Isaac Brock by Avapithecus on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
Name: Sir Isaac Brock
Born: October 6, 1769; St. Peter Port, Guernsey
Died: October 13, 1812; Queenston, Upper Canada (age 43)
Allegiance: Templars
Bio: Sir Isaac Brock was the eighth child of Royal Navy midshipman John Brock and his wife Elizabeth de Lisle. Ever since he was sent to school in Southampton at age 10, he proved to be an incredible student. He valued education and its benefits heavily, despite his lack of an extensive formal education. He spent much of his adult life reading and learning about military tactics, science, ancient history, and several other topics to improve his knowledge of the world. His high reputation also included the view of him as a handsome ladies man who enjoyed the company of many fine young women, although he never married. His prestige made him a prime target for Templar recruitment. He was approached by Master Templar and soon to be Grand Master, Shay Cormac, in 1784, and the two quickly became loyal partners in the Order.
On March 8, 1785, Brock joined the 8th Regiment of Foot with the rank of ensign. He spent the next few years both buying and earning his way up the ranks of the British Army. On January 16, 1790, he bought the rank of lieutenant and later that year he raised his own company of men. As a result, he was promoted to captain (of an independent company of foot) on January 27, 1791 and transferred to the 49th Regiment of Foot on June 15, 1791. By 1793, he was commanding men in the Caribbean, where he nearly died of a fever before returning home to England and recovering. After his recovery, he spent most of his time recruiting and was put in charge of recruits in Jersey. He purchased his majority on June 27. 1795, and rejoined his regiment in 1796, when the rest of his men returned from the West Indies. On October 28, 1797 Brock purchased the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and became acting commanding officer of the regiment, assuming substantive command on March 22, 1798 with the retirement of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Keppel.
His men went to war in 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, where they fought against the Batavian Republic and even helped win the Battle of Alkmaar. Brock was wounded by a French gunshot during action at Egmont-op-Zee, but quickly recovered and pushed his men to victory. Later, in 1801, Brock and his men helped British commander Horatio Nelson win the Battle of Copenhagen. The next year, Brock and the 49th Foot were transferred to Canada on request from Grand Master Shay Cormac. Shay informed Brock that the local Assassins were stirring up trouble in Templar-controlled forts. They were manipulating soldiers in lower ranks to mutiny against their oppressive and bitter commanders and join the Assassin cause. Brock traveled to many of these forts, sniffed out any sources of Assassin influence, and had them executed, leaving no men to return to their Mentor and report what became of the plan.
After a period of leave in England in winter 1805, and promotion to colonel on October 29, 1805, Brock returned to Canada temporarily in command of the entire British army there. By 1806, the United States was growing increasingly hostile towards Britain due to Templar influence, and by 1812 war had been declared. In preparation for the conflict, Brock took command of the army in Upper Canada, and met with many Native American leaders to convince them to join. One of these leaders included the famed Shawnee Assassin, Tecumseh, who was unaware of Brock’s Templar ties and became good friends with the man.
Shay had assigned Brock to the position because he knew the trust and loyalty that the army had to such a figure would make Brock the perfect role. Brock was to win many battles for the British, but was also supposed to purposefully lose several in order to make the Americans feel like their enemy was not indestructible and thus inspire them to fight harder in their attempt to conquer Canada. In August 1812, Brock helped Tecumseh lay Siege to the American Fort Detroit, winning the fight after Assassins Aveza Deryn and Arnold Bellamy killed the American Templar, Porter Hanks. Soon after, during the celebration, Aveza snuck to Brock’s tent and discovered his Templar ties and his plans. The Assassins quickly realized the threat Brock posed, and set out to kill him. In October, Aveza met with Arnold and British Lieutenant Colonel John Macdonnell to explain Brock’s treachery and give the Assassins an opening to kill the Templar. When the Americans came attacking Queenton in the 13th, Aveza managed to assassinate Brock during the battle, causing the Templars to lose their influence on the British Army and turning the War back to the Assassin advantage.