> Back to the Fan page
|
|
Stan Rogers & General Brock's War |
by Tony Dalmyn, with contributions by Dive G. Anderson
(reprinted w/ permission)
|
The following article began as a series of discussions on
Northwest Passage (cdnfolk-l). Tony Dalmyn, one of the chief
contributors, kindly undertook to gather the threads and edit
them into an article for Northern Journey Online Journal.
Several of the sections have been extensively revised and
expanded. Many thanks to Tony, David and others for their fine
work.
- Gene Wilburn, NJO Editor |
|
|
Introduction |
Stan Rogers set some of his songs in the War of 1812.
This is mentioned in two songs on the posthumous album
From Fresh Water, on the songs MacDonnell on
the Heights and The Nancy.The album was
produced by Paul Mills and released in 1984 through the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Cole Harbour Music
Ltd and Fogarty's Cove Music Inc. It was recorded in
late 1982 and early 1983. The liner notes of the album
state:
"The album began in the summer of 1981. Stan decided to
'fill in the gap', so to speak, between the continental
extremes of 'Fogarty's Cove' and 'Northwest Passage'
...
"So here is 'From Fresh Water' to 'fill in the gap'. He
had an immense amount of pleasure doing the research for
the project. He discovered, much to his delight, an
Ontario he had not known or suspected, more unsung
heroes of Canadian history and enough information,
useful and otherwise to enliven supper-table
conversation wherever he was."
"MacDonnell on the Heights" tells the story of the
battle of Queenston Heights, on October 13, 1812, and
"The Nancy" tells the story of a minor engagement along
the Detroit River, below Lake St. Clair in October 1813.
Stan Rogers recorded at least one more song set in the
War of 1812, based on the tale of Billy Green. Various
sources have suggested it will be released on a new CD
in 1997.
Chris Gudgeon offers brief appraisals of the songs on
From Fresh Water in his biography of Stan Rogers, An
Unfinished Conversation:
"A man named Macdonell did fight and die alongside
General Brock in the War of 1812. But this song is as
much about another man who reached the 'heights' but
never found fame: Stan himself. Stan's original lyrics
read 'Not one in ten thousand knows my name'. With
Macdonell, Stan found a partner in obscurity."
"Based on a true story of a British boat during the War
of 1812 that defeated an American cavalry unit. Written
and performed in the style that earned Stan the nickname
Steeleye Stan after the British revival band, Steeleye
Span."
This article will provide information about the War of
1812 and the people and events depicted in the songs.
The War of 1812 unified the diverse English-speaking
immigrants to Ontario - the English, the Scots, the
Irish and the Americans (the Empire loyalists and the
ones who sought opportunity) under a single leadership.
These songs demonstrate a keen appreciation of the
importance of the War of 1812 in Canadian history, as a
unifying myth for the settlers of Upper Canada. We also
see a reconciliation between the Stan Rogers of
Fogarty's Cove and the Maritime albums, who disparaged
Ontario and Upper Canada. Stan Rogers achieved this
reconciliation through the discovery of new, or
previously unknown heroes, whom he has plucked from
obscurity. His heroes are taken from the farms and
townships of pioneer Upper Canada, in an era when the
sudden bravery of ordinary men and women forged the
spirit of a new nation.
Stan Rogers did not try to tell the whole story of the
War, and this article won't either. For moe information,
we suggest two books by the Canadian writer Pierre
Berton, which were published in 1981 and 1982. They are
The Invasion of Canada, 1812-13 and Flames Across the
Border. Berton's books are the most accessible and
detailed modern accounts of the war.
TOP |
|
|
The Beginning of the War |
The War of 1812 was fought largely in Southern Ontario,
on a front from Michilimackinac in the Northwest to the
St Lawrence river, especially in the small area between
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Historians regard the war as
a critical event in the histories of the United States
and Canada. The Americans asserted themselves against
the British, and the Canadians defended themselves from
invasion and avoided assimilation into the United
States.
The British were engaged in a brutal war against
Napoleon in Spain and France. Their fleets were
chronically short of sailers, and the British had a
policy of impressment - seizing sailors and drafting
them into the British navy. Several thousand Americans
were drafted into British service. As well, Britain was
blockading the French and seizing any vessels bound for
France. American politicians resented Britain's
high-handed behaviour and saw a chance to strike at
Britain while its main military forces were tied up in
Europe.
The British garrison in Canada was weak. There were a
few regiments of British regulars, and a poorly trained
militia. The Americans expected little resistance.
American politicians believed that many Canadians would
support the invasion. The Americans saw the war as a war
of liberation rather than a war of retribution. They
expected to unify the English speaking peoples of North
America, and they expected the French settlers of Lower
Canada to welcome American statehood over British
Dominion.
Lower Canada, along the St Lawrence River was controlled
by the English, but it was made up primarily of the
French speaking descendants of the original French
colonists. It was the most populous and prosperous part
of the colony. However, the states to the south were not
enthusiastic supporters of the War, the American
generals commanding the armies in the region were not
aggressive, and Lower Canada did not play a large role
in the War. Two decisive battles at Chateauguay and
Crysler's Farm were fought to defend Lower Canada.
Atlantic Canada was made up of several small colonies
centered on the Atlantic seaboard. The New England
states were largely against the war, and the War was not
fought in the Atlantic colonies or New England.
The Americans saw Upper Canada as the easiest and ripest
target. Upper Canada was a new colony, hacked out of the
forests. It was primarily composed of immigrants from
England and Scotland, and from the US itself. Some of
the Americans were Empire Loyalists - Americans who had
left the US after the Revolution, but a large portion
had moved to the Canadian frontier to seek opportunity.
Due to family ties, many Upper Canadian settlers were
well connected to the United States. A large part of the
population was disaffected with British rule, and many
were indifferent to political questions as they
addressed the serious business of making a living on the
frontier.
The Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada - the British
possessions along the St Lawrence River above Montreal,
and along the north sides of Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and
Lake Huron, was Major General Isaac Brock. Brock was a
British professional soldier. He had served with
distinction in the Napoleonic wars. He had come to
Canada as the Colonel of the 49th Regiment, of the
Infantry, "The Green Tigers". The 49th, like the other
British regular forces, had been battle tested, but
weakened by the death and wounding of many of its
soldiers. It had been further weakened by the illness
and death of many of its men in the malarial conditions
of garrison duty in a Caribbean post. It was also
plagued by the problems generated by the harsh
discipline of the British Army. Shortly before the war,
a mutiny was discovered and put down by the execution of
6 men.
Brock correctly anticipated the war. He trained his
regulars, raised militias, and established his defences
and battle plans. He attempted to silence dissent by
suspending civil rights, such as they were, a measure
that was resisted by the Executive Council of Upper
Canada.
Brock found his main source of support among the
Loyalists and the British immigrants. One source of
cohesion among these communities was the Anglican
(Episcopalian) church. John Strachan, a Scots
Presbyterian, turned Anglican, minister arrived in
Canada in 1799 and taught school in Kingston. He opened
a school in Cornwall, in 1803, and in 1812 he was
appointed as Rector of York, the present day Toronto.
Strachan was firmly pro-British, and he was influential
in the affairs of the community.
Brock also found support among the Scots settlers of
Glengarry County, along the North shore of the St
Lawrence and the Quebec border. This area had been
settled by Scots of clan Donald - primarily of Jacobite
loyalties in Scotland. Their loyalties in North America
were with the British Crown.
The western end of Upper Canada was at the west end of
Lake Erie, along the St Clair and Detroit Rivers, and
Lake St Clair. Independent fur traders operating out of
Montreal in a loose affiliation called the Northwest
Company transported furs from the Rocky Mountains to
Fort William, on Lake Superior and down the lakes into
Lake Huron and Lake Erie for export. Northwest Trader
Alexander Mackenzie had reached the Pacific via the
Peace River and the Bella Coola in 1793. Simon Fraser
and David Thompson had explored routes to the Pacific
via the Fraser and Columbia Rivers in the first decade
of the 1800's. The Northwest Company was basically
pro-British.
The various First Nations of the frontier were
cautiously pro-British. The aggression of the American
settlers in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois had led to
bloody wars, and the Indian nations were definitely
unfriendly to the Long Knives of the US Army. The
visionary leader Tecumseh of the Shawnee and his
mystical brother, the Shawnee prophet were instrumental
in mobilizing and uniting the First Nations of the
frontier to resist American aggression.
Brock established contact with Robert Dickson, a Scot
who had gone to live among the Lakota (Sioux) peoples
and used him to enlist support among the First Nations
on the Western frontier. He also used the agents of the
Indian Department to send gifts to the First Nations and
to explore a liaison with Tecumseh. Brock's implied
promise to the natives was that the British would take
control of the upper Midwest from the Americans, and
leave the land in Indian hands.
TOP |
|
|
The First Summer of the War - and The Nancy |
At the beginning of the war, the Americans held a fort
on Michilimackinac (which is also known as Mackinac
Island), in the strait between Lake Huron and Lake
Michigan. It commanded the fur routes. Traffic came from
the portages from Lake Superior over Sault Ste. Marie
into Lake Huron, past Mackinac. It was a post of vital
strategic importance. It was 300 miles from the next
nearest American post, at Detroit. The Americans failed
to get word of the declaration of war to their own men.
The British notified their own forces through the
traders of the Northwest company and managed to capture
the fort.
The Americans under General Hull were massing an army of
2,300 men at Detroit. The British fort at Amherstburg
was poorly constructed, and its garrison consisted of a
few hundred regulars and some militia. Brock determined
to strike first. He took a force of about 300 men from
the garrisons on Lake Ontario and marched to Port Dover,
on Lake Erie. They embarked in bateaux (a bateau was a
flat bottomed, round sided boat, propelled by oars or
poles, which could also be sailed) and any available
ships and sailed for Amherstburg.
According to Berton's The Invasion of Canada the Nancy
was a 100 ton schooner owned by the Northwest Company.
She was one of the ships used by Brock to travel to
Amherstburg. They went across, rather than around, Long
Point, and had to manhandle the Nancy across.
The Nancy had been built in 1789 at Detroit. Travel
between the Great Lakes was limited. It was also
possible for ships to sail down the St. Clair River from
Lake Huron to Lake St Clair, and down the Detroit River
to Lake Erie. Lake Superior was isolated from Lake Huron
by the rapids of Sault Ste Marie, and Lake Erie was
isolated from Lake Ontario by the Niagara escarpment.
The Nancy sailed the Erie/St Clair/Huron system for the
Nor'Westers, carrying trade goods to meet the canoe
brigades coming from the west
At the time, Long Point was an island. In later years,
the channel between Long Point and the mainland was
dredged, and then later filled in with a causeway. What
Brock faced was getting the ship across a shoal or
sandbar.
Brock arrived at Amherstburg, and enlisted the support
of Tecumseh's loosely united First Nations. Legend has
it that Tecumseh reported to his allies of Brock: "This
is a man". Brock's aggressive style appealed to the
First Nations leaders and their warriors.
Brock crossed the river and took Detroit without a
fight. Brock's message demanding the surrender pointedly
warned that Brock had no military control over his First
Nations allies. Historians believe that General Hull was
terrorized at the thought of an Indian massacre. With
the victory, the Canadians controlled the frontier north
to Mackinac Island. They fought a further battle with
the Americans on the Raisin River in northern Michigan
in January 1813, and won a decisive victory. However,
the British were unable to restrain their native allies
from killing and torturing prisoners and scalping the
dead. The British victory was seen as an atrocity by the
Americans, and the western states cried for revenge.
With the Western frontier secured in the summer of 1812,
Brock turned his attention to the Niagara frontier,
along the Niagara river at the east end of Lake Erie.
The Americans were massing another army. The British
defences extended from Newark, on Lake Ontario, upriver
through Fort George and the village of Queenston. Above
Queenston, the Niagara escarpment rose into a 300 foot
ridge known as the Heights. It was impossble to cross
the river above Queenston, due to the presence of the
Niagara Falls.
TOP |
|
|
The Real Macdonnell |
Lieutenant-Colonel John Macdonell was Brock's aide de
camp. His biography was posted by David G. Anderson (anderson@glen-net.ca):
John Macdonell was one of the Glengarry County (Ontario)
"Greenfield" Macdonells who came to this early Highland
settlement (west of Cornwall and up to the Quebec
border) from the Gaelic-speaking Highland area of
Glengarry, Scotland in 1792. As a boy from age seven, he
lived on a farm on a windy ridge in the 9th concession
of Charlottenburgh Township. Probably at age fourteen he
went to Kingston to the school of John Strachan and
then, at eighteen, joined the law office of William
Dickson of Niagara-on-the-Lake. After five years of
articling his legal career was truly "meteoric."
The brilliant young lawyer was extremely popular and at
the age of twenty-five became Attorney-General of Upper
Canada. He could not have known then that he had only
another year to live and in short order did the
following: continued his courtship Mary Boyles Powell,
the desireable young daughter of Chief-Justice William
Dummer Powell; gave satisfaction in a duel with the
eminent jurist William Warren Baldwin by standing to
take his fire and refusing to raise his pistol in
defense; in April, 1812 became General Brock's
provincial aide-de-camp with the rank of Lt.-Col.;
journeyed back to Glengarry in May to be elected member
of the Legislative Assembly; in August negotiated the
bloodless surrender of Detroit and received the sword of
the American General Hull at the ceremony of
capitulation; continued his ongoing courtship of Miss
Mary and duties as Attorney- General until the 13th of
October where, at Queenston Heights, he led the 49th
Foot in a heroic but hopeless charge against the
Americans after the fall of Brock on the same field.
The young gallant, now all of twenty-seven years of age,
was wounded in three or four places and trampled by his
own horse. After twenty hours of excruciating suffering,
he died the next day in the arms of two fellow officers:
Archibald McLean (his old Glengarry friend), and Duncan
Cameron.
Miss Mary Powell, who to her mother's dismay had
resisted Macdonell's courtship, was "changed beyond
description . . . for her capricious conduct." The books
of poetry he inscribed to her are still held in the
family.
The funeral of Brock and Macdonell was described by
George Ridout as "the grandest & most solemn ever I
witnessed." To his recent biographers the young
Greenfield Macdonell was "the epitome of the Highland
gentleman. The bravery and impetuosity of his last act
were entirely characteristic of such a man. His brief
life was the stuff of legend."
The various Highland Macdonells of Glengarry at that
early time in Upper Canadian history seemed to hold a
monopoly on military, parliamentary, and religious
honours and in this spirit his then-student John
Beverley Robinson spoke of him being "as noble a youth
as ever inherited his name, which is saying much."
But we, being Canadians, dismiss the notion of true
Canadian heros and blush at the celebration of their
names. How fitting it is that Stan Rogers -- himself a
hero of Canadian songwriting -- should sing of the young
hero of Queenston Heights when now in our own Canada
"not one in ten thousand know his name."
David G Anderson <anderson@glen-net.ca>
Glengarry Historical Society 1784
Williamstown, Ontario, Canada
The Glengarry Scots had a strong military tradition, and
hundreds of other Macdonells served in the War, many
with great distinction.
In the 40 years preceding the War of 1812, the Glengarry
County townships were settled by hundreds of families
named Macdonell, some having emigrated directly from
Scotland and some from the U.S. A number of Macdonells
had been loyal to the Crown during the American
Revolution.
David G. Anderson points out:
The relationships of the Macdonells are almost
incomprehensible unless they are distinguished by their
"tack." The various Loyalist regiments in the American
Revolution, such as Sir John Johnson's Kings Royal
Regiment of New York, Allan MacLean's Royal Highland
Emigrants (The 84th) and Butler's Rangers were largely
officered by Highland gentlemen from various cadet
families of Clan Donald of Glengarry. Identified by the
name of their "tack" or estates in Scotland the leading
names were: Aberchalder, Leek, Cullochie, Scotus, and
later, the Greenfield Macdonells.
One of the first pioneer leaders was Alexander Macdonell
(1762-1842) who had emigrated to the Mohawk valley in
1773, supported the British crown in the American
revolution and settled in Canada in 1784. He served in
several Loyalist regiments in the revolution and became
a leader in Glengarry. The Royal Canadian Volunteer
Regiment, of which the 2nd or Upper Canadian battalion
was commanded by Colonel John Macdonell (Aberchalder),
was a regiment of Catholics loyal to the British crown.
Another pioneer leader, the Catholic priest, Alexander
Macdonell (1742 - 1803), led a party of 500 settlers in
1786. David G. Anderson points out:
Father Alexander Macdonell (Scotus) in 1786 led an
emigration to St Raphaels and following his death in
1803 the parish was home to one of the great men of
early Upper Canada, Alexander Macdonell (The Warrior
Bishop). Macdonell had been chaplain of the first
Catholic regiment in Britain since the Reformation, the
Glengarry Fencibles (of Scotland), during the Irish
Rebellion of 1798.
The latter Alexander Macdonell (1762-1840), who has
become known as the Warrior Bishop, had served in the
Scots Catholic regiment, the Glengarry Fencibles, in
Ireland until it was disbanded in 1802. He led a large
settlement party of retired soldiers to Glengarry County
in 1804. In 1826, this Alexander became the first
Catholic bishop in Upper Canada.
George Macdonell (Leek) (1779-1870), nicknamed Red
George, had been a Captain in the King's Regiment and
raised a regiment of Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles
in 1812. The future Bishop Macdonell was chaplain of the
Fencibles.
David G. Anderson has also provided information about
the spelling of the name Macdonell, which is an English
translation of the Gaelic name for members of the Clan
Donald:
The standard spelling of the Catholic gentlemen of Clan
Donald in Glengarry was "Macdonell" although one must
bear in mind that spelling was more-or-less the
"writer's" option. In any case there was only one name
in Gaelic (and one spelling) for those of clan Donald.
The double "n" variation [almost] never occurs in
Highland Glengarry for some reason -- it seems however
to be the natural way for Irish and Ulstermen to render
the same Gaelic name into English and has become the
default style for most North Americans. Just remember:
there are no "rules" however. It was generally in the
hands of the priest or minister at the time of baptism
-- they were all, including MacDonald, pronounced the
very same "MacDhomhnuill."
William "Tiger" Dunlop wrote a memoir of the War of
1812. He came to Canada as an army surgeon and later
settled in the Huron district with Galt. He mentions the
Glengarry Scots at one point and comments that there are
so many John MacDonalds - and so many Captains by that
name - that they have to be identified by sobriquets
such as Captain Corporal John. Dunlop referred to the
Scots of Glengarry as MacDonald rather than Macdonell.
Most accounts refer to the Attorney General Macdonell as
Macdonell. The pioneer novelist John Richardson wrote a
mmoir or history of the War of 1812. He set out the text
of Brock's ultimatum to Hull at Detroit in which Brock
tells Hull to treat with "Macdonell" and another
officer. However, Pierre Berton in citing the same
document quotes Brock as having written "M'Donnell".
(The use of M-apostrophe instead of Mc or Mac was a
common English writing style in the 19th Century).
TOP |
|
|
The Battle of Queenston Heights |
At 3 AM October 13, 1812, an American Army attempted to
cross the Niagara River opposite the village of
Queenston. A Canadian cannon in an emplacement on the
Heights was wreaking havoc on the invasion. A couple of
hundred American troops had crossed and landed below the
Heights, but the rest of the invading force was stalled.
Captain John Wool took a force of 60 men upriver, and
they climbed a path that put them on top of the Heights,
above the gun. Some accounts place his force as large as
300 men, but the better view is that he took a small
party and was reinforced later.
Brock had been at Fort George and travelled to the
Village on hearing the gunfire. He went up the heights
to the emplacement - a "redan" to gain a view of the
river. He saw the main American force pinned down on the
Queenston dock and ordered a company of light infantry
guarding the Heights above the redan to reinforce the
town, leaving the redan unguarded. When Wool's forces
charged the redan, Brock's men spiked the gun and
retreated downhill.
Brock was convinced that control of the Heights meant
control of the river. He gathered 200 men, red coated
regulars from his own old regiment, the 49th, at the
foot of the Heights. He sent a flanking party, about 100
Canadian militia and led the main charge. In the mean
time, Wool's force had been reinforced. By some accounts
it had grown to about 400 men. By others, it had not yet
been strongly reinforced at that point.
Brock's men slid and stumbled on a slippery footing of
wet leaves. They reached the top, but Wool drove them
back. Brock rallied his men but was shot in the chest,
fatally. Most of Brock's men retreated down into the
village, leaving a small force of British regulars of
the 49th Regiment in the woods.
Enter Macdonell with two companies of York Volunteers
(see p. 241 of Berton's The Invasion of Canada). By most
accounts, the events described here started about two
hours after Brock was shot and killed:
"Impulsively, Macdonell decides to follow Brock's
example. Possessed of a brilliant legal mind - he was
prosecuting criminal cases at sixteen and has been
acting attorney general of the province for a year - he
has little experience in soldiering. Quick of temper and
a little arrogant, he reveres his dead commander and in
the words of his fellow aide Major Glegg, determines 'to
accompany him to the regions of eternal bliss.'
Macdonell calls for a second frontal attack on the redan.
Seventy volunteers follow him up the heights to join the
remainder of the 49th under Captain Williams taking
cover in the woods. Williams and Macdonell form up their
men and prepare to attack.
"... Wool, reinforced by several hundred more men, is
waiting for them, his followers concealed behind logs
and bushes."
"As Macdonell on horseback waves his men on, his steed,
struck by a musket ball, rears and wheels about. Another
ball strikes Macdonell in the back and he tumbles to the
ground, fatally wounded." The charge was easily turned
back.
Military historians regard Brock's charge as impetuous,
but he had a chance of success. He led a force of
British regulars against a small force, and very nearly
took the heights. Macdonell never had a chance.
Interestingly though, some of the many confused and
conflicting accounts of the battle have Macdonell's
Canadian volunteers recapture the redan before the
Americans rallied to drive them back. The better view is
that Brock's first charge, with the redcoats of the 49th
nearly succeeded, while Macdonell's charge collapsed.
While the version of the battle of Queenston Heights
given by Pierre Berton, is clearly the accurate one,
eminent historians have compressed the history and
produced a version of the battle that is close to the
one given by Stan Rogers. The great historian Donald
Creighton wrote a book for Parks Canada in 1974 which is
called Canada: The Heroic Beginnings. His account of the
charges by Brock and Macdonell:
"[Brock's] death did not end the charge. For a while, it
looked as if the British might clear the Heights; and
then under pressure of increasing numbers, they fell
back."
Various popular accounts of the battle contradict one
another on various details, and it is difficult, nearly
200 years later, to give an accurate account.
The main American force should have been able to cross
the river, but the American militia were daunted by the
fire of the remaining Canadian cannon at Vrooman's
point. They were unable to get more than a thousand men
across. The Americans were intimidated by the Canadians'
Indian allies. A couple of hundred men hid away in the
woods and by the shore. They refused to join the main
force on the heights. The next day a column of British
regulars under General Sheaffe arrived. He marched
around the side of the Heights in a flanking movement.
His forces captured 925 Americans after a brief battle.
TOP |
|
|
Macdonnell & Brock's Myth |
Historians agree that Brock's wound was immediately
fatal, but a myth grew - that Brock had led Canadian
volunteers and cheered them on again by his dying words:
"Push on, York Volunteers". It was Macdonell who led
Canadian volunteers in the second charge. The myth was
that Brock led Canadian volunteers had the effect of
solidifying support for the British cause in Upper
Canada. In fact, it was Macdonell who should get the
credit for one of the exploits that unified English
Canada and contributed to the existence and survival of
a new nation.
Brock and Macdonell received a joint funeral and were
buried first at Newark, on Lake Ontario. They were
entombed in the first Brock monument in 1824. The first
monument was monument: a Tuscan column 135 feet high.
When the first monument was blown up in 1840 by a
disaffected rebel of the 1837 rebellions, a new monument
was raised. The foundation was completed in 1853. After
a long public campaign raised $50,000, the new monument
was erected, to a height given as 185 feet or 190 feet.
The monument was dedicated in 1859. Brock and Macdonell
are buried in the new monument. However, the monument
does not seem to mark Macdonell's resting place very
well.
By 1867, the field had become virtually a sacred place
in Canada's political mythology. When the Centenary of
Brock's death was celebrated at the monument in 1912,
Macdonell's name was prominent. You can find an
interesting volume called "The Brock Centenary" by
Alexander Fraser in some libraries. It has an appendix
devoted to the Macdonells of Glengarry County and their
role in the War of 1812.
The story of Brock was told and retold in songs and
poems. Several fawning biographies were published around
the centenary of his death and just before and after the
First World War. A biography of Brock, published before
the first World War proclaims that the name of Brock:
"...should convey to the youth of Canada a significance
similar to that which the bugle-call of the trumpeter,
sounding the advance, conveys to the soldiers in the
ranks." (Exact source not known, identified as a passage
in a book in the "Canadian Heroes" series in an article
by R.N. Berard in Canada, A North American Nation by
Bennett, Jaenen et al.).
Macdonell enjoyed some glory for his heroic gesture
during the lifetime of his own generation, but he has
become an increasingly obscure figure.
TOP |
|
|
Macdonnell on the Heights |
Stan Rogers captured many details about the battle of
Queenston Heights in his song. His account of the battle
is not perfect, but the general pattern of the battle is
portrayed well. Stan Rogers accurately reports that the
redcoats rallied to Macdonell and made the second
charge, that the force was inadequate ("too thin the
line...") and that they were struggling uphill.
Stan Rogers also captured some very obscure details. He
knows that Brock and Macdonell were buried together. He
knows that Macdonell's name is inscribed on a corner of
the monument. His line "If you say the name MacDonnell,
it would bring no bugle-call" seems to allude to all the
mythic writing about General Brock.
Stan Rogers refers a couple of times to "old General
Brock". Brock was 43 when he died. The words "old
General" probably refers to the old stories of Brock, or
the length of time he has been dead rather than to his
real age.
Rogers calls Macdonell an "Eastern Township" Scot.
Macdonell was born in Scotland and joined his extended
family in the settlement of Glengarry County, which is
found in the eastern corner of Ontario, on the North
side of the St Lawrence. The true Eastern Townships are
in Quebec, east of Montreal on the south shore of the St
Lawrence.
Stan Rogers and his literary executors called Macdonell
"MacDonnell". It is possible Rogers was aspiring to a
more authentic spelling than the commonly accepted "Macdonell",
although it seems he just erred. This has been
distracting to some fans who, after inspecting the
monument, have complained the name wasn't there! The
liner notes on From Fresh Water demonstrate that Stan
Rogers was referring to lawyer turned soldier who led
the second charge at Queenston Heights, and that he knew
the story in some detail.
The overwhelming conclusion is that Stan Rogers kept
faith with the historical Brock and Macdonell, and all
the warriors of 1812-1814 in the writing of this song.
TOP |
|
|
Further Voyages of The Nancy |
Searching for the Nancy
The schooner Nancy appeared in Pierre Berton's book in
the preparations for Brock's attack on Detroit in the
summer of 1812. As we will see shortly, she also took
part in a famous battle in the late summer of 1814, and
that her wreck has been salvaged and made into a
historical museum. However, the Nancy is only an
incidental player in Berton's histories of the War, and
we have to look elsewhere for the story behind the song.
The historian of the Nancy was Jerry Snider, who died in
1971 at the age of 92. Charles Healy Jeremiah Snider
came to Toronto to attend school, and fell into sailing
on the schooners that plied the Great Lakes. He sailed
on many schooners before settling into a career in
journalism. He became the publisher of the Toronto
Evening Telegram. He was a noted sailor, owning and
sailing racing yachts. He sailed on the Bluenose in
several races. His early sailing days gave him a wealth
of knowledge and connections that allowed him to write
of the history of sail on the Great Lakes well into the
second half of the 20th century. He wrote 1,303 columns,
published between 1931 and 1956, entitled "Schooner
Days," devoted to the history of sail in the 17th, 18th
and 19th centuries.
One of Snider's passions was the identification and
recovery of wrecks, and another was the War of 1812. In
1911 he dived on a wreck in the mouth of the Nottawasaga
River in Georgian Bay, and he wrote two books on the
wreck: The Story of the Nancy and other 1812'ers and
Leaves from the War Log of the Nancy. He included a
chapter on the Nancy called "Spoiling of the Spoilers"
in "In the Wake of the 1812'ers", a dramatized history
of naval engagements on the Great Lakes during the War.
In a post on NWP, Dave Smith pointed out:
From: dcsmith@barint.on.ca (David C. Smith)
Leaves from the War Log of The Nancy was reprinted by
the Ontario Department of Tourism and Information back
in the 60's or 70's. It would seem to have been widely
available in Ontario and is likely still in circulation
in most Ontario libraries of any size. A check with
Publications Ontario reveals that the booklet is no
longer in print.
For anyone interested in further research the following
references may be of interest:
Lt. Col. E. Cruikshank: "An Episode in the War of 1812",
Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records, Vol. IX,
pp 75126, 1910.
"The John Richardson Letters" , O.H.S. Papers and
Records, Vol. VI, pp. 22, 2732, 1905.
W.H. Breithaupt: "Some Facts About the Schooner Nancy in
the War of 1812", O.H.S. Papers and Records, Vol. XXIII,
pp. 57, 1926.
H.M.S. Nancy and the War of 1812, Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources, 1978. (For availability phone
Publications Ontario at 1-800-668-9938).
Jerry Snider's efforts were to prove influential in the
cause of raising the Nancy and establishing an Ontario
Provincial Park at Wasaga Beach. Members of cdnfolk have
supplied the following information.
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 1996 15:27:00 0700 (MST)
From: Sharla Quantz <squantz@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca>
The Nancy's hull was dug up out of the mouth of the
Nottawasaga river and is a historical point of interest
with a collection of artifacts, movies playing on her
history, etc. For more information you could contact the
Town of Wasaga Beach, ON. My mother grew up at Wasaga
Beach and I have had the pleasure of visiting the town
and the Nancy's historical site many times.
Fri, 8 Mar 1996 12:49:54 0500
From: ericroth@bconnex.net (Eric Rothwell, Midland)
I have visited the museum in Wasaga Beach where the
story of the Nancy is told. My recollection is that the
museum is built on an island in the Nottawasaga River
where the keel of the Nancy is still embedded in the
sand. You can actually see what is left of the boat. The
island itself may, in fact, have "grown up" around the
keel, having been created by the remnants of the Nancy.
The proper name of the museum is Museum of the Upper
Lakes, Nancy Island, Wasaga Beach.
Some parts of the story of the Nancy are told in
Georgian Bay: The 6th Great Lake by James P. Barry (the
first edition was published in 1968, the second edition
in 1978). Some parts can be found in George Cuthberton's
book: Freshwater, A History and a Narrative of the Great
Lakes, (Toronto, 1931).
The Nancy was built in Detroit for the Montreal fur
merchants, Forsyth, Richardson and Co. in 1789. She was
68 feet long and 20 feet in beam. She is said to have
had 8 feet of depth in the hold, and she displace 100
tons. She was built of oak. She was a gracious ship. She
was a two masted schooner, rigged fore and aft. She was
a little out of the ordinary - she was a topsail
schooner with square rigged topsails. Her owners endowed
her with a notable carved figurehead. Several books have
plates of artists' depictions of the Nancy.
Her master in 1812 and 1813 was Alexander MacIntosh who
was the nephew of Angus, the Northwest Company factor at
the post on Lake St. Clair. Angus was the son of the
Lady of Moy, who harboured Bonnie Prince Charlie in
1745. The Moy is the ancestral seat of the MacIntosh or
McIntosh clan. Angus returned to Scotland in 1831, after
a long voluntary absence, to assume the leadership of
the Clan. He was, indeed, the Laird.
David G. Anderson has pointed out:
When Stan Rogers sings of the Nancy sailing from "The
Moy," all Highlanders would know that where there is a "Moy"
there is a MacIntosh. Indeed, Angus MacIntosh
(1762-1833) of Detroit and Windsor was son of the chief
of Clan MacIntosh. After Jay's Treaty he removed from
Detroit over to what is now Windsor and built Moy House
(which may still stand). In 1788 he married Marie
Archange Baudry dit Desbuttes dit StMartin and acted as
agent for the North West Company thus his connection
with their vessel The Nancy, no doubt.
David G Anderson <anderson@glen-net.ca>
Glengarry Historical Society 1784
Williamstown, Ontario, Canada K0C 2J0
Jerry Snider refers to Alexander MacIntosh as an older
man - especially in his fictionalized history of the
War, In the Wake of the 1812'ers. His age and date of
birth are not noted in the history books. Snider notes
that the Nancy was rated to carry several cannon.
However, whatever armament she possessed at the
beginning of the War was reduced to arm the British
fleet on Lake Erie, and her armament in the summer of
1813 was a mere two carronades, and some muskets held by
her crew. The crew to sail a schooner of this size would
not be large - less than 10 men. The logs for the summer
of 1813 show 9 men. Her complement was somewhat larger
in 1814, when she was placed under Royal Navy command
and more heavily armed.
The Nancy's last logs were lost, in view of her wreck in
1814, but her logs for the summer and fall of 1813
survived and fell into the hands of Snider and other
historians in 1904. Thus, we have the story of Alexander
MacIntosh and the engagement below the St. Clair rapids
in October, 1813.
The Nancy - Below the St Clair Rapids
In the winter of 1812-13 and through the spring and
summer of 1813, both sides built ships and brigs on Lake
Erie, with the purpose of commanding the Lake. (A ship
is a sailing vessel with three masts, square rigged, and
a brig has two square rigged masts. A schooner might
have two, three or even four masts or more, rigged with
triangular sails, rigged fore and aft).
In the spring of 1813, an American army under General
Harrison the one who later became president of the US
advanced up the peninsula and the Canadians under
General Procter retreated to the fort at Amherstburg, to
the great disgust of Tecumseh. Tecumseh had allied all
the First Nations of the Northwest frontier on the
British side to defeat the US and to protect native
claims to the territories in the Midwest.
Procter sallied forth in July, 1813, and laid siege to
Fort Stephenson on the Sandusky River. The Nancy had a
peripheral role in the campaign. When Procter retreated,
the Nancy was sent to Mackinac. She sailed for the Moy
on Lake St Clair on August 19, and she sailed for
Mackinac on August 31. It was a long journey, against
the current in the river and against the wind on Lake
Huron, for 280 miles. It took ten days to ascend the St
Clair river from Lake St Clair into Lake Huron. They
were going against a strong current, without any
favourable winds. They had to winch the vessel upstream
with shore lines and a windlass.
While the Nancy was sailing to Mackinac, the British
forces on the western frontier were crushed. On
September 10, 1813, the American naval squadron under
Commodore Perry defeated the British squadron ("We have
met the enemy and they are ours") and gained control of
Lake Erie. On September 23 the British abandoned
Amherstburg. Some of the First Nations began to
negotiate with the Americans. The Wyandot, a senior
tribe of the Huron nation, wavered but remained loyal to
Tecumseh. The British force retreated up the valley of
the Thames, with Harrison's army in pursuit. They made a
stand at Moraviantown on October 5. The British were
routed. Tecumseh was killed. The Indian confederacy was
broken. The Americans commanded Lake Erie and the land
north of Erie. Mackinac remained in Canadian hands, but
it was isolated.
The Nancy made good time from Mackinac, down Lake Huron
to the mouth of the St. Clair. She made 200 miles in 30
hours, arriving at the mouth on October 5, in the early
afternoon. The Log records that Captain MacIntosh spoke
to Black Bird, a friendly chief, on October 3 and
learned that Procter was in retreat. Black Bird said a
fort had fallen, but couldn't tell them which one. The
Nancy was carrying supplies, including a quantity of
gunpowder, for Amhertburg. She had on board one Captain
Maxwell, and his wife and children, and an unnamed
female passenger, and some civilians.
It would seem that they knew the Americans were
advancing when they left Mackinac, but they thought they
might still connect with the British forces. They did
not positively know that Amherstburg had been
surrendered.
When the Nancy reached the mouth of the St. Clair, she
anchored and sent boats ashore to see if any U.S.
gunboats awaited them in the river. She was on a lee
shore in a strong wind. They decided to sail into the
river to take shelter from the wind and waves.
Unfortunately, as they raised the anchor, the cable
broke. They marked the anchor, and made the best of the
situation. She entered the river and descended the
rapids. Snider notes that with strong currents and poor
cables, she would have been unable to anchor or secure
herself above the rapids, or at the foot of the rapids.
She had to go downstream, towards Lake St. Clair and the
advancing American forces.
In the morning of October 6, another aboriginal warned
that a party of horsemen were approaching. MacIntosh was
firm in declaring that no private or public supplies
would fall into enemy hands. He proposed to blow up the
ship. Captain Maxwell and his family and the other
civilians were put ashore.
Around 1:00 PM on October 6, a party of 50 militia under
Lieutenant Colonel Beaubien arrived and demanded the
surrender of the Nancy. MacIntosh knew Beaubien; there
was one family of Beaubiens at the Moy, and another on
the American side of the St. Clair. Snider notes that it
is not clear if Beaubien's party was made up of
Americans, or pro-American Canadians. MacIntosh's report
to the commander at Mackinac states clearly that this
Beaubien was a Canadian.
MacIntosh told Beaubien's emissary that there were too
many of them to ferry anywhere. MacIntosh asked for time
to consider the demand. He spoke with his crew, and they
resolved to fight. They raised their anchor and got
under way. The wind had shifted and they had a light
wind in their favour, but they faced a strong current.
The Americans opened fire and the Canadians fired back
with their cannons and muskets. The Americans shot high,
several balls striking the main boom. One Canadian was
lightly wounded. Snider's accounts have the fight at 15
to 30 minutes.
What followed was several hours of suspense as the
schooner slowly sailed up the river to the foot of the
rapids. They got a line ashore and held at the foot of
the rapids through the night. The log records each
change of sail and rigging, and then the long watch
through the night. Each time someone had to leave the
shelter of the low oak planks and climb the rigging,
exposed to fire from the bank. In his book, In the Wake
of the 1812'ers, Snider paints the grim picture of the
vessel, sitting at the foot of the rapids in the dark,
her only light being a lighted match held by MacIntosh
to blow the gunpowder if the Americans threatened to
take the ship. At one point, the Americans send one of
the passengers to carry a message demanding the Nancy's
surrender. He claimed that Captain Maxwell had been
captured and was urging the Nancy to give up.
At dawn, the wind increased and The Nancy was able to
navigate the rapids in the morning hours and reached the
safety of the open waters Lake Huron on October 7. She
recovered her anchor and returned to Mackinac. The trip
up Lake Huron could be described as the Battle of Lake
Huron. It was an arduous trip, into the face of vicious
winds, which reached storm force several times. The trip
lasted a week. The Nancy wintered at the Sault.
Stan Rogers played with some of the details. His song
has the Nancy sailing from the Moy on Lake St Clair on
October 3 for Amherstburg. He also says they got below
the St Clair rapids. That's confusing. Amherstburg is on
the Detroit river, a long way from the St Clair rapids.
The Nancy did not set sail from the Moy on October 3; it
would appear that she was at Mackinac on October 3, and
set sail from there, hoping to reach the Moy, or perhaps
Amherstburg, before the Americans. Captain Maxwell
received some undeserved abuse from Rogers. He went
ashore to guard his wife and children in an inhospitable
wilderness. It certainly was fair to set the women and
children ashore when they knew they were coming under
fire and that MacIntosh proposed to blow up the ship.
Rogers the Nancy giving the Americans a dozen broadsides
- an overstatement considering the Nancy's limited
armament. He says that the fight sickened the Americans,
who bravely ran away. They didn't run away. They
followed the Nancy, but they did not attack again. The
Americans should have been able to pick off the Nancy's
sailors from the shelter of rocks and trees on the bank,
but they would not risk exposing themselves to the
Nancy's fire.
The Last Voyages of the Nancy
The Nancy appears again in Berton's history of the War
in July, 1814. The British had sent supplies for
Mackinac to the mouth of the Nottawasaga on Georgian
Bay, and loaded them on the Nancy to be sailed to
Mackinac. The Americans had moved their naval squadron
up from Lake Erie into Lake Huron, and appeared off
Mackinac on July 26. The British commander sent a
courier to warn the Nancy. Robert Livingston and a
handful of voyageurs made a daring 300 mile journey
across Lake Huron and Georgian Bay by canoe. The
Americans detached a ship and soldiers to Georgian Bay
to take the Nancy.
The Nancy received the warning. As of mid-August, she
was commanded by Lt. Miller Worsley RN. Alexander
MacIntosh now served as sailing master under Worsley.
Worsley, Livingston and MacIntosh and their tiny force
of 21 seaman, 9 voyageurs, and 23 natives got the Nancy
3 miles upriver in the shelter of a rock ridge. The
American ships could not engage her or fire on her. The
Americans landed 300 troops under Colonel Croghan. They
gained the ridge and fired their cannons on the Nancy. A
shell ignites the magazine. The British abandoned the
ship and blew her up. The American fleet retired from
Lake Huron, believing it had succeeded in cutting off
Mackinac. They left two schooners to patrol the lake and
interdict the British fur trade traffic.
The British had more supplies cached on the Nottawasaga.
Worsley, MacIntosh, Livingston and their men took
supplies to Mackinac with a Nor'wester freight canoe and
two bateaux. They slipped by the American ships off
Mackinac at night at a distance of 100 yards and
relieved the fort at the beginning of September, 1814.
Worsley then led a flotilla of four bateaux and 19
canoes out of Mackinac. His force was his crew from the
Nancy, 50 Nfld Fencibles from the fort, and 200 natives.
They took the schooner Tigress by stealth at night.
Berton notes that some shots were fired, but pretty well
passes over the details of the fight. Other historians
confirm there were several fatalities. Snider's version
of the fight is quite dramatic. In the flash of a pistol
shot, the attackers saw an American gunner aiming the
Tigress's 24 pound swivel gun down the deck at the
attackers, about to pull the lanyard. MacIntosh leaped
like a "mountain-cat" swinging his cutlass and
decapitating the gunner. The gunner's head fell
overboard and the body crashed into MacIntosh. He hove
the body over the side with the parting words: "Follow
your heid, mon!"
The other American ship, the Scorpion approached. The
Tigress continued to fly the American flags and
pennants. The Scorpion anchored 2 miles away. Worsley
sailed the Tigress to the Scorpion, his men concealed on
deck. They came alongside, threw grappling irons and
boarded her. The Canadians regained control of Lake
Huron. The American ships were renamed, one of them
becoming the "HMS Surprise". Worsley went to a
distinguished career in the Royal Navy. MacIntosh and
the rest pass into history.
The Canadian historian Berton passes over the fight of
October 6 and 7, 1813 although it had vital strategic
importance. The capture of the Nancy would have
destroyed Canadian shipping on the upper lakes and
probably doomed Mackinac. Berton passed over the
contributions of MacIntosh and his lake sailors to the
battles of 1814, and gives the credit for the capture of
the Tigress and the Scorpion to Worsley.
The works of Jerry Snider have fallen into obscurity. We
aren't sure how Stan Rogers found the story of Alexander
MacIntosh and the sailors of the Nancy, but it seems
clear that Rogers had to track down some obscure
historical material to get the story. His method of
storytelling is interesting. He chose the story of
October 6, 1813 instead of the more famous battles of
August and September, 1814. He played with some details,
but he portrayed the essence of the situation
accurately. He wrote about the battle, and he did not
dwell on the difficulties of current, rapids and winds.
Curiously, the biographer Chris Gudgeon claim he
attempted to write the story of a fierce Scots clansman
and a crew of English, Scots and French Canadians in the
English revival style of Steeleye Span.
Stan Rogers accomplished a great deal with the Nancy. He
illuminated a day of courage in the lives of a handful
of common sailors. His words and music bring these
ragged Canadian heroes back to life, complete with their
resentment of the British and scorn for the Americans.
He made Canadian history interesting, exposing the lie
that Canadians have had a boring history.
TOP |
|
|
The End of the War |
Several bloody engagements were fought on the Niagara
frontier and the shores of Lake Ontario in 1813. The
Americans sacked York, the future Toronto, in May, 1813.
Laura Secord made her historic trek through the Black
Swamp and warned the British of the attack at Beaver
Dams in June. The British sacked Buffalo. The British
and Canadians continued to hold that frontier.
The raids on York were successful in destroying
important supplies destined for Amherstburg, where the
British were trying to build warships for service on
Lake Erie. This probably affected the course of the
naval war on Lake Erie. The raids had no other immediate
significance.
In the aftermath of the raids, John Strachan took the
lead in the rebuilding of York, and in promoting the war
effort. He was to become an important civilian leader in
Upper Canada.
As we already saw Harrison had invaded Canada from the
West in the fall of 1813. His invasion came late in the
year, and the Americans retreated to their forts on the
Detroit river. They did not attempt to penetrate the
wilderness above Lake Erie in a Canadian winter.
In the east, an American Army of 7,500 men marched for
Montreal from upper New York by the valley of the
Chateauguay in the autumn, and a second army of 7,000
men sailed to the islands at the mouth of the St
Lawrence on Lake Ontario. They marched east on the St
Lawrence for Montreal.
At Chateauguay, a force of a few hundred Canadian
Voltigeurs - a French Canadian militia - commanded by
Colonel Charles Michel De Salaberry, and Glengarry
Fencibles commanded by Colonel "Red" George Macdonell -
stood off the vanguard of 1,500 American regulars on
October 26, 1813 and turned back an army of 7,500 men.
At Crysler's Farm, near Cornwall, a Canadian force of
600 men - a regiment of British regulars support by
Canadian militia caught up with the rear guard of the
American Army. They were able to fight in the open, and
the training and drill of the British regulars came into
play. The Americans suffered a decisive loss, crossed
the St Lawrence and withdrew into New York
Meanwhile, in Europe, Napoleon had surrendered. The
British were now able to send regiments of battle
hardened veteran of the war in Europe to North America.
The Americans approached the Czar of Russia and asked
him to approach the British to mediate a peace. Peace
talks opened at Utrecht. Initially, the British stalled
the peace talks. They were counting on winning victories
and teaching the Americans a lesson. They expected to
conquer back some of the lands lost in the American
revolution. In 1814 the British sailed up Chesapeake
Bay, landed a force in Maryland, marched on Washington
and sacked and burned the US capital. They laid siege to
Baltimore, and their bombardment of Baltimore inspired
the writing of "The Star Spangled Banner". However, the
siege was unsuccessful.
More bloody battles were fought along Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario. Both sides claimed victory at Lundy's Lane,
each side losing over 800 killed. The British were able
to drive the Americans back to the pre-war borders. In
the east, a British Army invaded New York, but held up
at Plattsburgh. The American gunboats on Lake Champlain
gained a decisive naval victory, and the invasion
stalled.
The British lost interest in the matter and settled for
a restoration of pre-war boundaries. At one stage the
British tried to negotiate for the recognition of a
neutral, Indian territory on the Western frontier, but
they soon abandoned that point.
Due to slow communications, a major battle was fought
after the peace treaty was signed. The British attacked
New Orleans, and were decisively defeated by an army led
by Andrew Jackson. They lost 2,000 men in that battle.
The Americans claimed the last victory of their war. |
|
|
The Legacy of the War |
The War of 1812 confirmed British dominion over the
Canadian colonies at the political level. It left the
leading citizens of Upper Canada united in the support
of British rule and the enjoyment of British patronage.
The Upper Canadian elite were becoming known as the
Family Compact: a smug conservative aristocracy of
clergy, lawyers and merchants. Popular distaste for the
Family Compact was to lead to the rebellions of 1837.
The general sentiment against the Family Compact has
affected the attitudes and thinking of most Canadians
for generations.
Near the end of Flames Across the Border Pierre Berton
provides this view of Bishop Strachan and the Family
Compact:
"Dour, earnest, implacable, John Strachan acquired a
reputation for courage and leadership that made him a
power in Upper Canada and helped freeze its political
pattern."
"Strachan's thrust was elitist. He believed implicitly
in everything the Americans had rejected: an established
church, a limited franchise, a ruling oligarchy. He
despised Americans, loathed Americanism. 'Democracy' and
'republicanism' were hateful words. The York elite,
linked by intermarriage and soon to be dubbed the Family
Compact, wanted no truck with elected judges or
policemen, let alone universal male suffrage."
As Berton points out, the Canadian elite were quite
different than Americans, and their influence shaped a
distinctive Canadian character.
Historians have had more difficulty documenting the
effect of the war on the social character of ordinary
Canadians. The border war involved the destruction of
the private property of thousands of Canadian settlers
by the Americans, as well as the loss of loved ones.
This inspired a bitterness towards the American invaders
that was to endure for generations. Long after the open
hostility ended, Canadians had a tradition of suspicion
of things American. The war was the definitive
experience in the lives of a generation of Canadians.
They claimed allegiance with the forces that secured the
victory and perpetuated the myths of the brotherhood of
arms. All of these things served to create a common view
of the war in Canada - we won by coming together to
resist the invasion.
The local elites added their own spin to the story - we
came together under the Crown and under the inspired
leadership of the local elites. This part of the story
was celebrated by the creation of Brock's monument.
Canadians who had voiced doubts about British rule
before the War found it prudent to remain silent. In
fact, dissent was dangerous. The government laid charges
of sedition against several men who supported the
Americans. Eight men were executed by the traditional
method for traitors: hung, drawn (cut down while still
living and disembowelled) and quartered.
Among the elites, the ruling model of behaviour was
British - reserved and dignified. Among ordinary
Canadians, a different kind of reserve evolved.
Criticism has to be voiced quietly when you are
powerless. You may criticize your leaders, but you do so
quietly.
Only rarely did dissent bubble forth into action like
the rebellions of 1837. The destruction of the first
Brock monument was considered a despicable act by the
Canadian elites, but it reminds us that there has been a
current of dissent in Canadian thinking.
These influences have affected the attitudes of
Canadians. Berton observes:
"The war helped set the two countries on different
courses. National characteristics were evolving:
American ebullience, Canadian reserve. The Americans
went wild over minor triumphs, the Canadians remained
phlegmatic over major ones. Brock was knighted for
Detroit, but there were no gold medals struck, no
ceremonial swords, banquets or fireworks to mark
Chateauguay, Crysler's Farm, Stoney Creek, or Beaver
Dams. ..."
"American hero worship filled the Congress, the Senate
and the state legislatures with dozens of war veterans.
... But there were no Canadian [President Andrew]
Jacksons because there was no high political office to
which Canadians could aspire. The major victories were
won by men from another land who did their job and went
home. Brock and de Salaberry were Canada's only heroes,
Laura Secord her sole heroine. And Brock was not a
Canadian."
"The quality of boundless enthusiasm, which convinces
every American school child that the United States won
the war, is not a Canadian trait. We do not venerate
winners. Who remembers Billy Green, John Norton, Robert
Dickson ...".
Berton tends to attribute these characteristics to the
Family Compact. It seems doubtful that the social style
of this small group of people would necessarily evolve
into a national character. Clearly, the question is more
complex. It seems likely that the reaction of ordinary
Canadians to the power and snobbery of the Family
Compact also has had an influence on our national
character.
When we consider how Canadians regard heroes and fame,
we should remember that the Family Compact didn't like
them, and that ordinary Canadians had cause to distrust
the heroes praised by the Compact.
Discussion of national character can be ephemeral. Most
Canadians believe that Canadians are different from
Americans, although it can be difficult to articulate
the distinctions. The point made by Berton and other
historians is that the War of 1812 shaped the character
of Canada. Stan Rogers agreed.
TOP |
|
|
The Redemption of Macdonnell |
In the light of history, Stan Rogers's lyric about
Macdonell "Perhaps had he not fallen, he'd have been
what Brock became" presents a puzzle. Macdonell was
destined to become part of the Upper Canadian elite.
Macdonell's law student, John Beverley Robinson was in
the militia and witnessed the battle of Queenston among
the York Volunteers. When he was made acting Attorney
General in the place of Macdonell, he attended to the
legal duties of his office. He prosecuted traitors in
the treason trials at Ancaster. Eight men were hung. Two
men died of disease in jail. Dozens were ruined.
Robinson became the Chief Justice of Upper Canada. Yet,
he was a scholarly and fair minded judge whose decisions
laid the foundations of modern Canadian law. His
biographers say that he has been unjustly tarnished by
being associated with the Family Compact
If the real Macdonell had not fallen, he could have
become what Robinson became: a pillar of the
Establishment. He would have become one of the unamed
fathers of Confederation. Macdonell does not seem to
have been the stuff of military myth and legend.
The historical irony of the song is that the death of
Macdonell was used by the Family Compact to consolidate
their hold on power. They let used his story to
symbolize the accomplishment of all the Canadian
volunteers who resisted the American invasion. They
merged his story into their self serving myth of Brock:
the dashing young general who died bravely to keep
Canada British. The later history of the Family Compact
makes Macdonell an ambiguous hero. It also seems ironic
to find a member of the Upper Canada elite celebrated as
a hero by Stan Rogers.
The idea of Macdonell's having survived Queenston
presents other and more intriguing historical
possibilities. If he had lived, Bishop Strachan and the
Family Compact may not have enjoyed the degree of power
that they attained. Macdonell could have used his status
as a war hero to become a great Canadian leader. His
religious allegiance would have been to the Catholic
Bishop Macdonell instead of the Anglican Bishop Strachan.
The networks of patronage and influence would have
different. Upper Canada may have been more sympathetic
to the Catholics of Quebec and the French/Scots Metis of
the Red River than it was in history.
Stan Rogers was able to see past the Family Compact and
to present Macdonell in his moment of terror and glory.
At that point, his status as Attorney General and his
future as judge or politician were thrown away Had he
survived, the future was open.
|
|
|
Conclusion |
The 1812 songs are historically accurate. They refer to
real people and real events. Stan Rogers respected the
accomplishments and lives of the people he sang about.
His respect for history extends beyond accuracy in dates
and events. His songs show that he had a good grasp on
the history of the war and was acquainted with the main
historical interpretations of the War.
He didn't try to teach history in the songs, but he was
fascinated by history and by the lasting consequences of
this remote historical event on the soul of Canada.
His songs show respect for the people who lived and
fought and died, and he brings a sound populist
sentiment to his history, as he tells the story of
unknown heroes of the Nancy and forgotten heroes like
Macdonell and Green.
His songs were ambitious in concept and successful in
execution. In giving us the stories of Macdonell,
Alexander MacIntosh of the Nancy and Billy Green, he has
reminded us about the many soldiers, who fought and died
for Canada. He has given us tales of Canadian heroes. He
tells us that the war was not won by Brock alone, or by
Bishop Strachan and the Family Compact. It was won by
the bravery and sacrifice of thousands of ordinary
Canadians. The War, forgotten and remote as Macdonell,
gave us a country as surely as did the fishermen of the
Maritimes and the farmers of the prairies. |
|
|
TOP Back to the Fan page
Home |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Further Discussion... |
|
Chat with other Stan fans and share your memories. |
|
Chat now! |
|
