Some Account of the Public Life of the Late Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart. E. B. Brenton

led the two columns of attack, may be attributed the success of the action; but to Brigadier-General Prevost it must be acknowledged, that to his counsel and arrangements the Commander of the forces attributes the glory of the day."[8]

      The important services of Brigadier-General Prevost upon this expedition, received numerous tributes of approbation from distinguished military characters;[9] and even the French Commander could not refrain from expressing the esteem and admiration with which he regarded his generous enemy.[10] Upon the successful termination of this affair, Brigadier-General Prevost returned to his Government at Dominica, where nothing worthy of notice occurred until the 22d February, 1805, when an unexpected attack was made by a French squadron from Rochefort. The result of that attack was highly creditable to the valour and military talents of the Governor, who after having, with the few troops under his command, disputed inch by inch the landing of the French force, amounting to 4,000 men, and covered by an overwhelming fire from the ships, succeeded in effecting a retreat to the fort of Prince Rupert. The French Commander in Chief, after vainly summoning him to surrender, reimbarked the whole of his troops, and sailed to Guadaloupe.[11]

      The terms in which H. R. H. the Commander in Chief was pleased to express his sense of General Prevost's conduct upon this occasion, were highly gratifying to his feelings.[12] In consequence of his gallant and successful defence of the Colony, General Prevost received a communication from the Speaker of the House of Assembly,[13] conveying to him the thanks of that body, and informing him that a Thousand Guineas had been voted by them for the purchase of a sword and a service of plate, to be presented to him in testimony of their gratitude and approbation.[14] A similar testimonial to the conduct of General Prevost upon this occasion was given by the Patriotic Fund, who voted him a sword of the value of one hundred pounds, and a piece of plate, of the value of two hundred pounds, "for the distinguished gallantry and military talents which he had displayed."[15] From the West India Planters and Merchants General Prevost likewise received a piece of plate to the value of three hundred guineas.[16]

      In July, 1805, General Prevost returned to England.[17] Soon after his arrival he was created a Baronet, and was subsequently appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth.

      In February, 1808, he was selected to command a brigade destined to reinforce Nova Scotia, where he succeeded Sir John Wentworth as Governor, and in December, 1808, he left Halifax, in order to assist in the reduction of Martinique. The expedition sailed from Barbadoes on the 28th of January, 1809, and on the 30th, the troops were landed on the island of Martinique. Sir George Prevost was second in command under General Sir George Beckwith, and to him the management of all the active operations was confided. The result of this expedition was, that the French troops were driven into Fort Bourbon, where they held out until the 24th of February, when the surrender of that fort completed the conquest of the island.[18]

      Upon the conclusion of this short but brilliant campaign, Sir George Prevost passed a few days at Dominica, where he was received with many demonstrations of joy. Addresses were upon this occasion presented to him by the House of Assembly of Dominica, and by the merchants and inhabitants of St. Christophers.[19]

      In the month of April the army returned to Halifax, and from this period until his appointment to the chief civil and military command in British North America, in 1811, upon the resignation of Sir James Craig, Sir George Prevost remained in Nova Scotia, esteemed and beloved by all ranks of the inhabitants. On his departure for his new government, he received the most gratifying addresses from the inhabitants of Halifax,[20] and from the clergy of Nova Scotia, &c. &c.[21]

      Upon the arrival of Sir George Prevost at Quebec in 1811, he found much dissatisfaction and discontent existing in the Lower Province. The inhabitants were divided into two parties, termed the English and the Canadian, and the feelings of hostility with which they viewed each other, had unfortunately not been allayed by the policy which the late Governor in Chief, Sir James Craig, had thought it necessary to adopt during his administration. To such a degree had this party spirit been carried, and so doubtful had he been of the disposition of the Canadians, that it had been thought inexpedient to call out the militia, lest they should make an improper use of the arms to be intrusted to them. Under these circumstances, it was evidently the duty of Sir George Prevost to conciliate, by every means in his power, the confidence and affection of the Canadians, more particularly as in case of hostilities with America, it would have been impossible to preserve Lower Canada without the cordial support of its inhabitants. Sir George Prevost therefore did not hesitate to adopt a system which the true interest of the Province seemed so imperiously to require. He anxiously endeavoured to unite the two adverse parties, and to soothe the irritation which not only threatened the tranquillity of his government, but even the safety of the colony itself. In the distribution of the patronage which he enjoyed, he resolved to be guided solely by a consideration of the public good, and when offices became vacant, he bestowed them, with a due regard to the merits of the individuals, indifferently upon the English and the Canadians.

      The beneficial effects of these measures became every day more apparent. The Governor in Chief speedily acquired the confidence of all ranks of people, who submitted with cheerfulness to the privations and sacrifices which they were soon afterwards called upon to endure. In numerous instances he received from the inhabitants, both collectively and individually, the strongest proofs of their zeal; and he had the satisfaction of seeing them united in their attachment to his government, at a time when the preservation of the colony depended upon such feelings.

      Having thus given a brief sketch of the situation in which the Governor in Chief found the Province of Lower Canada upon his arrival, and of the views and objects which he entertained respecting it, we shall proceed to point out the conduct which he pursued, when, from the aspect of affairs, it became evident that hostilities with America could not be long delayed. No sooner had Sir George Prevost assumed the chief command of the Canadas, than he became sensible of the necessity of placing those provinces in the most efficient state of defence; and he therefore applied himself with the utmost vigour and vigilance to call forth all their resources. It is difficult to believe that the unwearied exertions of Sir George Prevost, with a view to this important object, should have been altogether unknown to the writer in the Quarterly Review. But supposing him to have been ignorant of them, yet without access to the private and confidential correspondence which took place between Sir George Prevost and his Majesty's Government, or to the communications which passed between him and the officers under his command, it was impossible that the Reviewer could form a correct opinion upon the subject. And yet he has not hesitated boldly to assert, that, "in the winters of 1811 and 1812, although the designs upon the Canadas were openly avowed in the American Congress, except the embodying of the militia of the Lower Province, Sir George Prevost made not the slightest preparation for defence."[22] The following statement will show the degree of credit to which this assertion of the Reviewer is entitled.

      In the month of September, 1811, Sir George Prevost arrived in Canada, and in the same month, proceeding from Quebec to the district of Montreal, he inspected the different forts and military positions in that neighbourhood, and on the American frontier. Soon after his return to Quebec in the November following, he communicated confidentially with the Adjutant-General of the forces in England, upon the apprehended hostilities with America. In December he proposed to Lord Liverpool, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, the raising a corps of Fencibles, from the Glengarry settlement in Upper Canada; and in his correspondence with Admiral Sawyer, who commanded on the Halifax station, he requested that a ship of war might be sent, on the opening of the navigation, to the St. Lawrence. In the month of February, 1812, another communication was made to the Secretary of State's Office, in which Sir George Prevost expressed a hope, that the proceedings in Washington would justify him, in making preparations to repel the threatened attack. Those preparations had been commenced as early as November, 1811, by forwarding arms and ammunition to the Upper Province. During the winter of 1811 and 1812, and the spring of the latter year, frequent communications passed between the Commander of the forces and Major-General Brock, who commanded in Upper Canada, respecting the preparations which would be necessary in the event of a war. It was proposed to reinforce Amherstburgh, and Fort George; and supplies of provisions, cavalry-arms, accoutrements and money, were directed to be conveyed to Upper Canada. Accoutrements and clothing for the militia in the Canadas, were requested from the British