Battle of Baker's Farm

Last updated
Battle of Baker's Farm
Part of the Lower Canada Rebellion
DateNovember 8, 1838
Location
Sainte-Martine, Quebec
Result Patriotes victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lower Canada Flag of the Patriote movement (Lower Canada).svg Patriotes
Commanders and leaders
unknown
  • James Perrigo
  • Joson Dumochelle
Strength
unknown 800 Patriotes

The Battle of Baker's Farm took place in Lower Canada on November 8, 1838, during the Patriot's War. It was the first and last military success of the Patriotes in the campaign of 1838. Eight hundred Patriotes gathered on a farm near Sainte-Martine, Quebec and fought off several attacks by Loyalist volunteers. After news of the defeat of Patriotes forces at the Battle of Odelltown spread, the massed Patriotes dispersed before the arrival of British troops.

Contents

Background

In 1837 the Russell Resolutions were made law by the British Parliament, imposing taxation without representation and rejecting all Patriotes reforms for Lower Canada. This led to a confrontation with the Société des Fils de la Liberté, a paramilitary organization on November 6, 1837. A series of battles took place in the countryside around Montreal and the British crushed the initial rebellion, capturing many and forcing others, including Louis-Joseph Papineau to flee to the United States. The British burned many farms and placed the colony under martial law. [1] [2]

From the United States a second campaign was planned, groups of Frères Chasseurs were established all over the province to set up an underground military organization. On November 4, 1838, Robert Nelson, one of the leaders of the Frères Chasseurs, declared the independence of Lower Canada at Napierville with him as head of the provisional government before a crowd of 1,000. [3] [4] Though the area of Beauharnois did not participate in the rebellion in 1837, it had been readied during summer 1838 and was ready to rise after the harvest. [5] Led by Joson Dumochelle, a farmer who was a member of the Frères Chasseurs, a force of 400 men marched on a manor house owned by the British Member of Parliament Edward Ellice and seized it from his wife on November 3. On November 4, the group detained and disabled the steamboat Henry Brougham when it docked at Beauharnois. [4] [6] The Ellice manor house and the steamboat were looted, with the owners left with promissory notes by the Patriotes. [7]

Camp Baker and battle

Dumochelle took his force to the farm of an American landowner George Washington Baker near Sainte-Martine on November 7. There, along with those Patriotes under Doctor James Perrigo, they fortified the land where it met the Chateauguay River and the roads around the farm. [7] Awaiting orders from Nelson, the number of Patriotes at Camp Baker grew to 800 of which three quarters were armed with guns. On November 8, the force came under attack by Loyalist volunteers from Huntingdon. Easily repulsed, the Patriotes grew disillusioned with the movement as news of defeat elsewhere filtered into the camp. [4] [7] On November 10, 250 men were sent to Saint-Timothée to reinforce the Patriotes there. However, 4 miles (6.4 km) from Beauharnois, the force encountered volunteer troops. They were ordered to lay down their arms and return to their homes, which they did. [8] The camp disbanded after news of British troops closing on their position. [4]

Aftermath

The Battle of Beauharnois took place on November 10, which the Patriotes lost, ending the rebellion. The South Glengarry Volunteers from Upper Canada and a company of the 71st Regiment took part in the Battle of Beauharnois and spent much of their time following the battle rooting out Patriotes in the region and looting and burning much of the countryside. [9] Dumochelle fled into the woods and reportedly died of starvation there. [10] A report of damages done to the lands around Sainte-Martine claimed 35 houses, 19 barns, 45 sheds and stables burned and 376 families pillaged for a total of $146,181 in damages. [11] 108 Patriotes were brought to trial of which 99 were sentenced to death. 12 were hanged, 58 deported to Australia, 2 banished and 22 sent home on a bond of good behavior. By the end of December the last of the Frères Chasseurs were disbanded. [4]

Related Research Articles

The Hunters' Lodge was the last of a series of secret organizations formed in 1838 in the United States in the Rebellions in the Canadas. The organization arose in Vermont among Lower Canadian refugees and spread westward under the influence of Dr Charles Duncombe and Donald McLeod, leaders of the short lived Canadian Refugee Relief Association, and Scotland native William Lyon Mackenzie, drawing in support from many different areas in North America and Europe. They also absorbed Henry S. Handy's 'Secret Order of the Sons of Liberty' in Detroit into a Grand Lodge in Cleveland.

Lower Canada Rebellion 1837-38 populist uprising against the government of Lower Canada (present-day Quebec)

The Lower Canada Rebellion, commonly referred to as the Patriots' War in French, is the name given to the armed conflict in 1837–38 between rebels and the colonial government of Lower Canada. Together with the simultaneous rebellion in the neighbouring colony of Upper Canada, it formed the Rebellions of 1837–38.

Rebellions of 1837–1838 Canadian reformers rebellion against the British Canadian government

The Rebellions of 1837–1838, were two armed uprisings that took place in Lower and Upper Canada in 1837 and 1838. Both rebellions were motivated by frustrations with political reform. A key shared goal was responsible government, which was eventually achieved in the incidents' aftermath. The rebellions led directly to Lord Durham's Report on the Affairs of British North America and to the Act of Union 1840 which partially reformed the British provinces into a unitary system and eventually led to the British North America Act, 1867 which created the contemporary Canadian federation and its government.

Timeline of Quebec history (1791–1840)

This section of the Timeline of Quebec history concerns the events in British North America relating to what is the present day province of Quebec, Canada between the time of the Constitutional Act of 1791 and the Act of Union 1840.

Robert Nelson (insurrectionist) 19th-century Anglo-Quebecer physician and leader in the Lower Canada Rebellion

Robert Nelson was an Anglo-Quebecer physician and a leading figure in the Lower Canada Rebellion in 19th century Quebec.

Wolfred Nelson

Wolfred Nelson was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec, from 1854 to 1856.

Battle of Saint-Denis (1837) Military conflict of the Lower Canada Rebellion

The Battle of Saint-Denis was fought on November 23, 1837, between British colonial authorities under Lieutenant-Colonel Gore and Patriote rebels in Lower Canada as part of the Lower Canada Rebellion. The Patriotes were led by Wolfred Nelson. Gore was sent to quell the uprising in the Richelieu River valley in conjunction with a force led by Lieutenant-Colonel George Wetherall. Gore was the first to arrive at a Patriote-held site. Nelson had organized the defence with most of the well-armed rebels within a stone house that overlooked the road. Gore, accompanied by only one cannon, attempted to take the stone house three times, with the cannon providing ineffective fire. Another attempt to flank the house to the left failed when Gore's soldiers encountered the less well-armed militia. Running out of ammunition, the British retreated. This marked the only Patriote victory in 1837, as this battle was followed by two defeats at Saint-Charles and Saint-Eustache.

Battle of Saint-Charles

The Battle of Saint-Charles was fought on 25 November 1837 between the Government of Lower Canada, supported by the United Kingdom, and Patriote rebels. Following the opening Patriote victory of the Lower Canada Rebellion at the Battle of Saint-Denis, British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Wetherall advanced from the south on the Patriote stronghold of Saint-Charles in the Richelieu valley. On 25 November 1837 they engaged the Patriote forces under the command of Thomas Storrow Brown. After a two-hour battle, the Government of Lower Canada was victorious.

Battle of Saint-Eustache

The Battle of Saint-Eustache was a decisive battle in the Lower Canada Rebellion in which government forces defeated the principal remaining Patriotes camp at Saint-Eustache on December 14, 1837.

The Battle of Beauharnois was fought on November 10, 1838 between Lower Canada loyalists and Patriote rebels, after 500 armed men had converged on Beauharnois, on November 3–4, overtaking the seigneurial manor.

Patriote popular assemblies

The Patriote popular assemblies gathered supporters and leaders of the Patriote movement and the Parti patriote in 1837 Lower Canada. The assemblies, concentrated in the Montreal and Montérégie region, saw votes on resolutions and speeches of some of Lower Canada's most reputed orators.

Republic of Lower Canada

The Republic of Lower Canada was a break-away state proclaimed in the aftermath of the 1837 Rebellions. The defeat of the rebellion meant that the state could never be properly established.

The Frères chasseurs were a paramilitary organization that fought in the Patriote Rebellion on the Patriote side, seeking to make Lower Canada, now Quebec, an independent and democratic republic.

Joseph-Narcisse Cardinal was a notary and political figure in Lower Canada. He was the first person executed for taking part in the Lower Canada Rebellion.

Cyrille-Hector-Octave Côté was a physician and political figure in Lower Canada.

Joseph Duquet was a notary in Lower Canada. He was executed for his part in the Lower Canada Rebellion.

The Battle of Pelee Island took place during the Patriot War along what is now the Michigan-Ontario border in 1838 involving small groups of men on each side of the border seeking to "liberate" Upper Canada from the British.

Patriot War

The Patriot War was a conflict along the Canada–United States border where bands of raiders attacked the British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and December 1838. This so-called war was not a conflict between nations; it was a war of ideas fought by like-minded people against British forces.

The following is an incomplete bibliography of the 1837-1838 insurrections in Lower Canada in the English and French languages, by publication date and document type.

Katherine Ellice

Katherine Jane "Janie" Ellice was a British diarist and artist. She is most remembered for her chronicle and watercolours of a trip to Canada, in 1838, where she and her sister were taken prisoner during the Battle of Beauharnois.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ Greenwood and Wright, pp. 12–14
  2. ↑ "Rébellions des patriotes du Bas-Canada" (in French). Government of Quebec. 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Greenwood and Wright, p. 14
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Ouellet, Chapter 38
  5. ↑ Boissery, p. 102
  6. ↑ Greenwood and Wright, p. 15
  7. 1 2 3 Boissery, p. 108
  8. ↑ Boissery, pp. 108–109
  9. ↑ Boissery, pp. 109–110
  10. ↑ Boissery, p. 110
  11. ↑ Boiserry, p. 111

Sources

Coordinates: 45°13′14″N73°50′21″W / 45.220500°N 73.839278°W / 45.220500; -73.839278

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.