Troublous Times in Canada by John A. MacDonald (ebook pc reader .txt) 📕

all loyal Canadians he could lay hands on. Several prominent citizens were confined in the fort by Riel's order and subjected to insults and indignities, while their worldly possessions were pillaged and destroyed. Among those who especially fell under Riel's displeasure was a loyal Canadian named Thomas Scott. He was a bold and fearless young man, and his sturdy patriotism to his country and his determined manner of expressing his views, angered Riel, who ordered him under arrest. He was taken to Fort Garry and confined in a cell, but made his escape. He was soon recaptured, and Riel at once convened a court-martial and sentenced Scott to be shot at 10 o'clock the next morning. The unfortunate prisoner was not allowed to make any defence. Riel's word was law, and to gratify his angry passions he ordered the execution to take place the following morning. Therefore on the 4th of March, 1870, poor Scott was led outside of the walls of the fort by a party of six rebels under command of Ambrose Lepine and brutally murdered. When the news of this inhuman butchery reached Ontario the people of the Province were filled with feelings of intense indignation, and the public and press demanded the Government to take immediate action in organizing a force to stamp out the rebellion and effect the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators of the crime.

The Government promptly heeded the appeals of the people, and on the 16th of April, 1870, an Order-in-Council was passed by the Cabinet authorising the organization of a military contingent for service in the new Province of Manitoba, the principal object being to quell the Riel Rebellion, arrest the leaders, and establish law and order in that territory. In accordance with this resolution two battalions of riflemen were organized, which were designated as the First (Ontario) Battalion, and the Second (Quebec) Battalion of Rifles. Each battalion consisted of seven companies, with an establishment of three officers and 50 non-commissioned officers and men to each company. The staff of each battalion consisted of one Lieutenant-Colonel, one Major, one Adjutant (with rank of Captain), one Paymaster, one Surgeon, one Quartermaster-sergeant, one Hospital Sergeant, one Sergeant-Major, one Armorer-Sergeant, and one Paymaster's Clerk, making the total strength of each battalion 375 of all ranks. These battalions were composed of volunteers from existing corps of the Active Militia in the seven Military Districts of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and the terms of enlistment were for one year, or longer if their services were required. The enrolling of the men to form these organizations commenced on the 1st of May, and the ranks were quickly filled. The various companies were concentrated at Toronto, where they were clothed and equipped, and placed under the orders of Colonel Fielden, of Her Majesty's 60th Royal Rifles. All of the field and line officers were duly appointed, gazetted, and joined their respective corps in due time, and in a few weeks the expeditionary force was in excellent condition for active service.

The following is a roster of the officers who were on active service, in command of the volunteer corps named, on the Red River Expedition:-


FIRST (ONTARIO) RIFLES.

Lieut.-Col. Samuel P. Jarvis, commanding officer; Major
Griffiths Wainwright.

Captains-Thomas Scott, Thomas Macklem, William M.
Herchmer, William Smith. Alex. R. Macdonald. Daniel H.
McMillan and Henry Cook.

Lieutenants-Donald A. Macdonald, David M. Walker,
William N. Kennedy, Andrew McBride, William J. McMurty,
Samuel B. Harman and James Benson.

Ensigns-A. J. Z. Peebles, Stewart Mulvey, Josiah J.
Bell, Samuel Hamilton, John Biggar, William H. Nash and
Hugh John Macdonald.

Paymaster-Capt. J. F. B. Morrice.

Adjutant-Capt. Win. J. B. Parsons.

Quartermaster-Edward Armstrong.

Surgeon-Alfred Codd, M.D.


SECOND (QUEBEC) RIFLES.

Lieut.-Col. Louis Adolphe Casault, commanding officer;
Major Acheson G. Irvine.

Captains-Z. C. A. L. de Bellefeuille, Allan Macdonald,
Jacques Labranche, Samuel Macdonald, Jean Baptiste Amyot,
John Fraser, Wm. J. Barrett.

Lieutenants-J. W. Vaughan, John P. Fletcher, Edward T.
H. F. Patterson. Oscar Prevost. Maurice E. B. Duchesnay,
Henri Bouthillier, Leonidas de Salaberry.

Ensigns-Ed. S. Bernard, John Allan, George Simard,
Gabriel L. Des Georges, Alphonse de M. H. D'Eschambault,
William W. Ross, Alphonse Tetu.

Paymaster-Lieut. Thos. Howard.

Adjutant-Capt. F. D. Gagnier.

Quartermaster-F. Villiers.

The following officers were appointed to positions on
the Brigade Staff in connection with the expedition:-

Assistant Brigade Major-Major James F. McLeod.

Assistant Control Officer-Capt. A. Peebles.

Orderly Officer on Staff of Commanding Officer-Lieut.
Frederick C. Denison.

The total strength of the expeditionary force amounted to about 1,200, which was composed of about 350 officers and men of H. M. 60th Royal Rifles, detachments of Royal Artillery and Engineers, the First and Second Rifles above mentioned, and a contingent of Canadian voyageurs.

The whole expedition was in command of that gallant soldier Colonel Garnet S. Wolseley (who afterwards won honor and fame in foreign campaigns, and became a Field Marshal of the British Army). The troops left Toronto in May on their long trip to Fort Carry, going by steamboat to Prince Arthur's Landing (now Port Arthur), from which point they took the old "Dawson route" to their destination. It was a most difficult undertaking, but the undaunted courage of the officers and men and their determination to overcome all obstacles triumphed, as they forced their way through rivers, lakes, swamps, muskegs and forest until they reached the prairie land of Manitoba. They were about three months on the way, arriving at Port Garry on the 24th of August. During this time it became necessary for the men to cut trails through brake and bramble, construct corduroy roads, build boats, ascend dangerous rapids, portage stores and supplies over almost insurmountable places, meanwhile fighting mosquitoes and black flies, and encountering countless dangers, all of which they cheerfully performed with their characteristic bravery until the whole expedition was successfully landed on Manitoba soil without serious mishap.

Their approach to Fort Garry was made so quietly and quickly that Riel and his followers had barely time to get out of the fort and scatter in all directions before the troops arrived, and therefore they did not have an opportunity of using force to quell the rebellion. Unfortunately Riel and his lieutenants succeeded in making their escape. Fort Garry was at once occupied by the column and the Union Jack hoisted on the flag-staff, amid ringing cheers for the Queen, while the artillery fired a royal salute.

The arrival of Col. Wolseley's troops was hailed with delight by the loyal residents of what is now the flourishing city of Winnipeg, as they had suffered severe persecutions by the rebels during the period that Riel and his lieutenant Ambrose Lepine held sway in their career of rebellion. Lawful authority was quickly established, and all fragments of the revolt being stamped out by Col. Wolseley, the loyal citizens took up the work of temporary organization of the necessary civil institutions for the proper government of the Province, pending the arrival of Hon. Mr. Archibald, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the new domain. In this work Mr. Donald A. Smith (now Lord Strathcona) proved a tower of strength, and with the assistance of Dr. John Schultz and other loyal residents of the Province, matters were soon shaped into a state of peace, progress and prosperity.

Lieutenant-Governor Archibald arrived at Fort Garry on Sept. 2nd, and a few days later assumed the duties of his office. When it became absolutely certain that all of the embers of the rebellion had been extinguished, Colonel Wolseley returned to the east with the regular troops, leaving the Canadian volunteers still on duty in Manitoba. They remained at Fort Garry until the following spring, when their services being no longer required they were ordered home for "muster out."

That the Canadian volunteers and voyageurs acquitted themselves creditably on the occasion of the Red River Rebellion is a matter of history, and that their services were highly appreciated by Colonel Wolseley is evidenced by the fact that when he was put in command of the British troops operating in the Egyptian campaign, and desired a method of transporting his troops and stores up the River Nile, he remembered his Red River experience, and promptly asked for a contingent of Canadian voyageurs to handle his system of transport by the great water route, and got them. That they did their duty in the Land of the Pharoahs as thoroughly as they did on previous occasions at home, will always stand to their credit in the annals of the British Army.


APPENDIX


CHAPTER I.

THE BOOKER INVESTIGATION-RESULT OF THE FINDING OF THE COURT OF INQUIRY REGARDING THE CAUSE OP THE RETREAT AT RIDGEWAY.

The following is a report of the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry held at Hamilton on Tuesday, July 3rd, 1866, by order of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, on the application of Lieut.-Col. Booker, to examine and report on the circumstances connected with the engagement at Lime Ridge (or Ridgeway) on June 2nd:

The following officers composed the Court: President, Col. George T. Denison, Commandant Volunteer Militia, Toronto; members-Lieut.-Col. James Shanly, London; Lieut.-Col. G. K. Chisholm, Commanding Oakville Rifle Company, Oakville.

The letter of instructions from Col. P. L. Macdougall, the Adjutant-General of Militia, for the guidance of the Court, addressed to Col. Denison (the President), and also the letter from Lieut.-Col. Durie, by the authority of the Adjutant-General, on the same subject (also addressed to the President) were both read and duly considered by the Court previous to their entering upon the subject of inquiry.

Lieut.-Col. Booker having previously received due notice of the sitting of the Court and of the object of the inquiry, was permitted to be present, and he desired liberty of the Court to put in a written narrative of events as they occurred from the time he left Hamilton until he returned from Lime Ridge to Port Colborne.

The orders for the assembling of the Court were then produced and read, as follows:-


GOVERNMENT ORDERS.

On application of Lieut.-Col. Booker, the Commander-in-Chief directs the assembly of a Court of Inquiry at Hamilton, on Tuesday, the 3rd of July, 1866, to examine witnesses and report on the circumstances connected with the late engagement at Lime Ridge. President, Col. G. T. Denison; members, Lieut.-Col. James Shanly, and Lieut.-Col. G. K. Chisholm.

(Signed) P. L. MACDOUGALL,
Colonel, A.G.M.
WM. L. DURIE,
Lieut.-Col., A.A.G.M.

OTTAWA, 24th June, 1866.
[A true copy].


TORONTO, 2nd July, 1866.