Page:Canadian notabilities 2.djvu/80

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the Baltic under the command of Sir Hyde Parker. Brock took part in the attack on Copenhagen, and at its close he went on board Lord Nelson's flag-ship, and saw the great naval hero write his well-known letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. The 49th returned to England the same year, and in the following spring was despatched to Canada, where it took up its head-quarters at York—now Toronto. A part of the regiment was shortly afterwards placed in garrison at Fort George, under the command of the junior lieutenant-colonel. Here a plot was formed, the origin of which is a matter of some dispute. It seems tolerably clear, however, that the young officer in charge was deficient in tact, and did not understand the management of his men, whom he exasperated by a series of petty annoyances. Whatever may have been the exciting cause, the latter formed a conspiracy to imprison or murder their officer, abandon the garrison, and escape across the river into the United States. The manner of the conspirators was such as to arouse the suspicion of the officer, who wrote to Brock, at York, on the subject. Upon receiving the intelligence the latter at once betook himself to Fort George, where by the promptitude of his measures he soon discovered the whole plot, and arrested the ringleaders, who were tried by a court-martial, found guilty, and shot, at Quebec. Brock was directed to take the command at Fort George, which he did, and soon converted a moody and discontented garrison into a condition of cheerful obedience and subordination.

In the month of October, 1805, he became full colonel, and having obtained a year's leave of absence, he sailed for England. He had been desirous of making this voyage for some months past, as, apart from his natural wish to visit the home of his boyhood, he was anxious to submit to the Duke of York, who was Commander-in-Chief of the British army, a scheme for the formation of a veteran battalion for service in the Canadas. He conceived that the formation of such a battalion would have a most beneficial effect upon the spirit and discipline of the regiments quartered in Canada, where, owing to their proximity to a foreign country, and to the continual inducements held out to them by emissaries from across the lines, the troops were subjected to strong temptatioas to desert. Early in January he submitted his scheme, and on the 17th of that month he received His Royal Highness' thanks for the suggestion, accompanied by an assurance that it should be taken into consideration. In the early summer, owing to the threatening aspect of