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Support for the Fenian Brotherhood's invasion of Canada quickly disappeared and there was no real threat after the 1890s. Nevertheless, the raids had an important effect on all Canadians. Ironically, though they did nothing to advance the cause of Irish independence, the 1866 Fenian raids and the inept efforts of the Canadian Militia to repulse ...
The Battle of Ridgeway (sometimes the Battle of Lime Ridge or Limestone Ridge [nb 1]) was fought in the vicinity of the town of Fort Erie across the Niagara River from Buffalo, New York, near the village of Ridgeway, Canada West, currently Ontario, Canada, on June 2, 1866, between Canadian troops and an irregular army of Irish-American invaders, the Fenians.
The remaining Canadian volunteers on the gunboat went back to Port Colborne to inform of the situation while O'Neill the Fenian soldiers stayed in Fort Erie. Later, an estimated 5,000 Canadian militia reinforcements informed of the situation came and surrounded the Fenian movement’s army in Fort Erie.
In fact, after thirty years since the end of the Battle Of Eccles hill, the Canadian authorities decided to decorate all veterans who participated in pushing back the Fenian invasion. Thanks to the incorporated registry constituted in 1866 and 1870, today, we know who was part of the Volunteer Canadian militia.
Map of major events during the Fenian Rising in Ireland and the UK, and the Fenian Raids in North America. Click the map to view a larger size. (To contribute:
Invasion of Canada (1812), War of 1812; American rebels from the Hunters' Lodges invaded Canada in the Patriot War (1837–1838) and the Battle of the Windmill in 1838; Fenian raids (1866 and 1871) War Plan Red (mid-1920s), a U.S. invasion plan created as a contingency for the unlikely event of war with the United Kingdom
British pressure and the American Civil War prompted various colonies to consider forming a single federation. Although some questioned the need to unite post-American Civil War, subsequent raids by Fenians made more people in British North America favourable to Canadian Confederation, which was eventually realized in 1867. [175] [187]
With overwhelming numbers of Canadian forces closing in, O'Neill oversaw a successful evacuation on the night of 2–3 June back to US territory. He was later charged with violating the neutrality laws of the US, but it was dropped. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography states that Ridgeway made O'Neill a Fenian hero.