(rousing martial music)
Inhabitants of Canada,
the army under my command has invaded your country.
United States offers you peace, liberty, and security.
Your choice lies between these and war,
slavery and destruction.
We are engaged
in an awful and eventful contest.
We may teach the enemy this lesson.
That a country defended by free men,
enthusiastically devoted to the cause
of their king and constitution can never be conquered.
Prepare to receive the Americans.
Fire!
(yelling and rifles firing)
The Americans.
We know them to have always been the enemy
of the aboriginal nations.
We shall participate in a show to victory
or in a grave.
Fire!
(cannon firing)
(swelling, inspiring music)
At the dawn of the 19th century,
in Canada, there is an unmistakable sense
that war is approaching.
In 1812, the world's great power
look upon Canada as a prize.
A land of limitless resources and unparalleled potential.
The territory is Great Britain's.
A crucial source of timber
to build the ships of the Royal Navy.
Canada is the largest outpost of the British Empire.
The American neighbors to the south
covet Canada's vast reserves of farmland.
Many Americans believe it is their destiny
to control the entire continent of North America.
(military drums beat)
That the United States should seize Canada
is a logical first step to that destiny.
"Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour
"Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power."
A leading role in the defense
of Canada would be played by a general
with a taste for history and poetry,
for epic stories of ancient heroism.
The letters of Isaac Brock foretell a titanic struggle,
of his own role in it.
I wish you would send me some choice authors
in history, particularly ancient with maps
and the best translations of ancient works.
I read in my youth Pope's translation of Homer,
but too lately never discovered its exquisite beauties.
"Now on the field Ulysses stands alone,
"The Greeks all fled, the Trojans pouring on:
"But stands collected in himself and whole,
"And questions thus his unconquer'd soul:
"To die, or conquer, proves a hero's heart,
"and, knowing this, I know a soldier's part."
(birds cawing)
General Brock was born
in the British Channel island of Guernsey
off the coast of France.
He is brought up to be fluent in English, French,
and the art of war.
(epic majestic music)
At Saint Peter's where the Brock family has worshiped
for generations, he is remembered as one of 14 children.
The one given the Biblical name Isaac.
For Isaac Brock, the notions of king and country come early.
In 1802 after service in Europe,
Isaac Brock sails off to find his glory in the British army,
dispatched to hold the last remaining British territories
in North America.
Early letters home reflect a pleasure in his new command,
but a restlessness in a country not yet at war.
We've been uncommonly gay the last fortnight.
Races, country and water parties have occupied our time
in a continued round of festivity.
Such stimulus is highly necessary
to keep our spirits afloat.
(horses hooves clatter)
I have a thousand thanks to offer you.
The different articles arrived in the very best order.
With the exception of the cocked hat
which has not been received.
A most distressing circumstance as,
from the enormity of my head,
I find the utmost difficulty in getting
a substitute in this country.
In 1812, Brock's command encompasses
the immense territory of Upper Canada
with a population of only 80,000:
the people of the First Nations, European settlers,
and exiles from the American Revolution.
If war comes, no one is sure on which side
any of them will fight.
In the 25 years since the American Revolution,
the United States is prospering and growing rapidly.
The U.S. Congress now represents a nation
seven and a half million strong.
The spirit of the republic is captured
by a rising generation of military officers.
Men like Winfield Scott.
The young soldier had heard the bugle and the drum.
It was the music that awoke ambition.
In Europe, England and France
are once again at war.
Throughout the Continent, massive armies clash
in a continuous struggle.
One advantage England maintains is unchallenged
domination of the seas.
British ships are able to blockade European ports
to starve Napoleon of supplies.
But at sea, the British make a fateful error.
The British constantly stop and search American ships.
Not only to enforce the trade blockade,
but to seize American sailors
and force them into the British navy.
The British declare the men are deserters.
In 1812, the United States issues
an ultimatum to Great Britain.
If the naval harassment of American shipping
does not stop, the United States will go to war.
The British government does not take
the American threat seriously.
(soldiers chattering)
In Canada, General Brock is not so sure.
What will be the result
of our present unsettled relations
with the neighboring republic, it is very difficult to say.
The government is composed of such unprincipled men
that to calculate on it by the ordinary rules
of action would be perfectly absurd.
(colonial martial music)
In war with the United States,
Britain's most vulnerable point
is their vast territory in Canada.
Most of England's forces are committed
to the battles in Europe.
There are few to spare for garrison duty in North America.
To defend over 600,000 square miles of land,
there are fewer than 9,000 British and Canadian regulars.
All out for parade.
At the forts in Upper Canada,
there are only 1,700 troops to protect
nearly 1,000 miles of border with the United States.
General Brock has been pleading with London
for more troops, but to no avail.
(simple, peaceful music)
As war nears, British reinforcements are not forthcoming.
Brock is forced to turn elsewhere for support.
He needs to reawaken an alliance
with England's oldest partners in North America.
The First Nations.
To do so, he must overcome suspicion and distrust.
Many native chiefs in Canada see the British
as fair weather friends.
Mohawk war chief John Norton was educated in Scotland
and kept a detailed journal.
Experience has convinced us of their neglect
except when they want us.
Why should we endanger the comfort, even the existence
of our families to enjoy their smiles
only when they need us?
(singing accompanied by drums)
One key native leader
sees things very differently.
The Shawnee war chief Tecumseh has traveled
thousands of miles around North America,
pleading with other First Nations to unite
against the Americans.
Tecumseh sees no other way to stop illegal seizure
of Indian land by the United States.
At first they asked only for land sufficient for a wigwam,
but nothing now will satisfy them
but the whole of our hunting grounds
from the rising to the setting sun.
General Brock despaired that he might
ever conclude a useful alliance with the native leaders.
That changed in the summer of 1812
when he met Tecumseh for the first time
at his forward headquarters in Amherstburg, Upper Canada.
I'm proud to greet such a powerful ally.
Welcome, Tecumseh.
(hushed chattering)
All in attendance recorded
that Brock was astonished by the eloquence of Tecumseh.
We, your Indian allies, are overjoyed
that our father beyond the great salt lake, the king,
has at last awoke from his long sleep
and permitted his warriors to come to the assistance
of his red children.
The Americans came on us suddenly
and destroyed our villages and slew our warriors.
They came to us hungry and they cut off the hands
of our brothers who gave them corn.
We offered them rivers of fish
and they poisoned our springs.
We gave them mountains covered with forests,
valleys full of game, and what did they give us in return?
Rum, trinkets, and a grave.
On our part, we will shed the last drop of blood
in service of our father, the king.
The king.
The native leaders were, in turn,
impressed by General Brock.
The decisive manner in which General Brock
spoke and acted was a very favorable feature.
He was a man of discernment, candor, and rectitude.
At this meeting, General Brock makes
a solemn undertaking on behalf of His Majesty's government.
If the native people join with the British
to save Canada, the British will support their demand
for an independent native country in North America.
Brock wrote to the British government
to underline the importance of the commitment.
I have already been asked to pledge my word
that England would enter into no negotiation
in which their interest were not included.
And could they be brought to imagine
that we would desert them, the consequences must be fatal.
(a capella singing)
Only if we unite against the Long Knives
can we prevail.
Only then will the Maker of Light help us in our cause.
War is coming between the Long Knives
and our British father.
If we side with the British in the coming battles,
we will gain our country.
In Washington, war fever is now rampant.
Ignited by leaders such as former president,
Thomas Jefferson.
He declares that the capture of Canada
will be a mere matter of marching.
Those for war are called War Hawks.
Their Republican leader in Congress, Henry Clay declares,
"We have the Canadas as much under our command
"as Great Britain has the ocean.
"I would take the whole continent from them.
"God has given us the power."
Richard Johnson of Kentucky declares,
"The conquest of Canada is part of America's destiny."
("The Battle Hymn of the Republic")
Andrew Jackson, who will play a fateful role in the war
stakes out America's position.
We are going to fight for the reestablishment
of our national character,
for the protection of our maritime citizens
impressed onboard British ships of war,
to vindicate our right to free trade now perishing,
and to settle once and for all the Indian question
by the conquest of all of the British dominions
upon the continent of North America.
June 18, 1812.
The United States officially declares war
against Great Britain.
The news travels north by voyageur,
taking a week to reach Canada's capital at Fortress Quebec.
The event is captured in the diary of Anne Prevost,
daughter of the governor.
June 25.
I was summoned in the midst of my French lesson
to hear some news that had arrived.
America has declared war against England.
The principle object of the government of the United States
must be the conquest of Canada.
Mr. Madison flatters himself.
He has just seized the fortunate moment
when he might pluck the jewel out of England's crown.
Canada's commander in chief,
Sir George Prevost, is a cautious man.
Realizing his precarious position,
he now wants to avoid provoking the Americans.
Prevost immediately dispatches orders to General Brock
in Upper Canada to avoid any offensive measures whatsoever.
Our numbers would not justify offensive operations
being undertaken unless they were solely calculated
to strike in a defensive attitude.
I consider it prudent and politic to avoid
any such measures which, in effect, have a tendency
to unite the people of the American states.
(razor scraping)
The first effect of the American
declaration of war is division in the British camp.
General Brock is astonished by his orders from Prevost
and immediately informs the commander in chief
of his dissent.
He wants to move quickly to the attack.
The accounts received of war
having been declared by the United States
against Great Britain justify offensive operations.
(birds chirping)
The morning of July 12, 1812.
Inhabitants of Canada, the army under my command
has invaded your country.
The standard of the United States
waves on the territory of Canada.
General William Hull, the 61 year old
governor of Michigan, commands the first ever invasion
by the United States Army onto foreign soil.
United States offers you peace, liberty, and security.
Your choice lies between these and war,
slavery and destruction.
In the vanguard of the invasion force
is the Fourth Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army.
Experienced soldiers who have already fought
against the Indians of the Northwest.
There is also a ragtag mix of militia units
from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
Even some from as far away as the Carolinas.
If the barbarous and savage policies
of Great Britain be pursued,
and the savages let loose to murder our citizens
and butcher our women and children,
this war will be a war of extermination.
No white man found fighting by the side
of an Indian will be taken prisoner.
The Americans are coming.
The American invasion force has penetrated
Upper Canada at the far western end of Lake Erie,
just south of Detroit.
On the first day, the Americans crossed the Detroit River
to occupy the Canadian town of Sandwich,
almost without opposition.
General Brock is determined to rally
both the citizens of Upper Canada
and the native population to his side.
He devises a bold strategy.
With all haste, Lieutenant.
In direct contravention of his orders
from Governor General Prevost, Brock decides
to move to the offensive.
(chanting)
Brock dispatches a handful of voyageurs
and a British officer on a desperate mission.
These men must paddle almost 750 miles in one week.
The voyageurs keep a pace of 45 strokes a minute.
Speed is of the essence and so is secrecy.
This small force has been ordered to arrange
a key surprise attack.
From Fort George, the voyageurs cross Lake Ontario to York,
methodically making their way up the Humber River,
portaging and paddling to Georgian Bay,
onward to the top of Lake Huron,
to the strait which leads into Lake Michigan.
Their objective is a crucial American stronghold,
Fort Mackinac.
(suspenseful string music)
Fort Mackinac is one of the keys
to controlling the Great Lakes.
It holds a commanding view of the strait below.
All ships moving between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron
must pass under its heavy cannons.
Just as Brock has calculated, the American officers
in the fort have no idea that war has been declared
and so are totally unprepared for any attack.
(water splashes against boats and oars)
Forty miles away at the British Fort Saint Joseph,
the attacking force picks up armaments,
more than 500 Indian warriors,
and the armed schooner Caledonia.
(urgent symphonic music)
Under cover of darkness, the attackers cross Lake Huron
and surround Fort Mackinac.
(yelling)
When the British unveil their threat to destroy the fort
and kill everyone inside, the shock value is astounding.
The American fort is instantly surrendered.
I have the honor to transmit herewith
a dispatch this instant received from Captain Roberts
announcing the surrender of Fort Michilimackinac.
The capture of Mackinac may produce great changes
to the westward.
The actual invasion of the province
justifies every act of hostility on the American territory.
(victorious symphonic music)
General Brock has his first victory
and sails off with another force to confront
the American invaders at the western end of Lake Erie.
General, with all due respect--
On the western front,
General Hull and his American invasion force has stalled.
We can take that fort down right now.
Let us fire it and get it done.
Hull's officers are pressing for an attack
on the British Fort Malden.
But Hull suffers a fit of nerves
and seems paralyzed by indecision.
News of the capture of Fort Mackinac to the north
has shaken General Hull's confidence.
He retreats back to Fort Detroit.
In private letters to the secretary of war in Washington,
the general confides a fear that he is now vulnerable
to massive and vicious attacks from native warriors.
I have every reason to expect in a very short time
a large body of savages whose operations
will be directed against this army.
General Hull has also become obsessed
with his long supply lines leading back
into the United States.
His fears are not totally misplaced.
Tecumseh prepares an ambush with 50 attackers.
Although they are outnumbered four to one, they pounce.
(exciting, anticipatory music)
In early August, the warriors make two assaults
on the Americans south of Detroit,
killing and wounding dozens.
The Americans are terrified by the taking of scalps.
(uncertain eerie music)
General Hull has also suffered one other
astonishing piece of bad planning and bad luck.
He has placed a trunkload of his secret military papers,
including his letters to Washington,
on board a schooner called Cuyahoga on Lake Erie.
But the American forces do not control the lake.
The British troops are everywhere.
The Cuyahoga is not a warship
so its defenses are negligible.
(yelling and guns firing)
The British take possession of some
of the Americans' most vital military secrets.
General Brock now knows that the Americans
have vastly overestimated the strength of the forces
they are facing and that they are especially afraid
of Indian attacks.
He makes maximum use of the information.
He prepares an invasion force to cross the Detroit River.
He sends Hull a threatening letter,
aimed right at the American general's greatest fear.
"It is far from my inclination
"to join in a war of extermination.
"But you must be aware the numerous body
"of Indians who have attached themselves to my troops
"will be beyond control the moment contest commences."
It's a bluff.
Hull doesn't know it, but he commands a force
more than double his British opponent.
Even his artillery is more powerful.
But when Brock's guns open up, Hull refuses to fire back.
Hull is afraid that all the inhabitants of the fort,
including his daughter and two grandchildren
will be slaughtered.
Intimidated, fearful, and with his own officers
circulating a petition against him,
Hull decides on capitulation.
America's army of invasion marches out to surrender.
2,500 officers and men with as many rifles and muskets,
39 cannon, and a long supply train
gives up to a force half that size.
America's outrage is expressed by one
of the next generation of U.S. officers, Winfield Scott.
The Patriots stirred with indignation
at the deplorable loss of national character,
life, and property sustained by Hull's surrender
should ask at every turn, what?
Shall not fatuity, ignorance, incapacity, imbecility,
call it what you may, in a commander whatever the rank
be equally punished with cowardice,
or giving aid and comfort to the enemy?
General Hull is taken prisoner
and held for several months in Canada
then sent back to the United States.
There, he is tried and convicted of cowardice
and sentenced to be hanged.
President Madison commutes the sentence,
but Hull goes into history as the author
of one of America's greatest military disgraces.
(rousing victorious music)
After his audacious victory at Detroit,
General Brock is the toast of the British Empire.
Not only has he built a powerful alliance
with the First Nations, but in 19 days,
he has defeated the main body of the U.S. Army.
In Lower Canada, Sir George Prevost knows that Brock
has disobeyed his orders, but in the circumstances,
decides not to make an issue out of it.
He expresses grudging approval of Brock's strategy.
I can assure you of my perfect confidence
in your measures for the preservation of Upper Canada.
All your wants shall be supplied as fast as possible,
except for money, of which I have so little.
Haste, man, haste.
Now at the peak of his power and fame,
Isaac Brock feels a nagging, troubling premonition,
which he confides only to those closest to him.
If this war lasts, I fear I shall do some foolish thing.
General Brock boldly declares
that the entire Michigan Territory
has been reattached to Canada.
Both British and Indian leaders see this
as a possible future independent native nation.
Brock knows that he owes his victory
in large measure to Tecumseh,
and pays the Shawnee chief his highest compliment.
Miss Elliott, Gentlemen, I give you Tecumseh,
a Wellington of the Indians.
(overlapped murmuring)
(officer calls out commands)
The United States has lost a key battle,
but it is far from losing the war.
The American population is 15 times that of Canada.
The Americans have more money, more weapons,
and now, they are looking
to avenge their humiliation at Fort Detroit.
(colonial flute plays) (officer calls orders)
The American army begins to regroup
on the New York side of the Niagara River near the Falls.
On the other side of the Niagara River,
General Brock begins amassing his troops in response.
He knows that his forces will be
dramatically outnumbered and outgunned
and that the Americans are unlikely to be bluffed again.
It will be critical for him to anticipate
where the Americans will try to cross the river, and when.
(suspenseful dramatic music)
The vast number of troops which has been this day
added to the strong force previously collected
on the opposite side convinces me,
along with other indications,
that an attack is not far distant.
You will hear of some decisive action
in the course of the fortnight.
I say decisive because if I should be beaten,
the province is inevitably gone.
Brock anticipates that the attack might come
anywhere along the Niagara River,
from Fort Erie in the south to Fort George in the north.
In fact, it is at Queenston Heights just north of the falls
that the Americans cross
on October 13th, 1812, in the early morning.
(yelling and guns firing)
For the U.S. Army, it is a dangerous crossing.
Oarsman pulling hard through the swirling water
and the sweeping current.
Winfield Scott was there.
In crossing about daylight, the boats have to sustain
a direct plunging fire from the battery on the Heights.
Fire.
Alone, General Brock races
out of his headquarters at Fort George,
headed for the cannons he can hear from Queenston.
He leaves orders to follow with a regiment
as soon as possible.
Every minute counts.
When I arose, I saw General Brock
riding up the road.
I ran immediately to the camp.
The cannonade commenced
which roused the spirits of the warriors.
All ran towards Queenston.
In battles since time immemorial,
armies tried to seize the high ground,
to bring their weapons to bear on the enemy below.
In fierce combat, the Americans capture the British cannon
at the top of Queenston Heights.
The disgrace of Hull's recent surrender
was deeply felt by all Americans.
Those at Queenston Heights resolved
to sustain the shock of the enemy.
Gathering the redcoats,
Brock is just as determined to retake the Heights.
Fire!
Brock had often said
that he would never ask men to go
where he would not lead them.
He gathers a small force and personally launches the charge.
A U.S. Army rifleman spots the general's scarlet tunic
and cocked hat.
(rifle fires)
Hearing that Brock is down, the Mohawks burst from the woods
with terrifying war cries and charge the Heights.
That sound echoes across the river
and is heard by the U.S. militia units
about to embark as a second wave of attack.
The American volunteers are frozen with fear
and come up with a constitutional reason
not to proceed any further.
These vermin who invest all republics,
boastful enough at home, no sooner found themselves
inside of the enemy, than they discovered
that the militia of the United States could not be,
constitutionally, marched into a foreign country.
Because of the American militia's refusal
to cross the river, the first wave
of the U.S. Army attackers is now stranded
on the Canadian side.
The main body of the British and Canadian forces arrives
and advance relentlessly with withering fire
and fixed bayonets.
In the smoke and confusion of battle,
the Americans found it difficult to get their bearings.
Under the threat of the scalping knife,
the tomahawk, and the fire of the British regulars,
the Americans began to withdraw.
But where?
Behind were the cliffs and the whirlpool
and the deep rushing waters of the Niagara River.
Firings on both sides were deadly.
And then followed the partial clash of bayonets.
The Americans by force of overwhelming numbers
were driven from the Heights toward the river.
Here, all were seized with despair.
No boats had arrived.
A formal surrender was made on terms
honorable to all parties.
(melancholy music)
The grief caused by the death of General Brock
threw a gloom over the sensations
which this brilliant success might have raised.
After the battle,
the body of Major General Isaac Brock
is brought back along the river road for requiem services.
Even his American adversaries feel a sense of occasion.
The remains of General Brock were buried
with all honors of war in a bastion at Fort George.
Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, out of respect
for the very high character of the deceased
sent across a request to the American fort opposite,
Niagara, to fire minute guns during the British solemnities.
Thus there was a long, continuous roar
of American and British cannon in honor of a fallen hero.
An express brought news of the Battle of Queenston.
And the death of our noble defender, General Brock.
This excellent officer who was only too prodigal of life.
If he had but reserved his personal exertions
till the reinforcements came up,
which ultimately drove back the invaders,
his country may have had him still.
For Tecumseh and the Indian people,
the death of General Brock is devastating.
Not only have they lost the one British leader they trusted,
they lost the representative of His Majesty's government
who made them the promise of a homeland of their own.
News of the death of General Brock sweeps
across the country and over the ocean.
Throughout Great Britain, church bells peal for him.
On Brock's ancestral island of Guernsey,
the shield and crest of the family is changed,
reflecting pride in the fateful alliance
he made with the First Nations.
In the family church, a lasting testament
is carved over the altar.
In Canada, at Queenston Heights,
overlooking the Niagara River and the American shore,
near the spot where he fell in battle,
a massive monument is raised to honor the memory
of Isaac Brock, the general who saw his destiny
in the lines of ancient poetry.
"Now on the field Ulysses stands alone,
"The Greeks all fled, the Trojans pouring on:
"But stands collected in himself and whole,
"And questions thus his unconquer’d soul:
"To die, or conquer, proves a hero’s heart;
"And, knowing this, I know a soldier’s part.
"Me Greece shall honor, when I meet my doom,
"With solemn funerals, and a lasting tomb."
(expansive symphonic music)