Читать книгу The Life and Times of Gen. John Graves Simcoe - D. B. Read - Страница 20
ОглавлениеIntroduction.—Military Career.
early a hundred years have come and gone since the foundation of Upper Canada as a distinct Province was laid, yet up to this time there has never appeared a faithful account of the man who laid that foundation.
Lieut.-Colonel John Graves Simcoe was the son of John Graves Simcoe, Esq., who was Commander of His Majesty's ship Pembroke, and who lost his life in the Royal Service upon the important expedition against Quebec in the year 1759.
Though bred in the Navy the father of Governor Simcoe was equally well educated in the military service. The most striking occurrence of his life, it is said, arose from an accident, improved in a manner peculiar to genius and extensive professional knowledge. The story is that he was taken prisoner by the French, in America, and carried up the St. Lawrence. As his character was little known he was watched only to prevent his escape; but from his observations on his voyage to Quebec, and the little incidental information he was able to obtain, he constructed a chart of that river, and was able to conduct General Wolfe in his famous attack upon the Canadian capital.
Soon after Simcoe's father was killed his mother took up her residence at Exeter, in England, and while living there she sent her young son, John Graves, who afterwards so distinguished himself in several capacities, both military and civil, to the Free Grammar School of that town. At the age of fourteen he was removed to Eton, and from thence, in due course, to Merton College, Oxford. While a schoolboy at the Free Grammar School in Exeter his acquisitions in some departments of knowledge were of a superior kind. He was devoted to the study of ancient and modern literature. He was well versed in modern history, and eagerly devoured every tale of war. Before leaving the University he had mastered Tacitus and Xenophon, ever after his constant friends and companions, whether in the study or on the tented field. At the age of nineteen he obtained an Ensign's commission in the 35th Regiment. This regiment was sent to America, being one of the many regiments sent from England for the purpose of quelling the rebellion of the American Provinces. Ensign Simcoe did not embark from England with his regiment, but he landed at Boston on the memorable day of the Battle of Bunker's Hill, 17th June, 1775. Shortly after this event he purchased command of a company in the 40th Regiment, which he led at the Battle of Brandywine, where the British Commander, Sir William Howe, defeated General Washington and became master of the City of Philadelphia.
The Battle of Brandywine was fought on the 11th day of September, 1777, and was hotly contested by the British troops of the line and Provincials. Captain Simcoe, in command of a company in the 40th Regiment, distinguished himself in the engagement, and Sir William Howe was not only pleased with the success of his army, but thought the occasion one deserving of special honour. The Queen's Rangers, a provincial corps which took part in this engagement, lost a great many men, both officers and soldiers. They performed most essential service in gaining the victory of the day, and this induced the Commander, Sir William Howe, to promise them that all promotions should go with the regiment. Shortly after this affair, on the 15th October, 1777, Sir William Howe was pleased to appoint Captain Simcoe, of the regular service, who was then of the Grenadiers, with the provincial rank of Major, to the command of the Queen's Rangers. The next day he joined the regiment, which was encamped with the army in the vicinity of Germantown, close to Philadelphia. It is matter of history that the Americans made an effort to retrieve their fortune, after their defeat at Brandywine and capture of the City of Philadelphia, by an attack on Germantown, but were repulsed with loss.
The Queen's Rangers, to which Captain Simcoe had been appointed Major, were originally raised in Connecticut and the vicinity of New York, by Colonel Rogers, and their duties, which indeed their name implies, were principally those of scouts or light cavalry. At one time the Rangers mustered four hundred men, all Americans, and all Loyalists. When Major Simcoe joined the regiment, it had by hardships and neglect been reduced in numbers; many gentlemen of the southern colonies, who had joined Lord Dunmore and distinguished themselves under his orders, were appointed to supersede those who were not competent for the commissions they had hitherto borne. To these were added some volunteers from the army, the whole consisting of young men, active, full of love of the service, emulous to distinguish themselves in it, and looking forward to obtain through their actions the honour of being enrolled with the British army.
The Queen's Rangers was in many respects an exceptional regiment, having privileges not accorded to other corps. It was an irregular, independent and mixed corps. They were not regular cavalrymen, but took the place of what would now be called mounted infantry. The regiment was principally composed of light horsemen, but had attached companies of light infantry, and was specially organized for rapid movements, and irregular outposts and skirmishing. The cavalry detachment went under the name of the Queen's Rangers Hussars, composed of men from the corps, who with care and attention became most skilled horsemen.
The origin of this branch of the regiment arose in this way. Shortly after Major Simcoe joined the regiment, upon the march from Germantown to Kensington, Sir William Erskine, in directing what Major Simcoe's duties should be, had told him to call upon him for dragoons whenever he wanted them; upon this, Major Simcoe took the liberty of observing "that the clothing and habiliments of the dragoons were so different from those of the Queen's Rangers (the one being in red and with white belts, easily seen in the distance, and the other in green and accoutred for concealment), that he thought it would be more useful to mount a dozen soldiers of the regiment."
A dozen soldiers was a very small force of cavalry to be attached to a regiment which was principally occupied in outpost duty and skirmishing, making expeditions over the whole region of coast country extending from the Chesapeake to Long Island. But as the war continued, the Hussars were increased to as many as sixty, which, I believe, was the full complement of this portion of the regiment.
While the British army in America was quartered in New York there was published in Rimington's Royal Gazette, in that city, an advertisement which no doubt assisted greatly in adding to the effective strength of the Hussars. The advertisement was as follows:—
Have now an opportunity of distinguishing themselves by joining
