| Sir Patrick Sinclair of Lybster (1736 �
1820); the Army Years (by Dr George Reeves)
George Reeves, who now lives in the General�s house at Lybster, has
kindly summarised a large article on Patrick Sinclair.
Most schoolboys of my generation would have regarded
Wolf�s gallant capture of Quebec in 1760 as the end of fighting in Canada,
and the 1777 American revolution as a different era. For British Officers
in North America the events were linked and the Indians and the French
were never far away.
Patrick Sinclair's Army career spanned these events and
has been recorded by the Journal of the Society for Army Historical
Research , 1978, held in the British Library- "The world's knowledge"
www.bl.uk Here are some highlights
from the account.
DEFEATING THE FRENCH IN CANADA
In 1758 Ensign Patrick in the 2nd Battalion of the Black Watch with three
other related Sinclair officers sailed for the French sugar islands and
fought at Guadeloupe. In 1759 they moved to New York and rested at Albany,
up the Hudson. This was a river and lake war, impossible in winter,
against the French in Canada and the Commander in Chief, General Amherst,
ordered a three pronged attack, General Wolf up the St Lawrence, Niagara,
and west across the Great Lakes. Patrick was briefly on Lake Ontario
before withdrawing to Albany for the winter. By May 1760 they were back on
Lake Ontario, the Naval ships chased two Frenchmen to the "thousand
islands" at the entrance to the St Lawrence, and later escorted the army
in 800 small boats. The Navy ships failed to pass the maze of islands so
the small craft filtered through and captured a French brig. Patrick, now
a Lieutenant, was put in command of the brig and soon was investing Fort
Levis, and was joined by two Naval vessels. The fort's guns beat in a
plank of one ship and forced it to flee, cut the anchor cable of Patrick's
brig, and drove the other Naval ship ashore. The land attack did better so
the French Commandant surrendered and the fort was renamed Fort William
Augustus. Patrick stayed here with his brig, so did not accompany the
small boats on the successful attack on Montreal which caused the French
surrender of Canada. Patrick later rejoined his regiment.
PUSHING THE EMPIRE WEST
New lake ships were built to open the West to trade and establish trading
posts amongst distant Indian nations. These were regarded as independent
countries like Belgium, and in 1763, disappointed by the lack of gifts,
the chieftain Pontiac mustered other Nations and swept away eight western
posts. Detroit was sustained by the brigs on Lake Erie on which Patrick
probably served.
A new Commander in Chief was appointed, General Sir
Thomas Gage, who organised the re-conquest of the west and ordered the
punishment of the Indians. In 1764 Patrick commanded one of the 20 vessels
carrying 1200 troops with 10 field guns under Colonel Bradstreet who
concluded the war by unauthorised treaties.
Patrick constructed Fort Sinclair on the river Huron
with facilities for careening vessels, and was still in charge in 1768
when the Indians freely gave Patrick a deed for the land of the fort. His
relations with the Indians was generally good but his servant was
murdered, the culprits caught but, to Patrick's annoyance, escaped
justice.
ENGLAND AND LYBSTER
The regiment returned to England in 1768 leaving Patrick commanding one of
HM's Vessels on the Great Lakes. In 1769 he was requesting reimbursement
for the cost earlier incurred constructing Fort Sinclair. He returned to
the regiment in England and was recruiting, also petitioning for the post
of Superintendent of Navigation on the Great Lakes. In 1772 he had
inherited Lybster and been promoted Captain but by 1773 was reduced to the
half pay list and seeking employment in Canada and also repayment for his
earlier outlay there.
REVOLT IN AMERICA
By 1775 the American colony was becoming agitated, the UK government
alarmed, and Patrick was given the job of Lieutenant Governor and
Superintendent of the Post of Michilimackinac on the Great Lakes, and from
Glasgow he sailed on the first available vessel, and pretended to be an
Indian Trader. In New York he was arrested by the Provincial Congress, and
next year allowed to return to England, and sailed to Philadelphia which
was in British hands, and wintered there, travelling to Halifax in 1778,
and overland to Quebec in 1779. Another half pay officer had been
surprised by rebel forces and forced to surrender, so General Haldimand
wished only serving officers to command military posts, and held up
Patrick at Quebec. Patrick immediately complained that the division of
civil and military command would not work, but was overridden, and he
asked to return to England! This threat did not work so he arrived in
Michilimackinac in October 1779. The fort was unchanged from when
Pontiac's Indians took it in 1763, so Patrick sought to fortify the nearby
island of Mackinac instead. This was much easier to defend and had a good
harbour.
WAR
In early 1780 an attack on Spanish and French in St Louis on the
Mississippi was ordered. Local traders and trustworthy Indians were
recruited to assist the army, 750 in all, travelled down Lake Michigan and
the Illinois River to the Mississippi. At the Dubuque lead mines 17
prisoners were taken. The force, increased to 1,200, attacked St Louis but
were repulsed and the Indians scattered, and returned to Michilmackinac.
Here Patrick, with the General's approval, was working on the island fort.
The bad news from St Louis made him uneasy but the island fort was unready
so he restored the stockade of the old fort and asked for armed vessels,
materials and men. Another officer retired sick so Patrick was restored to
full pay and military command. Patrick was then involved in various
disputes over who was in command. The vast distances delayed the
resolution of these disputes by General Haldimand. Patrick suggested that
the new Mackinac fort should be named Haldimand !
In 1781 General Cornwallis was forced to surrender in
Virginia. Patrick was promoted to Brevet Major, but the fort expenses rose
to �60,000 in July, so a board of inquiry required Patrick to return to
Quebec to explain to the Treasury. Confused legal cases followed, with
Patrick in Newgate debtor's prison at one stage, but he finally won and in
1793 retired to Lybster to "live in gentile poverty".
WORLD EVENTS
In 1783 the UK and USA signed a treaty in Paris. The French had assisted
the Revolution but by 1789 revolutionary ideas led to the storming of the
Bastille and the beheading of Louis XVI in 1793.
In 1796 Michilimackinac was given to the USA under the
Jay Treaty. |
