The origin and services of the Prince of Wales Regiment : including a brief history of the militia of French Canada, and of the Canadian Militia since Canada became a British colony

THE PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT

AND THE

CANADIAN MILITIA

H. R. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES.

THE

ORIGIN AND SERVICES

OF THE

PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT

INCLUDING A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE

MILITIA OF FRENCH CANADA

AND OF THE

CANADIAN MILITIA

SINCE CANADA BECAME A BRITISH COLONY

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT ACTIONS IN WHICH THEY HAVE
ENGAGED, INCLUDING THE NORTHWEST REBELLION OF 1885

EDITED BY

CAPTAIN ERNEST J. CHAMBERS

IVj
\

MONTREAL

E. L. RUDDY, 79 ST. JAMES STREET
PUBLISHER

1897

Entered, according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year Eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, for the Prince of
Wales Regiment, by Thomas Page Butler, Lieut. -Col. commanding, at the Department of Agriculture.

N. F. 4 V. GUEKTIN, PRINTERS, MONTREAL

To

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS
ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES

who, by graciously allowing the corps to bear his honoured name,

by the kindly interest he has always evinced in its welfare, has contrib
uted so largely to its esprit de corps and loyal devotion to duty, the
following pages are gratefully inscribed by the Officers and members
of His Royal Highness Regiment of the Active Militia of Canada.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I The Militia of the French Regime 1 1

II The First British Canadian Militia 16

III The Militia of 1812 28

IV The Volunteers of 1837 35

V The Montreal Volunteer Militia Rifles .... 43

VI A Friendly Invasion 51

VII The Prince of Wales Regiment 55

VIII The "Trent Affair . . 59

IX The Fenian Raids ... 63

X Service in Aid of the Civic Power ..... 73

XI Another F riendly Invasion 79

XII The Northwest Rebellion 81

XIII After the Rebellion 89

Roll of Honor .... . . . . 96

List of Officers .... 97

C~

" War is honourable

" In those who do their native rights maintain ;
" In those whose swords and iron barrier are
" Between the lawless spoiler and the weak."

JOHANNA BAILLIE.

The history of the Prince of Wales Regiment has more than a mere regimental or local
interest. It embraces the story of the development of a great national force which discharges
a high and most useful function in the Canadian community the Active Militia a loyal
bod}- which has not only protected the altars and hearths of Canada from the foreign invader
and the internal disturber, but has left the blood-stained imprint of its gallant deeds stamped
in imperishable characters upon the glorious pages of the heroic history of the noblest
empire the world has ever known.

The work of compiling the accompanying pages has been a source both of pleasure and
regret to me of satisfaction because it enabled me to do something, even in a modest way,
towards filling the want which unquestionably exists for a connected story of the Canadian
Militia ; of regret because the opportunities presented did not permit of a more thorough
treatment of this prolific subject.

It seems only natural that the history of the oldest existing militia regiment should lead
back to the origin of Canada s constitutional force, and I trust that the information given
respecting the old military organizations of this country, fragmentary and incomplete though
the}- of necessity are, will prove not merely interesting, but even useful. To reveal to the
men of a particular corps, or to the corps of any military service as a whole, the honourable
traditions to which they are the heirs, is to increase their efficiency and practical military
value. As Lord Wolseley has put it, " Historical traditions affect the character of regiments
more than might be imagined. Make a man proud of himself and of his corps, and he can
always be depended upon." The records of the splendid services of the Canadian Militia as
a whole, and the Prince of Wales Regiment in particular, contained in the accompanying
pages, despite the imperfections of arrangement, are such as to inspire the military spirit of
the gallant regiment in question.

In view of the undeniable practical value of that quality, which for want of a better
term we call " esprit de corps," it appears a pity that some systematic effort has not been
made to trace out the lines of descent from the war-tried military bodies of the war of 1812-15,
which some of our city and county battalions could fairly claim, on the established principle
that a regiment exists as one and the same corps through numerous phases of reorganization,
and even with periods of absolute disorganization intervening. As Captain Otley L. Perry,
in his interesting work, "Rank, Badges and Dates in Her Majesty s Army and Navy"

(p. 145) says: "Some Regimental numbers (in the regular army) represent a series of
regiments, with, in certain cases, considerable intervals between the establishment of a new
regiment and the disbandment of its immediate predecessor bearing the same number. A
perusal of Cannon s or Trimen s records of regiments shows that this principle has been
universally adopted in the Army."

The Prince of Wales Regiment makes no claim to continuous existence further back
than the establishment of the Rifle Rangers, but in the light of army precedent there appears
no reason why it should not, having been known as the " Montreal Rifle Battalion " at the
time it received its present designation, claim descent from " Montreal Rifles " of the rebellion.
No other rifle companies existed in Montreal during the intervening period, and when the
Rifle Rangers were organized several former members of the Rifles of 1837-38 joined the
company, including its first captain. Similarly, why should not the regiment, being and
always having been the " First " Regiment of the present militia force, claim descent from
the " First" Militia Battalion of 1812, with which it could claim personal connection through
at least one of its officers, the Adjutant?

If a modest and imperfect record of the services of the Canadian Militia and a particular
regiment of it, be of interest in the service, I trust it may also prove of some general interest
throughout the Dominion and assist to draw the attention of the Canadian public to the value
of the militia. Fortunately, since the ugly menaces of the neighbouring, and not always
neighbourly, republic a year ago, the militia has come to be treated seriously again, but, in
the piping times of peace it is hard to keep vip that public interest in the force necessary to
produce the required sinews of war. We are told that Canada is a commercial and a peace
able country, as if the mere love of peace by the Canadian people, and the flourishing
condition of the commerce of the Dominion constituted a protection against war instead of
being an actual temptation to attack us. In the iSth century there was much repugnance
to war by our forefathers because they regarded it as fatal to constitutional liberty. Our age
has been much occupied with a general progress of humanity, and it has accordingly looked
eagerly for signs of the disappearance of war and of an approaching millenium of peace. As
we want peace to develop this fair young country of ours it is necessary that we should
be prepared to insure it. If threatened, it will avail little to say that we most sincerely love
peace, and that the very idea of war shocks us.

As the Hon. Dr. Borden, the present popular Minister of Militia and Defence, recently
said : " Trouble is much less likely to come to a people who are well prepared to meet it."
The record of the services of the militia is the most eloquent plea that could be made for the
maintenance of the force on the most efficient basis possible.

The lack of time and space have united to prevent the record from being as complete as
I would have desired, but such as it is, it will, I trust, serve to stimulate the pride of the
members of the Prince of Wales Regiment in their corps, help to encourage the militia as a
whole to live up to the splendid traditions of the service, and at a time when a practical
manifestation of popular sympathy with the force is desirable, draw public attention to the
importance of those services which have made the people of Canada proud of, and grateful to,
their citizen soldiery.

ERNKST J. CHAMBERS,

Montreal.

February 22nd, 1897.

(Efycmks of ttye (Eommanbmg (Officer.

As the Officer Commanding the First or Prince of Wales Regiment I beg in this public
manner to express the thanks of the Regiment to its many kind friends by whose subscrip
tions and assistance we have been enabled to publish this history, and at the same time to
benefit our Regimental Fund, which, as all who know anything of the Volunteer System in
Canada are aware, is always insufficient for ordinary Regimental expenses.

The idea of publishing -a history of the Corps has been in my mind for many years, and
ever since I took over the command I have been waiting a convenient opportunity to carry it
into effect. When, last spring, the officers of the Regiment decided to enter upon the task,
we were much pleased to find that Capt. Ernest J. Chambers, who, from his long connection
with the force, and his experience as correspondent of the Montreal "Star" during the Xorth-
West Rebellion, was peculiarly fitted for the task, was able to undertake the duty of writing
it. The public will, we feel certain, appreciate his work, and peruse its pages with pleasure
and profit whether the reader is actively connected with the Volunteers or not, and will join
with us in thanking him for the pains he has taken to produce a work of more than mere
Regimental interest.

We feel that we would be lacking in justice and gratitude did we omit at the same time
to thank the publisher, Mr. E. L. Ruddy, for the conscientious care with which he has labored,
and the exertions made by him in getting out what we venture to think will be acknowledged
to be a work of credit to the Regiment.

THOMAS PAGE BUTLER, Lieutenant-Colonel,

Commanding Prince of Wales Regiment.

THE MILITIA OF THE FRENCH REGIME.

HE history of the Canadian Militia comprises the most heroic and most
honourable annals of the Canadian people. The story of the gallant
force which prides itself upon being the first line of defence of this fair
Dominion goes back to the very establishment of the old French Colony.
The Canadian Militia force of to-day is the same force as was the main
protection of the Infant French Colony against its ever alert Indian
foes and its persistently jealous Anglo-colonial ones.

When British determination and hardy courage triumphed over
French gallantry yoked to official rascality, and the Union Jack replaced the
golden lilies of the Bourbons on the Canadian fortresses, the old Canadian
Militia, which by its deeds of arms had given immortal fame to many a bloody
battlefield in virgin forest and sylvan glade did not cease to exist. It, simply
submitting to the inexorable logic of conquest, and with a pious curse upon
Bigot and the other parasitical creatures of the Friponne, who had sapped the energies
of the old French Colony, transferred its allegiance from the crown of France to that of
Britain and was maintained by the British conquerors on the same system of organization,
as had existed before the conquest. The present Dominion Militia can trace its origin back
to this first British Canadian Militia by direct descent.

The more one studies the comparatively long history of the force which has added so
many pages of glorious records to the history of this Canada of ours the more must he be
impressed with the absurdity of the still oft repeated, ridiculous remark that this country has
no history worth speaking of.

The history of the oldest regiment in the militia, a regiment which has been the actual
parent of several others is naturally, one may say, the history of the service. It would not
be complete without at least some reference to the organization and accomplishments of the
militia from its first inception up to the time of the organization of the regiment in question.
Without wishing for a moment to underestimate the magnificent services rendered in the
defence of Canada by the British Army and Navy, it must be acknowledged that in the face

ii

of general rebellion and invasion alike, Canada has had to depend chiefly for defence upon
the natural courage and unwavering loyalty of the militia. This national force of ours
inherits not only its own traditions, dating back to the heroic days when a handful of gallant
French colonists were endeavouring to create a new France along the banks of the St. Law
rence, but draws an inspiration from the British Army. The Canadian militiamen realize
that in belonging to the Canadian Militia the} belong to an auxiliary force of the Imperial
Army, whose services are constantly illustrating anew, in distant and various climes, and
against every kind of foe, the qualities of the British valour and virtues which have made
Britain what she is.

That Canada should depend for her defence upon a body of citizen soldier}- appears but
natural when it is considered that her original population was made up largely of the military
colonists of two brave and warlike nations. A strong military element was bodily incorpo
rated in the population of Canada at an early stage of the country s settlement. When the
Marquis de Tracy arrived to take over the duties of Viceroy in 1664, he brought with him as
settlers the then newly disbanded regiment of Carignan-Sallieres, which had returned to
France after fighting the Turks in Hungary. These men, who had aided in setting bounds
to Mahometan encroachment, were admirably adapted for settlement in a country in which
constant fighting was going on with the Iroquois and the English colonists. Other military
settlers from France followed, and when in turn the English began to direct attention to the
settlement of the country, the discharged soldiers of Amherst s old regiments were encouraged
to settle in Canada. The immigration of the devoted United Empire Loyalists resulted in
another infusion of the loftiest kind of military spirit into the population of Canada.

The jSth Highlanders, who, having been raised in 1757, formed a part of Wolfe s army,
was disbanded in Canada in 1764, and several of its officers obtained grants of large tracts
of country, seigniories owned to this day by their descendants. A great portion of the soldiers
married French Canadian girls and settled permanently in the colony. These were the
founders of the many French speaking families bearing Scotch names to be found in the
lower counties of the Province of Quebec. The 78th was again raised in Scotland to meet
the exigencies of the American revolution in 1778, and again disbanded at the conclusion of
the war.

After the war of 1812 the Watteville and Meuron Swiss Regiments were disbanded in
Canada, and many of the officers and men settled here, adding another important military
element to the new Canadian population. The DeMontenachs, Labrueres, D Orsonnens,
Genands, and others have held and still hold prominent places in the Canadian Militia.

It is scarcely to be wondered at then that although a peace loving people, when occasion
requires the Canadians are ever ready to fight in defence of their firesides, and have been
from the time when this country was a French Colony.

Few people realize what a powerful force the militia of the old French colony was. The
year of the first battle of the Plains of Abraham, 1759, Montreal contained 4,000 inhabitants,
and yet the militia organization of the province was so perfect, that Montreal alone had a
militia force of about 1,000 men. This enrollment of such a large proportion of the popu
lation was accomplished by the aid of the Feudal law of Fiefs, which obliged every man in
the colony, the noblesse excepted, to enroll himself in the militia, and provided for the
appointment of a captain in every parish, who was responsible to the Government for the
drill and good order of his men.

When the French governments of the colony wanted the services of the militia as
soldiers, the Colonels of militia, the seigneurs, or the Town Majors, in consequence of a
requisition from the Governor, sent orders to the several Captains of the militia in the country
parishes to furnish a certain number of militiamen chosen by those officers, who ordered the

12

drafts into town under an escort, commanded by an officer of militia, who conducted them to
the Town Major, who furnished each militiamen with a gun, a capot, a Canadian cloak, a
breech clout, a cotton shirt, a cap, a pair of leggings, a pair of Indian shoes and a blanket.
The old Canadian militiaman during the French regime must certainly have looked more
serviceable than soldierly, particularly to the critical eyes of those used to the prim tight-laced
soldiers of those days. But he showed that he could do the work required of him.

After receiving their equipments, the militiamen were marched to the garrison for which
they were destined. The French authorities do not appear to have made any serious attempt
to make trained line soldiers or artillerymen out of the militia. They preferred to rely upon

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA,
THE RIGHT HONORABLE THE EARL OF ABERDEEN, P. C.

the smart professional soldiers of the Carignau, Carillon, Languedoc, Bearne, Guienne, La
Sarre, Bern- and Royal Roussillon regiments and the Troupes de la Marine for the line of
battle, leaving to the militia the just as dangerous, and considering the country, just as
important functions of partisans and bush rangers. Consequently, while clothing the peasant
soldiery in a fashion as much unlike the military uniform of the day as anything well could
be, the French officers made no attempt to instill into the ranks of the militia an}- idea of
drill and discipline beyond such as was necessary to secure a fair show of order while on the
march. This employment as scouts and skirmishers was congenial to the warlike race, and
they readily came forward whenever the war drum sounded.

Sometimes the old French Canadian militia dressed exactly like their Indian allies.
Some of the Canadian prisoners captured in affairs of outposts during Wolfe s siege of Quebec
were naked, with their bodies daubed with red and blue paint, and with bunches of painted
feathers in their hair. According to Parkman, they were said to use the scalping knife as
freely as the Indians, in which respect they resembled the New England Rangers.

The old French militia was, according to Warbnrton, generally reviewed one or twice a
year for the inspection of their arms ; that of Quebec was frequently exercised, and had
attached thereto an efficient company of artillery. Many duties of law, police and the
superintendence of roads in the country districts were also imposed on the Captains of militia.
The Governor-General was every year accustomed to bestow a quantity of powder and ball by
way of gratification upon these useful officials.

During the Anglo-Indian French war, says Rogers in his "Rise of Canada," in 1754 to
be exact, when the English American colonists had determined upon the four expeditions
against Crown Point, Niagara and the French fortresses in Nova Scotia and on the Ohio, the
Marquis dti Quesne, then Governor of Canada, organized the militia of Quebec and Montreal ;
minutely inspected and disciplined the militia of the seigniories, and attached considerable
bodies of regular artillery to every garrison. When the Marquis de Vaudreuil de Cavagnac
arrived in 1755 to succeed du Quesne, he found all Canada in arms. Every parish was a
garrison, commanded by a captain, whose authority was not only acknowledged, but rigidly
sustained.

The French governors undoubtedly appreciated the value of the force, and when the last
decisive struggle was impending, at the close of the year 1758, the Marquis de Yaudreuil
issued a proclamation to the officers of the Canadian militia to excite their zeal and quicken
their activity in preparations for resistence. "Notwithstanding our glorious successes," said
lie, " the state of the colon}- is perilous. No time must be lost in organizing our defence."
He then directed that all the male inhabitants of the province, from sixteen to sixty years of
age, should be enrolled in the militia, and should remain in readiness to march at a moment s
notice. The Captains of militia faithfiilly endeavoured to comply with these orders, but the
habitants showed some disinclination to leave their farms. In many cases the levies, under
the law of universal conscription, were carried out to the letter, sections of the country
remained waste, and eventually the country was involved in a state of absolute famine.

On the occasion of this last appeal of the French governor there was really a magnificent
response, for, at the time of the conquest, according to British official returns, the effective
militiamen of the colony numbered 20,433 men, divided among the military districts as
follows. Quebec, 64 companies or 7,976 men; Three Rivers, 19 companies, 1,115 men;
Montreal, 87 companies, 7,331 men. The military administrative organization during the
French regime was very simple, consisting, in each district, outside of Quebec, where the
colonial administration was located, of the following staffs : a Governor, pay 3,000 livres ; a
Lieutenant du Roi, 2,000; and a Town Major, 1,200.

The "Troupes de la Marine," which formed the permanent military establishment of
Canada, might be described as forming a part of the French Colonial militia. Francis
Parkman, in his pre-eminently interesting and accurate volumes " Montcalm and Wolfe,"
speaking of this force says. " Though attached to the naval department they served on land,
and were employed as a police within the limits of the colony, or as garrisons of the outlying
forts, where their officers busied themselves more with fur trading than with their military
duties. Thus they had become ill-disciplined and inefficient, till the hard hand of du Quesne
restored them to order. They originally consisted of twenty-eight independent companies,
increased in 1750 to thirty companies, at first of fifty, and afterwards of sixty-five men each^
forming a total of 1,950 rank and file. In March 1757, ten more companies were added.

14

Their uniform was not unlike that of the troops attached to the French War department,
being white with black facings. (The regular regiments from France which served in
Canada, had facings of blue, red, yellow or violet.) The colonial troops were enlisted for the
most part in France ; but when their term of sen-ice expired, and even before, in time of
peace, they were encouraged to become settlers in the colony as was also the case with their
officers, of whom a great part were of European birth. Thus the relations of the troupes de
la marine with the colony were close ; and the}- formed a sort of connecting link between the
troops of the line and the native militia."

MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM JULIUS GASCOIGNE,
COMMANDING THE MILITIA OK CANADA.

Twenty-four companies of the troupes de la marine, or colony troops took part in
Drucour s gallant but unsuccessful defence of Louisbourg against Boscawen and Amherst in
I75S.

Though Acadia (New Brunswick and the peninsula of Nova Scotia) had been conquered
by General Nicholson in 1710, and formally transferred by France to the British Crown three
years later by the Treaty of Utrecht, in the spring of 1750 La Jonquiere issued a proclamation
commanding all Acadians to take forthwith an oath of fidelity to the king of France, and to
enroll themselves in the French militia, on pain of being treated as rebels. In 1755, when
Monckton and Winslow captured the French fort of Beausejour, there was an organized
British militia force in Acadia, but the only part of it on which any dependence could be laid
was the Halifax militia, which really dated back to the founding of Halifax as a military
settlement in June 1749 with a population of 2500 immigrants, including a goodly proportion
of retired military officers and soldiers.

CHAPTER II.

THE FIRST BRITISH CANADIAN MILITIA.

S Warburton wrote "On the day that the French regular armies in Canada
ceased to resist, Canada was a peaceful province of British America."
France had played out her part in the history of the New World.

Immediately on the reduction of Montreal, General Amherst
established a military government for the preservation of the public
tranquility, and divided the country into three districts, of Quebec,
Montreal and Three Rivers. Over the first was placed General James Murray,
General Thomas Gage was at the head of the second, and Colonel Ralph
Burton was commandant of the third division. Within these districts he
established several courts of justice, composed of militia officers of the country,
who decided cases brought before them in a summary way, with an appeal
to a court composed of officers of His Majesty s army.

The capitulation of Canada to Britain was consummated on September
8th, 1760, and the British Army took possession of Montreal the same day, De
Levis, at De VaudreuiPs peremptory orders, surrendering the arms of the force
under his command. British rule in Canada dates from that day, and within
a fortnight from that date the first steps were taken towards establishing a
Canadian militia under the British flag. On September igth, General Amherst in his capa
city of first British governor of Canada instructed Colonel Haldimand to assemble the militia
of Montreal who had served under the French regime at once, and order them to give up their
arms. That done, provided they would take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown, the
arms would be returned to them, or placed in an armoury, and the officers recommissioned on
certain conditions. Clearly the intention was to continue the old militia system under the
British flag. But, although the British conquerors appear to have had enough faith in the
new fellow subjects secured by this triumph to allow them to retain the arms they had used
with such good effect in support of the lost cause, the French Canadian militiamen appear to
have had no heart for service under the standards of their traditional enemy. On March 25th,
1764, Colonel Haldimand wrote to General Gage, the commander-in-chief, stating that he had
experienced great difficulty in recruiting the militia force considered necessary for the defence
of the newly acquired colony. He reported that he had succeeded, however, in enrolling a few
militiamen and had given the command to M. deMontizambert, with M. de Richeville and a
Mr. Smith as lieutenants. The first Canadian militia officer to thus obtain a British
commission, was an ancestor to that well known and gallant military officer of to-day, Lieut.-
Col. C. E. Montizambert, Assistant Inspector of Artillery, and Commandant of the Quebec
Citadel, who commanded the artillery during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885.

According to " Le Regne Militaire en Canada" (page 28) the placing of the adminis
tration of the law, criminal and civil, in the hands of the officers of the militia was merely an
honest attempt to place the administration of the French laws, the existence of which had been

16

promised to the conquered people, in the hands of those considered to be the best versed in
them. The commissions in the militia were generally held by the Seigneurs and other nota
bilities of their districts, and these persons were not merely the best educated residents of
their respective districts, but naturally the best informed on general and legal topics. At the
same time they comprised the portion of the Canadian community which the British military
officers, who found themselves placed at the head of affairs in the new colony, most highly
appreciated. Like themselves, they had shown that they were brave soldiers, and the victo
rious officers, with that strong professional regard which engenders a species of deep seated
consideration, even for a hostile force, naturally felt disposed to rely upon the honour of
brother soldiers, though lately bitter enemies. Your true soldier will always consider honour
as inseparable from his profession.

SrKr.KON-IJKUT.-COLONKI, HON. F. \V. HORDKN, M.D., M.P.,
MINISTER OF MIIJTIA AND DEFENSE.

For three years, at least, subsequent to the conquest, the chief duties of the militia con
sisted in the administration of justice. The courts were composed of militia officers, while
sergeants of militia acted as the officers and criers of the courts.

It is satisfactory to note that on retiring from the governorship of Montreal, Gage
forwarded a letter to " Messrs, les Capitaines de la Chambre de milice de Montreal," dated
Montreal October 1763, in which he wrote "I cannot help expressing the satisfaction that I
have always derived from your conduct, during the time I have had the honour to be your
chief ; and it becomes my duty before leaving your country to testify as to my lively recog
nition of the services which you have rendered to your king and country. Continue to do
your duty in advancing the public welfare, and not only increase the good reputation you have

already acquired among your fellow countrymen, but earn what you will certainly not fail to
receive, the gratitude and protection of the king."

The first record I have been able to find of the enrollment of a battalion of militia under
British authority in Canada is in an order issued by Governor Haldimand of Three Rivers
dated March i2th, 1764. This order was addressed to "All the captains of militia for the
enrollment of Canadian companies." The document read as follows :

"Sir:

"Although I have already verbally informed yon of the desire with which His Majesty
is possessed of ensuring the happiness of his subjects, and of the firm resolution which
he has taken to bring back to reason some of the Indian Nations, whose evil spirit has
revealed itself through treason and violence, and to compel them to ensure the return of
a paying trade and peace so necessary to his peoples, I have deemed it advisable to inform
you that for this purpose the Government has resolved upon adding five companies of
Canadians to the troops to be engaged in this service. These companies will comprise 60
men each. Two will be raised in the Government of Quebec, two in that of Montreal and
one in that of Three Rivers and will be under the command of Canadian officers. Only
those who, of their own free will, are determined to become subject of His Majesty will be
enrolled in these companies. In recognition of, and as a reward for the good will of those
who enroll themselves, there will be given twelve dollars in money to each ; volunteer, there
will be distributed to them one coat, two pairs of Indian mocassins and a pair of mitts ;
they will be furnished with arms, munitions and supplies diiring the whole time of the
campaign. The pay for each man will be six English pence per day, and they will be
accompanied by a priest to discharge the duties of his ministry. The service of these
volunteers will end with the campaign, and after that each of them will be at liberty to
return home. Such a step indicates in the Government confidence in the subjects of His
Majesty. We are in the right in expecting that they will not only enroll readily, but will
show great faithfulness to fulfill their engagements wherever they may be placed by
circumstances and for the good of the service. They should act as much through honour and
duty as through gratitude and through xeal in their own interest. Pending the time when
you may be at liberty to publish this ordinance at the church door next Sunday, you will do
all you can to render it public, more especially among the young men, so that they may be
informed of all the conditions which are offered them."

" Made and delivered at Three Rivers, under the seal of our arms, on the i2th of March,

I?64 "(Signed) " FRED. HALDIMAND."

The following year some trouble appears to have been developed over the mistaken ideas
of some of the old militia officers as to the validity of the old French commissions, some of the
old French officers performing the functions of their rank without authority. An ordinance
proclaimed in November 1765 declared "Whereas several captains of the militia formerly
established in this Province and afterwards continued until the establishment of Civil
Government, within the same, pretend that their commissions and former authority of
Captains of militia still continue and are in force, notwithstanding no ordinance of His
Excellency the Governor in Council has ever been made for establishing or continuing them
in office, and whereas the keeping np of a militia in this Province at this juncture is not
necessary :

" Be it therefore ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid that on the establish
ment of British Civil Government in this Province, the militia before that time established in
the same was thereby abolished and taken away to all intents and purposes whatsoever, and

18

all power and "authority derived from them, or which any person or persons whatsoever might
claim or pretend to claim by force or in virtue of any commission or other authority therein,
did thereforward cease, and was thereby annulled and taken away, and any person or persons
whatsoever acting or pretending to act under any commission or authority therein, was and
were thereby and by means thereof dismissed and discharged from the same accordingly.

" (Signed)
" Quebec, 27 Nov. 1765." " J. MURRAY."

Though the above order looks like a formal abolition of the militia, it appears that the
militia officers who had been recommissioned to act as magistrates continued in office.

On April 4th 1771, Quartermaster-General Robertson wrote to Colonel Haldimand from
New York about the enrollment of two regiments in Canada to be officered by young Cana
dians of good family.

THE CABINET OF CANADA.
1397.

II ith permission of the Her.ild Pul-. Co., Montnul.

While England s disaffected American colonists were as yet only contemplating open
rebellion ; while they were yet hopeful of inducing the people of Canada to join them in an
apparently inevitable appeal to arms, that clear headed and cautious soldier and good friend
of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, was laying the foundations for the first Canadian militia force
which was actually to fight under the red cross banner of England. The situation Carleton
had to face in 1774 and 1775 was an extremely critical one.

The population of Canada consisted of some 70,000 colonists of French blood, and consi
derably less than a thousand British colonists. Owing to the wars of the Empire in Europe
and abroad the army of occupation in Canada had been reduced to a perilously insignificant
force. As a matter of fact, according to Allison, (Hist, of Europe, chap. XCI), the whole
military force of the Empire of every description did not amount to 20,000 men.

Fervid appeals to the Canadians to participate in the impending revolution were circu-

lated broadcast throughout the country through the agency of Thomas Walker, a. Montreal
merchant who had, with an apparently deliciously exalted appreciation of his own importance
and influence, undertaken to represent Canada in the newly instituted American colonial
congress. Associated with this egotistical, self-appointed legislator was one Cazeau, another
merchant of the same city, who had numerous business branches and agents throughout the
colony. The ever attractive, and so much abused phrases of liberty and national indepen
dence were dangled before the eyes of the Canadian people in flowery resolutions of Congress
and finely worded, if reckless, appeals of prominent American agitators.

At the first glance it appears remarkable that these appeals failed of producing their
desired effect. Those appealed to to throw off their allegiance could have had little affection for
the British tie. It was a mere trifle of fourteen years time since the ink had dried on that
momentous document signed on one of the slopes of Mount Royal by M. de Vaudreuil and
General Amherst by which Canada became a British colony, and the devoted colonists of
France became, by the stern rales of conquest, subjects of victorious Britain. The very men
to whom the irrepressible emissaries of the revolutionary American colonists were so seduct
ively appealing had belonged to that heroic Canadian militia that had formed so conspicuous
and useful a part of the armed forces with which Montcalm had succeeded so long, in the face
of the crudest kind of misfortune and official neglect, in holding in check that irresistable
tide of British invasion. The}- had, a proportion of them at least, fought valiantly under the
yet venerated fleur-de-lys against the very red coated soldiers whose successes had imposed
the British allegiance upon them. Not an insignificent proportion of the younger and more
easily influenced part of the population consisted of sons of men who had sacrificed their lives
for the, to them, sacred cause of French rule in that dreadful bush fight on the Monongahela,
on the blood stained entrenchments along the shores of Lakes George and Champlain, in
front of the desparately defended ramparts of Oswego, behind the trenches of Beauport, or on
the immortal Plains of Abraham.

And if the natural inclinations of the Canadian people, and the very blood in their veins,
tended rather to make them welcome the opportunity to throw off the unaccustomed bond
binding them to Britain, the treatment they had received at the hands of their conquerors had
not been such as to reconcile them to the new order of things. Military despotism, followed
by the attempt to summarily abolish the established jurisprudence of the colony might, at
the time, have appeared to the country s new rulers to be not mereh- expedient but really
humane, but it certainly, during the latter part of the decade immediately following the
conquest, kept cruelly alive the race hatred felt by the high spirited but patient Canadian
people for their conquerors.

As late as 1773 a memorial had been sent to the king by a few of the seigneurs and
burgesses claiming a right to participate in all public employments, military and civil. The
memorialists remarked "All that the Canadians wish to enjoy, like the other subjects of His
Majesty, are their rights and immunities as Britons; which the common law of England,
indeed, assigned them." The following year an act was passed by the British parliament
removing the more glaring of the grievances of the Canadians.

When quitting Canada, M. de Vaudreuil, the colony s last French governor, according
to the historian Garneau, paid this homage to the Canadian people in a letter to the French
ministry. " With these beautiful and vast countries, France loses 70,000 inhabitants of a
rare quality ; a race of people unequalled for their docility, bravery and loyalty." Loyal they
had unquestionably been to their mother country, France, for it was as true then as today
that blood is thicker than water.

Would their loyalty to Britain, their old foe and late oppressor, a loyalty barren of any
affectionate sentiments, a thing of short and forced growth, stand the test ?

20

It was a momentous question, for without some aid from the population of the country,
the fruits of Wolfe s great victory must have been thrown away, and Canada lost to Britain.

Happily for General Carleton, as the French historian I have just quoted says, the
Canadian clergy and seigneurs had become firmly bound to British interests through the
confirmation of feudal tenures and the recognized right of tithing, and with these two orders
of men inarched the burgess class in the towns, which was as yet, however, neither nemerous
nor opulent. These classes resolved to resist every assault of the Anglo-Americans and to
retain Canada for monarchic Britain.

The proud consciousness of having done their duty robbed defeat of its bitterest sting.
Though the fortune of war had been against them and Britain had won their country, they

UKUT -COI.ONEI, THOMAS PAGE BUTLER,
COMMANDING PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT.

had won as much honour out of the prolonged contest as their conquerors. Many armies of
conceited and quarrelsome colonials and of contract-raised, scandalously officered and poorly
disciplined so-called regular regiments suffered defeat at the hands of the Canadian militia
and the white-coated regulars of France, before the last of the flags emblazoned with the
lillies of France fluttered down from their Canadian flagstaffs to make way for the Union Jack.
To the rich harvest of imperishable glory reaped by the devoted and deserted supporters of
the cause of the Bourbons during this, to them, disastrous campaign, the gallantry, the amazing
hardihood, and the pathetic devotion of the Canadian militia fairly contributed the lion s

21

share. There was no disgrace for such men as these in the final defeat of the cause for
which they had so heroically, and, for long so successfully fonght. Now that they were
called upon to rally to the support of the new flag which had been planted in their country
in spite of their utmost efforts, there was no consciousness of inferiority, no jealous hatred of
the conquerors who had so often felt their mettle, to prevent the leading French colonists
from responding to the appeal of their loyalty with some enthusiasm.

The masses of the Canadian people were not by any means enthusiastic, however.
They had ever preserved in their hearts that hatred for the British race which they had
contracted during long wars. But this national antipathy was general in its application to
British people wherever born or located. They thus naturally had no preference as between
the British of Britain and Canada, and the others of the race located in the Anglo-American
colonies.

Two things, in fact, combined to give the French Canadians a preference for Britain as
against her American colonists. The latter had been the direct cause of the conquest of
Canada, as the Canadians knew very well, and their Congress, in a moment of rashness,
had violently outraged the public sentiment in the old French colony by a declaration against
Catholicism and French jurisprudence. Carleton s least favourable expectation was, under
the circumstances, that if the Canadians would not take up arms for Britain, neither would
they fight against her. Such were the unpromising conditions under which the first general
appeal to arms was made to the militia of British Canada.

The principle having been laid down that the old laws of the vanquished people should
subsist until their conquerors should substitute new, and the British parliament having
failed to provide full details for the organization of a Canadian militia, Carleton appears to have
been largely guided in his efforts to raise a militia by the usages of the French colonial
officers, as Amherst s subordinates had been. He first appealed to the seigneurs to aid him
in organizing the militia. Several of the seigneurs promptly promised that they would
march against the rebels at the head of their tenants, but when they assembled their follow
ers, explained to them the question at issue, and added that the government looked to the
Canadians for warlike support, the latter flatly refused to fight saying : " We shall manifest
our loyalty to the government we live under by a quiet and submissive life, but we will take
no side in the present quarrels." In certain districts, some ardent, youthful seigneurs, trying
the effect of menaces to constrain their tenants to follow their lead, were obliged themselves
to flee precipitately. But in spite of this discouragement a force of Canadians was embodied
during the winter of 1775, several companies at Montreal, Quebec and Three Rivers being
the first corps organized at this time.

Meantime affairs in Britain s older American colonies assumed a graver aspect day by
day. Blood was shed at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775, and within a few days
afterwards Colonel Warner, with a view, even at that earl} stage of affairs, of preparing
for an expedition into Canada, obtained the mastery of Lake Champlain without any loss
of men. The first invasion of Canada after its passing under British rule speedily followed.
A detachment of revolutionary troops was despatched down that old route of invasion
the Richelieu River, and St. Johns fell an easy prize about the end of May.

The very day afterwards this important fortress was retaken by M. de Belestre at the
head of eighty Canadian volunteer militiamen. The victory is one of great historical
interest as the first recorded feat of arms of a force of Canadian militia fighting under the
flag of England. They have fought under such auspices on many a blood stained
battlefield since.

Sir J. M. Lemoine, in his entertaining and historically interesting volume of Canadian
sketches, " Maple Leaves," speaks as follows of this interesting event in the history of the

22

Canadian Volunteer-Militia. " Some (of the fierce spirits of the ancient regime) formed
part of the distinguished Canadians who, on the 8th of June, 1776, offered their services to
Major Preston, at Montreal, to retake and hold Fort St. John from the Americans, and
effectually did so on the loth of June, placing it into the hands of a detachment of the jth
Royal Fusiliers, under Capt. Kineer. They were the Chevalier de Belestre, de Longueuil,
de Lotbiniere, de Rouville, de Boucherville, de la Corne, de Labruere, de St. Ours, Perthuis,
Hervieux, Gamelin, de Montigny, d Eschambault and others. For this service, General
Carleton publicly thanked them. In September of the same year, this party, with the
assistance of a number of Quebec and Three Rivers volunteers, viz : Messrs, de Montesson,
Duchesnay, de Rigouville, de Salaberry, de Tonancour, Beaubien, Demusseau, Moquin,

MAJOR J. P. COOKE, M.P.P.

Lamarque, Faucher and others started for St. Johns to relieve a detachment of the /th and
26th Regiments, then in charge of the fort, and who expected a siege, but after being
beleaguered, the fort surrendered on the and of November to General Montgomery. The
Canadians and the soldiers were carried away prisoners of war, Congress refusing to exchange
the Canadians, " they being too much attached to the English government and too influential
in their own country." Two, Messrs. Demontesson and de Rigouville, died prisoners of
war ; de la Corne, Perthuis and Beaubien had been killed dxiring the siege ; de Lotbiniere
had an arm shot off ; de Salaberry was twice wounded. The garrison under Preston made
a gallant defense, successfully withstanding a fierce assault delivered during a severe

23

snowstorm, but being compelled to surrender on honourable terms to a vastly superior
force." Major Andre of the 26th Regiment, who was subsequently hanged as a spy by
Washington, was a member of the brave garrison of St. Johns on this occasion.

Despite its auspicious beginning, Carleton s first militia force was not altogether a
brilliant success, but, in the end, its loyalty and courage proved the salvation of Canada.
The new force was soon put to the test. Congress, at the solicitation of Colonel Arnold,
who said he could take and hold the colony with 2,000 men only, decided to send an army
against Quebec, the waterways to which lay open by way of Lake Champlain. Generals
Schuyler and Montgomery with i ,000 men descended the Richelieu to St. Johns, but finding
the defences formidable withdrew to Isle-aux-Noix. Arnold with another force of 1,000 men
marched upon Quebec along the valleys of the Kennebec and Chaudiere. On the first
report of invasion, Carleton directed troops to Lake Champlain. There were but 800 regular
troops in all at his disposal. Clearly his chief dependence was the militia, but apart from
the corps organized in the leading centres of population, the mimber of militia recruits
offering was very small. The governor offered tempting conditions. For men who would
volunteer for the war for each unmarried private he offered grants of 200 acres of land,
married ones, 250 acres, besides 50 more for each of the children; the land to be held free
of all imposts for 20 years. Yet these offers attracted few recruits. Carleton desired to
succor St. Johns by means of the armed rural populations of the Montreal and Three Rivers
districts, but nearly the whole militia of the district of Three Rivers refused to march at the
command of the governor. Some few hundreds of rural royalists, responding to the call to
arms, assembled at Montreal ; but, perceiving that Carleton was dubious of their fidelity,
most of them returned to their homes. The Chambly people joined an American detach
ment, and assisted in the capture of the fort at that place, but Carleton did not abandon hope
of releiving the beseiged garrison of St. Johns. The fort there was only a poor affair,
planking being the only shelter afforded from the beseigers fire, although the fort was the
key of the frontier line of defence. Colonel Maclean, the commandant at Quebec led 300 of
his militiamen as far as St. Denis, where he expected to be joined by Carleton with the
Montreal militia, but the governor got no further than Longueuil, fearing to disembark,
as he learned that some of his men contemplated joining the enemy. Maclean returned to
Sorel, where nearly all of his men, being gained over by emissaries from the Chambly
sympathisers, deserted to the enemy. This desertion, coupled with the inability of Carleton
to rely upon his corps of 800 militia raised in the Montreal district, left Maclean with no
alternative but to retreat to Quebec, and after a siege of 45 days, Fort St. Johns, with its
garrison of 500 men, surrendered. About the same time an attempt was made to take
Montreal by surprise by Colonel Ethan Allen and Major Brown. Allen with no men
crossed to the Island of Montreal, and was assured of assistance from sympathisers in the
city, but was encountered and captured near Longue Pointe by a force of 60 regulars and
300 of the city militia commanded by Major Carden. St. Johns captured, Carleton realizing
that with the population either apathetic or openly hostile, there was no chance of defending
Montreal, embarked with the regular garrison, some hundred men, for Quebec, where he
arrived after narrowly escaping capture at Three Rivers. Meanwhile Montreal surrendered,
without a blow, to Mongomery, and Three Rivers followed suit. Quebec, the Capital, was
the only place in Canada that remained under British rule. Its garrison was i ,800 strong,
including 571 French Canadian and 326 British Canadian militiamen. In December the
city was invested by the united armies of Mongomery and Arnold. The story of the siege,
of the midnight assault on New Year s eve and of the death of Montgomery has passed into
history. It is only necessary here to draw attention to the important part played in the
repulse of the assault by the Canadian Militia. It was Captain Chabot, a militia officer,

24

who gave the command to fire which swept the head of Montgomery s assaulting column
away and laid the general himself low. A handful of Canadians opposed Arnold s column,
holding their ground foot by foot with great obstinacy. When the Americans planted their
scaling ladders against the inner barricade on St. James Street, a city militiaman named
Charland, an intrepid and robust man, advanced amidst a shower of balls, seized the ladders
and drew then inside the barricade. This post was held by Captain Dumas militia company,
and its relief was finally effected by Captain Marcoux s company reinforced by a few
regulars. The elder Papineau (Joseph), served as a volunteer in Captain Marcoux s company.
Joseph Papineau, according to Garneau, "showed himself most zealous for the Royal
cause during the whole period of the American Revolution. A Canadian officer, M. Lamothe,

MAJOR \VALTKR H. LAURIE.

had brought into Canada some despatches from Lord Howe then commanding at New York,
meant for General Carleton at Quebec, but addressed to the Seminarists of Montreal. The
father of Louis J. Papineau, then a young man, accompanied Lamothe in carrying them to
Quebec. Secreting the missives in hollow walking sticks, they took the road along the right
bank of the St. Lawrence, avoiding the revolutionary soldiery and their Canadian sympa
thisers, and passing on from parsonage to parsonage till they reached Quebec on the nth of
March. Having delivered the despatches, they joined Captain Marcoux s company as
volunteers, taking part in the defence of Quebec till the siege was raised."

The repulse of the desperate attack upon Quebec unquestionably saved Canada for
Britain, and without the aid of the Canadian militia it could never have been accomplished.

25

COLONEL JOHN DYDK C. B.,

AIDE-DE-CAMP TO HER MAJESTY,

COMMANDING MONTREAL RIFLE COMPANIES.

I855-I356.

In the spring, strong reinforcements were sent into Canada by both Congress and the British
Government. The American invaders of Canada were either driven out of the Country or
made prisoners, while a corps of the Canadian militia under Captains De Boucherville and

Morin was attached to Bnrgoine s arm}- and participated
in the nnfortnnate campaign about Lake George and the
Hudson.

During the continuance of the war enforced military
service was frequently imposed upon the Canadians, but
after the conclusion of peace, no attention was paid to the
development of the military resources of the colony.

In 1 784 a memorial was presented to the Home
Government by Mr. du Calvet, an ex-Montreal magistrate,
whose name had been very prominent during the Ameri
can invasion, soliciting, among other things, conservation
of the old French laws, the extension of the habeas corpus
act to Canada, the naturalization of the Canadians so as
to endow them with British rights ; the liberty of the
press and the creation of a provincial military establish
ment, including a Canadian regiment of two battalions.
After the granting of the constitution of 1791, in every
parliamentary session the governors asked and obtained
fresh powers for organizing a submissive militia, but the
authority so granted appears to have been merely used to
the extent of appointing officers. Lord Dorchester, before
leaving Quebec for England, at the termination of his term as Governor-General in 1795,
organized, or left orders to organize, a Canadian regiment of two battalions ; but this corps
was disbanded afterwards, the home authorities judging that it was not prudent to train the
colonists to arms after their experience with their old
American colonists.

In the library of the Provincial Parliament at Quebec
is a series of the volumes of the " Almanach de Quebec,"
which published the militia lists annually, from 1796.
These lists give the militia eve:i then a brave show, on
paper, at any rate. The following list of the officers of
the Montreal militia gives an idea of the organization
which then existed:

" First District of the City of Montreal Militia.
" Field officers. Pierre N. Sevestre, Colonel ; Pierre
Guy, Lieut-Colonel ;

" Pierre Fortin and Etienne St. Dizier, Majors.
" P. Valle, J. B. Adhemer, Jacques Hervieux, Charles
Desery, J. Lacroix, Daniel Dupre, Captains.
"J. B. Jobin, Surgeon.

" Second District of the Montreal City Militia.
" Field officers. St. Geo. Dupre, Colonel ; Louis Per-
lier, Lieut-Col.; M. Blendeau, Major.

" P. Lacoste, Charles Chaboillez, H. St. George, Ga
briel Cote, J. B. Durocher, J. F. Perrault, Captains.
" F. X. Bender, Surgeon."

I.IEUT.-COLONEL THOMAS WILEY,

COMMANDING PRINCE OK WALKS REGIMENT

1859-1862.

26

The militia which nominally existed was governed by two acts passed in 1784 and 1786,
which were defective as they took the control of the force to a great extent out of the hands
of the government.

In 1803, when war broke out between Great Britain and France, the feeling of loyalty to
Britain throughout not only the new rapidly settling new English speaking province of Upper
Canada, but in the old French province of Lower Canada, was enthusiastic, and offers to raise
volunteer corps were freely made.

In 1807, the Americans, inspired by their persistent ambition to put an end to British
rule on this continent, industriously propagated the report that the Canadians only awaited
the unfurling of the " Stars and Stripes " in Canada to rise in a body against British rule. To
contradict this libel on the Canadian people practically, the Acting Governor, Mr. Dunn,
caused a grand military demonstration to be made. During the summer, one fifth of the
militia were called out and trained, the ballotting for men and their training when enrolled,
being carried out with the greatest spirit, giving the lie to the doubts which had been cast
upon the loyalty of the people. At the same time the fortifications of Quebec were thoroughly
overhauled by Colonel Brock, then commanding that garrison.

In ballotting, young bachelors competed with one another to procure the service tickets
of married men who drew them. Some men who were not drawn purchased tickets from
others who were, and not a few married men refused to sell out. (Rogers.) When Sir
James Craig arrived at Quebec he decided not to immediately organize the militia. Though
the men had been selected by the ballot, he did not think it necessary to call them together,
but he lauded the Canadians for the heroic spirit which they had manifested.

In 1809, Sir James Craig, then governor, and who had commanded Carleton s advance
guard at the expulsion of the American troops in 1776, dismissed from the Quebec militia five
officers, on the ground that the step was necessary for His Majesty s service. The cause
assigned for this action was that the governor could place no confidence in the services of
persons whom he had good grounds to consider to be proprietors of a seditious and libellous
publication (Le Canadien). They were Col. Panet, Capts. Bedard and Taschereau, Lieut.
Borgia and Surgeon Blanchet.

27

CHAPTER III.

THE MILITIA OF 1812.

HE time when the Canadian militia was again to be called upon to assist in
preserving Canada for Britain was rapidly approaching. On June the
1 8th, 1812, the United States Congi-ess passed a bill empowering the
President to declare war against Great Britain. The United States put
175,000 men a number exceeding the total male population of British
North America capable of bearing arms under arms at once. The
Canadians of all races at once prepared for war with an activity and
martial spirit which gave great promise of a successful issue.

" When the war began," says Allison (Chapter XC, p. 91), " one only feeling
of loyalty animated the whole inhabitants of the British North American posses
sions. Above forty thousand militia in arms were ready to defend their territory
from invasion, and the King of England had nowhere more loyal subjects than
the French inhabitants on the shores of the St. Lawrence." And the situation
was such as to call all of the loyalty, the courage and native vigour of the Canadian
people into requisition. Britain was engaged in Europe, almost single-handed, in fighting
for the world the cause of national freedom. Three days after war was declared by the
United States, Wellington crossed the Agueda to commence the glorious Salamanca
campaign. The strength of the British power was employed in the Spanish Peninsula, the
East and W r est Indies, Africa and Sardinia. Her navy had to blockade nearly all the
principal poi ts and rivers of Etirope, she was compelled to keep fleets in the Mediterranean
and Baltic, in the Pacific and off the coast of India. So many ships did she have to maintain
afloat, that she was compelled, in spite of her immense resources in the wav of seamen, to
send most of her ships to sea imperfectly manned. At no period in her history had she such
limited means to spare for a struggle on the American continent.

How the Canadian militia, fighting in the ranks beside the regular soldierly of Britain,
covered themselves with glory in the campaigns that followed, is a matter of common history.
Detroit was captured by a force which included a large proportion of Upper Canada militia ;
members of the same force fairly divided the honours of the glorious victory of Queenstown-
Heights with the regular regiments. The victory of Chateauguay, where a mere handful of
men, from 300 to 400 in number, discomfitted an American army of 7,000 men, causing their
precipitate retreat, was won almost unaided, by the militiamen of Canada, French Canadians
from Lower Canada fighting shoulder to shoulder with their English speaking fellow coun
trymen from the Upper Province. Lacolle Mill, Oswego and Lundy s Lane, the latter being
the action where 2,800 men defeated an army of 5,000, were three of the more famous of the
many bloody fields on which the Canadian militia gallantly fought before the last of the
American invaders were Inirled from the soil of Canada.

Since 1791 Upper and Lower Canada had been separate provinces with district militia
organizations. During the progress of the war, considerable ameliorations were made in both
provinces in the militia laws of 1784 and 1786, which, though a decided improvement in

28

I ^

STAFF OFFICERS OF THE PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT.

VERY RKV. JAMKS CARMICHAKL, D.D., D. C. L. , DKAN OK MONTREAL,

ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN.

MAJOR GKORGK T. ROSS, M.D., MAJOR THOMAS O. RODDICK, M.D., M.P.,

ASSISTANT SURGKON. STKGKON.

TH1. RIGHT RKV. WILLIAM H. BOND, D.D., D.C.I.., BISHOP OK MONTRK.AL,

CHAPLAIN.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM SIMPSON. JR., CAPTAIN WILLIAM I.. BOND,

OTARTKRMASTKR . ADJUTANT.

CAPTAIN C.ASPARD LKKKBVRK,

PAYMASTER.

mail} respects on the onerous systems which prevailed before the colony had been accorded
constitutional government in 1774, were yet faulty, and bore unjustly in many cases on the
population.

On the aSth of May, 1812, Sir George Prevost organized four battalions of embodied
militia in Lower Canada ; and a regiment of voltigeurs was raised, the latter being placed
under the command of Major De Salaberry, a French Canadian gentleman who had served
with distinction in the 6oth Regiment of Foot, organized in Britain s old American colonies
during the French war, as the Royal American Regiment.

As soon as war was declared the regular troops were moved to Montreal, and Quebec
was garrisoned by the militia. At Montreal, the militia also turned out for garrison duty.
On the 6th of August the whole militia were commanded to hold themselves in readiness for
embodiment. A military epidemic seized young and old ; but there was an exception to the
rule of martial enthusiasm. In the Parish of Pointe Claire, on Lake St. Louis, some young
men, who had been drafted into the embodied militia, refused to join their battalions.
Of these, four were apprehended ; but one was rescued, and it was determined by his
neighbours to organize a party to liberate such others of their friends as had already joined
the depot of the embodied militia of the district at Laprairie. Accordingly, on the following
day, some three or four hundred persons assembled at Lachine for this purpose ; but it soon
appeared that the trouble was due to a misunderstanding. The habitants refused to believe
the assurances of the magistrates that the militia law was simplj- being enforced. They
shouted " Vive le Roi " and announced their readiness to serve in the field provided they
were regularly called out by the governor, but held that the embodiment had been done
without authority. As the rioters refused to budge, two pieces of artillery and a company
of the 49th Regiment, which had arrived from Montreal, confronted the crowd. The Riot
Act, after great provocation, was read, and after the troops and rioters had fired several
volleys over each others heads, the soldiers were ordered to shoot into the mob, and one man
was killed and another dangerously wounded. The mutineers then dispersed, leaving some
of the most daring among them to keep up a straggling fire from the bushes. The military
made thirteen prisoners, and as night was setting in, left for Montreal. Next day, four
hundred and fifty of the Montreal Militia marched to Pointe Claire, and from thence to
St. Laurent, where they captured twenty-four of the mutineers and took them to Montreal.
But the Pointe Claire habitants bitterly repented the resistance which they had made to the
militia law, and many of them craved forgiveness, which was readily given.

One of the first measures decided upon by Congress was the capture of Montreal.
Strategy proper, and political strategy alike justified the attempt, and a powerful and well
equipped army of 10,000 men was concentrated around Champlain, N. Y., and placed under
the command of General Dearborn. De Salaberry was entrusted with the command of a line
of outposts established along this side of the line. An advance base was established at
Lacadie. The force at this point consisted, according to Kingsford, of the flank companies
of the 8th, looth, and io3rd Regiment of Foot, the Canadian Fencibles, the flank companies
of the embodied militia, and a six-gun battery of artillery.

During the night of November 2oth, a column of some 1200 Americans made a recon
naissance in force into Canadian territory, and came to grief at Lacolle, where the}- found
their progress opposed by a picquet of some 500 militia and Indians. Through their faulty
dispositions for the attack, the invaders fired into their own men, the result being an
immediate retreat. The whole militia of Lower Canada was at once called out, and the flank
companies of the Montreal militia regiments and a troop of militia dragoons crossed the St.
Lawrence to Longueuil and Laprairie. The Pointe Claire, Riviere du Chene, Vaudreuil
and Longue Pointe Battalions were ordered from headquarters at Lachine to cross Caugh-

3

LIEUT. -COLONEL BERNARD DEVLIN,

COMMANDING PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT

1862-1866.

nawaga and march to Lacadie. Under orders dated at Lachiiie, November i8th, the ist, 2nd

and 3rd Battalions of Montreal Militia were ordered to march for the front on the following
at 8 a. in., i o a. m., and noon respectively. Dearborn, after reflecting upon the affair at

Lacolle, and appreciating the significance of the spirit
shown by the people of the Province, retreated upon
Plattsburgh and Burlington, Vt., and went into winter
quarters.

During this campaign, steamboats were used for the
transportation of troops and military stores between
Quebec and Montreal, among the vessels so employed
being the " Accomodation," the pioneer St. Lawrence
steamer, which was launched at Montreal in 1809, by Mr.
John Molson. Was this the first occasion on which steam
power was pnt to nse in military operations ?

Up to the last campaign of the war, when several of
Wellington s victorious Peninsula regiments were sent to
Canada, the Home government was unable to send
anything like an adequate force of regular troops to
America. Speaking of the second campaign of the war,
Allison says: "In 1813 the absorbing interest of the
contest, yet doubtful and undecided, in the Peninsula, and
the urgent necessity of sending off every sabre and
bayonet that could be spared to the army of Wellington,
rendered it a matter of impossibility for Britain to

despatch an adequate force to the Canadian frontier, and compelled the Mother Country,

how reluctantly soever, to intrust the defenses of those provinces mainly to the bravery and

patriotism of their own inhabitants."

During this year (1813) Major Mackay of the Upper

Canada militia with 100 men detached from the little

garrison at Fort Michillimackinac succeeded by extra
ordinary gallantry in wresting from the enemy the whole

district about 500 miles to the westward, and advancing

the British standards to the Mississippi, captured a fort

erected by the Americans, and maintained himself in it.

At this time Sir George Prevost s force, covering a frontier

of 900 miles from Sorel to Fort St. Joseph did not exceed

3,000 regular soldiers and 30,000 militia. The United

States boasted of having 800,000 men under arms.

The Canadian Militia, Voltigeurs, Chasseurs, Drivers,

Voyagers, Dorchester Dragoons, and the Battalion Militia,

in both provinces, were, by a general order issued on the

ist of March, 1816, disbanded on the 24th of that month,

not a little proud of Detroit and the River Raisin exploits,

of the battles of Queenstown, Stoney Creek, Chateauguay,

Chrystler s Farm, Lacolle and Lundy s Lane, and of the

capture of Michillimackinac, Ogdensburg, Oswego, and

Niagara by assault.

During this war the first English speaking militia battalion was organized in Montreal,

and it was officially designated " The First Battalion, Montreal Militia." It has been urged,

I.IEl T. -COLONEL CHARLES F. HIM,,

COMMANDING I RIN CE OI WALKS REGIMENT

1866-1869.

and with some show of reason that the present First or Prince of Wales Regiment, the actual
senior infantry regiment of the service, shoxild date its existence back to the organization of
this battalion. True, the old 1812 regiment was disbanded after the war and apparently ceased
to exist, but many of the historical regiments in the British service have breaks of many
years in their historical records, and since reorganization they have been even allowed to
claim the honors gained bv the old disbanded regiments which bore their old numerals or
designations. The following order dated Montreal, May 22nd, 1811, gives a very clear idea
of the composition of this battalion :

FIRST BATTALION MONTREAL MILITIA.

Notice is hereby given to all persons residing within the City and Banlieu of Montreal
and who by law are bound to enroll themselves as Militiamen that they forthwith enter their
names with one or other of the captains or officers commanding companies in the First Battalion
of said Militia, observing that by instructions from the commander-in-chief of the Province,
Canadians (French) are not considered subjects to serve in the First Battalion, but subjects
and residents of all other denominations are bound thereto, &c., &c., &c.
By order of the Colonel Commanding,

H. GRIFFIN,
Capt. and Adjt. First Batt. M. M.

Captain Griffin was afterwards first cashier of the Bank of Montreal, and Griffintown
was named after his family.

When peace was declared, the whole militia force was mustered, the arms, equipments,
etc., returned into stores and the officers and men relieved from further service.

Canada had shown herself as impregnable to the arms of her republican neighbours as
her people were proof against the seduction of their principles. The United States had
entered upon the war in the hope of wresting Canada from Britain in the hoiir of her
nescessity, but all they gained was to see their capital taken and its public buildings destroyed^
their commerce ruined, their harbours sealed, their flag swept from the ocean. Despite their
successes in several naval duels in which United States frigates defeated their out-classed
and under-manned British antagonists, the Americans sustained the complete and permanent
destmction of their immense carrying trade. During the first year of the war the public
revenue of the United States sank from twenty four millions of dollars annually to eight
millions.

Before the conclusion of the treaty of peace not a single American post or sentry
remained on Canadian soil, while the Union Jack flew over Fort Michillimakinac and other
points in what is now the State of Michigan (General Strange).

As Kingsford puts it in his history, " In less than two years from the first declaration of
hostilities, the United States were glad to offer terms of peace, not on the conditions which
had been paraded as indispensable to justify war, but with the remembrances of reverses
which no specious declamation can efface, or remove from record."

Four companies of volunteers existed in Montreal in 1812, and they are reported to have
been a sort of corps-d elite within the ranks of the First Militia battalion. Some of the living
veterans of the militia force, however, say that from what they remember the veterans of the
war of 1812 to have said, the volunteer companies were a distinct organization from the
militia battalion. The truth is, I believe, that the volunteer companies, though given a
certain independant organization, were really a part of the militia battalion, their commanding
officer, holding only the rank of Major and consequently coming under the command of the
officer commanding the regimental district and the Militia Battalion. The}- were organized

32

CAPTAINS OF THE PRINCE OK WALES REGIMENT.

CAPT. JOHN PORTEOUS.

CAPT. THOMAS F. DOBBIN.

I.T.-COL. JOHN HOOD.

CAPT. JOHN A. FINI.AYSON.

CAPT. W. GODBEE BROWN.

CAPT. EDGAR N. ARMSTRONG.

" to perform garrison duties voluntarily, or to take the field if necessary." Page 76 of the
Quebec Almanach for 1813 reads as follows :

Four volunteer Companies of the First Militia Battalion of Montreal. (Quatre
" Compagnies Volontaires du Premier Bataillon, Milice de Montreal.)

" James Caldwell, Major Commandant.

" Captains, James Dunlop, John Richardson, John Forsyth, John Ogilvy.

Lieutenants, David Ross, Thomas Blackwood, George Gillespie, Hart Logan,
" Alexander Allison, George Garden, William Hallowell, Thomas Thain.

" Ensign, James Leslie. Thomas B. Ahern, Adjutant."

Page 87 of the same number of the Quebec Almanach reads as follows :

First Battalion of Montreal. (Premier Bataillon de Montreal.)

Hon. Jas. McGill, Colonel; Alexander Auldjo, Lieut.-Colonel; Daniel Sutherland, Major.

" Captains, Alexander Henry, Francis Desrivieres, Francis Badgley, David David,
" Samuel Gerrard.

Lieutenants, James Woolrich, Stephen Sewell, Thomas Yeoward, Munge Kay,
William Hunter, Myer Michaels, Robert Armour.

Ensigns, Andrew Porteous, Peter Harkness, Andrew Patterson, David Ogden, Arthur
: Webster, John McTarvish.

" Capt. Griffin, Adjutant; Thomas Busby, Quartermaster; George Selby, Surgeon."

It is unquestionably difficult to understand how, in spite of the separate organization,
the volunteer companies can have been considered as quite distinct from the militia battalion,
bearing the official title they did. At any rate there is no doubt about the fact that a
"volunteer corps" existed within the First Montreal Militia Battalion in 1826 and 1827,
and drilled regularly. The Quebec Almauach for 1827 gives the officers of the First
Montreal Battalion as follows :

ist Division of the ist Battalion of the City of Montreal :

D. Sutherland, Lieut.-Col., Commandant ; F. Desrivieres, Lieut.-Colonel ; Francis
Badgley, Major; Geo. Garden, Major; Hy. Griffin, Capt. and Adjt. ; J. Hettrick, Lt. and
Quartermaster ; Geo. Selby, Surgeon.

"Captains: D. Ross, W. Hallowell, S. Sewell, Jos. Shuter, Austin Cuvillier, Win.
Hunter, Thos. Blackwood, Thos. Thain, Wm. Blackwood, Benjamin Hart, James Millar.

Lieutenants : S. S. Bridge, A. L. McNider, J. Jamieson, Wm. Stephens, J. McKenzie,
Thos. Molson, John Porteous, H. S. Forsyth, Charles Hoofstetter, Richard Gerrard, Wm.
Wilson, Chas. Gethings, J. B. Anderson, Wm. Peddie, P. M. Rossiter.

;< Ensigns : Issac Jones, Jas. Fleming, Robt. Froste, S. Spragg, R. Cowie, Chas. Stewart,
J. B. Forsyth, P. Hoofstetter.

2nd Division of the ist Battalion of the City of Montreal :

;i Robt. Griffin, Lieut.-Col. ; J. Forsyth, S. Gerrard, Majors ; P. McGill, Capt. and Adjt. ;

Thos. Gibb, Ensign and Quartermaster; A. F. Holmes, Surgeon; John Dyde, Sergt-Major.

" Captains : Robt. Armour, A. Porteous, A. A. Turner, A. Webster, Jas. Leslie, Thos.

Busby, Geo. Auldjo, W. Molson, Norman Bethune (Volunteer Rifle Company), Geo. Moffat,

James Fraser.

Lieutenants : Jas. Young, J. Brown, J. Boston, J. Torrance, J. Fleming, John Young,
T\ Penn, Robt. Jones, J. Logan, A. Shaw, J. Hallowell, Shaw Armour, J. C. Grant
(Volunteer Rifle Company), James Scott (Volunteer Rifle Company), John Smith
(Volunteer Rifle Company), John Gerrard, M. Scott, F. Griffin."

The other Montreal Militia corps at this time were the 2nd City of Montreal Battalion,
Lieut.-Col. J. Herireux ; 3 rd Battalion, Jean Bouthillier, Commanding ; Montreal Troop of
Cavalry, George Gregory, Major Commanding.

34

CHAPTER IV.

THE MILITIA OF 1837-38.

S was recently stated by a late Minister of Militia, the Canadian Militia
when wanted are wanted badly, and when their duty has been performed
they are forgotten or neglected. While popular agitation in Canada
against the family compact and the bureaucrats was attaining its violent
stage in 1827, a new element of trouble excited the popular mind to fury.
This was a declaration by the Attorney General of Lower Canada that
as the constitutional militia laws had then lapsed and not been renewed,
the ancient ordinances for embodying the colonial forces necessarily
revived ; and Lord Dalhousie, the Governor General, following this
announcement, was proceeding to re-institute the old colonial system of
Colonial defence. As some of the militia officers refused to command,
others to obey, not a few were dismissed altogether. Still a great majority of
the militiamen conformed to the law by attending at drill. The militia had
apparently been neglected since the war, a fact due in some measure no doubt
to the long peace in Europe allowing Britain to maintain a large regular
force in Canada. According to the debate on the army estimates in the
Commons there were 6,000 British soldiers in Canada in 1827.

In 1829 the Quebec assembly turned its attention to the old militia
ordinances, and decided to send an address to the King protesting against the revival of those
laws. Before Sir James Kempt, the succeeding Governor, was replaced by Lord Aylmer, in
1830, he began a desired re-organization of the militia, and restored to their rank some officers
who had been cashiered.

It was not long after this that it became apparent that the agitation for full constitu
tional government would result in bloodshed. In 1835 the Montreal Constitutional
Association resolved to organize district committees in each quarter of the city, in case
union and force became necessary. It raised spontaneously a body of volunteer riflemen, the
members asking for the recognition of their corps by the Governor. That official, however,
witheld his sanction, and the corps, which its organizers proposed to call the " British Rifle
Legion," was afterwards dissolved at his request. One of the conditions of service of this
corps was that the privates should elect their own officers. The anxiety of the loyalists to
organize for defense was natural even then, and it became more pronounced as the agitation
increased.

During the summer of 1837 warlike preparations were in progress at St. Denis, St.
Charles, St. Eustache, Berthier and Lacadie. L. J. Papineau, Wilson, Lacoste and some of
the real leaders and cooler heads of the Quebec party were opposed to armed resistance to
the constituted authority, but the prevailing excitement was driving their followers swiftly
and surely into open rebellion. Many of the leaders of the agitation were deprived of their
commissions in the militia, and the authorities armed trustworthy citizens to enable order to
be maintained. General Sir John Colborne, as soon as he assumed command of the troops

35

in Canada armed a part of the male population of Montreal and Quebec, organizing volunteer
corps of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Six hundred volunteers were armed and equipped
in a few days time. But this is anticipating somewhat.

On the loth November 1837, Lieut.-General Sir John Colborne removed his head
quarters from Sorel to Montreal, where he and his family took up their residence. On the
same day, the first force of troops left Montreal on service.

The patriots were using intimidation as a means of disorganizing the constitutional
system and forced magistrates and others holding the Royal Commission to resign.
This was being carried on extensively in St. Johns and its vicinity, and to put a stop to this
a detachment of Montreal Volunteer Cavalry under command of Captain Glasgow, of the
Royal Artillery, was despatched there. Upon arriving at St. Johns a large body of armed
habitants was found posted on the opposite side of the Richelieu river. Captain Glasgow
moved across the bridge towards them, accompanied by a couple of his men, and demanded to
know the cause of their assembling. The}- answered that if he did not immediately retire
they would fire upon him. He then contented himself with taking possession of the St.
Johns end of the bridge, and reported to Montreal, where the news caused great excitement
as this was the first armed body reported in open revolt.

The state of affairs was now regarded as truly alarming, and while regular troops were
being hurried up from the Maritime Provinces and Ontario, authorization was given for the
organization of three brigades of volunteers in Montreal. The first brigade consisted of
the Montreal Cavalry (Major David) which had two troops in the city and one at Lachine, a
company of artillery (Major Boston, Commanding) ; and the Montreal Rifles, Major Griffin,
(Adjutant of the ist Montreal Militia during the war of 1812), three companies. The second
brigade consisted of the Montreal Light Infantry (Lt.-Col. Benjamin Holmes) six companies,
and the Queen s Light Dragoons (Capt. W. Jones) one troop. The third brigade consisted
of three battalions of " Ward Associations " which drilled less and took less interest in volun
teering than the other corps, but who would have been useful and willing if called upon.

These corps were soon up to full strength, and the whole British population and many
loyal French went in for soldiering with enthusiasm. All the available halls and warehouses
were pressed into service as drill halls, and the volunteers drilled night and day. Several
whose names have since become familiar in the Militia, including Lieut.-Col. Fletcher,
C.M.G., joined the Light Infantry. That corps used to drill every afternoon on the Champ
de Mars, and every evening in the old St. Ann s market, on the site of the present one.
Each corps had a sergeant from one of the regular regiments attached as drill instructor,
and a few weeks of such hard work as the} put in speedily got them into very good shape
indeed. The Government furnished these corps with flint-locks and the volunteers found it
no small matter to master the necessarily complicated manual of those days with the orders
" open pans," " shut pans," " draw ramrods," " ram down cartridges," and the rest of it. The
accoutrements were old black ones, used previously in the American war. They were very
heavy, with cross belts, with an oval piece of brass where they crossed. They were not served
with uniforms the first year, but supplied themselves with blue suits with pea jackets.
Each company had distinguishing trouser stripes. Those of the Scotch company of the
Light Infantry were of plaid. When the winter set in they were supplied with military
overcoats and immense fur caps.

In the early winter these companies used to practice skirmishing on the ice. So heavy
was the demand for swords that the supply entirely gave out, and the volunteer officers were
in great straits to provide themselves with this deemed necessary badge of authority and
means of defence. The only place where a supply could be obtained was England, but, there
being no steamships and cables then, it would take several months before an order could be

36

:

LIEUTENANTS OK THE PRINCE OK WALES REGIMENT.

LIEUT. GRAHAM L. DOBBIN.

I.IKUT. ALAN BUTLER.

LIEUT. L. L. F. SMITH.
LIEUT. ROBERT B. HUTCHESON.

LIEUT. DAHL D. F. LAURIE.
LIEUT. W. G. MCV. STUART.

LIEUT. A. J. R. BOSTWICK.

LIEUT. \V. E. BROWN.

met from there, so the officers had to do the best with what they could get. Family collec
tions and warehouses were routed out and everything resembling a sword was secured at
any cost, and pressed into Her Majesty s service. Poignards and cutlasses were deemed
quite fashionable, while one or two officers who had curved Turkish scimitars girt at their
sides were envied by less fortunate brethren in arms who had to content themselves with
home-made swords. As soon as the volunteer corps were in any sort of shape, they were
called into service, for the duties depending upon the garrison were very heavy. The
volunteers received no pay in 1837, DUt l &3% were allowed two shillings and six pence a
day while on duty.

The excitement kept up until 1839 an d the volunteers had their share of duty with the
regulars.

Lieut. -Col. Theodore Lyman some time ago gave the following information about the
militia of 1837-38 to the writer : " When the rebellion of 37 broke out, Montreal, and in fact
the whole of Canada, had very little in the way of military protection. The position was
very critical indeed. There were only four or five regiments in Canada, the First Royals,
i6th, 24th, 32iid and 66th. In the Montreal District the only volunteer corps were a troop
of cavalry at Lachine, commanded by Captain Penner, a troop in Montreal under command
of Colonel David, and a rifle company in Montreal under command of Major de Bleury, after
whom Bleury street is named. I joined this Company. We were not given arms by the
Government, but the gunsmiths vised to loan us the muskets they had in stock, and we used
to drill with them and also parade the streets at night. We supplied ourselves with a sort
of frock-coat which we used to wear to our work. At that time we had a miserable set of
useless watchmen, and it was found a necessity for our company to patrol the streets to
prevent loyal citizens from being abused. Whenever an attack was made by the Radicals
upon the Constitutionalists the watchmen were never to be found. When the authorities
realized that they had a rebellion on hand they at once authorized the enrollment of
volunteer corps. The cavalry was increased to two troops, Captain Charles Ermatinger
having command of one, and Captain Sweeney of the other. Colonel David was given
command of the whole. An old Garrison artillery corps, which had been allowed to collapse,
was reorganized under command of Major John Boston. The Montreal Rifles were increased
to three companies, Major Griffin having the supreme command. The companies were
commanded by Captains de Bleury, Leclerc and Blackwood. This was a well drilled corps,
having an old army sergeant-major for adjutant."

Ex- Aid. T. D. Hood was also a member of the Rifles and related to the writer some of
his experiences during the Rebellion which showed that the battalion did a fair share of
active service in those stirring times. He said: "When the excitement of 1838 began,
eleven of us in the Rifles were ordered to take charge of the boat to Laprairie. Of the
eleven I am the only one now living. She, however, got aground, and we were transferred
as a guard to the steamer " St. Louis" which was under orders for Sorel with despatches for
Major Johnston of the 66th then in command there. When we reported, the Major told us
he was under orders to march via St. Ours, St. Denis and St. Charles, to Belceil, and to our
great delight ordered us for his advance guard. The " St. Louis " went up the Richelieu
abreast of us and we slept on board her at night. I recollect that we were warned to keep a
sharp lookout upon the Captain, as he was accused of being a rebel, and it was understood
among us that if he did anything shady, such as running aground, we would shoot him
upon the spot. If I mistake not, we told him this, and pretty plainly too. Ours was a very
unpleasant task during this march, the only relieving feature being the excitement. The
object of the expedition was to search for prisoners and arms, and to us of the advance guard
was entrusted this work, the 66th being a sort of backing for us. We had a stack of

38

warrants a foot high, but we were not able to execute half of them. As we approached, the
poor frightened people either hid or ran away, leaving everything behind them. We entered
nearly all the houses and were rewarded by securing large quantities of firearms and pikes,
as well as sixty prisoners. The latter were generally hidden away when captured either in
cupboards, garrets or attics, under beds, or stowed away in the hay in the barns. When
discovered they very rarely resisted."

It was at St. Eustache, where Sir John Colborne inflicted such a crushing defeat upon
the rebels of the Northern counties, that the Rifles really smelled powder during the
Rebellion. A well known and prominent citizen of Montreal who was in the St. Eustache
detachment of the corps, gives the following version of the part the}- bore in the action :
We had a great deal of garrison duty to perform during the earliest stages of the rebellion.
I remember well how proud we all felt when our company first took over the main guard as
it was the first time volunteers had been entrusted with the duty. We were anxious to
proceed to the front and take part in the more active
operations of the year. You can imagine then with
what satisfaction the most enthusiastic of us learned
that Sir John Colborne had decided upon taking one
company of the Rifles with him to St. Eustache. A
company of eighty or a hundred men was ordered for
the duty and was to be composed of volunteers from the
three companies. The requisite number of men was
soon obtained, and we started on the morning of the
twelfth of December. Our company was commanded
by Captain J. P. Leclerc, a French Canadian loyalist,
and as far as I can remember the lieutenants were
Messrs. Lewis Moffatt, son of the late Honourable
George Moffatt, and he who later became Chief Justice
Meredith. About a foot of snow had fallen and there
was excellent sleighing, the baggage of the force being
drawn on sleighs. We of course expected hard fighting,
as the rebels in the northern counties had been left
pretty well to themselves while the uprising on the
Richelieu was being suppressed. Every precaution
was taken on the march to prevent surprise, and we
soon realized what it was to be on active service. We arrived the same evening at St.
Martin s on Isle Jesus and halted there for the night.

The force was divided into two brigades. Our company along with the First Royals
formed a separate brigade under Colonel Wetherall, the victor at St. Charles, while the 32nd
and 83rd Regiments formed the other brigade under command of Colonel Maitland, of the 32nd.
When we arrived at St. Martin s we were billeted out. Colonel Wetherall sat on horseback
in the middle of the road, and picking out the sergeants and corporals, he told them which
houses they and their squads were to occupy. The squad I belonged to occupied a farmer s
house, and we passed a rather uncomfortable night. Our company was composed of spirited
young fellows, generally gentlemen, and we enjoyed the novelty of the thing and went in for
fun. We had little rest, however, for some of the more jolly fellows would sooner keep up
the fun than go to sleep, and those who would have liked to sleep could not. Early the next
morning we were roused, and fell in for our march to St. Eustache. The thermometer was
sixteen degrees below zero, and we found it bitterly cold while waiting, drawn up beside the
road, before starting. After we had proceeded a few miles we had to halt and again form up

I.IEUT.-COI.ONEI, FRANK BOND,

COMMANDING PKINCK OK WAI.KS REGIMENT

1870-1889.

39

along side of the road to allow tlie Lieutenant-General and staff, who had left Montreal after
us, to pass. We then went on again. Instead of proceeding straight on to St.Enstache, we
left the road and crossed the Northern branch of the Ottawa on the ice three miles below St.
Eustache. We had a train of sleighs half a mile long and all got safely across except a
couple of the heaviest. The heavy guns of the artillery also broke through, horses and all.
Large parties of men soon set to work, however, and got them out.

" When we were about seven or eight hundred yards from the village we were formed up
in a field just off the Ste. Therese road. The Royals and some of the artillery, with the
rocket battery were drawn up along side of us, while the other brigade went round the back
of the village. This was about half past twelve, and shortly after we had formed up I noticed
a puff of smoke from the nearest tower of the church and heard a loud report. It was stated
that the rebels had a four-pounder gun which they had obtained off the steamer Canadian
Patriot, at Montreal, and we thought that the smoke and report must have been occasioned
by the discharge of this. A private engaged in a battle cannot see much of what is going
on nor understand everything, and I was not able to follow all of the movements up.
However, I will tell you what I did see. Soon after we were drawn up in the field the rocket
battery was got into action and several rockets were fired at the church, presumably to
attempt to set it on fire. These missiles, however, came near being as dangerous to us as to
our enemies. They were fired close alongside us from the ordinary military tubes. The
first rocket went all right for a hundred yards or so, and then suddenly turned and came
back straight for us. The danger was serious, and Colonel Wetherall shouted the order for
us to lie down. The gallant Colonel was so anxious at this moment that he even accompanied
the order with a big D\ His impressive delivery of the order had the desired effect upon
us and the Royals, however, and we dropped to the ground, while the i-ocket went spinning
overhead like a great fiery devil."

The Rifles participated in the general advance of the main body of infantry upon the
church, joining in the charge upon and capture of the church and convent, and entered those
buildings with the Royals and the 32nd. This gentleman relates that when he and his
comrades entered the church it was already in flames. The Rifles were under fire all through
the action and had one or two minor casualties. The company made several prisoners during
the fight, and was complimented upon its conduct in action by the regular officers present.
My informant subsequently served in the Rifle Rangers.

The Rebellion in Upper Canada met the same fate as that in the Lower province.
Before the uprising actually broke out the authorities knew that the malcontents were drilling,
but to the very last did not believe that they would rise in arms. Early in 1837 there were
a few troops stationed in Toronto, but as the dissatisfaction in the Lower province became
more pronounced the} were moved to Kingston, to be available if needed in Lower Canada,
and Toronto, the seat of the provincial government, was left wholly without military
protection. Several thousand stands of arms recently received from the arsenals at Kingston
were placed in the City Hall under guard of two constables. Toronto was situated very
much like Montreal at this crisis, being the centre of the most disaffected section of the
province. But while the citizens of Montreal, at the first appearance of danger, had enrolled
themselves into volunteer companies, practically nothing to protect the city had been done
in Toronto, and that city, unlike Montreal, had no garrison of regular troops. During 1836,
Lieut. -Col. Fitzgibbon had, under Sir John Colborne s auspices, formed a drill corps for such
young men of Toronto as desired military instruction. A handful of well-connected young
men had availed themselves of the opportunity. The Colonel was an Irishman of humble
origin who had enlisted in the regular army as a private soldier and had won a commission
by energy and pluck. He fought in many a bloody battlefield both in Europe and during

40

the war of 1812 in America. Among his gallant exploits during the latter war was the
capture of an American force of 450 infantry, 50 cavalry and two guns, with only forty-six
men of the 49th Regiment of Foot, in which gallant corps he was at the time serving as
Lieutenant.

On retiring from the army he attached himself to the militia, and, at the time treated of,
held the appointment of Deputy Adjutant General. He was the only man in authority in
the upper province who appears to have suspected that there would be a rebellion, and but
for him it is very likely that Toronto would have been captured by the rebels, who under W.
Lvon Mackenzie, actuallv established themselves in force at a place which has since become
historical (Montgomery s Tavern) a few miles from Toronto, before the authorities would
believe that there was real trouble afoot. Two lives had been taken, one on either side,
before news of the rebellion got into Toronto. Then 200 of the citizens enrolled themselves
as volunteers. The chance of taking Toronto by surprise had failed, but on Tuesday,
December the 5th, 1837, with between 700 and
800 men, Mackenzie and Lount advanced from
Montgomery s upon the city. In the outskirts,
the head of the column was fired upon by a pic-
quet under the command of Sheriff Jarvis, who
had been stationed by Fitzgibbon among some
trees at the side of Yonge Street, which was the
route taken by the rebels. The outpost, which
consisted of twenty-seven men, at once retired,
and the rebels, after those in front had returned
the fire, retired also, and with precipitation. Some
of the rebels had already been discouraged by
learning of Brown s defeat by Colonel Wetherall
at St. Charles, and under the influence of the
additional discouragement produced by this re
pulse, many of Mackenzie s men returned to their
homes. Soon after the rebel repulse a small body
of armed volunteers arrived in Toronto from the
eastern part of York County, and they were follow
ed before long by Allan McNab with 60 "Men of
Gore " or Hamilton militiamen, who arrived by
steamer. " Throughout the whole of the fol
lowing day volunteers arrived from all points.
Cobourg, Whitby, Port Credit, Hamilton, St.
Catherines, Niagara, each sent its quota of men, and at sunset more than 1,200 men were
at the service of the government." (Dent s "Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion.") On
the 7th, Fitzgibbon, with a force of 1,100 men marched out to Montgomery s, where Mac
kenzie s force had dwindled down to some 400 men, and made short work of the rebels.

The Upper Canada militia subsequently gave a good account of themselves at Chippewa
(the Navy Island affair), Windsor and the Windmill, where the 83rd Regiment and the militia
lost two officers and fourteen men killed, and about sixty wounded. Several filibustering
invasions of Upper Canada from the United States took place, and were not stopped until a
thorough organization of the militia had taken place and it had been put upon a permanent
footing. By the time affairs settled down again the upper province had 106 complete
regiments with the full complement of officers and staff. " There were four battalions of
incorporated militia, organized and clothed like troops of the line ; 1 2 battalions of Provincial

MAJOR K. L. BOND.

militia, on duty for a stated period; 31 corps of artillery, cavalry, coloured companies and
riflemen ; while most of the militia corps had a troop of cavalry attached to them. With a
population of 450,000 souls, Upper Canada could assemble 40,000 men in arms without
seriously distressing the country." (McMullen s History p. 472).

According to the Almanach de Quebec of 1838, the officers of the "Montreal Rifles"
were as follows : Major, Henry Griffin; Captains, S. DeBleury; Bt-Major, P. E. Leclerc,
Jas. Brackanridge ; ist Lieutenants, Chas. T. Greece, Lewis Moffatt, John Blackwood;
2nd Lieutenants, Win. Meredith, John Ross, Chas. H. Gates.

The officers of the " First Battalion " are given as follows : Lieut-Col., Norman Bethune;
Majors, Isaac Valentine and Stanley Bagg; Captains, J. Jones, Geo. Phillips, Chas. Geddes,
J. P. Sexton, J. Platt, Lewis Haldimand, John Riddell, Joshua Pelton.

The old volunteer and militia corps which did such good service during 1837-38 were
disbanded in May 1839, but partially reorganized in 1846 at the time of the difficulty with
the United States over the Oregon frontier dispute, during which it looked as though war
with the United States was inevitable. The Montreal Fire Brigade was formed into a
battalion of militia under the command of Lieut-Col, the Hon. James Ferrier, then Mayor of
Montreal, Mr. John Fletcher, now Lieut-Col. Fletcher, C. M. G., being appointed Lieutenant
and Adjutant. This battalion drilled without arms in the Market Hall during the winter
months for several years, and made good progress as a military organization. The duties of
the battalion as a fire brigade, in the musters at fires and company parades, served to maintain
it in its strength as a militia corps long after the excitement of the Oregon incident had
died away.

On the breaking out of the Crimean War in 1854, Captain Fletcher, with authority,
offered the services of a hundred men of the Montreal Fire Battalion to the Imperial
government as volunteers for the war. For this offer he received the thanks of the Secretary
of State for War, with a statement that it was not deemed advisable at that time to accept
the services of any other than those of the regular army.

Up to this time the permanent defensive force of Canada, apart from the regular Army,
was the militia proper, which was liable to enrollment for conscription at any moment, as the
popiilation of Canada is at present, but which, so far as organization was concerned in time
of peace consisted of a list of officers. The volunteer corps organized in cases of emergency
up to this time had been more or less of a temporary character.

CHAPTER V.

THE MONTREAL VOLUNTEER MILITIA RIELES.

HE Montreal Rifle Rangers is the next military organization which comes
prominently into notice. It was organized in August 1854 by a few
patriotic gentlemen who considered the time opportune for such a move
ment. Several of them had had a taste of soldiering in the old rifle
companies in 1837-38 and so the corps could fairly be considered to be the
successor of Major Griffin s old Rifle Corps of Rebellion days. At the
time of this corps organization the Imperial troops, with the exception
of the since disbanded Royal Canadian Rifles, had been withdrawn from Canada. The
organization of the Rangers was completed as soon as possible and Mr., now Lieut.-Col.,
Theodore Lyman elected to be captain. The admission to the corps was by ballot. The
first officers were Theodore Lyman, Captain ; John W. Haldimand, Lieutenant ; J. E. Malhiot,
Ensign. The company numbered 64 rank and file, and Lieut.-Col. Lyman, who is still hale
and hearty, remarked the other day that the men included representatives of all the
nationalities going to make up the population of Montreal. He also remarked that the
holiday visits of several smart military organizations from the United States had had much
to do with inspiring the organization of the company. The uniform of the company was of
dark green cloth, of equal quality for officers and men, and consisted of a braided jacket with
scarlet facings, and trousers with a scarlet welt down the side. A shako with a device in
bronze in front, and surmonted by a ball, and a forage cap with a horizontal leather peak
and a band of silk braid with a silver bugle in front, formed the head gear. The accoutre
ments were of English patent leather, a waist belt with a plated clasp, and a cross-belt with a
cartridge box, on which was a silver crown ; and in the case of the officers and sergeants a
breastplate in silver, bearing in relief the city arms and a silver whistle and chain. The
cost of a private s outfit was seventeen pounds ten shillings sterling, and that of an officer
much more. In 1855, as soon as the new Volunteer Militia Bill was reported, Captain
Lyman secured an interview with Sir Edmund Head, the then governor, to obtain official
recognition. The Rangers being thus the first to apply for admission under the Act were
on the 3ist August, 1855, gazetted as the "First Volunteer Militia Rifle Company of
Montreal," holding seniority over all other active volunteer corps in Canada, and by its
smart appearance on parade and superior efficiency, imparted a very decided impetus to the
volunteer movement throughout the country. By the new bill two rifle companies were
allotted to Montreal and in September, 1855, Captain Fletcher was transferred from the Fire
Brigade to command Number Two Company. The impetus given to the volunteer militia
movement resulted in a succession of other Rifle companies being organized. Sir Edmund
Head discussed the designation of the new force with Captain Lyman, and it was decided to
call the force neither volunteers nor militia, but " Volunteer-Militia."

It is a circumstance worthy of remark that the organization of the Rangers as a volunteer
company, not only antedates the general volunteer militia movement in Canada, but also
that of the Mother Country.

43

Several of the members of the Rifle Rangers entered the Imperial arm 3- as officers at
the outbreak of the Crimean War. Private John Low joined the i5th Regiment as ensign
and retired 15 3 ears later as captain. Private Fred. Parker joined the 9/th as an ensign and
Private G. Bent, C. B., served in the Turkish contingent as captain of engineers.

Here it is worth while to glance over the rapid development of the Rifle Rangers into a
complete battalion.

In 1855, as already stated, a new Militia Act was passed, by which the enrollment of
Companies of Volunteers was permitted. Under this Act each of the former Provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada was divided into 9 Military Districts. Colonel de Rottenburg was,
011 the gth July, 1855, appointed Adjutant-General for Canada. Lieutenant-Colonel Melchior
Alphonse De Salabeny, Deputy Adj. -Gen. for Lower Canada, and Lieut.-Col. Donald Mac-
donald, for Upper Canada.

The first Companies of Volunteers enrolled under this Act were two Rifle Companies,
one at Quebec, the other at Montreal, the formation of which was authorized by General
Order, 3ist August, 1855 ; that in Montreal to be styled " The First Volunteer Militia Rifle
Company of Montreal," with the following officers : Captain, Theodore Lyman, Esquire ;
Lieut., J. W. Haldimand, Gentleman; Ensign, J. E. Malhiot, Gentleman. The formation
of another Company was, at the same time, going on from the Montreal Fire Brigade, and
was authorized on the 2/th September 1855, to be styled "The 2nd Volunteer Militia Com
pany of Montreal," with officers as follows : Captain, John Fletcher, Esquire, Captain
Montreal Fire Brigade; Lieutenant, John Lambert, First Lieut.; Ensign, John McNaughton.
The same Gazette authorized the formation of a Battery of Field Artillery, and a troop of
Cavalry. The Officers of the Field Battery were: Captain, Major Coffin; First Lieuts.,
Auguste Larnontagne and John Owen ; Second Lieut., Henry Hogan ; Cavalry : Captain,
David Shaw Ramsay; Lieut., Alfred Nelson; Cornet, Henri des Rivieres.

On the 2nd May, 1856, the formation of the 3rd and 4th Rifle Companies was authorized.
3rd Company: Captain, Alexander Bertram Cfrom the Montreal Fire Brigade); Lieut.,
Samuel H. May; Ensign, Peter Cooper. Fourth Compaii} : Captain, Bernard Devlin (well
known in his lifetime as a prominent Advocate in Montreal) ; Lieut., Francis Frederick
Mullins; Ensign, John Gillies.

On the 8th May, 1856, Lt.-Col. John Dyde, of the Montreal Light Infantry (Militia) was
appointed to command the (four) Volunteer Militia Rifle Companies of Montreal then in
existence.

On the 26th June, 1856, the 5th Rifle Company was authorized. Lieut. W. P. Bartlett
from the 2nd Battalion (Militia) being appointed Captain ; the other officers, Henry
Kavanagh, Lieut., and James Donnelly, Ensign, being added the 28th September following.

On the 3rd July, 1856, the formation of a Company of Volunteer Foot (Garrison)
Artillery was authorized, the officers being: Captain, Lt. Henry Bulmer ; First Lieut.,
Sergeant A. Ramsay ; Second Lieut., Corporal A. Wand (all being taken from the Volunteer
Field Battery).

On the i yth July, 1856, the 6th Rifle Company was formed. Thomas Alfred Evans as
Captain ; Charles F. Hill as Lieutenant ; Joseph Lee as Ensign. The latter, however,
resigned, and was replaced on the ;th Aug., 1856, by Joshua Bronsdon.

On the 23rd August, 1856, an Adjutant of the Rifle Companies was appointed in the
person of Ensign J. E. Malhiot of Number One Company, who was replaced as Ensign in
No. i by Sergeant James W. Hanson of the same Company.

On the 1 6th October, 1856, the /th or Montreal Highland Rifle Company was authorized.
John Macpherson, a member of Number One, being appointed Captain, and on the 3Oth
October, 1856, George McGibbon, Lieutenant, and Peter Moir, Ensign. The 8th Rifle

44

MEMBERS OF THE MONTREAL RIFLE RANGERS, SURVIVING IN 1887.

1 Capiain Theodore Lyman

2 James W. Hanson

3 Lieutenant Thomas F. Blackwood i:

4 Ensign R. G Starke

5 Private John Macpherson
T James W. Britt

7 Robert L. Gault *

8 Private Robert Forsythe

9 Malcolm Morison
10 " Walter Wily *

I I " Thos. D Hood

12 " John Low

13 Corporal E. E. Peaudry *

14 Private George Fraser :

15 Private John Pope

16 Sergeant Francis Scholes

17 Private G. E. Starnes

18 " Michel Bourret

19 J. H, Wood

20 " L. A. Dufresne

21 " Charles Nelson

22 Private Geo. Washington Stephens

23 Corporal Richard Thomas *

24 Private James Maclean *

25 W. L. Haldimand

26 " William Farrell

* binue de-ceast-il

Company followed on the 3oth October, 1856. Captain, C. E. Belle ; Lieut., Olivier Deguise;
Ensign, Luc O. Dnfresne. On the i^ih November, 1856, Lieut. Haldimand. No. i Co.,
was made Paymaster of all the Rifle Companies with the rank of Captain, and Ensign Cooper,
from No. 3, Quartermaster, with the rank of Lieutenant; Assistant Surgeon, W. E. Scott,
M. D., from the Montreal Light Infantry (Militia) Surgeon; A. H. Kollmyer, M. D., Assist
ant Surgeon. On the same date Ensign J. W. Hanson was appointed Lieut, in No. i
"vice" Mr. Haldimand, and Color Sgt. Archibald Stewart, Ensign "vice" Hanson. On the
2Oth November, 1856, the two senior Captains of the Volunteer Rifle Companies, Lyman and
Fletcher, were given the rank of Major, the Order running thus :

"These Officers having formed the first Rifle Companies in Montreal and commenced
" the organization of a Force in that City whose discipline and appearance are not excelled
" by any Corps in the Province."

On the nth December, 1856, Lieut.-Col. Dyde, commending the Volunteer Rifle Com
panies of Montreal, was appointed Commandant of the whole of the active Militia Force in
that garrison, being succeeded in command of the Rifle Companies by Major Thomas Wiley,
A. Q. M. G., and Major Fletcher, Captain of Number Two, was appointed to act as Musketry
Instructor to all the Volunteer Companies in Montreal. January 3rd, 1857, Lieut. Malhiot
was given the rank of Captain. March i4th, 1857, Sergeant William Middleton was
appointed Ensign in No. 3 Company "vice" Cooper appointed Quartermaster i3th
November, 1856.

The following General Order of the i7th March, 1857, is of interest:

" HEAD QUARTERS, MONTREAL, i7th March, 1857.
" GENERAL ORDER No. 3.

" The Lt.-Gen. Commanding having had an opportunity of seeing the Volunteer Field
" Battery and Foot Company of Artillery and the Volunteer Militia Rifle Companies
" manoeuvres yesterday on the ice in company with H. M. s 39th Regiment of Foot, desires
" to express his satisfaction at the soldierlike steadiness and appearance of the Provincial
" Forces. The manner in which the Field Battery took up its position on the ice and opened
" fire was most creditable. The alacrity with which the Officers and men of these Militia
" Forces turned out at the request of their Commandant, Lt.-Col. Dyde, shows an esprit
" highly commendable and full of promise.

" (Signed), W. J. D URBAX, Colonel,

" Deputy Quartermaster General.

" By Command of His Excellency the Governor General and Commander in Chief.

" DEROTTEXBURG, Colonel,

" Adjutant General Militia."

April 4, 1857 : Formation of the gth Rifle Company is authorized : Captain, Captain and
Adjutant L. A. H. Latour, from the gth Battalion (Militia) ; Lieutenant, Edouard Beaudry,
from No. 8 Rifle Company ; Ensign, Sergeant F. X. Lanthier, from gih Battalion.

April 23, 1857 : Lieutenant, S. H. May, No. 3 Company, is appointed Captain vice
Bertram who reverts to the Montreal Fire Brigade ; John McKeon is appointed Ensign in
No. 5 Company vice Donnelly, resigned.

May 21, 1857 : Lieut. Lambert and Ensign McNaughton of No. 2 Company being Seniors
of their rank were given the rank of Captain and Lieutenant respectively. Color Sergeant
John Garven was appointed supernumerary Ensign in the same Company.

46

June 1 6, 1857: No. 3 Company, Ensign Middleton was appointed Lieut, vice May,
promoted ; Sergeant George Wilson Ensign, vice Middleton.

July 3, 1857: Captain .T. A. Evans of No. 6 Company, appointed Captain of No. i, vice
Major Theo. Lyman, place on the unattached list. Lieut. C. E. Hill appointed Captain of
No. 6 vice Evans, transferred to No. i ; Ensign J. Bronsdon appointed Lieut, vice Hill ;
William O. Smith appointed Ensign vice Bronsdon.

September 24, 1857: Major Fletcher, of No. 2 Company, appointed musketry Instructor
for Lower Canada.

November 12, 1857: No. 8 Company, Ensign Luc O. Dufresne appointed Lieut, vice
Deguise, placed on the unattached list. Color Sergeant Dominique Dupont appointed
Ensign vice Dufresne.

February 4, 1858: No. 5 Company, James Donnelly appointed Ensign vice McKeon,
resigned.

OFFICERS OF No. i COMPAXV PRINCK OF WALES RIFLES, (MONTREAL RIFLE RANGERS),

CAPT. J. W. HANSON.
ENSIGN T. F. BLACKWOOD.

I8 59 .

I.IKUT. A. STE\VART.

SUP. R. G. STARKK.

February 18, 1858: No. 4 Company, Lieut. Mullins and Ensign Gillies given rank as
Captain and Lieutenant respectively.

November 26, 1857: Captain Devlin, No. 4 Company, given the rank of Major.

On March 6th, 1858, a proclamation was issued opening recruit Depots for the icoth
or Prince of Wales Royal Canadian Regiment.

April 15, 1858: No. i Company, Color Sergeant Thomas F. Blackwood appointed
supernumerary Ensign.

No. 5 Company, Lieut. Kavanagh appointed Captain vice Bartley, permitted to retire
with the rank of " Major ; Ensign Donnelly appointed Lieut, vice Kavanagh ; Daniel
Roony appointed Ensign vice Donnolly.

47

June 4, 1858: Major Fletcher having received a commission in the looth Regiment
was succeeded as Musketry Instructor by Major Lovelace, of the Montreal Cavalry.

June 8, 1858 : Captain Thomas Evans, No. i Company, was granted the rank of Major;
No. 2 Company, Lieut, and Captain John Lambert appointed Captain vice Fletcher ; Ensign
and Lieut. Duncan McNaughton appointed Lieut, vice Lambert.

July 28, 1858: Lieut. George McGibbon, of No. 7 (Highland Company), and Lieut.
J. W. Hanson, No. i Company, were given the rank of Captain.

October 7, 1858 : No. 3 Company, Color Sergeant Henry Ashby appointed supernumer
ary Ensign.

November 18, 1858: No. 2 Company, supernumerary Ensign John Garven appointed
Ensign vice McNaughton.

February 18, 1859 : No. 2 Company, Ensign John Garven appointed Lieut, vice
McNaughton, left the limits. Corporal Wm. Smyth appointed Ensign vice Garven.

July u, 1859: No. 7 (Highland Company), Color Sergeant George Brown appointed
supernumerary Ensign.

December, 1858: No. 9, to be Lieut., Ensign F. X. Lanthier vice Beaudry, resigned;
Sergeant Eraste d Odet d Orsonnens vice Lanthier, promoted. No. 7 (Highland Company),
to be Lieut., Ensign Peter Moir vice Lieut, and Captain G. McGibbon, permitted to retire
retaining his rank. To be Ensign, supernumerary Ensign Duncan Barclay Macpherson
vice Moir promoted.

In 1859 a new Militia Act was passed in which provision was made for the organization
of Battalions, and on the i7th November, 1859, the following General Order was issued :

" HEAD QUARTERS, QUEBEC, 17 November, 1859.
" MILITIA GENERAL ORDERS,

" ACTIVE FORCE, CLASS A, No. i.

" In pursuance of Section 15 of the Militia Act, 22 Viet. Chap, 18, His Excellency
" the Right Honorable the Governor General and Commandant-in-Chef is pleased to con-
" stitute into a Battalion the existing nine Volunteer Rifle Companies of Montreal to be
" styled the First Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada. These Companies will
" retain their present Number or Designation."

The first Battalion thus authorized included the following officers: Lieut.-Col. : Thomas
Willy; Majors: Bernard Devlin and Thomas Evans; Adjutant: Captain Edwyn Evans,
(Captain Malhiot being placed on the unattached list) ; Paymaster : Captain C. E. Labelle,
No. 8 Company, (Captain Haldimand having left the District); Quartermaster: Lieut. Peter
Cooper; Surgeon : William E. Scott, M.D. ; Assistant Surgeon : Alexander H. Kollmyer, M.D.

No. i Company: Capt., James W. Hanson; Lieut., Archibald Steward; Ensign, Thomas
F. Blackwood; Supernumerary Ensign, Richard G. Starke.

No. 2 Company: Captain, John Lambert (retired with rank, 17 Nov., 1859);
Lieut., John Garven ; Ensign, William Smyth.

No. 3 Company: Captain, S. H. May; Lieut., William Middleton ; Ensign, George
Wilson.

No. 4 Company: Captain, F. F. Mullins ; Lieut., John Gillies.

No. 5 Company : Captain Henry Kavanagh ; Lieut., James Donnelly ; Ensign, Daniel
Rooney.

No. 6 Company : Captain, C. F. Hill ; Lieut., J. Bronsdon ; Ensign, William O. Smith.

No. 7 Company: Captain John Macpherson; Lieut., Peter Moir; Ensign, Duncan
Macpherson ; Supernumerary Ensign, George Brown.

48

No. 8 Company: Captain, C. E. Belle; Lieut., Luc O. Dufresne ; Ensign, Dominique
Dupont.

No. 9 Company: Captain, L. A. H. Latour ; Lieut., Edouard Beaudry; Ensign, F. X.
Lanthier ; Supernumerary Ensign, Gustave d Odet d Orsennens.

The first turn-out the Rifles had in daylight took place on the occasion of the first brigade
inspection of the Montreal force, the satisfaction of the inspecting officer being expressed in
the following manner :

" MILITARY DISTRICT NUMBER NINE, L. C.

" Montreal, 4th September, 1856.
" DISTRICT ORDER No. 5.

" The Colonel commanding the district derived much pleasure from the inspection of the
" Active Volunteer Force of the city, on the Champ de Mars, yesterday afternoon.

" Colonel Moffat has no hesitation in recording his opinion that the degree of efficiency

OFFICERS OF THE HIGHLAND COMPANY PRINCE OF WALES RIFLES, 1859.

UEUT. PETER MOIR. CAPT. JOHN MACI HRRSON.

I.IKUT. GEO. BROWN. ENSIGN AI.EX. G. LINDSAY.

" attained by the force is deserving of high enconium, especially when the recent period of
" its organization is considered.

" The Colonel commanding remarks the readiness and punctuality with which the
" members of these Corps have turned out for military duty on several occasions, for which
" his thanks are due.

" The programme of evolutions practised at the inspection appears to the Colonel
" commanding to have been designed with ability and judgment, and the details carried out
" very successfully.

" The large concourse of spectators by which the review was witnessed, marks the
" interest which the public takes in the organization of the force.

" The Colonel commanding the district desires, therefore, to congratulate Lieutenant-

49

" Colonels Dyde and David and Major Coffin upon the creditable condition of the Active
Militia Force of Montreal, and requests that this order may be read at the next parade or
" muster of the respective troops and companies."

The Colonel Moffat, who issued the above order was the Hon. George Moffat, whose
name was so well known in civil life in Montreal in those days. It was doubtless on the
strength of his nattering report that another splendid and more practical official compliment
was paid to the two senior captains of the battalion. The Montreal "Transcript" of the
twentieth of November, 1856, published the following:

" Under a new general order issued by the Commander-in-Chief, and published in the
Official Gazette of Saturday, we are pleased to see that Captain Charles J. Coursol, 2nd
Troop Volunteer Cavalry, Montreal, Captain of i5th September, 1848, has been promoted to
the rank of Major. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has been further pleased to
direct that the two senior captains of the Volunteer Rifle Companies in this City, viz :
Captains Theodore L/yman and J. Fletcher, shall likewise be promoted to the rank of Major.
These officers having formed the first Rifle Companies in Montreal, and commenced the
organization of a force in that city whose discipline and appearance are not excelled by any
corps in the Province ."

The organization and efficiency of the Montreal Rifle Companies had more than an
indirect influence upon the organization of other corps throughout the Province. As the
parent corps of the new service they were regarded as models in more ways than one. Their
officers were so devoted to their military duties and so proficient in the discharge of them,
that those in authority availed themselves of their services in organizing, drilling, and even
inspecting other volunteer corps. In 1858, Major Fletcher conducted the first annual drill
of ten days of the St. Martin s Volunteer Rifle Company, and was thanked for his services-
by Captain Lahaise, commanding the Company, Lieut.-Colonel Belanger and Dr. Smallwood.
The same month Major Fletcher was sent by headquarters to Sherbrooke to inspect the rifle
corps just organized at that place.

Iviexit.-Colonel (then Major) Fletcher drilled the companies at St. Vincent de Paul, Three
Rivers, Sorel, Granby and Inverness for the annual drills of 1856, 57 and 58. When first
appointed to the permanent staff as Brigade Major for the 6th Military district, his authority
extended over the counties of St. Johns, Napierville, Huntingdon, Beauharnois, Chateauguay,
Laprairie, Vercheres, Chambly and Iberville. At the time of his appointment there were
only two companies (rifles) in the district, and he was ordered to organize infantry companies
wherever volunteers could be found in the district. He was materially aided by the clergy,
Roman Catholic and Protestant, and in six months succeeded in forming 31 new companies,
twelve of which were composed of French Canadians. All served creditably during the
Fenian Raids.

In the spring of 1858, when the looth Royal Canadian Regiment was organized in
Canada as a contribution by this country to the Empire, Major Lyman and Lieut. James W.
Hanson, of the old Rifle Rangers, were offered a company and a lieutenancy respectively in
recognition of their services to the volunteer movement. Major Fletcher accepted a com
mission as lieutenant in the new regiment, and several men of the Rifles went with him.

5

CHAPTER VI.

A FRIENDLY INVASION.

UESDAY, the i/th of August, 1858, was a red letter day in the
history of Montreal s oldest Rifle corps, officially known at that time,
by the way, as the Montreal Volunteer Militia Rifles, that being
the date of the start of the Battalion for Portland, Maine, the
inauguration of a series of mutually beneficial international visits
between the militia of Canada and the United States which have
done much in contributing towards the development of that good
feeling and mutual respect which should exist between two kindred,
neighbouring peoples, each working out its destiny in its own
particular way. The companies participating were No. i, Captain Hanson ; No.
2, Captain Lambert ; No. 3, Ensign Wilson ; No. 6, Captain Hill ; Nos. 8 and 9,
Captain Belle ; and the Highland Company, Captain Macpherson. The batta
lion was accompanied by its band and buglers, under Mr. Prince, and took with
it to Portland the Queen s Colour of the old Montreal Light Infantry, loaned
for the occasion by Lieut.-Colonel Benjamin Holmes, the former commanding
officer of the late regiment of Montreal Light Infantry. The marching state
of the battalion was : 2 field officers, 7 captains, 6 subalterns, 6 staff officers,
2 staff sergeants, 14 sergeants, 22 musicians, 9 buglers, 186 rank and file.
The complete list of officers was as follows : Lieut.-Colonel Wiley, Command
ing; Major, Thos. Evans; Captains, Macpherson, Belle, Latour, Hill, Lambert,
Mullins, and Hanson; Lieutenants, McNaughton and Bronsdou ; Ensigns,
Wilson, Dupont, MacPherson, and Blackwood ; Staff, Captain and Adjutant Malhiot,
Surgeon Scott, Assistant Surgeon Kollmyer, Quartermaster Cooper, Dr. A. Nelson, Staff
Surgeon to the Brigade, and Major Lyman of the Rifles, unattached. There was 110 Victoria
Bridge, much less a Lachine Bridge, then, and the battalion had to cross to Longueuil to
entrain for their peaceful invasion of the neighbouring republic. Arriving at Portland the
following morning, the battalion was made the recipient of most generous hospitality on the
part of the citizens and military of the Maine seaport, which was just celebrating the
completion of the first Transatlantic Cable. Never since the declaration of peace between the
United States and Great Britain, had an armed force or military organization of the Crown
of England trodden the soil of the United States.

The friendly spirit in which the visitors were received can be easily realized from a few
extracts from the numerous speeches delivered by various civil and military officials in Port
land. After arriving in Portland, the Rifles, escorted by the local militia companies
proceeded to the quarters of Major-General Wendell P. Smith, commanding the Portland
district, and paid him the honours due to his rank. In acknowledgment, the General made
a lengthy speech, in the course of which he said : " We receive and shall entertain you as
friends and brave men of the same blood and race as ourselves. You and we acknowledge
and respect one mother country. Your nation and ours now feel the throbbing of the electric

5 1

chain which connects the shores of each, and vibrates throughout both continents. Your
city and ours are already connected by bars of iron, and may this your visit so cement the
bonds of friendship between you, your citizens and ours, that they shall never be severed
while the British and American waters of the great lakes mingle together and seek the ocean
by one common channel." General Smith especially expressed his thanks for the compli
ment paid him, the state, the city and the whole country by the band of the Rifles playing
the American national air " Hail Columbia." General Smith then assured Colonel Wiley
that there was another national air which would be equally as gratifying to himself and the
citizens to hear the Portland band play. He concluded : " So I direct that all the drums
beat, that the Portland band play, and that the music be, God Save the Queen."

Proceeding to the City Government House, the battalion was again addressed by the
Mayor of Portland, the Hon. J. Jewett, who remarked : " Descending from a common
ancestry, possessing a common language, and professing a common religion, they who are
alike in blood, in tongue, and in faith, are truly brethren, and this union in sentiment, I
trust, will be more lasting, even than the iron bands that now unite us ; for the ties of friend
ship and unity, being born of the Divine, are like the Divine, immortal. We bid you
welcome, citizen soldiers, as representatives of that power in our respective governments,
which it has ever been the just pride of those speaking the English language to maintain,
for it is the bayonet of the citizen soldier, only, that thinks, and with them both the musket
and the man speak for liberty and humanity. We welcome you with a peculiar pleasure at
this time of jubilant exultation, when the old world and the new, estranged since God said :
Let the waters under the Heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land
appear are once more reunited by the Atlantic cable. And as God upon the sky has, as
the sacred historian tells, set his bow of promise as a token of good will to man, so now, the
men of Old England and the men of New England, reversing the arc, have laid this human
bow of promise that tells us there shall evermore be the seed time and the harvest of peace
on earth and good will towards men."

A dinner to the visitors and a review participated in by the Montreal Rifles and the
Portland companies were the principal features of this interesting international visit. At
the dinner, the first toast as given by the toast master was : " The British Queen. Adored
by her subjects, honoured and respected throughout the world though free from the
sovereign s sceptered sway, Americans acknowledge allegiance to the pure and virtuous
woman." Another toast was given as follows : " The Army and Navy of Great Britain.
Their fame and glory are secure while the names of Wellington and Nelson shine in the page
of history."

All through the trip the behavior of the battalion was most exemplar}-, eliciting the
warmest praise on all hands.

The Portland "Transcript" commenting on the visit gives us an independent pen-
picture of the Rifles on parade, remarking : " Of course much curiosity was felt as to the
military efficiency of our Canadian friends. They did not make so showy an appearance as
our troops, but it struck us that their uniform was better adapted to active service than the
more cumbrous adornments of our soldiers. The uniform of the staff officers (brigade staff)
was rich and showy. They wore the traditionel scarlet coat of the British army, splendidly
embroidered with gold. The dress of the Rifles was a neat black frock coat and pantaloons,
red trimmings and facings, with the regulation cap and pompon. That of the Highland
company was a green coated faced with red and gold, plaid pants, tartan scarfs, Highland
bonnet with ostrich plumes and red feather. The piper, in full Highland costume, with his
kilt and his bare knees, attracted some attention. The men were short of stature, in this
respect not comparing well with our soldiers, but they looked compact and hardy, capable of

52

enduring much fatigue. It was interesting to see the various nationalities expressed in the
countenances and manners of the men. The Highlanders were thoroughly Scotch in form
and features, spare and sharp, and in their native costume looked like true followers of the
Bruce. The company of French Canadians had the dark complexion and short stature of
Canada s French population. It was amusing to see the characteristic manner in which the
officers of this company fraternized with their men. Capt. Belle, previous to the review on
Munjoy, made his company a speech in French, in which he indulged in numerous jokes to
the great amusement of his men, who laughed heartily. We noticed that the Captain, after
giving the word of command in English, sometimes repeated it in French. The men of the
other companies were of English and Irish descent, thus making with their compatriots of
France and Scotland, and their Yankee hosts, an extraordinary mingling of nationalities. If
the Canadian troops appeared somewhat inferior to our men on the march, they showed their

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS OF No. I COMPANY 1ST BATTALION
VOLUNTEER RIFLES OF CANADA.

BUGLER SCANLAN.

CORP. OGDEN.

CORP. ROVVE.

CORP. BOYCK.

CORP. MILAN.

SERG. GEO. WOOD.

SERG. C. D. HANSON.

SERG. A. C. HUTCHESON.

superior drill on the parade ground. The} went through the rifle evolutions with great
celerity of movement, showing the results of much practice, and the advantage of having the
example of regular troops always before them."

Another Portland paper in its report of the arrival of the Rifles remarked : " Among
the soldiers we noticed a number who were in the Crimean war, and who wore the medals
prepared by the British government for those soldiers."

Interesting, as giving an idea of the personnel of the sister corps then existent in
Montreal is the following list of guests who accompanied the Rifles to Portland. Lieut. -

53

Colonel Dyde, Commandant of the Montreal Militia ; Captain McCalman, Montreal Light
Infantry, Acting Brigade Major; Lieut.-Colonel Delisle, nth Battalion, Montreal Militia;
Major Abbott, 4th Battalion Montreal Militia; Major Dyde, Montreal Light Infantry; Captain
Ogilvie, ist Troop Montreal Cavalry; Captain Desrivieres, 2nd Troop Montreal Cavalry;
Captain Meyers, Royal Montreal Artillery ; Captain Scott, Montreal Light Infantry ; Captain
Lord, Adjutant; Lieut. Ogilvie, ist Troop Montreal Cavalry ; Lieutenants Whitehead,
Cowan and Simpson, Montreal Light Infantry; Ensign Macaulay, 6th Battalion, Montreal
Militia ; Lieut. Anderson, Quebec Cavalry ; Lieut. Panet, Quebec Artillery.

The confederation of the provinces in 1867 brought the militia of Upper and Lower
Canada (henceforth to be known as Ontario and Quebec) into much closer relationship with
the splendid militia organizations of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The present force
may be described as an amalgamation of the forces which existed in the several provinces at
the time the Dominion was born. Both of the large maritime provinces maintained efficient
forces of militia. The Nova Scotia militia consisted of all males between sixteen and sixty,
with a few exceptions, divided into two classes, the first consisting of those between sixteen
and fifty-five. The Lieutenant Governor, as Commander-in-Chief, had the privilege of calling
out the militia for twenty-eight days a year for a drill. Volunteer corps were authorized
within each of the no battalions in the province. In 1865 there were 898 volunteers and
59,379 militia enrolled, and the total expenditure of the year on militia account was $95,000.
When Nova Scotia entered the Dominion in 1867 there were in the provincial militia eight
companies of volunteers one artillery, one engineers, the rest rifles, making altogether 43
officers, 47 sergeants, and 549 rank and file. During the same year 41,997 of the militia
were present at inspection parades.

In New Brunswick the militia was divided into four classes : Class A, volunteers or
active militia, 1,791 officers and men; Class B, unmarried men and widowers without
children, between the ages of 18 and 45, numbering 18,480; Class C, married men and
widowers with children, between the ages of 18 and 45, numbering 16,932 ; Class D,
Sedentary militia comprising all the male population, with a few specified exceptions, num
bering 7,184. Class B and Class C were enrolled in 22 regiments, divided into 42 battalions,
no less than 33 of which assembled in 1865. The cost of the New Brunswick militia that
year was $30,000. In 1867 there were in the province, of volunteers, seven corps of cavalry
(267 officers and men), one of engineers (56 men), twenty-two of infantry (1,317 officers and
men).

The first Nova Scotia Assembly met at Halifax in 1758, and the first New Brunswick
Assembly at Fredericton in i786, two years after that province had been separated from Nova
Scotia. The organization of provincial militia forces was among the first business discussed
by both of these legislative bodies, but with little result. In anticipation of a French attack
on British North America in 1793, Governor Carleton (a brother of Lord Dorchester), was
instructed to raise a corps of 600 men for the defense of New Brunswick, the defficiency in
the supply of arms to be made up from Halifax. The New Brunswick militia up to that
time was unarmed and undisciplined. In its collective capacity the Assembly did not admit
that it was its duty to provide for defence, but the individual members expressed their
willingness to co-operate for that object. (Canadian Archivist s Report for 1895).

As indicating the existence of a sense of a community of interest between the different
provinces that many years ago, it is interesting to note that in 1776 little Prince Edward
Island contributed a quota of volunteers towards the defence of Quebec ; an American expedi
tion attacking Charlottetown and burning a number of houses in retaliation.

54

CHAPTER VII.

THE PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT.

HE year 1860 will always be considered a memorable one in the history of
) the Prince of Wales Regiment as that in which it received the title of
which it has since become so proud. Many Canadians retain pleasant
recollections of the same year, for it was then that Canada had the honour
of entertaining the Heir Apparent.

Early in May, 1860, Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Wiley, commanding the
Montreal Rifles, was sent for by the Hon. John Rose, then Chief Commissioner
of Public Works and informed by him that he had been selected by the government
to assist, xinder his orders, in making preparations for the visit of the Prince of Wales,
who was to arrive the following August. As Lieut.-Colonel Wiley himself expressed it,
the duties assigned to him were somewhat analagous to those of a Quartermaster-General
of an army. He had to provide temporary places of residence for the Prince and his
suite at the different places he was to visit, to make arrangements for his transportation and
reception, and generally to make himself useful. At every place His Royal Highness
stopped, hotels or mansions were rented, renovated and refxirnished. Every bit of furniture
and tableware for the Prince s use was specially made, and bore His Royal Highness s crest
and the historic plumes. Lieut.-Colonel Wiley had to provide all of this as well as organize
a corps of cooks, stable attendants, a suitable string of horses, etc. To give an idea of the
minute details which were attended to before the Prince arrived, it might be mentioned that
two complete dinner sets, with glass and plate, had been procured in England and were
expressly manufactured for the occasion. On all of these articles the Prince s crest figured
conspicuously, surrounded by beautiful wreaths of green maple leaves. One set with a relay
of waiters and servants had always to be sent on in advance. Thus while the Prince was at
Quebec, the relay was awaiting his arrival at Montreal. Lieut.-Colonel Wiley contributed
in no small degree towards the success of the Prince s Canadian trip, remaining with the
Royal part}- until the}- finally bade adieu to Canada.

During the Prince s stay in Montreal the brigade of volunteers was inspected on Logan s
Farm by His Royal Highness. Colonel Wiley, in a brief reference to this event in his
reminiscences, gives an account of the way in which the Prince of W 7 ales Regiment came to
get its name. The gallant Colonel writes : "The day being fine the review was witnessed
by thousands. For the occasion, I had assumed the command of my own regiment, now the
First or Prince of Wales Regiment, a title conferred on it by the Prince while he was
in London, Canada West, on my application. After the review, the commanding officers
were called to the front and complimented in the usual way."

The regiment made special preparations for the Prince s visit, and it is on record that it
made a very favourable impression on His Royal Highness. At a meeting of the officers of
the regiment held on the i3th of July 1860, it was resolved : "That a battalion drill do take
place on Thursday evening of each week during the time intervening between this date and
the arrival of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and that it be substituted for the

55

Usual weekly company drills, and that the battalion be formed on parade at 7 o clock P.M."
At another meeting of officers held on the i4th of August, it was agreed to have an afternoon
parade previous to the arrival of His Royal Highness, so as to perfect the battalion iu the
movements which it was to be put through on the occasion of the review. The regiment
had a full share of guard of honour duty to perform at this time. There was such com
petition among the officers for these duties that the officers were posted by lot to the different
guards of honour before the Prince s arrival as follows :

ist Guard, Captain Garven, Lieut. Rooney, Bnsign Wilson; and Guard, Captain
Dufresne, Lieut. Gillies, Ensign Payette; 3rd Guard, Captain McPherson, Lieut. Middleton,
Ensign Eraser ; 4th Guard, Captain Hanson, Lieut. Holmes, Ensign d Orsonnens ; 5th
Guard, Captain Kavanagh, Lieut. Blackwood, Ensign Pierson ; 6th Guard, Captain Mullins,
Lieut. Moir, Ensign Brown ; jth Guard, Captain Hill, Lieut. Lanthier, Ensign Starke ;
8th Guard, Captain May, Lieut. Dupont, Ensign Gallagher; gth Guard, Captain Latour,
Lieut. Bronsdon.

A general order was issued, dated Sept. jth, 1860, reading as follows : " His Excellency,
the Commander-in-Chief, desires to convey his thanks to the volunteer force of Montreal for
the manner in which they performed the duties connected with the visit of His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales to that city, and to express his satisfaction at the soldier-like
appearance presented by the several corps under the command of Colonel Dyde.

" His Excellency further directs that the ist Battalion of Rifles already organized in
Montreal shall, by the permission of His Royal Highness, be henceforth termed The First
(or Prince of Wales) Regiment of Volunteer Rifles of the Canadian Militia."

Lieut.-Colonel Wiley gives the following characteristic account of his last interview with
the Prince : " Early in the morning of the day that the Prince left Hamilton I received an
intimation from General Bruce that the Prince desired to see me at his residence. On
proceeding there I was immediately ushered into his presence. His reception of me was kind
and gracious. Presenting me with a jewel case which he held in his hand, he desired my
acceptance of it as a memento of his visit to Canada, and to mark his appreciation of my
services in connection therewith, graciously adding, as he shook hands with me, in bidding
me adieu, that he knew that I had had a very troublesome time of it." The jewel case, by
the way, contained five massive gold vest buttons with three shirt studs bearing the plumes
in gold, on a ground of blue enamel.

As to this country s entertainment of the Prince, Lieut.-Colonel Wiley relates that when
all was settled it was found that Canada had spent half a million dollars for the Prince s
visit. Sales were held to dispose of the furniture which had been purchased, and the unused
provisions. The bedroom furniture which had been used by the Prince was eagerly bid
for. So were any articles that bore his crest, notably the dinner sets and the glass ware.
Connoisseurs of wine sought to obtain some of the wine to which the imprimature of the
Prince gave quite a magical reputation. Lieut.-Colonel Wiley had pxirchased a quantity of
Catawba wine for the Royal party, but as it did not suit the English palate only one case of
it had been opened. The remaining eleven cases sold at quadruple their original cost. The
people of Canada were as lavish as the government. One of the features of the famous
historical ball in Montreal given in the Prince s honour was a fountain in the refreshment
room flowing with alternate streams of champagne and claret.

Lieut.-Colonel Wiley commanded the Civil Service Rifle Regiment, Ottawa, from the
time of its organization in 1866, until its disbandment by General Order on December
igth, 1868.

On the occasion of Lieut.-Colonel W r iley severing his connection with the Prince
of Wales Regiment to go to Ottawa, November 27th, 1862, he was presented by the

56

Regiment and other friends with a handsome silver cup and $550 in cash, in recognition
of the important services he had rendered in the promotion of the volunteer movement
in Montreal.

At Ottawa Lieut. -Colonel Wiley had an important position in the Militia Department,
serving under the first Minister of Militia and Defence after Confederation, the late Sir
George E. Cartier. It so happened that in 1848, while the gallant Colonel was chief of the
Montreal police he had had occasion to arrest Sir George, then plain Mr. Cartier, for
attempting to fight a duel with the late Mr. Joseph Doutre, Q. C.

Colonel, then Captain, Wiley did not know of the meeting until after the principals had
left the city, when he was instructed by Mayor Bourret to stop the fight by arresting the
principals. By luck, the route taken by the duellists was found out, and Wiley, accompanied
by three of his men, started in pursuit. On the Petite Cote Road, about a mile beyond
the toll gate, in a sharp turn of the road, Dr. Wolfred Nelson was encountered, awaiting the
summons for professional assistance. A few
hundred yards further on, on the right hand
side of the road, the duellists and their friends,
half a dozen in all, were found, actively prepar
ing for the fray. The principals were arrested,
and next morning bound over to keep the peace
in the province. However, where there is a will
there is a way. From the Court House they
started for the frontier, and crossing the border
at St. Armand, they settled their quarrel on neu
tral ground by a harmless exchange of shots.
The cause of the quarrel was political and made
a great stir at the time. Lieut.-Colonel Wiley
used to say that during the time he had constant
intercourse with Sir George as his subordinate he
used to speculate whether at any time, when they
met, it recalled to the mind of his chief the Sunday
afternoon when he was a prisoner.

The first standing orders of the Rifles,
passed January i2th, 1860, provided that the
badge of the ist Battalion should be a bugle,
having in its centre a maple leaf, the whole
surrounded by a garter bearing the title of
the regiment, und underneath a scroll with the
motto " Nulli Secundus." At a meeting of officers held in the Brigade Orderly Room,
Victoria Hall on July i3th, 1860, it was resolved that " in addition to the present badge and
device," a crown surmounting be added. On February yth, 1861, it was decided to adopt the
Prince of Wales plume as the regimental pouch belt ornament, and the plume replaced the
crown in the regimental badge.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has on man}- occasions manifested a keen
personal interest in the welfare of his Canadian Regiment, and the corps, on its part, has
always shown a lively appreciation of the honourable distinction it possesses of bearing the
name of the Heir Apparent. On each anniversary of the Prince s birth the cable has carried
a congratulatory message to His Royal Highness from his Montreal Regiment, and the
greeting is always promptly and feelingly acknowledged. On the occasion of the celebration
of the silver wedding of their Royal Highnesses, March, 1888, the Regiment gave a ball

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES.
i860.

57

at the Windsor Hotel in honour of the occasion. It was, as one of the local papers said the
next day, a royal ball and a royal success. Among the guests on this occasion were Major-
General Sir Fred Middleton, commanding the Canadian Militia, the officers of the district
staff and of sister corps, the Judges of the higher courts, and the civic dignatories. On
Saturday, the loth, the actual anniversary of the Royal wedding, a detachment of the Regi
ment under command of Major Butler commemorated the event by marching to the summit
of Mount Royal, and, in conjunction with the Montreal Field Battery, firing a Royal salute.

The Prince of Wales birthday is usually celebrated by the regiment by giving a ball, a
particularly successful one on the fiftieth anniversary of the Prince s birth, November 9 th,
1891, being given under the auspices of the sergeants of the Regiment. In 1890, the Prince
of Wales birthday falling on a Sunday, it was celebrated by a church parade to St. George s
Church, when an impressive sermon was delivered by His Lordship Bishop Bond, Chaplain
of the Regiment. His Lordship said that he had then been identified with the regiment for
thirty years, both in the city and on active service, and he was able to say from close
observance that they had always maintained a high character and paid strict attention to
duty. They had always been good soldiers and worthy of the name they bore.

In 1882 the Regiment was honoured by its senior Major, Major Bond, receiving a
private reception by the Prince of Wales at Marlborough House on April 8th. The Prince
recalled many items of his visit to Montreal in 1860 and enquired after many of the people
he had then met. On April loth there was an Easter Monday Review at Portsmouth and
Major Bond was placed on the Duke of Cambridge s Staff. On the same staff were the
Prince of Wales, General Wolseley and General Roberts and a splendid opportunity was
afforded to see the best of the English Volunteers, a privilege that was much appreciated.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE TRENT AFFAIR.

NOVEMBER, 1861, Messrs. Mason and Sliddell, commissioners of the
Southern Confederacy, were taken from the British steamer " Trent " on
the high seas in spite of the protests of her captain, by an armed body
of marines sent from the United States man-of-war " San Jacinto".
There was much ill feeling between the two countries before this incident.
After this wanton outrage on the British flag war appeared inevitable.
Large numbers of troops, including some of the regiments of the Guards, were
despatched from England to Canada. With the prospect of this country being made
the battle-field of the contending parties, Canadian loyalty never wavered, and
corps of militia were raised in every locality. The present 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th
battalions were raised in Montreal. Sergeant F. Scholes of the Prince of Wales
Regiment became a captain in the 3rd Victoria Rifles, and Sergeant G. W. Stephens, since
a prominent member of the Provincial Legislature, and Private G. E. Starnes of the same
regiment, became lieutenants in the Montreal Cavalry. Fortunately the United States
surrendered the commissioners and made amends for the Trent affair, and the threatened war
was averted.

A good idea of the excitement which prevailed in Montreal at this time is obtained from
a Montrealer s private letter to a friend in Scotland published in the Greenock " Herald " of
March ;th, 1862. In the course of his letter, which was dated February I4th, the writer
remarked : " When I arrived here in December, I found the Canadians in a great state of
excitement about the Mason and Sliddell affair. They were volunteering and drilling all
over the country, but at the same time they did not seem to be in the least afraid, although,
had war broken out, the brunt of it would have fallen upon Canada. I think that the backing
out of the Americans was all owing to the prompt measures adopted by the British govern
ment, and the determined stand taken by the Canadians. It is the opinion of every one here
who knows anything of the Yankees, that Canada would have been invaded before this if any
of the people had shown disloyalty to the British government at the present crisis ; but I am
proud to say that the Canadians of every class rallied round the Old Flag like Britons.
In Montreal alone we have 10,000 volunteers. I am drilling one of the regiments. We have
here now two regiments of Guards and two regiments of the Line, so that our town looks like
a regular camp ; at every step you meet soldiers of some kind or other."

A census taken in 1861 showed the population of the city and suburbs to be 101,600, so
that the enrolled militia force must have comprised a very large proportion of the adult
male population.

The crowning glory, so to speak, of the military enthusiasm of the loyal citizens of
Montreal in this historic year of 1862 was an imposing parade of the volunteer force on April
i8th. The following extracts of the report of this event published in the " Witness " are
interesting as giving some idea of the popular sentiment of the time, and at the same time
enumerating the existing military organizations of the city :

59

If there be any among us who fancy that the people of this province would tamely
surrender its independence, the spectacle presented on the Champ de Mars yesterday would
have cured them of their error, and shown, also, that the military spirit of the race is neither
dead nor slumbering. We dare to say that scarcely has a larger number of men under arms
ever assembled at once on the Champ de Mars; and as for the crowd of spectators, it
distances anything within our experience. The interest which all classes of our citizens
manifested in the parade yesterday was very great ; the Champ de Mars was crowded in every
place from whence a view of the proceedings going on could be obtained ; even the trees were
ascended by venturesome spectators, while the windows of the Court House were thronged
by persons of both sexes, who were fortunate enough to procure admittance. About a
quarter to three o clock the different volunteer corps, each headed by a band, began to march
on to the Champ de Mars, and take up position, forming into columns of companies facing
the Court House. The troops were arranged in the following order : Extreme west end of
Champ de Mars, Prince of Wales Volunteer Rifle Regiment, Lieut. -Colonel Wiley ; next,
on their left, the Chasseurs Canadiens, Lieut.-Colonel Coursol ; the Royals, Major Fletcher
commanding in the absence of Lieut.-Colonel Routh ; the Light Infantry, Lieut.-Colonel
Whitney (this regiment carried their colours, the Queen s and regimental) ; next, Hochelaga
Battalion, Lieut.-Colonel Hibbard ; Victoria Rifles, Lieut.-Colonel Osborne Smith ; Montreal
Battalion Artillery, Lieut.-Colonel Tylee ; and Captain Ward s Foot Artillery. Major
Stevenson s Montreal Field Battery was in position on the extreme left. Captain Smith s
and Captain Lanquedoc s troops of Montreal Cavalry were also on the ground and occupied a
prominent position on the right of the line. Among the officers of the militia present were
Colonel De Salaberry, Deputy Adjutant-General for Lower Canada; Lieut.-Colonel
Ermatinger, Inspecting Field Officer for Lower Canada, Colonel Dyde, Colonel Commandant
of the Militia Garrison, Lieut.-Colonel George Smith, District Deputy Adjutant-General,
Major Lyman, District Assistant Quartermaster-General, Major McPherson, Brigade Major,
and Major Penn, Aide-de-Camp to the Commandant. We may also mention that Major
Hogan commanded the Field Artillery and Lieut.-Colonel David the Cavalry. Colonel Dyde
commanded the brigade of militia on the ground.

" A little before four o clock, Lieut.-General Williams, K. C. B., accompanied by Major-
General Bell, Major-General Lord Paulet, and a numerous and brilliant staff, consisting of
the heads of all the Military departments of the city, and the aides-de-camp of the several
Generals, came upon the ground and took up positions facing the centre of the line. They
were escorted by the Guides, a body of cavalry raised from the members of the Montreal
Hunt for the purpose of forming a body-guard for His Excellency the General Commanding.

" As the General came upon the ground the troops took open order and gave the general
salute, the several bands playing the National Anthem. The volunteers then formed fours,
and facing to the right began to march past in quarter distance column. The spectacle now
was one sufficient to make ever}- one who had a view of them feel proud of the citizen soldiers,
as with steady face and upright bearing, vicing with one another in generous rivalry and in
the accuracy of their movements, they marched past in succession, and took up their original
positions.

" The commanding officers were then called to the front, and complimented by General
Williams on the fine appearance and discipline of their respective corps. General Williams
and staff then left the ground, the troops ordered arms and stood at ease, and were inspected
officially by Lieut.-Colonel DeSalaberry, Deputy Adjutant-General for Lower Canada. This
brought the proceedings to a close. Taken all in all, the parade was one that must be
highly gratifying to the military authorities, the volunteers themselves, and the citizens, who
feel a pride in them."

60

It is very evident that during the years of comparative quiet preceding the Trent affair
the Canadian militia well kept up its state of efficiency. On September the 27th, 1860, the
following high compliment was paid to the active force of Canada by the special correspondent
of the London " Morning Post" with the Prince of Wales party, who was considered a high
military authority :

" I am very happy to bear witness to the efficiency of the volunteer force of Canada, so
far as it has come under my observation. Some extremely unfair remarks appeared recently
in an English military journal reflecting both upon the government of this Province and
upon the defensive force established here within the last three or four years. I have now had
the opportunity of visiting the cities of Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Kingston and Toronto,
besides which I have stopped at many growing towns and villages. At most of these places
I have been surprised to find sometimes whole regiments, sometimes single companies, of light
infantry, rifles and artillery. I made it a par
ticular object to inspect the various corps as
closely as possible, and the result has been
thus far that I have received an impression
with reference to the active volunteer force of
Canada in the highest degree favourable to its
efficiency and organization. Better material,
I am convinced, could nowhere be found, in
every respect. Physically, and I firmly believe,
intellectually, the men who now compose the
defensive force of Canada are equal to any
troops that any nation can place in the field; and
the very greatest credit is due to the govern
ment, and to the people themselves, who have in
so comparatively limited a time developed the
military powers of this Province. His Royal
Highness and the Duke of Newcastle must
have been struck with the fine bearing and the
excellent drill exhibited so frequently by the
volunteer force in Canada ; and, no matter what
severe criticisms military journals in London
may pass upon the small but admirabty equip
ped army of Canada, depend upon it, should
the emergency arise, the services of these fine
fellows who fill the ranks of the volunteer corps
will be found useful and in all respects worthy of their predecessors of 1812, and of the more
recent unhappy rebellion."

During the exciting winter of 1861-62, the Prince of Wales Regiment drilled in the
Victoria Hall, the companies taking different nights in rotation. The hall was occupied
every night by one company or another.

The Montreal "Gazette" of January 3Oth, 1862, announced that with a view of more
effectively organizing the militia the Governor General had issued a commission on which,
besides three members of the militia, were placed Colonel Daniel Lysons, C. B., Colonel
the Hon. Sir Allan N. MacNab, Bart., Colonel the Hon. Sir E. P. Tache, C. B., Colonel
Campbell, C. B., of St. Hilaire, and Colonel Cameron of Kingston. The "Gazette"
remarked : " It will be seen that the regular service will be represented on the commission
by the gallant Colonel Lysons sent out specially on this service by the Imperial government,

GEORGE WASHINGTON STEPHENS, M.A., B.C.L., M.P.P.

KfRST PRIVATE ENROLLED IN MONTREAL RIFLE RANGERS

(AUGUST 1855)

61

as having large experience with Knglish volunteers ; and that four colonels commanding
districts, (two for each section of the Province), two of them members of the former commis
sion, have been selected as his colleagues. We are also glad to be able to announce that
Ivieut.-Colonel Wiley, who has had so much experience with volunteers in Canada, and is in
all respects the man best fitted for the work, is to be Secretary of the Commission. We may
confidently hope that at such time as the present, after our recent experience, both sides of
the House will work together and use their best exertions to pass an act which will make our
Canadian Militia really effective. We apprehend that, under the circumstances, the
formation of any more new corps will be suspended until the new law can be brought
into force, lest arrangements now made should be found to require considerable alterations
under its provisions."

The commission recommended that an active force of 50,000 men should be raised, the
usual period of training to be 28 days. Upon this recommendation the Cartier-Macdonald
administration introduced a bill providing for an annual expenditure of $1,000,000. This
bill was rejected, however, and the ministry resigned.

What is known as the St. Albans Raid for a time threatened serious complications with
the United States in 1864. Between twenty-five and thirty Confederates from the Southern
States, well armed and mounted, passed the Canadian frontier from Montreal, where they
had assembled, and attacked the town of St. Albans, Vermont, where they raided the banks,
appropriated horses and stores, and in resisting arrest, killed one man besides wounding
others. They returned to Canada on October igth. Thirteen of them were arrested by the
civil authorities, but after trial and lengthy legal arguments, were discharged on December
i4th, on account of legal difficulties which had arisen in connection with the indictments.
The United States held the authorities on this side of the line to be responsible, and prompt
measures were taken in this country to prevent a repetition of the raid. Provisional
battalions were organized from the militia for special service. One battalion, which included
a company each from the Prince of Wales regiment, the Victoria Rifles and the Royals, was
placed under command of Lieut. -Colonel Hill, and stationed from December, 1864, to May,
1865, at Sandwich, Ontario. A number of Confederates, including some prisoners of war
who had escaped from the Northern prisons, were reported to be assembling in that district
and organizing for a raid upon the banks in Detroit. No trouble, however, occured, but the
authorities on this side of the line set an example of neighbourly conduct which was in
marked contrast to the open encouragement given in the United States to the hordes of
filibusterers organized across the frontier in 1837-38 and again in 1866 and 1870 for the
avowed purpose of making armed descents upon Canada. The company of the Prince of
Wales Regiment which served with the provisional battalion at Sandwich was commanded by
Captain Frank Bond, Mr. Charles Brush being his lieutenant and Mr. Arthur David, ensign.

62

CHAPTER IX.

THE FENIAN RAIDS.

HE first Fenian Raid, in 1866, was doubtless an outcome of the civil war in
the United States. The collapse of the Confederacy and the disbandment
of the great armies which had been maintained on both sides threw a large
number of more or less well drilled soldiers out of employment. The
Trent affair, the Alabama matter and several other incidents in connection
with the late war had left an anti-British feeling among certain elements of
the population in the United States, and a few Irish agitators found it safe
enough to organize a force of adventurers to invade Canada under pretence of
striking at Britain through her loyal and presumably defenceless colony. Plunder
was doubtless the main object of most of the Fenian leaders. Whether it was the
spoils of Canadian homes or of the hard earned savings of the sympathizing dupes
in the United States they were principally after, it is difficult to decide. Although
the raids proved really ridiculous failures, mere opera-bouffe invasions, they threatened
to be very serious for Canada. Had the Canadian militia not responded as nobly as they did
to the call to arms in defence of their fire-sides, and had the Fenians once established
themselves in Canada their armies would have swollen to formidable hordes, and serious
fighting must have occurred before the free soil of Canada was rid of their presence. The
excitement in Canada was naturally great, for rumor magnified the strength of the Fenians,
and it was realized that in their ranks were many of the war trained and battle hardened
veterans of the American Rebellion. On the second of June 1866, the battle of Ridgeway
was fought between a force of Ontario Militia commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Booker and a
force of 800 or 1000 Fenians who crossed into Canada at Fort Erie. Threats were made to
cross the frontier into this province in this year, but the bold front shown all along the line
by the militia prevented the threat from being put into execution.

In 1870 two Fenian columns did invade this Province, one from Vermont, the other from
M alone, N. Y., but were quickly met and routed at Eccles Hill and Trout River. The Prince
of Wales Regiment was on active service on both of these years, but just what the regi
ment did is best told in the words of those who served in it at this time.

Surgeon Lieut.-Colonel Francis W. Campbell, of the Royal Regiment of Canadian
Infantry, Deputy Surgeon-General, not only gives a detailed account of the regiment s
services during the Fenian Raids, but relates many other facts of interest in the career of
the corps.

Surgeon Lieut.-Colonel Campbell joined Number One Company during the summer of
1855. His name is on the pay roll dated September, 1855. Number 2 and 3 Companies
were formed a few months later and composed largely of the members of the Montreal
Volunteer Fire Brigade. Number 4 and 5 Companies of Independent Rifles were formed
about the same time and were commanded respectively by Captain Devlin and Captain
Bartley, and were composed entirely of Irish Roman Catholics. Number 6 also formed about
the same time, was composed entirely of Orangemen. Next came the Highland Company

which was commanded by Captain John Macpherson. Number 8 and 9, also organized
about the same time, were composed entirely of French Canadians and were commanded
respectively by Captains Belle and Latour. The uniform of all the companies, except
Number 10, was rifle green, the facings generally red. After the formation of the Highland
Company, the uniform of which was rifle green trimmed with gold lace, tartan trews, scarf
and Highland feather bonnet, a demand was made by some of the other companies for a
distinct colour ; for instance the two Irish companies wished green facings and the two
Orange companies wished yellow facings. On the day of the formation, the First Battalion
Volunteer Rifles of Canada all except the Highland Company were ordered to wear the rifle
green with red facings."

Lieut.-Colonel Campbell continues : " The Regiment was frequently called out in aid of
the civil power during the years 1858 and 1859. In November, 1861, what is commonly
known as the Trent difficult} occurred and an Army of about 15,000 men was sent to Canada
from England, among which were battalions of Scotch Guards, Grenadier Guards and the
1 6th Regiment of Foot. The i6th Regiment had but recently left Canada. This Regiment
came out on the Steamship Africa and reached Bic on December 2 ist, 1861, and landed one
wing of the Regiment, when a fearful snow storm came on and the Captain left and went to
Halifax. All the British troops were landed at Halifax with the exception of the half wing
of the 1 6th Battalion and were forwarded by sleighs to Riviere du Loup where they reached
the first line of railway, which then belonged to the Grand Trunk, and from there were
distributed to various parts of Canada. The Prince of Wales Regiment was at once made
ready for service. All the Montreal militia regiments were recruted to their full war strength
without the slightest trouble.

" At this time, and for some years previous, the strength of the Prince of Wales Regiment
was 555 non-commissioned officers and men (10 companies of 55 men), and the Regiment
drilled regularly once a week during the winter and at longer intervals during the summer.
The men often turned out to drill on summer mornings between 4 and 5 o clock. I mention
this fact to show there was great enthusiasm manifested in the volunteer movement at that
time. I may, as an illustration of this, remark that about 1863 the ladies of Montreal
presented the Regiment with a full set of fifes and drums in the Crystal Palace, which was
then on St. Catherine Street, directly opposite Victoria Street. The night of the presentation
was a wild Canadian night, snow falling and wind blowing, and yet the Regiment turned
out 550 men.

" In 1866, early in the year, it became evident that the Fenian organization in the United
States was likely to cause the Canadians trouble, and during the early part of that year the
Volunteers were more than once on active service for a short time. It was not, however,
until June ist, 1866, that anything like a decided movement on their part took place. On
that day, a large number of them crossed at Buffalo, and occupied what was known as Fort
Erie, and siibsequently advanced and were met by the Queen s Own and the i3th Battalion,
under Command of Lient.-Colonel Booker, when what is known as the Battle of Ridgeway
took place. On the evening of June ist, five companies of the Volunteer militia companies
of Montreal were dispatched to St. Johns, among them being a company from the Prince of
Wales Regiment under command of Captain Frank Bond. On the morning of June 2nd, the
Prince of Wales Regiment was called out for active service, and at 6 P. M. on that day, along
with the Victoria Rifles, the Regiment left by Grand Trunk Railway, and disembarked at
Lachine, and from there went to Caughnawaga where it embarked on train for Hemmingford.
Colonel Osborne Smith was in command of the two Regiments as Brigadier.

" While in Caughnawaga the Sergeant-Major of the Regiment, named O Mahoney, who
had been in the Imperial service, gave utterance to some treasonable sentiments. Major

64

Hill, who was in command, gave orders that O Mahoney should be placed under arrest, and
he was, within a very short time, sent back under escort to Montreal, where he was confined
for a considerable time in the Montreal gaol. On the arrival of the force in Hemmingford
the officers were accommodated at the houses of farmers and others in the village, while the
men were housed in barns so as to get a few hours sleep. About 6 a. in. a camp was formed
not far from the railway track, and a side-track was built so as to run materials right into
camp. On June 4th Major Stevenson s Field Battery and about 20 of the Montreal Cavalry
joined the force at Hemmingford. On the fifth the Victoria Rifles were moved forward to
Huntingdon, and on the sixth the Prince of Wales Regiment left Hemmingford, their
destination at that time being unknown. They marched to Havelock, a distance of about
ten miles. Lieut.-Colonel Devlin had, previous to its leaving Hemmingford, arrived and
assumed command of his Regiment. It left Hemmingford at dawn of day on the sixth. The
men were in heavy marching order and the roads ankle deep in mud. On the way the men
were received almost invariably with open arms, the farmers turning out and supplying them
with plenty of fresh milk, and the
girls decorating the soldiers with
flowers. At Havelock the men had
breakfast, and about eighty wagons

met the Regiment there. I well

remember the excitement which

existed at this point ; the women

being bathed in tears, information

having just been received that the

Victoria Rifles had been engaged

and almost literally cut to pieces.

On arriving at Franklin Centre, we

were supplied with a lunch under

a shed at the back of the church.

We arrived in Ormstown between

7 and 8 o clock in the evening ex
ceedingly tired and wet to the skin

from the incessant rain which had

fallen during the day. So complete
ly exhausted were the men with

this journey of about thirty-two

miles that I considered it necessary

to so report the state of matters and the inability of the Regiment to furnish guards that

night. As a result of that report, some 40 or 50 young farmers volunteered for service,

and patrolled the roads during the night.

The following day we made camp near the Presbyterian church and the officers mess was

formed in the McEachran Hotel. The strength of the Regiment on service at Ormstown was

close on 400 men, a full Company also being at St. Johns under Captain Frank Bond, others
on special duty in Montreal. The men were kept busy at work drilling at Ormstown, and
nothing of moment occurred until the evening of the tenth of June when, about midnight, a
trooper of the Montreal Cavalry galloped up to Headquarters and delivered a note to the
Commanding Officer from the General Officer at Huntingdon that an attempt that night
would be made to march a body of armed Fenians into Canada to commit depredations on the
Beauharnois Canal and render it useless. It was directed that four companies of the Regi
ment be sent to Anderson s Corner while the remainder of the Regiment should prepare itself

6.S

OFFICERS AT DURHAM. FENIAN RAID, 1866.

against the possibility of a surprise. Four companies of the Regiment left about one o clock
in the morning and had to march through a clay district. The night was intensely dark,
and as the men were wearing unfitted boots, which had been sent out by the Relief Committee
formed in Montreal, a large number of these boots stuck in the clay and were drawn off the
men s feet. The consequence was a considerable number of boots were left in the clay, the
men completing the journey in their stocking feet. Hay carts were sent out next morning
and the boots recaptured. These boots, as a matter of fact, had been intended for the Victoria
Rifles, and to reach them had to pass where the Prince of Wales Regiment was stationed.
As the men of the Prince of Wales Regiment were almost bootless, they took possession of
them. In the meantime the five companies remaining at Ormstown erected barricades and
otherwise rendered themselves safe against the possibility of a surprise. On June i8th the
Regiment left Ormstown and returned to Montreal via Beauharnois. At the latter place the
Regiment were entertained to a sumptuous lunch.

" Soon after my return, Dr. Scott, who was Surgeon, resigned and I was promoted to the
Surgeoncy. I may add that Dr. Scott did not go to the front but was assigned duty at
Montreal. From 1866 to 1870 nothing of moment occurred, the Regiment doing its Annual
Drill regularly, turning oxit for reviews, and, on several occasions, for active service in
support of Civil authority. During the deepening of the Lachine Canal the Regiment was
called out to preserve peace on that work during a strike.

" On May 24th, 1870, the orders for a Review had been issued. The Review was to
take place at Logan s Farm. That day the whole Militia force of Montreal was called out
for active service on account of a Fenian raid on the Eastern frontier. That evening a Com
pany from each of the Montreal Regiments left for the frontier, making their way as rapidly
as possible by Granby and Farnham, to Pigeon Hill. Little time was required to obtain a
full Company of men from each Regiment. The volunteering for service was enthusiastic;
the Prince of W T ales Regiment and other Regiments in a body offering for immediate service.
At 4 o clock in the afternoon the service companies were inspected by Lieut.-Colonel Smith,
Deputy Adjutant-General ; afterwards they left for the front, marching by Craig Street,
Place d Armes Hill, St. James Street to Grand Trunk Railway and were played to the Depot
by the bands of the Prince of Wales Regiment and Garrison Artillery. They left about
seven o clock, amid the cheers of a large number of spectators. The following day the
remainder of the Militia Force was put on active service, and on the evening of that day
marched to Point St. Charles where they embarked for St. Johns by the Grand Trunk
Railway. They arrived there about six o clock. Some of the officers obtained quarters in
hotels and others in private houses, while the men were billeted among the neighborhood.
We arrived at St. Johns on May 25th early in the evening.

The Rifle Brigade under Lord Alexander Russell left Montreal for St. Johns early
that morning. Prince Arthur, now Duke of Connaught, was an officer in the Rifle Brigade.
Lord Alexander Russell assumed the command of the entire force, with Prince Arthur as
one of his aides-de-camp. In the meantime Captain Gascoigne, now Major-General Com
manding the Canadian Militia, who was here on special service, went to the front as Brigade
Major. Just about midnight when everything was quieting down for the night, after all the
men had been fairly well arranged for, word was received that the Fenians at Pigeon Hill
who had that day engaged the service companies that had left Montreal the previous day,
were to be reinforced during the night by large numbers of men, who had left St. Albans for
that purpose. Orders were at once issued for the entire garrison then at St. Johns, with the
exception of the Rifle Brigade, to move to Pigeon Hill without delay. The Prince of Wales
Regiment formed part of the garrison. In addition to the entire Montreal Militia Brigade,
the Richelieu Light Infantry, under command of Lieut.-Colonel Felix G. Marchand, formed

66

a part of the force ordered to the front that night. Lieut-Colonel Marchand as senior officer
assumed command of the Brigade.

" We left St. Johns at midnight for St. Arniand, where we arrived between one and two
o clock in the morning, having travelled very slowly in fear of any obstruction being put on
the line. Immediately on disembarking at St. Armaiid the Regiment marched towards
Pigeon Hill, and when within a mile of that place, we were met by an orderly, who informed
us that our services were not needed, as the Fenian invasion had completely collapsed, and
that all danger was over. After about an hour and a half to two hours rest the entire force
retraced its steps to St. Arniand where it arrived about three or four o clock in the afternoon.
Here the first attempt at giving the Brigade a good square meal was made, and the attempt
was accompanied with many difficulties. To feed a force of some 1,500 men in a short time
and without previous preparation and in a place like St. Arniand was difficult; still, after a
good deal of trouble and the exercise of no small amount of patience, everyone was able to

REGIMENT IN CAMP AT DURHAM. FENIAN RAID, 1866.

say that he got something. In the early evening the force returned to St. Johns, and
remained there for about a week longer, when it returned to Montreal, and the men of the
various corps returned to their usual avocations."

When the Prince of Wales Regiment went on sen-ice in 1870, it was under the command
of Lieut-Colonel Frank Bond, who, four years previously had commanded a company of the
Regiment at the same place, during the Fenian raid in that year.

Major E. L. Bond gives some additional interesting information about the Fenian raids
and also of the Prince of Wales Regiment s subsequent career. He says :

" I had just resigned as Captain of the High School Cadets and had obtained a first
class certificate at the Military School when the Regiment was called out for the Fenian
raid of 1866. Captain Frank Bond had been sent to St. Johns with a provisional company
drawn from the Regiment, and shortly afterwards the balance of the Regiment was sent to

67

the Huntingdon frontier under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Devlin. I was practically
then in command of Number 6 Company. Orders were received about 5 a.m. and the entire
Company was under arms about 6 p.m. In one or two cases the employers refused to let
the men go, and the men would ask that a guard be sent down for them. When the Regi
ment left for Hemmingford there was scarcely a man short. On arrival at Hemmingford,
the men were placed in houses and barns for the night. The Prince of Wales Regiment was
the first to be placed on outpost duty towards Malone. A few days afterwards the Regiment
was moved to Durham, where they remained in camp during the balance of the trouble.
When the Regiment first went out there was a strong feeling of doubt as to the loyalty of
Lieut.-Colonel Devlin. This took root more particularly with what was then known as the
Orange Company (Number 6) and it was stated that for the first week a couple of rifles
were always kept loaded ; but under the Colonel s careful and kind attention to the men this
feeling was entirely dispelled, and Colonel Devlin gained a popularity that he never
subsequently lost. The Rev. W, B. Bond, (now Bishop of Montreal) was, as he now is,
Chaplain of the Regiment. An enthusiastic welcome was given him when one day at
Durham some wagons laden with provisions and cases of new rifles arrived with the
Chaplain and Mr. T. R. Ramsay, (subsequently Judge Ramsay) borne on top of one of the
loads. These same new rifles were nearly the cause of a mutiny. They were a very fine
pattern of a new short rifle, and the senior officers were afraid they would be taken away from
the Regiment on their return to town, if they were not used. Accordingly a field day with
blank cartridge was ordered for a Sunday afternoon, an order that went very much against
the grain of some of the old fashioned members of the Regiment, but the field da}- was carried
out, much to the alarm of the neighborhood. No fighting occurred in the vicinity, although
twice owing to alarms a portion of the Regiment was sent hurriedly out towards the frontier
for outpost duty. In one case the mud was so heavy that men returned without their boots.
The dearth of strong boots and clothing was the cause of great discomfort. Many men came
out without a change and naturally the clothing worn became demoralized. One morning
when the Regiment was drawn up for Adjutant s Parade a man was reported absent, and on
enquiry he was found to be in his tent. Upon being sent for with a peremptory order to
appear, he turned out with a blanket tied around his waist like a skirt, and upon being called
to account, his action was fully justified, owing to the state in which his trousers were.
" In 1870 occurred the second Fenian Raid. The Regiment, with the Montreal Brigade,
moved out on a few hours notice to the Mississquoi County frontier, passing through St.
Johns and arriving at St. Armand about daylight, where breakfast was given to the men ;
and in addition to the breakfast, liquor was served pretty freely from two of the stores.
I was on duty and reported the matter to the Commanding Officer. He gave orders that no
more liquor was to be sold, but the order was simply laughed at. I was then ordered to
take the proprietor out of his store and took him out, under corporal s guard, until the troops
left, much to the disgust of the liquor seller, who threatened all sorts of reports to the
Government for interference with a man s liberty. Immediatly after breakfast the Brigade
marched to Pigeon Hill, the Prince of Wales Regiment in the van. Here again the
Chaplain (the present Bishop of Montreal) was in possession, he having met the Regiment
at St. Johns and marched out at its head from St. Armand to Pigeon Hill. On arrival at
Pigeon Hill, we found that the Home Guard, supported by companies from the Prince of
Wales Regiment and Victoria Rifles that had gone out the previous day, had completely
routed the Fenians who, under General O Neil, had attacked them. The first Fenian who
was shot fell dead just over the Boundary Line and was shot by a Home Guard at a range of
1000 yards, and as the rifles which the Fenians had did not carry over 500 yards, it was a
serious demoralization to them at the start. They made an attack and then retired behind

68

the barns, soon followed by a hasty retreat into the States. The affair was well over when
the Montreal Brigade arrived, and our men were able to pick up a large number of
accoutrements, rifles and ammunition. The Fenian who was shot over the Boundary Line
was buried at Eccles Farm, but was subsequently disinterred and carried away.

" There has never been a time from the date of its organization up to the present that
the Regiment has not been in serviceable condition. An example of the prompt manner in
which it turned out was shown in connection with the Bread Riots at Quebec. Colonel Bond
was out of town, and I was at my club when, at about at 5 P. M., the order came to parade the
regiment to proceed to Quebec that evening. At 10 P. M. the full regiment, properly
equipped, marched on board the cars at the G. T. R. station and, with the balance of the
Montreal Brigade, were in Quebec by daylight the next morning. Colonel Bond, who had
been in the country, arrived in Montreal after the Regiment left, and with Major McDougall
of the Royals took a special car and overtook the regiment as they were entering Quebec.
The regiment has always been under the very best discipline during all the time of raids,
camps or inspections, there never being a time when it was not under the most complete
control.

" The Prince of Wales Regiment has the honor of inaugurating Regimental Temperance

NUMBER ONE COMPANY IN CAMP AT ECCLKS HII.L. FENIAN RAID, 1 870.

Societies. This occurred shortly after 1870, and much of the steadiness and discipline for
which the regiment was noted may be fairly attributed to the strong under-current of tempe
rance that has always prevailed among the men."

Major John Rogers, who commanded Number One Company of the Prince of Wales
Regiment at Eccles Hill, relates some interesting reminiscences of the Fenian Raids.
During one night of the excitement in 1866, Major (then Captain) Rogers Company was
placed as a guard over the Victoria Bridge, there being every reason to believe that the
Fenians or some of their sympathisers intended to demolish that stucture, thus severing the
rail communication between Montreal and the threatened frontier. A locomotive was placed
by Mr. C. J. Brydges, then General Manager of the Grand Trunk Railway, at the disposal
of Captain Rogers for patrolling purposes, and sentries were posted at each end of the bridge.
During the night parties of men with fixed bayonets searched every train entering the bridge
for Fenians. When the guard was dismounted the following morning Captain Rogers heard
of the fight at Ridgeway the day before.

In 1870 the regiment was at St Johns when a telegram arrived from Lieut. -Colonel

69

Osborne Smith, commanding at Eccles Hill, stating that his force had been engaged and
asking for ammunition and stores at once. A council of war was held, presided over by
Colonel Elphinstone, commanding the Rifle Brigade, in which corps Prince Arthur was
serving. As a result of the Council it was decided that lots should be drawn to decide which
regiment should furnish and escort for the stores. The duty falling to the Prince of Wales
Regiment, Number One Company was told off to proceed by train to St. Armand, and thence
march nine miles to Eccles Hill. This latter part of the trip was rather a risky business as
the road ran within a few hundred yards of the frontier. A few miles from Eccles Hill the
Company was met by Muir s Cavalry and escorted to Smith s headquarters. That night the
Company performed the outpost duty for the force. The picquet was so close to the frontier
that the Fenians could be heard talking and challenging during the night, and the men were
not even allowed to light their pipes.

Canada never received one cent of compensation from the United States for the heavy
expenditure and direct losses caused by these lawless raids from across the frontier, but the
Canadian people were not altogether losers, for the self-reliance inspired by these crises has
had not a little to do with the subsequent substantial development of the country, alike in
the direction of material prosperity and of a wholesome national spirit.

This Raid over, loud were the manifestations of joy on the part of the Canadian people,
and generally throughout the empire expressions of admiration for the conduct of the Militia
throughout this nerve-trying period were heard. Her Majesty conferred the title of Companion
of the Distinguished Order of St. Michel and St. George upon Lieut.-Colonels Wm. Osborne
Smith, John Fletcher, A. McEachran and Brown Chamberlain. These officers were invested
with the insignia of the order in the St. Lawrence Hall by His Excellency Lord Lisgar on
October i8th, 1870. The occasion was an unusually interesting one as it was the first case
in which the then new order had been conferred on any colonial militia. During the
proceedings the Governor General delivered a speech in which he said he wished to correct
an erroneous impression which had been given abroad by some newspapers. They seemed to
think that these distinctions had been given on representations from the Canadian
Government. This" was entirely a mistake. Something had struck home to the British
heart. The British people had admired the manner in which the Canadian volunteers had
turned out after their re-organization. More men had come forward than were required.
When, in the spring, a call had bsen made for but nine thousand men, some thirteen
thousand had responded to the call to arms. This most praiseworthy patriotism had struck
a chord in public opinion in England, and they had held public meetings and expressed
their approval of it.

Another thing with showed how highly the Canadian volunteers were regarded at home,
was that a great many gentlemen, including the Lord Mayor of London, had raised a fund
for the purpose of presenting prizes to be competed for by the riflemen of Canada.

A few days before the interesting event to which the preceding refers, Colonel Bagot
of Her Majesty s 6gth Regiment, who had acted as Brigadier in command on the Huntingdon
frontier, took advantage of a dinner given in his honour by the officers of his late field
command, including the Prince of Wales Regiment, to express the feelings of the officers of
the regular army with regard to the spirit of their comrades in arms of the Canadian militia.
The chairman of the dinner, Lieut-Colonel Fletcher, in proposing the toast of the guest
of the evening, remarked that Colonel Bagot, in his services at the front, besides showing
firmness and determination, had displayed a large share of generosity. For instead of
allowing his own regiment at Trout River to lead the van and take the post of honour in the
front, he had said to the volunteers : " Go on and meet the invaders of your country, I will
support you. I want to see whether the Canadian volunteers cannot themselves drive

70

the enemies of their beloved land back." Lieut. -Colonel Bagot in replying to the toast
remarked : " When your chairman said that at Tront River I allowed to the volunteers the
place of honour, he attributed my action to its true source. It appeared to me that when
marauders and robbers, like the Fenians, invaded Canada that they should not have it to say
that they had been met by the Royal troops. Men who were mere robbers should not
be met by trained soldiers, but by the free soldiers of a free country ; men who leave their
homes with! but one object in view, that of handing down to their sons this country of theirs
free and intact, as the best heritage they could leave them. It was well that those who came
here traitors to those principles of liberty which they professed to serve under, that they
should be met and repulsed by the men who volunteered to defend their homes, which I felt
they were quite capable of doing, though not trained soldiers. I have not always said
pleasant things to the volunteers nor do I intend to flatter them, but the reason why I was
able to act with firmness and decision on the night when I decided to attack the Fenians was
because I felt that I had around me true English and Canadian hearts, which I know would
not fail me, and next morning when the men marched past me on the way to Trout River,
I saw the light of battle gleaming on their faces. It is a pity that we met no enemy worthy
of our steel, for from the firmness and discipline of the men under my command, I felt that

COMPANY IN CAMP AT PIGEON HILL. FENIAN RAID,

we could have met an enemy of ten times its strength." Colonel Bagot also remarked :
"It is always a very easy matter for any officer of the army to return thanks in Canada.
For it is a well known fact among red-coats that in no country does such close and friendly
connection exist between the British Army and the people of the country. This most happy
connection has, I feel, been very much strengthened by the intimacy and friendly feeling
existing between the volunteers and the regulars. It is needless to say much about this, it is
so perfectly known."

Up to this time, the militia had had the great benefit of having the regular troops of the
British Army in Canada, to inspire them with confidence and the spirit of military discipline.
In no quarter of the world has the traditional valour of the British Army been shown to better
advantage than in Canada, and the remembrance of many a glorious deed of desperate
bravery and cool courage in the discharge of duty will forever live to serve as an inspiration
to the Canadian militia. In April, 1869, the Imperial authorities signified their desire to
withdraw their troops from Canada, and they were gradually removed from that time until

7 1

the First Battalion of the 6oth Kings Royal Rifle Corps, commanded by Colonel Charles B.
Gordon, handed ever the Citadel of Quebec in the autumn of 1870 to Lieut.-Colonel Wiley,
formerly of the Prince of Wales Regiment, then on the headquarters staff of the militia,
acting for the Dominion government. By one of those singular co-incidences so often met
with in history, it was the Second and Third Battalions of the 6oth, then known as the
Royal Americans, who, under General Townsend, first entered and took possession of the
Citadel after the surrender of Quebec by the French in 1759. The Royal Canadian Rifle
Regiment, organized as an additional regiment of the British Army in 1841, and recruited in
Canada, was disbanded in 1870

Late in 1869 the first Riel Rebellion broke out, the ostensible cause being the objections
of the half-breeds in the Red River settlement, now Manitoba, to the terms on which the
country had been transferred to the new Dominion by the Hudson s Bay Company. Louis
Riel, a French half-breed, who had received a liberal education in Montreal, proclaimed a
provisional government, several loyalists were imprisoned, and one of them, Thomas Scott, was
murdered in cold blood. Colonel, now Lord Wolseley, then Assistant Qiiartermaster-General
of the Imperial troops in Canada, was sent to the remote scene of trouble with a force of
about 500 men taken from the ranks of the 6oth Rifles which was then quartered in
Canada, and two battalions of Canadian militia, one recruited in the Province of Quebec, the
other in Ontario. There were several members of the Prince of Wales Regiment in the
Quebec battalion. The tremendous transportation difficulties were overcome in a way that
laid the foundation of Wolseley s subsequent success as a commander. Riel evacuated Fort
Garry before the force arrived on August 24th, the prisoners were released, and the uprising
put down without the firing of a shot. Wolseley has never forgotten his comrades of the
Canadian militia, and in the midst of the worries and responsibilities of the Soudan campaign,
in 1885, His Lordship found time to promptly congratulate them on the suppression of Riel s
second rebellion. Two days after the taking of Batoche, General Middleton, in his prairie
camp on the South Saskatchewan, received a cable message from remote Suakim which read
as follows : " Best congratulations to you and my old gallant comrades of the Canadian
militia. WOLSELEY."

In 1884 Lord Wolseley secured the services of a corps of Canadian lumbermen and river
pilots to assist in the transportation service on the Nile in connection with the expedition for
the relief of Khartoum. These " Voyageurs", as they were called, were placed under the
command of Lieut.-Colonel F. C. Denison of the Governor General s Body Guard, Toronto ;
Lieut.-Colonel Kennedy of the goth Winnipeg Rifles being second in command, and Dr.
Neilsou, of A Battery, R. C. A., Surgeon. The expedition failed to accomplish its mission,
but through no fault of those engaged, and the Voyageurs were thanked for their services,
and Lieut.-Colonel Denison received the C. M. G.

The year following the return of Colonel Wolseley from Fort Garry, Louis Riel and
some Fenian sympathizers having planned an attack on the Red River settlement, 200
volunteer militiamen from Ontario and Quebec were sent up by the old Dawson route under
command of Captain T. Scott. The threatened attack did not materialize however, the United
States authorities promptly interfering, ordering several regiments to the frontier, and
breaking up the bands of Fenians organized in Dakota near the Manitoba boundary.

CHAPTER X.

SERVICE IN AID OF THE CIVIL POWER.

JUNE, 1871, the regiment participated in the big camp at Laprairie, and, in
the autumn of the same year, was reqiiested by circular to furnish a quota
for " A " and " B " Batteries, the nucleus of the Royal Canadian Artillery,
then organized. On the 25th of June, 1872, the regiment proceeded by
steamer "Dagmar" to St. Andrews, where the brigade camp of that year
was held under command of Lieut.-Colonel Bacon, Acting District Adjutant-
General. The parade of all the troops in camp for brigade drill was put under
the command of Lieut.-Colonel Bond. As proof of the fact that members of the
regiment continued to keep up their reputation as well-drilled soldiers, it is
interesting to read in the orders of this camp that Sergeant (now Captain) John
Porteous of the Prince of Wales Regiment was appointed Brigade Drill Instructor
during this camp. During the summer of 1873, Lieut.-Colonel Bond being
absent from headquarters on leave, Captain E. L. Bond took command of the regiment.
This year the regiment put in its annual drill at headquarters, and was to a certain extent
reorganized, as a very long regimental order, dated November i7th, explained. In this order,
also, the " Lieut.-Colonel commanding congratulates the regiment on the two magnificient
companies lately added to it". On January i3th, 1874, the commanding officer, in orders,
expresses his appreciation of the alacrity exhibited by the new University Companies,
4 and 5, Captains Armstrong and Roddick, in turning oxit on a very short notice as a guard
of honour on the occasion of His Excellency the Governor General s departure for Ottawa,
and also his admiration of their soldierly appearance and excellent discipline. These
companies continued to be largely recruited from the students in attendance at McGill
University for some years. On May 24th, 1874, the sergeants were given leave to proceed
to Ottawa for the purpose of being present at the ceremony of the presentation of colours to
the Governor General s Foot Guards by the Countess of Dufferin.

A feature of the regimental life of the Prince of Wales Regiment is the long periods of
service of many of its non-commissioned officers. Staff-Sergeant Thos. Elliott, at present
serving as Orderly Room Clerk, received his first step in promotion, to be acting corporal, on
the twenty-second of September, 1874. Private George Wallace, who joined Number Two
Company on its organization in 1855 did not take his discharge until 1895, having served
for forty years continuously in the same company as private. Captain John Porteous, who
served in 1866 in the regiment and was sergeant-major and Assistant- Adjutant before
taking a commission, is still an active member of the regiment.

The annual inspection of 1874 took place on the Champ de Mars before Major-General
Sir E. Selby Smith, who expressed himself as being thoroughly pleased.

March i5th, 1875, Quartermaster-Sergeant Henry Harman, the senior non-commissioned
officer of the regiment of that time, was granted his discharge after thirteen years service.

In 1876, 1877 and 1878 the regiment participated in the reviews of the Montreal Brigade
of Militia in honour of Her Majesty s birthday.

73

During the summer of 1875 the regiment was on active duty for one day in connection
with the rioting on the occasion of the first attempt to inter the remains of Joseph Guibord.
This man, a humble printer, belonged to 1 Institut Canadien, an organization which
maintained a library that included some volumes of somewhat advanced thought, and which
had been placed under the ban by the Roman Catholic Church. Guibord s family owned a
lot in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, controlled by the Fabrique de Notre-Dame , and
his friends claimed the right to lay his remains therein. As belonging to an association
placed under the ban, he was considered to have died outside the pale of the Church, and the
ecclesiastical authorities refused to allow of the interment in consecrated ground. L Institut
Canadien warmly took the matter up, being determined to compel the Clergy by process
of law to permit the interment to take place as desired. A long and interesting series
of complicated lawsuits followed, extending over several years, and finally the question
was appealed to the very foot of the throne, and an order of the Imperial Privy Council
obtained for the interment to take place. Meantime all that was left of the poor body of
Guibord lay in a metallic casket in the vault of Mount Royal Protestant Cemetery. After

the order of the Privy Council had been received the members
of the Institut proceeded to carrv it into effect. The grave in
Notre Dame des Xeiges Cemetery was opened, and one fine
afternoon the remains of Guibord were removed from their long
resting place and placed in a hearse for removal to the Roman
Catholic Cemetery. A few of the members of the Institut fol
lowed in carriages. When the little cortege arrived at the old
gate of the cemetery, the gates were found to be closed in front
of the hearse, which was greeted with jeers and various other
hostile demonstrations by a large and ill-humoured mob which
had assembled. As soon as the hearse was stopped a shower of
stones was hurled at it, the plate glass windows of the vehicle
were broken, the driver was struck in several places, and, wheel
ing his horses rapidly around, he drove back to the Mount
Royal Cemetery, followed by the mourners. The announcement
of this defiance of the law caused a profound sensation in the City
of Montreal and throughout the country. The military and
civil organizations that very day were attending the public
funeral tendered the remains of the late Chief Bertram of the
Montreal Fire Department, and when the regiments returned to their armouries, they were
held for duty in case of emergency for some time, and guards were posted at the armoiiries.
It was at once recognized that the majesty of the law would have to assert itself, and as
threats of further resistance to the interment were made, serious trouble appeared to be
unavoidable.

November i6th, 1875, was set as the date for the carrying out of the order of the highest
court in the Empire, and on the requisition of Judge Coursol the whole of the Montreal
Brigade was put under arms to aid the civil authorities if necessary. The 5th Royals, which
one of the Prince of Wales Regiment veterans, Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, had aided in organizing
in 1862, was disorganized at this time, so that the force consisted of the Prince of Wales
Regiment, the Montreal Cavalry, the Montreal Field Batter}-, Montreal Garrison Artillery,
the Victoria Rifles and the 6th Hochelaga Light Infantry (now Fusiliers). Altogether, the
force included 1,019 men and 63 horses. The whole was commanded by Lieut.-Colonel
Fletcher, who had been appointed Deputy Adjutant-General of the Fifth Military District in
succession to Lieut.-Colonel Osborne Smith in 1874. The brigade first inarched to the

PRIVATJi GKORGE \VAJ,I,ACE.
1855-95

74

entrance of Mount Royal Cemetery where the casket containing the crumbling dust of poor
Guibord \vas once more placed in a hearse and removed to the Roman Catholic Cemetery.
This time a strong force of police accompanied by the Mayor of Montreal, Dr. Kingston,
escorted the hearse, and entering the cemetery remained there until the interment had taken
place. The militia brigade marched round from the Protestant Cemetery by the Outremont
Road and took up a position in the village of Cote des Xeiges just outside of the Cemetery
property. Some threatening demonstrations were made by a mob which had taken up its
position on the bushy slopes overlooking the road, but no breach of the peace occurred, and
the historic bones of Guibord, after being the cause of six years of turmoil, at last rested in
peace.

In 1876 the 5th Royals were reorganized, largely through the efforts of Lieut.-Colonels
Dvde, Fletcher and Bacon.

IX BARRACKS AT ST. JOHNS. KENIAX RAID, 1870

Capl.Wm. Robinson. Adj. Major Frank Bond. Surg. F. W. Campbell. Lt. J. D. Armstrong.

Cap:. Ceo. B. Pearson. Lt. Magnus Cormack. Capt. J. Rogers. Lt. H. J. Mudgc,

Lt. J. Robinson. Capt. E. L. Bond. Capt. S. C. Stevenson,

Major Alex. Milloy, Paym. Capt. F. S. Barnjum. Lt John Buimer Lt. Hy. Smith.

Meantime a further prospect of active service for the Montreal militia was looming up.
The Guibord disturbances had stirred up religious prejudices and race animosities in the
community. Usually the people of Montreal present an honorable example to the world.
Though the population consists of various races, and professes different religions, the people
of the commercial metropolis generally live together in peace and harmony. The Guibord
incident, however, stirred up much bad blood, and sectional feeling ran higher and higher as
time went on. In 1877 much excitement was caused by the report that the Orangemen
intended to parade the streets in a body on the Twelfth of July. Enemies of the order gave

75

out threats that they would not allow such a demonstration to take place, and the situation
looked very critical. Fortunately calmer councils prevailed, and the Orangemen confined
the celebration of the anniversary of the crossing of the Boyne by King William to a quiet
church service. After the service, a young Orangeman named Hackett was walking through
Victoria Square on his way to his place of business when he interfered to protect a woman
wearing an Orange lily, who had been intercepted by some men lounging about the square.
The interference was resented, revolvers were drawn on both sides, and Hackett was shot
dead, his body receiving many bullets before the firing stopped. The incident put the city
and the whole country in an uproar.

Barly in July the military authorities had scented trouble in the air. On the ninth,
officers commanding corps were ordered to have all arms in the possession of the men
immediately returned to their respective armouries. The same day a guard of the Prince
of Wales Regiment, consisting of one officer and 14 non-commissioned officers and men, was
mounted at the armoury, then in the old City Hall at Bonsecours Market. The duty was
continued and the guard mounted on the nth of July was increased to two officers and forty
non-commissioned officers and men. Captain and Brevet-Major Hatton was the field officer
of the day. The following day, after the shooting of Hackett, a brigade order was issued,
instructing officers commanding corps to have every available man under arms at their
respective armouries with the least possible delay. That night the brigade passed under
arms at their respective headquarters. Strong guards continued to be kept upon the armouries
after that, and on the 1 7th, the date of Hackett s funeral, the whole brigade was again called
out. The excitement in the city was intense. The local Orangemen had been reinforced for
the occasion by "brethren" from all parts of Ontario and the Eastern Townships. They came
with their regalia, their bands, their party tunes and their banners. Nothing could move
them from the determination to make of the funeral a grand Orange display, though their
enemies in the city and from without loudly proclaimed that such a demonstration should
never take place in the streets of Montreal. At this critical juncture, Mayor Beaudry refused
to call out the militia, claiming that the police force was quite strong enough to preserve the
peace. Meantime the partizans of both parties armed themselves with revolvers, greatly
increasing the risk of a riot. Finally the militia was called out on the requisition of four
magistrates and did splendid service on the day of the funeral, being rapidly moved, a corps
at a time, by side streets, from one part of the route taken by the funeral to another. On
approaching the Mount Royal Cemetery, two companies of the Prince of Wales Regiment
were sent ahead of the hearse, and advanced in extended order through the park on either
side of the road, and down into the cemetery, it having been stated that a hostile mob would
take up its position in the underbrush and open fire on the Orangemen. No mob was
found, however, and these two companies were formed up inside the cemetery gates as the
funeral entered.

On November 3rd, 1877, the regiment passed its annual inspection before Lieut.-General
Sir E. Selby Smythe, who, at the conclusion, complimented the regiment on its drill and
appearance, and requested Colonel Bond to tell all ranks that he was glad to hear that men
of all denominations were joining the regiment.

The regiment was to have still another tour of active service this year. On December
1 8th, a riot took place among the workmen engaged on the widening of the Lachiiie Canal
at Cote St. Paul. At ten o clock at night the formal magisterial requisition for aid was
forwarded to the militia authorities, and at seven o clock the next morning, TOO men of
the Prince of Wales Regiment were under arms and on their way to the scene of disturbance.
Lieut.-Colonel Frank Bond was in command, the other officers being Major George
W. Hatton, Assistant Surgeon McConnell, Captains Mudge and Alex. Robertson; Lieutenants

76

Tatlow, Kinnear, Patterson and Wilgress. The force was on duty for two days, and it
proved anything but an enviable expedition. Mud and rain were plentiful, sentry duties
exacting, and quarters of the very worst ; but the conduct of the men, throughout, was all
that could be desired.

The year 1878 was an exceptionally busy one for the Prince of Wales Regiment and the
other Montreal corps. In June a serious strike of ship labourers took place in Quebec.
Riots occured on the nth, and the rioters came into collision with B Battery, stationed at the
Citadel, several of the artillerymen being seriously injured and some of the mob shot. The
whole of the Quebec City Militia were put under arms and a requisition sent to the
commanding officer of the Montreal Brigade for assistance. The requisition reached Colonel
Fletcher at 6 P. M. on June lath. At ten o clock a special train bearing 649 men of the
Prince of Wales Regiment, 3rd, and 5th Battalions left Montreal for Quebec. At daybreak
the next morning the Montreal militiamen were inarching through the streets of the Citadel
City. Lieut.-Colonel Bond was not in the city
when the transport train left, but secured a
special train and overtook his regiment as it was
disembarking at Quebec. The Prince of Wales
Regiment furnished the inlying picquet of three
companies in the Citadel on June i3th and also
a guard at the military laboratory. On the i4th
the Regiment furnished a guard at the skating
rink, where most of the Montreal force was
quartered, and as the men were absolutely des
titute of blankets, a very trying time of it they
had. On the fifteenth the 3rd and 5th Battalions
returned to Montreal, some of the Quebec corps
were relieved from duty, and the Prince of Wales
Regiment was quartered in the Citadel. The
same afternoon, the Regiment paraded with the
rest of the Quebec garrison to receive the Governor
General on his arrival, and the next day returned
to Montreal, all trouble being over.

The Prince of Wales Regiment found itself
in again for active service almost immediately
on its return home. Ever since the stirring
incidents following the shooting of Hackett, the
previous year, there had been a strong under
current of anxiety in Montreal, as to what the coining i2th of July would bring forth,
and this anxiety developed into an almost fixed certainty of trouble and bloodshed when the
authorities of the Orange order announced their determination to walk in procession through
the streets of Montreal, and their enemies expressed themselves just as determined to stop
them. Rumours of intended raids on the Militia armouries began to be bruited about early
in June, and on the iSth a brigade order was issued for the mounting of a guard by the
Prince of Wales Regiment of one subaltern, one sergeant, one corporal and nine privates
at the armoury at the old City Hall ; " to secure the safety of the arms and government
property in the building and to prevent the entrance of persons having no business there "
Ten rounds of ball ammunition were issued to each man. These guards were increased in
strength and maintained until some time past the middle of Jiily, each one of the city regi
ments taking the duty in rotation.

CAPT. R. W. SHEPHERD.
MAJOR H. I.. BOND. jg^ CAPT. AI.KX. ROBERTSON.

77

As the Twelfth of July approached excitement reached fever heat in Montreal. The
various elements of the community, which usually agree so well together, appeared to have
lost all confidence in one another, and frequent minor breaches of the peace appeared to be
but preliminary skirmishes to bloody outbreaks on the Twelfth. There was much aggra
vation on both sides, and ill-feeling spread even among sections of the community not
immediately interested. Nervous people left the city, and banks and places of business were
barricaded as were similar institutions in Paris during the Commune. The municipal
authorities swore in a large number of special constables, but the citizens relied chiefly upon
the militia for protection. When the morning of the Twelfth broke the city resembled an
armed camp. Troops were quartered in all the large buildings and the lacrosse grounds were
covered with white tents. Every city regiment was under arms, and as many men more had
been brought in from the outside. Lieut.-General Sir E. Selby Smythe, commanding the
Canadian Militia, came from Ottawa and personally assumed the command, disposing the
force at his command so that in the case of mere incipient outbreaks the unpleasant task of
suppressing them should fall on the outside troops; the risks of the city militiamen being
compelled to confront their fellow citizens in arms, except in case of a general riot, being
reduced to a minimum.

The large force in Montreal on this exciting day was disposed as follows: The 53rd,
(Sherbrooke), and 54th, (Richmond), Battalions, under command of Lieut.-Colonel the Hon.
M. Aylmer, were stationed at Place d Armes Square. Batteries A and B of Artillery, with
the gunners and drivers of the field divisions mounted and equipped as lancers, under Major
Short, were stationed with the 5oth Huntingdon Borderers and 5ist Hemmingford Rangers,
under Lieut.-Colonel Strange, R. A., on Victoria Square and Beaver Hall Hill. The nth
Argenteuil Rangers were stationed in the Grand Trunk shops at Point St. Charles, while the
Montreal Engineers and the 64th Beauharnois Rifles were stationed in the St. Helen s
Island Barracks under Lieut.-Colonel Prudhomme. The other city corps, the Prince of Wales
Regiment, the Montreal Cavalry, Montreal Garrison Artillery, 3rd Victoria Rifles, 5th
Battalion, 6th Fusiliers, 65th Rifles and the St. Jean-Baptiste Infantry Company, were
stationed on Dominion Square under command of Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, C. M. G., D. A. G.
The Montreal Field Battery, under Lieut.-Colonel Stevenson held itself in readiness to
proceed rapidly to any point where its services might be reqiiired. Early in the morning the
Orange leaders were arrested by order of the Mayor and no procession took place, though
the lodges assembled in regalia at the lodge room. Altogether, 3,500 men were on duty in
Montreal under arms on this occasion. Guards continued to be maintained on the city
armouries for several days after the Twelfth, but there was no breach of the peace.

During this year there was still a third call to duty in aid of the civil power. The
contractors refusing to give up possession of the Q. M. O. & O. Railway, (now a part of the
Canadian Pacific Railroad), when completed, to the Quebec Provincial Government, to whose
order it had been constructed, trouble was feared and an appeal was made to the Militia
authorities for protection for the officials of the government appointed to take the property
over. On August 3ist Lieut.-Colonel Fletcher, as commanding officer of the district,
received a requisition from the magistrates of Ste. Therese for military protection. B Battery
furnished nine men, the rest of the force required being furnished by the Montreal militia
as follows: Garrison Artillery, 50; 6th Fusiliers, 60; 651)1 Rifles, 120. On September 4th
this force was relieved from duty, but on the iath of the same month trouble broke out again
along the same line, and fifty men of the Prince of Wales Regiment under command of a
captain and two subalterns were called out on active service and disposed in small detach
ments at different points along the line between Montreal and Hull. One half of this force
remained on duty until September 26th, the rest until October loth.

78

CHAPTER XL

ANOTHER FRIENDLY INVASION.

1878, the Thirteenth Regiment of the National Guard of the State of New York,
from Brooklyn, visited Montreal to participate in the celebration of Her
Majesty s Birthday, and, as was quite fitting, considering that these inter
national military visits had been inaugurated by it, the Prince of Wales
Regiment took a very prominent part in the reception accorded to the visiting
regiment. It is of genuine historical interest to recall the fact that the idea of coming
to Montreal to participate in the Queen s Birthday review was originated by the
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, the famous preacher, and Chaplain of the I3th. Perhaps
the most impressive of the many impressive incidents connected with this important
visit was the reception of the visiting regiment as it disembarked from the steamer
" Filgate " after running the rapids. A guard of honour composed of detachments
of the Prince of Wales Regiment, Montreal Cavalry, Garrison Artillery, Victoria Rifles
and 6th Fusiliers was drawn up on the wharf, and the Mayor, aldermen and other civic
functionaries were present. The visiting regiment having been drawn up facing the guard
of honour, the troops saluted, the Canadians leading off, their bands playing " Hail Columbia ",
after which the i3th followed, their band playing " God Save the Queen". Mayor Rivard,
attended by the aldermen, then advanced and met Colonel Austin, and addressed the
visitors as follows :

Your visit to our city to assist in celebrating the birthday of our beloved sovereign,
evinces on your part the most cordial and friendly feeling, and as your regiment fitly repre
sents the intelligence and the feeling that exists throughout the United States, we welcome
you with a hearty good will in this peaceful invasion. We trust that the effect of your visit
ma} be to cement yet more firmly the good feeling that binds the hearts of your people to
ours. As a memento of your visit it is my pleasing duty to present to you, on behalf of our
citizens, this flag, which has been prepared by the ladies of the officers of the Prince of
Wales Regiment, our oldest volunteer corps. On your return home, we trust that the happy
blending of the Stars and Stripes with the flag of our Dominion may be regarded by your
people as an evidence of the friendly feeling that exists in the hearts of Canadians towards
your great nation."

Colonel Austin then accepted the flag, which was a beautiful silk one, one side being the
" Stars and Stripes ", the other, the Canadian ensign, and asked the Chaplain to make the
formal acknowledgment.

In the course of his remarks the eloquent preacher remarked : " We accept this flag in
that spirit of amity which inspires its giving. May the Stars and Stripes and the Union
Jack , now for the first time so happily blended on one flag, float always side by side. For
whatever the flags of other nations express, ours stand for the expression of the literature of
liberty and religion, of humanity and progress. May our flags never be found against each
other in war. May they ever go together, but never against each other. We shall place this
flag in the most prominent place in our armoury, and when in the future we shall be favoured

79

with a visit from you, we trust to be able to show you that your flag has never been
dishonoured."

The visit of the Thirteenth was marked by many acts of international courtesy. At the
review on the Queen s Birthday, the Marquis of Lome, then Governor General, rode along
the front of the line accompanied by H.R. H. the Princess Louise, and when they arrived in
front of the Brooklyn regiment, His Excellency addressed Colonel Austin s command
as follows : " Officers and men of the gallant Thirteenth, I welcome 3-011 to Canada, and
I thank you for thus coming to honour our Queen s Birthday. We are brothers in blood,
in language, and in the inheritance of great traditions. I rejoice that I can welcome you
here as brothers in arms."

In the evening a grand banquet, presided over by Major-General Sir Bdward Selby
Smythe, was held in the Windsor Hotel. The Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, in a
characteristic speech, in reply to the toast of the health of the President of the United
States, speaking of Canada, remarked : " Once, twice the people of the United States
tried to take it, and did not get it. A fringe of Fenians once tried to take it, and got a good
deal more than they wanted. It might be said to the immortal glory of the Brooklyn
regiment, that it is the first regiment in America that has ever taken Canada. It might be
said of them, in the langxiage of the Apostle : The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
They brought their hearts, and their Canadian brethren accepted them. The object of their
visit was to cultivate a more friendly feeling between the two branches of one family after so
long a separation. Blood is stronger than water, and after all, and in spite of all, our hearts
are towards Motherland. These are not only the sentiments of those who are present, but of
the whole American people. Their hearts are toward the English nation."

The Marquis of Lome, in acknowledging the toast of " The Governor General," took
occasion, again, to thank the officers of the i3th regiment, for the attendance of the regiment
at the review, saying in part : " I believe I am not misinterpreting the feelings of the
officers here present when I say that very many Americans, not only those of the British race,
but many others, wear, in one sense, the Queen s colour in their hearts, not only because she
is the Queen of that old country with which so many of their most glorious memories are
forever identified that old country of which they are in their hearts as proud as I can
honestly say England is of them but also because the Americans are a gallant nation and
love a good woman. They have lent us a helping hand to-day, and I believe they will
always be ready to do so, should occasion arise on which we may ask them to stand by us."

During the two years preceding this time there had been considerable excitement in
Canada over the wars in Zululand and Afghanistan.

It deserves to be mentioned here that in 1877, when one of the periodical war clouds in
the East appeared unusually ominous, Lieut.-Colonel Bond, with the full concurrence of his
officers, volunteered to raise a regiment in Canada for service in the East should such be
required, and he received hundreds of letters from different individuals in various parts of
America, who desired to serve the Queen xinder his command ; several of the officers of the
regiment at this time personally volunteered their services. No less than 10,000 Canadian
militiamen volunteered these services to the Empire.

His Excellency the Marquis of Lome took occasion in a speech referring to the preceding,
to give expression to his appreciation of the loyalty shown in the matter in question. The
Marquis remarked: "Our militia force is large in numbers, and we have had during the last two
years the best proof of the spirit with which it is animated. I should be neglecting an important
duty were I not to take this opportunity of tendering the warmest thanks of Her Majesty and
of the Imperial authorities at home to those gallant officers of the Canadian militia force who
have of late, so often, offered themselves for service in active warfare, and to assure them that

80

though it was not necessary to take advantage of their offers, that their readiness to serve has
none the less been valued, noted and appreciated, and that the patriotic spirit which binds
together all branches of onr Queen s army in whatever quarter of the world the}- may stand,
and from whatever race the} 1 may spring, is seen with pride and satisfaction. And, gentle
men, although the bearers of commissions in our militia service have not been able to show
their devotion personally to their Sovereign and country among the loft}* ranges of
Afghanistan, or on the bush covered slopes of Zululand, yet the news of the distant contests
waged in these regions, has, we know, been watched here with as close an interest, as intense
and hearty a sympathy as in Britain itself ; and the sorrow at the loss of such gallant officers
as Northey and Weatherley, has been shared with our comrades-in-arms in the old country,
not only because the same uniform is here worn, but also because the honoured dead are
united with our people by the ties of the closest relationship. The dividing seas have not
sundered the brotherhood which the love of
the gracious Sovereign, and the passion for
freedom, make the lasting blessing of the great
English communities ; and just as our country
shows that she can strike from the central
power whenever menaced, so will her children s
states, wherever situated, respond to any call
made upon them, and prove that England s
union with her great colonies is none the less
strong becavise it depends on no parchment
bonds or ancient legal obligations, but derives
its might from the warm attachment, the living
pride in our Empire, and the free will offerings
of her loving, her grateful, and her gallant

sons.

In 1880 the Prince of Wales Regiment took
part in the review on the Plains of Abraham
Quebec, before H. R. H. the Duke of Albany,
H. R. H. the Princess Louise and the Marquis
of Lorne in honour of Her Majesty s Birthday.
Nearly 3,000 troops participated.

Major Barnjum of the Prince of Wales
Regiment was for many years the Drill Ins
tructor of the Montreal High School Cadet
Rifles, a corps which always maintained a high
standard of efficiency under his instruction, and

which furnished a large number of officers to the militia and the regular army, among them
the late Captain Mackay R. E., D. S. O.

THE HON. LIEUT. -COLONEL V. O. MARCHAN1), M.I . P.

IN COMMAND Ol- MONTREAL MILITIA BRIGAD1-,

FKNIAX RAID, 1870.

Si

CHAPTER XII.

THE NORTHWEST REBELLION.

newspapers.

YEAR 1885 w ^l always be a memorable one in the history of the
Canadian militia as the year of the Northwest Rebellion. Ever since
1878 there had been more or less agitation among the half-breeds of
the Northwest Territories to secure a recognition of their rights to
participation in the issue of scrip which had been made to the half-
breeds of Manitoba in consideration of the extinguishment of the Indian
title. In 1878 the Saskatchewan Metis or half-breeds petitioned that
there be granted to all half-breeds who had not participated in the
distribution of scrip and lands in the Province of Manitoba, other scrip and
grants of land as in that Province. This petition and others were not attended
to, and demands and dissatisfaction increased among the half-breeds. Occasion
ally reports of uneasiness among the half-breeds were published in the
But the seat of the trouble was a long way off, the story was an old one,
and the public and even the politicians paid little attention to the matter. In 1883
Louis Riel visited his old haunts in Manitoba and became the subject of newspaper
comments. The half-breeds, enjoying the privileges of neither the Indians nor the white
settlers, were at this time developing a feeling of hostility toward the Government. Race
animosity, restraint under constituted authority and the encroachment of settlement, all
helped to aggravate the already critical situation produced by delay in remedying just
grievances. Riel was a natural agitator, intensely fond of popularity and power among his
own people, and possessed of more education, plausibility and popularity than common sense.
His visit to Manitoba could hardly fail to produce important results, but yet it commanded
little public attention. Mass meetings were held along the Saskatchewan, grievances
multiplied among the Metis, and to these were soon added a distinct series of grievances, real
and imaginary, on the part of the Indian tribes. In June, 1884, serious trouble took place at
Battleford, on the North Saskatchewan, with Pouudmaker s powerful tribe of Cree Indians,
the settlers being obliged to vacate their houses and take refuge in the fort. This cloud,
however, passed over and nothing was thought of it, so accustomed were the Canadian people
to relying with confidence upon that heroic military force, the Northwest Mounted Police,
to preserve the peace on the prairies. In June, 1884, the Metis living along the shores of the
Saskatchewan despatched a committee of four of their number to invite Riel to come from
Montana and live among them in the hope of aiding them to better their condition. Early in
July, 1884, Riel and his family arrived at Duck Lake, a Metis settlement midway between
the North and South banks of the Saskatchewan. This event was at once reported by the
Police authorities, but the announcement caused but little comment. Before the end of July
the Government was notified that there were rumours about at Battleford that Riel had said
things to the Indians that were intended to cause discontent among them. During this year
the Government took the precaution of disarming the volunteer companies in the Territories,
and arrangements were made with the Hudson s Bay Company to occupy Fort Carleton on the

North Saskatchewan as a Mounted Police outpost. Meantime Riel organized committees,
meetings were held, resolutions passed, and a general agitation got under way. Riel, to
strengthen his position with his more ignorant fellow-countrymen, conjured up a number of
vague claims, which excited the public mind in the Metis settlements and caused anxiety
among the officers of the Northwest Mounted Police. Meeting after meeting was held during
the winter of 1884-5 an d grievance after grievance unearthed or trumped up. On the nth
of March Superintendant Crozier, of the Northwest Mounted Police, telegraphed from Carleton
to the headquarters of the force, Regina, that the half-breeds were greatly excited ; that it was
reported the} threatened an attack on Carleton before the i6th, and that they were getting
arms ready. Colonel Irvine, commanding the Police, on the i4th of March telegraphed to
Ottawa for authority to march from Qu Appelle to the North Saskatchewan with a reinforce
ment of 100 men for the force at Prince Albert, Carleton and Battleford. The permission was
given the following day.

Early on the morning of the i8th Lieut.-Colonel Irvine left Regina with 90 officers and
men of the Police. The next day Major
Crozier, commanding the Police at Battle-
ford reported from Carleton that the half-
breeds were gathering at Batoche and had
made prisoners of the telegraph operators
and other white men at that point. Irvine
reached Prince Albert on the 24th, having
completed a march of 291 miles in seven
days, an average daily travel of 42 miles.
So far the people of Eastern Canada had
not come to be particularly interested.

The announcement that the half-
breeds were in actual revolt came with
dramatic suddenness. The people of East
ern Canada, over a thousand miles distant
from the scene of the uprising, did not
appear disposed to take the news seriously
until, on Alarch 23rd, the Winnipeg Free
Press published a short despatch from
Prince Albert reading as follows : " Louis
Riel has thrown off the mask and now

openly defies the Queen s authority. He says he has the half-breeds and Indians entirely
under his control ; that the Northwest Mounted Police force is a mere nothing, and that
their authority shall not be respected."

In the House of Commons the same day, Sir John Macdonald, then Premier, in reply to
a question, remarked : " It is true that a number of half-breeds, instigated and led, I believe
by Louis Riel, have cut the wires and stopped communication between Qu Appelle and the
crossing of the South branch of the Saskatchewan. The immediate cause of the rising is not
known."

On the 26th the first shots of the rebellion were fired, and Canada was thrown into a great
state of excitement from one end to the other. Crozier with 99 men and a seven pounder
went from Carleton to Duck Lake to secure some ammunition and provisions from one of the
stores. The force was attacked by 200 half-breeds about a mile and a half from Duck Lake,
and before they could withdraw eleven men of Crozier s force were killed and eleven wounded.
The force retired to Carleton, where Irvine had, in the meantime, arrived. Irvine, considering

it essential to the protection of the town of Prince Albert to concentrate his force at that point,
was making arrangements to evacuate Carleton, when the historic old fort caught fire, and
the troops were forced to take up their long march to Prince Albert before day-break on the
28th. Meantime the news of the action at Duck Lake caused the greatest excitement
throughout Canada. The law had been set at defiance, loyal blood spilled, and treachery and
blood-thirstiness shown by the rebels. With splendid unanimity the people of Canada, from
one end to the other, demanded that the authority of the law should be asserted at whatever
cost. The first call for the enrollment of militia was issued on the 27th of March, and
was met with a prompt and enthusiastic response. Over two thousand troops were at first
ordered out. Before the campaign was over, 5,400 men were under arms, and if they
had been needed, 40,000 men could have taken the field within a fortnight of the fight
at Duck Lake. The trouble was not to get the required number of men, but to avoid giving
offence to the corps not called out. Among the first corps ordered out, the 65th Mount Royal
Rifles was the only representative of the Montreal Brigade, although all of the regiments
were in a fine state of organization and anxious to go to the front. The government appeared
to have realized the great importance of keeping a large proportion of the Montreal militia at
home, particularly as rumours of Fenian activity were associated with the news of Riel s
preparations, and it was recalled that after the collapse of the first Riel trouble in 1870, proof
had been forthcoming that the half-breed agitator had been in communication with the
Fenian leaders.

A press despatch dated Fargo, Dak., March 27th, read : " It is rumoured that the Fenian
organizations in the Northwest are making active attempts to aid Riel." The same day the
New York "Joivrnal " published an interview with the notorious O Donovan Rossa in which the
agitator claimed that the Fenians were co-operating with Riel. On April 4th the Ottawa
papers announced that the Government had received information that three hundred Fenians
were prepared to leave New York to aid Riel.

To the last, all of the Montreal corps lived in hope of being called upon to share in the
campaign, but the services of only two more were called into requisition, and the Prince
of Wales Regiment was one of them. On the nth of May the Montreal Garrison
Artillery left by train for the West, and on the same day the Prince of Wales Regiment
was called out for active service, and two days after, every man having previously undergone
a thorough medical inspection, the regiment went into camp on the Exhibition Grounds
expecting every moment to receive the welcome order to embark for the scene of operations.

The order calling the regiment out for active service was received at midnight, and at
eleven the next day, the roll was called, and not a man was absent. The regiment was in
full strength, and there were so many applications to enlist that the regiment could have
easily been recruited to three times its authorized strength. Many of the applicants were
retired members of the regiment.

The officers of the regiment on this occasion were as follows :

Lieut-Colonel Frank Bond, Commanding; Major E. L. Bond, Adjutant; Major John
F. Nott; Major T. P. Butler; Paymaster, Captain W. L- Heron, G.G.F.G., replacing for this
service Major Milloy ; Quartermaster, Captain Wm. Johnson ; Chaplain, Right Rev. W. B.
Bond, Bishop of Montreal ; Assistant Chaplain, Very Rev. Jas. Carmichael, Dean of Montreal;
Surgeon, Dr. T. G. Roddick, who, being appointed Deputy Surgeon-General proceeded at once
to the Northwest on the General Staff; Assistant Surgeons, Drs. G. T. Ross and R. H.
Wilson ; Captains, E. Kirk Greene Jr., Stewart Campbell, C. D. Hanson, D. Sincennes, James
M. Paul and G. F. Cooke; Lieutenants C. de B. Leprohon, W. E. Bradshaw, R. W. Gambier-
Bousfield, A. S. Henshaw, C. H. Godfrey, Thos. Tait, Frank Scott, W. Abbott, H. S. Hunter,
Laughton Clarke, H. A. Drummond, A. R. Cuthbert.

84

On June gib, the regiment was relieved from active service and the officers and men were
permitted to resume their ordinary avocations. The ready response of the regiment to the
call of duty at the first muster merited and received the warm praise of the citizens of
Montreal generally, and from that date down to the date of dismissal from active service the
high appreciation by the public of the bravery and efficiency of the regiment increased, and
there was a large attendance of citizens at the Champ de Mars when the regiment underwent
an inspection before Lieut. -Colonel Worsley, Acting D. A. G., prior to dismissal. Before the
regiment marched off the parade ground it was addressed by the inspecting officer, who
remarked : You have now been on active service for one mouth, and during the time which
you have been under my command not a single man has been brought before me on any
complaint. From what I have heard from the citizens of Montreal nothing could be better
than your behaviour while you were on active service. In the name of the Militia Depart-

OFFICERS OF PRINCE OF WALKS REGIMENT. NORTHWF.ST REBELLION, 1885.

Lt. A. Ruthbert. Lt. Col. Frank Bond Major T P. Butler Lt. Clarke

Capt. W. L. Heron Major E. L. Bond Lt. Frank Scott Lt H. A. Druinmond

Major J. F. Nott Lt. W. E Bradshaw Lt. Arthur S. Henshaw Lt. Jas. M Paul Capt. \Vm. Johnson

Dr. R. H Wilson Lt. Chs. H. Godfrey Lt. R . W. G. Bousfield Lt. Claude de B. Leprohon
Capt G. F. Cooke Capt. S. Campbell Lt. Win. Abbott
Lt. Thos. Tait Capt. C. D. Hanson

ment of the Dominion I thank you, Colonel Bond and officers and every member of this
corps, for the manner in which you turned out to the call of duty. I regret that the wish of
each and every man of you to go to the front has not been gratified. At the same time I
think that you have been quite as happy on the camping ground as you would have been at
Winnipeg, for from the turn events took, in all probability you would not have proceeded
further than that if you had left Montreal. At all events I can answer for this. You
behaved like the brave citizen soldiers that you are, and any country in the world ought to
be proud to have such a body of brave, well behaved men."

85

His Worship Mayor Beaugrand also asked for the privilege of addressing the regiment,
saying in the course of a stirring speech : " I congratulate you on your excellent appearance
and your perfect drill, which were the subject of general remark by the citizens who witnessed
you manoeuvres to-day. Your ready response to the call of duty has distinguished your
regiment. Canada has now seen that she wants her volunteers, and for the future it will be
the duty of every Canadian, whether he be a private citizen, a member of Parliament, a
minister of the Crown or not, to see that the wants and requirements of the force are attended
to. In the name of the citizens of Montreal, I thank you for the ready manner in which you
have responded to the call of the government, and I thank you for the brave spirit which
prompted you to wish for active service in the defence of the country. If the Prince of Wales
Regiment did not go to the front they were willing and anxious to go ; and again, in the
name of the citizens of Montreal, I thank you for that sentiment."

Strange as it may seem, the Prince of Wales Regiment received no recognition of its
services in 1885. It is true enough as Wolseley says in "The Soldiers Pocket Book," that
" the only rewards that are justly our due are the gratitude of our country and the praise of
our superiors " ; but considering that a practical and very simple way had been devised for
showing the country s gratitude towards the men who served her in 85, it is difficult to
appreciate the justice of ignoring in the bestowal of these favours a regiment which had
responded in a gallant spirit to the call to arms at the very moment when it appeared that
the Northwest Rebellion was going to result in a much more bloody and arduous campaign
than appeared at all likely at first.

It will be recollected taht the campaign was brought to a most successful conclusion by
the end of June, and the victorious militia returned home early in July. Riel, the man
responsible for the whole uprising, his half-breed lieutenants, and Poundmaker and Big Bear,
his chief Indian allies and dupes, were in prison, and the last particle of resistance to the
constituted authority had been stamped out. This result was extremely creditable to the
Canadian militia, and added not a little to the prestige of the force s veteran and gallant chief,
Major-General, now Lieutenant-General, Sir Fred Middleton. The operations of the
campaign extended over an immense area. The force actually employed had to be devided into
three widely separated independent columns, each with an immense transport service to
organize and a lengthy line of communication to protect. While this meant tremendous
work for the general officer commanding, it, at the same time, signified heavy marching and
great privations for the men.

At the opening of the campaign recognized authorities on Indian warfare in the United
States Army declared that Canada would be fortunate if she succeeded in suppressing
the uprising before the end of the year. But for the difficulty he experienced in obtaining
reliable information, and a regrettable panic at Battleford which necessitated a change of his
original plans and an unnecessary division of force, Middleton would have smashed the
Rebellion in much shorter order than he did. The General s main idea, and it was surely one
which did his humanity credit, was to put an end to the Rebellion with as little loss of life as
possible on either side, and with this object, his intention was to make a descent upon
the main rebel position at Batoche with a force strong enough to look down all opposition and
convince Riel s mistaken dupes that opposition was hopeless. This plan being thwarted by
the necessity of despatching Lieut.-Colonel Otter s column in wagons to Battleford, which was
needlessly alarmed at the prospect of being attacked by Poundmaker, the General had
nothing to do but go on towards Batoche with such men as he then had with him, as he was
then well advanced from his base of operations. The facts that the rebels had prisoners, and
that a more general uprising of Indians was threatened if an advance was not made, urged
him to advance without waiting for further reinforcements to reach him.

86

April 1 8th the Winnipeg papers published an item stating that the half-breeds boasted
that they would ambush Middleton. The General was not notified of this report, but from
the first movement of his force he took the precaution of covering the flanks and front of his
column with screens of mounted scouts, and instrvicted the officers commanding the other
columns to do likewise.

While advancing towards Batoche on the 24th April with his force of some 700 men
divided into two columns, one on either side of the South Saskatchewan, Middleton was
unexpectedly attacked by a large force of half-breeds and Indians under command of Gabriel
Dumont, the military leader of the rebellion, who hoped to capture the General and artillery and
stampede the whole force by a sudden flank attack from an ambush which he skilfully made
in a deep, wooded ravine, locally known as Tourond s Coulee, along which the Batoche trail
leads for a short distance before crossing Fish Creek. Thanks to the screen of cavalry which
the General kept extented in advance of and on the flanks of his column, and which many
of those who were used to the country declared to be perfectly useless, the ambush was

LEAVING CAMP ON EXHIBITION GROUNDS, MONTREAL. NORTHWEST REBELLION, 1885.

disclosed before the infantry advance guard had come within range of the ravine. The
militia gallantly met the abortive attack which Dumont s men were forced to make, and the
half-breeds returned to Batoche without their expected prisoners and artillery. For nearly
two hours there was heavy firing on both sides, when, all of the troops having got into advan
tageous positions, Dumont and the half-breeds made their way out of the Coulee and hurried
off towards Batoche, leaving a number of Sioux Indians, who were cut off in an angle of the
ravine, to their fate. A couple of plucky attempts were made to dislodge these men, but as
they were in a strong position from which it would have cost many lives to dislodge them,
the General refused to have the attempt renewed. A camp was pitched near the river bank,
the column from the other side of the river was ferried over, and during the night the Sioux
made their escape from the Coulee.

The fight, though the rebels failed to accomplish their purpose, indirectly benefitted

8?

them, inasmuch as it delayed the advance of the force. The force had lost in the fight ten
killed and forty-three wounded, an exceptionally large proportion of the small number engaged.
The wounded could not be moved, there was no place available then to move them to, the
force was too small to spare an adequate guard to leave there with a field hospital, and so the
whole column had to halt while the surgeons were solving the difficult}-. Finally a field
hospital was established at Saskatoon, a settlement some distance to the rear, and the wounded
despatched thither on the first of May. A halt of a few days more was then deemed
necessary, as the supply of ammunition was running low, and a consignment with a small
reinforcement of men was on its way down the Saskatchewan on the steamer " Northcote."
How, after three days fighting, Batoche was finally taken by a rush of the infantry
skirmishers, supported by the artillery, is now a matter of national history, and so are the
stories of the capture of Riel and of the fruitless fight between Poundmaker and Lieut.-
Colonel Otter s force, operating from Battleford, at Cut Knife Hill on the second of May. At
Batoche eight of the troops were killed and forty-six wounded, at Cut Knife the losses were
eight killed and fourteen wounded. Less familiar are the particulars of the two actions at
Frenchman s Butte and Loon Lake where General Strange s force, and a small mounted
column under Major Steele of the Northwest Mounted Police engaged Big Bear s greatly
superior force among the muskegs and lakes of the far North. At Frenchman s Butte the
65th Mount Royal Rifles behaved most gallantly, while the fight at Loon Lake was conceded
by those who were acquainted with the particulars to be the most dashing affair of the whole
campaign.

Some really splendid marching was done by the Canadian militia during this campaign,
in spite of the bad weather and worse roads. On the first days march only eleven miles was
covered by Middleton s own column, the Northwest Field Force. The road up the north
bank of the Qu Appelle was very steep and in bad order, the snow beginning to melt. The
night was fearfully cold, the thermometer at sunrise the next day being 23 below zero. The
tent pegs had to be cut out of the ground with axes. The succeeding days marches were as
follows: 18 miles, 23, 19, 20, 22, 23, 17. Much longer days inarches were made later, but
the men by that time were seasoned. These marches were made by the city men fresh from
their offices and workshops, over roads covered with slush of snow and mud, frequently in the
face of fierce blizzards of snow and hail, and on several cases having to wade through streams
of ice-cold water almost up to their waists. The 65th Mount Royal Rifles had their first
march of the campaign across an ice covered bay on the North of Lake Superior at one of the
then uncompleted gaps of the C. P. R., between 22 and 25 miles across. On the march of the
Alberta Field Force, under General Strange, from Calgary to Edmonton, 220 miles, the 65th
covered 35 miles in one day. The best march of the whole campaign was made by the 65th
and the rest of the Alberta Force on the 24th of June, when they covered no less than 45
miles over a rough road through muskeg and bush, cut by their own pioneers a few days
before on the mosquito-beset march to Beaver River to head off Big Bear. The death roll of
the campaign included 38 names, not counting the rebels, and the number of wounded
was 115.

88

CHAPTER XIII.

AFTER THE REBELLION.

EARTILY enthusiastic was the reception the people of Eastern Canada
accorded the troops on their return from the front. The campaign, the
first conducted altogether by Dominion troops, made the people of Canada
pardonably proud of the militia and of themselves.

The complete suppression of this formidable uprising in such a short
space of time as three months was really a most creditable performance
from a military point of view. Petty jealousies and the exigencies of party
politics for a time threatened to deprive of his fair share of credit, the gallant
and withal considerate and cautious old soldier to whose generous, constant
encouragement, courageous, self-sacrificing example, long military experience,
natural wisdom and untiring devotion, the splendid success of the campaign
was largely due. When General Middleton arrived on the scene of operations
he found a most difficult problem facing him, and his difficulties increased with the campaign.
It has been charged that such a large force as was called out was not required, but this
criticism is absurd. Doubts were raised as to the loyalty of all of the widely scattered Indian
tribes and half-breed settlements in the whole of the vast Northwest Territories, and the
white settlements, one after another, demanded protection. The uprising extended along
a strip of territory, from two to three hundred miles north of the line of the Canadian Pacific
Railway, and stretching from Edmonton, in the west, to Priuce Arthur and Batoche, in
the east, a distance of five hundred miles, more or less. Owing to the panic at Battleford,
and to the depredations of Big Bear s band in the Edmonton District there was no alternative
but to operate in three distinct columns. The three lines of communication thus necessitated
were from a hundred and fifty to two hundred and seventy-five miles in length, and they had
to be covered, particularly as they were mere prairie trails running through a perfectly
unsettled country, leaving the transport wagons and field depots open to attack. Beside the
men required to afford some show of protection for the base and the lines of communication,
it was found necessary, owing to the absence of labour on the prairies, to employ a couple of
battalions in handling and forwarding stores, which unsatisfactory duty was done by the
troops so employed with admirable good will.

The transport difficulties during the campaign were well nigh incredible. No supplies,
either for men or horses, were procurable along the lines of communication. Until the grass
covered the barren prairie towards the end of April, the hastily improvised transport service
was able to do little more than move forward sufficient forage and food rations for its own
teams and teamsters. Until the Saskatchewan was reached no sweet water was procurable,
and the column had to carry wood along with it to allow of tea being made from the alkali
water in the creeks and sloughs (or little lakes) along the trail.

The militia received unstinted praise from the General for the splendid manner in which
they performed their duties in camp, on the march, or under fire, and they deserved it.

89

*

m +

^^

1 Sergt. -Major John Watson

2 Armoury-Sergt. James Warren
o rnim-Maior \V. Beech

SERGEANTS PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT.

4 StafF-Sergt. A. Lindsay

5 " J. W Bangs

() " Fred. Donaldson

7 StarT-Sergt. Jas. Cooper, Jr
K " T. C. Elliott

" A. Hatchelor

10 Staff-Sergl. B. Coffin

11 Col. -Sergt. John Norris

12 " A. W. Ross
1H " A. Ferguson
H P. McDonald

SERGEANTS PRINCE OF WALES REGIMENT.

1 Col.-Sergt. Fred. Sobey

2 S-rgt. Wm. Woolley
;i Col.-Scrgt. F. Rogers
4 Sergt. Wm. Goodbody

o Sergt. F. Pingle

6 " F. Livingston

7 " Wm. Hudson

8 " Jas. Dempsey

9 Sergt. Jos. Pitm;in
1U " A. Fyfe
11 " John Urysdale
r-> " J. Y. Clarke
Cycle Sergt. D. W. Ross

IS Sergt. Jas. Mel). Denovan

11 " H. Patterson

13 " U. McCallutn

IB " W. J. Pendleton, Jr.

But some of the " gentlemen of Canada who dwelt at home at ease " and who so freely
and learnedly criticised the General for not clearing the Sioux Indians out of their holes
in Tourond s Coulee at Fish Creek and for not " putting the Boys in " the first day at
Batoche, appear to forget that Middleton was in command of a force which, with the
exception of the small detachments of the permanent artillery and infantry, was composed of
young soldiers with only a superficial idea of discipline, but little confidence at first in either
themselves or their officers, and with insufficient knowledge of drill and tactics to appreciate
the significance of, or enter into the spirit of, the system of organized disorder on which
the modern attack in extended order is based. It requires troops under pretty perfect
discipline and with some battle training to preserve sufficient cohesion in extended order
to " rush " wooded ravines and lines of formidable rifle pits manned with reputed (if over
estimated) expert marksmen. By the time Lieut.-Colonel Van Straubenzie, Middleton s

infantry brigadier, led the Royal Grenadiers, the goth Winnipeg
Rifles and two companies of the Midland Battalion in the final
rush on the rebel rifle pits at Batoche, officers and men alike
had acquired the necessary discipline and experience. Before
the end of the campaign Middleton s force would have faced
anything in the way of opposition with complete confidence.

Of the three points on the base of operations from which
columns were pushed forward to the front, the nearest, Qu Ap-
pelle, is 1 748 miles from Montreal by rail ; Calgary, the most
remote, 2264 miles.

Hardly had the members of the regiment settled down to
their private business again, after the Rebellion, before it was
placed on active service again, this time in aid of the civil power.
Montreal was visited by a serious small-pox epidemic in the
summer and autumn of 1885. As the disease spread rapidly
the municipal authorities adopted the most stringent methods
to stamp out the disease, and systems of compulsory vaccin
ation, isolation and, if necessary, removal to civic hospitals were
put into force in October. An agitation among the ignorant
classes resulted in a riot. The public vaccination offices in the
East end were sacked, and a mob stoned the City Hall. The
situation was so critical that the whole Militia briga^ was put
under arms and for a couple of nights patrolled the streets.
Major-General Middleton arrived from Ottawa to direct opera
tions. As the destruction of the Exhibition buildings, which
were being fitted up as temporary small-pox hospitals, was threatened, a regiment was kept
on guard there for three weeks, each regiment taking the duty in turn. There was trouble
with rioters on one or two occasions but it did not amount to much. The Prince of Wales
Regiment furnished the first and last of these military guards, turning the temporary
hospital over to the City Police as the first small-pox patients were entering the gates.
During this term of service the regiment was under command of Major Butler, Liexit.-
Colonel Bond being absent on leave in British Columbia.

In 1886 the regiment passed a very fine inspection before Lieut.-Colonel B. Van
Straubenzie, D.A.G., who congratulated the men on their soldierly appearance and steadiness
in the ranks.

In 1887 the regiment participated in the brigade review in Montreal, Major Butler being
in command of the regiment, Lieut.-Colonel Bond acting as Brigadier. Major Butler also

LIEUT. -COI.. JOHN HOOD,

Late commanding 5th Battalion Royal Scots

of Canada

commanded the regiment at the annual inspection in 1888. Lieut-Colonel Bond had the
honour of commanding the Canadian Rifle team at Wimbleton this year, when Her Royal
Highness the Princess of Wales did the prize winners the honour of handing them their
prizes. Lieut.-Colonel Bond had the honour of lunching with the Prince and Princess of
Wales the same da} .

In April, 1889, Lieut.-Colonel Bond retired from the command and was succeeded bv
Lieut.-Colonel Thomas Page Butler. In delivering his farewell order Lieut.-Colonel Bond
said: " I have long appreciated the desire which has been conveyed to me that I might delay
the resignation of the command of a regiment of which I became Lieut.-Colonel nineteen
years ago. So long a connection has created ties of affection whose even partial severance
causes me profund regret. The performance of 1113- duty has ever been a source of pleasure
to me, and your readiness to aid contributed largely to make it so. While I entered upon
every active service to which we were called with a feeling of pride, it was, apart from what I
owed to my country, your eagerness to do even
more than your full share, which gave it to me.
Whether it was in defence of the country or in aid of
the civil power, it has always seemed to me that the
more serious the occasion the more read} were you
to answer to the command to fall in. I shall watch
your future with an abiding faith in your loyalty
to our Sovereign and in your readiness to sustain
the authority of the flag under which we live."

Lieut.-Colonel Butler, in his first order, said
in part : " Colonel Bond s name has been identified
with this regiment for nearly thirty years, and for
a large part of that time as its commanding officer.
His memory, as that of Mrs. Bond, who has ever
been so warm a friend of the Battalion, will always
remain green in the hearts of both officers and men.
The battalion has always, under his command, main
tained its proud motto, " Xulli Secundus," and I
confidently call upon every officer, non-commis
sioned officer and man, by united action, energy and
care, to assist me in preserving the reputation we
have so zealously guarded."

Dominion Day, 1889, the Regiment spent in Kingston, participating in a review on
Barriefield Common with A Battery, R.C.A. The regiment was most hospitably entertained
by the people of Kingston, and had a trip down the river as far as Alexandria Bay.

In 1891 the regiment spent Dominion Day in Quebec, where the officers and men
enjoyed themselves heartily in a quiet way. Drill, however, was not overlooked, as the
Battalion, divided into two forces, engaged in the martial work of a sham engagement on the
Plains of Abraham.

The Montreal Amalgamated Rifle Association was organized May 3rd, 1890, chiefly
through the exertions of Lieut.-Colonel, then Captain, John Hood, who commanded the
5th Battalion Royal Scots of Canada from 1891 to 1893. Lieut.-Colonel Butler was elected
the first President of the Asssociation.

On January the 2oth, 1892, the Regiment attended in a body the service held in Christ
Church Cathedral in memory of the late Duke of Clarence and Avondale, afterwards
proceeding to the funeral of the late Captain Johnson, regimental quartermaster.

LTEUT.-COL. HON. LOUIS F. K. MASSON,
Ex-Minister of Militia.

93

In 1893 the Regiment was inspected by Lieut. -Colonel Aylmer, then recently appointed
Assistant Adjutant-General at headquarters. In his official report, the inspecting officer thus
expressed his opinion of the Regiment : " I made an inspection, by groups, of two companies
of this regiment, each evening immediate^ before the day of my inspection of the whole
regiment, which proved most satisfactory. At the several inspections I found all ranks
zealous and keen at their work, arms clean, accoutrements and clothing clean and well fitted.
They have an excellent brass, and fife and drum band. The company and battalion drill and
movements were smartly and steadily done, and the mustering at the close of the inspection
was perfect."

What made this praise all the more acceptable was that it came from an officer who had
just subjected the Regiment to the most severe test to which any corps in Canada had
yet submitted, this being the first of the searching inspections as at present conducted, with
separate parades, taken up with company inspections, in addition to the battalion inspection.

On parade, on inspection day, Lieut.-Colonel Aylmer made a few remarks to the
Regiment, saying, in substance, that he tried to do his duty and had no doubt that they had
tried to do theirs. He would not say they were perfect, for that would be an absurdity,
but he would say that they could be made perfect. On the whole he was very well satisfied
with the inspection, and it would give him great pleasure to give the most favourable report to
the general officer commanding.

Before dismissal, Lieut. -Colonel Butler made a few remarks, complimenting the men on
the excellent showing they had made.

Lieut.-Colonel Butler told them that the honour of the regiment had been in their
hands and they had shown that the Prince of Wales Regiment was second to none.

In 1894, Major-General Herbert, then commanding the Canadian Militia, as part of
a plan for making fewer and larger battalions in the service, proposed a plan for the
amalgamation of the Prince of Wales Regiment with the Sixth Fusiliers, the amalgamated
regiment to be designated the First or Prince of Wales Regiment. The proposal for a short
time appeared likely to be put into effect, but the friends and members of both regiments
loudly protested, and the project was allowed to drop.

In the efficiency competition between the Montreal regiments for the Sir Donald A.
Smith Challenge Cup in 1895, the Prince of Wales Regiment had the honour of having the
most efficient company in the Brigade, No. 6 Company being awarded 113.8 points, as against
1 1 2. 8 points awarded to No. 3 Company of the Victoria Rifles, the next highest company.

The more one recalls the past splendid achievements of the Canadian Militia, and
contemplates the honourable and most exacting position assigned to that proverbially loyal
and gallant force in the scheme of Imperial defence, the more must he naturally be impressed
with the sagacity of those whose professional appreciation of the excellent natural military
material existing in the population of Canada led them to provide in the Militia the means
of developing the powerful military resources of the country.

Appreciation of the great value to the Empire of the Canadian Militia is not a recognition
of yesterday. The London "Morning Herald" of January i/j-th, 1859, commenting on the
presentation of their first colours to the icoth Regiment, by His Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales, remarked: "Canada was, as Oliver said of Dunkirk, the spoil of our bow and of
our spear. From its origin, until the day on which the Prince of Wales described it as a
" Province " and not a colony, we have all looked to Canada as the mainstay of British
Dominion in the Western world. Like the ancient colonists of Ireland, the Canadians have
held the kingdom in the teeth of general rebellions ; but still, there is no doubt that of all the
distant settlements which the English have created, Canada stood and stands nearest to the
national heart."

94

That the men of Canada appreciate their duty to the Empire the history of the Prince of
Wales Regiment bears witness, whether that history is considered as dating back, (as these
pages show it has a good right to), to the First Battalion of Montreal Militia of 1812 and the
Volunteer Rifle Battalion of 1837-38, or whether it is considered as beginning with the
establishment of the Montreal Rifle Rangers in 1854, which was the first military corps
organized under the system which with certain modifications exist to-day. No other Canadian
corps can witness the fact as thoroughly because none has had so long a continuous career.

Canada, at the time the gallant companies of which the Prince of Wales Regiment is the
direct descendant were organized, showed no hesitation in choosing between being a
subjugated territory of the neighbouring republic or of remaining a free, self-governing
commonwealth, retaining for its people citizenship in the noblest and most respected Empire
the world has ever seen. The Canadians of to-day, far from showing any weakening of
attachment to the mother country, aspire, as the Army Book for the British Empire has it,
" to remain an integral portion of the empire, recognizing its interests as common interests,
and accepting their share of its responsibilities and dangers." That the present members
of the Prince of Wales Regiment possess such an aspiration is shown not more by the pride
they show in the royal title they bear, than by the practical contribution they make to the
defence of the Empire in striving to keep the regiment true in military efficiency to its motto
" NULLI SECUNDUS ".

95

ROLL OF HONOR.

FRIENDS WHO HAVE SHOWN BY THEIR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE THEIR
APPRECIATION OF THIS ORGANIZATION.

Bank of Montreal.

Merchants Hank of Canada.

Sir Donald A. Smith, K.C.M.G.

Major E. L. Bond.

W. W. Ogilvie.

Hon. Geo. W. Stephens.

R. B. Angus.

Jno. H. K. Molson.

His Worship R. Wilson-Smith.

Sir Wm. II. Kingston, K C.M.G.

Hon. Louis Iteaubien. /

Richard S. White.

Hugh Graham & Co.

The Gazette I rinting Co.

Jno. Dougall & Son.

lion. T. Berthiaume.

Royal Electric Co.

T. G. Roddick, M.D.,M.P.

E. Goff Penny, MtF.
R. Bickerdike.
Hamilton Powder Co. s
Hon. C. A. Geoffrion, M.P.
Hon. J. K. Ward.

\V. C. McDonald.

II. A. Allan.

J. A. C. Madore, M.P.

Henry Birks & Sons.

Andrew A. Allan. *

Hiram Walker & Sons.

Donald Macmaster, Q.C/

lion. L. J. Forget.

Montreal Investment and Free
hold Co.

James Ross.

Raymond Prefontaine, M.P.

Quebec Bank.

City & District Savings Bank.

Laurie Bros. Engine Co.

Dominion Bridge Co.

Hon. James McShane.

Robt. Mackay.

S. Lachapelle, M.D.

Hon. L. O. Taillon.

V. T). Monk, Q.C., M.P.

The Ames-Holden Co.

Hon. M. H. Cochran.

Warden King & Son.

American Tobacco Co. of Canada.

Auer (ias Light Mfg. Co.

Hon. P. E. Leblanc.

H. Shorey & Co.

Canadian Express Co.

G. Cheney.

The I^ondon & Lancashire Life
Assurance Co.

F. T. Bisaillon, Q.C.

Lieut. -Gov. Sir J. A Chapleau.
North British & Mercantile In
surance Co.
Meldrum Bros.
Gooderham & Worts.
Ottawa Kiver Navigation Co.

Granby Rubber Co.
""Dawes & Co.
/ Consumers Cordage Co.
A. Baumgarten.
" Jno. Murphy & Co.
Belding, Paul & Co.
"T*. Reford & Co.
t/Lake of the Woods Milling Co.

W. McXally.

/Montreal Brewing Co.
Ra-lnor Water Co.

( anadian Brewing Co.
\_y*The James Robertson Co., Ltd.
/ Chas. Gurd & Co.
./Hon. Louis F. R. Masson.

Pratte Piano Co.

II. A. Ektrs.

Hon. A. Desjardins.

Canadian Cork Cutting Co.
*-Hugh Paton.
^E. A. Small & Co.
<!. & T. Bell.
/J. Rattray & Co.

Hon. A. W. Atwater.

A. Boyer.

Frank J. HartX
ry Chas. F. Smith.
\CrThe Thos. Davidson Mfg. Co.

The Gilbert Bros. Engine Co.

G. C. Corneille. S

James Johnson.

Kvans & Sons, Ltd.

G. E. Baril, M.D.

las. Jackson.
Vj Thos. Robertson & Co.

O. Desmarais.

Ls. Arsene Lavallee, L.L.B.

F. W. G. Johnson.

C. M. Beausoleil.
^fohn McDougall.
/I I. R. Ives& Co.

Chanteloup Mfg. Co.
v /jas. Hutton & Co.

W. J. White.
/Canadian Rubber Co.
/L. J. Forget & Co.

W. Weir.

Hon. J. O. Villeneuve.^"
D. Morrice, Sons & Co.
T-aporte, Martin & Co.

American Steam Laundry.

Mount Royal Park Incline Co.
Chas. P. Hebert.

R. D. McGibbon, Q.C.

L. H. Packard & Co.

J. W. Hill.

The Robert Mitchell Co.

Walter Wilson.

Hector Lamontagne & Co.
Elder, Dempster & Co.

H. A. Nelson & Sons.
]. B. Rolland & Fils.

/S. Carsley.

Hon. J. G. Laviolette.

Johnston Fluid Beef Co.

Colin McArthur & Co.

Morton, Phillips \ Co. G. Ross Robertson ..V Sons.

Wm. St. Pierre \ Jominion Wire Mfg. Co.

Guardian Fire & .Life Ass. Co. Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co.

Robert Craik, M.D. Shaw, Cassils & Co.

Hon. F. G. Marchand. James Harrison.

"Watson, Foster & Co.

vWm. Kearney.

Adolph Davis.
/Dominion Wadding Co.

Hon Jno. S. Hall.

B. Hal Brown.
/T. H. Christmas.
Sun Life Assurance Co.

Judson Ames.

Aquin iS: Itzweare.
/T. Prefontaine.

Henry Archibald.
/D. Torrance & Co.
/St. Lawrence Sugar Refining Co.
J. W. Pyke.
Tl. A. Mainwaring.

Jas. T. Burnett.

British American Dyeing Co.
/E. Kirk Greene, Jr.

W. Abbott.

Thos. Taff.-/ 1

Alex. Robertson.
Dominion liag Co.

Hon. Arthur Turcotte.
/Owen N. Kvans.

Wm. Davis & Sons.

II. Laporte.

R. Charlebois.

J. J. Milloy.

Percival W. St. George.

Hudon & Orsali.

P. P. Martin & Co.

Chas. Lacaille & Co.

D. Hatton & Co.

Viau & Frere.

L. Chaput, Fils & Co.

B. & S. H. Thompson & Co.
A. Racine & Co.

James Harper.
Mathieu Freres.

C. Arthur lacques.
Alex. McDougall.
Johnston Steamship Co.
John Torrance, Jr.
James Alexander.
Chs. Langlois.

A. S. & W. H. Masterman.

H. J. Tiffin.

W. & F. Currie & Co.

A. & S. Nordheimer.

The Canada Eng. <S: Litho. Co.

R. & O. Navigation Co.

Dr. A. S. Brosseau.

Boivin, Wilson & Cie.

G. & J. Esplin.

Wm. Ewing.

Carter, Galbraith & Co.

Austin & Robertson.

L. O. Grothe & Co.

J. C. & J. D. Warrington.

R. C. Jamieson & Co.

James Currie.

Maj. Benj. Kvans.

Dr. W. H. D. Young.

G. G. Foster.

J. Barsalou & Co.

Dupuis Freres.

H. A. liudden.

Chas. Desmarteau.

Jos. Eveleigh.
Letendre & Arsenault.

C. R. Hosmer.
McLean, Kennedy & Co.
E. H. Lemay.

Major Mfg. Co.

D. Parizeau.
Duckett, Hodge & Co.
J. T. Marchand & Cie.
Thibaudeau Bros. & Co.
Alex. W. Grant

B. A. Boas.

Brayley, Sons & Co.

D. W. Campbell.

Robert Fitz-Gibbon.

Hodgson Bros.

Croil & McCulloch.

David Campbell & Son.

John Cowan.

Horace Joseph.

J. H. Se mple.

Montreal Warehousing Co.

D. A. MacPherson.

Laurentian Water Co.

G. Marsolais.

The Walter H. Cottingham Co.

B. E. McGale.
The Lang Mfg. Co.
F. F. Parkins.

A Bremner.

Michel Lefebvre & Co.

James Williamson.

L. Cousineau

Wm. Nivin & Co. .

Patterson Mfg. Co.

Faucher & Fils,

Joseph Quinn.

A. Joyce.

John Lovell & Son.

Dr. Charles Ault.

J. W. Marling.

II. & N. E. Hamilton.

Nap. Charbonneau

Frs. Martineau, M.P. P.

Fogarty Bros.

C. W. Lindsay.
Hon. J. E. Robidoux.
J. Craddock Simpson.
Hon. J. R. Thibaudeau.
Dr. F. W. Campbell.
A. Mantha.

A. F. Gault.

[. Riendeau.

J. M. Aird.

Fitzgibbon, Schafhetlin & Co.

Herman H. Wolfe & Co.

C. Lavallee.

lames Cochrane.

N. W. Thenholme, Q.C.

Glover & Brais.

Southam & Carey.

Chas. Alexander.

Fayetle Brown

W. Dangerfield.

Dr. J. G. Laviolette.

Robert Archer & Co.

S II. Ewing.

S. P. Stearnes.

Pilkington Bros.

9 6

LIST OF OFFICERS

WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE 1ST OR PRINCE OF WALKS REGIMENT.

f Theodore Lyman, Capt. 31 Aug. 1855, Major 20 Nov. 1850,

placed on unattached list 27 April 1857, and afterwards

Lt.-Col. and A.Q.M.G.
|. W. Haldimand, Lt. 31 Aug. 1855, Capt. and Paymaster

13 Nov. 1856, retired 17 Nov. 1859.
J. E. Malhiot, Ens. 31 Aug. 1855, Adj. 21 Aug. 1856, retired

with rank of Capt. 17 Nov. 1859.
t John Fletcher, C. M.G Capt. 21 Sept. 185- ), Major 20 Nov.

1856, joined H. M. 100th Reg. 8 June 1858, after
wards Lt.-Col. and Brigade Major.
John Lambert, Lt. 27 Sept. 1855, Capt 21 May 1857, retired

with rank 17 Nov. 1859.
Duncan McXaughton, Ens. 27 Sept. 1855, Lt. 21 May 1857,

left limits 17 Nov. 1859.

Alex. Bertram, Capt, 2 May 1856, retired 23 April 1857.
Samuel H. May, Lt. 2 May 1856, Capt. 23 April 18-7, retired

with rank 18 Aug. 1865.

Peter Cooper, Ens. 2 May 1856, Q.M. and Lt. 13 Nov. 1856
t Bernard Devlin, Capt. 2 May 1856, Major 26 Nov. 1857,

Lt.-Col. in command 18 July 1862, retired with rank

13 July 1866.
F. F. Mullins, Lt. 2 May 1856, Capt. 18 Feb. 1858, retired

1 Aug. 1861.

John Gillies, Ens. 2 May 1856, Lt. 18 Feb. 1858, Capt. 1 Aug.

1861, retired with rank 27 Aug. 1862.

t John Dyde, C. B., A. D. C. to H. M., 1st Col. of Rifle Com
panies 8 May 1856, Commandant Montreal Brigade

11 Dec. 1856.

W. P. Bartley, Capt. 26 June 1856, r.r.r. Major 15 April 1858.
Thos. A. Evans, Capt 17 July 1856, Major 8 June 1858.
f C. F. Hill, Lt. 17 July 1856, Capt. 31 July 1857, Major

18 July 1862, Lt. Col. in command 18 July 1866,

r. r. r. 8 Oct. 1869.

Joseph Lee, Ens. 17 July 1856, resigned 7 Aug. 1856.
Joshua Hronsdon, Ens. 7 Aug. 1856, Lt. 31 July 1857, retired

12 Dec. 1862.

t Jas. W. Hanson, Ens. 21 Aug. 1856, Lt. 13 Nov. 1856,

Capt. 28 July 1858, retired on appt. as Brigade Major

with rank of Major 16 Nov. 1862, Lt.-Col. 1 Feb.

1867, retired with view of future service 1 May 1876.

Henry Kavanagh, Lt. 18 Sept. 1856, Capt. 15 April 1858,

r.r.r. Major 3 June 1864.

Jas. Donnelly. Ens. 18 Sept. 1856, resigned 23 April 1857,
reapptd. 4 Feb. 1858, Lt. 15 April 1858, retired

2 April 1860.

John MacPherson, Capt. 16 Oct. 1856, ret. on appt. as B.M.

with rank Lt.-Col.
C. E. Belle, Capt. 30 Oct. 1856, apptd paymaster 17 Nov.

1859, Brig. Paymstr. and Lt.-Col. 1 Aug. 1860.
Olivier Deguise, Lt. 30 Oct. 1856, retired 12 Nov. 1857.
Luc O. Dufresne, Ens. 30 Oct. 1856, Lt. 12 Nov. 1857, Capt.

17 Nov. 1859, r. r. r. 2 Dec. 1864,

George McGibbon, Lt. 30 Oct. 1856, Capt. 28 July 1858.
Peter Moir, Ens. 30 Oct. 1856, Lt 31 Dec. 1858, retired

I May 1863.

t W. E. Scott, M.D., Surgeon 13 Nov. 1856, transferred to

G.T.R. 5 Dec. 1866.
A. II. Kollmyer, M. D., Asst. Surgeon, 13 Nov. 1856,

resigned 26 May 1860.
Archibald Stewart, Ens. 13 Nov. 1856, Lt. 17 Nov. 1869,

Died. Buried with Military Honors, 8 Aug. I860,
t Thos. Wiley, Lt.-Col. in Command, of Rifle Companies

II Dec. 1856, and of 1st Battalion on its organization
1 7 Nov. 1859, ret. on appt. to Militia Dept. 18 July 1862.

Wm. Middleton, Ens. 14 March 1857, Lt. 16 June 1857.
A. H. Latour, Capt. 14 April 1857, retired with rank of
Major 30 May 1862.

Edward Beaudry, Lt. 14 April 1857, retired 30 Dec. 1858.
Frs.-Xavier Lanthier, Ens. 14 April 1857, Lt. 31 Dec 1858,

resigned 10 Oct. 1830.
John McKeon, Ens. 23 April 1857.
John Garven, Ens. 21 May 1857, Lt. 18 Feb. 1859, Capt.

28 Feb. 1860.
f George Wilson, Ens. 16 June 1857, resigned r. r. Q. M. 30

Nov. 1866.

William O. Smith, Ens. 31 July 1857, r. r. r 3 May 1861.
Dominique Dupont, Ens. 12 Nov. 1857, Lt. 17 Nov. 1859,

resigned 1 Nov. 1861.
Thos. F. Blackwood, Ens. 15 April 1858, Lt. 8 Aug. 1860,

resigned 3 May 1861.
Daniel Rooney, Ens. 15 April 1858, Lt. 2 April 1860,

resigned 1 May 1863.

Duncan Macpherson, Ens. 20 May 1858, r. r. r. 3 May 1860.
Henry Ashby, Ens 7 Oct. 1858.
Eraste d Odet d Orsonnens, Ens. 31 Dec. 1858.
Duncan Barclay, En*. 31 Dec. 1858.
William Smyth, Ens. 18 Feb. 1859, retired 23 April 1800.
George Brown, Ens. 11 July 1859, r. r. r. ! Oct 1863.
Richard C,. Starke, Ens 17 Nov. 1859, r. r. r. 3 May 1861.
Charles Payette, Ens. 17 Nov. 185 ,), retired 8 Nov. 1861.
Gustave d Odet d Orsonnens, 17 Nov. 1859, retired 18 Aug.
I860, now Lt.-Col. and D. A. G. M. D. No. 6 and
Commandant Depot 3 R. R. C. I.
t Edwyn Evans, Capt. Adj. 17 Nov. 1859, Major 24 Nov. 1864,

Bt. Lt.-Col. 15 March 1867, r. r. r. 8 April 1870.
Edward Murphy, Ens. 17 Nov. 1859, resigned 29 Oct. 1862.
t George S. Eraser, Ens. 16 March 1860, Lt. 13 Aug. 1861,

joined H. M. 62d Regt.
f Francis S. Gallagher, Ens. 2 April 1860, l.t. 9 Jan. 1862,

resigned 5 Oct. 18IJIJ.
t Geo. B. Pearson, Ens. i2 April I860, Lt. 3 May 1861,

Capt. 9 Jan. 1863, resigned 25 Nov. 1870.
Alex. G. Lindsay, Ens. 3 May 1860, Lt. 19 Feb. 1861, r.r. r.

9 Oct. 1863.

f Francis W. Campbell, M.I)., Asst. Surgn, 2(5 May 1860,
Surgeon 5 Oct. 1866, transferred to (No 3 Co. R. R.
C. I.) 21 Dec. 1883.
Chs. D. Hanson, Ens. 8 May 1860, Lt. 3 May 1861, Capt.

9 Jan. 1863, reappointed Capt. 13 Jan. 1881.
Charle-i Wilson, Ens. 18 Nov. 1860, retired 17 July 1861.
t James Garven, Ens. 22 Nov. 1860, Lt. 10 Aug. 1866, Capt

14 Sept. 1866, retired 22 Feb. 1867.
Tliomas Daly, retired 17 July 1861.
William McDonald, Ens. 22 March 1861, l.t. 9 June 1863,

left limits 18 Aug. 1865.

Malcom Morison, Ens. 3 May 1861, resigned 12 Dec. 1862
J. R. Boyce, Ens. 3 May 1861, Lt. 9 Jan. 1863.
t A. A Meilleur, Ens. 10 Oct. 1860, Lt. 17 July 1861, Capt.

30 May 1862, retired 5 Oct. 1866.
Wm. G. Slack, Ens. 17 July 1861, Capt. 30 May 1862,

retired 9 Oct. 1863.

L. A. E. Globensky, Ens. 17 July 1861, retired 3 June 1861.
Edward Burnes, l.t. 1 Aug. 1861, Capt. 27 Aug. 1862, r.r.r.

14 Sept. 1866.

t Frank Bon-1, Ens. 18 Aug. 1861, Lt. 1 Dec. 1861, Capt. 27
Aug. 1862, Major 18 Oct. 1867, Lt -Col in command
12 Aug. 1870 retired with rank 29 March 1889.
Arthur M. David, Ens. 13 Aug. 1861, l.t. 12 Dec. 1862,

Adj. 10 April 1863.
t Joseph Perrault, Ens. 22 Nov. 1861, Lt. 9 Jan. 1862, resigned

5 Oct. 1866.
William J Porteous, Ens. 28 Feb. 1862, Lt. 27 Aug. 1862.

97

f William ti. Burland, Ens. 27 Aug. 18(52, C apt. 2 I)ec. 1864.
t Francis Kernan, Lt. 20 Oct. 18(12, r. r. r. Id Aug. 18(jti.
t Henry J. Clarke, Ens. 29 Oct. 18(12, Lt. 8 lune 1864, Capt.

27 July I860,
f Edward Hohon, Ens. 29 Oct. 1802, l.t 14 Dec. 1806.

Edward M. Burrage, Ens. (i Dec. 1801, Lt. 12 Dec. 18(12,

resigned 1 May 1803.

John Gordon Burland, Ens. 12 Dec. 1802, left limits 18
Aug. 1805.

Archibald Ogden, Ens. 9 Jan. 1803, resigned 17 March 1865.

Wm. Round, Ens. 9 Ian. 18(13, L(. 18 Aug. 1805, resigned
10 Nov. 1805."

t Chas. E. Brush, Ens. March 1863, Lt. 23 Oct. 1863, Capt.
2;) Eeb. 1866, resigned 14 Dec. 1866.

t Wm. E. Farrell, Ens. 1 May 1863, Capt. 3 Tune 164,
resigned 14 Dec. 1800.

Thomas Matthews, Ens, 3 June 1864.

t Wm. Robinson, Ens. 13 April 1865, Lt. 28 April 1805,
Capt. 23 Feb. 1806, Major 12 Aug. 1870.

t Tucker David, Ens. 28 April 1805, Lt. 28 April 1865, Capt.

18 Jan. 1867, resigned 29 May 1869.
Henry Vass, Ens. 13 Apiil 1805, Lt. 10 Nov. 1865.

t William Townsend, Ens. 28 April 1865, Lt. 10 Nov. 1865,

resigned 28 Sept. 1800.
t lohn Rogers, Ens. 18 Aug. 1805, Lt. 23 Feb. 1806, Capt.

15 May 1806, Bt. Major 15 May 1871, r. r. r. Major

19 Sept. 1873.

t David A. Hart, Ens. 18 Aug. 1865, Lt. 23 Feb. 1866, Capt.

14 IK-c, 1800, left limits 18 Dec. 1808.
t Henry Wall, Capt. 14 Sept. 1865.
f E. Thompson, Ens. 5 Oct. 1865, Deceased.

Chas. Ottley Smith, Ens. 14 Dec. I860, Lt. 31 Oct. 1867.

Deceased.

t Edward Quigley, Ens. 5 Oct. 1866, left limits 22 April 1870.
t lohn Bulmer, Ens. 5 Oct. 1865, Lt. 20 Oct. 1850, 5 April

1867, resigned 19 Feb. 1869, ret. rank 12 Dec. 1879,
t Thomas Correstine, Capt. 5 Oct. 1806, res. 14 Dec. 1866.
t Henry Cormack, Lt. 5 Oct. 1860, resigned 12 April 1807.
t Henry I almer, Ens d Oct. 1806
t Alfred Elliott, Ens. 2(i Oct. 1865.
f James McNider, Ens. 14 Dec. 1865.
t Patrick Mathews, Ens. 23 Feb. 1866, Lt. 5 Oct. 1866, Capt.

2>1 < >ct. 1860, r. r. r. 28 Dec. 1866.
f Alexander Milloy, Paymaster 13 April 1866, Hon. rank of

Capt. 13 April 1866, Hon. rank of Major 13 April

1871, r.r.r. 20 Nov. 1891.
t Edward L. Bond, Ens. 1 March 1806, Lt. 18 Oct. 1867,

Capt. 11 June 1869, Major 11 July 1873, r.r.r.

1") Aug. 1884, served subsequently with the Regiment

as Adjutant and second in command, in 1885.
t ( .. J. Macfarlane, Lt. 13 March 1806, Capt. 18 Oct. 1807,

resigned II June 1809.
t Wm. Johnson, Ens. 14 Dec. 1800, Otr. Mstr. 14 Dec. 1806,

reappointed Qtr. Mstr. 28 June 1889, res. 10 July

1807. deceased Jan. 1892. Buried with Military

honors. Hon. Capt. 28 June 1889.
C. O. Smythe, Ens. 14 Dec. 1866.
t Henry Bulmer, Ens. 14 Dec. 1806, Lt. 19 April 1807, Capt.

22 April 1870, r. r. r. of Lt 28 Oct. 1870
Skeffington Thompson, Ens. 12 April 1806, res. 21 Nov. 1807.
t Duncan McFee, Ens 12 April 1807, Lt. 11 Oct. 1807, Capt.

12 June 1808, ret. with Hon. rank of C apt. "> July 1878.

Robert Balfour, Ens. 19 July 1807, Qtr. Mstr. 19 July 1867.

f Fred. S. Barnjum, Lt. 29 Oct. 1867, Capt. 12 Aug. 1870,

Major 25 Feb. 1876, Adj. 12 Aug. 1870, Bt. Major

."> Nov. 1875, r. r. r. 23 Feb. 1877.
t John Robinson, Ens. 29 Oct. 1809, Lt. 22 April 1870, Capt.

20 Nov. 1870, resigned 27 March 1874.

t Hy. J. Mudge, Lt. 29 Oct. 1809, Capt. 12 Aug. 1870, res.

28 Oct. 1870.
f Samuel C. Stevenson, Lt. 22 April 1870, ( apt, 25 Nov. 1870,

Major 23 Feb. 1877, r. r. r. 29 April 1881.
t Jesse Deligny Armstrong, Ens. 22 April 1870, resigned

12 July 1872.

f Jas. Leslie Starnes, Ens. 12 Aug. 1870, res. 10 April 1872.
t Magnus Cormack, Capt. 12 Aug. 1870, res. 25 Oct. 1872.
f Chas. Newhouse Armstrong, Ens. 23 Sept. .1870, resigned

22 Dec. 1871.

Edw. Whiteway Mudge, Ens. 25 Nov. 1870, Lt. 13 Oct.

1871, Capt. 14 June 1872, Bt. Major 14 June 1877,
r. r. r. 5 Nov. 1880.

Richard t;. Lafrenaye, Ens. 25 Nov. 1870, res. 22 Dec. 1871 .
Clarence J. II. Chipman, M.D., Asst. Surgeon, 5 Jan. 1871,

resigned 5 Nov. 1875.
Alex. McTavish Watt, Ens. 28 Tune 1871, Lt. 13 Oct. 1871,

Capt. 11 July 1873. r. r. f. 5 Nov. 1880.
Wm. deCourcy Harnett, Ens. 3 Nov. 1871, Lt. 23 May 1872,

resigned 27 March, 1874.
Robert Tatlow, Ens. 26 Jan. 1872. Lt. 23 May 1872, Capt.

23 Feb. 1877, r. r. r. 30 Oct. 1879.

Damase Sincennes, Ens. 23 May 1872, res. 21 July 1876,

reinstated 21 Dec. 1877, Lt. 17 Dec. 188(>, Capt. 27

Oct. 1882, r.r.r. 27 Nov. 1885.
Thomas Howard Wright, Ens. 14 June 1872 and 2 Dec.

1874, Lt. 24 March 1875, Capt. 6 April 1877, r. r. r.

30 Oct. 1 879.
Kobt. W. Shepherd, Jr., Ens. 12 [uly 1872, Lt. 8 Nov.

1872, Capt. 24 July 1874, r. r. r. 30 Oct. 1879.
Geo. F. Armstrong, Capt. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 6 April

1877.

f Thos. Geo. Roddick, M.D., Capt. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 25
Sept. 1874, Appt. Surgn. 20 March 1885, served
during North West Rebellion as Deputy Surgeon
General.

Wm. Bell Dawson, Lt. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 5 Nov. 1875.
Robert Reddick, Lt. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 11 Sept. 1874.
Herbert S. Reddy, Ens. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 11 Sept
1874.

James C. Cameron, Ens. 19 Sept. 1873, resigned 19 June

1874.
Alex. Robertson, Ens. 19 Sept. 1873, Lt. 24 July 1874,

Capt. 9 Oct. 1874, r. r. r. 20 Nov. 1880.
Sidney Alfred Dunlevie, Lt. 11 Sept. 1874, resigned 10

Nov. 1870.
Ered. J. Claxton, Ens. 25 Sept. 1874 and 2 Dec. 1874, Lt.

"24 March 1875, resigned 9 Nov. 1877.
Thos. Chas. Watson, late II. M. 50th and 75th Regts., Capt.

12 April 1876, Adj. 22 April 1870, resigned 26 Jan.

1877.
John Fortune Nott, Ens. 13 Oct. 1876, Lt. 10 Nov. 1876,

Qtr. Mstr. with lion, rank Capt. 6 July 1878, Capt.

30 Oct. 1879, Major 29 April 1881, r. r.r. lyuly 1887.
Sidney Caldcott Chubb, Lt. 5 Nov. 1876, resigned 22 June

1877.
Wm. Wallace Watson, Ens. 10 Nov. 1870, Lt. 13 May

1878, Capt. 30 Oct. 1879, resigned 17 Dec. 1880.
Geo. Wm. Hatton, Capt. & Adj. 23 Feb. 1877, Bi. Major 7

June 1877, retired with rank C apt. 18 Jan. 1878.
Kenneth Cameron Patterson, Ens. 22 May 1877, Lt. 22 June

1877, deceased June 6 1883.

Stanley Kinnear, Ens. 22 May 1877, Lt. 22 June 1877,
resigned 16 Aug. 1878.

lohn Ogden Wilgress, Ens. 22 May 1877, Lt. 22 lune 1877,
Capt. 30 Oct. 1879, r. r. r. 18 June 1886.

fas. B. McConnell, Asst. Surgn. 6 Nov. 1877, resigned 13

April 188::.

Hy. Trollope Wilgress, Ens. 13 May 1878, Lt. 15 Nov.

1878, Capt. 26 Nov. 1880, r. r. r. of Lt 27 Oct. 1882.
loseph Ross Ilutchins, Ens. 5 July 1878. Capt. 15 Nov.

1878, Adj. 15 Nov. 1878, resigned 16 July 1880.
Russ Wood Huntingdon, Ens. 5 July 1878, resigned 1 Aug.

1879.
Ed. Kirke Greene, Ens. 21 July 1879, Lt. 24 March 1880,

Capt. 20 Nov. 188H, r". r. r. 12 Feb. 1886.
Stewart Hunter, Ens. 30 Oct. 1879, left the limits.
Wm. fas. Turpin, Qtr. Mstr. 20 Dec. 1879, Capt. 22 Dec.

1882, r.r.r. 10 July 1885.
Stewart Campbell, Ens. 23 Feb. 1880, Lt. 24 March 1880,

Capt. 17 Dec. 1880, Adj. 18 June 1880, Major 15

I uly 1887, r.r.r. 9 May 1890.

9 8

Claude de B. Leprohon, Ens. 23 Feb. 1880, Lt. 24 March

1880, Capt. 27 Nov. 1885, appointed Qtr. Master

28 June 1889, r. r. r. 9 May 1890.
Alton Fergus Clerk, Ens. 6 March 1880, Lt. 24 March 1880,

resigned 29 April 1881.

Phillip D. Ross, Ens. .I April 1880, resigned 5 Nov. 1880.
Thos. Page Butler, Capt. 17 Dec. 1880, Adj. 13 Jan. 1881,

Major ;i Oct 1 84, Lt. -Col. in command 29 March 89.
Herbert Story Hunter, 2 Lt. 29 April 1881 , resigned 13 April

1883, rejoined as Lt. 11 March 1887, resigned 13

Dec. 1889.
lames M. Paul, 2 Lt. 29 April 1881, Lt. 11 March 1887,

resigned 27 Nov. 1885.
R. Campbell Nelles, 2 Lt. 27 Oct. 1882, resigned 10 April

1885.
Chas. Patk Guy, 2 Lt. 13 April 1883, resigned 10 April

18S5.
Dennis Gaherty, Asst. Surgn. 30 June 1884, resigned 20

March 1885.
Ceo. F. Cooke, Capt. 3 Oct. 1884, Deceased 1891, buried

with military honors.
Win. E. Bradshaw, 2 Lt. 3 Oct. 1884, resigned 5 March

1880, rejoined as Captain 9 May 1890, resigned 28

July 1893.
K. W. Gambier- Bousfield, Lt. 10 April 1885, res. 30 Tuly

1886.
Arthur Scott Henshaw, Lt. 10 April 1885, Capt. 18 June

1880, r. r. r. 9 May 1890.
Chas. H. Godfrey, 2 Lt. 10 Aprill 1885, Capt. 18 June 1880,

r. r. r. 9 May 1890.

Thomas Tail, 2 Lt. 10 April 1885, res. 30 July 1886.
Frank Scott, 2 Lt. 10 April 1885, Lt. 18 June 188G, Capt.

17 Aug. 1 886, r. r. r. 9 May 1890, rejoined as Capt.

23 June 1893, r. r. r. 2 Dec. 1893.

Geo. Tillerie Ross, Asst. Surgeon, 24 April 1885, rank of

Surgeon 24 April 1895.

Wm. Abbott, Lt. 5 April 1885, res. 13 Dec. 1889.
H. T. A. Bell, 2 Lt. 18 June 1886, left limits 7 April 1887.
Robt. Hy. Wilson, Lt. 11 March 1887, res. 9 March 1895.
Fred. Austin Bourne, Lt. 11 March 1887, res. 11 May 1895.
Stanley Kinnear, 2 Lt. 11 March 1887, res. 21 Oct. 1887.
Geo. R. Lighthall, transferred from tith Fusiliers, Capt. Adj.

16 Sept. 1887, r. r. r. 26 June 1891.
Gaspard Lefevre, Lt. 21 Oct. 1887, Capt. 13 Dec. 1889.

Paymaster 20 Nov. 1891.
Alex. G. Milloy, Lt. 3 Feb. 1888, Capt. 2(1 Sept. 1890,

Deceased.
Thos. E. Howell, 2 Lt. 29 March 1889, Lt. 18 April 1890,

Capt. 9 May 1890, Adj. 20 func 1890, res. the adjtcy.

24 Dec. 1S91 , left limits 23 June 1892, joined Mounted
Police South Africa, wounded at Buluwayo 1896.

Edmund T. Bartlett, 2 Lt. 17 May 1889, Lt. 18 April 1890
Capt. 9 May 1890, r. r. r. 10 Nov. 1894.

Robert A. Dunton, 2 Lt. 14 June 1889, res. 16 Oct. 1891.

Hector Buie, 2 Lt. 14 June 1889, resigned 20 Nov. 1891.

Hugh McLean, 2 Lt. 9 May 1890, transferred to 48th High
landers 3 May 1892.

Win. Langley Bond, 2 Lt. 9 May 1890, Lt. 26 Sept. 1890,
Capt 26 June 1891, Adj. 14 Oct. 1893.

Gordon Lewis, 2 Lt. 9 May 1890, Lt. 26 Sept 1890, Capt.
1C, Oct. 1891, resigned 23 June 1893.

Edgar Noel Armstrong, 2 Lt. 22 May 1891, Lt. 20 Jan. 1893,
Capt. 1 June 1895.

Joseph Peter Cooke, Capt. 22 May 1891, Major 16 Oct. 1891.

Frank Meighen, Lt. 22 May 1891, transferred to Sth Batt.
1C, Dec. 1892.

John Porteous, Capt. 26 June 1891, Adj. 24 Dec. 1891, res.

the Adjtcy. resuming command of Company as Captain

14 Oct. 1893.
Cierald Baldwin McCrae, Lt. 26 June 1891, resigned 1 June

1895.
Thos. Francis Dobbin, 2 Lt. 26 June 1891, Lt. 20 Ian. 1893,

Capt. 28 July 1893.
Win. Simpson, 2 Lt. 2C, lune 1891, Capt. and Qtr. Mstr. 24

March 1892

Robt. Daubeny Howell, 2 Lt. 10 Oct. 1891, left limits 9
March 1895.

Douglass Dalzell Macrae, 2 Lt. 3 May 1892.
John Ainslie Finhiyson, (. apt. 20 Jan. 1893.

John Hood, Capt. and Lieut. -Col. 23 June 1893, from retired
list of Lieutenant-Colonels, formerly in command of
Royal Sects.

Walter Hunter Laurie, Major 7 July 1893, from retired list
of Majors.

Wm. Godbee Brown, 2 Lt. 4 Nov. 1893, Capt. 15 June

1895.
Wm. Geo. McVicar Stuart, 2 Lt, 4 Nov. 1893, Lt. 9 March

1895.
Lionel Lincoln Fisher Smith, 2 Lt. 4 Nov. 1893, Lt. 19

Sept. 1896.

Robert Bennett Hutcheson, 2 Lt. 19 May 1894.
Alan Butler, 2 Lt. 19 May 1894.
Graham Leonard Dobbin, 2 Lt. 19 May 1894, Lt. 19

Sept. 1896.

Wm. Edward Brown, 2 Lt. 12 Jan. 1895, Lt. 19 Sept. 1896.
J. H. Smith, 2 Lt. 9 March 1895.

D. D. F. Laurie, 2 Lt. 18 Feb. 1895, Lt. 27 June 1896.
Wm. Robinson, 2 Lt. 11 May 1895.
Augustus John Ross Bostwick, 2 Lieut. 8 Sept. IM C,.

f Officers who have seen War Service.

99