They had not been under
restraint much more than a week, when, by the following advertisement in
the Quebec Mercury, dated 29th September, we find the British Government
attending to their comforts with a truly maternal foresight: -
Commissary General's Office,
QUEBEC, 28th Sept., 1812
"Wanted for the American prisoners of war, comfortable warm clothing,
consisting of the following articles:
Jackets,
Shirts,
Trowsers,
Stockings,
Moccassins or Shoes.
Also 2000 pounds of soap."
From which it is clear John Bull intended his American cousins should not
only be kept warm, but suitably scrubbed as well. Two thousand lbs. of
soap foreshadowed a fabulous amount of scrubbing. Colonel Scott and
friends were evidently "well off for soap."
Colonel Coffin, of Ottawa, the annalist of the War of 1812, in reply to a
query of mine, writes me:
"Scott remained in Canada from the date of his surrender, 23d October,
1812, to the period of his departure from Quebec, say May, 1813. But
he was on parole the whole time, and from Quebec, as given in his life
by Mansfield, p. 55, he went in a cartel to Boston, and soon after was
exchanged. Under these circumstances, I do not think it likely that he
would have been escorted militarily in custody anywhere. Winder may
have been also taken to Quebec, or he may have been exchanged on the
Western frontier.
