British Generals in the War of 1812: High Command in the Canadas PDF
Preview British Generals in the War of 1812: High Command in the Canadas
British Generals in the War of 1812 High Command in the Canadas The Canadian people have faced crises of leadership, but never more seriously than during the War of 1812. Despite the many studies of this turbulent time, there are still controversies over traditional issues, one being the quality of leadership on both sides. In British Generals in the War of 1812 Wesley Turner takes a fresh look at five British Generals - Sir George Provost, Isaac Brock, Roger Sheaffe, Baron Francis de Rottenburg, and Gordon Drummond - who held the highest civil and military command in the Canadas. Fie considers their formative experiences in the British Army and on active service in European and West Indian theatres and evaluates their roles in the context of North American conditions, which were very different from those of Europe. Turner answers questions about the quality of each general's leader- ship, particularly that of Brock, the best known of these five generals. He argues that Brock's charge up Queenston Heights — the basis for his heroic stature - was brave but hardly a demonstration of competent leadership. Turner also shows us that while the other generals displayed courage in combat, they had to face problems raised by American mil- itary successes and by the strains of warfare on the civilian population. British Generals in the War of 1812 explores why these commanders suc- ceeded or failed and why, except for Brock, they are all but forgotten. WESLEY B. TURNER is a recently retired professor from the Department of History at Brock University, This page intentionally left blank British Generals in the War of 1812 High Command in the Canadas Wesley B. Turner McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca © McGill-Queen's University Press 1999 ISBN 0-7735-1832-0 Legal deposit second quarter 1999 Bibliotheque Rationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Funding has also been received from the Faculty of Humanities of Brock University. McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for its activities. We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Turner, Wesley B., 1933— British generals in the War of 1812: high command in Canadas Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-1832-0 i. Generals — Great Britain - Biography. 2. Generals - Canada - Biography. 3. Canada - History - War of 1812 - Biography. 4. Command of troops - History - i gth century. 5. Great. Britain. Army — Officers — Biography. I. Title. KC443-A1T87 1999 355.3'3i'o922i 098-901405-3 4 E35.V87 1999 Typeset in New Baskerville 10/12 by Caractera inc., Quebec City Dedicated to all those who have fought in defence of Canada's freedom This page intentionally left blank Contents Maps ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction: Mr Madison's War 3 1 Generals and Generalship 9 2 Disappointment: The Leadership of Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost 24 3 Audacity: The Leadership of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock 58 4 Prudence: The Leadership of Major-General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe 84 5 Detachment: The Leadership of Major-General Baron Francis de Rottenburg 101 6 Persistence: The Leadership of Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond 113 7 Comparing Generals 141 Appendix A: Chronology of the War of 1812 157 Appendix B: The Military Careers of British and American Officers in the War of 1812 160 Appendix C: Correspondence between the Commander of the Forces and Captain Downie 162 Appendix D: Prevost's Reports to Earl Bathurst 165 viii Contents Abbreviations Used in the Sources 169 Notes 171 Bibliography 239 Index 257 Maps 1 The Canadas, the Maritime colonies, and the northeastern United States a 2 The attack on Sackets Harbor, May 1813 36 3 American piquets around Fort George, summer 1813 40 4 The attack on Plattsburgh, September 1814 48 5 The Niagara frontier 66 6 The Detroit River, 181 a 73 7 The battle of Queenston Heights, October 1812 76 8 The capture of York, April 1813 94 9 The battle of Lundy's Lane, July 1814 124 10 The entrenchments at Fort Erie subsequent to the evacuation in November 1814 130
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