Battle of Ridgeway (Fenian Raids) - 152 Anniversary today!!
- Thread starter cigar_man
- Start date
No 5 Coy QOR were issued Spencer rifles and 28 ctgs during transit from Toronto with absolutely no training. Used at Ridgeway.
Militia dispatched to fight the Fenians were probably the worst equipped army Canada ever sent into battle. Despite months of warnings about the Fenians they had no maps, water bottles , packs or any logistic support. A cavalry troop was left in Toronto it seems mainly due to personal animosity between the cavalry leader and the CO of the infantry.
Big Bad
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
One other thing about the QC Fenian raids in Mississquoi: regular Canadian soldiers were picketed nearby after one of the raids and a deaf farm girl went out at night, walking down the road on some errand or other. She was challenged by a Regular and shot when she failed to respond or comply. I don't know if this happened at Eccles Hill or the earlier raid at Pigeon Hill but when I was a kid there was a little white stone roadside marker showing where she fell and died, when my silverhaired mother was still alive we went looking for it without success and I don't think it's there anymore, either vanished with the road past Eccles Hill or maybe removed during the widening of another road (did I mention the hostility of the QC government towards this stuff?). Anyway, the Fenians were responsible for two deaths in the area, one of their own and of that poor girl.
Big Bad
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
^^^ This is a photo of the marker mentioned above, the date alone confirms the incident happened during the raid on Pigeon Hill.
So from the story on the Townships historical site as posted by Cantom, she was a woman of 71 and not a girl at all. Such is oral history, we need to keep things written down for sure.
So from the story on the Townships historical site as posted by Cantom, she was a woman of 71 and not a girl at all. Such is oral history, we need to keep things written down for sure.
