CHARACTERS

Major General Frederick Philipse Robinson

Frederick Philipse Robinson was one of three major generals hand-picked by Wellington to lead new troops in Canada after the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. He had been an officer since the age of thirteen when he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant at the beginning of the Revolutionary war. He had gained the reputation of being courageous, having fought in both North America and Europe.

Robinson believed Prevost to be too much of a bureaucrat to be an effective commander. He could not understand why Prevost hesitated to attack Plattsburg or why he ordered a British withdrawal from Plattsburg when it could have been easily taken by the superior British forces. Robinson wrote a discouraging report back to Britain, claiming Prevost had irrevocably squandered Britain's offensive potential in the colonies and that all action from here on would have to be defensive.