Canadian Research

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland

Northern Territories

Nova Scotia

Nunavut

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Yukon

Canadian Indian Tribes

Chronicles of Canada

Free Genealogy Forms
Family Tree Chart
Research Calendar
Research Extract
Free Census Forms
Correspondence Record
Family Group Chart
Source Summary

New Genealogy Data
Family Tree Search
Biographies

Genealogy Books For Sale

Indian Mythology

US Genealogy

Other Websites
British Isles Genealogy
Australian Genealogy

FREE Web Site Hosting at
Canadian Genealogy

Grand Uprising of the Canadian People

The Second Alarm--Grand Uprising of the Canadian People --Departure of Troops for the Front--Gen. Napier's Plan of Campaign.

Late on the night of the 31st of May, 1866, the second call to arms was telegraphed from Ottawa, and within an hour the sound of bugles and alarm bells was heard echoing and ringing in nearly every city, town and village in the country. The alacrity with which our volunteers responded to the summons on that eventful night is without a parallel in the history of any nation. The whole country was aroused, and all were eager to go to the front. Many young men pleadingly begged for a chance to join the already "over strength" companies who could not be accommodated, and were reluctantly obliged to satisfy their military ardor by enrolling themselves in the Home Guards and shouldering rifles for patrol duty.

In the town of St. Catharines the excitement was intense, on account of its near proximity to the border and the alarming reports that were being circulated of the near approach of the enemy. The town companies of the 19th Lincoln Battalion, under command of Lieut.-Col. J. G. Currie, and the St. Catharines Battery of Garrison Artillery, under Capt. George Stoker and Lieut. James Wilson, were speedily mustered, and all through the night kept faithful vigils on guard duty, anxiously awaiting orders to move to the frontier. A Home Guard was hastily organized and equipped, and every citizen vied with his neighbor to shoulder his share of the responsibility in defending their homes and kindred from the attacks of the invaders.

At Toronto the Queen's Own Rifles, the Tenth Royals, the Toronto Garrison Battery, and the Toronto Naval Brigade, were quickly assembled at the drill shed and preparations made to leave for the front at a moment's notice. The citizens of the loyal old city of Toronto, who had on many previous occasions rallied around the flag of their country when danger threatened, were so strongly imbued with that patriotic feeling which prevailed everywhere that they immediately enrolled a Home Guard to defend the city in the absence of the volunteer regiments, and faithfully and well was that duty performed.

The same intense patriotism was manifested by the people of Canada generally, and a general muster of all military commands prevailed wherever organized.

List of Troops Called Out for Active Service

As a matter of record and interest to the survivors of the Fenian Raid of 1866, copies of the General Orders issued by the Militia Department, designating the troops that were called out for active service on the 1st and 2nd of June. 1866, together with a list of the new companies organized, are herewith given:


Headquarters, Ottawa, 1st June, '66.


General Orders, No. 1.

The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief directs that the following named corps be called out for active service, and that the said corps be immediately assembled and billetted at their respective headquarters, there to await such orders for their movement as may be directed by the Commander-in-Chief:

Ottawa, 2nd June. 1866.

General Orders, No. 2.

The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief has been pleased to call out for active service the following corps in addition to those called out by General Order No. 1, of yesterday's date:

On 2nd June the following new companies were placed on the list of the Volunteer Militia of Canada:

On the evening of the 2nd of June the whole of the Volunteer Force not already called out or enumerated in the above-mentioned lists, was placed on active service, and on Sunday, the 3rd of June, the Province had more than 20,000 men under arms, besides the numerous companies of Home Guards. The entire force turned out not only willingly, but eagerly, although at a season of the year when their business interests suffered greatly by their absence. It was enough for every militia man to know that the country needed his services, and personal interests were cheerfully sacrificed. Instances of devotion to Queen and country were general. Business matters were but a secondary consideration. Merchants and their clerks left their shops, students their colleges, professional men their offices, while factories were shut down and farmers left their ploughs in the furrows to take up their rifles to assist in the national defence. Those who were obliged by age or infirmities to stay at home were not idle, but nobly did their part in raising funds to assist the families of those bread-winners who had gone to serve on the frontier posts. All over the country large sums were raised for this purpose, and the patriotic Relief Committees were exceptionally busy attending to the proper distribution of food and supplies, both among the volunteers and the needy families who were depending upon them.

In the order calling out the troops for active service the Governor-General placed the whole force under the command of Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Michel, and added:

In former times the Commander-in-Chief has had occasion to call for the active services of the volunteer force to maintain international obligations, and as a precaution against threatened action. These threats have now ripened into actual fact. The soil of Canada has been invaded, not in the practice of legitimate warfare, but by a lawless and piratical band in defiance of all moral right, and in utter disregard of all the obligations which civilization enforces on mankind. Upon the people of Canada this state of things imposes the duty of defending their altars, their homes and their property from desecration, pillage and spoilation. The Commander-in-Chief relies on the courage and loyalty of the volunteer force and looks with confidence for the blessings of Providence on their performance of the sacred duty which circumstances have cast upon them.

Major-Gen. Napier's Plan of Campaign.

As the Niagara district was chosen by the Fenians to be the theatre of their first operations, Gen. Napier quickly made preparations to occupy the salient points of this important territory. The Welland Canal, connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, runs from Port Colborne on the former lake to Port Dalhousie on the latter (a distance of 26 miles), and lies at an average distance of about 13 miles inland from the Niagara River. The Welland Railway also connected these two points, running nearly parallel with the canal. To protect these two arteries of commerce from destruction was a desideratum to the General commanding, and his plan of campaign was framed on these lines. Port Colborne lies about 19 miles west of Fort Erie, and Gen. Napier decided to mobilize a force at that point and another at St. Catharines, 10 miles west of the Niagara River. These were two very strategic points at which to concentrate troops for the defence of the Niagara frontier, as they possessed excellent advantages as bases of supply for the sustenance of columns operating in any quarter of the district. On account of the favorable rail communication with each of those places, troops could be moved rapidly by trains from the interior, and would always be within easy striking distance of an invading force on any portion of the Niagara frontier. Therefore orders were issued to commanding officers to assemble their corps immediately at their respective local headquarters, and await further instructions.

The first body of troops which left for the front was the Queen's Own Rifles, of Toronto, with a total strength of 480 of all ranks. The regiment was assembled at the Drill Shed on Front Street at 4 o'clock on the morning of June 1st, and received orders to proceed to Port Colborne without delay. At 6.30 a.m. they embarked on board the steamer "City of Toronto" for Port Dalhousie, where they entrained on the Welland Railway for Port Colborne. Lieut.-Col. J. S. Dennis, Brigade Major of the Fifth Military District, was in command. This officer had received orders from Gen. Napier to occupy Port Colborne, and if necessary entrench a position there and await reinforcements and further orders before an attack was made on the enemy. The Queen's Own arrived at Port Colborne about noon, and there being no indications of the enemy in the near vicinity, the men were billetted among the citizens for dinner, as by somebody's oversight no rations or food supply of any kind had been forwarded for the sustenance of the troops.

Lieut.-Col. Dennis sent out couriers and mounted scouts to glean information of the whereabouts of the enemy, who he finally located at their camp near Fort Erie. During the afternoon the Thirteenth Battalion, of Hamilton, under command of Lieut.-Col. A. Booker, arrived at Port Colborne from Dunnville, accompanied by the York and Caledonia Rifle Companies. These reinforcements made a total force of about 850 troops at Port Colborne, and as Lieut.-Col. Booker was the ranking officer present, he took command of the column.

Meanwhile other troops were on the move towards the frontier. As before mentioned. Gen. Napier had decided to also mobilize a force at St. Catharines, and orders were given to Col. Geo. Peacocke, commanding Her Majesty's 16th Regiment, to proceed thither with the forces at his command, and assume charge of the operations for the defence of the frontier. At 12.40 o'clock (noon) a force consisting of three companies of Her Majesty's 47th Regiment, under command of Major Lauder, and the Grey Battery of Royal Artillery, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Hoste, C.B., left Toronto via the Great Western Railway for St. Catharines. At Hamilton this contingent was joined by Col. Peacocke with 200 men of the 16th Regiment, and the whole force proceeded to their destination. On arrival at St. Catharines Col. Peacocke received telegrams advising him that a strong body of Fenians were marching towards Chippawa, so he resolved to move forward his force at once to that point and endeavor to save the bridges across the Welland River (or Chippawa Creek) from destruction.



He issued immediate orders for the Tenth Royals of Toronto, two more companies of H. M. 47th Regiment, the Nineteenth Lincoln Battalion, and Capt. Stoker's Battery of Garrison Artillery, from St. Catharines, to reinforce him at Chippawa. These troops moved promptly forward, and before daylight all were bivouacked on the streets of the quiet village of Chippawa. No provision had been made for sheltering our volunteers, as neither tents or blankets had been issued, so the weary, jaded troops were content to lie out on the green sward under the star-lit canopy of heaven, with the gentle June dew falling on their sleeping forms, until at sunrise the bugles sounding the reveille awoke them to a realization of the hard fare of a soldier's life on active service. By some blunder of somebody no food had been provided for the volunteer battalions, nor haversacks to carry it in if they did have it, so fortunate indeed was he who received breakfast that morning. As the majority of the men had left their homes early the day before, and had eaten very little since, they keenly felt the pangs of hunger. But the patriotic people of Chippawa did their best to cater to their needs, and were unsparing in their efforts to provide the meals so urgently required, while the regular troops shared their rations of hard tack, cheese, meat and tea cheerfully with their Canadian comrades.

Although the Fenians had openly flaunted their intention of invading Canada, and the secret service agents had made minute reports of the determination of the marauders to make a raid, still the Canadian military authorities seemed apathetic, and took very little heed of the warnings until the eve of the event. Plenty of time was accorded the Government to have the whole force properly equipped and in readiness, but when the bugles sounded the alarm and the volunteers promptly assembled to meet the foe, there was a woeful lack of the necessaries which are indispensable to a successful campaign, namely, an available supply of military stores, commissary and medical supplies. Many of the companies and battalions which moved promptly to the front were totally unprovided even with canteens or water bottles, and had to depend on creeks or roadside ditches for a drink of water wherewith to allay their thirst, which they scooped up in their hands or caps as best they could. But "Johnny Canuck" never murmured, and marched cheerfully onward in the shoes in which he usually stood, without provisions and weighted down with heavy padded uniforms (which were designed for winter wear), carrying a heavy rifle and accoutrements, with forty rounds of ball cartridges in his pouch and twenty more in his pockets for ballast. Still he had a stout heart within his breast, and a resolute determination to do his duty in assisting to drive the invaders from the shores of his native land served to impel him onward as he marched through the choking dust of clay roads on a blazing hot June day, gaily joining in the refrain of the old marching song:--

     "Tramp, tramp, tramp, our boys are marching.
          Cheer up, let the Fenians come!
     For beneath the Union Jack we'll drive the rabble back
          And we'll fight for our beloved Canadian home."

Those were stirring days, and many an old volunteer who participated in the forced marches and hardships of the campaign on the Niagara frontier particularly, still retains vivid recollections of that strenuous period.

On the evening of the 1st of June, Col. Peacocke received definite reports that the Fenians were still occupying their camp at Frenchman's Creek, and at once conceived the plan of uniting the forces at Port Colborne with his own column at Stevensville (a small country hamlet about seven miles south-west of Chippawa) and make a combined attack on Gen. O'Neil's position as soon as the junction of the two columns was effected. He accordingly despatched Capt. Chas. S. Akers (an officer of the Royal Engineers) across the country about midnight with orders to Lieut.-Col. Booker to leave Port Colborne for Ridgeway by rail at five o'clock next morning, and after detraining his troops at that station to march by the nearest road to Stevensville, where he expected to meet him with his column about 10 o'clock. Capt. Akers was given minute instructions by Col. Peacocke as to the time he proposed to leave Chippawa (6 o'clock) and also the route of his march, so that Lieut.-Col. Booker could be thoroughly informed of his plans.

Capt. Akers arrived at Port Colborne about 2 o'clock a.m., on June 2nd, and after delivering his despatches and verbal orders, had a conference with Lieut.-Col. Booker and Lieut.-Col. Dennis as to the situation of affairs at the front, which resulted in a proposal by Lieut.-Col. Dennis that Col. Peacocke's plans should be altered (contingent on that officer's consent) and that Lieut.-Col. Booker's column should advance on Fort Erie direct and join Col. Peacocke near Frenchman's Creek, instead of at Stevensville. This proposal was telegraphed to Col. Peacocke, who promptly negatived any change in his plans, and insisted on his original orders being obeyed.

Previous to the issuance of his order to Lieut.-Col. Booker, Col. Peacocke had telegraphed to Lieut.-Col. Dennis that he had ordered the International Ferry steamer to proceed from Fort Erie to Port Colborne, and instructed him to put a gun detachment on board and patrol the Niagara River from Fort Erie to Chippawa. As this steamer had not arrived at 10.30 p.m., Lieut.-Col. Dennis availed himself of the patriotic offer of Capt. Lachlan McCallum, owner of the powerful tug "W. T. Robb," to place that boat at his disposal. Capt. McCallum was the commanding officer of the Dunnville Naval Brigade, and the boat was lying at her dock at that place when he received a telegram from Lieut.-Col. Dennis shortly after midnight to proceed to Port Colborne without delay. He quickly mustered his crew and the members of his Naval Brigade and left Dunnville at 2 o'clock a.m., arriving at Port Colborne at about 4 a.m. Meanwhile the Welland Canal Field Battery, under command of Capt. Richard S. King, of Port Robinson, had reported at Port Colborne, and received orders to embark on the "W. T. Robb," for the proposed reconnaissance to the Niagara River. For some unaccountable reason the field guns of this splendid Battery, which was one of the most efficient in the Province at that time, had been removed to Hamilton a few months previously, and their only armament on this occasion was short Enfield rifles with sword bayonets. They mustered three officers and 59 men when they joined the Dunnville Naval Brigade on board the tug. The latter corps consisted of three officers and 43 men, armed with Enfield rifles and equipment, but were without uniforms. Thus the total strength of the combatant forces which left Port Colborne on the "W. T. Robb" was 108 of all ranks. Without waiting for a reply from Col. Peacocke relative to the change in plans suggested by the conference, Lieut.-Col. Dennis, accompanied by Capt. Akers, went on board the tug, and assuming command of the expedition, ordered the vessel to proceed at once to Fort Erie.

Shortly after the "W. T. Robb" left the harbor, a telegram was received by Lieut.-Col. Booker from Col. Peacocke, ordering him to adhere to his original instructions, and to leave Port Colborne for Ridgeway not later than 5.30 a.m., to disembark there and march to Stevensville, so as to effect the junction with his column at the specified hour. Lieut.-Col. Booker's troops were already on board the train, having remained in the cars nearly all night with very little sleep, and after being served a hasty and very meagre breakfast, the train started from Port Colborne about 5 o'clock. The total strength of the forces (which consisted of the Queen's Own Rifles, the Thirteenth Battalion, and the York and Caledonia Rifle Companies) was about 840 men. Preceded by a pilot engine the train moved carefully eastward until it reached Ridgeway station, where the force was detrained and formed up in column of march. It was then found impossible to obtain horses and waggons at Ridgeway for the transport of the stores, so that a large quantity of supplies and other material which was urgently required had to be sent back to Port Colborne by the returning train. This was a lamentable state of affairs, which did not reflect much credit on the ability of some officer whose duty it was to look after such matters.

Although Col. Peacocke had notified Lieut.-Col. Booker that he would leave Chippawa with his column at 6 o'clock on his march for Stevensville to form the proposed junction of forces, he was nearly two hours late of his scheduled time in doing so, which had an important bearing on the fortunes of the day, and the events which might have been averted. The reinforcements (consisting of two companies of H. M. 47th Regiment, the 19th Lincoln Battalion, the 10th Royals of Toronto, and Stoker's Battery of Artillery, from St. Catharines) had arrived during the night and early hours of the morning. Some time was lost in getting the column ready for the advance, and it was not until 7 o'clock that the "assembly" was sounded for the companies to "fall in." The troops hurriedly bundled on their accoutrements and equipments, and in a quarter of an hour were ready for the march. Another half hour was lost in inspection, "telling off" the battalions, serving out ammunition and other preliminaries, so it was nearly 8 o 'clock when the bugle sounded "the advance" and the column was put in motion.

H. M. 16th Regiment supplied the advance guard, with the usual look-out and flanking files. The main body of the advance was commanded by Capt. Home and Lieut. Taylor, and the support by Lieut. Reid. The remainder of the column was formed in the following order: The right wing of H. M. 16th Regiment, under command of Major Grant; the Grey Battery of Royal Artillery (with six Armstrong guns), under Col. Hoste; H. M. 47th Regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Villiers and Major Lauder; the Nineteenth (Lincoln) Battalion (seven companies, with a strength of 350), and the Tenth Royals of Toronto (417 strong). The volunteer battalions were officered as follows:

Nineteenth Battalion--Lieut.-Col. James G. Currie in command; Majors, John Powell and T. L. Helliwell; Adjutant, Silas Spillett. No. 1 Co.--Capt. Ed. Thompson. Lieut. Johnson Clench. No. 2 Co.--Capt. Fred W. Macdonald, Lieut. F. Benson. No. 3 Co.--Capt. Wm. Kew, Lieut. J. K. Osborne, Ensign Kew. No. 4 Co.--Capt. Mathias Konkle, Lieut. G. Walker, Ensign Wolverton. No. 8 Co.--Capt. Henry Carlisle, Lieut. Edwin I. Parnell, Ensign Josiah G. Holmes. Surgeon, Edwin Goodman, M.D.; Quartermaster, Wm. McGhie. (The Clifton and Port Dalhousie Companies of this Battalion were left to guard the Suspension Bridge, and the Thorold Company was sent to Port Colborne to guard the Welland Canal).

The Tenth Royals--Lieut.-Col., A. Brunel; Majors, James Worthington and John Boxall (in command during march); Adjutant, C. H. Connon. No. 1 Co.--Capt. Geo. McMurrich, Lieut. John Paterson, Ensign F. Barlow Cumberland. No. 2 Co.--Capt. Geo. B. Hamilton. Lieut. Fred Richardson, Ensign Alex. Macdonald. No. 3 Co.--Lieut. H. J. Browne in command, Ensign Walter H. Barrett. No. 4 Co.--Capt. Wm. A. Stollery, Lieut. Arthur Coleman, Ensign W. D. Rogers. No. 5 Co.--Capt. Geo. W. Musson, Lieut. Chas. S. Musson, Ensign J. Widmer Rolph. No. 6 Co.--Capt. J. W. Laurence, Lieut. C. J. H. Winstanley, Ensign Hayward. No. 7 Co.--Capt. J. W. Hetherington, Lieut. G. Brunei. No. 8 Co.--Lieut. T. Brunei in command, Ensign L. Sherwood. Surgeon, Dr. J. H. Richardson; Assist. Surgeon, Dr. James Newcombe; Paymaster, Capt. John H. Ritchey; Quartermaster, Capt. Rufus Skinner.

The St. Catharines Garrison Battery of Artillery, under command of Capt. George Stoker and Lieut. James Wilson, was left at Chippawa to hold that place and guard the bridges.

A very grave error or oversight was made by the General Commanding in not providing a force of cavalry to thoroughly scour the country in advance of both of these columns before they started feeling their way through a district that was practically unknown to the commanding officers, and which was reported to be occupied by marauding parties of the enemy. Had this been done on the first of June, and cavalry scouts been employed on all the leading roads and highways gathering information of the whereabouts and doings of Gen. O'Neil and his forces, the events which subsequently transpired might have ended more happily. At the eleventh hour the Militia authorities saw the necessity of employing cavalry in the operations, and called out a portion of that extremely useful branch of the service. One of these cavalry troops (the Governor-General's Body Guard, of Toronto, under command of Major Geo. T. Denison), performed splendid service in this direction, an account of which will be given in a subsequent chapter.

Col. Peacocke marched from Chippawa by the River Road for Black Creek on his way to Stevensville, a rather round-about route, which added some miles to his journey and caused considerable loss of time. The day was an oppressively close one, with not a breath of air stirring, and as the sun rose higher in the heavens it cast forth a brassy heat that was almost unbearable, and had a telling effect on the men, who were soon drenched with perspiration and covered with dust. By 11 o'clock the heat became more intense and the dust more denser, and the jaded soldiers began to show signs of weariness, when Col. Peacocke resolved to halt his column at New Germany, a point about three miles from Stevensville, having covered 12 1/4 measured miles on this strenuous march.

This site includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes implied.

Troublous Times in Canada, A History of the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1870

Fenian Raids of 1866 - 1870

Link