Brock's Monument

Historical monument in Canada

Brock's Monument is a 56 metre (185 ft) column atop Queenston Heights in Queenston, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to Major General Sir Isaac Brock, one of Canada's heroes of the War of 1812. Brock, a British Army officer in charge of defending Upper Canada from a United States invasion, and one of his aides de camp, Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonell, are interred at the monument's base on the heights above the battlefield where both fell during the Battle of Queenston Heights. The current monument was constructed between 1853 and 1856, which replaced an earlier Monument to Brock on the battlefield (1824–1840). Parks Canada maintains the monument, the most imposing feature of Queenston Heights National Historic Site. It is the fourth oldest war memorial in Canada.

Brock died by gunshot wound to the chest on the morning of October 13, 1812, leading a charge of British regulars and Canadian militia up the Heights to regain the Redan Battery, earlier captured by American infantry forces under Captain John Wool. One of Brock's aides de camp, John Macdonell was also mortally wounded while attempting to lead a subsequent abortive charge when his mount was shot from beneath him and fell on him. The combined British, Canadian, and First Nations forces eventually won a resounding victory under the command of Major General Roger Hale Sheaffe. Brock and his aide were initially buried in the north east corner of Fort George in nearby Niagara on the Lake. This corner has come to be known as Brock's Bastion and is immortalized as such by a small stone bearing that inscription. A campaign began among prominent Upper Canadians to honour Brock, whose dramatic death provided a rallying point during and after the war as a symbol of Canadian independence from the United States. This led to the erection of the first Brock's Monument, a 135 foot (41.1m) Tuscan column with a viewing platform at the top. Construction began in 1823, and the monument was inaugurated October 13, 1824. During its construction, William Lyon Mackenzie suggested that a capsule be sealed within the monument containing an inscription written by Mackenzie, coins, a copy of the Upper Canada Gazette and the first issue of the Colonial Advocate. The Upper Canada Lieutenant Governor Peregrine Maitland ordered its removal because he did not want to include a newspaper critical of the government in the monument. On April 17, 1840, an explosive charge did serious and irreparable damage to the monument although it failed to bring it down. The attack was presumed to have been orchestrated by Benjamin Lett, an anti British agitator and participant in the 1837 Rebellion although a subsequent Assize failed to confirm this. Brock and Macdonell's remains were removed after the monument's disassemblage and reinterred in the Hamilton Family Burial Grounds at Niagara Parkway and Dee Road in Queenston.

The main entrance is flanked by two large mulberry trees believed to have been planted during the 1850s. Inside the monument's base are a number of brass plaques: Brock and Macdonell's epitaphs, a list of donors and builders, and a tribute to the British, Canadian, and First Nations soldiers who died at the Battle of Queenston Heights. The two bodies are interred in crypts within the limestone walls. More recent educational displays outline Brock's life, the battle, and the monument's history—including a portion of Brock's former limestone arm that collapsed in 1929. A 235 step spiral staircase up the column leads visitors to a small indoor platform underneath Brock's statue. Porthole windows provide views of the surrounding Niagara region and Lake Ontario. The monument, illuminated at night, marks the end of an interpretive historical walking trail that leads down and then up Queenston Heights, recounting key events in the battle. There is also a small monument to Tecumseh between the monument and the look out. This monument is approximately 3 feet tall, and is composed of twigs, twine and dyed dollar store feathers. It has a placard made of paper protected by a report cover, and has been maintained for years, however, not by Parks Niagara, Parks Ontario, or Parks Canada, but by some caring civilians.