Battle of Eccles Hill

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Battle of Eccles Hill
Part of Fenian Raids
The Battle of Eccles Hill. Contemporary illustration.
Date May 25, 1870 Location Near Ormstown, Quebec Result Canadian victory
Belligerents
Fenian Brotherhood	Dominion of Canada
Commanders
Samuel B. Spiers	William Osborne Smith
Strength
600 militia 1 gun	680 militia
Casualties and losses
5 dead 18 wounded	None

The Battle of Eccles Hill was part of a raid into Canadian territory from the United States led by John O'Neill and Samuel Spiers of the Fenian Brotherhood. The army of the Fenian Brotherhood was defeated by local militia units based in Huntingdon on May 25, 1870.

Contents 1 Preclude 2 Battle 3 See also 4 Further reading 5 External links 6 Gallery

[edit] Preclude

Fenian militants, operating from Vermont, assembled on May 25 to orchestrate a second invasion of the Montreal region (a similar expedition under Spiers had met with defeat at the Battle of Pigeon Hill in 1866). Although O'Neill was arrested at the border crossing by an American police patrol, Spiers and the main body of Fenians slipped across the border intact and entered the province of Quebec.

[edit] Battle

Partisans and government scouts spotted them almost immediately. A force of militia awaiting the Fenians at Eccles Hill put up resistance, resulting in firefights and skirmishing. Lieutenant-Colonel William Smith hurried to the field with a battalion of volunteer cavalry and charged the Fenian positions. The Fenians fled, leaving behind their artillery and their dead. The Canadians sustained no casualties during the engagement because of the information supplied by Thomas Billis Beach, an double agent working against the Fenians from within their own organization.

[edit] See also

List of conflicts in Canada

[edit] Further reading

• Senior, H. (1996). The last invasion of Canada: The Fenian raids, 1866-1870. Dundurn Press. ISBN 1-55002-085-4

Fenian Raids Campobello Island – Ridgeway – Fort Erie – Pigeon Hill – Eccles Hill – Trout River

[edit] External links

• Biography of Thomas Billis Beach

[edit] Gallery

Cannon used by the Canadian troops against the Fenians

Erected in 1902 by the Dominion government under the supervision of the Missisquoi Historical Society

Monument at Eccles Hill

Canadian volunteers and Home Guards here repulsed the Fenian invaders here on 25th May 1870