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3. Rebellion Events in Upper Canada
From History of Canada Online
| E. Conflict & Change →→ 1. Background of Discontent → 2. Rebellion Events in Lower Canada → 3. Rebellion Events in Upper Canada → 4. Invasion & Aftermath → 5. The Road to Responsible Government →→ A. The Road to Confederation |
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Reform Frustrated
Contents |
However, virtually everything was against a successful outcome for the rebels. The timing, the planning, and the organization were all against them. Beginning their attempted coup in the snows of December did not help their cause. Their numbers were small. The pro-government forces were not only far more numerous but were also better equipped. The rebels were disorganized. Communication was poor and often contradictory. Equipment was difficult to come by. It was no surprise that the rebellion was short-lived and easily put down.
The plan - if it can be called that - was to march on the capital, Toronto, capture it, seize the arms and equipment stored there, and overthrow the government. It all sounded quite simple - in theory. The reality was a very different story. The rebellion was almost over before it began, largely because of incompetence and miscommunication.
Mackenzie & Rolph
On Jun 19 the second session of the thirteenth Parliament of Upper Canada opened and William Lyon Mackenzie and friends founded the Committee of Vigilance of Upper Canada; to form a provisional revolutionary government for Upper Canada.
On Jul 31, at a meeting at John Doel's brewery, he was elected agent and secretary of the Committee of Vigilance of Upper Canada; the Committee adopted a Declaration of Independence modeled on the American one, which stated
"Government is founded on the authority, and is instituted for the benefit, of a people; when, therefore, any Government long and systematically ceases to answer the great ends of its foundation, the people have a natural right given them by their Creator to seek after and establish such institutions as will yield the greatest quantity of happiness to the greatest number."
- Declaration of the Reformers of the City of Toronto, July 31, 1837
Mackenzie warned that the Committee of Vigilance "could easily be transferred without change of structure to military purposes." On August 2, he published the Declaration of the Reformers of Toronto in the newspaper The Constitution, and then on November 15, a draft republican constitution based on the American one.
Three days later, Mackenzie decided on a coup d'etat for December 7; to create a republican government in Upper Canada that would petition for union with the United States. On Nov 22, he called for armed rebellion in a message 'to the people of Upper Canada' published in his paper 'The Constitution'.
- RESOURCE: Read Mackenzie's Rebellion Proclamation
Doctor John Rolph Takes Charge
Dr. John Rolph was a member of the Upper Canadian government, and secretly a rebel leader as well. He knew how little protection the capital had, and therefore how easy it should be to take. He had been told that Mackenzie had chosen December 7th as the date for the attack. However, Rolph feared that would be too late as troops might be brought in to bolster the city's defenses. Therefore, without consulting anyone, mere days before the attack, Rolph changed the date to December 4th. Now the disorganized rebels had even less time for planning and preparation. Samuel Lount and other rebel leaders were not amused. Mackenzie stepped in and reestablished the 7th as the date of the attack. However, if the rebels could not get something as seemingly simply as the date right, how much real chance did they have for success over the government forces?
On December 3rd, about 150 rebels met at Montgomery's Tavern on Yonge Street north of the city. They themselves, having received mixed messages, were unsure as to precisely when the attack was going to begin. Not surprisingly, the collection of the rag-tag 'army' aroused the suspicions of residents in the vicinity. On the following day, the rebels captured a spy lurking near the tavern. When loyalist Colonel Robert Moodie tried to rescue his captured friend, he was shot at a barricade and left to die. However, the spy managed to escape in the ensuing fight and confusion and galloped off to warn Lieutenant-Governor Francis Bond Head of the impending attack.
At 6 pm, emboldened with this piece of news, a group of 700 rebels led by Samuel Lount gathered at the Bloor St. tollgate and marched south toward the city. Most were armed simply with pikes and pitchforks. Only a few had rifles and muskets. They naively believed that the rightness of their cause would see them through to victory. Near the city, Alderman John Powell fired shots at them, and wounded rebel leader Anthony Anderson. They chased him, but he hid behind a log and escaped. That event produced more fear than casualties.
At present day College St. they were ambushed by Sheriff Jarvis and 27 men hiding in Mrs. Sharpe's vegetable garden. The front line of rebels returned the fire, and then dropped to allow those behind them to get a shot at the fleeing colonists. However, the men in the second line, believing that their comrades had been hit, fled in fear. As word got out, volunteers flooded into Toronto to protect it from the rebels. They decided to press the attack and on December 7th, almost one thousand of them, led by James Fitzgibbon, marched north toward the rebel stronghold at Montgomery's Tavern.
A War of 1812 veteran and an adjutant-general, Fitzgibbon had decided to take matters into his own hands while Bond Head vacillated on a plan of action. Being a military man, he easily recognized when he had the advantage and so believed now was the time to go on the offensive. The rebels knew they were in trouble. They attempted to slow the government forces with a couple of diversions that included burning a house and trying to burn the Don Bridge. As soon as the volunteer regiment neared Montgomery's Tavern, some rebels tried to escape into the surrounding forests.
Waiting for Fitzgibbon at Montgomery's Tavern was rebel commander Anthony Van Egmond, the only one of Mackenzie's group with any military experience, who had arrived earlier that day to take command of the rebels. He was dismayed to find a motley collection of only 500 poorly trained men. By one pm Fitzgibbon's militia were starting to skirmish with rebels hidden in the woods.
The entire 'battle' was mercifully brief, less than half an hour. Fitzgibbon's men fired cannon shots at the building, and the rebels fled, leaving one dead, eleven wounded, of whom four died later of their wounds. A search of the Tavern turned up some of Mackenzie's files listing his supporters. Then they burned Montgomery's to the ground. Van Egmond was captured later that day; Rolph fled into exile in the US; he will live in Rochester, New York for seven years before being allowed to return.
Counter Attack
The Tories attempted to solidify their hold. More than 10 000 volunteers were beginning to make their way to the Toronto area in response to the alarm. Combining with the militia, they fanned out across a wider area looking for fugitives. Bond Head issued the following proclamation on that day:
"Be vigilant, patient and active - leave punishment to the Laws - our first object is, to arrest and secure all those who have been guilty of Rebellion, Murder and Robbery. And to aid us in this, a Reward is hereby offered of ONE THOUSAND POUNDS to anyone who will apprehend, and deliver up to Justice, WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE; and FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS to anyone who will apprehend, and deliver up to Justice, DAVID GIBSON - or SAMUEL LOUNT - or JESSE LLOYD - or SILAS FLETCHER and the same reward and a free pardon will be given to any of their accomplices who will render this public service, except he or they shall have committed, in his own person, the crime of Murder or Arson."
Meanwhile Upper Canada Militia Col. Allan MacNab and 60 soldiers arrived from Hamilton on a steamer to help Governor Francis Bond Head deal with the rebels; Captain Maclean also arrived from Scarborough with 100 militiamen. On Dec 06 Mackenzie and Samuel Lount held up a stage coach 6 km west of Toronto; they seize money and letters from Bond Head about the planned defenses of Toronto. But it was too late, and William Lyon Mackenzie made plans to flee to the United States.
Duncombe's Rebellion
News traveled slowly in those days. News of Mackenzie's defeat only reached Duncombe on December 13th. At the same time, he discovered that Allan McNab and a band of 300 pro-government volunteers were marching from Hamilton to Brantford. McNab picked up many additional supporters en-route, so that by the time he reached Brantford, he had almost 2 000 men. Duncombe's men realized the inevitable and tried to flee into the woods. MacNab took 500 prisoners from the surrounding area over the next few days, but freed most of them after approval from Governor Arthur; the most active rebels were later tried, and a number sentenced to death April 14; Six Nations warriors were recorded as having killed three rebel stragglers that day.
The Burning of the Caroline
Mackenzie had a price on his head - one thousand pounds. He and 200 followers fled to Navy Island, outside Buffalo, were they began organizing a government-in-exile. On Dec 13, Mackenzie set up a provisional government and proclaimed "The Republic of Canada on Navy Island in the Niagara River; his flag bore two stars, one for Upper Canada, one for Lower Canada, symbolizing the states who would enter the American union.
In his proclamation, Mackenzie declared, "We are wearied of these oppressions, and resolved to throw off the yoke. Rise Canadians! Rise as one man, and the glorious object of our wishes is accomplished."
Mackenzie contemplated another attack, this time with the support of American sympathizers. Supporters flocked to the Canadian territory five km south of Niagara Falls. But the dream came to nothing. Allan MacNab, now with a force of about 2 500, set out for Chippawa, across from Navy Island. For more than two weeks, his militiamen and volunteers waited and watched. They could see the rebels ferry people and provisions on the American supply steamer "Caroline." McNab bided his time, not wanting to incite a border conflict with the Americans.
Then on the night of December 29th, Royal Navy Lieutenant Andrew Drew, acting without orders, rowed over the river to Fort Schlosser with seven boatloads of Canadian militiamen and boarded the steamer Caroline, which was docked on Navy Island. He wounded the American captain and hustled the crew off the ship. Then he set fire to it. Finally, he cut the "Caroline" loose and the blazing ship ran aground on an island near Niagara Falls and burned up.
- RESOURCE: Read Drew's Narrative of the Capture and Destruction of the Steamer "Caroline"
His action, the final military scene in the rebellions, raised cries of war in the United States - an American had been killed and American property destroyed. US General Winfield Scott was sent to Niagara to prevent a violent American reprisal, and snuff any talk of war between Britain and the US. Patriotic Upper Canadians adored the story of the Caroline, which grew more and more legendary, and they proudly hung up illustrations in their homes showing the blazing ship going over the Falls.
As for William Lyon Mackenzie, on January 13, 1838, under heavy fire from British troops, he abandoned Navy Island and fled for Buffalo. Disgusted by a lack of support, he left the Buffalo area in late January. He was later arrested and jailed for 18 months by US authorities for violating neutrality laws. In 1849, after an unhappy stay in New York, he was allowed to return to Canada under a general amnesty, and in 1851 was elected to the Legislative Assembly of United Canada. His grandson, William Lyon Mackenzie King, will become Prime Minister of Canada.
As for his fellow rebels, Samuel Lount was mistaken by a farmer for a rustler and was arrested attempting to escape across Lake Erie. Peter Matthews, after trying to set fire to the Don Bridge, fled back to his home in Pickering. Neighbours turned him in to government authorities who burst in on him while he slept. They were the only two individuals involved in the rebellion who were hanged. About one hundred rebels were banished to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Many reform leaders, not having been involved in the actual rebellion, found it a convenient time to depart voluntarily for the United States.
From a military standpoint, the rebellion in Upper Canada was an unmitigated failure. Not only did the rebels not come close to achieving their aim of taking over the government, but also they displayed such incompetence along the way that they never really posed any real threat. The government authorities easily and quickly put down the insurrection. The reform impulse, both moderate and radical, took a severe blow in the aftermath of the crushing of the rebellion. However, while the rebellions were a military defeat, they can easily be viewed as a political success in the long run. The very goal of the rebellion - an altered political structure based on responsible government - would be achieved in the years after 1837.
| Rebellion in Upper Canada - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Milestones | Student Activities | Student Projects |
| E. Conflict & Change →→ 1. Background of Discontent → 2. Rebellion Events in Lower Canada → 3. Rebellion Events in Upper Canada → 4. Invasion & Aftermath → 5. The Road to Responsible Government →→ A. The Road to Confederation |
