By the autumn of 1865, both the provincial press and the public had sensationalized the activities and goals of the Fenian Brotherhood and the threat they posed to New Brunswick. Lieutenant-Governor Gordon was bombarded with unsolicited information and seemingly unending advice on how to counter the danger. Unknown to the general public, Gordon and the British military authorities routinely received intelligence reports from the British diplomatic and consular services in the United States. Although the public envisaged that a full-scale Fenian invasion of New Brunswick was imminent, Gordon concluded that this was improbable. He believed the main threat to be small-scale raids across the Maine border, most likely in the form of small bands of marauders robbing and plundering frontier communities. Gordon resisted taking any action until he received an encoded message from Ambassador Bruce in Washington on Tuesday, December 5, warning of imminent Fenian action. Even then, Gordon refused to call out the volunteer militia, as that would involve major government expenditures and would adversely affect the local economy by taking militiamen away from their normal employment. Instead, Gordon conceived of forming temporary home guard units in exposed frontier communities. The home guards would be unpaid volunteers, assigned specific local tasks and would undergo weekly training sessions. Having decided on a course of action, Gordon set out to explain his plan to officials in the frontier communities.
By Tuesday evening, Gordon was in St. Stephen, having travelled overland directly from Fredericton – but not without adventure. The night before, thieves had broken into Doherty’s store in Fredericton, helped themselves to the stock, including new boots, and then stole a horse and wagon from the stable. When Gordon and his entourage reached the settlement of Dunbarton, thirty-two kilometers from St. Stephen, they spotted two Irishmen named Mulherrin and Donahue nonchalantly driving a wagon and wearing new boots. Recognizing the stolen horse and wagon, Gordon’s aide de camp, Captain Hallowes, immediately became a sheriff per tempore while two other staff were appointed special constables on the spot. They promptly arrested the two men and returned them to Fredericton for trial.
On arrival in St. Stephen, Gordon consulted with leading members of the community and the next day convened a meeting of the local magistrates and prominent citizens in Grant Hall. At the meeting, Gordon discussed the intelligence he had received, outlined the possibility of plundering raids by Fenian marauders and suggested forming a home guard of young, able-bodied men, armed and ready to act. He promised to make one hundred rifles available. He suggested that such a measure would ward off an attack, believing that the Fenians would opt to raid only undefended communities. Gordon also took the opportunity to present his concerns about intolerance dividing the community along religious lines. It was agreed to act on the lieutenant-governor’s suggestion to form a home guard, and Lieutenant Colonel James A. Inches was selected to organize it.
Thanks to Colonel Inches’s skill and energy, St. Stephen was well protected in the coming crisis. Inches had been promoted to major in December 1864, and within the year he was promoted again to lieutenant colonel in command of the 4th Battalion Charlotte County Militia. He was a respected resident of St. Stephen, noted for his tact and judgment. On the Saturday evening following Gordon’s address, Inches enrolled 103 men into the home guard, and more enlisted later. On the following Monday evening, another company formed in neighbouring Milltown, with some one hundred men enrolled under Major Andrew Murchie McAdam, a participant in the 1865 Camp of Instruction. Then on Thursday, a meeting was held at Middle Landing where a third home guard company was formed under the command of Captain Francis Smith. In addition, the St. Stephen Rifle Company of the Class A militia commenced drilling nightly with full attendance. Inspired by the lieutenant-governor and under the effective leadership of Colonel Inches, a defence force had been organized along the St. Croix River within one week.
Lieutenant Colonel James Archibald Inches, the commanding officer of the 4th Battalion Charlotte County Militia and commandant of the St. Stephen garrison during the Fenian crisis. Courtesy of Valerie Teed
The Deployment of New Brunswick and British military forces during the Fenian Crisis, Spring, 1866. Mike Bechthold
On Thursday, December 8, the lieutenant-governor was in St. Andrews convening another town meeting where he repeated the St. Stephen message. The next day, a home guard was organized under the command of Captain Robert D. James, with 109 men enrolled and divided into two companies. Two days later, a night patrol of twenty-two unarmed men commenced operations in the town. The quick response of the St. Andrews Home Guard was attributed to the leadership of Captain James, a retired captain from the British Army.
The state of the local militia was quite another matter. Lieutenant-Colonel James Boyd, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Charlotte County Militia, had been involved with the militia for more than twenty years and was the local elected representative in the legislative assembly. Boyd was a strongly opinionated man who appeared to thrive on controversy. He opposed the introduction of the volunteer militia and did everything possible to prevent the establishment of a Class A unit in St. Andrews. The old militia system had provided him with a great opportunity for political patronage, a prerogative he was determined to retain. A volunteer company had been organized under Major J. H. Whitlock in February 1862, but it faced Boyd’s opposition. The commander-in-chief, not understanding the root cause of the dispute, disbanded Whitlock’s company for unsatisfactory attendance. Thanks to Boyd’s manipulation, no one from the 1st Battalion attended the 1865 Camp of Instruction. On July 17, 1865, another attempt was made to form a Class A company under Captain Edward Pheasant. Pheasant’s company also failed to receive essential support from Boyd and as a result was not approved by the commander-in-chief. During his December visit to St. Andrews, Gordon learned first-hand of the disorganized state of the local militia and the dissatisfaction of its members. He directed that an investigation be conducted immediately.
On Friday afternoon, December 9, the lieutenant-governor travelled by special train from St. Andrews to Woodstock. There he convened a meeting of the magistrates in the Blanchard Hotel where he repeated the message he had already given in St. Stephen and St. Andrews. If anything, Gordon spoke even more passionately about the “danger from within” and his concern about a religious division occurring inside the province. He feared that the intolerance created by the Fenian threat could inflict “a wound on their country which neither they nor their children would see healed; sowing a bitter harvest for future generations to reap.” Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel William Teed Baird of Woodstock and Lieutenant Colonel James Rice Tupper of Florenceville, two highly regarded community leaders, home guards were established within the week along the Carleton County border with Maine in the communities of Richmond, Upper Woodstock, Jacksontown, Centreville and Florenceville. Colonel Tupper, the commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion Carleton County Militia, reported an enthusiastic response from the men in his area, where in one day 105 men had enrolled in Centreville and sixty-two men in Florenceville. In Woodstock, two companies of home guard formed under Captains John Leary and William Lindsay. The Class A Woodstock Volunteer Rifles under Captain George Strickland received an influx of new recruits and intensified its training program. All this was achieved with the encouragement and support of Colonel Baird, a key figure in the development of the New Brunswick militia. Selected for his leadership ability, he was appointed commanding officer of the 1st Battalion Carleton County Militia in January 1863. He participated in the commissions to review the militia acts and was subsequently appointed the deputy quartermaster-general. He commanded one of the training battalions at the 1865 Camp of Instruction.
Gordon relied on able militia officers to organize local units elsewhere in the province. In Fredericton, Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable Lemuel Wilmot, commanding the 1st Battalion York County Militia, was another key figure in the development of the militia in New Brunswick. Selected for his leadership qualities, he commanded the second training battalion at the 1865 Camp of Instruction. With his encouragement and support, an effective Class A volunteer company, called the Victoria Rifles, was organized in Fredericton under the command of Major Edward Simond. The Fredericton militia units had the benefit of receiving support, in particular training assistance, from the British garrison stationed in the city. Because the capital city was not directly on the Maine border, it was deemed unnecessary to form home guard units.
Six officers and a private of the Saint John Volunteer Battalion circa 1863. The officer seated in the centre is believed to be the first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable John Robertson. The private is reclining on the floor. NBM 6197
Being the major seaport and the largest community in New Brunswick, Saint John had a large concentration of militiamen and half of the Class A volunteer units, in addition to a large British garrison. On August 12, 1863, six of the volunteer companies were combined into the Saint John Volunteer Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel the Honourable John Robertson. A month later, Gordon attached Captain Thomas Anderson, a retired officer from the 78th Highland Regiment, to the battalion with the provincial rank of major. He remained with the battalion for a year enhancing its effectiveness. Although only five companies were present at the annual inspection in September 1864, there were 374 men on parade. Within months, the sixth company was reorganized, trained and back on parade under the command of Captain James R. McShane, the only officer in the battalion to attend the 1865 Camp of Instruction. The inspection of this company in December 1865 received favourable comment in the Morning News: “The inspection was, as it should be, rigid, the evolutions were executed with more than average precision, and the officers evinced a general acquaintance with their business.” Colonel Robertson later resigned having found that he could not handle both the demands of the volunteer militia and his legislative duties. He was replaced by Major Robert W. Crookshank, who was promoted to lieutenant colonel. A year later, the adjutant general inspected each company separately and made another favourable report. He also noted the recent construction of a rifle range at Fort Howe, considering it a great asset, but highlighted the need for a proper drill hall in which to conduct battalion drill. Of the six batteries in the New Brunswick Regiment of Artillery, five were located in Saint John. The regiment’s commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Foster, another highly esteemed militia officer. A volunteer company of engineers under the command of Captain John Hegan Parks was also located in the city. It was believed that these Class A units would provide adequate protection for Saint John against any Fenian attack.
Another effective militia officer was Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Wetmore of St. George. One of New Brunswick’s first volunteer companies was formed in St. George in January 1860, and the key role it played during the visit of the Prince of Wales to Saint John was remembered with pride. Because St. George was located along the Fundy coast, its citizens felt highly exposed to a Fenian incursion, and Colonel Wetmore took the initiative in providing for the defence of his town. Two Class A volunteer companies, each of one hundred men, were organized under command of Captains James Bolton and James Bogue, and a thirty-man home guard armed with Enfield rifles was formed under Captain James O’Brien. Captain Bolton’s company was uniquely armed with two cannons and a swivel gun, all privately owned by Colonel Wetmore. Sergeant Major Patrick Finnegan, a veteran of the 63rd Regiment and the Crimean War, was responsible for posting guards on all approaches to town, each consisting of two noncommissioned officers and eight privates. A two-storey blockhouse was built on Carleton Hill on property granted by Dr. Robert Thomson and with timber provided by local merchants. Commanding the approaches to St. George and manned by Captain Bolton’s artillery battery, this building was called Fort Carleton.
Although there was still much to be done, by the New Year of 1866, defence measures were in place along the frontier of New Brunswick. However, the Fenian Brotherhood had also gained in strength and confidence. Their activity increased as more Fenian “circles,” or lodges, organized across the United States, military companies were drilled and funds raised to support the Brotherhood. General Sweeny busied himself organizing his staff, developing his plans and preparing for a spring campaign. The British authorities believed that a “rising” was planned for both Ireland and British North America, with a target date of St. Patrick’s Day 1866. The press followed developments within the Fenian Brotherhood closely, enhancing reports with speculation and exaggeration. Authorities anxiously awaited March 17, while the public fretted about the adequacy of the commander-in-chief ’s defence arrangements.
St. Andrews volunteer militia on parade, circa 1866, with, it is believed, Captain Henry Osborne’s artillery battery in left foreground and Captain B. R. Stephenson’s Gordon Rifles in right background. Courtesy of Harold Wright Collection
