orant of the armistice, and indeed it did not affect
him, for General Hull had acted under the immediate orders of the
American Secretary at War, and was consequently irresponsible to
General Dearborn, with the aid of the Lilliputian navy of the Lakes,
was maintaining the ascendancy of Great Britain in Upper Canada and
Michigan. He was about indeed to make an attempt upon Niagara, to be
followed by another upon Sackett's Harbour, with that daring,
promptitude and judgment, which was characteristic of the man, when he
received instructions from the Governor General to rest a little.
Following the advice of the Duke of Wellington, Sir George Prevost had
wisely determined not to make a war of aggression with the only handful
of troops that could be spared to him from the scene of prouder
triumphs and of harder and more important struggles. But the American
government, indifferent to the menaces of the Northern Provinces of the
Union, and mistaking for weakness the conciliatory advances of Sir
George Prevost, soon disturbed the rest of the gallant Brocke. Early on
the morning of the 13th of October, a detachment of between a thousand
and thirteen hundred men, from the American army of the centre, under
the immediate command of Colonel Solomon Van Rensellaer,[18] crossed
the river Niagara, and attacked the British position of Queenstown. It
was when Van Rensellaer having himself crossed, and the British had
been driven from their position, that General Brocke, and about six
hundred of the 49th regiment, in the grey of the morning, arrived at
the scene of conflict. The Americans being about the same time
reinforced by the addition of regulars and militia. General Brocke put
himself at the head of the 49th's Grenadiers, and while gallantly
cheering them on, he fell mortally wounded, and soon after died. His
trusty aid-de-camp, the brave Colonel McDonell, fell beside him, almost
at the same moment, never again to rise in life. The 49th fought
stoutly for a time, but, discouraged by the loss of the General, they
fell back and the position was lost. But the fortune of the day was not
yet decided, although Van Rensellaer, with the aid of Mr. Totter, his
Lieutenant of Engineers, had somewhat strengthened the recently
captured position on the heights. Reinforcements, consisting partly of
regular troops, partly of militia, and partly of Chippewa Indians, in
all about eight or nine hundred men, came up about three in the
afternoon, to