tenant two years later,
and then transferred to
the 49th Foot as a cap-
tain. It was with this regi-
ment, which he ulti-
mately transformed from
one of the worst to
among England’s best,
that he acquired his mili-
tary reputation. Brock
performed service with
the 49th at Barbados and
Jamaica and, by 1797,
had risen to senior lieu-
tenant colonel. As an offi-
cer Brock was a strict
disciplinarian but kindly
disposed toward his men
and therefore respected
by them. Together they
experienced their bap-
tism under fire while part
of Gen. Sir Ralph Aber-
cromby’s expedition to
the Netherlands in 1799. Two years later
Brock’s regiment formed part of an amphibi-
ous expedition against Copenhagen com-
manded by Adm. Horatio Nelson. In neither
engagement was Brock seriously engaged, al-
though he was slightly wounded. The turning
point of his career occurred in 1802, when he
was shipped off to the land for which his
renown is indelibly associated—Canada.
Canada, which had been of growing impor-
tance to the British Empire since the end of
the American Revolution, had yet to coalesce
as a country, or even as a colony. It consisted
of some Loyalist refugees from the United
States, a potentially hostile collection of
French-speaking Canadians, and large num-
bers of Native Americans. Vast, heavily
forested, and thinly populated, it was a mili-
tary backwater for career officers like Brock,
who yearned for distinction by fighting
Napoleonic France. “You who have passed all
your days in the bustle of London,” he com-
plained to his brother in 1811, “can scarcely
conceive the uninteresting and insipid life I
am doomed to lead in this
retirement.” Nonetheless,
for a decade Brock threw
himself into the task of
defending Canada against
a possible American inva-
sion. His military leader-
ship consistently exhibited
two benchmark charac-
teristics: energy and de-
termination.
Brock, a full colonel
since 1805, oversaw con-
struction of numerous
fortifications and gun em-
placements at strategic
places throughout both
Upper and Lower Canada
(now Ontario and Que-
bec). Promoted to major
general in 1811, Brock
also gained appointment
as military administrator
of Upper Canada during
the absence of Lieutenant Governor Francis
Gore. In this capacity he prevailed upon a
balky provincial assembly for two military
programs that would prove essential to Cana-
dian survival in the War of 1812. The first was
the implementation of better management for
the Provincial Marine, which in turn provided
a trained nucleus for naval forces in Upper
Canada. Second and more important was the
creation of elite flank companies for each of
the provincial militia battalions. These forma-
tions were strictly formed by volunteers, were
better trained than most militiamen, and
served as a useful adjunct to the small core of
British regulars in Upper Canada. Brock also
strongly disagreed with the defensive strategy
outlined by his superior, Sir George Prevost,
the governor-general of Canada. Prevost was
pessimistic about Canada’s chances for sur-
vival in a war with the United States and pre-
pared to sacrifice large portions of the coun-
try to preserve Montreal and Quebec. The
aggressive Brock, by comparison, felt that the
only military option was to mount local offen-BROCK, ISAAC
Isaac Brock
National Archives of Canada