Little known USA / Canada battles

[NightTrain]

Interesting stuff... most of this I knew nothing about.

You asked if the Fenians--militant Irish nationalists in the U.S.--were a serious threat. It seems unlikely they could ever have conquered Canada as they hoped, but they were more than a mere nuisance. A history lesson is in order for the U.S. audience. I for one was never taught anything about the Fenians in school, probably because the episode casts the U.S. in a poor light.

The Fenian Brotherhood (pronounced "fee-nee-an"), made up of Irish immigrants in the U.S., was the American branch of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood. The I.R.B. was established in 1858 to overthrow British rule in Ireland. In late 1865 a series of raids by British authorities in Ireland disrupted plans for an uprising there. The American branch bickered over the best way to proceed, with one faction advocating an invasion of the province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec, then still a British colony) and using it as a base against Britain.

In a bizarre twist, the theretofore anti-invasion faction struck first, in an apparent attempt to regain credibility within the organization. In April 1866, a force arrived in Eastport, Maine, hoping to take over nearby Campobello Island in New Brunswick (which would not become part of Canada until the next year). Some cross-border raids were made and some warehouses were burned, but no one was killed. The attempt fizzled when U.S. authorities seized a shipment of weapons and started patrolling the area.

That was essentially the end of this faction of the Fenian Brotherhood, but the other faction was just getting started. They made no great secret of their plans, but U.S. civilian officials were reluctant to interfere for fear of alienating the Irish vote. On the night of May 31, about 1,000 Fenians crossed the Niagara River into Ontario. On June 1, the U.S. revenue cutter Michigan arrived, discouraging resupply of the force. On June 2, about ten miles from the border, the Fenians won the Battle of Ridgeway against a force of Canadian militia. But fearing the approach of British regulars, they returned to the river and tried to cross back into the U.S. early on June 3. They were arrested in U.S. waters by the Michigan before they could make land. Meanwhile, the Fenian leadership was planning to invade Quebec, hoping (very optimistically) for a force of 16,000. But by the time they could carry out their plans, U.S. authorities were finally getting serious about interdiction of the flow of men and weapons. Fewer than a thousand entered Quebec on June 7, only about half of whom were armed. They were quickly routed by the defenders. In all, nine Canadians and at least eight Fenians were killed, mostly at Ridgeway.

Again for fear of alienating the Irish vote, the U.S. failed to bring to trial any of the Fenians it had arrested. Twenty-five of those captured in Canada were convicted and sentenced to death. But their sentences were commuted to twenty years' hard labor, thus depriving the Fenian leadership of some much-needed martyrs. As one of the leaders put it in a letter to a prisoner, "I regret to tell you that you are not going to be hanged." Except for one who died in prison, the men were all pardoned and released within a few years.

With each failure, the Fenians lost more and more support. Their last halfway serious threat was another invasion of Quebec from Vermont in 1870. Only 200 Fenians took part, and they were easily defeated by the defenders. Four Fenians were killed versus no defenders. This time the U.S. did try some of the leaders, eight of whom were convicted and sentenced to short prison terms. President Grant pardoned them within a few months after they promised not to try again. Some of them, it turned out, were lying, but after 1870 their efforts were little more than a nuisance.

I'm afraid I can't agree that relations along the border have always been friendly since the end of the War of 1812. Other than the Fenians' activities and the Venezuela crisis, there were several other incidents that might conceivably have erupted into war.

The Caroline affair of 1837 involved the destruction of a private American ship of that name by Canadian authorities in U.S. waters near Buffalo. It was being used by the supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie, the leader of a rebellion against British authority in Canada. One U.S. citizen was killed. A Canadian deputy marshal was later arrested and tried by New York state for his part in the attack, but he was acquitted.

The so-called Aroostook War of 1839 was a border dispute between Maine and New Brunswick that saw no bloodshed, but thousands of troops were rushed to the area. The dispute was peacefully settled in 1842 by the Webster-Asburton Treaty.

In 1846 the Democratic slogan "Fifty-four Forty or Fight" promised war with Britain unless the U.S. were granted that part of the Northwest up to 54º40' north latitude. The slogan was revealed as mere rhetoric when later that year the U.S. and Britain signed the Oregon Treaty setting the border at 49º north latitude.

In 1864 during the American Civil War, a group of about thirty Confederate raiders entered Vermont by way of Quebec and robbed several banks of about $200,000 in the town of St. Albans. At least one townsman was killed. Upon their return to Quebec, the raiders were arrested by local authorities there, but to the dismay of Union officials they were soon released.

Also stemming from the Civil War was the Alabama affair. This involved several Confederate warships including the Alabama that were illegally built and outfitted at British ports. There was some fear in Canada just after the Civil War ended that the U.S. would take out its frustrations on Britain by invading Canada. But the U.S. was in no mood to fight another war that would likely have been about as bloody as the one it had just fought. The Alabama issue was finally settled in 1872, when an international arbitration board awarded the U.S. $15.5 million damages. Canada had hoped to receive reparations from the U.S. for the Fenian attacks, but it was not to be. It evens out in the end, anyway. I still think we Americans deserve reparations for Celine Dion.

Further reading:

The Defence of the Undefended Border: Planning for War in North America 1867-1939 (1977) by Richard A. Preston

"Joint Plan Red" by Thaddeus Holt in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, volume 1

Fenianism in North America (1975) by W. S. Neidhardt

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcanadawar.html

 

[freeandfun1]

as history buff, i found that very interesting. thanks.

 

[freeandfun1]

did you know that in 1930 the governor of OK dispatched national guard troops to the border with Texas over a toll bridge? Other than the civil war, have there been border battles that resulted in actual fighting between any states?

 

[NightTrain]

Yeah, I'm a history buff as well, and I was surprised I'd never heard of the conflicts.

As far as state-to-state fighting, I've never heard of that other than the Civil War.... but I could be wrong. This morning I would have laughed at someone claiming that hostilities ensued between Canada and the USA other than the War of 1812 -- which, in all fairness, was under Britain's rule, thus disqualifying it in my mind.

 

[freeandfun1]

Yeah, I'm a history buff as well, and I was surprised I'd never heard of the conflicts.

As far as state-to-state fighting, I've never heard of that other than the Civil War.... but I could be wrong. This morning I would have laughed at someone claiming that hostilities ensued between Canada and the USA other than the War of 1812 -- which, in all fairness, was under Britain's rule, thus disqualifying it in my mind.

there is a weak, albeit real, movement in Texas to once again split off. They even have a "government in exile". :tng:

 

[NightTrain]

lol, there's a few nuts (most of them are burned out hippies) running around up here in Alaska that want to secede from the USA, too. I think they think it'll be easier to legalize pot then.

They've been trying for years, and I see them every summer, standing out getting signatures outside of supermarkets on petitions.

 

[Isaac Brock]

Canada and the US had many conflicts, that rarely escalated to war (with the exception of the War of 1812). US has never been at war with Canada or in any military conflict with Canada since our Confederation.

Though you missed the most important war of all

The Pig War

The Pig War (also called the Pig Episode, the San Juan Boundary Dispute or the Northwestern Boundary Dispute) was a confrontation in 1859 between American and British authorities, resulting from a dispute over the boundary between the United States and Canada. It is so called because the only casualty was a pig.

The border between United States and Canada was fixed on June 15, 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as being "along the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean."

However, there are actually two straits which could be called the middle of the channel: Haro Strait, along the west side of the San Juan Islands; and Rosario Strait, along the east side. Because of this ambiguity, both the United States and the United Kingdom claimed sovereignty over the San Juan Islands.

Exactly 13 years later, on June 15, 1859, this ambiguity lead to direct conflict: Lyman Cutlar, an American farmer, shot and killed a pig rooting in his garden. That pig was owned by an Irishman who was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company. When British authorities threatened to arrest Cutlar, American settlers called for military protection.

Initially, 66 American soldiers of the 9th Infantry under the command of Captain George Pickett were dispatched to San Juan Island. When British authorities learned of this, three British warships were sent under the command of Captain Geoffrey Hornby to counter the Americans. The situation continued to escalate. By September, 461 Americans with 14 cannons, were opposed by three British warships mounting 70 guns and carrying 2,140 men. During this time, no shots were fired; both sides wisely chose not to involve "two great nations in a war over a squabble about a pig".

In September, U.S. President James Buchanan sent General Winfield Scott to negotiate with Governor James Douglas to resolve growing crisis. As a result, both sides agreed to retain joint military occupation of the island, reducing their presence to a token force. The "British Camp" was established on the north end of San Juan Island, and the "American Camp" was created on the south end.

This state of affairs continued for the next 12 years, when the matter was referred to Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany. On October 21, 1872, a commission appointed by the Kaiser decided in favor of turning the San Juan Islands over to the United States.

 

[NightTrain]

You're right, Issac! I did know about that, but completely forgot about it.

Nothing like a war igniting over a dead pig... that would have been embarassing. lol