Brock’s Creek

Brock’s Creek. . At the beginning of the war of 18 12, US General William Hull briefly invaded Southwestern Ontario from Fort Detroit. General Sir Isaac Brock both military commander and civilian governor of Upper Canada at the start of the war, responded by gathering troops and setting off for Detroit. En route to Fort Malden, a storm on the lake forced Brock and his men to make for shore several times, including three stops in what is now Elgin County: Kettle Creek, Port Talbot and Aldborough., Brock formed an alliance with Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, who had brought a large number of First Nations together to oppose the Americans. Fearing a native attack on the civilians in the fort, Hull surrendered on August 16, 1812. Hull was later court martialled. Found guilty and sentenced to death, he was pardoned by President James Madison., Fort Detroit and all of the Michigan territory remained in British hands until September of 1813. Following the loss of the British fleet at the Battle of Lake Erie on September 15, the British commander, Major-general Henry Proctor, could no longer obtain supplies for his men and his native allies. They retreated east on the Long Woods Road (Middlesex Road 2) suffering a serious loss to Kentucky riflemen at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813., Brock's Creek was named in honour of the general's brief stay near its mouth on the way to Fort Malden. For many years the nearby village of Eagle was known as Brock's Creek. ,