Canadian Scenery, Volume 1 (of 2)

by Nathaniel Parker Willis

The course deemed most effectual, was immediately to arrest the most active leaders. A warrant was accordingly issued at Montreal against twenty-six, of whom seven were members of Assembly, including Papineau and Viger. Nine were apprehended; but the arch-agitator himself had disappeared, and doubts were even entertained if he were still in the province. This step necessarily led to a crisis, especially as some of the warrants were against persons residing in the heart of the disturbed territory. Two being in the vicinity of St. John's, on the Richelieu, a party of eighteen volunteer militia were despatched thither to apprehend them. An oversight seems to have been committed in sending so small a force, not regular, into the midst of a hostile country. They succeeded, however, in capturing the parties; and an armed body of thirty, who appeared near Chambly, made no attempt to intercept them. Near Longueuil, however, they found a field on the right of the road occupied by 300 well-armed men, protected by a high fence. From this assemblage a fire was immediately opened upon the detachment, which, from its position, could not be returned with effect. Several were wounded, the rest retreated, and the two prisoners were rescued by the insurgents.

The standard of insurrection having been thus openly raised, it became necessary to act with the utmost promptitude. Information was received that Papineau, Brown, and Neilson were at the villages of St. Denis and St. Charles, on the Richelieu, which had been occupied by the armed inhabitants; and accordingly Sir John Colborne, the commander-in-chief, sent strong detachments under Colonels Gore and Wetherall, to attack these places. The former, on the 22d of November, having conveyed his force in a steamer to Sorel, proceeded up the river against St. Denis; but being obliged to take a circuitous route, through tracks which, from the previous rain, were knee-deep, the troops arrived in a very jaded state. Though the whole country was in arms, no serious resistance was encountered till they reached the village, the entrance to which was defended by a large stone house strongly fortified, from which, as well as from others on each side, a heavy fire was opened. A howitzer was brought up against it, whence round shot was fired, with a view to batter it down, but without effect. Captain Markham, with the advance, had gallantly cleared the way, and taken an adjoining house, but was then severely wounded, and obliged to quit the field. Finding that no impression could be made on the main barrier, that his ammunition was nearly exhausted, and that the troops were overpowered with fatigue, Gore considered a retreat unavoidable. It was effected without serious inconvenience, though it became necessary to leave a cannon on the road, while his loss was six killed, ten wounded, and six missing. No blame seems to have been attached to the colonel, whose means, especially in ammunition, were scarcely adequate; but this second advantage, gained by the rebel cause at the opening of the contest, was a most unfortunate circumstance, and, unless counteracted, might have spread disaffection to an alarming extent.

Fort Chambly.

Meantime, Colonel Wetherall, with his detachment, proceeded by way of Chambly to St. Charles, a point higher up the river. He was delayed in a similar manner by the badness of the roads; and, on reaching St. Hilaire, found it necessary to procure another company from Chambly, and even to send a messenger to Montreal, we presume, for further aid. Having reason, however, to consider his communications with that place intercepted, he determined, on the 26th, to advance to the attack. About 1,500 insurgents, under the command of Brown, had posted themselves in the village, and surrounded it with a strong stockade. The English commander, on his arrival, drew up his force at a short distance, in the hope of producing some defection; but none taking place, and a heavy fire being opened upon him, he pushed forward to the assault. In about an hour the intrenchment was carried, the fortified houses and palisades were set on fire, the troops were masters of the town, and the rebels fled in every direction. The carnage was great; the entire loss of the malcontents being about 300. Charges have been made of severe and vindictive proceedings, which we should hope are exaggerated. Another body took up its position in his rear, with the view of cutting off his return to Chambly; but when he approached them, on the 28th, they broke and dispersed at the first onset.

The affair of St. Charles decided the fate of the contest. A general panic spread among the peasantry, and they began to consider themselves betrayed by leaders, who did not show the courage expected of them in the hour of trial. Colonel Gore, strongly reinforced, again advanced upon St. Denis, which he entered without resistance on the 2d of December, Neilson and Brown having quitted it on the preceding evening. He then marched upon St. Hyacinth, but found it also undefended, and made a vain search for Papineau. The chiefs, renouncing their hopes, were already seeking safety in the territory of the United States. Brown reached it with great difficulty—through many perils; Neilson was taken in a barn, conveyed to Montreal, and thrown into prison. Papineau could not be traced; nor is there any record of his having compromised his personal safety in a contest which he had been the main instrument in exciting.

Attempts, however, were made to support the cause from a quarter which, under certain circumstances, might have proved very formidable. The United States contained many individuals disposed to sympathize deeply with the Canadians, and many restless spirits were inclined to join them, allured by the promise of large lots of confiscated land. Even in the present hopeless circumstances, 200 passed the frontier; but before Sir John Colborne could send a force against them, a party of the volunteers of Missiqui county, under the command of Capt. Kemp, took arms, and drove them back with some loss. Thus, the whole of the six counties, so lately in open rebellion, were in a fortnight reduced to perfect tranquillity.

There remained still the districts of Two Mountains and Terrebonne, north of Montreal, where insurrection had been first organized, and still wore its most determined aspect. Sir John Colborne had judiciously postponed operations against this quarter, till, the south being completely tranquillized, he could direct thither his whole force. On the 14th of December, he marched in person, with about 1,300 regular and volunteer troops, against the large village of St. Eustache. The disasters of their brethren elsewhere had spread a well-founded alarm; and the greater number of the men and their leaders, including Girod, the supposed commander-in-chief, fled precipitately. About 400 of the most desperate, however, continued to occupy a church and adjoining buildings, which had been carefully fortified; and here so obstinate a stand was made, that a British detachment was at one point made to recede. But fire having reached the adjacent edifices, soon spread to the church itself, the defenders of which were thereby speedily dislodged; while the troops, being protected by the houses, did not lose more than one killed and nine wounded.

Colonel Maitland now marched towards St. Benoit, the chief village of the Grand Brulé district, which had been the focus of insurrection; but on his way he met a deputation, tendering the most humble submission, and he entered the place without resistance. Unfortunately, the loyal inhabitants, who had been plundered and driven out of the country, could not be restrained from acts of violence, and a considerable portion of the houses were reduced to ashes. Maitland, after occupying St. Scholastique, returned to Montreal, leaving the district in a state of perfect tranquillity. The people, complaining that their chiefs, after instigating them to revolt, had deserted them, seemed determined not to be again seduced into such a course. Several of the leaders were taken; Girod himself, being surrounded, so that he could not escape, committed suicide.

Upper Canada, meantime, had become the theatre of important events. For a considerable time, especially since the residence there of M. Gourlay, a party had existed supporting extreme political opinions. These, it is true, were not embittered by any feelings arising from difference of race; but many of the inhabitants had emigrated from the United States, to whose institutions they were naturally partial. They gained over a number of the British residents, influenced by the usual motives, and who complained especially of the favouritism shown in the granting of land. These grounds of discontent were carefully investigated by the committee of 1828, and instructions issued by Lord Goderich, which here, as in the lower province, gave general satisfaction. The discontented party, however, proceeded from one step to another, till Mackenzie, Duncombe, and other leaders, scarcely made any secret of their desire to separate from Britain and join the American Union. In 1834, this party, for the first time, obtained a majority in the Assembly; and though they had hitherto confined themselves to complaints on particular subjects, they now commenced a general opposition to the royal government; and at length, as in the other province, came into violent collision with the Legislative Council. They transmitted to the King a long and elaborate list of grievances, complaining that the officers in the colony were too numerous, too highly paid, and the holders removable at the pleasure of the crown; that support had been unduly given to particular religious establishments; and that Lord Goderich’s recommendations had been by no means fully acted upon. They also urged, with the same vehemence as in the sister colony, the demand for an elective legislative council.