Title

Chapter 4

Identifier

http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?b=1&ref=oo&id=298107

page

46-61

Bibliographic Citation

A veteran of 1812 : the life of James FitzGibbon / by Mary Agnes FitzGibbon.

10168803

A veteran of 1812 : the life of James FitzGibbon / by Mary Agnes FitzGibbon.

Type

Text

extracted text

46

A VETERAN OF 1812.

CHAPTER IV.

I

N the autumn of 1801, the regiment was moved
from Colchester to Chelmsford, and passed the
winter in peace and comfort.
FitzGibbon was pay-sergeant of the grenadier
company. He was not a good accountant, and when
making out his pay sheet for February, found himself
deficient to the amount of nearly £2. He was horrorstricken at this discovery, knowing he had not expended it upon himself, yet dreading the consequences
A recent occurrence in the regiment, of a squad sergeant being tried and reduced to the ranks for the
deficiency of one shilling, roused his fears lest the
greater deficit should be punished with the lash, and
" he would take his own life rather than endure the
degradation of stripping in the front of the regiment
to be flogged."
Under the pressure of this fear, FitzGibbon did
what in after years he said was " no doubt due to
my early reading of such romances as the ' History
of the White Knight,' of Parismus and Parismenus,'
' The ven Champions of Christendom,' etc., I decided
upon applying to the Commander-in-Chief for protection.
" I asked for and obtained a pass for three days to
go to London on pretended business. I walked up to

A ROMANTIC APPLICATION.

47

town, and found my way to the Anchor and Vines
tavern, close to the Horse Guards, and though tired,
at once wrote a letter to the Duke of York, stating ,
the case to him and praying of him to enable me to
replace the money so that my colonel might not
know of the deficiency ; for, as I looked upon him
as the father of the regiment, I dreaded the forfeiture
of his good opinion more than any other consequence
which might follow.
" On the following morning, I gave my letter in at
the door to the orderly on duty. With an anxiety
I cannot describe, I walked before that door till night
fell, then in despair returned to my tavern. In the
course of my romantic reading, I had learned how
many were the evil influences surrounding courts and
princes, and supposed my letter had been withheld—
that probably such letters from people in humble circumstances were never presented to great men. I
therefore wrote another letter, adverting to the one
delivered at the office door, and again stating my case
as before.
" The second morning I took my stand at the door
before the hour of opening, and. asked the sentry to
point out the Duke of York to me.
" The Duke soon approached. He was in plain
clothes and walking. I stepped up to him, saluted
him, and held out the letter. He took it, looked at
me from head to foot, and passed in without speaking.
" After the lapse of a few, to me most anxious,
minutes, I was called, shown into a waiting-room up-

•

48

A VETERAN OF 1812.

stairs and told that Colonel Brownrigg would see me.
He came in presently with my two letters in his
hand. He asked if I had written them. I answered,
Yes.' Upon which he said, The Duke can do nothing in this matter before referring to your colonel.'
" 'But it is to avoid that I have made this application.'
" 'In all cases of this kind,' he replied, nothing can
be done before referring to the Commanding Officer.'
Then seeing my agitation, he added, The Duke is not
displeased with you. Return to your regiment and
you will not be treated harshly.' I retired, and it
being too late in the day to return to Chelmsford, I
went back to my tavern.
" Never having been in a theatre, and learning that
I might go into the gallery at Drury Lane at half
\
price, I went, and saw John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons
in the characters of Jaffier and Belvidera. On leaving
the heated atmosphere of the theatre I found it raining, and was pretty well drenched before I reached
my room. This, following the excitement of the two
previous days, brought on a bad feverish cold, and I
was unable to rise in the morning.
" As fry leave expired that day I wrote a note to
the agents of the regiment, Messrs. Ross and Ogilvy,
to report my illness, and begged of them to forward
it to the regiment at Chelmsford. In the course of the
afternoon the servant came to my room and told me
that two gentlemen were below desiring to see me.
" Startled at this announcement I desired them to

COLONEL 13ROCIeS ItINDNESS.

49

be shown up, when to my dismay in walked the
colonel and another officer of my regiment.
" ' Well, young man, what's the matter with you ?'
" I told him, a cold.'
" ' Well,' he said, take care of yourself this night
and return to the regiment to morrow.' Adding, Perhaps your money is all spent,' he laid a half guinea
on the table beside me with the words, there is
enough to take you home.'
" This kindness so affected me that I could hardly
say, If you knew what brought me here, you would
not be so kind to me.'
" 'I know all about it. Get well and go back to the
regiment.'
-" It so happened that the colonel had come up to
town that morning, and was at the agents' when my
note was received. He then went to the Commanderin-Chief's where my letters were put into his hands,
when he came on to my room. Later in the evening
the colonel's servant came to see me. He was a
private servant, not a soldier, and a very intelligent
•
man.
What's this that you've been doing at the Horse
Guards,' he began.
" ' What I would gladly conceal from the world,' I
replied.
" Well, I know something about it, for while
attending at table at the colonel's brother's house
to-day, I overheard a good deal of what the colonel
said of you to the company. It seems you have been

50

A VETERAN OF 1812.

writing letters to the Duke of York about some
difficulty you have got yourself into, and mentioned
the colonel in a way that pleased him and his brother.
He said that when the Duke gave him your letters he
recommended you to him, saying that he (the Duke)
would not forget you. Then the colonel added, ' If
the Duke forgets him I will not.' "
Upon his return to the regiment, FitzGibbon's
accounts were examined and an error of £1 15s.
erroneously entered against himself, discovered—his
limited knowledge of arithmetic and book-keeping
being accountable for the supposed deficiency.
The 49th, as indeed all the regiments of the line,
were at that time in a very inferior state of discipline
in regard to drill and field exercises. Sir John Moore's
new code of drill was being generally introduced, and
FitzGibbon's training under the drill-sergeant in Ireland, as well as his practical knowledge gained in
yeomanry , corps, was of great value to him and his
company.
In April, he was at Uxbridge recruiting from the
militia just then disbanded.
In June, the 49th was sent to Quebec. FitzGibbon,
in order to take advantage of the long voyage and
comparative release from duty, to study, provided
himself with books upon military tactics and field
exercises. Lying in the boat which hung over the
stern of the vessel, he made himself master of every
detail contained in the " Rules and Regulations for
the Field Exercises of His Majesty's Forces."

BROCK'S " FAVORITE SERGEANT-MAJOR."

51

Such unusual application was not unnoticed by the
colonel, whose attention had been already so favorably drawn to the young sergeant, and upon arrival
in Quebec the sergeant-major was promoted to be
quartermaster-sergeant, and the sergeant-major's sash
given to FitzGibbon, over the heads of the forty older
sergeants in the regiment.
In September, 1803, Lieutenant Lewis resigned the
adjutancy but not the lieutenancy, and though Colonel
Brock recommended FitzGibbon for the vacant adjutancy, there was no available lieutenancy for over
two years, and he could only act as adjutant until
1806, when Colonel Brock obtained an ensign's
commission for his " favorite sergeant-major," as
FitzGibbon was known in the regiment, from the
Duke of York, who had not forgotten the lad and
his romantic application for his protection, and in
December of the same year he succeeded to the
adjutancy.
In September, 1802, his company was sent to
Montreal, and in the following summer moved on
•
to York.
During these first years in Canada, there are many
stories told of the sergeant-major. Desertions from
the regiments stationed in Canada to the United
States were frequent, but it is recorded of Colonel
Brock that he only lost one man during the three
years of his personal command. He owed this to his
popularity and personal influence with his men, and
to the vigilance of his sergeant-major.

52

53

A VETERAN OP 181.

A MIDNIGHT CHASE.

FitzGibbon always protested against the use of the
" cat " for trifling offences, arguing that it degraded a
man not only in the eyes of his comrades but in his
own ; that the sense of shame such punishment left
in a man's consciousness pointed invisible fingers of
contempt at him and robbed him ' of the courage
necessary to face an enemy, as well as of the love for
his officers which would carry him to the cannon's
mouth with unflinching devotion.
The invariable kindness with which Lieut.-Colonel
Brock, although a strict officer in enforcing duty,
treated his men, was repaid by their devotion to him.
In several of his letters he speaks of the ingenuity of
the inducements held out by the Americans to the
privates in the regiments at the frontier to desert,
and of the necessity of great watchfulness on the part
of his officers to defeat them.
Soon after their arrival at York, the sergeant of
the guard informed the sergeant-major that three of
his men were missing, and that a boat had been taken
from a shed in charge of one of his sentries, who had
also disappeared. Although at midnight, FitzGibbon
reported the circumstance to the 'Colonel, who ordered
him to man a bateau with a sergeant and twelve
privates.
The roll was called in the barrack-rooms, when
three other men, as well as a corporal of the 41st,
who had been left at York as an artificer, were found
to be missing.
At half-past twelve the colonel embarked, taking

ass
FitzGibbon with him. They steered direct for Niagara, thirty miles across the lake, and arrived soon
after daylight. The night was dark, but there was
little wind, and though the passage had been made
before in an open boat, it was considered a venturesome undertaking. Lieut.-General Hunter, who
commanded the troops in both provinces, is said to
have expressed his displeasure at the colonel for so
rashly risking his life. The deserters were overtaken
and induced to return to their duty.
A short time after this adventure a very serious
mutiny was discovered at Fort George, then garrisoned by a detachment of the 49th, under the command
of Lieut.-Colonel Sheaffe, which, had it succeeded, had
certainly ended in the murder of that officer.
Although the day has long passed when such
tyrannical rule in an officer's hands would be tolerated, yet one cannot read the account of the treatment
the men suffered at the hands of this junior colonel
without a feeling of just indignation.
The for black holes in the fort were constantly
full. Flogging was the sentence awarded for even
trifling offences. The passing of a sentence so heavy
that it required to be inflicted at two, three, and even
four different periods, when the victim was incapable
of bearing the whole number at once, was not uncommon. The " cat " was steeped in brine, before as well
as during the infliction of punishment, and the sufferings of the men and their hatred of the tyrant may .
be imagined. (See Appendix II.)

I

54

A VETERAN OF 1812.

Upon the discovery of the intended mutiny, the
fficers in the garrison held a private meeting and
necided to send a secret message to Colonel Brock
before taking any public action.
Although not distinctly stated, the impression given
is that Colonel Sheaffe was not one of the officers holding this meeting, nor was he cognizant of the message
sent to Colonel Brock. The feeling against him was
so strong in the Upper Province that, later, it was considered advisable to remove him to Lower Canada.
A schooner then in the river was despatched at once
to York. Colonel Brock hurried back in the same
schooner, taking his devoted sergeant-major with
him. Upon arrival, the colonel requested that the
boat should be anchored below the town, where he
landed alone, leaving FitzGibbon behind, with orders
not to appear until sent for.
Colonel Brock's prompt action in personally arresting the principal mutineer, and by the force of his
commanding presence and influence over the men
making each one of them in turn arrest his fellowconspirator, is one of the most dramatic instances of
a military command anywhere recorded.
From Brock's letters we know how terribly he
must have regretted that any of his regiment had
been under another's command, when at the trial and
conviction of the ring-leaders in this unfortunate
mutiny, they reiterated their assertion that "had they
• continued under the command of Colonel Brock they
would have escaped their melancholy end,"

MUTINEERS COURT-MARTIALED.

55

Lieut.-General Hunter, then in Quebec, ordered
that the delinquents should be tried in that garrison,
and thither they were sent in September.
FitzGibbon was sent with them. In a letter from
Colonel Brock (now in the Canadian Archives), in
reference to this court-martial, he says :
" After what I have stated, the general may think
proper to give directions to Colonel Mann to keep
Sergeant Fern and Private Gagnes and the rest of the
witnesses at Quebec during the win%r, but I entreat
His Excellency's permission for Sergeant-Major FitzGibbon and Sergeant Steans being permitted to join
me without delay, which I imagine they will be able
to accomplish if allowed to depart the instant it is
found their presence is of no further use. Being by
themselves they will be able to travel infinitely more
expeditiously."
Colonel Brock had been ordered to assume the
command at Fort George, and the desertions ceased.
He allowed the men greater latitude, permitting them
to fish in their fatigue dresses, and in proper uniform
to visit the town of Niagara freely, and even to use
their muskets to shoot the countless wild fowl, on condition that they provided their own ptwder and shot.
In June, 1804, Lieut.-Colonel Brock, with a detachment of the 49th, removed to Kingston, and in the
September following, to Amherstburg.
Colonel Brock was appointed to the command at
Quebec in October, 1804, and it is probable that FitzGibbon went to Quebec with him, but we have no

56

A VETERAN OF 1812.

" NOTHING IMPOSSIBLE TO A SOLDIER."

letters or positive mention of him or where he was
stationed until the summer of 1806, when he was in
Quebec.
In the autumn of 1805, Colonel Brock returned to
England on leave, and before his return to Canada in
the summer of 1806, he laid before the Commanderin-Chief a scheme for the formation of a veteran
battalion for service in the Canadas, in which FitzGibbon was much interested ; and as his ensign's
commission was given him at this date, it is not
unlikely, nor out of accordance with Colonel Brock's
well-known character for generosity, that he gave his
favorite full credit for all the information he had
gathered for him of the feeling among the soldiers
and the inducements offered to them to desert, both
by the Americans across the international boundary
line and the settlers in Canada who had taken
advantage of the free grants of land and were now
prosperous farmers.
FitzGibbon always said he owed everything to
Colonel Brock. He lent him books, had him with
him at every opportunity, encouraged him in the
effort to improve and educate himself, not only in
every branch of his profession, but in all that was
either of worth or likely to be of practical use to him
as a gentleman or in any position he was ever likely
to fill, at home or in the colony. FitzGibbon called
the orderly room of the 49th his grammar school, and
the mess-room his university, Lieutenants Stratton,

When in Quebec he often wrote to Colonel Brock's
dictation, learning much of the correct pronunciation
of words hitherto unknown to him, through the
colonel's corrections.
Upon one occasion, at Quebec, in 1805, Colonel
Brock asked the sergeant-major why he had not done
something he had ordered. FitzGibbon replied that
he had found it impossible to do it.
" By the Lord Harry, sir, do not tell me it is
i mpossible," cried the colonel ; " nothing should be
i mpossible to a soldier. The word impossible should
not be found in a soldier's dictionary."
Two years afterwards, in October, 1807, when FitzGibbon was an ensign, Colonel Brock ordered him to
take a fatigue party to the bateau guard, and bring
round to the lower town twenty bateaux, in which to
embark troops soddenly for Montreal, fears being
entertained that the Americans were about to invade
the province in consequence of the affair between the
Leopard and the Chesapeake.
On reaching the bateaux the party discovered that
the tide had left them, and about two hundred yards
of deep, tenacious mud intervened between them and
the water. It appeared to FitzGibbon impossible to
drag the large, heavy flat-boats through such mud,
and he had given the word, "To the right face," when
it occurred to him that in answer to such a report the
colonel would ask, " Did you try it, sir ? " He therefore gave the word, " Front," and said to his men,
" I think it impossible for us to put these bateaux

Brackenbury and Loring his tutors,

4

57

58

A VETERAN OF 1812.

THE GLENGARRY FENCIBLES.

59

afloat, but you know it will not do to tell the colonel
'so, unless we try it. Let us try—there are the boats.
I am sure if it is possible for men to put them afloat,
you will do it ; go at them."
In half an hour the boats were in the water. The
troops were thus enabled to embark a day earlier
than if the order had not been carried out.
It was in this year, 1807, that the first suggestion
was made by Lieut.-Colonel John McDonell, late of
the Royal Canadian Volunteers, for raising a corps
among the Scotch settlers of Glengarry, Upper
Canada, but it was not accepted by the Horse Guards
or any steps taken to carry it out until it was revived
by Colonel Gore in 1811.
In a letter of this latter date from Colonel Baynes
to Major-General Brock, a Captain George McDonell
is spoken of as being appointed to attempt the formation of a corps from among the settlers of Glengarry.
In a postscript endorsed " private," Sir George Prevost's intention of filling up the new corps with as
many officers of the line as he could, and with permanent rank, is announced.*
It is interesting to note this, as we shall hear a
great deal more of these Glengarry Fencibles before
the close of our biography.
The year 1807 was spent in Quebec. The following
spring the regiment was moved to Montreal. In
September, the colonel, now Brigadier Brock, was

given the command at Quebec, from whence writing to
his brothers, he regrets being separated from the 49th.
" Were the 49th ordered hence, the rank would not
be a sufficient inducement to keep me in this country.
In such a case I would throw it up willingly."*
He was succeeded in the command at Montreal by
Major-General Drummond.
Owing to the unfortunate destruction of the books
of the 49th, at the evacuation of Fort George, in
May, 1813, it is very difficult to ascertain where the
various companies were stationed, and, to the ever to
be regretted destruction of a quantity of private letters
and papers formerly belonging to FitzGibbon, by an
ignorant autograph collector, we are deprived of much
valuable and interesting information of this period.
Several companies of the 49th, under Major Plenderleath, were stationed at Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence below Quebec, from 1809 to 1811. FitzGibbon
was probably with their detachment, as from incidents
in his later life it appears that this officer must have
been closely connected with him in the regiment.
Major Plenderleath certainly villued FitzGibbon's
friendship highly, and showed his affection for him
and his in a substantial manner. Among the papers
met with in my researches I found a deed of gift for
100 acres of lald given to FitzGibbon's only daughter
by his old brother officer and friend. I am not aware
who now holds this property, or whether this deed
has been sought to complete the validity of the title.

* Tupper's Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock."

* Tupper's " Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock."

60

k VETERAN OF 1812.

In September, 1811, the 49th was again in Montreal.
Recruiting for the Glengarry Fencibles was in active
operation in April, 1812. Lieut. Shaw, the acting paymaster of the 49th, was ordered upon that duty.
FitzGibbon wrote to Colonel Brock in July, •1812,
with reference to a company being given to him in
the new regiment, and received the following autograph reply :
" YORK, July 29th.
" DEAR SIR,-I lament that you should so long
have been impressed with the idea that I possessed
the means of being serviceable to you. I had scarcely
heard of Mr. Johnson's having declined a company in
the Glengarry (which would have given me the
nomination), but I received an account of his being
reinstated. I consequently thought no more of the
business, thinking that officer was enjoying the fruits
of his good fortune. I know not positively whether
Mr. Johnson is reinstated, but being under obligations
to promote his views, I cannot possibly interfere to his
prejudice. I rather wonder you did not know that
Lieut Lamont had long ago my promise of nominating him to the company, provided it became vacant,
which, of course, would have precluded my application in your behalf. Although you must be sensible
of the impossibility of my taking any steps to forward your views in the present case, yet, be assured,
I shall always feel happy in any opportunity that
may offer to do you service.
"To a person unaccustomed to my writing I scarcely
would hazard sending this straw'.
" I am, dear sir,
,

" Yours faithfully,
"ISAAC BROCK.

COLONEL BROCK'S LETTER.

61

" I should like to be among the 49th at this moment.
I am satisfied they will support and even add to their
former fame. They have my very best wishes. The
41st are behaving nobly at Amherstburg."
In the fac-simile of this letter from General Brock
it will be noticed that the year is omitted in the
date, but from the context and frai reference to
other correspondence now in the Canadian Archives
at Ottawa, relative to Lleut. Johnson (a gentleman
who apparently could not decide 'in which regiment
he preferred to hold a commission, the Glengarry or
the Canadian Fencibles), there is no doubt that the
letter was written in 1812.
Owing to the fact that there are very few letters
from Brock extant, and those in the keeping of the
Archives, the original of this one is a valuable relic.
Written on both sides of a single sheet, the paper
yellow from age, and many of the characters indistinct, it was difficult to reproduce it faithfully.
The following letter bears an earlier date than
General Eirock's, and needs no explanation :
" MONTREAL, May 16th, 1812.
" SIR,-I beg you will be pleased to obtain for
me His Majesty's permission to resign my commission
of adjutant only, in the 49th regiment.
" It is incumbent upon me to state my reasons for
wishing to resign the adjutancy, I therefore detail
them. Before I entered the army the circumstances
of my parents prevented my obtaining such an education as to qualify me to discharge the duties of an
officer in His Majesty's service. Whatever know-

IMP

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