Lieutenant-Colonel Bouchette

Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bouchette, son of the Commodore, began his career in the provincial navy under his father. He made the first survey of the harbor of Toronto in May, 1793, received his appointment as second lieutenant in the following year, serving in the navy until 1796. In 1797, he commanded an armed row-galley which cruised between Montreal and Quebec. His reports seem to have led to the arrest of Colonel McLean, afterwards executed as a spy. He took a military course in 1800. In 1804, he was appointed Surveyor-General of Lower Canada, raised a regiment, Quebec Volunteers, in 1812, and in 1813 was appointed lieutenant-colonel and transferred to staff and intelligence service.

Captain Mundy's Letter

In addition to the Indians sent to patrol the Huntingdon [Canadian] frontier, Governor Prevost, on the arrival of a few regulars from England in the fall, sent a company of the 8th regiment, under the charge of Captain Mundy, to form a depot of provisions at the junction of the English river with the Chateaugay. The headquarters were on the south bank, opposite Dumochelle's rapids, and the men were quartered upon the habitants.

Chateaugay (Chateauguai) River In Quebec, Canada (LOC)

Capt. Mundy, a Scotchman of excellent character and who was much liked by the settlers, showed great energy in the task entrusted to him. He built a small blockhouse, which he filled with all the wheat and oats he could buy, and made arrangements for the supply of pork, beef, and fodder, if needed. The following letter from him shows how he carried on his operations :

6th November, 1812.

Sir, — I am directed by his excellency the governor-in-chief, to order you to use every method possible for immediately sending down the grain, potash, cattle, &c, the property of any settler who may have quitted his land. You .will also cause, with all exertion in your power, grain of every description, as well as cattle, to be brought below the mouth of the English river, the property of the present settlers, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Americans, who are about to invade this country. I will endeavor to cause a lodgement for it, and, if necessary, a guard to be stationed for its protection. The consequence of non-compliance with this order, will my being obliged to resort to a very painful measure, to wit, that of destroying it on your farms, to prevent the enemy reaping the benefit thereof. You will make this known to any settlers in your neighborhood.

I remain, your most obedient servant,

J. Mundy,
Capt. commanding
[Source]

Plan Of Movements At Chateaugay

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Fate Of Prisoners

Old Fort Dearborn

"...fate of more of the prisoners...".

Chicago--Among the prisoners who have recently arrived at this place (says the Plattsburg paper of the 21st ult.) from Quebeck, are James VanHorn, Joseph Knowles, Paul Grommow, Elias Mills, Joseph Bowen, Nathan Edson, Dyson Dyer, James Cobrin and Phelim Corbin, of the First regiment of U. S. infantry, who survived the massacre at Fort Dearborn or Chicago, on the 15th of August, 1812." [Source]

Prisoners' Fate

From Transactions of the Illinois State.....

"The following which treats of the fate of more of the prisoners may be of interest:"

"....James VanHorn, Joseph Knowles, Paul Grommow, Elias Mills, Joseph Bowen, Nathan Edson, Dyson Dyer, James Corbin and Phelim Corbin, of the First regiment of U.S. Infantry, who survived the massacre at Fort Dearborn...".

Canadian Spies

The history of the county of Huntingdon [Quebec] and of the seigniories of Chateaugay and Beauharnois from their settlement to the year 1838 (Published 1888):


The vigilant watch that had been maintained along the frontier was redoubled, and, in addition to the Indian guard, a body of spies was formed from among the settlers in Hemingford and Hinchinbrook, who, from their situation and the intimate relations they kept up with the neighboring settlers on the south side of the line, had great facilities in finding out what was going on in the camp at Chateaugay, N. Y., and without exciting the slightest suspicion on the part of the enemy. Among the most active of these secret-service agents was David Manning, and from the few of his reports still preserved it can be seen that he was a man of education and great shrewdness. Another of the agents, Morris Simpson, from Lacolle, was detected by the enemy, who made arrangements to capture him. Receiving word from a spy that he was staying at Gentle's in Franklin, a detachment was sent from Smith's, and surrounding the house at night found him asleep in bed and took him prisoner without resistance.

Bouchette's Reports

Source [Quebec Pre-War]

From The diary of Mrs. John Graves Simcoe...:

Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph Bouchette('s) reports seem to have led to the arrest of Colonel McLean, afterwards executed as a spy.  In 1804, he (Bouchette) was appointed Surveyor-General of Lower Canada, raised a regiment, Quebec Volunteers, in 1812, and in 1813 was appointed lieutenant-colonel and transferred to staff and intelligence service. In August, 1814, Bouchette left for England, and while there was nominated Surveyor-General under the several articles of the Treaty of Ghent, for establishing the boundary between the United States and His Majesty's possessions in America. 

Apparent Even To The Enemy

Unknown Source

The New Nation Grows... included a section entitled, "A Cowardly Commander Surrenders Detroit."

"The day after the Fort Dearborn massacre General William Hull surrendered Detroit to General Brock, the British commander. Hull's incompetence and cowardice were apparent even to the enemy."

"...[an] account was written by Thomas Vercheres de Boucherville, a French Canadian serving in the British army."

Where POW's Were Fed

Source

THE OLD CONANT HOMESTEAD AT PORT OSHAWA, BUILT IN 1811

Here United States prisoners from General Hull's army, which surrendered at Detroit, were fed while proceeding on their way by boats under guard to Quebec.  

The Afterclap Of The Revolution

An account of the Battle of Châteauguay: ...(published in Montreal):

The War of 1812 has been called by an able historian "the afterclap of the Revolution." The Revolution was, indeed, true thunder--a courageous, and in the main, high-principled struggle. Its afterclap of 1812 displayed little but empty bombast and greed.

Baron Francis De Rottenburg

Source

In May, 1810, he was transferred to the staff in Canada, and took the command of the garrison at Quebec; in the same year he was promoted to the rank of major general. In 1812, on the breaking out of the American war, he was appointed to the command of the Montreal district; and in 1813 he took the command of the troops in the upper province, and was sworn in president of Upper Canada. In 1812, he was promoted to the colonelcy of DeRolls regiment. In 1814 and 1815, he commanded the left division of the army in Canada, and returned to England in September of the latter year. He attained the rank of lieutenant general in 1819 and died at Portsmouth, England, on the 24th April 1832.


From Farewell banquet to Colonel the Baron de Rottenburg, C.B., adjutant general of militia, Canada:

Francais X. Goulet Served

From the Kent County, Ontario, Canada's Historical Society's Papers:

The family traditions generally fix the arrival of Francais Xavier Goulet there [Kent County, Ontario, Canada] and the beginning of his settlement duties on his allotment of lot 154 from Col. Talbot about a year or two earlier or about 1817 or 1818. As the surveyor of the district, Mahlon Burwell had only reached the last lot now in Tilbury on this road and encamped on this spot where the American Colonel Holmes bivouacked in the war of 1812 during the year 1817... .

Francais X. appears to have left his home at St. Jacques de l'Achigan, Montcalm Co. Que. early in the year 1812. His father writes him under date of May 21th. 1812 in a letter addresser "au detroit" beseeching him to return and that his mother was grieved and worried over his absence. President
Madison's proclamation of war soon followed his departure from his French Canadian home and we find the young man at le detroit enlisted with the British forces and serving at Fort Meigs, Riviere au Raisin and Fort Malden. For this service he received a medal from the British government.

Court Martial Of Major General Proctor

From A Collection of the Charges, Opinions, and Sentences of General Courts ...:

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Proposed Atonement For Hull's Defeat

Source

So by degrees Montreal became the focus or centre of American strategy. It was to be in its capture and pillage an atonement for Hull's defeat at Detroit; but man proposes and God disposes. [Source]

Prelude To The Battle of Châteauguay

An account of the Battle of Châteauguay: ...(published in Montreal):

Not reflecting--for he seems to have had the information--that the wood was only fifteen miles or so in depth, the Canadians few in number, and that a short press forward would have brought him into the open country of L'Acadie leading towards Montreal, the American General [Hampton] in two days withdrew along the border towards Châteauguay Four Corners, alleging the great drought of that year as a reason for wishing to descend by the River Châteauguay. At the Corners he rested his army for many days.

When Hampton moved to Four Corners, Lieut.-Colonel De Salaberry, with the Canadian Voltigeurs, moved in like manner westward to the region of the Châteauguay and English Rivers.

De Salaberry was now ordered by him [Sir George Prevost] on the Quixotic errand of attacking with about 200 Voltigeurs and some Indians the large camp of Hampton at Four Corners.

On the 1st of October he [De Salaberry] crept up with his force to the edge of the American camp.  One of his Indians indiscreetly discharged his musket. The [American] camp was in alarm in an instant.

He...withdrew to Chateauguay... taking the precaution...to destroy and obstruct as much as possible in the path of the enemy.

 Acquainting himself also with the ground over which Hampton was expected to make his way into the Province he [De Salaberry] finally stopped selected and took up the position where the battle afterwards took place.

Richmonds In War of 1812

Adam Richmond enlisted in the War of 1812, with his brother Ezra, and they were the first of the ill-fated volunteers who crossed into Canada.  They were under Gen. Dans [Davis]* of Leroy, N.Y.  "He was a straight-forward, energetic, industrious farmer, of good moral character, and strictly temperate in all things."  They lived at Greenbush, Mich.  [Source: JB Richmond book]

Again in September, while the war was in progress at and near Fort Erie, in Canada, news came to us that the British were about to attack the Fort and our troops there must be reinforced.
A sortie was made from the Fort September 17th...A man of our company named Howard was killed, another named Sheldon was wounded in the shoulder, and Moses Bacon was taken prisoner and carried to Halifax.
*In that sortie General [Daniel] Davis, of Le Roy, was killed, and Gen. Peter B. Porter was taken prisoner, and rescued again the same day. We came home after an absence of twenty-four days. [Source]

Adam and David Richmond were witnesses for Abram Butterfield's Pension Application for his War of 1812 service:

Source At Fold3

 "...of the aforesaid Captain Buell's Company or Lieutenant Butler's Company, viz: David Richmond, Adam Richmond, Thomas Howard, Caleb Cooley and Asa Butterfield, and that the aforesaid Thomas Howard, who died on his way to Halifax, Nova Scotia, at Quebec was a prisoner with me being taken by the British at the Battle of Fort Erie."

Journal's August Entries

Earlier View Of Quebec

Excerpts from a Journal of an American Prisoner at Fort Malden and Quebec in the War of 1812:

[August]

16th.—Sunday. Pleasant weather but unpleasant news we herd about noon that Hull had given up Detroit and the whole Territory Mitchigan. The Indians began to return about sunset well mounted and some with horses and chais. Who can express the feelings of a person who knows that Hull had men enough to have this place three times and[19] gave up his post. Shame to him, shame to his country, shame to the world. When Hull first came to Detroit the 4th U. S. Regt. would have taken Malden and he with his great generalship has lost about 200 men and his Territory[29].

Can he be forgiven when he had command of an army of about 2500 men besides the Regulars and Militia of his Territory and given up to about 400 regular troops and Militia and about 700 Indians.

17th.—Monday. Clouday. The news of yesterday was confirmed. The Indians were riding our horses and hollowing and shouting the whole day.

18th.—The Provo Marshal[30] came on board and wanted a list of the Regular Troops, and told us that the Regular Troops[31] were prisoners of war and the militia had liberty to go home. We were taken from the Schooner Thames and put into a little Schooner but every attention paid us that was possible. In the evening we were ordered on[20] board the Elinor. Their was a detachment of prisoners joined us.

19th.—Wensday. Pleasant. I got provisions and medicines on board. The other vessels came from Detroit. Nothing extraordinary through the day.

20th.—Thursday. Rainy. Unpleasant on board. The militia left the river.

21st.—Friday. We drifted out of the river into the Lake. Capt. Brown and Ensign Phillips came on board.

22nd.—Saterday. Clouday but no rain. We sailed to the Three Sisters and lay to for the Sharlott[32], and about 12 o'clock we came to ancor.

Mr. And Mrs. Bacon

Source

Historic Vincennes

A synopsis of Mrs. Lydia Bacon's story was found at the Central Michigan Library's Clarke Library's website (see excerpt below with added link):

Lydia Bacon (1786-1853) accompanied her husband, Josiah, a quartermaster, to his military assignment. She waited at Vincennes...for him to return from the Tippecanoe campaign along the Wabash, then left on horseback to go with her husband's regiment to Detroit. 

From The Detroit News:  

"Mrs. Bacon carried in a bag on the pommel of her saddle a Bible, a copy of Homer's "Iliad," and a "huge Spunge cake." She wrote letters to her 15-year-old sister Abby, her mother and friends in Boston, which later she collected as a memoir of her experiences during the War of 1812."

Colonel, H.R.H., The Duke Of Kent

Source H.R.H The Duke Of Kent

1st Bat. 1st Foot, (or Royals.)

Source

Colonel, H. R. H., the Duke of Kent

Lt. Col. Archibald Stewart

Major John Gordon

Major Thomas Deane

H.R.H., the Duke of Kent was at Kensington Palace, not in Canada, on 8 August 1813.  He lived in Canada before the war started.

How Brock First Learned Of War

Source

(Hint....it was not through Official Channels):

[Robert] Nichol, himself, stated that the first intelligence of the actual declaration of war by the United States was communicated to Brock in seven days from Washington through mercantile connections of his own, and that the government dispatches, announcing that important event, were not received until fourteen days later. [Source]

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