Fenian raids
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| Fenian Raids |
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| Campobello Island – Ridgeway – Fort Erie – Pigeon Hill – Eccles Hill – Trout River |
The Fenian raids were attacks by members of the Fenian Brotherhood based in the United States, on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland, between 1866 and 1871. Most of the raids were successfully repelled by British forces and local militias. They divided many Irish-Canadians, many of whom were torn between loyalty to their new home and sympathy for the aims of the Fenians. The Protestant Irish were generally loyal to Britain and fought the Fenians. While the U.S. authorities arrested the men and confiscated their arms afterwards, many in government had turned a blind eye to the preparations for the invasion, angered at British support for the Confederacy during the American Civil War. There were five Fenian raids to note.
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[edit] Campobello Island raid (1866)
This Fenian raid occurred in April, 1866, at Campobello Island.
[edit] Niagara raid (1866)
In 1866, the Fenians had split into two factions, with the original faction, led by Fenian founder John O'Mahony focussed more on fundraising for rebels in Ireland. The leaders of the more militant "senate faction" believed that even a marginally successful invasion of the Province of Canada or other parts of British North America would provide them with leverage in their efforts. After an April attempt to raid New Brunswick (see "Campobello Island Raid", above) that had been blessed by O'Mahony failed, the senate faction Fenians implemented their own plan for an invasion into Canada West (now southern Ontario) from Buffalo, New York.
Fenian commander John O'Neill and an Irish-American force crossed the Niagara River and skirmished with a brigade of Canadian militia near Ridgeway, Canada West (now Ontario) on 2 June 1866. Several hundred other Fenians (Canadian sources claim up to 3,000) remained in the US, prevented from crossing the river by the arrival of the US Navy's side-wheeler gunboat USS Michigan.
O'Neill's 800 Fenian soldiers called themselves the "Irish Republican Army", and some wore uniforms with "IRA" buttons. This is considered to be the first use of the term. (A well-known fanciful painting of the skirmish in the National Archives of Canada depicts a green flag with the letters IRA over a gold harp; in fact, the most common Fenian emblem at this time was a sunburst.)
After assembling with other units from the province and marching all night, the Canadians, advanced on the Fenians the next morning at Ridgeway, a small hamlet west of Fort Erie. The Canadian militia consited of inexperienced volunteers with no more than basic drill training and primarily Enfield rifled muskets comparable to the armaments of the Fenians. A single company of the Queens Own Rifles had recently been armed with Spencer repeating rifles, but had never been given the opportunity to practice with them. The Fenian forces were mostly battle-hardened American Civil War veterans, armed with weapons procured from leftover war munitions, also Enfield rifled muskets or the comparable Springfield.
Some later accounts attribute the conduct of Canadian forces to being "outnumbered, exhausted, and hungry" and make allegations of vastly superior armaments on the part of the Fenians. Hardware had by both sides was comparable. While the Canadians had to mount a hasty defense, the Fenians likewise had rushed into battle, with little to no thought regarding a supply train. If anything, lack of combat experience and the conduct of Canadian commanders was a more important contribution to the outcome of the Battle of Ridgeway. It is telling that a formal board of inquiry into the conduct of Canadian defenses found Queen's Own Rifles Lt. Colonel, J. Stoughton Dennis culpable for dereliction of duty. Likewise, Lt. Colonel Albert Booker (13th Btn.), upon whom command of Canadian volunteers had devolved, was determined to have handled his men poorly.
The Canadians retreated in broken ranks, taking their dead and wounded with them, while the Fenians celebrated the first Irish victory over British forces since the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. Nine Canadians had been killed, thirty-seven were wounded.
After the first clash, the Canadians retreated to Port Colborne at the Lake Erie end of the Welland Canal, while the Fenians rested at Ridgeway briefly before themselves returning to Fort Erie. Another fight followed there that saw the surrender of another small group of local Canadian militia that had moved into the Fenian rear. But after considering the inability of reinforcements to cross the river and the approach of large numbers of both militia and British regulars, the remaining Fenians chose to return to Buffalo. They were intercepted by the Michigan, and surrendered to American naval personnel.
President Andrew Johnson's proclamation requiring enforcement of the laws of neutrality issued five days after the beginning of the invasion, guaranteeing that it would not continue. Both US General Ulysses S. Grant and US General George Meade went to Buffalo, New York to assess the situation. In the meantime, following instructions from General Grant, General Meade issued strict orders to prevent anyone from further violating the border. General Grant then proceeded to St. Louis while General Meade, finding that the battle at Ridgeway was over and the Fenian army interned in Buffalo, proceeded to Ogdensburg, New York to oversee the situation in the St. Lawrence River area. The US Army was then instructed to seize Fenian weapons and ammunition, and to prevent more border crossings. Further instructions on 7 June 1866 were to arrest anyone who looked like they might be a Fenian.
Ironically, although they did not do much to advance the cause of Irish independence, the 1866 raids and the efforts of Canadian colonial troops to repulse them helped to galvanize support for the Confederation of Canada in 1867. Some historians have argued that the debacle tipped the final votes of reluctant Maritime provinces in favour of the collective security of nationhood, making Ridgeway the “battle that made Canada.”
In the ensuing years, the Battle of Ridgeway and the defeat have been forgotten and its possible link to the timing of Canada’s Confederation rarely even whispered in the classroom. The sandstone monument to the fallen students stands crumbling and ignored, trapped and isolated behind the back wall of a university library and the traffic of Queens Park circle. Only in June 2006, did Ontario’s heritage agency finally dedicate a plaque at Ridgeway on the commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the battle.
Many members of today's Canadian army regiment, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, return to the Ridgeway battle site each year on the weekend closest to the June 2nd anniversary for a bicycle tour of the battle sites, and to toast their fallen comrades at the bar located in the centre of their former lines at the corner of Garrison and Ridge Roads.
Alexander Muir , a Scottish immigrant, author of the former Canadian anthem "The Maple Leaf Forever" and member of the Orange Order fought at Ridgeway with the Queens Own Rifles.
[edit] Pigeon Hill raid (1866)
This Fenian raid occurred in July, 1866, at Pigeon Hill.
[edit] Mississquoi County raid (1870)
This Fenian raid occurred during 1870, which resulted in the skirmishes of Eccles Hill and Trout River.
[edit] Pembina raid (1871)
This Fenian raid occurred in Manitoba during 1871.
[edit] Agitation in Pacific Northwest
The Fenian Brotherhood organized openly in the Pacific Northwest states during the 1870s and 1880s, agitating to invade British Columbia. Although no raids were ever launched, tensions were sufficient that the British posted a number of large warships to the new railhead at Vancouver, British Columbia in for the celebrations opening the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1886.
[edit] Results and long term effects
Support for the Fenian Brotherhood's Invasion of Canada levelled out and there was no real threat of any more raids after the 1890s. The raids, however, did have a large effect on Canada-US relations for years after the last raid.
There was a great deal of anger in Canada with the US government, who Canadians felt had looked the other way and failed to prevent the raids on their end. There is even some indication that US President Andrew Johnson may have given his blessing to the early raids, saying that he would "recognize the accomplished facts"[1]; implying that if the Fenians were successful, he would support them.
Canada-US relations remained strained until Anglo-American rapprochment in the first decade of the 20th century. However, though relations markedly improved after this period, Canadian-American relations remained considerably distant until co-operation during the Second World War.
We are the Fenian Brotherhood, skilled in the arts of war, And we're going to fight for Ireland, the land we adore, Many battles we have won, along with the boys in blue, And we'll go and capture Canada, for we've nothing else to do. -- Fenian soldier's song
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Senior, H. (1996). The last invasion of Canada: The Fenian raids, 1866-1870. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1550020854
[edit] External links
- “Here Comes That Damned Green Flag Again”
- Archives of Ontario - Information about raids in Ontario in the 1860's
- "Security-Intelligence Functions of the Toronto Police During the Civil War Era and the Fenian Threat"
