In the year 1837 all the detachments were withdrawn, and the regiment moved to Quebec, in expectation of returning to England: the unsettled state of the Canadas, however, called for an increased force, and the regiment remained in that garrison during the autumn and winter of 1837.
The importance of the citadel at a time when a rebellion had actually broken out, and the population of the place hostile to the government, caused the duty of the garrison to bear heavily upon the regiment, which, with two companies of the sixty-sixth regiment, two companies of artillery, and a battalion of volunteer militia, raised on the emergency, formed the whole force for the protection of this important place.
1838
On the 9th May, several ships of war were announced by telegraph; and they shortly after anchored opposite the citadel, having on board the Governor-General, the Earl of Durham, and suite, and a brigade of guards, consisting of upwards of 1600 men, under Major-General Sir James Macdonnell.
The regiment immediately vacated its quarters and proceeded to Chambly, on the river Richelieu, an important post, as being situated in the centre of a populous and disaffected country.
Two drafts consisting of 226 men joined from the depôt companies, nearly 100 of them volunteers from the nineteenth regiment. New accoutrements were supplied, and all unserviceable arms were likewise replaced.
Lieut.-Colonel Horton resigned the command of the regiment, and proceeded to England in the month of June, at which time two troops of the seventh hussars were added to the garrison of Chambly.
Lieut.-Colonel Lord Charles Wellesley, who exchanged from half-pay with Lieut.-Colonel Horton, arrived in Canada, and assumed the command of the regiment in October, 1838.
On the 18th of October the head-quarter division of the first (or King's) dragoon guards, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable George Cathcart, replaced the squadron of the seventh hussars. About midnight, a fire was discovered in the centre of the officers' quarters, which consisted of a long range of buildings of one story only, but being very old, and entirely of wood, they were consumed in less than half an hour. The regiment had to deplore the loss of the two senior Ensigns (Walter Carey and William Dering Adair Roe), the fire having originated in the particular porch in which their quarters were situated. Ensign Carey had got clear of all danger, but incautiously attempted to secure a favourite object of value, when he sank in the midst of the burning mass. Ensign Roe was rescued from the flames, apparently not much burnt; he walked nearly half a mile to the hospital without assistance, but died in the course of the day, mortification having rapidly taken place: the unfortunate sufferers were committed to the same tomb, and a tablet was erected to their memory in the parish church, by their brother officers, as a mark of their regard, and of deep regret at their untimely fate. The cause of the fire could not be ascertained.