John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 Read online

  John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806

  John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806

  A Biography

  Mary Beacock Fryer and Christopher Dracott

  Copyright © Mary Beacock Fryer and Christopher Dracott 1998

  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 for 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.

  Editor: Dennis Mills

  Design: Scott Reid

  Printer: Transcontinental Printing Inc.

  Front Cover photograph: John Graves Simcoe courtesy of the Ontario Government Art

  Collection. Artist: George Berthon

  Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

  Fryer, Mary Beacock, 1929-

  John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806: a biography

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN 1-55002-309-8

  1. Simcoe, John Graves, 1752-1806. 2. Lieutenant governors — Ontario —

  Biography. I. Dracott, Christopher. II. Title.

  FC3071.1S55F79 1998 971.3’02’092 C98-931572-X

  F1058.S79 1998

  1 2 3 4 5 BJ 02 01 00 99 98

  We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the support of the Ontario Arts Council and the Book Publishing Industry Development Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

  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.

  Printed on recycled paper.

  Dundurn Press

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  Dundurn Press

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  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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  M5E 1M6

  OX3 7AD

  CONTENTS

  INTRODUCTION

  PREFACE

  PART I: BEGINNINGS

  1. “Young Graves”

  2. “The Field, Not the Forum”

  PART II: THE DASHING PARTISAN

  3. The Green Jackets

  4. Like a Common Criminal

  5. John André, Edward Drewe, and Benedict Arnold

  6. Spencer’s Ordinary

  7. “This Ill-Managed War”

  PART III: COUNTRY GENTLEMAN

  8. Love in the Blackdown Hills

  9. Wolford Lodge 1783-1787

  10. Into Parliament

  11. The Great Empire Builder

  PART IV: ACHIEVEMENT AND FRUSTRATION

  12. Winter at Quebec

  13. A Vice-Regal Progress and a Royal Visit

  14. Simcoe the Administrator

  15. Simcoe versus Dorchester

  16. Major General

  17. San Domingo

  PART V: GUARDIAN OF THE WESTERN DISTRICT

  18. Threats from France

  19. Troubled Times

  20. A Brief Peace

  21. Universally Lamented

  22. Life After the General

  ABBREVIATIONS

  ENDNOTES

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  APPENDIX: Queen’s Rangers on The Army List.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  INDEX

  INTRODUCTION

  John Graves Simcoe, the subject of this work, was a brilliant soldier and an imaginative tactician. He rose in rank from humble ensign to lieutenant general in the British Army. He was also an administrator of government, civil and military. His adult life divides into three phases.

  The first, and probably the most heroic, was his service as a daring commander of the Queen’s Rangers, a regiment of Provincial troops (men who remained loyal to the Crown) during the American Revolution.

  Second came his service as the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (now Ontario). This province was established in 1791 in what remained of British North America after the Treaty of Separation of 1783, which gave the Thirteen Colonies their independence. In this role he was the imaginative innovator, whose plans were often frustrated by budget-conscious superiors.

  The third phase was his command of the Western District of England (mainly the counties of Cornwall, Devon and part of Somerset) as the 19th century opened. Simcoe was responsible for the defense of these counties in the face of constant threats from France; in fact, he was the senior general on that part of the home front.

  PREFACE

  To tell the complete story of John Graves Simcoe required the work of two authors, one resident in Britain, the other in Canada. In the latter country, Simcoe is lionized as the founder of a province, but his military acumen is often overlooked; in the former he is less well known, beyond a certain fame in the vicinity of Honiton. He was a man of influence locally; his home, Wolford Lodge, was only a few miles outside the town. Christopher Dracott is the Briton, resident near Hemyock, Devon, not far from the site of the Simcoe house (that later burned down and was rebuilt). Mary Beacock Fryer is the Canadian, resident in Ontario.

  Chris became fascinated by Simcoe after he retired as a Detective Chief Superintendent at New Scotland Yard. In 1979, two things happened. He purchased a home in Devon, and his son emigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, Ontario. In both places Chris discovered John Graves Simcoe.

  Mary, growing up in Brockville, Ontario, became acquainted with Simcoe somewhat earlier. One of Simcoe’s associates during the American Revolution was Christopher Billop, the colonel of the Staten Island Militia. Billop was a second cousin by marriage of Mary’s American Loyalist great-great-great-grandfather, Caleb Seaman. Caleb had enlisted in the cavalry troop of the New York Volunteers, a Provincial regiment Simcoe knew well.

  Chris’s strength lies in his knowledge of Devon, his perception of the countryside with its landmarks, and his access to records of Simcoe and his family’s many friends who lived there. Some of the families still own the houses the Simcoes visited before and after the Canada years. Chris is the present chairman of the John Graves Simcoe/Wolford Chapel Advisory Committee. Mary is the author of several books on Provincial Corps of the British Army, American revolutionary era. One is King’s Men: the soldier founders of Ontario. She has also written of Simcoe’s wife, Elizabeth, and of their son Francis.1

  PART I

  BEGINNINGS

  Throughout most of John Graves Simcoe’s life, a backdrop on the world’s stage was the conflict between Great Britain and France. The hostilities embraced both the rivalry between the two imperialist powers over North American colonies and the shifting alliances in Europe. Simcoe’s childhood saw the triumph of Britain over France on the Plains of Abraham, which ended with the loss of most of the French empire in the western hemisphere. That event set the stage for the mood of independence that surfaced within Britain’s own Thirteen Colonies. With the French menace largely gone, the colonists felt secure and ready to take control of their own governments.

  The American success in turn helped spark the flame of republicanism in imperial France, and the revolution that ended the French monarchy. The instability that followed made France susceptible to the aspirations of a Corsican officer in the French Army named Napoleon Bonaparte.

  Simcoe was directly involved in both the American Revolution and
the Napoleonic Wars: as a regimental commander in the British Army that attempted to subdue the American rebels in arms, and as a defender of his home territory against French invasion.

  ONE

  “YOUNG GRAVES”

  John Graves Simcoe was not a native Devonian. He was born in the village of Cotterstock, Northamptonshire, on 25 February 1752, and baptized on 5 March in the parish church of St. Andrew’s. His parents were Captain John Simcoe, Royal Navy, and Katherine Stamford. He was their third child. Two elder brothers had died young. Pawlett William was baptized at Cotterstock on 28 April 1750, and buried on 29 May. The second son, John, was recorded as buried in 1751. A fourth son, Percy William, was born at Cotterstock in 1754.1

  For John Graves’s godfather, Captain Simcoe chose his fellow captain in the Royal Navy, Samuel Graves. A letter sent by Captain Graves, from Maddox Street in London on 9 May 1752 hints that this son was called after his godfather, to distinguish him from Captain Simcoe. Closing his letter, Captain Graves wrote that all sent compliments to “you and Mrs. Simcoe and infant Graves.”2

  Captain John Simcoe had been born at Staindrop, County Durham, in January 1710. His mother was Mary, and his father was William, a local parson. In 1730 John enlisted as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and by 1737 he had attained the rank of lieutenant. Ten years later, in 1747, he was appointed captain of a frigate, HMS Prince Edward. That same year he married Katherine Stamford in the Abbey Church of Walcott (or Walcot) in Bath, (now in Avon County, but then in the county of Somerset).3

  In Georgian England, Bath was an exceedingly popular place to visit. People from all over the country came to see the Roman Baths and to “take the waters.” To go to Bath for the season was, in Georgian parlance, “all the ton” in society circles. At the many parties and balls, mothers would introduce their unmarried daughters into society, hoping to find eligible, preferably wealthy, husbands for them. Not so wealthy young men would also be on the lookout for young heiresses to marry. Neither Katherine Stamford nor Captain John Simcoe, were particularly wealthy, merely “comfortably placed.”

  In 1747 John Simcoe was granted a coat of arms by the Garter and Clarencieux King of Arms. In the College of Arms records he is shown as of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex.4 At that time Chelsea was a pleasant village situated on the banks of the River Thames, a short journey by road or water from London. Chelsea is known worldwide for the Royal Hospital, being the home of the Chelsea Pensioners in their distinctive red uniforms, the Chelsea Flower Show, even a football club. How long John Simcoe lived in Chelsea is unknown, but by 1748 he and his wife had taken up residence in Cotterstock, a delightful village in Northamptonshire. Their home was Cotterstock Hall. According to notes made by their grandson, Henry Addington Simcoe, the family “hired” Cotterstock Hall.5

  Very early, Captain Simcoe gave thought to the education and future conduct of his two surviving sons. In 1754, when young Graves was only two and Percy a babe in arms, he wrote down nineteen maxims entitled “Rules for your Conduct.”6 While some of the advice was religious or sheer patriotism, much was common sense. He warned his sons that he who did not learn to obey could never become qualified to command, and that an officer should never order an inferior to perform any task he could not do himself. The captain may have been aware that the life of a naval officer on active command might not be long. He needed to leave his sons a legacy should he not be there to guide them.

  In 1756 war broke out between Britain and France, (known as the French and Indian War in North America). By 1759, in his ship Pembroke, Simcoe was sailing towards Quebec, escorting troop transports required for General James Wolfe, commander of land forces. Aboard as the Pembroke’s sailing master was James Cook, then being guided by Simcoe in the art of navigation. All summer Wolfe had been bombarding the heavily fortified Beauport shore. With the coming of autumn, he had arrived at a plan that would succeed, by moving his troops upriver in the smaller vessels of his fleet. He was able to land them below the Plains of Abraham, thereby taking the French commander, Montcalm, from behind and forcing his surrender. By that time Captain John Simcoe was dead. He had contracted pneumonia in May, and had been buried at sea off the Island of Anticosti. Young Graves was then only seven, and Percy five.7

  Captain John Simcoe did not leave a will, and Letters of Administration granted to his wife were never administered. Further letters were granted to John Graves Simcoe in March 1786, but no evidence suggests that Mrs. Katherine Simcoe was a wealthy widow. She was comfortable no doubt, but no more than that.8 A memorial placed in St. Andrew’s Church, Cotterstock, bears this inscription:

  To the memory of John Simcoe Esq. late commander of His Majesty’s ship Pembroke who died in ye Royal Service upon that important expedition against Quebeck in North America in the year 1759, aged 45 years. He spent the greatest part of his life in the service of his King and Country ever preferring the good of both to all private views. He was an accomplished officer esteemed for his great abilities in naval and military affairs, of unquestioned bravery and wearied diligence. He was an indulgent husband and tender parent and sincere friend, generous and benevolent to all. So that his loss to the public as well as to his family cannot be too much regretted this monument is erected in honour of his memory by his disconsolate widow Katherine Simcoe 1760. Underneath lie Pawlett William and John sons of the above John and Katherine Simcoe.

  Captain Simcoe’s correct age was forty-nine, not forty-five. People rarely seemed to keep accurate records of their ages in this period of history. Unfortunately the marriage entry at Walcott does not give his age.

  Soon after the death of her husband, Katherine moved, with her two young sons, to the cathedral city of Exeter, in Devon. When he was not at sea in his ship HMS Duke, Captain Samuel Graves lived at Hembury Fort House, only a few miles from Exeter. His intermittent presence probably had a bearing on her decision, although she may have had other friends in the vicinity. Katherine had selected one of the most delightful cities in England. Founded by the Romans c. A.D. 50, Exeter lay in the heart of the territory of the Celtic Dumnonii tribe from whose name comes the County of Devon. The cathedral dates from the 14th century. In the Cathedral Close, both Katherine and her elder son were destined to end their lives, but exactly where they first lived in Exeter is unknown.

  John Graves became a pupil at the ancient Exeter School and went from there to Eton in 1765. In later years he became a founding member of the Exeter School Old Boys Association. 9 The year before he went to Eton, his young brother Percy drowned in the River Exe. The Exeter Flying Post, dated 29 June 1764, reported the tragedy:

  Last Thursday evening Master Simcoe about twelve years of age going into the water with other boys was drowned at a place called Sandy Point between Exwick and Head Wear. After he was taken out of the water endeavour was used for bringing him to life again by rubbing his body with salt etc. etc. but without success.

  Quite likely his elder brother was one of the other boys who went into the water. Even if he had not been a witness to the horror, the loss of young Percy at age ten, not twelve, had a severe impact on him. Overnight he had become an only child.

  On 16 September 1765, Simcoe entered historic Eton College, situated on the banks of the River Thames near Windsor, in Berkshire. He was a medium-sized boy with dark hair and brown eyes. He spoke with more than a hint of broad Devon, with traces of the Midlands.10 No doubt, encouraged or coerced by the masters, he would soon lose much of his regional accent and sound like a proper Etonian.

  His mother paid an entrance fee of two guineas. The school records show that his tutor was Benjamin Heath, an assistant master at Eton from 1763 to 1771. The Eton College Register reveals that Simcoe boarded in a house called “Gulliver’s.” The “Dame” or keeper of the establishment was a lady named Bagwell.11 (Gulliver’s is now divided into small family homes for the masters and is situated on the Eton side of the college precinct.)

  Several of his fellow scholars were from Devon; two of t
hem became his close friends. The first, Vicary Gibbs, was the son of an Exeter surgeon, George Abraham Gibbs. The family lived in Cathedral Close and there Vicary was born. When Gibbs left Eton, he went on to study law. He became a distinguished advocate and at the peak of his career he was appointed as England’s attorney general. He remained a lifelong firm friend of Simcoe’s.

  The second of his particular friends was Jeremiah Mulles, son of a Dean of Exeter Cathedral. Like Gibbs, Milles chose a legal career but he abandoned it quite early in life, following his marriage to a wealthy heiress. Milles’s brother Thomas, also a lawyer, became another of Simcoe’s valued friends and was one of several trustees of his will.12 A poem by William Boscawen written to “Colonel Simcoe on his return from San Domingo” suggests that here was yet another close friend.

  Simcoe was unlucky in his headmaster. Dr. John Foster was a brilliant classical scholar, but very unpopular with the Eton boys, and a notorious flogger. A man of small stature, he was also the son of an Oxford tradesman, and both features made him a subject of scorn by young gentlemen. In his History of Eton College, C. M. Lyte described “The Rebellion of 1768” which began on 2 November when Simcoe was in the fifth form.13 The cause of the outburst was, apparently, a dispute between assistant masters and sixth-form “Praeposters” (who had monitorial authority over fellow pupils). The dispute led to the sixth-form, together with some boys from the fifth and fourth forms, marching from Eton to Maidenhead where they spent the night at Marsh’s Inn, no doubt taking full advantage of the tavern’s hospitality.