Tecumseh and Brock (17 page)

In April 1812, the Americans conceived a strategy that had the endorsement of both President James Madison and U.S. Secretary of War William Eustis. The plan was to attack Canada with simultaneous assaults against Montreal and Kingston and across the Niagara River between Lakes Erie and Ontario. Some of President Madison's advisors concluded that because Canada's defences depended on the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence, and other major rivers, the U.S. needed to seize control of the waterways by constructing a fleet of ships as soon as possible. That was a far-sighted idea, but the Americans failed to follow through amid fierce debates about how much the war would cost and who would pay for it.

If American planning was desultory, their selection of senior commanders could hardly have been worse. Henry Dearborn, a sixty-one-year-old veteran of the American Revolutionary War, was put in charge of the first plan to conquer Canada. Dearborn had long since devoted himself to politics, not military affairs. Nonetheless, Madison appointed Dearborn, who was known to his troops as “Granny,” to command the Northern Department with a rank of major general.
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At the same time, the administration picked sixty-three-year-old Thomas Pinckney, another veteran of the American Revolution, to run the Southern Command.

A third key commander whose military experience during the American Revolution had long since passed, was fifty-nine-year-old William Hull. Short and pudgy, more epicurean than Spartan, Hull was the genial governor of the Michigan Territory, the first holder of that office, with an appointment that had begun in 1805. As governor, Hull was the nominal commander of the Michigan militia. Originally from Massachusetts, he displayed few of the martial qualities of a man fit to lead soldiers into battle. Whatever his military prowess decades earlier, Hull was now fearful. Above all, he quavered at the prospect of native warriors gaining the upper hand against his troops and his family, a fear that would have important consequences in coming weeks.
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Shortly after his arrival at Fort Detroit on July 5, General Hull received a packet from William Eustis that contained the text of the American declaration of war and gave Hull written authorization “to commence offensive operations.” While Eustis cautioned Hull to protect his own posts, he urged him to “take possession of Malden and extend your conquests as circumstances may justify.”
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Hull replied with a written message of his own that combined bluster against the British with anxiety about the native population. “Every effort has been and is still making, by the British to collect the Indians under their standard,” he wrote. “The British have established a post, directly opposite this place — I have confidence in dislodging him, and being in possession of the opposite bank . . . I have little time to write: every thing will be done that is possible to do. The British command the water and the savages . . . you therefore must not be too sanguine.”
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On July 12, after collecting boats on the Detroit River for three days, Hull led his troops across the river. Greeted by friendly residents in the settlement of Sandwich, Hull issued a proclamation to Canadians, inviting them to regard the American forces as liberators. “Inhabitants of Canada!” Hull's proclamation read. “After 30 years of peace and prosperity, the United States have been driven to arms. The injuries and aggressions, the insults and indignities of Great Britain, have once more left them no alternative but manly resistance or unconditional submission. The army under my command has invaded your country, and the standard of union now waves over the territory of Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitant, it brings neither danger nor difficulty.”

Asserting that Canadians had no interest in Britain's wars and had “felt her tyranny,” he pressed, “I tender you the invaluable blessing of civil, political and religious liberty . . . That liberty which has raised us to an elevated rank among the nations of the world, and which afforded us a greater measure of peace and security, of wealth and improvement, than ever fell to the lot of any country.”

The general's honeyed words were followed by a stern warning: “If, contrary to your own interest and the just expectation of my country, you should take part in the approaching contest, you will be considered and treated as enemies, and the horrors and calamities of war will stalk you. If the barbarous and savage policies of Great Britain be pursued, and the savages be let loose to murder our citizens, and butcher our women and children, this will be a war of extermination. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalping knife, will be the signal of one discriminate scene of desolation. No white man found fighting by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner; instant destruction will be his lot.” And then he added a final admonition: “The United States offer you peace, liberty and security — your choice lies between these and war, slavery and destruction.”
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From the American point of view, the immediate response to Hull's invasion of Canada and to his proclamation was favourable. Several hundred Canadian residents quickly accepted the entreaty to identify themselves with the American cause, and dozens of militiamen deserted Fort Malden to join Hull's army. Hull had been expecting this support. He later wrote that “a large portion of the population of that province had emigrated from the United States. They had been educated with the principles of freedom and independence; and some of them, and many of their fathers, had fought and bled in our revolutionary contest. They were situated more than three thousand miles from the country to which they were subjected, and had no participation or interest in the measures it adopted.”
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The positive reception the Americans received from a sizeable number of residents showed that Brock's concerns about the loyalty of segments of the population were well-founded.

Confident that he was on the way to a major and easily won victory, Hull set himself up in the best-appointed house in Sandwich, the residence of a British colonel who was then away in York, the capital of Upper Canada. The American general sent out parties of troops to commandeer provisions for his men from the local farmers,
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a practice that over the course of the war convinced most Upper Canadians that the Americans were thieves, not liberators. The demands of the invaders devastated some of the farmers. One farmer had 408 bushels of grain confiscated, and another lost 620 skins and all of his livestock.

On July 16, the first shots in the War of 1812 rang out not far from Fort Malden. Advance units of General Hull's army, based at Detroit, had crossed the Detroit River onto Canadian soil four days earlier. Under the command of Colonel Lewis Cass, the invading force consisted of one company of the U.S. 4th Regiment, one company of Ohio volunteers, four companies of Ohio riflemen, and some dragoons — in total about three hundred men.
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Leaving a small force to hold a bridge across the Canard River, Cass marched up the river to a ford and crossed. There he surprised a small force of British regulars, Canadian militia, and native warriors, under the command of Lieutenant John Clemow. The outnumbered British fell back to their main position at Amherstburg. During the confused retreat, two British privates, James Hancock and John Dean, were left behind. They defended their position until both were wounded and taken prisoner. Hancock died the same evening, the first soldier to be killed in the defence of Canada.
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Ten days after Hull's proclamation to the residents of Upper Canada, Brock issued his own counter-proclamation from Fort George. In the words of the head of the military and civil government of the province, Hull had insulted Upper Canadians “with a call to seek voluntarily the protection of his government.” Brock warned that an American conquest of Canada would quickly be followed by the country's re-annexation by France, which would result in the inhabitants of Canada becoming “willing subjects, or rather slaves, to the despot who rules the nations of continental Europe with a rod of iron.”

Then Brock took aim at Hull's warning about the dire consequences that would follow if any white soldier stood side by side with a native warrior. “Be not dismayed at the unjustifiable threat of the commander of the enemy's forces to refuse quarter, should an Indian appear in the ranks,” he declared. “The brave bands of aborigines which inhabit this colony were, like his majesty's other subjects, punished for their zeal and fidelity, by the loss of their possessions in the late colonies, and rewarded by his majesty with lands of superior value in this province . . . The Indians feel that the soil they inherit is to them and their posterity . . . They are men, and have equal rights with all other men to defend themselves and their property when invaded.”
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After affirming the rights of the native peoples to their lands, Brock declared that the war was not just about whether Britain or the United States would rule Upper Canada — the war was a struggle for the rights of all of the subjects of the king. With this statement, Brock made common cause with the native enemies of the U.S.

On July 27, Brock met the newly elected legislative assembly at York, under circumstances dramatically different from those of his first meeting with the assembly a few months earlier. Again he pressed for amendments to the Militia Act and sought the suspension of habeas corpus. The members of the assembly did agree to amend the Militia Act to strengthen the government's ability to insist that orders be obeyed. They also passed a measure to raise ten thousand pounds to fund the militia. But the assembly refused to revoke habeas corpus. Even under these dire circumstances, the elected members were not prepared to give the government carte blanche. It was a unique situation faced by the democratic branch of the Upper Canadian regime, and in the end the members of the assembly insisted that the government not completely abridge the rights of the subjects of the Crown in the province. Brock accused them of wasting time during an emergency.

On August 3, Brock turned to the appointed Executive Council, whose members could be expected to be more compliant, and spelled out for them the threat of the American invasion of the western corner of Upper Canada. The following day, in a letter to Prevost, he reported that the council had adjourned for deliberation. He was confident that the members would recommend the prorogation of the assembly and a proclamation declaring martial law.
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A few weeks earlier, uncertain about how to proceed on the question of martial law, Brock had sought the advice of Prevost on how far his authority extended. On July 31, the governor wrote back advising, “I believe you are authorized by the Commission under which you administer the Government of Upper Canada to declare Martial Law in the event of Invasion or Insurrection. It is therefore, for you to consider whether you can obtain anything equivalent from your Legislature.” And then he let Brock know that he had been having his own problems with his legislature: “I have not succeeded in obtaining a modification of it in Lower Canada, and must therefore upon the occurrence of either of those Calamities [invasion or insurrection], declare the Law Martial unqualified . . .”
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Despite the unease he felt dealing with politicians and acting as head of government, there was one place where Brock did feel at home — on a battlefield, where he would soon find himself.

In the first days of the war, with a foothold secured in Upper Canada, Hull had the opportunity to achieve a decisive victory for the United States. With bold moves, he could have won over much of the Upper Canadian population with the proposition that the Americans were going to win and it made sense to side with the victors. Decisiveness could also have convinced many of the native peoples who were hostile to the U.S. that they should sit on the sidelines rather than rally to a losing British cause.

This was the moment for an audacious general to take advantage of the fact that the Americans had twice as many men as the British in the immediate zone of conflict. Hull needed to strike from his base on Upper Canadian soil and seize Fort Malden, the principal British strongpoint, in a dramatic coup. Hull, however, was anything but audacious. He was the classic ditherer, so fearful of threats to his position that he threw away his opportunities.

On August 4, Porter Hanks wrote to Hull with the devastating news that he had surrendered Michilimackinac. He explained that he had been compelled to give up the post to a superior force without a shot being fired in its defence. He concluded his letter with a personal plea: “In consequence of this unfortunate affair, I beg leave, sir, to demand that a court of inquiry may be ordered to investigate all the facts connected with it; and I do further request, that the court may be specially directed to express their opinion on the merits of the case.”
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Hand-wringing combined with self-justification was to be characteristic of missives written by American commanders following their defeats in the coming months.

Shocked by the bad news from the north, Hull also grew anxious about the security of his lengthy supply lines south to Ohio. An intrepid commander would have understood that war, especially in its early phases, is highly fluid; he would have brushed aside the bad news and put off concerns about his supply lines for the moment. Capturing Fort Malden would have more than offset the problems that were beginning to immobilize Hull.

Hull's opponents were fortunate to have a leader on their side who was anything but a ditherer. At this critical moment, Tecumseh brought his towering skills to the aid of the British, who themselves were poorly prepared to meet the American assault. At the end of June, when the Shawnee chief reached Fort Malden, news had just arrived that war had broken out. Tecumseh was immediately prepared to throw himself into the fight, although he had few warriors with him. In the days that followed, he managed to convince other native leaders and their followers not to back the Americans, and he pulled some neutral tribes off the fence to side with the British. The British quickly realized that Tecumseh was the decisive figure in determining how much military support they could receive from the native peoples. In a series of small-scale clashes with the Americans north of Fort Malden, Tecumseh showed his offensive spirit while fighting alongside the redcoats. While the battles were indecisive, the initial sense that an American victory was inevitable was quickly fading.