service, and holding regular quarter sales. In the Congressional district in which Albany was situated their influence was paramount, and members of the family represented it for twenty years. Stephen, the present head of the house, was an amiable and benevolent but rather dull man of about fifty years of age. On all strictly military subjects, he was compelled to rely upon the advice of his Adjutant-General and cousin, Solomon Van Rensselaer who had been bred a soldier had served in the United States army for ten years, and had held his present appointment for as many more. He had been wounded in Wayne’s campaign against the Indians, and possessed the reputation of a brave and skilful officer.
Remaining but a few hours at Niagara, the indefatigable Brock hurried on to Kingston where he inspected the militia, examined the growing fortifications and wrote to Sir George Prevost for permission to attack Sackett’s Harbor, where the American shipping on Lake Ontario had taken refuge. With his present superiority upon the lake he assured him that its capture would be an easy matter. A portion of the American troops at Niagara would be probably recalled for its relief, and while they were marching overland he would sail up the lake and throw his whole force against the posts they had left. But to the governor this daring scheme of operation seemed far too hazardous, and in reply he desired Brock not to provoke the enemy by needless annoyance, but remain strictly on the defensive, and even hinted that he had risked too much when he ventured to cross the river at Detroit,
This plan having been rejected, Brock returned to Niagara where he found that Van Rensselaer had already given notice of the termination of the armistice. Lewiston Heights were whitened with the tents of a large encampment. Other camps were visible at Schlosser, Black Rock, and in rear of Fort Niagara. Batteries had been erected on the commanding ground opposite Fort George and at Lewiston, and armed with heavy guns. A large flotilla of boats, suitable for the transportation of troops, lay moored under the guns of the fort at the mouth of the river, and others had been taken up to Lewiston. Forty batteaux, each capable of carrying thirty men, were known to have been built in Tonawanda creek. Every day large bodies of men could be seen exercising and marching to and fro, attended by a numerous train of field artillery and detachments of cavalry. Everything pointed to an immediate attack, while Brock found himself at once greatly in want of officers, men, and artillery, and wrote to Prevost that he must have a thousand more regular soldiers to defend that frontier, and the latter replied, that not another man could be spared for Upper Canada under any circumstances. Without delay the British commander set to work to supply his lack of men and means with his wonted energy. Detachments of troops were ordered up from Kingston and down from Amherstburg. Batteries were built and mounted with cannon taken from the fortifications of Detroit. An extensive system of beacons was established stretching from the Sugar Loaf and Point Abino along the lake and river to Lundy’s Lane and Queenston, and thence inland to Pelham Heights, by which the movements of the enemy could be instantaneously signalled over the entire peninsula by night or day. Two thousand captured muskets and the accoutrements of Hull’s regular troops were distributed among the militia of the province. His tireless activity and watchfulness excited the admiration even of his enemies. “I send you Brock’s seal,” Lovett wrote to a friend, “with his appropriate motto; ‘He who guards, never sleeps.’” Earthworks of some description were constructed on every commanding point along the river from Queenston to its mouth, and at any menacing movement of their troops, alarm guns were fired and horsemen galloped out in every direction,
Nor were the embarassments of the British general, from lack of clothing and ready money, less annoying and serious. A number of the wealthier inhabitants, who formed themselves into a company known as the “Queenston and Niagara Association,” had at that critical moment in July, when the fate of the province hung in the balance, loaned him several thousand pounds of ready money which enabled him to equip his expedition for the relief of Malden. The contents of General Hull’s military chest and ten thousand dollars sent him by the Governor-General had enabled him to satisfy the most pressing demands since. But the pay of his troops, both regulars and militia, was several months in arrears, and they were unable to obtain the most trifling article without paying cash for it. They were without tents or camp utensils of any description. Their clothing hung about them in tatters; their shoes were in holes; and they always suffered dreadfully from cold and wet, yet their patience and cheerfulness excited his warmest praise. With the exception of a few men from the militia who generally went to their homes and
