During the War
At the outbreak of war in 1812, Donald’s duties at the fort would have intensified. Only the Niagara River separated the British at Fort George and the Americans at Fort Niagara. In October 1812, U.S. soldiers crossed the river in boats to capture the gun battery on the heights at Queenston. The British successfully countered the attack, but the commander of the forces, Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, was killed. On October 16th, Donald Campbell led Brock’s funeral procession from the Government House in Newark to the north bastion of Fort George, where Brock and his aide-de-camp John Macdonell were laid to rest.
Donald Campbell passed away on December 1, 1812 at the age of fifty-seven. At the time, Elizabeth was either pregnant or had an infant in addition to her three older children. From December 1812 until May 1813, Elizabeth lived under constant threat of invasion, providing for her children, tending her modest farm, and maintaining her property.
In May 1813, American forces invaded Upper Canada from across the Niagara River. They captured the town of Newark and the British army retreated. Local men who were not in the militia but of the age of service were captured and sent to prisons in New York State. Elizabeth Campbell remained in the town with her four children. At some point, Elizabeth moved into the home of Charlotte Dickson, whose civilian husband had been captured and sent to New York. According to Benjamin Holmes, a servant of the Dicksons, “Mrs. Campbell took protection in [William Dickson's] home with her family.”[20] Holmes had even helped moved the Campbell family's household goods from their house. In a later war loss claim, he swore “that they were lodged in the Brick house of the Honble. William Dickson when it was burnt.”[21] Some accounts suggest that Charlotte was ill during this period, so Elizabeth may have helped her recovery and tended to the Dickson and Campbell children.[22]
On December 10, 1813, the American army was ordered to retreat back across the river. In order to deprive the approaching British soldiers of winter shelter, the commanding officer ordered the inhabitants to evacuate their homes and then set fire to the town. Someone carried Charlotte Dickson out of her home, where she sat in the snow watching her house burn. Elizabeth Campbell and her four children lost all their possessions when the Dickson's home burned. Elizabeth also lost the homestead she had shared with her late husband. Alex Stewart, a lawyer in Newark, later described Elizabeth's plight in a letter to Alexander Wood, a businessman and magistrate investigating war loss claims. Stewart claimed that his mother was close friends with Elizabeth. According to his account, Elizabeth “had a sum of money taken forcibly from her hands by a villain of our country at that time serving under the orders of the Rebel Wilcocks.”[23] The Canadian Volunteers, led by Joseph Wilcocks, were British subjects from Upper Canada who chose to abandon their communities and fight for the American army. Some witnesses accused the Volunteers of carrying out the order to burn Newark, despite their former close relations with the inhabitants and community.[24] Stories about the behaviors of the Canadian Volunteers lend support to Alex Stewart's claim about the robbery.
Stewart also described another tragic event in Elizabeth's life. Sometime after the burning of Newark, her youngest child passed away. The cause of death and name of the child are unknown. According to Stewart, Elizabeth “after carrying [the infant] 4 miles for baptism had to dig its grave & cover its remains.”[25] Although the location of the burial plot is unknown, Elizabeth may have traveled to the house of Reverend Robert Addison, who lived three or four miles from Newark.[26] If she knew that her child was close to death, she may have been desperate for the minister to baptize the baby before it died. Addison had baptized each of Elizabeth's three other children, so she might have felt strongly that he should also tend to her baby's soul. While Newark still smoldered, Elizabeth endured a harsh journey in cold weather to ensure that her child could be considered part of a Christian family and church.
Notes
[20] It is unclear whether Elizabeth was threatened by American soldiers, or the term “protection” referred generally to their situation. Elizabeth Campbell, RG19 E5A, Volume 3742, File 3, Claim 174.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Carnochan, History of Niagara (in Part), 34.
[23] Joseph Wilcocks led the Canadian Volunteers, British subjects from Upper Canada who fought for the American army and were considered traitors.
[24] Different sources use “Wilcocks” and “Willcocks” to refer to Joseph. Donald E. Graves, “Joseph Willcocks and the Canadian Volunteers: An Account of Political Disaffection in Upper Canada During the War of 1812” (Master’s Thesis, Carleton University, 1982).
[25] Alex Stewart to Alexander Wood, July 25, 1823, Niagara Historical Society & Museum, http://images.ourontario.ca/1812/70288/data.
[26] Carnochan, History of Niagara (in Part), 117.