Oddly enough, this book began without my knowing it. A more curious distinction would be difficult to imagine, this I grant. Whereas most historians have some notion of the books they intend to write, I did not (at least, not in this particular instance). The research used here was actually intended for a biography, not an art history. The origins of this latter, inadvertent endeavour can be traced to May of 2001, when the acclaimed British historian John Sugden alerted me to the fact that Major General Sir Isaac Brock was in need of a new biography—by which he meant that I was the right person for the job. It was quite the compliment, but no amount of flattery could persuade me to launch headlong into such an audacious undertaking. Still, Brock was one of my childhood heroes and so the idea did hold a certain appeal. But then I began to fear that I might be out of my depth. While I knew that Brock was the British commander who died defending what is now Ontario during the War of 1812, the rest of his life was a mystery to me. I felt a sudden urge to familiarize myself with the great man, and the authoritative Dictionary of Canadian Biography provided a useful overview.1
In 1785, when Brock was just fifteen years old, he entered the British army with the purchase of an ensign’s commission in the 8th (or King’s) Regiment. Five years later, he used the same method to become a lieutenant. When the opportunity to raise an independent company presented itself, Brock was rewarded with a captain’s rank on half-pay (or semi-retirement). It was also in 1790 that he returned to full service by exchanging into the 49th Regiment, which he joined the following year in Barbados. After a near-fatal illness in 1793, Brock resumed his military career by recruiting in England. In 1795, he purchased a majority and two years later a lieutenant colonelcy was attained through similar means. His first taste of battle was in 1799, during the Anglo-Russian expedition to the Netherlands. He next came under fire in 1801, when his regiment participated in the naval operation against Copenhagen. But with the Treaty of Amiens early in 1802, Brock’s exploits were abruptly put on hold. It was during this lull in hostilities between Great Britain and the French Republic that the 49th Regiment was ordered to garrison duty in British North America. Despite the seclusion of his postings, first to Lower and then to Upper Canada (Quebec and Ontario), Brock’s rise up the chain of command continued unabated.
In 1808, three years after a promotion to full colonel, he was appointed a brigadier general on the staff of Sir James H. Craig at Quebec City.2 Towards the end of 1811, during a return to the command of Upper Canada, and having been promoted major general, Brock was designated to administer the government of that province in the absence of the lieutenant governor. He was still acting in this capacity when news of the American declaration of war reached him in June of 1812. Less than two months later, he forced the surrender of Detroit. That calculated risk worked in his favour, but a similar gamble the following October backfired with deadly consequences. Brock was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest while leading a charge against American invaders at the village of Queenston, twelve kilometres down river from Niagara Falls.
Because Brock did not achieve great fame until near the end of his life, and since those last few months had already been thoroughly scrutinized by earlier historians, I wondered if yet another biography could be anything more than a repetitious waste of time. Had I not come so highly recommended, I might have abandoned the idea altogether. But with John Sugden’s encouragement, I decided to take up the challenge. Although I was still occupied with the writing of Tecumseh’s Bones, I began looking into Brock’s life whenever time permitted—and I soon found my niche. By seeking out previously unexplored archival holdings, I would amass the fresh insights necessary for a new biography.
As my Brock research progressed, it occurred to me that I should also begin gathering illustrations for the upcoming publication. While I was interested in any and all portraits of Brock, one dating to near the time of his heroic death was also the most desirable. And I had good reason to believe there was such a portrait, given all the internet images labelled as such. Most of these claims were clearly false, but I was still cautiously optimistic that an authentic portrait of Brock as a senior officer could be found among all the digital misinformation. My approach to this problem was a very simple one. I simply kept an eye open, and whenever a picture of Brock’s portrait came my way, it was copied and filed for future reference. This slap-dash routine seemed to work extremely well, and I congratulated myself for having things well in hand. However, it soon became evident that my system was becoming clogged with paper. Eventually, I had to resign myself to the necessity of a major sorting out. I dreaded the task, but the exercise did allow me to weed out a good number of files on various paintings, drawings, and even a few sculptures—all of which were obviously artists’ impressions and therefore beyond the scope of my project.
Having thus narrowed down the number of potential Brock portraits, my focus shifted to testing the authenticity of those that remained. A literature search consumed a great deal of time, and produced little to show for it. But delving into primary sources was well worth the effort—even if it seemed to take forever to accomplish the task. After consulting diverse and far-flung manuscript collections for the better part of a decade, I was finally able to reveal the true face of Sir Isaac Brock. In doing so, I developed a better understanding of the circumstances in which it and the other portraits were commissioned and carried out. And while I worried about not having enough material for so much as an appendix to Brock’s biography, the envisioned appendix gradually began to look more like an article, then two articles, and finally the manuscript for a book—this book.
Notes on Abbreviations and References
Published sources are cited fully in the first instance of each chapter, with a shortened format thereafter. Manuscripts receive a consistently expansive treatment; however, multiple references to the repositories preserving them are abbreviated as follows:
AO Archives of Ontario
BU Brock University
CWM Canadian War Museum
ECG Ecclesiastical Court of Guernsey
FARL Frick Art Reference Library
LAC Library and Archives Canada
MMCH McCord Museum of Canadian History
NARA National Archives and Records Administration
RAM RiverBrink Art Museum
NAUK National Archives of the United Kingdom
TRL Toronto Reference Library
TU Trent University
UCCA United Church of Canada Archives
UM University of Michigan
Minor spelling mistakes in quoted passages have been corrected.