170 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY. 



Ciiarged every day at noon. "The twelve-o'clock gun," when discontinued, was long missed 

 with regret. 



At the time of the invasion in 1812, the garrison of York was manned by the 3rd regiment ol 

 York militia. "We have before us a relic of the period, in the form of the contemporary regimental 

 order book of the Fort. An entry of the 29th of July, 1812, showmg the approach of serious 

 work, has an especial local interest. " In consequence of an order from Major-General Brock, 

 commanding the forces, for a detachment of volunteers, under the command of Major AUan to 

 hold themselves in readiness to proceed in batteaux from the Head of the Lake to-morrow at 

 2 o'clock, the following officers, non-commissioned officers and privates will hold themselves in 

 readiness to proceed at 2 o'clock, for the purpose of being fitted with caps, blankets and haver- 

 sacks, as well as to draw provisions. On then- arrival at the Head of the Lake, regimental coats 

 and canteens will be ready to be issued to them." (The names are then given.) "Capt. Heward, 

 Lieut. Kichardson, Lieut. Jarvis, Lieut. Eobinson. _ Sergeants Knott, Humberstone, Bond, 

 Bridgeford." 



In view of the test to which the citizen-soldiers were about to be subjected,'the General, like 

 a good officer, sought to get them all in good humour. " Major-General Brock," the order-book 

 proceeds, " has desired me [Captain Stephen Heward] to acquaint the detachment under my 

 command, of his high approbation of their orderly conduct and good discipline while under 

 arms : that their exercise and marching far exceeded any that he had seen in the Province. And 

 in particular he directed me to acquaint the officers how much he is pleased with their appear- 

 ance in uniform, and their perfect knowledge of their duty." On the 13th of August, we learn 

 from other sources. Brock was on the Western Frontier with 700 soldiers, including the volun- 

 teers from York, and 600 Indians ; and on the 16th the old flag was waving from the fortress of 

 Detroit ; but, on the 13th of October, the brave General, though again a victor in the engage- 

 ment, was himself a lifeless corpse on the slopes above Queenston ; and in AprU of the following 

 year, York, as we have already seen, was in the hands of the enemy. Such are the ups and 

 downs of war. It is mentioned that " Push on the York Volunteers ! " was the order issuing 

 from the lips of the General, at the moment of the fatal shot. Prom the order-book referred to, 

 we learn that " Toronto " was the parole or countersign of the garrison on the 23rd July, 1812. 



The knoll on the east side of the Garrison Creek was covered with a number of buildings for 

 the accommodation of troops, ia addi.sion to the barracks within the fort. Here also stood a 

 blocldiouse. Eastward were the surgeon's quarters, overhanging the bay ; and further eastward 

 stni, were the commandant's quarters, a structure popularly known, by some freak of military 

 language, as Lambeth Palace. Here for a time resided Major-General .^neas Shaw, afterwards 

 the owner and occupant of Oak HUl. 



On the beach below the knoL. there continued to be, for a number of years, a row of cannon, 

 dismounted, duly spiked and otherwise disabled, memorials of the capture in 1813, when these 

 guns were rendered useless by the regular troops before their retreat to Kingston. The pebbles 

 on the shore about here were also plentifully mixed with loose canister shot, washed up by the 

 waves, after their submersion in the bay on the same occasion. 



From the little eminence just referred to, along the edge of the cliff, ran a gravel walk, which 

 led first to the Guard House over the Commissariat Stores, ia a direct line, with the exception 

 of a slight divergence occasioned by " Capt. Bonnycastle's cottage ;" and then eastward into 

 the Town. Where ravines occurred, cut in the drift by water-courses into the bay, the gulf was 

 spanned by a bridge of hewn logs. This walk, kept in order for many years by the military 

 authorities, was the representative of the path first worn bare by the soft tread of the Indian. 

 Prom its agreeableness, looking out as it did, throughout its whole length, over the Harbour 

 and Lake, tliis walk gave birth to the idea, which became a fixed one in the minds of the early 

 people of the place, that there was to be in perpetuity, in front of the whole town, a pleasant 

 promenade, on which the burghers and their families should take the air and disport themselves 

 generally. Tlie Eoyal Patent by which this sentimental walk is provided for and decreed, 

 issued on the 14th day of July, in the year 1818, designates it by the interesting old name of 

 Mall, and nominates " John Beverley Eobinson, WiUiami Allan, George Crookshank, Duncan 

 Cameron and Grant Powell, aU of the town of York, Esquires, their heirs and assigns forever, 

 as trustees to hold the same for the use and benefit of the inhabitants." Stretching from Peter 



