The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of Isaac Brock, by Walter R. Nursey

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Title: The Story of Isaac Brock
Hero, Defender and Saviour of Upper Canada, 1812

Author: Walter R. Nursey

Release Date: March 20, 2006 [EBook #18025]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE STORY OF

ISAAC BROCK

HERO, DEFENDER AND SAVIOUR OF

UPPER CANADA

1812

BY

WALTER R. NURSEY

"By his unrivalled skill, by great
And veteran service to the state,
By worth adored,
He stood, in high dignity,
The proudest knight of chivalry,
Knight of the Sword."
--_Coplas de Manrique._

TORONTO:

WILLIAM BRIGGS

1908

Copyright, Canada, 1908, by WALTER R. NURSEY.

[Illustration: _Frontispiece_ PORTRAIT OF MAJOR-GENERAL
SIR ISAAC BROCK]

A WORD TO THE READER

That Isaac Brock is entitled to rank as the foremost defender of the
flag Western Canada has ever seen, is a statement which no one familiar
with history can deny. Brock fought and won out when the odds were all
against him.

At a time when almost every British soldier was busy fighting Napoleon
in Europe, upon General Brock fell the responsibility of upholding
Britain's honour in America. He was "the man behind the gun"--the
undismayed man--when the integrity of British America was threatened by
a determined enemy.

His success can be measured by the fact that it is only since the war of
1812-14 that the British flag has been properly respected in the western
hemisphere. It is also a fact that after the capture of Detroit the
Union Jack became more firmly rooted in the affections of the Canadian
people than ever.

It must not be forgotten that the capture of this stronghold was almost
as far-reaching in its ultimate effect as the victory of Wolfe on the
Plains of Abraham, and was fraught with little, if any, less import to
Canada.

What with the timidity of Prevost, and the tactical blunders of both
himself and Sheaffe, the immediate in