Major John Richardson
Created | Updated Jun 15, 2005
Major John Richardson was a veteran of the War of 1812, an historian, and English Canada's first novelist. Much to his frustration he was also in his own time, and to this day, one of English Canada's least read novelists.
Early Years
John Richardson was born in Queenston, Upper Canada on Oct 4, 1796. His hometown was later the site of a major battle in the War of 1812. His extended family had business interests on both sides of the border, particularly on each bank of the Detroit River. After his father, a military officer, was stationed at a frontier post on Lake Huron, John, his siblings and his mother spent a good many years being shuttled from household to household. An important part of this time was spent in the former British garrison town of Detroit, which was now American.1 John was expected to learn what he could about cross-border trade. Whatever he might have learned, however, quickly proved of little use. In 1812 some foolish men decided to test Thomas Jefferson's suggestion that the conquest of Canada would be a matter of marching.
War
With the American declaration of war and a clearly impending invasion, fifteen year old John turned from his civilian learning and, with the help of his maternal grandfather gained an appointment as a gentleman volunteer in the 41st Regiment on the 9th of July, 1812. He saw combat in every engagement of his regiment, including the capture of Detroit at which he 'had the honor of mounting my first guard at the Flag Staff'. With the defeat at the battle of Moraviantown in Ocober of 1813, Richardson was captured and imprisoned until the war's end in 1814. After his release, Richardson was transferred from regiment to regiment as the British army was being gradually downsized after the defeat of Napoleon. By 1820 Richardson was living in London as a man of letters. In 1828 he published a long poem titled Tecumseh, a celebration of the Shawnee military genius who captured Detroit. In the next year he published his first novel, Ecart, or the Salons of Paris a tale of dissipation in the clubs of Paris.
Wacousta
Richardson's greatest claim to fame is the novel Wacousta, published in Britain in 1832 but not published in his homeland until after his death. It is a marvelous gothic tale of terror, mystery and revenge set in Detroit during the Pontiac Rebellion of 1763.
Spain
In 1834 Richardson joined the British Auxiliary Legion, a force of 10,000 men whose mission was to support the Spanish crown against a pretender. After almost a year of illness, battle and intrigue in Spain, Richardson returned to London in 1836.
Canada Revisited
In 1838 he returned Canada. During this residence in his native country, Richardson wrote a number of descriptions of Canadian political affairs for British newspapers as well as a sequel to Wacousta titled The Canadian Brothers and set during the War of 1812. In 1842 Richardson began publishing a history of the War of 1812. Unfortunately, he never completed what was to be a multi-volume work.
The End
In 1849 he left Canada for the last time. He spent his last years in New York City, destitute and depressed. He died on May 12, 1852.
1Detroit has been transferred from country to country a number of times through the course of its history. Founded by the French, it then became a British posession, was later transferred to the United States and then was captured by the British in the War of 1812. With the Treaty of Ghent, Detroit was handed back to the United States.
