By Joe Corrigan
If I were a betting man in 1866, I wouldn’t have bet that
Canada’s Confederation scheme would ever come about. In fact, the odds were
stacked against this tiny, fragmented little group of colonies ever becoming
the second largest country in the world. Back then, things looked pretty bleak.
After the Charlottetown, Halifax and Quebec Conferences,
where the idea of a united British North America took shape, only three
colonies were on side with the project and opposition was strong and very
passionate. Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), where the plan
originated, were in favour. Nova Scotia had voted for Confederation as well
though it was actively opposed by the prominent politician Joseph Howe.
However, when the question was put before the electorate in New Brunswick in the
election of 1865, an anti-confederation government came to power. Confederation
really couldn’t work without New Brunswick forming a unified territory between
Canada and Nova Scotia. It created a two year stalemate but, suddenly in the
spring of 1866, an unlikely force became a catalyst that galvanized popular
opinion in Confederation’s favour. Yes, we owe our country, in part, to a group
of Irish veterans of the War Between the States.
The American Civil War had just ended and there was much
animosity, particularly in the northern United States, towards Great Britain
and Canada. Many Americans felt that, despite any claim of neutrality, British
North America and Great Britain had aided and abetted the Confederates during
the war. Incidents like the Trent affair (1862) and the St. Albans raid (1864) had
only served to spur demands for the U.S. government to annex British North
America “by force if necessary”. Although the British did send several thousand
troops to the Maritimes and the United Provinces of Canada following the Trent
affair, they had no intention of fighting a land war on the other side of the
Atlantic Ocean with a country that had over a million man army. If push came to
shove, the British would have surrendered the British North American colonies
to the Americans. Many people stateside believed this would fulfill their
“Manifest Destiny”. Indeed, many American politicians were pressing for
concessions from the British as reparations for the harm caused them during the
Civil War.
Enter the Fenians. A great many Irish emigrants came to
Canada and the United States during the first half of the 19th century. Many were driven by poverty and oppression in their homeland and most
harboured a resentment towards the English who had made them a dispossessed
people in their own land. Immigrating to North America gave these people opportunities
they would never have had in the old country. Still, they were looked down upon
in their new homeland. With the great potato famine of 1847, thousands departed
to escape the threat of starvation. Many of the men who left Ireland at this
time joined the US Army just in time to participate in the War with Mexico.
When the Civil War began, both the Union and Confederate sides had entire
regiments made up of Irish troops. One of the most heart-breaking conflicts of
that war occurred at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1862 when Irish Southern
troops slaughtered their Northern compatriots in a conflict where the Union
troops undertook suicidal attacks against well-entrenched positions.
With the end of the war in 1865, both sides demobilized,
with many of the troops being allowed to keep their firearms. The Irish
veterans soon gravitated to the Fenian Brotherhood, a political group
determined to establish home rule for the Irish; something that wouldn’t
actually occur until 1921. Not being able to influence the situation in Ireland
directly, they came up with a plot to invaded British North America and trade
it for Ireland’s freedom. Given the American attitude towards Great Britain and
its colonies, the Fenians didn’t expect any interference from the US
government; especially from northern politicians who were counting on the Irish
vote. They didn’t expect much of a fight from the Canadians either. As their
marching song of the day stated “and we’ll go and capture Canada, for we’ve
nothing else to do!”* Unfortunately for the Fenians, the Canadian government
was well aware of their plans. John A. Macdonald, Minister of Militias for the United
Provinces of Canada, had engaged agents to infiltrate the Fenian Brotherhood and
determine their plans. An alert went up in March of 1866 that the Fenians were
planning a St. Patrick’s Day attack on the 17th of the month. The
militia was mobilized but no attack materialized. That was the day however,
that the Fenian leadership authorized a raid on Campobello Island, New
Brunswick. The thinking was that if the Fenians could occupy a piece of British
territory, it would legitimize them as belligerents under international law.
“They could then issue letters of marque and reprisal to privateers to prey on
British shipping, purchase arms and ammunition freely, and raise an army
without breaking American laws or violating neutrality.”**
 |
| Canadian Militia Re-enactors |
 |
| Canadian Militia Uniform |
 |
| Fenian Re-enactors |
 |
| Fenian Uniform |
 |
| Fenian & BNA Flags |
Already on a state of alert, the New Brunswick government
was filled in on the details of the plan by Charles Beckworth of Fredericton
who, while attending Harvard University, was invited to a Fenian rally where
the plan to invade Campobello Island was openly discussed. Despite all the
bluster on the part of the Fenians who gathered at Eastport, Maine, only minor
incidents occurred. On April 13, 1866, Fenian leader Dennis Doyle crossed the
St. Croix River landing at Porter’s Farm. They were spotted by “Old Joe” Young
who made like Paul Revere and rode off to warn the locals to arm themselves
and repel the invaders. Fortunately, no blood was shed and the Fenians
contented themselves to fire their guns in the air and set fire to a few
woodpiles before returning to Maine. The next night, the infamous “Indian
Island flag incident” took place where nine Fenians took the island’s lighthouse keeper and his family hostage for a brief period and seized the Union
Jack flag. The Fenians set bonfires on the American side of the river border
and fired their guns in the air on at least one occasion. A group of Fenians even
boldly came across the bridge and spent some time in New Brunswick but, as they
remained peaceful, there was nothing the militia could do to detain them. This
incident lead some of the New Brunswick militia members to cross the bridge
themselves and stroll around Calais Maine in their scarlet uniforms in a
rather juvenile form of retaliation.
The only serious effort to invade Canadian territory took
place on April 28th, 1866 when about 50 Fenians boarded a British
owned schooner with the ironic name “Two Friends” and set out for Campobello
Island. The ship became becalmed and the Fenians forced the ship’s captain to
come along-side the schooner “Wentworth” which they commandeered before
scuttling the “Two Friends”. The Royal Navy had been called in to patrol the
area and, with their plans in disarray, the Fenians returned to Eastport and
disembarked. General George Meade, the Union general who was the victorious
commander at the Battle of Gettysburg was sent by the U.S. Army to disperse the
Fenians and thus this episode came to an inglorious end for the Irish freedom
fighters.
 |
| Dedication of Fenian Raids Monument West of Queen's Park in Toronto |
 |
| Historic Sign Commemorating Raid Site |
 |
| Fenian Raids Campaign Medal |
 |
| Funeral for Fenian Raids Casualties |
Though comic opera in nature when one looks back, there was
so much concern of a renewed attack that the people of New Brunswick voted in
the pro-confederation government of Leonard Tilley and the road was clear for
negotiations to take place with the British government at the London
conference, later that year.The irony for the Fenians comes in the fact that
all they were able to accomplish was putting the stalled confederation scheme
back on track.
On Sunday, July 3, we will be staging a Fenian
Raid Re-enactment as part of our Lang Celebrates Confederation festivities (one
of only two such re-enactments in the province that we are aware of). We hope
that you will join us as we commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Fenian
raids and celebrate the victory of the Canadian Militia.
 |
| Fenian Raid Re-enactment at Lang Pioneer Village Museum 2012 |
 |
| Canadian Militia- Fenian Raid Re-enactment at Lang Pioneer Village 2013 |
 |
| Fenians- Fenian Raid Re-enactment at Lang Pioneer Village 2013 |
Sources: * & ** from Turning Back the Fenians – New
Brunswick’s Last Colonial Campaign by Robert L. Dallison – Page 73
Joe Corrigan has been Museum Manager at Lang Pioneer Village since February of 2003. He has been a lifelong student of history. His specific areas of interest are Canadian and world political, military and sports history with a particular focus on biographical works. Joe has been interpreting Sir John A. Macdonald at the Museum's Historic Dominion Day event since 2007.
