Isaac Brock

British military leader and colonial administrator

• Born: October 6, 1769
• Birthplace: St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands
• Died: October 13, 1812
• Place of death: Queenston, Upper Canada (now in Ontario, Canada)

A career officer in the British army, Brock saw relatively little combat action. However, his victories during the early months of the War of 1812 may have preserved Upper Canada from being conquered by the United States, and he is consequently remembered as the “man who saved Canada.”

Early Life

Sir Isaac Brock was born on Guernsey, one of Great Britain’s Channel Islands off the coast of France, in the year 1769—the same year in which both Napoleon Bonaparte and the duke of Wellington were born. His parents, John and Elizabeth Brock, were moderately wealthy, in part the result of his maternal grandfather’s service as lieutenant bailiff on Guernsey. Brock’s own father was a midshipman in the Royal Navy when he was born. He was the eighth son of the family’s fourteen children, ten of whom lived to maturity. His family was, to a significant degree, a military one. In addition to Isaac and his father, several brothers also served in Britain’s army and navy.

As a youth, Isaac demonstrated both a military bearing and significant athletic skills. As an adult, he was a large man, estimated at well over six feet in height, and one who became significantly overweight with time. Considered to have a forceful personality, he could also exhibit significant sociability and loyalty. Though he never married, Brock was also impressive in his gentlemanly interactions with women.

Brock’s early schooling took place first on the island and then in Southampton, England. He also spent a year studying French in Rotterdam on the Continent. Brock was proud to own a large collection of books, from which he continued his studies, and was considered significantly self-educated by his friends and peers.

In March, 1785, Brock entered the army at the age of fifteen, purchasing an ensigncy in the Eighth Regiment of Foot. Six years later, he joined the Forty-ninth Regiment of Foot with the rank of captain. He remained with that regiment through the rest of his military career. During those early years, his regiment was posted at Barbados and Jamaica in the Caribbean. After he survived a near-fatal fever and was challenged to a duel, he resigned from the regiment and returned to England.

Life’s Work

In October, 1797, Brock purchased a commission as a lieutenant colonel in the Forty-ninth Regiment, When he rejoined his former regiment, he became its lieutenant colonel. By that time, poor leadership had reduced his regiment to what the duke of York considered one of the worst in the British army. Exhibiting the discipline for which he would become known, as well as showing clear concern for the health and welfare of the troops, Brock restored both pride and quality to the regiment.

At the end of the eighteenth century, Great Britain was engaged in what would develop into a long series of wars with the French under Napoleon I. Between August and October of 1799, the British army and navy, under the command of the duke of York, began a campaign in the Netherlands to wrest that region from France and its Dutch allies. In a series of indecisive actions at Egmont-op-Zee on the coast on October 2, Brock received his first battle wound when he was struck in the neck. The only additional action he saw during that period was in 1801, when his regiment participated in Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s attack on Copenhagen, Denmark.

In August, 1802, Brock and his men were sent to Quebec City in Canada. A portion of his regiment at Fort George was serving under Lieutenant Colonel Roger Sheaffe, an unusually tough disciplinarian whose attitude angered the men to the point at which a mutiny became imminent. Brock became aware of the threat, and upon his arrival at Fort George, he arrested the ringleaders, seven of whom were subsequently executed. Upon assuming command, Brock immediately relaxed some of his predecessor’s harsher regulations.

In 1805, Brock was promoted to full colonel. He remained at Quebec until 1810, by which time relations between Britain’s Canadian territories and the United States were deteriorating. During the following year, he was promoted to major general and placed in command of British troops stationed in Upper Canada. In June, 1812, war broke out between the United States and Great Britain. Brock had some 1,200 troops serving directly under him, as well as approximately 11,000 Canadian militiamen. One month later, an American army of 600 regulars and 1,600 militia under General William Hull, the governor of Michigan Territory, entered Canada from Detroit and occupied the town of Sandwich (later known as Windsor). Brock set out from York (later known as Toronto) to meet Hull’s threat.

While these events transpired, the American fort at Michilimackinac on the northern tip of the Michigan peninsula fell to the British. Fearing he could not defend his position, Hull retreated to his base at Fort Detroit. Brock shortly afterward reached Amherstburg, immediately east of Sandwich, and there met with the Shawnee chief Tecumseh, with whom he formed an alliance.

The contrast between Tecumseh and Brock was startling: Brock towered over Tecumseh, who was dressed in deerskin and moccasins. However, they were united in their desire to remove the Americans from what was then a frontier region. Brock held council with his aides, and despite warnings of caution, decided that nothing was gained by delay and decided to attack Hull’s position. With 300 regular troops, 400 militiamen, and some 800 Indians, Brock and Tecumseh crossed the Thames River and laid siege to the fort. Although his troops held a relatively strong position and outnumbered his opponents, Hull surrendered to Brock on August 16. Hull’s surrender dealt a significant blow to American morale, while simultaneously boosting that of the British and Canadians. Hull was later convicted of cowardice in a celebrated court-martial and was sentenced to be executed, but President James Madison set aside his execution.

Meanwhile, three thousand American troops under the command of General Stephen Van Rensselaer crossed the Niagara River from New York in October and attempted to occupy the Canadian village of Queenston. Driven back by a small British force, they instead captured a battery on the heights overlooking the town. On October 13, 1812, cannon fire awakened Brock, who had been sleeping at Fort George. Upon arriving at the scene of the battle, Brock attempted to rally his troops—particularly the York Volunteers, his favorite unit—to charge the battery atop the hill. Before the men could become organized, however, their position was overrun and Brock was forced to retreat, while suffering a hand wound in the process.

While trying to rally his troops in the heroic tradition of British officers, Brock attempted to lead his men a second time against the American position. However, the fact that he was wearing a bright red uniform with an officer’s plumed hat made him a clear target, and he was instantly killed when he was shot in the chest by a sharpshooter’s bullet. Shortly afterward, his body was temporarily interred at Fort George. Some years later, he was permanently interred near the spot where he had been killed.

Significance

Controversy has long surrounded the question of Brock’s place in history. His own perspective is ironic, as he considered the War of 1812 as a minor conflict in a backwater colony of the growing British Empire. His own goal was to serve with the duke of Wellington in Europe. His major military accomplishment—for which he was knighted—was his capture of Fort Detroit and its inept commander. His death was the result of an ill-conceived charge. Although his major military actions were not stellar, there is no question about his imagination in planning the strategy for war, his courage, and his ability to command.

Brock’s death, though a blow to the morale of his men, nevertheless provided inspiration both to the British and Canadian forces and created a legend for the future of the nascent country. Arguably, his leadership was instrumental in preventing the United States from overrunning Upper Canada. If such a campaign had been successful, it might have resulted in the incorporation of the region into the United States. Brock’s monument, placed near the site of his death on Queenston Heights, stands nearly two hundred feet high and continues to reflect the admiration still felt by Canadians for the man who died in their service.

Bibliography

Berton, Pierre. The Invasion of Canada. 1812-1813. 2 vols. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980. Popular account of the War of 1812 by a major Canadian writer, who is known for his emphasis on nationalism and the Canadian character.

Borneman, Walter. 1812: The War That Forged a Nation. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. The author’s thesis is that despite the internal controversy over the necessity of the war, its prosecution ultimately united the American states into a national entity. Emphasis is placed on the diplomatic background for the conflict.

Fryer, Mary. Bold, Brave and Born to Lead: Major General Isaac Brock and the Canadas. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2004. A biographical account of the general, his ambitions and military prowess.

Hitsman, J. Mackay, and Donald Graves, eds. The Incredible War of 1812: A Military History. Toronto: Robin Brass Studio, 2000. Updated version of Hitsman’s work on the subject, with emphasis on military aspects of the War of 1812.

Malcomson, Robert. A Very Brilliant Affair: The Battle of Queenstown Heights, 1812. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2003. A detailed account of the battle in which Brock lost his life.

Turner, Wesley. British Generals in the War of 1812: High Command in the Canadas. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 1999. Analysis of the five British generals, including Brock, who participated in the war. Addresses the question of why Brock remains the best-known British officer of the war, despite his death in battle.