forces who saw service in Canada during the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1870 as well as those who participated in the suppression of the Red River Rebellion. The Fenian Raids were precipitated by a group of Irish-American nationalists who sought to invade Canada and hold it for ransom, hoping that would force the British government to grant Ireland independence. Canadian authorities were aware of the Fenians’ intentions and mobilized the militia on March 7, 1866, with nearly ten thousand men called out. The militia was placed at public buildings, bridges, and border crossings in preparation for the attack. However, the extensive nature of the border made it impractical to defend it entirely.
The first incursion came at Waterloo, Quebec, on the evening of March 17, followed by an attack on April 14 on the Campobello and Indian Islands near Maine. These engagements were small in nature, with the largest attack coming on May 31 when John O’Neill and a force of 850 Fenians — in part demobilized soldiers who had fought in the U.S. Civil War — crossed the Niagara Frontier to invade Canada. On June 2 the Fenians were met by a force of 840 Canadian Militia troops, and the Battle of Ridgeway ensued for two hours, though the Canadians retired when it was falsely reported that the Fenians were going to attack with cavalry. The Fenians, learning that a larger force was en route, returned to the security of the U.S. side of the border.
A final engagement took place on June 22 when a small party of Fenians crossed the Vermont border into Quebec and fired at a group of seventy-five soldiers present at Pigeon Hill. The Fenians again fled across the border. Matters subsided and the U.S. government condemned the Fenian incursions. O’Neill and the Fenians returned four years later on May 25, 1870, with two raids taking place, the first at Eccles Hill and a second on the Trout River on May 27.
The Red River Expedition took place between May 14 and August 24, 1870, when Colonel Garnet Wolseley’s force arrived at Fort Garry (Red River). The origins of the conflict can be found in the expansion of Canadian authority over western Canada and the maltreatment of the Métis and First Nations populations. The government had obtained sovereignty over Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869 and embarked on an ambitious plan to survey the mass of territory and to assert political authority, something that became a paramount point of contention.
The Métis were unhappy with plans to do land surveys, particularly since they did not possess clear title to the land and had settled it according to the seigneurial system rather than the township system. As a result, fears grew that their property would be expropriated. The Métis disrupted the surveying work and eventually prevented the new lieutenant governor from entering the territory. Subsequently, they captured Fort Garry on November 2, 1869.
Louis Riel, with the support of many Métis, attempted to negotiate terms with Canada and demanded fourteen specific rights be granted. Following unrest among some of the anglophone population, who were by this point imprisoned for their resistance, the Métis National Committee proclaimed a provisional government. The government sent Donald Smith (later to become Lord Strathcona) to negotiate an agreement, dealing with matters such as bilingualism and representation in the legislative body to be.
Around the same time a number of the anglophones who had been imprisoned had escaped, while others were paroled. Some of this group began agitating to overthrow the provisional government and gathered recruits. A party of nearly fifty was captured by Riel, and a trial was held in which one of the leaders of the anglophone group, Thomas Scott, was convicted of defying the authority of the provisional government and sentenced to death. A botched execution took place on March 4, and even after being shot in the face, Scott managed to survive for an additional ten hours.
The execution of Scott, an avowed Orangeman, galvanized opinion in English and Protestant Canada and played a role in the government’s decision to send the military to Red River. The arrival of Wolseley signalled the end of the rebellion. Riel fled and remained in exile until 1884. The rebellion played a central part in the creation of the Province of Manitoba, which entered Confederation in 1870.
Criteria: Service on active duty in the regular and colonial forces during the Fenian Raid in 1866, the Fenian Raid in 1870, or participation in the Red River Expedition in 1870. The service required as set by AO 32/January 1889 specified that the medal would only be awarded to survivors who “during the operations specified … performed under competent authority 1) active service in the field, or 2) served as guards at any point where an attack from the enemy was expected, or 3) who were detailed for some specific service or duty.”
Insignia: A silver medal 36 mm in diameter bearing on the obverse a veiled effigy of Queen Victoria circumscribed by the text VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX, the reverse displaying a wreath of natural maple leaves around the Canadian Red Ensign with the text CANADA at the top. Obverse design by T. Brock; reverse by George William de Saulles.
Suspender: A swivelling claw suspender with a straight bar.
Ribbon: A 32 mm wide ribbon divided into equal portions of red, white, and red.
Clasps: A clasp measuring 8 mm by 35 mm with a raised edge. Thee clasps were issued with this medal, individually and in various combinations:
• FENIAN RAIDS 1866.
• FENIAN RAIDS 1870.
• RED RIVER 1870.
Naming: Impressed or engraved upper and lower case letters, rank, initials, surname, and unit.
Other: Specimens engraved with CWM SPECIMEN also exist.
Number: 17,644.
• Fenian Raid 1866: 11,221.
• Fenian Raid 1870: 4,510.
• Red River: 355.
• Fenian Raid 1866 and Fenian Raid 1870: 1,411.
• Fenian Raid 1866 and Red River 1870: 120.
• Fenian Raid 1870 and Red River 1870: 15.
• All Three Clasps: 12.
The North West Canada Medal (1885)
Origins: After the failure of the Red River Rebellion of 1870, the Métis leader Louis Riel went into exile, only to return with much encouragement from the Métis and other settlers in July 1884. The expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway into the Canadian West and dwindling bison population had the effect of further marginalizing the Métis and First Nations peoples. Despite the repeated entreaties of the Métis and First Nations to secure certain rights and land, the dominion government ignored the situation. In an effort to force the government to negotiate, Riel formed the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan at Batoche.
North West Canada Medal obverse.
The situation escalated rapidly, with the Métis attacking a detachment of the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) and Prince Albert Volunteers at Duck Lake. Ottawa realized that a full-scale uprising was in the offing. As a result, the militia was mobilized and a force was dispatched to suppress the rebellion. After the Battle of Duck Lake, Battleford was looted by a Cree raiding party, which was followed by the Frog Lake Massacre, where nine locals were killed, including a government official. At Fort Pitt, Cree intercepted a NWMP scouting party, and the town garrison surrendered. The Battle of Fish Creek halted General Middleton’s advance on Batoche, the Métis having defeated a much larger force of government troops. Outside Battleford, the Battle
