Our Young Soldier

"Our Young Soldier" Lieutenant Francis Simcoe,

6 June 1791-6 Aprial 1812

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"Our Young Soldier" Lieutenant Francis Simcoe,

6 June 1791-6 April 1812 Mary Beacock Fryer

Dundurn Press

Toronto Oxford

Copyright © Mary Seacock Fryer, 1996 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press Limited. Permission to photocopy should be requested from the Canadian Reprography Collective. Designer: Ron & Ron Design and Photography Printer: Webcom

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Fryer, Mary Beacock, 1929"Our young soldier" : Lieutenant Francis Simcoe, 6 June 1791-6 April 1812 Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55002-270-9 I. Simcoe, Francis Gwillim, 1791-1812. 2. Soldiers-Canada-Biography.

3. Canada-History-1791-1841-Biography. 4. Great Britain-History-1789-1820-Biography. I. Title FC3071.1.S545F79 1996

971.03'2'092

C96-990063-5

F1058.S545F79

Publication was assisted by the Canada Council, the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Ontario Arts Council. Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credit in subsequent editions.

Printed and bound in Canada Dundurn Press 2181 Queen Street East Suite 301 Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 1E5

Dundurn Press 73 Lime Walk Headington, Oxford England OX37AD

Dundurn Press 250 Sonwil Drive Buffalo, NY U.S.A. 14225

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

7 8

Part One: The Canada Years Of a Family, Letters and Journals The Simcoes of Wolford Lodge Quebec November 1791 Newark 1792-1793 War Clouds Quebec and Return to York The Last Year in the Canadas

Part Two: School Days 1796-1807 8. Mr. Copplestone's Pupil and King's School 9. Eton College 1804-1807

11 15 21 29 37 45 52

60 68

Part Three: Ensign Francis Simcoe 10. Dublin Spring 1808 11. At Enniskillen with the Inniskillings 12. The March from Enniskillen to the Cove of Cork

73 81 90

Part Four: Lieutenant Francis Simcoe 13. Corunna, Lisbon, Cadiz 14. First March to Badajoz 15. 1810 First Battle: Bussaco 16. The Lines of Torres Vedras, Olivenza, Badajoz 17. Acting Captain Francis Simcoe 18. Coimbra 1811 and Ciudad Rodrigo 1812 19. The Costly Third Siege, 6 April 1812 20. A Warrior Taking His Rest

99 109 119 130 139 149 157 167

Notes Bibliography Index

173 180 182

"I have an obligation to assist our young soldier." Francis Lord Rawdon, 2nd Earl of Moira

Acknowledgements

ny biography of Francis Simcoe owes much to the writings of his mother, Elizabeth, to her dearest friend, Mary Anne Burges, and to many people in Great Britain and Canada. Hilary Arnold, of York, and Christopher Dracott, of Devonshire, were most generous at sharing their own research. Major George Stephens and Margaret J Mulligan sent valuable material and the cover illustration from the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Regimental Museum in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. Leon Warmski, Jim Suderman and Katrin Cooper were invaluable in helping me with illustrations and with locating Francis Simcoe's letters, journals and maps at the Ontario Archives. Maria Nogueira, of the Portuguese Trade and Tourism Commission, Maria Jose Ibaney, of the Tourist Office of Spain, and Irma Ditchburn, Ontario Government Art Collection, lent photographs. The staff at Dundurn Press and the Metropolitan Toronto Library were wonderful as usual. Carl Benn, Curator of Fort York, read the manuscript and straightened out matters military. Anne Melvin, librarian, Royal Canadian Military Institute. My daughter Elswyth and son Alexander lent their expertise on the computer. My husband, Geoffrey, laboured over the maps with meticulous care. Last, of course, is Francis Simcoe himself, for his own writing and artwork.

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Introduction

map of Southern Ontario seems peppered with two names - and with many other people and places associated with them. One is John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor, his family and friends. The other is Arthur Wellesley Duke of Wellington, his family and many of his officers. Francis Gwillim Simcoe, our hero, was sired by the first, and commanded by the second. Legion are the places named by, or in honour of, the Simcoe connection. Of the governor himself, we have Lake Simcoe (he insisted it was named after his father), Simcoe County and the town of Simcoe in Haldimand-Norfolk. His wife is remembered in the townships of East and West Gwillimbury, and Whitchurch, after the Gwillim home in Herefordshire. The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville are especially lucky with - Bastard, Burgess, Kitley, Wolford, Yonge, Escott. Names associated with Wellington are also legion. Many places were renamed after the hero of the Peninsular War, and Waterloo (in the latter instance a county, a city and a township). In the former Wellington District (now mostly in Wellington County), we find the townships of Arthur, Wellesley, Mornington (the Iron Duke's father was Lord Mornington), Waterloo and Corunna. In addition to Wellington County, we find Wellington village in Prince Edward County, Wellington Square (now Burlington) and Kars. The last seems misplaced, but good folk along the Rideau River wanted Wellington. When they discovered the name had already been taken, they settled for the place where the Turks won a victory over the Russians in 1855. Pakenham township and village, in Lanark County are a reminder of Kitty, Wellington's Duchess. Douro Township was named for the Portuguese river that flows into the sea at Porto (Oporto), and for Arthur Viscount Douro, Wellington's elder son. Picton recalls Sir Thomas, commander of the 3rd Division under Wellington. Kemptville honours Sir James Kempt, one of Picton's brigade commanders and governor in chief of Upper and Lower Canada in 1828. Sir John Colborne, another Peninsular War veteran, was lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (Ontario) 1828 to 1836 and commander of forces in both Canadas during the rebellions of 1837-1838. A township in Huron County, Colborne village in Northumberland County, and Port Colborne, a city on Lake Erie, commemorate Sir John.

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Francis Rawdon Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira, was Simcoe's brother in arms during the American Revolution, and Francis Simcoe's honorary regimental colonel. In Hastings County the Moira River has its headwaters in Rawdon Township and flows into the Bay of Quinte at Belleville The Duke of Richmond, who was host to Francis Simcoe in Ireland in 1808, and at whose ball Wellington was taken by surprise by Napoleon in 1815, was governor in chief of the Canadas in 1818. Richmond is a township in Lennox and Addington County. Richmond village is southwest of Ottawa, while Richmond Hill is a city in the Regional Municipality of York. Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond came to a sad end. He was bitten by a pet fox that was rabid, and he died of hydrophobia, a year after he arrived in the Canadas. The game could go on indefinitely. Moore Township in Lambton County was named for Sir John Moore. A second Corunna in Ontario, a village in Moore Township, lies beside the St. Clair River to the south of Sarnia. Alas, little recalls Francis Simcoe. The governor named an island after him, but the location is obscure. Castle Frank, the Simcoes' summer home above the Don Valley, burned down in 1829. The name was kept alive by a street name, and by Toronto Transit Commission which called one of its subway stations Castle Frank, rather prosaic. We have Frankford, in Hastings County, apparently named by Sir Francis Bond Head, after himself. Frankville, in Kitley Township, Leeds and Grenville, is a more promising location, but the connection would be difficult to establish. Perhaps, someone who enjoys this deliberately popular biography will be tempted to use Francis Simcoe's name somewhere.

Major General John Graves Simcoe in a red coat. He wore green only for duty with the Queen's Rangers.

Part One

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