The Life and Correspondence of Sir Isaac Brock.
by Ferdinand Brock Tupper.
PREFACE.
In the early part of last year, a box of ma.n.u.scripts and the trunks belonging to Sir Isaac Brock, which had remained locked and unexamined for nearly thirty years, were at length opened, as the general"s last surviving brother, Savery, in whose possession they had remained during that period, was then, from disease of the brain, unconscious of pa.s.sing events. With that sensibility which shrinks from the sight of objects that remind us of a much-loved departed relative or friend, he had allowed the contents to remain untouched; and when they saw the light, the general"s uniforms, including the one in which he fell, were much moth-eaten, but the ma.n.u.scripts were happily uninjured. On the return of the Editor from South America in May last, he for the first time learnt the existence of these effects; and a few weeks after, having hastily perused and a.s.sorted the letters and other papers, he decided on their publication. Whether this decision was wise, the reader must determine.
If, on the one hand, part of their interest be lost in the lapse of years; on the other, they, and the comments they have elicited, can now be published with less risk of wounding private feelings.
It has been the Editor"s study to avoid all unnecessary remarks on the letters in this volume, so as to allow the writers to speak for themselves. But he has deemed it a sacred obligation due to the memory of Sir Isaac Brock, to withhold nothing descriptive of his energetic views and intentions, and of the obstacles he experienced in the vigorous prosecution of the contest--obstacles which his gallant spirit could not brook, and which necessarily exposed "his valuable life" much more than it would have been in offensive operations.[1] He regrets, however, that in the performance of this duty, he must necessarily give pain to the relatives of the late Sir George Prevost, of whose military government in Canada he would much rather have written in praise than in censure.
Brief memoirs are inserted, at the conclusion of the Appendix, of one of Sir Isaac Brock"s brothers, the bailiff or chief magistrate of Guernsey, and of two of their nephews, Lieutenant E.W. Tupper, R.N., and Colonel W. De Vic Tupper, of the Chilian service. The premature fate of these two promising young officers is, to those who knew them best, still a source of unceasing regret and of embittering remembrance.
The notices of the celebrated Tec.u.mseh interspersed throughout the volume, and the connected sketch of him near its close, can scarcely fail to interest the reader; that sketch is drawn from various and apparently authentic sources, and the Editor believes that it is more copious than any which has yet appeared of this distinguished Indian chief. A perusal will perhaps awaken sympathy in behalf of a much-injured people; it may also tend to remove the films of national prejudice, and prove that virtue and courage are not confined to any particular station or country, but that they may exist as well in the wilds of the forest, as in the cultivated regions of civilization.
GUERNSEY, January 15, 1845.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: See pages 275-280, 298, 304, 305, 315-317.]
CHAPTER I.
The Guernsey family of BROCK is probably of English origin, but we have been unable to ascertain the period of its first establishment in the island. The parochial register of St. Peter-Port extends only to the year 1563, soon after which time it contains the name of Philip Brock.
By "Robson"s Armorial Bearings of the n.o.bility and Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland," eight families of the name of Brock appear to bear different arms, one of which was borne by all the Brocks of Guernsey--viz. azure, a fleur de lis or, on a chief argent a lion pa.s.s.
guard. gu.--crest, an escallop or[2]--until the death of Sir Isaac Brock, when new and honorary armorial bearings were granted by the sovereign to his family. Brock is the ancient Saxon name for badger, and as such is still retained in English dictionaries. Froissart,[3] in his Chronicles, makes mention of Sir Hugh Brock, an English knight, keeper of the castle of Derval, in Brittany, for his cousin Sir Robert Knolles, who was governor of all the duchy, and resided in Brest, during the absence of the duke in England. The French overran Brittany at this period, and leaving 2,000 men near Brest, so as to prevent its receiving succours, sat down with "great engines" before the castle of Derval, to the siege of which came the constable of France, the Duke of Bourbon, the Earls of Alencon and of Perche, and a great number of the barony and chivalry of France. The castle being sore oppressed, Sir Hugh Brock was at length constrained to agree to surrender it at the end of two months, if not relieved by that time. Sir Robert Knolles, hearing this, also began to treat with the French; and while at the head of 30,000 men, he was afterwards defeated by Bertrand du Guesclin. These events occurred in the reign of Edward the Third, about the middle of the fourteenth century, when the English were driven out of France; and as Guernsey is in the direct course between Brittany and England, may not one of Sir Hugh Brock"s family, on his pa.s.sage across the Channel, have visited the island and settled there?
The common ancestor of the present Guernsey family of the name of Brock was William Brock, Esq., a native of the island, who died in the year 1776, and was the grandfather of the subject of this volume. He had three sons and one daughter, who became connected by marriage with some of the princ.i.p.al and most ancient families of Guernsey; namely, William, married to Judith, daughter of James De Beauvoir, Esq.;[4] John, married to Elizabeth De Lisle, daughter of the then lieutenant-bailiff of the island; Henry, married to Susan Saumarez, sister of the late Admiral Lord de Saumarez; and Mary, wife of John Le Marchant, Esq[5]
John Brock, Esq., born January 24, 1729, second son of the above-named William, had by his wife, Elizabeth De Lisle, a very numerous family of ten sons and four daughters, of whom eight sons and two daughters reached maturity. He died in June, 1777, at Dinan, in Brittany, whither he had gone for the benefit of the waters, at the early age of forty-eight years.[6] In his youth he was a midshipman in the navy, and in that capacity had made a voyage to India, which was then considered a great undertaking. As he was possessed of much activity of mind and considerable talent, his death was an irreparable loss to his children, who were of an age to require all the care and counsels of a father; the eldest, John, having only completed his seventeenth year. They were left in independent, if not in affluent, circ.u.mstances; but the fond indulgence of a widowed mother, who could deny them no enjoyment, tended, notwithstanding their long minority, to diminish their patrimony.
Isaac Brock, the eighth son, was born in the parish of St. Peter-Port, Guernsey, on the 6th of October, 1769, the year which gave birth to Napoleon and Wellington. In his boyhood he was, like his brothers, unusually tall, robust, and precocious, and, with an appearance much beyond his age, remarkable chiefly for extreme gentleness. In his eleventh year he was sent to school at Southampton, and his education was concluded by his being placed for a twelvemonth under a French Protestant clergyman at Rotterdam, for the purpose of learning the French language. His eldest brother, John, a lieutenant in the 8th, the King"s, regiment, being promoted to a company by purchase, Isaac succeeded, also by purchase, to the ensigncy which consequently became vacant in that regiment, and to which he was appointed on the 2d of March, 1785, soon after he had completed his fifteenth year. He joined in England, and was quartered there in different places for a few years.
Having entered the army at so early an age, he happily felt sensible of his deficiencies of education, and for a long period he devoted his leisure mornings to study, locking the door of his room until one o"clock, to prevent intrusion. In 1790 he was promoted to a lieutenantcy, and was quartered in Guernsey and Jersey. At the close of that year he obtained an independent company, by raising the requisite number of men to complete it, and was put on half pay. He exchanged soon after, by giving the difference, into the 49th, which regiment he joined at Barbadoes, in 1791, and he remained doing duty there, and afterwards at Jamaica, until 1793, when he was compelled to return very suddenly to England on sick leave, having nearly fallen a victim to the pestilential effects of the climate, and an immediate embarkation being p.r.o.nounced his only chance of recovery. His first cousin, Lieutenant Henry Brock, of the 13th foot, who was ill at the same time at Jamaica, died of the fever; and the survivor always thought that he was indebted for his life to the affectionate attentions of his servant, Dobson, whom he subsequently ever treated with the kindness of a brother, until he died in his service shortly before himself, in Canada. The mention of the following trait of great determination of character may serve as a guide to other young officers, similarly circ.u.mstanced. When Captain Brock joined the 49th, the peace of the regiment was disturbed by one of those vile pests of society--a confirmed duellist. Captain Brock soon proved to his brother captain, who took advantage of being a dead shot, that he was neither to be bullied nor intimidated, and the consequence was a challenge from the latter, which was promptly accepted. On the ground, Captain Brock, who was very tall and athletic, observed that to stand at twelve paces was not to meet his antagonist on any thing like equal terms, and, producing a handkerchief, insisted on firing across it. This the duellist positively declined, and being in consequence soon after compelled to leave the regiment, the officers were thus relieved, by the firm and resolute conduct of a very young man, of the presence of one with whom all social intercourse had previously been difficult and dangerous. On his return from Jamaica, Captain Brock was employed on the recruiting service in England, and afterwards in charge of a number of recruits at Jersey. On the 24th June, 1795, he purchased his majority, and remained in command of the recruits until the return of the regiment to England the following year. On the 25th of October, 1797, just after he had completed his twenty-eighth year, Major Brock purchased his lieutenant-colonelcy, and soon after became senior lieut.-colonel of the 49th. This was very rapid promotion for one who had not only entered the army during a period of profound peace, but had been five years an ensign, and, having no interest excepting that which his own merit might have procured him, he was generally considered at that time as one of the most fortunate officers in the service. In a little more than seven years, he had risen from an ensign to be a lieut.-colonel. Owing to gross mismanagement and peculation on the part of his predecessor, who was in consequence recommended privately to sell out, if he did not wish to stand the ordeal of a court martial, the regiment was sadly disorganized; but the commander in chief, the late Duke of York, was heard to declare that Lieut.-Colonel Brock, from one of the worst, had made the 49th one of the best regiments in the service.
In 1798, the 49th was quartered in Jersey, whence it proceeded, to England early the following year, to take part in the projected expedition to Holland, as in 1799 the British Government determined on sending a strong military force to that country, then in alliance with the French republic, which force was to be joined by a Russian army. The first English division, consisting of twelve battalions of infantry, among which was the 49th, and a small body of cavalry, a.s.sembled at Southampton under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and, having embarked, finally sailed from the Downs early in August. On the 26th of that month, the fleet, consisting of fifteen ships of the line, from forty-five to fifty frigates, sloops, and smaller vessels of war, and about one hundred and thirty sail of transports, anch.o.r.ed along the coast of North Holland, from the mouth of the Texel as far as Calants-Oge. Early the next morning, the flank companies were landed, under the protection of the guns of the fleet. An engagement commenced as the British were about to march forward; but being continually reinforced by the arrival of fresh troops, they compelled the enemy to retreat. This warm engagement lasted till four o"clock in the afternoon, and cost the British about 1,000 men. Sir Ralph Abercromby, having become master of the point, or peninsula, of the Helder, completed his landing, entrenched his advanced posts toward the right, and occupied with his left the point of the Helder, and the batteries there which had been evacuated. In these positions he awaited the arrival of the second division, under the Duke of York, the commander-in-chief, which remained in England until news were received of the landing of the first on the coast of Holland. These two divisions were composed of thirty battalions of infantry, of 600 men each, 500 cavalry, and a fine train of artillery.[7] During this campaign, Lieut.-Colonel Brock distinguished himself in command of his regiment, which, on the 2d of October, in the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen, had Captain Archer and Ensign Ginn killed; and Major Hutchinson, Captains Sharp and Robins, Lieutenant Urquhart and Ensign Hill, wounded; Lieutenant Johnston missing, and supposed to be killed, exclusive of nearly one hundred non-commissioned officers and privates killed and wounded.[8] In this action, Lieut.-Colonel Brock was slightly wounded, although his name does not appear in the returns; and his life was in all probability preserved by his wearing, as the weather was very cold, a stout cotton handkerchief over a thick black silk cravat, both of which were perforated by a bullet, and which prevented its entering his neck: the violence of the blow was, however, so great, as to stun and dismount him. The following letter contains some interesting particulars relative to this campaign, and the part taken in it by the 49th.
_Lieutenant-Colonel Brock, 49th regiment, to his brother, brevet Lieutenant-Colonel John Brock, 81st regiment, at the Cape of Good Hope_.
"LONDON, November 26, 1799.
"I was pretty constant in my correspondence with you whilst the regiment was quartered at Portsmouth, and no opportunity offered from thence direct to the Cape without taking letters and newspapers from either Savery or myself, and often from both; but the very active and busy life I have pa.s.sed since put an end to all such communications. Knowing, however, that you will be gratified in hearing from my own pen the various incidents which have occurred since that time, I proceed to give you the substance of them. You will have seen in the public prints that the 49th embarked among the first regiments under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and that the army, amounting to about 10,000 men, after beating the seas from the 8th to the 27th of August, effected a landing near the Helder; that the enemy most unaccountably offered no opposition to our landing; and that, after a well-contested fight of ten hours, he retreated, and left us in quiet possession of the Heights, extending the whole length of the Peninsula. The 4th Brigade, under General Moore,[9] consisting of the Royals, 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d, landed to the left, where the greatest opposition was expected, as it was natural to suppose that so essential an object as the Helder would be defended to the last, but, to our utter astonishment, the enemy gave us no annoyance; on the contrary, soon after the affair on the right had terminated, he evacuated the town, which we took quiet possession of the following morning, and with it the whole of the fleet. The garrison, consisting of 1,600 men, could easily have been intercepted had it not been for a large body of cavalry and a number of cannon, which completely commanded a plain of a mile and a half in breadth, necessary to be crossed to get to them: as we had neither the one nor the other, it would have been the height of folly to attempt it. The regiments which distinguished themselves most on this occasion were the 23d, 27th, and 55th. The evening of our landing, a reinforcement of 5,000 men arrived, but could not disembark until two days after, owing to the badness of the weather.
During all this time the troops lay exposed on the sand hills, without the least shelter to cover them against the wind and rain. At length the army moved forward eleven miles, and got into cantonments along a ca.n.a.l extending the whole breadth of the country, from the Zuyder sea on the one side to the main ocean on the other, protected by an amazingly strong d.y.k.e, running half a mile in front of the line. In this position we remained unmolested until the 10th of September, on which day the enemy made a most desperate attack in three columns, two on the right and one on the centre of the line: he could not avoid being beaten, as it was the most injudicious step imaginable, and his loss was in proportion very great. The Guards, 20th, and 40th, acted conspicuous parts in this affair. The 49th was here again out of the way, with the exception indeed of Savery, whom nothing could keep from going to see what was doing on the right, and as it happened he proved of great use to Colonel Smith,[10] whom he a.s.sisted from the field after being wounded.
The French soldier was taught to consider the British troops as the most undisciplined rabble in the world, and he advanced confident of conquest; but this affair, and others which followed, made him very soon change his opinion. Nothing remarkable occurred after this until the arrival of the Duke of York with the remainder of the British troops and 16,000 Russians, which increased the army to about 35,000 men.
Continued rain, however, prevented any thing being done before the 19th, when the whole army was put in motion. Sir Ralph took 12,000, of which the 4th Brigade formed a part, to the left on the evening preceding, and got possession of the city of Horn the following morning at daylight, without a shot being fired: 200 prisoners were taken. Horn is a very populous, handsome city, and evidently in the interest of the Prince of Orange.
Nothing could exceed the joy of the inhabitants at our arrival, and in proportion as they rejoiced they mourned our departure, which took place before sun-set, in consequence of a fatal disaster which had befallen the Russians on the right. They of course threw the blame off their own shoulders, and wished to attribute the whole misfortune to the want of concert and a proper support on the part of the British; but I verily believe the real fact to be this. After most gallantly driving the enemy before them as far as Bergen, where it was previously arranged they should halt, they dispersed for the sake of plunder;--the French, hearing of this disorder, renewed the attack, and never gave the Russians an opportunity to form, but continued driving them with the bayonet until they encountered a body of English, under General Manners and Prince William, whose brigades suffered considerably. The Russians were, however, thus happily enabled to effect their retreat without further molestation; they were certainly the original cause of this disaster, but whether the British were sufficiently brisk in coming to their a.s.sistance, is doubted. The Russians in their persons are rather short of stature, and very thick and clumsy; they have nothing expressive in their features, but resemble much the Chinese countenance. I remarked an exception to this rule in a grenadier battalion, who, with tall, elegant persons, possessed remarkably fine, commanding faces. The officers in general are the most despicable wretches I ever saw: accustomed, as they have always been, to fight with troops much inferior to themselves, they thought themselves invincible. They take the field with an immense number of artillery, with which they cover their front and flanks, and thus never dreamed it possible, from their former experience, for troops to rally after being once beaten. This fatal security was the cause of the misfortune which befell the allies on the 19th. After the retreat from Horn, the 4th brigade took its station on the right, preparatory evidently to being actively employed; accordingly, on the 2d of October, the weather not permitting it sooner, the brigade a.s.sembled before daylight at Petten, and formed the advanced guard of a column, consisting of 10,000 men, which was to proceed along the beach to Egmont-op-Zee. After every thing had been properly arranged, it moved forward, supported by 1,000 cavalry, under Lord Paget.
It was intended that the reserve, under Colonel M"Donald, should cover our flank, and that the column should rapidly advance to Egmont, in order to turn the flank of the enemy at Bergen. This was, however, prevented by a strong body of the enemy, who engaged the reserve the moment it ascended the sand hills; and although he retreated before the reserve, he constrained Colonel M"Donald to follow in a different direction to that intended, thereby leaving our left flank uncovered. But this did not impede our moving forward, and it was not until we had proceeded five or six miles that we found the least opposition. The enemy then appeared in small force, and the 25th was ordered up the sand hills, but, he having increased, the 79th followed, and it was not long before the 49th was also ordered to form on the left of that regiment. It is impossible to give you an adequate idea of the nature of the ground, which I can only compare to the sea in a storm. On my getting to the left of the 79th, I found that its flank was already turned, and that the ground, which we were to occupy, did not afford the least shelter: my determination was instantly taken. I had gone on horseback to view the ground, and on my return to the regiment, which I met advancing, I found the left actually engaged with the enemy, who had advanced much beyond our left.
I, however, continued advancing with six companies, and left Colonel Sheaffe with the other four to cover our left: the instant I came up to the 79th, I ordered a charge, which I a.s.sure you was executed with the greatest gallantry, though not in the greatest order, as the nature of the ground admitted of none. The enemy, however, gave way on every side, and our loss would have been very trifling had the 79th charged straightforward; but unfortunately it followed the course the 49th had taken, thereby leaving our right entirely exposed. I detached Lord Aylmer[11] with the grenadiers, who, after charging different times, totally cleared our right. The 25th then advanced, and behaved with the greatest good conduct. The enemy after this never attempted to make a stand, but continued to retreat, and their loss on this occasion was very considerable. Nothing could exceed the gallantry of the 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d. For my own part, I had every reason to be satisfied with the conduct of both officers and men, and no commanding officer could be more handsomely supported than I was on that day, ever glorious to the 49th. Poor Archer brought his company to the attack in a most soldierlike manner; and even after he had received his mortal wound, he animated his men, calling on them to go on to victory, to glory; and no order could be more effectually obeyed: he is an irreparable loss to the service. I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat, but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in less than half an hour. Savery acted during the whole day as aide-de-camp either to Sir Ralph or Moore, and nothing could surpa.s.s his activity and gallantry. He had a horse shot under him, and had all this been in his line, he must have been particularly noticed, as he has become the astonishment of all who saw him. We remained that night and the following on the sand hills; you cannot conceive our wretched state, as it blew and rained nearly the whole time. Our men bore all this without grumbling, although they had nothing to eat but the biscuits they carried with them, which by this time were completely wet. We at length got into Egmont, and on the following day (5th) into Alkmaar, where we enjoyed ourselves amazingly. Alkmaar is a most delightful city; but the inhabitants are rank patriots, and none of the higher cla.s.s remained to welcome our arrival. The following day another engagement ensued,[12] in consequence of the Russians advancing further than they were ordered to do: during this severe contest we were snugly in church. It is extraordinary that both parties were so beaten as to find a retreat necessary, as while we retreated to our old position, the enemy was also in full retreat. I shall say no more of the expedition to Holland, as what remains to be added, you will see fully detailed in the papers. I go to Norwich, where the regiment is quartered, this evening. Another expedition is talked of, under Lord Moira.
Adieu."
In the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, seven pieces of cannon, a great number of tumbrils, and a few hundred prisoners, were taken, and the loss of the enemy was estimated as exceeding 4,000 men. Major-General Moore, in whose brigade was the 49th, although severely wounded through the thigh, continued in action for nearly two hours, until a second wound in the face obliged him to quit the field. In his dispatch relative to this battle, the Duke of York observed, that "under Divine Providence this signal victory obtained over the enemy, is to be attributed to the animating and persevering exertions which have at all times been the characteristics of the British soldier, and which on no occasion were ever more eminently displayed." The following extract from this dispatch, dated Alkmaar, 6th of October, will shew the part borne in the engagement by Sir Ralph Abercromby"s division, in which was Major-General Moore"s brigade.
"This was the last event which took place on the side of Bergen; and, as the close of the day was fast approaching, Colonel Macdonald with two battalions was sent to the support of General Sir Ralph Abercromby. The heights of the sand hills, surrounding Bergen for about three miles, remained crowned and possessed by about eleven British battalions. General Sir Ralph Abercromby had marched, according to the disposition, along the beach, with Major-General D"Oyley"s, Major-General Moore"s, and Major General Lord Cavan"s brigades, the cavalry and horse artillery, (the reserve under Colonel Macdonald not having been able, owing to the great extent of the sand hills, to rejoin him, after turning to the left at Campe.) The main body of Sir Ralph Abercromby"s column had proceeded, without meeting with much resistance, in the early part of the day, but was nevertheless much inconvenienced, and his troops hara.s.sed, by the necessity of detaching continually into the sand hills to his left, to cover that flank against the troops whom the enemy had placed in the sand hills. The admirable disposition, however, which he made of his troops, and their determined spirit and gallantry, enabled him to arrive within a mile of Egmont. Here he was seriously opposed by a very considerable corps of French infantry, which occupied Egmont-op-Zee, and the high sand hills in its front, and who had formed a very strong corps of cavalry and artillery to their left. The engagement was maintained during several hours with the greatest obstinacy; and in no instance were the abilities of a commander, or the heroic perseverance of troops in so difficult and trying a situation, more highly conspicuous. Animated by the example of General Sir Ralph Abercromby, and the generals and officers under him, the troops sustained every effort made upon them by an enemy then superior in numbers, and much favoured by the strength of his position. Late in the evening, the enemy"s cavalry, having been defeated in an attempt which they made upon the British horse artillery on the beach, and having been charged by the cavalry under Colonel Lord Paget, was driven, with considerable loss, nearly to Egmont-op-Zee; his efforts then relaxed considerably on the right; and General Sir Ralph Abercromby, having soon after been joined by the reinforcements under Colonel Macdonald, took post upon the sand hills and the beach, within a very short distance of Egmont-op-Zee, where the troops lay upon their arms during the night."
In the battle of the 6th of October, in which the 49th was not engaged, the English and Russians, after gaining some advantage, were suddenly charged by the enemy"s cavalry and separated, so that they could neither support each other nor retain the ground which they had gained. The allied armies were repulsed beyond Bacc.u.m, after having sustained a very severe loss; and as they were unable either to advance or to draw any resources from the country in their possession, their supplies were necessarily obtained from the fleet. The Duke of York, therefore, a.s.sembled a council of war, whose decision was, that the allied forces should fall back and wait the instructions of the British Government. As the season was so far advanced, as the approach of winter was daily making the navigation of the coast more dangerous, and as there was no time to effect diversions or to change the plan of operations, the Duke of York was ordered to evacuate the country. In the meanwhile, as the English and Russians concentrated themselves behind their entrenchments at the Zyp, the enemy pressed upon them, and the Duke of York sent a flag of truce to General Brune, proposing a capitulation on the basis of an armistice, or of the free embarkation of his army. This was agreed to at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October, and thus ended this memorable expedition, the most considerable that had been attempted in modern times up to that period. As the introduction of foreign troops into England was prohibited by the Bill of Rights, the Russians were sent to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, the season not admitting of their return home. About 6,000 were quartered in the latter island, where a disease, contracted by exposure to the marshy grounds of Holland, carried off some hundreds, who were buried at the foot of the hill on which stands Vale Castle, and where their graves are still to be seen.
Their conduct in Guernsey was at first peaceable and orderly;--the inhabitants were surprised at seeing them eat the grease from the cart wheels, and they were also excessively fond of ardent spirits; and, having plenty of money, they indulged in them freely, swallowing large draughts in a raw state. But in June, 1800, while the transports were in the roads to convey them to Russia, a soldier, who was robbing vegetables on a small farm, which had been frequently plundered by his comrades before, was fired at and wounded by the proprietor. This so exasperated the whole body, that fears were entertained of their revenging themselves on the inhabitants generally; and as the British garrison was very small, it required all the tact and conciliation of the lieutenant-governor, Sir Hew Dalrymple, to prevent an outbreak. The Russians embarked, but the guns at Castle Cornet were kept shotted to prevent their relanding.[13] The 49th, on the return of the expedition from Holland, after remaining a short time in England, was again quartered in Jersey, where the fine person and manly bearing of Lieut.-Colonel Brock are still favorably remembered. In return for the many attentions which he and his officers received in that island, he obtained an ensigncy in his own regiment for a young man resident there, whom he afterwards pushed forward in the service, and who died recently a major-general and a companion of the bath. Early in the year 1801, the 49th was embarked in the fleet destined for the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker; and Lieut.-Colonel Brock was second in command of the land forces at the memorable attack of Copenhagen, by Lord Nelson, on the 2d of April. He was appointed to lead the 49th in storming the princ.i.p.al of the Treckroner batteries, in conjunction with five hundred seamen, under Captain Fremantle,[14] of the Ganges, of 74 guns; but the protracted and heroic defence of the Danes rendering the attempt impracticable, Colonel Brock, during the hard-fought battle, remained on board the Ganges; and at its close he accompanied Captain Fremantle to the Elephant, 74, Nelson"s flag ship, where he saw the hero[15] write his celebrated letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. Savery Brock was also on board the Ganges, and while in the act of pointing one of her quarter deck guns, his c.o.c.ked hat was torn from his head by a grape shot: a naval officer, who was present, afterwards described the scene which followed this narrow escape in these words: "I now hear Sir Isaac exclaim, "Ah!
poor Savery is dead!" But Savery was not an instant on his back; in the same moment he rubbed his head, a.s.sured his brother that he was not injured, and fired the gun with as much coolness as if nothing had happened." The effect of the shot pa.s.sing so near him was such that, although a remarkably powerful young man, six feet two inches in height, he was knocked down and stunned for the moment. Of the 49th, Captain Sharp was badly wounded on board of the Bellona, and Lieutenant Dennis was wounded on board of the Monarch, which ship had 55 killed and 155 wounded, exclusive of officers, but including 8 soldiers of the 49th killed, and 20 wounded. In addition to the 49th was a detachment of the 95th, rifles--consisting, we believe, of two companies--under Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable William Stewart,[16] who was senior officer of the troops embarked. As such his name was included in the thanks of Parliament; but we cannot understand why a lieutenant-colonel, with only two companies, was placed over the head of an officer of equal rank with his entire regiment, unless indeed the cause was that Lieut.-Colonel Brock was not an "honorable!" We are not aware that he ever complained of what appears to us to have been an act of injustice to him, and we may therefore be wrong in our view of the subject. The British loss, in killed and wounded, was 953, or 58 more than fell at the battle of the Nile. In mentioning the loss at Copenhagen, Southey, in his admirable Life of Nelson, says, on what authority we know not: "Part of this slaughter might have been spared. The commanding officer of the troops on board one of our ships, asked where his men should be stationed? He was told that they could be of no use; that they were not near enough for musquetry, and were not wanted at the guns; they had, therefore, better go below. This, he said, was impossible--it would be a disgrace that could never be wiped away. They were, therefore, drawn up upon the gangway, to satisfy this cruel point of honor; and there, without the possibility of annoying the enemy, they were mowed down! The loss of the Danes, including prisoners, amounted to about 6,000."
John Savery Brock, of whose gallantry mention is made in the preceding pages, was the next younger brother of Lieut.-Colonel Brock, and had been in the navy; but it being supposed that he was influential, in the year 1790, in inducing his brother midshipmen, of the fleet at Spithead, to sign a round robin against their being subjected to the practice of mast-heading--one having been hoisted up to the gaff end in an ignominous manner, because he refused to go to the mast head as a punishment--he was recommended privately to retire from the service.[17]
Being at this time a tall and high spirited young man of eighteen, it is not surprising that he deemed such a punishment unnecessarily degrading to the feelings of an officer, and which has since been very properly abolished. Had it not been for this circ.u.mstance, it is the opinion of a naval officer of high rank, that Savery Brock would have distinguished himself and risen to eminence in the navy during the late revolutionary wars. Some little time after this affair, being in Guernsey, he wished to go to England, and was offered a pa.s.sage in the Amazon, frigate, Captain Reynolds, afterwards Rear-Admiral Reynolds, who perished in the St. George, of 98 guns, on her return from the Baltic, in 1811. The Amazon, bound to Portsmouth, left the roadstead late in the afternoon, and before she was clear of the small Russel--a dangerous pa.s.sage--night overtook her. By some accident the pilot mistook the bearings, owing to the darkness and thick weather. Savery Brock, being acquainted with the intricate course, was on the fore yard looking out, when he suddenly espied some rocks towards which the frigate was steering. There was no time for communication, and, without hesitating an instant, he cried out in true nautical style: "H-a-r-d up, h-a-r-d up." "H-a-r-d up it is," replied the helmsman. "H-a-r-d up," repeated Savery in a louder key. "Gently, young man," said the captain, who was standing forward.
The ship fortunately bore away just in time to clear the rocks, and was thus saved by the prompt interference of her pa.s.senger. We have often heard him in his latter days tell the story with excusable pride, and he especially remembered how the crew pointed him out the next morning to each other, as the young man who had got the ship out of her danger. As he was without employment, his brother Isaac subsequently procured him the paymastership of the 49th, which he retained only three or four years, the office being one quite unfitted to his previous education and active mind. In 1808, his military zeal induced him to serve for a short time as an amateur aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore, on the Peninsula. He married and settled in Guernsey; and whether as a militia colonel, or in the exercise of a generous hospitality, or, above all, as a projector and zealous promoter of many public improvements in his native island, his memory will long live in the recollection of its inhabitants.
When Kean performed in Guernsey, two or three years before his appearance on the London boards, Savery Brock was enthusiastic in his admiration, and predicted the future eminence of that celebrated tragedian, in whose memoirs his name is gratefully mentioned.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: With a slight variation, the field being gules instead of azure. Motto, Vincit Veritas.]
[Footnote 3: Translation from the French by Lord Berners, vol. 2, chap.
39, 40. London Edition, 1815.]
[Footnote 4: The name of this ancient family, second to none in wealth and station, became extinct in Guernsey, in 1810, on the death of Osmond De Beauvoir, Esq., when his large property was inherited by distant relatives.--_Duncan"s History of Guernsey_.]
[Footnote 5: Major-General Le Marchant and his eldest son, a captain in the Foot Guards, who both fell in Spain during the late war, and Captain Philip Saumarez, who was Lord Anson"s first lieutenant in the Centurion, and was slain in 1747, while commanding the Nottingham, of 64 guns, were members of those families.]
[Footnote 6: Brock street, at Bath, was named after him by the projector, in testimony of friendship.]
[Footnote 7: New Annual Register for 1799, page 395.]
[Footnote 8: See the returns in the New Annual Register, for 1799, Princ.i.p.al Occurrences, page 143. Singularly enough, the loss of the non-commissioned officers and privates in each corps is not given, but the casualties among the officers of the 49th exceeded those of any other regiment engaged on this day, with the exception of the 25th and 92d.]
[Footnote 9: Afterwards Sir John Moore, who fell at Corunna.]
[Footnote 10: Lieut.-Colonel Smith, commanding the 20th, a native of Guernsey, afterwards Colonel Sir George Smith, aide-de-camp to the king.
He died at Cadiz, in 1809, and was a distinguished officer.]
[Footnote 11: The present General Lord Aylmer, G.C.B., formerly governor-general of British North America. He was then a captain in the 49th. See Appendix A, Sec. 1, No. 1.]
[Footnote 12: In this engagement, the gallant Lieut.-Colonel Bainbrigge, of the 20th, was killed. He married Miss Dobree, of Beauregard, Guernsey.]
[Footnote 13: Duncan"s History of Guernsey.]
[Footnote 14: The late Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Fremantle, G.C.B.]