York Militia

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A depiction of Major General Issac Brock urging members of the York Militia to push on during the Battle of Queenston Heights. Push on, brave York volunteers(large).jpg
A depiction of Major General Issac Brock urging members of the York Militia to push on during the Battle of Queenston Heights.

The York Militia was a volunteer militia unit in Upper Canada formed after the passage of the Militia Act of 1793. Members of the York Militia were drawn from the settlers of York County, an area mostly made up of present-day Greater Toronto.

The Militia consisted of 3 line infantry regiments:

The three regiments of the York Militia fought in several engagements during the War of 1812.

The 1st Regiment of the York Militia was involved at the Siege of Fort Mackinac, the Siege of Detroit, the Battle of Queenston Heights, and the Battle of York.

The 2nd Regiment of the York Militia fought at Detroit, Queenston Heights, and at the Battle of Lundy's Lane

The 3rd Regiment of the York Militia fought at Detroit, Queenston Heights, and York. [2] Within the Canadian Army, the 1st and 3rd Regiments of York Militia are perpetuated by the Queen's York Rangers while the 2nd Regiment is perpetuated by the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Regiment of York Militia</span>

The 2nd Regiment of York Militia was a Canadian Militia regiment active during the War of 1812. They were part of the York Militia, which at that time was three Regiments strong. The 2nd Regiment was recruited around the present-day Halton and Peel Regions.

Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men was a Canadian militia company of free blacks and indentured black servants, raised in Upper Canada as a small Black corps under a white officer, Robert Reuben Runchey (1759–1819), a tavern keeper from Jordan, Upper Canada. The unit fought in several actions during the early part of the Anglo-American War of 1812. In 1813, Runchey's Company was converted into a unit of the Canadian Corps of Provincial Artificers, attached to the Royal Sappers and Miners, in which sappers and miners performed specialized military operations. They served on the Niagara River front during the war, and were disbanded a few months after the war ended. The Company of Coloured Men's military heritage is perpetuated in the modern Canadian Army by the Lincoln and Welland Regiment.

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The 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF, was an infantry battalion of the Canadian Army. Raised for service during the First World War as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF), it was formed in November 1914, in Brandon, Manitoba. Originally a mounted infantry unit named the 1st Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, CEF, which was expanded, following its rerolling and dismounting as an infantry unit, by absorbing other units of the Canadian Mounted Rifles (CMR).

Captain Robert Reuben Runchey was a Canadian tavern owner who served as the first commander of Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men in Upper Canada during the War of 1812. Runchey was an officer in the 1st Lincoln Militia when Major-General Sir Isaac Brock appointed him commander of the all-black Company. He served from the summer of 1812 when the Company was created until the fall of that same year.

The 2nd Dragoons was a cavalry regiment of the Non-Permanent Active Militia of the Canadian Militia. In 1936, the regiment was Amalgamated with the 10th Brant Dragoons to form the 2nd/10th Dragoons – today now part of the 57th Field Artillery Regiment, RCA.

References

  1. "3rd YORK MILITIA VETERANS – OGS Toronto Branch Projects".
  2. Nickerson, Janice (2012). York's Sacrifice: Militia Casualties of the War of 1812. Dundurn. p. 19. ISBN   978-1-4597-0595-1.