Two bronze sculptures stand together on a tall plinth at the centre of Sandwich Towne roundabout. The location is very close to where Chief Tecumseh and his men would have crossed for the battle of Fort Detroit. General Brock is depicted as looking to the Canadian side of the battle where cannon shots would have been fired from. Tecumseh, on his horse, sits tall and strong while Brock stands at his side peering through a telescope. This monument by artist Mark Williams and community builder John Muir, commemorates the historic friendship between General Sir Isaac Brock, commander of the British Forces in Canada, and Shawnee Chief Tecumseh during the War of 1812.
The life size sculptures were created by local artist Mark Williams who spent two years on the piece. It weighs about one ton and the bronze work was completed by Hopper Foundry of Forest Ontario. The monument commemorates the historic moment when General Brock and Chief Tecumseh met in Windsor during the War of 1812. A meeting that helped shape the future of Canada. The concept was generated from historical facts of the battle presented by long-time resident and vice-principal of General Brock Public School, John Muir. In John’s vision Chief Tecumseh was to sit tall on his horse as the leader of his people.
The presentation of gifts the night before the battle was added after Mark spoke with Scott Finlay of Parks Canada who had a wealth of information for both Chief Tecumseh and General Brock. He spoke of the kind of men they were, which led to the covering of half of Chief Tecumseh’s face with his hair. Indigenous people never wanted their souls taken, so you could not take a picture, make sketches or anything like that. Mark has hidden Tecumseh's face to protect his soul.
The night before the battle, Brock and Tecumseh met in Amherstburg at Fort Malden and General Brock presented Chief Tecumseh with a holster of guns that was on his horse's neck. Chief Tecumseh in return gave General Brock the sash he was wearing. Tecumseh was not a colourful leader in the way he appeared to others and did not need for any drapery. If presented with anything, he would quickly pass them on to his followers and not use them as a badge of honour for himself. This was another reason for showing the exchange between the two men, as Tecumseh surely would have passed on his gift of saddle pistols to one of his men.
When Americans declared war against Britain in an attempt to remove them from North America, the commander of the British forces in Canada was General Sir Isaac Brock. He formed an alliance with Shawnee Chief Tecumseh, who also wanted to hinder American expansion. Tecumseh joined his 600 men with Brock’s 700 men and together they presented a united front that made the Americans believe they were badly outnumbered and led to the capture of Detroit.
John Muir understood the significance of Tecumseh and Brock and began lobbying for a monument back in 2012 on the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. John passed away in 2016, but thanks to his dedication this project was well underway by that time. He did get to see his vision for Chief Tecumseh on horseback and General Brock in finished clay. The monument was supposed to be completed in September 2017, but was delayed after Indigenous artifacts were found during excavation, prompting archeologists to study the area. Some of the artifacts found go back 2,600 years.
The Tecumseh and Brock Monument was unveiled on September 7, 2018, and John's son attended the ceremony to see his dad's dream finally come to be.
