Roger Hale Sheaffe

Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe

Sir Roger Hale Sheaffe, 1st Baronet (born July 15, 1763 in Boston , USA , † July 17, 1851 in Edinburgh , Scotland ) was a British officer and colonial administrator in Canada .

Life

Roger Hale Sheaffe was born the third son of the tax collector William Sheaffe and his wife Susannah Child . After his father's untimely death, Hugh Percy, the 1st Duke of Northumberland , took care of him , who stayed in the inn run by Roger's mother during the American Revolutionary War . The Duke first sent the boy to the Royal Navy , but then made sure he was accepted into a military academy in London , where he was a classmate of his future superior, George Prevost . The Duke's fortune and protection allowed Sheaffe to advance rapidly in the British Army as the latter bought him officers' licenses.

Sheaffe joined Northumberland's 5th Infantry Regiment as an ensign in 1778 , served six years in Ireland , was transferred to Canada as a lieutenant in 1787 , was stationed there in various garrisons and was also used on a diplomatic mission to an Indian tribe . In 1795 he became a captain and returned to England in 1797 . In the same year he acquired the rank of major , in 1798 that of lieutenant colonel in the 49th Infantry Regiment, which was under the command of Isaac Brock . In 1799 both took part in a campaign in Holland , in 1800 Sheaffe was given command of the regiment, in which he was not very popular.

After a mission in the Baltic Sea in 1801, he was transferred to Canada together with Brock , where he was based in Fort George ( Niagara-on-the-Lake ) from the summer of 1803 . In August 1803 he had to get Brock to help put down an impending mutiny in his garrison. While Brock assumed that the close border with the United States was the main reason for the attempted desertions , he also blamed the commander for his excessive severity. Sheaffe, to whom Brock assumed a poor knowledge of human nature, was undoubtedly very unpopular with his soldiers. He later justified himself that the main reason for the aversions was his origins in the United States, which led to suspicions that he was a traitor. Nevertheless he was promoted to colonel in 1808 and major general in 1811 .

In July 1812, at the beginning of the war with the USA in 1812 , Sir George Prevost , the Governor General of Canada , appointed him to the General Staff for Upper Canada , subordinating him again to Sir Isaac Brock, who was in command there. Since Brock was on the border near Detroit to repel the invasion of American troops under Brigadier General William Hull , Sheaffe was temporarily in command of the Niagara Peninsula . The terms of an Prevost and the US commander Henry Dearborn closed ceasefire there was not fighting at this stage. Sheaffe signed an additional agreement with US Major General Stephen Van Rensselaer that excluded the transport of reinforcements and supplies to the Upper Great Lakes . He made it impossible for the Americans to send reinforcements to Detroit. Prevost disapproved of the deal, but accepted it in order not to expose Sheaffe to the Americans.

After the armistice expired in early September, Sheaffe and Brock, who had taken back command, tried to strengthen the defensive positions. On the morning of October 13, the Americans attacked. While Brock rushed to the battlefield to take command, Sheaffe rallied the British reserves and marched after them. The Battle of Queenston Heights initially took an unfavorable course, as Van Rensselaer's troops succeeded in forming a bridgehead on the Canadian side of the Niagara River ; Sir Isaac Brock was killed in an unsuccessful frontal counterattack on US forces. Sheaffe then took command of the British troops, led, together with a contingent of Indians, a tactically brilliant flank attack on the US beachhead and smashed it with only minor losses of his own. All US soldiers landed on the Canadian bank, around 1,000 men, were taken prisoner. Sheaffe rightly received the hereditary title of Baronet , of Boston for this achievement on January 16, 1813 , although Sir Isaac Brock was seen as the real winner in public opinion. A ceasefire signed by Sheaffe with the Americans, which was initially extended to an indefinite period of three days and allowed the opponents to reorganize their troubled troops, was received with criticism.

After Brock's death, Sheaffe succeeded him as military commander and as president and civil administrator of Upper Canada. He therefore moved his seat to the provincial capital York , today's Toronto . Sheaffe had considerable difficulties in view of the dubious loyalty of sections of the population (many of them immigrants from the USA) and organizational deficiencies in civil and military administration. Supplying outposts such as Henry Procter's positions near Detroit was particularly difficult . He was also hindered in his efforts to defend the province by health problems, which is why Prevost sent him Colonel John Vincent as his deputy. In the winter of 1812/1813 Sheaffe u. a. to build ships to wrest control of Lake Ontario from the Americans and to raise militia troops. His role as administrator of the province and his negotiations with the House of Assembly (parliament) of the colony were also influenced by these military necessities.

His warfare was characterized by the fact that he remained strictly defensive and - in accordance with Prevost's orders - avoided taking risks as much as possible. The weakness of the troops available to him caused him z. B. to order the commander of Fort Erie to retreat in the event of a US attack, instead of sending reinforcements to this exposed position. This militarily sensible instruction damaged his reputation with officers and the civilian population and gave new nourishment to the rumors that he was a traitor. His efforts to strengthen the fortifications of York ended abruptly when the Americans landed there on April 27, 1813, with the support of a strong naval contingent. Given the great superiority of the enemy - the 1,700 Americans supported by the heavy artillery of 14 ships, he could only oppose 700 soldiers and a handful of Indians - Sheaffe decided to give up the city.

After a rearguard battle, he marched off, leaving it to the local militia commanders to hand York over to the Americans. His actions made military sense, which was also confirmed by the American Secretary of War John Armstrong , who said that Sheaffe had preferred to keep his troops rather than his position and so "took the core with him and left us only the shell". Unfortunately for Sheaffe, however, York was the home of numerous influential people who did not forgive the major general for leaving their hometown to the enemy. Your criticism was instrumental in ending his career in Canada. The fact that he refused to use martial law to enforce supplies of supplies despite an authorization from Prevost did nothing to change the hostility.

After the Americans had retreated from the Niagara Peninsula after humiliating defeats (battles at Beaver Dams and Stoney Creek ) in the summer of 1813, Prevost deposed Sheaffe and replaced him on June 19, 1813 by Major General Francis de Rottenburg . He justified this step by saying that the major general had "lost the confidence of the province through the measures he has taken in its defense." Sheaffe initially received command of the troops in the district of Montreal , but was also relieved here in July 1813 and recalled to England at Prevost's request, where he returned in November of that year. The exact reasons are unknown, but the governor-general had previously accused him in writing of inaction and indifference. Sheaffe had apparently been so surprised by this renewed demotion that he could only muster a weak protest.

On his return to England Sheaffe lived in Penzance , Worcester and finally in Edinburgh , where he died on July 17, 1851. Although an appointment to the General Staff of the Army was reversed in 1814, he was still promoted to Lieutenant General (1821) and General (1838).

Web links

• Roger Hale Sheaffe . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).