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 THE CUNflDmN MILITm : 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 A Lecture delivered to the Young Men's Association of 
 St. Paul's Church, Montreal, on 8th March, 1886, 
 
 BY 
 
 Comtnanding Brigade Montreal Garrison Artjller_y. 
 
 i 
 
 ^'- 
 
 f\ 
 
 P)^ 
 
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 ill 
 
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 02 
 
THE CANADIAN MILITIA: 
 
 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 BV 
 
 LIEUT. COL. "W, R. Oa'W-A.LID, 
 
 ('omimintitiuf B* i\ftuir Mmlixiil. (iarrmtju At'fUkry, 
 
 THE CANADIAN MILITIA. 
 
 An Historical Sketch of their 
 Services to tiie State. 
 
 TB>: WARS OF 1759-76 AND 1812. 
 
 The Feniau luvasions aud the Receut Troubles 
 iu the Northwest. 
 
 TIa' I'ullnwiii:; is II lull rciKir' ot ii Icctmv 
 delivfioil hv Lit'Ut -T..!. OswuM, JJ (J .\ , in 
 St. raulH L'liiirch lti;tiin) ifxiii, Mciitrcul, 
 at IIk! ii'i|m'st (if the Vouiih; MtMiis 
 UKHMi.iiilioti «it tliiit t'litiK'li, on iMonciiiv ovoii- 
 iiiKi tlit! Htli Miircli, I8rtt;. 'I'lio clmir was 
 occiiiiiiid by Mr II A. lliiiiHuy, idosidtiit of 
 tlio itKsiK iiitioii. (.'ol. OsvMilii iiavitig breti 
 intitnlia'1'd Ity ttiuClmiiintin, wuid.— 
 
 Mr. Cliiiiiiiiaii, ladies mid KtMitlcincti, iirui, 
 I was ;,'()iii« to Hay, comrades — let lUf say 
 i.'i)niradt:s of llu- i'liun;li — I biiuK Imforo youi' 
 noticu to-iiiKlit no ^n-at Ktoiy of tho soldi«'i' h 
 illory ; I cannot sin^, as old Virgil did, of 
 mighty deeds of arms and of men ; I cannot, 
 with Macaiday, weave into lieroic lueas- 
 Uru " hiysof tlio brave da>H of old;" neither 
 can 1 rouse your Scottish blood intoenHiu. 
 KiaHiu vMih stoiieH such as liewitclicd our 
 childhood, of till) doHperato vuior of Wallucu 
 ami ol lirU'C, Ol ^daddeii the Knglish lieait by 
 rueuuiitiiiK ;;i'uat batthis like Tiafalgai aud 
 Waterloo. I can but try to portray to you in 
 uuHkilled luuKuage sumu uf the oiideavurH uf 
 
 your forcfathern, and of your brothers of the 
 pretient day, to keep intact ami safe froui in- 
 ternal trouble or foreinu invasion the |;reat 
 iiiheritHiicu of this D<<iuinion. And yet, watt 
 there ever nation born into thi^' world under 
 a fiercer or more glorious struggle than that 
 which dye 1 with blood the I'laius of Abra- 
 ham on the 13th ot September, 1750, when 
 in the midst of heroism and of death the 
 "tleiirde lis" of France j/ave place on the 
 rocky Citaue! of Quebec to the " eui«ign " of 
 Great Britiilri ' To most of you the story of 
 
 j this great iuiiievement 18 well known, but in- 
 uMuiicb as trom it s|)rang th*; liritish Canada 
 
 j \ji to-day, and that in it I tiud tho 
 
 j KIIIST RECORD Olf AN KNGLI.SH VOLfNTEER 
 
 I iu Canada, a slight reference to it now may 
 not be amiss and to its hero — General Wolfe. 
 In the assault Wolfe himself bd the way at 
 the bead of the Louisburgh Grenadiers, 
 'riien over the lields Hr()se the Ibitiidi cheer, 
 mi.xed with the tierce ytdl of the Highland 
 slogan. The clansmen drew their Hwoids, 
 I keen iiiid switt as bloodhounds. A shot shat- 
 I tered Wolfe's wrist ; he murtled his handker- 
 ' chi( f about it and kept on. Anothia' shot 
 I striK'k him, and he still advanced. When a 
 i thiid lodged in his breaHt. he stagguied and 
 I sal on the ground. Lieut. Uiowu. of the 
 Ort nadiers, one Henderson, a votiinlen; and 
 a private soldier, aided by an ollicer of artil- 
 lery, wlio ran to join them, « arried him iu 
 their arms to the rear. He begged them to 
 lay him down , tiiey did so, and arked if be 
 woul'.l have a surgeon. " There's no need," 
 he aiiHweriid, " its all over with me." A 
 moment after one of them cried out . " They 
 run! Sae how they run!" "Who run?" 
 Wolfe demanded, like a man roused from 
 sleep. "The enemy, sir. Egad, they give 
 
wiiy everywhere." "Go one ofyoutoOol. | the colony, and one Mr. Smith, who has al- 
 tiurtou," retiirimd the dyinp man. " Tell ' ways been employed in the militia. I sup. 
 him to martrh VVelih's regiment down to poHe there has alwayn ueen Home one of the 
 ChrtiieH river t() cut otV their retreat from the | name of "Smith" it) the militia from that 
 bridjjre." Then, turninir on hiH side, ho mur- ' day to thirt. Tiieii, on 4th April, 1771, 
 mured, "Now, God be jiriiiHed, I will die in 1 Quarterruiister-CJenenil KobertHon writes to 
 peace!" And in a few minutoH hi- gallant | Colonel Haldiniatid from New York as to 
 
 the 
 
 KAlbINn of TWO l<K(ilMENTB 
 
 in Crtuada, to be ollicered by young gentle- 
 men of tamily in Canada, in orde. to show 
 that the ni)hlfHK( tlieie may be employed to 
 more advantage in ours tliaa in the French 
 Hervice I also tind a curious item 
 in one of these letters complaining that 
 the captains of the miiit.ia are very 
 much trouljled by " bad lawyers.' " I leave 
 it to your experience to say whether this race 
 has htconie extinct or not. Let tis hope that 
 it has. As it is impossible for mo here to 
 etiter itito a history of the struggles of the 
 earlie.-t colonists and their wars, principally 
 with the Indians, I cannot do better than re- 
 fer you to those ilelij^htful works of I'arkraan. 
 Talk of novel reading for recreatioti and rest 
 to the niitid ; there cati be nothitig more ex.^ 
 citing and interestitig than those true historic 
 stories. Hecauso we ari; what is called a 
 onv, ■ as it was styled iti the doewnients of I " Colony " atid a comparatively new loutitry, 
 thu' day Through tlu! kindness end courtesy I because we have no aiicic it ivy.crowned and 
 of an old .Montreal frictnl, well known to castellated ruins, we are apt to itnagine we 
 many ot you, Mr. IJouglas Biymuer, now have no history, /. r. no Canadian history, 
 keeper ot the archives of the Dominioii in j Why, the very ground we walk on, the city wo 
 thtt Parliament liiiiidings, Ottawa, 1 lind the ! live in, the country round about us; 
 earliest rt!cords of tUe Cauaiiinn militia, < r,, j its rocks, its rivers, ith graceful eltus and lovely 
 oii\w BnUsli militia. Tlie lirst entry is in ^ scetiery, uU could tell a W(Uidrous story of 
 tbti year tollowing the < onquest. Ou the I'Jth the <lesperate lights and struggles engaged in 
 day of September, 1 7'«0, tSoveriior Amherst here, of the sulferitig of delicate women. 
 
 soul had tied. For his country Wolfe died, 
 as did liis worthy opponetit, Mt)ntcalm, one of 
 th<; liiavest of the brave sotis of Franco. 
 Measured by the numbers etigaged the lattle 
 ot (Juebet- was but a heavy skirmish ; 
 measured by results it was otie -if the great- 
 est battles of the world. From this decisive 
 victory and frotn the graves of those two 
 heroes what marvellous results have s|)rung ! 
 Under the tn<ututnent to Montcalm and his 
 gallant fnllowers, lies buried the supremtuy 
 of FraiKu in the new world, and from the 
 resting plact; of Wolfe has gtown and tlourish- 
 ed the sturdy Anglo-Saxon race spri-adiijg, 
 like one of Britain's stately oaks, \U 
 mighty biai'< hes over an entire continent, 
 from wavt to farthest wa» e, from the Atlan- 
 tic to the i'acilic ocean. 
 
 AKTKIl THE CONQUEST, 
 
 commenced, as a matter of ( (iiirse, the re- 
 organization of the goveriiinenl (if the " col 
 
 pious nuns, devoted and self-sacrificitig priests 
 and dauntless soldiers. From the founding 
 of the little pallisaded town of Montreal by 
 Maisonneuve in MIJ'J as a mission colony, 
 under the protectioti of the Holy Virgin, 
 fc.s the rei'ords have it, and for many 
 yjars afterwards under both the French and 
 Kiiglish leginie, Indian wars and attacks were 
 the I of constant occuirem e. l'r(d)al)ly ou the very 
 ground on which this church is built the 
 tiendish war whoop of th(^ tluronsand the Ire- 
 i|Uuis fre(|uently resounded, carrying fear and 
 sary militia lorce, but that he had secured a (tcHtii to tlie hearts of many a Itrave pioneer, 
 certain nunilier, liavuig given tiie command \ with the horrid ravage afMompaniments nt 
 to M dt> Moiiti/aiidteit, the ancestor of one of | torture, scalping and burning to death of tli<' 
 our best soliliers and must efiii u'lit artillery ! prisoners. Those two iild Martello liitc 
 men to-day, Lieut-Col. (.'. K Monti/.ainbttrt, j towers at the l'rie<^ts farm, tamiliar to all ol 
 commandant of the Citadel at (Quebec, and as us, formed part of the fortifications of an out- 
 bis lieutenants ouu M. de KlcheviMe, also of' lying post built chiefly foi the protoctiou of the 
 
 (a'terwards Lord Ainhersl) writi's to (Jolone) 
 Hkldimand to the effect that the militia 
 of Montreal, under the old regiims 
 should meet on a certain day and give 
 in thc'ir arms, after which tiiey should takt; 
 the oath of allegiance to tlie British crown, 
 when their arms would he returned to them 
 or placed in an armory. Aiitl so on, from 
 tune to time, we see mention made (d 
 militia. K}\\ tint '25111 March, 17(J4, Col 
 llald inand writes to General Gage with refer- 
 ence to the dif'fi( iilty of ohtaiiuii!; the neces- 
 
 convert 
 
 fathers i 
 sanguin 
 nothing 
 these re: 
 From tfc 
 America 
 tion of i 
 you all : 
 inaries ( 
 this war 
 Canadia: 
 conduct 
 
 when in 
 the A me: 
 ing whlc 
 one who 
 Quebec c 
 scaling 
 up by 
 that tht 
 fain to 
 Then an 
 land— ad 
 seized tii< 
 barricade! 
 lieved, ai 
 ofl' from 
 ally from 
 being coi 
 rathei be 
 tween 
 Congr«?ss 
 Legislrtti 
 I7y;;, we 
 calling 
 ganizatio^ 
 Two batt 
 eventual r 
 force wal 
 
 t 
 
 find 
 
 ecpl 
 
 of orders 
 arrest all| 
 break th 
 . militia o 
 this ami 
 times an 
 when tr 
 Great Bi 
 found(d 
 Hppeaiai 
 Caimdiail 
 f- body liiKj 
 X The Am 
 put an 
 parts of 
 
;eutlt'- 
 Bhow 
 lyed tt» 
 reiich 
 item 
 that 
 very 
 I leave 
 liH race 
 ipe that 
 here to 
 of the 
 icipally 
 ,hiin re- 
 uktnan. 
 and rest 
 nore ex- 
 liistoric: 
 called a 
 loiuitry, 
 vned and 
 limine we 
 liiHtory. 
 
 city wo 
 out tin; 
 nd lovely 
 
 Kloiy ot 
 i^'uged ill 
 
 women- 
 n^i prieHts 
 
 foiindinK 
 >ntreal Viy 
 )ii <-olony. 
 y Virgin, 
 for many 
 reii(;h ami 
 tHckrt wen' 
 )U the very 
 
 built the 
 nd the Iro- 
 in; fear ami 
 ire pioneer. 
 limentH nf 
 ■ath of till' 
 rtelio \'m' 
 iv to all <>l 
 
 1 of an out- 
 ictionofthe 
 
 converted IroquoiH Indians by the bulpitian 
 fatl)«rH at a very early date. Beyond thene 
 sanguinary antl horril)!^ conte.stn there irt 
 nothing bearing Hp"cially upon the nubject of 
 thene remarks until the yearn 177'»to '7(5. 
 From the coramencemt-nt to the end of the 
 American war of indepi-iuK'nce — the declara- 
 tion of independence by our ncij^libors wiih, nn 
 you all know, made in 177(] and the prelim 
 inarieii of peace nijfned in 1783-4. Duiiitg 
 this war we constant ly find reference to the 
 Canadian militia, particularly ot their gallant 
 conduct in 
 
 THK DEFENCE OK yUKnKC, 
 
 when in December, 177o, it was uKKaulted by 
 the Americans under (}<n\ Montgomery, dur- 
 ing which attack he n>:et his death, as auy- 
 one who has seen the placard on the rock at 
 Quebec; can testify to. The American-* set up 
 Healing ladders, but the lire kept 
 up by the CanadiauH was so deadly 
 that the assailants, driven back, were 
 fain to take shelter in the houses 
 Then an intrepid militiuman — imni'il Char- 
 land— advanced amid a showei of bullets, 
 seized the ladders and drew them inside the 
 barrica-les. 'I'he '.'aniulians were m>>u re. 
 lieved, and the Ann;ricHiis were slowly diiven 
 oil' from yueliec and its environs, and eventu- 
 ally from the frontier of Uanada, the struggle 
 being continued, savs Gaineau. the historian, 
 rather between antat^onistic militias than be- 
 tween the royalists and (he troops tif liie 
 Congress in the Canadian arena. When the 
 Legislative ( liamiiers o|)eued in <.^iieb»r in 
 17y:;, we lind the Cioveriior, LcrU Dorchester, 
 calling the attention of that body to the or- 
 ganization or leorgani/ ition of the militia. 
 Two batt^ilions were afierwarils Kii-^etl, and 
 eventually disbanded, but appaiently the 
 force was maintained in some sha|>e. We 
 find frequent iefeienc<'s to it, us, loreximple, 
 of orders being stMit to (uptains of militia to 
 arrest all such persons as should tjndeuvor to 
 break the King's peace. If ca|)tain8 of the 
 militia of the present day we-e permitted 
 this amusement, there would be some lively 
 times and broken heads occasionally. Tlie,! 
 when trouble coniinenced to bn^w between 
 Great Britain and the I'nited States ai> iin- 
 foumled rumor was set on f lot that the rnrre 
 appearance of the Am riian Hi;,' amongst the 
 Canadian militia would i ause them to rise in a 
 body and join the Arut-rican ('oiifederati>'n. 
 Tile AniMicaiis, who mooted tliis in oider to 
 put an end to European d imiiiati> n in all 
 partH of this continent, eagerly juupogated 
 
 the report through their numerous journals. 
 Accordingly in the summer ol )Hu7agrand 
 military demonstration was made, a tifth part 
 of the colonial militia being called out and 
 were orden'd to be ready to march at the first 
 sifjnal. Tht^ ballotting for men and their 
 training afterwards was cheerfully and briskly 
 carried on to a degree which belied the in- 
 sinuations thrown out against tin; loyalty of 
 the (,'anadians. All, however, was compara- 
 tively (juiet until tlie 
 
 WAR nilOKB OUT IS 1812. 
 
 And now I come to a sad event, one vhich 
 j we must all feel keenly, riimely, the sudde;. 
 death on Fiidavlastot Colonel Dyde. To 
 myself persoiialiy, and particularly in coti- 
 ; iiection with this l-ctiire, the occurrence is 
 [ particularly distressing. Krom the moment 
 he knew of my intention to d"liver a le<'ture 
 on the (-.'anadan militia, lir took the great- 
 I est interest in the matter, and placed at my 
 j disposal his reminisctJiices of the war of IS 12. 
 I shall not alter a word of what 1 had written 
 ' before his death, but read to you now what I 
 : wr<'te then, and it is as follows : — 
 I lam sure you will heartily agree with me 
 wlien 1 tell yn;i that I am going to give you 
 ^ what must be a treat to all of us, viz : An 
 I account of the cause of this war, which oc- 
 curred seventy-six years ago, and some of the 
 |)i'incipal incidents in it as fur as Canaila was 
 i affected, given to me personally and in writ- 
 ing only the other day by one, who, if not 
 [actually a partaker, was at all events an 
 onlooker at that momentous time, 
 I and wlio is still erect, hale and 
 , hearty, at (ho great age of 89, Colonel 
 Dyde, C.M.O ,A D.C. to the (iueen,the fatb", 
 of the Ciinadien militia ot to-day. 
 On the l.'^th ot June, IHjJ, the I'nited 
 States (le( laied war against (Jieat 
 Ibitain. There was a deep feeling 
 of animosity existing between the two nations 
 owin - to various causes Uieat I'uiuiin was 
 at war with France, and the sympathy of the 
 Tnited Slates was altogether in favor of the 
 latter in giant ing facilities and protection to 
 the cruisers of that nation in their harbors, 
 and also in laxiiig ein.mrgos on KngliHJi ship, 
 ping, resulting in nun-inlercouise with (Jreat 
 Mritaiii in IHIJ. At this time, (ireat Hritain 
 having cleared the seas of the vessels tif almu.'^t 
 every nation, (he United States had nearly all 
 ihe carrying traile. Dii the other si<le Great 
 Britain had asi-^eiled (be light of searcti, (hat 
 IS the power to overhaul luerchantmen on the 
 iiigli seas, and iin])ress any British seamen 
 
 ,a 
 
 
wild TnJKht bo on board, and alHo to claim from 
 Anaerican men-of-war any deserters from 
 BritiHh cruiHors. Thin led to several 
 sanjjninary hand to hand fntrafji'ments, 
 notably those between H.M.S. Leoimrd, 
 2-de(ker, an(l the Amciiciin frigate Chesa- 
 peake, and another between the U.S. 
 friffate I'resid^nt, 14 pniis, and the 
 Kritish sloop-ot-war Little Belt, 18 
 giuiH. The account given of these en^'age- 
 mentii is very interesting, but we must pass 
 on to matter more properly bjJoriKinn to 
 the subject of tliese rt marks : —The itievitiibh- 
 result of this stale of tliin(,'s was (hat war 
 was declared, as 1 have said, on the 18th 
 .lune, 1812. 
 
 MONTKEAL Dflfl.NG THK WAK OF 1812. 
 
 It caused much excitement an(i some 
 anxiety. Montreal then cootaitied about 
 12,000 inhabitants, nearly two-thirds Fiench 
 Canadians, the next Scotch and thtui Kii^- 
 lish, but vciy few Irish. Tin; Irish iniiui- 
 gration did nol take |)lace to any e.xunt nil a 
 long time after, when they came ly thous- 
 ands lor many years. The (ortitications had 
 in a gjfat measure laiUti into niius, been 
 levelled or removed, to enable the town to j 
 ex|)and. but the slone walls and gates re- 
 raaitied iu some paits, and the citadel was 
 still intact wliere lUlhousie MHiare now is 
 It was a hill of consideiable heijiht, witli 
 guns mounted and the artillery barracks on 
 the top. It commanded the river i- d the 
 town. Alter the war it was ta/.ed aiici now 
 forms a large portion of the CImmii de .Mars. 
 The loyalty of the people, without distinc- 
 tion of race or creed, could not be suip.issetl, 
 much to the disii(>iioiiitmint of the Yuidices. 
 An Uitillery corps, a troop of cavalry and 
 lour militia battalions were iinmedi- 
 fttely organized, armed and i'() nip- 
 ped for service. All males from liglil- 
 een to sixty were accepted, or rather taken as 
 eligible, but many younger and older men 
 were disappointed at not luiiig taken. All 
 Were constantly on the alcit and in high 
 spirits. Tlie liri^t dcm.jnstriiiion that occur- 
 red was ou the arrival of U< neial Hull and 
 his force ; he liad crossed the fmntier at De- 
 troit, i^sued proclamations inviting the 
 CauatiiatiH to join his stauiired. After several 
 leversts he was driven bat k and tinally ( ap- 
 tured l)v the gallant and liemic Mroi k who 
 had been eiitrusled with the defem e ot the 
 IJpptr l'i(»vince, when' all the tigliting timk 
 piai e the lirst \ear of Ihu war. On Sunday 
 tvening, the beginning of September, the 
 
 American prisoners, a3nomi)anied by their 
 general in a carriage, with a British officer of 
 rank, followed tiy another with British and 
 Anciican staff olTicers, were ORcoited into 
 town by <Ietachments frum the 8th 
 Kinu- s Regiment and the Montreal 
 Militia, headed by the band of the 
 King's. TJie giatihcati in of the spectators 
 was intense; it being late, thestrecits through 
 which the line of niiuch passed W(;re illumin- 
 ated. Ti.e General was leceivid at tlie Gov- 
 ernment house by the governor, His Excel- 
 lency Sir George Prevost, and the olliiers, 
 twenty-live in number, were (|ii:>rterid at 
 Holmeo' hotel. 1 he prisoners left for Que- 
 bec under a militia gu.ird on the 8th Septem- 
 ber. Altho'igli .Mniitreal was not exposed to 
 any direct attack for some time, still tln^re 
 were constant alarms r)f tlying columiiR 
 coming in by the way of L ike Chainplaiu, or 
 down the St. Lawrence from ()gdcn<burgh to 
 "gobble ' up Montreal. On tin; IWth Nov- 
 vember, at midnight, 
 
 THK. DHU.MS HEAT TO AHMS 
 
 and the whole force were ordered to meet tht^ 
 enemy in the <lire( tion of lyicbine, but find- 
 ing none, alter some days the brigade re- 
 turned. It was jiot until the autumn of 
 IHKMhat any lighting of consequence took 
 place iu Lower Canada. fieiieial Wilkinson 
 had assumed command ol the Norlli' rn aiiny 
 (if the I'niled Slates, and a plan was tormed 
 to unite his foirrs for a grand attack upon 
 .Montieal and Qiiebe-; by two strong divis- 
 ions, one comm.inded by General Hampton, 
 by the way of Lake t'haniplain, .uid th<; other 
 liy hiinsitlf, (!e,->ceii(ling the St. Lawrence 
 from Sackett's hiuiioi, with the intention of 
 forming a junction at some place near Mont- 
 real. After much niaiacuvring, Hampton 
 was signally defeated by the 
 
 ABLB AND OAM.ANT DK SALAHKMRT, 
 
 with his regiment, the Voltigeuis, and some 
 militia at Chateauuuay, and Wilkinson, on 
 his way down the St. Liwrcnce, was brought 
 to bay and compelled to land at Chrysbr'H 
 farm by the Briti^h force, which foilowcd 
 him from Kingston, and was also defeattd, 
 alter which he made the best of his way back 
 to the States. At the battle of Chrysler's 
 laim the Glengarry Light Infantry 
 (listinL;uislied itself, rivaling in gal- 
 lantry His Mfij'i'tv's regular troopH. 
 .\fici Hampton's deleat at (/'buteaiiguay, aiicl 
 lefusingto comply wiifi Wilkinson's ordeiH, 
 he was dismissed tiio service in disgrace. 
 
f 
 
 I 
 
 ?s 
 
 WilkirjHon reiuained quiet duriuK the winter, 
 when he prepared agaiu fur au advance on 
 Montreal, crorised the Canadian border and 
 jireHsed on towardH La Coile on the 30th 
 Murcli, 1814. Altera tierce attack on the 
 Htone mill and block house, defended by His 
 Majesty's \Mh and militia, the Ameri an 
 fi,rce being tbrt'c or lour to one, he was ob- 
 lif^ed to withdraw, having lost 13 killed and 
 1 28 wounded. The Hritit-h loss was eleven 
 killed and forty-four wounded and missing. 
 
 In the spring of 1814 the seige and 
 surrender of Paris took place. Wellington's 
 viclory over .Sault at Toulouse, and the un- 
 conditional abdication ot Napoleon was a 
 great relief to Great Britain, fir the war with 
 France had been long and exhaustive. Tliese 
 events enabled the war with the United 
 States t(» be carried on more vigorously, 
 and a division of Wellington's victorious 
 army left France for Canada without delay. 
 On arrival at Montreal a brigade marched at 
 once for the Upper province, and one, under 
 Sir George Trevost, formed the chief part of 
 an expidition to attack IMatt«*buig, and to 
 act as occasion required. Owing to the in- 
 competency of the commander these line 
 troops came back discoratited, and great dis- 
 satisfaction was felt by all. Sir George, in 
 </u(isi disgrace, was soon after ordered 
 home, hut died on the passage. 
 From this time until the declaration of peace, 
 I>eceml)er 2 1, 1H14, Montreal was not again 
 menaced, it l»e;ug always garrisoned by a | 
 strong force of regulars and active militia i 
 When peace was prociaim.ul the wh jle militia ' 
 force was mustered, the arui'i, equipments, i 
 etc., returned into the armories, and the offi- [ 
 cers and men relieved from further service ; 
 and from that time there was no regular 
 militia force in the country till the troublesof 
 1837. There was, indeed, a troop of cavalry 
 and a company of rifles in Montreal, turning 
 out occasionally, and the sedentary militia, 
 witliout arms or miitorms, were 8Uppo.-;ed to 
 muster once a year for rwU call, whica was 
 very perfunctorily carried out. Several reg- 
 ular regiments were sent home as soon as pos- 
 sibh', Bonaparte having made his e.scape 
 from Klba, and it is believed that 
 some were in time for Waterloo." 
 Thus does the veteran who witnessed these 
 stormy times, before you and I, my friends, 
 were thought of, describe them to us to-day 
 in clear and racy language. May he live 
 niany u long day yet to enjoy the honor and 
 respect we all feel for him j as well as wear 
 
 — worthily as he does — the honors bestowed 
 on him for services to his country by his 
 Queen. 
 
 Such were my remarks concerning him 
 when in life ; dead, I honor and revere his 
 memory. The last I saw of the gallant old 
 soldier was on Thursday, when he called at 
 my office with his friend Colonel Hart, to 
 Kive me an old engraving of Montreal in 
 1803 to show you to-night. He expressed his 
 ip.ention of being present and seemed to look 
 forward with much interest to the lecture. 
 We shall miss his stat'dy figure and ever 
 warm greeting. He died as he bad lived; his 
 long life *fts spent in upholding the honor of 
 his country ; he died vindicating the honor of 
 one who bears his own stainless name. 
 
 As we rapidly scan over the pages of 
 our history we find nothing of a su'ticiently 
 absorbing interest in connection with Cana- 
 dian militia matters to call for specijil remark 
 until we come to the next eventful epoch, 
 viz : what is commonly known as 
 
 TUB KBBKLLIO.N OK 1837. 
 
 The troubles which led to the rebellion are 
 matters mure of civil than of military his- 
 tory. The priucipal event in the latter con- 
 nection was undoubtedly the battle of St 
 Kusiache. As probably the parents or near re- 
 latives of many of you, and possibly some who 
 are here to-night, were there, we will 
 take this opportunity ot doing what old sol- 
 diers dcarlv love, fighting the battle over 
 again From the Montreal Gazette, of De- 
 cember 10, 1837, I take the following ex- 
 tract : — 
 
 The troops took up their quarters at St. 
 Martin's during the night of VVeduosday, the 
 day on which they left the city, from whence 
 they depa-ted at about seven on 
 Thursday inorning, towards St. Eustache, 
 but not in a direct line, for it was 
 understood that the ice on the river 
 in that way was not sullicieiitly strong to bear 
 the weight of so heavy a body as the artillery 
 and cavalry. A detour was in consequeuct.' 
 taken towards St. Hose, where the ice was 
 (Tossed frum lie Jesus to the main land. The 
 line of march then proceeded upwards along 
 the right tank of the river until the troops 
 approached the village of St. Eustache, mak- 
 ing a march from St. Martin about twelve 
 milex, whereas in a direct line it would only 
 consist of about six or seven. The troops 
 weio first fired upon by the rebels from the 
 church of St. Eustache, a consiflerable lima 
 before any position had been taken up. Uu 
 
8 
 
 comiDg witbiD the proper ranfi^e two Aeld 
 pieceH were planted on the northeast hide of 
 the church and began to play upon them in 
 ezcelleut stvle, while another field piece war* 
 Bent round in rear of the village and station- 
 ed where it conjoiauded a Htreet leading dir- 
 ectly to the front door of the same edifice. 
 The three regiments and the cavalry in the 
 meantime randc a circuit round the village in 
 rear, and took up positions to intercept the 
 rebels when they should be compelled to 
 abandon tbeir position. The church hav- 
 ing at length been set on hre 
 the rebels were seen flying in 
 every direction, not without many 
 of thc-m having been killed and taken prison* 
 eis. The nunueiy and presbytore, situated 
 on either side of the church, which were occu- 
 pied by the rebels, were also destroyed, as 
 well as several other bouses in the villai^e, 
 particularly those d Scott and Chenier. The 
 lof>s sustained on either side baa not bien 
 actually ascertained, but it is rejjorted tba 
 eignty of the lebeU bed been killed and more 
 than 100 taken prisoners. Dr. J O Chenier 
 was killed in the yard of the church, and 
 Fereol Peltier and the Commander-in-chief 
 Girod me Hiid to have taken to flight towards 
 yt. Benoit immediately after the lirst flie. On 
 the part of the troops we have no account of 
 any being killed except two men. Mr. A. 
 Ougy, whilst storuiinK the sacrihty, was se- 
 verely but not dangerously wouudfd in the 
 left shoulder. The blaze arising from the 
 burning houses of St. Kiisiacbe was dintiHctly 
 seen the tame night fn^m the li^^ing ground in 
 rear of this city towards the old race < uurso. 
 From a minute survey taken at the time, 
 the number of bouses destroyed by 
 the rouflagratiou, exclusive of the 
 church and pr^'sbytere, wliich were 
 reducid to ashes, amounted to about sixty. 
 A wounded prisoner, one Major, fium St. 
 Benoit, stattd that when the attack was made 
 upon St. Eustacbe the rebel force at that 
 place amounted to about 1,000 men. It is 
 supposed that nearly '200 of the rebels fell or 
 were sutl'ocated in the flames of the buildings, 
 which bad been lired and from which they 
 defended themselves. Upwards of twenty 
 bodies were found in the chuichyard and in 
 the garden attached to the nunueryj forty 
 rebels were killed in attempting to make 
 their escape towaid.-i the woods, In imitation 
 of Qeneral T. S. Brown at St. Charles upon 
 pretence of bringing up reinforcements, the 
 rebel commanders, Uiiod and Peltier, are said 
 t'j have maae tbeir eacape soon after the tire 
 
 of the troops commenced, but they have not 
 Bince been heard of, except calling at Inglis' 
 tavern, about four miles from St Kustache, 
 where they stated that the troops had been 
 completely defeated. These heroes are now 
 supposed to have taken refuse In the woods, 
 but it is probable they will soon be traced 
 out " The regiments engajired were appar- 
 ently the Royal Artillery, Royal and HUrd 
 regiments and the Montieal Cavalry and 
 Rifle (volunteer) corps. I have given u 
 pretty full account of this engagement for 
 the reasons already given, as also 
 to enable you bttter to understand the 
 few views of the utl'air which I am g«)ing to 
 try and show you after these icinarks are 
 finished. I am indebted to another veteran 
 loidier, Colonel Wily, of the 8Sth regular 
 regiment in those days, and as you all know 
 for a long time hoiciiiig important positions 
 on the militia stall, who al;'.o is, I am glad to 
 see, with us to-n°ght, for a sketch of the 
 
 DIKFKIIKNT E.NC A0EMKNT3 AT THAT TIMB, 
 
 viz. : The first blow struck in November, at 
 Longueuil, in which the Montreal cavalry 
 were roughly handled. 'I'hen the lia>co under 
 Colonel Gore at St. Denis, a few days after- 
 wards, Colonel Wetherali'ssmHBliiiigthe rebels 
 tot St. Charles where they siiflVtred some loss. 
 But ''you cannot make omelettes without 
 breaking eggs, "comments the gallant colonel. 
 Later on in 18.'!8-'.t there were troubles along 
 the frontier by Atneriran syniiJatbizt r.s, two 
 engagements takiiifi place at Lncolle and 
 OJelltown, both reinilsed with loss, and in 
 Upper Canada a landing was tlVected at Pres- 
 cott under one lIifi(U nliing, a Polo, who was 
 captured and afterwards tried by court mar- 
 tial an(i shot. That was the way they treated 
 rebels in tho-.e days. Biit we must pass on, 
 althoUfiCh there is much subject matter 
 gleaned from my reading connected with the 
 events of these years that I should have 
 gladly brought l)eforo you, ina'^much as, 
 apart from the historical, there is to many 
 of you a 
 
 STRONG PERSONAL INTEUKST 
 
 connected with them. J find the names ol 
 MtGill, Mofldtt, U (Judge) Mackay, R(Uith, 
 Molson, Qeddes, .1. G. McKenzie, Hugh 
 Allan, Fletcher, Greensliields, .John Grant, 
 Gugy, Esdaile, A. Clark, Meredith (chief 
 justice), and many others — some in 
 our midst to-day, many, the majority, gath- 
 ered to their fathers — signing a document for 
 a public meeting for Monday, the 3rd July, 
 1837, for the purpose of giving expreasiou 
 
uow 
 
 His, 
 
 iced 
 
 par- 
 
 Hiird 
 
 and 
 
 ti II 
 
 for 
 
 alrio 
 
 the 
 
 g to 
 
 i are 
 
 tt'ian 
 
 iiliir 
 
 ;»()W 
 
 tioDS 
 
 ad to 
 
 I 
 
 to their disapprovsi of certain reRolutioDH 
 adopted at certain public meetinK^", ap- 
 parently thoHe dihluyai meetings held by 
 Fapinean and othern. Capital speeches were 
 made and t«tirriiig timeH they must have been. 
 Several of thorte whom I have mentioned, and 
 many more whom I have not time to mention, 
 but whose names aie household wordw 
 amongHt us to-day, were also present at the 
 battlL's of St. Duni.s and St. !%iiHtache. Not 
 well— indeed, according to our notions of 
 military equipment nowadays — not litted out 
 at all for warfare, but "'ith brave hearts and 
 stalwart arms, ready to do and, if need be 
 to die, for the preservation of the peace and 
 safety of their homes and the rights and 
 privileges ot their race. Krom an interest- 
 ing book called " Tnflex trom My Porfolio," 
 written by astatVt tti<er, Dr Henry (a brother- 
 in-law of Mr Charles Geddcs), who had 
 seen a great deal of service in the British 
 army, and who took part ii: the campw'j'; • i 
 '37, I quote the followiug terse seuteu<'es 
 from his coniliuling pagew, wh "r-, although 
 written almost tiltv years ago, give good ativice 
 to us to-day ; — 
 
 " Vou are ii French-Canadian: 'tis well. 
 V(>u arc descended from one illustrious nation 
 and adopttd by another. It is probable that 
 from strong attachment to your old country, 
 (I principle, abstractediv considered, most 
 honorable, and a misconception of the policy 
 of Great Britain, you have been long fondly 
 imagining that you could build up a new 
 Fiance on this continent under the wing of 
 England. Now, my dear fellow, you must 
 disabutie your.>elf of this gross delusion with- 
 out delay, totally and 'irevocably. The thing 
 is pliy>iiHlly and ab-olutely impossible ; and 
 you might as reasonably e.xpec t that the dark 
 tiibute poured from the St. Maurice into your 
 mighty river would be able to retain its hue, 
 or change the broad current to its own tint, 
 as that you can continue French amidst the 
 great Anglo-Saxon family to which you now 
 belong. You are an Anglo-CanacHati. Pardon 
 me, if 1 say that you, my dear loyal sir, 
 would also do well to get rid of some pro- 
 judicts and erroneous notions. Vou are 
 rather too much of a monopolizer ot loyalty, 
 and too apt to olf nd your fellow-citizens ot 
 French origin, cla."-sing them indisiriminately 
 and thus unwisely confounding the bad with 
 the good. Now you may be sure that the 
 great majority of them, although they will 
 not come forward as prominently as yourself, 
 which is not in their uatnie, are still Houud 
 
 at heart and well atlected to theGorernment. 
 There is, no doubt, an active and mischievous 
 portion, reckless and unprincipled, but those 
 who have property and a stake in the coun- 
 try, the commercial classes, the seigneurs, 
 the clergy and eight-tenths of the habitants, 
 making allowance for their peculiar manner, 
 are as loval as yourself." Very pertinent 
 remark:^ these seem to me to be. It is true 
 tnat the population of Canada is to a great 
 extent cosmopolilati, but we should all lie at 
 heart Canadians, andj)in tog.-iher in work- 
 ing out the destiny of the laud we love and 
 live in. 
 
 " Wtiethe'- from England's fields of bloom, 
 
 Or Erin's lan-^sof enieralil green ; 
 Whrth"r from He -llanU's hllU of brooiii 
 
 Or F'rance'.s vlne-claU capes serene ; 
 United on St I.,awrenee brluk, 
 
 Stand we logeuier man to man, 
 And all lUese var ous titles sink 
 
 Into one name, Canaulan." 
 
 In lyci what is known as 
 
 THB TIIFNT AFFAIR 
 
 occurred, and, says Cidonel Wily, fbere v/as 
 great excitement. A stimuius was then 
 given to the volunteer movement, bringing 
 it up ti» its present high standard. On that 
 occasion the 3rd, 4th, ."ith and tltli battalions 
 were raised in Montreal. There had been a 
 company of artillery as it was called, and a 
 cavalry troop in existence for a number of 
 years. The finest dressed, says an old leiter, 
 is the Montreal Cavalry corps, which is the 
 admiration of the housemaids and the envy of 
 all the linen-drapers' clerks in town, but a 
 corps which has had a hjtig and htmorabitf 
 record. The historv of the diUerent corps con- 
 nected with this city and province — includ- 
 ing the old Voltigeuis and Fencibles — wouM 
 form abundant material for a lecture of itself, 
 and I hope some of my i)rother officers may 
 take the matter up and give us the benefit of 
 their researches. Meanwhile, it is impossi- 
 ble to advert to it lo-night, much as I should 
 like to do so. 
 
 I.N 18G0, 
 
 as an outcome of the civil war in the United 
 States, a large number of the unemployed 
 Irish in that country found their way into 
 the ranks of the Fenian brotherhood, and as 
 an outlet to their feelings or in the hopes of 
 plunder or licking Great Britain via Canada, 
 found their way, to the number of about 800 
 to 1,000 men tolerably well equipi)ed, across 
 the border line at Fort Erie. They were met 
 by the Queen s Own, the 13th battalion of 
 
 i 
 
. f . 
 
 HamiltoD, and tbe companies of York 
 Rifles and Caledouian Rifles, 840 all 
 told, all under command of Lt -CdI. 
 Booker at Ridgeway on the 2nd Jane of that 
 V'^Hr. The advantage in this engagement, 
 judging from Lieut. -Col Booker'H report, was 
 apparently with the enemy, but if ho they di<l 
 not follow it ui),and after Home lighting!!) the 
 town of Fort Kiie, where gallant con- 
 duct was Hhowu by Captain King of the Wel- 
 land Canal Field Battery, and the few with 
 him, and generally making themselves un- 
 pleanant the " filibuHtereiH " sheered off and 
 got back as best they could acrosp the linen, 
 leaving behind a number of prinoners as well 
 as having lost in killed and wounded many 
 more. The worst of this most uncalled-for 
 and ruthless "invasion" was that it cost the 
 lives .)f Home nine or ten fine young men be- 
 longing to the Queen's Own regiment, 
 which was ably commanded by a brave 
 and gallant officer, Lieut. -Col. (then 
 Major) Oilmor The monument to them in 
 (Jueeii s |)ark, Toronto, commemorates their 
 valor. They fell bravely and nobly for their 
 country, and their names inscribed on that 
 monument areenroiled on the scroll of honor. 
 From ISGG to 1870 nothing special occurred, 
 in the beginning of which year the call to 
 arn!s rang out again on a similar invaKion by 
 th ( maiauders. They crosned 
 
 OVGK TIIS UORDBR I'NDER OG.N. O NEIL A. ECCLRs' 
 HILL, 
 
 and were met and repulsed by the frontier 
 regiments, some Montreal troops under com- 
 mand (>f Lieut.-Col. O-sttorne Smith, C. M.G., 
 consisting of a cnmpany !if the Victoria Rifles 
 tinder (.'a|)tain (now ('olonel) Crawford, Lieuts. 
 K. B. Oreeni 'lelds and J. K. Oswald. After 
 a skirmish the Fenian "(Jeneral" and his 
 men withdrew. From Malone, a town twelve 
 miles across the border and south of llimting- 
 don, another column invaded our territory 
 and were met some two miles on this side of 
 the line by a force sent out under Col. Bagot, 
 of the »!9th Regiment (regulars), the Hunt- 
 ingdon Boiderers under (Jol McEachern, 
 the Heinmingford Rangers, tnider Col. Rogers, 
 and tlie Montreal Garrison Artillery uuder 
 Lieut. -Col. II MacKay, in all about 1,000 t() 
 1,200 Htr»»ng. On a bright summer day in 
 July we marched from Huntingdon (1 was a 
 lieutenant in Capt. Ramsay s bat*ery) and 
 met the enemy, who wert! entrenched behind 
 barricades made 'of trees cut down and fences 
 taken from the adjoining fields, thrown acrons 
 the road tor some distance uu uitbor side 
 
 On their left front a flanking party 
 had been thrown out and occupied a 
 clump of trees, from which we were saluted 
 with some sharp volleys. Skiimishers were 
 sent out by Col. Bagot from the Borderers, 
 the (J9th and No. 1 Battery Montreal Garri- 
 son artillery, the latter being command- 
 ed by Capt. rheo. Doticet. After a short 
 fusilade the Fenians thought discretion the 
 better part of valor, and took to their heels 
 and ran. The whole affair did not last over 
 an hour and the casualties, if any, were light, 
 but while it was going on was very enjoy- 
 able, the pmg-piug of the bullets about 
 one's head giving a pleasant /Ealian harp- 
 like sound. Had the enemy been better 
 handled and had the barrels of their Spring- 
 field rifles not been of a bright polished steel, 
 which spoiled their aim, ihe lesult might 
 have been different. As it was — and I trust 
 my gallant C. O. at that time will forgive 
 me, when I say, so rumor had it, when we 
 went back to camp at Trout river, that on 
 tne evening of the affair, the Commandant 
 Ool, B (got and two of his officers came over 
 to the Artillery quarters to discuvs the events 
 of the (lay and the chances of the morrow, 
 with our colonel. After a little stimulating 
 and refreshing beverage had been partaken 
 (>f there was no doubt in the worthy com- 
 mandant's naind that some men had l)een 
 killed on both sides. As the contPi.t.. <♦" the 
 decanters decreased the number of casual- 
 ties increased until they reached sev- 
 eral killed and wounded on our side — 
 loss of the enemy large but unknown. 
 I had always considered Fei.ians and Feiiian- 
 ism more of a myth than anything else, but 
 i had an opportunity at that time of going to 
 Malone on the day they were taken prison- 
 ers while at mass by the United States troops, 
 and I was astonished to see the large num- 
 ber of them, amounting, I should Kay, to 
 between 2,000 and iJ.OOO in brilliant green 
 uniforms. Their "generals," Gleeson, Man- 
 nix, and others I saw confined in the skating 
 rink at that place, and fine looking soldituly 
 men they were. After remaining ten days or 
 so in camp, and having been inspected and 
 complimented by General Lindsay and Prince 
 Arthur at Huntingdon, we returii(d homo 
 under Colonel Ferrier, who had come out and 
 assumed commaml as senior office. We had 
 not suffered much physically, it is true, but 
 we had nevertheless willingly taken our 
 chance and made up our minds to whatever 
 dangers might be in store for us, and many 
 had Butlured materially io a pecuniary way. 
 
I' 
 
 11 
 
 or 
 
 A number of the men were repaid by being 
 refused employment in their places of work, 
 and they and their wives and children suf- 
 fered accordingly, thus illustratinjj; the lines 
 written on the walls of Delhi by a British 
 officer : — 
 
 " War proclaimed and^danger nigh, 
 God and the soldier Is the people's cry ; 
 
 When war Is over and danger righted, 
 Ood is forgotten and the soldier s ighted." 
 
 In th«' beginning of this year (\870) the 
 
 FIRST N0RTHWK8T OB IlIRL RBUKLLION 
 
 broke out, causing much trouble and un- 
 easiness in that, in those days, somewhat 
 remote country, and culminating in the cold- 
 blooded murder of Scott before the gate of 
 Fort Garry. Colonel VVolseley was sent up 
 with a force of about 1,000 men, taken trom 
 the ranks of some of the best Hritish regi- 
 ments, the GOth Rifles and others, and two 
 battalions of Canadian militiamtn, who vol- 
 unteered. The expedition was admirably 
 managed tlirougbnut ; they had h;ird work 
 clearing roads, portaging, etc., going up, 
 btit not a single life was lost. It forms 
 (says Major Boulton in his new book) the 
 nrst of ). series of exploits under the leader, 
 ship of Colonel (now Viscount) Wolseley 
 which have reflected mnrh credit on his gal- 
 lantry and administrative ability. He is 
 allectioimtely regarded and held in high i 
 esteem by Canadians, among wiiuin he long 
 resided and who watch his career with the 
 deepest interest and with pride in his sue- 
 cess. Neither has he turgotten his old Chuji- 
 dian friends or that it was in Canada that his 
 brilliant career reilly commenced, in 
 proof of which I may say that a few days l 
 after the batfie of IVitoche Oen. Middleton j 
 received the following telegram from Sua- 
 kim ; — " Best congratulations to you and my 
 old gallant comrades of the Canadian milia- 
 tia." — Wolseiey. He uvrived at Fort Garry 
 on the •J4th August, 187ii, and Kiel only i 
 gave up the reins of power a few ! 
 moments before his arrival, preferring 
 not to remain to render an account 
 of his short but iniquitous reign. 
 You are most of you aware of the events con- 
 nected with the callitig out of the militia at 
 different times, since the Fenian raids until 
 now. On more than one occasion has the 
 country been indebted to its militia force for 
 prererving order in our midst. 
 
 POLICE DDTY 
 
 is not what the militia ought to be called up- 
 on to do, and there is no more disagreeable 
 duty that a soldier can perform ; and yet in 
 order to save rioting and bloodshed the 
 militia of Canada has, notably in this city, 
 frequently responded to the ctllofthe civil 
 authorities to aid in the preservation of the 
 peace. The burial of (iuili»rd, the Ubor riots 
 in Quebec, the Orange troubles here; even 
 down to our recent friend — or rather, I should 
 say, enemy — M. Picolte, and the dangers 
 that lurked under and from his unwholesome 
 skin disagreeable as those <lufies were, 
 they were cheerfully performed l)y our troops, 
 and the peace has been preserved. The 
 citizens, the merchants, the loveis of [leace 
 and prosperity in this good city of Montreal, 
 have to thank tlie volunteers for more than 
 they may imagine. It is true that at the 
 call of duty sons have lo leavt; their homes, 
 dorks give up the desk for the drill shed, 
 workmen forsake their tools, the pen of the 
 l)usiness man hiiii'^elf is not unfrniuently laid 
 aside in oider to take up the sword, 
 and all this " upsets business," and is there- 
 fore unpttpular. But all the same, 
 had this not been done, th«^ alternative would 
 have been that the business, the trad", the 
 manufactories, almo.'^t even the creOit of 
 many of our citizens w(,uld have suffered 
 severely on more than one oicasion. There- 
 fore, I think that instead of grudging the 
 services of the youn;; men to the militia 
 force, they ought to he encouraged to join it. 
 Physically the drill does them good, and the 
 necessity of learning the fust dutv of a 
 soldier, obedience, is good liaining. 
 A good soldier will alwnys be a faithful ser- 
 vant. That our militia force has 
 
 (illOW.N IN I'Cm.lC VAvon 
 
 and estimation within the last f,'W years is 
 uii'leniable, tor unlike the treatment meted 
 out to those who returned from the frontier 
 in 1870, I am glad to be able to say that the 
 men who came back from the recent North- 
 west campaign were, as >• rule, fairly treated 
 by their employers. I know of .■ompiinitively 
 few cases in my own uriga<ie in which situa- 
 tlons were lost, and in not a few instances 
 the men's wa';es vrere continued while they 
 were away. I trust tliis excellent spirit may 
 continue, ami still increaie. And n«)W we 
 come to the last act in the diama of the his- 
 tory of the Canadian army or militia, 
 
J 
 
 fr' 
 
 THK CAMPAIGN Of LAST YBAR 
 
 in the Northwest, which, unlike the unre- 
 vealed secrets and possibilities of the 5th 
 scene in a heavy tragedy on the boards of the 
 Academy of Music, we all know already 
 what the finale has been. And inasnouch as 
 that is the case, I shall co-.iHne myself to a 
 very few remarks and reminiscences of the 
 campaign and of the comparatively easy part 
 taken in it by the brigade which I ha^e the 
 honor to command. We left Montreal on the j 
 llth May last, 300 strong, about the tallest j 
 and strongest and most soldierly-looking man 
 in the regiment being the ckaplain. A 
 most excellent soldier was spoilt when he 
 was made a minister. It was a fortunate 
 thing for the people of St. Pauls that we 
 were not called on our arrival at Winnipeg 
 to go on immediately to the front, and then 
 if we had Rot there to be lucky enough to 
 get into action. The chaplain had only a 
 penknife to defend himself or tight with, but 
 he had, 1 always thought, a great hankering 
 after one of my revolvers, if I hail missed 
 one 1 know that 1 should either have accused 
 the chaplain of the robbery or a « '-rtaiu color- 
 ed gentleman, though gold was more in his 
 line than steel. He got my patent leather 
 boots with the spurs for which he took them, 
 but alas for Jumbo, they were only 
 plated brass and not gold, as 1 
 have no doubt he has lound out 
 from the pawnbroker long ere now. 
 Perhaps some of you thought, as he thought 
 himself, that the first duty of the minister ot 
 the church was to his own congregation, and 
 that h« need not havecoine up vith us. Well if, 
 as he teaches you to do, you love your neigh- 
 bor as yourselves, you doubtless love your 
 country and liave at least a kindly fVel- 
 Ingtor thosewho were willing to saerilice much 
 — home, comfort, means, life itself if neces- 
 BHry — for it. Von may think 1 am exag- 
 gerating, but I am not. Vou would scarcely 
 believe the amount ol suffering caused by the 
 prolonged absence from home of the bread- 
 winners of so many families, notwithstanding 
 the good work done by the charitable coin- 
 mitteoH, to whom be all praise and to whom 
 we return most hearty thanks. The men 
 themselves felt anxious about those they had 
 left behind, I know, and were cheered and 
 comforted by tlie chaplain's kindly words 
 and Christian counsel. Ho talked to them 
 as a brotlier and a oomradt^ preached to them 
 untler most impres.dvo circumstances, took 
 hold of their atlectious by beating them at 
 
 putting the stone, tossing the caber and 
 pitching into them most unmercifully for 
 swearing ! For myself and the officers 
 and men of my brigade, I thank 
 the people of St. Paul's church for 
 giving us our chaplain, and if 
 you lost a little by his short alsence you have 
 the satisfaction of knowing that the gain to 
 others was great. Surely it was a Christian 
 duty to look after the spiritual welfare of so 
 many men, an i I think the chaplain will 
 agree with mo when I say that a finer body 
 of men it would be hard for any city to send 
 out. Their conduct while they were away 
 proved this, and they brought nothing but 
 credit to the good city whose name is borne 
 by the Brigade to which they balong. And 
 talking of chaplains, let me say that 
 
 BOMB OP THB N0BLB8T MAHTYR8 BLOOD 
 
 has been given to this Northwest Territory. 
 Who can rehd without a shudder of the fear- 
 ful tortures suffered by the Jesuit Fathers 
 Brobueuf and Joques and others at the handii 
 of the cannibal Iiiquois, or of the foul mur- 
 ders of Fathers Marchand and Fafaid in the 
 recent war? Koman Catholics, you will say. 
 Yes, but all the same men who suffered much 
 and sacrificed their lives for the Christian- 
 ization and civilization of the world. The 
 missionaries of our Protestant church are few 
 and far between in tlie Northwest. Good 
 men and true they ar<;, and tbeir life is by no 
 means a bed of roses. I Jiappened to meet 
 one at oH Crowfoot's Blackfeet res^erve — a 
 man of education and culture, and eager 
 in bin anluous work of translatiug 
 the Bible into the Blackfeet tongue, 
 as well as doing good as opportunity offered. 
 In order to show you the sort of persons he 
 had to deal with I will toll you the a'lswers 
 he gave mo to two questions I asked him in- 
 cidentally. He gave us some preserved milk 
 for our toftee. I said, how is it you have no 
 fresh milk with such splenitid pasture for a 
 cow ? Oh, he said, I had a cow, but it was 
 no use keeping it. The Indians got up too 
 early in the morning for me and milked it, 
 so I killed it. I noticed a nice patch oi po- 
 tatoes glowing and congratulated him on it. 
 Ves, he said, they look very well, but I 
 rloubt if theio are any potatoes really there, 
 because, you see, they (the Indians) come 
 over in the dark and pull away the biggest 
 ones under the ridges and cover the ground 
 over again, so that I never know if I have 
 any potatoes at all until I dig up the stalks 
 in the fall. Parkmau tolls uf a dying Indian, 
 
V' 
 
 13 
 
 
 just baptised, asking anxioiiBly whether, in 
 the realms of uiiHS to which he was bound, 
 pies were to be bad comparable to those with 
 which the French regaled him. 
 
 OF THB INDIAN CIIAKACTEd 
 
 much has been written foolishly and credu- 
 llously believed. Yet to the eye of rational 
 observation there is nothing unihtelligible 
 in bim. He ik full, it is true, of 
 contradictions. He deems himself the centre 
 of greatness and renown — as old Pie-a-Pot 
 Buid to us, that his name was the terror of his 
 foes all the world over, from the Far West, 
 mentioning some unintelligible place, to the 
 very fiirtheiest east. Yes ; even as far as 
 Winnipeg! Yet, who can help feeling for 
 them? We have taken away their birth- 
 light, their hunting grounds, and driven oft 
 their buffaloes, upon which they lived. 
 Whatever civilization can do for them now 
 ought to bo done Let us treat them kindly. 
 Let us send to them more soldiers of the 
 church and we will have less need to send 
 more soldiers of the Queen. 
 
 THE LATE CAMPAIO.V 
 
 was by far the most remarkable in Canadian 
 history. Organized at Ottawa by a French- 
 Canadian minister of militia, Sir A. P. Caron, 
 a man of devoted loyalty to the British crown i 
 and of great ability — the operations in the , 
 field were ably planned^and carried out by a 
 British major-general, Sir F. Middletou, to 
 whom too much praise and thanks cannot be < 
 given for his tlioughtfiiliioss and care for the 
 lives of the citizen soldiers under him. The 
 troops were altogether Cyanadian militiamen, 
 and I think no one can ques- 
 tion that they did their duty well. 
 That they did so, the death roll bears cruel 
 witness to. Never shall 1 forget that Hun- ! 
 day in Winnipeg when we assinted at the fii- > 
 neial of some of its young citizens, who had 
 fallen in the earlier cngngt'inentK. The fol- 
 lowing lines on the death of a gallant yv)ung 
 tn)oper, of Boulton's scouts, are not inappro- 
 priate — poor D'Arcy Baker, who wis lying 
 severely wounded, on hearing the shots fired 
 at a night alarm, raineil himnclf np. calleil 
 for his horse and ri He, staggered to the door of 
 the tent, and fell dead from the exhaustion 
 of hia efforts ; — 
 
 " My rUle and my horse! " tlio soldier cried, 
 Anlortli with vlRorouN step ho fjulellyciuno ; 
 On Ills young brow the ino' nlng sunlight 
 
 played, 
 Ana Hie was centered in bis active frame. 
 
 By winding streams, far o'er the plain we go, 
 Where dark ravines and woody blulTs appea;, 
 Where'er a swarthy, treacherous Indian foe 
 May hide to burst upon our flashing rear. 
 
 'Tls ours to guard the friends who come be- 
 hind, 
 
 'Tia ours to find and search the dangerous 
 lihade ; 
 
 Perchance our lives we lose, but never mind, 
 
 Wheri duty calls, let no man be afraid. 
 
 The sulphurous smoke is drifting to the sky, 
 And borNo and rider on the plain are spread ; 
 The ambushed foe in sullea terror flv. 
 The bold and brave are now amongst tbo 
 dead. 
 
 With shattered heart, the stricken soldier 
 
 lies, 
 The fatal wound lias iilmost ceased to bleed ; 
 The dying warrior vainly seeks to rise. 
 And begs once more his ritle and hl.4 steed. 
 
 Forever more the youthful limbs are still. 
 The young, the gallant and linpulslvo brave 
 Now rests heside the far oil' western hill, 
 And wild flowers blossom by his lonely grave. 
 
 'Ibis campaign will always be memorable 
 as marking a new era in Canadian history, 
 inasmuch as it has shown that we have the 
 means and the men within our own borders 
 of repelling attacks either from within or 
 from without. 
 
 Do not, however, go away with the idea 
 that the success of the campaign was brought 
 about without much personal trouble and 
 sacrifice. 
 
 A soldibk's lot 
 
 on active service is not by any means a happy 
 one. 1 know a commanding officer's is not. 
 He is the only responsible head. If any- 
 thing goes wrong he alone is blamed, and he 
 consc<juently has i < do his duty without fear 
 or favor, and regardless of the oll'cnce it is 
 almost inevitable he must sometimes give to 
 parties outside as well as inside his regiment. 
 First • main-tain discipline and then to look 
 lifter the comfort and welfare of his command 
 are his two most important and some- 
 times troublesome duties, but which 
 must not be neglected if the etBcioncy 
 of the regiment is to bo maintained. 
 And here I cannot refrain from alluding, 
 with regret, to the most unsoldierly habit in- 
 dulged in by a few insubordinate mem- 
 bers of the militia force — I cannot call them 
 soldiers — of criticizing and decrying, through 
 the medium of the public press, the actions 
 of their superior ofliceiH. Such men are a 
 disgrace tu the Stiivice ; and as a rule a man 
 
u 
 
 detracted from 
 praise ^ivea ou 
 work done there 
 
 who will write scurrilous anonymous let- 
 ters, is not at ail scrupulous as to the truth 
 of what he says. The cowardly part of it is 
 that a cornmauding officer cannot defend 
 hiniHelf. It is like striking a man when he 
 is down with his hands and feet tied. The 
 militia act says, and vf properly so, that 
 no writing in the public press should be per- 
 mitted, inasmuch as the regulations provide 
 for every man in the service, no matter what 
 his rank may be, receiving ample justice. 
 Notably since the recent campaign in the 
 Northwest has this peridtious custom been 
 indulged in, and it is a great pity, for it has 
 the justly deserved 
 all sides to the good 
 by the militia force. 
 Although the work we were called upon to 
 do in the Northwest was not of a physically 
 arduous nature, yet it was tryiug enough. 
 
 WK IIAU (ioNK A liONO WAV FOR A KIOUT, 
 
 and wanted to have one, and it was from no 
 fault of mine, as Colonel Van Straubenzee can 
 tell you, that we didn' t succeed. We were, it is 
 true, disappointed in not getting into any of 
 the engagements, but still we were forluuate 
 in havmg a very important position assigned 
 to us. So, resigning ourselves to fate, we 
 kept watch ana waid on the archrebel Kiel 
 and his councillors in case there should be 
 any attempt at rescue, as well as serving to 
 keep in check by out presence any rising of 
 the Indians on the reserves a little further 
 north of us on the Qu' Appelle river. As we 
 lay at night in our blankets, feeling — iis one 
 of the men expressed it, every now and then 
 for a " bit of tht) soft side of the prairie to lie 
 on," with nothing to disturb the silence of 
 the night in that great lone laud but the 
 changing of our sentries and the loud shout 
 of the Mounted police patrols close by, as 
 they told oU their numbers and liuiKhed up 
 their rounds with the reassuring "all's well" 
 — our thoughts would wander from where our 
 hopes and asjilrations were, at the front, 
 to the dear onus we had left at 
 
 home. And, as I kaow now, but was 
 unaware of then — many an anxious thought 
 and many a weary care were concealed under 
 a calm exterior — not for themselves but for 
 those dependent upon them whom they had 
 left behind. The 
 
 SI'HilT OK TUB AN(iLO-SAXoN 
 
 is not dead amongst us. Slumbering it may 
 be under the work and cares of every day life, 
 but when occasion calls it will always be 
 found in the future as in the past, that both 
 the men and the women of our race are wil- 
 ling to sacrilice much when duty calls upon 
 them so to do. That spirit hns never been 
 wanting iu the Canadian militia from its 
 earliest records, as i have endeavored to 
 show until now. How is it to be in the fu- 
 ture? that is a question for uur younger men 
 to answer ; that they will be wo.thy of their 
 forefathers I have little doubt. There is a 
 sturdy spirit of eudurance, manliness and 
 pluck petmeating the youth of this country, 
 ani while upon them falls the respon- 
 sibility of maintaining a greater inheritance, 
 I teel very contideut that they will be worthy 
 of the irustand be able to maintain, inviolate, 
 this large and important possession of the 
 vast empire of Great Britain. 
 
 At the close of the lecture a hearty vote of 
 thanks was conveyed to the lecturer. 
 
 A number o'' views were then shown by 
 Mr. I'rowse's excellent hydrogen light, 
 comprising pictures of Montcalm and his 
 army, General Wolfe, the well known and hon- 
 ored ligure of Colonel Dyde, whom we shall 
 see in our midst no more, scenes from the 
 battles of ';57, the Artillery camj) at liegina 
 last year, and other views in connection with 
 the recent campaign, also phot«»graphs of Cols. 
 Wily, Strauben/ee, the adjutant and chap- 
 lain of the M. G. A , and General Middleton, 
 concluding with an excellent colored picture 
 of the Queen. The Artillery bund played 
 selections during the evening,and finished, as 
 usual, with the Dational authem. 
 
 t y 
 
 .i 
 
 ■MMi 
 
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