Paul Wilson: Did the General sleep here?

The rock star in the War of 1812 – if you live on this side of the border – was a tall, fearless man from the Isle of Guernsey named Isaac Brock.

Surely you’ve come across him this summer, what with all the events marking the bicentennial of that strange war. To many, it’s not even clear who won.

But there’s no doubt about Brock. He was a hero.

The question for today: Can Hamilton somehow bask a little in his legend?

Well, we’re about to try. Something called the Brock Walk begins this Sunday in Toronto, 200 years after Brock headed out from there to rout the Americans at Fort Detroit.

Brock’s Walk stops at Burlington’s LaSalle Park on Monday for a day of re-enactments.

Brock comes to Hamilton

On Tuesday at 10.30 a.m. Brock arrives at Dundurn Castle. The Hamilton Military Museum and the castle’s main floor and basement will be open for free self-guided tours.

And that night, Brock – as portrayed by United Empire Loyalist Bob Rennie – will stroll over to the Scottish Rite, Queen at King, and eat roast beef with members of the UEL.

To work off the meal, he will lead the dinner guests on a wander through Durand, to the very place that Brock himself walked.

All of this does require some faith, as there’s no written record of precisely what Brock did in Hamilton. But many believe he actually spent the night here.

He had stopped at the fine home of James Durand, which commanded the foot of John Street, right by the Escarpment. Brock gathered up some troops there.

Surely he was tired. Surely it made sense to get a good night’s sleep before pushing on.

A handsome plaque

The Hamilton Historical Board has produced a handsome plaque commemorating this very event. A paper version will be unveiled at the Scottish Rite dinner Tuesday and the final product will be mounted later near where Durand’s house stood.

That plaque says Brock "assembled 60 men of the 41st Regiment and about 250 militia on the farm of James Durand, and then stayed the night in Durand's stone house."

It goes on to detail how Brock then pushed on to Brantford, then Port Dover. And they did the last leg in just six days, through rough waters on Lake Erie to the Detroit River.

With the help of Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, Brock forced the Americans into a spectacular surrender. Just two months later, at Queenston, Brock would die. He was not one to lead from the rear. He was shot in the chest, age 43.

So he is worthy of a plaque by the side of the street in downtown Hamilton.

Vanished Hamilton

But did Brock sleep here? Margaret Houghton, archivist with the Hamilton Public Library, has her doubts.

She’s now editing the fourth edition of Vanished Hamilton, to be published this fall. And there’s a chapter on the Durand house. It vanished in 1938, making way for a couple of dozen homes that now line Kingsway Drive.

That chapter on the house was written by historian Marnie Burgess. "She’s a pit bull of a researcher," Houghton says.

And Burgess could find no proof that Brock put his head on a pillow at John South. She does quote from a memoir written 85 years after the fact by James Durand’s son. He said that on that day in August, 1812, Brock and a couple of other officers "took dinner at my father’s house, passing on quickly through the woods. My sister told me of this."

A quick bite here? Sure seems likely. A sleepover? Who’s to say for sure he did not? That’s our Brock-does-Hamilton story, and we’re sticking to it.

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You can read more CBC Hamilton stories by Paul Wilson here.