For Brits is
stands for unquestionable fundamentalism, terrorism which has to be gotten rid
of, for people of Belfast or Londonderry it stands for freedom and independent
well-being. IRA is nothing more than an armed movement which based its ideology
on republicanism which always shouted out loud that both Irelands should be
independent, should be republics.
1860s – Canada Fenian
raids begun. Years 1866 and
1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish Republican
organization who were based in the United States, on British army forts,
customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain
to withdraw from Ireland. The efforts were very brutal and unscrupulous. They
divided Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were torn between loyalty to
their new home and sympathy for the aims of the Fenians. The choice was very difficult,
the tights of the Fenians tempting, unusual for Canadians.The Protestant Irish
were generally loyal to Britain and fought with the Orange Order against the
Fenians. While the U.S. authorities arrested the men and confiscated their
arms, there is speculation that some in the U.S. government had turned a blind
eye to the preparations for the invasion, angered at actions that could have
been construed as Canadian assistance to the Confederate States of America
during the American Civil War. No surprasingly, the political choices in USA
were precious, so some action might have been unnoticed.There were five Fenian
raids of note and all of them ended in failure. Led by John O'Mahony, this
Fenian raid occurred in April 1866, at Campobello Island, New Brunswick. A
Fenian Brotherhood war party of over 700 members arrived at the Maine shore
opposite the island intending to seize Campobello from the British. British
commander Charles Hastings Doyle, stationed at Halifax, Nova Scotia responded
decisively. On 17 April 1866 he left Halifax with Royal Navy warships carrying
over 700 British regulars and proceeded to Passamaquoddy Bay, where the Fenian
force was concentrated. This show of British might discouraged the Fenians, and
they dispersed. However, they were not discouraged, in contrary, they planned
another raid, much more meticulous. The invasion reinforced the idea of protection
for New Brunswick by joining with the British North American colonies of Nova
Scotia, and the United Province of Canada, formerly Upper Canada (now Ontario)
and Lower Canada (Quebec), to form the Dominion of Canada. The Fenians now
split into two factions. The original faction led by Fenian founders James
Stephens and John O'Mahony focused more on fundraising for rebels in Ireland. The
more militant "senate faction" led by William R. Roberts believed
that even a marginally successful invasion of the Province of Canada or other
parts of British North America would provide them with leverage in their
efforts. After the failure of the April attempt to raid New Brunswick, which
had been blessed by O'Mahony, the senate faction implemented their own plan for
invading Canada. Drafted by the senate "Secretary for War" General T.
W. Sweeny, a distinguished former Union Army officer, the plan called for
multiple invasions at points in Canada West (now southern Ontario) and Canada
East (now southern Quebec) intended to cut Canada West off from Canada East and
possible British reinforcements from there. Key to the plan was a diversionary
attack at Fort Erie from Buffalo, New York, meant to draw troops away from
Toronto in a feigned strike at the nearby Welland Canal system. This would be
the only Fenian attack, other than the Quebec raid several days later, that
would be launched in June 1866.
Approximately
1000 to 1,300 Fenians crossed the Niagara River in the first 14 hours of June 1
under Colonel John O'Neill. Sabotaged by Fenians in its crew, the U.S. Navy's
side-wheel gunboat USS Michigan did not begin intercepting Fenian
reinforcements until 2:15 p.m. — fourteen hours after Owen Starr's advance
party had crossed the river ahead of O'Neill's main force. Once the USS
Michigan was deployed, O'Neill's force in the Niagara Region was cut off from
further supplies and reinforcements. After assembling with other units from the
province and travelling all night, the Canadians advanced into a well-laid
ambush (Battle of Ridgeway) by approximately 600-700 Fenians the next morning
north of Ridgeway, a small hamlet west of Fort Erie.
The Canadian
militia consisted of inexperienced volunteers with no more than basic drill
training but armed with Enfield rifled muskets equal to the armaments of the
Fenians. Nonetheless, they were not good enough, no matter how well thait troop
were trained and prepared, the IRA was better, more cunning, more unpredictable.
A single company of the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto had been armed the day
before on their ferry crossing from Toronto with state-of-the-art 7-shot Spencer
repeating rifles, but had not had an opportunity to practise with them and were
issued with only 28 rounds per man. The Fenians were mostly battle-hardened
American Civil War veterans, armed with weapons procured from leftover war
supplies, either Enfield rifled muskets or the comparable Springfield.
The opposing
forces exchanged volleys for about two hours, before a series of command errors
threw the Canadians into confusion. The Fenians took advantage of it by
launching a bayonet charge that broke the inexperienced Canadian ranks. Seven
Canadians were killed on the battlefield, two died shortly afterwards from
wounds, and four would later die of wounds or disease while on service;
ninety-four more were wounded or disabled by disease. Eight Fenians were killed and sixteen wounded. It
was a great disadvantage and burden, however, it didn’t stop the fights and
violence.
After the battle, the Canadians
retreated to Port Colborne, at the Lake Erie end
of the Welland Canal. The Fenians rested briefly at Ridgeway,
before returning to Fort Erie. Another encounter followed that saw several
Canadians severely wounded and the surrender of a large group of local Canadian
militia who had moved into the Fenian rear. After considering the inability of
reinforcements to cross the river and the approach of large numbers of both
militia and British regulars, the remaining Fenians released the Canadian
prisoners and returned to Buffalo early in the morning of June 3. They were
intercepted by the gunboat Michigan and surrendered to the American navy.
Until recently
it was alleged that the turning point in the battle was when Fenian cavalry was
erroneously reported and the Canadian militia ordered to form square, the
standard tactic for infantry to repel cavalry. When the Queen's Own Rifles
began retiring to give the field to what they thought were British units, the
13th Battalion mistook this for a retreat, and began withdrawing themselves. At
this moment that the infamous "form square" order was given,
completing the debacle that was unfolding on the field.
A board of
inquiry determined that allegations over the alleged misconduct of Lieutenant-Colonel
Alfred Booker (13th Battalion), on whom command of Canadian volunteers had
devolved, had "not the slightest foundation for the unfavourable
imputations cast upon him in the public prints". Nevertheless, the charges
dogged Booker for the rest of his life.
A second board
of inquiry into the battle at Fort Erie exonerated Lieutenant-Colonel J.
Stoughton Dennis, Brigade Major of the Fifth Military District, although the
President of the Board of Inquiry, Colonel George T. Denison, differed from his
colleagues on several key points.
Five days after
the start of the invasion, U. S. President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation
requiring enforcement of the neutrality laws, guaranteeing the Fenian invasion
could not continue. The President's idea was right, perhaps, intact in process,
yet, something had already started he couldn't prevent by any law or order. Generals
Ulysses S. Grant and General George Meade went to Buffalo, New York to inspect
the situation. Following instructions from Grant, Meade issued strict orders to
prevent anyone from violating the border. Grant then proceeded to St. Louis.
Meade, finding that the battles were over and the Fenian army interned in
Buffalo, went to Ogdensburg, New York, to oversee the situation in the St.
Lawrence River area. The U.S. Army was then instructed to seize all Fenian
weapons and ammunition and prevent more border crossings. Further instructions
on 7 June 1866 were to arrest anyone who appeared to be a Fenian.
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 them
helped to galvanize support for the Confederation of Canada in 1867. Some
historians have argued that the affair tipped the final votes of reluctant
Maritime provinces in favour of the collective security of nationhood, making
Ridgeway the “battle that made Canada.”
In June 2006
Ontario’s heritage agency dedicated a plaque at Ridgeway on the commemoration
of the 140th anniversary of the battle. Many members of today's Canadian army
regiment, The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada, return to the Ridgeway battle site
each year on the weekend closest to the June 2 anniversary for a bicycle tour
of the battle sites.
Alexander Muir,
a Scottish immigrant, author of the "The Maple Leaf Forever" and
member of the Orange Order, fought at Ridgeway with the Queen's Own Rifles.
A Fenian
commander was Brigadier General Thomas William Sweeny, who was arrested by the
United States government for violating American neutrality. Nevertheless, he
was soon released and served in the Regular Army until he retired in
1870.
The total
casualty figures for the Fenian Raids into Canada 1866, including deaths from
disease while on service in both Canada West (Ontario) and Canada East
(Quebec), were calculated by the Militia Department in 1868 as 31 dead and 103
wounded or struck by disease.
They used the
notion “The Irish Republican Army” for the first time. The guerilla was formed
by men who didn’t want to enlist to British Army, they were called Irish
Volunteers.
The Irish
Volunteers (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann) was a military organisation established
in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It
was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in
1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights
and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland". Their slogans were
strong, revolutionary, aggressive and profound, they had an aim and didn’t hesitate
to reach it by no means of. The Volunteers included members of the Gaelic League,
Ancient Order of Hibernians and Sinn Féin, and, secretly, the IRB. Increasing
rapidly to a strength of nearly 200,000 by mid-1914, it split in September of
that year over John Redmond's commitment to the British War effort, with the
smaller group retaining the name of "Irish Volunteers". The Irish
Volunteers fought for Irish independence in the Easter Rising of 1916,
alongside the Irish Citizen Army, Cumann na mBan, and Fianna Éireann. From 1919
it took part in the Irish War of Independence, becoming known as the Irish
Republican Army. The independence and free-will, free to decide and determine,
became the corestone slogans of theirs. The initiative for a series of meetings
leading up to the public inauguration of the Irish Volunteers came from the Irish
Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Bulmer Hobson, co-founder of the republican
boy-scouts, Fianna Éireann, and member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood,
believed the IRB should use the formation of the Ulster Volunteers as an
"excuse to try to persuade the public to form an Irish volunteer
force". The IRB could not move in the direction of a volunteer force
themselves, as any such action by known proponents of physical force would be
suppressed, despite the precedent established by the Ulster Volunteers. They
therefore confined themselves to encouraging the view that nationalists also
ought to organise a volunteer force for the defence of Ireland. A small
committee then began to meet regularly in Dublin from July 1913, who watched
the growth of this opinion. They refrained however from any action until the
precedent of Ulster should have first been established while waiting for the
lead to come from a "constitutional" quarter.
The IRB began
the preparations for the open organisation of the Irish Volunteers in January
1913. James Stritch, an IRB member, had the Irish National Foresters build a
hall at the back of 41 Parnell Square in Dublin, which was the headquarters of
the Wolfe Tone Clubs. Anticipating the formation of the Volunteers they began
to learn foot-drill and military movements. The drilling was conducted by
Stritch together with members of Fianna Éireann. They began by drilling a small
number of IRB associated with the Dublin Gaelic Athletic Association, led by Harry
Boland. Michael Collins along with several other IRB members claim that the
formation of the Irish Volunteers was not merely a "knee-jerk
reaction" to the Ulster Volunteers, which is often supposed, but was in
fact the "old Irish Republican Brotherhood in fuller force."
Bibliography
1.
“The Oxford History of Europe”, OUP, 199
2.
“The British History and Culture”, Express Publishing,
2000
3.
“Make Britian” by Andrew Marr, MacMillam, 2005
4.
Peter Vronsky, Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion
and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada, Toronto: Penugin-Allen Lane, 2011
5.
Senior, Hereward. The Last Invasion of Canada: The
Fenian Raids of 1866–1870 Dundurn Press. 1991.
6.
Fitzpatrick, David (2003). "2". Harry
Boland's Irish Revolution (2004 ed.). Cork: Cork University Press
7.
Foy, Michael & Brian Barton, The Easter Rising,
2004
8.
Hickey, D. J; J. E. Doherty (2003). A new Dictionary of
Irish History from 1800. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd
9.
White, Gerry; Brendan O'Shea (2003). Irish Volunteer
Soldier 1913–1923. Bill Younghusband. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
10. Michael
Foy and Brian Barton, The Easter Rising Sutton Publishing Ltd. 1999
11. Hobson,
Bulmer (1918). A Short History of the Irish Volunteers. 1 As passed by Censor.
Preface by Eoin MacNeill. Dublin: The Candel Press
12. Hobson,
Bulmer (1918). A Short History of the Irish Volunteers. 1 As passed by Censor.
Preface by Eoin MacNeill. Dublin: The Candel Press
13. Ruth
Dudley Edwards, Patrick Pearse: The Triumph of Failure, 1977
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