One of those most revered names from the War of 1812 is that of Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock. Referred to as the “Saviour of Upper Canada,” Brock has roads, churches, universities and towns named after him — but why? Through this chronicle, we are going to delve into who Brock was and why he was so beloved in both life and death.

Andrew Laliberte
Special to Niagara Now/The Lake Report

Though the battle at Queenston Heights was a significant victory for the British and Indigenous forces, proving to the Upper Canadians that an American invasion could in fact be repelled, it was not without cost.

The death of Maj.-Gen. Sir Isaac Brock and his aide-de-camp, Lt.-Col. John Macdonnell, left a mark on the people and soldiers in the Canadas, one which immortalized Brock in particular as a saviour of the colonies.

The reverence displayed for Brock and Macdonnell by generations of Canadians would serve as a testament to the legacy of these two men being symbols of patriotism and heroism.

On Oct. 16, 1812, the bodies of the two officers were moved from Government House where they lay in state, onto gun carriages drawn by a team of horses.

From there, a funeral procession began down the road to Fort George. Soldiers from the garrison, as well as 200 Indigenous allies from their camp on the Commons, flanked the procession as it passed along, with six-pounder artillery pieces firing minute guns.

The procession itself was led by the garrison’s Fort Maj. Donald Campbell, soldiers of the 41st Regiment of Foot, Upper Canadian militia volunteers, and the band of the 41st Foot playing a dirge with drums muffled with black cloth.

Notable officers of the local militia, British regiments and civil staff acted as pall bearers and supporters.

Buried in the northeast bastion of Fort George, Brock and Macdonnell’s funeral was evidently a significant event. Thousands of mourners travelled from across Upper Canada to attend the ceremony, with even a gun salute offered by the American garrison across the river at Fort Niagara.

“No pen can describe the real scenes of that mournful day, a more solemn and affecting spectacle was perhaps never witnessed,” wrote Capt. John Glegg in response to the procession he witnessed.

Following the funeral, a separate condolence ceremony was held by the leadership of Indigenous allies in the area, symbolically placing a white wampum belt across Brock’s grave to protect the site in order that it “receive no injury.”

Interestingly, the graves of the two officers were never disturbed throughout the remainder of the war, even during the American occupation of 1813.

However, the first monument to Brock would not be erected in British North America, but rather back in Britain.

Westminster had passed a bill in 1813 requiring a memorial to be erected to Brock, their reason being that he “died to preserve what Wolfe died to gain” (a reference to Maj.-Gen. James Wolfe, who died in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham).

And so, a Royal Artillery officer and sculptor by the name of Richard Westmacott produced a bas-relief mounted on the wall of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, a project valued at £1,575.

The statue remains in the cathedral today, with the fallen general posed in the arms of a soldier with an Indigenous warrior looking on in solemnity.

In 1814, the Upper Canadian legislature followed suit and passed a motion to erect a monument at Queenston where the general fell, commemorating his actions.

By 1815, a proposed sum of £1,000 was granted by the legislature in order to start a design selection process.

The public officials responsible for organizing the project wrote the general’s family in Guernsey for their input on the design choice, however the response from Willliam Brock was too expensive for the proposed budget.

A Tuscan-style column was instead chosen, designed by engineer Francis Hall.

The project was an estimated £2,200, which was paid for by government grant and public donations.

By October 1824, the initial stages of construction were complete and the second burial of the two officers took place. An even larger crowd assembled for this funeral, with an estimated 8,000 civilians massed between Fort George and Queenston to watch the procession.

The following spring, Hall continued his work on erecting the column, a project that reached its finality in 1827, when the available funding restricted the finished project to a 41-metre-tall column, with an exterior observation deck and enclosed tomb.

The monument was opened to the public and became a popular picnic spot for visitors and veterans of the war.  

Though the first monument was unfinished as per Hall’s plans, the remainder of the work including a statue at the summit would have to wait for future funding to be granted.

However, next week’s chronicle entry will discuss why the completion of Hall’s design would never come to be.

Join the Friends of Fort George at Brock’s Monument this Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at 11 a.m., for a special featured presentation on Brock’s Monuments. Tickets for this special presentation are available here: friendsoffortgeorge.square.site/special-event-tickets.

Andrew Laliberte is a Heritage Interpreter at Brock’s Monument. He has worked at Brock’s Monument for the past three seasons, which completed his undergraduate degree in history at Brock University.