The Story of Isaac Brock | Page 9

hot one can be best judged by the official
returns. Out of 391 rank and file of the 49th in the field, there were 110
casualties--30 killed, 50 wounded and 30 missing. Savery Brock shared
the honours with his brother. Oblivious to a hurricane of bullets, he
rode from sand-hill to sand-hill, encouraging the men until his truancy
was noticed and he was halted by Isaac. "By the Lord Harry, Master
Savery," shouted the colonel, loud as he could pitch his powerful voice,
as the big paymaster strode by, his horse having been shot under him,
"did I not order you, unless you remained with the General, to stay with
your iron chest? Go back, sir, immediately." To which Savery
answered, playfully, "Mind your regiment, Master Isaac. You surely
would not have me quit the field now." Of this intrepid brother Isaac
wrote, "Nothing could surpass Savery's activity and gallantry." Another
of the wounded at Egmont was Lord Aylmer, afterwards
Governor-General of British North America. The loss of the enemy was
estimated at 4,000. Two weeks later the British troops--while suffering
intensely from severe weather--met with a reverse in the field, to which,
through a misunderstanding of orders, their Russian allies contributed.
The Duke of York was ordered to evacuate the country. The campaign

had resulted in much experience and high honour for Brock. Quick to
perceive and learn, his powers of observation on the field had enriched
his mind with lessons in the tactics of war never to be forgotten.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF COLONEL JAMES FITZGIBBON]
In the ranks of the 49th was a young Irishman of superior talents. Brock
was not slow to discover his abilities, and "with a discrimination that
honoured both," he later appointed this combative private
sergeant-major. Still later he procured him an ensigncy in the 49th,
finally appointing him adjutant, promotion that the ability and gallantry
of James FitzGibbon, a Canadian veteran of 1812, and the "hero of
Beaver Dams" (Adjutant-General of Canada, 1837, and Military Knight
of Windsor, 1851), amply justified.
If Brock was quick to appreciate merit, he was no less so in detecting
defects. The Russian soldiers came in for scathing criticism. The type
at Egmont impressed him most unfavourably. The clumsy Russian
foot-soldier was his special aversion. The accuracy of his criticism has
been confirmed by military writers, but this book is not for the purpose
of weighing the quality of Russian valour in Holland. Six thousand of
these Russian allies, the lateness of the season preventing their return
home, were later quartered for six months in Guernsey.
While our hero was a severe military critic, he was never an unjust one,
neither did he spare his own men. Though not a martinet, which was
foreign to every fibre of his nature, he was a stickler for rigid discipline.
When the expedition was recalled, he was first quartered in Norwich,
and then at the old familiar barracks of St. Helier, in Jersey. On his
return to the latter place, in 1800, after leave of absence, he found that
the junior lieutenant-colonel of the 49th--Colonel Sheaffe--had incurred
the reasonable dislike of the men. The regiment was drawn up on the
sands for morning parade, standing at ease. In company with this
unpopular officer Brock appeared upon the scene. He was greeted with
three hearty cheers. The personal honour, however, was lost sight of in
the act of disobedience. Rebuking the men severely for "their most
unmilitary conduct," they were marched to quarters and confined to
barracks for a week. He would not, he explained, allow public

exaltation of himself at the expense of another.
The next year found our hero in the Baltic Sea, aboard the Ganges,
detailed for active duty as second in command of the land forces that
under Lord Nelson were ordered to the attack on Copenhagen. It was
intended that Brock, with the 49th, should lead in storming the
Trekroner (Three Crown) battery, in conjunction with five hundred
seamen; but the heroic defence by the Danes rendered the attempt
impracticable, and Brock remained on the Ganges, an unwilling
spectator of bloodshed in which he took no part. Towards the close of
the engagement--the heaviest pounding match in history--he was on the
Elephant, Nelson's flagship, and saw the hero of Trafalgar write his
celebrated letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark.
As at Egmont, the irrepressible conduct of Savery Brock on the Ganges
gave our hero much concern. Savery, as a former midshipman, was of
course a gunner. While training a quarter-deck gun on the Trekroner
battery his hat was blown from his head and he was knocked down by
the rush of wind from a grapeshot. Seeing this, Brock exclaimed, "Ah,
poor Savery! He is indeed dead." But, to use his own words, it was only
"the hot air