IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 {./ 
 
 
 % 
 
 .*■ -^ 4i.' 
 
 
 1.0 if K£ 1^ 
 
 1.1 
 
 1.25 
 
 I us 112.0 
 
 1.4 
 
 I 
 
 1.6 
 
 V2 
 
 ^>. 
 
 ^iW ^ 
 
 Wv ^-^ 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) S73-4S03 
 
 V 
 
 V 
 
 ^ 
 
 L1>' 
 
 \\ 
 
 
 
 c^ 
 
 
 "9)^ 
 

 
 ^^ 
 
 fc 
 
 CIHM/ICMH 
 
 Microfiche 
 
 Series. 
 
 CIHM/ICIVIH 
 Collection de 
 microfiches. 
 
 Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 
 
Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques 
 
 The Institute has attempted to obtain the best 
 original copy available for filming. Features of this 
 copy which may be bibliographically unique, 
 which may alter any of the images in the 
 reproduction, or which may significantly change 
 the usual method of filming, are checked below. 
 
 D 
 
 □ 
 
 D 
 
 n 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured covers/ 
 Couverture de couleur 
 
 I I Covers damaged/ 
 
 Couverture endommag^e 
 
 Covers restored and/or laminated/ 
 Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e 
 
 ["71 Cover title missing/ 
 
 Le titre de couverture manque 
 
 □ Coloured maps/ 
 Cartes gdographiques en couleur 
 
 D 
 
 Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ 
 Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) 
 
 I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ 
 
 Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur 
 
 Bound with other material/ 
 Relid avec d'autres documents 
 
 Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion 
 along interior margin/ 
 
 La re Mure serrie peut causer de I'ombre ou de la 
 distortion le long de la marge int^rieure 
 
 Blank leaves added during restoration may 
 appear within the text. Whenever possible, these 
 have been omitted from filming/ 
 11 se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes 
 lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte. 
 mais, lorsque cela itait possible, ces pages n'ont 
 pas 4ti filmies. 
 
 Additional comments:/ 
 Commentaires supplimentaires; 
 
 L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire 
 qu'il \'A a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details 
 de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du 
 point de vue bibliographique, qut peuvent modifier 
 une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une 
 modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage 
 sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. 
 
 I I Coloured pages/ 
 
 D 
 
 Pages de couleur 
 
 Pages damaged/ 
 Pages endommagdes 
 
 Pages restored and/oi 
 
 Pages restaurSes et/ou pellicul6es 
 
 Pages discoloured, stained or foxei 
 Pages dScolor^es, tachet^es ou piqu6es 
 
 Pages detached/ 
 Pages d^tachees 
 
 Showthrough/ 
 Transparence 
 
 Quality of prir 
 
 Quality in6gale de I'impression 
 
 Includes supplementary materi: 
 Comprend du materiel supplementaire 
 
 Only edition available/ 
 Seule Edition disponible 
 
 j I Pages damaged/ 
 
 I I Pages restored and/or laminated/ 
 
 I I Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ 
 
 I I Pages detached/ 
 
 r~7| Showthrough/ 
 
 ["71 Quality of print varies/ 
 
 r~1 Includes supplementary material/ 
 
 I I Only edition available/ 
 
 Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata 
 slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to 
 ensure the best possible image/ 
 Les pages totalement ou partiellement 
 obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata. une pelure. 
 etc.. ont 6t6 film^es d nouveau de fa^on i 
 obtenir la meilleure image possible. 
 
 This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ 
 
 Ce document est filmA au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 
 
 10X 14X ItX y" 22X 
 
 26X 
 
 30X 
 
 // 
 
 12X 
 
 16X 
 
 20X 
 
 MX 
 
 28X 
 
 32X 
 
aire 
 
 > details 
 iues du 
 t modifier 
 iger une 
 ) filmage 
 
 The copy ffilmod hare has baan raproducad thanka 
 to tha ganarosity of: 
 
 Anglican Church of Canaiia 
 Synod ArchivM 
 
 Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha batt quality 
 posslbia considaring tha condition and lagibility 
 of tha original copy and In kaaping with tha 
 filming contract spacifications. 
 
 L'axamplaira filmi fut raproduit grica k la 
 gAn^roaitt da: 
 
 Anglican Church of Canada 
 Synod ArchivM 
 
 Las imagas suivantas ont AtA raproduitas avac la 
 plus grand soin, compta tanu da la condition at 
 da la nattatA da l'axamplaira filmA, at an 
 conformity avac las conditions du contrat da 
 filmaga. 
 
 / 
 j^es 
 
 Original copias in printed paper covers are filmed 
 beginning with the front cover and ending on 
 the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- 
 sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All 
 other original copias are filmed beginning on the 
 first page with a printed or illustrated imprea- 
 sion, and ending on the last page with a printed 
 or illustrated impression. 
 
 Les exemplairas originaux dont la couvarture en 
 papier est imprimAe sont filmto en commenpant 
 par la premier plat at en terminant soit par la 
 derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impreaaion ou d'illustration, soit par la second 
 plat, salon le cas. Tous lea autres exemplairas 
 originaux sont film6s an commenpant par la 
 premiere page qui comporte une empreinte 
 d'impreaaion ou d'illustration at en terminant par 
 la darnidre page qui comporte une telle 
 empreinte. 
 
 The last recorded frame on each microfiche 
 shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- 
 TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), 
 whichever applies. 
 
 Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la 
 derniire image de cheque microfiche, selon le 
 cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le 
 symbols V signifie "FIN". 
 
 ire 
 
 Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at 
 different reduction ratios. Those too large to be 
 entirely included in one exposure are filmed 
 beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to 
 right and top to bottom, as many frames as 
 required. The following diagrams illustrate the 
 method: 
 
 Les cartas, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent itre 
 filmfo A des taux de reduction diff Arents. 
 Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra 
 reproduit en un seul clichA, il est film* A partir 
 de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche h droite, 
 et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre 
 d'imagas nicessaira. Las diagrammes suivants 
 illustrent la m^thoda. 
 
 )y errata 
 ed to 
 
 mt 
 
 ne pelure. 
 
 a^on i 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 32X 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 

 \'&''tiv'/j',i:- 
 
 ■^#;%. 
 
 vVS 
 
 rf's/ 
 
 V ^' 
 
 If^.i^ 
 
 ."IS ;'.,.' A ' 
 
 f*»tf*R'.''S 
 
 
 ^'1 
 
 .V 
 
 ■ '<♦ ■■"■ • J^Jif T^ 
 
 
^ii: 
 
 m 
 
 
 iMU%: 
 
 
 ^"^mi^/ 
 
 THE 8th KING'S REGIMENT; 
 
 A CURIOSITY IN ITS ANNALS. 
 
 Sn.G 
 
 i 
 
 The Remains OF A Non-Commissioned Officer m this Regiment, killed 
 
 ,• AT the taking of York (Toronto) in 1813, are accidentally 
 
 ' discovered at Toronto in 1894, and are honorahly cared for 
 
 BY the Officers and Men of the same Rkgimknt, at IIalikax, 
 
 Nova Scotia, after a complete oversicmt, duly kx plained, or 
 
 more than eighty years. 
 
 iijiiii-:.!;; 
 
 
 ■Ir ift 
 
 BY the 
 
 REV. DR. SCADDING, 
 
 Aut/wr of " Toronto of Old." 
 
 TORONTO: 
 
 THE COrP, CLARK COMPANY, LIMITED, 
 
 67 & 69 Colborne Street. 
 1894. 
 
■•mMPI~~< 
 
THE 8th KING'S REGIMENT; 
 
 A CIMIIOSITY IN ITS ANNALS. 
 
 It is now more than twenty years since I prepared an account of the 
 taking of York by the Americans in 1813 for the pages of my " Toronto 
 of Old, Collections and Recollections Illustrative of the Early Settlement 
 and Social Life of the Capital of Ontario," where the narrative may be 
 seen in its proper place ; but as many persons at tho present time are not 
 acquainted with that work, or may not be able to gain ready access to it, 
 I have here given a brief abstract of the account referred to, with certain 
 annoi:ations appended, having for their object the maintenance of public 
 confidence in the general trustworthiness and accuracy of my book. 
 
 An accidental discovery of some human remains w^as lately made on the 
 south side of a shallow ravine or hollow caused by the course of a small 
 obscure stream, known formerly at its mouth where it entered the Bay, 
 not a verygreatl wayoflf, as "Goodman's Creek," from a fisherman who 
 lived near by. Tho said discovery in thil obscure place in the east part of 
 Toronto has given sudden rise to a discussion which has somewhat called 
 in question that portion of my narrative which described the interment, 
 or rather re-interment, in the year 1829, of the body of an oflicer killed 
 at the taking of York in 1813. 
 
 This re-interment was solemnly performed by the local military 
 authorities of the day ; and now it is asserted that a great blunder was 
 then unconsciously committed. It is held that the remains lately discov- 
 e' 3d were in reality those of this officer, whilst the body then re-interred 
 was that of some unknown person. 
 
 General Sheaffe, in his dispatch to Sir George Prevost (see Auchin- 
 leck's History of the War of 1812-13, p. 154), gives the killed as follows : 
 one captain, one sergeant-major, four sergeants, one drummer, fifty-two 
 rank and file, and three gunners. 
 
 The one captain here reported as killed, is allowed on all hands, to 
 have been the captain of the 8th Regiment, supposed to be interred by 
 
 ■win"»,«^ii~'"" 
 
inilifcary authorities in 1829. Tlmt the hnman remains found in the 
 ravine near Berkeley street were those of a soldier of the 8fch Regiment is 
 quite certain from the number of that regiment plainly to be seen on 
 numerous buttons found with the remains, but *.hat he was a commis- 
 sioned officer of that regiment is not certain. 
 
 There was, as we see from General SheaflFe's report, a sergeant-major 
 killed and in the case of a non-commissioned officer of that rank the 
 material of the dress would certainly be superior to that of an ordin- 
 ary private soldier, as also would be the make of the buttons and th; 
 weapon carried. 
 
 This is said because some minute fragments of the dress, which sur- 
 vived, were supposed to be of a quality worn only by commissioned 
 officers, and among the bones were fragments of a sword-blade ; while the 
 buttons found were by no means those of a common soldier. It was, 
 therefore, thought impossible that these remains could have been those of 
 the sergeant-major, who was known to have been killed, but must be 
 those of the one only commissioned officer slain, viz., Capt. McNeale.* 
 Let us, however, for one moment allow that these were the remains 
 of that officer. Then, to be consistent, we are to imagine that General 
 Sheaffi), while on his hasty retreat down the Kingston Road, after 
 hurriedly hiding away the body of the captain in this convenient ravine 
 close to the road, failed, on his arrival at Kingston, or even before, 
 to send back word to York by letter or messenger, to the friends of Capt. 
 lilcNeale, describing the exact spot where the body was deposited, in 
 order that due attention might be paid to it when peace was restored. 
 
 Dr. Hackett is spoken of as t/<e surgeon of the 8th Regiment, and he, 
 we gather, accompanied the survivors of the Grenadiers of the 8th in their 
 retreat down the Kingston Road, but returned to York very soon after. 
 
 We learn these particulars from the interesting journal of Mrs. Break- 
 enridge, to be seen at page 434 in " Toronto of C)ld," where she also de- 
 scribes the pleasure of the poor, wounded fellows when told that their 
 own surgeon was returning, whose place, she says, had been temporarily 
 taken out of sheer feelings of humanity, by Dr. W. W. Baldwin, a non- 
 practising physician of the place. Dr. Hackett, if no one else, would as- 
 suredly have been ordered by General Sheaffe to point out the where- 
 abouts of the slain captain's remains. Nothing of the kind, however, was 
 done by the General, and eighty years were to elapse before the important 
 disclosure should take place. This, of course, is incredible iii the case of 
 
 *In "Toronto of Old," I employed the orthography "McNeil," because the name so 
 appeared in the public account ^ven of the re-interment in 1829. I now adopt the form 
 " MoNeale, ' as that appears tp be in reality the oorrect mode. Gen. Sheafife spells the name 
 McNeal, 
 
:' 
 
 such a character as Capt. McNeale, who had been the observed )f uU ob- 
 servers at York immediately on his arrival there, as we learn f ' m the 
 journal just referred to. In the case of the Sergeant-major, on the other 
 hand, it is not incredible ; his fate, however noble, would, ot necessity, 
 not excite the same personal interest among the inhabitants of York as 
 did that of Capt. McNeale, and hence the body luirriedly thrn9<- i"'ny 
 under the bushes in the obscure ravine, remained uncared for and became 
 quite forgotten until accidentally unearthed m the year 1894. 
 
 According to the testimony of those who saw the remains when first 
 uncovered, it would appear that the body had been deposited in its hiding 
 place in a hap-hazard manner, indicative of hasty action, in a bent posture 
 and with the face downwards. Persons possessed of a more perfect vision 
 than my own declared that the dead soldier had undergone an amputation 
 of the arm, the principal bone showing the action of the surgeon's saw, 
 and I myself, at the request of the bystanders, felt with my fi /er the end 
 of this bone, which was smooth, as if it had been divided by a fine saw, 
 and not fractured or splintered. 
 
 The theory immediately presented itself that the unfortunate man was 
 being charitably conveyed along by his comrades in their flight down the 
 Kingston Road, when it was discovered that life had departed and that it 
 would be of no avail to bear their burden any farther ; it was accordingly 
 taken aside and hidden away in the damp, swampy ground where it was 
 found. 
 
 The small, narrow slats, portions of which were found under the bones, 
 along with some rude nails, were fragments, it is likely, of the extempor- 
 ized litter on which he was being carried. 
 
 Experts who afterwards examined and arranged the bones, judged 
 that they were those of a person over six feet in height, in the vigor of 
 manhood, with the teeth remarkably sound, all of them points not un- 
 likely to distinguish a Sergeant-major in the Grenadier company of the 
 King's 8th Regiment. 
 
 The whole story is an amusing modern instance which might be 
 quoted to show how easily and how speedily plain facts in history may 
 occasionally be transformed, or even reversed, without any intention 
 whatever of deception. (It were to be wished that the name of this 
 gallant Sergeant-major, as well as the names of the for.r Sergeants who 
 fell with him, could be recovered, in order that proper respect might be 
 shown to them, at Halifax, or elsewhere. They might possibly yet be 
 found in some old orderly book or roll call, still extant among the papers 
 of the regiment.) 
 
 I have now to narrate the fortunes that befell the real remains of the 
 
6 
 
 1. 
 
 veritable Capt. McNeale, as attested by remembered facts and authentic 
 records. It will be necessary first to transport ourselves to the Garrison 
 Common, situated some three miles to the west of Berkeley street, where 
 the human remains which have given rise to this discussion were exhumed. 
 
 The Garrison Common was a fine, spacious piece of ground, cleared of 
 trees, extending all the way from the western gate of the old garrison al- 
 most to the shore of the Humber Bay. On the left all along was the cliff 
 overhanging the lake, with a well-worn, irregular pathway running near 
 its edge ; and, on the right, down to quite a late period, were woods of a 
 greater or less density or altitude, a survival of the vast forest that had 
 once covered the whole district. The clearance had l)een made when the 
 trading-post of Fort Rouill^, afterwards better known as Fort Toronto, 
 was established, so as to guard that stockade from any sudden surprise 
 from the Indians. (Major Rogers, who was sent up to take possession of 
 the post after its evacuation by the French, in 1760, states that a clearing 
 ol n'ouui^ 300 acres had been made round the fort.) Every square rood of 
 ,the Garrison Common was well known to the inhabitants of York, especi- 
 ally to the younger portion of them, and the spot was well frequented by 
 them, on the occasion of militia training, and grand military reviews. On 
 this common had taken place the ever memorable contest between the 
 ■American invaders and the defenders of the town, in. the year 1813. 
 
 The landing-place of the invaders, far to the west, used on these occa- 
 sions to be eyed with ever fresh interest ; the hummocks and digcrings 
 marking the site of the old French trading-post were scanned again and 
 again, where it had been the intention of the American commander at 
 firsc CO uiseaibark, when he was prevented from so doing by the preval- 
 «nce of a strong easterly gale. 
 
 Along by the cliff, eastward of this, the principal collision between the 
 American force advancing towards the town, and the British regulars op- 
 posing their progress, seems to have taken place ; this would be some- 
 where near the part of the bank or cliff where are now seen the white cut- 
 stone barracks. The powder magazine, which at a later period in the en- 
 gagement exploded with such disastrous effects to both parties, was situ- 
 ated still further to the eastward, below the bank, close to the western 
 gate of the old garrison. 
 
 In the vicinity of the modern cut-stone barracks, and elsewhere over 
 the whole common, there used frequently to be picked up and preserved 
 as relics, fragments of weapons, military buttons and buckles, small pieces 
 <jf human bone, flattened bullets, and even occasionally a cannon ball. 
 
 Here, on the cliff, seen of all and well known to every passer by, was 
 the grave of the unfortunate ofiicer so unhappily killed at the taking of 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 I 
 
ithe 
 op- 
 
 1 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 York ; this was Capt. McNeale, of the King's 8th, who, with his Grena- 
 diers, appears to have pushed on through the woods on the north side of 
 the Common, with a view to roacliing, without molestation from the ene- 
 mies' ships, the point whore the Americans were about to land ; but be- 
 coiiiiizg embarrassed in some way, he arrived at that point somewhat too 
 late. The enemy had landed, and all he could do was to attack them in 
 the rear, and, if possible, rejoin Gen. Sheaffe, who had already been re- 
 pulsed, and was now in full retreat towards the old garrison and the 
 town. 
 
 An engagement immediately took place, and the unfortunate Grena- 
 diers were overwhelmed by superior numbers, and suffered most severely ; 
 when the engagement was over we have reason to know that the remains 
 of Capt. McNeale, who then fell, were taken charge of by the American 
 authorities, and committed to the ground ; this we learn from the state- 
 ment given on the best authority in the Loyalist newspaper, which we 
 shall quote more at length presently. On that occasion, of course, the 
 customary volleys over a dead officer's remains had not been fired. The 
 deficiency was now to be supplied. 
 
 The remains of the captain, the Loyalist expresslj' sets forth, were 
 " consigned to earth by the hands of the enemy." The same humane 
 courtesy that caused minute guns to be fired from the American fort in 
 the preceding year, while the sad obsequies of the slain Gen. Brock were 
 being performed in the bastion of Fort George, would, without doubt, in- 
 duce Gen. Dearborn and Commodore Chauncey to regard with respect the 
 dead body of the gallant officer who had fallen in the defence of the place, 
 and would mark his grave in some effective way. It would probably be 
 by means of a bold stake or rude headboard, at all events the grave was 
 well known, as is seen by the fact that when the encroachment of the 
 waters of the lake threatened the safety of ^.uo contents of the said j^jrave, 
 the military commandant at the post. Major V^ Uniett, immedip.toly took 
 •steps for their protection and preservation. The whole of the article in 
 the Loyalist newspaper of May 9th, 1829 to which so many references 
 have been made, reads as follows : — 
 
 " THE LATE CAPT. McNEIL. 
 "It will be recollected by many of the inhabitants of York that this 
 officer fell while gallantly fighting at the head of his company of Grena- 
 diers of the 8th Regiment, in deff ice of the place, on the morning of the 
 27th of April, 1813. His remains, which so eminently deserved rites of 
 honourable sepulture, were, from unavoidable circumstances, consigned to^ 
 earth by the hands of the enemy whom he was opposing near the spot 
 
8 
 
 whem he fell, without any of those marks of distinction which are paid toi 
 departed valor." 
 
 "The waters of the lake," the Loyalist then proceeds to say, ''having, 
 lately made great inroads upon the bank, and the grave being in danger 
 of belns; washed away, it may ^e satisfactory to his friends to learn that, 
 on these circumstances being made known to Major Winniett, command- 
 ing the 68th Regiment at this post, he promptly authorized the necessary 
 measures to be taken for removing the remains of Capt. McNeil and 
 placing them in the garrison burial ground, which was done this day. A 
 firing-party and the band attended <m the occasion, and the remains were 
 followed to the place of interment by the officers of the garrison, and a 
 procession of the inhabitants of the town and vicinity." 
 
 Whtiii we take into consideration the high class character of the 
 Loyalist newspaper, and realize the circumstance that its editor and pro- 
 prietor, Mr. Robert Stanton, had been, both in 1813 and in 1829, an actor 
 in the scenes described or alluded to, is it possible that any reasonable 
 man can say that the extract just given is not an authentic and reliable 
 record 1 As to Major Winniett himself, I perfectly remember his appear- 
 ance ; I am sure it was not that of a man likely to be taken in or carried 
 away by plausible talk. He would thoroughly investigate the facts be- 
 fore acting on the representations made to him by the inhabitants of 
 York, in regard to the imperilled grave of Capt. McNeale. Shortly after,, 
 when tranquility was restored, friends would surround this with a paling, 
 as was actually done, to my certain knowledge, in the case of an Indian 
 chief or brave named " Yellowhead," who also fell at the taking of York ;, 
 this solitary railing round an Indian grave was a conspicuous object to all 
 travellers northward on Yonge street, in an ancient Indian burying-ground 
 near the spot now known as Clover Hill. (For full particulars, see 
 "Toronto of Old," p. 399.) 
 
 "Major Winniett and the 68th" sound to me, at this moment, like 
 very familiar household words ; I remember well where the Major lived, 
 in a long, one-storey house on Queon street, just to the north of where 
 St. Andrew's Market now stands. The building had a broad verandah in 
 front, and it was often spoken of as Major Winniett's " Bungalow." When 
 the Major and the 68th were here, I was a boy in attendance at the old 
 District Grammar School and was daily mixed up with the sons or other 
 junior relatives of many who had been present at the " capture " of York 
 —with the sons of Colonel Givins for example, the sons of Dr. Strachan, 
 Rector of York in 1813, the Fitzgibbon boys, the two Fullers (Thomas 
 and William), Allan and James Macdonell, William and St. George 
 Baldwin, and others; and I distinctly remember when Major Winniett's 
 
ire paid to< 
 
 r, "having, 
 ; in danger 
 learn that 
 command- 
 > necessary 
 [cNeil and 
 .8 day. A 
 nains were 
 son, and a 
 
 ter of the 
 )r and pro- 
 l9, an actor 
 reasonable 
 nd reliable 
 his appear- 
 i or carried 
 e facts be- 
 ibitants of 
 lortly after,. 
 1 a paling, 
 an Indian 
 g of York ;, 
 bject to all 
 ing-ground 
 culars, see 
 
 )ment, like 
 'ajor lived, 
 of where 
 erandah in 
 w." When 
 at the old 
 ts or other 
 " of York 
 Strachan, 
 •s (Thorn a» 
 st. George 
 Winniett's 
 
 !, 
 
 proposed removal of the killed oificer's remains from thd edge of the cliflF 
 to the military burying grounds was excitedly talked of amongst us, and 
 had there been the slightest inkling of a suspicion on the part of any of 
 us or of any friends or relatives at home, as to their genuineness, I should 
 certainly have heard of it, and should certainly at this moment vividly re- 
 call it, verging so closely on the ludicrous as the thing M'ould have been, 
 if the suspicion had proved true, but there was no misgiving of this kind 
 suggested from any quarter, and accordingly we may be quite sure that 
 *' the inhabitants of the town and vicinity," who, as the Loyalist news- 
 paper of the time tells us, followed ia procession after Major Winniett's 
 firing party, did so with the feeling that they were simply performing a 
 serious duty in honor of a gallant ofiicer whom they had all seen and 
 known. 
 
 In that procession would be walking Mr. Robert Stanton, afterwards 
 King's Printer and then editor of the Loyalist newspaper, who, on going 
 back to town, on the very same day penned the article in his paper now 
 before me, which speaks of the proceedings there narrated as taking place 
 on " that day," viz., May 9th, 1829. 
 
 Mr. Stanton's name appears in the list of those who were to be nomin- 
 ally held as prisoners of war by General Dearborn and Commodore 
 Chauncey after the taking of York (April 27th, 1813) ; the same list com- 
 prised the names of many others who would probably make a point of 
 attending Capt. McNeale's obsequies on the Garrison Common. A lapse 
 of sixteen years had produced very little change in the mental and bodily 
 activity of Lieut.-Col. Chewett, for example ; or Major Allen ; or of Cap- 
 tains Duncan Cameron, John Robinson (afterwards Attorney-General and 
 Chief Justice), Samuel Ridout, William Jarvis (the future sheriflf) ; or of 
 Lieutenants George Ridout, Edward McMahon, Eli Playter, Robert 
 Stanton (it is here that his name occurs) ; or of Ensigns Andrew Mercer, 
 James Chewett, Chas. Denison, Geo, Denison or D'Arcy Boulton. I have 
 omitted a few names of persons not so well remembered, but all those 
 who have been given, were to my certain knowledge and recollection liv- 
 ing and moving conspicuously in and about York in the year 1829, and 
 would be very likely, as I conceive, to make their way to the Garrison 
 Common to witness and take part in the interesting ceremonies which 
 were to take place, and which without doubt did take place there, on the 
 9th of May, 1829. 
 
 All parties may therefore with a full confidence continue in the belief 
 which was undisturbed down to the year 1894, that the remains of Capt. 
 McNeale, of the 8th, at this moment rest in peace in the a jient military 
 burying ground of York (i.e. , Toronto). 
 
10 
 
 It is to be regretted that when a portion of that burying ground was 
 transformed into a public ornamental park for the use of the citizens, a 
 number of the memorial objects therein contained were thoughtlessly 
 destroyed or sodded over, and in this way whatever token of remembrance 
 Major Winniett may have caused to be set up, has been unfortunately lost 
 to view. 
 
 On the interior walls of the adjoining church, St. John the Evangelist, 
 Toronto, there are already to be seen several military memorials in the 
 form of a suitably inscribed brass plate. Another, in memory of Capt. 
 McNeale, whose remains must be resting at a distance not many yards off, 
 would be a very proper addition. 
 
 l# 
 
vround was 
 i citizens, a 
 oughtlessly 
 membrance 
 inately lost 
 
 Evangelist, 
 rials in the 
 ry of Capt. 
 y yards oflf, 
 
 #•