Prevost Across The Ice

British Soldier [Source]

From 1812: The War, and Its Moral: a Canadian Chronicle, by William Foster Coffin:

The achievements of 1812 were the household words of my childish days. For three years, I grew up among  the men, and almost among the incidents of the time. In the Spring of 1815, from the Grand Battery at Quebec, I had watched the slow cavalcade which bore Sir George Prevost across the ice of the St. Lawrence, on his return to England.


The Coffin family chronicled here.

General Sheaffe And His Family

British Generals in the War of 1812: High Command in the Canadas, indicated that the belief that General Sheaffe might have been pro-American was "because of his family connections as well as from his conduct."

General Sheaffe's family:

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"Lady Seaffe was Margrate, daughter of John Coffin and a cousin of Lt.-Gen. John and of Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin."

From Wikipedia:

General Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, 1st Baronet (15 July 1763 – 17 July 1851) was a Loyalist General in the British Army during the War of 1812. he was created a Baronet in 1813 and afterwards served as Commander and Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

Major Thomas Merritt, U.E.L. Portrait

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Also see the Memoirs of Major Thomas Merritt, U.E.L. (1759-1842), Cornet in Queen's Rangers (1776-1803) under Col. John Graves Simcoe, Major Commandant, Niagara Light Dragoons, in the War of 1812-14, Surveyor of Woods and Forests, and Sheriff of the Niagara District for about twenty years ([1910])

Another blog post involving Major Merritt here.

Major Merrill's Pistols

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He [Major Thomas Merritt] was appointed Major Commandant of ' 'Niagara Light Dragoons" on June 12th, 1812. He was present at the Battle of Queenston Heights and in Major-General Sheaffe's report is alluded to as follows: "Major Merritt, commanding the Niagara Dragoons, accompanied me and gave much assistance with part of' his corps."

General Proctor's Efforts To Secure Detroit

Correspondence between Colonel Proctor and Major General Sheaffe:

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A partial transcription:

Sandwich Jany 13th 1813
Nothing can be more gratifying to me than to find effectual measures taken to ensure the [British] superiority on the Lakes, so requisite to the security of the Country.  Every exertion is making and shall be preserved in, as far as depends on me, to attain that object.
The Gun Boats are to be built on the Thames.....

After General Hull's surrender of Detroit, [British] General Isaac Brock, from his Headquarter's in Detroit, wrote to Sir George Prevost on August 17, 1812.   Brock left Proctor in charge of Detroit.

All through the winter of 1812-13 General Proctor, with his division of the 41st Regiment at Amherstburgh, the militia of Essex, and the Indians under Tecumseh had been kept busily employed in devices for preventing or retarding the American forces on the other side of the river from crossing into Canada. [Source]

General Brock* left to Colonel Proctor the task of carrying out his promises [to the people of Michigan that their lives, propery, and religious observances would be respected].  In his perplexity, Proctor turned to Judge Woodward, the sole remaining representative of the American Government for advice and aid. The request was made with great hesitation on Proctor's part, and was accepted with equal reluctance on the part of Woodward. [Source]

*General Brock was killed at the Battle of Queenston Heights in October of 1812.

British General Sheaffe

Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, Bart.

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General Sheaffe was at Queenston Heights.

An article was published about General Sheaffe's relatives' 2012 visit to the theater of war.

Queenston Plan Of Battle

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