During the 1866 Fenian raids into the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in British North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report ...

, the Battle of Fort Erie was a surrounding and forcing of the

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

invaders' surrender following a skirmish near Fort Erie and the farther-away Battle of Ridgeway on June 2. The Fenian force, withdrawing from Ridgeway, met a small force of

Canadian militia The Canadian Militia is a historical title for military units raised for the defence of Canada. The term has been used to describe sedentary militia units raised from local communities in Canada; as well as the regular army for the Province of Ca ...

at Fort Erie, then known as the village of Waterloo.

Battle

In response to the Fenian occupation of the township of Fort Erie, Canada West, on the night of June 1, 1866, militia units throughout the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

had been mobilized or put on alert. At

Port Colborne Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

, a detachment of 51 gunners and NCOs, British

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

Bombardier Sergeant James McCracken and three officers (Captain Richard S. King, Lieutenants A.K. Schofield and Charles Nimmo emmo taken under command by Lieutenant-Colonel John Dennis, boarded a

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

, the ''W.T. Robb'', carrying the Dunnville Naval Brigade, consisting of 19 men and 3 officers (Captain Lachlan McCallum, Lieutenant Walter T. Robb, Second Lieutenant Angus Macdonald) (a total of 71 men and 8 officers) and steamed east to the

Niagara River The Niagara River ( ) flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, forming part of the border between Ontario, Canada, to the west, and New York, United States, to the east. The origin of the river's name is debated. Iroquoian scholar Bruce T ...

, then scouted downriver as far as Black Creek. The Welland Field Battery did not have its four Armstrong guns with it, and only half were armed with Enfield muzzle-loading rifles, with the other half armed with obsolete smooth-bore "Victoria" carbines that had a limited range of approximately 300 yards at best. Thinking the Fenians were gone, Canadian volunteers turned back upriver to secure the village of Fort Erie and deny them an escape route. A company of the Welland Field Battery landed without difficulty, capturing around 59 of the Fenian soldiers. But when John O'Neill returned with most of his large army from the nearby Battle of Ridgeway, the small number of Canadian volunteers that were sent to capture a small numbers of Fenian soldiers were not prepared. A firefight followed, in which the militia and sailors were outnumbered by Fenian soldiers causing most of the Canadian volunteers to surrender. The remaining Canadian volunteers on the gunboat went back to Port Colborne to inform of the situation while O'Neill the Fenian soldiers stayed in Fort Erie. Later, an estimated 5,000 Canadian militia reinforcements informed of the situation came and surrounded the Fenian movement’s army in Fort Erie. Causing O'Neill to retreat back to

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

. Some Fenians chose to desert, crossing the river on a variety of stolen or improvised craft. The remainder, 850 in number,For the figure of 850, see: H.W. Hemans to Lord Monck, telegram June 3, 1866, in .n.''Correspondence Relating to the Fenian Invasion and Rebellion of the Southern States'', Ottawa: 1869. p. 142; also Colonel Lowry, Report, June 4, 1866, ''Miscellaneous Records Relating to the Fenian Raids'', British Military and Naval Records "C" Series, RG8-1, Volume 1672; Microfilm reel C-4300, p. 282. (Public Archives of Canada) crossed in a body and surrendered to a US naval party from near Buffalo, putting an end to Fenian incursions along the Niagara Peninsula.

References

External links

''Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada''
Peter Vronsky
Fenians.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Fort Erie (1866) Fort Erie Fort Erie 1866 Fort Erie 1866 in Canada West June 1866 History of the Regional Municipality of Niagara

Battle

See also

References

Further reading

External links