not in the very least surprised 
 at the nature of the indiscretion charged against honest Ranald, who 
 I hope got the worth of the money out of the other fellow ! A careful 
 examination of subsequent records of the Court of Quarter Sessions 
 might possibly disclose the fact that namesakes of Ranald's have not 
 unfrequently contributed, in the most public-spirited manner, to the 
 public exchequer as the result of similar little controversies with 
 their neighbours, and I have been given to understand that the pri- 
 vilege is now somewhat more expensive than it was a hundred years 
 ago, when Ranald appears to have differed in opinion with Mr. 
 
 McKay : 
 
 The King, on Pros., 
 
 Alexander McKay, '\ 
 
 vs. y In Assault and Battery. 
 
 Ranald McDonell, ) 
 
 Sent up the bill of indictment to the Grand Jury. The Grand 
 Jury return a true bill. The defendant, being arraigned, pleads not 
 guilty. It is ordered, on motion for the prosecution, that the trial 
 come on immediately, by consent of the defendant. The jury em- 
 panelled and sworn to try the issue of this traverse were : 
 
77 
 
 1 William Phillips, 7 Joseph Loucks, 
 
 2 Jacob VanAllen, 8 Anthony Wallaser, 
 
 3 Jacob Weegar, 9 John Wart, 
 
 4 Michael Hains, 10 Jacob Merkle, 
 
 5 David Jaycocks, ti Ad-am Empey, 
 
 6 John Coons, 1 2 Nicholas Ault. 
 
 Witness for the prosecution, Angus McKay. The jury having 
 heard the evidence, retired to consider their verdict, in charge of 
 Duncan McArthur, bailiff. The jury having returned into court, 
 say, by William Phillips, their foreman, that the defendant is guilty, 
 as laid in the indictment. The court having considered the verdict 
 of the jury, it is ordered that the defendant do pay a fine of one 
 shilling, and that he stand committed till paid. 
 
 The following persons were appointed Constables for Glengarry : 
 Lancaster — Richard Fountain, Benjamin Baker. 
 Charlottenburg — Finnan McDonell, Charles Ross, Duncan 
 McArthur. 
 
78 
 
 CHAPTER 8. 
 
 Services of Sir John Johnson. — 200^,030 Acres Abandoned 
 BY Him in the United States. — Lord Dorchester Re- 
 commends Him as First Lieutenant-Governor of Upper 
 Canada. — Policy of Home Government Opposed to the 
 Appointment of Residents to the Government.- — Des- 
 patch of the Colonial Secretary. — First Refer- 
 ence TO Glengarry Settlement. — Colonel John 
 Macdonell (Aberchalder).— He and His Brother Hugh 
 Macdonell Elected Members in First Parliament of 
 Upper Canada. — He is Elected its Speaker. — List of 
 Members. — Some Facts Relating to them. — Acts Passed 
 at First Session. 
 
 Sir John Johnson, who had been so intimately associated with 
 those who became the first settlers of Glengarry, did not altogether 
 sever his connection with them. Portion of the land which was 
 allotted to him in consideration of his signal services to the Crown 
 was situated in the County of Glengarry in the immediate vicinity of 
 what is now known as " Stone House Point." He had, I am told, 
 selected a site for his residence, of which the foundation had been 
 been laid, where the house now occupied by Colonel Alexander 
 JEJraser is built on the River St. Lawrence, on what is now known as 
 Eraser's Point.(i) 
 
 Judge Pringle states that what are locally known as " the In- 
 dian Lands,'' a narrow strip between the western townships of Glen- 
 garry and the eastern ones of Storraont, are said to have been intend- 
 ed for Sir John Johnson, and to have been held for the Indians on 
 Sir John's declining to accept of them. This, of course, would have 
 been a very extensive grant — many thousands of acres — yet it must 
 be remembered that, as stated by Mr. Stone, " he voluntarily gave up 
 
 (i) Colonel Fraser died since the above was written, June 5th, 1891, mucli and deservedly 
 respected. 
 
79 
 
 dOKiams In vliat is now the United States larger and fairer than had 
 ever belonged to a single proprietor in America, William Penn only 
 excepted," and that of all the eminent men among the Loyalists none 
 Were at all comparable to him, either as regards the extent of the 
 sacrifices made or the importance of the services rendered through-- 
 out the War from its commencement to its close. Two hundred 
 thousand acres of valuable land was what he surrendered. ' ' 
 
 He also owned a large tract of land in the neighborhood of 
 Williamstown, so named by him after his father, Sir William, and 
 where he built the first mills. As showing the interest which Sir 
 John Johnson took in the County of Glengarry, it may be mentioned 
 that on the 25 th of June, 1814, he presented to Neil McLean, then 
 Sheriff of the Eastern District, and his successors in office, twelve 
 acres of land in Williamstown for the purpose of a fair ground for 
 the people of the Counties, being the site of the present Glengarry 
 Agricultural Society grounds. He never, however, permanently re* 
 sided in Glengarry, the nature of his occupation not permitting of it> 
 He had been appointed at the close of the War Superintendent- 
 General and Inspector-General of the Six Nation Indians, his com- 
 mission as such being dated March t4th, 1782. He was Colonel-in- 
 Chief of the Six Battalions of Militia of the Eastern Townships, and 
 a member of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, to which he 
 Was summoned 24th January, 1797. He had been knighted by the 
 King in his father's lifetime, at St. James, on the 22nd November, 
 1765, when but twenty-three years of age. The Rev. Mr. Campbell 
 mentions in his " History of St. Gabriel Church, Montreal," that the 
 Patent of Baronetcy, conferred upon his father, contains a most 
 singular clause, which gives the title of " Knight" to the eldest son in 
 this family on his attaining his majority. Sir John was always, in 
 official documents, designated, after his father's death, as " Knight 
 and Baronet," thus showing that the Knighthood did not merge in / 
 the Baronetcy. He owned the Seigniory of Argenteuil, and was forf 
 many years a conspicuous figure in Canada. He was born on No- 
 vember 5th, 1742, and died at his residence, St. Mary's, in the 
 _Coiinty of Rouville, on January 4th, 1830, in the eighty-ninth year 
 of his age, and Was buried in the family vault at his seat on the south 
 side of the St. Lawrence, near Montreal. He is described in Jones' 
 " History of New York " as bold, resolute, spirited, brave and active, 
 and his career undoubtedly proved it. 
 
Mr. Morgan states in his " Celebrated Canadians " that Sir 
 John's eldest son, William Johnson, entered the army, became a 
 Colonel in the Service, and Was killed at Waterloo. He was suc- 
 ceeded in the Baronetcy by his eldest surviving son. Sir Adam Gor- 
 don Johnson, who, dying without issue, was succeeded by the pre- 
 sent Baronet, Sir William George Johnson, of Twickenham, England, 
 sion of John Johnson, of Point Oliver, Montreal, a younger brother of 
 Sir Gordon, who died before the latter. A niece of Sir John's be- 
 came Lady Clyde; a grand-daughter married Alexander, Count 
 Balutain, Russian Commissioner at St. Helena, and others of his 
 descendants made distinguished aniances.(i) -^ 
 
 Lord Dorchester had on the 15th Mairch, 1790, in a despatch 
 to the Right Honourable William Wyndham Grenville, strongly 
 recommended Sir John as the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper 
 Canada on the ground of his eminent services. The answer of the 
 Secretary of State shows, however, that not only had the appoint- 
 ment of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe been decided upon previous to 
 the receipt of Lord Dorchester's despatch, and that Simcoe had 
 been duly notified of the fact, but it sets out fully and clearly the 
 policy of the British Government then prevailing and ever since pur- 
 sued in regard to the appointment of residents of the Colonies to the 
 government of the same. No one can question its wisdom, however 
 great may be his appreciation of Sir John's services, which rendered 
 his claim paramount to that of Simcoe or any other individual whom- 
 soever. It was, I believe, the intention to have followed the same 
 wise course in Canada at the time of Confederation in regard to the 
 appointment of the Lieutenant-Governors of the Provinces, but local 
 circumstances, the short tenure of office, and the comparatively cir- 
 cumscribed nature of their functions and powers, probably led to a 
 diflerent course being adopted with regard to these officers. 
 
 The following is the despatch referred to : 
 
 (Private and Confidential.) 
 
 Whitehall, 3rd June, 1790. 
 My Lord, — 
 
 I think it right to take this mode of mentioning to Your Lord- 
 ship rather than by an official despatch, that previous to the receipt 
 of Your Lordship's despatch No. zo, I had submitted to His Ma- 
 jesty the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Simcoe for the Lieutenant 
 Government of Upper Canada, supposing the proposed division of 
 
 (l) Campbell's History of St Gabriel StreetPresbyterian Church, Montreal. 
 
St 
 
 t>ie IProVince of Quebec to be carried into effect, atid tbat 1 had bee'A 
 directed by His Majesty to express to that officer His Majesty's 
 approbation of his appointment. 
 
 In making this selection, I had not overlooked the situation and 
 services of Sir John Johnson, but motives of very considerable weight 
 in my opinion induced me to think that the nomination of a person 
 belonging to that Province, and possessing such large property in it, 
 was not desirable, especially in the first formation of the new Gov- 
 ernment. The disadvantage to His Majesty's Service which might 
 be expected from the effect of local habits, connections and interests 
 appear to me to be more than sufficient to counterbalance those 
 benefits which may be stated as arising from the same circumstances. / 
 
 I mention this more particularly to Your Lordship because it ' 
 is uncertain whether, in the event of hostilities with Spain, Lieuten- ~ 
 ant-Colonel Simcoe may not be employed on some different service, i 
 and because even in that event I think it right to apprize Your ■ 
 Lordship that great objections would, in my opinion, subsist against 
 naming Sir John Johnson. 
 
 I have no positive information how far Sir John Johnson has 
 been induced to look to this object, nor what his probable line 
 of conduct would be in case of disappointment. Your 
 Lordship will, of course, see that it is very material for me to receive 
 confidentally your opinion on this point, on account of the great 
 embarrassment which might be thrown in the way of Government 
 at its first outset in the new Province, if all the members of the 
 Legislative Council Were appointed at the recommendation of any 
 person, however distinguished in point of situation or services, who 
 was not cordially and sincerely disposed to co-operation with the 
 King's representative. 
 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 With great truth and regard. My Lord, 
 Your Lordship's most faithful and 
 Obedient humble servant, 
 
 W. W. GrenvillE. 
 
 The Right Hon'ble Lord Dorchester. 
 
 An unpublished MS. diary of Major R. MatheWs, of the Fifty* 
 Third Regiment, and Military Secretary to Lord Dorchester, the 
 original of which is to be found in the Education Office, Toronto, 
 contains the first reference I can find to the Loyalist settlement in 
 Glengarry and west. It is a journal of a Voyage made by him 
 to Detroit in 1787. Under date of May 3rd of that year, he notes, 
 " General Hope spoke to me upon the situation of affairs at Detroit." 
 
 May 4th. Signified to Lord Dorchester my feelings at being 
 absent from my Regiment at a time when the complexion of affairs in 
 the Upper Country appears rather gloomy, and my regret at the 
 
82 
 
 necessity of relinquishing the honour of attending him. His Lord 
 received and approved of my proposal to join my Regiment in the 
 handsomest manner ; would not allow of its making any alteration in 
 my situation with him, and said he had business at Detroit, etc., to 
 charge me with, on which he would expect me to return and 
 report to him in the fall, provided the situation of affairs above 
 would permit. I therefore prepared immediately to set off 
 
 On the 17 th May he arrived at Coteau du Lac, the next entry 
 under date iSth May being as follows : — 
 
 Got on board the bateaux ?t 4 o'clock, and proceeded to 
 Longueil, the entrance to the lake. Were there obliged to stop 
 owing to a violent head wind, which made the lake impracticable. 
 At 2 o'clock the wind moderated, and we pushed off. Got to Point 
 au Baudet at,6, where_Qne_McGee, formerly in Sir John Johnson's 
 Corps has a settlement, on which he has made very rapid progress. 
 Halted about 15 minutes, and proceeded to Point I'Toroniere ; 
 arrived there at half after eight o'clock, and on my way passed 
 Lieutenant Sutherland's settlement, situated in a deep bay. We 
 were not near enough to form any judgment of the land, but 
 he seemed to have cleared a good deal. Halted for a few minutes, 
 and was just pushing off for Sir J. Johnson's Point when a violent 
 gust came on, which determined me to put up for the night in an 
 uninhabited house. 
 
 May 19th. Set off at 4 o'clock, the wind slill high and contrary, 
 weather disagreeably cold. Passed Mr. Falconer's settlement at a 
 distance, and landed at a small house within two miles of Captain 
 —Alexander Macdonell's. Walked to his house and breakfasted. 
 The situation here is delightful and the soil very fine. He has 
 cleared a great deal of land, and bids fair for having a fine farm in a 
 short time. We proceed on foot to iMr. Wilkinson's-. 'He is situated 
 close to the river, by a fine creek, where he is erecting a potash and 
 means to build a mill. There are two inconsiderable settlements 
 above this, and then an interval of four miles belonging to St. Regis 
 Indians, the points of which and situation are very favorable for 
 settlement, and from the wood growing the soil must be very rich. 
 The first settlement from this interval is strikingly beautiful, being 
 situated upon an easy, regular slope, facing the south, and defended 
 from the raking east and west winds. A fine island, richly clothed 
 with wood, and some meadow ground before it. I believe it is the 
 property of Major Gray. Got on this evening to the lot of one Nave 
 of Sir John Johnson's Corps. He is married to a very young woman, 
 and has a man who was taken prisoner at Quebec in '75 to assist 
 him on his farm. He is married to a Canadian woman, and these 
 two couples live together in the same house, consisting of a single 
 joom, but the neatest and most cleanly I ever saw. Here we lay. 
 20th. Proceeded at 4 this morning. Still unfortunate in our 
 
83 
 
 wind. Passed the Long Sauk about 2 o'clock, and got to Captain 
 Duncan's about six in the evening. Drank tea here with Captain J. 
 Monro and Lieutenant McMartin. Walked from thence about two 
 miles to Thompson's, who was in Sir J. Johnson's Corps. A 
 sensible man, seemingly very industrious, having all materials ready 
 to enlarge his house and much ground cleared. He is married to an 
 old Dutch woman. It rained hard this whole day. 
 
 2 1 St. Set off at half after four. Stopped at Captain J. Monro's, 
 two miles from where we lay and breakfasted with him. His having 
 been in England prevented him from building, nor has he yet 
 cleared much. He lives at present in a hut belonging to one of the 
 men. Halted here near two hours, and proceeded to Major 
 Jessup's by 4 in the evening. Walked with him over the front of his 
 lot, which is situated opposite the Fort of Oswegatchie. He has not 
 yet built, but has most of the material collected and has cleared a 
 great deal of land. I think this lot in point of situation, regularity of 
 ground and goodness of it superior to any I have yet seen. The 
 Major came on board and proceeded with us to Captain Sherwood's, 
 about four miles further. He has built a very tolerable house upon 
 his farm lot in New Oswegatchie, some distance from his farm, and 
 has already a potash going forward. We did not find him at home, 
 and after waiting about half an hour in hopes of seeing him we got 
 on board. 
 
 Of the LoyaUst officers who settled in Glengarry, probably the 
 most conspicuous in the future history of the Province was John 
 Macdonell, then younger of Aberchalder. He shortly became one 
 of the most leading men in Upper Canada. He had served during 
 the whole Revolutionary War, first in the Eighty-Fourth or Royal 
 Highland Emigrants, and for the last five years and ten months in 
 command of a company of Buder's Rangers. His father, Captain 
 Alexander Macdonell, and his brothers, who had also held commis- 
 sions in the several Loyalist Regiments, likewise settled in the 
 Township of Charlottenburgh (on the regiments being disbanded) on 
 the banks of the River St. Lawrence about six miles east of Cornwall, 
 where they drew a very large tract of land. The ruins of their 
 seat, destroyed many years ago by fire (in 1813), but well 
 known in its day as Glengarry House and renowned for its 
 hospitality, are still to be seen on what is now called " Stone House 
 Point." It was, I understand, tlie first stone and largest house 
 ia Upper Canada. 
 
 When writs were issued by Colonel Simcoe for the election of 
 members for the first Parliament of Upper Canada, John Macdonell 
 wUs, together with his brother, Hugh Macdonell, returned to 
 
84 
 represent the County of Glengarry, which extended from the St, 
 Lawrence to the Ottawa River and which had two representatives. 
 The proclamation of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe forming the 
 Province into counties, and allotting the number of representatives 
 was dated i6th July, 1792. Nineteen counties were formed, 
 namely : Glengarry, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, Leeds, Frontenac, 
 Ontario, Addington, Lennox, Prince Edward, Hastings, Norrthum- 
 berland, Durham, York, Lincoln, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent. 
 Sixteen representatives were to be returned, and for the purpose of 
 representation in the Legislature the following arrangements were 
 made : Glengarry was divided into two ridings each to send a 
 representative ; Stormont oiie member, as also Dundas and Grenville, 
 each; Leeds and Frontenac together were to have a representative ; 
 Ontario and Addington together one member ; Prince Edward 
 together with the late township of Adolphus, in the county of Lennox, 
 one member ; Lennox, except Adolphus, with Hastings and 
 Northumberland together, to elect one member ; Durham and York 
 and the first riding of Lincoln were together to have but one 
 member ; the second riding of Lincoln one member ; the third riding 
 of lincoln one member ; the fourth riding of Lincoln and the county 
 of Norfolk together one member ; Suffolk and Essex together one 
 member ; Kent, which included all the west, not Indian territories, to 
 the Hudson's Bay, to have two members. 
 
 I have had great difficulty in procuring the names of the mem- 
 bers of the first Legislature of the Provmce. It is remarkable how 
 little can be ascertained with regard to these matters, and I believe 
 it is utterly impossible to obtain a correct hst of the members and 
 ' the constituencies for which they sat. The fact is, all the parliament 
 ' tary records prior to 18 13 were destroyed when York was taken by 
 the Americans in April of that year. Copies of such of the journals 
 as were transmitted to England have lately been procured, but do 
 not contain the names of the members of the earlier Legislatures. 
 
 Dr; Canniff, in his work " The Settlement of Upper Canada," 
 after giving a list of the Districts into which the Province was first 
 divided for the purposes of representation, mentions the names of 
 the gentlemen who sat in the first House, but in answer to an enquiry 
 he informs me that he is unable to assign their respective constitu- 
 encies. I fancy, therefore, that it is only from records in the posses- 
 sion of the families of people hving in Canada at the time, or from 
 
8s 
 other private sources, that a Hst can be compiled, and information 
 thus afforded would, I am sure, be acceptable to all who are inter- 
 ested in the early history of the Province. I will mention such facts 
 as I have been able to gather from books and papers within ray 
 reach regarding the gentlemen who composed the first Legislature, 
 in the hope that others will throw further light upon the subject, as it 
 is only by such means that we can arrive at what is of much historic 
 interest, if not of importance. 
 
 Dr. Canniff mentions ■ at page 534 that the following were 
 elected members of the first House : 
 
 I. 
 
 2. 
 
 John Macdonell, Speaker. 
 Joshua Booth. 
 
 9- 
 10. 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 14. 
 
 IS- 
 16 
 
 Hugh Macdonell. 
 Benjamin Pawling. 
 
 3- 
 
 4- 
 
 S- 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 8. 
 
 Mr:)^Baby. 
 
 Alexander Campbell. 
 Philip Borland. 
 Jeremiah French. 
 Ephraim Jones. 
 William Moconib. 
 
 Nathaniel Pettit. 
 David William Smith. 
 Hazelton Spencer. 
 Isaac Swazy. 
 — Young. 
 . John White. 
 
 Nos. I and 9. — The careers of Colonel John Macdonell, the 
 Speaker, and Mr. Hugh Macdonell, his brother, the members for 
 Glengarry, are given in these pages at length. 
 
 2. Joshua Booth. — A U. E. Loyahst. His name is entered in 
 Lord Dorchester's List with the note, " S. G. Sergeant," and his 
 residence is there stated to have been Ernest-town. I can find 
 nothing to show the constituency for which he set or any other facts 
 relating to him. 
 
 3. Mr. Baby. — It will be observed the Christian name is not 
 given by Dr. Canniff. This name was long, intimately and honour- 
 ably associated with the County of Essex, and the presumption is 
 that the gentleman referred to was a member of the family of that 
 name resident there before the taking of Quebec by Wolfe, and that 
 he represented " Suffolk" and Essex. I had at first -assumed it must 
 have been the Honourable James Baby who was appointed by 
 Colonel Simcoe a member of the first Executive Council ot Upper 
 Canada at Kingston, on the 8th July, 1792, and who for many years 
 was Inspector-General of the Province. I make this suggestion un- 
 der correction, however, as Mr. Morgan states in his " Biographies 
 of Celebrated Canadians," that Mr. James Baby became a member 
 of the Legislative as well as of the Executive Council at that tim; 
 
86 
 (1792), and continued in the regular and efficient discharge of the 
 duties of those eminent stations until his death in 1833, and he 
 could not well have been a member of both branches of the Legis- 
 lature at the same time. 
 
 4. Alexander Campbell.— Mr. Croil in his work, " Dundas, or a 
 Sketch of Canadian History," mentions that Alexander Campbell 
 was the first member for the County of Dundas, and states that " the 
 little that is known of his history presents few inducements to prose- 
 cute the enquiiy " as to who or what he was, adding, " his character 
 is summed up in this, that he was familiarly known at the time by 
 the unenviable soubriquet of ' Lying Campbell.'" Possibly he may 
 have made pledges to his constituents which he was unable to carry 
 out, and it being the only instance of that kind which our political 
 history affords, his name is handed down to posterity in this unfor- 
 tunate manner ! In Lord Dorchester's list there appears the name 
 of " Alexander Campbell, Esquire," his residence being given as the 
 Eastern District, and it is stated that he was a Lieutenant in the 
 Loyal Rangers. Probably the same person. 
 
 5. Philip Dorland. — This gentleman appears to have lived in 
 Adolphustown, and the presumption is that he was elected to repre- 
 sent the County of Prince Edward, to which the Township of 
 Adolphus was attached. Mr. Dorland, being a Quaker, refused to 
 take the oaths, and the House unanimously passed a resolution that 
 he was therefore incompetent to sit and vote in Parliament, where- 
 upon a writ issued for a new election, and Peter Van Alstine was 
 elected in his stead. Mr. Van Alstine also lived in Adolphustown, 
 and was a U. E. Loyalist, as his name appears in Lord Dorchester's 
 list, with the, to me, enigmatic note, " Cuylers, Captain." 
 
 6. Jeremiah French. — A U. E. Loyalist, in Lord Dorchester's 
 list his residence being given as the Eastern District. He was a 
 Lieutenant in the King's Royal Regiment of New York (Second 
 Battalion), in which he served nine years. I presume Mr. French 
 represented Grenville. 
 
 7. Ephraim Jones. — A U. E. Loyalist who settled in the Town- 
 ship of Augusta, County of Leeds, and was the father of the late 
 Mr. Justice Jonas Jones and grandfather of the late Mr. Ford Jones, 
 MP., and other well-known gentlemen. Stated in Lord Dorchester's 
 hst to have been a Commissary. Mr. Read in " The Lives of the 
 Judges " mentions that after the Revolutionary War Mr. Jones had 
 
charge of the supplies granted by the British GoVerflment to the 
 settlers in Upper Canada. Mr. Jones living in the County of Leeds, 
 the presumption would be that he represented that County ; but it 
 will be observed that Leeds and Frontenac were then united for pur- 
 poses of representation, and Dr. Canniff quotes from a despatch of 
 Colonel Simcoe, wherein he states, " it was by good fortune that the 
 temporary residence I made at Kingston created sufficient influence 
 to enable us to bring the Attorney-General White into the House " — - 
 from which the inference might be drawn that Mr. White was 
 returned for Frontenac, in which County Kingston is situate, and 
 Which was joined to Leeds. Mr. Ephraim Jones' son and grandson 
 most worthily represented the County of Leeds at many different 
 times and until a quite recent period. 
 
 8. William Mocomb.^I can find no mention made of this gen* 
 tleman in any books to which I have access. 
 
 10. Benj. Pawling.— A U. E. Loyalist who Was Captain-Lieu- 
 tenant in Butler's Rangers. Lord Dorchester's list states he resided 
 in the Home District. No doubt he Was member for one of the 
 ridings of Lincoln, as Butler's Rangers settled in the Niagara Dis' 
 ti'ict on the Regiment being disbanded. 
 
 11. Nathaniel Pettit.^Resided in the Home District; stated in 
 Lord Dorchester's Hst to have been "an active LoyaHst." 
 
 1 2. David William Smith.— Morgan's " Celebrated Canadians " 
 gives an account of this distinguished gentleman. He was a Captain 
 in the Fifth Foot, and Was afterwards called to the Bar of Upper 
 Canada, with precedence as Deputy Judge Advocate ; Was appointed 
 Surveyor-General of Lands, one of the trustees for the Six Nations 
 and a member of the Executive Council ; sat in the three first Par- 
 liaments, and was Speaker of the second and third Parliaments. For 
 his public services in Canada he was created a Baronet by patent 
 August 30th, 1821. Died at Alnwick, England, 9th May, 1837. 
 Mr. Bain, the Librarian at Toronto, lately procured all the valuable 
 public documents relating to the Province which Mr. Smith took with 
 him on his return to England. Probably Mr. Smith represented 
 Durham and York and the first riding of Lincoln. 
 
 13. Hazelton Spencer.— A U. E. Loyalist. I find from a return 
 of the officers of the R. C.V. Regiment that he served eleven months 
 with the Incorporated Loyalists, three years five months and two 
 days as a Volunteer in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, two 
 
years seven months and four days as a Lieutenant in the same Corps, 
 and five years and seven months in the Second Battahon Royal 
 Canadian Volunteer Regiment of Foot. In 1803 he was Lieutenant 
 of the County of Lennox, and Was also Colonel of the Lennox 
 Mihtia Regiment. No doubt he sat for Lennox in the first Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 14. Isaac Swazy (Query, Swayze). — A U. E. Loyalist described 
 in Lord Dorchester's Hst as " Pilot to the New York Army," residing 
 in the Home District. Mr. Swayze represented one of the ridings oi 
 Lincoln. In 1804, when the constituencies were rearranged (not 
 then termed gerrymandered !) the same gentleman and Ralph 
 Clench, Esq-, represented the second, third and fourth ridings of 
 Lincoln. 
 
 15. — Young. — Several of this name (twenty in all) were U. E. 
 Loyalists, the most prominent being Lieutenant John Young, form- 
 erly of the Indian Department, who resided in the Home District, 
 but whether or not he was the gentleman who sat in the House I am 
 unable to state. 
 
 r6. John White. — The first Attorney-General of the Province 
 who came to Canada in 1792, and was killed in a duel with Mr. 
 Small, Clerk of the Executive Council, January 3rd, 1800. For 
 which constituency he sat I am unable to state, though from Colonel 
 Simcoe's despatch, before referred to, it may possibly have been 
 Leeds and Frontenac. Dr. Scadding, in " Toronto of Old," page 
 246, quotes the remarks made by the " Oracle " and Niagara " Con- 
 stellation" regarding Mr. White at the time of his death, both highly 
 eulogistic. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson, in his book, " The Loyalists of America and their 
 Times," states that the members of this Assembly have been repre- 
 sented as " plain, home-spun clad farmers and merchants from the 
 plough and the store,'' and very properly remarks that "the mem- 
 bers of our Legislature have always, for the most part, been such 
 from that day to this, but many of the members of the first Parlia- 
 ment of Upper Canada had possessed respectable and some of them 
 luxurious homes, from which they had been exiled by narrow-minded 
 and bitter enemies ; they had fought on battle fields for the country 
 whose forests they now burned and felled ; their home-spun gar- 
 ments were some of the fruits of their own industry and that of their 
 
"wives and daughters/' remarks fully borne out by the few facts 1 
 have stated regarding these gentlemen, from which it will be seen 
 Ihey were largely composed of officers of the disbanded Regiments 
 of the Revolutionary War. So far as our own County is concerned 
 1 can affirm With truth, that in the hundred years Which have inter- 
 vened the County has never been represented by gentlemen whose 
 eminent public services and high station and character surpassed 
 those of our two first members. 
 
 Three members of the Legislative Council and five members of 
 the House of Assembly were present when the first ParUament 
 assembled. 
 
 The House having met in a camp tent at Newark (now Niagara) 
 on Monday, the 17th September, the first entries made in the Journals 
 (copies of which have lately been procured from England, and are 
 now to be found at the Parliamentary Libraries at Ottawa and 
 Toronto) are as follows : — ■ 
 
 " The House having met, all the members Were severally sworn 
 in by WiUiam Jarvis, Esquire, who acted by special commission from 
 His Excellency." 
 
 " The House having proceeded to the election of its Speaker, John 
 Macdonell, Esquire, one of the members for the County of Glen' 
 garry, was unanimously elected to be Speaker." 
 
 He Would appear to have Served in that capacity during all that 
 Parliament, and, as far as can be ascertained, during the first 
 Session of the Second Parhanient, as on the meeting of the House on 
 the 9th June, 1798, being the second Session of the Second Parlia- 
 ment, it is stated in the Journals that — ■ 
 
 " Mr. Speaker addressed the House in the following words, 
 to wit : — 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, 
 
 "As you have done me the honour to call me to the chair of this 
 House, I feel it a duty I owe to the recollection of the services of 
 Colonel Macdonell to move, that in order to mark the sense I 
 entertain of his former situation as Speaker, a place be considered 
 appropriated to him during the present Session, being the first next to 
 the chair on the right hand side. 
 
 "To which recommendation the House unanimously agreed, 
 and it was ordered accordingly." 
 
 Eight Acts were passed at the first Session of the Legislature, 
 the first and most important introducing the English Law in all 
 matters relating to Property and Civil Rights. Chapter II. Established 
 
90 
 Trial by Jury. Chapter III. established a Standard for Weights aiiJ 
 Measures. Chapter IV. Abolished the Summary Proceedings in the 
 Court of Common Pleas in actions under Ten Pounds Sterling. 
 Chapter V. Related to the Prevention of Accidents by Fire. Chapter 
 VI. EstabUshed the Procedure for an Easy and Rapid Recover)- of 
 Small Debts. Chapter VII. Regulated the Toll to be taken in Mills ; 
 and Chapter VIII. Provided for the building of a Gaol and Court 
 House in each of the four Districts of the Province, and altered 
 the names of the Districts to the Eastern, Midland, Home and 
 Western Districts respectively. 
 
 The first division which can be ascertained took place in the 
 Legislature of this Province on the 20th June of that year. It is 
 probable that divisions had previous taken place, but owing to tlit- 
 loss of so many of the Journals the first I can find is as follows. It 
 is interesting as showing the members of the Second Parliament 
 of the Province : — 
 
 " Mr. Speaker read the third time as engrossed the Bill ro 
 authorize and allow persons coming into this Province to bring 
 with them their negro slaves. 
 
 " Mr. Solicitor-General " (Robert Isaac Dey Grey, who was 
 then Member of the County olStormont) "moved that the said Bill 
 do not pass, and that the question be thereof put (sic), and the 
 yeas and nays taken down in distinct columns ; whereupwn the 
 question was put and the members were as follows : 
 
 YEAS. NAYS. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell. Mr. Solicitor-General. 
 
 Mr. Beasley. Mr. Rogers. 
 
 Mr. Hardison. Mr. Cornwall. 
 
 Mr. Robinson. Captain Wilkinson. 
 
 Captain Eraser. 
 Mr. Jessup. 
 Mr. Street. 
 Mr. Jones. 
 
91 
 
 CHAPTER 9. 
 
 The First Regiment Raised in Upper Canada. — The SECcyjD 
 jBattalion R. C. V. Regiment of Foot.— -Lieutenant - 
 
 CoLONiLMACDONELCM^PTFORGLENGARRY, PLACED IN COM- 
 MAND. — Headquarters at Fort George. — Volunteer their 
 Services to any Quarter of the Globe. — Thanks of Duke 
 OF Kent. — Reduction of Regiment during Peace of 
 Amiens. — Return of Officers. — List of Officers First 
 or Lower Canadian Battalion. — Colonel Macdonell's 
 Memorial. — State of the Militia. — Lieutenants of 
 Counties. — Colonel Macdonell Recommends Formation 
 of a Corps of Highland Fencibles in Glengarry. — 
 Colonel Brock Approves of Proposal and Transmits 
 Recommendation to War Office. — Death of Colonel 
 Macdonell. 
 
 In 1794 a number of Independent Companies were in existence 
 in Upper Canada, which in 1796 were, with others in Lower Canada, 
 embodied in a Regiment of two Battalions, fhe second Battalion 
 being under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, 
 the member for Glengarry. This Regiment was placed on the Per - 
 manen; Establishment, and was known as the Royal Canadian 
 "Volunteer Regiment of Foot. The Second BattaUon was the first 
 Corps raised in Upper Canada. (i) The First Battalion was com- 
 
 (i) This distinction is not infrequently claimed for the Queen *s Rangers, the second Corps 
 of that name, but the contention i.=; as unfounded as much else that em.mates fr 'm th'; same 
 source, though it is constantly dinned into our ears on every possible and impossible occasion, 
 and reiterated until it has almost been recognized ;is a fact. Let me state that when (?olo el 
 Simcoe was i amed I ieutennnt-Governor of Upper Canada he obtained leave to raise a corps of 
 -ftmjJmni-lrpH r.ipl<- and file. Captain Shank, a meritorious soldier, was appointed senior officer and 
 left f'anada to r.iise the corps in Engl:4nd, which mission being successful, they were equipped as 
 alight infantry corps^ and embarked for Canada in Apri , 1792^ C' plain Shank received his 
 brevet of -M jor in 1794, and on Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe leaiving Canada he commanded the 
 Regiment until its reduction ,it the Peace of Amiens in iSoz This Regiment, I Ijelieve, was 
 chiefly ociiipicd in the constrnction of what is now Yonge street, running north some miles from 
 Toronto through the County of York to Lake Simcoe. 
 
92 
 
 flflanded by Lieutenant-Colonel De Longueuil, with Louis DeSak 
 berry as Major. The Second Battalion garrisoned this Province 
 from 1796 until disbanded in 1802, as did the First Battalion the 
 Province of Lower Canada during the same period. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell's headquarters were at Fort George (Niagara) 
 during the period the Regiment was on service. Detachments were 
 stationed at the following places, viz.: Kingston, under Major Spen- 
 cer ; St. Joseph's Island, under Captain Drummond j Amherstburg, 
 under Captain Hector McLean ; Fort Erie, under Captain Wilkin- 
 son ; Fort Chippewa, under Lieutenant William Crawford. v 
 
 In 1800 a suggestion appears to have been made that it would 
 be of advantage if the Second Battalion, R. C. V., would extend its 
 service to any part of British America, and Colonel Macdonell hav- 
 ing submitted the matter to the ofiScers under his command, was 
 enabled to address the following letter to the Officer commanding in 
 Canada : 
 
 "Fort George, February 20, 1800. 
 " Sir, 
 
 " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
 the 26th November, with enclosures. 
 
 " The suggestion that the services of the Second Battalion Royal 
 Canadian Volunteers might be usefully extended to the different 
 parts of British North America in general was no sooner made 
 known to the five companies forming the garrison in this post. Fort 
 Erie, and Fort Chippewa than they were most cheerfully offered, 
 and generally showed a desire to extend them to any part of His 
 Majesty's dominions. 
 
 " The officers (as might be expected from such Loyalists) ex- 
 pressed satisfaction at having an opportunity of testifying their zeal 
 and attachment to their King by tendering their services in any 
 part of the globe to which they might have the honour of being called. 
 I shall have the honour of reporting to you as soon as possible the 
 sentiments of the other four companies at Kingston, Amhersthurg, 
 and St. Joseph. I think, however, I can vouch that their zeal to His 
 Majesty's service is not less than the companies I have already 
 mentioned. The example of the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 
 Corps is certainly highly meritorious, and would no doubt operate 
 
9i 
 
 strongly in exciting an emulation in others ; but I have the vanity to 
 believe that the Second Battalion of Royal Canadian Volunteers 
 would have offered their services even had the other Provincial 
 Corps not shown the example. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " Your most obedient servant, 
 
 "J. Macdonell. 
 " To Lieutenant-Genftral Hunter, 
 
 " Commanding His Majesty's Forces in both Canadas." 
 
 The offer of service which Colonel Macdonell was thus author- 
 ized to make on behalf of his Battalion was acknowledged by H. 
 R. H. the Duke of Kent in the following letters : 
 
 Extract from letter of the Duke of Kent to Lieutenant-Genera 1 
 Hunter, commanding the Forces in the Canadas, through his Aide- 
 de-Camp, Major Gordon : — 
 
 "Kensington Palace, December 15, 1800. 
 
 " With respect to your letter of the 26th of July, containing an 
 enclosure from Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, commanding the 
 Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteers, of the four companies 
 of that Corps stationed at Kingston and Amherstburg, to extend 
 their services as Fencibles throughout British. America. I am 
 commanded to desire that the thanks of His Royal Highness may be 
 communicated to those four companies for this fresh mark of their 
 zeal for the service and attachment and loyalty to their Sovereign." 
 
 Extract from a letter from the Duke of Kent to Lieutenant- 
 General Hunter : — 
 
 " Pavillion, Brightelmstone, October 25th, 1800. 
 " Sir, 
 
 "I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 No. 12, dated York, July 25, which reached me together with its 
 several enclosures on the 25 th ult. 
 
 " Your letter of the 26th of July to Major Gorden enclosing 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell's report that four more companies of 
 the Second Battalion of the Royal Canadian Volunteers had 
 volunteered the extension of their services to the whole of British 
 North America having arrived at the same time, I am enabled to 
 desire you to authorize that officer ta express to the officers and men 
 of those companies my thanks in the same manner as he was desired 
 to do to those of the former five. 
 
 "Edward." 
 
94 
 
 Colonel Macdonell was obliged to adhere steadily to his post 
 from the first raising of the Regiment, as appears from a letter ad- 
 dressed by him to the MiUtary Secretary at Quebec dated September 
 I, 1800 : 
 
 " Not having it in my power to examine into the state of the 
 Militia of the County of Glengarry, nor of my private affairs since 
 the first raising of the Royal Canadian Volunteers, I take the liberty 
 to request of Lieutenant-General Hunter leave of absence for a few 
 weeks for those purposes. 
 
 " Captain McMillan has requested me to apply for leave of 
 absence for him on private affairs in Glengarry, he not having been 
 absent since he first joined." 
 
 This Regiment was, together with many others, and including 
 all the Fencible Regiments in the service, disbanded during the 
 Peace of Amiens in 1802. 
 
 The following is the return on the reduction showing the names 
 of the officers of this Battalion, with their respective length and 
 record of service : — 
 
 RETURN OF THE OFrlCERS OF THE SECOND BATTALION 
 CANADIAN VOLUNTEER REGIMENT OF FOOT. 
 
 ROYAL 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Service. 
 
 Lieut.-Col. 
 
 Major 
 
 John Macdonell 
 
 Hazelton Spen- 
 cer 
 
 Captain 
 
 PeterDrummond 
 Hector McLean 
 
 Neil McLean 
 
 Miles Macdonell 
 
 Richard Wilkin- 
 son 
 
 1 5 years and 4 months ; 3 years and 2 
 months late 84th Regiment; 5 years 
 and 10 months late Butler's Rangers, 
 and 6 years and 4 months Royal C. V. 
 
 1 2 years and 6 months ; 1 1 months with 
 the incorporated Loy'aHsts ; 3 years 5 
 months and 2 days as Volunteer in 
 K.R.R.N.Y.; 2 years 7 months and 4 
 days as Lieutenant in said Corps, and 
 5 years and 7 months in the 2nd Batt. 
 Royal Canadian Volunteers. 
 
 14 years and 5 months ; 9 years Lieut. 
 
 in late 84th Regiment and 5 years and 
 
 5 months in R. C. Volunteers. 
 
 10 years and 3 months ; 6 years Lieut. 
 
 and Ensign in 84th, and 4 years and 8 
 
 months in R. C. V. 
 
 8 years ; 2 years Easign in K.R.R.N. 
 
 Y., and 6 years in R.C.V. 
 
 13 years; 8 years Lieut, in K.R.R.N. 
 Y. and 4 years and 5 months in R.C.V. 
 
Rank. 
 Captain 
 
 Lieut. 
 
 Ensign 
 
 Name. 
 Alex. McMillan. 
 
 Chassegras de 
 Lery 
 
 Richard Fergu- 
 son 
 
 William Fraser 
 Wm. Crawford 
 
 H. de Hortell. 
 Wm. Johnson. 
 Ranald McDon- 
 
 ell 
 
 Chaplain 
 Adjutant 
 
 Q.-Master 
 Surgeon 
 
 As't. Surg. 
 
 Angus McDonell 
 Thomas Fraser 
 P. Taschereau 
 Pierre Malhoit 
 J. B. Duchesnay 
 Pierre Boucher- 
 ville 
 
 William Dean 
 Peter Grant 
 Geo. Ermatinger 
 Chas. Laninier 
 Jos. Bordwine 
 Robt. Wolsey 
 Stephen McKay 
 Frederick Deane 
 Jos. Chenique 
 Jos. Duval 
 John Crampton 
 
 And. Cameron 
 James Davidson 
 
 Cyrus Anderson 
 
 9S ,_ 
 
 Service. ^, 
 
 OM 
 
 II years; 7 years in ist Batt. de Lan- 
 cie's Brigade, and 6 months as Volun- 
 teer in the late 71st, and 4 years in the 
 2nd Batt. R.C.V. 
 I years 9 months. 
 
 9 years and 5 months ; 3 years in King's 
 Rangers as Volunteer and 6 years and 
 months in R.C.V. 
 
 years and 2 months ; 2 years and 9 
 months asVolunteerandEnsigninK.R.R. 
 N. Y., and 5 years and 5 months in R.C.V. 
 
 32 years and 7 months; 6 years and 
 6 months in 17th Regt.; 12 years in 
 60th ; 8 years and 4 months in late 84th, 
 and 5 years and 9 months in the 2nd 
 Batt. R.C.V. 
 6 years. 
 
 5 years. 
 
 4 years and 3 months. 
 
 3 years and lo months. 
 
 4 years and fi^months. 
 
 4 years and 2 months. 
 
 3 years and 1 1 months and i day. 
 3 years and 1 1 months. 
 
 2 years. 
 
 3 years and 10 months. 
 3 years and 4 months. 
 3 years and 3 months. 
 
 3 years and 3 months. 
 I year and 6 months. 
 
 4 years. 
 
 23 years ; 7 years and 8 months in the 
 
 the 69th, and 11 years and 10 months in 
 
 60th, and 4 years in the 2nd Batt. R.C.V. 
 
 4 years. 
 
 8 years and 6 months ; 4 years and 6 
 
 months in the late 84th, and 4 years in 
 
 R.C.V. 
 
 6 years ; 4 years in 2nd Batt. R.C.V., 
 and 2 ypars as Volunteer in the ist 
 Batt. K.R.R.N.Y. 
 
96 
 The names of the First (Lower Canadian) Battalion may not be 
 uninteresting. The officers were for the most part representatives of 
 the most distinguished families of the King's new subjects : 
 
 FIRST BATTALION R. C. V. REGIMENT OF FOOT. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — J. De Longueuil. 
 Major — Louis De Salaberry. 
 
 Captains, 
 efaunier Beaubien. 
 Francois Piedmont. 
 Pierre Marcoux, 
 
 7 Fi 
 
 C. S. De Bleury. 
 
 Daniel Dupre, 
 Peter Duchoquet. 
 A. J. Duchesnay. 
 Joseph De Beaujeu. 
 C. G. Lanaudiere. 
 
 Louis Montizambert. 
 Honore Bailie. 
 Antoine Lanaudiere. 
 Richard Hay. 
 Francois Boucher. 
 Chaplain 
 
 Louvigny Montigny. 
 Francois Vassal. 
 J. Bte. D'Estimauville- 
 Richard Ferguson. 
 Lieutenants. 
 
 Hipolite Hertelle. 
 Pierre Bazin. 
 Henry Hay. 
 Jo seph Bou chette. 
 Benjamin J5t ^ 
 Ensigns. 
 
 Robert Anderson. 
 Francois Duval, 
 Denis Alexander. 
 M. R. de Salaberry. 
 J. B. Ph. D'Estimauville, 
 •Salter Mountain. 
 
 Adjutant — Robert Anderson. 
 Quarter-Master — Louis Fromenteau. 
 Surgeon — James Walker. 
 Mate — Henry Leodel. 
 ghMacdonell, M.P. for Glengarry, and subsequently Consul- 
 General at Algiers," ■\vas at one time Senior Captain in the First Bat- 
 talion R. C. V. It is worthy of note that, judging from the names, 
 the Chaplain of the Upper Canada Battalion was a Catholic priest, 
 while the Reverend Salter Moimtain was a Church of England 
 clergyman. 
 
 The following memorial was addressed by Colonel Macdonell 
 to the Commander of the Forces in Canada on the reduction of 
 the Regiment: 
 
 " To His Excellency Peter Hunter, Esg., Lieutenant-General com- 
 manding His Majesty's Forces in Upper and Lower Canada. 
 " The memorial of the Field Officers, Captains and Subalterns 
 of the Second Ba talion of His Majesty's Regiment of Royal Cana- 
 dian Volunteers most respectfully sheweth ; 
 
^1 
 
 " That whilst yOur memorialists view with unfeigned satisfactioa 
 the general happiness afforded by the restoration of peace, they can« 
 not on that occasion reflect without emotion upon the particular 
 circumstances of their own situation. 
 
 " That a very considerable proportion of your memorialists had 
 the honour to serve His Majesty during the American War, and 
 having at the conclusion of i-t setjled upon and cultivated the lands 
 assigned to them. Were beginning to reap some of the fruits of their 
 exertions, and with the assistance of their half-pay to enjoy some 
 degree of ease and comfort when the War broke out ; and that the 
 rest of your memorialists are sons to persons of the very same 
 description. 
 
 " That as the appearances of things at that time indicated but a 
 short period of service, your memorialists eagerly embraced the 
 Opportunity of evincing their grateful attachment to their Sovereign 
 without contemplating any other reward than the appointments of 
 their respective rank, and with no prospects but of soon returning to 
 that life of industry on which their principal dependence was 
 necessarily placed — both for present support and for the means of 
 future provision for their famihes. 
 
 " That the destructive ambition of His Majesty's enemies hav- 
 ing, contrary to all expectations, protracted the War to such a 
 length, your memorialists have now remained embodied nearly eight 
 years ; the consequence has been that the domestic affairs of your 
 memorialists of the first description have in that long interval of 
 absence and unavoidable neglect been materially impaired, and they 
 will now be obliged (unless His Majesty's gracious favour be extend- 
 ed to them) to return to their homes at a more advanced period iii 
 life and with prospects less favourable both for themselves and their 
 families than when the War began. Your memorialists of the latter 
 description are involved in a still more gloomy situation, for having 
 dedicated the flower of their years to a military life, and having 
 passed in His Majesty's service that period of their lives during 
 which they might have embraced other professions, unless some pro- 
 vision be made for them by the munificence of their Sovereign, 
 having no resources of their own, it is painful to foresee the hard- 
 ships and difficulties which must await them ; 
 
 " Your memorialists therefore most humbly pray of Your Excel- 
 lency that you will lay them at His Majesty's feet, beseeching him 
 that he will be graciously pleased to place them upon the half-pay 
 list according to the rank which they at present hold in his service, 
 
 "And that His Majesty will also be graciously pleased to extend 
 to the BattaHon the same gracious bounty in donations of waste 
 of the Crown which was extended to the Provincial Corps at the 
 end of the American War — a measure which, besides filling the 
 hearts of your memorialists with additional gratitude, would at the 
 same time place at the disposal and within the immediate call of His 
 
98 
 
 Majesty's representatives in this Province a body of loyal disciplined 
 men, attached to the country, and proud of transmitting their own 
 principles and sentiments unimpaired to their posterity, and your 
 memorialists as in duty bound will ever pray. 
 
 " J. Macdonell, 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 " Commanding Second Battalion Royal Canadian Volunteers, 
 " For himself and on behalf of the officers and men of the Corps. 
 " Fort George, 24 August, 1802." 
 
 It is evident from the statement in the memorial of Mrs. Hugh 
 Macdonell, quoted hereafter, that the prayer of the officers to be 
 placed on half-pay according to their respective rank was not acced- 
 ed to, but from information gathered in the Crown Lands Office I am 
 led to believe that the men received an allotment of land similar to 
 that granted to the soldiers of the various Loyalist Regiments of the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 In addition to being a member for the County of Glengarry, 
 Colonel Macdonell occupied a position which existed certainly 
 between the years 1793 and 1808, though I can find no lists of a 
 later date than the latter year, viz., Lieutenant of the County of 
 Glengarry. The Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt who visited 
 General Simcoe at York, in his " Travels through the United States, 
 the Country of the Iroquois and Upper Canada," gives a succinct 
 account of the duties of Lieutenants of Counties and of the militia 
 organization of the Province. He states that the division of the then 
 four existing districts of the Province into counties : 
 
 " Is purely military, and relates merely to the enlisting, completing 
 and assembling of the militia. The Counties are about twelve in 
 number."(i) The militia of each county are assembled and com- 
 manded by a lieutenant : they must be divided into regiments and 
 companies. They assemble once a year in each county, and are 
 inspected by the captains of the different companies at least twice a 
 year. Every male inhabitant is considered a miUtia man from the 
 age of sixteen to fifty. He is fined $4 if he does not enlist at the 
 proper time ; and officers, both commissioned and non-commissioned, 
 who do not join their regiments at the time the militia is assembled pay 
 a fine, the former of $8 and the latter of $2. An officer who, in case 
 of insurrection or an attack, should not repair to his assigned post, 
 would be punished in a pecuniary penalty of £50, and a petty officer 
 with a fine of ^20. A militia man who sells either the whole or a 
 part of his arm.s, ammunition or accoutrements is fined £5, and in 
 default of payment imprisoned for two months. The Qu akers, Bap- 
 
 (i) As a fact, however, there were rineteen. 
 
tists and Tunkers pay, in times of peace, twenty shillings a year, and 
 during_gjwar of insurrection five pounds sterling for their exemption 
 Tfom military service. Out of these fines and ransoms, the Adjutant- 
 General of the Militia receives his pay and the remainder is at the 
 Governor's disposal. This is nearly the substance of the first Act of 
 the Legislative body of Upper Canada, passed in 1793." 
 
 The following year a further Act was passed relating to the 
 militia, tending to improve and more accurately define the internal 
 form of the Regiments, Battalions and Companies, and to render the 
 assembling of detachments more easy and expeditious. It extended, 
 in time of War, the obligation to bear arms to sixty years, and 
 directed that Quakers and others who were exempt should pay for 
 their immunity up to that age. It obliged the militia to serve on 
 board of ships and vessels, to act as cavalry and to extend their 
 service beyond the Province, on condition, however, that the same 
 men should not be bound to serve more than six months successively. 
 The exemptions from service were confined to the officers of justice 
 and other public functionaries, whose number was very small. The 
 whole mihtia force was estimated at 9,000 men, and the cost of 
 maintenance was defrayed by the Britis"lt-G©vemmeTitr~"Ttie-ex-pen-se 
 of civil and military administration, including money and presents to 
 the Indians, was then, for Upper Canada, about £100,000 per 
 annum. 
 
 Dr. Canniff states, in his " Settlement of Upper Canada," that 
 " in all the measures introduced by Governor Simcoe and passed into 
 law by Parliament can be discovered a military mind actively at 
 work. The arrangements by which he endeavoured to settle the 
 country, to secure it against invasion, to keep alive a spirit of mili- 
 tary ardour, to keep aglow the fiame of patriotism, a love for the 
 Mother Country, were eminently judicious and commendable. There 
 is no doubt that the military spirit of Simcoe was pleasing to the old 
 soldier-farmers, and in them he f^und willing and zealous abettors of 
 his military schemes."(i) 
 
 I have lists of Lieutenants of Counties of the years 1803 and 
 1808. I give that for the year 1803, which is the earhest I am able 
 to find. It is taken from the Upper Canada Almanac of that year, 
 published at York by John Bennet at his printing office. King street : 
 
 (i) Page 546. 
 
16(5 
 
 Glengarry — Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell. 
 
 Prescott — William Fortune, Esq. , 
 
 Stormont — Archibald Macdonell, Esq. , , -' 
 
 Dundas — The Honourable Richard Duncan, Esq. 
 
 Grenville — Peter Drummond, Esq. 
 
 Leeds — James Brakenridge, Esq. 
 
 Frontenac — The Hon. Richard Cartwright. 
 
 Lennox — Hazelton Spencer, Esq. 
 
 Addington — William Johnson, Esq. 
 
 Hastings — John Ferguson, Esq. 
 
 Prince Edward — Archibald Macdonell, Esq., of Marysburg._ 
 
 Northumberland — Alexander Chisholm, Esq. — 
 
 Durham — Robert Baldwin, Esq. 
 
 York— The Honourable D. W. Smith, Esq. 
 
 Lincoln — The Hon. Robert Hamilton, Esq. 
 
 Norfolk — ^Samuel Ryerse, Esq. 
 
 Oxford — William Claus, Esq. 
 
 Essex — The Honourable Alexander Grant, Esq. 
 
 Kent — The Honourable James Baby, Esq. 
 
 It will be observed that several of these gentlemen had pre- 
 viously held commissions in Colonel Macdonell's Regiment. All of 
 them were at the time in command of the militia regiments of their 
 respective counties, except in the case of the Counties of Dundas, 
 Grenville, Leeds and Essex, where the militia regiments were com- 
 manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Allan Macdonel^Colonel William 
 Fraser, Colonel Joel Stone and Lieutenaut-Colonel John Asken, re- 
 spectively. 
 
 In r8o7 Colonel Macdonell proposed the formation of a Corps 
 of Glengarry Fencibles, and the following correspondence took place 
 between himself and Colonel (afterwards Major-General Sir Isaac) 
 Brock and the War Office : 
 
 " Glengarry, January 28, 1807. 
 'Sir, 
 
 " I have the honour to enclose you the proposals for raising a 
 corps of Highland Fencibles in this County, which were submitted 
 to your perusal. The alterations you made are adopted with very 
 few exceptions : should they meet with your approbation, you will be 
 pleased to forward them to the War Office. 
 
 " The permanent pay asked for the Field Officers and Chaplain 
 may be considered unusual, but i 1 this instance it is necessary and 
 expedient for carrying the proposals into effect. The Field Officers 
 must undergo a vast deal of troLible, and their time will be as much " 
 occupied as if the Corps were constantly embodied. 
 
 " The County is almost entirely inhabited by Highlanders and 
 
lor 
 
 their descendants, naturally brave and loyal as subjects, and firmly 
 attached to the British Constitution and Government, yet from their 
 situation and circumstances, being in general possessed of some 
 landed property and the high run of wages in the County, they are 
 reluctant to quit these advantages to become soldiers. Nothing but 
 a scheme of this nature, headed by gentlemen whom they know and 
 respect, would induce them on any consideration to put themselves 
 under the restraints of military disciphne. The Chaplain having 
 served in that capacity in the late Glengarry Fencibles in Great 
 Britain, Ireland and Guernsey, has a claim to the favour of Govern- 
 ment. He conducted a number of these people to this country, and 
 having rendered himself useful in many respects to the people at 
 large, has gained so fat their confidence that his services in urging 
 and forwarding this matter will be very essential. The adoption 
 and successful issue of the present plan will greatly facilitate any 
 future projectof raising troops for a more general and extended na- 
 ture of service. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, sir, 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " J. Macdonell, 
 " Lieutenant of the County of Glengarry. 
 
 " Colonel Brock, &c." 
 
 Colonel Brock forwarded Colonel Macdonell's proposal to the 
 War Office with the following letter to the Right Honourable 
 William Windham, then Secretary for War : — 
 
 " Quebec, February 12, 1807. 
 
 " I have the honour to transmit for your consideration a proposal 
 from Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, late of the Royal Canadian 
 Volunteers, for raising a Corps among the Scotch settlers in the 
 County of Glengarry, Upper Canada. 
 
 " When it is considered that both the Canadas furnish only 
 two hundred militia who are trained to arms, the advantages to be 
 derived from such an establishment must appear very evident. 
 
 " The militia force in this Country is very small, and were it 
 possible to collect it in time to oppose any serious attempt upon 
 Quebec, the only tenable post, the number would of itself be 
 insufficient to ensure a vigorous defence. 
 
 " This Corps, being stationed on the confines of the Lower 
 Province, would be always immediately and essentially useful in 
 checking any seditious disposition, which the wavering sentiments of 
 a large population in the Montreal District might at any time 
 manifest. In the event of invasion or other emergency, this force 
 cOuld be easily and expeditiously transported by water to Quebec. 
 
 " The extent of Country which these settlers occupy would make 
 the permanent establishmen; of the staff and one surgeon in each 
 
t02 
 
 company Vety advisable. I shall not persuttie to gay tioW far the 
 claims of the field Officers to the same indulgence are reasonable and 
 expedient. 
 
 " In regard to the Rev. Alexander Macdonell, I beg leave to ob- 
 serve that the men, being all Catholics, it may be deemed a prudent 
 measure to appoint him Chaplain. His zeal and attachment to 
 Government was strongly evinced while filling the office of Chaplain 
 to the Glengarry Fencibles during the rebellion in Ireland, and were 
 graciously acknowledged by His Royal Highness the Commander-in- 
 Chief. 
 
 " His influence over the men is deservedly great, and I have 
 every reason to believe that the Corps, by his exertions, would be 
 soon completed, and hereafter become a nursery, from which the 
 army might draw a number of hardy recruits. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 " Isaac Brock." 
 
 Colonel Macdonell's wise suggestion was not at the time carried 
 into effect, but a few years afterwards, when our relations with the 
 United States had arrived at a crisis, the British Government 
 adopted his plan, and gladly availed itself of the services of the 
 hardy band of Highland Loyalists, who had made their home in Glen- 
 garry in Canada, and fortunately, though Colonel John Macdonell 
 was unable to aid his Sovereign and his Country, the patriotic 
 Chaplain (afterwards Bishop) Macdonell with the assistance, as Will 
 be seen, of another namesake and clansman, raised and organized the 
 Glengarry Light Infantry Regiment, that ubiquitous Regiment which 
 fought through the War of 1812-14, and caused the name of Glengarry 
 to be respected by those who gloried in the freedom of British 
 institutions, and feared by those who sought to overthrow them. I 
 am unable to state definitely the date of the death of this gallant/' 
 Officer and meritorious public servant. 
 
 I fear that having spent the best portion of his lifetime in the 
 service of the country, his latter years were burdened by ill-health 
 and pecuniary embarassment. I observe in a letter from his sister, 
 the wife of General Ross, to her brother, Mr. Hugh Macdonell, 
 Consul-General at Algiers, this paragraph : " By a letter from Chi- 
 chester " (another brother who was then Lieutenant-Colonel of _the 
 Eighty-Second Regiment) " who had letters from Canada, I am 
 sorry to find that our brother John's health has been on the decline, 
 and I fear his means also. Chichester has procured him the pay- 
 mastership of the Tenth Veteran Battalion, which will be something 
 in the meantime. Had he not trusted so much to other people, he 
 
163 
 Would not have been under the necessity of accepting of such a 
 trifle. Poor fellow, he thought all the world as honest-hearted as 
 himself." 
 
 He died at Quebec, on his way, I believe, to England, probably 
 to take the appointment indicated above, and was buried under the 
 Catholic Cathedral Church there. 
 
 He left one son, Alexander Macdonell, Major in the Lan- 
 caster Regiment of Glengarry Highlanders, which served throughout 
 the Rebellion of '37-8, and who died many years ago, when com- 
 paratively young, and of whose family one daughter now survives, 
 and still retains in Glengarry a considerable portion of the property, 
 which was granted in return for the stem and unfailing loyalty of her 
 grandfather and his father. It is known as the " Schenectady " 
 property from the fact that Colonel Macdonell had married a lady 
 from that part of the State of New York, a Miss Yates — whose 
 family, unlike that of her husband, had adhered to the revolutionary 
 side. 
 
104 
 
 CHAPTER 10, 
 
 Career op" Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder), M.P. for First 
 Riding of Glengarry in First Parliament of Upper 
 Canada. — Testimony of Colonel Mathews, Military 
 Secretary to Lord Dorchester, as To Services of Him- 
 self and his Family. — First AdJutant-General of 
 Militia Upper Canada. — Appointed Consul-General at 
 Algiers. — Duke of Kent's Tribute to his Memory. — 
 His Family. — His Brother, Colonel Chichester Mac- 
 donell, Another U. E. Loyalist Officer. — Alexander 
 Macdonell (Collachie), M.P. for Glengarry and Speak- 
 er House of Assembly, 1804. — His Services in Revolu- 
 tionary War and War of 181 2, 
 
 Another of the Highland Loyalist OfScers who settled In Glen- 
 garry at the close of the Revolutionary War, represented the County 
 in Parliament, achieved considerable distinction in the Province, and 
 aftenvards rose to high position in a far distant part of the world, 
 was Hugh Macdonell, a brother of Colonel John Macdonell of Aber- 
 chalder. This gentleman commanded a company in his brother's 
 Regiment (Royal Canadian Volunteers) on its first establishment, 
 and afterwards was transferred to the Second Battalion, and in which 
 he was at one time the Senior Captain. In 1803 he was Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the Glengarry Militia Regiment, of which his elder 
 brother was Colonel. He w?s appointed by Lieutenant-Governor 
 Simcoe to be the first Adjutant-General of Militia in Upper Cana- 
 da, and was the founder of our MiHtia system. He sat as one of the 
 members for Glengarry in the first Legislature of the Province. On 
 the i8th September, 1792, the day following the opening of the first 
 session, the Address in reply to the Speech from the Throne having 
 been adopted, it was " ordered that Mr. Smith and Mr. Hugh Mac- 
 
^65 
 donell do Wait Ofi His Ejtcellency to know when His fixcelleflcy Will 
 be pleased to receive the House with the said Address." 
 
 In the debate on the Dual Language question, in 1890, reported 
 in Hansard, vol. 1, p. 894, Sir John Macdonald quoted an order of 
 the House of 3rd of July, 1793, on a motion made by Mr. Macdonell 
 as follows: — "Ordered that such Acts as have already passed, or 
 may hereafter pass the Legislature of the Province, be translated 
 into the French language for the benefit of the inhabitants of the 
 Western District of this Province and other French settlers who may 
 come to reside within the Province, and that A. Macdonell, Clerk of 
 this House, he employed for this and other purposes." 
 
 The meagre records, even where any exist at all, of the proceed- 
 ings of the earlier Legislatures do not enable us to ascertain what 
 particular part any individual member took in parliamentary life in 
 those days. This gentleman, however, did not remain very long in 
 Parliament or in the Province. Letters in my possession at present 
 show him to have enjoyed the friendship and patronage of the Duke 
 of Kent, and he appears to have merited it. 
 
 Ot the services of himself and family (Aberchalder) and the 
 clansmen of Glengarry during the Revolutionary War, Colonel 
 Mathews, Military Secretary to Lord Dorchester, who was in a bettef 
 position to speak authoritatively than any other man, wrote as follows 
 to the Under Secretary of Stale for War, when Capt. Macdonell, after 
 leaving Canada, laid his claim for continued employment in the 
 service before the British Government : — 
 
 " Chelsea College, 23rd Julie, 1804. 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 " Understanding that Captain Hugh Macdonell, late of the Royal 
 Canadian Volunteers, has been particularly recommended to the 
 Earl of Camden, and that he will consequently have the honour to wait 
 upon you, I cannot, with the intimate knowledge I possess of his own 
 and the meritorious services and sufferings of his family, forbear of 
 taking the liberty of troubling you with a few lines, in the hope of 
 interesting you in his favour. 
 
 " His father and uncle, respectable men in the Highlands of 
 Scotland, left that country with their families and considerable 
 property, a few years before the RebelHon in America, with a view to 
 establish themselves in that country, having for that purpose carried 
 out a numb3r of their d3pendents. They obtained a valuable grant 
 of land from Sir John Johnson on the Mohawk River, in the settle- 
 ment of which they had made considerable progress. 
 
io6 
 
 "When the Rebellion broke out they Were the first to fly 
 to arms on the part of Government, in which they and their 
 adherents, not less than two hundred men, took a most active and 
 decided lead, leaving their families and property at the mercy of the 
 rebels. 
 
 " I was at that time quartered at Niagara, and an eye-witness 
 
 ■ of the gallant and successful exertions of the Macdonells and their 
 
 dependents, by which, in a great measure, the Upper Country of 
 
 Canada was preserved, for on this little body a very fine battalion 
 
 was soon formed, and afterwards a second. 
 
 " Captain Macdonell's father and uncle, at that time advanced 
 in years, had companies in that Corps and in which his elder brother, 
 afterwards an active and distinguished partizan, carried arms. Xhe 
 sons of both families, five or six in number, the moment they could 
 bear arms, followed the bright example of their fathers, and soon be- 
 came active and useful officers in that and another corps of Rangers, 
 whose strength and services greatly contributed to unite the Indians 
 of the Five Nations in the interest of Government, and thereby 
 decidedly to save the Upper Country of Canada and our Indian 
 trade. 
 
 " These Corps were reduced on the peace in 1783, and were 
 settted in Upper Canada on grants of land from Government, where 
 Captain Macdonell's father and uncle died a few years after with a 
 total loss of all their property and the means of assisting their 
 families. 
 
 " Captain Macdonell afterwards held a company in the Canadian 
 Volunteers, of which his elder brother, before mentioned, was 
 Colonel ; but that also being disbanded, and he not having rank in 
 the army, he is literally left destitute after a service of twenty-six 
 years— for I countersigned his commission as Lieutenant twenty- 
 three years ago. Thus a valuable officer is lost to himself and to 
 the service, whose abilities either in a civil or a military capacity, 
 particularly in Canada, jvhere his knowledge of the French language, 
 the customs and manners of the people, and of the interests of the 
 Indian nation, might be turned to good account,' while the services 
 and sufferings of a very deserving officer would be rewarded. 
 " I have the honour to be, dear sir, 
 
 " Your very obedient and humble servant, 
 
 " R. Mathews. 
 " Edward Cooke, Esq." 
 
 Such Statements emanating from one who had so long been on 
 the staff of Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) constitute high 
 praise indeed, and are indisputable proof of the loyalty and merit of 
 the Glengarry men. Colonel Mathews and that eminent essayist, 
 Mr. George Sandfield Macdonald, do not appear to agree, but I 
 
107 
 venture to suggest that the former is probably the better authority of 
 the two as regards the United Empire Loyalists. Psychological and 
 sociological research and disquisition is evidently Mr. George Sand- 
 field Macdonald's forte. He had better follow John Richard Green 
 in that field, and leave the " humble and ignorant" Highlanders alone 
 or confine himself to " individuals of distinction." The descendants 
 of " the people" will preserve the memories and deeds of their own 
 forbears and write their history. 
 
 Lord Camden, the'ii Colonial Secretary, writing to Lieutenant- 
 Governor Hunter, under date Downing Street, 2nd August, 1804, 
 states : * * * " A very favourable representation having been 
 made to me by General Simcoe of the merits and services of Cap- 
 tain Hugh Macdonell, who was formerly appointed Adjutant-General 
 of the Militia Forces in Upper Canada, and who appears to have 
 received, up to the ist June, 1795, only, the pay intended to have 
 been allowed to him, I am to authorize you to issue to him or his 
 agent from the date above specified until your arrival in Canada in 
 1799, when his services as Adjutant-General appear to have been 
 regularly dispensed with, an allowance at the rate of five shillings per 
 day." " "^ 
 
 After the close of the Revolutionary War, and previous to the 
 raising of the R. C. V., Mr. Macdonell was Surveyor of the Eastern 
 District of Upper Canada, and surveyed, I believe, the greater 
 portion of it, including the County of Glengarry. After his death, 
 his widow prepared a statement of his services in Canada, from which 
 I take the following extract : — 
 
 " * * It was universally known that the settlement of Upper 
 Canada was originally a matter resorted to on the cessation of the 
 hostilities with the United States, consequent on the extensive 
 reduction in the army which took place on that event, the Govern- 
 ment granting portions of land proportioned to respective grades — on 
 which occasion Mr. Macdonell was allotted five_ hundred a<:res-a&-a 
 reduced Lieutenant on half-pay. Subsequently a more liberal allow- 
 ance was extended to the officers, by which he became entitled to one 
 thousand five hundred acres more, which grant, from inadvertence, 
 was deferred and finally was never located,, although he Was Surveyor 
 to the Eastern District of the Province, and in virtue of which the 
 duty of the assignment of land to those entitled devolved upon him. 
 
 •' The Government uader the anxious desire of conciliating the 
 the (Lower) Canadian gentry to their rather recent condition of 
 British subjects, authorized Lord Dorchester, the Governor and 
 
io8 
 Captain-General of the Canadas, to raise a certain force as an 
 expedient. His Lordship committed this service to Mr. Macdonell's 
 elder brother, the officers being selected from half-pay native 
 Canadians. Two Battalions were within a reasonable time 
 embodied, in one of which- JVIr. Macdonell was_Senior Captain. 
 This levy, destined for the service and security of the Canadas and 
 other colonial possessions in British North America, volunteered to 
 extend their services to any quarter where they might be deemed to 
 be most available, and had existed for a period of about eight years, 
 until the measure of the Treaty of Amiens was compassed, when this 
 force, which was always considered to be intended to be permanent, 
 was, to the astonishment of all and indignation of many, included in 
 the reduction of the army which followed that event, without 
 conferring rank, half-pay or any remuneration whatseever on the 
 unfortunate officers, by which narrow policy and unlucky parsimony 
 the case that was meant to be propitiated became on the contrary 
 more deeply aggrevated. 
 
 " Having abandoned the pursuits and occupations that he held 
 previously to joining the lately-reduced Corps, considering them to 
 be incompatible with his new position, he parted with a valuable 
 -water mill jjxoperty to satisfy a considerable claim upon him 
 in cons'eqifence of having become security for an individual who 
 failed in his engagements — in short, he parted with whatever property 
 he might have remained possessed of, and detennined to move from 
 a country where his lot had been so singularly unprosperous, and 
 with what he considered his incontestable claim for employment, he 
 repaired lo London. He was about to be satisfied with a lieutenancy 
 in the Fusiliers when the extreme benignity of His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of Kent saved him from the mortification of having again 
 to enter the army in the grade of subaltern by obtaining for him the 
 appointment of Assistant Commissary General within his own gov- 
 ernment (Gibraltar). He continued in this department till he was, 
 still through the protection of his Royal benefactor, called upon to 
 repair to Algiers. 
 
 " I have entered into a tedious detail of matters personal to my 
 late husband solely to establish that his absence from Canada while 
 engaged in the public service ought not surely to be considered pre- 
 judicial to any claims he might have pending in that country. 
 
 " I might further add, without grounding any pretensions on it, 
 that Mr. Macdonell had a younger brother, Lieut. -Col. Chichester 
 ^^fecdonell, who died in India while in command of 'the 34th Re- 
 giment, who was entitled to an equal grant of land with himself, and 
 which he firmly believed was never located — if any part, certainly 
 not to the extent of the second allotment. Further, to obviate all 
 doubt that might arise respecting the perfect authenticity of my 
 children's claims, I have to state that Mr. Macdonell was a Member 
 for the first Riding of the County of Glengarry of the first House of 
 Assembly of which his elder brother was Speaker and that he was ap- 
 
109 
 
 pointed by General Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, to 
 the post of Adjutant-General of the Militia Station, to which from 
 relative circumstances he attached some moment, the number of 
 troops assigned for the service of Upper Canada being necessarily 
 limited." 
 
 Captain Hugh Macdonell's subsequent career is so interesting 
 and so well worth recording that I venture shortly to digress with 
 that object. 
 
 Colonel Playfair, H. M. Consul-General at Algiers, in his 
 annals of British relations with Algiers, entitled " The Scourge of 
 Christendom," states that Mr. Macdonell began his career in 1778 as 
 an Ensign in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, and that he 
 rose to be Adjutant-General of the Province of Upper Canada; that 
 in i8o5 he was appointed Assistant Commissary-General at 
 • Gibraltar. In 1810 he with Lord Cochrane, K. B., and Captain 
 Harding, R. E., was sent to Algiers to inspect and report upon La 
 Calle, and in 1811 Mr. Macdonell, under the patronage of the Duke 
 of Kent, was sent as Consul-General to Algiers, where at the hands 
 of the infamous Dey he suffered the greatest hardships and privatinos 
 the lives of himself and his family being in almost constant jeopardy, 
 and he not infrequently imprisoned. It was necessary for Lord 
 Exmouth, then in command of the Mediterranean fleet, to bombard 
 Algiers in order to procure his release in August, 1816. Having 
 effected his purpose and before resigning his command. Lord 
 Exmouth publicly thanked Mr. Macdonell as follows : — 
 
 " I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of offering you my 
 public thanks for the assistance I have received from your activity 
 and intelligence in my late negotiations with the Regency of Algiers, 
 and more especially for the manly firmness you have displayed 
 throughout all the violence and embarassments occasioned by the 
 late discussions, of which it will afford me sincere pleasure to bear 
 testimony to His Majesty's Ministers on my return to England." 
 
 The plague, which had broken out in 1817, spread rapidly 
 throughout the country. The Dey continued to send out plague- 
 stricken cruisers against vessels of Prussia and the Hanse Town 
 especially, but they visited those of every other nation and thus 
 spread the contagion all over the Mediterranean. He had a fiendish 
 delight in thus propagating the fell disease, and he even on one 
 occasion attempted the life of Mr. Macdonell by causing a wretch 
 who had it to cast a cloak on the Consul's shoulders. Retribution 
 
no 
 however, speedily overtook him, and he died of it himself on March 
 I, i8i8.(i) 
 
 His successor, Hussein bin Hassan, took immediate steps to 
 hasten the equipment of Algerine cruisers, but he yielded to the 
 representations of the British Government that they should not be 
 sent forth during the continuance of the plague. The average 
 number of deaths from the plague was fifty daily. It was computed 
 that 16,000 souls had died of it in Algiers, while Constantina, Bona 
 and Blidah were almost depopulated. (2) 
 
 MrJVEacdonell continued as Consul at Algiers until 1820; when 
 "he was pensioned by the British Government. 
 
 Colonel Playfair states of Mr. Macdonell : " For many years 
 he had rendered excellent service to the state. The Duke of Kent 
 always entertained the highest opinion of his character and 
 abilities, and maintained a constant personal correspondence with 
 him." A letter written by Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey contains a most 
 flattering testimony of his worth : " His Royal Highness has always 
 understood from those who have had occasion to be acquainted with 
 his proceedings at Algiers that his conduct has invariably met with 
 the highest approbation of Government for the judgment and 
 firmness he has evinced in the most trying moments, a circumstance 
 peculiarly gratifying to the Duke, who reflects with pleasure upon his 
 being the first who brought him forward." 
 
 After Mr. Macdonell's death, his widow (his second wife, who 
 was a daughter of Admiral Ulrich, Danish- Consul-General at 
 Algiers) married the Duke de Talleyrand-Perigord, and died at 
 Florence in 1870 at a very advanced age. 
 
 Mr. Macdonell's two sons^General Sir Alexander Macdonell, 
 K.C.B., Colonel-Commandant of the Prince Consort's Own Rifle 
 Brigade, and Mr. Hugh Guion Macdonell, C.B., C.M.G., Her 
 Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy-Extraordinary to the 
 King of Denmark — still survive. It is gratifying to find that the 
 sons of a gentleman who first represented the County of Glengarry 
 in Parliament have risen to the highest preferment in the mihtiary 
 and diplomatic services. (3) Hart's Army List gives Sir Alexander 
 Macdonell's distinguished career as follows : — 
 
 (i) Playfair, page 284. 
 
 (2> Idem. 
 
 '3) Sir Alex.lnder Macdonell died since the nbove was written, at Carshalton, Surrey, 
 England, on the 30th April, 1891. The " London Illustrated News " of May 30th contains his 
 portryit ard a sketch of his career. 
 
lit 
 
 '"Second Lieutenant, 23 June, 1837 i Lieutenant, May li, 184I ; 
 Captain, 24 October 1845; Brevet Major, 12 December, 1854; 
 Major, 22 December, 1854; Brevet Lieutenant'Colonel, 17 July, 
 1855; Lieutenant-Colonel, i June, 1857; Colonel, 20 July, 1858) 
 Major-General, 5 March, i858 ; Lieutenant-General, i October, 1877^ 
 General, i April, 1882 ; iColonel-Commandant !Rifle Brigade, 24 
 January, i885. 
 
 "Served with the Rifle Brigade in the Kaffir War of 1846-.J 
 '[medal], also throughout the Eastern Campaign of 1854 as Aide-de- 
 Camp to Sir George Brown, and present at the affair oT Bulganac-, 
 capture of Balaklava and Battles of Alma and Inkerman. • 'Conr- 
 manded the 2nd Battalion from May, 1S55, to the Fall dt Sebastopol-, 
 including the defence of the Quarries on 7 June and assaults of the 
 Redan on 18 June and 8 Sept. [medal with three clasps, brevets of 
 Major and Lieutenant-Colonel, C.B., Knight ot the Legion of Honour, 
 Sardinian and Turkisli medals, and 5th class of the Medjidie] 
 
 " Commandefl the 3Td Battalion during the Indian Mutiny, in^ 
 eluding the Skirmishof Secundra, Siege and Capture of Lucknow and 
 subsequent opeiations [brevet of Colonel, medal with clasp]. Also 
 served in the campaign on the Northwest Frontier of India in 1864 
 [medal]. 
 
 " Commanded the Expedition against the Mohmund tribes in 
 1863-4 [medal with clasp]." 
 
 In this Regiment (the Prince Consort's Own Rifle Brigade), itt' 
 which Sir Alexander Macdonell is now Colonel-Commandant, and of 
 which His Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, 
 K.G., is Colonel-in-Chief — another officer, a native of this country, and 
 son of a gentleman whose name will ever be held in grateful remem^ 
 brance by all Canadians, has attained high rank. I refer to Colonel 
 C. W. Robinson,* C. B., now Assistant Military Secretary at the- 
 Horse Guards. Colonel Robinson is the youngest son of the late 
 -Stt John Beverley Robinson, Bart., for many years the eminent 
 --Chief-Justice of Upper Canada, and a brother of the Honourable 
 John Beverley Robinson, recently Lieutenant-Governor of this 
 Province. This is not the first time these names have been 
 associated ; both gentlemen are descendants of LoyaHst officers of 
 the Revolutionary War, Sir Alexander Macdonell, as we have seen, 
 being a son of an officer in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, 
 and Colonel Robinson the grandson of Chistopher Robinson, who 
 was an Ensign in the Queen's Rangers in the same War, and both of 
 whom held seats in the earlier Parliaments of Upper Canada. 
 
 Again, Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Robinson, at the time a student 
 in the office of Colonel John MacdoneU (firegnfield), who was then 
 
Attorney-General of tipper Canada, was a Lieutenant in- the York. 
 Volunteers, and present with Colonel Macdonell at the Capture of 
 Detroit and the Battle of Queenston Heights, where Sir Isaac Brock 
 and Colonel Macdonell fell, and he was one of the pall-bearers of the 
 latter when the remains of General Brock and his Aide-de-Camp 
 were interred after the dearly-bought victory then achieved. It is a 
 somewhat strange fact that the present Sir Alexander Macdonell 
 should be a first cousin of the then raember for Glengarry, Colonel 
 Macdonell,who was killed seventy-seven long years ago, " while gal- 
 la;itly charging up the hill with the hereditary courage of his race," as 
 Sir Isaac Brock's biographer states of him, " Wounded in four places, 
 and with a bullet having passed completely through his body." (i) 
 
 Perhaps here I may mention that Mr. John Beverley Robinson, 
 the recent Lieutenant-Governor, was one of those *vho strongly urged 
 me to attempt the task I have now undertaken, of writing a sketch of 
 the early history of our County on the ground, as he wrote me, that 
 " the history of Glengarry is a proud record of most valuable services 
 rendered to tiie country in early times, when the men of that County 
 made its name famous in War and Peace." 
 
 The youngest son of Mr. Hugh Macdonell, M. P. for Glengarry, 
 Mr. Hugh Guion Macdonell, at the age of i6, also obtained a 
 commission in the same distinguished Regiment as his brother, the 
 Rifle Brigade, arid served on the Cape Frontier, where he contracted 
 a severe rheumatic fever, which precluded him from joining his 
 Regiment in the Crimea. He was then obliged to enter the diplo- 
 matic service, in which his career has been as follows : — 
 
 " Was appointed attache at Florence, February 8, 1854 ; passed 
 an examination for a paid attacheship, October 27, 1858; was ap- 
 pointed paid attache at Washington, November 23, 1858 ; at Con- 
 stantinople, December 13, 1858 ; fourth paid attache there, Decem- 
 ber 31, 1859, and third paid attache, November 24, 1869. Was 
 appointed a second secretary, October i, 1862; was transferred to 
 Rio de Janeiro, August 10, 1865 (but did not proceed thither), and 
 to Copenhagen, July 24, 1866. Was promoted to be Secretary of 
 Legation at Buenos Ayres, April 9, 1869, where he was Acting 
 Charge d'Afifaires from December 12, 1869, till December 15, 1872. 
 Was transferred to Madrid, October 26, 1872, where he was Acting 
 Charge d'Affaires from June 26 to October 6, 1873, and from June 
 24 till September 25, 1874. Was promoted to be Secretary of Em- 
 bassy at Berlin, January 15, 1875, where he was Acting Charge d'Af- 
 
 (i ) Tupper's " Life of Sir Isaac Brock," page 332. 
 
ti3 
 
 laires from August 4 till September 13, 1875 ; from Jufte 26 till July 
 15, 1876 ; from August 4 till 'September 4, 1876 ; from May 31 till 
 July 3, 1877 ; and from September 26 till November 24, 1877. Was 
 transferred to Rome, May 6, 1878, where he was Acting Charge 
 d'Afifaires from July 7 till October 29, 1878; from August 23 till 
 September 27, 1879; fro™ July 19 till October 23, 1880 ; from April 
 23 till May 2, 1881 ; and from July 28 till September 28, 1881. Was 
 promoted to be Charge d' Affaires at Munich, February 23, 1882, 
 and to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the 
 Emperor of Brazil, November 5, 1885. Transferred in the same 
 capacity to the King of Denmark, February i, 1889." 
 
 The daughters of Mr. Hugh Macdonell (the member for Glen> 
 garry) were married to Mr.. Holstein, who succeeded Admiral Ulrich 
 as Danish Consul-General at Algiers ; General Sir Robert Wynyard, 
 Military-Governor of the Cape of Good Hope ; General Sir George 
 Brown, who commanded the Light Division in the Crimea War, and 
 was Adjutant-General of the Forces; Captain Buck, Royal Navy; 
 Viscount Aq'uado ; Captain Cumberland, Forty-Second Royal High- 
 landers; and Don Augusto Conte, late Spanish Ambassador in 
 Vienna. Another daughter was a religieuse ol the Order of the 
 Sacred-Hfiaot. 
 
 A brother of Colonel John Macdonell and Mr. Hugh Mac 
 donell was Lieutenant-Colonel Chichester Macdonell, who also was 
 a Loyalist Officer in the Revolutionary War, having commenced his 
 military career as a Second Lieutenant in Butler's Rangers. He 
 did not remain in Canada on the conclusion of that War, but 
 continued in the service and became successively Lieutenant-Colonel 
 of the Eighty-Second and Thirty-Fourth Regiments of Foot. He 
 served under Sir John Moore at Corunna and died on service in 
 India. After his death, a medal having been struck for Corunna, a 
 gold medal was transmitted to his family by direction of the Prince 
 Regent to be deposited with them " as a token of the respect which 
 His Royal Highness entertained for the memory of that officer." 
 Mr. Hugh Macdonell, the British Minister at Copenhagen, had the 
 kindness and courtesy to send me the original letter from H. R. H. 
 the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, enclosing his uncle's medal. 
 It is a coincidence that it should be from the same illustrious 
 _ personage as another in my possession forwarding another gold 
 me33l'-(tD- my grandfather) for the Capture o£_Detr&it,_to-be-deposited_ 
 with his family, " as a token oTTEe~respect which His Majesty 
 
114 
 etlfertaCined for the memory of Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdbnell," 
 who was killed with Brock at Queenston Heights, and who was a 
 nephew of Colonel Chichester. Still another of their relatives, Sir 
 James Macdonell, Glengarry's brother, " the stalwart and indomit- 
 able defender of Hougoumont," " the bra^vest man in Britain," had 
 another of these hard-earned but glorious tokens of the Sovereign's- 
 approbation and their country's gratitude, while Colonel George 
 Macdonell, of the Glengarr)' Fencibles, another relative and clans- 
 man, was awarded one of the two gold medais given for Chateauguay, 
 De Salaberry getting the other. 
 
 A sister of the foregoing gerttlemen had been married in Scotland to 
 Alexander Macdonell of Greenfield before either of the families came 
 to this country, and was the mother of Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan, 
 Macdonell of Greenfield, Lieutenant-Coloner~JOlrn"Macdonel]^-aiid— 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Greenfield MacdoaelLi^beJ^wo latter of 
 whom both afterwards represented the County of Glengarry inlPartia— 
 ment, and all of whom, together with their father and relatives innumer- 
 able, did their fair share of fighting in perilous times not far distant. 
 Another sister was married tQ Captain (afterwards General) Wilkinson, 
 and a third to Captain (afterwards General) Ross, and brother of 
 Field Marshal Ross. 
 
 Still another of the Loyalist officers who represented the County 
 Was Alexander Macdonell (Collachie). This gentleman was born at 
 Fort Augustus, in Glengarry, Scotland, in 1762, and was a son of 
 Mr. Allan Macdonell, whose name is appended with that of Sir 
 John Johnson to the various negotiations with the American General 
 Schuyler before hostilities actually took place in the ill-fated Valley 
 of the Mohawk in 1776, and who appears to have been commissioned 
 to speak more particularly on behalf of the Scotch inhabitants of 
 that district. His father was one of the six prisoners taken by 
 General Schuyler on the 19th January of that year, together \^ith 
 two of his nephews, it being previously agreed that " all due defer- 
 ence should he paid to their rank, and that being gentlemen they 
 should be permitted to wear their side arms." They were sent to 
 Lancaster in Pennsylvania, and were detained during the greater 
 portion of the continuance of hostilities. Mr. Alexander Macdonell's 
 mother was a daughter of the Chief of MacNab, and, like most of 
 the Scotch women of that day, made of good stuff. She, too, was 
 eventually taken prisoner, as was Lady Johnson. From her place of 
 
"5 
 
 captivity at Schenectady, whither she was taken with her two daugh- 
 ters, she wrote to her son on learning that he had, though too young 
 for a commission, joined her Sovereign's forces as a volunteer, ex- 
 horting him to be brave and " never to forget that all the blood in his 
 veins was that of a Highland gentleman " — much the same sentiment 
 as was in Praed's mind when he wrote : 
 I Fight as your fathers fought, 
 I Fall as your fathers fell ; 
 , Thy task is taught ; thy shroud is wrought — 
 i Sp, Forward and Farewell ! 
 
 Mrs. MacdongU managed to effect her escape frorn her place of 
 imprisonment in 1780, and made her >vay to New York, yvhich was 
 then in possession of the British forces. 
 
 An interesting letter of hers, written before she was taken pri- 
 soner and when, her husband being prisoner of war, she appear? to 
 have been left in charge of the settlemerit and such of the men as 
 had not already accompanied Sir John Johnson to Canada, i? given 
 in a book lately published at Albany, '> The Orderly Book of Sir 
 John Johnson " : 
 
 "CoLLACHiE, isth March, 1777. 
 "Sir, ■ 
 
 " Some time ago I wrote you a letter much to this purpose con- 
 cerning the inhabitants of this bush being made prisoners. There 
 was no such thing then in agitation as you were pleased to observe 
 in your letter to me this morning. Mr. Billie Laird came among the 
 people to give them warning to go in to sign and swear. To this 
 they will never consent, being already prisoners of General Schuyler. 
 His Excellency was pleased by your proclamation directing every 
 one of them to return to their farms, and that they should be no 
 more troubled nor molested during the war. To this they agreed, and 
 have not done anything against the country, nor intend to if left alone. 
 If not, they will lose their lives before being taken prisoners again. 
 They begged of me the favour to write to Major Fonda and the gen- 
 tlemen of the committee to this purpose. They blame neither the 
 one nor the other of you gentlemen, but those ill-natured fellows 
 amongst them that got up an excitement about nothing in order to 
 ingratiate themselves in your favour. They were of very great hurt 
 to your cause since May last, through violence and ignorance. I do 
 not know what the cause would have been to them long ago if not 
 prevented. Only think what daily provocation does ! Jenny joins 
 me in compliments to Mrs. Fonda. 
 " I am, sir, 
 
 " Your humble servant, 
 
 " Helen Macdonell." 
 
ii6 
 
 Mr. Alexander Macdonell served as a cadet under Sir John 
 Johnson at the Attack upon Fort Schuyler, the Battle of Oriskany 
 and in most of the severe skirmishes which took place in the Valley 
 of the Mohawk in 1777. In 1778, being then sixteen years of age, 
 he was appointed to an ensigncy in the Second Battalion of the 
 Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment (Eighty-Fourth), and was pre- 
 sent at the Battle of Monmouth, and served under General Clinton 
 at Philadelphia until that city was evacuated by the British forces, 
 who retired to New York. Mr. Macdonell there received his lieu- 
 tenancy. He was made the bearer of despatches from Sir Henry 
 Clinton to General Haldimand, commanding in Canada. From 
 New York he proceeded to Rhode Island, thence making his way 
 via Lakes George and Champlain to Canada, principally on foot 
 Shortly after his arrival, he was traiisferred^to__Butler!sRangers, with 
 which he remained on active ser\Kce until the close of the VVar^when 
 he was placed on half-pay. When General Simcoe was appointed 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1792, he appointed Mr, 
 Macdonell — who had been favourably known to him during his ser- 
 vice in the army — Sheriff of the Home District, which included the 
 present Counties of Northumberland, Durham, Ontario, York, Halton, 
 Peel, Simcoe and others. Upon the removal of the seat of Government 
 from Newark to York in 1797, he went to reside in the latter place, 
 and continued to be Sheriff of the Home District until 1805. From 
 1805 to 1812 Mr. Macdonell acted as agent for Lord Selkirk in 
 superintending his settlement at Baldoon in the Western District. 
 This settlement was formed by Lord Selkirk subsequent to a similar 
 one he had formed in Prince Edward Island for the purpose of 
 benefitting his Highland fellow-countrymen. 
 
 Mr. Macdonell represented the County of Glengarry in several 
 of the eariier Parliaments, and in 1804 was elected Speaker of the 
 House of Assembly of the Province. 
 
 When war was declared in 1812, he hastened to return to Can- 
 ada from London, whither he had gone on private affairs, was gazet- 
 ted Colonel of Militia and appointed Assistant Paymaster-General 
 to the Militia Force. 
 
 At the Capture of Niagara by the Americans on May 26, 1813, 
 he was made prisoner of war, and sent to Lancaster in Pennsylvania, - 
 where he was detained until the close of the War. It happened, 
 singularly enough, that he was then imprisoned in the same place in 
 
the same town in which his father/fwho in early life had fought with 
 Prince Charlie at Culloden) had previously been kept prisoner in 
 consequence of his stem loyalty to the British Crown in the Revolu- 
 tionary War of 1776, so that this family had their fair share of suf- 
 ferings and hardships. 
 
 On the conclusion of the War, and the consequent disbandment 
 of the various Regiments, many of the men entitled to land were 
 settled by the Government on the waste lands of the Crown through- 
 out the Province, and especially in the neighbourhood ot Perth, and 
 Mr. Macdonell was appointed Superintendent of the settlement. 
 
 The officers of the Department for Settlers in Upper Canada 
 were as follows : — 
 
 Superintendent — Alexander Macdonell, Esquire. 
 Deputy Superintendent — D. McGregor Rogers. 
 Secretary and Store-keeper — Daniel Duverne. 
 Officers in charge — Captain Richard Bullock, senior ; Lieuten- 
 ant Angus Macdonell, Lieutenant Mclver. 
 Surgeon — ^John Caldwell. 
 
 Subsequently in 1816 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of 
 the Indian Department, on accepting which, it being an Imperial 
 appointment, he forfeited his half-pay which he had received since 
 the disbandment of Butler's Rangers. 
 
 The Honourable Alexander Macdonell was subsequently for 
 many years a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada, 
 and died in Toronto on 14th March, 1842, full of years and the 
 esteem of all good men. 
 
 The people of Glengarry can thus point with some degree of 
 pride to the services rendered to, and the sacrifices made for the 
 country by this gentleman, whom their fathers deservedly entrusted 
 with the representation of their franchises when representative gov- 
 «mment was in its infancy in this Province. 
 
 Of his brothers, Angus Macdonell, also of course a Highland 
 Loyalist, was the first Clerk of the Legislative Assembly in 1792, 
 and was one of the earliest barristers of Upper Canada, and Trea- 
 surer of the Law Society of Upper Canada from 1801 to 1804. He 
 was Member for Durham, Simcoe and the East Riding of York in 
 the Legislature. He was drowned, M^ith Judge Cochrane, the Solici- 
 
Hi 
 
 tor-General, Robert Isiac Dey Gray and ^,11 other passengers Oil the 
 vessel " Speedy," on Octbbef 7th, 1804. 
 
 The youngest brother, James Macdoileil, was a Captain in the 
 Forty-Third Light Infantry, who died while on service in the West 
 Indies. He, with others of the Highland Loyalist officers, was hon- 
 oured with the patronage of the Duke of Kent. Writing to his 
 brother, from Montreal, sth May, 1795, he states : " I am now just 
 readie to quit this place for Quebec, on my way to the regiment. 
 iThe number of people His Royal Highness has lately provided for, 
 and his kind expressions to myself, leave me no room to doubt but 
 he will continue his goodness to me." 
 
itt9 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The Reverend John Bethune, First Presbyterian MinisT'er. 
 : — Chaplain First Battalion Eighty-Fourth Regiment. — 
 Minister of St. Gabriel Presbyterian Church, Mont-» 
 real. — Removes to Glengarry. — His Death in 1815. — 
 His Sons. — Bishop Stachan's School at Cornwall.— 
 The Reverend Roderick Macdonell (Leek), First Catho- 
 lic Priest. — Letter from Lord Sydney, Secretary of 
 "State, to Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, Introducing 
 Him. — Knoy dart Ejjigraiion^ to^ Glengarry, 1786.-;^ 
 Other EarlySettlers in the County^ 
 
 Among the first settlers of the County, few names have come 
 down to us of men who in their day were held in greater or more 
 deserved estimation than the Reverend John Bethune, and although 
 the connection which existed between his family and the County has 
 been severed for many years, yet so intimate was the association in 
 early days that any record of those days would be incomplete which 
 did not make some mention, however imperfect, of this learned and 
 worthy divine. 
 
 As all relating to Mr. Bethune, who Was the first and for many 
 years the only Minister of the Kirk of Scodand, not only in Glen- 
 garry but in Upper Canada, must necessarily be of interest to many, 
 I may mention that that gentleman was born in the Isle of Skye in 
 175 1. The family trace their lineage very far back in Scotch and 
 French historical records. The first of the name who left Normandy 
 for the British Isles came to Scotland in the reign of Malcolm III., 
 a contemporary of William the Conqueror, in the eleventh century. 
 Many men famous in Scotch history belonged to this family, among 
 whom may be mentioned Cardinal Beaton (the name is frequently 
 
spelled and pronottnced in this way), and Arciibisfiop Hethune of 
 Glasgow. 
 
 The Reverend Robert Canq)bell, in his book, which contains so 
 much that is of interest connected with tlie early settlement of the 
 country, " History of the Scotch Presbyterian Churdi, St Gabriel 
 Street, Montreal," mentions that Mr. Bethune had been Chaplain to 
 the Royal Militia in North Carolina, was taken prisoner and con- 
 fined in gaol by the Revolutionists. He obtained his release from 
 the hands of the rebels at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War 
 owing to an exchange of prisoners which took place, and made his 
 Way to the steadfast Province of Nova Scotia, residing for the time 
 at Halifax, taking almost immediately thereafter an active part in 
 Organizing the Eighty-Fourth or Royal Highland Emigrant Regi- 
 ment, of which an account is given in another place (i), and in 
 which he was appointed Chaplain to the First Battalion. When 
 that Regiment Was disbanded, the United Empire Loyalists and 
 others of the Presbyterian faith in Montreal, naturally rallied 
 aromid Mr. Bethune when he proposed to organize a Presbjrter- 
 ian congregation there. Nor was the assistance which he 
 received confined to those of his faith alone, Mr. Campbell stating 
 that many Highland Catholics, and some who belonged to the Epis- 
 copal Church as well, with characteristic high feeling and national 
 pride, open-handed as they were brave and patient in enduring hard- 
 ships suffered for conscience sake, generously respoflded to the 
 appeal of their fellow-countryman, and subscribed according to their 
 means to the building fimd of St. Gabriel's Church, of which Mr. 
 Bethime was the founder, and in which he preached to his small 
 but interesting congregation until May 6th, 1787. 
 
 Mr. Bethime had however, received the grant of land appor- 
 tioned to his rank in the army — 3,000 acres, the same as a captain 
 — and it being located in Glengarry, and having a growing family to 
 provide for, each of whom, on arriving at age, would also be entitled 
 to an allotment of two hundred acres, removed to Williamstown, 
 then the leading settlement in Glengarry ; but though he^^PenTto re^ 
 side upon his property, he did not forget his ministerial vows, but 
 resumed professional work in the new sphere to which Providence 
 had led him. He was a faithful and zealous missionary, and to this 
 
 (l) Ante, p.p. 51-56. 
 
day the fruks of his vigour and efficiency lemaift in the large aad 
 prosperous congregations organized by him not only in Williams- 
 town, but in Martintown, Cornwall and Lancaster. He baptized al- 
 together 2,379 persons during his ministry in Glengarry. His "wife was 
 a lady of Swiss birth, Veronica Wadden, and together they struggled 
 bravely against poverty and privations manifold incidental to life in 
 the bush, " having little more to live upon than his half-pay as a 
 retired Chaplain," and brought up their large family of six sons and 
 three daughters, instilHng into their minds high principles, and im- 
 parting to them that culture which, emanating from so many Scottish 
 manses, has led on clergymen's sons to distinction a,nd honour. 
 
 His patriotism, of which he had given such striking proof in his 
 youth, grew with his advancing life and helped to deepen in the 
 whole district the loyalty which has ever characterized the men of 
 Glengarry. His name is found second on the list on the loyal ad- 
 dress presented to Sir Gordon Drummond, President of the Province of 
 Upper Canada, on the 21st December, 18 14, at the conclusion of the 
 Second American War, Mr. Alexander (afterwards the' Bishop) Mac 
 donell's name being first. The mention of Bishop Macdonell's 
 name suggested to Mr. Campbell an interesting incident of those 
 days, illustrative of the kindly sentiments which the Gaelic-speaking 
 people of Glengarry, Protestant and Roman Catholic, cherished 
 towards each other. Some dispute had arisen between Mr. Bethune 
 and his parishoners, as still sometimes happens in the best regulated 
 congregations, which they failed to settle by themselves. The happy 
 thought occurred to some ond'to submit the difficulty in question to 
 Bishop Macdonell, their respected Catholic neighbour at St. Raphaels, 
 and this course was mutually agreed on. After the hearing of parties, 
 the Bishop, who might be expected to give the benefit of the doubt 
 to his Protestant confrere, by way of upholding the principle of 
 authority, not only gave judgment in his favour, but gave the people 
 a good lecture on the duty of respect and obedience which they 
 owed their ecclesiastical superior, which exhortation the congregation 
 received in good part, and the breach between them and their pastor 
 was healed. In addition to this instance of the utter absence of 
 intolerance, I may mention that in cases of emergency the Bishop 
 was often sent for to administer consolation to dying neighbours not 
 of his faith, but who, unable to procure their own minister in time, 
 wanted his prayers, which he could offer up in the beloved Gaelic, 
 
I?2 
 
 which he spoke g,sf well as English — rbetter indeed, for it was his 
 mother tongue. These evidences of regard and confidence ng.tural- 
 ]y greatly gratified the Bishop, who used to declare that he knevy 
 lots of gopd Protestant prayers. Mr. Campbell mentions as another 
 illustration of the relations subsisting in those d^ys that the Churcji 
 ef the RecoUet Fathers in Montreal was placed by the priests at the 
 disposal of the Presbyterians in 1791 until their own phurch pn S^. 
 Gabriel's Street was completed, and that they gladly accepted of 
 this hospitality, and their sacraments were administered in it, thp 
 Priests " declining to accept of any compensation by way of rent, 
 but were induced to accept as a present from the pongregstion twp 
 hogsheads of Spanish wine and a box of candles, quainting express- 
 ing themselves as being ' quite thankful for the same. ' " 
 
 Mr. Bethune died on the 23rd September, 1815, deeply regretted 
 by the community among whom he had lived and laboured so long, 
 the Montreal " Gazette " remarking at the time of his death, in a 
 highly eulogistic obituary notice, that he was a man remarkable for 
 the mildness and agreeableness of his manners, but at no time 
 deficient in that spirit which is requisite for the support of a Christian 
 and a gentleman, understanding what was due to the powers that be 
 without losing sight of that respect which was due to himself, while 
 the position held by his family in society proved that as a husband 
 and a father he must be numbered among those who had done their 
 duty well. 
 
 A tablet with an inscription comHjemorative of his excellence in 
 the various relations pf life, admirable for the delicacy yet warmth 
 of respect and tenderness of affection which it breathes, was erected 
 to his memory in the Church at Williamstown by his six sons, Angus, 
 Norman, Jphn, James, Alexander and Dpnald. It is a prpper and 
 most excellent tribute to the memory and virtues of a gentleman by 
 those who themselves were gentlemen, and is creditable to both 
 ^ike. 
 
 Among his sons were two who subsequently gained high rank 
 in the English Church, the Very Reverend John Bethune, who became 
 Dean of Mpntreal, and the Right Reverend Alexander Neil Bethune, 
 D. D., who sugceeded the Honourable and Right Reverend 
 John Strachan as second Anglican Bishop of Toronto. It is a strange 
 coincidence that both Bishop Strachan and Bishop Bethune, whp 
 
123 
 
 rose to such eminence in the English Church, should both originally 
 have been Presbyterians, and both have begun life in Canada in the 
 immediate Vicinity of Glengarry and amongst its people, (i) Mn 
 Strachan's school in Cornwall was an unequalled seminary in its day. 
 tt was a school for Protestants and Catholics alike, where not only 
 were their minds improved and an education given such as enabled 
 those who were fortunate enough to partake of it to achieve in after 
 life the highest positions in the gift of the country, but Where were also 
 impressed upon them those sound and loyal principles which actuated 
 the Bishop himself throughout his life, to the great advantage of the 
 country, which benefited by his eminent services not only as a divine 
 but as a patriot whose cloth alone, like his friend and compeer of the 
 Catholic faith, forbade in time of greatest danger his also being a 
 soldier. But if he could not be a soldier his pupils were, and from 
 the Cornwall School there graduated a long list of men who distin" 
 guished themselves as much in early life in the War of 1812 as they 
 did afterwards in time of peace at the Bar, on the Bench and in all 
 the learned professions and other walks of life. It is needless to say 
 that such of the families in Glengarry whose means permitted had 
 their sons educated by Mr. Strachan. Mr. A. N. Bethune, amongst 
 others, was a pupil, and afterwards when Mr. Strachan removed to 
 York, as he did, I believe, at the request of General Brock, joined 
 him there as classical tutor, and subsequently studied divinity under 
 him, was admitted to Deacon's orders, and in 1824 ordained Priest 
 by Bishop Mountain at Quebec. He was subsequently appointed 
 Coadjutor to Bishop Strachan in 1867 with right of succession, and 
 died in Toronto in 1879. 
 
 At the close of ^he Revolutionary War, such of the soldiers who 
 were married, and had not already brought their wives and families 
 to Canada, returned to the Mohawk Valley for them. 
 
 Great indeed, almost surpassing our conception, were the trials 
 and privations of the women, many of them bearing their children on 
 
 - "'(i) Archdeacon John St uart, D.D.g ^he first Minister of the Church of England in Upper 
 Canada, wfioiirDrrStracMH-SUcceededas Archdeacon, was also a Chaplain in a U. E. Loyalist 
 Regiment (2nd Battalion King's Roval Regiment of New York), and, strstngely enough, like 
 Bishop Strachan and Bishop Bethune, he too was the son of parents who belonged to the Church 
 of Scotland. I have seen a MS. account of his life written by the Archdeacon himself, in which 
 he states that his entry into the Anglican ministry was_ resolutely opposed by his f ither, who was 
 a most strict Presbyterian and most tenacious of his opinions It was many years before he gave 
 his consent to his son's studying for the English Church. Archdeacon Stuart was the father and 
 BrandfHther of anuniberof men who have graced public life and the Bench in the Province of 
 Lower Canada, and whose services have been justly recognized and rewartled by the Crown. The 
 social life of the two Provinces has been dignified and adorned by the several generations of the 
 famihes of the Stuarts, Bethunes and Strachans. 
 
124 
 
 their backs a good part of the distance, for the men had to carry 
 with them their arms and such of their household goods as they 
 could. They had to endure perils by land and perils by water — in 
 daily risk of death from hostile Indians and wild beasts, and those 
 who had successfully revolted and held these " Tories " as accursed 
 things — their food often being the flesh of horses and dogs, and even 
 the roots of the trees. Little wonder that those who were nurtured 
 by such mothers fought with desperation in 1812, and held in abom- 
 ination the disseminators of republican and revolutionary doctrines 
 wlwmjiautiggimejitsfrom Glengarry turned out to suppress in 1837-8. 
 
 A good story is told of one of the old warriors, who, having 
 seen much service, knew well the country from the neighbourhood of 
 Schenectady, where the families lived, and took charge of one of 
 these pirties in their journey through the wilderness to Canada. 
 John Roy— we will call him — -lived to a good old age, and was 
 treated with much consideration by all, especially those whom he 
 he had led to their homes. As years Went on, the number of John's 
 party naturally increased with his years, and the frequency with 
 which he told to the open-mouthed listeners the perils and hardships 
 of the journey. A very distinguished Scottish officer, who had 
 served in Canada for some years, was returning home, and, passing 
 through Glengarry, spent a few days with Bishop Macdonell, then 
 the priest at St. Raphael's. He told the Bishop he would like to 
 meet some of the old veterans of the War, so that he might hear 
 their tales and tell his and their friends in Scotland how their kins- 
 folk in Canada had fought and suffered for the Crown in that far-off 
 land. Amongst others, the Bishop took him to see old John Roy. 
 That was too good an opportunity to be lost, and John told the 
 General in Gaelic the whole story, omitting no details — the number 
 of men, women and children he had brought with him, their perils 
 and their escapes, their hardships borne with heroic devotion ; how, 
 when on the verge of starvation, they had boiled their mocassins 
 and eaten them; how they had encountered the enemy, the wild 
 beasts and Indians, beaten all off and landed safely in Glengarry. The 
 General listened with respectful interest, and at the termination, 
 wishing to say something pleasant, observed it was most wonderful. 
 " Mr. Macdonell," he retriarked, " the only instance I know that I 
 -tan at all compare it to is "that of Moses leading the children of Israel 
 
I2S 
 
 in to the Promised Land." Up jumped old John. " Moses," said 
 
 he, " compare me to Moses ! Moses be d ! He lost half his 
 
 army in the Red Sea, and I brought my party through without los- 
 ing one man !" 
 
 I tell the tale as it was told to me. I am not responsible for 
 the accuracy of the charge against Moses. 
 
 Inimediately after their settlement in Glengarry, those of the 
 Catholic persuasion took steps towards procuring the services of a 
 clergyman of their faith, and one acquainted with their language, 
 many of them knowing no word of English. Representations were ' 
 therefore made to Mr. Roderick Macdonell, who was a brother of 
 Captains Archibald and Allan Macdonell (Leek), K.R.R.N.Y., and 
 closely related to others of the officers, and known to and respected 
 by the men, to join them in that capacity. He had, I believe, been 
 educated at the Scots' College at Valodolid, in Spain, where or at 
 Douay (r) most of the gentlemen of the name received their educa- 
 tion in former days, and had ministered to the people of his native 
 Glengarry previous to his coming to Canada. He therefore placed 
 himself in communication with Lord Sydney, the Secretary of State, 
 who represented the circumstances to the King, the result being that 
 Mr. Roderick Macdonell was sent to Canada with the following let- 
 ter to Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton : — 
 
 LORD SYDNEY TO LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HAMILT0N.(2) 
 
 "Whitehall, 24 June, 1785. 
 
 "Sir, _ ^ -- ; 
 
 " Having laid before the King a memorial of Mr. Roderick 
 Macdonell, stating that, at the solicitation of a considerable number 
 of Scots Highlanders and other British subjects of the Roman Catho- 
 lic persuasion, who, prior to the last war, were inhabitants of the 
 back settlements of the Province of New York, and to whom, in 
 consideration of their loyally anj services, lands have been latjly 
 assigned in the higher parts of Canada, he is desirous of joining 
 them in order to serve them in the capacity of a clergyman, in the 
 humble hope that, on his arrival ■ at their settlement, he shall be 
 allowed by Government an annual subsistence for the discharge of 
 that duty, I enclose to you the said memorial, and am to signify to 
 you the King's commands that you do permit Mr. Macdonell to join 
 
 (t) Mr. Shaw, in his "History of Moray," states that **the Mscdonells of Glengarry, 
 never, that I know, reformed The gentlemen of that name have their sons educated in the 
 Scotch colleges abroad, especially at Douay, and they return home either avowed or concealed 
 Papists." With all respect to Mr. Hhaw, I beg to stale that '• the gentlemen of that name '' 
 never concealed either their religious or political faith They answer to _ God for the one and to 
 their fellow men for the other, and are on all occasions prepared to justify either or both, though 
 tiielr religious creed, which has been handed down to them since Christianity was first known in 
 the Highlands of Scotland, is their own aflFair exclusively. 
 
 (2j Canadian Archives, Series Q. 24-2, p. 279, 
 
126 
 
 the above mentioned settlers and officiate as their clergyman ; an4 
 with respect to the allowance to be made to him, I shall take an early 
 opportunity of communicating to you His Majesty's pleasure. 
 
 " I am, etc., 
 
 " Sydney." 
 
 In what part of the County Mr. Roderick was stationed I can- 
 not ascertain. He was for many years stationed at St. Regis, where 
 he died. Missionary Priest to the Indians there. It is possible that 
 place may always have been his headquarters, and the U. E. Loyal* 
 ist settlers, living as we know along the other side of the St. Law- 
 rence, that he may and probably did officiate on both sides of the 
 River, among the Indians on the one and the Loyalists on the other. 
 
 Mr, John McLennan, formerly M.P. for Glengarry, in an 
 account of the early settlement of Glengarry, read before the Celtic 
 Society at Montreal in, I believe, 1885, gives some interesting parti- 
 culars regarding some of the settles, which I may be permitted to 
 quote. He mentions that the Grants, McLeans, Murchisons, Roses, 
 Mrs. Bethune (who inherits from the McKays) and others in the 
 Township of Charlottenburgh are all of Loyalist descent. 
 
 In addition to the Scotch settlers, there were others, though not 
 many in Glengarry, of English, Irish and German descent. Amongst- 
 those who came to Lancaster were William and Ralph Falkner, with 
 their families They were originally from Lancashire, and appear, 
 to have given the name to the Township. Their descendants con- 
 tinue to occupy portions of the land granted them adjoining the Vil- 
 lage of Lancaster. Mr. William Falkner had been on the Commis- 
 sion of the Peace in England, and performed the ceremony of 
 TBarnage during sevaral years, until a clergyman arrived in 1787. %t^^ ' 
 
 On the east side of the Township, the families of Curry (Irish), 
 Young (Scotch), and Snider and Cline (Schneider and Klein, 
 German) were allotted land. Mr. McLennan suggests that the two 
 latter were probably of the Hessian soldiers of George III., as well 
 as the family of Summers (Sommer) who settled in the front of Char- 
 lottenburgh. Mr. Isaac Curry, born in 1798, now occupying the 
 homestead of his family, states to Mr. McLennan that the colony on 
 the east side of Lancaster planted com and harvested a supply for 
 their first winter, and one of them, Jacob Snider, built a mill. Their 
 wives and children came into Canada by way of Lake Champlain 
 and the Richelieu River. Among the officers who obtained grants 
 of land in Lancaster were Lieutenant (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) 
 
X27 
 
 Sutherland, a Lieutenant K. R.R.N. Y., who appears formerly to have 
 belonged to the Twenty-Sixth Regiment, and Mr. Gunn, who is stated 
 ill the U. E. List to have also taken part in the conquest of Canada. 
 A grandson of the latter now occupies a pirt of the grant near the 
 Village of Lancaster. Mr. Charles Westley, a man of education and 
 good position, who left a valuable property in the State of New York, 
 settled on the property now occupied by his grandson, Who \?orthily 
 bears the same name. 
 
 ^ Tn T786 raptakt—jJoha—Hay^estabhshed himself on an arm on 
 the River Raisin, naming the locality " Gleana-feoir " (Glen of Hay)> 
 He had come in 1773 from Glenfrae, Huntly, in Aberdeenshire, to 
 Prince Edward Island. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he 
 joined the Eighty-Fourth Regiment, serving until the peace in 1784J 
 He was a Presbyterian, married to a Roman CathoUc lady. His 
 son, Mr. John Hay, a well-known veteran of 181 2, died not many 
 years since. Another well-known son was the late Very Reverend 
 George Hay, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Kingston, and for 
 many years the highly respected Priest of St. Andrews, County of 
 Stormont. 
 
 Having endeavoured to show who constituted the U. E. Loyal- 
 ist settlers of Glengarry, I shall now attempt to trace as far as pos- 
 sible the other immigrations previous to the War of 1812. 
 
 Shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War, in 1786, a 
 large emigration of Highlanders, numbering, I believe, some_five_ 
 hundred souls, took place principally from that part of the Glengarry 
 estates known as Knoydart, under the leadership of the Reverend, 
 Alexander Macdonell, who settled with their clansmen and kinsfolk 
 in Glengarry. The following extract, taken from Neilson's " Quebec 
 Gazette," relates to this immigration : 
 
 "Quebec, 7th September, 1786. 
 
 " Arrived ship " McDonald," Captain Robert Stevenson, from 
 Greenock, with emigrants, nearly the whole of a parish in the north 
 of Scotland, who emigrated with their Priest (tlie^Reyerend Alexan- 
 der Macdonell, Scotus), and nineteen cabin passengers, together 
 "with five hundred and twenty steerage passengers, to better their 
 case. Up to Cataraqui."(i) 
 
 This Priest was oile of the earliest Catholic priests or mission- 
 aries, other than French, in Upper Canada. He was born at Scotus 
 
 (i) Which was thfen the present Kingston. They, ,of course, remained in Glengarry, as we 
 know, instead of proceeding further west. 
 
House in Knoy dart, Glengarry, Scotland, in, I believe, 1750. He^ 
 was educated in France and ordained priest in Paris in 1778. He 
 was the founder of the Parish of ^t^Kaghaels^e pioneer parish 
 not only of~5Iengarry, but of all Upper Canada, where he built the 
 first church, known in its day as the " Blue Chapel," and which was 
 succeeded by the present large edifice erected by Bishop Macdonell. 
 He died at Lachine, on his way to Montreal 9JiJh^24th May, 1803. 
 Previous to his leaving St. Raphaels for Montreal, where he hoped" 
 to obtain medical aid, he addressed the following to the Church 
 Wardens of St, Raphaels : 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " By virtue of the power invested in me, by the Bishop, as 
 Parish Priest of the Parish of St Raphael, in the County of Glen- 
 garry, I do hereby authorise you to act as formerly in every point in 
 regard as Church Wardens, during my absence, and that as if I was 
 present, and until my return back (if it be God's will), to take charge 
 of said Parish, as formerly, and j'ou are to act, agreeable to late 
 regulations laid down in this Parish, by the Bishop's authority,, 
 which established your authority and mine. And as I always and 
 on all occasions, as Church Wardens, never found any of you' faiUng 
 or deficient in any part of your duty, but found you, faithful!, 
 honest and trusty, with the greatest probity and integrity, as well 
 toward the public as myself, I have the strongest assurance of con- 
 fidence that you'll observe this- request, for the benefit of all parties 
 concerned. 
 
 " Alexander, MacDonell, 
 
 "Priest. 
 
 "Glengarry, 19th May, i8o3< 
 " To Angus McDonell, Prin'le. Church Warden ; Donald McDonell, 
 
 John Kennedy, Malcolm McDougal, Archibald McDonell, 
 
 Lachlin McKinnon, Donald McDonell, Duncan McDorfeil, 
 
 Hugh McDonell, Alexander Fraser, John McDonell and Ale^j 
 
 an der M cDonell." 
 
 The next Priest at St. Raphaels (the predecessor of Mr. Alex- 
 ander, afterwards Bishop, Macdonell) was, as , will be seen by the 
 following letter, a Mr. Fitziramons, an Irish gentleman who Came 
 With the following letter from Mr. Roderick Macdonell, the Mission- 
 ary Priest at St. Regis. It was addressed to " Mr. Angus 
 Macdonell(i), Arch-Syndic of the ]?arish of St. Raphaels," and is 
 now in my possession . 
 " To the Churchwarrants at St. Raphael : 
 
 " I have to acquaint you that the Revd. Mr. Fitzimmons has 
 
42^ 
 come to this country to serVe you as a Pastor, and that he is 
 appointed by the Lord Bishop of Quebec for your Parish of St. 
 Raphael. If Mr. Macdonell arrives this year, it will rest with the 
 Bishop to appoint him or not, in the meantime you are to receive 
 this gentleman as your lawful pastor, and render him every service 
 in your power. You know that no priest can be a pastor in any 
 parish, unless he is appointed by the Bishop, and that it entirely 
 depends on the Bishop to appoint any one he pleases, therefore Mr. 
 Fitsimmons, having been duly ajJpointed by the Bishop of the 
 Diocese, you are bound and obliged to receive him with every mark 
 o^ esteem and attention ia your power. The Bishop will be with 
 you in February, and settle everything respecting your mission. 
 " I remain, 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 "R. Macdonell. 
 
 "St. Regis, i2th September, 1804." 
 
 The Priests who have been stationed at St. Raphaels from the 
 establishment of the Parish to the present day are as follows : 
 I, Mr. Alexander Macdonell (Scotus), who arrived in 1786 ; 2, the 
 Reverend Mr. Fitzimmoiis; 3, Mr. Alexander (afterwards Bishop) 
 Macdonell ; 4, Mr. Angus (afterwards Vicar-General) Macdonell ; 
 5, Mr. John Macdonald, who was afterwards Priest at Alexandria, 
 and died there in May, 1845; 6, Mr. John Macdonald, shortly 
 mentioned ; 7, the Reverend Mr. Ma'sterson ; 8, the Rev. Mr. 
 Duffus; 9, the Reverend Mr. Kelly, and 10, the present incumbent, 
 the Reverend Mr. Fitzpatrick.(i) 
 
 Amongst the emigrants from Knoydart was one afterwards well 
 known in Glengarry and elsewhereT^SJwhose memory will always 
 be affectionately cherished in the County, the Reverend John Mac- 
 donald, invariably known by the old people as " Mhaister lanT'^ He 
 ~wasThen but a child of three years of age. His parents, John Mac- 
 donald and Anna McGillis, brought with them two other children, 
 the eldest, ^neas, being seven years of age at the time. He also 
 became a priest, and resided for forty years a Professor in the Col- 
 lege of the Gentlemen of the Seminary at Montreal, where he was 
 distinguished for his piety and learning ; a perfect French and Gaelic 
 scholar. He was for many years an ecclesiasticonly, being ordained 
 Priest in 1832, during the cholera, when priests were urgently 
 required. They were descended from the Macdoiialds of Luibhe, 
 
 (i ) The Rev. Mr. GauHn (afcerwaids Bishop of Kingston), and Mr. (afterwards Vicar- 
 Ceneral William) Macdonald officLited at St. Raphaels as Parish Priests shortly after Bishop 
 Macdondl was elevated to the Episcopate. 
 
ISO 
 <diich in Gaelic signifies a bent arm of the sea. Like many another 
 Highland gentleman, " Mhaister Ian " could trace his genealogy 
 back for six hundred years. He was educated at the Petit Semin- 
 aire, Montreal, and studied divinity in Quebec, where he was 
 ordained in the year 1814. He was for some years stationed at 
 -¥Gnh, then a new settlement, and there, owing to the extent of his 
 parish and the poverty of his parishioners, endured great hardship. 
 He died at Lancaster, jn Glengarry, on the i6th March, 1879, in the 
 ninety-seventh year of his age. It would require a Dean Ramsay 
 to do justice to the many excellent stories which are told of this 
 gentleman, distinguished as much for his wit as for his piety. 
 
 ^ie_e£-hi,s sisters, Catherine Macdonald, a nun, and known in 
 the Order of heTSisferhood^^aySahitePelagie, came from Montreal 
 with another religieuse to St. Raphaels in 1828, with a view of 
 founding a convent there, but found that the then situation of the 
 Parish and surrounding country would not justify it, 
 
 Lieiitenant-Colonel R. C. Macdonald, of the Castle Tioram 
 Regiment of Highlanders, Prince Edward Island, published, in 1843, 
 a pamphlet, entitled " Sketches of Highlanders," with an account of 
 their early arrival in North America and some of their distinguished 
 military services in the year of 18 12. At page 67 of his work he 
 states : — 
 
 " The only Chieftains, or heads of families, who came from the 
 Highlands to the Lower Provinces of British America were the Chief- 
 tains of Glenaladale and Keppoch. The history of the former I have 
 already referred to. (i) The latter, the last of the chivalrous Chiefs 
 of Keppoch (Major Macdonell), died in 1808 on Prince Edward 
 Island, leaving no other" male representative of the family than 
 one young man, a lieutenant in the army, who was killed in Spain. 
 Thus became extinct in a distant colony the representative of a 
 
 (i ) Colonel Macdonald is not quite correct in statin? that Glenaladale was a chieftain. He 
 was the Head of one of the most respectable families of Clanranald's Clan, in fact the head of the 
 cadet houses of that distinguished Clan, and as Colonel Macdonald states, was selected in the 
 minority or incapacity of the chief to be '* Tantster/' which in Gaelic signifies the gunrdian and 
 the one next in rank to the chief. John Mnrdffnald nf GlrnnHdjI" inhn in 1773 sold his properr/ 
 anj . brought oiit a ship load of the Clanranald people to Pnnce Edward Island, was a highly 
 respected and distinguished man. He with Majo r^fterwards <jeiiqrap._SmalLwas largel^iuslm^ 
 mental in raising^the 84th (Royal High[ana ILmigiant Kegiment) during theRevolutinnary War. 
 "Tfhe BritiSlrtlljVemment showed their appreciation of his services and ^character in offering him"* 
 the Goven>m^t of Prince Edward Island, which, ho was obliged to decline owing to the Oftthat- 
 that time required to be taken. He died in 1811. (General Small stated of him, in a tfespatcli to 
 the Gpvemment: *'The activity and unabating zeal of Captain John MaiirDonald, of Glenaladale, 
 in bringing an excellent company into the field, is his least recommendation, being acknowledged 
 by all whoknow him to be one of the most accompli^ed men andhest officers of 'bis rank in His 
 Majesty's service.'' 
 
131 
 
 noble family, which although it had not received a patent of nobility 
 from the hands of the Sovereign, was truly noble for its deeds of 
 valour, its chivalry and its magnanimous patriotism. They disdained 
 to hold their lands by paper or parchment tenure, bonds or charters, 
 because their swords, they said, would alway protect their estates 
 against foreign aggression or internal commotion. The Keppoch of 
 the eventful year of 1745 maintained the glory and martial spirit 
 of his ancestors ;(i) but after that period the influence and name of 
 the family began to decline, and their once powerful swords lost their 
 sway. The family was obliged to surrender their estates, not having 
 the necessity documents to prove' their title to them. Many very 
 respectable families emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland to 
 Upper Canada, most of them branches of the Glengarry Clan, such 
 as' the Macdonells of Greenfiield, the Macdoriells of Ardnabee, 
 &c., &c., and the Macdonell^ ' of Inch, who are of the Keppoch 
 family; Macnabjst .Macnab^jthe-Chief-JoL-thaJLClan; Macdonald ol 
 Garenish who is by many considered the next heir to the Highland 
 estates of the ancient family of Morar. Although all these gentlemen 
 are now in comfortable circumstances, they are not altogether forget- 
 ful of the land they left ; but are full of loyalty and affectionate 
 attachment to old England, as their military feats of the War of 18 12 
 and their devotion to the British cause in the Canadian Rebellion 
 amply prove." 
 
 M r. Macdonell of Greenfield, who emigrated in i792j_brouglxt„., 
 
 with him, I belieVe, a nuiyber of the people of his c^ari.' He had 
 been riiarried in Scotland to a sister of Colonel John Macdopell 
 (Aberchalder), who in that year was elected Speaker of our first 
 House of Assembly, being one of the members for Glengarry. 
 
 Regarding this gentleman, Mr. Mackenzie, in his " History of 
 the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles," page 529, quotes from Mrs. 
 Grant, of Laggan, a well known Scottish authoress : — 
 
 " A few lingering instances of the old superior Highland dress 
 continued to be seen as late as the end of last century, one of its 
 latest examples being afforded by Macdonell of Greenfield, " Ceann 
 Tighe " of a cadet house of the Glengarry family, who is in the latter 
 part of the last century was celebrated for his handsome person, his 
 courtly address, his exploits as a deer-stalker, and general character 
 as a model of the Highland gentleman living in his time. He is 
 
 (i) His Clan, with Glengarry's, and all others of the name, had taken Umbrage »t not 
 bein? piaced on the riglit wing of the army at Culloden, and, allowing their pride to dominate 
 their patriotism, hesitated to attack. It was in vnin that gallant Keppoch charged with a few of 
 his near rela-ives, while his clan, a thing bef >re unheard of, remaine'l stationary. Thf^ Chief was 
 riear the front of the enemv, and was exclaiming, with feelings which cannot be appreciated,** My 
 (Jod ! have the children of my tribe forsaken me !'* at this instant, he received several shots, 
 whicii closed his eartlily account, leaving him onlv time to advise his favourite nephew to shift for 
 himself —Sir Walter Scott, " Tales of a Grandfather." 
 
132 
 
 described by several of the old people by whom he was refflembered, 
 as dressed invariably in the Highland garb — a short round " cota 
 goirid," a bonnet plumed with a tuft of ostrich feathers, belted plaid 
 worn over the trews. The house of Greenfield stood on a beautiful , 
 romantic situation, near the head of TL^oclTGarry, on a green knoll, 
 since occupied by the hunting lodge, built by the late Glengarry for 
 deer-stalking of Sliabh-garbh." 
 
 Mr.--Macdonell settled in the Township of Charlotteilburgh, 
 calling his place, as did all Highland gentlemen, by the name of his 
 property in Scotland. He commanded the 2nd BattaHon Glengarry 
 Militia in 1812, and died in 181 9. His sons Were men of mark in 
 their generation. The eldest, JJugli,_died while being educated at 
 the Scots College of Valodolid, in Spain. Angus was a partner in 
 the Northwest Company, and was murdered there in one of the many 
 conflicts which took place in the Northwest Territories between his 
 Company and Lord Selkirk's, His" murderer Was brought down and 
 placed on trial at Montreal and acquitted, but was never seen after 
 leaving the Court House. Duaean Macdonell- of Greenfield 
 commanded a Company at the taking of OgdensBurgH~anJT;ap- 
 ture of Fort Covington in 1813, and served also in 1837-8. On 
 his retirement from the Militia as late as 1857, it was declared in 
 General Orders of the 3rd September of that year : — 
 
 "His Excellency the Administrator of the Government and" 
 Commander-in-Chief cannot permit Lieutenant-Colonel Duncan Mac- 
 donell of Greenfield to retire from the command of this Battalion 
 (Second Glengarry, Lancaster Regiment) without recording the 
 sense he entertains of the value of his long and faithful services in 
 the Militia of this Province dating from the last War," 
 
 The same gazette contained the appointment of his on ly son to 
 the command of the Regiment, and that gentleman, Archibald John 
 Macdonell, retaining it until his death in 1864, it afforded probably 
 the only instance of a command of a Regiment of Canadian Militia 
 being continuously retained by three generations of one family for 
 upwards of half a century, each of them having been out on active 
 service with the Regiment.(i) Colonel Duncan Macdonell was by 
 profession a land surveyor, and at the time of his death Registrar of, 
 the County. /The two younger sons of Mr. Alexander Macdoiiell of 
 Greenfieldv-Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell aifd Lieut-Colonel^ 
 
 (1) ^pKe l;ist named gentleman was a lad of fifteen years of age, attending Dr. Urqtihart's 
 school at-'Comwall when_ the Regimenr was ordered to Lower Canada in 1838. He ran Hway 
 from scho -t. and proceeding on foot to Lower Canada, joined the Regiment and served in the 
 ranks with s.veral of his cousins of ahout the same age 
 
'' ' 133 
 
 y 
 
 Donald Greenfield Macdonell, Deputy Adjutant-General of Militia 
 of Upper Canada — both represented Glengarry, and "I may have 
 occasion to refer to them hereafter when dealing with the "War of 
 1812-14, in which both took an -active part and the former died. 
 
 As stated by Mr. McLennan, the County, becoming noted as a 
 Scottish Colony, attracted immigrants as they arrived from time to 
 time from all parts of Scotland. Several families of Macphersons 
 from Badenoch settled in Lancaster, among them Mr. Murdoch 
 Macpherson, who lived to the age of 107 years, and whose place is 
 worthily occupied by a grandson. 
 
 Mr. McLennan is of opinion that the first settlement was made 
 in Lochiel in 1796, probably by some of the Cameron men, who were 
 from Lochiel's Country in Scotland, but I am informed by Mr. John 
 McLeod, Surveyor (brother of Mr. Alexander McLeod, the Surveyor, 
 who died some years ago at the advanced age of ninety-two years) 
 that in 1793 his father, Captain" Alexander McLeod, of the family of 
 Moale, chartered a vessel and brought with him from Glenelg, in 
 Scotland, about forty families of McLeods, McGillivrays, McCuaigs 
 and Mclntoshes — ^his own father, also Alexander- McLeod, being 
 among the number. They arrived in Glengarry early in 1794, and 
 proceeded out to the north part of the County, and settled in the 
 neighborhood of Kirkhill, where their descendants still reside. Mr. 
 Alexander McLeod was , a Captain of Militia in the War of 181 2 in 
 the Regiment commandear-%y-Alexander_Macdonell of Greenfield, 
 with whom he was closely related. Each of these families received 
 a grant of two hundred acres from the Crown. The Township, orat 
 any rate a considerable portion of it, was first surveyed by Hugh Mac- 
 donell (Aberchalder), one of the two first members for the Countyj 
 and afterwards, the Consul-General at Algiers, whose career has been 
 previously noticed. The field notes of his surveys were amongst 
 the papers lately procured by Mr. Bain, the indefatigable Public 
 Librarian of Toronto, which were taken by the former Surveyor- 
 General Smith to England when he retired from Canada. 
 
134 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 
 Raising of the Glengarry Fencible or British Highland 
 Regiment in Scotland. — Incidents Previous Thereto. — 
 Mr. Alexander (Afterwards Bishop) Macdonell Accom- 
 panies A number of the Highlanders to Glasgow, where 
 they are Employed by the Manufacturers. — Closing of 
 THE Manufactories on Proclamation of War Between 
 Britain and France. — Proposal to Raise a Regiment to 
 BE Under Command of the Young Chief of Glengarry. — • 
 First Catholic Corps since the Reformation.— Stationed 
 IN Guernsey. — Offer to Garrison St. Marcou. — Services. 
 IN Ireland in Suppression of Rebellion of '98 Dis- 
 banded with other Fencibles in 1802. — Services of the 
 Chaplain on behalf of the Men. — He Procures a 
 Grant of 200 Acres for each man in Glengarry in 
 Canada. — Lord Hobart's Letter to Lieut.-Gov. U. C. 
 
 The last emigration on a large scale of Glengarry Highlanders 
 took place in 1802 under the circumstances mentioned in Thomson's 
 " Memoirs of the Jacobites," page 322 et seq., but as they are so 
 interesting and of such historic value to the County, I prefer to 
 quote from the words of the person best qualified to speak authorita- 
 tively on the subject, and who brought the immigrants to'Canada, 
 the former Chaplain of the Glengarry Fencible Infantry or British 
 Highland Regiment, afterwards the Honourable and Right Reverend 
 Alexander Macdonell, first Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada and a 
 member of the Legislative Council of the Province. I take them 
 from the Canadian Literary Magazine of April, 1833, vol. i, page 3 
 et seq. 
 
t3S 
 
 After explaining how, consequent up6n the ahoiitioft d ^t 
 feudal system of clanship which had Obtained from time immemorial, 
 »nd had been based upon the mutual interesVof chieftain and Clans' 
 Caen, by the influence and consequence in proportion to the number 
 of his followers it afforded the former-^and the protection aftd sup- 
 port it gav^e to the latler^-the " bleak and barren mountains of the 
 north," which had previously raised men, had been Converted into 
 sh^ep walks, and the suffering thus necessarily entailed upon the 
 people— their utter misery in fact — he proceeds : 
 
 It Was in this conjecture that the Writer of these pages, then a 
 Missionary on the borders Of the Counties of Inverness and Perth-, 
 in the highest inhabited parts of the Highlands of Scotland, affected 
 by the distressed state of his countrymen, and hearing that aft emi^ 
 grant vessel which had sailed from the Island of Barra, one of the 
 Hebrides, had been wrecked and had put into Greenock, where she 
 landed her passengers in the most helpless and destitute situation, 
 repaired in the spring of 1792 to Glasgov^. Having secured an 
 introduction to several of the professors of the University and to the 
 principal manufacturers of that city, he proposed to the latter that 
 he should induce the Highlanders who had been turned out of their 
 farms, and those lately escaped from the shipwreck, to enter into 
 their Works if they (the manufacturers) Would but encourage them, 
 and this they really promised to do upon very liberal termsv There 
 were two serious obstacles, however, to the usefulness of the High^ 
 landers : the one that they did not understand the English languagfij 
 the other tliat a large portion of them Were Roman Cathohds. The 
 excitement raised by Lord George Gordon about Catholics twelve 
 years before, when the Catholic chapels of Edinburgh and Glasgow, 
 and the clergymen's houses, were burned, had not yet subsided, and 
 a strong and rancorous feeling against the professors of the Catholic 
 religion still remained amongst the lower orders of the people of 
 Glasgow; so much so, indeed, that no Catholic clergyman could 
 with safety reside there from the time of the burning of the chapels 
 to the period we are now speaking of. .The manufacturers repre- 
 sented to the Missionary that although perfectly willing themselves 
 to afford the CathoHcs all the countenance and protection in their 
 power, yet, as the Penal Laws still remained in full force against 
 them, they could not be answerable for the consequences in the event 
 of evil deigned persohs assailing or annoying them ; and they repre- 
 
ts6 
 seated that the danger was still g^reater to a; Catholic Clergywaa, who 
 was subject not only to the insult and abuse of the rabble, but to be 
 arraigned before a court of |ustiee. To this the Missionary replied 
 that although the letteJ- of the law militated against Catholics, the 
 spirit of it was greatly ifWtigated, and that if they would but assure 
 the Highlanders of their protection, he himself would take his chance 
 of the severity of the law and the fanaticism of the people, and 
 accompany the Highlanders to the manufactories, in ofder to serve 
 them in the double capacity of Interpreter and Clergyman ; for the 
 Missionary saw that it Was a notorious fact that Catholics following 
 the dictates of their religion, and restrained by its morality, made 
 faithful and ifldustrious servants; but, discarding those ties and 
 obligations, they became vicious and unprincipled. 
 
 The manufacturers, appearing much pleased with this proposal, 
 offered every protection and encouragement in their power to him- 
 self and followers. Accordingly, with the approbaticm of his Bishop, 
 he took up his residence in Glasgow in June, 1792, and in the course 
 of a few months procured employment for upwards of 600 High- 
 landerS. 
 
 On the few occasions previous to this, that a priest had officiated 
 in Glasgow, he was obliged to have his meetings up two or three 
 pairs of stairs, and to station at the door a sturdy Irishman or High- 
 lander armed with a bludgeon to overawe the intruders who might 
 attempt to disturb the service. But the missionary, by the advice of 
 one of the most influental Presbyterian of the city, (i) opened his 
 chapel to the street and did not close the door during the service. 
 Two respectable members of the congregation attended to show any 
 decent persons, attracted thither by curiosity, into a seat; and 
 several who thus came were repeatedly heard to say that this was not 
 Popery at all, although the principal tenets of the Catholic Religion 
 Were taught and explained both in English and Gaelic ; and because 
 they saw neither pictures nor images, and the mass was said early in 
 the morning, before those who might be disposed to give annoyance 
 were up, and who, being of the lower class of labourers and trades- 
 man, generally spent the Saturday evenings in a tavern and Sunday 
 morning in bed. 
 
 For two years the manufactories went on with astonishing pros- 
 perity and success, but in the year 1 794 the principles of the French 
 
 (i) Dr. Porteus, a nephew, by marriage, to Sir John Moore. 
 
t37 
 
 ^evolmion, Spteading rapidly over Great Britain, and rfteetmg With 
 the vfamiest abettors in the manufacturing districts, the English 
 Government foimd it necessary to adopt measures to Check its pro- 
 gress and to preveftt intercourse betw^een the two Countries. 
 
 War Was at length proclaimed between England and France, 
 ^he export of British manufactures to the Continent was stopped > 
 the credit of the manufacturers Was checked j their Works were 
 almost At a stand j frequent bankruptcies eftsued ; a general dismis- 
 sal of labouring hands took pla.ce, and misery and distress overtook 
 those thus suddenly thrown out of employ. 
 
 Among the sufferers Were the poor Highlanders above men- 
 tioned. iJnaccustomed to hard labour and totally ^ignorant of the 
 English language, they became more helpless and destitute than any 
 other ckss of the whole community. 
 
 At this crisis the Missionary conceived the idea of getting these 
 unfortunate Highlanders embodied as a Catholic corps in His 
 Majesty's service, with his young Chief, Macdonell of Glengarry, for 
 their Colonel. Having procured a meeting of the Catholics at Fort 
 Augustus, in February, 1^94, a. loyal address was drawn up to the 
 King, offering to raise a Catholic corps, under the command of the 
 young Chieftain, who, together with John Fletcher, Esq., ol Dunans, 
 proceeded as a deputation t6 London with the address, which was 
 most graciously received by the Kingv The manufacturers of 
 gow furnished them with the most ample and honourable testimonials 
 of the good conduct of the Highlanders during the time they had 
 been in their works, and strongly recommended that they should be 
 employed in the service of their country. A Letter ol Service was 
 accordingly issued to raise the first Glengarry Fencible Regiment as 
 a Catholic corps, being the first-drat- was^ -raised, as^suchsiftce -the" 
 Reformation. 
 
 The missionary, although contrary to the then existing laW, was 
 gazetted as Chaplain of the Regiment. Four or five Regiments 
 which had been raised in Scotland, having refused to extend their 
 services to England, and having mutinied When they Were ordered to 
 march, the Glengarry Fencibles, by the persuasion of their Chaplain, 
 offered to extend their services to any part of Great Britain or Scot' 
 land, or even to the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. This offer 
 was very acceptable to the Government, since it formed a precedent 
 to all Fencible corps that were raised after this peiiod. The Regi- 
 
t3S 
 ftieflt, having beefi etnhodied in June, 1795, soon afterwards em- 
 barked for Guernsey, and remained there until the summer of 1798. 
 
 Sir Sidney Smith having taken possession of the small island 
 of St, Marcou, in the mouth of Cherbourg Harbor, the Glengarries 
 offered to garrison that post, but the capture of that gallant officer 
 and of the much lamented Captain Wright, who was first tortured 
 and then put to death in a French prison because he would not take 
 a commission in the French navy, prevented the enterprise from 
 taking place. 
 
 In the summer of 1798 the rebellion broke out in Ireland, and 
 the Glengarry Regiment was ordered to that country. Landing at 
 Ballenack, they marched from thence to Waterford, and from Water- 
 fore to New Ross the same day. At the former place a trifling 
 circumstance occurred which afforded no small surprise to some and 
 no slight ridicule to others, while at the same it showed the 
 simplicity of the Highlanders and their ignorance of the ways of the 
 World, The soldiers who received billet money on their entrance in 
 the town returned it on their being ordered to march the same 
 evening to New Ross for the purpose of reinfc-cing General Johnson, 
 who was surrounded, and, in a manner, besieged by the rebels. 
 
 The next day General Johnson attacked and dislodged the 
 Rebels from Laggan Hill, who, after a very faint resistance, retreated 
 to Vinegar Hill. The Chaplain, upon this and all other occasions, 
 accompanied the Regiment to the field, with the view of preventing 
 the men from plundering or committing any act of cruelty upon the 
 country people. The command of the Town of New Ross devolved 
 on Colonel Macdonell, and the Chaplain found the Jail and Court 
 House crowded with wounded rebels, whose lives had been spared, 
 but who had been totally neglected. Their wounds had never beeiT 
 jdressedrnot^any sustenance been given to them since the day of the 
 battle. ColoneTTVIacdonell, on being informed of their miserable 
 condition, ordered the Surgeon of his Regiment to attend them, and 
 every possible relief was ofifered to the wrfetched sufferers. From 
 New Ross the Regiment was ordered to Kilkenny, and from thence- 
 to Hackett's Town, in the County of Wicklow, to reduce a body 
 of rebels and deserters, who had taken possession of the neighbor- 
 ing mountains, under the command of the rebel chiefs. Holt and _ 
 Dwyer. 
 
 The Village of Hackett's Town had been entirely consumed to 
 
139 
 
 ashes, partly by the insurgents and partly by the military. De- 
 prived of this shelter, the troops were compelled to live under tents 
 the greater part of the winter, and the Chaplain considered it his 
 duty to share their privations and sufferings. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell, who now commanded the Brigade, which 
 consisted of the Glengarries, two companies of the Eighty-Ninth 
 Regiment of Foot, two companies of Lord Darlington's Fencible 
 Cavalry, and several companies of the Yeomanry, finding that the 
 rebels made a practice of descending from the mountains in the 
 night time to the hamlets in the valleys for the purpose of plunder, 
 adopted a plan of getting the troops under arms about midnight and 
 marching them from the camp in two divisions without fife or 
 drum. One division was ordered to gain the summits of the moun- 
 tains, the other to scour the inhabited parts of the country ; so that 
 the rebels, in attempting to regain their footsteps, found themselves 
 entrapped between two fires. The Chaplain never failed to accom- 
 pany one or the other of these divisions, and was the means of saving 
 the lives of, and preserving for legal trial, many prisoners, whom the 
 yeomanry would, but for his interference, have put to immediate 
 death. 
 
 The Catholic chapels in many of those parts had been turned 
 into stables for the yeomanry caValry, but the Chaplain, when he 
 came, caused them to be cleaned out and restored to their proper 
 use. He also invited the terrified inhabitants and clergy to resume 
 their accustomed worship, and laboured not in vain to restore tran- 
 quility and peace to the people, persuading them that if they behaved 
 quietly and peacefully the Government would protect Catholics as 
 well as Protestants, and impressing upon their minds that the 
 Government having entrusted arms to the hinds of the Glengarry 
 Highlanders, who were Roman Catholics, was a proof that it was 
 not inimical to them on account of their religion. These exhortations, 
 together with the restoration of divine service in the chapels, the strict 
 discipline enforced by Colonel Macdonell, and the repression of the 
 licentiousness of the yeomanry, served in a great measure to restore 
 confidence to the people, to allay feelings of dissatisfaction and to 
 extinguish the embers of rebellion wherever the Glengarry Regiment 
 served. 
 
 The Highlanders, whom the rebels called " the Devil's Blood- 
 hounds," both on account of their dress and their habit of climbing 
 
140 
 and traversing the mountains, had greatly the advantage of the in- 
 surgents in every encounter, so much so that in a few months their 
 force was reduced from a thousand to a few scores. • Holt, seeing 
 his numbers so fast diminishing, surrendered to Lord Powerscourt, 
 and was transported to Botany Bay. Dwyer, after almost his whole 
 party had been killed or taken, was at length surprised in a house 
 with his few remaining followers by a party of the Glengarries. Here 
 he defended himself and killed some of his pursuers, till the house 
 being set on fire, he was shot while endeavoring to make his escape, 
 stark naked, through the flames. 
 
 The Marquess Comwallis, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Com- 
 mander of the forces, was so well pleased with the services of the 
 Glengarry Fencibles that he advised the Government to have the 
 Regiment augmented. In furtherance of this plan, the Chaplain 
 was despatched to London with recommendations from every Gen- 
 eral under whose command the corps had served in Guernsey or in 
 Ireland, to procure the proposed augmentation and to settle on the 
 terms. Previous to his departure from Dublin, the measure of a 
 legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland had been brought 
 into the Irish Parhament and miscarried. The Catholic Bishops 
 and Catholic nobles of Ireland having assembled in Dublin to discuss 
 this subject, came to a determination favourable to the views of 
 Government, and communicated their sentiments to the Chaplain, 
 authorizing him to impart them to the Ministry. The Chaplain did 
 so accordingly in his first interview with the Right Honourable 
 Henry Dundas, afterwards Lord Melville, but that statesman con- 
 sidered the Chaplain's information incorrect, and insinuated that the 
 intention of the Irish Catholic dignitaries and nobility was quite 
 contrary to what was stated. 
 
 He also privately informed Sir John Cox Hippesley, who accom- 
 panied the Chaplain to the Secretary of State's Office, that by a 
 despatch received through that day's mail from Lord Castlereagh, 
 the Secretary of State for Ireland, he was informed that the purpose 
 of the meeting of the Catholics was to counteract the measures of 
 the Government. This the Chaplain took the liberty to deny, and 
 offered to prove his assertion to the satisfaction of Mr. Dundas by 
 being allowed time to refer to the CathoHc meeting at Dublin. He 
 accordingly wrote to Colonel Macdonell, whom he had left in that 
 city, and received by return of post an answer from Viscount Ken- 
 
141 
 mare, contradicting in toto the assertions of Viscount Castlereagh. 
 On this occasion the Government papers indulged in severe reflec- 
 tions upon the conduct of the Irish Catholics. The Chaplain 
 requested that they should be contradicted, which was done very 
 reluctantly, and not until he had threatened to have the truth pub- 
 lished in the Opposition papers. The correspondence on that subject 
 is now in his possession. 
 
 The proposed augmentation, however, did not take place. The 
 views of government were altered, and instead of augmenting the 
 Fencible Corps, they gave commissions in the regiments of the Line 
 to those officers of the Fencibles who could bring a certain number 
 of volunteers with them. 
 
 The Glengarry Fencibles were afterwards employed in the 
 mountains and other parts of Conomaragh, where some of the most 
 desperate rebels had taken refuge, and where the embers of rebeUion 
 continued longest unextinguished. The Chaplain was their constant 
 attendant down to the year 1802, when at the short Peace of Amiens, 
 the whole of the Scotch Fencibles were disbanded. 
 
 I have obtained a list of the officers of this Regiment from an 
 army list of 1798. The Regiment was stationed at Kilkenny at the 
 time. It will be observed that Colonel Macdonald is named as 
 Colonel, Glengarry being in charge of the Brigade : 
 
 Colonel — Donald Macdonald. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — Charles McLean. 
 Major — Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Captains. 
 Archibald McLachlan, James Macdonald, , 
 
 Donald Macdonald, Archibald Macdonell, 
 
 Ranald Macdonell, Roderick Macdonald, 
 
 Hugh Beaton, 
 
 Captain-Lieutenant and Captain — Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 John Macdonald, James McNab. 
 
 Ronald Macdonald, D. Mclntyre, 
 
 Archibald McLellan, Donald Chisholm, 
 
 JameS Macdonell, Allan McNab. 
 
142 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Alexander Macdonell, Donald Maclean, 
 
 John Macdonald, Archibald Macdonell, 
 
 Charles Macdonald, Alexander Macdonell, 
 
 Donald Macdonell. Andrew Macdonell, 
 
 Francis Livingstone. 
 
 Adjutant — Donald Macdonell. 
 Quarter-Master — Alexander Macdonell. 
 Surgeon — Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Taken as a whole, the names seem to be somewhat Scotch, and 
 to savor, as did these of the men, of the clan whose suaicheantas 
 was the heather ! 
 
 I may mention that this is but one of the twenty-six Scottish 
 regiments, almost all Highland, enumerated in the army list of 1798, 
 though a young essayist has gravely assured us that the finer 
 qualities and instincts of the men of that and previous generations 
 had been dwarfed by long subjection to the despotism of their chiefs, 
 and that even their physique had degenerated under oppression, and 
 that it required years and another climate and changed surroundings 
 to counteract the stunting influences of centuries. 
 
 The Highlanders now found themselves in the same destitute 
 situation as they were in when first introduced into the manufactories 
 of Glasgow. Struck with their forlorn condition, the Chaplain, at 
 his own expense, proceeded to London to represent their situation to 
 the Government and to endeavor to induce ministers to lend them 
 assistance to emigrate to Upper Canada. He was introduced to the 
 Right Honourable Charles Yorke, Secretary at War, and by him to 
 Mr. Addington, the Premier. The latter, on account of the 
 testimonials which the Chaplain presented to him of the good conduct 
 of the Regiment during the whole of their service, signed by the 
 different general officers under whose command they had been, 
 directed that a sum of money should be paid to the Chaplain, out of 
 the Military Chaplains' fund in Heu of half-pay, which could not be 
 granted to him without forming a precedent to other Chaplains of 
 Fencible Corps ; and this favour was conferred upon him at the 
 recommendation of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, then 
 Commander-in-Chief, on account of his having constantly attended 
 the Regiment when every other regimental Chaplain had retired 
 
143 
 
 upon five shillings a day by virtue of an order issued from the War 
 Office in 1798. Mr. Addington requested the Chaplain to state to 
 him, in writing, the cause of the frequent emigrations from the 
 Highlands of Scotland. The Chaplain complied with his request in 
 a series of letters, on the perusal of which Mr. Addington expressed 
 his deep regret that so \>Ta.ve and faithful a portion of His Majesty's 
 subjects, who were always found ready at the call of Government, 
 and from whom no murmurs or discontents were ever heard, even 
 under the most trying and distressing circumstances, should be 
 compelled to quit their native soil by the harsh treatment of their 
 landlords, and to transfer their allegiance to the United States, 
 whither the emigration had been flowing previous to this period. 
 
 Mr. Addington added that the loss of so many Highlanders was 
 one of the circumstances which had given him the greatest uneasiness 
 during his administration, and that nothing would give him greater 
 satisfaction than to convince them of the friendly feelings and kind 
 intentions of Government towards them by putting them in the way 
 of acquiring, in a few years, prosperity, and even wealth, with which 
 they might return and live in ease and independence in their native 
 land. He then proposed to the Chaplain to send a colony of 
 those Highlanders with whom he was connected to the Island of 
 Trinidad, which was then first ceded to the British Empire ; and to 
 give a farm of eighty acres of land to every head of a family, and 
 money out of the treasury to purchase four slaves for every farm ; 
 a larger proportion of land and slaves to such gentlemen who would 
 accompany the colony, and to the Chaplain as large a salary as he 
 could reasonably demand. Mr. Addington also offered to send a 
 surgeon and a schoolmaster, with salaries from Government, to the 
 new colony, and, to remove the difficulties which the Chaplain had 
 stated in regard to the unhealthiness of a tropical climate arid the 
 propensity of Highlanders to drink ardent spirits, undertook to 
 furnish the colony with as much wine as the Chaplain and Surgeon 
 should consider necessary for the preservation of the general health 
 for three years, also sufficient vinegar wherewith to wash their 
 habitations for the same period ; after which it might be supposed 
 that the constitution of the settlers would become inured to the 
 climate. 
 
 For these liberal and ?idvantageous offers the Chaplain could 
 not but feel grateful to Mr. Addington, but while he thanked him for 
 
144 
 kind intentions towards his c ountrymen, he assured him that no con- 
 sideration on earth would induce him to prevail upon Highlanders 
 to reside in the unhealthy climate of the West Indies, or reconcile to 
 his conscience the bitter reflection of his being the cause of making 
 a woman or a child a widow or an orphan. 
 
 Mr. Addington seemed greatly surprised and disappointed at 
 this expression of the Chaplain's sentiments, and demanded in what 
 other way he could serve the Highlanders. He was answered [that 
 what they expected and wished was to be assisted in emigrating to 
 Upper Canada, where several of their friends had already settled 
 themselves. 
 
 The Chaplain proceeded to state that if this assistance were 
 tendered upon a more expensive scale, it would allay the irritated 
 feelings entertained by the Highlanders against their landlords, whose 
 gruel conduct was identified with the system and operations of Gov- 
 ernment. Moreover, the Scotch, quitting their country in this exas- 
 perated state of mind, and setthng in the United States, readily 
 imbibed republican principles and a determined antipathy against the 
 British Government ; whereas by diverting the tide of emigration into 
 the British colonies, their population would be increased by settlers 
 retaining British principles, British feelings and an attachment 
 towards their native country, not only undiminished, but even 
 increased by the parental' conduct of the Government towards them. 
 
 Mr. Addington then offered to lend some assistance to the Chap- 
 lain to convey his adherents to the sea coast of Nova Scotia, New 
 Brunswick or Cape Breton, but assured him that His Majesty's Gov- 
 ernment considered the hold they had of Upper Canada so slender 
 and so precarious that a person in his situation would not be justified 
 in putting his hand in the public purse to assist British subjects to 
 emigration to that colony. The Cnaplain, however, adhered to his 
 first resolution of conducting his countrymen to Upper Canada, and 
 Mr. Addington procured for him an order (with the Sign Manual) to 
 the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to grant two hundred 
 acres of land to every one of the Higlanders who should arrive in the 
 Province. 
 
 No sooner was it known that this order had been given by the 
 Secretary for the Colonies than the Highland landlords and pro- 
 prietors took the alarm, considering the order as an allurement to 
 entice from the country their vassals and dependents. 
 
145 
 Sir John McPherson, Sir Archibald Macdonald (the Lord Chief 
 Baron of the Exchequer in England), the late Mr. Charles Grant, one 
 of the Directors of the East India Company and M.P. for the County 
 of Inverness, with other gentlemen connected with the Highlands, 
 and even the Earl of Moira, then commanding the forces in North 
 Britain, endeavored to dissuade the Chaplain from his purpose, and 
 promised to procure a pension for him provided he would separate 
 himself from the Highlanders whom he had promised to take to 
 Canada, and that the amount of the pension should be in proportion 
 to the numbe'' he should prevail upon to stay at home. 
 
 So anxious were these gentlemen to keep the Highlanders at 
 home that they applied to the Prince of Wales, and by His Royal 
 Highness' sanction. Sir Thomas Tyrrwhit, the -Prince's agent, sent 
 for the Chaplain to Carlton House for the purpose of prevaihng upon 
 him to induce the intending emigrants to settle on the waste lands of 
 the County of Cornwall, under the patronage and protection of His 
 Royal Highness. This the Chaplain also declined, and in concert 
 with Major Archibald Campbell, then on the staff of General 
 Pulteney, now(i) Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, proposed a 
 plan of organizing a Military emigration, to be composed of the 
 soldiers of the several Scotch Fencible Regiments just then disbanded, 
 and sending them over to Upper Canada for the double purpose of 
 forming an internal defence and settling the country. It was 
 requested that a certain portion of land should be granted to every 
 man after a service of five years, or on his furnishing a substitute ; 
 so that the same force might always be kept up and the settlement 
 of the country go on. It was considered that this plan would prevent 
 the frequent desertion of His Majesty's troops to the United States ; 
 would make these military settlers interested in the defence of the 
 Province, and be a prodigious saving of transport of troops in the 
 event of a war with the United States. 
 
 Several distinguished officers appeared anxious to join this 
 military emigration, and the scheme was nearly matured, when Mr. 
 Addington found himself under the necessity of resigning the Pre- 
 miership, and Pitt and Dundas returned to office. 
 
 The war was soon after renewed, and the Scotch landlords 
 combined to keep their people at home. 
 
 (i) At the time the Bishop wrote the narrative, 1833, 
 
146 
 that emigrants who had been some time in the Colonies were desirous 
 to get "back to their native country, and when they could not accom- 
 plish their wishes, were desirous to prevent their friends at home 
 from emigrating, but dared not acquaint them of their now miserable 
 condition but by stratagem desiring them to consult their Uncle 
 Sandy, and if he advised them to come, then they might 
 proceed. Now, it was well known that Uncle Sandy was dead 
 many years previous. These and many other such like pitiable and 
 affecting passages of the Lord Advocate's speech in the House o^ 
 Commons blazed through the pubUc prints in Scotland, and were 
 beUeved, or it was pretended that they were beheved, like Gospel, by 
 the Highland lairds and their friends. 
 
 The moment that this bill passed into law, an embargo was laid 
 on all emigrant vessels in British harbours, and this though many of 
 them had already nearly received their complement of passengers, and 
 the whole of the emigrants of the season, after selling their effects, had 
 arrived or were on their way to the seaports to embark. Fortunately, 
 however, for the soldiers of the disbanded Glengarry Fencibles, the 
 greater part of them had got away before the bill came into operation. 
 The Chaplain, having been detained in London on business, after 
 the sailing of his adherents, received a call from the Earl of Selkirk, 
 who proposed to him to join in his plan of taking emigrants to North 
 America. The Chaplain requested his lordship to explain his views 
 and intentions, upon which the Earl stated that he intended to settle 
 those regions between Lakes Huron and Superior with Scotch High- 
 landers, where the climate was nearly similiar to that of the north of 
 Scotland, and the soil of a superior quality ; besides, they would 
 enjoy the benefit of the fish with which the lakes teemed, particularly 
 the white fish of the Sault Ste. Marie. 
 
 The Chaplain at first declined this offer on the plea that private 
 business would detain him in London. The Earl than offered him 
 an order for £2,000 upon his agent, as an indemnification for any 
 loss or inconvenience he might experience by so sudden a departure. 
 The Chaplain was a second time compelled to give a refusal and to 
 decline this generous offer of the Earl, declaring at the same time he 
 felt most grateful for such generosity, but that he could never think 
 of putting himself under so great an obligation to any man ; that the 
 situation which his lordship had selected for his settlement was 
 beyond the jurisdiction of the Government of Upper Canada, and so 
 
147 
 far from any other location that he was apprehensive that emigrants 
 settling themselves in so remote a region would meet with insuperable 
 difficulties ; that he could by no means induce those with whose 
 interests he was connected to go beyond the protection of the Pro- 
 vincial Government, and, besides, such a settlement v/ould 
 entirely destroy the Northwest Company, as it would cut off the 
 communication between the winterers and Canada ; and as several 
 of the principal members of that Company were his particular friends, 
 no consideration would induce him to enter upon an enterprise that 
 would injure their interest. 
 
 The Chaplain then asked the Earl what could induce a man 
 of his high rank and great fortune, possessing the esteem and 
 confidence of His Majesty's Government and of every public man 
 in Britain, to embark in an enterprise so romantic as that he had 
 just explained. To this the Earl replied that the situation of Great 
 Britain, and indeed of all Europe, was at that moment (September 
 1803) so very critical and eventful that a man would like to have 
 a more solid footing to stand upon than Europe could offer. 
 
 The following letter was addressed by Lord Hobart, Secretary 
 of State for the Colonies, to Lieutenant-General Hunter, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor of Upper Canada, at the time of the departure of this 
 important emigration to Canada : 
 
 "Downing Street, ist March, 1803. 
 "Sir, 
 
 " A body of Highlanders, mostly Macdonells, and partly dis- 
 banded soldiers of the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, with their 
 families and immediate connections, are .u2oa--tfee~p©iftt-ef-quitting 
 -their present place of abode, with the design of following into Upper 
 Canada some of their relatives who have already established them- 
 selves in that Province. 
 
 " The merit and services of the Regiment in which a proportion 
 of these people have served, give them strong claims to any mark of 
 favour and consideration which can consistently be extended to 
 them ; and witli the encouragement usually afforded in the Province 
 they would no doubt prove as valuable settlers as their connexions 
 now residing in the District of Glengarry, of whose industry and 
 general good conduct very favourable representations have been 
 received here. 
 
 " Government has been apprized of the situation and disposi- 
 tion of the families before described by Mr. Macdonell, one of the 
 Ministers of their Church and formerly Chaplain to the Glengarry 
 Regiment, who possesses considerable influence with the whole body. 
 
148 
 
 " He has undertaken, in the event of their absolute determina- 
 tion to carry into execution their plan of departure, to embark with 
 them and direct their course to Canada. 
 
 " In case of their arrival within your Government, I am com- 
 manded by His Majesty to authorize you to grant, in the usual 
 manner, a tract of the unappropriated Crown lands in any part of 
 the Province where they may wish to fix, in the proportion of twelve 
 hundred acres to Mr. Macdonell and two hundred, acres to every 
 family he may introduce into the Colony. " _ , ..' 
 
 " I have the honour to be, sir, "^ 
 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " HOBART." 
 
149 
 
 CHAPTER 13. 
 
 Emigration from Kintail and Glenelg, Ross-shire. — Sub- 
 divisions OF THF. County. — Local Nomenclature. — Ken- 
 yon, LocHiEL, Breadalbane, Dunvegan, Eigg, Strath- 
 glass, Uist, Little Knoydart, Laggan, Fassifern, &c., 
 &c. — Members of Parliament to Union of Upper and 
 Lower Canada, 1840. — Enumeration of the Clans. 
 
 Mr. McLennan, from whom I have previously quoted, states 
 tv^gt '"n t^f "a me yea r and in the same ships that brought oat the men 
 qfthe Qlengan^-Esnciblesand their TamTlies, came~also a number of 
 /people from Glenelg and Kintail and other parts, his father's family 
 being anlongst those from Kintail. His grandfather, Mr. Murdpeh 
 McLennan, gave up a valuable holding on the Seaforth estate in 
 order to keep with his friends and neighbours, who were emigrating. 
 They were 11 00 souls on the vessel, and were four months at sea, 
 encountering wintry weathtr on the coast of EabradorpwiricKTas he 
 remarks, was a rough introduction to the new world. His father, 
 John McLennan, was but 13 years of age at the time. At the call 
 to arms in 18 1-2 he enlisted in the Mihtia, and was appointed 
 Sergeant in the Company commanded by Captain Duncan Greenfield 
 Macdonell. He was with the Company at the taking of Ogdens- 
 burgh, and became Lieutenant and Quarter-Master at the close of the 
 campaign. After the War, he taught for several years the school at 
 Williamstown, which continues as a high school under the present 
 system. In 1823 he retired to hew out a farm in Lancaster, and was 
 appointed at the same time to the Commission of the Peace. He 
 commanded a Company for frontier duty in 1838-9, and died in 1866. 
 
 In the same immigration was Mr. Donald Eraser, who after 
 some years' residence and business in Williamstown, purchased from 
 
15° 
 Sir John Johnson the property of Pointe-du-Lac (now Eraser's Point), 
 where his son Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Fraser, of the Glengarry 
 Militia, hale and hearty at the age of 84 years (at the time Mr. Mc- 
 Lennan wrote his paper), now resides, and from whom he obtained 
 much of the information afforded in his essay.(i) 
 
 I trust Mr. McLennan will not accuse me of piracy if I quote 
 from him still further : — 
 
 " The early settlers had many and serious difficulties to en- 
 counter, coming, as so many did, with small means and with scarcely 
 any knowledge of woodcraft, and a great proportion knowing very 
 little of farming after they had cleared away the woods ; but they 
 overcame them by the courage and endurance of their race. The 
 value of their exportable timber, and the discrimination in its favour 
 in the British tariff, helped them very greatly, as did also the high 
 price for pot and pearl ashes, which they manufactured from the 
 timber burned in clearing the land. Fortunately for them (and 
 for their posterity) they were of frugal habits ; they followed from the 
 beginning the practice of their country in the establishment of 
 schools, so that their descen dents are able to hold their own in the 
 now greatly accelerated pace of development. 
 
 " During the lifetime of the first immigrants, the Gaelic language 
 was much in use, so much so that a knowledge of it was considered 
 a necessary qualification for the Presbyterian pulpit. The common 
 school, however, has brought the new generation to use the English 
 tongue, and now a Gaelic sermon, is rarely heard, though in some 
 isolated sections the Gaelic language is in some measure of use." 
 
 I fear it but too true that the Gaelic language is to some extent 
 being allowed to die out, though many, to their credit be it said, still 
 make it the language of the household. 
 
 In 1798 the rear part of Charlottenburgh (which Township was 
 when originally laid out between the years 1776 and 1778, known as 
 "Township Number One "), was erected into a new Township and 
 called Kenyon, doubtless so named after the celebrated Lord Ken- 
 yon, then Lord Chief Justice of England. Charlottenburgh had no 
 doubt derived its name from the Princess Charlotte of MeddenfeiHg-. 
 StreHtz, the wife of George III. ' 
 
 It was not until 181 8 that Lancaster, which was originally 
 known as " the Lake Township," was subdivided, and the rear por- 
 tion named Lochiel, in compliment to those who had come from that 
 
 (1) As previously mentioned, Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser died on the 5th June, 1891, at the 
 patriarchal age of ninety-one years, retaining all his faculties to the end. An excellent account of 
 his life and a well-deserved tribute to his memory from the well-known pen of one of Glengarry's 
 most accomplished sons is given in the '• Glen^arrian ' ' of the loth of July, jSgi. 
 
District in Scotland, the Camerons and their clansmen the MacMillans, 
 the latter by the way greatly preponderating. When a census of the 
 Highland clans was taken by the late Colonel Chisholm in 1852, it 
 appeared that of the Mac!\Iillans there were in Lochiel 351, while of 
 the Camerons but 43. In Kenyon the proportion was different, 
 there being in that Township 228 Camerons and 138 MacMillans. 
 
 Various settlements in these Townships are designated after the 
 districts in Scotland from which the first settlers in the neighborhood 
 came. Thus we have " Breadalbane," where those who reside still 
 maintain the religious and political tenets common to the people of 
 Argyleshire in Scotland (of which Breadalbane forms a not inconsi- 
 derable part), with the tenacity of purpose which is one of the great- 
 est characteristics of the Highland race. In and around " Dunye- 
 gan " are settled large numbers of the MacLeods, and there they 
 have perpetuated the name of the ancient and romantic seat of their 
 Chief, the patriarchal fortress oi Ekm«egan in Skye. The name is 
 familiar, and recalls the well-known but sorrowful air, " Cha till mi 
 tuille," or " MacCrimmon's Lament," the strain with which the emi- 
 grants from the West Highlands and Isles usually took leave of their 
 native shore. Sir Walter Scott gives the first verse as follows : 
 " Macleod's wizard flag from the grey castle sallies. 
 The rowers are seated, unmoor'd are the galleys ; 
 Gleam war-axe and broadsword, clang target and quiver. 
 As MacCrimmon sings ' Farewell to Dunvegan for ever ! 
 Farewell to each cliff, on which breakers are foaming ; 
 Farewell each dark glen, in which red deer are roaming ; 
 Farewell lovely Skye — to lake, mountain and river 
 MacLeod may return, but MacCrimmon shall never ! ' " 
 MacCrimmon, who was hereditary piper to Lord MacLeod, is 
 , said to have composed this lament when the clan was about to de- 
 part upon a distant and dangerous expedition. The minstrel was 
 impressed with a belief, which the event verified, that he was to be 
 slain in the approaching feud ; and hence the words with which the 
 song concludes : " Cha till mi tuille ; ged thillis MacLeod, cha tiH 
 MacCrimmon." [" I shall never return; although MacLeod returns, 
 yet MacCrimmon shall never return."] 
 
 " Eigg" reminds us of another island on the west coast of Scot- 
 land, a portion of the estate of Macdonald of Clanranald, where 
 occurred, in a dispute between the MacLeods and the inhabitants of 
 that island, a dreadful episode which had better be forgotten. 
 
152 
 
 From the MacLeods who came from the main shore and were 
 separated from their clansmen by an arm of the sea and that part of 
 the Island of Skye known as Sleat, the property of the Baronets of 
 Sleat, and who settled in the vicinity of Kirkhill, the country there- 
 abouts is known as " Glenelg." They were very early settlers, com- 
 ing to Glengarry, as we have seen, about 1793, 
 
 In " Strathglass '' there are, as might be expected, many Chis^ 
 holms, and I might mention that it was due largely to the efforts 
 and genealogical knowledge of clansmen of that name settled in 
 Glengarry that the late Chieftain of that Clan, James Sutherland 
 Chisholm, then a resident of this country, was enabled to establish his 
 right to Erkless Castle and an estate in Scotland worth some thou- 
 sands of pounds sterling a year. 
 
 " Uist." There was a small settlement in the second concession 
 of Lochiel known as ".Uist," from the fact that some families of 
 Macdonalds had settled in the neighbourhood who came from the 
 island of that name on the west coast of Scotland. 
 
 In " Little Knoydart," a number of persons from that part of 
 the Glengarry estates, who came to Canada comparatively recently, 
 about the time of the building of the Grand Trunk Railway, settled, 
 and their Scottish home is thus commemorated. They are good 
 farmers and in most comfortable circumstances. 
 
 Some of the post offices and adjoining villages have names 
 more or less familiar, though they were derived, as a rule, more from 
 local surroundings than from Scottish origin, such as Glen Roy, 
 Glen Donald, Glen Norman, Glen Nevis, Glen Sandfield, Glen 
 Walter, McCrimmon, McCormack, Athol, &c., &c. "Laggan" 
 takes its name from the place of the same name in Badenoch, 
 Invemess-shire, Scotland, recently best known probably as having 
 been for many years the home of one of the most accomplished 
 writers of the day, Mrs. Grant of Laggan, the authoress of " Letters 
 from the Mountains," " Memoirs of an American Lady," &c., &c. ; 
 " Fassifem " is a name dear to all who chensh the traditions of the 
 Camerons, ennobled especially in the case of Dr. Archibald Cameron 
 of Fassifem, a younger brother of Lochiel, who with the Honourable 
 Alexander Murray, one of Lord Elibank's brothers, and Macdonell 
 of Lochgarry, was at the head of the last Jacobite effort in Scotland, 
 when Fassifem was taken prisoner, sent to London, brought to trial 
 upon the bill of attainder passed against him on account of his 
 
153 
 concern in the Rebellion of 1745, and upon that charge arraigned, 
 condemned and put to death, at Tylmrn in June, 1753. Though 
 there may be difference of opinion as to the laudable nature of Dr. 
 Archibald Cameron's enterprise (there can be none as to his gal- 
 lantry, humanity and brave bearing during his trial or his manner of 
 meeting his fate !) all, without reference to politics, will cherish the 
 name of his brave descendant. Colonel John Cameron of Fassifern, 
 so often distinguished in Lord Wellington's despatches from Spain, 
 who fell in action at Quatre Bras (16th June, 1815) while leading 
 the 92nd or Gordon Highlanders to charge a body of cavalry, sup- 
 ported by infantry, and to whom Sir Walter Scott, in the finest 
 portion of ".The- Field of Waterloo," in enumerating those who fell, 
 thus refers : 
 
 " And Cameron in the shock of steel 
 Died like the offspring of Lochiel " 
 
 " Dalkeith " is somewhat more Lowland than most other Scot- 
 tish names identified with Glengarry, though Sir Walter always 
 claimed that the Scotts were at any rate, "a Border Clan." I pre- 
 sume the place is called after the title of the eldest son of the Duke 
 of Buccleuch, the head of the great family of Scott. 
 
 " Alexandria " (formerly Priest's Mills), took ifs name from the 
 first Bishop of Upper Canada, Alexander Macdonell, who built the 
 mill there, which was the commencement of the village. It is now 
 the See of another Bishop of similar name, worthy successor of his 
 great namesake. 
 
 " Martintown " was so called after an officer of that name, Lieu- 
 tenant Malcolm McMartin, of the King's Royal Regiment. One of 
 his family at one time represented Glengarry and was Sheriff of the 
 United Counties. 
 
 __^ — liSL_Andrews " j^ not far off, but lies in the adjacent County of 
 Stormont. The original settlers in the neighbourhood were all High- 
 land United Empire Loyalist soldiers. The name requires no 
 explanation — the good people of the vicinity have commemorated 
 the name of Scotland's patron saint, not only in the name of their 
 settlement but by erecting one of the finest churches in Eastern 
 Ontario. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted that no complete list can be 
 obtained of the members of the Legislature of Upper Canada dur- 
 
154 
 ing each parliament from 1792 until the Union of the Provinces of 
 Upper and Lower Canada in 1841. The destruction of all the 
 parliamentary papers when York was burnt by the Americans in 
 1813 partly accounts for the scarcity of accurate and complete 
 information of this nature. Again, in early days the members of Parlia- 
 ment drew their expenses and indemnity from the county treasurer on 
 their return from Parliament, and Judge Pringle, who has made a 
 careful search pf the records, informs me that it is apparent that 
 most of the earlier members for Glengarry evidently considered the 
 honour of representing the County sufficient, and declined to accept 
 or omitted to procure the indemnity to which they were entitled, and 
 their names cannot therefore be obtained from that source, as in the 
 case of the County of Dundas for instance, where the members were 
 as regular in drawing their indemnity as in their attendance 
 on their duties. Since the Union, I believe, members of 
 both branches of Parliament have been somewhat more^ttentive to 
 the duty they owe themselves in this particular, and the cases are 
 few in which the people's representatives have done themselves the 
 slightest injustice ! 
 
 Until the Union of 1841, "Glengarry had two members, and 
 although the following list, for the reasons stated, is not complete, it 
 is as much so as can now be ascertained : 
 
 MEMBERS FOR GLENGARRY, I792-184O. 
 
 '7 John Macdonell of Aberchalder, first Speaker, 
 I Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder), - - - 
 
 Colonel John Macdonell pf Aberchalder, - - 
 
 John N. Campbell, 
 
 Alexander Macdonell (Collachie) Speaker, - 
 Angus B. Macdonell (Saundic), - - " 
 
 Alexander Mackenzie, 
 
 Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), 
 
 Walter Butler Wilkinson, - - - - 
 
 Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), - - - 
 
 Thomas Fraser, - - 
 
 Colonel John Macdonell (Greenfield), - 
 
 Alexander McMartin, 
 
 John Cameron," 
 
 1792 
 1797 
 
 r*93>r^ 
 
 1808 
 
 1808 
 
 i8r2 
 
 1812 — _-- 
 1816 
 
^55 ^ y 
 
 Alexander Macdonell (Collachie), — ^= — .- — - - --"^ ' 1 tR n-'ai" 
 
 Alexander McMartin, - - - - j ^ * 3 
 
 Alexander Macdonell (Greenfield), - - - 182 1' 
 
 Duncan Cameron, - - - - - - 1823, '28 
 
 Colonel Alexander Fraser, - 1824 or 1828 and i83o-'34 
 
 Donald Macdonell (Greenfield)7""^^ ---- ) „ , 
 
 Colonel Alexander Chisholm, - >- -|i«34-35 
 
 Colonel Donald Macdonell (Greenfield},- — - - "~tT^'~ 
 .^Colonel Alexander Chisholm, j^ 3 4 - 
 
 I can find no record of any militia regiment earlier than 1803. 
 
 From the nature of the population of the County, all its inhabi- 
 tants having previously, almost without exception, borne arms either 
 in the Revolutionary War, in the Second Battalion Royal Canadian 
 Volunteers (disbanded, as we have seen, in the previous year) or in 
 the Glengarry Fencible (British Highland) Regiment (whose men 
 this year arrived in Glengarry), there could have been but little 
 difficulty in organizing a militia regiment in the County. 
 
 In 1803, the officers of the Glengarry Militia Regiment, which 
 appears to have been one of the most complete in the Province, 
 were as follows : 
 
 GLENGARRY MILITIA REGIMENT, 1803. 
 
 Colonel — John Macdonell (of Aberchalder). 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — Hugh Macdonell (Aberchalder). 
 Major — Walter Sutherland. 
 
 Captains. 
 Ranald Macdonell, Richard Wilkinson, 
 
 ^^^ Alexander McMillan, Alexander Macdonell, ■ 
 
 Joseph Sutherland, Duncan Murchison, 
 
 John Mclntyre. 
 Lieutenants. 
 Murdoch Maclean, John Hay, 
 
 Duncan Mclntyre, Duncan McKenzie, 
 
 Allan Macdonell, John Dunn, 
 
 Peter Macdonell, Duncan Macdonell, 
 
 Donald McGilHs, Norman Macleod. 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Jacob Simmers, Jeremiah Snyder, 
 
156 
 -^^ Hector Mackay, Duncan Macdonell, 
 
 Donald MacMillan, John Macdonell, 
 
 Ranald Macdonell, Alexander Grant, 
 
 Donald Mackay, jr., John Cameron. 
 
 Chaplain — John Bethune. 
 Adjutant — Murdoch Maclean. 
 Quartermaster — Lawrence Mackay. 
 
 Many of these officers had already seen service. Thus Colonel 
 Macdonell had served through the Revolutionary War in the K. R. 
 R. of N. Y. and Butler's Rangers, and was stated by Col. Mathews 
 Military Secretary to Sir Guy Carleton, to have been "an active and 
 distinguished partizan," who, with other members of his family and 
 their adherents, " had united the Indians of the Five Nations in the 
 interest of government, and in a great measure preserved the upper 
 country of Canada." He had also commanded the 2nd Batt. R. C, 
 V. R. of Foot during its period of service, and while on the regular 
 establishment of the British Army from 1796 to 1802. 
 
 In 1852 a list was prepared by Colonel Alexander Chisholm, 
 when taking the census of the County, giving the number of the 
 various Highland Clans in Glengarry at that time. The families of 
 most of these people had come to Canada long before, and previous 
 to 181 2 ; and although the numbers may have been somewhat less 
 at the earlier period, and may have increased considerably since 
 1852, the proportion is but little changed. This enumeration 
 does not, however, give all the clans represented in Glengarry, a few 
 having been omitted by reason of the Government requiring Colonel 
 Chisholm to make his return before he was able fully to complete 
 his interesting enumeration. It was always a matter of regret to 
 that gentleman that he was thus unable to perfect his self-imposed 
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158 
 Friends and connections of the original settlers belonging to the 
 various Highland Clans from time to time joined them, and when in 
 1812 war was declared by the United States, it was found that on 
 Canadian soil there was a great colony of Highlanders prepared to 
 maintain the traditions of their race, and to lay down their lives, if 
 necessary, to preserve the connection with the land they had left, but 
 still loved so well. And so I trust it may always be. 
 
IS9 
 
 CHAPTER 14. 
 
 Outbreak of the War of 1812. — Expressions of the Ameri- 
 can Press and Public Men. — Situation of Affairs in- 
 Upper Canada. — Colonel Denison's Account of General 
 Brock's Difficulties. — Treason of Willcocks, Mallorvv 
 Marcle and other Renegades. — Extra Session of Par- 
 liament Summoned. — Martial Law Proclaimed. — Expul- 
 sion of Willcocks and Marcle. 
 
 It would be foreign to the purpose of a work such as this to 
 enter at any length into the cause which led to the War of 18 12. 
 The people of Glengarry, indeed those of Canada, had nothing to do 
 with that. This matter has been discussed at length by various 
 writers on the subject, by James in " The Military Occurrences of 
 the War," by Christie in his admirable " History of Lower Canada," 
 by Auchinleck in the " History of the War of 1812-13-14," and later 
 by Colonel Coffin in his "Chronicle of the War of 181 2," published 
 as late as 1864. My object is simply to show that the War having 
 come upon us, owing to no act of ours, the Highlanders of Glengarry 
 did their share of the work and merited the high encomium of 
 Colonel Carmichael passed upon them in his letter to Sir James 
 Macdonell in 1840, which I quoted on the title page. 
 
 Suffice it to say that they were fighting for their homes, for the 
 possession of British North America was what the Americans aimed 
 at. Not only, however, were they lustful of further territorial 
 aggrandizement, but they recognized the fact that, as stated in the 
 « Weekly Register " : 
 
 " The conquest of Canada will be of the greatest importance to 
 us in distressing our enemy ; in cutting off his supplies of provisions 
 and naval stores for his West India Colonies and home demand. 
 There is no place from where she can supply the mighty void tha 
 
i6o 
 
 WDuld be occasioned by the loss of this country, as well in her exports 
 as imports. It would operate upon him with a double force ; it 
 would deprive him of a vast quantity of indispensable materials, as 
 well as of food, and close an extensive market for his manufactures. 
 Canada and Nova Scotia, if not fully conquered immediately, may 
 be rendered useless to him in a few weeks. Without them, and 
 particularly the latter, he cannot maintain these terrible fleets on our 
 coast which we are threatened with, or bridge our harbours with 
 frigates, admitting he may have no use for them to defend his own 
 shores ; for he will not have a dockyard, filling the purposes of his 
 navy, within three thousand miles of us." 
 
 Mr. Porter, then Chairman of the Committee on Foreign 
 
 Relations, said : — 
 
 " These Provinces were not only immensely valuable in them- 
 selves, but almost indispensable to the existence of Great Britain, 
 cut off as she now is, in a great measure from the north of Europe. 
 He had been credibly informed that the exports from Quebec alone 
 amounted during the last year (1810) to near six millions of dollars, 
 and most of these, too, in articles of the first necessity — in ship 
 timber and in provisions for the support of her fleets and armies." 
 
 Britain's battle, therefore, became our fight, and our defence 
 ^not only an obligation to us but a duty she owed to herself and her 
 supremacy on the sea, Canada was to be the battle-ground, and the 
 success of theWar must largely depend on the temper and loyalty of its 
 people ; and though there were traitors within the gates the great 
 bulk of them proved equal to the emergency. Such of the veterans 
 of the War of 1776-83 as were left had their experience to fall back 
 upon and place at the service of the Crown, though their limbs had 
 lost the elasticity of youth, and in most cases were crippled with age 
 and the hardship incidental to their lot ; while the children of those 
 who had gone proved true to the loyalty of their forefathers and the 
 obligations incumbent upon subjects of the British Crown. 
 
 " We will drive the British from our continent " was the text of 
 their speeches and manifestoes. " The Falls of Niagara could be 
 resisted with as much success as the American people when they 
 should be called into action," cried an excited orator in Congress. 
 " I am willing," was the magnanimous declaration of Mr. Grundy of 
 Tennessee, " to receive the Canadians as adopted brethren. * * 
 I feel anxious not only to add the Floridas to the south, but the 
 Canadas to the north of this ' empire.' " The willingness, however, 
 was not reciprocal, and we purposed to hold our own on what they 
 
i6i 
 
 were pleased to term " their " continent. The Canadian people, 
 less inflated and less vulgar and verbose, gave them their answer on 
 many a hard contested field during the next few years. 
 
 Henry Clay said : " It is absurd to suppose we shall not suc- 
 ceed in our enterprise against the enemy's Provinces. We have the 
 Canadas as much under our command as 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 anywhere else, but I 
 would take the whole continent from them and ask no favours. * 
 * * We must take the continent from them — I wish never to 
 see a peace till we do. God has given us the power and the means j 
 we are to blame if we do not use them." It is a curious coincidence 
 that this same Henry Clay signed the treaty of peace at the close of 
 the War j and that it did not give the United States a single inch of 
 Canadian territory. 
 
 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 toward their 
 own government, will rally around our standard." 
 
 There can be no doubt but that they counted, and counted 
 largely, on a portion, a large and influential one, of our population, 
 being inimical to Great Britain, and that they had, unfortunately, 
 some ground for this impression will shortly be shown. 
 
 My friend Colonel George Taylor Denison, of Toronto, who, 
 like all the members of his distinguished family for several genera- 
 tions, has done so much by precept and example to keep alive the 
 spirit of loyalty and patriotism among our people, in an admirable 
 lecture on the opening of the War of 1812, recently deHvered before 
 the Sons of England in Toronto, has outlined far better than I could 
 attempt to do, the situation of affairs at the time, the difficulties Gen- 
 eral Brock had to face, and the measures he took to meet them. He 
 has most kindly placed it at my disposal, with permission to use it 
 to the fullest extent — a courtesy of which I most gladly avail myself. 
 He first refers to the fact that England was engaged in the mightiest 
 effort she had ever made, carrying on, almost single-handed, a war 
 against the greatest soldier and conqueror of modern times, if not of 
 all time. From 1793, with a slight intermission, she had been 
 continually engaged in war. The British troops had been fighting 
 in the Peninsula with varying success for four years. One army 
 
l62 
 
 under Sir John Moore, had been obliged to retreat in 1809 to 
 Corunna and embark for England ; while Lord WeUington had been 
 obliged to fall back to the shelter of the lines of T oir.efi-Vedras.jn- 
 1810 and across the Portuguese frontier in 1811 and to retreat from 
 Burgos in 1812. The national debt had increased from £240,000,000 
 to about £740,000,000 sterling during the preceding nineteen years, 
 an increase of over £26,000,000, or $130,000,000 per annum. The 
 total debt was fifteen times larger than the present debt of Canada, 
 while the population of Great Britain and Ireland was not more than 
 three and a half times our present population. Napoleon was at the 
 zenith of his power. The whole of Europe, except Russia, was 
 under his control. On the 12th June, 181 2, he crossed the Niemen 
 to invade Russia at the head of about half a million of the best 
 troops of Europe. Alison says : 
 
 " The commands of Napoleon were as readily obeyed by the 
 Italians, Germans or Prussians as by the Guards of the French 
 Empire." 
 
 Napoleon left Paris for this campaign on the 9th May, 1812, 
 and six weeks after, on the i8th June, the United States declared 
 war against England. The population of Upper Canada was then 
 estimated at about 70,000, of Lower Canada about 230,000, in all 
 about 300,000. The population of the United States was over 
 8,000,000. The population of the United Kingdom of Great 
 Britain and Ireland was slightly more than double that of the United 
 States, but it was a population exhausted by nineteen years of war, 
 burdened with a debt relatively four times as great as the present 
 debt of Canada is to the Canadian people, and facing in mortal 
 struggle nearly all Europe, lead by the greatest captain of the age. 
 
 England's difficulty was the Republic's opportunity. Madison 
 and his -government, believing that England was upon the verge of 
 ruin, were determined to bring on war, and nothing but the public 
 voice restrained them from sooner commencing hostilities. Sir 
 George Prevost and General Brock knowing this, made it their 
 constant study to guard against anything that would enable the War 
 Party in the States to influence the minds of the people against 
 England. This strong desire to conquer and acquire Canada was 
 increased somewhat by the belief that England was in extremities, 
 but principally from the belief that Canada, weak in numbers as she 
 was, was still weaker in consequence of divided councils and 
 
163 
 
 internal disaffection. The confidence of the politicians at Washing- 
 ton in the certainty of the acquisition of Canada was absolute. 
 
 Now let us consider General Brock's position. For the defence 
 of this Province he had to rely upon the regular troops and the quota 
 of militia that 70,000 people could furnish. On the breaking out of 
 hostiHties the regular force in Upper Canada amounted to barely 
 1,500 men, composed of : — The Forty-First Regiment, 900 ; Tenth 
 Veterans, 250; Newfoundland Regiment, 250; Royal Artillery, 50; 
 Provincial Seamen, 50. 
 
 In Lower Canada Sir George Prevost had about 3,000 regular 
 troops. The total number of men capable of bearing arms in Upper 
 Canada was about 11,000. The proportion available for active 
 service constantly was estimated at about 4,000. At the 
 beginning of 1812, the United States had a regular army of 
 5,500 men. On the nth January, 181 2, five months before 
 the Declaration of War, an Act of Congress was passed for raising 
 25,000 men for five years. In the next month an Act was passed to 
 organize 50,000 volunteers, and in April 1 00,000 militia were called 
 called into active service for the purpose of military drill. During 
 the whole war the United States regalar army amounted to about 
 30,000. The whole militia force raised'during the war was 471,622, 
 making a grand total of over half a million engaged in the effort to 
 conquer Provinces containing a total population of 300,000- 
 Another great difficulty was the lack of military stores and 
 suppHes. General Brock had no uniforms to clothe the militia, and 
 therefore issued a recommendation to them that each man, as far as 
 his circumstance and situation allowed, should provide himself with 
 a short coat of some dark coloured cloth, made to button well around 
 the body, and trousers suited to the season, with the addition of a 
 round hat. It was also recommended to the officers on every 
 occasion when in the field to dress in conformity with the men, in 
 order to avoid the bad consequences of a conspicuous dress. 
 
 Flour was scarce, the price having risen before the War to 
 $8.50 a barrel, and many of the militia were drilling in their naked 
 -feetTwhile Brock was without a military chest, without money enough 
 to buy provisions, blankets or even shoes for the miUtia. He made 
 his wants known to a number of gentlemen of credit, who formed 
 themselves into what was called " the Niagara and Queenston 
 Association," and several thousand pounds were issued in the shape 
 
164 
 
 of bank notes, which were currently received throughout the country. 
 This enabled Brock to fit out his expedition to Detroit. The want of 
 arms was also severely felt until the capture of Detroit placed at his 
 disposal 2,500 muskets of General Hull's army, which were used to 
 arm Canadian Militia. There also he captured a quantity of cannon 
 that were of service in subsequent operations. 
 
 In addition to the enormous odds against him, the lack of 
 supplies, arms, men and money, there was one difficulty worse than 
 all others, namely, internal disaffection and treachery. The regular 
 force under General Brock was apparently utterly inadequate to 
 defend so long a frontier, even if assisted by the hearty support of 
 the whole population of the Province. Here, however, came Brock's 
 greatest danger, enough to appal the stoutest heart. Upper Canada 
 had been ^ttledr by different classes of settlers. The first arrivals, 
 in 1784, were the loyal fighting men of the Revolutionary War, men 
 who had made enonnous sacrifices and suffered untold hardships to 
 maintain the unity of the Empire and their allegiance to their 
 Sovereign. These men had settled along the Niagara frontier, on the 
 Bay of Quinte and along the St. Lawrence. 
 
 When in 1792 Colonel Simcoe arrived as first Lieutenant- 
 Governor of this Province, being anxious to secure additional 
 population he established a most liberal system of granting the public 
 lands to bona fide settlers. His principal efforts were directed to 
 inducing emigration from the United States. He felt that, although 
 the Revolutionary War had ceased nine years before, there was still 
 in the United States a large number of people whose sympathies 
 were with the Royal side, and who would feel more satisfied in 
 Canada under the old allegiance, and would probably move here if 
 inducements were held out by a liberal system of free grants. His 
 policy had the result of adding largely to the population of the 
 Colony. Many doubtless came who were loyal in their tendencies, 
 but they were different from the men of extreme views, who fought 
 throughout the War, and left the States at its close. The weak point 
 in the policy, however, was that the liberal inducements as to 
 land tempted a large number of Yankee settlers to emigrate to Cana- 
 da simply from mercenary motives, bringing with them the Republican 
 sentiments which were so obnoxious to the loyal element which had 
 opened up the first settlements in the forest. This class of disloyal 
 mercenary Yankee settlers was more numorous than is now generally 
 
I6S 
 known, and of all the difficulties General Brdck had to face, the 
 lukewarmness, disloyalty, and, in many cases, secret and in others 
 open treason of these settlers was the most dangerous and dishearten- 
 ing. 
 
 One of this disloyal type named M. Smith, who was given a 
 passport to leave the country shortly after the War broke out, has 
 left a short history of the War, published in Baltimore in 1814. He 
 admits that he came from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada in 1808, 
 not because he preferred the Government of Great Britain to that of 
 the United States, but in order to obtain land on easy terms. He 
 says that a large proportion of the population of Upper Canada con- 
 sisted of the same class and their children. 
 
 The United Empire Loyalists were, as has been mentioned, 
 principally settled along the St. Lawrence, on the Bay of Quinte, on 
 the Niagara frontier and some in Toronto and in its neighborhood. 
 . From Toronto westward to the Detroit River, all along the shores of 
 Lake Erie and in the London district, the then settlers were 
 principally of the mixed class, that is the later United Empire 
 Loyalist settlers, and the Yankee settlers who came with them on the 
 same pretexts, but really from mercenary motives. 
 
 For years the United States had been preparing for war, and 
 Yankee emissaries had been insidiously encouraging disaffection, and 
 spreading fear and doubt among the people. The continued Indian 
 Wars in the United States had diverted a portion of the stream of 
 Yankee migration into Canada, and consequently the western 
 district received a considerable number of Yankee farmers, who took 
 up lands, and wherever they settled spread more or less the repub- 
 lican and revolutionary ideas in which they had been brought up. 
 Of course many of these secondary emigrants were loyal and true to 
 the Government of their adopted country, and fought for it, but the 
 majority of this class were essentially disaffected and disloyal. 
 
 It was among these men that Yankee emissaries were sent to 
 consult and advise, and the Yankee newspapers were filled with 
 the reports of so-called travellers as to the disloyal state of public 
 opinion in the Province. It was positively stated that our people 
 would make no defence against invasion, and they would submit at 
 once. General Hull's proclamation to the Canadians was evidently 
 based on this belief, that he was bringing them the blessings of 
 freedom for which they were longing. The first invasion was made 
 
t66 
 into the Western district at Detroit. This frontier was far removed 
 from the enemy's base of suppHes, and was the most remote and 
 difficult line for them to operate upon ; yet the movement on Canada 
 Was commenced there, evidently in the hope that in that section, 
 where the disloyal faction Were settled, they would meet with the 
 least resitance and receive the greatest support from the inhabitants. 
 The disaffection of these aliens Was to a great extent instrumental in 
 plunging the two countries into war. Had the people of the United 
 States known that the Canadian people as a whole were thoroughly 
 loyal, and would have fought as stubbornly as they did in defence of 
 their King and Country, there Would have been no War. 
 
 On the 2nd December, 1811, General Brock, says, in a letter to 
 Sir George Prevost : " I cannot conceal from Your Excellency that 
 unless a strong regular force be present to animate the loyal, and to 
 content the disaffected nothing effectual can be expected." On the 
 4th February, 181 2, Brock opened the session of the Legislature and 
 urged upon the House : i. A militia supplementary Act. 2. The 
 suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act. 3. An alien law. 4. The 
 offer of a reward for the apprehension of deserters. 
 
 " The many doubtful characters in the militia," he says in one 
 of his despatches, "made me anxious to introduce the oath of 
 abjuration into the bill. It Was lost by the casting vote of the 
 chairman. The great influence which the numerous settlers from the 
 United States possess over the decisions of the Lower House is truly 
 •alarming, and ought immediately by every practical means to be 
 diminished." The bill for the suspension of the habeas corpus was 
 also beaten by a very trifling majority. Willcocks, Mallory and 
 Marcle were all members of this House and leading spirits of the 
 Opposition. 
 
 When war Was declared, Brock at once called out the flank 
 companies of the militia. This produced a force on the Niagara 
 frontier of eight hundred men, who turned out very cheerfully, and he 
 calculated that all over the Province the number would amount to about 
 four thousand men. In the districts originally settled by the United 
 Empire Loyalists the flank companies were instantly completed with 
 volunteers, an almost unanimous disposition to serve being manifested, 
 and on these men General Brock seems to have depended to overawe 
 the disaffected and to aid him in the field. In fact he said in reply to an 
 address at Kingston that " it was the confidence inspired by the admir- 
 
167 
 able conduct of the York and Lincoln Regiments of Militia which had 
 induced him to undertake the expedition which terminated in the 
 capture of Detroit." These men wha were with him when he died 
 at Queenston were the sons of the loyal veterans of the Revolution. 
 All along the St. Lawrence the same spirit was manifested, the men 
 of Glengarry in particular performing at Chateauguay and in other 
 fights the most brilliant services for Canada. 
 
 On the 6th July General Brock issued a proclamation, ordering 
 all persons suspected of traitorous intercourse with the enemy to be 
 apprehended and treated according to law. His letters are filled 
 with references to his anxiety as to the machination of the disloyal 
 and disaffected. 
 
 On the 12th July General Hull invaded Canada at Sandwich, and 
 the militia in that district behaved very ill. They seemed either to 
 lose hope or to be disaffected. Fiy^Jmasired oi-Jhem, principally of 
 these alien settlers, gave in their adhesion to the enemy, and a party 
 of General Hull's cavalry, amounting to about 50 men, led by a 
 traitor named Watson, a surveyor from Montreal, were able to 
 penetrate eastward as far as Westminster, about no miles east of 
 Sandwich, a conclusive proof of the apathy, to say the least, of the 
 setriers in that district. The Yankee settlers in the Norfolk district 
 also refused to turn out. 
 
 At this rime General Brock called the Parliament together, and 
 on the 27th July, 1812, opened an extra session. In his speech he 
 says : " A few traitors have already Joined the enemy ; have been 
 suffered to come into the country with impunity, and have been 
 harboured and concealed in the interior. * * * -po protect and 
 defend the loyal inhabitants from their machinations is an object 
 worthy of your most serious deliberation." His speech concluded 
 with these well known and memorable words showing in the face of 
 all his difficulties and dangers, and in the face of overwhelming odds, 
 the true heroism and confidence of a gallant soldier : 
 
 "We are engaged in an awful and eventful contest. By 
 unanimity and despatch in our councils and by vigor in our operations 
 we may teach the enemy this lesson, that a Country defended by 
 free men, enthusiastically devoted to the cause of their King and 
 constitution, can never be conquered." 
 
 Two days later Brock appealed to the militia of York, the York 
 
t68 
 fiank corftpanies, whether they would follow him anywhere in this 
 Province or out of it, in defence of it. The whole force volunteered 
 cheerfully, without a moment's hesitation. The House, however, 
 refused to suspend the Habeas Corpus Act, or to act as promptly as 
 he desired. The disloyal section,_led by Willcocks, assisted by 
 Abraham Marcle, did everything they coiiM~Eo"thwart'and embarrass 
 "General BrocLThe state of the Country Certainly required prompt and 
 vigorous measures, but many of the House of Assembly were seized 
 with apprehensions, and endeavoured to avoid incurring the indig- 
 nation of the enemy. In consequence of these difficulties Brock, 
 feeling that General Hull's emissaries throughout the country were 
 numerous and active, called together the Executive Council on the 
 3rd August, and made the following representation to them : 
 
 " That the House of Assembly, instead of prompt exertions to 
 strengthen his hands for the Government of the militia, providing for 
 security from internal treason by the partial suspension of the 
 Habeas Corpus Act, authorizing a partial exercise of martial law 
 concurrently with the ordinary course of justice, and placing at his 
 disposal the funds not actually applied of the past appropriation, had 
 consumed eight days in carrying a single measure of party, the repeal 
 of the school bill, and passing an Act for the public disclosure of 
 treasonable practices before the magistrates should have the power 
 to commit without bail. That under these circumstances little could 
 be expected from a prolonged session. The enemy had invaded and 
 taken post in the western district ; was multiplying daily his prepara- 
 tions to invade in others; that the militia in a perfect state of 
 insubordination had withdrawn from the rariks in actual service ; had 
 refused to march when legally commanded to reinforce a detachment 
 of regular forces for the relief 'of Amherstburg ; had insulted their 
 officers, and some, not irtimediately embodied, had manifested in 
 many instances a treasonable spirit of mutiny and disaffection ; that 
 the Indians on Grand River, tampered with by disaffected Whites, had 
 withdrawn from their volunteer services, and declared for a neutrality 
 which was equally inadmissible as with the King's other subjects. 
 That in the western and London districts several persons had nego- 
 ciated with the enemy's commander, hailing his arrival and pledging 
 their support. That the King's forces consisted of the 41st, nine 
 hundred strong, part of the Royal Newfoundland two hundred, with 
 a detachment of Royal Artillery and several vessels. That the ex 
 
i6g 
 
 tent of coast and distance of prominent parts would divide that 
 orce to support and countenance the militia. That the conduct of 
 the western militia had exposed the regulars at Amherstburg, and he 
 had made a large detachment of the 41st with militia from the 
 home and Niagara districts. That the commandant at St. Joseph 
 had taken Mackinac and might descend to Amherstburg, and compel 
 the invaders to retreat, with the aid of the detachment now on the 
 march to Long Point ; but that no good result could be expected 
 unless he had power to restrain the militia and general population 
 from treasonable adherence to the enemy or neutrality by summary 
 procedure— asked whether it would be expedient to prorogue the 
 House of Assembly and proclaim martial law." 
 
 The Council adjourned till the next day, the 4th of August, for 
 deliberation, and then unanimously expressed the opinion that, under 
 the circumstances of the Colony, it was expedient after the proroga- 
 tion of the Assembly that the General should proclaim and exercise 
 martial law under authority of his commission from the King. On 
 the 5th Brock prorogued the House and proclaimed martial law. In 
 all probability the action contemplated by General Brock became 
 known on the 4th, for on the sth, the day of prorogation, the loyal 
 party carried in this same House a most spirited and patriotic address 
 to the people of Upper Canada. In this it is stated that the popula- 
 tion is determinedly hostile to the United States, and " the few that 
 might be otherwise inclined will find it to their safety to be faithful,'' 
 and calls upon the people to " deem no sacrifice too costly which 
 secures the enjoyment of our happy Constitution." 
 
 The outlook must have been very disheartening to General Brock 
 when he wrote this minute for the Council on the 3rd of August- 
 With only a handful of troops and no money or supplies, with a 
 House of Assembly weak and timorous, and containing a few infam- 
 ous secret traitors, sufficiently influential to delay and embarrass every 
 step for the defence of the country ; with an invading army within our 
 borders, and a portion of the militia in the invaded district mutinous 
 and disloyal. The turning point was the proclaiming of martial law 
 on the sth of August. Then Brock was master of the situation, and 
 the change in the prospects in a few days was almost miraculous. 
 That very day the stirring address from the House went forth to the 
 people. The next day Brock left for Amherstburg, arriving there on 
 
170 
 
 the 13th at midnight. On the 15th he was at Sandwich, with three 
 hundred and thirty regulars, four hundred militia and. six hundred 
 Indians. On the morning of the i6th hei crossed to the Michigan 
 side of the river, with these thirteen hundred and thirty men, and 
 captured Detroit, with the whole of Hull's army of two thousand, five 
 hundred men and their immense stores and supplies. Two or three 
 days after he set out again for York, where he arrived on the 27th 
 August. 
 
 The success at Detroit, so unexpected as it was, produced an 
 electrical effect throughout Canada. It inspired the timid, fixed the 
 wavering and awed the disloyal. After this event the disaffected saw 
 that it was as much as their property and lives were worth to disobey 
 orders, and what they were at first compelled to do, after a little 
 while they did from choice. Aliens were required to take the oath 
 of allegiance or leave the Province. Many were sent out of the 
 country, large numbers left on their own account — passports being 
 furnished those desiring to leave. Those who refused the oath of 
 allegiance, or to take up arms to defend the country, and ■ remained 
 in the Province after the ist of January, 1813, were to be considered 
 enemies and spies and dealt with accordingly. When the militia of 
 the London district were ordered out, Smith, the author already 
 referred to, says : 
 
 " Many refused of their own accord and others were persuaded so 
 to refuse by a Mr. Culver and a Mr. Beamer and one more, who rode 
 among the people for six days telling them to stand back. However, 
 they were apprehended and the most of the people became obedient. 
 After this they had their choice to go or stay, and some went." 
 
 This power of compelling the traitorous to cease their treason 
 soon bore fruit. Large numbers went to the States, among them 
 three members of Parliament — Joseph Willcocks, the leader of the 
 Opposition, Benjamin Mallory and Abraham Marcle. At the ne^ 
 session Willcocks and Marcle, who were still members, were expelled 
 the House " for their disloyal and infamous conduct in having traitor- 
 ously deserted to the enemy." Mallory had not been re-elected in 
 1812.— W4lleoeks"was krHed-at Fort.-Eiie-in 1814 in command of a 
 regiment in the Yankee army — Mallory served during the War as 
 major in the same regiment. Fifteen traitors were tried at Ancaster 
 during the war and sentenced to death. Seven of them were hanged 
 together at that place by order of General Drummond and eight were 
 
171 
 sent to Quebec for punishment. A large number of the disloyal must 
 have been arrested and put in prison very early in the war, for on 
 the day of the battle of Queenston Heights, October 13, 1812, the 
 Jail and Court House at Niagara were filled with political prisoners, 
 as well as the block house in Fort George, amounting altogether to 
 over three hundred aliens and traitors in custody, with only a few 
 raw militia to guard them. When Brock lost his life at Queenston 
 he did not have many more than three hundred soldiers with him in 
 action, as the main forces had not come up. After the commence" 
 ment of the War the officers of the army, the Indians and the loyal 
 militia all volunteered their services to force the few laggards into 
 the ranks. They thought it hard and unreasonable that they should 
 bear all the burden and dangers of the War, and a number of them 
 were zealously engaged in bringing forward the disobedient. Some 
 forty men of Colonel Grahame's regiment refused to turn out in the 
 neighborhood of Whitchurch township and retired into the wilderness, 
 and the whole regiment volunteered to go out and fetch them in, an 
 offer Colonel Grahame did not accept, probably feeling that such men 
 were better in the woods. 
 
 The result of the war was practically that the disloyal minority were 
 driven out, and the apathetic, unable to avoid serving the country, 
 soon became enthusiastic in the cause. Three years of war weeded 
 out the bad elements and welded the Canadians into a loyal and 
 patriotic people. It also stopped the Yankee emigration, and after- 
 wards the country was filled up with loyal English, Irish and Scotch, 
 who settled here that they might retain their allegiance and remain 
 under their flag. 
 
 Canada can never again be called upon to face such dangers 
 and difficulties. It seems impossible that the odds could ever again 
 be anything like so great against us, and although unfortunately we 
 might have a few traitors among us, yet there are too many sons of 
 Canada bom upon her soil and too many other men loyal to their 
 Sovereign and to the land of their adoption for a small fraction of 
 strangers to be able to seriously endanger the national life. 
 
 Colonel Denison very properly adds that : 
 
 The experience of 181 2 teaches us that internal treachery and 
 the intrigues of a faction in favour of annexation, although the faction 
 may be small in numbers and weak in influence, may yet involve the 
 two countries in war and bring untold misery and immense loss oi 
 
172 
 
 life and property upon our country. The belief that the Canadians 
 wanted annexation, a belief industriously fostered and encouraged by 
 the United States Government, alone enabled them to prevail upon 
 their people in 18 12 to engage in an aggressive war, and to-day the 
 right-thinking masses of the United States would forbid a war of 
 aggression upon Canada, unless they believed we desired the change 
 and would yield to it without bloodshed. The man who advocates 
 annexation in Canada is therefore playing into the hands of our worst 
 enemies in the States, and doing all he can to embroil us in war. 
 Whenever we hear of men advocating annexation, and there are a few 
 cranks who do, we should remember that they are the most dangerous 
 type to the country. 
 
173 
 
 CHAPTER IS. 
 
 Sir Isaac Brock — His Parentage and Former Services — 
 Raising of the GIengarry Light Infantry by Captain 
 George Macdonell of the King's Regiment and the 
 Reverend Alexander (Afterwards Bishop) Macdonell — 
 List of Officers — Officers of Flank Companies Glen- 
 garry Militia — Corps des Voyageurs Canadiens — Cana- 
 dian Fencible Infantry. 
 
 Sir George Prevost w^s Governor-General of Canada and 
 Commander of the Forces, his Headquarteas being at Quebec, 
 while to quote from a commission signed by him, before me, " Isaac 
 Brock, Esquire,'" was " President administering the Government of 
 Upper Canada and Major-General commanding His Majesty's 
 Forces therein." To the fact that he was is largely due the preser- 
 vation of at least this Province to the British Crown and to us the 
 institutions it is alike our privilege and our heritage now to enjoy. 
 
 FromMr. M3J-tiiLBrock Tugp££^" Life and Correspondence of 
 Sir Isaac Brock," I gather pTincipany~THe~Tbllowing particulars 
 regarding the man so deservedly designated " The Saviour of Upper 
 Canada." His name will be remembered with gratitude by our 
 people, as his biographer stated of a Glengarry man who shortly 
 afterwards fell with him, " As long as courage and devotion are 
 reverenced in the province " : 
 
 General Brock was the eighth son of John Brock, a gentleman 
 of ancient family in the Island of Guernsey, by Elizabeth De Lisle, 
 and was bom on the 6th October, 1769, the memorable year which 
 gave birth to Wellington and Napoleon. 
 
 He received his commission as ensign in the Eighth (the King's) 
 Regiment 2nd March, 1785, and served in Guernsey and Jersey, in 
 
1790 receiving his coiflpany. He then exchanged into the Forty- 
 Ninth Regiment, which he joined at Barbadoes in 1791, but was 
 shortly afterv\rards compelled to return very suddenly to England on. 
 sick leave, having nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential climate. 
 He Was then employed on recruiting service in England, and in 1795 
 purchased his majority. In 1797 he purchased his lieutenant- 
 colonelcy, when but twenty-eight years of age, and soon after became 
 Senior Lieutenant-ColoneT^f the Jorty-JiTinth . He served with 
 distinction under Sir Ralph Abercrombie in Holland in 1799, and 
 Was wounded at Egmont op Zee, where thirty of his regiment were 
 killed and fifty Wounded. The loss of the enemy on that occasion 
 was estimated at four thousand men. 
 
 His next active service was at the celebrated attack on Copen- 
 hagen by Lord Nelson in 1801, when Lieutenant-Colonel Brock was 
 second in command of the land forces, and where his brother, Savery 
 Brock, also greatly distinguished himself. 
 
 In j_8oav his regimejit^^e Forty-Ninth^ was ordered to Canada, 
 being stationed at York (now Toronto) in 1 803. In 1 805 he was made 
 fuU colonel, and returned on leave to England, that being his last visit, 
 and early in the following year he laid before His Royal Highness 
 the Commander-in-Chief, the outlines of a plan for the formation of 
 a veteran battalion to serve in the Canadas, recommending that ten 
 companies should be raised, each of sixty rank and file, with the 
 usual proportion of officers, distributed in the following manner;— 
 
 St. John and Chambly, one Company ; Kingston, one Company ; 
 York, two Companies ; Fort George and dependencies, three Com- 
 panies ; Amherstburg, two Companies ; St. Joseph, one Company. 
 
 Colonel Brock received the thanks of the Duke of York 
 "for the communication of his very sensible observations respect- 
 ing the distribution of the troops in Canada, which His Royal 
 Highness will not fail to take into consideration at a seasonable 
 opportunity.'' As in the case of Colonel Macdonell's recommend- 
 ation on a "kindred subject, nothing however appears~to have been 
 done at the time towards carrying out the views of these far-seeing 
 men, who were so well acquainted with the country and its defensive 
 requirements. 
 
 While on a visit to his family and friends in Guernsey, Colonel 
 Brock deemed the intelligence from the United States to be of so 
 warlike a character that he resolved on returning to Canada before 
 
175 
 his leave was expired, and such was his anxiety to be at his post that 
 he overtook at Cork the " Lady Saumarez," a Guernsey vessel, well 
 manned and armed as a letter-of-marque, bound to Quebec. He left 
 London on June 26, 1806, never again to return to home and kindred. 
 On September 27, 1806, he was appointed to the command of 
 the troops in both Provinces, with the rank of Brigadier, his appoint- 
 ment as such being confirmed by the King to date from July 2, 1808 
 
 In September, 1806, he addressed a very able representation to 
 the Horse Guards with regard to the defence of the country : — 
 
 " It is impossible to view the late hostile measures of the Ame- 
 rican Government towards England without considering a rupture 
 between the two countries as probable to happen. 
 
 " I have in consequence been anxious that such precautionary 
 measures might be taken as the case seemed to justify; but His 
 Honour the President (Dunn, with whom Sir Isaac did not appear to 
 agree) has not judged it proper to adopt any other step than merely 
 to order one-fifth of the militia, which amounts to about ten thousand 
 men, to hold itself in readiness to march on the shortest notice. 
 
 " The men thus selected for service being scattered along at 
 extensive line of four or five hundred miles, unarmed and totally un. 
 acquainted with everything military, without officers capable of giving 
 them instructions, considerable time would naturally be required be. 
 fore the necessary degree of order and discipline could be introduced 
 among them. I therefore very much doubt whether, in event of 
 actual war, this force could assemble in time, and become useful. 
 
 " Without considerable assistance from the militia, the few regu] 
 lars which might be spared from this garrison (Quebec) could avai- 
 nothing against the force the Americans would suddenly introduce by 
 various routes into this Province." 
 
 After referring to the state of affairs in Lower Canada, he con- 
 tinues, " From every information I can receive, the Americans are 
 busily engaged in drilling and forming their militia, and openly 
 declared their intention of entering this Province. The very instant 
 war is determined upon, they will be encouraged to adopt this step 
 from the very defenceless state of our frontiers. The means at my 
 disposal are too limited to oppose them with effect in the open field, 
 and I shall be constrained, unless His Honour the President makes 
 
1^6 
 fexertifjns, which I do fiot think him disposed at this Sioment to do, to 
 confine myself to the defence of Quebec." 
 
 He then narrates the preparations he had made for placing 
 Quebec in a defensive condition, and proceeds, "Although these 
 remarks may be premature, I yet conceive it to be my duty to give 
 His Royal Highness, the Commander-in-Chief, a view of my real 
 situation. 
 
 " I must confess that I am unable to account for the motives which 
 seem at present to guide the Councils of this Province. Voluntary 
 offers of service have been made by numbers, on whose loyalty the 
 utmost reliance can be placed, to form themselves into corps of 
 cavalry, artillery and infantry, at little or no expense to Government> 
 provided they were furnished with arms ; but this liberal spirit has not 
 been encouraged by the President.'' 
 
 In 1808 Colonel Brock was stationed at Montreal, which, from 
 the description of its society given by Washington Irving in "Astoria,' 
 was a good place to be quartered in. These were the palmy days of 
 the then celebrated North-west Company, " which for a time held a 
 lordly sway over the wintry lakes and boundless forests of the 
 Canadas, almost equal to that of the East India Company over the 
 voluptuous climes and magnificent realms of the Orient." The prin- 
 cipal partners resided at Montreal, where they formed a commercial 
 aristocracy and lived in a generous and hospitable manner. Few 
 travellers who visited Canada at this period in the days of the 
 Mactavishes, the Macgillivrays, the Mackenzies, the Frobishers and 
 other magnates of the North-west when the Company Was in all its 
 glory, but must remember the round of feasting and revelry kept up 
 among these hyperborian nabobs. With these merchant princes 
 Colonel Brock lived on terms of much intimacy. 
 
 In 18 10 Brigadier Brock was sent to Upper Canada where he 
 remained in command of the troops until his death, Lieutenant- 
 Governor Gore at first administering the civil government. 
 
 In 1 81 1 he was promoted and appointed by the Prince Regetit 
 to serve as a Major-General on the staff of North America and on 
 October 9th of the same year was appointed President and Adminis- 
 trator of the Government of Upper Canada in succession to 
 Lieutenant-Governor Gore, who had returned to England on leave. 
 General Brock had previously expressed his desire for more active 
 employment in Europe, and Sir George Prevost was authorized to 
 
177 
 replace him by another officer, but when the permission reached 
 Canada early in 1812, war with the United States being evidently at 
 hand, Major-General Brock was retained both by honour and incli- 
 nation in this country. 
 
 So small was the force we could oppose to the Americans that it 
 became a necessity at once to augment it. Mr. Auchinleck, who 
 here confuses the dividing line between the Provinces of Upper 
 and Lower Canada, after explaining the reason why a larger levy was 
 not made in the Lower Province (the apprehension that Lower 
 Canadians might contract militia habits and enlist into the service) 
 proceeds : " This feeling, however, did not prevent the establish- 
 ment of the Glengarry Light Infantry, who numbered by the ist May, 
 1812,400 rank and file ; and we find, further, that on Sir George 
 Prevost's issuing orders to recruit for a still higher establishment, the 
 officers engpged to double the number, and did it. This does not look 
 like disaffection ; and, whether we go still further east, or south, we 
 trace the same spirit. We find two officers dividing Nova Scotia and 
 New Brunswick, and enlisting Acadians, while Lieutenant Ranald 
 Macdonell is reported as making great progress among the High- 
 land settlers on the Coast and Gulf. When we take all these 
 circumstances, then, into consideration, we confess that we are at a 
 loss to find any sounder reasons for imputing disaffection to Lower 
 Canadians than we have found to exist among their brethem of the 
 Upper Province ; and although they were not called on, in the course 
 of the events which followed, to make such sacrifices, or give such 
 unequivocal proofs of their loyalty as Upper Canadians, yet we 
 venture to assert that the animus was there, which would have proved 
 that in both Provinces alike the same pure spirit of patriotism 
 burned." 
 
 We have previously seen that in 1807 Colonel John Macdonell, 
 who formerly commanded the Second Battalion Royal Canadian 
 Volunteers, had urged upon Sir Isaac (then Colonel) Brock the 
 desirability of raising a corps from among the Highland settlers in 
 Glengarry, and that the latter had forwarded Colonel Macdonell's 
 proposal to the Secretary-at-War strongly recommending that it 
 should be carried out, but for some reason which I am unable to 
 discover, it does not appear to have been acted upon. It will be 
 remembered that Colonel John Macdonell placed much reliance on 
 assistance in this direction from the Reverend Alexander Macdonell, 
 
178 
 the former Chaplain of the Glengarry Fencibles (the regiment 
 raised in Scotland), afterwards Bishop of Upper Canada. 
 
 When hostilities broke out some five years afterwards, and the 
 necessity arose, that settlement was looked to to supply soldiers for 
 the defence of the country, and the following letter was addressed to 
 General Brock : — 
 
 Colonel Baynes, Military Secretary to Major-General Brock. 
 
 "Quebec, December 12, 181 1. 
 " I am directed to transmit herewith a copy of proposals for 
 raising a corps of Glengarry Fencibles. The Commander of the 
 Forces has selected an officer of the King's Regiment, Captain 
 George Macdonell, an avowed Catholic and a relative of the Glen- 
 garry priest of that name, to attempt the formation of a small battalion 
 to be in the first instance under his command with the rank of Major, 
 and in case a more respectable body can be collected, a Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Commandant will be appointed. Captain Macdonell will 
 leave this in a few days, and he will be directed to take an early op- 
 portunity of communicating with you as soon as he has felt his ground 
 in Glengarry, and is able to form a correct idea of the prospect and 
 extent of success that is likely to attend his exertions." 
 
 In order to insure the important co-operation of the Catholics 
 in Lower Canada, His Excellency the Governor-General personally 
 presented Captain Macdonell to the Bishop of Quebec, as the officer 
 specially selected to raise the corps, which had a very important 
 political effect, as the French-Canadians regarded the regiment most 
 favourably as being a Catholic one, indeed the letter of service directed 
 to Captain Macdonell, distinctly named the Highland Catholic Priest 
 in Glengarry, Mr. Alexander Macdonell, as Chaplain of the corps — 
 a most unusual proceeding — but which indicated to those of that 
 faith, though of a different race, the beginning of a new system 
 towards them and a flattering mark of the confidence of Government 
 in them, exactly as the wise policy of Chatham won the Highlanders 
 in the reign of George the Second, and therefore the raising of this 
 corps immediately called forth an active spirit of loyalty throughout 
 all Lower Canada, whilst it raised the good feelings of the settlers in 
 the Upper Province. French and British Canadians were incor- 
 porated in its ranks, (i) 
 
 The gallant officer. Captain George Macdonell, who was selected\ 
 to raise and to assume temporary command of the Glengarry^ 
 
 ii) United Service Journal, 1848, p. 430. 
 
179 
 
 Fencibles, was a member of a cadet family of Glengarry, well known 
 in the Highlands for their great strength and warlike disposition. 
 They were settled at Leek, in Glengarry's Country (from which they 
 took their name) for many generations until after Culloden, when, 
 like many other Highland famiUes, they had to seek shelter elsewhere, 
 their house at Leek having been burned to the ground by Cumberland's 
 troops. His fatherXqhn Macdonell of Leek, joined PrincejCharles in 
 1745, and was on his staifatThe battle of Culloden, where he was 
 wounded by a shot in the thigh. He remained in hiding in the house ot 
 Grant of Glenmoriston (his grandmother being of that family) for 
 six months until his wound healed up, after which he walked in dis- 
 guise the whole way to Hull, where he embarked lor Holland in a sailing 
 ship, and soon after joined the Prince at St. Germain. He subsequent- 
 ly served in the Garde Ecossais. Some time after, under an assumed 
 name, he returned to the Highlands and joined subsequently, 
 ^Eraser's Highlanders as lieutenant. His commission . is- dated 5th 
 January, 1757. He fought with his Regiment on the Heights of 
 Abraham, before Quebec^and was beside Wolfe wFen Ke" fell. 
 Before ^'the Forty-Five," he had formed the acq jairitance of the 
 great general, and became so attached to him that he named his 
 eld£aL.st m afterihi m. Wolfe acted as his friend, and protected~TiTm 
 throughout, the amnesty not having been granted for some years after 
 the fall of Quebec. He remained on the staff after Wolfe's death 
 and was a great favourite with his brother officers.' On a certain 
 occasion one of the Hessian officers on the staff had a difference With 
 him about a lady, when the Hessian denounced him as a rebel 
 Highlander. The whole headquarters were indignant and spurned 
 the accusation. Macdonell challenged his accuser; a duel with 
 swords ensued, and the German was killed, to the gratification of 
 some thirty officers, who witnessed the combat and strongly 
 sympathized with Mr. Macdonell. Among his friends in the latter 
 days were the famous Glengarry of George IV.'s time and his 
 distinguished brother, . General Sir James Macdonell, defender of 
 Hougoumont. He VsCTved as Major during the American War of 
 Independence, and subsequently commanded a veteran corps in 
 Newfoundland, where his second son was born in 1779 or 1780. 
 He died at Berwick in 1818." (i) 
 
 Every one of this gentleman's sons was in the army, viz. : i . 
 Wolfe Alexander, who was Colonel of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. 
 
 (i) Mackenzie's Histjry, page 527. ^~ 
 
t8o 
 2.t^Georgf ,. »4i(t.."8ermd-.«e~^<^^ti'~i»»''6aHada. 3. James, a Captain 
 Tliirteenth Light Infantry. 4. Charles, who died while on service 
 with his regiment in India. 5. Edward, who also died on service in 
 India. 6. Ernest, who was an officer in the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. 
 
 Colonel George Macdonell, who thus raised the Glengarry 
 Fencibles, and so greatly distinguished himself both at Ogdensburg 
 and Chateauguay when in command of that corps, was afterwards 
 Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-Ninth Foot. He married the 
 Honourable Laura, second daughter of Lord Arundel of Wardour, 
 and died at Wardour Castle in L870, at the advanced age of ninety 
 years. His son, John Ignatius Macdonell, is now a major-general 
 n the army, and was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventy-First High- 
 land Light Infantry. 
 
 The hand of the " Chaplain " is easily traced in the successful 
 formation of this regiment (the Glengarry Light Infantry), Colonel 
 Coffin states that : — 
 
 " The Bishop had been most active in rousing and recruiting the 
 Glengarries during th? preceding winter. The Fiery Cross had 
 passed through the land, and every clansman had obeyed the sum- 
 mons. Partaking of the character of the mediaeval churchman, half 
 Baron, half Bishop, he. fought and prayed with equal zeal, by the side 
 of men he had come to regard as his hereditary followers." 
 
 The Bishop himself, in a letter to Sir Francis Bond Head, written 
 in 1836, to repel some charges brought against him in the House of 
 Assembly, of having neglected his spiritual functions to devote his 
 time and talents to politi.cs, after showing how he had discharged his 
 duty to God, the hardships and privations he had suffered in the dis- 
 charge of his sacred functions, and how he had spent thirteen thousand 
 pounds of his own means in building churches, chapels, presbyteries 
 and school houses, in rearing young men for the Church and in pro- 
 moting general education, states : — 
 
 " I never had, or enjoyed, a situation or place of profit or emo- 
 lument except the salary which my Sovereign was pleased to bestow 
 upon me, in reward of forty-two years' faithful services to my country, 
 having been instrumental in getting two corps of my AociLraised and 
 embodied in defence of their cOTntry in critical tiine^ viz. : the first 
 Glengarry Fencible Regiment was raised by my Influence as a 
 Catholic corps during the Irish Rebellion,^ whose dangers and 
 fatigues I shared in that distracted country ; ample and honourable 
 testimonials of their service and my conduct may be found in the 
 Government Offices at Toronto. The second Glengafry Fencible 
 Regiment, raised in the Province when the Government of the 
 
i8i 
 
 United States of America invaded and expected to make a conquest 
 of Canada, was planned by me and partly raised by my influence. 
 My zeal in the service of my CQunHyand- my exertions in the defence 
 of this Province were acknowledged by. bis late Majesty, through 
 Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. My salary/ 
 was then raised and a seat was assigned for' me in the Legislativa 
 Council as a distinguished mark of my Sovereign'^fe^^, an^h^our 
 I should consider it a disgrace to resign, although lean HardlyeT?ei 
 expect to sit in Council." 
 
 Captam Macdonell evidently not only filled up the ranks of the 
 regiment in Glengarry, but distributed rather more commissions 
 among the gentlemen of the county than Was anticipated by or altO' 
 gether pleasing to the officers at headquarters, as appears from the 
 following letter : — 
 
 Major-General Brock to Colonel Baynes : 
 
 "York, January 26, 1812. 
 
 " Captain Macdonell, accompanied by the priest, arrived here 
 some days ago. The badness of the weather has prevented his 
 return as soon as he first proposed. All the junior commissions 
 being already disposed of among the youths of Glengarry^ I fear that 
 little will be done in this part of the Province towards recruiting the 
 intended corps. A few idlers may be picked up, but without the aid 
 of persons of influence no great number can be expected, unless 
 indeed the militia be called out and land promised. 
 
 " Understanding from Captain Macdonell that the Commander 
 of the Forces had applied to the Prince Regent for permission to 
 offer some of the waste land of the Crown as an inducement to the 
 Scotch emigrants to enlist, I stated the circumstance to Council, and 
 have much pleasure in assuring His Excellency that should he 
 be of opinion the present state of affairs calls for prompt measures, 
 and that a direct promise of land would accelerate the recruiting 
 this Government will readily pledge itself to grant one, or even two, 
 hundred acres to such as would enlist on the terms proposed by his 
 Excellency. This will be deviating largely from the King's instruc- 
 tions ; but in these eventful and critical times the Council conceives 
 that an expression from his Excellency of the necessity of the 
 measure will be sufficient to warrant a departure from the usual 
 rules. 
 
 " Should His Excellency think it expedient to act immediately, 
 and authorize a direct offer of land, I have no doubt that a number of 
 young men might be collected between Kingston and Amherstburg, 
 in which case His Excellency may sanction the raising of two 
 additional companies under my superintendence." 
 
 Sir George Prevost replied on the 20th February, readily 
 '.ccepting General Brock's proposal to recruit two additional 
 
l82 
 
 companies to be added to the Glengarry Fencibles, the noniination 
 of the officers, viz., 2 Captains, 2 Lieutenants and 2 Ensigns, to rest 
 entirely with General Brock, and intimating his intention to recom- 
 mend Colonel Baynes, then on his staff as Militia Secretary, to the 
 Colonelcy of the regiment. 
 
 On the 25th January, the Rev. Mr. Macdonell (" the Chaplain ") 
 Was the bearer of despatches from General Brock to the Commander- 
 in-Chief, with regard to the opening and keeping up communication 
 between the two Provinces, " a subject Which he is Well qualified to 
 explain." In fact "the Chaplain " was evidently entirely in the con^ 
 fidence of both, and relied on for active co-operation, which Was 
 unstintingly given by that loyal and patriotic man. Had he not been 
 a great missionary, priest and prelate he Would have been a great 
 soldier. He used to say that every gentleman of his name should 
 either be a priest -or soldier. 
 
 So great had' been his success in raising the Glengarry Light 
 Infantry that Genferal Brock, in February, 181 2, recommended the 
 formation of a corps of Canadian Fencibles, which was shortly after- 
 Wards accomplished. An idea of the manner in Which Captain 
 Macdonell performed the important duty assigned to him, and the 
 readiness with which the people of Glengarry took up arms, may be 
 gathered from the following letter of 14th May, 1812, it being borne 
 in mind that it was only on the 12th December, 1811, that the Mili- 
 tary Secretary wrote General Brock that Captain Macdonell had 
 his authorization, and Would in a few days start on his recruiting tour 
 for Glengarry, that the service was performed in the depth of winter 
 and that there were no railways or telegraphs in those days :— » 
 
 Colonel Baynes to Major-General Brock : 
 
 "Quebec, May 14, 18 12. 
 
 " I have great satisfaction in telling you that I have reported the 
 Glengarry Light Infantry more than complete to the establishment of 
 four hundred rank and file, and have received Sir George Prevost's 
 commands to recruit for a higher establishment, indeed the quota the 
 officers have engaged to fulfill will nearly amount to double that 
 number, and from the very great' success that has attended our exer- 
 tions, I have no doubt of succeeding by the end of the year. Two 
 officers have divided Nova Scotia and New Brunswick for their 
 hunting ground, and are permitted to recruit Acadians, and Lieuten- 
 ant Ranald Macdonell, of the Canadians, proceeds in a few days 
 to Pictou and the Highland settlements on the coast and gulf ; he is 
 an officer that appears to be eminently qualified for that service, and 
 
i83 
 
 he is sanguine that the proffer of lands in the Scotch settlements of 
 Upper Canada will induce great numbers to enter. I am assured 
 that the men I have got are generally young and of good disposition, 
 there being very few Yankees among them." 
 
 GLENGARRY LIGHT INFANTRY FENCIBLE REGIMENT, 1813. 
 
 A list of the officers of this corps, which was on the regular 
 establishment of the British Army, is as follows ; — 
 Colonel — Edward Baynes. (i) 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — Francis Battersby. 
 Major — George Macdonell. 
 
 Captains. 
 Andrew Lidd-;11, Robert Macdol^ll, (2) 
 
 John Jenkins, (3) Thomas Fitzgerald, 
 
 R. M. Cochrane, Foster Weeks, 
 
 D. McPherson, W. Roxburgh. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 " A. McMillan, James Stewart, 
 
 Anthony Leslie, H. S. Hughes, 
 
 Walter Kerr, .^neas Shaw, 
 
 William Kemble, James Macaulay. (4) 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Roderick Matheson, (5) (6) Angus Macdonell, 
 
 (i.) This officer had entered the army in 1783. After serving at Gibraltar and the West 
 Indies he became aide-de-camp, in 1794, to Sir James Craig, afterwards Governor-General of. 
 Canada, and was at the taking of Good Hope in 1795 and also at the capture of a Dutch force 
 in Saldanha Bay in the following year. He subsequently served as A.D.C. to Sir James in the 
 East Inaies, but having obtained a majority in the 96th, he joined that corps at Cawnpore. 'In 
 1803 he returned to England. In 1804 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Foot, aird 
 in 1805, Sir James Craig again desiring his services, he was placed on half-pay and served as first 
 aide-de-camp to Sir James at Gibraltar, Malta, Naples and Sicily. In 1807 he was appointed 
 adjutant-general to the forces in North America, which appointment he held during the whole'of 
 the War of 1812-14 and for several years afterwards. He died at Sidmouth, England, in March, 
 1829. (Morgan's Celebrated Canadians, p. 200.) 
 
 (2.) This galUnt officer entered the service in 1796 and after taking the various steps, be- 
 came a major-general in 1841. When in commind at Fort Michilamackinac he successtully de- 
 fended it when attacked by a very superior force, August 4th, 1814, which he drove off with con- 
 side rable loss. He died at Stranaer on 15th November, T848, (Morgan, p. 216.) 
 ~ (3.) Captain Jenkins was a native of New Brunswick, and an honour to the Province, He 
 
 greatly distinguished himself at the taking of Ogdensburg by his gallantand intrepid conduct, 
 where he lost both arms, which were smashed by canister shot, aijd sank exhausted from loss of 
 blood within twenty yards of the enemy's guns. He was most honourably mentioned in the 
 despatch announcing that victory, and survived the war several years. It is not creditable to 
 the then authorities that he never got a brevet or any other honour. His only reward when he no 
 longer had an arm to hold a sword was a contemptible town majority of some j^^s a year. Col , 
 Macdonell begged, almost on his knees, at the Horse Guards, for an increase of his widow's 
 pension, but in vain. 
 
 (4.) Afterwards Sir James Buchanan Macaulay, C.B., one of the tfiree gentlemen who 
 .served through the war anci afterwards became chief justices, the other two being Sir John Bever- • 
 ly Robinson, Bart, and the Hon. Archibald McLean — all three, strangely enough, havmg been 
 pupils of Mr. (aiterwards Bishop) Strachan at the Cornwall school. He died 27th July, 1857 
 
 (5.) Afterwards the Hon. Roderick Matheson, Born in Rossshire, Scotland, and gi'eat 
 grandson of Dugald Matheson, chief of his clan.who was killed in the action at Glen Shiel, Glenelg, 
 loth June, 1719. Mr. Matheson was present with his regi'^ent at the actions at York, Sackett's\ 
 Harbour, Cross Roads, Fort George, Lundy's Lane and Fort Erie. Wounded at Sackett's Har-\ 
 b ur. He was appointed a life member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada in 1847, and 
 
i84 
 
 James Robins, William Maclean, 
 
 James Mackay, Byland Smith, 
 
 Joseph Frobisher, Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Paymaster — Anthony Leslie. 
 
 Adjutant — John Mackay. 
 
 Quarter-Master — ^John Watson. 
 
 Agents — Greenwood, Cox & Co. 
 
 In addition to the regular force then raised from among the 
 people of Glengarry, there were also two regiments of Glengarry 
 militia. 
 
 Unfortunately, I can only procure the names of the officers of 
 the flank companies. I know as a fact, however, that Alexander 
 Macdonell of Greenfield commanded the Second Regiment of Glen- 
 garry Militia at the time, as a commission of Captain Donald Green 
 field Macdonell, dated isth April, 1812, appoints him to the com- 
 mand of a company in that regiment, "of which Alexander 
 Macdonell, Esquire, is Lieutenant Colonel," and I find from family 
 papers in my possession that he commanded that regiment at the 
 action at Hoople's Creek, where some of his men were wounded, 
 whose cases he brought to the notice of headquarters in applying 
 for pensions for them. 
 
 The Militia Department furnishes me with the following : — 
 
 GLENGARRY REGIMENTS — FLANK COMPANIES^SERVED IN WAR OF 
 
 1812. 
 
 First Regiment 
 Captains — Duncan Macdonell, John Hooke Campbell. 
 Lieutenants — John Cameron, Donald McDermid. 
 Ensigns — John Kennedy, James Macdonell. ^ 
 
 Second Regiment. 
 Captains — Donald Macdonell, Alexander Mackenzie, Alexander' 
 Macmillan. "' — — — - 
 
 sat until Confederation, when he was called to the Senate by Royal Proclamation, 
 
 {6.) An officer who subsequently served in this regiment and retired in 1816 as a captain 
 in it was James Fitzsibbon, subsequently colonel of the ist Regiment of Toronto IVIilitia. Mr. 
 Fitzgibbon had previously served in the 19th and 6ist Regiments as a non-commissioned officer, 
 and had been present in the action near the Helder and elsewhere in Holland, and was made pri- 
 soner at Egmont op Zee. At the battle of Copenhaean he was in the '* Monarch, 74,'' which had 
 210 men killed and wounded, and he was afterwards, until 1801, in Lord Nelson's ship the ** Ele- 
 phant,'' his regiment in that campaign acting as marines. While in the Glenjarryjlegijnfiflt 
 during the War of 1812-14, he was in the i^attles at Stoney Creek, Fort George and several 
 others, includmg the siege of Fort Erie. At the Beaver Dams, aided by a body ot Indian warriors 
 and with 48 men of tne 49th Regiment, he captured a force of 450 infantr\', 50 cavalry and 2 guns. 
 He renderei imp )rtant services in the Rebellion of '37-S, and received therefor a sword and tli* 
 thanks of the Canadian Assembly. He was for nineteen years clerk of Parliament. In 1850 Her 
 Majesty the Queen, in recognition of his services, created him a Military Knight of Windsor, 
 from which time until his death he resided in England; 
 
iS5 
 
 Lieutenants — Angus Kennedy, Donald McMartin. 
 
 Ensign — Alexander Macdonald. 
 
 Adjutant — Donald Eraser. 
 
 Quarter-Master — ^John Mackenzie. 
 
 Surgeon — Timothy Johnson. 
 
 We frequently read, too, of the gallant Corps des Voyageurs 
 Canadiens, and, from its name, the supposition would be that it was 
 composed exclusively of our French-Canadian countrymen. A list 
 of its officers would indicate that some, at any rate, of them hailed 
 from Glengarry, as their names are typical of those found in such 
 numbers there. 
 
 The list is given in the Quebec Almanac of 1 8 13 as follows : — 
 
 CORPS DES VOYAGEURS CANADIENS. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant — William Macgillivray. 
 
 First Major — Angus Shaw. 
 
 Second Major — Archibald Macleod. 
 Capitaines. 
 
 Alexander Mackenzie, William Mackay, 
 
 John Macdonell, ^Ejerre-daJRo^fihlajffi,-— - ,'-a 
 
 James Hughes, Kenneth Mackenzie, Jr. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 
 James Goddard, Joseph Mackenzie, 
 
 Peter Grant, Joseph MacgilUvray, 
 
 William Hall. 
 
 Ensignes. 
 
 Pierre Pieras, James Maxwell, 
 
 Louis Joseph Gauthier, John Macgillivray, 
 
 Andre Barron, Pierre Rotot, Fils. 
 
 Paie Maitre — .^Eneas Cameron. 
 
 Adjutant Cartwright. 
 
 Quartier Maitre — James Campbell. 
 
 Chirurgien — Henry Monro. 
 
 From the names of the officers of this corps, there can be little 
 or no doubt but that it was raised by the officers of the Northwest 
 Company: The Honourable William Macgillivray, who was lieu- 
 tenant-colonel commandant, was senior partner of that Company, 
 and I recognize the names of many other partners amongst them. 
 Mr. William Macgillivray was, with Bishop Macdonell, one of the 
 founders of the Highland Society in Canada, under a commission 
 
i86 
 from the Duke of York, President of the Highland Society of Lon- 
 don, addressed to William Macgillivray, Esq.; Angus Shaw, Esq.; 
 the Reverend Alexander Macdonell, John iVEacdonald, Esq., of 
 Garth, and Henry MacKenzie. The institutional meeting was held 
 at St. Raphaels in the house of Mr. Angus McDonell. My father, 
 who was in 1844 secretary and one of the directors of the Highland 
 Society, and wrote an account of it, states that that meeting was 
 attended by " three of the best men and finest Highland geiitlemen 
 this Province ever saw, the late Honourable William Macgillivray, 
 the late Bishop Macdonell and the late Honourable Neil MacLean, 
 all of whom, though dead, still Hve in the hearts of their countrymen." 
 In addition to the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, another regi- 
 ment raised at this time in Canada, and which was also placed on the 
 permanent establishment of the army, and so continued until after 
 -the close of the war, when it was disbanded in 18 16, was the Cana- 
 dian Fencible Infantry. The officers were as follows, Glengarry 
 contributing its quota, amongst whom was Alexander Eraser, who 
 afterwards represented the County and for many years commanded 
 the First Regiment of Glengarry Militia, which was on active service 
 during the Rebellion of 1837-8 in both Upper and Lower Canada : — 
 
 CANADIAN FENCIBLE INFANTRY. 
 
 Colonel — Thomas Peters, Major-General. 
 Lieutenant-Colonels — David Shank, Major-General ; George 
 Robertson. 
 
 Major — Francis Cockbum. 
 
 Captains. 
 James Eccles, William De Karen, 
 
 Thomas Hay. Edward Cartwright, 
 
 Dugald Campbell, George R. Ferguson, 
 
 — — Ewen MacMillan, Alexander MacQueen, 
 
 James Pentz. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 
 John Reid, William Marshall, 
 
 Ranald Macdonell, WiUiam Radenhurst, 
 
 Henry Weatherston, John Johnston, 
 
 Daniel Dupre, Archibald K. Johnston, 
 
 Alexander Grant, R. M. Cochrane, 
 Edwar Dewar, Staff. 
 
187 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Alexander MacMillan, Charles Pinguet, 
 
 Thomas F. Gunter, Benjamin Delisle , 
 
 Ulysses Fitzmaurice. 
 
 Paymaster — ^William Marshall, Lieutenant. 
 Adjutant — R. M. Cochrane, Lieutenant. 
 Quartermaster — Alexander Fraser. 
 Surgeon — Michael Mabey. 
 Assistant Surgeon — Alexander Cunningham. 
 Agents — Greenwood, Cox & Co. 
 
i88 
 
 CHAPTER 16. 
 
 First Blood of the War of iSiz. — ^A British Indian Scalped 
 BY AN American Officer. — Capture of Michilimacinack. — 
 Brock Leaves York for the Scene of Action. — Letter 
 
 — OF~e0iQNEL^ACDONELL, A.D.C, MjP.^^FOR GlENGARRY, 
 
 TO HbNOURABLi~UuNCAN~ CaMERON. — SURRENDER OF FORT 
 
 Detroit by the Americans. — ^Articles of Capitulation. — 
 List of Gold Medals Granted. — Armistice Between .Pre- 
 vosT AND Dearborn. — Battle of Queenston Heights. — 
 Death of General Brock and Colonel Macdonell, 
 A.D.C. — Their Funeral. — Movements on Queenston 
 Heights. — The Prince Regent's Tribute. — Colonel Mac- 
 donell's Address to the Electors of Glengarry, March 
 i8th, i8i2 — Letter Describing His Death. — Bishop 
 \Strachan's Verses. 
 
 Hostilities commenced on 12 th July, 1812, when General Hull 
 crossed the Detroit River to Sandwich (perhaps^ he thought the date 
 auspicious), invading us with an army of two thousand five hundred 
 men and a blood-curdling proclamation. It was answered by Gen- 
 eral Brock, and the two should be placed in parallel columns, so that 
 the vulgarity and fanfaronade of the one and the resolute, dignified 
 tone of the other might be fully understood and appreciated. The 
 grandiloquence of the American General and the magnitude of what 
 he was going to do was as remarkable as the dignified commoa 
 sense of the other, and what he immediately proceeded to carry into 
 execution. 
 
 Brock's admirable production is generally believed to have been 
 prepared by Mr. Justice Powell^ then Senior Puisne- Judge of the Court 
 of King's Bench, oTwIvicfirCourt he became Chief Justice in the year 
 igifi. " H-e-was at the time a Member of the Executive Council and 
 with his numerous duties. General Brock would naturally avail him- 
 self of Judge Powell's great abilities in the preparation of a document 
 
189 
 of this nature. I may mention that Colonel Macdonell, the Mem 
 ber for Glengarry, jgM: Brock's A.D.C, was shortly to have been 
 married to a daughter of Judge Powell's, had it not proved his lot 
 " To change love's bridal wreath 
 For laurels from the hand of death." 
 
 But General Brock did not confine himself to answering 
 General Hull on paper. He directed Captain Roberts, then in 
 command at St. Joseph, to take the American fort of Michilimacinack 
 or Mackinaw, in the straits between Lakes Michigan and Huron, 
 which in words which afterwards became historic, "was done 
 accordingly" with a small force of forty-five men of the Tenth Royal 
 Veteran Battalion, two hundred militia and about a, like number of 
 Indians. From Sandwich, General Hull proceeded to Araherstburg, 
 but here again both his proclamation and his pro^esS7"iniothis 
 courage, failed him. 
 
 Colonel S t. George was in command of that place with two 
 hundred men of the First Battalion of the Forty-First Regiment, a 
 few of the Newfoundland Fencibles, with sorne artillery men under 
 Lieutenant Troughton, and the Commander of the Forces was able 
 to announce in General Orders of the Sixth of August that " he had 
 great pleasure in stating that the enemy under General Hull had 
 been repelled in three attacks made on the i8th, 19th and 20th ol 
 last month upon part of the garrison of Amberstburg on the River 
 Canard." First blood was drawn and the first scalp taken on the 15th 
 July, James in his " History of the War," mentioning that an 
 American officer, a Captain McCullough, who was afterwards killed, 
 stated in a letter to his wife which was found in his pocket after his 
 death, that he had on that day shot an Indian, and had experienced 
 the pleasure of tearing off his scalp with his teeth — and yet General 
 Hull affected to think the Indians savage and barbarous ! 
 
 Tecumseth, who- proved with his Indian warriors, such a 
 valuable ally to the British arms, waylaid a detachment of the 
 enemy about two hundred strong, which had been sent as a convoy 
 to guard the mail, and cut them to pieces. An expedition, however, 
 under Captain Muir, who was wounded in the engagement, which 
 was sent to occupy Brownstown on the American side, through 
 which a second convoy was expected to pass, failed, with a loss to 
 us of one private killed, two officers, two sergeants, nineteen rank 
 and file wounded and two taken prisoners, who were afterwards 
 
1^0 
 
 3recaplured "by our Indians, and to the Americans of eighteen Icilled 
 and sixty-three wounded. 
 
 Their force on this occasion was largely in excess of ours, 
 consisting of all bnt one company of Fourth Regiment United States 
 Infantry, a detachment of the First Infantry, with some artillery and 
 four hundred militia, while oppose to them were not more than four 
 hundred and fifty men, of whom two hundred were Indians. 
 
 General Hull stated in his official report that "nothing was 
 gained in it but honour," That satisfied hita. He was easily 
 satisfied, as the results showed. 
 
 General Brock, who up to this time had been detained at York, 
 left that place for the scene of action on the 6th of August with some 
 two hundred volunteers, arriving at Atnhersbuig on the 13th. His 
 little band on the Vay, he stated in his note book, endured all the 
 fatigues with greater cheerfulness and constancy than he had ever 
 previously seen evinced, their conduct thioughoXit exciting his 
 admiration. 
 
 The following letter from Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, General 
 Brock's A.D.C., to the Honourable Duncan Cameron, of York, who 
 was, 1 believe at the time and continued for many years subsequently 
 a member of the Government of the Province, has been placed in my 
 hands through the courtesy of Mr. ^milius Jarvis, of Toronto, and is 
 of interest as giving an account of the journey to Detroit and as being 
 the last letter written by Attorney-General Macdonell, who was then 
 Member for Glengarry, and was so soon to die With Brock in the 
 defence of the country. 
 
 ' " Port Talbot, loth August, 181 2. 
 
 " My dear Sir, 
 
 " We left Dover on the 8th, between three and four o'clock p.m.) 
 and got to this place about six this morning, when the wind blew so 
 strong upon the shore that we found it would be quite impracticable 
 to weather the point about thirty miles ahead and between which and 
 this place there is no possibility of landing, so were forced to beach 
 and have our boats into a fine creek where, from present appear- 
 ances, it is possible they will remain till to-morrow morning, and how 
 much longer I cannot say. It has rained almost continually since 
 we encamped last night, and although the men have been completely 
 drenched, they continue in excellent spirits and behave in the most 
 orderly and obedient manner. 
 
 " Peter Robinson, with his riflemen, joined us about twelve o'clock 
 to-day, and our fleet now consists of twelve sail of all kinds, in one 
 of which is a six pounder (dismou nted), with ammunition, etc. The 
 
191 
 
 want of boats obliged the General to send a detachment consisting 
 of about one hundred men of the Oxford and Norfolk Militia in a 
 a small vessel, which happened to be at Dover, which must have 
 reached Amherstburg this morning. ^ ( 
 
 " Upon our arrival at Dover it was said that a sufficient number 
 of boats to embark the whole of the force assembled there had been 
 got ready, but upon examination v^e found that hardly one was in a 
 state for service, and it was not till about four o'clock next day, with 
 every exertion, that we got ten boats under way. Many of them are 
 in so bad a state that we are constantly delayed and detained by 
 them, and will no doubt prevent our arriving as soon as we otherwise 
 would. Had there been boats enough we probably would have had 
 with us about one hundred men more than we have. Pur force at 
 present, including the men sent in the vessel, will be upwards of three 
 hundred and fifty, besides about twenty Indians, under Cadotte, who 
 has fallen behind. These, with the sixty men from the Forty-First 
 sent from Fort Erie will, I trust, be found a sufficient reinforcement 
 to the garrison at Amherstburg to enable us to effect the desired ob- 
 ject. Not having heard a word from Amherstburg since we left you, 
 we must suppose things remain in the same state. 
 
 " :^'am /orry to say tl^at poor Chambers was taken so. ill just as 
 we were about to embank, that ^r. Rolph thought it/absolutely 
 necessary to detain hitp. Robinson, however, says tfiat Colonel 
 Talbot and he were to leave Mr. R.'s yesterday morning, so that we 
 look out for ^im eve/y moment. Such a disappointment to him 
 would certainly be most distressing — I mean being left behind. I 
 hope he may arrive, not only on his account, but also for the good of 
 the service, which I think would materially suffer from his absence. 
 Everyone else is perfectly well. 
 
 " I do not know how' this is to find its way to you, but as you de- 
 sired me to write you from each place at which we should stop, which 
 I think I promised to do, and having got myself dry, and having a 
 little time to spare, I felt myself bound in conscience. to devote it to 
 __the_psrformance of my promis^^nd I wish w'ith all my heart I could" 
 say anything wKcirwould "give you any pleasure to hear. My next, 
 ho\f ever,, may possibly contain something more interesting. 
 
 " Chambers,'! am glad to say, has arrived perfectly recovered, not 
 only from his illness, but from his fear of being left behind, which I 
 believe gave him more uneasiness than all his other complaints. 
 Remember me to all of those who you think would wish to hear of 
 me, and say to them jvhat ycJu please for me, and tielieve me to be 
 " Your sincere friend and faithful servant, 
 
 "J. Macdonell. 
 " Duncan Cameron, Esq." ~ ^ - _.. 
 
 But when Genera! Brock with his small force had arrived at Am- 
 herstburg it was feared that General Hull had had enough glory in the 
 affair at Brownstown, and that satisfied with his magnificent success 
 
192 
 
 he had recrossed the river, leaving behind him his proclamation, the 
 sole monument of his fame. He was apparently much attached to 
 his own country, though he was destined shortly to leave it for a 
 considerable time, and when he again returned his reception by his 
 countrymen was the reverse of cordial, though they toak great care of 
 his person ! 
 
 On the isth August, General Brock despatched this letter 
 to him : — 
 
 " Head Quarters, Sandwich, August 15th, 1812. 
 
 " Sir, — The force at my disposal authorizes me to require of 
 you the immediate surrender ot Fort Detroit — 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 com- 
 mences. You will find me disposed to enter into such conditions as 
 will satisfy the most scrupulous sense of honour. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Macdonell and Major Glegg are fully authorized to conclude 
 any arrangement that may tend to prevent the unnecessary effusion 
 of blood. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 
 " Sir, your most obedient Servant, 
 " (Signed) Isaac Brock, Major General. 
 
 " His Excellency, 
 
 " Brigadier-General Hull, 
 
 " Commanding at Fort Detroit." 
 
 On the same day General Hull replied that he was prepared to 
 meet any force at his opponent's disposal, but changed his mind the 
 following day, as shown in General Brock's despatch to the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, enclosing the terms of the Capitulation of Fort 
 Detroit, which were agreed upon without any of the unpleasantness 
 which usually characterises the proceedings antecedent to such 
 negotiations. 
 
 Referring first to the events, at York, following closely upon the 
 commencement of hostihties. General Brock states : — - 
 
 " * * * In the meantime the most strenuous measures 
 were adopted to counteract the machinations of the evil disposed, and 
 I soon experienced the gratification of receiving voluntary offers of 
 service from that portion of the embodied militia the most easily col- 
 lected. ' In the attainment of this important point gentlemen of the 
 first character and influence showed an example highly creditable to 
 them, and I cannot on this occasion avoid mentioning the essential 
 assistance I derived from John Macdonell, Esquire, His Majesty's 
 Attorney-General, who, from the beginning of the war, has honoured 
 me with his services as my Provincial Aide-de-Camp." 
 
193 
 
 After narrating the events previous ta his arrival at Araherst- 
 burg, he proceeds ; 
 
 " The force at my disposal (i) being collected in the course of 
 the 15th, in the neighbourhood of Sandwich, the embarcation took 
 place a little after daylight on the following morning,, and under the 
 able arrangement of Lieutenant Dewar, of the Quartentiaster-Gen- 
 eral's Department, the whole was in a short time landed without the 
 slightest confusion at Springwill — a good position, three miles west 
 of Detroit. The Indians, who had in the meantime eiSected their 
 landing two miles below, moved forward and occupied the woods, 
 about a mile and a half on our leit. 
 
 I crossed the river, with an intention of waiting in a strong 
 position the effect of our force upon the enemy's camp, and in hopes 
 .of compelling' him to meet us in the field ; but receiving information 
 upon landing that Colonel McArthur, an officer of high reputation, 
 had left the garrison three days before with a detachment of five 
 hundred men, and bearing soon afterwards that his cavalry had been 
 seen that morning three miles in our rear, I decided on an imme- 
 diate attack. Accordingly, the troops advanced to within one mile 
 of the fort, and having ascertained that the enemy had taken little 
 or no precaution towards the land side, I resolved on an attack, 
 whilst the Indians penetrated his camp. 
 
 " Brigadier-General Hull, however, prevented this movement by 
 proposing a cessation of the hostilities for the purpose of preparing 
 terms of capitulation. Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell and 
 Captain Glegg were accordingly deputed by me on this mission, and 
 returned within an hour with the conditions, which I have the honour 
 herewith to transmit.(2) Certain conditions afterwards induced me 
 to agree to the two supplementary articles. 
 
 " The force thus surrendered to His Majesty's arms cannot be 
 estimated at less than two thousand five hundred men. In this 
 estimate, Colonel McArthur's detachment is included, as he surren- 
 dered, agreeably to the tenns of capitulation, in the course of the 
 
 f 1. It consissted of 30 Royal Arrillcrry, 250 of the 41st Regiment, 50 Royal Newfoundland 
 Regiment, 400 militia and 600 Indians under Tecumseth* 
 
 (2.) It has frequently been stated that the terms of this surrender were drawn up by Mr, 
 (afterwards Sir John Beverley) Robinson, who was then, as a very young man, a Ueutanant in 
 the York militia and a student in the office of Attomev-General Macdonell, General Bnrck's 
 A.D.C This statement is repeated in Read s " Lives of the Judges." p. 124, but it is manifestly 
 inaccurate, and I take thb opportunity of correcting it. General Back's despatdi is my anthority 
 and it cannot be gainsaid. Were further authority wanting, it is furnished by the Chief-Justice 
 himself, who in a letter to Mr. F. B. Tupper, dated Toronto, January 19th, 1846, states : * * 
 " Though I was old enough to be upon the expedition to Detroit and in the action at Queenston 
 I was too young to be in a position to know more of General Brock than could be observed by 
 seeing him in public, but I retain a very distinct recollection of his person and manner." • * • 
 Sir John Robinson achieved in T^ter life such high distinction his name, for public services no less 
 than for private virtues, is so certain to go down to postenty as one of the most distinguished 
 among the deservedly great ones of the land, that it is neither necessary nor well thai services 
 other than those he actually rendered to the State should be attributed 10 him. Colonel Macdonell 
 it was who negociated thde terms. He so soon after " nobly fell " at so earlv an age that itis due 
 to his memor>' that the credit f jr the services he had the opportunity of rendering his country 
 should be accorded to him alone. His monument is with that of Brock at (Jtieenston Heights, 
 where he died. Sir John Hobinson is to be found in the -ubs quent pages of Canadian History. 
 
194 
 evening with the exception of two hundred men, whom he left 
 escorting a valuable convoy at some little distance in his rear ; but 
 there can be no doubt the officer commanding will consider himself 
 equally bound by the capitulation. 
 
 " The enemy's aggregate force was divided into two troops of 
 Cavalry, one Company of Artillery Engineers, the Fourth United 
 States Regiment, detachments of the First and Third United States 
 Regiments, volunteers, three regiments of the Ohio Militia, one regi- 
 ment of the Michigan Territory. 
 
 " Thirty pieces of brass and iron ordnance have already been 
 secured." 
 
 In addition there was handed over four hundred rounds of 
 twenty-four-pound shot fixed, one hundred thousand cartridges, forty 
 barrels of powder and two thousand five hundred stand of arms. 
 
 The terms of capitulation were as. follows : — 
 
 Camp at Detroit, August i6, 1812. — Capitulation for the surrender 
 of Fort Detroit entered into between Major-General Brock, com- 
 manding His Britannic Majesty's forces on the one part, and 
 Brigadier-General Hull, commanding the Northwestern army of 
 the United States on the other part : — 
 
 / _ Article I. — Fort Detroit, with all the troops, regular as well as 
 militia, will be immediately surrendered to the British forces under 
 the command of Major-General Brock, and will be considered as 
 prisoners of war, with the exception of such of the Militia of Michi- 
 gan Territory who have not joined the army. 
 
 Article II. — All public stores, arms and all public documents, 
 including everything else of a public nature, will be given up. 
 
 Article III. — Private persons and property of every description 
 will be respected. 
 
 Article IV. — His Excellency Brigadier-General Hull having 
 expressed a desire that a detachment from the State of Ohio, on its 
 way to join his army, as well as one sent from Fort Detroit under the 
 command of Colonel McArchur, should be included in the capitula- 
 tion, it is accordingly agreed to. It is, however, to be understood 
 that such part of the Ohio Militia as have not joined the army will 
 be permitted to return to their homes, on condition that they will not 
 serve during the war ; their arms will be given up, if belonging to the 
 public. 
 
Approved. 
 
 195 
 Article V. — The garrison will march out at the hour of twelve 
 this day, and the British will take immediate possession of the fort. 
 
 J. Macdonell, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Militia, P.A.D.C. 
 J. B. Glegg, 
 
 Major A.D.C. 
 James Mieter, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Fifth United States Infantry. 
 E. Brush, 
 Colonel commanding First Regiment Michigan Militia. 
 
 W. Hull, 
 Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army. 
 
 Isaac Brock, 
 
 Major-General. _ _ 
 An articIF^suppteinHntary^ to— the-ajticles of capitulation, con- 
 cluded at Detroit, the 16th of August, 18 12 :— 
 
 " It is agreed that the officers and soldiers of the Ohio Militia 
 and Volunteers shall be permitted to proceed to their respective 
 homes, on this condition, that they do not serve during the present 
 war, unless they are exchanged. 
 
 " W. Hull, 
 " Brigadier-General Commanding United States Northwestern Army. 
 
 "Isaac Brock, 
 
 " Major-General " 
 An article in addition to the supplementary article of capitula- 
 tion, concluded at Detroit, the i6th of August, 1812 : — 
 
 " It is further agreed that the officers and soldiers of the 
 Michigan Militia and Volunteers, under the command of Major 
 Whetherall, shall be placed on the same principles as the Ohio 
 Militia and Volunteers are placed by the supplementary article of 
 the 1 6th instant 
 
 " W. Hull, 
 " Brigadier-General commanding Northwestern Army United States. 
 
 " Isaac Brock, 
 
 " Major-General." 
 Return of the ordnance taken at the Fort and batteries at Detroit, 
 August i6th, 181 2 : — 
 
 Iron ordnance. — Nine twenty-four pounders, eight twelve- 
 pounders, five nine-pounders. Brass ordnance — three six-pounders, 
 two four-pounders, one three-pounder, one eight-inch howitzer, one 
 three and a third inch ditto, (i) 
 
 (i) After the surrender of the American troops General Brock desired Tecumseth not to 
 allow the Indians to ill-treat the prisoners. The great Indian chief replied " I despise tlicm too 
 miichto meddle with them ! '' As a proper contrast to this Mr. James cites a battle between the 
 Americans, under (ieueral Jackson, and the Treek Indians in March, 1814, when of about one 
 thousand Creeks, only ten of the men are supposed to have escaped with life : sixteen of the Creeks 
 who had hidden being killed the morning after the battle, the American commander saying in his 
 despatch he was determined to exterminate the tribe. 
 
196 
 
 The surrender of Detroit electrified all Canadians. It was the 
 first enterprise in which the militia had been engaged, and the cour- 
 age and success of their volunteers animated and encouraged all. 
 No more was there of doubting or wavering ; disaffection sunk out of 
 sight. Brock became the idol of Upper Canada ; and no man ever, 
 by his dauntless example, both moral and physical, and by effecting 
 much with small means, had more honestly won the homage of the 
 people, (i) 
 
 It Was a sad and strange coincidence that on the day of his 
 death and that of his chief of staff, Glengarry's representative, at 
 Queenston Heights, the guns of the Tower at London proclaimed 
 the victory at Detroit ! 
 
 A medal was struck to commemorate the victory, and gold 
 medals were awarded to the following : — 
 
 Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, killed in action in 1812. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, A.D.C., killed in action 
 in 1812. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Latouche Chambers, Forty-First Foot, 
 died in 1828. 
 
 Colonel Mathew Charles Dixon, R.E. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Mathew Elliot, Canadian Militia. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel L-B.-&i«ggrJpQ<*y-Ni nth Reg igifinL 
 
 Major Adarii-Muir, Forty-First Foot. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Nichol, Canadian MiUtia. 
 
 Major-General Sir P. Bligh St. George, C.B., K.C.H., died 
 in 1836. 
 
 Major Joseph Tallon, Forty-First Foot. 
 
 Lieutenant Felix Troughton, R.A., died in 1815. 
 
 The names are taken from the army list of 1852, which gives the 
 rank subsequently attained in the army by each officer. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell's was forwarded to his family after his death 
 with the following letter to jir^^gg^ndiather from the Duke of York, "^ 
 Commander-in-Chief of the Forcea: — 
 
 " Horse Guards, May 16, 1820. 
 " Sir, — The King having been graciously pleased to command 
 that the officers present at the capture of Detroit should be .permitted 
 to bear a medal in commemoration of that victory, I have to transmit 
 to you the medal which would have been conferred on the late 
 Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell of the Canadian MiUtia, and 
 which His Majesty has been pleased to direct should be deposited 
 with his family as a token of respect which His Majesty entertains 
 for the memory of that officer. 
 
 , " I am,- sir, yours, 
 
 " Frederick. 
 " Commander-in-Chief. 
 
 " Duncan Macdonell, Esq." 
 
 . 1 — — — ■ 
 
 (z) Coffin, p. 49. 
 
»97 
 
 On the other hand, as soon as a cartel was effected, and General 
 Hull returned to the United States, he was placed under arrest and 
 the Administration exhibited charges for capital offences against him. 
 
 He was eventually tried at Albany, N. Y., by a court-martial, of 
 which General Dearborn was President, on January 3, 18 14, charges 
 of treason, cowardice and neglect of duty being preferred against 
 him. He was practically acquitted of the first, but was found guilty 
 of the second and third charges, and sentenced to death, but on 
 account of his revolutionary services and advanced age (which was 
 only fifty-nine years, however, at the time of the surrender), was 
 earnestly recommended to the mercy of the President, who approved 
 of the sentence of the Court, but remitted the execution of it. 
 
 The feeling in the United States appears to have been varied as 
 to his conduct, though on the whole decidedly adverse, as might 
 naturally be expected. After the publication of his defence, how- 
 ever, a public dinner was tendered him in Boston as an evidence of 
 the appreciation of its people. That was, and is, no affair of ours. 
 If they were satisfied, the people of Canada had every reason to be. 
 The proclamation remains an imperishable monument of his good 
 intentions. 
 
 As soon as possible, after concluding the necessary arrangements 
 at Detroit, on the 22nd August, General Brock, with such of his men 
 as could be spared, left for the Niagara frontier, intending to follow 
 up in that direction the advantage gained at Detroit. The vigorous 
 measures he proposed to adopt, however, were not only hampered 
 but nullified by the armistice which Sir George Prevost, acting un- 
 der orders Irom England, and General Dearborn, the American 
 commander, had concluded. The British Order-in-Council, which 
 the Americans urged as the cause of the war, which had been" 
 revoked by order of the 23rd June, seven days after the declaration 
 of war by the United States, an action on their part the British 
 Government concluded would suffice to effect the recall of the 
 declaration. In this they were mistaken, and the unfortunate 
 armistice afforded the Americans the opportunity they desired of 
 strengthening their several positions in the vicinity of Montreal, at 
 Niagara, and further west. After it had served their purpose it was 
 repudiated by the President. General Brock's correspondence with 
 his brother shows the very natural impatience with which he was 
 obliged to remain inactive. On September i8th he states that he 
 
198 
 believes he could sweep everything before him from Niagara to 
 Buffalo. By themiddlc-jatjOaoherJiowey^r^^ had 
 
 assembled onTHeNiagara frontier an army of sijcJhousanHTHree^ 
 hundred men, of which force three thousand one hundred and 
 Seventy were at Lewiston, under the command of General Van- 
 Ranssalaer. To oppose this force General Brock had part of the 
 Forty-First and Forty-Ninth Regiments, a few companies of militia 
 and about two hundred Indians, in all one thousand five hundreds 
 men — dispersed, however, at different pomtTWtween Foff Erie and 
 Fort George. 
 
 The Americans decided upon -an attack, and before daylight on 
 the morning of October 13th, a large division of their army, 
 
 -Biifflberrng-soliie one thousand four hundred men, under Brigadier- 
 General Wadsworth effected a landing at the Village of Queenston, 
 immediately oppose Lewiston, not however without strenuous 
 opposition from such of the British forces as could be collected in 
 the vicinity. Some of them were driven back, their boats being 
 disabled or sunk, but the greater number succeeded in gaining the 
 summit of the mountain, after which no resistence could be offered to 
 those crossing from Lewiston. 
 
 A gentleman who will be well remembered by many of the older 
 people of Glengarry, who resided for very many years in Cornwall 
 and was Judge of the United Counties, the late Judge Jarvis, was 
 not only an eye-witness of, bat an active participant, in the events of 
 that day. He had been one of those who had attempted to 
 prevent the landing of the Americans. His account of what followed 
 will be read with interest. It is given in Auchinleck's " History of 
 the War," page 104 : — 
 
 " On letiring to the north end of the village, on the Niagara 
 road, our little band was met by General Brock, attended by his 
 Aide-de-Camp, Major Glegg and Colonel Macdonell. He was loudly 
 cheered as he cried, ' Follow me, boys ! ' and led us a pretty smart 
 trot towards the mountain ; checking his horse to a walk, he said, 
 ' take breath, boys ; we shall want it in a few minutes.' Another 
 cheer was the response both from regulars and militia. At that time, 
 the top of the mountain and a great portion of its side was thickly 
 
 ^covered with trees,.-andjsas.. now occupied by American riflemen. 
 Oh arriviiigaf the foot of the mountain, wKefe' the road emerges to 
 St. David, General Brock dismounted, and, waving his sword, 
 climbed over a high stone wall, followed by the troops. Placing, 
 himself at the head of the light company of the Forty-Ninth, he led' 
 
199 
 
 the way up the mountain at double quick time, in the very teeth of a 
 sharp fire from the enemy's riflemen — and, ere long, he was singled 
 out by one of them, who, coming forward, took delibrate aim and 
 fired. Several of the men noticed the action and fired, but too late, 
 and our gallant General fell on his left side, within a few feet of where 
 I stood. Running up to him, I required, ' Are you much hurt, sir ?' 
 He placed his hand on his breast, but made no reply, and slowly 
 sunk down. The Forty-Ninth now raised a shout ' Revenge the 
 General,' and regulars and mihtia, led by Colonel Macdonell, (i) 
 pressed forward, anxious to avenge the fall of their beloved leader, 
 and literally drove a superior force up the mountain sid5,_-ta,^ 
 considerable distance beyond the,-«immifc-v<:''fhe flank companies ot 
 i-tKe' York~lniIitTa7~uTider Captains Cameron and Heward and 
 Lieutenants Robinscn, McLean and Stanton, besides many others 
 whose names I lorgot, eminently distinguished themselves on this 
 occasion." 
 
 General Brock's biographer and relative, Mr. F. B. Tupper, 
 after describing the fall of the gallant officer, continues ; — 
 •^ " His Provincial Aide-de-Camp, Colonel Macdonell, of the 
 militia, and Attorney-General of Upper Canada, a fine promising 
 young man, was mortally wounded sadm after his chief, and died the 
 next day at the early age of twenty-fiye years. Although one bullet 
 had passed through his body, and he was wounded in four places, 
 yet he survived twenty hours, and during a period of excruciating 
 agony his thoughts and words were constantly occupied with lamen- 
 tations for his deceased commander and friend. (2) He fell while 
 gallantly charging with the hereditary courage of his race up the 
 hill with one hundred and ninety men, chiefly of the York Volun- 
 teers, by which charge the enemy was compelled to spike the eight- 
 een-pounder in the.battery there, and his memory will be cherished 
 as long as courage and devotion are reverenced in the Province." 
 
 Had the Americans by this time received reinforcements, the 
 fate of the battle might have been different, but all the authorities, 
 American as well as Canadian, agree that those who still remained 
 on the opposite side of the river exhibited the utmost poltrooneyT 
 General Van Ranssalaer crossed with a view of urging them on, but 
 they absolutely refused to cross. Reinforcements, however, had 
 arrived for the British under General Sheaffe, who, on the death of 
 General Brock, assumed command, until the force amounted to be- 
 tween 800 and 1000 men. The invaders were surrounded, and 
 although they fought most gallantly, their cause was hopeless, and 
 
 (il Colonel Macdonell's horse was shot under him at this time — just before he himself.fell. 
 
 (2) Captam Duncan Cameron, of the York Volunteers, and Provincial Secretary in ihe 
 Government, and between whom and Colonel Macdonell theie existed a warm friendship, in his 
 attempt to save Colonel Macdonell, after the latter had fallen, exposed himself to a shower of 
 musketry which he most miraculously escaped. He succeeded in bearing his friend off tiie field. 
 
200 
 
 the last rush being made every American was swept from the hill 
 Van Ranssalaer, finding it impossible to urge a single man to cross 
 the river, sent boats to enable those who had previously crossed to 
 retreat to their own side, but a fire being maintained upon the ferry 
 from the battery on the bank, at the lower end of Queenston, these 
 boats were completely dispersed. Brigadier Wadsworth was, there- 
 fore, compelled, after a vigorous conflict had been maintained for 
 some time upon both sides, to surrender himself, with all his surviv- 
 ing officers, and nine hundred men, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 The loss to the Bridsh was sixteen killed and sixty-nine 
 wounded, while that of the American side, in addition to the nine 
 hundred made prisoners with one gun and two stand of colours 
 taken, was ninety killed and about one hundred wounded. Some of 
 the Americans, terrified by the Indians, flung themselves over the 
 cliff, endeavoring to cling to the bushes which grew upon them, but 
 losing their hold, were dashed on the rocks beneath, while others 
 who reached the river perished in their attempts to swim across it. 
 It will scarcely be credited that contemporary American writers 
 attempted not only to deny that they were completely routed on this 
 occasion, but so far to pervert the truth as to claim it as a victory for 
 their arms, one of them, a General Wilkins, alleging that " under all 
 the circumstances — and on the scale of operations the impartial soldier 
 and competent judge will name this briUiant affair the chef d'ffiuvre 
 of the war." Well might Mr. Auchinleck suggest that if this was 
 considered by them to be the chef d'oeuvre of the War, he would like 
 to know in what light the capitulation of Detroit is to be regarded, (i) 
 
 Their only advantage was in the death of General Brock, though 
 to quote the words of Mr. Symons, Canada "had also to deplore the 
 loss of the eminent services and talents of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Macdonell, Provincial Aide-de-Camp and Attorney-General of the 
 Province, whose gallantry and merit rendered him worthy of his 
 chief" 
 
 On the 1 6th October, the bodies of Major-General Brock and 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell were interred at Fort George. As 
 a tribute to the magnanimity of the enemy it is recorded that during 
 the funeral procession from Queenston to Fort George, a distance of 
 about seven miles, minute guns were fired at every American post on 
 
 (i) In the despatch of Major-General SheafFe to Bir George Prevost, in alluding to officers 
 whose services in the battle deserved approbation, he mentions : " I derived much aid trom the 
 activity and intelligence of Lieutenant Kerr, of the Glengany Fencibles, whom I employed in 
 communicating with the Indians and other flanking parties." 
 
201 
 
 that side of the line, and all appearance of hostilities suspended " as 
 a mark of respect due to a brave enemy.'' The funeral cortege, 
 while all ostentatious display was avoided, was necessarily most 
 imposing. It was as follows ; — 
 
 Fort Major Campbell. 
 
 Sixty men of the Forty-First Regiment, commanded by a subaltern. 
 
 Sixty of the militia, commanded by a captain. 
 
 Two six-pounders, firing minute guns. 
 
 Remaining Corps and detachments of the Garrison, with about two 
 
 hundred Indians in reversed order, forming a street 
 
 through which the procession passed extending 
 
 from the Government House to the 
 
 garrison. 
 
 Band of the Forty- First Regiment. 
 
 Drums covered with black cloth and muffled. 
 
 Late General's horse, fully caparisoned, led by four grooms. 
 
 Servants of the General. 
 
 The General's body servant. 
 
 Surgeon Muirhead, Doctor Kerr, 
 
 Doctor Moore, Staff-Surgeon Thom, 
 
 Reverend Mr. Addison. 
 
 THE BODY OF LlEUTENANT-CoLONEL MacdONELL, A. D. C, 
 
 with pall-bearers as follows : 
 
 Captain A. Cameron, 
 
 Lieutenant Jarvis, 
 
 
 Lieutenant J. R. Robinson, 
 
 Lieutenant Ridout, 
 
 '* 
 
 J. Edwards, Esq., 
 
 Captain Crooks, 
 
 /i '"* 
 
 Supporter, 
 
 Supporter. 
 
 ,A^'^ ■ 
 
 Mr. Dickson. 
 
 Captain Cameron, ^^ 
 
 Chief Mourner 
 
 — Mr. MacdoneHj-^"^ 
 
 
 THE BODY OF MaJOR-GeNERAL BrOCKI ^^ 
 
 Supporter. Supporter. 
 
 Jas. Coffin, Esq., D. A. C. G. Captain Williams, Forty-Ninth. 
 
 Pall-bearers — 
 Captain Vigoreaux, R. E. Major Merritt, L. H. L. M. 
 
 Captain Derenzy, Forty-First, Lieutenant-Colonel Clarke, L. M. 
 Captain Dennis, Forty-Ninth, Lieutenant-Colonel Butler, 
 Captain Holcroft, R. A., Colonel Claus. 
 
 Supporter. Supporter. 
 
 Brigade Major Evans. Captain Glegg, A. D. C. 
 
 Chief !^ourners — 
 Major-General Sheaffe, Lieutenant-Colonel Myers, D.Q.M.G. 
 
 Ensign Coffin, A. D. C, Lieutenant Fowler, A. D. Q. M. G. 
 
 The civil staff. 
 
 Friends of the deceased. 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
202 
 
 " I enclose a plan of the procession," wrote Captain Glegg, the 
 surviving Aide-De-Camp, " but no pen can describe the real scenes 
 of that mournful day. A more solemn and Meeting spectacle was 
 perhaps never witnessed. As every arrangement connected with that 
 affecting ceremony fell to my lot, a second attack being hourly 
 expected, and the minds of all being fully occupied with the duties 
 of their respective stations, I anxiously endeavoured to perform this 
 last tribute of affection ia a manner corresponding with the elevated 
 vutues of my deceased patron. Conceiving that an interment in 
 every respect military would be the most appropriate to the char- 
 acter of our dear friend, I made choice of a cavalier bastion in Fort 
 George, which his aspiring genius had lately suggested, and which 
 had just been finished under his daily superintendence." 
 
 On the 13th October, 1824, the remains of General Brock and 
 Colonel Macdonell were removed from Fort George and deposited 
 in the resting-place prepared for them in the first monument which 
 was erected on Queenston Heights by the Legislature of Upper 
 Canada 
 
 On the 17th October, 1840, that monument was destroyed by 
 an Arnerican miscreant named Lett. In 1853, the Militiamen and 
 the Indian warriors of the Province, by voluntary subscription, 
 raised the present noble structure (which exceeds in height that of 
 any other monumental column, ancient or modern, known, with the 
 exception ot that designed by Sir Christopher Wren in London, to 
 commemorate the great fire of 1666, which is twelve feet higher), 
 the ceremony of laying the foundation stone and for the third time 
 interring the bodies of Brock and Macdonell taking place on the 
 13th of October of that year. The Administrator of the Govern 
 ment being invited to lay the corner-stone, but being unavoidably 
 prevented, caused the following General Order to be promulgated : — 
 
 " Adjutant-General's Office, Quebec, ist October, 1853. 
 
 " MILITIA GENERAL ORDER. 
 
 " The Lieutenant-General, Administrator of the Government, 
 being unavoidably prevented from attending the ceremony of depos- 
 iting the remains of the lamented Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and 
 his Aide-de-Camp, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, and laying the 
 corner-stone of the monument about to be raised on Queenston 
 Heights, has been pleased to appoint as his representative on that 
 deeply interesting occasion Colonel Donald Macdonell, Deputy Ad- 
 jutant General of Militia for Canada West. 
 
203 
 
 •■' His Excellency has much pleasure in nominating for this 
 duty the brother of the gallant officer who fell nobly by the side of 
 the Major-General in the performance of his duty as Provincial 
 Aide-de-Camp. 
 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, Deputy Adjutant-General. 
 Canada East, and Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine, Provincial Aide-de- 
 Camp to the Governor-Geiieral, will be pleased to accompany Colonel 
 Macdonell on this occasion." 
 
 The silver trowel with which the corner-stone was laid on that 
 occasion, having on one side the crest and arms of Sir Isaac Brock, 
 and on the other those of Colonel Macdonell, with an inscription 
 stating the circumstances of the presentation, was presented to 
 Colonel Donald Macdonell, and is now in the possession of his 
 family. 
 
 Shortly after the Attorney-General's death, the following letter 
 was addressed to his father: — 
 
 "York, March' 20, 1813. 
 
 " Sir, — I am directed by His Honour the President to transmit 
 to you the extract of a letter received by His Excellency Sir George 
 Prevost from Earl Bathurst, and written by the command of His 
 Royal Highness the Prince Regent, as it will ho doubt afford some 
 satisfaction to all the members of the family to which the late 
 Attorney-General was so great an ornament, to learn that his merit 
 has been recognized even by the Royal Personage who wields the 
 sceptre of the British Empire : on which His Honour commands me to 
 declare his personal gratification. 
 
 " I have, &c., 
 
 " Nath. Coffin, Lieutenant-Colonel, 
 
 "P.A.D.C. 
 " Alexander Macdonell, Esq." 
 
 The following was enclosed : — 
 
 Extract of a letter from the Right Honourable Earl Bathurst, 
 one of His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, to His Excellency 
 Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart., dated Downing street, 
 8 th December, 181 2 : — 
 
 " His Royal Highness has also been pleased to express his 
 regret at the loss which the Province must experience by the death 
 the Attorney-General, Mr. Macdonell, whose zealous co-operation 
 with Sir Isaac Brock, will reflect lasting honour on his memory." 
 
 Mr. F. B. Tupper states that Colonel Macdonell, at the time of 
 his death, was 25 years of age. This, however, is a mistake. Family 
 records in my possession show that he was born at Greenfield, Glen- 
 
204 
 
 garry, Scotland, on the 19th April, 1785, which would make him a 
 little over twenty-seven, and, therefore, a child of seven years of age 
 when his family came to Canada in 1792. He was, together with 
 his brothers, educated by the late Bishop Strachan at the Cornwall 
 School. He was admitted a student at law on the 6th April, 1803, 
 and was called to the_Barj3£^U2[3er_CMiada in JEaster„.l^rm 1808. 
 He was appointed Attorney-General of Upper Canada on the 28th 
 November, 1811. 
 
 The following is his address to the electors of Glengarry when 
 returned for that County shortly before his death. It was dated 
 York, March i8, 1812: — 
 
 " To the frse and independant electors of the County of Glen- 
 .garray : — v_ 
 
 " Gentlemen, — As the time is not far distant when you will be 
 called upon to exercise one of the most valuable and sacred privi- 
 leges secured to you by our happy Constitution — the choice of a 
 person to represent you in the House of Assembly of the Province — 
 I beg to offer myself as a candidate for that truly honourable 
 situation. 
 
 " Connected with many of you by the ties of blood, and 
 possessing one common interest with you all, I trust that it is unne- 
 cessary for me to assure you that in aspiring to so distinguished a 
 situation I am not actuated by any personal considerations distinct 
 from your prosperity and that of the Province in general. 
 
 " If you should feel yourselves justified in honouring me with 
 so flattering a mark of your confidence, it shall be my most anxious 
 endeavour by my conduct to convince you that it has not been mis- 
 placed, and of the sincerity with which I subscribe myself, 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " Your Friend and 
 
 " Faithful Servant, 
 
 "John Macdonell." 
 
 We have seen that he gave the best proof of his sincerity, and 
 amply justified the confidence which the people of Glengarry placed 
 in him. He was succeeded temporarily in his office of Attorney- 
 General by Mr. Robinson (afterwards Chief Justice Sir John Beverley 
 Robinson, Bart.), who was a student in his office at the time. He 
 died unmarried, but as previously intimated, was shortly to have 
 been married to a daughter of Chief-Justice Powell, who survived 
 until a quite recent period. A member of that estimable lady's 
 family has placed at my disposal the following letter addressed to 
 
20S 
 
 her by her brother at the time oi Colonel Macdonell's death. I give 
 such portions of-it as can'properly be made public : — ._,- ^ — - 
 
 " My dear Sister, — How sincerely do I 'fegfet, with all, the loss 
 of our young friend — poor fellow. He was dreadfully wounded and 
 said that he suffered great pain. I think he was wounded in three 
 different places — in the head, through the body and in one of his 
 wrists, besides being trampled by his horse. Mr. P. and rnyself 
 wished very much to have seen him while he was living, but were 
 told that he was too low to be disturbed. Perhaps we escaped a 
 dreadful sight. The discharge of blood from the wound in his body 
 was said to have bee" wonderful. Your brother saw him and said 
 that it had gone through two beds to the floor. He kissed your 
 brother and gave him his hand and pressed it, but it was very faintly. 
 While your brother was there his uncle, Mr. Macdonell,was with him, 
 which must have been a great comfort to HimT Poor Mr. Macdonell 
 seems very much disturbed. He died on Wednesday at twelve 
 o'clock, and the moment before he died he desired his servant to hft 
 him up. He was perfectly sensible to the last, poor fellow. I wish 
 you could all have shared with us the gratification, though a melan- 
 choly one, of taking a last look at him. He looked quite natural. 
 I cut a curl of his hair, which I shall preserve — poor fellow ! I 
 sincerely regret him. I always felt a friendship for him, because I 
 knew his superior worth. He has left few of his age that possess that 
 purity of mind that he did. The General I regret as a good man 
 and a lossJ.a-b4s-eouRtry, but Joha Macdonell I feel for as one of the, 
 familjty'Mlrs. P., I suppose, has given you a ^description of^He 
 Tilneral. Poor Captain Glegg was very much overcome. Even 
 Derenzy wept, and I believe there was not a man present that did 
 not shed a tear. The Yankees themselves, if we may judge by their 
 conduct, fell regrets. They fired a salute from the Fort opposite us 
 and another at Queenston. General Van Ransselaer sent a message 
 to General Sheaffe to say that if it be agreeable he would do it as a 
 proof of respect he felt for so good a man and so excellent an officer 
 as General Brock. It was very extraordinary if it was meant well. 
 We are in constant fear of another attack from them. They are to 
 give three hours' notice, but there is no confidence to be placed in 
 their word. [The balance of the letter is of a private nature.] . 
 
 " Adieu, my dear sister, and believe me 
 
 " Ever yours, 
 
 " J. Powell. 
 " Miss M. B. Powell, York." 
 
 Mr. John Beverley Robinson, late Lieutenant-Governor of the 
 Province, sent me recently the following verses, written by Arch- 
 deacon (afterwards Bishop) Strachan, which he discovered when 
 looking through some of the Bishop's papers. They have, I believe, 
 never before appeared, and are well worth publishing. 
 
2o6 
 
 Verses on looking at the bastion of Fort George at Niagara (1819), 
 where Sir Isaac Brock and his gallant Aide-de-Camp, Colonel 
 Macdonell, were temporarily laid before being removed to the 
 monument at Queenston Heights. 
 
 Why calls this bastion forth the patriot's sigh ? 
 And starts the tear from beauty's swelling eye ? 
 Within its breach intrepid Brock is laid 
 A tomb according with the mighty dead, 
 Whose soul devoted to its country's cause 
 In deeds of valour sought her just applause. 
 Enrolled with Aberciombie, Wolfe and Moore, 
 No lapse of time his merits shall obscure. 
 Fresh shall they keep in each Canadian heart, 
 And all their pure and living fires impart. 
 A youthful friend rests by the heroe's side, 
 Their mutual love Death sought not to divide. 
 The muse that gives her Brock to deathless fame 
 Shall in the wreath entwine Macdonell's name. 
 On plates within the column of the present monument at 
 Queenston Heights are the following inscriptions : 
 
 In a vault underneath are deposited the mortal remains of the 
 
 lamented 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ISAAC BROCK, K.B., 
 
 Who fell in action near these Heights on 13th October, 1812, and 
 was entombed on the i6th October at the Bastion of Fort George, 
 Niagara ; removed from thence aud reinterred under a monument to 
 the eastward of this site on the 13th October, 1824, and in con- 
 sequence of that monument having received irreparable injury by a 
 lawless act on the 17th of April, 1843, it was found requisite to take 
 down the former structure and erect this monument — the foundation 
 stone being laid and the remains again re-interred with due solemnity 
 on 13th October, 1853. 
 
 In a vault beneath are deposited the mortal remains of 
 
 LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN MACDONELL, P.A.D.C. 
 K.B., Aide-de-Camp to the lamented Major-General Sir Isaac Brock 
 and who fell mortally wounded in the battle of Queenston, on the, 
 13th October, 1812, and died the following day. 
 
 His remains were removed and re-interred with due solemnity 
 on 13th October, 1853. 
 
 There were but few newspapers in Upper Canada in 1812. 
 The "York Gazette" of October a 7 th, 1812, in announcing the victory 
 made mention of the member for Glengarry as follows : " Nor let us~ 
 forget to lament the untimely fate of the young, the affectionate and 
 the brave Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell, who received a mortal' 
 
207 
 wound about the same time as his beloved General. Attached to 
 him from affection, his constant follower in every danger, this amiable 
 youth is now buried with him in the same grave." 
 
 In the Toronto " Week " of 23rd October, 1891, a tattered fragment 
 is produced, copied from the Niagara " Bee " of October 24th, 181 2, 
 and demonstrating the difficulty of obtaining local contemporaneous 
 accounts of these affairs. It would seem to have given a full de- 
 scription of the engagement and of the time and circumstances of 
 the death of General Brock and Colonel Macdonell. After describing 
 the fight around Vrooman's Battery it states : — 
 
 " It was in the engagement last named that we have to regret 
 the loss of Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, A. D. C. to General 
 Brock. He was shot whilst on horseback encouraging the men. 
 The Province of Upper Canada, by the death of Colonel McDonell, 
 has been deprived of one of its most enterprising young men ; the 
 discerning eye of the Major-General had singled him out, and was 
 forming his mind to have become a prominent figure among us. 
 Fortune had already begun to lavish her favours, and her blushing 
 honours stood thick upon him ; he has appeared and passed away 
 from us like a brilliant meteor in the firmament. His remains were 
 intered beside his beloved friend and patron, General Brock." 
 
2%8 
 
 CHAPTER 17. 
 
 Forays Along the St. Lawrence. — Unsuccessful Attack on 
 Ogdensburg.— St. Regis Surprised. — Americans Repulsed 
 at Fort Erie. — " General Van Bladder " and His Proclam- 
 ations. — Naval Encounters. — Battle of Stoney Creek. ^- 
 
 ^«Ji|HE TAJCIN2JlB!--©«i!™SBURG. — YORK TaKEN BY THE AMERI- 
 CANS, April 27TH, 1813. 
 
 Along the St. Lawrence some attacks were made during the 
 autumn on posts on either side. On the 4th October Colonel Leth- 
 bridge, who commanded at Fort Wellington (Prescott) determined 
 to assault the American fort at Ogdensburg. He took with him 
 eight artillerymen, two companies "of the Canadian Fencibles, about 
 forty of the Newfoundland regiment under Captain Skinner, and one 
 hundred and fifty Glengarry militia, who, after travelling the whole 
 night, had just arrived in carts from Cornwall, distant forty-eight 
 miles. There were other militia men at the post, but the Highland- 
 ers, fatigued as they necessarily must have been. Were the only ones 
 that would consent to accompany the regulars across to the attack. 
 Colonel Lethbridge with his few men advanced towards Ogdensburg, 
 and Captain Skinner, having his small detachment on board two 
 gunboats, attacked and silenced the American battery upon the 
 point below the town. The small force that had embarked could 
 make little or no impression upon so strong a position, the boats 
 therefore returned with a trifling loss. It afterwards was ascertained, 
 however, that General Brown was preparing to abandon the Fort, 
 so that had all the men embarked the enterprise might have been 
 brought to a successful conclusion. (i) The American version of this 
 affair is to the effect that the attacking force numbered over one 
 thousand men. (2) 
 
 On the 23rd of October, the Indian village of St. Regis was 
 surprised by a force of four hundred men detailed from Plattsburg. 
 
 (1.) Jaulu I, p. xaS. 
 
 (a.) History of the War, p. 6l. 
 
2og 
 The outpost at this point consisted of twenty men and an officer of 
 the Canadian Voyageurs, Lieutenant Rototte. Sergeant McGillivray 
 and six men were killed, the remainder taken prisoners. In a cup- 
 board of the wigwam of the Indian interpreter Was found a Union 
 Jack. This windfall of colours, as stated by Colonel Coffin, was 
 grandiloquently announced to the world as " the capture of a stand 
 of colours, the first colours taken during the war," whereas dozens of 
 them might have been obtained at far less cost in any American 
 shipyard. 
 
 This affront was resented forthwith. On the 23rd November, smal' 
 parties of the Forty-Ninth Foot and Glengarry Light Infantry, sup- 
 ported by about seventy men of the Cornwall and Glengarry Militia, 
 about one hundred and forty in all, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 McMillan, crossed the St. Lawrence and pounced on the American 
 Fort at French Mills on Salmon River, opposite Summerstown — since 
 called Fort Covington in honour of the American general of that 
 name who was killed at the battle of Chrysler's Farm. The enemy 
 took to the block-house, but finding themselves surrounded, 
 surrendered prisoners cf war. One captain, two subalterns and forty- 
 one men were taken, with four batteaux and fifty-seven stand of arms. 
 No " stand of colours " was captured with the Americans ; as it is 
 not usual to confide standards to the guardianship of detached 
 parties of forty or fifty men in any service (Coffin, page 69). Captain 
 Duncan Greenfield MacdonelFs company of the First Glengarry 
 Regiment vvfas, as I see by j>apers in my possession, in this engage- 
 ment. Colonel Macmillan, who commanded, was married to his 
 sister. 
 
 During the autumn, some fighting took place in the vicinity of 
 Kingston, on the lake, in which our boats seem to have got somewhat 
 the worst of it, though nothing occurred of any importance. The 
 Lower Canadian frontier was threatened by General Dearborn, who 
 had assembled some ten thousand men in the neighbourhood of 
 Plattsburg, and an attack was made on a picket at Lacolle by a 
 force from Champlain Town on the 20th November. Some frontier 
 militia and Indians under Colonel McKay, of the Northwest Com- 
 pany, drove them back with some loss to the Americans. Dearborn 
 then went into winter quarters. 
 
 In the West, between Fort Erie and Chippewa, General 
 Smythe detached some 2500 men " to take Canada," without any 
 
210 
 
 success. Colonel Bisshopp, a gallant officer who was killed in the 
 following summer, with some six hundred regulars and militia, beat 
 them off with considerable loss to the Americans in killed and 
 wounded, while an aide-de-camp to the American General, some 
 'Other officers and forty men were taken prisoners. General Smythe 
 then despatched a flag of truce to Fort Erie, politely requesting a 
 surrender, stating that it was desirable to " prevent the unnecessary 
 effusion of blood by a surrender of Fort Erie to a force so superior 
 as to render resistance hopeless," a suggestion which Colonel Bis- 
 shopp, with scarcely equal politeness, declined, sending Captain 
 Fitzgerald with his answer : " Come and take it ! " Two other feints 
 were made, after which General Smythe, having abandoned his 
 intention of taking Canada for the present, went into winter quarters. 
 The Americans, however, made it hot for this gallant soldier, whose 
 inflated proclamations to " the men of New York " must have made 
 poor Hull green with envy, when he declared that " the present is 
 the hour of renown. You desire your share ot fame ; then seize the 
 present moment. Advance to our aid. I will wait for you for a few 
 days. I cannot give you the hour of my departure to plant the 
 American standard in Canada. But come on. Come in companies, 
 half companies, pairs or single." The peroration of his manifesto 
 to the soldiers of the Army of the Centre was positively immense. 
 
 " Soldiers of every corps ! It is your power to retrieve the honour 
 of your country and to cover yourselves with glory. Every man 
 who performs a gallant action shall have his name made known to 
 the nation. Rewards and honours await the brave. Infamy and 
 contempt are reserved for cowards. Companions in arms ! You 
 came to vanquish a valiant foe ; I know the choice you will make. 
 Come on, my heroes ! And when you attack the enemies' batteries 
 -let your rallying word be, ' the cannon lost at Detroit or death '." 
 
 The Americans of those days liked a little highfaluting (let me 
 dare the odious word), but the contrast between this and the result 
 was a little too strongly marked. Military conventions were held, 
 resolutions very disparaging to this Boanerges were passed, sugges' 
 t ions of a nice, close-fitting coat of tar-and-feathers were made, to 
 escape which he went South, was summarily dismissed from tlie 
 service without trial, and eventually found his proper sphere in the 
 American Congress, though the appropriate soubriquet of " General 
 Van Bladder " conferred upon him by his grateful and admiring 
 countrymen followed him to his grave ! 
 
211 
 
 During the first year of the war, therefore, Britain and British 
 Canadians had decidedly the best of it on land in all except procla- 
 mations. In that field Generals Hull and Smythe positively annihi- 
 lated the poor " Britishers." 
 
 At sea, however, it had been different. The admiralty could 
 not or would not understand that the Americans were building 
 vessels superior in all respects to those which constituted the fleet 
 on the North American station, and the first engagement in which 
 the British " Belvidere," in charge of a convoy bound for the West 
 Indies, beat off Commodore Rogers with a squadron of three frigates 
 and two sloops, rescued the merchantmen and saved herself, was 
 calculated to impress them witlithe fact that it was impossible for 
 Britain to be othenvise than supreme upon the sea. Moreover, the 
 nominal strength in equipage and tonnage of the American vessels 
 was not a fair criterion when compared with the nominal strength 
 of the British. Their vessels were new, while the British were for 
 the most part old ; they had but one war on hand, while Britain 
 had ships fighting on every sea ; their crews were picked crews, 
 while the British vessels were manned — in most cases imder-manned 
 at that — with motley crews, pressed into the service from every 
 available quarter and largely undisciplined. 
 
 The British " Gueniere," after an unequal contest, was obliged 
 to strike her flag to the American vessel " Constitution," and in 
 October the " Frolic " succumbed to the American ship " Wasp," 
 the latter, however, being taken and the " Frolic" rescued the same 
 day by " Poictiers." A few days later the " United States " beat the 
 " Macedonian," and about the same time the British ship " Peacock '' 
 was, after a desperate encounter, sunk by the American " Hornet," 
 four of the American sailors nobly losing their lives in an effort to 
 save the " Peacock's " crew. The British at lasj: achieved a brilliant 
 victory, however, in the celebrated battle ^tween the " Shannon," 
 Captain Broke commanding, and the " Chesapeake." It was pro- 
 bably one of the shortest and most spirited actions ever fought at 
 sea, lasting only fifteen minutes. Eleven minutes from the firing of 
 the first shot. Captain Broke boarded the " Chesapeake," and in 
 four minutes more her flag was hauled down. Captain Lawrence 
 was mortally wounded, and died almost immediately after, with 
 forty-seven of his officers and men killed and ninety-nine wounded, 
 fourteen mortally. Captain Broke was severely wounded, his first 
 
212 
 
 lieutenant and twenty-three others killed and fifty-eight wounded.(i) 
 The campaign of 1813 opened on the extreme western frontier, 
 where, owing to the climate being less rigourous than in the east, they 
 were naturally able to go to work earlier. Colonel Proctor had been 
 left in command at Detroit by General Brock, when in the prececding 
 August the latter had gone to the Niagara frontier. 
 
 On the 19th January, he received information that a division of 
 the American array under General Winchester was encamped at 
 Frenchtown, some twenty-six miles from Detroit He proraptfy 
 determined to attack them before they could be reinforced by Gen- 
 eral Harrison, who was then three or lour days' march in the rear. 
 His disposable force was assembled at Brownstown on the 2 1 st, 
 consisting of five hundred regulars and militia, and six hundred 
 Indians. The next morning he advanced ' some twelve miles to 
 Stoney Creek, and made, at day-break, a resolute attack on the 
 enemy's camp. General Winchester himself, soon after the com- 
 mencement of the action, fell into the hands of the Wyandot Chief 
 Roundhead, who surrendered him to Colonel Proctor. His forces 
 retreated to the houses and enclosures, from which they made a 
 vigourous resistance, but soon surrendered. Their loss in killed and 
 wounded was between three hundred and four hundred men, while 
 over five hundred men, with one Brigadier-General, three field 
 officers, nine captains, twenty subalterns, surrendered prisoners of 
 war. The British loss was twenty-four killed and one hundred and 
 eighty-five wounded. The House of Assembly of Lower Canada, 
 then in session, passed a vote of thanks to Colonel Proctor and to 
 the ofllicers and men of his force. Colonel Proctor was immediately 
 promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General by the commander of the 
 forces, which was approved of and confirmed by the Prince Regent. (2) 
 The next engagement of moment, the assault and capture of 
 Ogdensburg, was one in which the Glengarry Light Infantry and the 
 Glengarry Militia played so important a part that I may be permitted 
 to narrate it at greater length, as it must of necessity be of interest to 
 the descendants of those who principally earned the credit of it — 
 nor is the credit denied them by any of those who have written on 
 the subject of the war, all bearing testimony to the daring of the man 
 
 (i) It is woithy of note that the officer who succeeded to the command of the "Shannon,'* 
 Captain Broke being desperately wounded and the first lieutenant killed, and who took her out 
 of action was a Canadian and is still alive, the Senior Admiral of the fleet, Sir Provost Wallis, 
 G.C.B., who was born at Halifax on the 12th April, 1791, and is now over one hundred years oi 
 age, and as the London Times in an account of his career observed, may well be termed the 
 Father of the Royal Navy, 
 
 (2) Christie, vol. 2, p. 6g. 
 
213 
 
 who devised it, and who, acting on his own discretion, and without 
 orders to do what he so gallantly accomplished, would probably have 
 been broken had he failed. 
 
 Sir George Prevost, the Governor-General and Commander-in- 
 Chief, having closed the Session of the Legislature, left Quebec on 
 the 17th February on a journey to Upper Canada, On his arrival 
 at Prescott Lieutenant-Colonel George Macdonell, second in com- 
 mand there, proposed to him, as he passed through, an attack on 
 Ogdensburg in retaliation for an excursion by the enemy from thence 
 upon Brockville some days previously, where a sentry had been 
 wounded, some cattle pens sacked, some private houses and the gaol 
 burned and fifty-two of the inhabitants taken into captivity, amongst 
 them two majors, two captains and two lieutenants, elderly gentlemen 
 who, as a compliment, retained their commissions in the militia.(i) 
 
 Mr. James states that Colonel Macdonell had been sent across 
 the river by Colonel Pearson, his senior officer, to remonstrate with 
 the American commander at Ogdensburg against the commission of 
 such depredations. Forsyth was exceedingly insolent to him and 
 expressed a wish to meet Pearson and his men upon the ice, declar- 
 ing in his own vernacular that he could " whip " him with the 
 greatest ease, to which Macdonell replied that the command at Fort 
 Wellington would in a few days devolve upsn him and that he would - 
 have no objection to indulge Colonel Forsyth in the manner indicated 
 by him. 
 
 Ogdensburg was then a fortified military post, garrisoned and 
 armed, but still more effectually protected by the breadth of the St. 
 Lawrence, at this point a mile and a quarter wide. One rash 
 attempt upon it had, as we have seen, aTready failed. The Gover- 
 nor did not deem it expedient to order an attack, but as two men 
 had deserted on the evening of his arrival, and had gone over to the 
 enemy, who might, on ascertaining of the arrival of the Governor, 
 waylay him on his route, it was determined that Lieutenant- Colonel 
 Macdonell should make a demonstration on the ice in front of Og- 
 densburg, as well with a view of engaging the attention of the enemy 
 as by drawing out their forces to ascertain the strength of the 
 garrison. 
 
 But such a thing as an attack was expressly forbidden, Sir 
 George Prevost repeating more than once his prohibition in unequi- 
 
 (I) Coffin, p. 88. 
 
214 
 
 vocal terms. He particularly objected to the hazard of doing anything 
 that might tend to interrupt the transport of stoies then going on by 
 land, and he would give no credit to the rumour then current and 
 communicated to him by Colonel Macdonell, that the enemy were 
 about to concentrate a large force at Ogdensburg for that very pur- 
 pose. He strictly enjoined on Colonel Macdonell the necessity of 
 great prudence on his part " to justify the strong step he had taken 
 in placing him (Macdonell) above all the majors in his army, a 
 measure, he stai ed, that had already excited great murmurs among 
 that class of officers." The only admission of the possibiUty of an 
 attack that His Excellency would make, was that on the expected 
 arrival at Prescott of Major Cotton and three hundred men of the 
 King's Regiment, then some days' march distant, Colonel Macdonell 
 might write to Major-Geaeral de Rottenburg, commanding at 
 Montreal, and act as that officer might be pleased to direct. 
 
 Colonel Coffin, in his account of the affair, states that Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Macdonell at this time commanded the Glengarry Light 
 Infantry. This, however, is a mistake. It is true that on the 
 occasion of the attack he commanded such of them as were present, 
 as he did the other forces, but it was for the very reason that he did not 
 receive the command of the regiment which he raised and completed 
 (o the additional establishment, that the local rank of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel and the command of the St. Lawrence frontier was conferred 
 upon him The facts are stated in Colburn's Mihtary Gazette of 
 1848, and as they are of interest and some importance, I quote them 
 at length before giving an account of the engagement : 
 
 " It happened that in the end of January, 18 r3, the Glengarry 
 Highland Militia Regiment, being much harassed by severe duties 
 arising out of predatory excursions by the enemy's strong garrison at 
 Ogdensburg, sent in a petition to the Governor-General that their per- 
 sonal acquaintance and clansman, Major Macdonell of the Glengarry 
 Light Infantry, should, (since deprived of that corps) be appointed to 
 command them, and the highly vulnerable frontier they had charge 
 of, extending about one hundred miles, and more than half of it at 
 that moment a bridge of ice, passable for artillery. This petition 
 was of course undeniable : first, because, without disparagement to 
 the brave and loyal English and Anglo-Dutch settlers, these High- 
 landers were, from their numbers and peculiar locality, indisputably 
 the sheet anchor of the Eigiish tenure of Canada, and secondly for 
 the following reason : — The Governor-General had, most unfor- 
 tunately on the eve of hostilities, by a very inconsiderate breach of 
 
2IS 
 
 public faith, (more, it is believed, the act of an interested official 
 than himself) unjustly deprived Major Macdonell cl the expressly 
 stipulated command of the Glengarry Light Infantry, which he had 
 raised and which, but for his local influence, never could have been 
 attempted, and had placed in command, from private favour, an Irish 
 officer, undoubtedly brave, but an utter stranger to the Highlanders 
 in the Glengarry District. The immediate consequence of this unjust 
 and dangerous act, was mutiny' in the corps itself, and something 
 not unlike an insurrection among their fathers and brothers in the 
 settlement, a circumstance which can excite liitle surprise in anyone 
 who has read Colonel David Stewart's " History of the Highland 
 Regiments." True, the extreme foibearance of the Catholic Priest in 
 Glengarry (the Chaplain of the Regiment) and the temperate firm- 
 ness of Major Macdonell, had allayed the effervescence, but deep 
 resentment still lurked in the breast of those sturdy Highlanders, 
 many of whom could not speak one word of English, at the thought 
 of their relative and clansman having been betrayed, as they alleged, 
 by the Government, and placed under an Irish Protestant, an alien 
 to them and their peculiar feelings, and as they not unnaturally but 
 erroneously thought, a bitter enemy to their religion. The Governor- 
 General appreciated the necessity of putting these brave and loyal 
 men into good humour with him and the Government, and this he 
 accomplished by placing Colonel Macdonell at their head and giving 
 him the command in their own District." 
 
 On the morning of the 23rd February, Lieutenant-Colonel Mac- 
 donell .commenced his ISarch on the ice with abouFtwd 'hlfftcrred and 
 thirty militia and two hundred and fifty regulars, two thirds of the 
 little force being Glengarry Highlanders. The distance across the 
 river, in the direction of the point of attack, was about a mile and a 
 half Owing to the caution requisite in marching over ice with four 
 hundred and eighty men, at a place which had never been crossed 
 in the saine manner, the troops and militia were divided into two 
 columns and formed in extended order. 
 
 Obeying for some time the command of Prevost, Colonel 
 Macdonell_j3layed with the enemy, but, as Mr. Rattray observes, 
 ii-the'season for action had come. They needed no martial address 
 or inflated proclamation. The Highland blood was up." "These 
 men did not plead qualms of conscience or constitutional scruples 
 for not daring the ice which undulated and cracked and gaped 
 beneath their feet." (i) The American Commandant Forsyth was at 
 his breakfast, and affected to ridicule the demonstration. Macdonell 
 
 (i) Coffin, 
 
2l6 
 
 divided his force into two columns, ha,ving, as stated, advanced 
 rapidly to the attack — speed and resolution alone could save him./ 
 The Americans, more wary than their chief, sprang to their guns ,\ 
 musketry and cannon opened on the advancing columns. The left, 
 under Macdonell himself, rushed rapidly on, under a heavy fire, and 
 through the deep snow ascended the river bank and swept from the 
 left into the village of Ogdensburg, overwhelming all opposition. 
 Here, from the eastern bank of the Oswegatchie, he commanded to 
 a great extent the flank and rear of the old French Fort Presentation 
 and the batteries which raked the river ; but his own guns were 
 behind hand, they had stuck in the deep snowbank and rough ice, 
 broken and piled, at the river bank. By furious efforts they were forced 
 to the front, and not a moment too soon. While this was doing 
 Captain Jenkins, of the Glengarry Fencibles, who commanded the 
 right wing, a gallant New Brunswicker, was making a most desperate 
 effort to carry out the part assigned to him. Seven pieces of artillery, 
 backed by two hundred good troops, smashed the head of his 
 advance ^ gallantly he rallied his broken column ; not a living man 
 shrank ; springing forward with a cheer, his left arm was shattered 
 by a shot ; nothing daunted, forward and still cheering on, his up- 
 right right arm was disabled by a case shot ; still disregarding all 
 personal consideration, he nobly ran on, cheering his men, to the 
 assault, till, exhausted by pain and loss of blood he became unable to 
 move, his company gallantly continuing the charge under 
 Lieutenant Macaulay. Tne Glengarries, with broken formation, 
 through the deep snow, in front of the deadly battery, were re- 
 forming for a charge with the bayonet, when, fortunately, Macdonell's 
 guns on the left got within range. Captain Eustace, with the men 
 of the King's Regiment, crossed the Oswegatchie and captured the 
 eastern battery, and, together, both attacks swarmed into the body 
 of the place, to find it vacated, except by dead and dying — the 
 enemy having withdrawn to the woods in their west rear, where 
 there was no means of intercepting their retreat." (i) 
 
 " The gallant little band — worthy sons of the Gaelic clans — had 
 nobly vindicated their claim to ancestral valour. Ogdensburg was 
 theirs and an end was put to frontier raids from the other side." (2) 
 
 (i) Coffin, page 93. 
 (a) R attrajr. 
 
217 
 
 Eleven pieces of cannon and all the ordnance, marine, commissariat 
 and quartermaster-general's stores, four officers, seventy men were 
 taken, and two armed schooners, two large gunboats and both the 
 barracks burnt, twenty of the enemy killed and a large number 
 wounded. Of the British seven were kille^_aa4 _seven officers (in- 
 cluding Lieutenant-Colonel MacdoneTTfand for ty-oiie men w ou"ngedr: 
 Colonel Coffin suggests that on crossing the river a litde of the old 
 raiding temper had revived among the Highlandmen, and the word 
 " spulzie " had passed and many facts glistened with glee at the 
 hopeful prospect. This is the only case in which I find my old 
 friend drawing upon his imagination for his facts ! 
 
 On the day following this action Sir GeorgePrevost was at 
 dinner with the officers of his staff at"~E^ingston when his Colonial 
 Aide-de-Camp, Captain Percival, who had remained behind for a day 
 at Montreal when Sir George -left there, walked in, holding in his 
 hand Colonel Macdonell's despatch announcing his succe'ss at Ogdens- 
 burg, and apologizing to the Goverhor-General for having dared to 
 take it. His Excellency filled a/bumperto the captor and that night 
 wrote him as follows : — 
 
 " Kingston, 24th February, 1813. 
 " My Dear Sir, — Although you have rather exceeded my orders, 
 I am well pleased with what you have done, and so I have just told 
 ^,^\i in a general order, which is to announce to the troops in British 
 America your achievement. 
 
 " I am, yours faithfully, 
 
 " (Signed), George Prevost. 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel Macdoriell." 
 
 The generat-onte-stateSTliat * * * « His Excellency feels 
 much pleasure in publicly expressing his entire approbation of the 
 gallantry and judgment with which the taking of Ogdensburg appears 
 to have been conducted. A salute to be fired immediately.'' 
 
 On the 8th March, 1813, the House of Assembly of Upper 
 Canada passed a vote of thanks to Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell 
 and his force for what the Speaker, in his letter transmitting it styled, 
 " the splendid victory at Ogdensburg." Sir Roger Sheafife, Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor and Major-General commanding in Upper Canada, al- 
 though a personal stranger to Colonel Macdonell, wrote to the latter 
 from York a letter of congratulation on his " recent success in the bril- 
 _4iant-affairof -GgdensbiMg." The Governor-General recommended to 
 the Horse Guards that Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who had been 
 
218 
 
 severely wounded in the action, should receive by brevet a confirm- 
 ation of the local rank in which he performed the service, and in 
 consideration of the political importance even then visible, but not 
 tully appreciated until afterwards, proposed to the Government that 
 the capture of Ogdensburg be made a medal day. Indeed, even His 
 Royal Highness the Duke of York himself, at a later period, also 
 recommended that it should be made a medal day, but Lord Baihurst 
 replied that the list tiad been closed and could not be re-opened. 
 It seems scarcely fair that it should have been left to a civilian such 
 as Lord Bathurst to pronounce upon and determine a matter purely 
 military. A medal was given for the taking of Detroit, where not a 
 life was lost on either side. A motion was made, some time after 
 the vote of thanks was passed in the House of Assembly, that a 
 sword of the value of one hundred guineas should be presented to 
 Colonel Macdonell. It seems scarcely credible, and certainly is far 
 from creditable, that religious differences shauld have determined a 
 ina-tte*-9®efe>-as' this, TTIltf fear it was so. The writer in the Military 
 .Gazette does not hesitate to state that it was because Colonel Mac^ 
 
 donell w a? " a P apist " that the motion was allowed { o_ drop, and 
 
 declared that the then~Speaker of the ±iouse boasted attenvards that 
 
 _lie4*atl CiuaSlred'it by using the " argument " that on account of his 
 
 religion C olonel Macdonell ought not \o receive from a Protestant 
 House any recognition of his bravery and services. The name of 
 
 his authority is given, Mr. John Gumming, of Kingston, then or 
 afterward member for that town. 
 
 Sir George Prevost, in his proclamation to the inhabitants of 
 His Majesty's Provinces in North America, of 12th January, 18 14, in 
 contrasting the conduct of the troops under his command with that 
 of the American forces, refers to the conduct of the British on this 
 occasion as follows ; * * * " Jq the winter of the following 
 year, when the success which attended the gallant enterprise against 
 Ogdensburg had placed that populous and flourishing village in our 
 possession, the generosity of the British character was again 
 conspicuous in scrupulous preservation of every article which could 
 be considered as private property, such public buildings only being 
 destroyed as were used for the at commodation of troops and for 
 public stores. The destruction of the defences of Ogdensburg and 
 the dispersion of the enemy's force in that neighbourhood laid open 
 the whole of the frontier on the St. Lawrence to the incursion of his 
 
319 
 
 His Majesty's troops, and Hamilton, as well as the other numerous 
 settlements on the banks of the river might, at any hour, had such 
 been the disposition of His Majesty's Government, or of those acting 
 under it, been plundered and laid waste.'' 
 
 A correspondent in the United Service Magazine, 1848, part i, 
 page 452, does not hesitate to affirm that this important part was 
 taken On that morning contrary to the most positive orders, verbal 
 and written, of the Governor-General in person and on the spot only 
 one-half hour previous to the attempt, and that when Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Macdonell hazarded the attack he was acting under some- 
 thing like a certainty of being cashiered by a court-martial, if not 
 indeed sentenced to be shot, for disobedience of orders in the event 
 of failure. Nothing but success could justify the attempt — it was a 
 case of do or die — and yet, when it was done, the despatch an- 
 nouncing it to the Home authorities and published in the London 
 '' Gazette " was altered, and Colonel Macdonell was made to say, over 
 his own signature, that he had taken Ogdensburg "by the command 
 of His Excellency." (i) 
 
 Being constantly employed in remote parts of the upper country, 
 Colonel Macdonell did not discover this misrepresentation of fact 
 until November, 1816, and when he called the attention of the Col- 
 onial Military Secretary to it, the only reply he received was that 
 such alterations were customary in the service. The matter was 
 subsequently brought before the Duke of York, but the time had 
 gone by and Colonel Macdonell was left without satisfaction. He 
 was a rash young officer and did more than his duty, for which men 
 are seldom thanked. 
 
 The statement has frequently been made that, having acted in 
 disobedience of orders, he was obliged to leave the service. This, 
 of course, is untrue. Though he never received for this and other 
 important services rendered by him, any reward commensurate with 
 his merits, he continued on in the service^jsceiied-aaej)! the ti^gold- 
 medals given for Chateauguay, and in 1817 was made a Commander 
 of the Bath. He afterwards commanded the 79th Highlanders. 
 
 When General Pike arrived at Ogdensburg in the week following 
 with fiy5_jiio«saud.j;egulaj:.AmexiGan.jrfli^s, he found the garrison 
 had fled to Sackett's Harbour, the barracks all burned down, the 
 
 (i) James I, 393. 
 
220 
 
 fort dismantled and all the artillery, stores and provisions transferred 
 to our side of the river, and, having no food or cover for his men, 
 and seeing his grand plan of taking Prescott, and with it hampering 
 all Upper Canada, anticipated and counteracted, he thought it pru- 
 dent to abandon all idea of conquest and to hurry on to Lake Ontario. 
 Thus the taking of Ogdensburg completely frustrated all the enemy's 
 schemes ; it forced him to remove the seat of war for six months 
 thereafter three hundred miles further from Montreal, and so compel 
 him to waste his time and strength in that, for him, remote and 
 useless locality, and this too when time was everything for Britain, 
 as it gave time for the arrival of troops. 
 
 The return of killed and wounded shows : — Royal Artillery, two 
 rank and file killed ; Eighth or King's Regiment, one sergeant killed, 
 one subaltern, twelve rank and file wounded; Glengarry Light In- 
 fantry, two rank and file killed, one captain, one subaltern, three 
 sergeants, nine rank and file wounded ; Militia, nineteen wounded. 
 The officers wounded were : — King's Regimpnt, Ensign Powell ; 
 Glengarry Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, Captain Jen- 
 kins and Ensign McKay; Militia, Captain Macdonell and Lieutenants 
 Impey, McLean and Macdonell. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, in his despatch to Sir George 
 Prevost, among other officers mentioned for their gallant conduct, 
 Lieutenant Macaulay, and Ensigns Macdonell and Kerr, of the 
 Glengarry Regiment, and Ensign Kerr, of the Militia, the two latter 
 of whom had each charge of a field piece. Needless to say, the 
 gallantry and devotion of Captain Jenkins was first recorded. 
 
 The following men of the Glengarry Militia Regiments, who 
 were wounded at the taking of Ogdensburg, received a pension of 
 twenty pounds each : 
 
 First Regiment Glengarry Militia: — D. McDermid, Farquhar 
 McBean, Donald Macdonell, John Macdonell, Thomas Ross. 
 
 Charles Mackinnon and Finlay Munro were wounded near 
 Cornwall on the loth November, 1812, and also received a pension 
 of twenty pounds, (i) 
 
 To Glengarry and Glengarry men, I think I have shown, must 
 that important achievement, one 01 the most daring of the war, be 
 credited in greater part. 
 
 (i) Upper Canada Gazette, ist January, 1818. 
 
221 
 
 I have obtained, from the official records, a list of the officers 
 and men of the flank companies of the Glengarry Militia Regiments 
 who were present both at the taking of Ogdensburg and the capture 
 of Fort Covington, in the same year, all of whom received grants of 
 two hundred acres of land from the Crown for their services on the 
 conclusion of the war, but I regret that want of space will not permit 
 me to insert it. 
 
 When the Legislature of Upper Canada assembled at York on 
 25th February, 1813, General Sir Robert Sheaffe, commanding the 
 forces in Upper Canada, and who had succeeded Sir Isaac Brock 
 as President of the Province, in his address to the House stated, 
 " It affords me satisfaction that the first time I am called upon to 
 address you in this place, I have to offer you my cordial congratula- 
 tions on the uniform success which has crowned His Majesty's arms 
 in this Province. The enemy has been foiled in repeated attempts 
 to invade it. Three of his armies have been surrendered or com- 
 pletely defeated, and two impor.ant posts wrested from him. In 
 this glorious campaign, the valour and discipline of His Majesty's 
 regular troops have been nobly supported by the zeal and bravery of 
 our loyal militia." 
 
 The Americans' plan of campaign for this season included attacks 
 on Kingston, Fort George, Niagara and York. Their superiority on 
 the lake rendered' the situation of these places very critical — that of 
 York, which was entirely unprotected, extremely much so. It was 
 then, as now, the capital of the Province^thaugb-uj^8T2, instead of 
 a population of two hundred and sixteen thousand, it centaJtleSlone 
 -theusand souls. The Legislative Buildings and Government Offices 
 were there, and all official people were obliged to live in " Muddy little 
 York," as people of other places then and for many years after 
 called it. The British force stationed there consisted of but six 
 hundred men under General Sheaffe. 
 
 In April, 18 13, Commodore Chauncey, with a squadron of six- 
 teen sail, and having on board of the various vessels General Dear- 
 born and some two thousand five hundred American soldiers, left 
 Sackett's Harbour, and on the 26th of that month arrived at York, 
 which fell an easy prey on the following day. It was as well defended 
 as could be expected, by the regular force, consisting of a company 
 of the Glengarries, a company of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment 
 (which served in this Province throughout the whole War) and two 
 
22S 
 
 companies of the Eighth Regiment (which happened to be at York en 
 route from Kingston to Niagara), and the local militia; but success- 
 ful resistance was out of the question. The enemy had virtually 
 captured the place when an explosion occurred at the powder mag- 
 azine, where some two hundred and fifty of the Americans were 
 killed or wounded, including' General Pike, their commander 
 (General Dearborn appearing to have remained on board), as well 
 as a few of the British. The American papers endeavoured, with 
 their usual untruthfulness, to show that this was done intentionally, 
 though the evidence was all to the contrary, and even it it had been 
 it was perfectly consistent with the rules of warfare. 
 
 General Sheaffe retired with the regular forces to Kingston, and 
 the militia, to the number of two hundred and ninety-three, with a 
 few officers and men of the Royal Navy, surrendered prisoners of 
 war. The Americans burned tne public buildings with the libraries 
 and all the records and papers of Parliament, and gained possession 
 of a great quantity of naval and other stores. The British loss was 
 sixty-two killed_and seventy-two wounded. Of the Glengarry Regi- 
 ~rnent, 'two rank and file were killed, Ensign Rpbins and three rank 
 and file wounded, and three rank and file missing. The militia rolls 
 fell into the hands of the enemy, who claimed many as prisoners 
 who never surrendered into their hands. York had a fictitious 
 importance, owing to its being the capital of the Province, and we 
 can easily understand, as the fact was, that the Americans made the 
 most of its capture. Commodore Chauncey forwarded to the 
 Secretary of the Navy the British standard which was taken, accom- 
 panied by the mace, and what he claimed was a human scalp which 
 hung over it. Colonel Coffin says it was a peruke such as was commonly 
 worn in those days, and very likely belonged to the Speaker, while Mr. 
 Auchinleck suggests it was the scalp of an unfortunate Indian who 
 was shot in a tree by the Americans, and was taken by Commodore 
 Chauncey himself. 
 
 They held possession of York about a week, evacuating it on 
 the and May, when they proceeded to the Niagara frontier. The 
 regular force in that district at the time consisted of the Forty- Ninth 
 Regiment, and of detachments of the Eighth, Forty-First, Glengarry 
 Light Infantry, and Royal Newfoundland corps, with so.ne artillery, 
 the. whole commanded by Brigadier-General Vincent. At Fort 
 George were about a thousand of these, with three hundred militia 
 
223 
 
 and about fifty Indians, but unfortunately there was so great a 
 scarcity of powder that they were able to maice but little use of the 
 guns. 
 
 After being driven back in tnree separate efforts to land, the 
 Americans on the 27th May obtained possession of the fort, which 
 General Vincent abandoned, having lost three officers, one non- 
 commissioned officer and forty-eight rank and file killed, eleven 
 officers, four sergeants and twenty-nine men wounded and one 
 officer, thirteen sergeants and two hundred and forty rank and file 
 wounded and missing ; and the Americans thirty-nine killed and one 
 hundred and eleven wounded. The Eighth Regiment, Glengarry 
 Light Infantry and Royal Newfoundland detachments lost about 
 half their united force. The Glengarry Regiment had one captain, 
 one ensign, one sergeant, twenty-four rank and file killed ; one 
 captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, three sergeants, twenty rank and 
 file wounded ; one lieutenant, two sergeants, twenty-three rank and 
 file wounded and missing. The officers of the Glengarry Regiment 
 killed were Captain Liddell and Ensign McLean ; those wounded 
 Captain Roxburgh, Lieutenant Kerr and Ensign Kerr. General 
 Vincent fell back to the head of the lake, the enemy not attempting 
 to follow, and eventually encamped at Burlington Heights, when his 
 supply of ammunition was reduced to ninety rounds per man. On the 
 5th June the enemy were encamped at Stoney Creek. Mr. 
 Auchinleck shows conclusively that their force was not less than 
 from two thousand two hundred to two thousand five hundred 
 men, while General Vincent states it to have been three thousand 
 five hundred, with two hundred and fifty cavalry. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Harvey (afterwards Sir John Harvey, Lieutenant-Governor 
 of New Brunswick), who had been sent by General Vincent to 
 reconnoitre, recommended a night attack, which General Vincent 
 determined on and advanced with a force of seven hundred and four 
 men. Colonel Harvey led the attack ; the enemy was completely 
 surprised. He was charged again and again, and before daybreak 
 the battle was over ; the first and second officers in command, 
 Brigadier-Generals Chandler and Winters, and upwards of one 
 hundred officers, non-commissioned officers and men made prisoners 
 Mid the remainder of the survivors in full retreat to Forty-Mile Creek, 
 where a junction was effected with two thousand men who were on 
 
324 
 
 their march to reinforce him. The British loss was twenty-three 
 killed, including one lieutenant, twelve officers, nine sergeants and 
 one hundred and fifteen men wounded and fifty-five missing. On 
 the 24 June Colonel Boerstler, of the United States Army, with a 
 force of five hundred and forty-one men, having been sent to 
 surprise an outpost in the vicinity, and having been rather severely 
 handled on the way by Colonel Bisshopp, Colonel Clark of the 
 Lincoln Militia and a few Indians, was summoned to surrender 
 by Lieutenant (afterwards Colonel) Fitzgibbon, who was at the head 
 of some thirty men and two hundred Indians, which with praise- 
 worthy exaggeration he represented to be many times their number and 
 the vanguard of a large army in the immediate vicinity. Colonel 
 Boerstler threw up the sponge and surrendered to this imposing 
 force. Just as the enemy were being drawn up. Major De Haren, 
 of the Canadian Fencibles, arrived with two hundred and twenty- 
 nine men, and articles of capitulation were agreed upon. Very 
 naturally, there was a row in Congress over this succession of 
 mortifying defeats. It culminated in the recall of General Dearborn, 
 who had been scarcely been more fortunate than Generals Hull and 
 Smythe, and the taking of York and Fort Geoige were amply avenged. 
 
225 
 
 CHAPTER 18. 
 
 General Dearborn in Turn Superseded. — Successful At- 
 tacks ON Fort Schlosser and Black Rock. — Death of 
 Colonel Bisshopp. — Attack on Sackett's Harbour. — 
 Prevost's Demonstration on Fort George. — The 
 Glengarry Regiment's Timely Occupation of Burlington 
 Heights. — York Again Taken. — Canada Menaced in 
 Three Directions~in the"^utumn of 1813. — Disasters 
 on Lake Erie. — Evacuation of Detroit. — General Proc- 
 tor Defeated at Moraviantown. — Death of Tecumseth. 
 — Court-Martial on Proctor. 
 
 General Dearborn was succeeded by Generals Boyd and Lewis. 
 The enemy, by these successes of the British, was compelled to 
 confine himself to Fort George and its environs, where sickness 
 broke out and his troops suffered considerably. Though General 
 Vincent's force amounted to only eighteen hundred men, he be- 
 leagured the Americans, numbering some four thousand, and before 
 the ist of July the British had formed a line extending from Twelve 
 Mile Creek on Lake Ontario across to Queenston on the Niagara 
 River, nor did they leave the enemy idle 
 
 The "glorious Fourth" of July, of all days in the year, was 
 selected by Colonel Clark, of the 2nd Lincoln Militia, for a descent 
 of Fort Schlosser, immediately above Niagara Falls, and during the 
 night a small party of militia with a few regular soldiers surprised 
 the guard at that post and brought away a brass six-pounder, up- 
 wards of fifty stands of arms, a quantity of stores, with a gunboat 
 and two batteaux, without loss of life. Again, on the 1 rth July, poor 
 Colonel Bisshopp, who had so distinguished himself on the Niagara 
 Frontier in the preceding autumn and spring, crossed over to Black 
 Rock, near Buffalo, at daybreak with two hundred and forty men, 
 consisting of a small party of militia and detachments of the Eighth 
 Forty-first and Forty-ninth Regi^nents. He effectually surprised the 
 enemy and burnt his block houses, stores, barracks, dock-yard and 
 
226 
 
 a vessel, but while occupied in securing the stores the enemy, with a 
 reinforcement of militia and Indians, under cover of the surrounding 
 woods, opened a sStart fire and compelled the British to hasten their 
 retreat, with the loss of thirteen killed and a number of wounded, 
 among the latter being Colonel Bisshopp himself, who died ahnost 
 immediately, to the deep regret of his companions in arms. He was 
 an officer of singular merit and but thirty years of age. A beautiful 
 monument in the graveyard at Drummondville, erected by his family 
 in England, marks his resting-place. 
 
 On the same day that the Americans took Fort George (27th. 
 May), Sir James Yeo having arrived in Kingston from England, with 
 some naval officers and seamen to the number of four hundred and 
 fifty, and Sir George Prevost being also at Kingston, it was deter- 
 mined by these two officers that an attack should be made on 
 Sackett's Harbour, on the American side, somewhat higher up the 
 Lake, the enemy's fleet being then at Niagara. Some seven hundred 
 men, including a company of the Glengarry Regiment, set out from 
 Kingston on board three frigates, four gunboats and some batteaux, 
 and at noon of the 28th they were off Sackett's Harbour. An un- 
 fortunate delay occurred, however, which was the precursor of other 
 miscarriages. This delay enabled the Americans to assemble their 
 militia from the surrounding, district, and thus, by the material addi- 
 tion of some five hundred men to their regular force (consisting of 
 dragoons, artillery and infantry, to the number of seven hundred and 
 eighty-seven) largely to outnumber the invading force. The landing 
 took place, after much difficulty, on the morning of the 29th, not 
 without strong opposition on the part of the enemy, imder General 
 Brown, while the fleet which was to have supported the advance of the 
 troops was, owing to adverse winds, a long way off. Colonel Baynes, 
 Colonel commanding the Glengarry Regiment and Adjutant-General 
 of the forces in British North America, who was in charge of the 
 attacking party, having at length secured a landing, ordered his men 
 to divide and scour the woods, where the enemy had taken refuge, 
 and kept up a sharp fire on the British. 
 
 They succeeded in dislodging fhe enemy at the point of the 
 bayonet,who thereupon fled to their fort and blockhouses, whither they 
 were pursued by the British, who set fire to the barracks. Colonel 
 Baynes considered, however, that it would be impossible to capture 
 the enemy's blockhouses and stockaded battery without the assist- 
 
227 
 
 ance of artillery, which had not been landed, and without the aid of 
 the fleet, which was still out of reach, while his men were exposed to 
 the fire of the enemy, secure within his works. Colonel Bockus, of 
 the American Army, had, however, in the meantime, been killed, 
 and part of his force had fled. Tne signal for retreat to the boats 
 was given to the British and the enterprise abandoned at the very 
 moment that victory was within their grasp, the enemy so far calcul- 
 ating upon a decisive victory for our forces as to have set fire to their 
 naval storehouses, hospital and marine barracks, by which all the 
 booty previously taken at York was consumed. It was a most ua- 
 fortuaate occurrence, and all the more so owing to the presence of 
 the leaders of the land and naval forces, and the attack having been 
 under the immediate direction of the Adjutant-General. The British 
 loss was one officer and forty-seven men killed and two hundred 
 wounded and missing ; that of the Americans about three hundred 
 killed and wounded. The Glengarry Regiment lost six rank and file 
 killed, Captain Mj;Pherson was severely and Ensign Matheson slightly 
 wounded ; one sergea^t and seventeen of their rank and file were 
 also wounded. Colonel Baynes, in his report to Sir George Prevost, 
 stated that Captain ilacpherson's company of the Glengarry Light 
 Infantry, the one present in this action, evinced most striking proof 
 of their loyalty, steadiness and courage. 
 
 This untoward event was a grievous blow to the military repu- 
 tation of Sir George Prevost, nor was it strengthened by what took 
 place on the Niagara Frontier in August following. 
 
 The two armies had there remained in sight of each other, 
 inactive, until the Commander of the Forces had arrived from King- 
 ston, when the speedy reduction of Fort George, where the Americans 
 were entrenched, was confidently expected. The Governor, to 
 ascertain, as it was pretended, the extent of the enemy's works and 
 the means he possessed of defending the position which he occupied, 
 determined upon making a demonstration on that fort on the 24th 
 of August, and the army was put in movement as if for an assault 
 upon it. The enemy's pickets were driven in, several of them being 
 taken, and the British advanced within a few hundred yards of the 
 enemy, who, although supported by a fire upon the British from their 
 batteries on the opposite shore, decUned leaving their entrenchments 
 to venture into the field. Sir George, however, did not deem it ad- 
 
228 
 
 visabte to risk a trial for the recovery of the Fort, which, as he deemed 
 it, was not of sufficient moment to compensate for the loss that must 
 have ensned had an attack been made. It is trilc the American 
 forces within the fort numbered four thousajid, while those in tha 
 neighbourhood of Fort George did not exceed two thousand on an 
 extended line, yet the Americans were totally dependent upon their 
 own resources for their subsistence, and were compelled to act solely 
 on the defensive from the hostile front assumed by the British in 
 their neighbourhood. 
 
 This fruitless " demonstration," coming, as it did, so soon after 
 the fiasco at Sackett's Harbour, dispelled whatever confidence in Sir 
 George Prevost as commander of the forces, the army and those in 
 the country best able to judge of his capacity as such previously en- 
 tertained, nor was he ever able to regain it. 
 
 " Shortly before this, however, the Glengarry Regiment had 
 another opportunity of distinguishing .itself On the 28th July the 
 American fleet under Commodore Chauncey, which was then lying 
 off the Niagara River, having on board a battery of artillery and a 
 considerable number of troops under Colonel Scott, U.S.A., pro- 
 ceeded to the head of the Lake, with a view of seizing and destroyi ^ 
 the stores at Burlington Heights, the principal depot of the army on 
 the Niagara frontier, then garrisoned by a small detachment under 
 Major Maule. The design of the enemy against the depot being 
 suspected, the Glengarry Regiment, under Battersby, was ordered by 
 Colonel Harvey from York, and by a march of extraordinary celerity 
 arrived in time to save tha place. The enemy, upon hearing of their 
 arrival, wisely determining to abandon the proposed attack. The 
 Glengarry Regiment unfortunately lost their baggage which they had 
 left in some boats in a creek in the neighbourhood of York. Col- 
 onel Battersby wrote to Major William Allan to send some of the 
 militia to secure it, but the letter did not reach its destination, as 
 the gallant officer to whom it was addressed had retired to the 
 woods when the Americans appeared off York.(i) Commodore 
 Chauncey, however, on ascertaining that York, by the advance of 
 the Glengarry Regiment to Bjrlington Heights, was left unprotected, 
 seized the opportunity and bore down upon that unfortunate place, 
 which he entered on the 31st July. The' Americans landed without 
 opposition, and having taken possession of a small quantity of stores, 
 
 ^i) Letter Hon. W. D. Powell to Sii George Prevost, August i, 1813. 
 
229 
 
 set fire to the barracks and public storehouses, and having re-em- 
 barked their troops, and carrying with them some sick and wounded 
 American prisoners found in York and a quantity of provisions from 
 the shop of Mr. William Allan, bore away for Niagara. 
 
 Some naval engagements took place about this time on Lake 
 Ontario between the rival naval commanders, Yeo and Chaunceyj 
 each striving for the command of the Lake. The British captured 
 two small vessels (the " Julia " and " Growler ") off Niagara, and the 
 Americans lost two others, the " Scourge " and " Hamilton,'' in a 
 press of sail to escape the British ; all the officers and men, except 
 sixteen of the latter, being drowned. No general engagement, how- 
 ever, occurred. On the ist October the American fleet set sail from 
 Fort George with a convoy of troops for Sackett's Harbour, where 
 an expedition was preparing whose destination was as yet unknown, 
 and was, as we shall shortly see, fated ultimately :o be untoward. 
 In their way they fell in with and captured five small vessels out of 
 seven, with upwards of two hundred and fifty men of De Watteville's 
 Regiment, from York bound for Kingston, where an attack was ap- 
 prehended, a loss which, although small, was, owing to the scarcity 
 of troops in the Upper Province, severely felt. 
 
 It was during this autumn that the Americans made the most 
 strenuous, and in one quarter, most successful efforts of the War, 
 Three separate armies menaced Canada in as many directions. In 
 the East, during the month of September, the forces which had been 
 concentrated at Burlington, in the State of Vermont, under General 
 Hampton, moved across Lake Champlain to Plattsburg, with a view 
 of penetrating into the District of Montreal ; the army under 
 Hampton's command, consisting of seven thousand infantry and two 
 hundred cavalry, and being well supplied with artillery. 
 
 General Wilkinson at Sackett's Harbour, on Lake Ontario, a 
 short distance above Kingston, on the opposite side of Lake Ontario, 
 was preparing, under the immediate direction of General Armstrong, 
 the American Secretary at War, a large flotilla of batteaux and Dur- 
 ham boats for an expedition of ten thousand men, destined against 
 Kingston or Montreal, though fated to reach neither place. 
 
 General Harrison, with an army shortly reinforced until it 
 numbered eight thousand men, was camped on the Miami River, in 
 Michigan, only awaiting the equipment of the American fleet fitting 
 out at Presq' Isle, some distance below on Lake Erie, to move his 
 
230 
 
 forces against Detroit, which still continued in possession of the British 
 (since its capture by Brock at the beginning of the War), and carry 
 on offensive operations in the neighbourhood of Lake Erie. For- 
 tunately only the latter was successful, and in the West the most 
 disastrous engagements of the War, both on water and land, with 
 the exception possibly of Plattsburg, took place, though the valour 
 of the British naval forces retrieved to some extent the serious loss 
 sustained. 
 
 The British fleet on Lake Erie was commanded by Captain 
 Robert Barclay, who had seen service under Nelson, and lost an 
 arm at Trafalgar, his flagship being the " Detroit "j his squadron 
 consisting in all of six vessels and sixty-three guns, while Commodore 
 Perry was in command of the enemy's fleet, his flagship, the " Lau- 
 rence," and his squadron comprising nine vessels, with fifty-two 
 guns, the weight in metal being, however, in favour of the Americans, 
 in the proportion of over two to one in pounds. 
 
 During the month of July the British had maintained an effective 
 blockade on the American fleet in Presq' Isle Harbour, where a 
 sandbar prevented the larger American vessels moving out without 
 unshipping their guns, but towards the end of August, Barclay having 
 occasion to proceed to Long Point, on the Canadian side, for pro- 
 visions, the Americans took advantage of his absence and crossed 
 the bar. The British fleet then sailed for Amherstburg, followed 
 shortly by Commodore Perry, for the head of the Lake. The British 
 forces in the Michigan Territory, under the command of General 
 Proctor, falling short of supplies, for which they depended solely 
 upon the fleet, Captain Barclay had no alternative but a general 
 engagement, which accordingly took place on the loth September, 
 near Put-in-Bay, though the British fleet had but fifty experienced 
 sailors between its six vessels, the rest of the crews being made up of 
 two hundred and forty soldiers and eighty volunteer Canadian seamen, 
 while Perry's ships were fully manned with six hundred skilled sea- 
 men. The battle began about half after twelve, and continued with 
 great fury until half past two,the advantage being then on the side of the 
 British, Commodore Perry being obliged to abandon his flagship and 
 take to another vessel, the " Laurence" shortly afterwards striking 
 her colours, but the British, from the weakness of their crews, were 
 unable to take possession of her. A sudden and strong breeze 
 
231 
 
 enabled the Americans to retrieve the fortunes of the day, Barclay's 
 vessels, owing to lack of seamen, becoming unmanageable. 
 
 Captain Barclay himself was dangerously wounded, his thigh 
 being shattered and his only arm disabled ; Captain Finnis, of the 
 * Queen Charlotte," killed, and every British commander and officer 
 second in command either killed or wounded, forty-one of the British 
 officers and seamen and soldiers were killed and ninety-four wounded. 
 Little wonder the flag was struck ! The American loss was twenty- 
 Seven killed and ninety-six wounded, though the battle lasted but 
 little over three hours. 
 
 Mrs. Edgar, in her interesting book, " Ten Years of Upper 
 Canada," states that when some months afterwards the gallant Bar- 
 clay (who had been placed on parole and then exchanged), was 
 brought belore a court of enquiry to answer for the loss of his fleet, 
 his judges were moved to tears as they looked at the mutilated form 
 of the hero who had fought so well. She mentions that he was a 
 Scotchman, and had attended school at Kettle, at which Bishop 
 Strachan, who afterwards taught at Cornwall, was the master. 
 
 Disastrous as was the engagement itself, in that the whole British 
 squadron on Lake Erie was captured by the enemy, who now became 
 masters of the Lake, it was even more so by reason of the fact that 
 the British army in possession of the Michigan Territory, and in the 
 neighbourhood of Detroit, was thtis deprived of every prospect of 
 obtaining future supplies, and a speedy evacuation of Detroit and a 
 retreat towards the head of Lake Ontario became inevitable. Fort 
 Detroit, therefore, was immediately evacuated ; Proctor, on leaving, 
 destroying the magazines, barracks and public stores. Had the 
 retreat been properly managed matters would not have been so bad. 
 
 Commodore Perry, as soon after the engagement of the icth as 
 circumstances permitted, transported the American forces under 
 command of Harrison to Put-in-Bay, from whence they were con- 
 veyed to the neighbourhood of Amherstburgh (or Maiden, as it was 
 then called), which also had been abandoned by the British, which 
 they occupied on the evening of the 23rd September. 
 
 Proctor's troops were altogether too inadequate in numbers and 
 destitute in resources to make a stand against the overwhelming 
 forces of the enemy and a retreat along the River Thames was de- 
 termined upon, the Indians, under Colonel Elliott, of the Lidian 
 Department, with their great Chief Tecumseh, still adhering to his 
 
232 
 
 Standard in his reverses with unshaken fidelity, and covering his 
 retreat. He was closely followed by General Harrison, whose force 
 Was escorted by a number of batteaux under the immediate direction 
 of Commodore Perry, by which they were enabled to overtake, on 
 the 4th October, the rear guard of the British, and succeeded in 
 capturing the whole of their ammunition and stores. It was under 
 these adverse circumstances that Proctor was compelled to stake the 
 fate of his small army in a general engagement. He accordingly 
 assumed a position on the right bank of the River Thames, at the 
 Indian Village of Moraviantown, where he awaited the approach of 
 the enemy, who had crossed the river in the morning, and came up 
 in the afternoon of the 5th October. The battle was of short dura- 
 tion. Harrison had among his forces a large number of Kentucky 
 cavalry, accustomed to ride with extraordinary dexterity through the 
 most intricate woods. These he ordered to charge full speed upon 
 the British. By this charge of the enemy our soldiers, worn out with 
 fatigue and hunger, and dispirited by the unpromising appearance 
 of the campaign, became totally routed, and for the most part sur 
 rendered prisoners to the enemy, while General Proctor and his 
 personal staff sought safety in flight. The Indians behaved with a 
 gallantry worthy of the chief who led them, and for a considerable 
 time carried on the contest with the left of the American line with 
 great determination, but finding all hope of retrieving the day to be 
 futile, at length yielded to the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, 
 and reluctantly left the field, but not until the great Tecumseh had 
 fallen. 
 
 Mr. James states (i) that Tecumseh, although he had received 
 a musket ball in the left arrn, was still seeking the hottest of the fire, 
 when he encountered Colonel Johnson, Member of Congress for 
 Kentucky. Just as the chief, having discharged his rifle. Was rush- 
 ing forward with his tomahawk, he received a ball in the head from 
 the colonel's pistol. Thus fell the great Indian warrior in the forty- 
 fourth year of his age. What Brant had been to the British in the 
 Revolutionary War, Tecumseh was in the War of 18 12, and the 
 memory and services of these two great men would, were other 
 motives wanting, of themselves constitute a reason why the Indian 
 tribes of British America should be treated with justice, consideration 
 and respect by those who are charged with the administration of 
 
 (i) Military Occurrences i, p. 287. 
 
233 
 affairs. He was a great leader of his people, of strong intellect and 
 lofty spirit, sufficiently austere in manner to control the wayward 
 passions of those who followed him in war. He had a flow of 
 oratory that enabled him, as he governed in the field, so to guide in 
 council. Though he frequently levied subsidies to a large amount, 
 yet he preserved little or nothing to himself — not wealth but glory 
 being his ruling passion After the capture of Detroit, in which his 
 knowledge of the surrounding country, as well as the awe inspired 
 by his followers, had been of inestiraa ble value, General Brock, as 
 soon as the business was over, publicly took off his sash and placed 
 placed it around the body of the chief Tecumseh received the 
 honour with evident gratification, but was the next day seen without 
 the sash. General Brock, fearing something had displeased the 
 Indian, sent his interpreter for an explanation. The latter soon 
 returned with an account that Tecumseh, not wishing to wear such 
 a mark of distinction when an older, and, as he said, abler warrior 
 than himself was present, had transferred the sash to the Wyandot 
 Chief Roundhead, which act of disinterestedness proved him to have 
 had the highest and best instincts of a gentleman. The Prince 
 Regent, out of respect to hie memory, sent .out a valuable sword as 
 a present to his son, a lad seventeen years of age, who fought by his 
 father's side when he fell. That he was scalped by the Americans 
 is beyond doubt, and Mr. James proves conclusively that the Ken- 
 tucky soldiery, not content with his scalp, which would be the 
 property of but one, absplutely flayed his body in order to procure 
 " trophies " which all might share, quoting from Burdick's Pol. and 
 Hist. Reg., p. 84, which American authority admits that " some o 
 the Kentuckians disgraced themselves by committing indignities on 
 his dead body. He was scalped and otherwise disfigured." He 
 held the rank of Brigadier-General in the British Army. 
 
 The British loss at Moraviantown was twelve killed, twenty- 
 two wounded, while thirty-three of our Indians were found dead on 
 the field. Upwards of six hundred of the army, including twenty- 
 five officers, were made prisoners of war. The American loss was 
 but seven killed and twenty-two wounded. Such of the British as 
 escaped made the best of their way to Ancaster, at the head of Lake 
 Ontario, exposed, at an inclement season, to all the horrors of the 
 then wilderness. On the seventeenth of October they arrived at 
 that place to the number of two hundred and forty-six, including 
 General Proctor and seventeen officers. 
 
234 
 
 General Proctor was tried by court-martial at Montreal in 
 December, 1814, on five charges preferred against him for misconduct 
 on this occasion. He was found guilty of portions of the charges 
 and sentenced to be publicly reprimanded and to be suspended from 
 rank and pay for six months, but though it was found that he did 
 not take proper measures for conducting the retreat, and had been 
 guilty of errors of judgment and deficient in those energetic and 
 active exertions which the situation of his army so particularly 
 required, the Court nevertheless most fully acquitted him of any 
 defect or reproach in regard to his personal conduct during the 
 action of the 5th October. The Prince Regent, in confirming the 
 finding of the Court, animadverted upon its " mistaken lenity " 
 towards the accused, and directed tne general officer commanding 
 in Canada to convey to General Proctor His Royal Highness' high 
 disapprobation of his conduct, and directed that the charges pre- 
 ferred against him, together with the finding and sentence of the 
 Court, and the Prince Regent's remarks thereupon, should be entered 
 in general orders and read at the head of every regiment in His 
 Majesty's service. His previous services in this war, when he 
 defeated the enemy at Brownstown, which contributed much to the 
 fall of Detroit and the capitulation of Hull and the American army, 
 and his brilliant victory over a superior force under Winchester on 
 the River Raisin, in Michigan, were however, remembered to his 
 advantage, and the Canadian people viewed the defeat at Moravian- 
 town with generous indulgence. He commanded again during the 
 War, was afterwards promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General, 
 surviving until 1859, when he died at his seat in Wales. 
 
 Shortly after this untoward event General Vincent, who con- 
 tinued the investment of Fort George, deemed it expedient to raise 
 the siege of that place and fall back upon Burlington Heights, lest 
 General Harrison, by a bold and rapid march, or by a sudden 
 descent in the fleet from Amherstburg, should pre-occupy that im- 
 portant position, which would have the effect of placing him, Vincent, 
 between the two hostile armies. This he succeeded in doing, though 
 not without great difficulty, being closely pressed for several days 
 by a brigade of one thousand five hundred men under Generals Mc- 
 Clure and Porter from Fort George. 
 
 Fortunately, though General Harrison had carried all before 
 him in the extreme west of the Province, neither Wilkinson's force, 
 which had assembled at Sackett's Harbour, nor Hampton's, which 
 it was intended should invest Montreal, were equally successfu 
 
235 
 
 CHAPTER 19. 
 
 General Wilkinson Assembles Ten Thousand American 
 Troops at Sackett's Harbour. — Kingston Threatened. 
 — Defenceless State of Montreal. — He Determines to 
 Attack that Place with General Hampton. — Colonel 
 George Macdonell Asked When His Light Battalion 
 Would be Ready to Embark to its Defence. — " As Soon 
 AS my Men Have Finished their Dinner." — His Extra- 
 ordinary Descent of the St. Lawrence in Batteaux. — 
 " Here, Sir; Not One Man Absent." — Battle of Chateau- 
 GUAY. — Gold Medals. — Defeat of the Americans at 
 Chrystler's Farm. — -Gold Medals for that .Action. — 
 Presentation of Colours to Lower Canadian Militia 
 FY THE Prince Regent. — Hampton Declines Juncture 
 with Wilkinson. — -Attack on Moiitreal Abandoned. — 
 Unfair Treatment of Colonel Macdonell. 
 
 Though the enemy, under General Harrison, had thus been 
 successful in the West, yet his success was barren of any considerable 
 results, and discovering at last his erroneous strategy, he wisely 
 determined upon again turning his attention to the St. Lawrence. 
 His General, Wilkinson, forthwith commenced assembling a dis- 
 posable force of ten thousand regular troops at Sackett's Harbour, 
 with a view of seizing upon our naval depot at Kingston, only four 
 hours' sail from him ; and the Governor-General, in consequence, 
 immediately repaired in person to that post, concentrating there all 
 the force he could possibly muster, though this compelled him to 
 strip Lower Canada of nearly all his regular troops, and thereby left 
 that Province exposed to the most imminent danger of a surprise. 
 But in his destitute state he had no alternative. 
 
 Indeed, so weak, after all, was the garrison of Kingston, that 
 he was obliged to bring thither, from Montreal, the eight flank com- 
 panies of the four recently embodied regiments of the French or 
 
236 
 
 Lower Canada Militia, to be there organized by Lieutenant-Colonel 
 George Macdonell, into a Light Battalion for immediate service, 
 which, considering this officer had liot one single individual who 
 had ever worn uniform to assist him in the task, was by no means a 
 sinecure employment. 
 
 The enemy, however, getting information from MontreaLin 
 October (i) that there were " no fortifications in that city or in ad- 
 vance of it," and that it was only garrisoned " by two hundred sail- 
 ors and marines, with the militia, numbers unknown " — that is, as 
 we have seen, the four recently embodied battalions, less their flank 
 companies, Wilkinson abandoned the idea of Kingston and wisely 
 determined upon the immediate capture of Montreal itself by a com- 
 bined and rapid coup de main with his general, Hampton, who for 
 this purpose advanced from Four Corners across the frontier of 
 Lower Canada, about the 20th October, with seven thousand regular 
 infantry, t wo hundred cavalry and ten pieces" ot artiHeryvtirpene- 
 "trate to tfiaT" city bj^TKeCKateauguay River, knowing well that he 
 would meet with no opposing force on the-ivay except three hundred 
 French-Canadians, being half the Voltigeurs and the Light Company 
 of the Canadian Fencibles under Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, 
 whom he was then driving in before him. Wi lkinson , about the 
 same time, embarked in boats at Sackett's Harbour fourteen batta- 
 lions of infantry, three corps of artillery and fifty-eight guns, accom- 
 panied by two regiments of cavalry, (2) as if to attack Kingston, but, 
 in reality, suddenly to " slip down the S:. Lawrence, lock up the 
 enemy in his rear to starve or surrender;" and, when arrived at the 
 mouth of the Chateauguay, was " to act in concert with the division 
 of Major-General Hampton and take Montreal.(3) 
 
 About noon, of the 20th October, His Excellency received, at 
 Kingston, an express from Lower Canada that Hampton was cer- 
 tainly advancing upon Montreal. Alarmed at this imminent danger, 
 and not daring to take a regiment of the line from Kingston, then in 
 daily danger of the attack from Wilkinson, the Governor-General 
 had nothing to do for it but to send for Lieutenant-Colonel Mac- 
 donell, to ascertain if his Light Battalion — ^five months previously at 
 the plough — was fit to meet an enemy, single-handed ; and being 
 assured that it would move down to the beach to embark as soon as 
 
 (i) James i, 304. 
 
 (2) James 1, p. 301, 
 
 (3) James i, p. 25s. 
 
237 
 the men had finished their dinner, His Excellency mounted his 
 charger and started at once for the Chateauguay, ordering Colonel 
 Macdonell to follow with his corps, and giving him carte blanche to 
 deal with Hampton at his discretion. Twenty-four hours, however, 
 elapsed, before a sufficient number of boats could be procured, and 
 even then the requisite and usually indispensable pilots to navigate 
 the batteaux through the succession of dangerous rapids of the St. 
 Lawrence could not be obtained. As delay would prove fatal, 
 Colonel Macdonell determined upon trusting to his personal know- 
 ledge of the navigation of the river to dash at the risk which would 
 have proved fatal to almost any other commander, and which no 
 other officer would have dreamt of undertaking. Indeed, even he 
 was, owing to the inexperience of his officers, in imminent peril of 
 repeating in the dangerous cataract at the Coteau du Lac, the awful 
 catastrophe which befel four hundred men ot i^ord Amh£rst!s-a«»}v. 
 formerly drowned there, and had he not been aware of the tradition, 
 and known also how to regain the only safe channel in that rapid, 
 the consequences would have proved fatal to his whole corps. But 
 notwithstanding the perilous currents and difficulties of the St. Law- 
 rence, and the labour of rowing such a fleet of unwieldy batteaux, 
 for many hours in the dark, across thirty-five miles of the broad 
 Lake St. Francis, in the teeth of a very heavy gale of wind, which 
 provokingly compelled him at last to halt nearly a whole day at the 
 Cedars — the pilots there positively refusing to embark in such a 
 storm, and, eventually, forced him to cross to the Beauhamois 
 shore, and take his chance of penetrating at least twenty miles of 
 that forest in the dead of night in file, without any guide, and by a 
 doubtful wood track, this willing young battalion, cheerfully sur- 
 mounting all obstacles, found themselves on the bank of the Chat- 
 eauguay River before daylight of the 25th October- — some hours, 
 indeed, before the Governor-General, with twenty-four hours' start, 
 reached the spot by relays of horses, from Kingston, and notwith- 
 standing the day's delay at the Cedars. They had, in fact, traversed 
 no less than one hundred and seventy miles by water and nearly 
 forty more by land in about three days and a half, during twenty- 
 four hours of which they were inevitably compelled to halt, a rapid- 
 ity of movement unequalled in Canada and unprecedented in the 
 Peninsular or elsewhere. Indeed, Sir George Prevost, on seeing 
 Colonel Macdonell approach, single, to meet him on his arrival, 
 
238 
 concluded that he had by some means hurried down the St. Law- 
 rence without his corps, and began a severe reprimand, which, how- 
 ever, soon changed into compHmentary terms of astonishment when 
 that officer, with some degree of pride, pointed to his still exhausted 
 soldiers sleeping on the ground, said, " Here, sir, not one man 
 ABSENT." After five hours' repose, the Light Battalion moved on 
 cheerfully to the ground where they, still in their slop clothing, 
 next morning drove from the field nearly twelve times their number 
 of regular troops, and supported by both cavalry and artillery. 
 
 Hampton had on the zsth October advanced to within a mile 
 or two of the site of the action of the 26th at Chateauguay, which 
 lay in the midst of a primeval forest, and DeSalaberry, who had 
 stuck close to the enemy for several days previously, then occupied 
 a favourable spot in the wood, which he had hastily strengthened by 
 a slight abatis , and had gallantly determined to dispute the ground 
 even before the arrival of the Light Battalion. Macdonell coming 
 up from the rear, found a ford in the river about two miles below 
 DeSalaberry, and seeing the necessity of occupying that position, 
 sent forward an officer to report his arrival and intention. 
 
 Most fortunately the enemy had not a conception that Mac- 
 donell and his Light Battalion had ever quitted Kingston, and 
 therefore, calculating only on the opposition of DeSalaberry's 
 handful of men, had secretly passed three strong battalions to the 
 right bank of the river, with the view of recrossing at this ford in 
 DeSalaberry's rear, and thus making his whole force prisoners When 
 the American left wing should attack him in front. Accordingly, on 
 the morning of the 26th, Hampton, with the four thousan d men he 
 had on the left bank, dashed at DeSalaberry^s abatis through some 
 rounds of a sharp fire of the Voltigeurs, and, as might well be expected, 
 instantly crushed in the brave little defensive band, driving them 
 irresistibly before his overwhelming superiority, and strangely pass- 
 ing unob:erved in the confusion the gallant DeSalaberry himself, 
 who, when his men gave way, remained standing on the stump of a 
 tree he had occupied at the beginning of the action ! At the same 
 moment the three American battalions on the right bank of the 
 river, made a rapid and somewhat irregular push to gain the ford, 
 but before reaching it unexpectedly received a destructive volley a 
 bout portant from a company of the Light Battalion, hidden by 
 
239 
 Macdonell in the forest on that side, and actually then nearly envel- 
 oped by the more advanced portions of the enemy's columns. This 
 instantly threw the three battalions into disorder, for not seeing 
 their opponents, and blinded with the smoke, they in their confusion 
 opened a heavy and continued fire upon each other. The detached 
 company, having thus done its work, immediately crept back out 
 of the woods unseen, crossed the ford and rejoined its own corps, 
 leaving the enemy there fully occupied with their own embarassment. 
 Macdonell soon heard by the approaching cheers of Hampton's 
 forces that he was driving the Voltigeurs before him, and seeing 
 clearly that there was no immediate danger to be apprehended from 
 the brigade of the enemy in confusion on the right bank, advanced 
 rapidly to support DeSalaberry. By the happiest accident possible, 
 he was joined at this moment by one hundred and seventy Indians 
 from the rear. He instantly threw them into the wood to his right, 
 with instructions to scatter and scream their war whoop, and by an 
 incessant fire to threaten Hampton's left flank, sending with them a 
 dozen of his bugles to spread widely and keep sounding " the ad- 
 vance " in every direction ; and making his remaining" bugles fre- 
 quently repeat the call and his companies in succession to cheer 
 loudly (to appear to be distinct bodies), he pushed on in double 
 quick to rally the front line. He had scarcely met the retreating 
 Voltigeurs, who then turned upon the enemy, when Hampton, para- 
 lyzed at once by the screams and fire of the Indians, the constant 
 . clang of bugles and the cheering at different distances — and con- 
 vinced also by the heavy fire that his brigade on the right bank was 
 warmly opposed by a considerable force, declared that there was 
 certainly ten thousand British in the forest, and thinking he had 
 been drawn into some fatal ambuscade, he halted, broke and in- 
 stantly abandoned the field, as did also his right wing, in the course 
 of the day and following night, leaving some prisoners in the hands 
 of the Light Battalion, from whom were obtained the details of the 
 enemy's strength. And just as the last shots of the retiring enemy 
 were dying away. Sir George Prevost and his staff arrived, and re- 
 ceived the verbal report of Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who had 
 by that time returned to watch the ford ; and shortly after Major 
 General de Watteville also came up in consequence of a note written 
 to him in pencil by Colonel Macdonell at the commencement of the 
 action. 
 
240 
 
 It is incontesta'ble that the battle of Chateauguay — absolutely 
 kist for about half an hour — would have been no impediment what- 
 ever to the advance ol the enemy upon Montreal, and must have 
 ended in the irresistible capture of DeSalaberry and his little band 
 but for the ardent zeal which brought the Light Battalion so oppo> 
 tunely on the ground, and for the active manner in which it there 
 handled the enemy — an enemy of British descent, consisting of 
 seven thousand infantry and two hundred cavalry, with ten pieces of 
 artillery, to which were opposed just nine hundred men, all of whom 
 except Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell and Captain Ferguson, of the 
 Canadian Fencibles, were of French blood and but recently em- 
 bodied, the only three officers of the regular army being the two 
 gentlemen named and Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry. 
 
 Chateauguay being made a medal day, gold medals Were award- 
 ed to Lieutenant-Colonel George Macdonell, Glengarry Light In- 
 fantry ; Lieutenant-Colonel DeSalaberry, Canadian Voltigeurs. 
 Both these officers were also created Companions of the Bath fof 
 their services upon this occasion. " ~^ — ■ . 
 
 The despatch of Sir George Prevost to the Secretary of State, 
 dated just four days after the battle of Chateauguay(i), shows the 
 imminently critical state of Lower Canada at that moment. He 
 there states, " almost the whole of- the British troops being pushed 
 forward for the defence of Upper Canada, that of the Lower Pro- 
 vince must depend in great measure on the valour and continued 
 exertions of its incorporated battalions — only five in number — and its 
 sedentary militia until the Seventieth Regiment and the two battalions 
 of marines nbw daily expected, shall arrive : " " the sedentary militia " 
 being neither more nor less than the mere unarmed and unorganized 
 French-Canadian peasantry working at their ordinary avocations 
 on their farms ! Had Hampton won the battle of Chateauguay, 
 there cannot be a doubt that, quite independent of Wilkinson's 
 division, there would in the space of ten days after the action have 
 been at least sufficient American volunteers in the city of Montreal 
 to have rendered the probability of its recapture extremely problem- 
 atical. 
 
 DeSalaberry and his little corps, being much exhausted with 
 the fatigues of the last ten days, were reheved on the evening of the 
 action, and Macdonell took charge of the advance posts with his 
 
 (i) James i, 463. 
 
241 
 
 Light Battalion, and with these six hundred comparatively raw recruits 
 he held Hampton (who had returned to Four Corners on the 28th) 
 completely at bay until the nth November following. 
 
 Wilkinson's orders from his Government were " to precipitate 
 his descent of the St. Lawrence by every practicable means. "(i) He 
 had accordingly moved to Grenadier Island, in Lake Ontario, 
 between the 17th and 24th October, but hearing of Hampton's 
 defeat on the 26th, his flotilla advanced by slow steps to give that 
 General time to make a second attempt on the Chateauguay ; and 
 thus he only dropped down to French Creek on the 3rd November, 
 remaining there some days, which delay kept Kingston in suspense 
 as to his intentions, as it was assailable from that quarter. Finding, 
 however, on the 6th November, that Hampton could not be brought 
 to attempt another passage by the Chateauguay, Wilkinson that day 
 altered the original plan of the campaign, ordering the others to 
 march trom Four Corners, and to meet him, on the 9th or loth, at 
 the Indian village of St. Regis, on the St. Lawrence, opposite Corn- 
 wall, (2) and to effect this juncture he himself floated, down to the 
 head of the Long Sault on the 10th, where (to lighten his boats in 
 running the rapid) he landed most of his men and marched the 
 greater part down on the British side to within five miles of Corn- 
 wall. He had thus been compelled, by the loss of the action at 
 Chateauguay, to waste sixteen days in descending a distance that 
 Macdonell covered in thirty-one hours ! Of course Montreal gained 
 thereby a respite of about a fortnight. 
 
 Fortunately General de Rottenburg, at Kingston, had con- 
 vinced himself on the 7th of the month that Wilkinson's real object 
 was Montreal, and had accordingly, that day, despatched Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonels Morrison and Harvey to follow him with five hundred 
 and sixty men of the Forty-Ninth and Seventieth Regiments and 
 some field artillery, and these, being joined at Prescottby Lieutenant- 
 Colonels Pearson and Plenderleath, with two hundred and forty of 
 the troops at that post, this small regular force overtook at Chrystler's 
 Farm, on the nth November, the rear guard of the enemy, 
 amounting to between three thousand and four thousand men. (3) 
 They turned upon Morrison, but after a gallant action of about two 
 hours, he compelled them to retire. 
 
 (1) James i, 473. 
 (2 James i, 471. 
 (3I James 467. 
 
242 
 
 Chrystler's Fann was made a medal day : Tne following officers 
 received gold medals : — 
 
 Colonel Miller Clifford, C.B., K.H., Fifty-Eighth Foot, died iu 
 1837 (then Major Eighty-Ninth Regiment). 
 
 LieutenantGeneral Sir J. Harvey, K.C.B., K.C.H., Fifty-Ninth 
 Foot (then Lieutenant-Colonel and Deputy Adjutant-General). 
 
 Major-General F. Heriot, C.B., died in 1844 (then Major of the 
 Voltigeurs). 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Geo. Jackson, R.A., died in 1849 
 (then Captain R.A.). 
 
 - Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Plenderleath, C. B., Forty-Ninth 
 Foot (then Lieutenant-Colonel Forty-Ninth Regiment). 
 
 Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Pearson, C.B.,K.C.H., Eighty- 
 Fifth Foot, died in 1847 (then Lieutenant-Colonel commanding 
 detachment at Prescott). 
 
 Colonel J. W. Morrison, C.B., Forty-Fourth Foot, died in 1826 
 (commanding at Chrystler's Farm). 
 
 This was unquestionably a very brilliant affaire d'armes, but it 
 is quite a mistake to suppose it had any effect upon the ulterior 
 operations of the enemy, as Wilkinson's flotilla pursued its course 
 down the rapids next morning, and by mid-day re-united his whole 
 division nearly opposite St. Regis. Morrison followed by land and 
 reached Mille Roches on the 13th, but as the enemy were in boats 
 and a day ahead of him down the stream he could not possibly 
 impede their progress upon Montreal — which, indeed, they might 
 easily have reached on the following day, while Morrison would 
 have required nearly a week to march that distance by land. 
 
 It was only on the 10th or nth of the month that the Governor- 
 General received, at Lachine, intelligence for the first time of Wil- 
 kinson's intended combination with Hampton. His dismay can 
 easily be imagined at finding this new force of ten thousand men 
 within two days' run of Montreal, then almost defenceless, and 
 Hampton's co-operating division only held in check by the six 
 hundred men of the Light Battalion. His Excellency, having 
 no disposable regular sokliers to send to impede the progress 
 of either column, and knowing that there were no troops 
 between him and Wilkinson except three companies at Cornwall 
 and the 103rd Regiment at Coteau du Lac, a post that 
 could not be abandoned, his only resource was in " the 
 
243 
 
 zeal and alacrity evinced by the militia of the Scotch settlement," 
 who from their locality might cripple Wilkinson in some of the rapids, 
 and therefore " solicitous to forward their laudable exertions and the 
 good of His Majesty's service by placing them under the direction 
 of an officer who from talents, local information and influence is best 
 qualified to promote that object,"(i) he ordered a field officer to 
 proceed express to the Chateauguay frontier to relieve and send 
 into headquarters Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, who arrived at 
 Lachine on the afternoon of the 12th, and was forthwith despatched 
 to Upper Canada with carte blanche to do as he might think proper. 
 General Wilkinson states in his report to the American Secre- 
 tary at War of the i6th November, 18 13, that on reaching the fort 
 at the Long Sault on the 12th, he "confidently expected to hear of 
 Major-General Hampton's arrival on the opposite shore," but that 
 " to his unspeakable mortification and surprise he there learnt that 
 Hampton had not only" declined the junction ordered, but had 
 actually, on the nth November, quitted the Canadian frontier alto- 
 gether, and had marched back from Four Corners towards Lake 
 Champlain, evidently in order to avoid being forced into any further 
 co-operation in the proposed attack upon Montreal, and thus we see 
 why Wilkinson's immediately-assembled Council of War at once 
 decided that the contemplated attack upon Montreal should be 
 abandoned for the present season, because the loss of the division 
 under Hampton weakened the force too sensibly to justify the 
 attempt.(2) It is clear that had Hampton screwed up his courage 
 to wait for the arrival of Wilkinson on the 13th, at French Mills, the 
 two armies might that night have supped together half way between 
 those mills and Four Corners, or they might, the next morning, have 
 both united within fifteen miles of Macdonell's Light BattaUon, still 
 in its old position on the Chateauguay, and Wilkinson's boats could 
 have been either sent down the St. Lawrence to meet them at the 
 mouth of the Chateauguay, or they could have been drawn across 
 the short isthmus of four miles between this last stream and the 
 Salmon River, and Montreal would still have been as much at their 
 mercy as if Colonel Morrison had remained quietly in garrison at 
 Kingston; indeed, their defeat at Chrystler's Farm had but the 
 effect of accelerating their advance upon Montreal. It is apparent, 
 
 (i) Adjutant-General's letter to Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell, loth November, 1813. 
 (2) James i, 474. 
 
244 
 therefore, that the effect of Chateauguay was much more important 
 than that of Chrystler's Farm, and though both were made medal 
 days several brevets were conferred for the latter but none for 
 Chateauguay ; indeed, Colonel Macdonell was not even confirmed 
 in the local rank he held when he so opportunely arrived by his own 
 gratuitous activity to snatch the victory out of the half-closed grasp 
 of the enemy. Nay, more, neither the general order issued on the 
 occasion, nor the official despatch to the Secretary of State, ever 
 once mentioned the name of that officer as having been present in 
 the action, or gave the slightest hint that he was in any way con- 
 nected with it, or even that he had stirred one foot from Kingston 
 to hasten to save it. What made the remissness all the more extra- 
 ordinary and unjust was the fact that both these state papers spe- 
 cially named with praise some of the captains of his corps who acted ■ 
 under his eye and his express direction ; but as if to cheat him of 
 any, even the slightest part of the merit, not calling them officers of 
 the Light BattalioUj^ but designating- -them only by the little known 
 -rraHierical titles of the several different regiments "of the embodied 
 militia "^frem which they had been originally drafted to form his 
 Light Battalion — ^not one of those embodied militia regiments being 
 within twenty miles of the action ! This studied omission is attri- 
 butable to an influential official, who had profited too much by a 
 previous injustice to Colonel Macdonell ever to permit him to 
 acquire any distinction which would enable him to plead that wrong 
 with effect at the Horse Guards. 
 
 What made the transaction deplorably base was the fact that 
 the whole of the injustice Macdonell experienced throughout the 
 war, on this and other occasions, hinged notoriously on mean and 
 contemptible fanaticism — that he, a free-born Briton, chose to hold 
 by the religious faith of the royal heroes who won the fields of 
 Cressy and Agincourt. Surely his devotional opinions were his 
 own, and Government should have recognized with gratitude how 
 with his co-religionists of Scotch and French descent he turned 
 them to the service of the Crown, and won with the one Ogdens- 
 burg and the other Chateauguay — achievements which saved, in 
 the former instance, the free navigation of the St. Lawrence and the 
 connecting link between the Upper and Lower Province, and in the 
 other the certainty of the capture of Montreal. On the 26th March 
 following, His Excellency issued a general order, expressing the 
 
245 
 approbation of the Prince Regent of the affair at Chateauguay, and 
 " his peculiar pleasure in finding that His Majesty's Canadian sub- 
 jects had at length had the opportunity of refuting, by their own 
 brilliant exertion in defence of their country, the calumnious charge 
 of disaffection and disloyalty, with which the enemy had prefaced 
 his first invasion of the Province." To Lieutenant-Colonel De 
 Salaberry in particular, and to all the officers and men under his 
 command, the sense entertained by His Royal Highness of their 
 meritorious and distinguished services was made known. The 
 Commander of the Forces at the same time acquainted the militia 
 of the determination -of His Royal Highness to forward colours for 
 the various battalions of embodied militia, feeling that they had 
 evinced an ability and disposition to secure them from insult, which 
 gave the best title to such a mark of distinction. So flattering a 
 mark of the Prince Regent's approbation was eminently gracious, and 
 wise withal, and well calculated to raise the pride and enthusiasm 
 of the French-Canadians ; but it should be borne in mind that t'le 
 battalions themselves were many miles distant from the scene of 
 action, only their flank companies forming the Light Battalion, under 
 Macdonell, and it was due to him therefore that they won their 
 colours. The only recognition of his services which Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Macdonell obtained was the gold medal and C.B. given to 
 him. 
 
 General Hampton having declined the juncture with General 
 Wilkinson, to the surprise and mortification of the latter, nothing was 
 left to the American commander, on whom countless difficulties 
 momentarily crowded, but to re-cross to his own side and a 
 Council of War being held, it was determined " that the attack on 
 Montreal should be abandoned for the present season and that the 
 army near Cornwall should immediately be crossed to the American 
 shore for taking up winter quarters," which was accordingly done on 
 the following day, when they proceeded to Salmon River, where their 
 boats and batteaux were scuttled, and extensive barracks, surround- 
 ed on all sides by abatis, were at once erected. 
 
 Sir George Prevost, every appearance of immediate danger 
 having subsided, by general orders of 17th November dismissed the 
 sedentary militia in the neighbourhood on Montreal, with acknowledg- 
 ments of the cheerful alacrity with which they had turned out, and 
 the loyalty and zeal they had manifested. 
 
246 
 
 And thus terminated the great and imminent danger which had 
 threatened Montreal through the armies of General Wilkinson, the 
 Commander-in-Chief of the American army, and General Hampton. 
 It was the intention of the former to have landed on Isle Perrot, 
 when he had formed his juncture with Hampton, which is separated 
 from the Island of Montreal by a small channel over which he 
 intended to throw a bridge of boats and thence to fight his way into 
 the city. To Colonels DeSalaberry and George Macdonell, Morrison 
 and Harvey, is the credit chiefly due for the total defeat of the 
 enemy's plans. 
 
247 
 
 CHAPTER 20. 
 
 Evacuation of Fort GsaROE ey the Americans, Who, Before 
 Leaving, Destroy the Town of Newark (Niagara). — Tak- 
 ing OF American Fort Niagara by British, December 19T11, 
 1813, and of Lewiston, 20TH, and of Black Rock anij 
 Buffalo, December, 1813. — Retaliation. — Close of Secont> 
 Year of the War- 
 
 Matters being thus, m a comparatrvely satisfactory positioH fa 
 Lower Canada, it became essential to take immediate and effective 
 steps as regards the Upper Province. Towards this end Major- 
 General De Rottenburg was relieved of the command in the Province, 
 and Lieutenant-General Gordon DrumnKsnd appointed in his stead. 
 That active, brave and resolute officer, of Scotch descent, though 
 bom in Canada, immediately proceeded to show the stuff of which 
 he was made, and entered upon a most vigorous and successful 
 campaign. 
 
 His first objective point Was Fort George, but General McClure, 
 hearing of the disasters which had befallen Wilkinson and Hampton 
 on the St. Lawrence, relieved him of further anxiety in regard to that 
 post by evacuating it and moving his force to Fort Niagara,on their own 
 side of the river, on the 12th December. Before leaving Canadian 
 soil, however, he was guilty of an offence against the rules of civihzed 
 Warfare, and acting under the immediate instructions of the Ameri-. 
 can Secretary at War, he set fire, on the tenth December, to the 
 Village of Newark, as Niagara was then called, whereby over a 
 hundred and fifty houses were laid in ashes, and four hundred and 
 fifty women and children were exposed to the inclemency of a Can- 
 adian winter at half an hour's notice to the defenceless inhabitants. 
 On the same day McClure reported exultingly from Fort Niagara 
 to the Secretary of War : " The village is now in flames and the 
 enemy shut out of hope and means of winrering in Fort George." 
 
 Now, when Detroit had been taken by the British, and Michil- 
 imackinack and Ogdensburg, Forts Schlosser and Black Rock, all 
 
24S 
 
 private property had been respected, and only public property 
 destroyed, in conformity to the views and disposition of the British 
 Commanders and the liberal and magnanimous policy of the British 
 Government. It was reasonable, therefore, to suppose that the invad- 
 ers of Canadian territory would have abstained from acts of wanton- 
 ness and unnecessary violence and not have brought disgrace upon 
 a nation calling itself civilized and Christian, the more especially aS 
 General McClure had, by a recent proclamation in which he affected to 
 Consider Upper Canada as abandoned by the British Army, proffered 
 his protection to those " innocent, unfortunate, distressed inhabitants,'' 
 whom he thus made the mournful spectators of the conflagration and 
 total destruction of all that belonged to them. Retribution quickly 
 followed. 
 
 " The British Commander would have ill Coftsulted the honour 
 of his country and the justice due to His Majesty's injured and 
 insulted subjects, had he permitted an act of such needless cruelty to 
 pass unpunished, or had he failed to visit, whenever the opportunity 
 arrived, upon the inhabitants of the neighbouring American frontier, 
 the calamities thus inflicted upon those of our own."(i) 
 
 " Let us retaliate by fire and sword," we are told tiat Colonel 
 Murray said to General Drummond, as they gazed on the sinking 
 ruins of the town. 
 
 " Do so, swiftly and thoroughly," said the Commxnder ; and 
 bitter indeed was the vengeance taken. (2) 
 
 Fortunately, in his haste to take refuge at Niagara, McClure, 
 had neglected to destroy Fort George, and Colonel Murray, who was 
 in command of a small corps of observation Which lay at Twelve- 
 Mile Creek, and to whom the flames of the burning village became 
 a signal, putting his men in sleighs, hurried forward through a blind- 
 ing snowstorm, and marched in on the night of the day McClure 
 evacuated the fort. Once more the British flag waved oVer its walls 
 and the left bank of the Niagara was in possession of the British 
 forces. It was immediately decided to take Fort Niagara, and on 
 the night of the 18th December, a sufficient number of batteaux 
 having been conveyed overland from Burlington, "it was done 
 accordingly.'' 
 
 (i) Sir George Prevost's Proclamation, 12th January, 1814. 
 (2] Mrs. Edgar, 260. 
 
249 
 
 'Pie manner in which Colonel John Murray performed the task 
 is thus described in general orders, dated Quebec 29tn, 1813 : 
 
 " The Fort of Niagara was most gallantly carried by assault at 
 the point of the bayonet at daybreak, on the morning of the igtb 
 instant, by a detachment consisting of the Grenadiers of the Royals, 
 of the flank companies of the Forty- First, the Hundredth Regiment, 
 and a small party of the Royal Artillery, under the command of 
 Colonel Murray. The enemy suffered severely in killed and wounded. 
 Captain Leonard, the commandant, several ofRcers and the greater 
 part of the garrison were made prisoners. This gallant enterprise 
 was achieved with the loss on our part of very few of our brave men ; 
 but His Excellency has to regret the fall of Lieutenant Nola,n, of 
 the Hundredth Regiment, and that Colonel Murray has been 
 wounded. All the ordnance mounted in the fort, together with 
 three thousand stand of arms, clothing and military stores of all 
 descriptions, to a considerable amount, have fallen into our hands. 
 His Excellency is in hourly expectation of receiving the official de- 
 tails of this brilliant affair, which reflects the highest honour upon 
 Colonel Murray and the small detachment under his command." 
 
 The Provincial Corps acted as boatsmen on the occasion. Two 
 of the enemy's picquets were cut off and the sentinels on the glacis 
 and at the gate surprised, from whom the watchword was obtained, 
 which greatly facilitated the enterprise. One British officer and five 
 men were killed, two officers and three men wounded. Of the enemy 
 sixty-five men and two officers were killed and twelve men wounded 
 (i), and over three hundred soldiers of the regular army of the 
 United States taken prisoners. General McClure had left for Buffalo 
 a few days previous and thus escaped. 
 
 Major-General Riall, who had crossed over immediately after 
 Colonel Murray with a large force of' Indians, the First Battalion 
 Royal Scots and the Forty- First Regiment, in order to support the 
 attack, proceeded up the river upon Lewiston, where the enemy had 
 established a fort and erected batteries for the avowed purpose of 
 destroying the village of Queenston, immediately opposite on oiir 
 side, and which they had been bombarding with red-hot shot. 
 These, however, they abandoned, together with a considerable quan- 
 tity of arms and stores, and then began the work of vengeance, and 
 
 (t) The disparity between the number of killed and wounded is probably to be accounted 
 for by the enemy's proceedings of the loth December. A free use of the bayonet was to have 
 been expected. 
 
250 
 
 Lewlston, Youngstown, Tuscorora "Village, Manchester, Schlosser 
 and the circumjacent country were laid in waste by our Indians and 
 exasperated soldiers who had witnessed the scene of devastation at 
 Newark. But the end was not yet ; the opportunity was at hand 
 and a full measure of retaliation was essential ; justice demanded 
 that the whole of their frontier should be laid in ashes. 
 
 General Drummond accordingly moved his forces up to Chip- 
 pewa on the 28th December, and on the following day approached 
 to within two miles of Fort Erie, and having reconnoitred the enemy's 
 position at Black Rock, determined upon an attack. General Riall 
 was accordingly directed to cross the river at midnight on the 29th 
 with about a thousand men, composed of four companies of the 
 King's Regiment, the light company of the Eighty-Ninth, under 
 Colonel Ogilvy, two hundred and fifty men of the Forty-First, the 
 Grenadiers of the Hundredth, and some militia and a body of Indians. 
 He succeeded in surprising and capturing the greater part of the 
 enemy's picquets. At daybreak he attacked the enemy, who were 
 in great force and strongly posted, and maintained their position 
 for some time, but a reserve under Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon hav- 
 ing arrived, they were compelled to give way, and were driven 
 through their batteries at the point of the bayonet. The Americans 
 fled to Buffalo, about two miles distant, where they received a rein- 
 forcement and rallied, attempting to oppose the advance of the 
 British by the fire of a field piece, but they shortly broke and took 
 to the woods. Their forces greatly exceeded those of the British, 
 numbering not less than twenty-five hundred. They lost in killed 
 and wounded from three to four hundred men and one hundred and 
 thirty were made prisoners. The British loss was thirty-one killed, 
 four officers and ! ixty-eight men wounded and nine missing. Cap- 
 tain Robinson, with two companies of the King's, was immediately 
 despatched to destroy four of their lake squadron, a short distance 
 below the town. Buffalo and Black Rock then followed the fate of 
 Lewiston and their other frontier towns, only four buildings being 
 left standing in the former and one in the latter to mark where once 
 their sites had been, and all their public stores, with such of their 
 contents of clothing, spirits and flour as could not be carried away, 
 entirely consumed. 
 
 These successes put the British force in possession of an ample 
 and sorely-needed supply of provisions, ammunition and stores of all 
 
kinds. Hitherto they had had no winter clothing, and even yet were 
 without any regularly organized commissariat. 
 
 The resources of the enemy being thus completely exhausted, 
 there being no more towns left to take, nor anything to destroy. 
 General Drummond went into quarters for the winter. Hampton's 
 army had been beaten, Wilkinson's had, after being badly defeated 
 at Chrystler's Farm, recrossed to his own side without taking either 
 Kingston and Montreal, and the Upper Province was rid of all 
 appearance of the enemy, who had at one time threatened to over- 
 whelm it Thus closed the second year of the war. 
 
25» 
 
 CHAPTER 21. 
 
 Opening of Parliament February, 1814. — Campaign of that 
 Year. — Americans Defeated at Lacolle. — Raid near 
 Cornwall. — Oswego Taken by British May 6th. — Gen- 
 eral ^RowN Succeeds to Command of Northern Division 
 U.S. Army. — Drummond's Dire Distress. — Abandonment 
 OP Upper Canada Contemplated Owing to Lack of Sup" 
 plies. — Desperate Fighting on Niagara Frontier. — Fort 
 Erie Surrendered 3RD July. — Americans Victorious at 
 Chippewa July sth. — The Battle of Niagara or Lundy's 
 Lane, the Most Sanguinary of the War, 2 sth July. 
 
 When the House of Assembly met at York on the isth Feb- 
 ruary, 18 14, General Drummond, as President administering the 
 Government of the Province, was able, as had been his predecessor 
 Sir R. Sheaflfe at the commencement of the former session, to con- 
 gratulate the members and the country upon the results of the pre- 
 vious year's campaign, proving as it did what could be accomplished 
 in a good cause by men who had nothing in view but their own 
 honour and the country's safety. He alluded, more as a matter of 
 regret than surprise, to the fact that two members of the Legislature, 
 Benjamin Mallory and Joseph Willcocks — the same two traitors who 
 in the inception of the war had so seriously hampered General 
 Brock when prompt action was so imperative, and had purposely 
 wasted the time of the Legislature by futile discussion on school 
 matters when the exigencies of the situation called for martial law 
 and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act^had found their 
 proper place in the ranks of the enemy. Wilcocks' treachery had 
 been rewarded by his being placed in command of what they were^ 
 pleased to term a Canadian regiment in the United States army. 
 He shortly met his fate — far too good for him — being killed when 
 planting a guard at the siege of Fort Erie. 
 
 A small reinforcement, consisting of the second battalion of the 
 Sth (King's) Regiment came overland on sleighs through New 
 
«S3 
 Brunswick in February, and two hundred and fifty seamen for the 
 lakes by the same route. 
 
 The campaign of T814 opened in the neighbourhood of Lake 
 Champlain, Brigadier-General Macomb with a division of the Ame- 
 rican forces crossing the lake on ice to St. Armands, while General 
 Wilkinson prepared for an attack on Odelltown, where he was soon 
 joined by Macomb, their joint force numbering some five thousand 
 men. The Americans made an attempt to take a blockhouse in the 
 vicinity of LacoUe, scarcely deserving the appellation of a military 
 post, but were driven off by a small British force composed of the 
 flank companies of the Thirteenth Regiment, the Grenadiers of the 
 Canadian Fencibles and some of the Voltigeurs, and retired in good 
 order upon Plattsburg. Major Hancock, who commanded the Brit- 
 ish forces, which consisted of one hundred and sixty men in the 
 blockhouse, with reinforcements which arrived during the action to 
 the number of two hundred, had reason to be proud of his achieve- 
 ment in repelling an army move than seven times his number. His 
 loss was ten killed and four missing, two officers and forty-four men 
 -wounded; that of the Americans, thirteen killed, a hundred and 
 twenty-three wounded and thirty missing. The action took place 
 on 30th March. General Wilkinson cannot have been regarded by 
 his countrymen as a successful commander, or a marked improve- 
 ment upon Hull, Sraythe, Van Ransaller, Dearborn or Hampton. 
 As was to be expected, his services were not again called into 
 requisition. 
 
 In Upper Canada during the winter matters had been quiet, the 
 only incident of note being a raid from Cornwall organized by Cap- 
 tain Sherwood, of the Quai;termaster-General's Department, who, 
 with twenty marines and ten militia men under Captain Kerr (I 
 presume of the Glengarry Regiment) on the night of the 6th February 
 made an incursion upon Madrid on the Grass River, fourteen miles 
 below the village of Hamilton, and recaptured a quantity of mer- 
 chandize plundered from British merchants near Cornwall in Octo- 
 ber preceding when on their route to Upper Canada. 
 
 An unsuccessful attack was made by the British on the 4th 
 M arch on Longwood in the extreme west of the Province. A small 
 detacnment consisting of the flank companies of the Royal Scots 
 and the light companies of the Eighty-Ninth, with a few of the Kent_ 
 
254 
 Wilitia and some Indians, under the command of Captain Barsdeft, 
 of the Eighty-Ninth, attempted to dislodge a strong party of the 
 enemy, who were strongly entrenched, by a gallant charge up an 
 ice-covered hill, but after a spirited contest of an hour and a half 
 Ihe troops were withdrawn, the enemy, however, shortly abandoning 
 the position. Two British officers and twelve men were killed, and 
 three officers and forty-nine men wounded ; the enettiy's loss beilng 
 unknown. 
 
 It was not, however, until the opening of navigation that the 
 campaign can be said to have begun in earnest. The taking of 
 Oswego by the British was the first noteworthy event. 
 
 The American forces in the neighbourhood of Lake Champlain 
 were withdrawn and moved towards Lake Ontario early in the 
 spring, shortly after the fiasco at LacoUe, the object being to 
 strengthen the army, which was to recommence offensive operations 
 in the Niagara District as soon as the fleet at Sackett's Harbour 
 should be in a state to co-operate with the land forces. General 
 Drummond and Sir James Yeo determined upon intercepting the 
 enemy's naval stores for the fleet at Oswego, and with this object in 
 view an expedition against that place was determined upon. A 
 force consisting of the light companies of the Glengarry Regiment, 
 six companies of De\\^itteville's Regiment, the second battalion 
 Royal Marines, with a detachment of artillery and two field pieces, 
 a detachment of a rocket company with a few sappers and miners, 
 set sail in the fleet, which had been strengthened by two additional 
 ships, the " Prince Regent " and " Princess Charlotte," on the 4th 
 May, arriving at Oswego on the following day, but were unable to 
 land owing to a stiff gale which sprung up. On the 6th, however, a 
 landing was effected by about a hundred and forty of the troops and 
 two hundred seamen armed with pikes, in the face of a heavy fire of 
 round and grape shot from the ■ battery and of musketry from a de- 
 tachment of three hundred of the Americans posted on a hill and in 
 a neighbouring wood. Nevertheless our men pushed j3n with true 
 British pluck, pressed up the hill and captured the battery, from 
 which the enemy retreated, leaving sixty of their Wounded behiid. 
 The fortifications were dismantled, the barracks burnt and the stores 
 found in the fort carried off, but the naval stores which it was hoped 
 would have been secured had been moved some miles up the Ri^"er 
 Oswego, and were thus saved to the enemy. The liritish loss was 
 
255 
 severe, Captain Holtaway, of the Marines, and twenty-one men 
 killed, six ofRcers and sixty-seven men wounded. In his despatch 
 General Drummond specially mentioned for gallant conduct Captain 
 McMillan, who commanded the light company of the ubiquitous 
 Glengarries, who covered the left flank of the troops in the advance. 
 The fleet returned to Kingston on the following day. 
 
 On the Niagara frontier the command of the American troopi 
 had passed to Major-General Brown, formerly an officer in the New 
 York miUtia, who had gained some distinction among his country- 
 men by his good fortune in defending Sackett's Harbour in the 
 previous year, and on General Wilkinson's retirement he became 
 commander of the northern division of the United States army. He 
 had some excellent officers under him, notably Brigadier-Generals 
 Winfield Scott and Ripley — the former of whom was one of the 
 most talented and best trained officers in the army. Both sides now 
 required t'leir ablest generals, for the skill and judgment of the 
 commanders as well as the pluck and endurance of their armies 
 were shortly to be put to the severest test. The Americans had this 
 great advantage over their opponents, namely, that their troops were 
 not worn out with fatigue as were those of the British, which from 
 the scarcity of their number in comparison with the extent of the 
 country they had to cover and protect, and the number of posts 
 they had to garrison, were so reduced from exposure and fatigue, 
 and consequent ill-health, as to be largely unfit for duty. Stores, 
 too, of all kinds had to be brought up from Montreal at enormous 
 trouble and expense, and provisions were difficult to obtain owing to 
 the ravages of the enemy, and so many of the farmers, then com- 
 paratively few at the best of times, having been in the two previous 
 seasons engaged in co-operation with the regular forces in the defence 
 of the country to the total neglect of their ordinary avocations. 
 
 General Drummond had been unremitting in his preparations 
 for the coming campaign. Through the worst of weather and ex- 
 ecrable roads he hurried from York to Kingston and from Kingston 
 to Delaware, making enquiries into the resources of the country and 
 the condition of the inhabitants, with a view to procuring supplies 
 (i). In the month of January, indeed, it had become evident that the 
 supply of meat would soon be exhausted and he began to entertain 
 serious apprehensions that he would be compelled to abandon all 
 
 (i ) Lieneral Drummond to Sir G. Prevost. March 5th, 1814, 
 
2S6 
 that part of the Province west of Kingston from sheer want of food. 
 In addition to his troops, he had several thousand non-combatants 
 to feed, most of the Western Indians who had survived General 
 Proctor's defeat, as Well as the whole of the Six Nations from the 
 Grand River, three thousand persons in all, of whom two-thirds 
 Were women and children, had sought refuge near the British can- 
 tonments at Burlington. Their depredations so harassed and 
 alarmed many of the inhabitants in the vicinity that they abandoned 
 their farms and took shelter in the soldiers' quarters.(i) In addition 
 to these the homeless fugitives from Niagara were also dependent 
 upon the overtaxed commissariat. Thus while the armed force num- 
 bered less than tvVo thousand, between seven and eight thousand 
 rations were issued daily.(2) The Indians alone consumed twice as 
 much flour as the Whole of the troops. 
 
 Mrs. Edgar points out (3) that with but three thousand British 
 troops, garrisons were maintained at Forts George, Niagara, Erie 
 and Mississagua (build early in 1814 after the burning of Newark 
 by the Americans), the important post at Burlington Heights had 
 to be protected, detachments were required to guard the provision 
 depots at Twelve Mile Creek and Twenty Mile Creek. York from 
 its exposed position and liability t^ be again attacked, had to be 
 defended. Port Dover, on Lake Erie, was also in need of protec- 
 tion, owing to the danger that troops might be landed there and gain 
 the rear of General Riall's division by the Western road ; while at the 
 crossing of the Grand River (Brantford) and also at Delaware other 
 detachments had to be posted to guard the advance of the ehemy 
 by way of the Thames. It was owing, of course, to the Peninsular 
 War that material reinforcements could not be sent to Canada until 
 too late for any practical use, although it is Customary with 
 American writers to describe General Drummond's forces as being 
 composed of Wellington's veterans. In May, the Sixteenth and 
 Ninetieth Regiments, besides a dorps of rifles and some artillery, 
 landed at Quebec, but it was not until the autumri of this year that 
 consequent upon the downfall of Napoleon, Wellington's troops, 
 released from service on the continent, were despatched in large 
 numbers to Canada, and enabled us to compete with the enemy on 
 anything like equal terms. The disaster at Plattsburg, which was 
 
 (l) Drummond to Prevost, February Sth, 1814. 
 (3) Ernest Cniickshank's "Lundy's Lane," p. 7. 
 (3) Ten Years of Upper Canada, p, 284. 
 
257 
 the one engagement of importance in which they participated, could 
 not, however, have been congenial to regiments which had so re- 
 cently shared with Wellington the glory of the Peninsular War. 
 
 By the end of June the American forces concentrated on the 
 Niagara frontier were ready far another invasion of Upper Canada. 
 They consisted of five thousand regular soldiers and three thousand 
 New York and Pennsylvania militia, admirably drilled at the Buffalo 
 camp of instruction, which had been organized under Brigadier- 
 General Scott; together with some six hundred Indians under the 
 celebrated Seneca Chief Red Jacket. On the 3rd July the enemy 
 embarked in boats and batteaux, and effected a landing on the 
 Canadian side, with two brigades under Brigadiers Scott and Rip- 
 ley respectively, the former about one mile below and the latter the 
 same distance above Fort Erie. *.t this post was a small British 
 detachment of some seventy men under Major Buck, of the King's 
 Regiment, who had been engaged in placing it in a state of defence, 
 more with a view of causmg a temporary check to the anticipated 
 invading force than for defending it against a regular seige. which 
 would have been impossible. The Americans, after having erected 
 some batteries, and placing their cannon in position, summoned 
 Major Buck to surrender, giving him two hours to determine. Had 
 he held out even for a few hours. General Riall would have been 
 able to have concentrated his troops in the vicinity, and have fallen 
 upon the enemy before they could have had time to prepare for an 
 effective resistance. Major Buck, however, tamely surrendered to 
 the enemy without making even a show of resistance, his force being 
 sent across the river prisoners of war. The loss of this important 
 post was a most serious inatter to the British forces, and many a 
 life was lost around it before the American General Izard, previous 
 to abandoning the Niagara peninsula, mined it and on the 5th 
 November laid it in ruins. 
 
 The Americans advanced the next day to Chippewa and were 
 making preparations to carry the post when General Riall, having 
 collected his forces, and being reinforced by the arrival of the 8th 
 and 1 00th Regiments, on the sth July, gave them battle. The enemy 
 had much the advantage in point of numbers and a most sanguinary 
 conflict ensued. After an hour of desperate fighting, General Riall, 
 having lost no less than six officers and one hundred and forty-two 
 men killed, twenty-six officers (among them Lieutenant-Colonel the 
 
258 
 Marquis of Tweeddale, severely) and ino hundred and ninety-five men 
 w ounded and an officer and forty-five men missing, was obliged to 
 fall back upon Chippewa. The enemy stated his loss at seventy 
 killed, two hundred and forty-nine wounded and nineteen misssing. 
 Had the American fleet been in the vicinity, the whole of our forts 
 in the neighbourhood of Niagara might at this time have been reduced 
 and the greater portion of the Province again subjugated, as shown in 
 the letter of General Brown to Commodore Chauncey, dated 13th 
 July, begging him " for God's sake " to meet him with the fleet at 
 Fort George, where they " would be able to settle a plan of opera- 
 tions that will break the power of the enemy in Upper Canada and 
 that in the course of a short time." Fortunately, however, Chaun- 
 cey was still safely blockaded in Sackett's Harbour by Sir James 
 Yeo. As it was the enemy advanced upon and occupied Queenston 
 and made demonstrations upon Forts George and Mississagua, with- 
 out any result however, falling back on Queenston on the 25 th July, 
 and after firing the village of St. David, retreating to Chippewa, his 
 object being to disencumber his army of its heavy baggage, draw a 
 supply of provisions from Fort Schlosser, and then proceed in the 
 direction of Burlington Heights with a view to capturing that im- 
 portant post. 
 
 General Drummond had repeatedly requested that more troops 
 should be sent him for the relief of the Niagara frontier, but the only 
 reinforcetoents he received were four hundred of the Glengarry Regi- 
 ment, which had formed for some tinie past the garrison at York, a 
 small portion of Marine Artillery, the Hundred and Third Regiment 
 and some of the Eighty-Ninth, under Colonel Morrison. He also 
 had the able assistance of Colonel Harvey which came most 
 opportunely. 
 
 Sir George Prevost could not, however, be made to appreciate the 
 imminence of the situation. He was convinced that the attack would 
 be made from the neighbourhood of Lake Champlain. Pencilled 
 upon the margin of General Drummond's letter of June 21st, 1814, 
 expressing his firm belief that the main attack would be made on the 
 Niagara frontier, and that the movement of troops towards Platts- 
 burg was simply a feint to prevent reinforcements from being 
 despatched from Lower Canada to his assistance, there is this 
 significant memorandum in Prevost's own handwriting, " Much 
 
^59 
 obliged to Lieutenant-General Drummond for his opinion, but it is 
 entirely without foundation, "(i) 
 
 On the 2Sth July, then, with such forces as there were at his 
 disposal. General Drummond had to fight the most stubbornly con- 
 tested and sanguinary battle ever fought in Upper Canada. It 
 began between six and seven in the evening and lasted five hours 
 and a half. Nothing could have been more awful or impressive than 
 this midnight struggle. In Canada it is commonly known as Lundy's 
 Lane, in British official records Niagara, while by American writers 
 it is styled Bridgewater, but by whatever name it many be known 
 it was a glorious victory for the British forces. The Glengarry 
 Regiment constituted the right wing of the British army(2). General 
 Riall had early in the morning sent the Glengarry Regiment, with the 
 Provincial Dragoons and Incorporated Militia(3), to reconnoitre the 
 American camp at Chippewa and watch the movements of the 
 enemy. They took up their position on the high ground near 
 Lundy's Lane, and in the afternoon were joined by General Riall 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond of the Hundred and Fourth. 
 The best and naturally most authentic account of the battle that 
 ensued is that of the gallant General Drummond himself in his 
 official despatch to Sir G. Provost : 
 
 From Lieutenant-Genekal Drummond to Sir G. Prevost. 
 
 Head-quarters, near Niagara Falls, July 27, 1814. 
 Sir, 
 
 I embarked on board His Majesty's schooner " Netley," at 
 York, on Sunday evening, the 24th instant, and reached Niagara at 
 daybreak the following morning. Finding, from Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Tucker, that Major-General Riall was understood to be moving 
 towards the Falls of Niagara, to support the advance of his division, 
 which he nad pushed on to that place on the preceding tvening, 
 I ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison, with the Eighty-Ninth 
 Regiment and a detachment of the Royals and King's, drawn 
 from Forts George and Mississaga, to proceed to the same point 
 in order that, with the united force, I might act against the 
 enemy (posted at Street's Creek, with his advance at Chippeway) 
 on my arrival, if it should be found expedient. I ordered 
 
 (i) Mr. Cruickshank's Lecture. 
 
 (2) It was by no means the first time Glengarry men had held that post in battle ! 
 
 (3) Drummond had some time previously directed the estahlishjnent of a battalion of four., 
 hundred men from &mohg the militia to serve during the war in order tliat the otlicrs might* 
 bestow their attention on their firms except in the event.of a levy en m-sse. The raiiks of thlk- 
 corps wire rapidly filled up with stalwart young recruits, and it was armed and exercised as a 
 light infantry batulion under the name of thp Incorporated, Militia, They rendered most.valuable,. 
 service during the latter portion of the war. 
 
26o 
 
 Lieiitenant-Colonel Tucker, at the same time, to' proceed .u^) 
 the right bank of the river, with three hundred of the FortyrFirstJ" 
 atiout two hundred of the Royal Scots, and a body of Indian 
 warriors, supported (on the river) by a party of armed seamen, 
 under Captain Dobbs, Royal Navy. The object of this movement, 
 was to disperse, or capture, a body of the enemy, encamped 
 at Lewistown. Some unavoidable delay having occurred in the 
 march of the troops up the right bank, the enemy had moved off 
 previous to Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker's arrival. I have to express 
 myself satisfied with the exertions of that officer. 
 
 Having refreshed the troops at Queenstown, and having brought 
 across the Forty-First Royals, and Indians, I sent back the Forty- 
 First and Hundredth Regiments, to form the garrisons of Forts 
 George, Mississaga and Niagara, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker, 
 and moved with the Eighty-Ninth and detachments of the Royals and 
 King's, and light company of the Forty-First — in all about eight 
 hundred men — to join -Major-General Riall's division at the Falls. 
 
 When arrived within a few miles of that position, I met a report 
 from Major-General Riall, that the enemy was advancing in great 
 force. I immediately pushed on, and joined the head of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Morrison's columns just as it reached the road leading to 
 the Beaver Dam, over the summit of the hill at Lundy's Lane. 
 Instead pi the whole of Major-General Riall's division, which I 
 expected to have found occupying this positon, I found it almost in 
 the occupation of the enemy, whose columns were within six hundred 
 yards of the top of the hill, and the surrounding woods filled with 
 his light troops. The advance of Major-General Riall's division, 
 consisting of the Glengarry Light Infantry and Incorporated Militia, 
 having commenced a retreat upon Fort George, I countermanded 
 these corps, and formed the Eighty-Ninth Regiment, the Royal Scots ■ 
 detachment and the Forty-First light company, in the rear of the hill, 
 their left resting on the great road ; my two twenty-four pounder brass 
 field guns a little advanced, in front of the centre, on the summit of 
 the hill ; the Glengarry Light Infantry on the right ; the battalion of 
 Incorporated Militia, and the detachment of the King's Regiment on 
 the left of the great road; t'le squadron of the Ninteenth Light 
 Dragoons in the rear of the left, on the road. I had scarcely com- 
 pleted this formation when the whole front was warmly and closely 
 engaged. The enemy's principal efforts were directed agamst our 
 left and centre. After repeated attacks, the troops on the left were 
 partially forced back, and the enemy gained a momentary possession 
 of the road. This gave him, however, no material advantage, as the 
 . troops which had been forced back formed in the rear of the Eighty- 
 Ninth Regiment, fronting the road, and securing the flank. It was 
 during this short interval that Major-General- Riall, having recei\ed 
 a severe wound, was intercepted as he was passing to the rear, by a 
 party of the enemy's cavaliry, and taken prisoner. In the centre, the 
 
a6t 
 
 repeated and determined attacks of the enemy were met by the 
 Eighty-Ninth Regiment, the detachments of the Royals and King's, 
 and the light company of the Forty-First Regiment, with the most 
 perfect steadiness and intrepid gallantry, and the enemy was con- 
 stantly repulsed with very heavy loss. In so determined a manner 
 were their attacks directed against oar guns, that oar artillerymen 
 were bayoneted by the enemy while in the act of loading, and the 
 muzzles of the enemy's guns were advanced within a few yards of 
 cur's. The darkness of the night, during this extraordinary conflict, 
 occasioned several uncommon incidents ; our troops having been for 
 a moment pushed back, some of our guns remained for a few minutes 
 in the enemy's hands ; they, however, were not only quickly 
 recovered, but the two pieces (a six-pounder and a five and a half 
 inch howitzer) which the enemy had brought up, were captured by 
 us, together with several tumbrils, and in Umbering up our guns at 
 one period, one of the enemy's six-povmders was put by mistake on 
 a limber of ours, and one of our six-pounders limbered on one of 
 his ; by which means the pieces were exchanged ; and thus though 
 we captured two of his guns, yet, as he obtained one of ours, we 
 have gained only one gun. 
 
 About 9 o'clock (the action having commenced at 6) there was 
 a short intermission of firing, during which it appears the enemy was 
 employed in bringing the whole of his remaining force ; and he short- 
 ly afterwards renewed his attack with fresh troops, but was every- 
 where repulsed with equal gallantry and success. About this period 
 the remainder of Major-General Riall's division, which had been 
 ordered to retire on the advance of the enemy, consisting of the 
 Hu?idred and Third Regiment, under Colonel Scott j the head- 
 quarter division of the Royal Scots ; the head-quarter division of the 
 Eighth, or King's; flank companies of the 104th; and some detach- 
 ments of the militia, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, Inspecting 
 Field Officer, joined the troops engaged; and I placed them in a second 
 line, with the exception of the Royal Scots and flank companies of 
 the Hundred and Fourth, with which I prolonged my line in front 
 to the right, where I was apprehensive of the enemy outflanking me. 
 
 The enemy's efforts to carry the hill were continued till about 
 midnight, when he had suffered so severely from the superior steadi- 
 ness and discipline of His Majesty's troops, that he gave up the con- 
 test, and retreated with great precipitation to his camp beyond the 
 Chippeway. On the following day he abandoned his camp, threw 
 the greater part of his baggage, camp equipage, and provisions, into 
 the rapids, and having set fire to Street's Mills, and destroyed the 
 bridge at Chippeway, continued his retreat in great disorder to- 
 wards Fort Erie. My light troops, cavalry and Indians are 
 detached in pursuit, and to harass his retreat, which I doubt not he 
 will continue until he reaches his own shore. 
 
 The loss sustained by the enemy in this severe action cannot be 
 
262 
 
 estimated at less than one thousand five hundred men, including 
 several hundred of prisoners left in our hands ; his two commanding 
 generals, Brown and Scott, are said to be wounded, his whole force, 
 which has never been rated at less than five thousand, having been 
 engaged. 
 
 Enclosed I have the honour to transmit a return of our loss, 
 which has been very considerable. The number of troops under my 
 command did not, for the first three hours, exceed one thousand 
 six hundred men ; and the addition of the troops, under Colonel 
 Scott, did not increase it to more than two thousand eight hundred 
 of every description. 
 
 In enumerating those by whose valour and discipline this im- 
 portant victory had been obtained, special mention was made of the 
 Glengarry Light Infantry, which under Lieutenant-Colonel Batters- 
 by, it was stated, had displayed most valuable qualities as light 
 troops, while in reviewing the action from the commencement the 
 first object which presented itself was * * « the very creditable 
 , and excellent defence made by the Incorporated Militia Battalion 
 uiider Lieutenant-Colonel Robinson, who was dangerously wounded, 
 and was succeeded in the command by Major Kirby, who continued 
 very gallantly to direct its efforts. This battalion has only been 
 organized a few months, and much to the credit of Captain Robin- 
 son, of the King's Regiment (Provincial Lieutenant-Colonel), has 
 attained a very respectable degree of discipline." 
 
 The British loss was : killed eighty-four, wounded five hundred 
 and fifty-nine ; missing one hundred and ninety-three, prisoners 
 forty-two ; total, eight hundred and fifty-eight. The Glengarry 
 Regiment suffered severely, four privates being killed. Lieutenant 
 R. Kerr and thirty non-commissioned officers and men wounded, 
 Ensign Robins and twenty-one non-commissioned officers and men 
 missing. The Incorporated Militia suffered most of all the provin- 
 cial corps, losing one hundred and forty-two officers and men killed, 
 wounded and missing out of about three hundred engaged, among 
 the wounded being Captain John Macdonell, a brother of the wife 
 of the late Colonel Alexander Chisholm, of Alexandria. He had 
 his arm shot off, and died shortly afterwards of wounds at York, 
 now Toronto. Lieutenant McDougall, of the same corps, was also 
 mortally and Ensign Macdonell severely wounded, and a gentleman 
 who was afterwards Sheriff of this district, then an officer in the 
 Eighth (or King's) Regiment, Donald ^neas Macdonell, was also 
 
263 
 
 severely wounded.(i) General Drummond himself received a pain- 
 ful bullet wound in the neck, which narrowly missed being fatal, 
 through he paid so little attention to it that he did not even dis« - 
 mount to have it dressed. .*. few minutes; later his. horse was shot 
 under him. (2) General Riall, too, rashly brave and impetuous, 
 was before being taken prisoner wounded in the arm, which it was 
 feared, would require to be amputated, though the operation was, , 
 fortunately, eventually found to be unnecessary. 
 
 The command of the American forces, in the absence of Gen- 
 erals Brown and Scott, who had retired for the recovery of their 
 wounds, devolved upon General Ripley for the time being, but that 
 officer Was severely called to account by his Government for his 
 retreat, and was superseded in the command of the army by General 
 Gaines, who was summoned from Sackett's Harbour to take com- 
 mand until General Brown should recover from his wounds. The 
 aides to the commanding officers on either side. Captain Loring, 
 A,.D.C. to General Drummond, and Captain Spencer to General • 
 Brown, were both taken prisoners by their respective opponents, but 
 were exchanged without the usual delay customary in such cases. 
 Captain Spencer, who was mortally wounded, died the day he . 
 arrived at Fort Erie. 
 
 Ripley's retirement to Chippewa met with the full approval of . 
 General Brown, as appears from a despatch of the latter to the 
 American Secretary- at- War. 
 
 The bravery of the militia engaged in this desperate conflict is 
 stated by Mr. Christie, upon the authority of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 (afterwards Lieutenant-General Sir John) Harvey, to have been 
 beyond all praise. The scene of battle must have been a gruesome 
 and awful sight. Mr. Christie says than it nothing could have been 
 more awful and impressive. The desperate charges of the enemy 
 were succeeded by a death-like silence, interrupted only by the 
 groans of the dying and the dull sounds of the Falls of Niagara, 
 
 (i) Mr. Macdonell afterwards exchanged from the King's Regiment to the Ninety-Eighth 
 (Royal Tipper iry). Upon retiring from the army he settled at St. Andrews, and commanded 
 one of the Stormont Militia Regiments in the rebellion of 1837-8. He represented Stormont in 
 several Parliaments, was Sheriff of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and for many years 
 Warden of the Provincial Penitentiary at Kingston. 
 
 (2) General Drummond was, as previously mentioned, by birth a Canadian, having been 
 bom at Quebec in 1771. He was a son of Colin Drummond, of Meg^ch, Paymaster-General 
 ot the Forces in Lower Canada, His promotion in the service was-rapid. He served in Holland 
 at the seige of Nimeguen and elsewhere, greatly distinc^uishing himself for valor. He took part in 
 the expe£tion to Egypt under Abercrombie. and participated m all the battles of that campaign.^ 
 He succeeded Sir G. Prevost as Commander-in-Chief and Administrator of the Government. He' 
 died in London in 1854- 
 
264 
 while the adverse lines were now and then dimly discerned through 
 the moonlight by the gleam of their arms. Those anxious pauses were 
 succeeded by a blaze of musketry along the lines and by a repetition 
 of the most desperate charges from the enemy, which the British 
 regulars and militia received each time with the most unshaken 
 firmness. The battlefield remained, of course, in the possession of 
 the British during the remainder of the night. Pearson's brigade had 
 marched fourteen miles and had been deprived of sleep the previous 
 night, Morrison's detachment had accomplished the same distance, 
 and the remainder not less than twenty-one miles in the heat of a 
 July day. Almost one-third of their number had been killed or were 
 wounded or missing. The survivors were utterly exhausted and 
 threw themselves down to rest among the dead and dying upon the 
 blood-stained hill they had finally re-conquered (i). On the following 
 day the British buried their own dead and sent a message to the 
 Americans to send back a detachment to bury their late comrades, 
 which duty they were, however, unable to fulfil, and the heat being 
 so excessive, nothing was left for the British but to burn their bodies. 
 
 Having claimed Queenston Heights not only as a victory, but 
 declared it to be the chef d'oeuvre of the War, it is not surprising to 
 to find their historians claiming this battle, too, or to learn that 
 " Niagara Falls " is emblazoned on the flags of such of their regiments 
 as participated in it. It fell to their lot not infrequently in this War 
 to extract sunbeams from cucumbers. 
 
 Fort Erie, to which after the battle the Americans had retreated, 
 was now their only foothold on our side of the river, and here 
 Ripley, under orders from his superior officer, though much 
 against his own 'judgment and inclination, which would have led him 
 to forsake an inhospitable shore, proceeded to entrench himself and 
 to rebuild, strengthen and enlarge the fortification. General Gaines 
 had arrived on the 6th to take command. The American fleet had 
 arrived at the head of the lake, but on finding the army far from 
 being in a state to co-operate, cooped up at Fort Erie, and incapable 
 of holding any communication with the naval force on the lake, 
 returned to Sackett's Harbor. 
 
 Captain Dobbs, R.N., had on the night of the r2th August 
 captured two of ttie enemy's schooners, the " Ohio " and " Somers," 
 
 (i) Mr- Oniickshank's lecture, page 31. 
 
265 
 
 dose to Fort Erie, each mounting three long twelves, with comple- 
 ments of thirty-five men, which gave spirit to our army, and General 
 Drummond, after ascertaining their position, determined to storm the 
 American entrenchments. He accordingly opened a battery on the 
 13th, and on the following day made the necessary preparations for 
 an assault, the troops getting under arms at mid-night of the 14th of 
 August, his force being divided into three divisions — the first under 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fischer, of De Watteville's Regi- 
 ment ; tie second under Lieutenant-Colonel William Drummond, of 
 the Hundred and Fourth, a nephew of General Drummond, who had 
 already done much good service, but was fated after this night to do 
 no more (i); and the third, under Colonel Scott, (2) of the Hundred 
 and Third, who also now fought his last battle. At two o'clock in the 
 morning the attack became general. Colonel Fischer's column had 
 gained the point of attack two hours before daylight, and the two 
 other columns advanced as soon as the firing upon his division 
 was heard, and at the same moment stormed the fort and entrench- 
 ments on the right, and after a desperate resistance succeeded in 
 securing lodgment in the fort. The enemy took to a stone building, 
 being driven from their posts at the point of the bayonet, which was 
 used with terrible effect. The victory was about complete when a 
 terrible expli>sion occurred within the fort, the ammunition under 
 the platform on which the guns were placed taking fire, whether 
 accidently or by design has never been ascertained, and almost all 
 the British troops who had entered the fort were blown to pieces. 
 
 An immediate panic ensued. Those of the British who survived 
 could not be rallied. Colonel Scott had been shot dead and 
 Drummond killed by a bayonet thrust in the contest at the fort, at . 
 the head of their respective columns. The enemy had received 
 reinforcements from the left and centre of their lines, which, taking 
 taking advantage of the darkness and confusion of the moment, 
 pressed forward with a heavy and destructive fire, and compelled 
 their assailants to retire from the works they had so gallantly carried. 
 General Drummond stated his loss as follows : killed — four officers, 
 
 (i) He V3lS fifth son of John Drummond, of Keltic, County Perth, Scotland. At St, 
 Vincent, when a Lieutenant in the Second West India Regiment, he received the most flattering 
 testimonials fi-om Lieutenant-(>eneral Hunter, under whom he served At the capture of Surinam 
 he was Aide-de-Camp to Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Green, in command of the forces, and 
 most honourably mentionei in despatches. In 1804 he was voted a hundred guinea sword by 
 Lloyds for his intrepid conduct in animating the crew of the merchant ship " Fortitude** to beat 
 off the attack of two French privateers. He was severely wounded at Sackett*s Harbour, 
 and at Chippewa and elsewhere displayed the highest and best qualities of a soldier, 
 
 (2) Colonel Hercules Scott, of Brotherton, Scotland. 
 
266 
 fifty-three non-commissioned officers and men ; wounded, twenty- 
 three officers, two hundred and eighty-five non-commissioned officers 
 and men ; missing, nine officers, five hundred and thirty non-com- 
 missioned officers and men — a total in killed, wounded and missing 
 of 904, while the American loss was but 84 all told I 
 
 Mrs. Edgar states that in poor Colonel Drummond's pocket was 
 found a secret order in Colonel Harvey's handwriting, " The 
 Lieutenant-General most strongly recommends the free use of the 
 bayonet." Through this paper General Gaines is authority for the 
 statement that the mark of the bayonet which laid him low is to be 
 seen I She also mentions the fact that Colonel Scott was buried the 
 the same evening by his own men in the presence of the only three 
 officers of his Regiment who came out of that fatal fort unhurt. 
 
 Among the names of those mentioned in despatches for, con- 
 spicious gallantry on this occasion was that of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Battersby, of the Glengarry Regiment, as also that of Captain 
 Powell, ofwhom Sir Gordon Drummond reported, " Captain Powell, 
 of the Glengarry Light Infantry, on the staff as Deputy Assistant 
 in the Quarter-Master-General's Department, who conducted Lieu- 
 teiiant-Colonel Fischer's column, and first entered the enemy's en- 
 trenchments, by his coolness and gallantry particularly distinguished 
 himself." 
 
 General Drummond was reinforced a day or two after this 
 assault by the arrival of the Sixth and Eighty-Second Regiments 
 from Lower Canada, which, however, were barely sufficient to supply 
 the recent casualties, and he did not deem it expedient to hazard 
 another attack on Fort Erie, contenting himself with continuing its 
 investment, thereby cutting off the enemy's communication with the 
 adjacent country, and by compelling him to draw all his resources 
 from his own country, rendering the occupation of Fort Erie for the 
 remainder of the campaign of no service to the invaders. He also 
 constructed new batteries, and harassed his neighbours constantly 
 with hot shot, shell and rockets. On the 28th August General 
 Gaines narrowly escaped with his life, a shot descending through 
 the roof of his quarters and exploding at his feet. He was so severe- 
 ly wounded that he was obliged to relinquish his command and 
 retire to Buffalo. 
 
267 
 
 CHAPTER 22. 
 
 Capture of Prairie du Chien by the British. — Americans 
 Repulsed at Michilimacinac. — British Capture the 
 American Ships "Scorpion" and "Tigress." — Arrival op 
 Large Reinforcements from Britain. — Prevost's Disas- 
 trous Expedition to Plattsburg, N.Y. — Americans Re- 
 pulsed AT Fort Erie Sept. 17, 1814. — Americans Cross 
 
 TO THEIR own shores. — McArTHUR'S INCURSION AND RE- 
 TREAT. — Close of the War. — Treaty op Ghent Signed 
 Dec. 24, 1814, AND Ratified Feb. 17, 1815. 
 
 Troops to the number of 16,000 released from further duty in 
 the Peninsular by the overthrow of Napoleon now poured into Can- 
 ada, and with them some of Wellington's most distinguished gen 
 erals, notably General Kempt, afterwards Sir James Kempt, G.C.B., 
 who became Governor-General of Canada, and who had commanded 
 a brigade which led the attack and carried the Castle of Badajoz, a 
 brigade of the Light Division at Vittoria, the attack on the Heights 
 of Vera, at Neville, Nive, Orthez, Toulouse and other engagements 
 in that campaign, and who afterwards for his part in the Battle of 
 Waterloo, where he was severely wounded, was promoted to the 
 Grand Cross of the Bath in the place of the renowned Sir Thomas 
 Picton ; General Robinson, who also had fought at and received de- 
 corations for Vittoria, St. Sebastian, where he was wounded, and the 
 Nive, who was the son of a distinguished U. E. Loyalist and who 
 afterwards became Governor of Upper Canada ; and General Bris- 
 bane (afterwards Sir Thomas Brisbane, G.C.B., G.C.H.), who had 
 been in five of the most desperate of the Peninsular batdes, as also 
 too had General Power. Yet, notwithstanding the number of the 
 reinforcements and the distinction of the officers commanding them, 
 it was their fate to participate, under the immediate direction of Sir 
 George Prevost, the commander of the forces in British North Ame- 
 rica, in a luckless and humiliating expedition which terminated in 
 
268 
 the total loss of the co-operating squadron, of five hundred of- the 
 land force in killed, wounded and missing, of stores to a prodigious 
 amount, and the retirement of an indignant army before an enemy 
 inferior in discipline and renown and in every other possible re- 
 spect. The memory of Prevost's unfortunate armistice concluded 
 between himself and Gen. Dearborn in August, 1812, which paralyzed 
 the efforts of Gen. Brock, the miscarriage of the attack on Sackett's 
 Harbour in May, 1813, under his immediate superintendence, and 
 his fruitless " demonstration " on Fort George in August of the same 
 year were to dwindle into insignificance in extent and comparison 
 with this most untoward event, which completely shattered his 
 reputation as a military commander, and from the result of which 
 death and a consideration of his qualities as a civil Governor and 
 his conciliation and discreet treatment of and consequent popularity 
 with the French population alone saved him. 
 
 The circumstances as they appeared to each are set forth in the 
 statements made to their respective governments by Sir George 
 Prevost and General Macomb, U.S.A., quoted at length in Mr. 
 Christie's History, volume 11., p.p. 216-220, and however distasteful 
 to British readers, cannot be gainsaid, being matter of authentic his- 
 tory, allowance bemg made for Sir G. Prevost's evident desire to 
 minimize and explain away his defeat, and General Macomb's not 
 unnatural, nor under the circumstances to be wondered at, exulta- 
 tion — his despatch, however, on the whole being comparatively free 
 from the bombast and vulgarity which usually characterized the 
 writings of their general officers, who seldom during this war had 
 similar occasion to have indulged in self-glorification. A narrative 
 of the circumstances would take more space than 1 have to spare, 
 and must, together with the accounts of the many and sanguinary 
 contests between the British and American forces along the sea- 
 board, be left to the general historian. The force engaged in this 
 expedition into the State of New York by way of Lake Champlain, 
 were Imperial troops entirely, led, as* stated, by the Commander-in- 
 Chief himself, all his subordinate officers belonging of course to the 
 Imperial service, and I must content myself with following the 
 events of the war in which the Canadians participated, and more 
 particularly those in which our own people of Glengarry had a 
 share. A court-martial was to have enquired into the charges made 
 against Sir George Prevost in connection with this affair, formulated 
 
269 
 by Sir James Yeo, who was in command of the naval force in Can- 
 ada at the time, on Prevost's return to England. He died, however, 
 before the court-martial took place. 
 
 It is more satisfactory to turn to the situation of affairs in the 
 vicinity of Niagara, where shortly took place the last battle of mo- 
 ment of the war, and in which, as on former occasions, the Glengarry 
 Regiment distinguished itself The enemy, at Fort Erie, on hearing 
 the result pf the expedition to Plattsburg, and aware that the British 
 in their neighborhood had not been recently reinforced to an extent 
 greater than their strength previous to the disasters of August 15; 
 determined to make a sortie, their plan being, as stated by their 
 General, Brown, " to storm the batteries, destroy the cannon and 
 roughly handle the brigade upon duty before those in the camp 
 could be brought into action.'' They waited until the 17th of Sep- 
 tember, when they ascertained that De Watteville's Regiment, com- 
 posed of foreigners of all nations and principles, was doing duty at 
 the batteries. They succeeded in obtaining possession of No. 3 
 Battery, its magazine and the block house upon the right, all of 
 which they destroyed, and had then gained possession of the remain- 
 ing block house and No. 2 Battery and made prisoners of the garri- 
 son, though not without great loss, their three principal leaders of 
 divisions. General Davis, Colonels Gibson and Wood being mortally 
 wounded and a number of their men killed. They were about to as- 
 sail the remaining battery when a force composed of the First Bat- 
 talion of the Royal Scots, the Glengarry Light Infantry, Second 
 Battalion of the Eighty-Ninth and some companies of the Sixth and 
 Eighty-Second Regiments arrived from the British camp. The ds- 
 spatch of General Drummond tells the story of how the batteries 
 were retaken by these gallant corps. 
 
 Camp Before Fort Erie, September 19, 1814. 
 
 My letter to your excellency of the 17th gave a short account of 
 the result of an attack made by the enemy on my position on that 
 day. 
 
 I have to add, that as soon as the firing was heard, I proceeded 
 towards the advance, and found the troops had moved from camp, 
 and the Royals and 89th had been pushed, by Major-General De 
 Watteville, into the wood on the right towards No. 3 battery, and 
 that the 82nd was moving to the support of the batteries on the left. 
 At this moment it was reported to me that the enemy had gained 
 possession of the batteries Nos. 2 and 3, and that our troops were 
 falling back — a report which the approach of the fire confirmed ; 
 
270 
 
 (your Excellency will have in recollection that the whole line of 
 operations lay in a thick wood). I immediately directed Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Campbell to detach one wing of the 6th regiment to support 
 the 82nd in an attack which I ordered to be made for the recovery 
 of battery No. 2. I threw forward the Glengarry light infantry into 
 the wood in front of the centre, to check the advance of the enemy, 
 and support the troops retiring from that point. Both these move- 
 mentg were executed to my entire satisfaction, and being combined 
 with a judicious attack made by Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon with 
 part of the first brigade, consisting of the ist "battalion of the Royal 
 Scots supported by the 89th, the enemy was everywhere driven back, 
 and our batteries and entrenchments regained, not, however, before 
 he had disabled the guns in No. 3 battery and exploded its magazine. 
 The enemy did not attempt again to make a stand, but re re^.c-u in 
 great disorder to the fort, and was followed by our troops to the 
 glacis of that place. 
 
 I myself witnessed the good order and spirit with which the 
 Glengarry light infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Batters- 
 by, pushed into the wood, and by their superior fire drove back the 
 enemy's light troops. 
 
 I cannot sufficiently appreciate the valuable assistance which I 
 have received from Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, Deputy Adjutant- 
 General, during the present service, and which has been of the more 
 importance, as from my own state of health, of late (in consequence 
 of my wound), I have not been able to use those active exertions 
 which I otherwise might. To Major Glegg, Assistant Adjutant- 
 General ; to Captains Chambers and Powell, Deputy Assistants 
 Quarter-master-General ; to Captain Foster, Military Secretary, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hargerman, Provincial aide-de-camp, who have 
 rendered me every assistance in their respective situations, my best 
 acknowledgments are due. 
 
 The enemy, it is now ascertained, made the sortie with his 
 whole force, which, including the militia volunteers, by which he 
 has lately been joined, could not consist of less than 5,000. 
 About 200 prisoners fell into our hands, and I cannot estimate 
 the enemy's loss in killed and wounded at less than that number. 
 
 The dreadful state of the roads and ot the weather, it having 
 poured with rain almost incessantly for the last ten days, renders 
 every movement of ordnance or heavy stores exceedingly difficult. 
 
 By great exertions, the commanding artillery officer has 
 succeeded in moving the battery guns and mortars, with their 
 stores, etc., towards the Chippewa, to which I mean to withdraw" 
 them for the present. 
 
 In General De Watteville's account of the engagement to Sir 
 G. Drummond, he speaks in high terms of the Glengarry Regiment, 
 stating, "Lieutenant-General Pearson with the Glengarry Light 
 
271 
 
 Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Battersby, pushed forward by 
 the centre road and attacked and carried with great gallantry the 
 new entrenchment, then in full possession of the enemy.'' The 
 American loss in this fruitless attack was according to their own 
 account in killed, wounded and missing 509 men, including eleven 
 officets killed and twenty-three wounded, while the British loss was 
 three officers and 112 men killed, seventeen officers and 161 men 
 wounded, and thirteen officers and 303 men missing — a total of 609 
 officers and men. The Glengarry Light Infantry had three rank 
 and file killed, one sergeant and eighteen rank and file wounded. 
 Mr. James states that the American return of casualties did not ap- 
 pear to include the militia or volunteers. They proclaimed it 
 throughout the republic, as usual, as a " splendid achievement." 
 
 General Drummond, after this affair, finding his troops en- 
 camped in a low situation, now rendered very unhealthy by the late 
 constant rains, growing sickly, raised the investment of Fort Erie 
 and fell back upon Chippewa on the evening of the 21st of Septem- 
 ber, without molestation by the enemy. He shortly afterwards 
 broke up tiis cantonments there and retired upon Fort George and 
 Burlington. On the morning of the 19th October, a skirmish took 
 place at Lyon's Creek between a brigade of American regulars un- 
 der General Bissell and detachments from the Eighty-Second, One 
 Hundredth and Glengarry Regiments, amounting to about 650 rank 
 and file, under Colonel Murray. The thickness of the woods gave 
 great advantage to the American riflemen, but though their force 
 amounted to at least 1500 rank and file, they would not risk an 
 encounter with evidently inferior numbers upon open ground. After 
 what may be termed a drawn battle, each party retired ; the British 
 with a loss of nineteen killed and wounded, the Americans accord- 
 ing to their own admission sixty-seven killed, wounded and missing. 
 Reinforcements shortly after came in the fleet from Kingston to the 
 relief of General Drummond ; the arrival of the first, although it 
 did not augment Drummond's force much beyond half that of 
 General Izard, being made an excuse for the retreat of a considerable 
 portion of the latter to Fort Erie on the 22nd October, while the 
 remainder having by the aid of their fleet removed the guns and 
 completely destroyed the fortifications, crossed from Fort Erie to 
 tneir own shore on the 5th November. 
 
 The fighting being over upon the Niagara, Lieutenant-General 
 
272 
 Drammond and suite, with the Forty-First Regiment and a number 
 of convalescents, departed from the head of the lake and arrived at 
 Kingston on the 10th November, having left the light division dis- 
 tributed alonp; the Niagara frontier in comfortable winter quarters. 
 
 The still defenceless state of the Western District had exposed 
 the inhabitants to all the horrors of a second American invasion. 
 On the 20th September a band of depredators issued from the garri- 
 son of Detroit, and, crossing the stream, spread fire and pillage 
 through a whole settlement, while on the 22nd of the following 
 month a horde of mounted brigands from Kentucky, under Briga- 
 dier-General McArthur, penetrated into the Western Peninsula, the 
 object of the expedition being the capture of Burlington Heights, but 
 after plundering a few of the inhabitants of the country, and burning 
 some houses in the County of Oxford, they met with such sturdy 
 opposition from a number of militia and Indians at " the cross- 
 ings " on the Grand River, that they did not pursue their journey 
 further eastward, but turned down the Long Point Road and re- 
 turned to Detroit by way of Port Dover and St. Thomas, pur- 
 sued part of the distance by a company of the Glengarrys and a 
 few of the Forty-First Regiment under Major Muir.(i) 
 
 The war was now practically over. Negotiations had been 
 going on between the Peace Commissioners for Britain and the 
 United States since the 6th August, which 'culminated in the 
 Treaty of Ghent, which was signed on the 24th December, i8r4, 
 and ratified and exchanged at Washington on the 17th February, 
 1815. The treaty contained provisions for the settling of disputed 
 boundaries by commissioners, and it was agreed that both nations 
 should use their best endeavors for the suppression of the slave 
 trade. 
 
 The Governor-General announced the fact of the Treaty in 
 general orders of the ist of March, in which was stated, * * 
 " His Excellency embraces the earliest opportunity that is afforded 
 him of restoring to their domestic avocations the Provincial corps 
 and battalions of embodied miUtia, whose gallant and patriotic 
 devotion to their country has been so honourably evinced in their 
 zealous services since the commencement of hostilities, and His 
 Excellency will not fail to represent to our most gracious Sovereign 
 the zeal, courage and loyalty that has been so conspicuously dis- 
 played by all classes of his brave subjects in both Canadas.'' ' 
 
 (ij Mrs. Edgar, p. 334. 
 
273 
 
 The ostensible grounds assigned by the United States for the 
 declaration of war were the orders-in-Council and the right of search, 
 while the conquest of Canada was the object they had really at 
 heart. In the treaty of peace nothing was said about the flag cover- 
 ing the mercandise or the right of search, and Canada remained 
 unconquered, although the prospects at the commencement of the 
 war were of the most gloomy description. 
 
 From first to last, the course pursued by the United States pre- 
 sents few grounds for justification. They had commenced an 
 unrighteous war by the invasion of an unoffending and harmless 
 people. When they found they could not seduce them from their 
 allegiance to their Sovereign, their generals burned their villages and 
 farm houses and plundered them of their properties. But, by a 
 righteous dispensation of Providence they were most deservedly 
 punished. Nothing had been gained by the lavish expenditure of 
 American blood and treasure. Not one solitary dollar had been 
 added to the wealth of the people of the United States nor an inch 
 of land to their territory. On the other hand, their export trade 
 from twenty-two millions sterling had dwindled down in 1 8 14 to 
 less than one and a half millions, and their imports from twenty- 
 eight million pounds sterling had been reduced to three. Nearly 
 three thousand of their merchant vessels had been captured ; their 
 entire seaboard msi>lted ; two-thirds of tne mercantile and trading 
 classes of the whole nation had become insolvent, and the Union 
 itself was threatened >vith dissolution by the secession of the New 
 England States.(i) 
 
 In this war the men of Glengarry participated with honour to 
 themselves and to the advantage of their country, in the following : — 
 
 Capture of Detroit, August 16, 18 12. 
 
 Attack on Ogdensburg, October 4, 1812. 
 
 Battle of Queenston Heights, October 12, 18 12. 
 
 Engagement at St. Regis, October 23, 1812. 
 
 Capture of Fort Covington, November 23, 1812. 
 
 Capture of Ogdensburg, February 22, 1813. 
 
 Taking of York by Americans, April 27, 18 13. 
 
 Battle of Fort George, May 27, 1813. 
 
 Attack on Sackett's Harbour, May 29, 1813. 
 
 Defence of Burlington Heights, July, 18 13. 
 
 (t) Alison's HisL Europe, Vol IV , p.p. 4^2-3 
 
2-74 
 Battle of Chateauguay, October 26, 1813. 
 Skirmish at Hoopla's Creek, November lo, 1813. 
 Raid from Cornwall on Madrid, February 6, 1814. 
 Capture of Oswego, May 6, 1814. 
 Battle of Niagara or Lundy's Lane, July 25, 1814. 
 Attack on Fort Erie, August 15, 1814. 
 Second Battle at Fort Erie, September 17, 1814. 
 Skirmish at Lyon's Creek, October 19, 1814. 
 Expulsion of McArthur's brigands, October 22, 1814. 
 
 I submit it is a good record. 
 
 ■ i 
 
^75 
 
 CHAPTER 23. 
 
 The Rebellion' of 1837-8. — William Lyon Mackenzie's stjB' 
 SEQUENT Letter to Earl Grey. — Extracts from Bishop 
 Macdonell's Address. — No Rebels in Glengarry. — 
 Statement showing where the Disaffection prevailei> 
 IN Upper Canada. — Outbreak in Lower Canada in 
 October 1837. — Four Regiments in Glengarry. — List or 
 Officers. — Sir John Colborne notifies Colonel Macdon- 
 ell that he has called on the Lieutenant-Governor of 
 Upper Canada for Assistance and to keep up Communi- 
 cation with the Upper Province. — Requests the Glen- 
 GARRYs Regiment to Proceed to Lower Canada. — Two 
 Thousand Men Muster at Lancaster. — Temporary 
 Suppression of the Rebellion. 
 
 " A course of careful observation during the last eleven years 
 has fully satisfied me that, had the violent movement in which I and 
 a good many others were engaged on both sides of the Niagara 
 proved successful, that success would have deeply injured the people 
 of Canada,whom I then believed I Was serving at great risks ; that it 
 would have deprived millions, perhaps, of our own countrymen in 
 Europe of a home upon this continent, except upon conditions 
 which, though many hundreds of thousands have been constrained 
 to accept them, are of an exceedingly onerous and degrading char- 
 acter. I have long been sensible of errors committed during that 
 period to which the intended amnesty applies. No punishment that 
 power could inflict or nature sustain would have equalled the regrets 
 I have felt on account of much that I did, said, wrote and pubHshed . 
 but the past cannot be recalled." * * ■* " There is not a living 
 man on this continent who more sincerely desires that British Gov- 
 ernment in Canada may long continue and give a hand and a 
 welcome to the old countrymen than myself. Did I say so, or ask 
 an amnesty, seven or eight years ago, till under the convictions of 
 more recent experience? No; I studied earnestly the workings of 
 the institutions before me and the manners of the people, and looked 
 
41: what had beefi done, until few men, even natives, had been better 
 
 Schooled. The result is not a desire to obtain power and influence 
 
 here, but to help, if I can and all I can, the country of my birth." 
 
 ■ — William Lyon Mackenzie to Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the 
 
 Colonies, February 3rd, 1849. 
 
 * * * 
 
 (Extract from a pastoral address of Bishop Macdonell, dated 
 ist December, 1838.) 
 
 " In exculpation of the Canadian RebelKon little can be Baid. 
 The Canadians had no real grievances to complain of j they paid no 
 tythes but to their own clergy j no taxes or any other burthen but 
 what was imposed upon them by laws of their own making ; their 
 religion was not only free and uncontrolled, but encouraged and 
 protected by the Government when threatened to be shackled by 
 their own Catholic Assembly ; parishes were multiplied by the con- 
 sent of the Government, and subscriptions were raised by Protestants 
 and even by the representatives of His Britannic Majesty to build 
 their churches — in a word, the French-Canadians lived freer, more 
 comfortably and more independently than any other class of subjects 
 perhaps on the whole surface of the globe ; and they were perfectly 
 contented and seemed quite sensible of the blessings they enjoyed 
 Under the British Government until the folly and madness of Irreli- 
 gious Papineau, Atheistical Giraud and Camelion OCallaghan (whose 
 religion is as changeable as the colours of that animal) of the 
 Protestant Nelsons, Browns, Scots and others of that kidney, who, 
 taking advantage of the ignorance and simplicity of the unfortunate 
 habitants, made them believe that they were groaning under a galling 
 yoke which they did not feel but in imagination, and succumbing 
 under unsupportable burdens which had never been laid upon them, 
 that they were to found a glorious Canadian Republic which was to 
 surpass those of Greece and Rome, and even the overgrown 
 mammoth of our own days. 
 
 " An unfledged gang of briefless lawyers, notaries and other 
 
 pettifoggers and a numberless horde of doctors and apothecaries, 
 
 like the locusts of Egypt, spread themselves through the land, and 
 
 by working upon their prejudices against the British, and flattering 
 
 their vanity with the hopes of the distinguished situations which they 
 
 would occupy in the new repubHc, they unfortunately succeeded in 
 
 seducing but too many of the credulous Canadians. 
 
 ****** 
 * 
 
477 
 " The most inexcusable part, however, of the conduct of thie 
 Canadians was not to listen to the advice of their clergy, who knew. 
 well the intention of Papineau and his associates was to destroy their 
 influence and extinguish the Catholic religion, which he publicly 
 declared to be absolutely necessary, before liberty could be establish' 
 ed in Lower Canada. 
 
 ******* 
 
 " I have said that your loyalty is based upon the sacred obliga^ 
 tions of your holy religion. The Apostle commands us to obey and 
 be submissive to the powers that be. Tliat is to say, under the 
 government of a King, we must honour and obey the King, and give 
 unto Caesar the things that are Csesar's." 
 
 In a history of Ireland once written there Was a chapter on 
 Irish snakes, which shortly disposed of the matter by stating the 
 fact that there Were no snakes in Ireland. In similar manner might 
 one dispense with a discussion of the Rebellion in Upper Canada 
 of 1837-8 so far as Glengarry was concerned by simply mentioning 
 that there were no rebels in Glengarry ; but as its people had much 
 to do with the suppression of the Rebellion, not only in our own 
 Province, but in the Province of Lower Canada as well, it is now in 
 place to narrate the honourable and loyal part which our fathers 
 bore in the events of that critical period in the history of the country. 
 
 Rebels against the British Crown and those institutions which 
 flourish under its segis were not indigenous to the soil of Glengarry, 
 nor is that to be wondered at when we consider the character of the 
 early settlers, whose views had naturally descended to then- sons. 
 Those settlers Were in large part United Empire Loyalists, who had 
 laid down at the very inception of our system of government, when 
 the Upper Country of Canada was erected into a separate Province, 
 the principles upon which this country was thereafter to be governed, 
 and had declared that so far as the circumstances of the country 
 would permit, our Constitution was to be similar to that of the 
 Motherland, which had stood the test of ages, and which guaranteed 
 to those who lived under it as much freedoin and happiness as is 
 possible to be enjoyed under the subordination necessary to civilized 
 society. We have seen that the largest addition to those original 
 settlers was composed of the soldiers of a disbanded Highland Regi- 
 ment, the Glengarry Fencibles, brought to this country and established 
 
]»78 
 
 here m their hotaes by that loyal and devoted subject of the Crown, 
 their Chaplain, who soon became the first Catholic Bishop of Upper 
 Canada, who still survived, and who stood so high in the confidence 
 of successive representatives of the Sovereign. When the country 
 was invaded by the people of the United States, we have seen how 
 materially they contributed to its defence, how many of them died 
 and all risked their lives in order that our institutions should be 
 preserved intact. That the sons born of those parents were worthy 
 of them, and in their turn furnished an example for future genera' 
 tions to follow We shall now see. 
 
 Previous to the outbreak of the Rebellion, murmurings and mut- 
 terings had for some time been heard. Colonel Denison, from 
 whose able essay I have already quoted, shows that the weak point 
 in the policy of Colonel Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of the 
 Province, was that in his anxious desire to secure additional popuk' 
 tion for the Province^ his liberal offers of land induced considerable 
 emigration from the United States, many of these Yankee settlers, 
 coming from mere mercenary motives, and bringing with them 
 republican sentiments most obnoxious to the loyal element which 
 had opened up the first settlements in the Province, and it was in 
 large part owing to the known sentiments of these undesirable resid' 
 ents, and the assistance expected to be derived from them, that the 
 Americans hoped to make such an easy conquest of Canada when 
 War was declared in i8t2, and although the result of that war left 
 us in the enjoyment of the blessings of our free institutions, it did 
 not eradicate the views of the disloyal faction, though during the 
 war and for some time after, bearing in mind the example afforded 
 by the execution of the traitors hanged at Ancaster by the order ot 
 General Drummond, and the imprisonment of others, they took care 
 to a^oid public expression of them, yet they at the same time 
 instilled them into the minds of their children, and they bore fruit in 
 the Rebellion of 1837-8. These people and their descendants have 
 been a curse to this Province, and are a standing menace to British 
 institutions. 
 
 A numerical abstract of the names and residences of persons 
 arrested in Upper Canada and placed in confinement in the various 
 prisons throughout the Province on charges of insurrection or trea- 
 son from 5th Decembe;-, 1837, to the ist November, 1838, shows 
 the parts of the Province where these renegades were to be found. 
 
279 
 and where the embers of rebellion were ready to burst into blaze : 
 
 Eastern District, none. 
 
 Ottawa District, none. 
 
 Johnston District, 8. 
 
 Bathtirst District, none. 
 
 Prince Edward District, none. 
 
 Midland District, 75. 
 
 Newcastle District, 12. 
 
 Home District, 422. 
 
 Niagara District, 43. 
 
 Gore District, 90. 
 
 Talbot District, None. 
 
 London District, 163. 
 
 Western District, 11. 
 
 In the Province of Upper Canada but thirteen hundred regular 
 troops, including artillerymen, were scattered here and there from 
 Kingston to Penetanguishene, while in the Lower Province about 
 two thousand soldiers Were stationed at various points to overawe 
 nearly half a millioti of partially or wholly disaffected habitants. The 
 situation of affairs in the latter Province was set forth in Lord Gos- 
 ford's despatch of 2nd September, 1837, to Lord Glenelg, the Col- 
 onial Secretary. " It is evident," he wrote, " that the Papineau 
 faction are not to be satisfied with any concession that does not 
 place them in a more . favourable position to carry into effect their 
 ulterior objects, namely, the separation of this country from Eng- 
 land and the establishment of a republican form of government," 
 and he added that with deep regret he was under the necessity of 
 recommending the suspension of the Constitution of the Province. 
 Communications had been passing between the leaders of sedition 
 in both Provinces, and their aims, so far as the overthrow of existing 
 institutions was concerned, were identical. When Sir Francis Bond- 
 Head arrived in Toronto, and relieved Sir John- Colborne (who was 
 then appointed to the military command of both Provinces) of the 
 Government of Upper Canada, he found that not even the famous 
 Grievance Report contained a recital of all the wrongs the malcon- 
 tents had been able to furbish up, Mr. Marshall Spring Bidwell, a 
 very advanced " Reformer," stating to him in an interview that 
 " there were many grievances not detailed in that book which the 
 people had long endured with patience ; that there was no desire to 
 
28o 
 rebel, but a morbid feeling of dissatisfaction was daily increasing."(i) 
 On the 31st July, a precious document, styled "A Declaration of 
 Independence "■ was published by Mackenzie and others, the first 
 step in the road to insurrection, committing all who accepted it to 
 share the fortunes of the rebels in Lower Canada, and a permanent 
 vigilance committee was appointed. Mackenzie had promoted a 
 run on the Bank of Upper Canada, and the machinations of himself 
 and his friends had brought about the failure of the Commercial 
 Bank at Kingston and the Farmers' Bank at Toronto, while tbey 
 were daily declaiming against the loyal element as false Canadians, 
 Tories, pensioners, placemen, profligates, Orangemen, Churchmen, 
 spies, infoimers, brokers, gamblers, parasites and knaves ! who he 
 alleged were plundering and robbing with impunity, their feet on the 
 people's necks, responsible for all the woes and wailings, and pau- 
 perism and crimes, the ruin of the merchants and the want of the 
 settlers who, " seldom tasting a morsel of bread, were glad to gnaw 
 the bark off the trees to keep away starvation, and were leaving the 
 country in thousands for lands less favoured by nature but blest 
 with free institutions and just government." Had a few of these 
 impassioned gentry been summarily dealt with in the first instance 
 as Lount and Matthews were subsequently, there would have been 
 infinitely less Vfant and misery abroad, and many more valuable 
 lives would have been saved ; but, unfortunately, the Government 
 permitted an undue license, not only of speech and writing, but 
 allowed the vigilance committees to become the nuclei of military 
 organizations. Shooting matches became fashionable, a brisk busi- 
 ness in the manufacture of pikes was carried on, and drillinf^ was 
 practised more or less openly, while Mr. Lindsey states that an 
 occasional feu de joie (in Yonge street in honour of Papineau would 
 be made the subject of boast in the press. Mackenzie, meantime, 
 was appointed agent and secretary of the Central Vigilance Com- 
 mittee, a convention of delegates of the Reform unions was to be 
 held, and the functions of the Legislature usurped by these sons of 
 sediiion, and by the end of November fifteen hundred names were 
 returned to Mackenzie of persons enrolled and ready to take up 
 arms at an hour's notice. 
 
 In Lower Canada the crisis had been reached in October of 
 1837. A collision had occurred between the Governor. and the 
 Legislature, which had abrogated the Constitution by a continued 
 
 (i) jMcMullen's History, p. 433. 
 
iSandonment of its duties, had refused to vote the supplies, and" 
 nad consequently been prorogued. Meetings were held in different 
 parts of the country, one at St Charles, on the Richelieu, being 
 attended by over five thousand people. At St. Hyacinthe the tri- 
 colored flag was displayed, while the tavern keepers substituted 
 eagles for their former signs. Officers who had been dismissed from 
 the militia were elected by the habitants to command them again 
 Mobs paraded the streets of Montreal, singing revolutionary songs, 
 and nothing but the firm, loyal and patriotic stand of the Catholic 
 iiierarchy and clergy prevented the actual outbreak. M. Lartigue, 
 the Catholic Bishop of Montreal, who had previously addressed a 
 large body of ecclesiastics at Montreal to discourage insurrection, now, 
 " actuated by no external influence, but impelled solely by motives 
 of conscience," issued a pastoral enjoining the clergy and faithful to 
 discountenance all schemes of rebellion (i). The people, however, 
 became more md more restless as they felt the influence of the 
 clergy setting against them, and priests were insulted in their 
 churches, on one occasion in the presence of Papineau himself. Law 
 and religion were on the side of the Government, and rebellion and 
 infidelity on that of the misnamed Patriots. (2) The popular frenzy 
 was too great to be at once brought under control even by the 
 powerful influence of the Catholic Church, yet even so pronounced 
 an enemy of that Church as Mr. Lindsey admits that " there is rea- 
 son to believe that the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy 
 eventually did more than even the British troops to crush the in- 
 surrection in Lower Canada." 
 
 On the 6th November, 1837, a riot occurred in Montreal, the 
 " Sons of Liberty" being appropriately led by a Yankee, one Thomas 
 Sturrow Brown. The Loyalists dispersed the rioters, captured their 
 banners and some guns, and threw the printing material of their 
 organ, the " Vindicator," into the street On the 1 2th November a 
 proclamation was issued directing the suppression of seditious meet- 
 ings. Bodies of armed peasantry began to assemble near the Riche- 
 lieu River, particularly at St John and Chambly, and Sir John 
 Colborne, perceiving that the crisis was at hand, moved his head- 
 quarters to Montreal, where he concentrated all the troops that had 
 been withdrawn from Upper Canada and all that could be spared 
 from Quebec. 
 
 (e) lindsey's Ijk of Madceozie, IL, p. 49. 
 3j MGS£ull£n*5 History, p. 416. 
 
282 
 
 On the 23rd November a battle took place at St. Denis, the 
 insurgents being commanded, by Dr. Nelson and the troops by 
 Colonel Gore, in which the " Patriots" had considerably the advan- 
 tage, the troops being fatigued by a march of twelve miles through 
 the deep mud, and their ammunition being insufficient, while a 
 large nuniber of the Patriots were safely lodged in a large stone 
 store, four storeys high, from which they were enabled to keep up a 
 galling fire on the .troops, whose loss is stated to have been about 
 fifty, while of tht Patriots nineteen were killed. 
 
 In the meantime the loyal people of Glengarry were re-organizing 
 their Militia Regiments of which there were no less than four, the 
 First or Charlottenbiirg, Second or Lancaster, Third or Lochiel, and 
 Fourth or Kenyon. , They were respectively commanded by Colonels 
 Alexander Fraser, Donald Greenfield Macdonell, Alexander Chis - 
 holm and Angus Macdonell, all of whom fortunately had had previous 
 military experience. Colonel Fraser had held a commission in the 
 Canadian Fencible Regiment and had served through the War of 
 1812-15; Colonel Donald Macdonell had commanded one of the 
 flank companies of the Second Regiment of Glengarry Militia, as 
 well as being Assistant Quarter-Master-General of the Midland 
 District during that war, and had been gazetted to the command of 
 his Regiment in 1814; Colonel Chisholm had been an officer in the 
 Royal African Corps for several years before settling in Glengarry 
 in 18 16, and Colonel Angus Macdonell had seen much service during 
 1812-15, when he held a commission in the Glengarry Light Infantry 
 which, as we have seen, had been in almost every battle and 
 action in that campaign. The Toronto Almanac of 1839, which 
 contains the militia list, gives the officers of these Regiments, with 
 the dates of their respective commissions, though I believe the 
 Regiments were largely reorganized for the active service which they 
 were about to be called on to perform, some of the officers having 
 become disabled by reason of age and other causes from undertaking 
 further active service. I am unable, however, to procure further in- 
 formation than is furnished by the source mentioned. The force on 
 service in 1837-8 was paid by the Imperial Government though the 
 commissariat, and all returns made thereto, which accounts for so 
 little information being obtainable in the Militia Department. 
 
383 
 
 &LENGARRY MILITIA — 1ST REGIMENT (CHARLOTTENHXTRG.) 
 
 Colonel — A. Fraser, April i, 1822. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — A. McMartin, March 6, 1837, 
 Major — D. Fraser, January i, 1838. 
 
 Captains. 
 A. McGillis, June 19, 1822. J. McLennan, Jan. i, 1838 
 D. McPherson, June 20, 1822. A- McDougall, ditto. 
 P. Ferguson, April 13, 1830. D. McPherson, ditto. 
 J. Macdonald, Jan. i, 1838. A. Fraser, ditto. 
 
 W. Urquhart, ditto. F. Macdonald, ditto. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 W. McKenzie, ditto. J. Dingwall, ditto. 
 
 J. McDonald, ditto. J. Cumming, ditto. 
 
 P. Grant, ditto. J. McBain, ditto. 
 
 A. Macdonell, ditto. J. Hay, ditto. 
 
 D. Fraser, ditto. K. Murchison, ditto. 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Jno. Macpherson, ditto. James Grant, ditto. 
 
 A. Macpherson, ditto. D. Macpherson, ditto. 
 
 A. Macdonell, ditto. M. McGruer, ditto. 
 
 R. Maclennan, ditto. J. Curry, ditto. 
 
 J. Rose, ditto. D. Cameron, ditto. 
 
 Adjutant — J. Cumming, January i, 1838. 
 Quarter-Master — A. Campbell, January i, 1838. 
 Surgeon — D. E. Mclntyre, January "i, 1838. 
 
 SECOND REGIMENT MILITIA. 
 
 Colonel — Donald Macdonell, January i, 1822. 
 Lt. Col. — Duncan Macdonell, ditto. 
 Major — John Mclntyre, April 16, 18 12. 
 
 Captains. 
 A. McKenzie, April 21, 18x2. Alex Grant, Jan. 25, 1814. 
 W. McLeod, ditto. D. Macdonell, May 21, 18 14. 
 
 D. McMillan, April 25, 1812. P. Mclntyre, ditto. 
 
 J. Macdonell, Jan. 25, 1814. A. Wilkinson, Feb. 25, 1822. 
 Angus Kennedy, ditto. A. Macdonald, July 15, 1822. 
 
 Lieutenant 
 P. Cameron, April 23, 1812. R. McLeod, Oct. 20, 1815. 
 D. McMartin, April 25, 1812. J. Macdonell, Oct. 21, 1815. 
 A. S. Macdonell, ditto. J. McMartin, Oct. 22, 1815. 
 
 R. Macdonell, ditto. D. Chisholm, Oct. 24, 1815. 
 
 A. Macdonell, ditto. 
 
 Ensigns. 
 D. McPhail, Jan. 25, 1814. N. Mcintosh, Oct. 24, 1825. 
 J. Mclntyre, Jan. 25, 1814. R. Macdonell, Oct. 25, 1825. 
 D. Macdonell, Oct. 1,9, 1825. J. McGillis, Oct. 25, 1825. 
 A. Macdonell, Oct. 20, 1825. R. Macdonell, Oct. 27, 1825. 
 
284 
 
 M. McMartin, Oct., 21, 1825. J. Fraser, Oct. 28, 1825. 
 A. Kennedy, Oct. 22, 1825.' 
 Adjutant — D. Macdonell, October 19, 1814. 
 Quarter-Master — R. Macdonell, November 22, 1830. 
 
 THIRD GLENGARRY MILITIA. 
 
 (As given in the Militia List of 1838.) 
 
 Colonel — A. Chisholm, June 27, 1825. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel — George C. Wood, June 27, 1825. 
 
 Major — D. McDonald, December 20, 1837. 
 Captains. 
 
 D. McLeod, Nov. 13, 1820. T. Duncan, April 28, 1835. 
 
 A. Cameron, Nov. i, 1837. K. Mackenzie, April 28, 1835 
 
 A. Cattanach, Nov. 7, 1827. D. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 A. McNab, Nov. 9, 1827. A, Cameron, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 D. McGillivray, April 12, 1830. J. Stewart, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 Lieutenants. 
 ^ E. McMillan, Nov. 3, 1827. R. McGillivray, Dec. 20, 1830. 
 
 D. McDonald, Nov. 7, 1827. D. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837. — 
 
 D. McRae, April 13, 1830. W. McDonald, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 D. Macdonell, April 28, 1835. D. Macpherson, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 A. Macdonald, April 28, 1835. J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837. ^ 
 Ensigns. 
 
 T. Chisholm, Dec. 20, 1837. D. Macdonell, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 ' J. McMillan, Dec. 20, 1837. R- McLeod, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 A. Campbell, Dec. 20, 1837. 
 
 FOURTH REGIMENT GLENGARRY MILITIA. 
 
 Colonel — A. Macdonell,. June 27, 1837. 
 Lieutetiant-Colonel — A. Macdonell, October 18, 1837. 
 Major — A. Macdonell, October 18, 1837. 
 
 Captains. 
 G. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 1837. A. McKinnon, Oct. 21 1837. 
 N. Macdonell, Oct. 19, 1837. J. McKenzie, Oct. 23, 1837. 
 A. Macdonell, Oct. 20, 1837. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 A. Macdonell, Oct. 18, 1837. J- Macdonell, Oct. 21, 1837. 
 
 C. Chisholm, Oct. 19, 1837. D. Macdonell, Oct. 23, 1837. 
 K. McLennan, Oct. 20, 1837. 
 
 Ensigns. 
 A. Fisher, Oct. 18, 1837. ^- Macdonald, Oct. 21, 1837. 
 
 D. Macdonald, Oct. 19, 1837. Heury Hunt, Oct. 23, 1837. 
 J. McGillis, Oct. 20, 1837. 
 
 On the ist December, 1837, Colonel Goldie, A.D.C., wrote to 
 Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdonell, as senior officer of the Glen- 
 garry Militia, as follows : 
 
 Head-quarters, Montreal, i December, 1837. 
 
 Sir, — I am directed by Lieutenant-General Sir John Colborne 
 
to acquaint you that the District of Montreal, being in a sjate of 
 revolt and the rebels having again collected in force on the' Riche- 
 lieu and preparing defensive works,' he has Called on the Meutfenant- 
 Govemor of Upper Canada for assistance, and he trusts that sfeveral 
 Battalions will be ordered to march to our assistaricev 
 
 The Lieutenant-General thinks that measures should be adopted 
 to keep up the communication with Upper Canada) by the Coteau 
 du Lac. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 
 Thos. Leigh Goldie. A.D.C. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell, Second Glengarry Militia, Cornwall. 
 
 Colonel Macdonell immediately notified the commanding olS- 
 cers of the several regiments, took such otiier active steps as were 
 necessary, and knowing full well how readily any call would be re- 
 sponded to, wrote to Sir John Colbome for further instructions. In 
 answer he received the following : 
 
 Headquarters, Montreal, December 8, 1837. 
 
 My Dear Sir, — I am desired by Lieutenant-General Sir John 
 Colbome to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the 6th instant, 
 that provided your march is sanctioned by the Lieutenant-Governor, 
 he is persuaded that the Glengarry battalions under your command 
 may render essential service to our cause by marching to the Coteau 
 du Lac to the ferry at Vaudreuil, opposite St. Anne's, at which 
 place arms and ammunition shall be forwarded to you. Afterwards 
 he would wish you to proceed through Vaudreuil by the Lake of the 
 Two Mountains to Point Fortune, to escort the arms which are 
 intended for the corps now forming at the Carillon under the direc- 
 tion of Mr. Forbes. On your arrival there you will receive further 
 orders respecting our operations against the rebels at St. Benoit and 
 Grand Brule. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 Thos. Leigh Goldie, A.D.C. 
 
 Colonel Donald Macdonell, com'g. Glengarry Militia. 
 
 Sir John Colbome had effectually suppressed the Rebellion in 
 that quarter before the Glengarry Regiments were able to proceed 
 to Lower Canada, his force consisting of the First Royals, Thirty- 
 Second and Eighty-Third Regiments, with a strong party of artil- 
 lery, the Queen's Light Dragoons (Provincial), the Montreal Volun- 
 teer Cavalry and Rifle Corps and other militia. At St. Eustache 
 some slight resistance was offered and a few lives lost. At St. Benoit 
 (Grand Brule) two hundred and fifty insurgents surrendered at dis- 
 cretion, and were for the most part dismissed, only the ringleaders 
 
288 
 being kept prisoners. The militfa appear to have destroyed consi- 
 derable property in retaliation for the injuries inflicted upon that of 
 volunteers and other loyal persons. Papineau and Wolfred Nelson 
 had now fled the country. 
 
 It will be observed thai the date of the first letter to Colonel 
 Macdonell, advising him of the call for assistance from Upper Can- 
 ada, was the ist December. In hirieteen days, two thousand men 
 from all parts of the County of Glengarry were, under arms at Lan- 
 caster, on the River St. Lawrence, ready to proceed to the relief of 
 the loyal people of the Lower Province. 
 
 Mr. Christie, in a note to volume 5, page 14, quotes as follows : 
 «' The Cornwall ' Observer ' of the 21st instant, mentions that on the 
 day previous the four Regipents of Glengarry Militia, mustering 
 about two thousand strong, assembled at Lancaster for the purpose 
 of marching down to Montreal, under the command of Colonels 
 Donald McDonell, Fraser, Chisholm and Angus McPonell. The 
 field-pieces belonging to the different Regiments were mounted on 
 strong sleighs, with horses and everything necessary for active service, 
 which,with flags and martial music of the pipes, formed a mostinte]> 
 esting spectacle. It was intended that the troops should march on 
 the 2ist, but an express arrived from Sir John Colborne with a com- 
 munication ' expressing his warmest thanks to the colonels of the 
 different regiments for their exertions and activity in this critical 
 period, and requesting them to inform the officers and men of these 
 brave Glengarry Regiments, that in consequence of the Rebellion 
 being put down he does not wish them to march from ttieir homes at 
 present.' ' We can appreciate the feeling of disappointment,' says 
 the Cornwall " Observer," •' with which this communication was re- 
 ceived by the hardy Highlanders, anxious as we know they are to 
 distinguish themselves as brave and loyal subjects of their Queen.' " 
 
aS; 
 
 CHAPTER 24. 
 
 Sir John Colborne Commissions Colonels Macdonell and 
 Fraser to Raise Two Battalions of Glengarry " Lads " 
 FOR Service in Lower Canada. — List of Officers of 
 " Lancaster Glengarry Highlanders." — Charlottenburg 
 Regiment Stationed at St. Philippe, and Lancaster 
 Regiment at Napierville. — Comments of the Montreal 
 " Herald " on their Appearance on their Return. — 
 General Clitherow Testifies to their Service and Effi- 
 CENCY. — Temporarily Relieved from Further Service. 
 
 The service of the Glengarry Militia were soon to be required 
 however. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, Sir John Colborne, on 
 the 15th January, 1838, wrote to Colonel Donald Greenfield Mac- 
 donell as follows : 
 
 Montreal, isth January, 1838. 
 "My Dear Sir, 
 
 " Our affairs in Upper Canada as regards the conduct of the 
 United States Government and people require that great exertion 
 should be made to place ourselves speedily in a strong defensive 
 position. 
 
 Do you think that you and Colonel Fraser could raise two bat- 
 talions of Glengarry lads for five or six months' general service ? 
 
 If you are of opinion that two corps of six hundred men could 
 be formed in a few weeks I authorize you to proceed in organizing 
 them immediately. 
 
 I remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 J. Colborne. 
 Colonel Macdonell, commanding Glengarry Militia. 
 
 A similar letter was on the same day addressed to Col. Fraser. 
 
 The Lancaster Regiment of Glengarry Highlanders, raised 
 imder the general orders of 8th January, 1838, and in pursuance of 
 the above letter of Sir John Colborne, was officered as follows : 
 
>88 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel — Donald Macdonell (Greenfield). 
 Major — Alexander Macdonell (Aberchalder). 
 
 Captains. 
 Donald Macdonell (Buidh), Ranald Macdonell, 
 
 Malcolm McMartin, Neil Macdonald, 
 
 George Macdonell (Greenfield), Allan Cameron. 
 
 Lieutenants. 
 Angus McDougall, Donald Chisholm, 
 
 Donald McDougall, John Stewart, 
 
 Thomas Oliver, Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Ensigns. 
 Alexander Macdonell, John Macdonell, 
 
 Alexander McGregor, Alexander Cameron, 
 
 Angus Kennedy, Donald Macdonell. 
 
 Adjutant — William Hayes. 
 Paymaster — Alexander Macdonell. 
 Quarter-Master — Angus Macdonell. 
 
 I am unable to give a list of the officers of the Charlottenburg 
 Regiment, which was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander 
 Fraser. His grandson most kindly placed at my disposal all the 
 papers connected with the corps, which have been most carefully 
 preserved, but unfortunately they do not contain the names of the 
 officers, nor was Judge Pringle, who, owing to his relation to Colonel 
 Eraser's family, was in even better position to have procured inform- 
 ation respecting the Regiment, able to procure a list when giving 
 those of other Regiments of Glengarry and Stormont. 
 
 On the 31st January, 1838, Colonel Gore addressed Colonel 
 Fraser as follows : 
 
 Montreal, January 31st, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — I am directed by His Excellency the Lieutenant General 
 Commanding to inform you, that, from the reports which have reached 
 him of the preparations of invasion from the lines that your services 
 may be required, and that if you can march your Regiment to Mont- 
 real, Sir John will immediately have arms served out to you 
 and you will be quartered in the L'Acadie district. 
 I have, etc., 
 
 Chas. Gore, 
 Deputy Quarter Master General. 
 To Colonel Fraser, 
 
 Commanding First Glengarry Regiment. 
 
 Colonel Eraser's (Charlottenburgh) Regiment was quartered at 
 St. Philippe, in the County of Laprairie. When Colonel Macdonell's 
 
289 
 
 (Lancaster) Regiment went dcwra I am unable to ascertain. It was 
 stationed at Napiefville, and both remained in Lower Canada during 
 the winter. 
 
 The Charlottenburg, Regiment i-etumed in March, the Mont- 
 real " Herald "of thje 29th of th^t month remarking, "One Regiment 
 of Glengarry Highlandere, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Fraser, arrived in town yesterday Irom St. Philippe, and created 
 nqite ? sensation as they marched through our streets to the martial 
 music of the spirit-stirring bagpipes. They mustered about five 
 hundred strong, and were generally considered as fine and efficient 
 a body of volunteers as could be produced in the Province, such 
 men as would ' do or die ' for their Queen and country. They are 
 en route for their homes, after having displayed their willingness to 
 defend with their lives the glorious institutions of their Fatherland 
 from the encroachment of internal traitors or foreign enemies." 
 
 Colonel Macdonell's Regiment remained until May. The 
 " Herald " of the ist May stated, " This day the Lancaster Regiment 
 of Glengarry Highlanders, under command of their Colonel, Donsld 
 preenfield Macdonell, marched into town en route to Upper Canada 
 from Napierville, where they were quartered since their arrival in 
 this Province during the winter. They are a fine body of men, and 
 presented a very military appearance." On the 2nd May they were 
 inspected by the Commanding Officer of the District of Montreal, 
 who directed the following letter to be addressed to Colonel Mac- 
 donell ; 
 
 Montreal, May 2nd, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — I am directed by the Maior-General commanding the Dis- 
 trict to request that you will accept and convey to the officers, non- 
 commissioned officers and privates of the Lancaster Glengarry 
 Highlanders the expression of his best thanks for the soldier-like 
 appearance that they presented at the inspection yesterday. Major 
 General Clitherow directs me to assure you that it will afiFord him 
 great pleasure to be enabled to report most favourably to His Ex- 
 cellency the Commander of the Forces on the appearance and effi- 
 ciency of this fine corps, and he doubts not that should their active 
 services at any future period be required, the Lancaster Glengarry 
 Highlanders will maintain the high reputation which they have now 
 so deservedly acquired. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 
 James John Hamilton, 
 Major and Major of Brigade. 
 
390 
 
 At the inspection of the Charlottenburg Regiment by Sir John 
 Colbome and his staff, one of the men, Lewis Grant, who stood 6 feet 
 7 inches, carried a brass three-pound field-piece on his shoulder 
 when the Regiment marched past.(i) 
 
 Having returned to Upper Canada they were disembodied in 
 accordance with the: following letter : 
 
 Montreal, nth May, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — With reference to my letter addressed to you on the and 
 instant, I have this day received the direction of the Commander of 
 the Forces to inform you that the large reinforcements which have 
 arrived at Quebec from England enable His Excellency to dispense 
 with the services of the corps which you have so zealously brought 
 forward in time of danger and alarm for the defence of the Province, 
 which measure becomes the more desirable as, from the advanced 
 period of the season, many of the men must be anxious to return to 
 their homes. His Excellency is therefore pleased to direct that the 
 Lancaster Glengarry Higlanders under your command shall be dis- 
 embodied on the I sth instant, receiving pay, however, to the end of 
 the month. 
 
 His Excellency has been pleased to grant permission for the 
 men of your corps to retain the arms, etc., which they have in their 
 possession, as well as a certain proportion of ammunition. (After 
 instructions as to the care to be taken of the arms and ammunition 
 the letter proceeds :) 
 
 The Commander of the Forces requests that the officers, non- 
 commissioned officers and men of the Lancaster Glengarry High- 
 landers will accept his sincere thanks for the important service 
 which they have rendered, and he is firmly persuaded that should 
 the Provinces be ever again in danger of revolt or attack from the 
 lawless banditti from which it has lately been rescued, that they will 
 be the first to come forward in their defence. 
 
 His Excellency also grants permission to the Loyal Volunteer 
 Corps to retain their clothing, which must, however, be preserved 
 with the greatest care, as in the event of their services being required 
 on any future occasion no further supply will take place. 
 
 The officers and men of the disbanded Loyal Volunteers are to 
 remain upon the list according to the designation of their respective 
 corps, as unpaid volunteer corps. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 
 W. P. Christie, 
 Provincial Military Secretary. 
 
 A letter similar in effect was addressed to Colonel Eraser, under 
 date 19th April, 1838, when the Charlottenburg Regiment was 
 released from further service. 
 
 (i) Judge Pringle, p. 260. 
 
29^ 
 
 CHAPTER 26. 
 
 Departure of Lord Durham. — Renewal of InsurrectioiJ itf 
 Lower Canada. — Bishop Macdonell's Loyal Address. — 
 Seizure of the "Henry Brougham" at Beauharnois.— 
 Glengarry Regiments Called out a Third Time. — March 
 ON BeaCharnois. — Its Easy Capture. — Appreciation op 
 Sir John Colborne. — Congratulations of Lieutenant- 
 Governor Upper Canada. — Ordered to Upper Canada 
 TO Repel Inyasion of Brigands. — Battle of the Wind- 
 mill. 
 
 Lord Durham arrived at Quebec on 27th May to assume charge 
 of the Government and the reinforcements which had been sent from 
 England rendered the probabihties of successful revolt more slender 
 than ever. The Special Council summoned by Lord Durham had 
 banished Wolfred Nelson and other leading insurgents to Bermuda, 
 and had threatened the penalty of death on Papineau and others 
 should they return to Canada. While the Home Government ap- 
 proved of this course the Imperial Parliament censured him, and Lord 
 Durham accordingly resigned and returned to England on the 3rd 
 November, 1838, leaving Sir John Colborne, the Commander of the 
 Forces, again in charge of the Government, and who was shortly 
 thereafter appointed Governor-General. 
 
 The departure of Lord Durham would appear to have been the 
 signal for another outbreak. Mackenzie and other refugees in the 
 United States had been at their dastardly work of agitation, and 
 countenanced by the unprincipled portions of the American border 
 population, (1) secret associations had been formed along the frontier 
 
 (1 ) " Hunters' Lodges " had been formed in various towns and places on the frontier in 
 the United States, according to the statements of prisoners taken at Prescott, among othets at 
 Oswego, Salina, Liverpool, Syracuse, Auburn, Great Bend, Palema, Dexter, Evans* Mills, Wa- 
 tertown, Brownville, Lerayvitle, Sackett's Harbour, Cape Vincent, Cbaumont, Millen's Bay, 
 Alexandria Bay, Orleans, Flat Rock, Ogdensburg, Rossie Village, These societies are supposed 
 to have originated in the State of Vermont in May, 1838. Their objects are shewn by the nature 
 of the oath each " Hunter" had to take : " 1 swear to do my utmost to promote repub- 
 lican institutions and ideas throughout the world — to cherish them, to defend them; 
 and especially to devote mvself to the propagation, protection and defence of these institutions 
 in North America, I pledge my life, my property and my sacred honor to the association. I 
 bind myself to its interests and I promise, until death, that I will attack, combat and help to 
 destroy, by all means that my superior may think proper, every power or authority of Royal 
 origin upon this continent, and especially never to rest till all tyr.ints of Britain cease to have ' 
 any dominion or footing whatever in North America So help me God," 
 
292 
 of both Canadas and a combined system of invasion and insurrection 
 organized. It Would appear, therefore, that the country was again 
 to be plunged into turmoil, and steps were taken to place the militia 
 regiments in readiness for the emergency. It was under these cir- 
 cumstances that Bishop Macdonell issued the following address 
 to the people of Glengarry : 
 My Dear Countrymen, 
 
 I am far from thinking it necessary, in the present critical situ- 
 ation of your country, to address you on the score of loyalty to your 
 Sovereign, and uncompromising attachment to Britain and the 
 British Constitution. 
 
 Forty years' intercourse and intimate connexion with you, in 
 various parts of the British Empire, where your active services have 
 Ijeen of so much importance in restoring peace and tranquility to 
 Jreland, in repellifag the invasion of the Americans on these Pro- 
 vinces, and in checking the progress of Canadian rebellion last win- 
 ter, leave no doubt on my mind that you will turn out to a man on 
 the present occasion, and join with your loyal fellow subjects in 
 defence of your wives and children and valuable properties against 
 the attacks of a heartless gang of pirates and rebels. 
 
 When a Prime Minister of England in 1802 expressed to me 
 his reluctance to permit Scotish Highlanders to emigrate to the Can- 
 adas, from his apprehension that the hold the Parent State had of 
 the Canadas was too slender to be permanent, I took the liberty of 
 assuring him that the most effectual way to render that hold strong 
 and permanent was to encourage and facilitate the emigration of 
 Scots Highlanders and Irish Catholics into these Colonies. 
 
 Your brave and loyal conduct during the last war with the 
 United States of America verified my prediction, and so highly 
 appreciated were your services as to obtain the approbation and 
 thanks of his late Majesty George IV. 
 
 On review of my long intercourse with you, it is to me a most 
 consoling reflection that I have been so fortunate as to possess the 
 confidence of you all, Protestants as well as Catholics, because on 
 all occasions when my humble exertions could forward your inter- 
 rests, I never made any distinction between Protestants and Catho- 
 lics, and I have no hesitation to declare that among my warmest, 
 my most sincere, and most attached friends, are persons of a 
 different persuasion from my own. 
 
 To the credit and honour of Scots Highlanders be it said, that 
 the difference of religion was never known to weaken the bonds of 
 friendship, and Catholics and Protestants have always stood 
 shoulder to shoulder, nobly supporting one another during the 
 fiercest tug of battle. 
 
 It is not a little to your credit. Glengarry men, Protestants and 
 Catholics, that you have hitherto carefully abstained from entering 
 
293 
 into the existing overheated (and certainly in the present critical 
 state of the Province), unseasonable discussion of your claims upon 
 Government, reposing with a generous confidence on the impartial 
 justice of a noble-minded and magnanimous Sovereign, whose plea- 
 sure and true happiness is to see all her loyal subjects satisfied and 
 contented, and their faithful services rewarded as they deserve. 
 
 Fear not, my friends, that you whose fathers have been so much 
 distinguished in the conquest of the Canadas, and who have your- 
 selves contributed so powerfully to the defence of them from foreign 
 and domestic enemies, shall be forgotten by a grateful and generous 
 Sovereign in the distribution of rewards. 
 
 The loyal and martial character of Highlanders is proverbial. 
 The splendid achievements of your ancestors under a Montrose and 
 a Dundee in support of a fallen family proved their unshaken ad- 
 herence to honour and principle, acquired for them the admiration of 
 their opponents, and secured for you, their posterity, the confidence 
 of a liberal and discerning Government. 
 
 You have indeed reason to be proud of such ancestors, and your 
 friends have reason to be proud of your conduct since the first of 
 you crossed the Atlantic. 
 
 When the American Colonies broke their allegiance and re- 
 belled against Britain, your fathers and such of you as are yet alive 
 of those Royal Emigrants, rallied around the standard of your 
 Sovereign, fought your way through the wilderness to the banks of 
 the St. Lawrence, and gallantly supported the British authorities in 
 Canada. Hov,' gratifying it is to think that the martial character 
 transmitted to you by your forefathers has not been tarnished nor 
 disgraced. Queenston Heights, Lundy's Lane^ Chrysler's Farm and 
 Ogdensburgh will be standing monuments of your bravery and 
 loyalty, while the history ot the Canadas shall continue to be read. 
 
 The renowned veteran, Sir John Colborne, Commander of the 
 Forces, acknowledged and admired the promptitude and alacrity 
 with which you flew to arms last winter, and volunteered your 
 services to Lower Canada, where your presence effectually checked 
 the spirit of revolt for the time, and would in all probability have 
 extinguished it in that part of the country, had your corps been kept 
 on foot. 
 
 Your countryman and friend. General Macdonell, whose brows 
 are encircled with unfading laurels of many a hard- fought battle, 
 travelled hundreds of miles last summer to Glengarry, for the plea- 
 sure of inspecting your Militia Regiments on their respective 
 parades. Think with what satisfaction he will view them on the 
 field of honour this winter, and by your valor and bravery see you 
 contribute so much to the preservation of the Canadas. 
 
 That nothing may be wanting to cheer and encourage you in 
 the glorious contest in which you are now engaged, the brave and 
 gallant Colonel Carmichael, whose confidence in your loyalty and 
 courage can only be equalled by his regard and attachment to you 
 
294 
 
 all, will direct your operations against the enemy, and will, I fee 
 confident, have the honour and satisfaction of making the most 
 favourable report of your gallantry in the field. 
 
 That the God of Battles may be your protector, and grant 
 success to the righteousness of your cause, is the ardent prayer and 
 sincere wish of your obedient servant, 
 
 Alexander Macdonell. 
 
 Kingston, ist December, 1838. 
 
 On the rst November Sir John Colborne wrote to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Turner, Particular Service, at Cornwall as follows : 
 
 Quebec, November i, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — I request that you will explain to the officers of the 
 militia in the district in which you are stationed that Canada being 
 threatened with an attack from the American frontier by a horde of 
 rapacious brigands, every man that can bear arms, I am persuaded, 
 will not hesitate to join his regiment, and prepare to repel the wicked 
 and unprovoked invasion with which the Provinces are threatened, 
 and which, no doubt, will be immediately attempted. The loyal 
 inhabitants may be assured that the Mother Country will no longer 
 suffer these Provinces to be kept in a state of suspense and alarm 
 to which they have been recently exposed i but that the strength of 
 the Empire will be .exerted fully to put an end to the disgraceful 
 proceedings on the frontier. I have, &c., 
 
 J. Colborne. 
 
 On the 3rd November the habitants between the Yamaska and 
 Richelieu Rivers had assembled under arms at St. Ours, St, Charles 
 and St. Michaels, while about four thousand had congregated at 
 Napierville under the command of Dr. Nelson between the 5th and 
 6th. On the 4th Sir John Colborne by proclamation declared mar- 
 tial law again in force in the District of Montreal and on the previous 
 day the Special Council had been summoned to meet on the 9th. 
 Large numbers of people were from day to day placed under arrest 
 and the gaol at Montreal was filled to overflowing. The troops 
 under Sir James Macdonell at once proceeded to Napierville, where 
 they arrived on the morning of the loth, to, find that the insurgents 
 had decamped the night previous, aud a portion of them having 
 been attacked by the militia near Rouse's Point, were overpowered 
 and driven across the border, three hundred stand of arms and one 
 field piece being taken. An engagement took place between the 
 volunteers and the insurgents at Odell Town, where the latter 
 suffered heavily. 
 
 On the 2nd November the insurgents seized the steamer "Henry 
 Brougham" at Beauhamois, and took the crew and passengers prison- 
 
295 
 ers, among whom, Judge Pringle states, was D. E. Mclntyre, then 
 Surgeon in Colonel Eraser's (Charlottenburg) Regiment (the present 
 Sheriff of these Counties),Donald McNicol, of Williamstown, John S. 
 McDougal, Duncan McDonald (Lachlan) and others. They next 
 surrounded the house of the Seigneur, Mr. Ellis, and made prisoners 
 of its inmates. The Glengarry Regiments was immediately or- 
 dered to Beauhamois. 
 
 Assistant Quarter-Master General's Office, 
 
 Montreal, 5th November, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — I am directed by the Commander of the Forces to 
 acquaint you that Colonel' Phillpotts has proceeded to Lancaster for 
 the purpose of conveying His Excellency's instructions to Major 
 Carmichael to assemble as many Battalions of the Glengarrys as he 
 can collect, and pass over with them from Point au Baudet to Cartier, 
 in Hungry Bay. 
 
 The company of the Seventy-First and four companies of the 
 Ninety-Third Highlanders, which are supposed to be on their return 
 to Montreal from the Upper Province, ha\e been ordered to join in 
 this movement and to pass over with the Glengarry Regiments. 
 
 The object of this movement is to disperse the rebels assembled 
 at Beauhamois. 
 
 A large force of regulars are about to march against the rebels 
 at L'Acadie and Chateauguay, which will probably have the effect 
 of drawing the rebels from your front, and the Commander of the 
 Forces is so anxious that your movement should not be delayed 
 that he thinks it possible you may undertake it with safety without 
 either the company of Seventy-First or those of the Ninety- Third 
 should they not have arrived. 
 
 I have, etc., 
 
 G. D. Hall, Major, 
 Assistant Quarter-Master General. 
 Colonel Macdonell, Commanding Glengarrys. 
 
 Colonel Phillpotts wrote to Colonel Fraser, commanding First 
 (Charlottenburg Regiment) Glengarry Militia, from Coteau du Lac 
 on the same day (5th November), requesting hip to assemble as 
 many men of his Regiment as could conveniently leave their homes, 
 and march them to that place, stating that there was every reason to 
 believe that it was the intention of the rebels to cross over from 
 Beauhamois to Coteau and cut off the communication between the 
 Upper and Lower Provinces. The letter then proceeds : 
 
 The Commander of the Forces has, therefore, directed me to 
 inform the brave and loyal Militia of Glengarry that he depends 
 upon them to prevent this, and if circumstances should render it 
 necessary to march to Vaudreuil, St. Annes and Point Claire in order 
 
ag6 
 to keep that communicasion completely open, while he, by cross- 
 ing over to Laprairie, Caughnawaga and Chateauguay, disperses the 
 rebels on that side of the St. Lawrence and restores tranquility to 
 the Province. 
 
 A postscript added that in order to secure fthe County of 
 Glengarry from aggression during the absence of those who left in 
 pursuance of the above directions, it was necessary that Colonel 
 Fraser himself should remain at Lancaster in command of all those 
 who could not conveniently leave their homes, but who were well 
 able to defend that part of the Province from invasion, and stated 
 that " in confiding this very important duty to you. His Excellency 
 is aware, from your well known vigilance and zeal, that it could not 
 be entrusted to abler hands." Major McMartin was directed to 
 march the Regiment to Coteau du Lac. 
 
 On the 29th October previous. Colonel Fraser had received in- 
 structions from Colonel Turner, K.H., commanding the Eastern- Dis- 
 trict (acting under the orders of the Government of Upper Canada) 
 to call out immediately six hundred men of his Battalion, detaching 
 two companies of one hundred each to Lancaster, two to Coteau du 
 Lac and two in reserve at Williamstown, the field-piece to be taken 
 to Lancaster, and in case of alarm or landing of banditti three 
 rounds to be fired as a signal for all to turn out, and all suspicious 
 persons who might land to be detained. This was a temporary 
 arrangement until a draft from all the regiments in Glengarry should 
 take place to complete 1200 men. How this third call to arms was 
 responded to in Glengarry is stated by Mr. McMuUen in his history : 
 
 On the report of the rebellion reaching Glengarry the County 
 rose en masse, the loyal Highlanders burning with but one desire, 
 to get an opportunity to crush it. They came to Colonel Car- 
 mi chad's headquarters in hundreds, beseeching him to give them 
 the privilege of striking a blew for their Queen and British connec- 
 tion. As fast as he got them enrolled and supplied them with arms 
 he sent them by steamers to Coteau, where he meant to start from.(i) 
 
 The Glengarry Regiments were landed at Hungry Bay on the 
 loth November, and marched immediately upon Beauharnois. The 
 rebels, after a brief resistance, abandoned the position and iled. 
 Colonel Carmichael, who was in command, stated in the following 
 
 report what took place : 
 
 Beauharnois, 10 November, 10 p.m. 
 Sir, — I have the honour to acquaint you, for the information of 
 His Excellency the Commander of the Forces, that in conjunction 
 
 (1) Page 342. 
 
297 
 with Colonel Phillpotts a detachmeat of an officer of the Engineers, 
 twenty-two sappers and miners, one captain, three subalterns, four 
 sergeants, two buglers and 121 rank and file 71st Regiment, with, 
 upwards of 1000 Glengarry men were landed at Hungry Bay this 
 morning, marched and took Beauharnois, rescued all the prisoners 
 with the exception of Messrs. EUice, Brown, Norman, Ross, Ner- 
 val, Bryson, Hondslow and Surveyor, supposed to be at Chateau- 
 guay, with the loss of one man killed and three wounded of the 71st 
 Regiment. The men are much fatigued, and we wait here for or- 
 ders. I have, &c., 
 
 L. Carmichael. Colonel P.S. 
 
 Major Hall, Assist. Qr.-Mr.-Gen'l. 
 
 The Glengarry Regiments had been but a few days at Beauhar- 
 nois when they were ordered to return to Upper Canada, the fron- 
 tier of the lower part of the Province being invaded by Ameri- 
 can sympathizers. Their services at Beauharnois were recognized 
 in the following general order : 
 
 Headquarters, Montreal, November 17, 1838. 
 
 * * * The prompt assembly and movements of the brave 
 Glengarry Regiments under Colonels Macdonell and Eraser, and of 
 the Stormont Militia under Col. Donald ^neas Macdonell, and their 
 march to Beauharnois, has had the effect of dispersing the rebels in 
 that quarter. The great activity and judgment which has been 
 evinced by Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor in his defence of the post of 
 Odelltown and by Colonels Carmichael, Campbell and Phillpotcs at 
 Beauharnois reflect the highest credit on these officers. * * * 
 
 John Eden, D.A.G. 
 
 Sir John Colborne, in his despatch to Lord Glenelg, November 
 ri, 1838, mentioned Colonels Macdonell and Eraser and the 
 promptitude with which they, in conjunction with the other officers, 
 carried out the movement on Beauharnois, while Lord Glenelg, in 
 acknowledging the despatch, stated that while Her Majesty sincerely 
 deplored the events which had recently occurred in that part of her 
 dominions, she has contemplated with the greatest satisfaction the 
 zeal, promptitude and gallantry with which her loyal subjects in both 
 Provinces had come forward for the suppression of the insurrection 
 and the delence of their country. That the steadiness and valour 
 displayed by the militia and volunteers both in Upper and Lower 
 Canada was deserving of the highest praise, and that he (Lord 
 Glenelg) was commanded to convey to them through Sir John Col- 
 borne Her Majesty's sense of their valuable services, which was 
 accordingly done by Sir John Colborne on the i2lh January, 1839. 
 
398 
 His Excellency Major-General Sir George Arthur, Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Upper Canada, bore testimony to the conduct of the 
 Glengarry Regiments as follows : 
 
 DISTRICT GENERAL ORDERS. 
 
 Toronto, November 19, 1838. 
 
 His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor has much pleasure in 
 congratulating Colonel Carmichael, Particular Service, and the loyal 
 and gal-lant Glengarry Militia Regiments under Colonels Macdonell, 
 Fraser, Chisholm and Macdonell, whose ready aid in moving into 
 the Lower Province mainly contributed to the recapture of the 
 " Henry Brougham," and has earned for them the high approbation 
 of the Commander of the Forces. 
 
 After having, as stated, only about time to recover from the 
 fatigue of their march to Beauharnois, orders were issued to the 
 Glengarry Regiments to return to the Upper Province. The follow- 
 ing letter was addressed to Colonels Macdonell and Fraser : 
 
 Beauharnois, November 14, 1838. 
 
 Sir, — Despatches having been received from Colonel Turner, 
 commanding at Cornwall, reporting that Upper Canada has been 
 invaded by a lawless band of brigands from the United States, who 
 have landed near Johnstown between five and eight hundred men, 
 with eight pieces of cannon. His Excellency the Commander of the 
 Forces has therefore directed that your Regiment of brave Glengarry 
 Highlanders shall be immediately relieved from duty in this Pro- 
 vince, and proceed forthwith to Lancaster, where they will receive 
 further orders from Colonel Turner. 
 
 In communicating to you the above orders, I am directed to 
 convey to the Regiment under your command the warmest thanks 
 of the Commander of the Forces for their zeal and alacrity in turning 
 out from their homes at such short notice at this inclement season 
 of the year, and for the patience and perseverance with which they 
 have performed the very important duty required of them, and I am 
 further directed to request that you will be pleased to impress both 
 upon the officers and men the absolute necessity of their keeping 
 together on their return to Upper Canada, and to desire most posi- 
 tively that no man will think of leaving his regiment under any pre- 
 tence whatever until you receive authority from His Excellency the 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada to dismiss them. I have, &c., 
 
 George Phillpotts, A.Q.M.G. 
 
 Early in the same month (November) unusual numbers of 
 strangers were congregated about Syracuse, Oswego, Sackett's 
 Harbor and Watertown, and large quantities of arms and warlike 
 stores were concealed about these towns. Great activity was dis- 
 played among the Hunter's Lodges, which counted among their 
 
299 
 
 office-holders members of the American Congress, generals in thefr 
 army, Governors of States and other leading citizens, the " Brother 
 Jonathan " newspapers alleging that sixty thousaiid members were 
 sworn to relieve the continent from "the absurdities of monarchy," 
 and towards which philanthropic scheme large sums of money had 
 been collected. Floating rumours had been in circulation for several 
 days that an attack might be expected in the vicinity of Prescott, 
 and on the night of Sunday, the nth November, information was 
 received that a large number of armed men had embarked on the 
 steamer " United States,'' and two schooners were rapidly approach- 
 ing the town. Their plan of landing ttiem miscarried and the 
 vessels parted company. One of them crossed over to Ogdensburg 
 and grounded on the flat at the mouth of the harbour, the others 
 dropping down the river,anchored about raids tream,opposite the Wind- 
 mill (i). This building stood upon a bluff rocky point a mile and a 
 half below Prescott. It was of circular form, massively constructed 
 of stone, its walls three and a half feet in thickness and eighty feet 
 high, its interior divided into several storeys, the small windows of 
 which admirably served the purpose of loop holes. It stiU stands, 
 an object of much interest to passengers on the steamers down the 
 St. Lawrence, and is now used as a lighthouse. Around it stood a 
 number of stone houses, and nearly all the fences in the neighbour- 
 hood were of the same material. The banditti, concealed under the 
 hatchets of the schooner, effected a lodgment here on Monday even- 
 ing, and were soon joined by numbers who crossed from Ogdensburg 
 in sraill boats. The night was spent in fortifying the Wind-mill and 
 adjaceat premises, under the direction of Von Schoultz, a Polish 
 refugee, who was, I believe, an engineer by profession. This mis- 
 guided man, totally ignorant of the situation of affairs in Canada, and 
 believing that its people were afflicted with a tyranny and mis- 
 government similar to that which prevailed in his native Poland, 
 was the only one of these rapscallions for whose ultimate fate one 
 can feel tlie slightest sympathy. 
 
 The attack naturally evoked great excitement in the vicinity. 
 Early on Monday morning a little steamer, the " Experiment," 
 under command of Lieutenant Fowell, R.N., was despatched from 
 Brockvilie to the assistance of their neighbours. She was armed 
 with two small cannon, and continued during the day to make it 
 
 (i) Croil's History of Dundas, from which I t^ke the account of this eveaC. 
 
300 
 warm For die sympathizers as they crossed and re-crossed from 
 Ogdensburg. The steamer " United States " was seized by a gang 
 of ruffians at her dock in Ogdensburg, and utilized during the day 
 in carrying arms, ammunition and men to the Wind-mill. As she 
 Was returning from her last trip a shot from the " Experiment ' 
 knocked the head off her pilot. Late at night the British steamers 
 *' Queen " and " Cobourg " arrived, having on board a party of 
 marines and regulars, amounting in all to seventy men. The same 
 night a detachment of the Glengarry militia, under Captain George 
 Macdonell (Greenfield), also arrived, and lay on the ground during 
 a heavy rain, every moment expecting an attack from the brigands. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Gowan with a detachment of the 9th 
 Provincial Battalion, numbering 140 men, also arrived at Prescott. 
 On Tuesday morning early, a battalion of Dundas militia, consisting 
 t)f 300 men, commanded by Colonel John Crysler, made their ap- 
 pearance, and were soon after joined by a part of the ist Grenville 
 miUtia, when the following disposition was made ; The left wing, 
 consisting of 30 marines under Lieut. Parker, part of Captain Mac- 
 donell's Glengarry volunteers, and a portion of the Grenville and 
 Dundas militia under Colonel R. D. Fraser, took up a portion along 
 the edge of the Woods, where the enemy had posted their piquets, 
 and drove them in in gallant style. The right wing, consisting 
 of forty men of the Eighty-Thirty Regiment of the ling, part of 
 Colonel Gowan's battalion, sixty men under Edmonston, and part of 
 the Dundas Militia, the whole under the command of Colonel 
 Young, proceeded along the bank of the river, and, having advanced 
 to within a few rods of the Wind-mill, encountered a sharp fire from 
 the enemy. The action on the left commenced by a galling fire from 
 the brigands posted behind the stone walls in rear of the mill. The 
 British being upon the rising ground, were placed at great disadvant- 
 age from their exposed situation, nevertheless they advanced steadily, 
 in double quick time, loading and firing with great precision. The 
 euemy were driven from their shelter in great confusion, and, retreat- 
 ing some distance, took up a position behind another stone wall. 
 From this they were dislodged in like manner, and finally were 
 driven into their citadel the Wind-mill and the adjacent stone build- 
 ings, from which they maintained a vigorous fire upon their assailants, 
 who suffered severely from the sharp shooters that were posted in the 
 upper storeys of the mill. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a barn 
 which had afforded shelter to the British was burned by the patriots. 
 
301 
 During the remainder of the day, both parties kept up an irregular 
 discharge of musketry without coming to close quarters. The dead 
 and wounded lay on the field till next morning, when the British sent 
 a flag of truce to bury their dead, and both parties were engaged for 
 a short time in performing this duty. 
 
 Wednesday and Thursday were passed at the Wind-mill, in 
 comparative inaction, the British Waiting for reinforcement and for 
 guns of sufficient calibre to reduce the place ; the brigands remained 
 locked up in their prison, and kept up a desultory fire from the 
 windows of the buildings. On Friday, at half-past twelve, the 
 Canadians were relieved from their anxiety ; three steamers hove in 
 sight, which proved to be the "William IV.," the "Brockville," and the 
 " Cobourg," having on board the Eighty-Third Regiment of the line, 
 and a detachment of the Royal Artillery, with three twenty-four- 
 pounders. The Eighty Third, with the heavy cannon, took up a 
 position in rear of the Wind-mill, and iminediately opened up a 
 heavy fire upon the rebels, which dislodged them from the stone 
 houses, and drove them all in the mill. At the same time the three 
 steamers assailed them from the river side. 
 
 Within half an hour after the cannonade commenced, a white 
 flag was seen to wave from the top of the tower, but it waved in 
 vain, and was at last nailed to the outside of it. The exasperated 
 British continued to pour in deadly volleys upon them, and every 
 building in the vicinity of the mill was set fire to, in order to con- 
 centrate their attack upon I he enemy's main fortress. " The flames 
 raging in the gloom of the night, showed at a great distance the 
 position of the combatants, and, shedding a lurid light upon all 
 around, had an effect at once awful and sublime.'' At length the 
 firing ceased, when the severely chastised rebels marched out, and 
 surrendered at discretion. Von Schoultz, and many others, were 
 found concealed among the bushes, and dragged from their hiding 
 places. The number of prisoners who surrendered was one hundred 
 and ten, besides those who had been taken during the siege. In the 
 mill were found several hundred kegs of powder, a large quantity of 
 cartridges, pistols and swords, and two hundred stand of arms, most 
 of which were of costly and very superior workmanship ; many of 
 the swords and dirks were silver mounted, and their handles orna- 
 mented with elaborate carving. A flag, composed of the finest tex- 
 ture, valued at $ioo, was also taken, on which was exhibited a full 
 
3oa 
 spread eagle, beautifully executed, surmounted by one star, and be 
 aeath were the words wrought in silk, " Liberated by the Onondaga 
 Hunters." The total loss of the rebels in killed and wounded was 
 aever accurately ascertained, as numbers of them were taken across 
 the river ^ not less than forty, however, are known to have been killed, 
 among these was a young officer, a son of General Brown, and two 
 other officers, in. the pocket of one of them was found a list of pros- 
 cribed persons in Prescott, who were to have suffered death. The 
 official return of the British loss was two officers, eleven rank and 
 file killed, of whom four were of the Loyal Glengarry Highlanders, 
 four officers and sixty-three men wounded. The officers killed were, 
 
 W. S. Johnston, Lieutenant Eighty-Third Regiment ; and 
 
 Dulmage, Lieutenant Second Grenville Militia. The officers wound- 
 ed were, Ogle R. Gowan, Lieutenant-Colonel, Ninth Provincial 
 Battalion, slightly j Lieutenant Parker, Royal Marines, slightly j 
 John Parlow, Lieutenant Second Dundas Militia, severely, and 
 Angus Macdonell, Ensign Loyal Glengarry Highlanders, slightly. 
 Of the Dundas Militia four were killed and seven wounded. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, in District General 
 Orders of i-gth November, 1838, thus recognized the services of 
 those who delivered the Province of these desperadoes. After 
 mentioning Colonel Plomer Young, Particular Service, he stated : 
 ■" The Major-General also offers his warmest thanks to Colonel the 
 Honourable Henry Dundas, R.A., for the able disposition of his 
 force and his indefatigable exertions ; to Colonel McBean, R.A. ; 
 to Colonel R. Duncan Eraser ; to Lieutenant- Colonel Gowan and 
 Captain George Greenfield Macdonell, and to all the officers of the 
 militia and volunteers whose names he is alone prevented from 
 particularizing by the casual absence of the despatch from Colonel 
 Young, which enumerated them , and His Excellency is confident 
 that the gallant -example now shown will be followed with equal 
 loyalty and spirit by all the militia of the Province, should tlteir 
 services be called for." 
 
303 
 
 CHAPTER 26. 
 
 Events in Upper Canada. — Supineness of Sir Francis Head. 
 — ^A Typical Address from the Loyal Men of Lochiel. 
 — His Characteristic Reply. — Toronto in Serious Peril. 
 — Rescued by Colonel MacNab and the " Men of Gore.'' 
 Murder of Colonel Moodie. — Navy Island. — Cutting 
 out of the " Caroline."— She is sent over the Falls of 
 Niagara. — "General" Van Rensellaer dislodged.^ 
 Trouble on the Michigan Frontier. — A Specimen " Pro- 
 clamation." — Attacks at Amherstburo. — Rendezvous at 
 Watertown. — Further Attacks in the West. — Departure 
 OF Sir Francis Head. — Advent of Sir G. Arthur. — - 
 Execution of Lount and Mathews. 
 
 With the exception of the occurrence last mentioned the Province 
 of Upper Canada east of Toronto was not troubled either with 
 insurrection or the attacks of brigand " sympathizers.'' In the west, 
 however, it was different, yet as the Glengarry Regiments were em- 
 ployed in Lower Canada and in protecting the frontier of the eastern 
 portion of the Province, I need not enter at any considerable length 
 into a narrative of these events, as they will be found elsewhere in 
 Lindsey's life of William Lyon Mackenze, in Dent's two volames of 
 the Upper Canadian Rebellion, and other works. Early in Decem- 
 ber, 1837, the insurgents had narrowly missed capturing Toronto, 
 owing to the supineness of the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Francis 
 Bond Head, who could not or would not believe that affairs had 
 reached such a crisis, and this in spite of remonstrances while he 
 had received from almost every district in the Province. Warnings 
 had accompanied the loyal addresses of the well disposed, and yet 
 Mackenzie and his fellows had been allowed to make deliberate pre- 
 paration for revolt, to write what they chose, say what they chose 
 and virtually do what they chose. The number and ardour of the 
 address may have misled him. Mr. Christie quotes one, probably 
 more or less typical of them all, from " the loyal and true-hearted 
 Highlanders of Lochiel," forwarded shortly after the attack on 
 
304 
 Toronto, in which abhorence was expressed of the late foul and un- 
 natural rebellion, and the signers declared " by the memory of the 
 past, by the hope of the future, by all that is worthy of ourselves 
 and of being transmitted down to posterity," that they were all ready 
 to a man and at a moment's warning to march against the rebels of 
 their adopted country. The following is the characteristic reply of 
 His Excellency to this spirit-stirring address : 
 
 Brave and loyal Highlanders of Lochiel, 
 
 The few remaining rebels who dared to insult the authorities of 
 this noble portion of the British Empire, have absconded from its 
 dominions, and the only enemies we have now to encounter are a 
 band ot pirates, who, under American leaders, have invaded our 
 territory, for the avowed object of plundering our lands and subvert- 
 ing our revered institutions. 
 
 I fe§l confident, if this unprincipled aggression should continue, 
 that, in one body, you will advance to exterminate the perfidious 
 invaders of our liberties, or, like Highlanders, perish 
 
 With your backs to the field, 
 And your feet to the foe. 
 And leaving in battle 
 No blot on your name, 
 Look proudly to Heaven 
 From the deathbed of fame ! 
 Oovernment House, January 13, 1838. 
 
 All this was very well in its way, and tallied with the declara- 
 tion of ths somewhat dramatic Lieutenant-Governor, when, alluding 
 to Papineau's threat that the people of the United States would 
 assist a republican movement in Canada, he stated, " In the name 
 of every regiment of militia in Upper Canada, I publicly promul- 
 gate, let them come if they dare/' When Sir John Colborne with- 
 drew the troops from Toronto to Kingston he offered Sir Francis 
 Head to leave two companies as a guard for the capital of the Pro- 
 vince, which Sir Francis rashly declined. It was then determined 
 by the insurgent leaders that early in December they should assem- 
 ble their force, which they anticipated would number about 4000, 
 at Montgomery's tavern, about three miles north of Toronto, and 
 proceed thence to the city, capture 4000 stand of arms which Sir 
 Francis had left with the civic authorities for protection, seize the 
 Lieutenant-Governor and his chief advisers, place the garrison in the 
 hands of the Liberals, declare the Province free and proclaim a 
 republic. They did accordingly assemble at Montgomery's, and 
 
305 
 but for some disarrangement of their plans as regards the date of 
 attack, which was changed from the 7 th to the 4th of December, 
 their programme would probably have been carried out in its en- 
 tirety. They were within half a mile of the city when some shots 
 were fired by some of the people of the town from behind a fence. 
 Both parties then took to their heels, the lebels leaving one man 
 killed and two wounded. ,They rallied at Callow's Hill, near 
 Montgomery's tavern, but fortunately the " men of Gore," with gal- 
 lant Colonel — afterwards Sir — Allan Macnab at their head, had ar- 
 rived from Hamilton, numbering some 600, and a brisk fire from 
 their artillery, a few volleys of musketry and a bayonet charge was 
 sufficient. The rebels retreated in greatest confusion, with a loss of 
 thirty-six killed and fourteen wounded, of the Loyalists only three 
 being slightly wounded. Colonel Mood»e, who had previously com- 
 manded the 104th Regiment of Foot, was cowardly murdered by the 
 rebels when passing Montgomery's tavern on his way to warn the 
 authorities of the rising on the previous day, and a leading "patriot" 
 named Anderson was shot by Alderman John Powell on attempting 
 to make that gentleman a prisoner near Montgomery's, while a flash 
 in the pan of the pistol in the hand of the same gentleman alone 
 saved Mackenzie the same fate. Colonel Moodie was killed by a 
 man named Ryan, who probably is now dead or he would in all 
 likelihood have been pensioned by the same Legislature which re- 
 cently handsomely compensated Montgomery for the burning of his 
 hotel, which, with the house of Gibson, a Member of the Assembly, 
 and who had a command under Mackenzie in the Rebel force, was 
 ordered to be destroyed by the Lieutenant-Governor. Montgomery, 
 I may mention, was subsequently tried for his share in these events, 
 found guilty and sentenced to death, when his sentence being com- 
 muted to transportation, he escaped from Fort Henry, Kingston, 
 when en route to Bermuda. It would seem incredible that he should 
 have been compensated to anyone not familiar with the views which 
 find expression in the Assembly when the question of rewarding the 
 surviving volunteers who suppressed the rebellion comes up. 
 
 After the affair at Callow's Hill, Mackenzie escaj)ed to the 
 States by way of Niagara, a reward of £ 1 000 being offered for his 
 apprehension and £500 for that of Gibson, Lount, Fletcher and 
 Loyd, the other leaders of this movement. Colonel Macnab and 
 his loyal " men of Gore " were tlien ordered to the London District, 
 
3o6 
 where a Dr. Dunscomb had actively encouraged insurrection, which 
 Colonel Macnab's force quelled in the same satisfactory manner 
 that they had dispersed the rebels at Gallow's Hill and saved To- 
 ronto when in such imminent peril. Mackenzie then raised the 
 Standard of rebellion on Navy Island, opposite Chippewa, in the 
 Niagara River, offered a reward of £500 for the apprehension of 
 the Lieutenant-Governor, issued a ridiculous proclamation, appoint- 
 ed a scamp named Van Rennselaer "commander in chief" of his 
 ragged force of refugees and Yankee sympathizers, which soon 
 amounted to over a thousand men, and generally attempted to fo- 
 ment trouble, though his efforts in that direction, further than natur- 
 ally producing considerable alarm in the neighbourhood, were as 
 futile as might be expected. A steamer, the famous " Caroline,'" 
 which was employed in their service, was captured by Colonel 
 Macnab, Mr. Elmsley, formerly of the Royal Navy, Lieutenant 
 Drew, R.N., and a force of volunteers on the night of the 29th 
 December, set fire and sent over the Falls of Niagaru. Just where 
 she was taken appears somewhat doubtful, though the weight of tes- 
 timony seems to show that she was cut from her moorings at the 
 wharf at Schlosser, on the American side, by the occupants of the 
 attacking boats, some seven in number, each containing about nine 
 men, five of her crew being killed and several wounded. It was 
 intended to take her across the river, but owing to the strength of 
 the current that was found impossible, and she had to be abandoned 
 to her fate. Her passage through 'the rapids and over the falls, a 
 mass of flame, was a grand spectacle. The Americans professed 
 great indignation over the affair, though their conduct in permitting 
 the Canadian refugees to outrage the rights of asylum and practical- 
 ly allowing their own citizens in sympathy with them to engage in 
 open war with a neighbouring country with which their Government 
 was at peace, would seem to have estopped them from complaint, 
 and the fact that the " Caroline " was ostentatiously and undeniably 
 in the service of the rebel force on Navy Island, carrying articles 
 contraband of war, to have rendered her destruction entirely justifi- 
 able. 
 
 Colonel MacNab was knighted for his services in this affair, 
 and the House of Assembly tendered its thanks to the force engaged 
 and voted swords of honour to Colonel Macnab and Lieutenant 
 Drew. It very nearly led to war between Great Britain and the 
 
307 
 United States. In 1842 the British Government e3q)ressed regret at 
 the circumstance. The steamer " Sir Robert Peel " was burnt in 
 retaliation on the 29th May, 1838, while taking in wood at Wells' 
 Island, in the St. Lawrence, eight miles from French Creek, by 
 a band of armed ruffians from the American shore, the passengers 
 wantonly insulted and a large amount of money and other property 
 plundered- 
 
 Sir John Colborne now determined to adopt in Upper Canada 
 the same effectual methods by which he had suppressed the rebellion 
 in the Lower Province. Although the season was mid-winter, it 
 was remarkably open, the St. Lawrence being navigable until the 
 middle of January and the upper lakes and rivers free from ice. He 
 accordingly forwarded from Lower Canada a sufficient number of 
 troops to garrison the more exposed frontier posts, thus allowing 
 the militia to attend to their respective districts. 
 
 Early in January, 1838, the American Government made a show 
 of doing its duty in suppressing the outrageous proceedings on their 
 frontier by arresting Mackenzie. He entered into a recognizance in 
 $5,000 for his appearance and immediately returned to Navy 
 Island, where he remained until Van Rensellaer and his ragamuf- 
 fins were driven out under a fire of heavy guns and mortars directed 
 against it by the artillery from Chippewa on the 14th of that month. 
 Mr. Lindsey claims that the Buffalo " Committee of Thirteen" and 
 not the " Provisional Government " directed the evacuation. I 
 strongly suspect that the artillery men had more to do with it than 
 either those high sounding organizations. The British loss during 
 the seige was one killed and one wounded. I cannot find that of 
 the "patriots." 
 
 In the meantime another band of ruffians, under the leadership 
 of a person named Sutherland, an American citizen, v/ho styled him- 
 self " General of the Second Division of the Patriot Army," had 
 assembled on the Michigan frontier, to the number of 1000 or 1200, 
 and a proclamation was of course in order. As this precious docu- 
 ment, while containing the usual and appropriate lies, had the one 
 merit of brevity, I give it as a specimen of what a long-suffering 
 people had to endure : 
 
 PROCLAMATION TO THE PATRIOTIC CITIZENS OF UPPER CANADA. 
 
 You are called upon by the voice of your bleeding country to 
 join the patriot forces and free your land from tyranny. Hordes of 
 
3oS 
 
 worthless parasites of the British Crown are quartered upon you to 
 devour your substance, to outrage your rights, to let loose upon 
 your defenceless wives and daughters a brutal soldiery. 
 
 Rally, then, around the Standard of Liberty, and victory and a 
 glorious future of independence will be yours. 
 
 Thomas J. Sutherland, Brigadier-General. 
 
 Headquarters, 2nd Division, Bois Blanc, O.C., Jan. 9, 1838^ 
 
 Associated with " Brigadier-General " Sutherland Were the fol- 
 lowing distinguished warriors with their titles : Henry S. Handy, of 
 Illinois, who before the advent of Sutherland was " Commander in 
 Chief," Mr. Lindsey assuring us that his command extended over 
 " the whole of Western Canada "; James M. Wilson, Major-General ; 
 E.J. Roberts, "Brigadier-General of the First Brigade ;" Dr. Theller, 
 " Brigadier-General commanding the First Brigade of French and 
 Irish troops to be raised in Canada ;" " Colonels '' Dodge, Davis, 
 Brophy, Bradley and others. Their object was a descent upon 
 Amherstburg. They rendezvoused at the Island of Bois Blanc, in 
 the Detroit River, on the Canadian side, secured. cannon and several 
 hundreds of muskets from the State arsenals of Michigan, which 
 Were placed on board the schooner " Anne " at Detroit Without con'- 
 cealment, which vessel also brought another large detachment of 
 Canadian refugees and their " sympathizers.'' So great was the 
 feeling manifested in their favour on the American side that the 
 United States marshal Was utterly unable to prevent their proceed- 
 ings, though plainly a violation of all international obligations. Tiie 
 Canadian militia Were hastily summoned for the defence of the 
 neighbourhood, and were found quite equal to the occasion. Sev- 
 eral feints Were made before they came to close quarters. Which re 
 suited in the capture of the " Anne," Which had grounded, the militia 
 plunging into the water, boarding and carrying her in the most gallant 
 manner, taking twenty-one prisoners, three pieces of cannon, over 300 
 stand of arms, some money and a large quantity of ammunition, 
 stores and provisions, the crew having three killed and twelve 
 Wounded. Sutherland, who had kept safely aloof, then retired to 
 Sugar Island, on the American side, and procured a visit, from 
 Governor Mason of Michigan, Who dispersed his men and arrested 
 him, only of course to be set at liberty after the f \rce of a trial had 
 taken place. 
 
 Van Rensellaer, who had figured at Navy Island, from which 
 he had been driven in January, turned up in the following month at 
 
369 
 
 Watertown, in the State of New York, With his Colleague Macke«2ie» 
 where with one "Bill" Johnson, a most notorious ruffian, they or- 
 ganized some 2000 men for an expedition against the St. Lawrence 
 frontier. They had a rendezvous at French Creek, but the strength 
 of the garrison at Kingston frightened them, and after considerable 
 bluster they dispersed. Johnson, however, continued in the neigh' 
 bourhood for some time and committed many depredations, the 
 burning of the " Sir Robert Peel," one of the finest steamboats ply 
 ing the St. Lawrence, being his chief exploit. After this event he 
 issued the inevitable proclamation. I do not know his ultimate 
 fate, though I don't think he was ever captured, and thus escaped 
 what he deserved, nor so fir as I know has he had Montgomery's 
 good fortune in being compensated for the " losses " he undoubtedly 
 sustained. 
 
 A Scotchman named Donald McLeod (i), who Was of course a 
 General, was associated with a Colonel Vreeland in another expedi^ 
 tion from the neighbourhood of Detroit. They crossed to Fighting 
 Island, in the Detroit River, on the 24th February, where they met 
 a small force of regulars and retired quickly with five wounded. 
 They were then taken in hand by the United States authorities and 
 dispersed. 
 
 Sutherland again gave trouble, a force under his directions num- 
 bering about 500, establishing itself in the end of February at Point 
 au Pelee, about forty miles from Amherstburg. They were dispersed 
 by Colonel Maitland, of the 3 and Regiment, with a loss to the pa- 
 triots of thirteen killed and forty wounded, in addition to a number 
 taken prisoners, while of the British two were killed and twenty-eight 
 wounded. Sutherland himself was taken prisoner. He was not 
 convicted, however, owing to some technicaUty in his trial, and his 
 release was ordered by the Government. 
 
 On the 6th March, 1838, Sir Francis Head prorogued the Leg* 
 islature in a lengthy review of recent circumstances, and retired, 
 being succeeded by Sir George Arthur, who was sworn in on the 
 22nd March. Sir Francis had some narrow escapes in his journey 
 to New York via Kingston and WatertoWn, where he Was recognized 
 and pursued to Utica. He was enabled to escape simply by dis- 
 tancing his pursuers.(2) 
 
 (i) Mr. Lindsey s^tes that McLeod was born at Fort Augustus, Invemessshire, Scotland* 
 and became a sergeant in the British Army, after his discharge from wliich he taught school at 
 Brockville. U.C. He seems to have been a thoroughly bad lot. 
 
 (2> McMullen*3 History, p. 461. 
 
Ifl the spring of 1938 executions for high treason commenced, 
 the first to suffer being Samuel Loiint and Peter Mathews, who were 
 hanged on the 12th April at Toronto, their execution being wit- 
 nessed from the windows of the gaol by Montgomery and others, 
 twelve in number. Whose seatences were commuted through the 
 mistaken leniency of Lord Glenelg and the home authorities, and 
 who eventually succeeded in escaping from Fort Henry. A special 
 commission sat in Hamilton for the trial of political offenders, While 
 courts-martial assembled at Toronto and Kingston. Petitions Were 
 in order on behalf of those who had been taken red-handed and by 
 those who still Were ia league with the Hunters' lodges and other 
 kindred organizations, yet Who bitterly complained when Sir George 
 Arthur properly stated in reply to the " Constitutional Reformers of 
 Toronto," that he was fully determined to allow impartial justice to 
 take its course, that commodity being precisely what they did not 
 want administered to their friends. 
 
3" 
 
 CHAPTER 27, 
 
 Further Attacks on Border Towns in Upper Canada.— 
 Colonel Prince's Laconic Despatch. — Glengarry Regi- 
 ments AND OTHERS GARRISON CORNWALL IN WINTER Of 
 
 18389. — Officers on Particular Service. — Colonels 
 Turner, K.H., and Carmichael. — Their Thanks to the 
 Militia of District. — Letters of both to Colonel 
 Fraser, Commanding Charlottenburg Regiment. — Ar- 
 rival OP Sir James Macdonell, in Command of Brigade 
 of Guards. — His Great Military Career. — Defence of 
 Hougoumont. — Invested with Order op the Bath by Sir 
 John Colborn Addresses op Magistrates op Glengarry 
 
 AND StoRMONT on HIS ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE. 
 
 War with the United States being a possible contingency, ow- 
 ing to the ill-leeling in both countries arising over the " Caroline " 
 affair and the Maine boundary matter on the one hand and the fre- 
 quent and outrageous attacks upon our frgntier towns on the other. 
 Sir John Colborne therefore sent engineer officers to all posts where 
 troops or fortifications were required. At Amherstburg, Fort Mai- 
 den was repaired, barracks vsere commenced at London, Fort Mis- 
 sissaga at Niagara was strengthened, additional barracks were 
 constructed at Toronto, the works at Kingston were strengthened, 
 Fort Wellington at Prescott rendered impregnable to sudden attack 
 (i), and more troops were forwarded to various points. 
 
 Notwithstanding these precautions, a body of sympathizers 
 crossed near Niagara and committed considerable depredations. 
 Thirty of them were taken prisoners as well as their leader Morrow, 
 who subsequently suffered the death penalty. Simultaneously with 
 this, bodies of " patriots " penetrated into the London District, res- 
 cued a number of state prisoners and plundered some of the inhabi- 
 tants, when they were taken in hand by the Indians, and badly 
 routed, several of them being taken prisoners. At Goderich also a 
 body of them made their appearance in a sloop, and after commit- 
 
 (i) McMuUen's History, p. 462. 
 
312 
 
 ting some robberies in the shops, escaped.([) Nothing further 
 transpired until November, when took place the attack on Prescott, 
 and the battle at the Windmill already described, and another in- 
 vasion on Amherstburg on the 4th December, when some four 
 hundred and fifty miscreants crossed, marched upon Windsor, 
 captured a few militia guarding it, burned the steamer " Thames " and 
 some buildings, murdered a negro and proceeded to Sandwich, 
 brutally murdering Surgeon Hume, of the Regular Army, who hap- 
 pened to meet them, and mutilating his body in a shocking 
 manner. (2) 
 
 They were then met by Colonel Prince, who attacked and 
 routed them, killing twenty-one of their number. Some prisoners 
 were brought in shortly after the engagement and properly dealt 
 with by Colonel Prince. His despatch states the facts : " Of the 
 brigands and pirates twenty-one were killed, besides four who were 
 brought in just at the close, whom I ordered to be shot on the spot, 
 which was done actordingly." Twenty-six prisoners were shortly 
 afterwards taken and reserved for the authorities to deal with. The 
 remainder escaped, except nineteen who concealed themselves in the 
 woods, and, unable to re-cross to their friends, were shortly after- 
 wards found frozen to death. This practically closed the rebellion, 
 though affairs remained in an unsettled condition for some time. 
 One hundred and eighty of those taken at the Windmill and else- 
 where were tried before general courts-martial at Fort Henry (Kings- 
 ton) and London early in i83'9 and sentenced to be hanged, the 
 great majority having their sentences commuted. Ten were hanged 
 in Kmgston, including Von Schultz. Of the remainder, most of 
 them were sent to Van Dieman's Land, where many died, the re- 
 mainder being eventually pardoned and many of them returned to 
 Canada. 
 
 The militia, though some of them had been out on three different 
 occasions, were liable to be again called on at a moment's notice. 
 Thus, among Colonel Eraser's papers I find the following letter from 
 the distinguished officer on Particular Service commanding in this 
 District : 
 
 Cornwall, 20 min. to 10 a.m., 22nd,November, 1838. 
 My Dear Colonel, — I wish to see you in here as soon as possi- 
 ble. I fancy some very important information has come to light 
 
 (i) McMuUen's History, p, 464, 
 (2) McMuUen's History, p. 467. 
 
313 
 regarding the American Government. Two Regiments of Glen- 
 garrys are immediately to be stationed in this town. In haste. 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 C. B. Turner, Cplonel Com'g. 
 To Colonel Fraser, ist Glengarry Militia. 
 
 Judge Pringle states(i) that during the fall of 1838 and the 
 early part of 1839 the First Provisional Battalion under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Vankoughnet, the third (Lochiel) Regiment of Glengarry 
 Militia under Colonel Alexander Chisholm, the Fourth Provisional 
 Battalion (practically the Lancaster Regiment of Glengarry Militia) 
 under Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdouell, Mpjor Jarvis' Troop of 
 Lancers, Captain Crawford's Independent Company of Infantry and 
 Captain Pringle's Company of Artillery were all stationed in Corn- 
 wall, which must have had the appearance of a garrison town. At 
 the same time the Fifth Provisional Battalion under Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Alexander Fraser (no doubt largely composed of the officers 
 and men of the Charlottenburg Regiment of Militia) was raised in 
 Glengarry, and was on duty along the front of that County, the 
 headquarters I believe being at Lancaster; and the First Regiment 
 of Stormont Militia under Colonel Donald ^neas Macdonell was 
 on duty in the Township of Cornwall. In the spring of 1839 the 
 First Stormont, the Third Glengarry and Captain Pringle's Company 
 of Artillery were relieved from duty, while later in the season the 
 Provisional Battalions were also relieved. The Government then 
 authorized the formation of the Fifth Battalion of Incorporated 
 Militia under Lieutenant- Colonel Vankoughnet, which evidently 
 caused some friction, as I observe in a letter from Colonel Turner to 
 Colonel Fraser the statement (of which I had previously known), 
 " I can neither make head or tail of Colonel Macdonell in conse- 
 sequence of Colonel Vankoughnet being employed in preference to 
 himself, and it would not surprise me, from the manner in which he 
 and his friends are now acting, if the company of his son(2) will not 
 continue their services any longer than the end of this month." 
 Similar trouble on a larger scale had occurred before, when Glen- 
 garry men in Scotland were not given the post of honour, which they 
 deemed their services had earned. Their pride and prejudices have 
 always to be reckoned with, and I can easily understand how little 
 
 (1) Lunenburg, p. 266. 
 
 (2 Referring to the Independent Company of Glengarry Light Infantrj', which garrisoned 
 Coteau du Lac under Captain Alexander Greenfield Macdonell until June, 1843. 
 
3t4 
 
 Ikey Would like the imputation (probably never intended) tlial they 
 Vere not capable of defending their own frontier ! 
 
 At the expiration of two years, Colonel Vankoughnet's Regi- 
 bient was re-enlisted for two years, and remained in Cornwall iiniil 
 April or May, 1842, wh^n the Fourth Incorporated Battalion, which 
 had been stationed at trescott, was sent to Cornwall, the Fifth 
 going to Prescott. In May, 1843, all the five incorporated battah'ons 
 Were disbanded. They were clothed artd armed as the regulaf 
 troops and Were fully equal to them in dfill and efficiency, and had 
 they beeti ke^Jt on foot Would have formed art excellent rtuckiis for 
 the tfainihg of our militia and Volunteers. (i) 
 
 Early in the rebellion the authorities in iEngiaiid had sent oiit 
 tjfRcefs of experience to take conimarid of the militia and superintend 
 the formation and drill of the regiments and companies ordered out 
 for service. Judge Pfitigle gives the names and stations of these 
 officers as follows : Colonel Chichester, Chatham ; Colonel Maf' 
 Shall, Brockville; Colonel Cox, K.H., Whitby; Colonel Carmichael 
 '(2), Lancastei' and Coteau du Lac ; Colonel Young and afterwards 
 Cotoael Willianis, Prestott > Captain Baron de Rottenburg, Belle- 
 ville; Captain Swan, Niagara ; Colonel Turner, K.H., Cornwall. 
 
 The Town Major of Cornwall diifing the stirring times from 
 1838 to 1843 was Major Donald McDonald, Who had been a lieu- 
 tenant ir\ the Fortieth Regiment and had previously seen much ser- 
 vice in the Forty-Second (Black Watch) Highlanders. He had the 
 iPeninsular niedal with teil clasps for Corunna, Fuentes D'Onor, 
 ij'adajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria> Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive^ Orthes and 
 Toulouse. 
 
 Colottel CartAichael> Who hid seeA so rtuch of the Chai-lotteii- 
 bufg Aegiriient during its several periods of service. Was presented 
 with an address by its officers on his removal to Prescott Hii 
 teply was as follows : 
 
 PfeEscoTT, May 24, 1839. 
 
 G6htlemeh,^I beg you Will acfeept my very best thanks for the 
 address you Were pleased to present to me at Lancaster on my way 
 to this District. 
 
 During the time t have been eirtployed amongst you your zeal 
 ■and good conduct could not have been surpassed, and there Cannot 
 
 (i) Pringle, p. 267. 
 
 '(^) C<itiMfH Gatmlchael w&s a HightAnder ^nd an ent^u5ia:s\ic \t>vei of tttt \iingiiaQt , ^reSs 
 and traditions c^lhe Gael. He built the cairn at the mouth of the River au Raisin near LancaB- 
 ter in hoflourof Sir J6hn CoHaotne> afterwards Field Marshal Lord Seaton. He had seen ser\'icc 
 JQ the East Indies. 
 
315 
 
 be a stronger -70:1' rf yovir attention to voir dirty than my not ba,T- 
 ing had a sinz'e complaint from anv of the men who serred in tiie 
 Fifth ProvisioiLal BarraHon I3.5!: winter. 
 
 Thar toq mar lorL? eniov tie condieace and stipport of yoar 
 loval and brave comtrvtnen to uphold the reputation of Glengany 
 15 my sincere wish. Ai'is creidirih gu bnth. gn nri ur caraid dileas. 
 
 i.. CARinCHAEL, CoL P.S. 
 CoL the HonTjIe Alexander Fraser and omcers of the 1st Regiment 
 
 of GLcngarry MLira. 
 
 Colonei Turner 02 the 2o;h April, 1S30. in District Orders, 
 5tate>i that he could not permit so miiy of the brare, loyal miUtia 
 of die District to rerim to their hoaies widiout rerjrtiirjg them 
 his best thanV^ for their zeaL hidefaajable attention to their drill, 
 discipline in the field and their eieaipLiry coaduct in quarters, 
 rnstanciiuj the feet that while on service under him not a complaint 
 had reached his ear feom those who had so nobly come forward in 
 defence of their Most Graciojs Queen's dominions in Canada, and 
 of the glorious and happy Constiridon tinder which by God's 
 blessing they were permitted to live, and of which a set of unprinci- 
 pled rebels and reirrorseless vagabonds and brigands from die 
 United States, who had no fear of God nor regard for civilized and 
 humane la— 3. had endeavoured in vain to deprive them oL He 
 mentioned that he had received from the several cammanding oficers 
 of corps in the District so cordial a s^-iop^ort as to render his duty 
 pleasing and easy ; begged them to accept his special thanks and to 
 oonvev the same to those officers under them, and trusted that God's 
 blessing would attend all. oScers and men, and that happiness and 
 prosperity wonld crown their labours in their di5erent occupations 
 in life, assuring them that he knew well that shonld their services 
 ever again be required they ■s-ojld all with willing hands and s to tit 
 hearts again take the field to put down unnarjral rebeDion, and 
 drive from their happy soQ pirates and brigands who should dare to 
 put foot on it. 
 
 Snch language, thotigh not now the mode in the Legislature of 
 the Province, had the ring In it which appealed to the hearts of die 
 men of half a caitury ago. 
 
 I have been so foitonate as to procure the letters which Col- 
 li els Tamer and Carmichael addressed to Colonel Fraser on their 
 rjrxm to England, and cannot do better than to give them both ia 
 
3i6 
 
 Cornwall, 12th April, 1843. 
 My Dear Colonel Fraser, — I cannot quit the command of this 
 loyal District, which I have had the honour to hold for upwards of 
 five years, without expressing to you how much I have valued your 
 Qseful services to your Queen and country and to myself for your 
 advice and information in time of great excitement in the country, 
 and when I was an entire stranger in the District, and which advice 
 and information I always found correct and for the benefit of Her 
 Majesty's service and the goOd of the District and of the brave 
 militia Which I had the good fortune to command during the dis- 
 turbances in this country — and for which I now tender you my sin- 
 cere thanks. And I beg in the name of Mrs. Turner and myself to 
 acknowledge our obligations to you and Mrs. Fraser for the kindness 
 and hospitality so often shewn to us and our family, and sincerely 
 do we hope that by the blessing of God yourself and family may 
 continue to prosper and be happy to the end of your days, which we 
 pray may be long and past in peace and tranquility. God bless you 
 all, and believe me, my dear Colonel, Your very sincere friend, 
 
 C. B. Turner, Colonel Particular Service. 
 
 Colonel Carmichael wrote as follows : 
 
 WiLLiAMSTOWN, 2ist May, 1843. 
 
 My Dear Colonel Fraser, — Previous to my departure from thi» 
 country, I beg you to accept my warmest acknowledgments for the 
 able assistance you have given me in the performance of my duty 
 during the last five years, which from your well-earned influence 
 among your countrymen, was on every occasion most valuable, and 
 cannot in the future fail to be ol the utmost service to Government. 
 
 The soldier-like manner in which you have conducted the First 
 Glengarry Regiment was most creditable, and no country can boast 
 of a better -orps, in appearance, good feeling and loyalty. 
 
 That you may long retain your high position among such true 
 men is my sincere wish. Always believe me, yours very sincerely, 
 
 L. Carmichael, Lt.-Col. P. S. 
 
 Colonel the Honourable Alexander Fraser, Glengarry. 
 
 The advent to Canada of Sir James Macdonell during the re- 
 bellion in the position of second in command of the British forces 
 under Sir John Colbome, was naturally regarded with great gratifi- 
 cation by the people of Glengarry. He arrived at Quebec on the 
 9th May, 1838, in H. M. S. " Edinburgh " (74), which was accom- 
 panied by the " Inconstant " frigate and the troop ships " Apollo " 
 and " Athol," bringing the Second Battalion Grenadier Guards and 
 the Second Battalion Coldstream Guards, the whole under the com- 
 mand of Sir James. He was on the 28th June following, together 
 with Vice-Admiral the Honourable Sir Charles Paget, G.C.H., 
 
3^7 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel the Honourable C. Grey, the Honourable Col- 
 onel Charles Couper and the Honourable Charles Buller, appointed 
 a member of Lord Durham's Special Council. 
 
 He was one of the most renowned soldiers of the day. In the 
 Service he was known as the " Hero of Hougoumont," and through- 
 out the Empire he had for years borne the glorious appellation of 
 '* The Bravest Man in Britain." He was the third son of Duncan 
 Macdonell, 14th Chief of Glengarry, by Marjory, daughter of Sir 
 Ludovic Grant, Bart., of Dalvey, and a brother of Alastair Ranald- 
 son ]SIacdonell, 15th Chief, described by Mackenzie(i) as "being 
 truly called the last specimen of the Highland Chiefs of history, and 
 who is stated to have been, in the most favourable features of his 
 character, Scotfs original for Fergus MacIvor."(2) 
 
 He had obtained his conmiission in the Coldstream Guards in 
 1796, and with his regiment had taken part in the expedition to 
 Naples and Calabria in 1805 and 1806. He had rendered most 
 important service in Egypt, and subsequently in Portugal, Spain, 
 France and Flanders. He had received one of the few gold medals 
 given for Maida. It was at Waterloo, however, that he covered 
 himself with greatest glory. He was then a Lieutenant-Colonel in 
 the Guards and was in the Second Brigade of the First Division, 
 
 (i; History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles, p. 356. 
 
 (12) There w no doubt as to this. It was well-known at the time of the publication of 
 Waveriev, and is mentioned by many othera besides Mr. Mackenzie. Sir Walter and Glengarry 
 were warm personal friends. Sir Walter writes in his journal (Lockhart's Life, p. 606, Abbots- 
 ford edition 1 : *' February 14, 1826. I had a call from Glengarry yesterday, as kind and friendly 
 as usual. This E;entlenian is a kind ot Quixote in our age, having retained m. their full exteat, the 
 whole feeling of clanship and chieftainship, elsewhere so long abandoned. He seems to have 
 lived a century too late, and to extst, in a complete state of law and order, like a Glengarry of 
 old, whose will was law to his sept. Warm-hearted, generous, friendly, he is beloved by those 
 who know him, and his efforts are unceasing to show kindness to those of his clan who are dis- 
 posed fully to admit his pretendons. To dispute them is to incur his resentmen^ which has 
 sometimes broken out in acts of violence, which have brought him into collision with the law. 
 To me he i.s a treasure, as b«ng full of information as to the history of his own clan and the 
 manners and customs of the Hi^hlaads in general. Strong, active and muscular, he follonrs the 
 chase of the deer for days and nights together, sleeping in his plaid when darkness overtakes 
 him. The number of biis singul^ exploits would All a volume; for, as his pretentions are hi^h, 
 and not alwiys nulling to yi^ to, he is every now and then giving rise to some rumor. He is, 
 on many of tliese occasions, as much ^nned against as sinrung ; for men^ knowing his temper, 
 sometimes provoked him, anxious that Glengarry, from his character for violence, will always be 
 put in the wrong hy die public I have seeu fum behave in a very manly manner when thus 
 tempted." 
 
 Mr. John Gall bean tesdmony of a similar nature in one of his tales, *' The Steamboat,' 
 in reference to an aSair which occurred at the coronalion of George IV- He alludes to Glengaxiy 
 3-S "a chieftain of the most truly Highland spirU." "one of the last of the chieftains, none caring 
 more for die hardy mountain race, or ettCouras:tng, by his example, the love of the hill and the 
 heather,'' "a proud and bold son of the mountain,^ ** the noble that a kin 5 cannot make, for it 
 is beyond the monarch's power to bestow the honour of a chieftianship, even on the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, as all true Higiilandcrs know.** He was killed on the r4th January, 1828, when j umping 
 from the wrecked steamer *' Stirling Castle," at Oorran, near Fort William. His clansmen carried 
 his body an their shoulders over the hills to his seat, Invergarry Castle. I have heara old people 
 tell of die waiHng throughout Glengarry in Scodand and the sadness in Glengarry in Canada 
 when their beloved chieftaui was no more. I knew how they loved him and gloried in him, and 
 how many, many yeari after his death, and in this far oS* land, old eyes would kindle at the men- 
 tion of his r 
 
3i8 
 under General Sir J. Byng, afterwards Field Marshal the Earl of 
 Strafford. On the eve of the i8th of June it was decided that 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Macdonell with the Second Battalion of the 
 Coldstreann Guards should have charge of the buildings of Hougou- 
 mont, while Lord Saltoun should hold the orchard and wood. The 
 Rev. Mr. Gleig, in "The Story of the Battle of Waterloo," describes 
 the defence : " Hougoumont was felt to be a point of vital import- 
 ance, and Napoleon calculated that could he make himself master 
 of that he might suspend all future operations in this quarter and 
 turn his undivided strength against the allied left. Wherefore 
 clouds of men rushed down to sustain the advance, which, having 
 won the wood, appeared to be on the eve of winning the Chateau 
 likewise. * * * Dense masses of assailants rushed against the 
 gates, and shouted as they flew open, and then began such a struggle 
 as does not often occur in modem warfare. Not a foot would the 
 defenders yield. Not for a moment or two would the assailing party 
 withdraw. At last the bayonets of the Guards carried all before 
 them, and five individuals, Lieutenant-Colonel (now Lieutenant- 
 General) Macdonell, Captain (now Lieutenant -General) Wyndham, 
 Ensign (now Lieutenant-Colonel) Gooch, Ensign Harvey and Ser- 
 geant Graham, by sheer dint of personal strength and extraordinary 
 bravery and perseverance, succeeded in closing the gate and shut- 
 ting the enemy out." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott concludes "The Field of Waterloo " by the 
 following reference to the defence of Hougoumont : 
 
 Yes, Agincourt may be forgot, 
 And Cressy be an unknown spot. 
 And Blenheim's name be new ; 
 But still in story and in song 
 For many^^n age remembered long 
 Shall live the Towers of Hougoumont 
 And Field of Waterloo. 
 
 Mr. Southey, in his " Pilgrimage to Waterloo," thus refers to it : 
 
 But wouldst thou tread ttiis celebrated ground. 
 And trace with understanding eyes a scene 
 Above all fields of war renowned, 
 From Western Hougoumont thy way begin ; 
 There was our strength on that side, and there first 
 In all its force, the storm of battle burst. 
 
 Sir James was created a K.C.H. in 1837 and a K.C.B. in 
 
319 
 September, 1838, his investiture with the latter Order taking place 
 in this country, the Governor-General, Sir John Colborne, acting by 
 deputation from Her Majesty. The Quebec papers of the day con- 
 tained interesting accounts of the ceremony, which was attended 
 with great military pageant, guards of honour, waving banners, a 
 splendid cortege and military music. On either side of the Throne 
 were placed the colours of the Grenadier Guards and Seventy-First 
 Highlanders, of which Regiment Sir James afterwards became 
 Colonel. Sir John Colborne, in his highly complimentary address 
 to Sir James, alluded to his services in Egypt, the Peninsula and at 
 Waterloo, and expressed his gratification at being the Queen's re- 
 presentative to thus honour so distinguished a soldier and so faithful 
 a subject. " Nothing," said the " Herald," " could be more impos- 
 ing than to witness a war-worn hero like Sir John Colborne, covered 
 with wounds and wearing numerous stars and orders as the reward 
 of his heroism, being the means of bestowing a mark of Her Ma- 
 jesty's favour on one who had with him opposed and triumphed over 
 the gigantic power of Napoleon." "With much grace and pro- 
 priety," says Dr. Henry, in his " Recollections of a Staff Officer," 
 " one eminent soldier was thus the Royal Representative in confer- 
 ring this honour on another gallant companion in arms ; and that 
 well tried sword which had led the Fifty-Second to victory on many 
 a hard-fought field and finally waved before them when they routed 
 a column of Napoleon's Guards on the evening of Waterloo, was 
 now most fitly employed in bestowing knighthood on the stalwart 
 and indomitable defender of Hougoumont." Sir James, in addition 
 to the gold medal for Maida and the Waterloo medal, had the Pen- 
 insular medal with clasps for Salamanca, Viltoria, Neville and the 
 Nive. He had also received the Order of Maria Theresa, and was 
 X Knight (fourth class) of St. Vladimir. Qe was principal Equerry 
 to the Queen Dowager. 
 
 He was, of course, a frequent visitor to his friends and relatives 
 in Glengarry during his command in Canada. Upon the occasion 
 of his first visit he was presented with an address by the leading 
 gentry of the County and the adjoining County of Stormont. The 
 original of his answer is in my possession and is as follows : 
 
 To the Inhabitants of the Counties of Glengarry and Stormont, 
 
 Gentlemen, — I return you my most sincere thanks for the con- 
 gratulation with which you have met my arrival amongst you, and 
 
320 
 
 for the marks of affectionate knidness I have received in the Coun- 
 ties of Glengarry and Stormont. From the moment in which I received 
 the intimation that Her Majesty had been graciously pleased to 
 approve of my nomination to the Staff of British North America, I 
 promised to myself the pleasure of visiting you, and I looked for a 
 welcome, not on my own account, but for the sake of my departed 
 brother, who, when in life, loved you more than life itself. Thro' 
 me you have honoured his memory, and have thus convinced me 
 that Highland hearts beat as warmly in the Canadas as on the 
 heath-covered mountains of our Mother Country. 
 
 Gentlemen, you have justly said that it is not necessary to as- 
 sure me of your warm and unshaken attachment to your Sovereign 
 and the Constitution of the Parent State : You have proved it by 
 your past conduct, and should circumstances again call for your 
 active services, I know you will uphold (he character you have 
 already established. 
 
 J. Macdonell, Major-Gen'l. 
 
 To the address presented to him on his retirement from his 
 command he made the following reply : 
 
 To the Magistrates and other Inhabitants of the Counties of Glen- 
 garry and Stormont, 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have received with no ordinary feelings of pride 
 and gratification the address which has been presented to me. I 
 am conscious that your expressions of regret at my approaching 
 retirement from the command I have had the honour of holding in 
 this country, spring from no other source than that of a pure and 
 kindly character ; and the assurance you convey to me of your 
 loyalty and attachment to our Beloved Queen enhances your tribute 
 of regard. 
 
 Your allusion to my military services I estimate as a soldier, 
 and with the pride of one shall ever gratefully remember. 
 
 Should it please my most gracious Sovereign to again require 
 my services, it will be my duty to obey, and believe me when I as- 
 sure you that that portion of Her Majesty's Canadian possessions, 
 which contains a population of such devoted zeal and fidelity as that 
 of the Counties of Glengarry and Stormont, shall never be forgotten 
 by me. 
 
 I am truly sensible of your esteem and regard, and shall derive 
 no small degree of consolation when far removed from all intercourse 
 with you by reflecting that the ties which bind us to each other are 
 those of loyalty and honour. 
 
 Your allusion to the memory of my departed brother is grateful 
 to my heart. If, as you justly designate him, " the noble, high- 
 minded and patriotic Glengarry," how truly have those who this day 
 honour me with their kindly expressions of attachment, cherished 
 
Jit 
 
 tis Menioiy by, ih the hduf df danger, nliintdinirig the hoiieuf 0' 
 theu: country. 
 
 And now, gentlemenj permit me to bid you farewell, dnd to 
 once more assure you that individually and collectively I shall pray 
 for your happiness and prosperity. 
 
 J. Macdonell, Lt,-Gen'l. 
 
 Sir James Macdonell had evidently, previous to his leaving 
 Canada, been ofTered the command of the Forces or the Lieutenant- 
 Governorship of the Upper Province, as I find the iollowing in one 
 of his letters (Decemberj 1840) relating to family mattersj " I have 
 declined Upper Canada, as the brevet which I confidently look for 
 tnust remove me from the Staff of North America ; and if even a 
 brevet should not appear, I mean to return to England with the 
 brigade of Guards should they be called home in spring or summer^ 
 Which is more than probjtble." 
 
 Sir James died unmarried in 1817^ 
 
322 
 
 CHAPTER 28. 
 
 Bishop Macdonell — His Services to the Crown, His Coun- 
 trymen AND the Catholic Church. — His Death at 
 Dumfries, Scotland. — Funeral in Edinburgh. — Obitu- 
 ary Notices. — Tablet at St. Raphaels. — Gilfinnan's 
 Poem. — Removal of his Remains to Canada. 
 
 Bishop Macdonell, who had for so long played so notable and 
 conspicuous a part in the affairs not only of the County of Glengarry 
 but of those of his adopted country at large, died at Dumfries while 
 on a visit to Scotland on the 14th January, 1840. 
 
 As to the place of his birth, as not unfrequently is the case,(i) 
 some doubts exists, the Chevalier Macdonell of Toronto, recently 
 Vice-Consul of France, stating that he was bom on the borders of 
 Loch Ness, Inverness-shire, on the 17th July, 1762, while his grand- 
 ..nephewj the late John Allan Macdonell, J.P., of St. Raphaels, Uian 
 whom few'were in a better position to speak authoritatively on the 
 subject, in a memorandum given to me some years ago, gave the 
 place of his birth as Inchlaggan, Glengarry, Scotland. The latter 
 accords with the tradition in Glengarry. He was educated at the 
 Scottish College in Paris, and subsequently at the Scots College at 
 Valladolid in Spain, where he was ordained on February i6th, 1787, 
 and on leaving there returned to Scotland, and was stationed as a, 
 missionary priest in the braes of Lochaber, where he remained for 
 several years. 
 
 His part in the raising of the Glengarry Fencible Regiment, hi* 
 connection with that corps as Chaplain during the Irish Rebellion 
 and while it continued on service until disbanded during the Peace 
 of Amiens in 1802, and in subsequently bringing the greater part of 
 the men with their families to Glengarry in Canada has been set out 
 at length in these pages. (2) 
 
 Ji) a striking instance in point is that of the Duke of Wellington; although the son of : 
 mof MomingtOB, it is uncertain whether he was born in Dubhn or at Dunga 
 tr is thi '"'"'* " 
 ling of 
 (3) P. 134 ct seq. 
 
 Castle, Meath, nor is the date of his birth certain. It was in the spring of 1769, in the latter end 
 of April or beginning of M ay. ' 
 
323 
 
 Arriving in Canada in 1804, for thirty six years he had been a 
 notable figure in the Province. He possessed an influence over his 
 Highland fellow-countrymen, which was exerted without stint for 
 their temporal welfare and advancement, without distinction of 
 creed, and for the furtherance of those sound and loyal principles 
 which were so dear to his heart. 
 
 With the maintenance of British connection in Canada the 
 name of Bishop Macdonell must ever be indelibly associated. While 
 he was a pillar of the Catholic Church — almost its pioneer in Upper 
 Canada — ^he was a bulwark of the Throne. By precept and exam- 
 ple, again and again he proved his stem, unfailing loyalty, and drew 
 from the highest authorities repeated expressions of gratitude and 
 thanks. While the nature of his sacred profession debarred him 
 from taking part in the actual fighting, he nevertheless took good 
 care to see that every man of his name was on hand to fight, and 
 when there was fighting to be done he was always near by to see 
 that it was well done. It was a favourite saying of his that " every 
 man of his name should be either a priest or a soldier," and had he 
 not been a priest he would have made a great soldier. He had all 
 the attributes of one. His stature was immense and his frame her- 
 culean. He stood six feet four and was built in proportion ; he had 
 undaunted courage, calm, coo! judgment, resolute will and a temper 
 almost imperturbable, although it was best not to arouse it ; he had 
 the endurance of his race, fatigue and privation were as nothing to 
 him ; he was a man of great natural ability, great parts and of a 
 personality which impressed all brought in contact with him ; he 
 inspired confidence, admiration and respect, but above all he was a 
 bora leader of men. The gain to the Church was great, the loss to 
 the Army correspondingly great when he was ordained at Valladolid. 
 
 Of his services to the Catholic Church it is unnecessary here to 
 speak at any length. In after life, he himself, in a letter to Sir 
 Francis Bond Head, referring to an address in the House of 
 Assembly in 1836, in which his character had been aspersed and his 
 motives assailed by William Lyon Mackenzie and his radical con- 
 freres, who hated the Bishop both on account of his religion and his 
 loyalty, gave a statement of the hardships he was called upon to 
 endure in the discharge of his sacred functions when he first came to 
 the country, and of his efforts on behalf of religion subsequently : 
 
 " * * Upon entering upon my pastoral duties, I had the 
 
3*4 
 
 whole of the Province in charge, and without any assistance for the 
 space ot ten years. During that period I had to travel over the country 
 from Lake Superior to the Province line of Lower Canada, carrying 
 the sacred vestments sometimes on horseback, sometimes on my 
 back, and sometimes in Indian birch canoes, living with savages 
 — ^without any other shelter or comfort but what their fires and their 
 fares and the branches of the trees afforded; crossing the great 
 lakes and rivers, and even descending the rapids of the St. Lawrence 
 in their dangerous and wretched craft. Nor were the hardships and 
 privations which I endured among the new settlers and emigrants 
 less than those I had to encounter among the savages themselves, in 
 their miserable shanties, exposed on all sides to the weather and 
 destitute of every comfort. In this way I have been spending my 
 time and my health year after year since I have been in Upper 
 Canada, and not clinging to a seat in the Legislative Council and 
 devoting my time to political strife, as my accusers are pleased to 
 assert. The erection of five-and-thirty churches and chapels, great 
 and small, although many of them are in an unfinished state, built 
 by my exertion, and the zealous services of two-and-twenty clergy- 
 men, the major part of whom have been educated at my own ex- 
 pense, afford a substantial proof that I have not neglected my 
 spiritual functions, nor the care of the souls under my charge ; and if 
 that be not sufficient, I can produce satisfactory documents to prove 
 that I have expended, since I have been in this Province, no less 
 than thirteen thousand pounds of my own private means, besides 
 what I received from other quarters, in building churches, chapels, 
 presbyteries and school houses, in rearing young men for the Church 
 and in promoting general education." 
 
 Upper Canada was erected into a Bishopric by Leo XII. on 
 14th February, 1826, and Bishop Macdonell appointed first Bishop 
 under the title of Bishop of Resma, i.p.i., the Home authorities not 
 at the time wishing that Bishops of the Catholic Church should be 
 recognized as Titulars. His appointment was made on the recom- 
 mendation of the British Govemment.(i) His Diocese comprised 
 the present Province of Ontario, and has since been subdivided into 
 the Dioceses of Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton,. London, Ottawa, 
 Pembroke, Peterborough and Alexandria. 
 
 (1) His episcopal ring was riven to him by His Majesty George IV. It is a very beautiful 
 amethyst, surrouaded by diamonds, and is now worthily worn by his namesake, the Bishop of 
 the Siocese of Alexandria. 
 
3*5 
 
 Advancing age and increased responsibility forced the Bishop 
 to apply for a coadjutor, and Mr. Weld, of Lulworth Castle, a 
 descendant and representative of one of the oldest Catholic families 
 of England, who, on the death of his wife — ^like another eminent 
 Cardinal of a very recent day^had taken orders, was selected and 
 consecrated Bishop of Amycla and Coadjutor of Upper Canada, on 
 the 6th of August, 1826. By the advice of his friends and medical 
 advisers. Bishop Weld remained some years in England and after- 
 wards went to Rome, where, in March, 1830, he was nominaed 
 Cardinal by Pius VIII. 
 
 The Presbytery (abandoned in 1889 on the erection of the one 
 built on the west side of the Church) and the present Church at St. 
 Raphael's were built in anticipation of the arrival of Bishop Weld, 
 but although always fully intending to go to Canada, he closed his 
 days at Rome on the loth of April, 1837. His funeral discourse 
 was pronounced by Doctor (afterward Cardinal) Wiseman, Rector 
 of the English College at Rome. Bishop Macdonell obtained many 
 favours from Rome through the influence of his intended coadjutor. 
 
 Let me give two striking instances of the Bishop's services to 
 his countrymen in Glengarry. " I had not," he wrote in an address 
 to them, " been long in this Province when I found that few or none 
 of even those of you who were longest settled in the country had 
 legal tenures of yoar properties. Aware that if trouble or confusion 
 took place in the Province your properties would become uncertain 
 and precarious, and under this impression I proceeded to the seat of 
 Government, where, after some months' hard and unremitting labour 
 through the public offices, I procured for the inhabitants of the 
 Counties of Glengarry and Stormont patent deeds for one hundred 
 and twenty -six thousand acres of land." 
 
 That may be taken as a fair indication of the magnitude upon 
 which he was able to conduct affairs, of the extent of his business 
 capacity, and of the influence he always possessed with the Colonial 
 as well as with the Home Government. Another example of his 
 exertions on behalf of the temporal welfare of the people of Glengarry 
 is given in the sanje address, which was published by him in a 
 time of great public excitement, when he felt called upon to warn 
 the people of the county against those whom he designated a? 
 " wicked, hypocritical radicals, who are endeavouring to drive the 
 
326 
 
 Province into rebellion, and cut off every connection between Canada 
 and Great Britain, your Mother Country, and subject you to the 
 domination of Yankee rulers and Lynch law " : 
 
 " I cannot pass over in silence one opportunity I gave you of 
 acquiring property which would have put a large proportion of you 
 at ease for many years — I mean the transport of war-like stores from 
 Lower Canada to the forts and military posts of this Province, which 
 the Govemer-in-Chief, Sir George Prevost, and the Quartermaster- 
 General, Sir Sidney Beckwith, offered you at my request. 
 
 " After you refused that offer it was given to two gentlemen who 
 cleared from thirty to forty thousand pounds by the bargain." 
 
 In i8i8 he procured from the Duke of York, President of the 
 Highland Society, a commission to establish a branch of that insti- 
 tution in Canada. It was addressed to William MacGillivray and 
 Angus Shaw, esquires, the Rev. Alexander Macdonell, John Mac- 
 donell (of Gart) and Henry Mackenzie, esquires. The institutional 
 meeting took place at St. Raphaels on the loth November, 1818, 
 over which Mr. Simon MacGillivray, one of the Vice-Presidents of 
 the Highland Society of London, presided, and at which were pre- 
 sent, among others, three of the best and finest Highland gentlemen 
 this Province ever saw : the late Honourable William MacGillivray, 
 Bishop Macdonell and the late Honourable Neil MacLean — all of 
 whom, though long since dead, still live in the hearts of their coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 The following officers were elected and, with the exception of 
 the President, immediately installed into their respective offices : 
 President, Sir Peregrine Maitland, K.C.B., etc.j Vice-Presidents, 
 the Rev. Alexander Macdonell, Colonel the Honourable Neil Mac- 
 Lean, Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Greenfield Macdonell ; Treasurer, 
 Alexander Fraser, esquire; Secretary, Archibald MacLean, esquire; 
 Directors, Roderick MacLeod, Alexander MacLean, Alexander 
 Wilkinson, esquires. The Society continued in active operations 
 for several years, and contributed largely to the objects for which 'it 
 was formed, drawing upon itself the blessing of many distressed 
 Highlanders, whom it relieved at a distance from their native home ; 
 several liberal contributions in money were given to assist gentlemen 
 engaged in the publication of works in the Gaelic language, and a 
 succession of premiums to Gaelic scholars, performers on the bag- 
 pipes and the best dressed Highlanders ; nor were the remains of 
 
327 
 Celtic literature neglected, while some collection of Gaelic poetry 
 Was made. 
 
 Owing, however, to the death of some and the removal of others 
 of the master spirits who guided it, from this part of the country, to 
 the frequency of the meetings, and the high rate at which the yearly 
 subscription was fixed, and deprived of the fostering care and imme- 
 diate superintendence of Bishop Macdonell by his removal to Kings- 
 ton, the Society, after some years of usefulness, struggled for some 
 time under all these difficulties (added to which were those imposed 
 upon it by political excitement and the private dissensions of some 
 of its members) and then sank into the sleep from which the exer- 
 tions of Mr. Macdonald of Gart subsequently awakened it for a 
 time. It has long since ceased to exist, having passed away with 
 the men of the la^t generation. 
 
 The respect entertained for Bishop Macdonell by all classes of 
 the community is well illustrated by the following address, which 
 was presented to him by the Orangemen of Toronto a few years 
 before his death, and which was recently re-published in the Chicago 
 " Canadian- American '' of March 2Sth, 1892, which well remarked 
 in commenting upon it, that a continuation of the spirit shown in the 
 address is essential to the prosperity, if not the existence, of the Do- 
 minion : 
 
 Address of the Orange Body of the City of Toronto to the Right 
 Reverend Alexander Macdonell, D.D., Bishop of Regiopolis, 
 etc., etc. 
 
 May it please Your Lordship, — We, the Orangemen of the City 
 of Toronto, beg to approach your Lordship with sentiments of 
 unfeigned respect for your pious and loyal labour in the service of 
 your Church and country, and during a long protracted life for the 
 Christian liberality which you have ever evinced towards those of a 
 different creed. 
 
 We beg to reciprocate the charitable feelings breathing through- 
 out your Lordship's address to the electors of Stormont and Glen- 
 garry ; sentiments which bear deeply the impress of a mind noble and 
 virtuous, raised alike above the niean and grovelling distinctions of 
 party feeling or political rancour ; such feelings when disseminated, 
 we trust, in the approaching contest for the mamtenance of the British 
 Constitution, may array Catholics and Orangemen side by side, and 
 hand in hand, to achieve a victory more bloodless than, yet as 
 glorious as, that which they won on the empurpled field of Waterloo. 
 
 We take leave of your Lordship, with a fervent wish that 
 Providence may gild the setting sun of your declining days with 
 
328 
 
 every blessing, and that Catholics and Orangemen all over the world 
 may live united in the bonds of Christian fellowship, such as will 
 tend toprevent the crafty agitator and the renegade apostate from 
 ever being able to sever that bond of union which we trust may ever 
 exist between us, not only in our attachment to each other, but also 
 in our attachment to our Mother Country. 
 
 The Bishop, in his reply, stated that no cause of difference or 
 misunderstanding existed between Catholics and Orangemen in 
 Canada, that as fellow subjects they should stand shoulder to should- 
 er in defence of the British Constitution and L'ritish liberty against 
 the crafty and designing enemies who expected to achieve by cun- 
 ning what they dare not attempt by force, and that he trusted they 
 would unitedly prove an impenetrable bulwark of their adopted 
 country and the strong chain of connection with the Parent State. 
 
 In 1839 Bishop Macdonell paid his last visit to Great Britain, 
 from which he was fated never to return alive. Previous to his 
 departure a dinner was given to him at Carmine's Hotel, Kingston, 
 by the Celtic Society of Upper Canada, which was attended by all 
 the leading townspeople as well as by the principal officers of the 
 garrison, with whom the Bishop always lived on terms of great inti- 
 macy and friendship,(i) and by many influential gentlemen from a 
 distance. Some days afterwards the Bishop commenced his jour- 
 ney, and was accompanied to the steamboat " Dolphin " by a large 
 number of his personal friends, the old bell of St. Joseph's Church 
 pealing forth a parting salute. 
 
 The Bishop and his party landed at Liverpool on the ist of 
 August, 1839. Soon after his arrival the Bishop went to London, 
 where he communicated personally with the Colonial Office regarding 
 his plan of emigration from the Highlands as a measure of relief to 
 his suffering fellow-countrymen in Scotland, and as a security and 
 benefit to his fellow-countrymen in Canada ; as well as with regard 
 to the establishing of the College for the domestic education of the 
 priesthood and other matters. He then visited the scenes of his 
 nativity and childhood, and was present at the great northern meet- 
 ing at Inverness in October. In the same month he passed over to 
 Ireland, intending to be present at a great dinner given to the 
 Catholic Prelates in the City of Cork, but a dense fog in the Clyde 
 and adverse winds prevented him from arriving in time for the festi- 
 va l. Nevertheless, he visited the Bishops, and being unab le to 
 
 (i) It is stated that during a time in 1837-8, when the regular troops were absent from 
 Kingston, Bishop Macdonell had charge of the garrison. 
 
329 
 obtain, in the West of Ireland, any other conveyance than a jaunting 
 car, he was exposed during the entire day to one of the drizzling 
 rains so common to that region. The exposure brought on inflamma- 
 tion of the lungs, accompanied by a severe cough ; and although he 
 placed himself under the care of the President of Carlow College, 
 and afterwards with the Jesuits of Clongowes Wood, and received 
 much benefit and every attention, he still continued so indisposed on 
 arriving in Dublin as to be obliged to keep to his bed for nearly a 
 fortnight. From Dublin he went to Armagh, and remained a short 
 time with the Catholic Primate. He then accepted the invitation of 
 his friend the Earl of Gosford, to Gosford Castle, near Market Hill» 
 Armagh, where, under the roof of that kind-hearted nobleman, who had 
 been Governor-General of Canada from 1835 to 1838 (immediately 
 preceding the Earl of Durham), he appeared to have completely 
 recovered. He then returned to Scotland, a great meeting of noble- 
 men and proprietors having in the meantime been held (on the loth 
 of January, 1840) at the Hopetown Room, Edinburgh, at which the 
 Bishop's measure of emigration was discussed, the Bishop's travelling 
 companion. Dr. Rolph, attending it as his representative. 
 
 From Port Patrick to Dumfries he was obliged to drive all the 
 way on the outside of the coach, a cold Scotch rain falling upon him 
 all the time of his slow journey of nearly eighty miles. On the 
 morning after his arrival (Sunday), he was with a great effort able to 
 leave his hotel to say Mass at the Mission House, but it was a last 
 effort. On the following Tuesday he was dead, passing away so 
 quietly, in perfect pesce, that Vicar-General Dawson, who was pre- 
 sent with him at the time, states that they who were in attendance 
 could not tell whether the vital spark had flown until Dr. Blacklock 
 arrived, and, after due examination, pronounced. There was no 
 funeral in Dumfries ; the remains were conveyed at once to Edin- 
 burgh. Bishop Gillies, with the full consent of the Senior Bishop, 
 had everything arranged in the grandest style. Since the days of 
 Scotland's Royalty so magnificent a funeral had not been seen in 
 Scotland. All that was mortal of him was deposited in the crypt of 
 St. Margaret's Convent Chapel, where his body rested until brought 
 to Canada in 1861. Upon the arrival of the melancholy intelligence 
 at Kingston, his See, a solemn Requiem High Mass was sung by 
 Bishop Gaulin, on Passion Sunday, 1840, which was attended by all 
 the clergy of the Diocese and a. vast concourse of people. 
 
33° 
 
 In 1861 Bishop Horan went to Edinburgh to bring Bishop 
 Macdonell's body to Canada. The funeral cortege, which drove 
 through Glengarry, resting at the well-loved St. Raphaels, arrived in 
 Kingston on the 2Sth September, and the earthly remains of the 
 much-loved and venerated Prelate were consigned to their last resting- 
 place, with suitable honours, in the Cathedral Church of his Diocese 
 in the land of his adoption. 
 
 In the Parish Church of St. Raphaels a tablet was erected in 
 his memory by the Highland Society of Canada, in pursuance of the 
 following resolution, which was moved by the Rev. Mr. Urquhart, 
 the Presbyterian Minister of Cornwall, seconded by the Rev. George 
 Alexander Hay, Parish Priest of St. Andrews : 
 
 " Resolved, that the Highland Society of Canada do erect on 
 the 1 8th of June next, in the Parish Church of St. Raphael's a tablet 
 to the memory of the late Biihop Alexander Macdouell ; that the 
 said Society meet on that day, which is the day of the festival an- 
 niversary meeting, at eleven o'clock at Macdonell's in WiUiamstown, 
 and proceed thence at twelve o'clock in procession to the Parish 
 Church, where the Reverend John Macdonald be requested to read 
 prayers, to erect the tablet ; and that George S. Jarvis, Esquire, Guy 
 C. Wood, Esquire, and Alexander MacMartin, Esquire, be a com- 
 mittee to procure such tablet." 
 
 The day was advisedly chosen, as one which the Bishop gloried 
 in — the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. 
 
 The tablet bears the following inscription : 
 
 "On the i8th of June, 1843, 
 
 " THE HIGHLAND SOCIETY OF CANADA 
 
 " Erected this Tablet to the memory of 
 
 "THE HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 " ALEXANDER MACDONELL, 
 
 " Bishop of Kingston, 
 
 " Born 1760. Died 1840; 
 
 " Though dead, he still lives in the hearts of his countrymen." 
 
 The Kingston " British Whig," thus refers to Bishop Macdonell 
 in its obituary article : 
 
 " Of the individuals who have passed away from us during the 
 last twenty-five years, and who have taken an interest in the advance- 
 ment and prosperity of Canada West, no one probably has won for 
 himself in so great a degree the esteem of all classes of his fellow 
 citizens as has Bishop Macdonell. 
 
331 
 
 "Arriving in Canada at an early period of the present 
 century, at a time when toil, privations and difficulties inseparable 
 irom life in a new country awaited the zealous Missionary as well 
 as the hardy immigrant, he devoted himself in a noble spirit of self- 
 sacrifice, and with untiring energy, to the duties of his sacred calling 
 and the amelioration of the condition of those entrusted to his 
 spiritual care. In him they found a friend and counsellor ; to them 
 he endeared himself through his unbounded benevolence and 
 greatness of soul. Moving among all classes and creeds, with a 
 mind unbiassed by religious prejudices, taking an interest in all that 
 tended to develop the resources, or aided the general prosperity of 
 the country, he acquired a popularity still memorable, and obtained 
 over the minds of his fellow-citizens an influence only equalled by 
 their esteem and respect for him. The ripe scholar, the polished 
 gentleman, the learned divine, his many estimable qualities recom- 
 mended him to the notice of the Court of Rome ; and he was 
 elevated to the dignity of a Bishop of the Catholic Church. The 
 position made no change in the man ; he remained still the zealous 
 Missionary, the indefatigable Pastor. His loyalty to the British 
 Crown was never surpassed ; when the interests of the Empire were 
 either assailed or jeopardized on this continent, he stood forth their 
 bold advocate ; by word and deed be proved how sincere was his 
 attachment to British Institutions ; and infused into the hearts of 
 his fellow-countrymen and others an equal enthusiasm for their pre- 
 servation and maintenance. Indeed, his noble conduct on several 
 occasions tended so much to the preservation of loyalty that it drew 
 from the highest authority repeated expressions of thanks and 
 gratitude. As a member ot the Legislative Council of Upper 
 Canada (to which he was called by Sir John Colbcirne on October 
 1 2th,- 183 1), his active mind, strengthened by experience acquired 
 by constant associations with all classes, enabled him to suggest 
 many things most beneficial to the best interests of the country, and 
 the peace and harmony of its inhabitants." 
 
 Mr. Morgan thus concludes his notice of the Bishop in his 
 useful work, " Celebrated Canadians :" 
 
 " In every relation of life, as subject, Prelate, relative and 
 friend, he was a model of everything valuable. To his Sovereign 
 he brought the warm and hearty homage of a sincere, enthusiastic, 
 unconditional allegiance, and the most invincible, uncompromising 
 loyalty; as Prelate, he was kind, attentive and devoted to the interests, 
 T7elfare and happiness of his Clergy; as a relative, his attachment 
 was unbounded, and his death created an aching void to hundreds of 
 sorrowing relatives whom he counselled by his advice, assisted with 
 his means and protected by his influence; as a friend, he was 
 sincere, enthusiastic and unchangeable in his attachments. Such, 
 indeed, was the liberality of his views and the inexpressible benignity 
 
332 
 of his disposition, that all creeds and classes united in admiration of 
 his character, respect for him, and congregated together to bid him 
 farewell as he left the shores of the St. Lawrence on that voyage, 
 which proved but the prelude to that long and last one, from which 
 there is no return." 
 
 The following beautiful verses, composed by Robert GilfiUan, a 
 Scottish poet oi some celebrity, appeared in the Edinburgh " Weekly 
 Chronicle "at the time of the Bishop's funeral services there : 
 
 DIRGE OF THE LATE BISHOP MACDONELL. 
 
 BY ROBERT GILFILLAN. 
 
 The temple was wrapt in deepest gloom, 
 
 As they laid out the dead for the silent tomb, 
 
 And the tapers were Ughted dim — 
 A soft and solemn shadowy light — 
 And the book was opened for Holy Rite, 
 
 When they woke this funeral hymn : 
 '■ He's gone ! he's gone ! the spirit is fled, 
 And now we mourn the honoured dead ! " 
 
 The coffin before the Altar stood. 
 With purple pall and silken shroud. 
 
 And tassels sable hung. 
 And as they bore it slow along. 
 They chanted forth the burial song, 
 
 By hundred voices sung — 
 "He's gone ! he's gone ! the spirit is fled, 
 And now we mourn the honoured dead ! " 
 
 And many a Priest with mitred brow, 
 Before the Holy Cross did bow. 
 
 And joined the mournful strain. 
 " The Hving once ! — the lifeless now ! 
 All, all, to Death's fell grasp must bow, 
 
 Nor come they back again ! 
 The tide gives back its ebbing wave, 
 But there's no return from the darksome grave I 
 
 Frail mortals of the passing day, 
 
 Is this your home ? Is this your stay? 
 
 Attend the lesson given ; 
 'Tis dust to dust and clay to clay. 
 The friend we mourn from earth away. 
 
 They welcome now in Heaven !" 
 'Twas thus they bore him slow along. 
 With Holy chant and mournful song. 
 
333 
 They spoke of his deeds well done on earth, 
 His Holy life, and active worth, 
 
 Relieving others' woe ; 
 The poor in him they found a ftiend, 
 Whose like again they will not find, 
 
 In this cold world below ! 
 Did good where good was to be done, 
 But his race is o'er, and the prize is won ! 
 
 They chanted the Requiem in cadence deep— 
 The good may grieve, but the dead shall sleep, 
 
 When life's dull round is o'er— 
 Rest, Pilgrim, from a distant land, 
 A peaceful home is now at hand, 
 
 Where troubles come no more ! 
 Like a shock of corn he ripely fell, 
 His days were long, but he used them well I 
 
 Chorus, 
 Raise the crosier o'er the dead. 
 Chants are sung, and Mass is said ; 
 Bear him to the dwelling low 
 Where all sons of Adam go. 
 Sisters, brothers, onward come. 
 Earth is but a living tomb, 
 Full of sorrow, full of sadness. 
 Little joy, and little gladness ; 
 Listen what the Scripture saith, 
 " In midst of life we walk in death !" 
 
334 
 
 CHAPTER 29. 
 
 The Old Northwest Company. — Partners who Subsequently 
 Resided in Glengarry. — Mr. Duncan Cameron, the Hon- 
 ourable John MacGillivray, Mr. John Macdonald, Mr. 
 Angus Macdonell, Mr. Alexander Macdonell, Laird 
 McGillis. 
 
 I had hoped that the space at my command would have enabled 
 me to notice at some length the Northwest Company, its objects and 
 history, its partners and their services in connection with the fur 
 trade and partial opening up of the illimitable country, which, after 
 the absorption of the Company by or amalgation with the Hudson 
 Bay Company, was practically monopolized by that Company until 
 the enlightened statesmanship of Sir John Macdonald and his col- 
 leagues in the Government of Canada threw it open to the people of 
 Canada and the emigrants from the Old Country, and which is now 
 traversed by that great highway to the Pacific Coast, the Canadian 
 Pacific Railway, the most important, probably, of all the great works 
 originated and consummated by that ablest of the Colonial statesmen 
 of Britain. I am warned, however, that I have already exceeded 
 the limits laid down with the printer of these sketches, and I can 
 but refer to it incidentally. This is to be regretted, as many of those 
 most intimately connected with that great pioneer enterprise were 
 also closely associated by birth, family connection and residence 
 with the County of Glengarry. The Company appears to have 
 been formed almost immediately after the close of the Revolutionary 
 War; additional partners were from time to time admitted, and 
 agreements as to shares, governance, etc., entered into between 
 them in 1802 and 1804, which are set out at length by the Honour- 
 able L. R. Masson, formerly Lieutenant-Governor of the Province 
 of Quebec, in his interesting work, " Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie 
 du Nord Ouest." The officers or partnersofTHe-Coinpany^wefe 
 ahnost entirely Scotchmen, as their names would indicate. Those 
 in 1804 were John Gregory, William MacGillivray, Duncan Mac- 
 Gillivray, William Hallowell and Roderick Mackenzie, composing 
 the house of McTavish, Frobisher & Co., of Montreal; Angus 
 
335 
 Shaw, Daniel Mackenzie, William McKay, John McDonald, Donald 
 McTavish, John McDonell, Archibald Norman McLeod, Alexander 
 McDougall, Charles Charboillez, John Sayer, Peter Grant, Alexan- 
 der Fraser, ^neas Cameron, John Finlay, Duncan Cameron, James 
 Hughes, Alexander McKay, Hugh McGillis, Alexander Henry, 
 John McGillivray, James McKenzie, Simon Fraser, John Duncan 
 Campbell, David Thompson, John Thompson (composing the com- 
 pany or concern known as the Old Company); Sir Alexander Mac- 
 kenzie, Thomas Forsyth, John Richardson and John Forsyth (com- 
 posing the great Montreal house of Forsyth, Richardson & Co.); 
 Alexander EUice, John Inglis and James Forsyth, of London, Eng. 
 (forming the firm of Phyn, IngUs & Co.); John Ogilvie, John Muir, 
 Pierre Rocheblave, Alexander Mackenzie, John McDonald, James 
 Leith, John Haldane and John Wills, wintering partners and the 
 trustees of the estate of the firm of Leith, Jamieson & Co. and 
 Thomas Tain. The voyageurs and other employees of the Com- 
 pany, of whom there were hundreds, were principally French-Cana- 
 dians, and during the War of 1812 14 were formed into the Corps so 
 distinguished during that war known as the Corps des Voyageurs, 
 Canadieil^a list of the officers of which is given at page 185. It 
 was largely those men who so gallantly defended Fort Michilimac- 
 kinac and captured the post of Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, 
 about 450 miles distant, and took ihe enemy's war vessels " Scor- 
 pion "and "Tigress" in the closing days of that War.(i) The 
 name of this Corps and its distinguished services will be found con- 
 stantly referred to by all the historians who treat of the subject of 
 the War. Great trouble eventually arose between this Company 
 and Lord Selkirk's, which led to violence, illegal arrests, confisca- 
 tions and robbery, and culminated in the total destruction of Fort 
 Gibraltar, the headquarters of the Northwest Company, at the forks 
 of the Red River, and in the tragedy of the 19th June, 18 16, by 
 which Governor Semple, of Lord Selkirk's Company, lost his life. 
 Fort Douglas was destroyed and Lord Selkirk's Company were dis- 
 persed. One of the principal partners, Mr. Duncan Cameron, after- 
 wards member for Glengarry(2), was arrested in consequence of 
 these occurrences, detained for more than a year at York Factory, 
 and taken prisoner to England, for which high-handed arrest and 
 
 (i) I had intended giving an iiccount of these_ occurrences, but through an unfortunate 
 oversight, for which I am more to blame than the printer, it was, although written out, omitted 
 from its proper place. 
 
 U) Vide pages 154-5. 
 
336 
 
 Illegal detention he obtained damages to the extent of £3,000 star- 
 ing. ( I ) Mr. Cameron remained but a short time in England, where 
 he vas immediately set at liberty without even being brought to 
 trial, and on his return to Canada he retired from the Northwest 
 Company and settled at Williamstown, in this County, where he led 
 a quiet life in the genial company of several other old Nor'-Westers 
 who had made Glengarry their home. One of his sons. Sir Roderick 
 Cameron, is now residing in New York, and engaged in the Austra- 
 lian trade. He retains a warm affection for Glengarry, as those who 
 have been so fortunate as to partake of his princely hospitality are 
 aware. 
 
 Another of the partners was the Honourable John MacGilli- 
 vray, who also resided in the neighbourhood of Williamstown, and 
 became a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. He 
 was the father of the late Neil MacGillivray, who succeeded to the 
 estate of Dunmaglass in Scotland and the chieftainship of his clan, 
 and of Mr. George H. MacGillivray, so well known to us in Glen- 
 garry, who occupies the homestead of this highly respected family. 
 
 John Macdonald of Gart, after retiring from the Company in 
 which he had long been partner, settled on the property of the late 
 Major Gray of the King's Royal Regiment of New York, known a 3 
 the Gray's Creek estate on the River St. Lawrence. His father was 
 a captain in the 84th Regiment, and after his death his grand-uncle, 
 General Small, who had commanded one of the Battalions of the 
 Highland Emigrant Regiment during the Revolutionary War(2), and 
 an elder brother, bound Mr. Macdonald to Mr. Simon MacTavish as 
 an apprenticed clerk in the Company, which he thus joined in 1791. 
 A short but interesting account of his life, with his notes relating to 
 his experience in the Northwest, is given in Mr. Masson's book, 
 volume 2, page 3 et seq. Mr. Massoa describes him as being like 
 most of his comrades in that adventuresome undertaking, brave, 
 rash, reckless and domineering. Mr. Macdonald's arm was slightly 
 deformed in consequence of an accident in childhood, and the old 
 Canadian voyageurs, in order to distinguish him from the numerous 
 other Macdonalds and Macdonells in the Company, called him 
 Monsieur Macdonald le bras croche. Ou'- Scotch .people, whose- 
 French was not quite perfect, rendered it Brock-rosh, and by the 
 latter designation he is well and affectionately remembered. He 
 
 (i) Masson's Bourgeois du Nord Quest, p. 235. 
 (2) Vide page 52 et seq. 
 
337 
 was the father of the late Judge Rolland Macdonald, of Welland, 
 and of Mr. De Bellefeuille Macdonald, of Montreal. 
 
 Angus Macdonell (Greenfield), a brother of Colonels John, 
 Duncan and Donald Greenfield Macdonell, was also in the Com- 
 pany, and was murdered in the Northwest in one of the many con- 
 flicts there. His murderer was tried in Montreal but acquitted. 
 His fate, however, after leaving the Court House, is unknown. 
 
 Alexander Greenfield Macdonell, another brother of the latter, 
 was also a partner in the later years of the Company's existence. 
 He returned to Glengarry subsequently, and represented the County 
 in the Legislature, as also Prescott and Russell. He was Sheriff of 
 the Ottawa District. He did good service for the Company in its 
 controversy with that of Lord Selkirk, and appears to have been the 
 chief literary partizan of the former. His " Narrative of the tran- 
 sactions in the Red River country, from the commencement of the 
 operations of the Earl of Selkirk till the summer of the year i8r6," 
 published in London, England, in 1819, is an exceedingly able pre- 
 sentation of his Company's case. He died in Toronto while attend- 
 ing to his legislative duties before the Union of the Provinces in 
 1841. 
 
 Mr. Hugh McGillis, another partner, also settled at Williams- 
 town on his retirement from the company, and acquired a great deal 
 of property in the neighborhood. None of his family are now living 
 there, and his property has now passed into other hands. In fact, 
 with the solitary exception of Mr. G. H. Macgillivray, not a descend- 
 ant or representative of any of the above named gentlemen is now in 
 the County to my knowledge . 
 
 Another resident of Williamstown, a former partner in the 
 Northwest Company, and who had served as an Astronomer Royal 
 on the Pacific Coast, was Mr. David Thompson. Mr. Thompson 
 resided in the house (originally built by the Rev. Mr. Bethune), 
 now occupied by Mr. Murdoch Farquhar McLennan .