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The Fenian raids were a series of incursions carried out by the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish republican organization based in the United States, on military fortifications, customs posts and other targets in Canada (then part of British North America) in 1866, and again from 1870 to 1871.
To protect Nova Scotia from a possible Fenian Raid, the Battalion was put on high alert from 27 March 1866 until 14 April 1866. [14] They were called out for duty and drilled on Grand Parade. All ball practice was prohibited and no member of the battalion was allowed beyond the city limits without special leave.
During the 1866 Fenian raid of the Province of Canada, the Battle of Fort Erie was a surrounding and forcing of the Fenian armies surrender following a skirmish near Fort Erie and the farther-away Battle of Ridgeway on June 2.
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 Fenian Brotherhood, especially a faction of it under William R. Roberts, mobilised up to 1,000 Irish veterans of the American Civil War to launch raids on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada in order to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland in 1866 and 1871.
John Charles O'Neill (9 March 1834 – 8 January 1878) was an Irish-born officer in the American Civil War and member of the Fenian Brotherhood. O'Neill is best known for his activities leading the Fenian raids on Canada in 1866 and 1871. [1]
The first serious raid came in June 1866 with 850 Fenians attacking at Ridgeway in the Niagara region, then withdrawing quickly back across the border. This was the largest and best-organized raid, and militia units, again primarily the Queen's Own Rifles and Hamilton's 13th Battalion, were called out.
In 1866 it was renamed 1st York Troop The Governor General's Body Guard for Upper Canada and in 1867 became The Governor General's Body Guard for Ontario. After British forces completely left Canada in 1870 the Canadian Government raised a small regular force and began to look at reorganizing the Militia cavalry into full regiments.