264 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Detroit altogether before his position became worse, and retreat to the 
Miami, where he hoped to be able to maintain his army until relieved; 
but upon suggesting this to Colonel Cass, that officer remarked that if 
he did this, the Ohio regiments would desert to a man and return to 
their homes” He then wrote to Governor Scott of Kentucky, to Gov- 
ernor Meigs and to Colonel Samuel Wells of the 17th United States 
Infantry, urging them in the strongest terms to despatch troops to his 
assistance without further delay. To the latter officer he wrote :— 
“The fall of Michilimackinac and the tardy operations of our 
army at Niagara, and almost all the Indians having become hostile, 
have totally changed the prospects of this army; my communication is 
almost entirely cut off; there are but small quantities of provisions, and 
the most fatal consequences must ensue unless the communication is 
soon reopened and very strong reinforcements arrive.” ? 
As soon, as General Brock became aware of the declaration of war 
he established his headquarters at Fort George. A letter from Colonel 
St. George, dated July 15th, reached him here on the 20th, giving him 
the first reliable information of the invasion, and also enclosing a copy 
of General Hull’s proclamation and a return of his force captured in 
the schooner Cuyahoga Packet... The misconduct of the militia and 
St. George’s evident irresolution caused him to despatch Colonel Henry 
Procter of the 41st Regiment, a more self-reliant and energetic officer, 
to take over the command. Unless he succeeded in holding the line 
of the Canard River, the speedy fall of Amherstburg and the movement 
of a strong force of the enemy up the Thames must be anticipated. The 
prospect seemed decidedly discouraging. 
“Were it possible to animate the militia to a proper sense of their 
duty,” he wrote to the Governor-General: “something might yet. be 
done, but I almost despair . . . . I am now given to understand 
that General Hull’s insidious proclamation has already been productive 
of considerable effect on the minds of the people. In fact, a general 
sentiment prevails that with the present force, resistance is unavailing. 
I shall continue to exert myself to the utmost to overcome every 
cifficulty.” # ; 
A vigorous counter-proclamation in the composition of which he 
appears to have’ been assisted by Chief Justice Powell, was immediately 
prepared and printed for distribution. No time was lost in recalling 
the men of the Lincoln flank companies who had been allowed to go 

* Hull, Defence, D. 82. 
? Hull to Wells, 11th August, 1812, in Buffalo Gazette, 15th September, 
1812. 
* Brock to Prevost, 20th July, 1812. 
