Niagara Frontier

Touring the Restored Forts

Battlefield of Queenston Heights

by James P. Werbaneth, Alison Park, Pennsylvania

One almost mandatory stop between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake is Queenston Heights, Ontario site of a small but critical battle fought on October 13, 1812. When the dust had settled that day, an invading American army had been destroyed by a mixed force of British, Canadians, and Iroquois who proved that British Canada could be defended. The drama of the battle was heightened by the fate of the British commander. General Sir Isaac Brock boldly led a counterattack that not only failed, but cost him his life when a bullet hit him in the chest. Then his aide-de-camp John Macdonnel fell at the head of another charge. However, by the end of the day, the British were able to pin the Americans against a sheer cliff and force their surrender.

Brock's Monument

There is something Nelsonian in Brock's fate, an audacious leader dying in the midst of his men's stunning victory. Like Nelson, Brock is commemorated today by a towering column of over a hundred and fifty feet, on the Queenston Heights battlefield. This replaces an earlier, slightly smaller monument destroyed by a mid-nineteenth-century bomb.

The norm among American battlefields is to preserve them in a state as close as practical to that of the time of the battle. Monuments, access roads, and other necessary modern infrastructure, as well as modern tree growth, change the appearance of the battlefield, but a great deal of effort goes into such touches as replanting the right fruit trees at Gettysburg's Peach Orchard. There is no such effort here. The site features a walking tour to locations of important events. This does not take very long, as this is a very small battlefield. Instead, Queenston Heights, like the vicinity of Fort Erie, is a fully functioning park. A restaurant and concert area take precedence over strictly defined preservation.

Dominating everything is Brock's Monument. No one would mistake it for anything modern. From a distance, it is towering Corinthian column topped by a statue of the general. Up close, Brock's monument is a grandiose, gleefully politically incorrect celebration of the profession of arms and the glory of Empire. Inside the Monument, there are exhibits to Brock, the battle, and the earlier monument. However, the interior of the base is just the start for a visit by an especially intrepid traveler.

One can climb to the very top. Due to this, in another locale Brock's Monument might be a threat to public safety. However, at Queenston Heights it is an officially-approved dare.

The way to the top is a worn stone spiral staircase. At the bottom, it is wide enough, though not comfortably so. As one goes higher, it narrows, and the railing quickly disappears. Instead, there is a wire cable anchored to the center. In short order, it becomes extremely difficult for visitors to pass in different directions and there is a wide brown mark twisting around the outside edge of the wall, marking where generations of visitors have pressed against it. If the traveler (and his pounding heart) make it to the top, they find a very small platform with a low railing on the back, better for tripping over than stopping a fall. Wind pours in through four open portholes. The views through them are spectacular, and on a clear day you can see as far as Toronto. However, owing to fatigue and the precariousness of the position, one is unlikely to linger.

Niagara Frontier Touring the Restored Forts

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© Copyright 1996 by David W. Tschanz.
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