Detail from Push On, Brave York Volunteers, depicting Sir Isaac Brock at the Battle of Queenston Heights, by John David Kelly, 1896 (Wikimedia Commons)
Tomorrow is the 210th anniversary of the Battle of Queenston Heights, 13 October 1812. Although it was a British and Canadian victory that fended off the American invasion of Upper Canada across the Niagara River, Major General Isaac Brock tragically lost his life leading a charge against an American fortification. Brock, who had previously captured Detroit, was a conspicuous figure on the battlefield due to his height (6'2"/188cm), and the sash gifted to him by his friend and ally, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh.
The day is Tuesday, 13 October 1812. The place is the small village of Queenston on the Canadian side of the Niagara River. During the night, the Americans have made their second incursion into the Canadas since the declaration of war in June. They have established a precarious bridgehead on the river bank but are contained by the garrison of British and Canadian regulars and militia in the village of Queenston. But a further landing downstream has required the withdrawal of the grenadier company of the 49th from their commanding position on the heights above the village to deal with that incursion. Worse still, a body of American troops of unknown strength has managed to scramble up the heights, appear behind the British artillery redoubt just below the summit and has captured it and the gun it houses. [...]
Brock leads the light company of the 49th forward, not taking up the usual position of an officer to the right or behind the firing line as the range closes, waving his sword and encouraging the men to follow. A bullet strikes him a glancing blow on the hand but he pays no attention to it. Then, just as he makes a half turn to urge the redcoats to charge in with the bayonet, an American soldier steps out of the trees and takes deliberate aim. Some men of the light company try to bring him down before he can take his shot, but to no avail. At that range there is no mistake: the bullet takes Brock squarely in the chest and he collapses. Several of the 49th gather round him; one poor fellow is all but severed in the middle by a ball and falls across the general’s body. The cry goes up: “Avenge the General!”
— Jonathan Riley, A Matter of Honour: The Life, Campaigns and Generalship of Isaac Brock
