Title

Introduction

Identifier

http://www.nflibrary.ca/nfplindex/show.asp?b=1&ref=oo&id=297902

page

c

Bibliographic Citation

Richardson's War of 1812.

10168041

Richardson's War of 1812.

Type

Text

extracted text

;:.

PREFATORY NOTE.

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year nineteen
hundred and two, by the HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO., TORONTO, at the
Department of Agriculture.

TORONTO:
THE BRYANT PRESS, PRINTERS
1902

The preparation of the biography of Major John Richardson entailed a large amount of independent research.
Before I had gone far in the study of his career I found
that all existing biographies were meagre, fragmentary
or wrong in many important details. Several of his
relatives have been personally interviewed, other relatives have been communicated with ; and for the first
time the date and the place, both of his birth and of his
death, are correctly given. The bibliography will be found
to be more nearly complete and, as far as it goes, more
accurate than any previous attempt to give a list of his
works and of the editions published. Every positive
statement in the biography or the bibliography is made
on the authority of documentary evidence in my possession. Failing such evidence, I have been cautious in
statement ; and I shall gladly welcome any additional
information on the subject.
The genealogy of the Richardson and, the Askin families is not intended to be complete ; but it is hoped that
it will be found of some historical interest and value.
The letters of Colonel John Askin, Major John Richardson and Colonel Elijah Brush have never been published before ; and it must be conceded that they throw
absolutely new sidelights on that period of our history.
One promise made in the announcement of this book
has not been fulfilled. No picture of Major-General
Henry Procter could be obtained. Under a mistaken
i mpression, which is by no means uncommon, arrangements had been made to publish the portrait of Lieut.General Henry Adolphus Proctor, C.B., when I found
that it was not his military achievements that occupy so
large a share of Richardson's narrative. The careers of
these two officers are briefly given in the Appendix.
No change has been made in Richardson's narrative

vi

PREFATORY NOTE.

except to correct the manifest typographical errors, to
which he refers in the advertisement at the end of his
volume. But the official despatches of the British and
American officers, as given in the original edition of
1842, were found on comparison with the Archives and
other sources to be in many cases incorrect or abbreviated.
Rather than impair the historical value of the volume
by leaving the despatches imperfect, I have in each
instance substituted without comment the full official
account.
To the numerous friends and relatives of Major Richardson, I tender my sincere thanks for the aid they have
given, which has enabled me to prepare the biography.
I am particularly indebted also to Mr. C. C. James, M.A.,
Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontario, for valuable
advice and many historical notes ; and to my lifelong
friend, Mr. John Stewart Carstairs, B.A., of Harbord St.
Collegiate Institute, Toronto, for help in the revision of
the proofs and in the preparation of the biography.
A. C. C.
Toxowro, February, 1902.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

V

PREFATORY NOTE.
INTRODUCTION.

Xi

Biography of Major John Richardson. Bibliography.
I
INDIANS IN BRITISH WARS-RIOTS OF THE
" WAR-HAWKS."

5

Efforts to Control Indians. Riots at Baltimore.
Kindly Feeling in the North.
II
HULL'S INVASION-CAPTURE OF MICHILIMACKINAC. 13

Defences at Amherstburg. Hull's Proclamation.
Brock's Proclamation. First Engagement. Capture
of Michilimackinac. Promptness of Captain Roberts. His Official Despatch. Articles of Capitulation. John Askin's Letter.

III
BROWNSTOWN AND MAGUAGA.

Defeat of Major Van Horne. Indian Ferocity.
Indian Scalped. James' History Criticised. Retreat
of British and Indians. Regulars at a Disadvantage. Major Dalliba's Report. Major Dalliba's
Report Criticised.
vii

26

Viii

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

ix

PAGE

IV
BROCK'S CAPTURE OF DETROIT.

47

Preparations for the Siege. The British Cross
the Detroit. Bold Advance of the British. A White
Flag. The British Occupy the Fort. Brock's
General Order. Brock's Official Despatch. Articles
of Capitulation. Brock's Proclamation. Hull's
Despatch. Letter of Colonel Cass. Review of
Hull's Despatch and Cass' Letter. How Brock
Saved Canada. Transportation of Prisoners. The
Detroit and Caledonia Surprised. Narrow Escape
of Brock.
V
EXPEDITION TO FORT WAYNE.

93

104

An Unwise Armistice. Queenston Attacked by
Americans. British Opposition. Brock and Mac-.
donell Mortally Wounded. Flank Attack of General
Sheaffe. Defeat and Surrender of the American
Army. Officers of the York Militia Engaged.
Sheaffe's Official Account. Van Rensselaer's Official
Account. Captain Wool's Report.

IX
177

The Fighting 4ist. Tecumseh's Plan. Its Failure. Procter's Assault of Fort Stephenson. The
Assault Repulsed. Major Croghan's Gallant Defence.
Adjutant-General Baynes' Report. Major Croghan's
Report. General Procter's Report.
X
THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.

189

American activity in building Vessels. Barclay's
motley Force. The Engagement. Perry shifts his
Flag. The British Fleet Destroyed. Comparison of
the Squadrons. Barclay's Official Account. Report
of Lieut. Inglis. Perry's Official Account.

VII
Fort Meigs Built. Major Reynolds Repulsed.
Advance of Colonel Procter. The Battle. General
Winchester Taken Prisoner. Lieut. Irvine's Daring
Feat. Ingratitude of a Prisoner. Procter's Official
Report. General Winchester's Official Report.
General Harrison's Report.

148

THE ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON.

VI

THE BATTLE OF FRENCHTOWN.

THE BATTLE OF THE MIAMI.

Harrison at Fort Meigs. The Fort Besieged by
General Procter. British Batteries Captured. Retaken. Clay's Division Defeated. Harrison's Successful Sortie. Exchange of Prisoners. Massacre
of Prisoners. James Corrected. Noble Act of
Metoss. The Bombardment Ineffectual. The Siege
Raised. General Procter's Official Account. Procter's Account Criticized. General Harrison's Despatch, No. 1. General Harrison's Despatch, No. 2.
General Clay's Report. General Clay's Address to
the Troops.

Difficulties of the Undertaking. American Scouts
Killed by Indians. Major Muir's Retreat. American
Accounts. Indian Adoption of a Prisoner. Difficult
Duties of the 41st Regiment.
BATTLE OP QUEENSTON HEIGHTS.

PAGE

VIII

132

XI
THE BATTLE OF MORAVIANTOWN.

204

Procter's proposed Retreat. Tecumseh's Speech.
Preparations for Retreat. Harrison's Pursuit. Defeat
of the British. British Retreat cut off. Death of
Tecumseh. Prevost's General Order. Prevost

X

CONTENTS
PAGE

characterized. Harrison's Report Criticized. Rebuttal of Procter's Defence. An Officer's Diary.
Procter's Defence Reviewed. Major Friend's Letter. Lieut. Bullock's Reply. General Harrison's
Report.
XII.
243
PRISONERS OF WAR.
Officers Paroled. Visit to Barclay's shattered
Fleet. At Fort Stephenson. March to Chillicothe.
Arrival at Chillicothe. Prevost's General Order.
President Madison's Order. Treatment of the British Prisoners. Misery of the Prisoners. Plan for
Escape Formed. Plot Revealed. In Fetters. Suferings while in Irons. Removal to Frankfort.
Lieutenant Harrison's Kindness. Again on Parole.
Hopes of Release Crushed. Prevost's General Order.
Firm Stand of Prevost. General Winder's Reply.
Negotiations Continued. Departure from Frankfort.
Escape of Indian Prisoners. In a Pitiable Plight.
Embark for Cleveland. Richardson Joins the 8th
Regiment.
295
APPENDIX.
Major Muir's Official Report of the Expedition to
Fort Wayne.
Letter from Colonel John Askin, Strabane, to Captain Charles Askin, of the Militia, stationed
at Chippawa.
Letter from John Richardson to his uncle, Captain Charles Askin, at Queenston.
Letter from Colonel Elijah Brush, Detroit, to
Colonel John Askin, Strabane.
Notes on Illustrations.

INTRODUCTION.
BIOGRAPHY OF MAJOR JOHN RICHARDSON.
• On the Canadian side of the Niagara river, just where
its foaming and turbulent waters issue from the narrow,
rocky gorge, stands the straggling village of Queenston.
The place at the present time is of very little importance
except as a terminal port for a magnificent fleet of
pleasure vessels that carry tourists and excursion parties
to visit the Falls, five or six miles farther up the river.
But as the scene of one of the proudest victories of
Canadian and British arms during the War of 1812
Queenston has won a fame that is world-wide.
The settlement proper of the country dates from the
close of the Revolutionary war, when the disbanded
soldiers of Butler's Rangers and other United Empire
Loyalists took up grants of land on the banks of the
river. At the mouth of the river there soon grew up the
town of Niagara (Newark), opposite Fort Niagara, at
that time and until 1796 in the hands of the British.
The great highway of the trade with Detroit and other
western settlements was the Niagara, and as this trade
increased the laden vessels from the lakes were taken as
far up the river as possible, to shorten the portage
around the Falls. This head of navigation was called at
first the New Landing, and later Queenstown. Thus
favorably situated for trade, the new town prospered
and soon became the home of several pioneer merchants,
who never dreamed that the stream of commerce could
possibly find any other course.
Queenston derived an additional importance, at this
early period, from its proximity to the seat of government of the new Province of Upper Canada. The first
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Colonel John
Graves Simcoe, selected Niagara as the capital ; and to
enforce his authority and protect his person a British
Regiment was sent to Canada. This Regiment was
recruited in England, Scotland, Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, and was called the Queen's Rangers, from a
xi

Xii

INTRODUCTION

corps, commanded by Colonel Simcoe, during the war of
the Revolution. Among the officers of the new corps
who had not held commands in the old one was a young
Scotchman named Robert Richardson, the Assistant
Surgeon, a scion of the younger branch of the Annandale family, which had clung to the fortunes of the
Pretender. The detachment of the Queen's Rangers,
with which Dr. Richardson served, was quartered at
Queenston. The young military surgeon became
acquainted with the leading merchant of the place,
Honorable Robert Hamilton, member of the Legislative
Council, who had married Catherine Askin, daughter of ,
Colonel John Askin, a wealthy merchant of Detroit.
At his home Dr. Richardson met Miss Madeleine,
another daughter of Colonel Askin, then on a visit to
her sister. The visits of the handsome young Scotchman were as frequent as his military duties would
permit, and the beautiful and accomplished Madeleine
encouraged him in his wooing ; for we see in the
records of St. Mark's church, Niagara, that " Doctor
Robert Richardson, bachelor, and Madeleine Askin,
spinster," were married by Reverend Robert Addison
on January 24th, 1793• In July of this year a part at
least of the Queen's Rangers left Queenston for Toronto,
and Dr. Richardson accompanied them, leaving his wife
with her sister. We learn from a letter written in
French by Mrs. Richardson to her stepmother, Mrs.
Askin at Detroit, that she is passing a very sad time
awaiting news from Toronto, as no boat has arrived
from there lately ; and that, if she could only know that
Mr. Richardson was well, she would be satisfied.
While Mrs. Richardson resided at Queenston their
three eldest children were born : Jane, born May 19th,
1794, baptized at Niagara, August 17th ; John, born
October 4th, 1796, baptized January 5th, 1797 ; Robert,
born September loth, 1798, baptized December 3oth of
the same year.
In the fall of i8oi a detachment of the Queen's
Rangers was ordered to Fort St. Joseph, a post on the
island of the same name, near the head of Lake Huron.
Dr. Richardson accompanied this force to the western
post, but the prospects of providing suitable accommodation for his wife and young family in this fort were not
very promising, so it was arranged that Mrs. Richardson
and family should live with her father at Detroit.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

Xiii

In the summer of 1802 the Rangers were disbanded,
and the officers and men with their wives and children,
were provided with transport if they wished to return to
Great Britain. Dr. Richardson remained in Canada, and
was appointed surgeon to the Governor and garrison of
Fort Amherstburg ; and on June 7th, 1807, he was appointed Judge of the District Court of the Western
District, an office he held until his death in 1832. Here
all his children were reared and educated. His eldest
son John was particularly brilliant, and although he
hated school he seems to have made considerable progress in Latin, French and Euclid, as well as in the ordinary branches of an English education. Unfortunately
this course of instruction was abruptly cut short by the
United States declaring war and by the preparations
for the invasion of his native province. Much as he
may have lost by his lack of schooling, no trace of
such loss is perceptible in his writings. And in
estimating the formative influences that produced our
first novelist of romance, our first delineator of manners
and customs, we must look elsewhere.
In that generation such a home and such a family as
those of the Richardsons must have been peculiarly
stimulating. The father, combining the strictness of the
soldier, the kindness of the physician and the sternness
of the judge, commanded the love and the respect, not
only of his own family, but of the community. Even
the redoubtable Simon Girty, the Sampson Gattrie of
" The Canadian Brothers," was awed into decorum at
the sight of the judge. The gentler virtues and the
gentler graces found their exponent in his mother. Educated at the Convent of Congregation de Notre Dame at
Montreal, the foremost institution for young ladies in
Canada, Madeleine Richardson, with the national pride of
her race, taught her children from their earliest years to
speak and write the French language. It has been said
that he who knows only one language does not know any.
In the learning of two languages young Richardson's mind
was broadened, his observation quickened, and a nice
perception cultivated—perhaps as only years of training
in the class-room could have perfected. His quick eye
for natural beauty, his power in vivid description and his
marvellous ability in handling the sentence, are an inheritance or an acquisition from his vivacious mother.
Nor was the influence of his grandfather's home less

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON
XiV

INTRODUCTION

marked. Although a British subject, Colonel Askin had
been unable, owing to large mercantile interests, to remove from Detroit to Canada till April, 1802. On the
banks of the river Detroit opposite the lower end of
Belle Isle, then called Hog Island, there soon rose the
modest dwelling named Strabane, after the family seat
in Ireland. How greatly this removal influenced young
Richardson may be read in his after life. Who can
doubt that this devoted British officer would impress on
his youthful grandson that to live under that flag which
he had served so long was worth the sacrifice of a home
and a vast estate ? Here it was that Mrs. Askin used to
tell the boy those thrilling stories of romance, of Detroit,
of Michilimackinac, that enchained his young imagination. None made so deep an impression as the crafty
and well-conceived plans of Pontiac, the great chief of
the Ottawas, and his persistent efforts to capture Fort
Detroit. The events of that historic siege were the most
exciting episodes in a life not lacking in exciting incidents. She had been an inmate of the fort, and the
lapse of time had not bedimmed one of the startling experiences of those eighteen months. Proofs of the
power of this accomplished lady as a story-teller still
exist. Her youthful listener even at that early age was
enkindled with a desire, not to be realized till he had
passed through thirty years of vicissitudes in two contitinents, when in 1832 he gave to the world his masterly
" Wacousta."
If the home life was thus wholesome in formative influences, the community also in which he dwelt was rich in a
novel and diversified life that presented itself to his daily
observation at an age when the sharpest and most lasting
i mpressions are made. No other place on the continent
• could boast of a floating population so varied in character and race, so rich in well-defined types of civilized and
barbarous human nature. At Amherstburg there were
the officers and soldiers of the garrison, dressed in brilliant uniforms, moving about with apparently few duties
to perform, attracting the boyish fancy and exciting his
admiration and his envy. Nor was the British officer
wholly unworthy of this adoration. A scion of one of
Britain's best families, he obtained promotion oftener by
purchase than by proficiency gained from actual service ;
fully cognizant of his own importance, here he lived in a
community that fully acknowledged his superiority.
.

XV.

Next to the soldiers in attractiveness were the Indians
that periodically repaired to the town to receive at the
hands of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs their customary presents. Many a time young Richardson would
wander to the shores of the Detroit to watch the large
fleets of canoes in military array, heading for the camping
ground of Bois Blanc island ; or as the Indians marched
to the storekeeper's with a pride and haughty mien that
contrasted strangely with the object of their visit, or as
they engaged in various games of leaping, wrestling,
ball-playing, he would follow and delight in receiving
recognition from some chieftain whose acquaintance he
had made before. Often, on a visit to the island camp,
he would be an interested spectator of their daily habits ;
it was thus that he acquired that close and accurate
knowledge of Indian character and life that he afterwards
so successfully used in his literary productions. His delineation of Indian character in " Wacousta " has never
been equalled, even by James Fenimore Cooper himself.
In " The Canadian Brothers " he gives us a description
of the principal Indian chiefs who were allies of the British in the War of 1812, to be found nowhere else.
Besides the soldiers and the Indians, there were those
engaged in the fur trade, now fast declining here owing
to the march of civilization westward. The FrenchCanadian and half-breed voyageur had not wholly forsaken the Detroit ; and at times was to be seen the
trader, just returned from trafficking with the Indians at
their homes in the wilds of the interior, and in dress or
complexion scarcely distinguishable from the Indians
themselves—in some cases not degenerate successors of
the coureurs de boil of the French period.
It was among such varied surroundings, then, that
Richardson must have accumulated almost all the
material that he used so effectively in history, poem or
novel. The scenes of his boyhood are the favorite setting for his characters ; and never after his boyhood had
he the opportunity for a lengthened stay in those beloved
haunts.
The news of the declaration of war against Great
Britain 'reached Amherstburg, and awoke this frontier
garrison from its monotonous routine of regular work.
The militia were called out. The marine department
became active in fitting out trading schooners and small

XV1

INTRODUCTION

gunboats for the purpose of defending from invasion the
western district. The academic life of John Richardson
was brought suddenly to a close. Hull's army had
appeared on its march to Detroit, whence as a base it was
to invade the land of a contented and happy people,
guiltless of wrong to the United States. All the martial
spirit of his ancestors was roused in John Richardson,
and at the tender age of fifteen he resolved to fight in
defence of his native land.
Through the influence of his father, and his grandfather
Askin, he was appointed a gentleman volunteer on the
strength of the 41st Regiment, a detachment of which
was in garrison at Fort Amherstburg. From a District
General Order we learn that " The undermentioned gentlemen are appointed as volunteers in His Majesty's
regular forces, from the periods specified opposite their
respective names. They will continue to do duty with
the 41st Regiment until further orders.
Henry Procter, Gent., 1st July, 1812.
Alex. Wilkinson, " I
" 1812.
" 1812.
John Richardson, " 9
By Order.
Thomas Evans,
Brigade Major."
Richardson fought in every engagement in which the
detachment of the 41st took part, until its disastrous
defeat at Moravian town on October 5th, 1813. On this
occasion he was taken prisoner, and suffered close imprisonment until released in 1814. The story of these
engagements and his experiences during his captivity
are fully set forth in his history of the Right Division.
With the exception of the official reports of the officers
commanding, his account of these engagements, and of
the captivity of the prisoners, is the only one that has
been written by any of the participators. In his first
novel, " Ecarte," Dormer, one of the characters, and Clifford Delmaine, the hero, meet after years of separation in
Paris. Dormer describes his experiences since they were
schoolmates. The adventures of Dormer in the army in
Canada and his imprisoament coincide closely with the
actual events in this part of Richardson's career. In
" The Canadian Brothers " one can gather likewise the
story of the events in which the Right Division took
part, and the story of the imprisonment.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XYii

After his return from captivity he was given a lieutenantcy in the 2nd Battalion of the 8th (King's) Regiment.
In June, 1815, both battalions embarked at Quebec for
Ostend, to join the Duke of Wellington's army in
Flanders. But Waterloo had been fought and won
before they were half way across the Atlantic. As a
permanent peace with France seemed to have been made,
and as Britain had no need for so large a standing army,
several regiments were reduced. Transferring its men
fit for duty to the first battalion, the second battalion of
the Eighth disbanded on the 24th of December, 1815,
and its officers were placed upon half-pay. Within six
months Sir Henry Torrens, then Military Secretary, procured Richardson's appointment to his own, the Second
or Queen's Regiment ; and on the 24th of April, 1816,
the regiment embarked at Portsmouth for the West
Indies, and landed at Barbadoes on June 5th. How long
he remained with the Queen's is not known, but it is
probable that he was invalided home after a short term
of service in that exceedingly unhealthy climate. He
was subsequently transferred to the 92nd Highlanders,
and was again placed on half-pay on October 1st, 1818.
For the next ten years Richardson lived the life of a
literary man in London with occasional visits to Paris.
He wrote sketches of West Indian and Canadian life
that appeared in the periodicals of the time, and produced two of his longer works, the poem " Tecumseh "
published in 1828(?), and the novel "Ecarte, or the Salons
of Paris," published in 1829.
" Tecumseh," Richardson's only effort in poetry consists of four cantos of 188 stanzas of ollava rima ; in the
first canto there are 45 stanzas, in the second 5o, in the
third 48 and in the fourth 45. No evidence is at hand
from which we can judge how this poem was received
in literary circles in England. The generation born
during the Napoleonic wars would not be enraptured with
martialpoems: they had experienced too many of the hardships of war. At that time the heroic deeds and statesmanlike achievements of our greatest Indian ally were
unknown in Britain, and could appeal to but a limited
number of readers. The poem itself is marked by a strict
adherence to the conventional stanza form, with which
Byron took such liberties in his Don Juan. With a few
exceptions, there is marked care in the choice of words

Xviii

BIOGRAPHY OP RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

and in the workmanship. The epic theme follows closely
the historical facts and presents many opportunities for
effective dramatic treatment. But perhaps the measure
chosen was ill-adapted to so stirring a subject. That
Richardson was not quite satisfied with his poetic effort
is proved by his confining himself to prose in future.
Ecarte," said Captain R. H. Barclay, in a letter to
the author, " is assuredly an able and dreadful essay
against the most insidious and ruinous of all sorts of dissipation and idleness, gaming, bad enough anywhere, but
perhaps in Paris it holds its throne." Paris was then a
favorite resort for many young British officers absent on
leave ; and Richardson, in his visits, appears to have
entered fully into the gay life of that metropolis. He
had an affair of honor with a French officer of Cuirassiers
and probably indulged in play, but it is hardly possible
that he lost heavily, got in debt and was given time to
contemplate the fickleness of fortune, and form good
resolutions for the future in a room in the prison he so
accurately describes in " Ecarte."
This novel was published by Colburn, of London, and
was well received in some quarters ; but, by a strange
circumstance, was doomed in so far as it might possibly
bring immediate fame to the author and wealth to the
publisher. Jerdan, a leading influential writer on the
staff of the Literary Gazette, had some disagreement with
Colburn, and to be revenged wrote him that he would
" cut up " his next book in his review. The next book
published by Colburn was " Ecarte," and Jerdan was as
good as his word. This unwarranted criticism, Richardson
acknowledges in " Eight Years in Canada," prevented
him from writing many more works.
However, he appears to have been busy with his pen
as " Wacousta " appeared in 1832. This story was published in three volumes by T. Cadell, Strand, London,
and from the first met with great success. A second edition was published in the same style in 1840. It is
considered his best work.
The London Literary Gazette, the London Atheneum,
the London Satirist, the Morning Post, the London
Atlas and Miss Sheridan's Magazine spoke in very flattering terms of the novel and the author. He was at once
recognized as a powerful rival of Cooper, then at the
height of his popularity in England and America.

xix

The story is founded upon the designs of Pontiac to
possess himself of the fort at Detroit. The principal
characters are drawn from the actors in that historic
event, and are portrayed with a marked fidelity to historical accuracy. Even Wacousta himself may have
been suggested by the career of some real personage. The
only feature of the story that it is possible to consider
weak may be found in the incident of the capture in the
St. Clair river of the schooner, having on board the survivors of the massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. Here,
to cause the capture to take place in the river, the author,
departing from geographical truth, makes the St. Clair a
narrow stream,with the branches of the tall trees meeting
in an arch overhead. But even for this he may
well plead the licence that is always granted to writers of
fiction.
The interview between Pontiac and Governor De Haldimar in the great council hall of the fort is the masterstroke of all Richardson's literary work. For dramatic
power and graphic description it has not often been surpassed or even equalled in the language. As a charactersketch, unfolding on the one hand the adroit craft and
subtle deceit of Pontiac with all the varied play of motives, and on the other the defiant confidence and intrepid
fidelity to principle of the governor, it will compare
favorably with those searching analyses of human passions to be found in the works of George Eliot.
Richardson has been accused of imitating Cooper in
this novel. How closely one author may follow the style
and character of another's productions and still rank as
a great writer, will never be very clearly determined.
The only ground for such an accusation is that both
wrote stories with Indians figuring prominently in the
foreground. And it is doubtful that Richardson owes
more to Cooper's works than the bare suggestion that a
romance dealing with the Canadian Indian would prove
both popular and successful. For such a work he possessed
peculiar qualifications, in power, in material and
1 11 desire.
His power had already been revealed in
Ecarte " ; his material had been gathered from the experiences of his boyhood and the stirring stories he heard
from his grandmother ; the desire had been enkindled
thirty years before when he heard those stories by the
open fireplace at Strabane.
,

,

XX

INTRODUCTION

Richardson's characters are never impossible. His
Indians have all the virtues and all the vices of the greatest prototypes of the race. He was personally acquainted
with Tecumseh. His grandmother had been in the fort
when besieged by Pontiac. The original of Captain
Erskine is no doubt his grandfather, Colonel John
Askin ; Lieutenant Johnstone is probably his father's
relative. Dr. Richardson belonged to the Annandale
family, so did Lieutenant Johnstone ; and further to
prove the identity, one of Major Richardson's halfbrothers was named Johnstone Richardson, plainly showing that Johnstone was a family name. The name of
Bombardier,, Kitson for one of the minor characters is a
reminiscence of an officer of that name in the Royal Artillery who fought with the Right Division in the War of
1812. No doubt a careful comparison of the incidents of
the novel with the actual events would reveal many
other similarities. This is an instance in which we must
go to fiction for reliable history.
In 1834 the Spanish Ambassador to Great Britain recruited an army in that country to assist the regent,
Christina, to preserve the throne of Spain for her daughter Isabella, against the forces of Don Carlos, who
claimed the crown. This force, which consisted of ten
regiments of i,000 men each, was known as the " British
Auxiliary Legion," and was under the command of
Lieut.-General De Lacy Evans, a veteran officer who had
seen active service in India and the Peninsula, at Washington and New Orleans, and as Quartermaster-General
at Waterloo. Richardson was assigned a captaincy in
the znd Regiment, which sailed from Portsmouth on board
the transport Royal Tar, on July 23rd,1835, and arrived at
San Sebastian on the 27th. After a short stay here the
Legion marched to Vitoria, where typhus fever, carried
off about 700 men and 40 officers. The soldierly qualities and executive ability of Richardson were recognized
by his being appointed commandant of Vitoria ; but on
January 3oth, 1836, he was stricken down with the prevailing malady. His splendid physique, however, enabled him to combat the disease, and he rose from his
bed on the 17th of March. During his illness intrigue
and jealousy were at work, and he was displaced on the
staff by a relative of the Lieut.-General ; and to add to
his troubles his regiment and the 5th were broken up,

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxi

but he was appointed senior captain in the 6th (Scotch
Grenadiers). To recuperate, Richardson applied for and
received two months' leave of absence to visit England.
He left Vitoria in April and proceeded to the coast, but
before he had an opportunity to embark for England the
Legion marched to the attack of San Sebastian, now
occupied by the Carlists. Although on sick leave, Richardson, in his anxiety to be of assistance, volunteered
his services on the staff. His offer was refused, and, en.feebled as he was, he led his own company of the 6th
Regiment in the battle of the 5th of May.
An account of this battle appears in his memoirs. On
the Ilth he left Spain for London by way of Paris.
While in Spain he kept a journal which he was anxious
to publish, as it would in a measure be an answer to the
attacks and aspersions made against the character and
actions of the Legion by the persons and the press that
opposed interference with the internal affairs of a foreign
nation.
While in London a Gazette appeared which contained
a list of the names of officers decorated for their conduct
in the action of May 5th. Richardson's name did not
appear, and, to add to his disappointment, he was mortified to find in the announcement that a junior officer had
been promoted to a majority over his head. In his
anger he wrote an addition to the preface of his book,
" Movements of the British Legion," in which he set
forth his claims, and in doing so reflected somewhat on
the conduct of the other officers. When his wrath had
subsided he recalled the irritating paragraphs and substituted others less incisive ; but he had already sent a copy
of the preface to the Lieut.-General, and had written a
private letter to the military secretary in which was conveyed a mild threat that some officers had honors to
which they were not entitled. Meanwhile Richardson
started for Spain and at once carried out his plans against
the Lieut.-General and other officers, which resulted in
the appointment of a court of inquiry to investigate and
report on the whole affair.
On the 29th of June, just one day before the assembling of the court, his year of service having expired, he
tendered his resignation and signified his retirement from
the service. He therefore appeared before the commission, not as an officer of the Legion, but as a
,

XXii

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

private citizen, and at the investigation his superior
talents, aided by the justice of his cause, enabled
him to wring from a hostile court a verdict that
exonerated him in every particular. After the announcement of the verdict the Lieut.-General intimated
to Richardson that he would like to make reparation for
the injury that had been done him. Consequently it
was arranged that his resignation should be withdrawn.
On this being done Richardson appeared in general orders
as promoted to a vacant majority which was dated May
i3th, and at the same time was transferred from the 6th
Scotch to the 4th Queen's Own Fusiliers. With this regiment Major Richardson served till the 19th of August,
being in command of it at an engagement at the
" Heights of Passages " on July 3oth, 1836. Soon after,
he returned to England.
To Major Richardson's experiences in Spain we owe
the existence of three of his works. " Movements of
the British Legion," referred to before, recounts in the
form of a journal the operations from their arrival at San
Sebastian, July 27th, 1835, till the attack on the same
stronghold, May 5th, 1836. The second edition, published in 1837, contains also the narrative to the close of
March, 1837. The book in its first edition is a faithful
account of the events of the campaign, and is -a worthy
tribute to the military capacity of Lieutenant-General
De Lacy Evans, the commander-in-chief. But the failure of that officer to promote Richardson to a majority
to which he was entitled by seniority, led to a bitter personal quarrel with the Lieutenant-General, who does not
seem to have been averse to showing a desire for revenge
on the Major, who had worsted him before the Court of
Inquiry. As De Lacy Evans had estranged his officers, had infringed the rules of service and had secured
a reputation for delay and indecision, he was not invulnerable, and Richardson was always a merciless assailant. Accordingly, in the second part of the second edition, the author seldom loses an opportunity of
attributing every failure or disaster to the incapacity of
the commander.- As a fact, only ten of the fifty experienced officers who had originally embarked in the
cause chose to remain. It was easy for the officers to
withdraw from the service, but with the rank and file it
was very different. They had to stay till their term of
-

service expired, and when this time came their pay was
in arrears and no passage to England was to be got.
Some re-enlisted, others in their desperation joined the
Carlists. Their plight was a melancholy one. Neglected
by their native country and cast off without pay by the
nation they served, the survivors managed to reach Great
Britain in a penniless condition, deplorable examples of
the neglect usually shown to the private soldier when
the nation no longer requires his services.
The affairs of Spain were made the subject of a debate
in the British House of Commons on the motion of Sir
Henry Hardinge. In this debate the opportunity was
seized by O'Connell and some other members to attack
Richardson, but his character and conduct were clearly
vindicated. His cause was championed by Captain
Boldero and Sir Henry Hardinge, the proposer of the
motion. It would be exceedingly unfair even to hint
that anything but justice could influence a man of the
integrity and noble character of Sir Henry Hardinge,
but his interest in Richardson in this connection may
have arisen from his kindly remembrance of Richardson's father when they served in the same regiment.
Sir Henry Hardinge began that military eareer which
shone so brilliantly at Albuera and at Ferozshuhr, as an
ensign in the Queen's Rangers in 1798 in Upper Canada,
when Dr. Richardson was assistant surgeon of the same
corps.
No better example of the appreciation of the subtleties
of language can be found than in the volume, " Movements of the British Legion." At p. 162, in discussing
the unhealthy and uncomfortable condition of the hospitals at Vitoria, Richardson had said :
" Things are said to have been better managed in Portugal under Mr. Alcock, who is second in rank of the
Medical Department here." Mr. Alcock, considering
that he had been complimented at the expense of his
chief, wrote to the author, asking that the statement be
amended or omitted in any future edition. Richardson
replied, begging him " to consider it, however, as one of
the typographical errors, and that ' said ' should be in
italics, not ' second.' You cannot fail to observe that
this alteration will give a totally distinct reading to the
passage." This amende honorable has something so genuinely clever about it that it deserves this special notice.
It is scarcely paralleled even by Lord Robert Cecil's

XXi.V

INTRODUCTION

famous apology to Mr. Gladstone as related by Justin
McCarthy.
Richardson's second work on the affairs in Spain entitled " Personal Memoirs of Major Richardson," was published in Montreal in 1838. Events, that will be referred
to presently, caused him to come to Canada in that year ;
hence its appearance in this country. In this volume the
injustice that he had suffered is submitted to the public.
The documentary evidence adduced clearly shows that he
pursued the only course consistent with honor and dignity. As he himself says, p.) 144
" By the cold and the calculating—by the selfish and
the prudent—I shall no doubt be considered as having
adopted a course more chivalrous than wise in the uniform opposition I have shown to the various measures of
oppression—so unworthily—so ignobly arrayed against
me. By those, however, of high honour—of proud and
independent feeling—by those who are incapable of sacrificing the approval of the inward man to mere considerations of personal interests and expediency, I shall be
They, at least, will admit,
judged in a nobler spirit.
that in adopting the line of conduct unfolded in the pages
of this brief and local memoir, I have studied that which
was most befitting an honourable mind. As I have had
elsewhere reason to obsefve, never did a more cruel system of injustice seek to work its slow and sinuous course
beneath the mantle of liberalism. Every engine of his
power had been put in motion by General Evans, to accomplish the ruin of an officer, who had in no other way
offended than by refusing tamely to submit—firstly, to
his injustice secondly, to his oppression, and that the
utter overthrow of such officer has not been accomplished,
is attributable, not to any forbearance on the part of his
persecutor, but to his own innate integrity and right."
His third work was a satire, not issued, however, in
book form, but as a serial in THE NEW ERA OR CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a paper published by Richardson in
Brockville in 1841 and 1842. Theodore Hook in his last
volume had transferred his hero, Jack Brag, to the staff
of De Lacy Evans in Spain as Acting Assistant DeputyDeputy Assistant Commissary General. Richardson saw
his opportunity and took Hook's hero successfully in
hand. Hook was pleased with the continuation of his
satire and made an effort to secure a publisher for it.

BIOGRAPHY OF R I CHARDSON

xxv

He went to Colburn and to Bentley, but they declined to
accept it as they considered the delineation of the characters too faithful a reflection of the originals, and the
strictures on the Radicals at Westminster too severe.
In 1837 the political affairs of the Canadas caused no
little alarm to the British Government of the day. Richardson, eager again to see active service, more particularly in defence of his native land, against those who
would have robbed Britain of her fairest colony,embarked
at London on the 18th of February, 1838, for Canada,by
way of New York. He was accompanied by his wife, a
member of a family in Essex, whom he had married about
the year 183o. Her family name is not recorded that I
have seen, and a diligent inquiry among Richardson's
relatives, who knew her, has proved fruitless in the matter_
All, however, agree in saying that she was accomplished,
talented, and possessed of some literary ability, and that
they were devotedly attached to each other.
While waiting in New York for four days Richardson
met the Earl of Gosford and Sir Francis Bond Head,who
had lately arrived from the Canadas on their way to England. He had a letter of introduction from Lord Glenelg,
Colonial Secretary, to Sir Francis, in which was expressed
the desire that some official position should be given him
in his native province. Sir Francis was so concerned and
agitated, probably through fear that violence might
be done him by some sympathizers with the rebels in
Canada, that after reading the letter he returned it to the
Major unsealed, with a request to present it with his
compliments to his successor, Sir George Arthur.
On the 29th of March he went by boat to Albany,
thence by railroad to Utica, then by coach through
Auburn, Geneva, Rochester and Lockport to Lewiston,
where he arrived on Wednesday, the 3rd of April. The
mingled feelings with which he viewed his native village
of Queenston, a spot hallowed with so many recollections,
are well described at the close of the second chapter of
his " Eight Years in Canada."
" We reached Lewiston a few miles below the Falls of
Niagara about 6 o'clock ; and from that point beheld, for
the first time since my return to the country and in its
most interesting aspect, the Canadian shore. Opposite
to Lewiston is the small village of Queenston, and overhanging the latter, the heights on which my early friend

xxvi

INTRODUCTION

and military patron—the warrior beneath whose bright
example my young heart had been trained to a love of heroism, and who had procured me my first commission in the
service—had perished in the noble but unequal conflict
with a foe invading almost from the spot on which I
stood. More than five-and-twenty years had gone by,
but the memory of the departed Brock lived as vividly in
the hearts of a grateful people as it had in the early days
of his fall ; and in the monument which crowned the
height, and which no ruffian hand had yet attempted to
desecrate, was evidenced the strong and praiseworthy
desire to perpetuate a memory as honored as it was
loved. This moment was to me particularly exciting,
for it brought with it the stirring reminiscences of the
camp, and caused me to revert to many a trying scene in
which my younger days had been passed. Since that
period I had numbered a good many years, and had
experienced in other climes a more than ordinary portion
of the vicissitudes of human life ; but not one of these
had the freshness and warmth of recollection of my earlier
services in America, in which (independently of the fact
of my having been present at the capture of Detroit,
under the gallant soldier whose bones reposed beneath
the monument on which my gaze was rivetted, as if
through the influence of an irresistible'fscination) I had
been present in five general engagements, and twelve
months a prisoner of war with the enemy before attaining
my seventeenth year. These were certainly not ' piping
times of peace,' and I must be pardoned the egotism of
incidentally alluding to them."
Before leaving London, Richardson had been entrusted with the important duty of furnishing political
information to the London Times. In availing itself
of the services of a writer so singularly competent
and eligible as Richardson, the foremost of English
dailies showed both enterprise and sagacity. In those
times it was well to have sources of information on what
was taking place in the Canadas, other than the official
despatches of the governors and the news letters appearing in the United States press. Richardson began at
once to study the political situation in Upper Canada.
His opportunities for obtaining information were excellent. His brother Charles, with whom he lived at
Niagara, represented that town in the Legislative

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

j,

i

XXY1 i

Assembly of Upper Canada, and through him Richardson
could learn without reserve the state of affairs in the
country, and get a description of the events that led up to
armed resistance to the Government. He soon began his
journey to Quebec to meet Lord Durham on his arrival.
While in Toronto he called on and was entertained by Sir
George Arthur, and by his own old comrades in arms when
Detroit was taken, the Honorable John Beverley Robinson, then Chief Justice, and Colonel S. P. Jarvis, then
Superintendent of Indian Affairs. In Montreal he found
out the feeling in the province of Lower Canada. His
observations in Canada up to this time are embodied in
two letters published in the Times, one written from
Niagara and the other from Montreal, and signed Inquisitor. On his arrival at Quebec he called upon the
governor, and was received by him with every mark of
respect. He was invited to dine at the Castle of St. Lewis
with a brilliant assemblage. Lord Durham made him the
special object of his attention, and during the course of a•
long conversation he unfolded in their entirety all his
plans and projects for the government of the colony.
Richardson was convinced that these plans were not only
the best for the country, but perhaps the only ones that
would harmonize the various conflicting interests arrayed
in arms against each other. If Richardson was impressed
by the honesty and integrity of Lord Durham, and his
thorough grasp of the political situation, on the other
hand it is merely just to record that he possessed the confidence of that nobleman to the fullest extent.
By birth and training Richardson was personally opposed to the general policy represented by the Melbourne
administration. He was the trusted correspondent of a
paper that had assailed that administration with a bitterness rarely exhibited by any journal. His salary of
£300 and travelling expenses along with his half-pay
would have enabled him to live in affluence. Moreover,
his work was congenial, and no favor that Lord Durham
or any succeeding governor might grant could offer more
attractions to a man of Richardson's temperament than his
present employment. Accordingly every motive and
every prejudice of worldly wisdom would have led an
ordinary man into opposition to the governor, but it is
very gratifying to know that Richardson viewed the
affairs of Canada with notable impartiality, which leaves

XXVii i

INTRODUCTION

no doubt of his patriotism and of a marked disregard of
any selfish interests. Richardson was convinced that
Lord Durham would do for the colony what no other
governor had ever attempted in respect to its permanent
interests. He realized the wisdom of his policy and
grasped the spirit of his plans for the future. Time has
already vindicated the action of the governor, and it
must in all fairness grant to Richardson credit and honor
for the personal sacrifices he made in advocating the
cause that has proved so beneficial to British North
America. Unfortunately for him the " mighty engine "
he was in Canada to represent did not approve his
course. The editor did not see fit to publish all his letters, and informed him that his connection with that
journal would cease at the termination of his year's engagement. It would seem that a paper that delegates to
itself the high position of directing the policy of a great
nation should place accuracy of information before every
other consideration ; that it should have placed more confidence in the opinions of its correspondent than upon its
party traditions. The awakening was too sudden for
most Englishmen to see clearly. The many reforms
that had been gained in England within a half-dozen
years were alarming to one party, and the other party
were not prepared to support their official in his advanced
ideas of granting self-government to the colonies. It is
therefore too much to expect that a paper like the Times
could change its colonial policy so quickly. The disavowal of Richardson by the Times enlisted the sympathy
of Lord Durham, himself suffering from a more cruel
desertion. In a letter to Richardson he says :
" It is indeed most disgusting to see such proofs of
malignity in those who ought to value truth and fair
dealing as the best means of informing the public of
which they profess to be the best possible instructors.'
Your course has been that of a man of honor and integrity, and you can hardly regret the dissolution of a
connection which it appears could only have been preserved by the sacrifice on your part of truth and justice
—by the suppressio veil, if not the assertio
If subsequent events had not clearly proved that the
course adopted by Richardson was the proper one, this
letter is sufficient exoneration. Lord Durham's policy
and his acts while in Canada are fully set forth in chap-

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

ters III., IV. and V. of Richardson's " Eight Years in
Canada."
On November 2nd, 1838, the day after Lord Durham
embarked for England, Richardson left Quebec to join
his friends at Niagara. At Kingston he was much impressed by a visit to Von Schoultz, the " patriot " leader
recently captured at the Windmill at Prescott. While
he was in Toronto the news of the defeat of the brigand
invaders at Windsor by Col. Prince was received, and Sir
George Arthur employed Richardson to carry the despatches of that event to Sir John Colborne at Montreal,
but was anticipated by half an hour by an express from
Colonel Dundas at Kingston, to whom also he had carried
a despatch of the affair. This duty being performed he
joined his wife at Niagara.
On his way to Quebec during the spring of this year
(1838), Richardson took the earliest occasion to settle
an affair with Colonel Chichester, for which no opportunity offered while at San Sebastian in Spain. It appears
that Colonel Chichester seconded a motion to expel Richardson from the San Sebastian club. On learning the
truth of the matter Colonel Kirby, the proposer of the
motion, apologized to Richardson in England. Richardson now required a similar apology from Colonel Chichester, who granted it. All the documents that were
necessary were now in his possession, consequently his
" Personal Memoirs " were published this year.
During the winter he made preparations to take up his
residence at Amherstburg. On his arrival there he is disappointed in the place. The charms that it possessed in
his youth have all departed. No fleet of government
vessels now make the little harbor their home. No
Indian watchfires add a picturesqueness to the beautiful
island opposite the town. No bands of •Indians now
come there to sit in solemn council or to receive their
annual presents. And where in other days a half regiment of regulars and a battery of artillery enlivened the
town, now, but a single company remains, to garrison a
fort,---but a mere shadow of its former greatness.
Although the town appeared to have every mark of
decay, yet Richardson could not hire a vacant house.
The quartering of the regulars and militia there in consequence of the rebellion, had increased the population so
quickly that all the houses were occupied. He then

XXX

INTRODUCTION

went to Sandwich, where he made his home in a
small brick house " gable end to the street." The
house still stands about wo yards south of St. John's
Church, and but for a covering of bright red paint and
the addition of a verandah in front, presents the same
appearance as 6o years ago. It was pointed out to me
last summer by Mr. Thomas McKee, the genial County Clerk
of Essex, who remembered Richardson well and had
many interesting stories to relate of him. It was in this
house that the finishing touches were put upon " The
Canadian Brothers," a sequel to " Wacousta." Some
chapters of this novel had appeared in " The Literary
Garland," a magazine that had been started in December,
1838, in Montreal. One of these contributions was entitled " Jeremiah Desborough," and the other " The
Settler or the Prophecy Fulfilled."
Having received the encouragement of 25o subscriptions among the military and the people of Canada, Richardson resolved to publish the sequel to " Wacousta "
and went to Montreal to see the work through the press.
The registration notice of this novel bears the date, January 2nd, 184o. It was published in two volumes in the
original edition, and was dedicated to Sir John Harvey,
Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. The tale is an
historic one and deals with the War of 1812 on the
Detroit frontier. In a measure. the work is autobiographical and covers the same period as that of his history of
the war. General Brock, Colonel Procter, Captain Barclay, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-Water, Split-Log and Roundhead appear in the work under their proper names. Gerald and Henry Grantham the Canadian Brothers, are
Major Richardson and his favorite brother Robert. Simon
Girty appears as Sampson Gattrie and the description of
this personage in the book is the best ever written. St.
Julian is Colonel St. George, Cranstoun is Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Short, and Middlemore, Lieutenant Gordon. The other officers all have places in the narrative,
but to avoid a multiplicity of characters one personage in the story often represents two or more in the
real events. For instance, Gerald Grantham is made to
act the parts of Lieutenant Rolette, Lieutenant Irvine
and Midshipman Robert Richardson. Some anachronisms occur for which the author prepares us in the preface.
Captain Barclay and General Brock meet at Amherstburg
;

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

before the fall of Detroit and the battle of Queenston
Heights is not fought until October, 1813. The story in
many respects is not the equal of " Wacousta." The
purely fictitious characters are not so well drawn in " The
Canadian Brothers," while the historical ones are perhaps more faithfully pictured. The weakest part is the
attempt to make it a sequel. Jeremiah Desborough, the
villain of the novel, is a character without a purpose.
He is but an intruder in the insignificant place he has in
the tale.
When Richardson knows the type of man he
is describing; we get a picture that delights us by the
boldness and clearness of the delineation of every phase
of his character ; but when he does not know him the
portrayal is a palpable failure. He found out, too late
to correct it in the first edition, that the Scotch dialect
he makes Cranstoun use is very imperfect. In the
second edition, published in New York in 1851, in one
volume, under the author's supervision, this imperfection
just pointed out does not occur.
After the publication of " The Canadian Brothers,"
Richardson made preparations to start for his home
in Sandwich. He decided to travel by means of his own
equipage, a method affording greater freedom and more
ease and convenience. He therefore purchased a sleigh,
a team of spirited French-Canadian ponies, and suitable
harness and robes, and engaged a servant to care for the
ponies at all stopping places. He set out from Montreal
during the last days of February. In Cornwall he
stayed some days, rehearsing old times with Judge G. S.
Jarvis, an old fellow-officer of 8th (King's). His fondness
for being entertained by his old friends on the way, and
an accident in the early part of the journey, delayed
him, and by the time Brockville was reached it was impossible to go farther by sleigh.
While waiting here some days to make the necessary
changes to travel by waggon, he was induced to purchase
a piece of land, beautifully situated on the high banks
of the St. Lawrence, on which were a good house, a barn
and other outbuildings. The journey, which occupied
about two months, the greater part of which time was
spent in visiting at Kingston, Toronto and London,
ended about the last of April.
Preparations were made for the return trip to his
" farm " in Brockville. Before the time for starting

XXXii

INTRODUCTION

came round, a grand demonstration was announced, which
was to be held at Fort Meigs by the Whigs of Ohio in
honor of their candidate for the Presidency of the United
States. The place was appropriately chosen, as it was
on the Miami that General Harrison won the military
renown associated with his name, which contributed
not a little to his success at the coming election. Richardson accepted an invitation from his friends at Detroit
to be present, and to visit the place where he also had
seen some hard fighting against the general whose exploits his party were now commemorating.
The trip to Brockville was begun in the last week in
June. The ponies and waggon were again used, and by
this picturesque and delightful method he and his wife
reached Brockville in the first week in July. For some
weeks his time was occupied in superintending the renovation of the house and the improvement of the grounds.
But after this work was completed he became somewhat
melancholy, a feeling that quite naturally follows when
a person who has led a wandering life becomes a fixture
in a place.
At this time he appears to have had no settled plans
No event appears to have suggested
for the future.
itself as suitable for weaving into a romantic story. One
alluring prospect seems to have taken possession of his
very being. He hoped to be appointed to some office, in
the gift of the Governor and his Council, which would
enable him to live comfortably the rest of his days and
He had strong
to devote his leisure to literary work.
and reasonable claims for such a position upon the government of Canada. His qualifications for many positions in the gift of the government were of the highest
He was dignified in bearing and a thorough
order.
gentleman. He spoke English and French with equal
fluency. His military training had specially fitted him
to perform the routine duties of a public officer with
promptness and attention to detail, necessary acquirements in a public official. He had done not a little for
Canada. He fought in her defence at a time when she
was most in need of assistance. He was for a year a
prisoner of war, and for a part of that period suffered
close imprisonment while two governments deliberated whether a certain number of their prisoners should or
should not suffer death. When internal dissensions

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxxiii

threatened again to make his native country the easy prey
of a foreign power, he hastened to her shores to fight
once more for British connection, if it were necessary.
When he came to Canada in 1838 he represented the
most powerful newspaper in the Empire. Through the
medium of that paper he endeavored to teach the public
of Great Britain that the unity of the Empire depended
upon the granting of Responsible Government to the
Canadian people. For daring to express these views he
was relieved of his position on the paper. As he had not a
sufficient income to support himself and his wife it became
necessary for him to seek some employment. In this
extremity it was quite natural for him to turn, for the aid
he required, to those he had served so conscientiously and
so faithfully. Lord Durham, cognizant of his devotion to the cause of Responsible Government and of the
effort Richardson had made to shield him from the storm
about to break about his devoted head, promised to exert
himself in his behalf. The early death of that nobleman
left him without any hope of reward from that source.
The social conditions of Brockville in 184o were
in marked contrast to the refinement and culture of
the large cities of Europe ; and it is not difficult
for one to believe that Richardson felt himself imprisoned. Of this he says : " There were moments
when the idea of being buried alive, as it were, in this
spot, without a possibility, perhaps, of again seeing
the beautiful fields and magnificent cities, and mixing
in the polished circles of Europe, and of matchless England in particular, came like a blighting cloud upon my
thoughts, and filled me with a despondency no effort of
my own could shake off."
He, however, felt the necessity of self-exertion. Some
of his friends were confident that if a newspaper were
started in Brockville, it would prove a profitable investment. He resolved to adopt their advice.
His talents
and tastes were literary and a periodical seemed to offer
the best means of supporting the cause he had so much
taken to heart.
His judgment in the matter was the
more easily influenced in favor of the suggestion because
he thought the dawn of a new order of things would
quicken the literary activity of the colony.
Type, presses and compositors were necessary for the
venture, and to obtain these Richardson went to New

XXXiV

INTRODUCTION

York. While transacting the business that brought him
to that city he received marked attention from several
persons who had been charmed and delighted by reading
his works. In him they found a person who could accept
their homage with that ease and grace which marked the
man whose gentility and decorum had been fashioned in
the refined company of Europe.
His business having been completed, he started for
home, and arrived there on the last day of the year 184o.
In the early part of June of the following year the necessary machinery for printing arrived in Brockville, and
the first issue of the paper was published. It was named
THE NEW ERA or CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a title suggestive of the political change that Lord Sydenham came
to Canada to introduce, and which Lord Durham had
advised as a solution of the political problem. The paper
was a weekly, and the subscription price was four dollars
for a year. The leading articles and the other matter
were all from the pen of the editor. No paying advertisements or local topics found a place in its columns.
His " Jack Brag in Spain " and " Recollections of the
West Indies " were serials that ran through several
issues. While the paper was interesting and entertaining, it had not that variety and freshness which
would secure and retain a long list of paying subscribers at four dollars a year. Consequently, the editor
became involved financially, and the paper was on
the verge of suspension. Another brave effort, however, was made to reanimate it by appealing to the
patriotism of the Canadian people. Richardson entertained the suggestion of his military comrades in the last
war, now in high positions in the country, to write a history of the War of 1812. Although the immediate object
was to make money, there was a higher motive that
made Richardson eager to undertake the task. The
various accounts of that war which had as yet found general circulation in Upper Canada were those contained in
United States text-books, which were used almost exclusively in the schools of the province. The whole object
of the historians of the United States during the first
half of the 19th century seemed to be to create in the
minds of their readers a hatred of everything British.
A devotion to truth in historical writing, so pretty generally in evidence at the present day among her historians,

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxxv

had not as yet been found acceptable to American readers
or profitable to American historians.
Richardson was qualified in a special manner for such
an undertaking. He had been an active participator in
all the engagements in which the Right Division of
the Canadian army had taken part. He had promises of
assistance from several of his countrymen who had
seen active service in the several campaigns. Sir John
Harvey, then Governor of Newfoundland, promised to
put at his disposal his personal narrative of the cam, paigns of 1813 and 1814. His experience in the several
capacities of the service from gentleman volunteer to
Major in command of a battalion in action, would enable
him to comment intelligently on the skirmishes, battles
and strategical evolutions of the combatants. The
honesty and fairness he had shown in his letters on
Lord Durham's administration was a guarantee that his
prejudices would not lead him to give any but an impartial
treatment of the incidents of the struggle.
The History of the War was to be written in Three
Series. The first was to contain " A Narrative of the
Operations of the Right Division," and was to be published
serially in THE NEW ERA. The first instalment appeared in the first number of the second volume, which
was issued on March znd, 1842. The paper appeared at
intervals that varied from a week to two weeks ; and in
fourteen numbers, the last of which appeared on July
15th, 1842, the Narrative was completed. Four more
numbers were published in which was reprinted his poem
" Tecumseh" ; the paper ceasing with the 18th number
on August 19th, 1842.
The Narrative was set up in wide columns in THE NF.W
ERA
and by simply dividing the matter into pages, the
work could be printed in book form. The history was
dedicated to the United Legislature of Canada, to which
Richardson applied for financial aid to reimburse him for
his expenditure on the First Series and to enable him to
complete the work. His petition was introduced and
read by Sir Allan MacNab, and approved by the House,
only one member dissenting. In consequence ,.250 was
voted by the Assembly and paid to Richardson.
The appeal to the people of Canada to subscribe for
THE NEW ERA,
because the history of the War of 1812
was to appear in its columns, was not responded to by

XXXVI

INTRODUCTION

any large increase in the circulation. To bring the history generally before the people the author made an effort
to get the district councils to recommend it for use
in the schools within their boundaries. Johnstown district voted to purchase copies to be used in their
schools, but this vote was afterwards rescinded because
the council had no power to vote money for that purpose.
No other council took any action in the matter. The
booksellers of the province with whom it had been placed
on sale had disposed of about thirty copies, and in Kingston, the capital of the Province, all that a copy would
fetch at auction was seven and one-half pence currency.
The poor reception accorded the First Series of the
History of the War caused the author to postpone the
preparation of the other parts ; and as the prospect never
became more promising during his lifetime the history
was not completed. It is of some interest to know that
this publication was the third for which a copyright
was granted by the old Province of Canada.
THE Nzw ERA supported in a general way the principle of Responsible Government and the " cabinet" that
was administering the government ; but Richardson, like
many others, became displeased because Sir Charles
Bagot, a Conservative, had selected as his advisers persons belonging to both parties and had shown a similar
i mpartiality in his appointments to office. Richardson
may have had personal as well as public reasons for his
action. However, he resolved to oppose the Ministry and
to do so started at Kingston a paper called the CANADIAN
LOYALIST AND SPIRIT OF 1812. The political articles
that appeared were very severe upon the members of the
Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry ; Mr. Francis Hincks getting more than his share. The appointment to office of
" men of more than questionable loyalty—of unmasked
traitors and rebels—over the honest and self-sacrificing
defender of the rights of the British Crown" was the
" prominent ground on which the political principles of
the CANADIAN LOYALIST were based." The paper fulfilled
its mission. Sir Charles Metcalfe as Governor, maintained that he might appoint officials without consulting
his Council ; disagreement followed, and all his executive
except Mr. Daly resigned. The CANADIAN LOYALIST
which was started at the beginning of 1843 was discontinued about the middle of the year 1844.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XXXVii

Parliament met next in Montreal on July 1st and during the session Richardson was as active as ever in his
support of Sir Charles Metcalfe ; and when the House
was dissolved both parties made preparations for the
coming struggle. In the elections that followed, the
Conservatives had a majority. Richardson now expected
some reward for the support he had given the party in
power. The canals of Canada were being built and a
system of police was instituted by the government to
prevent disturbances of the peace. The office of Superintendent of Police on the Welland Canal, which was
being enlarged, became vacant, and Richardson was appointed to the office by Lord Metcalfe on May loth, 1845.
The pay was only ten shillings a day, but he hoped for
something better and entered on his duties with alacrity.
To add to the smartness of the force he induced the men
to purchase uniforms to be paid for in six equal instalments, he in the meantime advancing the pay for them.
The force was disbanded on January 31st, 1846, on seven
days' notice, and at that time there was due the Superintendent from the men for equipment X51. At the coming session of Parliament Richardson petitioned the
House, complaining of the sudden dismissal of himself
and the force, and praying compensation for losses
sustained and for clothing for the force. The petition
was referred by the House to a select Committee which
reported that : An allowance for clothing had been made
to the force at Lachine and Beauharnois ; that they saw
no reason why it should be withheld from the petitioner ;
that injustice had been done him by the abrupt dismissal ;
that he and the men be allowed a gratuity ; and that he
had discharged his responsible duties in a satisfactory and
creditable manner. When the question upon the motion,
to concur in the report of Committee, was put in the
House the motion was negatived. It is very difficult for
one at this distance of time to understand how the Legislature could make a distinction between the officials on
the Welland Canal and those on the Lachine Canal. One
thing is certain, the verdict of the House was not based
upon the evidence as it appears in its Journals.
While Superintendent of Police, Richardson suffered
the loss of his wife, who died at St. Catharines on the
16th of August, 1845. Her remains were interred in the
Butler burial ground, near Niagara, where his eldest

XXXViii

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

sister Jane and other relatives were buried. The inscription on the headstone that he erected to mark her grave
is unique. Without indicating the lines or forms of
letters the following is the order of the words :—" Here
Reposes, Maria Caroline, the Generous-Hearted, HighSouled, Talented and Deeply-Lamented Wife of Major
Richardson, Knight of the Military Order of Saint
Ferdinand, First Class, and Superintendent of Police on
the Welland Canal during the Administration of Lord
Metcalfe. This Matchless Wife and This (illegible)
Exceeding Grief of Her Faithfully Attached Husband
after a few days' illness at St. Catharines on the 16th
August, 1845, at the age of 37 years."
After being relieved of the duties of Superintendent of
Police, Richardson prepared for publication " Eight
Years in Canada," an exceedingly well-written description of his career in Canada from 1838 till March, 1847.
The administrations of Lord Durham, Lord Sydenham,
Sir Charles Bagot and Lord Metcalfe are very fully
treated ; it is the only contemporary history we have
of this transitional period, and in subsequent histories of
this epoch he is very freely quoted. Although written
after the position he filled had been abolished, and after
he had abandoned all hope of receiving any office from
the government, it exhibits a fairness one would scarcely
expect from a person so unjustly used. Sir Charles Bagot
and the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry are severely handled, while the administration of Lord Metcalfe is eloquently
praised. In defending the course of the latter he takes a
position beside perhaps the greatest controversial writer
of Canada, Reverend Egerton Ryerson.
In 1847 (the book bears the date 1848) Richardson
entered for copyright a sequel to his " Eight Years in
Canada," called " The Guards in Canada or the Point of
Honor." In it the story is told of how differences were
settled by duels if an apology was not forthcoming.
Richardson never allowed an insult tendered him to pass
unnoticed. The person offending would apologize if the
insult was offered through some misunderstanding, or
would meet him. His first duel was in Paris. I have no
record of any being fought in England. In Canada he had
several affairs: there is living yet in Ontario a person holding an honored and exalted position who, when a mere boy,
acted, much against his will, as a second for Major

xxXix

Richardson in a matter, which happily was settled through
the seconds by asking mutual apologies from the princiop,ra
w
e Guards in Canada " was the last of Richardson's
gklTssh published in Canada under his direction. The
book was written to vindicate his character for courage in
an affair with a resident of Montreal, and incidentally it
was a setting in order of his Canadian affairs before taking up his residence in New York, a step he had contemplated for some time.
He did not leave his native province without just cause.
He had tried by every honorable means to gain a livelihood among the people he loved best. He squandered his accumulations and all that he had derived from
the sale of his best works in the hope that his countrymen
would appreciate his efforts. His historical works,
thoroughly patriotic in tone and written in a bright
vivacious style, were not bought in Canada. In all
probability they were as generally read here as any
novels or histories of the time. The lack of interest in
literature in Canada was general. Education was at a
low-water mark, among the great mass of the
population, who even as late as the middle of the century
felt too keenly the struggle for existence. The intellectual energies of the few, who were educated, were
directed into political channels ; and the unsettled conditions of our government absorbed all their time, leaving
no leisure for those avocations that exercise their benign
influence in refining the politics of the Motherland.
Even the clergy were drawn into the political whirlpool.
The great founder of the educational system of Ontario,
Rev. Egerton Ryerson, had been appointed to office only
in 1844, and the fruits of his labors were not to be seen
foarnsaodm
C
a .eyears. He also was engaged before 1844 in the
most remarkable political controversy in the history of
.

Richardson's case was not an isolated one by any
means. Other writers had started periodicals and magazines, Canadian in sentiment, of an undoubtedly high
literary character, and were as hopeful of receiving
support as Richardson ever was, but these all were
compelled to stop after a few numbers were published.
Writers in those days did missionary work and if they
did
not receive the reward they hoped for, they sow

X1

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

seed that in some cases fell on good ground. We are
beginning to reap the benefit of their self-sacrificing
labors and if we are in the morning of a brighter and a
more appreciative day, a large share of credit for these
hopeful conditions must be attributed to the earlier
workers in this unprofitable and unfruitful field.
In New York Richardson was engaged in preparing
new editions of his published novels and in writing others.
" Hardscrabble or the Fall of Chicago " was published
in New York in 185o or before that year, since it is named
on the title page of "Wacousta" published in 1851; but as I
have not seen a copy except the one in my library, published in 1888, I cannot give any further information regarding the first edition. The story is much shorter than
the author's previous ones and may be considered weak
when compared with " Wacousta." The scene is laid at
Fort Dearborn on the Chicago river in the year 1812.
In all probability Richardson got the facts for the story
from a pamphlet published in 1844, which described the
events as seen by an actor in them. Two or three surprises and an affair of love are introduced by means of a
slight change in the order of events. The names of the
officers at the fort are but transparently disguised in the
romance. Captain Heald, Lieut. Helm, Ensign Ronan
and Surgeon Von Voorhees, appear as Captain Headley,
Lieut. Elmsley, Ensign Ronayne and Surgeon Von Vottenberg in the story. In 1852 a work by Major Richardson
entitled " Waunangee or the Massacre of Chicago "
was published. I have not been able to see a copy
of this work but in all probability it is either the
same as " Hardscrabble," or a sequel to it. The
leading Indian character of the historical narrative is
Naunongee, who is called Waunangee in the novel ;
accordingly, the name seems to point to some connection with this romance As a title " Waunangee"
would certainly be both more appropriate and more
attractive than " Hardscrabble." " Wacousta " and
" Ecarte " were revised by the author and published
in cheap octavo form, the former by Robert M. De Witt
and the latter by Dewitt and Davenport in 1851. In
the same year a revised edition of " The Canadian
Brothers " appeared under the name " Matilda Montgomerie," the heroine of the story. It will be readily

seen that it would not be politic for the author to issue a
story in New York entitled " The Canadian Brothers,"
even if the publishers gave their assent. " Matilda
Montgomerie " is much improved in the revision. The
Scotch dialect, which Richardson himself acknowledges
to be so imperfect, he omits in this edition. Sampson
Gattrie now appears under his proper name, Simon Girty.
But the most marked change from the first edition is the
suppression of the several passages in which the author
had used all his eloquence to sound the praises of the
British in the numerically unequal struggle they had been
called upon to maintain. Notable instances are the
omission of all reference to Col. Harvey's night attack at
Stoney Creek and to the details of the victory at Queenston Heights. It is very interesting to compare the two
editions and to notice the passages that are suppressed or
modified, evidently to suit the tastes of his new audience.
His other works were " Westbrook, or the Outlaw,"
and " The Monk Knight of St. John." As I have not
seen either of these books I cannot give any facts relating to them, except what are gleaned from other bibliographies. " Westbrook " is mentioned by Morgan, but
the date of publication is not given. Dr. L. B. Horning,
of Victoria University, Toronto, suspects " that this
` Westbrook' is only `Wacousta' with another name." I
think this scarcely possible. " Wacousta " was the
most popular of Richardson's works, and the name had
gained a vogue that had a definite cash value to both
author and publisher. The names of successful books
are not usually changed. If I were to offer any opinion,
I should say that the scene is laid in the western peninsula of Upper Canada, and that the tale introduces the
exploits of a renegade Canadian named Westbrook, an
actual elusive personage who, at the head of some Americans and a few Canadian rebels, went about the district
from Long Point to the Talbot Settlement robbing the
people and burning homes during the year 1814. It is
quite
t w possible Richardson knew of this marauder's acts,
hether more than the name was suggested by this
knowledge
can be settled only by a study of the book
itself
.

In the Dictionary of National Biography, 185o is given
as the date of publication of " The Monk Knight of St.

Xlii

INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xliii

from the training of his early manhood rather than from
John," but as I have not a copy of the book I cannot con
circumstances within his control. The camp does not
firm this date. It is a tale of the Crusaders, and those
who have read it say that it is a unique story
train a man for the mart. He who has entered the army
a youth of sixteen, to retire at thirty-nine, seldom, unless
probably suggested by reading Byron and Moore.
These books were all published in cheap form, and
in official routine, can adapt himself successfully to the
consequently the revenue that the author derived must
new environment of civilian life. The task of gaining a
havebeen comparatively small. It was the day of tan
by literature in Canada was the harder because
he had been accustomed to the cultured circles of ',oncheap novel. About 184o two New York papers began
don society. It is no reproach to the people of Canada,
to reprint in their columns the most popular English
individually, amid the many difficulties they contended
novels, which, when finished, were issued in parts at a
with, that they failed to appreciate and purchase
very low price. No international copyright law protected
the works of their first novelist. It is a reproach to them
the British author in the United States. " Wacousta ' '
collectively, to their government, that Richardson was not
had been pirated and issued in Philadelphia in 1833.
given an opportunity of earning enough to enable him to
The regular publishers had to issue books in cheap
form
Richardson
live in simple comfort in his native land. He had no
and at lower prices or go out of business.
arrived in New York when this competition was perhaps
vanity of authorship. On this he says :—" I look upon
the art of ingenious writing, not as a merit, but a mere inthe keenest. " tcarte," " Wacousta,' ' " Matilda Montgomerie " and " Hardscrabble " appeared in paper-coycidental gift, for which one is more indebted to nature
than to judicious application." As a man of letters he
ered 8vo form at 5o cents a volume.
Major Richardson died suddenly on the 12th of street,
May,
was publicly honored but once. Yet, because he was not
honored
more
he
felt inclined to pity rather than to
at
his
lodgings
No.
113
West
Twenty-ninth
1852,
t
New York. The obituary notice as it appeared in the
censure his countrymen. In a careful study of his career,
New York Journal of Commerce of May i4th, 1852, is
no mean, no dishonorable act will be found. Faithful to
his friends, true to his convictions, loyal to his country,
as follows :
"Died—On the 12th inst. Major John Richardson,
he unselfishly served friends and country better than he
served himself.
late of H.B.M. Gordon Highlanders aged 53 (55) years.
His friends are invited to attend his funeral, without furOne wish he asked to be respected by future generather invitation,from the Church of the Holy Communion,
Lions of his countrymen, which has not been regarded. He
corner 6th Avenue and 2oth Street, this day, at two
says " I cannot deny to myself the gratification of the expression of a hope that should a more refined and cultio' clock, P.M."
His remains were taken outside the city for burial,
vated taste ever be introduced into this matter-of-fact
but diligent inquiry has failed to find his last resting
country in which I have derived my being, its people will
decline
to do me the honor of placing my name in the list
place.
The immediate cause of death was erysipelas ; at first
of their ' Authors.' I certainly have no particular ambithe symptoms were not considered alarming, but when
lion to rank among their future ' men of genius,' or to
medical aid was summoned it came too late. To his
share any posthumous honor they may be disposed to
confer upon them."
many friends the news, besides the shock of suddenness,
brought qualms of self-reproach when they learned that
Richardson s whole career was a noble and manly
Richardson had been living in more straitened circumstruggle. Pugnacious and exclusive in temperament,
stances than his appearance or his conversation indicated.
with but a slight sense of humor, he pursued undeviatTo die in poverty and neglect is no disgrace. Finding no
ingly a course of the strictest integrity. He knew
means of livelihood in his native land, he sought a foreign
neither tact nor compromise. He fought harder for the
political principles he cherished, for the social code he
city after his prime of life was past ; and if he was unsucrespected, than he did for life itself.
cessful in gaining a competence, perhaps the causes arose

XliNT

INTRODUCTION

Like the earliest English novelist, Richardson has suffered neglect in his own land. All that Scotland had for
her greatest poet was an office worth ,7o a year, but her
succeeding generations remembered his exquisite productions. Canada could find not even such an office for her
first novelist. His own generation refused him a living
in his native land ; subsequent generations of Canadians
know him not. And his works, if obtainable, can be bought
only at almost prohibitive prices. Yet three years before
Scott died ; when Thackeray was a stripling of eighteen;
when Dickens had not yet become a reporter, Richardson
was winning, by his first work of the imagination, applause from the English press and alarge audience of English readers. In the very year of Scott's death, his masterpiece, " Wacousta" appeared ; and the six editions
through which it has run bear testimony to its popularity.
Whatever Richardson did he tried to do well. Unlike
Cooper, he never trusted to chance to develop the circumstances of his plot ; unlike Cooper he tells his story well,
and tells it in faultless English. The interest is sustained
to the end. There are no carelessnesses, no crudities, no
notable mannerisms. Cooper often loses himself in the
pathless mazes of his long sentences. Richardson, incisive and logical, builds clause on clause, phrase on phrase,
here adding a limiting detail and there a defining circumstance, until you marvel at the accumulated result and
you would not have a single word changed. Yet there is
no straining after rhetorical effect, no attempt at fine
writing. The lucidity of style recalls Macaulay, who at
this period was writing his early essays.
A born literary artist, Richardson has drawn with a
firm and skilled hand not only the children of his imagination, but the people of his own day. His autobiographical sketches, his historical works, as well as his
novels, show us their foibles, their weaknesses, and their
merits. His great interest is in men and their achievements ; but there are delightful bits of painting from
nature. Though a lover of nature, he seldom gives himself up to that revel in the life of nature which is so
great a merit of Cooper's work. It is men and women
in action that interest him. Only less perhaps did the
brute creation claim his attention. His ponies are still a
memory among the older people ''of Windsor and Sandwich. He delights in describing the capture of a young

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XIV

wild deer in the river opposite his grounds in Brockville,
which eventually became a great pet. Its antics and
actions are not too insignificant to be recorded in one of his
most valuable literary productions. But though he took delight in the possession of the ponies and the pet deer,
his intimate companions were his dogs. In Sandwich, in Brockville, in Montreal, he was always accompanied by a beautiful specimen of the Newfoundland species named Hector. His grief at the loss of this dog by
poison in Brockville was great, and another named after
the Trojan hero was his companion in New York till
almost the last. At the end of a long and favorable
notice of Major Richardson's career in " The New York
Journal of Commerce" a few days after his death this
pathetic anecdote is told : " A week or two since, he
was heard by someone who met him in a bookstore,
accompanied as usual by his faithful canine friend, to
say, Ah, poor Hector, we must part or starve.' " And
it is further related that the dog was sold a few days before his master's death to provide him with food.
His notions of life were by no means puritanical. He
believed that solace and comfort were to be derived from an
after-dinner cigar. In complete accord with the customs
of the times among the circle in which he moved in his
palmy days, he took his glass of wine, but none abhorred
excesses more than he.
If we judge Richardson by the literary success that
cheered him even amid his many days of adversity, we
can merely wonder that a writer so wholesome in atmosphere, so buoyant in spirit, so notable in our literary
development, is now almost completely forgotten. His
works, whether we consider their subject-matter, their
literary merits, or their position in the growth of the
novel, place their gifted author high on that roll we
choose to designate as our list of Canadian authors.
These productions of his genius are his sole monument.
The bright young Canadian lad who left school to fight
his country's battles had to seek in the land he fought
against an unknown grave in the teeming solitude of
America's greatest city. No votive garland can be laid
on that tomb ; no admiring young Canadian may visit
that shrine.

Yi

INTRODUCTION

THE RICHARDSON GENEALOGY

THE RICHARDSON GENEALOGY

amounted to .4 78 17s. from Jan. 22nd, 1813, till
Dec. 3Ist,i816. He died at Amherstburg June 7th,
1819, and was buried in Christ Church burial
ground.
4. -WILLIAM, born Jan. 7th, i8oi, married Jane Cam,
eron Grant, youngest daughter of Honorable
Alexander Grant and Therese Barthe, on Feb.
iith, 1834. Was postmaster at Brantford, where
he died. His son James lived at London some
years ago.
5. -JAMES A., born Jan. 19th, 1803, died Aug. 18th,
1828. He was Registrar of Kent from 1825 until
his death.
6. -CHARLES, born March 2 6th , 1805, died 1847,
married (I) April 2nd, 1827, Elizabeth Euretta
Clench (born 1808, died Sept. 28th, 1833), youngest daughter of Ralph Clench, of Butler's Rangers, afterwards Colonel of Militia and Judge ; (II)
Jane Clarke, daughter of William Clarke, Niagara.
He began the study of law in York (Toronto), was appointed cornet of the " Queen's
Light Dragoons " (now represented by " The
Governor-General's Body Guard for Ontario " ) at
the organization in 1822 ; removed to' Niagara,
where he practised law ; was Clerk of the Peace
for Niagara District ; elected by the town of Niagara a member of the Legislative Assembly of
Upper Canada in 1835; re-elected in 1836.
Of the first marriage.
(I) Eliza Magdalene, born May 31st, 1828, died
June 3rd, 1828. (2) John Beverley Robinson,
baptized Jan. 5th 1830. (Sponsors : Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson ; Captain Hanson,
71st Regt. ; and Miss Clench.) Was an attorney
at Versailles, Missouri, U.S.A., where he died
March, 1899, his wife dying the next year. (3)
Eliza Euretta, baptized June 14th, 1832. Married
in 1853 Hugo M. Grout, born at Grimsby, Ontario, 1831 ; sometime civil engineer on the Great
Western Railway, the staff of which he joined in
185o ; went to the United States in 1863 ; returned to Canada in 1895 ; living at present in retirement at St. Catharines, Ontario. Two children survive ; George H. Grout, civil engineer in

Robert Richardson was born in Scotland, and came to
Upper Canada with the Queen's Rangers as assistant
surgeon in 1792. He was stationed with his regiment at
Queenston, Toronto, and St. Joseph's Island. When
the regiment was disbanded in 1802 he took up his residence at Amherstburg, where he acted as surgeon to the
garrison, and as such was with the Right Division in
every engagement until the battle of Lake Erie, where
he was taken prisoner but released through the intercession of his brother-in-law, Col. Elijah Brush. On June
12th, 1807, he was appointed judge of the Western District, an office he held till his death. On the 27th of
April, 1824, he was appointed one of the Commissioners
of Customs, an office he held till iith January, 1826.
After the war of 1812 Dr. Richardson was appointed surgeon to all the tribes of Indians in the Western District.
His death took place at Amherstburg in 1832, and his remains were interred in the burial ground adjoining
Christ Church in that town.
Robert Richardson married (I) Jan. 24th, 1793,
Madeleine Askin, 2nd daughter of Colonel John Askin,
of Detroit, who died at Amherstburg Jan. loth, 1811,
and was buried in Christ Church burial ground ; (II.)
Aug. 8th, 181i, Ann McGregor, born at Detroit, April
ist, 1781, third child of Gregor McGregor, the first
Sheriff of the District of Hesse, appointed by Lord
Dorchester on July 24th, 1788, who lived in Detroit
till 1796 when he removed to Canada taking up his
residence at Petite C6te, on the banks of the Detroit
river.
Of the first marriage.
I. -JANE, born May 19th, 1794, married Captain
Robert Rist, of the 37th Regiment, Jan. 15th,
1816 ; died Oct. 31st, 1831, buried in the Butler
burial ground, Niagara.
2. -JOHN, born Oct. 4th, 1796, died in New York city
May 12th, 1852. This was Major John Richardson, the author.
3. -ROBERT, born Sept. loth, 1798, joined the marine
department as midshipman, wounded severely at
the battle of Frenchtown Jan. 22nd, 1813. Received a pension from the Legislature which

.

INTRODUCTION

THE ASKIN GENEALOGY

is a tradition in the family that he accompanied Major
Robert Rogers to Detroit when that officer received its
surrender to the British in 176o. However it is known
that when old Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit was invested
by Pontiac, John Askin was entrusted with the important
duty of taking supplies from Albany to Lake Erie and
thence to Detroit to relieve the garrison. This difficult
undertaking having been successfully performed, John
Askin was rewarded by the British with grants of land
near Detroit. In 1764 he went as King's Commissary to
Michilimackinac, and in 178o he returned to Detroit to
engage in trade. Here he amassed a large fortune which
he was compelled to abandon, in part, when he removed to
Canada and took up his residence on the bank of the
Detroit just opposite the lower end of Isle aux Cochons
or Hog Island, now Belle Isle, the beautiful Island park
of Detroit. This home he called Strabane, after his
paternal home in Ireland, a name by which it is known
at the present day.
In 1787 Mr. Askin received a commission as Captain of
Militia from Lord Dorchester for the town of Detroit,
and in 1796 was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of
Militia for the Western District, and in 18o1 was promoted to the position of Colonel in the same corps. At
the formation of the Land Boards he was appointed a
member for Detroit, the other members being Colonel
England and Montigny. He was also one of the Magistrates of the District. On the evacuation of Detroit by
the British in 1796 he did not immediately leave that city
but he made his election as continuing a British subject, for
which he was brought to trial before the magistrates of
the United States Government, and then he came to
Canada.
Colonel John Askin married (I.) a French lady whose
name could not be ascertained, and (II.) Marie Archange
Barthe, of Detroit.
Of the first marriage :
I. —JOHN, JR., many years Collector of Customs at
Amherstburg and later storekeeper and interpreter
at St. Joseph Island. He married an Indian
woman of prominence among her people, who
possessed a fair English education. Their son,
John B. Askin, lived for many years at " Woodview," near London, Ontario. He was Colonel of

Militia and saw some active service in 1837-38. His
death occurred Nov. 15th, ¶ 869. The capture of
Mackinac, July 17th, 1812, and its retention till the
end of the war, was due largely to the influence
John B. Askin and his father had over the Western
tribes of Indians, a large body of whom they induced to make the trip to Amherstburg, to assist
the Right Division. In the note on page 25 the
tl
inference is that John Askin, Jr., died in 1869.
This error arose from confusing the father and
son. John Askin, Jr., died about 1818.
2. -CATHERINE, died Dec., 1796, married (I.) John
Robertson, (II.) Hon. Robert Hamilton, of Queenston, died March 8th, 1811, and had six children.
For the Hamilton genealogy, see " Ontarian Families," by Edward Marion Chadwick, Toronto, Vol.
I., p. 143.
3. —MADELEINE, died Jan. loth, 1811, married Dr.
Robert Richardson Jan. 24th, 1793, of whom see
Richardson genealogy following.
Of the second marriage :
I. -CHARLES, born 1780, married Monique Jacobs,
Captain of Militia, present at taking of Detroit
(medal and clasp), was at Queenston Heights and
several other engagements, appointed Clerk of the
Peace and Clerk of the District Court in 1824 ;
was Commissioner of Customs from April 27th,
1824, till 1836 ; inherited the homestead of Strabane
which descended to his son, the present occupant,
Alexander-Henry Askin, named after Alexander
Henry the fur trader, a friend of Col. John Askin
when he was King's Commissary at Michilimackinac.
2 .
ADELAIDE, born May 3oth, 1783, married in 1802,
Col. Elijah Brush, of the Michigan Militia and
Attorney-General of the Northwest Territory.
3. —TxtREsE, married Col. Thomas McKee, son of
Col. Alexander McKee, Deputy Superintendent
General of Indian Affairs. Col. Thomas McKee
was elected M.L. A. for Kent in 1796 and for Essex
in 1801. They had issue : Alexander married
Phyllis Jacob, whose son Thomas is at present
County Clerk of Essex, resides at Sandwich.
William J. McKee, son of the latter, the present

1

li

hi

INTRODUCTION
M.L.A. for North Essex, married the eldest
daughter of Charles Baby.
4. —ELEANOR, born 1788, married Richard Pattinson,
of Sandwich, Captain of Militia, and had issue :
Richard, who served 16 years in India, rose to rank
of Major of 16th Lancers, was Adjutant-General of
Cavalry, was present at battles of Aliwal and
Sobraon (the Sutlej medal, two clasps), present at
battle of Maharajpore (star); exchanged to a
Highland Infantry Regiment and while. stationed
at Halifax in 1848 visited his native town of
Sandwich; served throughout the Crimean War
(medal with clasps); appointed Governor of Heligoland, 1857.
5 . —ARCHANGE married Lieut.-Col. Meredith of the
Royal Artillery.
6. —ALEXANDER, died unmarried.
7. —JAMES, married Francoise-Navarre-Gode Marantette, Colonel of Militia, served as Lieut. at taking
of Detroit (medal with clasp) , Captain in 2nd Essex
Militia at Frenchtown and the battle of the Miami ;
appointed Registrar of Essex in 1831. They had
issue : (I) John, who succeeded his father as
Registrar in 1846, and who was in turn succeeded
by his son, J. Wallace Askin, in 1872. (2) Archange married Henry Ronalds, their only child,
Mary-Elizabeth-Lucy died 1901, married 1868,
George-Becher Harris, grandson .of Lieut.-Col.
Samuel Ryerson (1752-1812) , and had issue,
George-Henry-Ronald, born 1873 ; Edward Montgomery, born 188o ; Amelia-Archange. (3) James
went to New Zealand in 1848 and afterwards to
Australia. (4) Charles, Lieut. of Militia, killed
accidentally by a sentry at Amherstburg in 1838.
(5) Jane married (I.) Daniel Murray, of Toronto,
(II.) Edward Skae. (6) Therese. (7) Alice.
(8) Ellen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

liii

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
I. TECUMSEH, a poem of four cantos, and 188 stanzas
of ottava rima. 1828 (?)
This poem was published before February i8th, 1828,
but I do not know in what form. Captain R. H. Barclay,
in a letter of this date, thanks Richardson for the
flattering notice he gets in the poem. It was re-published in THE NEW ERA or CANADIAN CHRONICLE, in
its last four issues bearing the dates, July 22nd, July 29th,
August 12th and August 19th, 1842.

II. 1. ECARTE ; or the Salons of Paris, London, 1829.
It is stated in Allibone's Dictionary of Authors that
it was published in 3 Vols. Post 8vo.
I have not seen this edition.
2. ECART : I or, I the Salons of Paris. I by Major Richardson, I Knight of the Order of St. Ferdinand, I Author
of " Wacousta," " Hardscrabble, &c., &c. I Author's
revised edition. I New York : I Dewitt & Davenport, Publishers, I Tribune Buildings.
206 pp. Illustrated paper cover. Price fifty cents.
Size 9x534.
Entered according to Act of Congress, 1851.

3. ECARW ; or the Salons of Paris. New York, 1888.
Pollard & Moss. 12mo.
Issued as No. 83 in the P. & M. I 2MOS. , cloth at fifty
centsc,enantsd. as No. 31 of the Echo series, paper, at twentyfive
" Ecart6," " Wacousta," "Matilda Montgomerie " and
" Hardscrabble " were printed in 1888 by Pollard & Moss,
New York, from the same plates as were used by Dewitt,
& Davenport for printing their editions. The plates were
cut down to fit a shorter page.
n LanI a. d as
thec
IkTi. lcI ousTA ; I or, I The Prophecy : I A Tale of
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

Tice Revenge.

lip

INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

By the author of " Ecarte." I in three volumes. I Vol.

I By Major Richardson, I Author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecartë," &c. I Revised edition. I New York : I Robert
M. De Witt, Publisher, 133 Rose Street. I
224 pp. Paper ; price, fifty cents. Size, 9x5y4..
Introduction by author dated January 1st, 1851.

I. I London : I T. Cadell, Strand ; and W. Blackwood,
Edinburgh. 11832.
Vol. I. 4+280 pp. Vol. II. 4+332 pp. Vol. III. 4+
Size, 7x4/. Dedicated to the 4ist Regiment.
37 2 pp.
2. WACOUSTA : I or I The Prophecy. I A Tale of the
Canadas. I

Some copies bear the imprint 160 & 162 Nassau St.
5. WACOuSTA ; I or I The Prophecy : I An Indian
Tale. I

" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."

The Revenge.

I By the author of " Ecarte." I in two volumes. I Vol.I.
Philadelphia : I Key and Biddle, 23 Minor Street. I 1833. I
Vol. I. 264 pp. Vol. II. 274 pp. Size 6%x4/.
This edition was not issued with the author's sanction.
3. WACOUSTA ; I or I The Prophecy : I A Tale of the
Canadas, I by Major Richardson, I Knight of the Mil.
Order of St. Ferdinand. I Author of "Ecarte," " The
Canadian Brothers," &c.
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

The Revenge.

I Secondedition. I In threevolumes. I Vol.I. I London; I
1840. I
Vol. I. 4+280 pp. Vol. II. 2+332 pp. Vol. III. 2+
372 pp. Size 7%x4.
Prom a careful comparison of this edition with the
first, I have come to the conclusion that the author
brought several copies of the first edition, in sheets, from
London and had them bound in Canada, uniformly with
" The Canadian Brothers," with a new title page as
above, printed here, but bearing the imprint London. The
typography, paper, pagination and name of printer agree.
Dedicated to the 8th (or King's) Regiment.
4. WACOUSTA ; I or, I The Prophecy I An Indian
Tale. I
" Vengeance is still alive ;• from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."
THE REVENGE.

1V

THE REVENGE.

By Major Richardson, I Author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecarte," etc. I First Canadian edition. I Montreal : I
John Lovell, St. Nicholas Street. 11868. 1168 pp.
'

Size, 9/x6/.

6. WACOUSTA ; I or, I The Prophecy I An Indian
Tale. I
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."
THE REVENGE.

By Major Richardson, I author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecartë," &c. I New York : I Pollard & Moss, 147
John Street. I — 11888.
262 pp. Cloth. Size, 7/x5.
No. 8o of the P. & M. I2mos. Price, 5o cents.
No. 27 of the Echo Series. Paper. Price, 25 cents.
" Wacousta " was published as a serial in
The
Transcript " newspaper of Montreal.
IV. I. MOVEMENTS of the British Legion. First edition, London, 1836. I have not seen this edition.
2
. MOVEMENTS
I of the I British Legion, I with I strictures on the course of conduct pursued I by LieutenantGeneral Evans. I — I By Major Richardson, K.S.F.
author of " Ecarte," " Wacousta," &c., &c. I
Second edition. I To which is added, with new views.
A
Continuation of the Operations from the 5th of May,
1836, to the close of I March, 1837. I —I London :

INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Published by Simpkin, Marshall and Co .Stationer' s Hall I
Court ; J. Macrone, St. James's Square ; and E. Wilson,
I Royal Exchange, Cornhill. I — I 1837. I
XVI.+33o pp. Size, 8 5
Contains seven lithographed plates.

" Wacousta," " Hardscrabble," " Ecarte," etc., etc.
New York : I Pollard & Moss, 147 John Street. I 1888.
712x5.
2206.. pp.,
NNO
he
ofsitze7gh
No.
paper cover, price 25 cents.
I . offthe P. & M., 12mos., cloth, price 5o cents.

V. PERSONAL Memoirs I of I Major Richardson,
[Author of " Movements of the British Legion," &c.
&c. &c.] I as connected with I the singular oppression of
that officer while in Spain by I Lieutenant General Sir
De Lacy Evans. I — I A man who is too proud to
acknowledge a fault when he is conscious of having committed I one, and thereby wounded the feelings of another, shows himself to be, instead of elevated I rank,
very low indeed in the scale of intellectual worth. His
pride is of the meanest kind, and I to him even more disgraceful than his fault. —Anonymous . I — I Montreal :
Armour & Ramsay : I W. Neilson, Quebec ; R. Stanton,
Toronto ; and J.Macfarlane, I Kingston. I — 11838. I
146-FIV. pp. Size, 9x53%.

VII. WAR of I 1812. I — I First Series. I Containing
a full and detailed narrative I of the I operations of the I
Right Division, I of the I Canadian Army, I by I Major
Richardson, K.S.F. I — 1842. I ( Brockville.,
6+2+184 pp. Size 8q.x5
Published originally in Vol. II. of THE NEW ERA OR
CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a paper published by Richardson,
at Brockville. The first number of Vol. II. was published
on March 2nd, 1842.
This book was the third article for which a copyright
was granted in the Province of Canada.

lvi

,

.

VI. 1. THE I Canadian Brothers ; I or, I The Prophecy
Fulfilled I A tale of the late American War. I — I By
I Major Richardson, I Knight of the Military Order of
Saint Ferdinand, I Author of " Ecarte," " Wacousta,"
&c. &c. I — I In two volumes. I Vol. I. I — I Mon11840. I
treal : I A. H. Armour and H. Ramsay. I
Vol. I. XIV. + 220 pp. Vol. II., 228+ IV. pp.
Size, 7 1A x4.1/1. .
This book, revised and slightly abridged by the author,
was published in the United States under the title of _
" Matilda Montgomerie." The following are the editions
of this work under this title :
2. MATILDA Montgomerie : I or, I The Prophecy Fulfilled. I A tale of the late American War. I Being the sequel
to " Wacousta." I By Major Richardson, I Knight of the
Order of St. Ferdinand. I Author of "Wacousta," "Hardscrabble," " Ecarte," etc., etc. I No place. No date.
No publisher's name. 192 pp., octavo, paper cover.

Entered in 1851 by Dewitt & Davenport, New York.
3. MATILDA Montgomerie : I or, I The Prophecy Fulfilled. I A tale of the late American War. I Being the
sequel to Wacousta. I By Major Richardson, I author of

l vii

VIII. EIGHT Years in I Canada ; I embracing I A Review of the Administrations I of I Lords Durham and
Sydenham, Sir Chas. Bagot, 1 and Lord Metcalfe ; 1 and
including I numerous interesting letters I from Lord Durham, Mr. Chas. Buller, and other 1 well-known public
characters. I — 1 By Major Richardson, I Knight of the
Military Order of St. Ferdinand, I Author of "Ecarte,"
" Wacousta," " The Canadian Brothers," &c. &c.
, &c. I — I De Omnibus Rebus et Quibusdam Aliis.
— 1 Montreal, Canada : I Published by H. H. Cunningham, 5o, Notre Dame Street. I — 1 847. I
232 pp. Size 8 1 2 x5.
S
oonrie. copies contain a lithographed portrait of the
■
au th
■

t

IX. THE I Guards in Canada ; I or, the I Point of
Honor : I being a sequel to I Major Richardson's I
" Eight Years in Canada." I — I Montreal: I Published
for the Author, 1 By H. H. Cunningham. I — 1848. I
5 6 PP. Size 8 1 2 x5
Yellow-coated paper covers. Title nearly as above in
two colors, with border, verso, arms of Great Britain.
Although this book bears the date 1848 on the title
page the registration notice is as follows : " Entered
according to the Act of the Provincial Legislature, in
the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, by

0%%::775

t:1/1

INTRODUCTION

Major Richardson, in the office of the Registrar of the
Province of Canada."

e
frft dteve
atis

2. HARDSCRABBLE I or, the I Fall of Chicago. I A
Tale of Indian Warfare. I By Major Richardson, I Author
of I " Wacousta ; or, The Prophecy," " Matilda Montgomerie; or, The Prophecy I Fulfilled," " Ecarte; or, The
Salons of Paris," etc., etc. I New York : I Pollard &
Moss, 142 Park Place and 37 Barclay Street. 11888. I
I N. pp. Size 7/x5.
No. 87 of the P. and M., t2mos., cloth, price 5o cents.
No. 42 of the Echo Series, paper, price 25 cents.
In Allibone's Dictionary of Authors it is stated that
an edition was published in octavo form in 1856.

XI. WAuNANGEE ; or The Massacre of Chicago. A
Romance. Octavo, paper, twenty-five cents. Long &
Bro. New York and London. 1852.
I have not been able to see a copy of this work. It
may be " Hardscrabble " under another name, or it may
be a sequel to it. " Hardscrabble " describes the events
that took place until the 4th of July, 1812. The
massacre of the garrison at Fort Dearborn took place in
August, hence this book may be a sequel.
XII.

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XIII.

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X. t. HARDSCRABBLE ; or, the I Fall of Chicago. I A
Tale of Indian Warfare. I By Major Richardson, j Author
of "Wacousta," "Ecarte," "Matilda Montgomerie," etc.,
etc., I New York : I Robert M. De Witt, Publisher 116o
& 162 Nassau St. I no date, too pp. 8vo., paper cover.
Published probably in 1850.

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SKETCH MAP 01 OPERATI O N S OF THE

RIGHT DIVISIONor CANADIAN ARMY
ANO THE

LEFT DNISIONor AMERICAN ARMY
1812 —'13
Beale of Miles

FOR r
DETROIT

Landing of
='',07./terica.n.X July /2./8/2.

Landing,

of Pritislt /;
My /6./8/2 //
S,brt ny well

_a,tetsh batteries A ups. /1/2

IMeiqcan

SANDWICH

camp /2/2

Buriing4tsFortc...se

e

)iCal

.1371/ is a rnp

July

401•001

. >L5tOU'rt,

/6

FORT
AMHER•TBURD

Aug 5./s.

i

Haet/ ants camp
t 27. /2/3

01001,A_T _TONS

DETROIT RIVER
ON THE >->--

s ---Landi
n
dififThencans

e .4_1:8/8/3

1812 13
-

PL AN
OF

DETROIT
1812

ETROIT RIVER
The site of Port Ponchartrain is shown by the dotted enclosure, at A



;:.

PREFATORY NOTE.

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year nineteen
hundred and two, by the HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO., TORONTO, at the
Department of Agriculture.

TORONTO:
THE BRYANT PRESS, PRINTERS
1902

The preparation of the biography of Major John Richardson entailed a large amount of independent research.
Before I had gone far in the study of his career I found
that all existing biographies were meagre, fragmentary
or wrong in many important details. Several of his
relatives have been personally interviewed, other relatives have been communicated with ; and for the first
time the date and the place, both of his birth and of his
death, are correctly given. The bibliography will be found
to be more nearly complete and, as far as it goes, more
accurate than any previous attempt to give a list of his
works and of the editions published. Every positive
statement in the biography or the bibliography is made
on the authority of documentary evidence in my possession. Failing such evidence, I have been cautious in
statement ; and I shall gladly welcome any additional
information on the subject.
The genealogy of the Richardson and, the Askin families is not intended to be complete ; but it is hoped that
it will be found of some historical interest and value.
The letters of Colonel John Askin, Major John Richardson and Colonel Elijah Brush have never been published before ; and it must be conceded that they throw
absolutely new sidelights on that period of our history.
One promise made in the announcement of this book
has not been fulfilled. No picture of Major-General
Henry Procter could be obtained. Under a mistaken
i mpression, which is by no means uncommon, arrangements had been made to publish the portrait of Lieut.General Henry Adolphus Proctor, C.B., when I found
that it was not his military achievements that occupy so
large a share of Richardson's narrative. The careers of
these two officers are briefly given in the Appendix.
No change has been made in Richardson's narrative

vi

PREFATORY NOTE.

except to correct the manifest typographical errors, to
which he refers in the advertisement at the end of his
volume. But the official despatches of the British and
American officers, as given in the original edition of
1842, were found on comparison with the Archives and
other sources to be in many cases incorrect or abbreviated.
Rather than impair the historical value of the volume
by leaving the despatches imperfect, I have in each
instance substituted without comment the full official
account.
To the numerous friends and relatives of Major Richardson, I tender my sincere thanks for the aid they have
given, which has enabled me to prepare the biography.
I am particularly indebted also to Mr. C. C. James, M.A.,
Deputy Minister of Agriculture for Ontario, for valuable
advice and many historical notes ; and to my lifelong
friend, Mr. John Stewart Carstairs, B.A., of Harbord St.
Collegiate Institute, Toronto, for help in the revision of
the proofs and in the preparation of the biography.
A. C. C.
Toxowro, February, 1902.

CONTENTS.
PAGE

V

PREFATORY NOTE.
INTRODUCTION.

Xi

Biography of Major John Richardson. Bibliography.
I
INDIANS IN BRITISH WARS-RIOTS OF THE
" WAR-HAWKS."

5

Efforts to Control Indians. Riots at Baltimore.
Kindly Feeling in the North.
II
HULL'S INVASION-CAPTURE OF MICHILIMACKINAC. 13

Defences at Amherstburg. Hull's Proclamation.
Brock's Proclamation. First Engagement. Capture
of Michilimackinac. Promptness of Captain Roberts. His Official Despatch. Articles of Capitulation. John Askin's Letter.

III
BROWNSTOWN AND MAGUAGA.

Defeat of Major Van Horne. Indian Ferocity.
Indian Scalped. James' History Criticised. Retreat
of British and Indians. Regulars at a Disadvantage. Major Dalliba's Report. Major Dalliba's
Report Criticised.
vii

26

Viii

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

ix

PAGE

IV
BROCK'S CAPTURE OF DETROIT.

47

Preparations for the Siege. The British Cross
the Detroit. Bold Advance of the British. A White
Flag. The British Occupy the Fort. Brock's
General Order. Brock's Official Despatch. Articles
of Capitulation. Brock's Proclamation. Hull's
Despatch. Letter of Colonel Cass. Review of
Hull's Despatch and Cass' Letter. How Brock
Saved Canada. Transportation of Prisoners. The
Detroit and Caledonia Surprised. Narrow Escape
of Brock.
V
EXPEDITION TO FORT WAYNE.

93

104

An Unwise Armistice. Queenston Attacked by
Americans. British Opposition. Brock and Mac-.
donell Mortally Wounded. Flank Attack of General
Sheaffe. Defeat and Surrender of the American
Army. Officers of the York Militia Engaged.
Sheaffe's Official Account. Van Rensselaer's Official
Account. Captain Wool's Report.

IX
177

The Fighting 4ist. Tecumseh's Plan. Its Failure. Procter's Assault of Fort Stephenson. The
Assault Repulsed. Major Croghan's Gallant Defence.
Adjutant-General Baynes' Report. Major Croghan's
Report. General Procter's Report.
X
THE BATTLE OF LAKE ERIE.

189

American activity in building Vessels. Barclay's
motley Force. The Engagement. Perry shifts his
Flag. The British Fleet Destroyed. Comparison of
the Squadrons. Barclay's Official Account. Report
of Lieut. Inglis. Perry's Official Account.

VII
Fort Meigs Built. Major Reynolds Repulsed.
Advance of Colonel Procter. The Battle. General
Winchester Taken Prisoner. Lieut. Irvine's Daring
Feat. Ingratitude of a Prisoner. Procter's Official
Report. General Winchester's Official Report.
General Harrison's Report.

148

THE ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON.

VI

THE BATTLE OF FRENCHTOWN.

THE BATTLE OF THE MIAMI.

Harrison at Fort Meigs. The Fort Besieged by
General Procter. British Batteries Captured. Retaken. Clay's Division Defeated. Harrison's Successful Sortie. Exchange of Prisoners. Massacre
of Prisoners. James Corrected. Noble Act of
Metoss. The Bombardment Ineffectual. The Siege
Raised. General Procter's Official Account. Procter's Account Criticized. General Harrison's Despatch, No. 1. General Harrison's Despatch, No. 2.
General Clay's Report. General Clay's Address to
the Troops.

Difficulties of the Undertaking. American Scouts
Killed by Indians. Major Muir's Retreat. American
Accounts. Indian Adoption of a Prisoner. Difficult
Duties of the 41st Regiment.
BATTLE OP QUEENSTON HEIGHTS.

PAGE

VIII

132

XI
THE BATTLE OF MORAVIANTOWN.

204

Procter's proposed Retreat. Tecumseh's Speech.
Preparations for Retreat. Harrison's Pursuit. Defeat
of the British. British Retreat cut off. Death of
Tecumseh. Prevost's General Order. Prevost

X

CONTENTS
PAGE

characterized. Harrison's Report Criticized. Rebuttal of Procter's Defence. An Officer's Diary.
Procter's Defence Reviewed. Major Friend's Letter. Lieut. Bullock's Reply. General Harrison's
Report.
XII.
243
PRISONERS OF WAR.
Officers Paroled. Visit to Barclay's shattered
Fleet. At Fort Stephenson. March to Chillicothe.
Arrival at Chillicothe. Prevost's General Order.
President Madison's Order. Treatment of the British Prisoners. Misery of the Prisoners. Plan for
Escape Formed. Plot Revealed. In Fetters. Suferings while in Irons. Removal to Frankfort.
Lieutenant Harrison's Kindness. Again on Parole.
Hopes of Release Crushed. Prevost's General Order.
Firm Stand of Prevost. General Winder's Reply.
Negotiations Continued. Departure from Frankfort.
Escape of Indian Prisoners. In a Pitiable Plight.
Embark for Cleveland. Richardson Joins the 8th
Regiment.
295
APPENDIX.
Major Muir's Official Report of the Expedition to
Fort Wayne.
Letter from Colonel John Askin, Strabane, to Captain Charles Askin, of the Militia, stationed
at Chippawa.
Letter from John Richardson to his uncle, Captain Charles Askin, at Queenston.
Letter from Colonel Elijah Brush, Detroit, to
Colonel John Askin, Strabane.
Notes on Illustrations.

INTRODUCTION.
BIOGRAPHY OF MAJOR JOHN RICHARDSON.
• On the Canadian side of the Niagara river, just where
its foaming and turbulent waters issue from the narrow,
rocky gorge, stands the straggling village of Queenston.
The place at the present time is of very little importance
except as a terminal port for a magnificent fleet of
pleasure vessels that carry tourists and excursion parties
to visit the Falls, five or six miles farther up the river.
But as the scene of one of the proudest victories of
Canadian and British arms during the War of 1812
Queenston has won a fame that is world-wide.
The settlement proper of the country dates from the
close of the Revolutionary war, when the disbanded
soldiers of Butler's Rangers and other United Empire
Loyalists took up grants of land on the banks of the
river. At the mouth of the river there soon grew up the
town of Niagara (Newark), opposite Fort Niagara, at
that time and until 1796 in the hands of the British.
The great highway of the trade with Detroit and other
western settlements was the Niagara, and as this trade
increased the laden vessels from the lakes were taken as
far up the river as possible, to shorten the portage
around the Falls. This head of navigation was called at
first the New Landing, and later Queenstown. Thus
favorably situated for trade, the new town prospered
and soon became the home of several pioneer merchants,
who never dreamed that the stream of commerce could
possibly find any other course.
Queenston derived an additional importance, at this
early period, from its proximity to the seat of government of the new Province of Upper Canada. The first
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Colonel John
Graves Simcoe, selected Niagara as the capital ; and to
enforce his authority and protect his person a British
Regiment was sent to Canada. This Regiment was
recruited in England, Scotland, Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, and was called the Queen's Rangers, from a
xi

Xii

INTRODUCTION

corps, commanded by Colonel Simcoe, during the war of
the Revolution. Among the officers of the new corps
who had not held commands in the old one was a young
Scotchman named Robert Richardson, the Assistant
Surgeon, a scion of the younger branch of the Annandale family, which had clung to the fortunes of the
Pretender. The detachment of the Queen's Rangers,
with which Dr. Richardson served, was quartered at
Queenston. The young military surgeon became
acquainted with the leading merchant of the place,
Honorable Robert Hamilton, member of the Legislative
Council, who had married Catherine Askin, daughter of ,
Colonel John Askin, a wealthy merchant of Detroit.
At his home Dr. Richardson met Miss Madeleine,
another daughter of Colonel Askin, then on a visit to
her sister. The visits of the handsome young Scotchman were as frequent as his military duties would
permit, and the beautiful and accomplished Madeleine
encouraged him in his wooing ; for we see in the
records of St. Mark's church, Niagara, that " Doctor
Robert Richardson, bachelor, and Madeleine Askin,
spinster," were married by Reverend Robert Addison
on January 24th, 1793• In July of this year a part at
least of the Queen's Rangers left Queenston for Toronto,
and Dr. Richardson accompanied them, leaving his wife
with her sister. We learn from a letter written in
French by Mrs. Richardson to her stepmother, Mrs.
Askin at Detroit, that she is passing a very sad time
awaiting news from Toronto, as no boat has arrived
from there lately ; and that, if she could only know that
Mr. Richardson was well, she would be satisfied.
While Mrs. Richardson resided at Queenston their
three eldest children were born : Jane, born May 19th,
1794, baptized at Niagara, August 17th ; John, born
October 4th, 1796, baptized January 5th, 1797 ; Robert,
born September loth, 1798, baptized December 3oth of
the same year.
In the fall of i8oi a detachment of the Queen's
Rangers was ordered to Fort St. Joseph, a post on the
island of the same name, near the head of Lake Huron.
Dr. Richardson accompanied this force to the western
post, but the prospects of providing suitable accommodation for his wife and young family in this fort were not
very promising, so it was arranged that Mrs. Richardson
and family should live with her father at Detroit.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

Xiii

In the summer of 1802 the Rangers were disbanded,
and the officers and men with their wives and children,
were provided with transport if they wished to return to
Great Britain. Dr. Richardson remained in Canada, and
was appointed surgeon to the Governor and garrison of
Fort Amherstburg ; and on June 7th, 1807, he was appointed Judge of the District Court of the Western
District, an office he held until his death in 1832. Here
all his children were reared and educated. His eldest
son John was particularly brilliant, and although he
hated school he seems to have made considerable progress in Latin, French and Euclid, as well as in the ordinary branches of an English education. Unfortunately
this course of instruction was abruptly cut short by the
United States declaring war and by the preparations
for the invasion of his native province. Much as he
may have lost by his lack of schooling, no trace of
such loss is perceptible in his writings. And in
estimating the formative influences that produced our
first novelist of romance, our first delineator of manners
and customs, we must look elsewhere.
In that generation such a home and such a family as
those of the Richardsons must have been peculiarly
stimulating. The father, combining the strictness of the
soldier, the kindness of the physician and the sternness
of the judge, commanded the love and the respect, not
only of his own family, but of the community. Even
the redoubtable Simon Girty, the Sampson Gattrie of
" The Canadian Brothers," was awed into decorum at
the sight of the judge. The gentler virtues and the
gentler graces found their exponent in his mother. Educated at the Convent of Congregation de Notre Dame at
Montreal, the foremost institution for young ladies in
Canada, Madeleine Richardson, with the national pride of
her race, taught her children from their earliest years to
speak and write the French language. It has been said
that he who knows only one language does not know any.
In the learning of two languages young Richardson's mind
was broadened, his observation quickened, and a nice
perception cultivated—perhaps as only years of training
in the class-room could have perfected. His quick eye
for natural beauty, his power in vivid description and his
marvellous ability in handling the sentence, are an inheritance or an acquisition from his vivacious mother.
Nor was the influence of his grandfather's home less

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON
XiV

INTRODUCTION

marked. Although a British subject, Colonel Askin had
been unable, owing to large mercantile interests, to remove from Detroit to Canada till April, 1802. On the
banks of the river Detroit opposite the lower end of
Belle Isle, then called Hog Island, there soon rose the
modest dwelling named Strabane, after the family seat
in Ireland. How greatly this removal influenced young
Richardson may be read in his after life. Who can
doubt that this devoted British officer would impress on
his youthful grandson that to live under that flag which
he had served so long was worth the sacrifice of a home
and a vast estate ? Here it was that Mrs. Askin used to
tell the boy those thrilling stories of romance, of Detroit,
of Michilimackinac, that enchained his young imagination. None made so deep an impression as the crafty
and well-conceived plans of Pontiac, the great chief of
the Ottawas, and his persistent efforts to capture Fort
Detroit. The events of that historic siege were the most
exciting episodes in a life not lacking in exciting incidents. She had been an inmate of the fort, and the
lapse of time had not bedimmed one of the startling experiences of those eighteen months. Proofs of the
power of this accomplished lady as a story-teller still
exist. Her youthful listener even at that early age was
enkindled with a desire, not to be realized till he had
passed through thirty years of vicissitudes in two contitinents, when in 1832 he gave to the world his masterly
" Wacousta."
If the home life was thus wholesome in formative influences, the community also in which he dwelt was rich in a
novel and diversified life that presented itself to his daily
observation at an age when the sharpest and most lasting
i mpressions are made. No other place on the continent
• could boast of a floating population so varied in character and race, so rich in well-defined types of civilized and
barbarous human nature. At Amherstburg there were
the officers and soldiers of the garrison, dressed in brilliant uniforms, moving about with apparently few duties
to perform, attracting the boyish fancy and exciting his
admiration and his envy. Nor was the British officer
wholly unworthy of this adoration. A scion of one of
Britain's best families, he obtained promotion oftener by
purchase than by proficiency gained from actual service ;
fully cognizant of his own importance, here he lived in a
community that fully acknowledged his superiority.
.

XV.

Next to the soldiers in attractiveness were the Indians
that periodically repaired to the town to receive at the
hands of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs their customary presents. Many a time young Richardson would
wander to the shores of the Detroit to watch the large
fleets of canoes in military array, heading for the camping
ground of Bois Blanc island ; or as the Indians marched
to the storekeeper's with a pride and haughty mien that
contrasted strangely with the object of their visit, or as
they engaged in various games of leaping, wrestling,
ball-playing, he would follow and delight in receiving
recognition from some chieftain whose acquaintance he
had made before. Often, on a visit to the island camp,
he would be an interested spectator of their daily habits ;
it was thus that he acquired that close and accurate
knowledge of Indian character and life that he afterwards
so successfully used in his literary productions. His delineation of Indian character in " Wacousta " has never
been equalled, even by James Fenimore Cooper himself.
In " The Canadian Brothers " he gives us a description
of the principal Indian chiefs who were allies of the British in the War of 1812, to be found nowhere else.
Besides the soldiers and the Indians, there were those
engaged in the fur trade, now fast declining here owing
to the march of civilization westward. The FrenchCanadian and half-breed voyageur had not wholly forsaken the Detroit ; and at times was to be seen the
trader, just returned from trafficking with the Indians at
their homes in the wilds of the interior, and in dress or
complexion scarcely distinguishable from the Indians
themselves—in some cases not degenerate successors of
the coureurs de boil of the French period.
It was among such varied surroundings, then, that
Richardson must have accumulated almost all the
material that he used so effectively in history, poem or
novel. The scenes of his boyhood are the favorite setting for his characters ; and never after his boyhood had
he the opportunity for a lengthened stay in those beloved
haunts.
The news of the declaration of war against Great
Britain 'reached Amherstburg, and awoke this frontier
garrison from its monotonous routine of regular work.
The militia were called out. The marine department
became active in fitting out trading schooners and small

XV1

INTRODUCTION

gunboats for the purpose of defending from invasion the
western district. The academic life of John Richardson
was brought suddenly to a close. Hull's army had
appeared on its march to Detroit, whence as a base it was
to invade the land of a contented and happy people,
guiltless of wrong to the United States. All the martial
spirit of his ancestors was roused in John Richardson,
and at the tender age of fifteen he resolved to fight in
defence of his native land.
Through the influence of his father, and his grandfather
Askin, he was appointed a gentleman volunteer on the
strength of the 41st Regiment, a detachment of which
was in garrison at Fort Amherstburg. From a District
General Order we learn that " The undermentioned gentlemen are appointed as volunteers in His Majesty's
regular forces, from the periods specified opposite their
respective names. They will continue to do duty with
the 41st Regiment until further orders.
Henry Procter, Gent., 1st July, 1812.
Alex. Wilkinson, " I
" 1812.
" 1812.
John Richardson, " 9
By Order.
Thomas Evans,
Brigade Major."
Richardson fought in every engagement in which the
detachment of the 41st took part, until its disastrous
defeat at Moravian town on October 5th, 1813. On this
occasion he was taken prisoner, and suffered close imprisonment until released in 1814. The story of these
engagements and his experiences during his captivity
are fully set forth in his history of the Right Division.
With the exception of the official reports of the officers
commanding, his account of these engagements, and of
the captivity of the prisoners, is the only one that has
been written by any of the participators. In his first
novel, " Ecarte," Dormer, one of the characters, and Clifford Delmaine, the hero, meet after years of separation in
Paris. Dormer describes his experiences since they were
schoolmates. The adventures of Dormer in the army in
Canada and his imprisoament coincide closely with the
actual events in this part of Richardson's career. In
" The Canadian Brothers " one can gather likewise the
story of the events in which the Right Division took
part, and the story of the imprisonment.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XYii

After his return from captivity he was given a lieutenantcy in the 2nd Battalion of the 8th (King's) Regiment.
In June, 1815, both battalions embarked at Quebec for
Ostend, to join the Duke of Wellington's army in
Flanders. But Waterloo had been fought and won
before they were half way across the Atlantic. As a
permanent peace with France seemed to have been made,
and as Britain had no need for so large a standing army,
several regiments were reduced. Transferring its men
fit for duty to the first battalion, the second battalion of
the Eighth disbanded on the 24th of December, 1815,
and its officers were placed upon half-pay. Within six
months Sir Henry Torrens, then Military Secretary, procured Richardson's appointment to his own, the Second
or Queen's Regiment ; and on the 24th of April, 1816,
the regiment embarked at Portsmouth for the West
Indies, and landed at Barbadoes on June 5th. How long
he remained with the Queen's is not known, but it is
probable that he was invalided home after a short term
of service in that exceedingly unhealthy climate. He
was subsequently transferred to the 92nd Highlanders,
and was again placed on half-pay on October 1st, 1818.
For the next ten years Richardson lived the life of a
literary man in London with occasional visits to Paris.
He wrote sketches of West Indian and Canadian life
that appeared in the periodicals of the time, and produced two of his longer works, the poem " Tecumseh "
published in 1828(?), and the novel "Ecarte, or the Salons
of Paris," published in 1829.
" Tecumseh," Richardson's only effort in poetry consists of four cantos of 188 stanzas of ollava rima ; in the
first canto there are 45 stanzas, in the second 5o, in the
third 48 and in the fourth 45. No evidence is at hand
from which we can judge how this poem was received
in literary circles in England. The generation born
during the Napoleonic wars would not be enraptured with
martialpoems: they had experienced too many of the hardships of war. At that time the heroic deeds and statesmanlike achievements of our greatest Indian ally were
unknown in Britain, and could appeal to but a limited
number of readers. The poem itself is marked by a strict
adherence to the conventional stanza form, with which
Byron took such liberties in his Don Juan. With a few
exceptions, there is marked care in the choice of words

Xviii

BIOGRAPHY OP RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

and in the workmanship. The epic theme follows closely
the historical facts and presents many opportunities for
effective dramatic treatment. But perhaps the measure
chosen was ill-adapted to so stirring a subject. That
Richardson was not quite satisfied with his poetic effort
is proved by his confining himself to prose in future.
Ecarte," said Captain R. H. Barclay, in a letter to
the author, " is assuredly an able and dreadful essay
against the most insidious and ruinous of all sorts of dissipation and idleness, gaming, bad enough anywhere, but
perhaps in Paris it holds its throne." Paris was then a
favorite resort for many young British officers absent on
leave ; and Richardson, in his visits, appears to have
entered fully into the gay life of that metropolis. He
had an affair of honor with a French officer of Cuirassiers
and probably indulged in play, but it is hardly possible
that he lost heavily, got in debt and was given time to
contemplate the fickleness of fortune, and form good
resolutions for the future in a room in the prison he so
accurately describes in " Ecarte."
This novel was published by Colburn, of London, and
was well received in some quarters ; but, by a strange
circumstance, was doomed in so far as it might possibly
bring immediate fame to the author and wealth to the
publisher. Jerdan, a leading influential writer on the
staff of the Literary Gazette, had some disagreement with
Colburn, and to be revenged wrote him that he would
" cut up " his next book in his review. The next book
published by Colburn was " Ecarte," and Jerdan was as
good as his word. This unwarranted criticism, Richardson
acknowledges in " Eight Years in Canada," prevented
him from writing many more works.
However, he appears to have been busy with his pen
as " Wacousta " appeared in 1832. This story was published in three volumes by T. Cadell, Strand, London,
and from the first met with great success. A second edition was published in the same style in 1840. It is
considered his best work.
The London Literary Gazette, the London Atheneum,
the London Satirist, the Morning Post, the London
Atlas and Miss Sheridan's Magazine spoke in very flattering terms of the novel and the author. He was at once
recognized as a powerful rival of Cooper, then at the
height of his popularity in England and America.

xix

The story is founded upon the designs of Pontiac to
possess himself of the fort at Detroit. The principal
characters are drawn from the actors in that historic
event, and are portrayed with a marked fidelity to historical accuracy. Even Wacousta himself may have
been suggested by the career of some real personage. The
only feature of the story that it is possible to consider
weak may be found in the incident of the capture in the
St. Clair river of the schooner, having on board the survivors of the massacre at Fort Michilimackinac. Here,
to cause the capture to take place in the river, the author,
departing from geographical truth, makes the St. Clair a
narrow stream,with the branches of the tall trees meeting
in an arch overhead. But even for this he may
well plead the licence that is always granted to writers of
fiction.
The interview between Pontiac and Governor De Haldimar in the great council hall of the fort is the masterstroke of all Richardson's literary work. For dramatic
power and graphic description it has not often been surpassed or even equalled in the language. As a charactersketch, unfolding on the one hand the adroit craft and
subtle deceit of Pontiac with all the varied play of motives, and on the other the defiant confidence and intrepid
fidelity to principle of the governor, it will compare
favorably with those searching analyses of human passions to be found in the works of George Eliot.
Richardson has been accused of imitating Cooper in
this novel. How closely one author may follow the style
and character of another's productions and still rank as
a great writer, will never be very clearly determined.
The only ground for such an accusation is that both
wrote stories with Indians figuring prominently in the
foreground. And it is doubtful that Richardson owes
more to Cooper's works than the bare suggestion that a
romance dealing with the Canadian Indian would prove
both popular and successful. For such a work he possessed
peculiar qualifications, in power, in material and
1 11 desire.
His power had already been revealed in
Ecarte " ; his material had been gathered from the experiences of his boyhood and the stirring stories he heard
from his grandmother ; the desire had been enkindled
thirty years before when he heard those stories by the
open fireplace at Strabane.
,

,

XX

INTRODUCTION

Richardson's characters are never impossible. His
Indians have all the virtues and all the vices of the greatest prototypes of the race. He was personally acquainted
with Tecumseh. His grandmother had been in the fort
when besieged by Pontiac. The original of Captain
Erskine is no doubt his grandfather, Colonel John
Askin ; Lieutenant Johnstone is probably his father's
relative. Dr. Richardson belonged to the Annandale
family, so did Lieutenant Johnstone ; and further to
prove the identity, one of Major Richardson's halfbrothers was named Johnstone Richardson, plainly showing that Johnstone was a family name. The name of
Bombardier,, Kitson for one of the minor characters is a
reminiscence of an officer of that name in the Royal Artillery who fought with the Right Division in the War of
1812. No doubt a careful comparison of the incidents of
the novel with the actual events would reveal many
other similarities. This is an instance in which we must
go to fiction for reliable history.
In 1834 the Spanish Ambassador to Great Britain recruited an army in that country to assist the regent,
Christina, to preserve the throne of Spain for her daughter Isabella, against the forces of Don Carlos, who
claimed the crown. This force, which consisted of ten
regiments of i,000 men each, was known as the " British
Auxiliary Legion," and was under the command of
Lieut.-General De Lacy Evans, a veteran officer who had
seen active service in India and the Peninsula, at Washington and New Orleans, and as Quartermaster-General
at Waterloo. Richardson was assigned a captaincy in
the znd Regiment, which sailed from Portsmouth on board
the transport Royal Tar, on July 23rd,1835, and arrived at
San Sebastian on the 27th. After a short stay here the
Legion marched to Vitoria, where typhus fever, carried
off about 700 men and 40 officers. The soldierly qualities and executive ability of Richardson were recognized
by his being appointed commandant of Vitoria ; but on
January 3oth, 1836, he was stricken down with the prevailing malady. His splendid physique, however, enabled him to combat the disease, and he rose from his
bed on the 17th of March. During his illness intrigue
and jealousy were at work, and he was displaced on the
staff by a relative of the Lieut.-General ; and to add to
his troubles his regiment and the 5th were broken up,

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxi

but he was appointed senior captain in the 6th (Scotch
Grenadiers). To recuperate, Richardson applied for and
received two months' leave of absence to visit England.
He left Vitoria in April and proceeded to the coast, but
before he had an opportunity to embark for England the
Legion marched to the attack of San Sebastian, now
occupied by the Carlists. Although on sick leave, Richardson, in his anxiety to be of assistance, volunteered
his services on the staff. His offer was refused, and, en.feebled as he was, he led his own company of the 6th
Regiment in the battle of the 5th of May.
An account of this battle appears in his memoirs. On
the Ilth he left Spain for London by way of Paris.
While in Spain he kept a journal which he was anxious
to publish, as it would in a measure be an answer to the
attacks and aspersions made against the character and
actions of the Legion by the persons and the press that
opposed interference with the internal affairs of a foreign
nation.
While in London a Gazette appeared which contained
a list of the names of officers decorated for their conduct
in the action of May 5th. Richardson's name did not
appear, and, to add to his disappointment, he was mortified to find in the announcement that a junior officer had
been promoted to a majority over his head. In his
anger he wrote an addition to the preface of his book,
" Movements of the British Legion," in which he set
forth his claims, and in doing so reflected somewhat on
the conduct of the other officers. When his wrath had
subsided he recalled the irritating paragraphs and substituted others less incisive ; but he had already sent a copy
of the preface to the Lieut.-General, and had written a
private letter to the military secretary in which was conveyed a mild threat that some officers had honors to
which they were not entitled. Meanwhile Richardson
started for Spain and at once carried out his plans against
the Lieut.-General and other officers, which resulted in
the appointment of a court of inquiry to investigate and
report on the whole affair.
On the 29th of June, just one day before the assembling of the court, his year of service having expired, he
tendered his resignation and signified his retirement from
the service. He therefore appeared before the commission, not as an officer of the Legion, but as a
,

XXii

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

private citizen, and at the investigation his superior
talents, aided by the justice of his cause, enabled
him to wring from a hostile court a verdict that
exonerated him in every particular. After the announcement of the verdict the Lieut.-General intimated
to Richardson that he would like to make reparation for
the injury that had been done him. Consequently it
was arranged that his resignation should be withdrawn.
On this being done Richardson appeared in general orders
as promoted to a vacant majority which was dated May
i3th, and at the same time was transferred from the 6th
Scotch to the 4th Queen's Own Fusiliers. With this regiment Major Richardson served till the 19th of August,
being in command of it at an engagement at the
" Heights of Passages " on July 3oth, 1836. Soon after,
he returned to England.
To Major Richardson's experiences in Spain we owe
the existence of three of his works. " Movements of
the British Legion," referred to before, recounts in the
form of a journal the operations from their arrival at San
Sebastian, July 27th, 1835, till the attack on the same
stronghold, May 5th, 1836. The second edition, published in 1837, contains also the narrative to the close of
March, 1837. The book in its first edition is a faithful
account of the events of the campaign, and is -a worthy
tribute to the military capacity of Lieutenant-General
De Lacy Evans, the commander-in-chief. But the failure of that officer to promote Richardson to a majority
to which he was entitled by seniority, led to a bitter personal quarrel with the Lieutenant-General, who does not
seem to have been averse to showing a desire for revenge
on the Major, who had worsted him before the Court of
Inquiry. As De Lacy Evans had estranged his officers, had infringed the rules of service and had secured
a reputation for delay and indecision, he was not invulnerable, and Richardson was always a merciless assailant. Accordingly, in the second part of the second edition, the author seldom loses an opportunity of
attributing every failure or disaster to the incapacity of
the commander.- As a fact, only ten of the fifty experienced officers who had originally embarked in the
cause chose to remain. It was easy for the officers to
withdraw from the service, but with the rank and file it
was very different. They had to stay till their term of
-

service expired, and when this time came their pay was
in arrears and no passage to England was to be got.
Some re-enlisted, others in their desperation joined the
Carlists. Their plight was a melancholy one. Neglected
by their native country and cast off without pay by the
nation they served, the survivors managed to reach Great
Britain in a penniless condition, deplorable examples of
the neglect usually shown to the private soldier when
the nation no longer requires his services.
The affairs of Spain were made the subject of a debate
in the British House of Commons on the motion of Sir
Henry Hardinge. In this debate the opportunity was
seized by O'Connell and some other members to attack
Richardson, but his character and conduct were clearly
vindicated. His cause was championed by Captain
Boldero and Sir Henry Hardinge, the proposer of the
motion. It would be exceedingly unfair even to hint
that anything but justice could influence a man of the
integrity and noble character of Sir Henry Hardinge,
but his interest in Richardson in this connection may
have arisen from his kindly remembrance of Richardson's father when they served in the same regiment.
Sir Henry Hardinge began that military eareer which
shone so brilliantly at Albuera and at Ferozshuhr, as an
ensign in the Queen's Rangers in 1798 in Upper Canada,
when Dr. Richardson was assistant surgeon of the same
corps.
No better example of the appreciation of the subtleties
of language can be found than in the volume, " Movements of the British Legion." At p. 162, in discussing
the unhealthy and uncomfortable condition of the hospitals at Vitoria, Richardson had said :
" Things are said to have been better managed in Portugal under Mr. Alcock, who is second in rank of the
Medical Department here." Mr. Alcock, considering
that he had been complimented at the expense of his
chief, wrote to the author, asking that the statement be
amended or omitted in any future edition. Richardson
replied, begging him " to consider it, however, as one of
the typographical errors, and that ' said ' should be in
italics, not ' second.' You cannot fail to observe that
this alteration will give a totally distinct reading to the
passage." This amende honorable has something so genuinely clever about it that it deserves this special notice.
It is scarcely paralleled even by Lord Robert Cecil's

XXi.V

INTRODUCTION

famous apology to Mr. Gladstone as related by Justin
McCarthy.
Richardson's second work on the affairs in Spain entitled " Personal Memoirs of Major Richardson," was published in Montreal in 1838. Events, that will be referred
to presently, caused him to come to Canada in that year ;
hence its appearance in this country. In this volume the
injustice that he had suffered is submitted to the public.
The documentary evidence adduced clearly shows that he
pursued the only course consistent with honor and dignity. As he himself says, p.) 144
" By the cold and the calculating—by the selfish and
the prudent—I shall no doubt be considered as having
adopted a course more chivalrous than wise in the uniform opposition I have shown to the various measures of
oppression—so unworthily—so ignobly arrayed against
me. By those, however, of high honour—of proud and
independent feeling—by those who are incapable of sacrificing the approval of the inward man to mere considerations of personal interests and expediency, I shall be
They, at least, will admit,
judged in a nobler spirit.
that in adopting the line of conduct unfolded in the pages
of this brief and local memoir, I have studied that which
was most befitting an honourable mind. As I have had
elsewhere reason to obsefve, never did a more cruel system of injustice seek to work its slow and sinuous course
beneath the mantle of liberalism. Every engine of his
power had been put in motion by General Evans, to accomplish the ruin of an officer, who had in no other way
offended than by refusing tamely to submit—firstly, to
his injustice secondly, to his oppression, and that the
utter overthrow of such officer has not been accomplished,
is attributable, not to any forbearance on the part of his
persecutor, but to his own innate integrity and right."
His third work was a satire, not issued, however, in
book form, but as a serial in THE NEW ERA OR CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a paper published by Richardson in
Brockville in 1841 and 1842. Theodore Hook in his last
volume had transferred his hero, Jack Brag, to the staff
of De Lacy Evans in Spain as Acting Assistant DeputyDeputy Assistant Commissary General. Richardson saw
his opportunity and took Hook's hero successfully in
hand. Hook was pleased with the continuation of his
satire and made an effort to secure a publisher for it.

BIOGRAPHY OF R I CHARDSON

xxv

He went to Colburn and to Bentley, but they declined to
accept it as they considered the delineation of the characters too faithful a reflection of the originals, and the
strictures on the Radicals at Westminster too severe.
In 1837 the political affairs of the Canadas caused no
little alarm to the British Government of the day. Richardson, eager again to see active service, more particularly in defence of his native land, against those who
would have robbed Britain of her fairest colony,embarked
at London on the 18th of February, 1838, for Canada,by
way of New York. He was accompanied by his wife, a
member of a family in Essex, whom he had married about
the year 183o. Her family name is not recorded that I
have seen, and a diligent inquiry among Richardson's
relatives, who knew her, has proved fruitless in the matter_
All, however, agree in saying that she was accomplished,
talented, and possessed of some literary ability, and that
they were devotedly attached to each other.
While waiting in New York for four days Richardson
met the Earl of Gosford and Sir Francis Bond Head,who
had lately arrived from the Canadas on their way to England. He had a letter of introduction from Lord Glenelg,
Colonial Secretary, to Sir Francis, in which was expressed
the desire that some official position should be given him
in his native province. Sir Francis was so concerned and
agitated, probably through fear that violence might
be done him by some sympathizers with the rebels in
Canada, that after reading the letter he returned it to the
Major unsealed, with a request to present it with his
compliments to his successor, Sir George Arthur.
On the 29th of March he went by boat to Albany,
thence by railroad to Utica, then by coach through
Auburn, Geneva, Rochester and Lockport to Lewiston,
where he arrived on Wednesday, the 3rd of April. The
mingled feelings with which he viewed his native village
of Queenston, a spot hallowed with so many recollections,
are well described at the close of the second chapter of
his " Eight Years in Canada."
" We reached Lewiston a few miles below the Falls of
Niagara about 6 o'clock ; and from that point beheld, for
the first time since my return to the country and in its
most interesting aspect, the Canadian shore. Opposite
to Lewiston is the small village of Queenston, and overhanging the latter, the heights on which my early friend

xxvi

INTRODUCTION

and military patron—the warrior beneath whose bright
example my young heart had been trained to a love of heroism, and who had procured me my first commission in the
service—had perished in the noble but unequal conflict
with a foe invading almost from the spot on which I
stood. More than five-and-twenty years had gone by,
but the memory of the departed Brock lived as vividly in
the hearts of a grateful people as it had in the early days
of his fall ; and in the monument which crowned the
height, and which no ruffian hand had yet attempted to
desecrate, was evidenced the strong and praiseworthy
desire to perpetuate a memory as honored as it was
loved. This moment was to me particularly exciting,
for it brought with it the stirring reminiscences of the
camp, and caused me to revert to many a trying scene in
which my younger days had been passed. Since that
period I had numbered a good many years, and had
experienced in other climes a more than ordinary portion
of the vicissitudes of human life ; but not one of these
had the freshness and warmth of recollection of my earlier
services in America, in which (independently of the fact
of my having been present at the capture of Detroit,
under the gallant soldier whose bones reposed beneath
the monument on which my gaze was rivetted, as if
through the influence of an irresistible'fscination) I had
been present in five general engagements, and twelve
months a prisoner of war with the enemy before attaining
my seventeenth year. These were certainly not ' piping
times of peace,' and I must be pardoned the egotism of
incidentally alluding to them."
Before leaving London, Richardson had been entrusted with the important duty of furnishing political
information to the London Times. In availing itself
of the services of a writer so singularly competent
and eligible as Richardson, the foremost of English
dailies showed both enterprise and sagacity. In those
times it was well to have sources of information on what
was taking place in the Canadas, other than the official
despatches of the governors and the news letters appearing in the United States press. Richardson began at
once to study the political situation in Upper Canada.
His opportunities for obtaining information were excellent. His brother Charles, with whom he lived at
Niagara, represented that town in the Legislative

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

j,

i

XXY1 i

Assembly of Upper Canada, and through him Richardson
could learn without reserve the state of affairs in the
country, and get a description of the events that led up to
armed resistance to the Government. He soon began his
journey to Quebec to meet Lord Durham on his arrival.
While in Toronto he called on and was entertained by Sir
George Arthur, and by his own old comrades in arms when
Detroit was taken, the Honorable John Beverley Robinson, then Chief Justice, and Colonel S. P. Jarvis, then
Superintendent of Indian Affairs. In Montreal he found
out the feeling in the province of Lower Canada. His
observations in Canada up to this time are embodied in
two letters published in the Times, one written from
Niagara and the other from Montreal, and signed Inquisitor. On his arrival at Quebec he called upon the
governor, and was received by him with every mark of
respect. He was invited to dine at the Castle of St. Lewis
with a brilliant assemblage. Lord Durham made him the
special object of his attention, and during the course of a•
long conversation he unfolded in their entirety all his
plans and projects for the government of the colony.
Richardson was convinced that these plans were not only
the best for the country, but perhaps the only ones that
would harmonize the various conflicting interests arrayed
in arms against each other. If Richardson was impressed
by the honesty and integrity of Lord Durham, and his
thorough grasp of the political situation, on the other
hand it is merely just to record that he possessed the confidence of that nobleman to the fullest extent.
By birth and training Richardson was personally opposed to the general policy represented by the Melbourne
administration. He was the trusted correspondent of a
paper that had assailed that administration with a bitterness rarely exhibited by any journal. His salary of
£300 and travelling expenses along with his half-pay
would have enabled him to live in affluence. Moreover,
his work was congenial, and no favor that Lord Durham
or any succeeding governor might grant could offer more
attractions to a man of Richardson's temperament than his
present employment. Accordingly every motive and
every prejudice of worldly wisdom would have led an
ordinary man into opposition to the governor, but it is
very gratifying to know that Richardson viewed the
affairs of Canada with notable impartiality, which leaves

XXVii i

INTRODUCTION

no doubt of his patriotism and of a marked disregard of
any selfish interests. Richardson was convinced that
Lord Durham would do for the colony what no other
governor had ever attempted in respect to its permanent
interests. He realized the wisdom of his policy and
grasped the spirit of his plans for the future. Time has
already vindicated the action of the governor, and it
must in all fairness grant to Richardson credit and honor
for the personal sacrifices he made in advocating the
cause that has proved so beneficial to British North
America. Unfortunately for him the " mighty engine "
he was in Canada to represent did not approve his
course. The editor did not see fit to publish all his letters, and informed him that his connection with that
journal would cease at the termination of his year's engagement. It would seem that a paper that delegates to
itself the high position of directing the policy of a great
nation should place accuracy of information before every
other consideration ; that it should have placed more confidence in the opinions of its correspondent than upon its
party traditions. The awakening was too sudden for
most Englishmen to see clearly. The many reforms
that had been gained in England within a half-dozen
years were alarming to one party, and the other party
were not prepared to support their official in his advanced
ideas of granting self-government to the colonies. It is
therefore too much to expect that a paper like the Times
could change its colonial policy so quickly. The disavowal of Richardson by the Times enlisted the sympathy
of Lord Durham, himself suffering from a more cruel
desertion. In a letter to Richardson he says :
" It is indeed most disgusting to see such proofs of
malignity in those who ought to value truth and fair
dealing as the best means of informing the public of
which they profess to be the best possible instructors.'
Your course has been that of a man of honor and integrity, and you can hardly regret the dissolution of a
connection which it appears could only have been preserved by the sacrifice on your part of truth and justice
—by the suppressio veil, if not the assertio
If subsequent events had not clearly proved that the
course adopted by Richardson was the proper one, this
letter is sufficient exoneration. Lord Durham's policy
and his acts while in Canada are fully set forth in chap-

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

ters III., IV. and V. of Richardson's " Eight Years in
Canada."
On November 2nd, 1838, the day after Lord Durham
embarked for England, Richardson left Quebec to join
his friends at Niagara. At Kingston he was much impressed by a visit to Von Schoultz, the " patriot " leader
recently captured at the Windmill at Prescott. While
he was in Toronto the news of the defeat of the brigand
invaders at Windsor by Col. Prince was received, and Sir
George Arthur employed Richardson to carry the despatches of that event to Sir John Colborne at Montreal,
but was anticipated by half an hour by an express from
Colonel Dundas at Kingston, to whom also he had carried
a despatch of the affair. This duty being performed he
joined his wife at Niagara.
On his way to Quebec during the spring of this year
(1838), Richardson took the earliest occasion to settle
an affair with Colonel Chichester, for which no opportunity offered while at San Sebastian in Spain. It appears
that Colonel Chichester seconded a motion to expel Richardson from the San Sebastian club. On learning the
truth of the matter Colonel Kirby, the proposer of the
motion, apologized to Richardson in England. Richardson now required a similar apology from Colonel Chichester, who granted it. All the documents that were
necessary were now in his possession, consequently his
" Personal Memoirs " were published this year.
During the winter he made preparations to take up his
residence at Amherstburg. On his arrival there he is disappointed in the place. The charms that it possessed in
his youth have all departed. No fleet of government
vessels now make the little harbor their home. No
Indian watchfires add a picturesqueness to the beautiful
island opposite the town. No bands of •Indians now
come there to sit in solemn council or to receive their
annual presents. And where in other days a half regiment of regulars and a battery of artillery enlivened the
town, now, but a single company remains, to garrison a
fort,---but a mere shadow of its former greatness.
Although the town appeared to have every mark of
decay, yet Richardson could not hire a vacant house.
The quartering of the regulars and militia there in consequence of the rebellion, had increased the population so
quickly that all the houses were occupied. He then

XXX

INTRODUCTION

went to Sandwich, where he made his home in a
small brick house " gable end to the street." The
house still stands about wo yards south of St. John's
Church, and but for a covering of bright red paint and
the addition of a verandah in front, presents the same
appearance as 6o years ago. It was pointed out to me
last summer by Mr. Thomas McKee, the genial County Clerk
of Essex, who remembered Richardson well and had
many interesting stories to relate of him. It was in this
house that the finishing touches were put upon " The
Canadian Brothers," a sequel to " Wacousta." Some
chapters of this novel had appeared in " The Literary
Garland," a magazine that had been started in December,
1838, in Montreal. One of these contributions was entitled " Jeremiah Desborough," and the other " The
Settler or the Prophecy Fulfilled."
Having received the encouragement of 25o subscriptions among the military and the people of Canada, Richardson resolved to publish the sequel to " Wacousta "
and went to Montreal to see the work through the press.
The registration notice of this novel bears the date, January 2nd, 184o. It was published in two volumes in the
original edition, and was dedicated to Sir John Harvey,
Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. The tale is an
historic one and deals with the War of 1812 on the
Detroit frontier. In a measure. the work is autobiographical and covers the same period as that of his history of
the war. General Brock, Colonel Procter, Captain Barclay, Tecumseh, Walk-in-the-Water, Split-Log and Roundhead appear in the work under their proper names. Gerald and Henry Grantham the Canadian Brothers, are
Major Richardson and his favorite brother Robert. Simon
Girty appears as Sampson Gattrie and the description of
this personage in the book is the best ever written. St.
Julian is Colonel St. George, Cranstoun is Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Short, and Middlemore, Lieutenant Gordon. The other officers all have places in the narrative,
but to avoid a multiplicity of characters one personage in the story often represents two or more in the
real events. For instance, Gerald Grantham is made to
act the parts of Lieutenant Rolette, Lieutenant Irvine
and Midshipman Robert Richardson. Some anachronisms occur for which the author prepares us in the preface.
Captain Barclay and General Brock meet at Amherstburg
;

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

before the fall of Detroit and the battle of Queenston
Heights is not fought until October, 1813. The story in
many respects is not the equal of " Wacousta." The
purely fictitious characters are not so well drawn in " The
Canadian Brothers," while the historical ones are perhaps more faithfully pictured. The weakest part is the
attempt to make it a sequel. Jeremiah Desborough, the
villain of the novel, is a character without a purpose.
He is but an intruder in the insignificant place he has in
the tale.
When Richardson knows the type of man he
is describing; we get a picture that delights us by the
boldness and clearness of the delineation of every phase
of his character ; but when he does not know him the
portrayal is a palpable failure. He found out, too late
to correct it in the first edition, that the Scotch dialect
he makes Cranstoun use is very imperfect. In the
second edition, published in New York in 1851, in one
volume, under the author's supervision, this imperfection
just pointed out does not occur.
After the publication of " The Canadian Brothers,"
Richardson made preparations to start for his home
in Sandwich. He decided to travel by means of his own
equipage, a method affording greater freedom and more
ease and convenience. He therefore purchased a sleigh,
a team of spirited French-Canadian ponies, and suitable
harness and robes, and engaged a servant to care for the
ponies at all stopping places. He set out from Montreal
during the last days of February. In Cornwall he
stayed some days, rehearsing old times with Judge G. S.
Jarvis, an old fellow-officer of 8th (King's). His fondness
for being entertained by his old friends on the way, and
an accident in the early part of the journey, delayed
him, and by the time Brockville was reached it was impossible to go farther by sleigh.
While waiting here some days to make the necessary
changes to travel by waggon, he was induced to purchase
a piece of land, beautifully situated on the high banks
of the St. Lawrence, on which were a good house, a barn
and other outbuildings. The journey, which occupied
about two months, the greater part of which time was
spent in visiting at Kingston, Toronto and London,
ended about the last of April.
Preparations were made for the return trip to his
" farm " in Brockville. Before the time for starting

XXXii

INTRODUCTION

came round, a grand demonstration was announced, which
was to be held at Fort Meigs by the Whigs of Ohio in
honor of their candidate for the Presidency of the United
States. The place was appropriately chosen, as it was
on the Miami that General Harrison won the military
renown associated with his name, which contributed
not a little to his success at the coming election. Richardson accepted an invitation from his friends at Detroit
to be present, and to visit the place where he also had
seen some hard fighting against the general whose exploits his party were now commemorating.
The trip to Brockville was begun in the last week in
June. The ponies and waggon were again used, and by
this picturesque and delightful method he and his wife
reached Brockville in the first week in July. For some
weeks his time was occupied in superintending the renovation of the house and the improvement of the grounds.
But after this work was completed he became somewhat
melancholy, a feeling that quite naturally follows when
a person who has led a wandering life becomes a fixture
in a place.
At this time he appears to have had no settled plans
No event appears to have suggested
for the future.
itself as suitable for weaving into a romantic story. One
alluring prospect seems to have taken possession of his
very being. He hoped to be appointed to some office, in
the gift of the Governor and his Council, which would
enable him to live comfortably the rest of his days and
He had strong
to devote his leisure to literary work.
and reasonable claims for such a position upon the government of Canada. His qualifications for many positions in the gift of the government were of the highest
He was dignified in bearing and a thorough
order.
gentleman. He spoke English and French with equal
fluency. His military training had specially fitted him
to perform the routine duties of a public officer with
promptness and attention to detail, necessary acquirements in a public official. He had done not a little for
Canada. He fought in her defence at a time when she
was most in need of assistance. He was for a year a
prisoner of war, and for a part of that period suffered
close imprisonment while two governments deliberated whether a certain number of their prisoners should or
should not suffer death. When internal dissensions

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxxiii

threatened again to make his native country the easy prey
of a foreign power, he hastened to her shores to fight
once more for British connection, if it were necessary.
When he came to Canada in 1838 he represented the
most powerful newspaper in the Empire. Through the
medium of that paper he endeavored to teach the public
of Great Britain that the unity of the Empire depended
upon the granting of Responsible Government to the
Canadian people. For daring to express these views he
was relieved of his position on the paper. As he had not a
sufficient income to support himself and his wife it became
necessary for him to seek some employment. In this
extremity it was quite natural for him to turn, for the aid
he required, to those he had served so conscientiously and
so faithfully. Lord Durham, cognizant of his devotion to the cause of Responsible Government and of the
effort Richardson had made to shield him from the storm
about to break about his devoted head, promised to exert
himself in his behalf. The early death of that nobleman
left him without any hope of reward from that source.
The social conditions of Brockville in 184o were
in marked contrast to the refinement and culture of
the large cities of Europe ; and it is not difficult
for one to believe that Richardson felt himself imprisoned. Of this he says : " There were moments
when the idea of being buried alive, as it were, in this
spot, without a possibility, perhaps, of again seeing
the beautiful fields and magnificent cities, and mixing
in the polished circles of Europe, and of matchless England in particular, came like a blighting cloud upon my
thoughts, and filled me with a despondency no effort of
my own could shake off."
He, however, felt the necessity of self-exertion. Some
of his friends were confident that if a newspaper were
started in Brockville, it would prove a profitable investment. He resolved to adopt their advice.
His talents
and tastes were literary and a periodical seemed to offer
the best means of supporting the cause he had so much
taken to heart.
His judgment in the matter was the
more easily influenced in favor of the suggestion because
he thought the dawn of a new order of things would
quicken the literary activity of the colony.
Type, presses and compositors were necessary for the
venture, and to obtain these Richardson went to New

XXXiV

INTRODUCTION

York. While transacting the business that brought him
to that city he received marked attention from several
persons who had been charmed and delighted by reading
his works. In him they found a person who could accept
their homage with that ease and grace which marked the
man whose gentility and decorum had been fashioned in
the refined company of Europe.
His business having been completed, he started for
home, and arrived there on the last day of the year 184o.
In the early part of June of the following year the necessary machinery for printing arrived in Brockville, and
the first issue of the paper was published. It was named
THE NEW ERA or CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a title suggestive of the political change that Lord Sydenham came
to Canada to introduce, and which Lord Durham had
advised as a solution of the political problem. The paper
was a weekly, and the subscription price was four dollars
for a year. The leading articles and the other matter
were all from the pen of the editor. No paying advertisements or local topics found a place in its columns.
His " Jack Brag in Spain " and " Recollections of the
West Indies " were serials that ran through several
issues. While the paper was interesting and entertaining, it had not that variety and freshness which
would secure and retain a long list of paying subscribers at four dollars a year. Consequently, the editor
became involved financially, and the paper was on
the verge of suspension. Another brave effort, however, was made to reanimate it by appealing to the
patriotism of the Canadian people. Richardson entertained the suggestion of his military comrades in the last
war, now in high positions in the country, to write a history of the War of 1812. Although the immediate object
was to make money, there was a higher motive that
made Richardson eager to undertake the task. The
various accounts of that war which had as yet found general circulation in Upper Canada were those contained in
United States text-books, which were used almost exclusively in the schools of the province. The whole object
of the historians of the United States during the first
half of the 19th century seemed to be to create in the
minds of their readers a hatred of everything British.
A devotion to truth in historical writing, so pretty generally in evidence at the present day among her historians,

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xxxv

had not as yet been found acceptable to American readers
or profitable to American historians.
Richardson was qualified in a special manner for such
an undertaking. He had been an active participator in
all the engagements in which the Right Division of
the Canadian army had taken part. He had promises of
assistance from several of his countrymen who had
seen active service in the several campaigns. Sir John
Harvey, then Governor of Newfoundland, promised to
put at his disposal his personal narrative of the cam, paigns of 1813 and 1814. His experience in the several
capacities of the service from gentleman volunteer to
Major in command of a battalion in action, would enable
him to comment intelligently on the skirmishes, battles
and strategical evolutions of the combatants. The
honesty and fairness he had shown in his letters on
Lord Durham's administration was a guarantee that his
prejudices would not lead him to give any but an impartial
treatment of the incidents of the struggle.
The History of the War was to be written in Three
Series. The first was to contain " A Narrative of the
Operations of the Right Division," and was to be published
serially in THE NEW ERA. The first instalment appeared in the first number of the second volume, which
was issued on March znd, 1842. The paper appeared at
intervals that varied from a week to two weeks ; and in
fourteen numbers, the last of which appeared on July
15th, 1842, the Narrative was completed. Four more
numbers were published in which was reprinted his poem
" Tecumseh" ; the paper ceasing with the 18th number
on August 19th, 1842.
The Narrative was set up in wide columns in THE NF.W
ERA
and by simply dividing the matter into pages, the
work could be printed in book form. The history was
dedicated to the United Legislature of Canada, to which
Richardson applied for financial aid to reimburse him for
his expenditure on the First Series and to enable him to
complete the work. His petition was introduced and
read by Sir Allan MacNab, and approved by the House,
only one member dissenting. In consequence ,.250 was
voted by the Assembly and paid to Richardson.
The appeal to the people of Canada to subscribe for
THE NEW ERA,
because the history of the War of 1812
was to appear in its columns, was not responded to by

XXXVI

INTRODUCTION

any large increase in the circulation. To bring the history generally before the people the author made an effort
to get the district councils to recommend it for use
in the schools within their boundaries. Johnstown district voted to purchase copies to be used in their
schools, but this vote was afterwards rescinded because
the council had no power to vote money for that purpose.
No other council took any action in the matter. The
booksellers of the province with whom it had been placed
on sale had disposed of about thirty copies, and in Kingston, the capital of the Province, all that a copy would
fetch at auction was seven and one-half pence currency.
The poor reception accorded the First Series of the
History of the War caused the author to postpone the
preparation of the other parts ; and as the prospect never
became more promising during his lifetime the history
was not completed. It is of some interest to know that
this publication was the third for which a copyright
was granted by the old Province of Canada.
THE Nzw ERA supported in a general way the principle of Responsible Government and the " cabinet" that
was administering the government ; but Richardson, like
many others, became displeased because Sir Charles
Bagot, a Conservative, had selected as his advisers persons belonging to both parties and had shown a similar
i mpartiality in his appointments to office. Richardson
may have had personal as well as public reasons for his
action. However, he resolved to oppose the Ministry and
to do so started at Kingston a paper called the CANADIAN
LOYALIST AND SPIRIT OF 1812. The political articles
that appeared were very severe upon the members of the
Lafontaine-Baldwin Ministry ; Mr. Francis Hincks getting more than his share. The appointment to office of
" men of more than questionable loyalty—of unmasked
traitors and rebels—over the honest and self-sacrificing
defender of the rights of the British Crown" was the
" prominent ground on which the political principles of
the CANADIAN LOYALIST were based." The paper fulfilled
its mission. Sir Charles Metcalfe as Governor, maintained that he might appoint officials without consulting
his Council ; disagreement followed, and all his executive
except Mr. Daly resigned. The CANADIAN LOYALIST
which was started at the beginning of 1843 was discontinued about the middle of the year 1844.

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XXXVii

Parliament met next in Montreal on July 1st and during the session Richardson was as active as ever in his
support of Sir Charles Metcalfe ; and when the House
was dissolved both parties made preparations for the
coming struggle. In the elections that followed, the
Conservatives had a majority. Richardson now expected
some reward for the support he had given the party in
power. The canals of Canada were being built and a
system of police was instituted by the government to
prevent disturbances of the peace. The office of Superintendent of Police on the Welland Canal, which was
being enlarged, became vacant, and Richardson was appointed to the office by Lord Metcalfe on May loth, 1845.
The pay was only ten shillings a day, but he hoped for
something better and entered on his duties with alacrity.
To add to the smartness of the force he induced the men
to purchase uniforms to be paid for in six equal instalments, he in the meantime advancing the pay for them.
The force was disbanded on January 31st, 1846, on seven
days' notice, and at that time there was due the Superintendent from the men for equipment X51. At the coming session of Parliament Richardson petitioned the
House, complaining of the sudden dismissal of himself
and the force, and praying compensation for losses
sustained and for clothing for the force. The petition
was referred by the House to a select Committee which
reported that : An allowance for clothing had been made
to the force at Lachine and Beauharnois ; that they saw
no reason why it should be withheld from the petitioner ;
that injustice had been done him by the abrupt dismissal ;
that he and the men be allowed a gratuity ; and that he
had discharged his responsible duties in a satisfactory and
creditable manner. When the question upon the motion,
to concur in the report of Committee, was put in the
House the motion was negatived. It is very difficult for
one at this distance of time to understand how the Legislature could make a distinction between the officials on
the Welland Canal and those on the Lachine Canal. One
thing is certain, the verdict of the House was not based
upon the evidence as it appears in its Journals.
While Superintendent of Police, Richardson suffered
the loss of his wife, who died at St. Catharines on the
16th of August, 1845. Her remains were interred in the
Butler burial ground, near Niagara, where his eldest

XXXViii

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

sister Jane and other relatives were buried. The inscription on the headstone that he erected to mark her grave
is unique. Without indicating the lines or forms of
letters the following is the order of the words :—" Here
Reposes, Maria Caroline, the Generous-Hearted, HighSouled, Talented and Deeply-Lamented Wife of Major
Richardson, Knight of the Military Order of Saint
Ferdinand, First Class, and Superintendent of Police on
the Welland Canal during the Administration of Lord
Metcalfe. This Matchless Wife and This (illegible)
Exceeding Grief of Her Faithfully Attached Husband
after a few days' illness at St. Catharines on the 16th
August, 1845, at the age of 37 years."
After being relieved of the duties of Superintendent of
Police, Richardson prepared for publication " Eight
Years in Canada," an exceedingly well-written description of his career in Canada from 1838 till March, 1847.
The administrations of Lord Durham, Lord Sydenham,
Sir Charles Bagot and Lord Metcalfe are very fully
treated ; it is the only contemporary history we have
of this transitional period, and in subsequent histories of
this epoch he is very freely quoted. Although written
after the position he filled had been abolished, and after
he had abandoned all hope of receiving any office from
the government, it exhibits a fairness one would scarcely
expect from a person so unjustly used. Sir Charles Bagot
and the Lafontaine-Baldwin ministry are severely handled, while the administration of Lord Metcalfe is eloquently
praised. In defending the course of the latter he takes a
position beside perhaps the greatest controversial writer
of Canada, Reverend Egerton Ryerson.
In 1847 (the book bears the date 1848) Richardson
entered for copyright a sequel to his " Eight Years in
Canada," called " The Guards in Canada or the Point of
Honor." In it the story is told of how differences were
settled by duels if an apology was not forthcoming.
Richardson never allowed an insult tendered him to pass
unnoticed. The person offending would apologize if the
insult was offered through some misunderstanding, or
would meet him. His first duel was in Paris. I have no
record of any being fought in England. In Canada he had
several affairs: there is living yet in Ontario a person holding an honored and exalted position who, when a mere boy,
acted, much against his will, as a second for Major

xxXix

Richardson in a matter, which happily was settled through
the seconds by asking mutual apologies from the princiop,ra
w
e Guards in Canada " was the last of Richardson's
gklTssh published in Canada under his direction. The
book was written to vindicate his character for courage in
an affair with a resident of Montreal, and incidentally it
was a setting in order of his Canadian affairs before taking up his residence in New York, a step he had contemplated for some time.
He did not leave his native province without just cause.
He had tried by every honorable means to gain a livelihood among the people he loved best. He squandered his accumulations and all that he had derived from
the sale of his best works in the hope that his countrymen
would appreciate his efforts. His historical works,
thoroughly patriotic in tone and written in a bright
vivacious style, were not bought in Canada. In all
probability they were as generally read here as any
novels or histories of the time. The lack of interest in
literature in Canada was general. Education was at a
low-water mark, among the great mass of the
population, who even as late as the middle of the century
felt too keenly the struggle for existence. The intellectual energies of the few, who were educated, were
directed into political channels ; and the unsettled conditions of our government absorbed all their time, leaving
no leisure for those avocations that exercise their benign
influence in refining the politics of the Motherland.
Even the clergy were drawn into the political whirlpool.
The great founder of the educational system of Ontario,
Rev. Egerton Ryerson, had been appointed to office only
in 1844, and the fruits of his labors were not to be seen
foarnsaodm
C
a .eyears. He also was engaged before 1844 in the
most remarkable political controversy in the history of
.

Richardson's case was not an isolated one by any
means. Other writers had started periodicals and magazines, Canadian in sentiment, of an undoubtedly high
literary character, and were as hopeful of receiving
support as Richardson ever was, but these all were
compelled to stop after a few numbers were published.
Writers in those days did missionary work and if they
did
not receive the reward they hoped for, they sow

X1

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

INTRODUCTION

seed that in some cases fell on good ground. We are
beginning to reap the benefit of their self-sacrificing
labors and if we are in the morning of a brighter and a
more appreciative day, a large share of credit for these
hopeful conditions must be attributed to the earlier
workers in this unprofitable and unfruitful field.
In New York Richardson was engaged in preparing
new editions of his published novels and in writing others.
" Hardscrabble or the Fall of Chicago " was published
in New York in 185o or before that year, since it is named
on the title page of "Wacousta" published in 1851; but as I
have not seen a copy except the one in my library, published in 1888, I cannot give any further information regarding the first edition. The story is much shorter than
the author's previous ones and may be considered weak
when compared with " Wacousta." The scene is laid at
Fort Dearborn on the Chicago river in the year 1812.
In all probability Richardson got the facts for the story
from a pamphlet published in 1844, which described the
events as seen by an actor in them. Two or three surprises and an affair of love are introduced by means of a
slight change in the order of events. The names of the
officers at the fort are but transparently disguised in the
romance. Captain Heald, Lieut. Helm, Ensign Ronan
and Surgeon Von Voorhees, appear as Captain Headley,
Lieut. Elmsley, Ensign Ronayne and Surgeon Von Vottenberg in the story. In 1852 a work by Major Richardson
entitled " Waunangee or the Massacre of Chicago "
was published. I have not been able to see a copy
of this work but in all probability it is either the
same as " Hardscrabble," or a sequel to it. The
leading Indian character of the historical narrative is
Naunongee, who is called Waunangee in the novel ;
accordingly, the name seems to point to some connection with this romance As a title " Waunangee"
would certainly be both more appropriate and more
attractive than " Hardscrabble." " Wacousta " and
" Ecarte " were revised by the author and published
in cheap octavo form, the former by Robert M. De Witt
and the latter by Dewitt and Davenport in 1851. In
the same year a revised edition of " The Canadian
Brothers " appeared under the name " Matilda Montgomerie," the heroine of the story. It will be readily

seen that it would not be politic for the author to issue a
story in New York entitled " The Canadian Brothers,"
even if the publishers gave their assent. " Matilda
Montgomerie " is much improved in the revision. The
Scotch dialect, which Richardson himself acknowledges
to be so imperfect, he omits in this edition. Sampson
Gattrie now appears under his proper name, Simon Girty.
But the most marked change from the first edition is the
suppression of the several passages in which the author
had used all his eloquence to sound the praises of the
British in the numerically unequal struggle they had been
called upon to maintain. Notable instances are the
omission of all reference to Col. Harvey's night attack at
Stoney Creek and to the details of the victory at Queenston Heights. It is very interesting to compare the two
editions and to notice the passages that are suppressed or
modified, evidently to suit the tastes of his new audience.
His other works were " Westbrook, or the Outlaw,"
and " The Monk Knight of St. John." As I have not
seen either of these books I cannot give any facts relating to them, except what are gleaned from other bibliographies. " Westbrook " is mentioned by Morgan, but
the date of publication is not given. Dr. L. B. Horning,
of Victoria University, Toronto, suspects " that this
` Westbrook' is only `Wacousta' with another name." I
think this scarcely possible. " Wacousta " was the
most popular of Richardson's works, and the name had
gained a vogue that had a definite cash value to both
author and publisher. The names of successful books
are not usually changed. If I were to offer any opinion,
I should say that the scene is laid in the western peninsula of Upper Canada, and that the tale introduces the
exploits of a renegade Canadian named Westbrook, an
actual elusive personage who, at the head of some Americans and a few Canadian rebels, went about the district
from Long Point to the Talbot Settlement robbing the
people and burning homes during the year 1814. It is
quite
t w possible Richardson knew of this marauder's acts,
hether more than the name was suggested by this
knowledge
can be settled only by a study of the book
itself
.

In the Dictionary of National Biography, 185o is given
as the date of publication of " The Monk Knight of St.

Xlii

INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

xliii

from the training of his early manhood rather than from
John," but as I have not a copy of the book I cannot con
circumstances within his control. The camp does not
firm this date. It is a tale of the Crusaders, and those
who have read it say that it is a unique story
train a man for the mart. He who has entered the army
a youth of sixteen, to retire at thirty-nine, seldom, unless
probably suggested by reading Byron and Moore.
These books were all published in cheap form, and
in official routine, can adapt himself successfully to the
consequently the revenue that the author derived must
new environment of civilian life. The task of gaining a
havebeen comparatively small. It was the day of tan
by literature in Canada was the harder because
he had been accustomed to the cultured circles of ',oncheap novel. About 184o two New York papers began
don society. It is no reproach to the people of Canada,
to reprint in their columns the most popular English
individually, amid the many difficulties they contended
novels, which, when finished, were issued in parts at a
with, that they failed to appreciate and purchase
very low price. No international copyright law protected
the works of their first novelist. It is a reproach to them
the British author in the United States. " Wacousta ' '
collectively, to their government, that Richardson was not
had been pirated and issued in Philadelphia in 1833.
given an opportunity of earning enough to enable him to
The regular publishers had to issue books in cheap
form
Richardson
live in simple comfort in his native land. He had no
and at lower prices or go out of business.
arrived in New York when this competition was perhaps
vanity of authorship. On this he says :—" I look upon
the art of ingenious writing, not as a merit, but a mere inthe keenest. " tcarte," " Wacousta,' ' " Matilda Montgomerie " and " Hardscrabble " appeared in paper-coycidental gift, for which one is more indebted to nature
than to judicious application." As a man of letters he
ered 8vo form at 5o cents a volume.
Major Richardson died suddenly on the 12th of street,
May,
was publicly honored but once. Yet, because he was not
honored
more
he
felt inclined to pity rather than to
at
his
lodgings
No.
113
West
Twenty-ninth
1852,
t
New York. The obituary notice as it appeared in the
censure his countrymen. In a careful study of his career,
New York Journal of Commerce of May i4th, 1852, is
no mean, no dishonorable act will be found. Faithful to
his friends, true to his convictions, loyal to his country,
as follows :
"Died—On the 12th inst. Major John Richardson,
he unselfishly served friends and country better than he
served himself.
late of H.B.M. Gordon Highlanders aged 53 (55) years.
His friends are invited to attend his funeral, without furOne wish he asked to be respected by future generather invitation,from the Church of the Holy Communion,
Lions of his countrymen, which has not been regarded. He
corner 6th Avenue and 2oth Street, this day, at two
says " I cannot deny to myself the gratification of the expression of a hope that should a more refined and cultio' clock, P.M."
His remains were taken outside the city for burial,
vated taste ever be introduced into this matter-of-fact
but diligent inquiry has failed to find his last resting
country in which I have derived my being, its people will
decline
to do me the honor of placing my name in the list
place.
The immediate cause of death was erysipelas ; at first
of their ' Authors.' I certainly have no particular ambithe symptoms were not considered alarming, but when
lion to rank among their future ' men of genius,' or to
medical aid was summoned it came too late. To his
share any posthumous honor they may be disposed to
confer upon them."
many friends the news, besides the shock of suddenness,
brought qualms of self-reproach when they learned that
Richardson s whole career was a noble and manly
Richardson had been living in more straitened circumstruggle. Pugnacious and exclusive in temperament,
stances than his appearance or his conversation indicated.
with but a slight sense of humor, he pursued undeviatTo die in poverty and neglect is no disgrace. Finding no
ingly a course of the strictest integrity. He knew
means of livelihood in his native land, he sought a foreign
neither tact nor compromise. He fought harder for the
political principles he cherished, for the social code he
city after his prime of life was past ; and if he was unsucrespected, than he did for life itself.
cessful in gaining a competence, perhaps the causes arose

XliNT

INTRODUCTION

Like the earliest English novelist, Richardson has suffered neglect in his own land. All that Scotland had for
her greatest poet was an office worth ,7o a year, but her
succeeding generations remembered his exquisite productions. Canada could find not even such an office for her
first novelist. His own generation refused him a living
in his native land ; subsequent generations of Canadians
know him not. And his works, if obtainable, can be bought
only at almost prohibitive prices. Yet three years before
Scott died ; when Thackeray was a stripling of eighteen;
when Dickens had not yet become a reporter, Richardson
was winning, by his first work of the imagination, applause from the English press and alarge audience of English readers. In the very year of Scott's death, his masterpiece, " Wacousta" appeared ; and the six editions
through which it has run bear testimony to its popularity.
Whatever Richardson did he tried to do well. Unlike
Cooper, he never trusted to chance to develop the circumstances of his plot ; unlike Cooper he tells his story well,
and tells it in faultless English. The interest is sustained
to the end. There are no carelessnesses, no crudities, no
notable mannerisms. Cooper often loses himself in the
pathless mazes of his long sentences. Richardson, incisive and logical, builds clause on clause, phrase on phrase,
here adding a limiting detail and there a defining circumstance, until you marvel at the accumulated result and
you would not have a single word changed. Yet there is
no straining after rhetorical effect, no attempt at fine
writing. The lucidity of style recalls Macaulay, who at
this period was writing his early essays.
A born literary artist, Richardson has drawn with a
firm and skilled hand not only the children of his imagination, but the people of his own day. His autobiographical sketches, his historical works, as well as his
novels, show us their foibles, their weaknesses, and their
merits. His great interest is in men and their achievements ; but there are delightful bits of painting from
nature. Though a lover of nature, he seldom gives himself up to that revel in the life of nature which is so
great a merit of Cooper's work. It is men and women
in action that interest him. Only less perhaps did the
brute creation claim his attention. His ponies are still a
memory among the older people ''of Windsor and Sandwich. He delights in describing the capture of a young

BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARDSON

XIV

wild deer in the river opposite his grounds in Brockville,
which eventually became a great pet. Its antics and
actions are not too insignificant to be recorded in one of his
most valuable literary productions. But though he took delight in the possession of the ponies and the pet deer,
his intimate companions were his dogs. In Sandwich, in Brockville, in Montreal, he was always accompanied by a beautiful specimen of the Newfoundland species named Hector. His grief at the loss of this dog by
poison in Brockville was great, and another named after
the Trojan hero was his companion in New York till
almost the last. At the end of a long and favorable
notice of Major Richardson's career in " The New York
Journal of Commerce" a few days after his death this
pathetic anecdote is told : " A week or two since, he
was heard by someone who met him in a bookstore,
accompanied as usual by his faithful canine friend, to
say, Ah, poor Hector, we must part or starve.' " And
it is further related that the dog was sold a few days before his master's death to provide him with food.
His notions of life were by no means puritanical. He
believed that solace and comfort were to be derived from an
after-dinner cigar. In complete accord with the customs
of the times among the circle in which he moved in his
palmy days, he took his glass of wine, but none abhorred
excesses more than he.
If we judge Richardson by the literary success that
cheered him even amid his many days of adversity, we
can merely wonder that a writer so wholesome in atmosphere, so buoyant in spirit, so notable in our literary
development, is now almost completely forgotten. His
works, whether we consider their subject-matter, their
literary merits, or their position in the growth of the
novel, place their gifted author high on that roll we
choose to designate as our list of Canadian authors.
These productions of his genius are his sole monument.
The bright young Canadian lad who left school to fight
his country's battles had to seek in the land he fought
against an unknown grave in the teeming solitude of
America's greatest city. No votive garland can be laid
on that tomb ; no admiring young Canadian may visit
that shrine.

Yi

INTRODUCTION

THE RICHARDSON GENEALOGY

THE RICHARDSON GENEALOGY

amounted to .4 78 17s. from Jan. 22nd, 1813, till
Dec. 3Ist,i816. He died at Amherstburg June 7th,
1819, and was buried in Christ Church burial
ground.
4. -WILLIAM, born Jan. 7th, i8oi, married Jane Cam,
eron Grant, youngest daughter of Honorable
Alexander Grant and Therese Barthe, on Feb.
iith, 1834. Was postmaster at Brantford, where
he died. His son James lived at London some
years ago.
5. -JAMES A., born Jan. 19th, 1803, died Aug. 18th,
1828. He was Registrar of Kent from 1825 until
his death.
6. -CHARLES, born March 2 6th , 1805, died 1847,
married (I) April 2nd, 1827, Elizabeth Euretta
Clench (born 1808, died Sept. 28th, 1833), youngest daughter of Ralph Clench, of Butler's Rangers, afterwards Colonel of Militia and Judge ; (II)
Jane Clarke, daughter of William Clarke, Niagara.
He began the study of law in York (Toronto), was appointed cornet of the " Queen's
Light Dragoons " (now represented by " The
Governor-General's Body Guard for Ontario " ) at
the organization in 1822 ; removed to' Niagara,
where he practised law ; was Clerk of the Peace
for Niagara District ; elected by the town of Niagara a member of the Legislative Assembly of
Upper Canada in 1835; re-elected in 1836.
Of the first marriage.
(I) Eliza Magdalene, born May 31st, 1828, died
June 3rd, 1828. (2) John Beverley Robinson,
baptized Jan. 5th 1830. (Sponsors : Chief Justice John Beverley Robinson ; Captain Hanson,
71st Regt. ; and Miss Clench.) Was an attorney
at Versailles, Missouri, U.S.A., where he died
March, 1899, his wife dying the next year. (3)
Eliza Euretta, baptized June 14th, 1832. Married
in 1853 Hugo M. Grout, born at Grimsby, Ontario, 1831 ; sometime civil engineer on the Great
Western Railway, the staff of which he joined in
185o ; went to the United States in 1863 ; returned to Canada in 1895 ; living at present in retirement at St. Catharines, Ontario. Two children survive ; George H. Grout, civil engineer in

Robert Richardson was born in Scotland, and came to
Upper Canada with the Queen's Rangers as assistant
surgeon in 1792. He was stationed with his regiment at
Queenston, Toronto, and St. Joseph's Island. When
the regiment was disbanded in 1802 he took up his residence at Amherstburg, where he acted as surgeon to the
garrison, and as such was with the Right Division in
every engagement until the battle of Lake Erie, where
he was taken prisoner but released through the intercession of his brother-in-law, Col. Elijah Brush. On June
12th, 1807, he was appointed judge of the Western District, an office he held till his death. On the 27th of
April, 1824, he was appointed one of the Commissioners
of Customs, an office he held till iith January, 1826.
After the war of 1812 Dr. Richardson was appointed surgeon to all the tribes of Indians in the Western District.
His death took place at Amherstburg in 1832, and his remains were interred in the burial ground adjoining
Christ Church in that town.
Robert Richardson married (I) Jan. 24th, 1793,
Madeleine Askin, 2nd daughter of Colonel John Askin,
of Detroit, who died at Amherstburg Jan. loth, 1811,
and was buried in Christ Church burial ground ; (II.)
Aug. 8th, 181i, Ann McGregor, born at Detroit, April
ist, 1781, third child of Gregor McGregor, the first
Sheriff of the District of Hesse, appointed by Lord
Dorchester on July 24th, 1788, who lived in Detroit
till 1796 when he removed to Canada taking up his
residence at Petite C6te, on the banks of the Detroit
river.
Of the first marriage.
I. -JANE, born May 19th, 1794, married Captain
Robert Rist, of the 37th Regiment, Jan. 15th,
1816 ; died Oct. 31st, 1831, buried in the Butler
burial ground, Niagara.
2. -JOHN, born Oct. 4th, 1796, died in New York city
May 12th, 1852. This was Major John Richardson, the author.
3. -ROBERT, born Sept. loth, 1798, joined the marine
department as midshipman, wounded severely at
the battle of Frenchtown Jan. 22nd, 1813. Received a pension from the Legislature which

.

INTRODUCTION

THE ASKIN GENEALOGY

is a tradition in the family that he accompanied Major
Robert Rogers to Detroit when that officer received its
surrender to the British in 176o. However it is known
that when old Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit was invested
by Pontiac, John Askin was entrusted with the important
duty of taking supplies from Albany to Lake Erie and
thence to Detroit to relieve the garrison. This difficult
undertaking having been successfully performed, John
Askin was rewarded by the British with grants of land
near Detroit. In 1764 he went as King's Commissary to
Michilimackinac, and in 178o he returned to Detroit to
engage in trade. Here he amassed a large fortune which
he was compelled to abandon, in part, when he removed to
Canada and took up his residence on the bank of the
Detroit just opposite the lower end of Isle aux Cochons
or Hog Island, now Belle Isle, the beautiful Island park
of Detroit. This home he called Strabane, after his
paternal home in Ireland, a name by which it is known
at the present day.
In 1787 Mr. Askin received a commission as Captain of
Militia from Lord Dorchester for the town of Detroit,
and in 1796 was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of
Militia for the Western District, and in 18o1 was promoted to the position of Colonel in the same corps. At
the formation of the Land Boards he was appointed a
member for Detroit, the other members being Colonel
England and Montigny. He was also one of the Magistrates of the District. On the evacuation of Detroit by
the British in 1796 he did not immediately leave that city
but he made his election as continuing a British subject, for
which he was brought to trial before the magistrates of
the United States Government, and then he came to
Canada.
Colonel John Askin married (I.) a French lady whose
name could not be ascertained, and (II.) Marie Archange
Barthe, of Detroit.
Of the first marriage :
I. —JOHN, JR., many years Collector of Customs at
Amherstburg and later storekeeper and interpreter
at St. Joseph Island. He married an Indian
woman of prominence among her people, who
possessed a fair English education. Their son,
John B. Askin, lived for many years at " Woodview," near London, Ontario. He was Colonel of

Militia and saw some active service in 1837-38. His
death occurred Nov. 15th, ¶ 869. The capture of
Mackinac, July 17th, 1812, and its retention till the
end of the war, was due largely to the influence
John B. Askin and his father had over the Western
tribes of Indians, a large body of whom they induced to make the trip to Amherstburg, to assist
the Right Division. In the note on page 25 the
tl
inference is that John Askin, Jr., died in 1869.
This error arose from confusing the father and
son. John Askin, Jr., died about 1818.
2. -CATHERINE, died Dec., 1796, married (I.) John
Robertson, (II.) Hon. Robert Hamilton, of Queenston, died March 8th, 1811, and had six children.
For the Hamilton genealogy, see " Ontarian Families," by Edward Marion Chadwick, Toronto, Vol.
I., p. 143.
3. —MADELEINE, died Jan. loth, 1811, married Dr.
Robert Richardson Jan. 24th, 1793, of whom see
Richardson genealogy following.
Of the second marriage :
I. -CHARLES, born 1780, married Monique Jacobs,
Captain of Militia, present at taking of Detroit
(medal and clasp), was at Queenston Heights and
several other engagements, appointed Clerk of the
Peace and Clerk of the District Court in 1824 ;
was Commissioner of Customs from April 27th,
1824, till 1836 ; inherited the homestead of Strabane
which descended to his son, the present occupant,
Alexander-Henry Askin, named after Alexander
Henry the fur trader, a friend of Col. John Askin
when he was King's Commissary at Michilimackinac.
2 .
ADELAIDE, born May 3oth, 1783, married in 1802,
Col. Elijah Brush, of the Michigan Militia and
Attorney-General of the Northwest Territory.
3. —TxtREsE, married Col. Thomas McKee, son of
Col. Alexander McKee, Deputy Superintendent
General of Indian Affairs. Col. Thomas McKee
was elected M.L. A. for Kent in 1796 and for Essex
in 1801. They had issue : Alexander married
Phyllis Jacob, whose son Thomas is at present
County Clerk of Essex, resides at Sandwich.
William J. McKee, son of the latter, the present

1

li

hi

INTRODUCTION
M.L.A. for North Essex, married the eldest
daughter of Charles Baby.
4. —ELEANOR, born 1788, married Richard Pattinson,
of Sandwich, Captain of Militia, and had issue :
Richard, who served 16 years in India, rose to rank
of Major of 16th Lancers, was Adjutant-General of
Cavalry, was present at battles of Aliwal and
Sobraon (the Sutlej medal, two clasps), present at
battle of Maharajpore (star); exchanged to a
Highland Infantry Regiment and while. stationed
at Halifax in 1848 visited his native town of
Sandwich; served throughout the Crimean War
(medal with clasps); appointed Governor of Heligoland, 1857.
5 . —ARCHANGE married Lieut.-Col. Meredith of the
Royal Artillery.
6. —ALEXANDER, died unmarried.
7. —JAMES, married Francoise-Navarre-Gode Marantette, Colonel of Militia, served as Lieut. at taking
of Detroit (medal with clasp) , Captain in 2nd Essex
Militia at Frenchtown and the battle of the Miami ;
appointed Registrar of Essex in 1831. They had
issue : (I) John, who succeeded his father as
Registrar in 1846, and who was in turn succeeded
by his son, J. Wallace Askin, in 1872. (2) Archange married Henry Ronalds, their only child,
Mary-Elizabeth-Lucy died 1901, married 1868,
George-Becher Harris, grandson .of Lieut.-Col.
Samuel Ryerson (1752-1812) , and had issue,
George-Henry-Ronald, born 1873 ; Edward Montgomery, born 188o ; Amelia-Archange. (3) James
went to New Zealand in 1848 and afterwards to
Australia. (4) Charles, Lieut. of Militia, killed
accidentally by a sentry at Amherstburg in 1838.
(5) Jane married (I.) Daniel Murray, of Toronto,
(II.) Edward Skae. (6) Therese. (7) Alice.
(8) Ellen.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

liii

BIBLIOGRAPHY.
I. TECUMSEH, a poem of four cantos, and 188 stanzas
of ottava rima. 1828 (?)
This poem was published before February i8th, 1828,
but I do not know in what form. Captain R. H. Barclay,
in a letter of this date, thanks Richardson for the
flattering notice he gets in the poem. It was re-published in THE NEW ERA or CANADIAN CHRONICLE, in
its last four issues bearing the dates, July 22nd, July 29th,
August 12th and August 19th, 1842.

II. 1. ECARTE ; or the Salons of Paris, London, 1829.
It is stated in Allibone's Dictionary of Authors that
it was published in 3 Vols. Post 8vo.
I have not seen this edition.
2. ECART : I or, I the Salons of Paris. I by Major Richardson, I Knight of the Order of St. Ferdinand, I Author
of " Wacousta," " Hardscrabble, &c., &c. I Author's
revised edition. I New York : I Dewitt & Davenport, Publishers, I Tribune Buildings.
206 pp. Illustrated paper cover. Price fifty cents.
Size 9x534.
Entered according to Act of Congress, 1851.

3. ECARW ; or the Salons of Paris. New York, 1888.
Pollard & Moss. 12mo.
Issued as No. 83 in the P. & M. I 2MOS. , cloth at fifty
centsc,enantsd. as No. 31 of the Echo series, paper, at twentyfive
" Ecart6," " Wacousta," "Matilda Montgomerie " and
" Hardscrabble " were printed in 1888 by Pollard & Moss,
New York, from the same plates as were used by Dewitt,
& Davenport for printing their editions. The plates were
cut down to fit a shorter page.
n LanI a. d as
thec
IkTi. lcI ousTA ; I or, I The Prophecy : I A Tale of
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

Tice Revenge.

lip

INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

By the author of " Ecarte." I in three volumes. I Vol.

I By Major Richardson, I Author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecartë," &c. I Revised edition. I New York : I Robert
M. De Witt, Publisher, 133 Rose Street. I
224 pp. Paper ; price, fifty cents. Size, 9x5y4..
Introduction by author dated January 1st, 1851.

I. I London : I T. Cadell, Strand ; and W. Blackwood,
Edinburgh. 11832.
Vol. I. 4+280 pp. Vol. II. 4+332 pp. Vol. III. 4+
Size, 7x4/. Dedicated to the 4ist Regiment.
37 2 pp.
2. WACOUSTA : I or I The Prophecy. I A Tale of the
Canadas. I

Some copies bear the imprint 160 & 162 Nassau St.
5. WACOuSTA ; I or I The Prophecy : I An Indian
Tale. I

" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."

The Revenge.

I By the author of " Ecarte." I in two volumes. I Vol.I.
Philadelphia : I Key and Biddle, 23 Minor Street. I 1833. I
Vol. I. 264 pp. Vol. II. 274 pp. Size 6%x4/.
This edition was not issued with the author's sanction.
3. WACOUSTA ; I or I The Prophecy : I A Tale of the
Canadas, I by Major Richardson, I Knight of the Mil.
Order of St. Ferdinand. I Author of "Ecarte," " The
Canadian Brothers," &c.
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view and fires me with her charms."

The Revenge.

I Secondedition. I In threevolumes. I Vol.I. I London; I
1840. I
Vol. I. 4+280 pp. Vol. II. 2+332 pp. Vol. III. 2+
372 pp. Size 7%x4.
Prom a careful comparison of this edition with the
first, I have come to the conclusion that the author
brought several copies of the first edition, in sheets, from
London and had them bound in Canada, uniformly with
" The Canadian Brothers," with a new title page as
above, printed here, but bearing the imprint London. The
typography, paper, pagination and name of printer agree.
Dedicated to the 8th (or King's) Regiment.
4. WACOUSTA ; I or, I The Prophecy I An Indian
Tale. I
" Vengeance is still alive ;• from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."
THE REVENGE.

1V

THE REVENGE.

By Major Richardson, I Author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecarte," etc. I First Canadian edition. I Montreal : I
John Lovell, St. Nicholas Street. 11868. 1168 pp.
'

Size, 9/x6/.

6. WACOUSTA ; I or, I The Prophecy I An Indian
Tale. I
" Vengeance is still alive ; from her dark covert,
With all her snakes erect upon her crest,
She stalks in view, and fires me with her charms."
THE REVENGE.

By Major Richardson, I author of " Hardscrabble,"
" Ecartë," &c. I New York : I Pollard & Moss, 147
John Street. I — 11888.
262 pp. Cloth. Size, 7/x5.
No. 8o of the P. & M. I2mos. Price, 5o cents.
No. 27 of the Echo Series. Paper. Price, 25 cents.
" Wacousta " was published as a serial in
The
Transcript " newspaper of Montreal.
IV. I. MOVEMENTS of the British Legion. First edition, London, 1836. I have not seen this edition.
2
. MOVEMENTS
I of the I British Legion, I with I strictures on the course of conduct pursued I by LieutenantGeneral Evans. I — I By Major Richardson, K.S.F.
author of " Ecarte," " Wacousta," &c., &c. I
Second edition. I To which is added, with new views.
A
Continuation of the Operations from the 5th of May,
1836, to the close of I March, 1837. I —I London :

INTRODUCTION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Published by Simpkin, Marshall and Co .Stationer' s Hall I
Court ; J. Macrone, St. James's Square ; and E. Wilson,
I Royal Exchange, Cornhill. I — I 1837. I
XVI.+33o pp. Size, 8 5
Contains seven lithographed plates.

" Wacousta," " Hardscrabble," " Ecarte," etc., etc.
New York : I Pollard & Moss, 147 John Street. I 1888.
712x5.
2206.. pp.,
NNO
he
ofsitze7gh
No.
paper cover, price 25 cents.
I . offthe P. & M., 12mos., cloth, price 5o cents.

V. PERSONAL Memoirs I of I Major Richardson,
[Author of " Movements of the British Legion," &c.
&c. &c.] I as connected with I the singular oppression of
that officer while in Spain by I Lieutenant General Sir
De Lacy Evans. I — I A man who is too proud to
acknowledge a fault when he is conscious of having committed I one, and thereby wounded the feelings of another, shows himself to be, instead of elevated I rank,
very low indeed in the scale of intellectual worth. His
pride is of the meanest kind, and I to him even more disgraceful than his fault. —Anonymous . I — I Montreal :
Armour & Ramsay : I W. Neilson, Quebec ; R. Stanton,
Toronto ; and J.Macfarlane, I Kingston. I — 11838. I
146-FIV. pp. Size, 9x53%.

VII. WAR of I 1812. I — I First Series. I Containing
a full and detailed narrative I of the I operations of the I
Right Division, I of the I Canadian Army, I by I Major
Richardson, K.S.F. I — 1842. I ( Brockville.,
6+2+184 pp. Size 8q.x5
Published originally in Vol. II. of THE NEW ERA OR
CANADIAN CHRONICLE, a paper published by Richardson,
at Brockville. The first number of Vol. II. was published
on March 2nd, 1842.
This book was the third article for which a copyright
was granted in the Province of Canada.

lvi

,

.

VI. 1. THE I Canadian Brothers ; I or, I The Prophecy
Fulfilled I A tale of the late American War. I — I By
I Major Richardson, I Knight of the Military Order of
Saint Ferdinand, I Author of " Ecarte," " Wacousta,"
&c. &c. I — I In two volumes. I Vol. I. I — I Mon11840. I
treal : I A. H. Armour and H. Ramsay. I
Vol. I. XIV. + 220 pp. Vol. II., 228+ IV. pp.
Size, 7 1A x4.1/1. .
This book, revised and slightly abridged by the author,
was published in the United States under the title of _
" Matilda Montgomerie." The following are the editions
of this work under this title :
2. MATILDA Montgomerie : I or, I The Prophecy Fulfilled. I A tale of the late American War. I Being the sequel
to " Wacousta." I By Major Richardson, I Knight of the
Order of St. Ferdinand. I Author of "Wacousta," "Hardscrabble," " Ecarte," etc., etc. I No place. No date.
No publisher's name. 192 pp., octavo, paper cover.

Entered in 1851 by Dewitt & Davenport, New York.
3. MATILDA Montgomerie : I or, I The Prophecy Fulfilled. I A tale of the late American War. I Being the
sequel to Wacousta. I By Major Richardson, I author of

l vii

VIII. EIGHT Years in I Canada ; I embracing I A Review of the Administrations I of I Lords Durham and
Sydenham, Sir Chas. Bagot, 1 and Lord Metcalfe ; 1 and
including I numerous interesting letters I from Lord Durham, Mr. Chas. Buller, and other 1 well-known public
characters. I — 1 By Major Richardson, I Knight of the
Military Order of St. Ferdinand, I Author of "Ecarte,"
" Wacousta," " The Canadian Brothers," &c. &c.
, &c. I — I De Omnibus Rebus et Quibusdam Aliis.
— 1 Montreal, Canada : I Published by H. H. Cunningham, 5o, Notre Dame Street. I — 1 847. I
232 pp. Size 8 1 2 x5.
S
oonrie. copies contain a lithographed portrait of the
■
au th
■

t

IX. THE I Guards in Canada ; I or, the I Point of
Honor : I being a sequel to I Major Richardson's I
" Eight Years in Canada." I — I Montreal: I Published
for the Author, 1 By H. H. Cunningham. I — 1848. I
5 6 PP. Size 8 1 2 x5
Yellow-coated paper covers. Title nearly as above in
two colors, with border, verso, arms of Great Britain.
Although this book bears the date 1848 on the title
page the registration notice is as follows : " Entered
according to the Act of the Provincial Legislature, in
the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, by

0%%::775

t:1/1

INTRODUCTION

Major Richardson, in the office of the Registrar of the
Province of Canada."

e
frft dteve
atis

2. HARDSCRABBLE I or, the I Fall of Chicago. I A
Tale of Indian Warfare. I By Major Richardson, I Author
of I " Wacousta ; or, The Prophecy," " Matilda Montgomerie; or, The Prophecy I Fulfilled," " Ecarte; or, The
Salons of Paris," etc., etc. I New York : I Pollard &
Moss, 142 Park Place and 37 Barclay Street. 11888. I
I N. pp. Size 7/x5.
No. 87 of the P. and M., t2mos., cloth, price 5o cents.
No. 42 of the Echo Series, paper, price 25 cents.
In Allibone's Dictionary of Authors it is stated that
an edition was published in octavo form in 1856.

XI. WAuNANGEE ; or The Massacre of Chicago. A
Romance. Octavo, paper, twenty-five cents. Long &
Bro. New York and London. 1852.
I have not been able to see a copy of this work. It
may be " Hardscrabble " under another name, or it may
be a sequel to it. " Hardscrabble " describes the events
that took place until the 4th of July, 1812. The
massacre of the garrison at Fort Dearborn took place in
August, hence this book may be a sequel.
XII.

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Morgan gives 1854.
XIII.

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X. t. HARDSCRABBLE ; or, the I Fall of Chicago. I A
Tale of Indian Warfare. I By Major Richardson, j Author
of "Wacousta," "Ecarte," "Matilda Montgomerie," etc.,
etc., I New York : I Robert M. De Witt, Publisher 116o
& 162 Nassau St. I no date, too pp. 8vo., paper cover.
Published probably in 1850.

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SKETCH MAP 01 OPERATI O N S OF THE

RIGHT DIVISIONor CANADIAN ARMY
ANO THE

LEFT DNISIONor AMERICAN ARMY
1812 —'13
Beale of Miles

FOR r
DETROIT

Landing of
='',07./terica.n.X July /2./8/2.

Landing,

of Pritislt /;
My /6./8/2 //
S,brt ny well

_a,tetsh batteries A ups. /1/2

IMeiqcan

SANDWICH

camp /2/2

Buriing4tsFortc...se

e

)iCal

.1371/ is a rnp

July

401•001

. >L5tOU'rt,

/6

FORT
AMHER•TBURD

Aug 5./s.

i

Haet/ ants camp
t 27. /2/3

01001,A_T _TONS

DETROIT RIVER
ON THE >->--

s ---Landi
n
dififThencans

e .4_1:8/8/3

1812 13
-

PL AN
OF

DETROIT
1812

ETROIT RIVER
The site of Port Ponchartrain is shown by the dotted enclosure, at A