146 Bayswater

Fenian Raids

The Fenian Brotherhood was a nationalist Irish group that was dedicated to the cause of liberating Ireland from Britain. In 1865, a group led by James Stephens tried to invade Ireland but was caught by the British and thrown into a British jail. Some Fenians split from Stephens because they felt that he had misrepresented the state of affairs in Ireland. At roughly the same time, the United States Civil War ended, leaving many restless men without a form of employment. Many enlisted in the Fenian Brotherhood, who now looked to Canada as the base of their operations. Canada was considered to be in the thrall of the British, and liberating the country would allow for the Fenians to prepare for an eventual invasion of Ireland. Fenians believed that the many Irish in the Canadian military would gladly defect to the Fenians rather than fight their countrymen. Their plan of invasion involved a three-pronged approach: one aimed at Fort Erie, one at the Eastern Townships, and one at Prescott which was intended to lead to the capture of Ottawa. By April 1866, there were three hundred Fenians gathered at the border of New Brunswick and Maine.

In truth, the Fenians were not organised well enough to present a proper threat to Canada. Their one success was to land at Fort Erie on June 1 of 1866. They planted the Irish flag in the ground, breakfasted at the local hotel, and then wandered around commandeering chickens, hams, and wagons. Canada and the British army felt humiliated. A week later, Parliament passed a bill for the suspension of Habeas Corpus. The Fenians’ attempt to capture Prescott was thwarted by a British gunboat which patrolled the river, and the gathering of 2,000 Canadian militia. Nevertheless, threats of invasions kept spreading throughout the capital, and Ottawa’s downtown was turned into a military camp. Fear of the Fenians was inflamed by the actions of Thomas McGee, an Irish-Canadian MP. He was aware of the many Fenians cells that existed in the country, and began to lecture his countrymen. He insisted that Canada should be respected because there was no other country where Irishmen were so respected. Other Irish retorted that there was no respect for the Irish in a country under the British flag. They began to distrust McGee, especially when he angrily announced that he would betray any Fenian he knew to the government, and other Members of Parliament feared that he would alienate the Irish vote. McGee gradually withdrew from Parliamentary activity in 1868, but he remained passionate about national unity in the face of the Fenian threat. His campaign against the Fenians culminated violently in his own murder. On April 6, 1868, he gave a speech, walked to his rooms, and was shot as he was putting his latchkey in the lock. The murder was attributed to the tailor Patrick Whelan, but it is possible that he was falsely accused.

McGee's murder increased Canadian fear, and thus contributed to the one positive aspect of the Fenian Raids: national unity. The provinces came together into the Dominion of Canada in order to present a united front against the Fenians. McGee possibly inflated the scare in April 1866 which caused New Brunswick to join, and later he lectured Joseph Howe about national unity when the Nova Scotians were considering leaving Canada. The Raids brought Canadians together in that many of them volunteered to join military bands. Drill halls were hastily constructed and barns were repurposed. The British regular troops were in Canada, but the service largely fell on volunteers. David Cuthbertson was almost certainly a volunteer instead of a part of the regular militia, joining a volunteer regiment such as the Bytown Volunteer Company of Militia.

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