The frigateInconstant, with Lord Durham on board, was not two days out from Quebec when rebellion broke out anew in Lower Canada. This second rebellion, however, was not caused by Lord Durham's departure, but was the result of a long course of agitation which had been carried on along the American border throughout the months of Lord Durham's régime.
As early as February 1838 numbers of Canadian refugees had gathered in the towns on the American side of the boundary-line in the neighbourhood of Lake Champlain. They were shown much sympathy and encouragement by the Americans, and seem to have laboured under the delusion that the American government would come to their assistance. A proclamation signed by Robert Nelson, a brother of Wolfred Nelson, declared the independence of Canada under a'provisional government' of which Robert Nelson was president and Dr Côté a member. The identity of the other members is a mystery. Papineau seems to have had some dealings with Nelson and Côté, and to have dallied with the idea of throwing in his lot with them; but he soon broke off negotiations. 'Papineau,' wrote Robert Nelson, 'has abandoned us, and this through selfish and family motives regarding the seigniories, and inveterate love of the old French bad laws.' There is reason to believe, however, that Papineau had been in communication with the authorities at Washington, and that his desertion of Robert Nelson and Côté was in reality due to his discovery that President Van Buren was not ready to depart from his attitude of neutrality.
On February 28, 1838, Robert Nelson and Côté had crossed the border with an armed force of French-Canadian refugees and three small field-pieces. Their plan had contemplated the capture of Montreal and a junction with another invading force at Three Rivers. But on finding their way barred by the Missisquoi militia, they had beat a hasty retreat to the border, without fighting; and had there been disarmed by the Americantroops under General Wool, a brave and able officer who had fought with conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Queenston Heights in 1812.
During the summer months, however, the refugees had continued to lay plans for an insurrection in Lower Canada. Emissaries had been constantly moving among the parishes north of the New York and Vermont frontiers, promising thePatriotesarms and supplies and men from the United States. The rising was carefully planned. And when November came large bodies of disaffected habitants gathered at St Ours, St Charles, St Michel, L'Acadie, Châteauguay, and Beauharnois. They had apparently been led to expect that they would be met at some of these places by American sympathizers with arms and supplies. No such aid being found at the rendezvous, many returned to their homes. But some persevered in the movement, and made their way with packs on their backs to Napierville, a town fifteen miles north of the boundary-line, which had been designated as the rebel headquarters.
Meanwhile, Robert Nelson had moved northward to Napierville from the American side of the border with a small band of refugees.Among these were two French officers, named Hindenlang and Touvrey, who had been inveigled into joining the expedition. Hindenlang, who afterwards paid for his folly with his life, has left an interesting account of what happened. He and Touvrey joined Nelson at St Albans, on the west side of Lake Champlain. With two hundred and fifty muskets, which had been placed in a boat by an American sympathizer, they dropped down the river to the Canadian border. There were five in the party—Nelson and the two French officers, the guide, and the boatman. Nelson had given Hindenlang to understand that the habitants had risen and that he would be greeted at the Canadian border by a large force of enthusiastic recruits. In this, however, he was disappointed. 'There was not a single man to receive the famous President of theProvisional Government; and it was only after a full hour's search, and much trouble, [that] the guide returned with five or six men to land the arms.' On the morning of November 4 the party arrived at Napierville. Here Hindenlang found Dr Côté already at the head of two or three hundred men. A crowd speedily gathered, and Robert Nelson was proclaimed 'President of the Republic ofLower Canada.' Hindenlang and Touvrey were presented to the crowd; and to his great astonishment Hindenlang was informed that his rank in the rebel force was that of brigadier-general.
The first two or three days were spent in hastening the arrival of reinforcements and in gathering arms. By the 7th Nelson had collected a force of about twenty-five hundred men, whom Hindenlang told off in companies and divisions. Most of the rebels were armed with pitchforks and pikes. An attempt had been made two days earlier, on a Sunday, to obtain arms, ammunition, and stores from the houses of the Indians of Caughnawaga while they were at church; but a squaw in search of her cow had discovered the raiders and had given the alarm, with the result that the Indians, seizing muskets and tomahawks, had repelled the attack and taken seventy prisoners.
On November 5 Nelson sent Côté with a force of four or five hundred men south to Rouse's Point, on the boundary-line, to secure more arms and ammunition from the American sympathizers. On his way south Côté encountered a picket of a company of loyalist volunteers stationed at Lacolle, and drove itin. On his return journey, however, he met with greater opposition. The company at Lacolle had been reinforced in the meantime by several companies of loyalist militia from Hemmingford. As the rebels appeared the loyalist militia attacked them; and after a brisk skirmish, which lasted from twenty to twenty-five minutes, drove them from the field. Without further ado the rebels fled across the border, leaving behind them eleven dead and a number of prisoners, as well as a six-pounder gun, a large number of muskets of the type used in the United States army, a keg of powder, a quantity of ball-cartridge, and a great many pikes. Of the provincial troops two were killed and one was severely wounded.
The defeat of Côté and his men at Lacolle meant that Nelson's line of communications with his base on the American frontier was cut. At the same time he received word that Sir John Colborne was advancing on Napierville from Laprairie with a strong force of regulars and volunteers. Under these circumstances he determined to fall back on Odelltown, just north of the border. He had with him about a thousand men, eight hundred of whom were armed with muskets.He arrived at Odelltown on the morning of November 9, to find it occupied by about two hundred loyal militia, under the command of the inspecting field-officer of the district, Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor. He had no difficulty in driving in the loyalist outposts; but the village itself proved a harder nut to crack. Taylor had concentrated his little force at the Methodist church, and he controlled the road leading to it by means of the six-pounder which had been taken from the rebels three days before at Lacolle. The insurgents extended through the fields to the right and left, and opened a vigorous fire on the church from behind some barns; but many of the men seem to have kept out of range. 'The greater part of the Canadians kept out of shot,' wrote Hindenlang; 'threw themselves on their knees, with their faces buried in the snow, praying to God, and remaining as motionless as if they were so many saints, hewn in stone. Many remained in that posture as long as the fighting lasted.' The truth appears to be that many of Nelson's men had been intimidated into joining the rebel force. The engagement lasted in all about two hours and a half. The defenders of the church made several successful sallies; and just when therebels were beginning to lose heart, a company of loyalists from across the Richelieu fell on their flank and completed their discomfiture. The rebels then retreated to Napierville, under the command of Hindenlang. Robert Nelson, seeing that the day was lost, left his men in the lurch and rode for the American border. The losses of the rebels were serious; they left fifty dead on the field and carried off as many wounded. Of the loyalists, one officer and five men were killed and one officer and eight men wounded.
Later in the same day Sir John Colborne, at the head of a formidable force, entered Napierville. On his approach those rebels who were still in the village dispersed and fled to their homes. Detachments of troops were immediately sent out to disperse bands of rebels reported to be still under arms. The only encounter took place at Beauharnois, where a large body of insurgents had assembled. After a slight resistance they were driven out by two battalions of Glengarry volunteers, supported by two companies of the 71st and a detachment of Royal Engineers.
In these expeditions the British soldiers, especially the volunteers, did a good deal of burning and harrying. After the victory atBeauharnois they gave to the flames a large part of the village, including the houses of some loyal citizens. In view of the intimidation and depredations to which the loyalists had been subjected by the rebels in the disaffected districts, the conduct of the men, in these regrettable acts, may be understood and partially excused. But no excuse can be offered for the attitude of the British authorities. There are well-authenticated cases of houses of 'notorious rebels' burned down by the orders of Sir James Macdonell, Colborne's second-in-command. Colborne himself acquired the nickname of 'the old Firebrand'; and, while he cannot be charged with such a mania for incendiarism as some writers have imputed to him, it does not appear that he took any effective measures to stop the arson or to punish the offenders.
The rebellion of 1838 lasted scarcely a week. It was a venture criminally hopeless. Failing important aid from the United States, the rebels had an even slighter chance of success than they had had a year before, for since that time the British regular troops in Canada had been considerably increased in number. The chief responsibility for the rebellion must be placed at the door of Robert Nelson, who atthe critical moment fled over the border, leaving his dupes to extricate themselves as best they could from the situation into which he had led them. As was the case in 1837, most of the leaders of the rebellion escaped from justice, leaving only the smaller fry in the hands of the authorities. Of the lesser ringleaders nearly one hundred were brought to trial. Two of the French-Canadian judges, one of them being Elzéar Bédard, attempted to force the government to try the prisoners in the civil courts, where they would have the benefit of trial by jury; but Sir John Colborne suspended these judges from their functions, and brought the prisoners before a court-martial, specially convened for the purpose. Twelve of them, including the French officer Hindenlang, were condemned to death and duly executed. Most of the others were transported to the convict settlements of Australia. It is worthy of remark that none of those executed or deported had been persons of note in the political arena before 1837. On the whole, it must be confessed that these sentences showed a commendable moderation. It was thought necessary that a few examples should be made, as Lord Durham's amnesty of the previous year had evidently encouraged somehabitants to believe that rebellion was a venial offence. And the execution of twelve men, out of the thousands who had taken part in the revolt, cannot be said to have shown a bloodthirsty disposition on the part of the government.
The rebellion of 1837 now belongs to the dead past. ThePatriotesand the 'Bureaucrats' of those days have passed away; and the present generation has forgotten, or should have forgotten, the passions which inspired them. The time has come when Canadians should take an impartial view of the events of that time, and should be willing to recognize the good and the bad on either side. It is absurd to pretend that many of the English in Lower Canada were not arrogant and brutal in their attitude toward the French Canadians, and lawless in their methods of crushing the rebellion; or that many of thePatrioteleaders were not hopelessly irreconcilable before the rebellion, and during it criminally careless of the interests of the poor habitants they had misled. On the other hand, no true Canadian can fail to be proud of the spirit of loyalty which in 1837actuated not only persons of British birth, but many faithful sons and daughters of the French-Canadian Church. Nor can one fail to admire the devotion to liberty, to 'the rights of the people,' which characterized rebels like Robert Bouchette. 'When I speak of the rights of the people,' wrote Bouchette, 'I do not mean those abstract or extravagant rights for which some contend, but which are not generally compatible with an organized state of society, but I mean those cardinal rights which are inherent to British subjects, and which, as such, ought not to be denied to the inhabitants of any section of the empire, however remote.' The people of Canada to-day are able to combine loyalty and liberty as the men of that day were not; and they should never forget that in some measure they owe to the one party the continuance of Canada in the Empire, and to the other party the freedom wherewith they have been made free.
Denis Benjamin Viger. From a print in M'Gill University Library.Denis Benjamin Viger.From a print in M'Gill University Library.
Denis Benjamin Viger. From a print in M'Gill University Library.Denis Benjamin Viger.From a print in M'Gill University Library.
The later history of thePatriotesfalls outside the scope of this little book, but a few lines may be added to trace their varying fortunes. Some of them never returned to Canada. Robert Nelson took up his abode in New York, and there practised surgery untilhis death in 1873. E. B. O'Callaghan went to Albany, and was there employed by the legislature of New York in preparing two series of volumes entitledA Documentary History of New YorkandDocuments relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, volumes which are edited in so scholarly a manner, and throw such light on Canadian history, that the Canadian historian would fain forgive him for his part in the unhappy rebellion of '37.
Most of thePatrioteleaders took advantage, however, of the virtual amnesty offered them in 1842 by the first LaFontaine-Baldwin administration, and returned to Canada. Many of these, as well as many of thePatrioteleaders who had not been implicated in the rebellion and who had not fled the country, rose to positions of trust and prominence in the public service of Canada. Louis Hippolyte LaFontaine, after having gone abroad during the winter of 1837-38, and after having been arrested on suspicion in November 1838, entered the parliament of Canada, formed, with Robert Baldwin as his colleague, the administration which ushered in full responsible government, and was knighted by Queen Victoria. Augustin Morin, the reputed authorof the Ninety-Two Resolutions, who had spent the winter of 1837-38 in hiding, became the colleague of Francis Hincks in the Hincks-Morin administration. George Étienne Cartier, who had shouldered a musket at St Denis, became the lifelong colleague of Sir John Macdonald and was made a baronet by his sovereign. Dr Wolfred Nelson returned to his practice in Montreal in 1842. In 1844 he was elected member of parliament for the county of Richelieu. In 1851 he was appointed an inspector of prisons. Thomas Storrow Brown, on his return to Montreal, took up again his business in hardware, and is remembered to-day by Canadian numismatists as having been one of the first to issue a halfpenny token, which bore his name and is still sought by collectors. Robert Bouchette recovered from the serious wound he had sustained at Moore's Corners, and later became Her Majesty's commissioner of customs at Ottawa.
Papineau returned to Canada in 1845. The greater part of his period of exile he spent in Paris, where he came in touch with the 'red republicans' who later supported the revolution of 1848. He entered the Canadian parliament in 1847 and sat in it until 1854.But he proved to be completely out of harmony with the new order of things under responsible government. Even with his old lieutenant LaFontaine, who had made possible his return to Canada, he had an open breach. The truth is that Papineau was born to live in opposition. That he himself realized this is clear from a laughing remark which he made when explaining his late arrival at a meeting: 'I waited to take an opposition boat.' His real importance after his return to Canada lay not in the parliamentary sphere, but in the encouragement which he gave to those radical and anti-clerical ideas that found expression in the foundation of theInstitut Canadienand the formation of theParti Rouge. In many respects theParti Rougewas the continuation of thePatrioteparty of 1837. Papineau's later days were quiet and dignified. He retired to his seigneury of La Petite Nation at Montebello and devoted himself to his books. With many of his old antagonists he effected a pleasant reconciliation. Only on rare occasions did he break his silence; but on one of these, when he came to Montreal, an old silver-haired man of eighty-one years, to deliver an address before theInstitut Canadien, he uttered a sentence which may be taken astheapologia pro vita sua: 'You will believe me, I trust, when I say to you, I love my country.... Opinions outside may differ; but looking into my heart and my mind in all sincerity, I feel I can say that I have loved her as she should be loved.' And charity covereth a multitude of sins.
The story of the Lower Canada rebellion is told in detail in some of the general histories of Canada. William Kingsford,History of Canada(1887-94), is somewhat inaccurate and shows a strong bias against thePatriotes, but his narrative of the rebellion is full and interesting. F. X. Garneau,Histoire du Canada(1845-52), presents the history of the period, from the French-Canadian point of view, with sympathy and power. A work which holds the scales very evenly is Robert Christie,A History of the Late Province of Lower Canada(1848-55). Christie played a not inconspicuous part in the pre-rebellion politics, and his volumes contain a great deal of original material of first-rate importance.
Of special studies of the rebellion there are a number worthy of mention. L. O. David,Les Patriotes de 1837-38, is valuable for its complete biographies of the leaders in the movement. L. N. Carrier,Les Événements de 1837-38(1877), is a sketch of the rebellion written by the son of one of thePatriotes. Globensky,La Rébellion de 1837 à Saint-Eustache(1883), written by the son of an officer in the loyalist militia, contains some original materials of value. Lord Charles Beauclerk,Lithographic Views of Military Operations in Canada under Sir John Colborne, O.C.B.,etc.(1840), apart from the value of the illustrations, is interesting on account of the introduction, in which the author, a British army officer who served in Canada throughout the rebellion, describes the course of the military operations. The political aspect of the rebellion, from the Tory point of view, is dealt with in T. C. Haliburton,The Bubbles of Canada(1839). For a penetrating analysis of the situation which led to the rebellion see Lord Durham'sReport on the Affairs of British North America.
A few biographies may be consulted with advantage. N. E. Dionne,Pierre Bédard et ses fils(1909), throws light on the earlier period; as does also Ernest Cruikshank,The Administration of Sir James Craig(Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 3rd series, vol. ii). See also A. D. DeCelles,Papineau(1904), in the 'Makers of Canada' series; and Stuart J. Reid,Life and Letters of the First Earl of Durham(1906).
The parish histories, in which the province of Quebec abounds, will be found to yield much information of a local nature with regard to the rebellion; and the same may be said of the publications of local historical societies, such as that of Missisquoi county.
An original document of primary importance is theReport of the state trials before a general court-martial held at Montreal in 1838-39; exhibiting a complete history of the late rebellion in Lower Canada(1839).
Assembly, the language question in the,8-12; racial conflict over form of taxation,13-14; the struggle with Executive for full control of revenue leads to deadlock,22-5,27,29-30,53-4,57; seeks redress in Imperial parliament,28-32; the Ninety-Two Resolutions,38-42; the grievance commission,45-6,52,55-6; the Russell Resolutions,57-61. See Lower Canada.
Aylmer, Lord, governor of Canada,29,33-4,44,45.
Beauharnois, Patriotes defeated at,124-5.
Bédard, Elzéar, introduces the Ninety-Two Resolutions,38,42; suspended as a judge,126.
Bédard, Pierre, and French-Canadian nationalism,11,15,16; his arrest and release,17-19,20.
Bidwell, M. S., speaker of Upper Canada Assembly,53.
Bouchette, Robert Shore Milnes,129; wounded at Moore's Corners,89-90,91,102,108,131.
Bourdages, Louis, Papineau's chief lieutenant,36.
Brougham, Lord, criticizes Durham's policy,110.
Brown, Thomas Storrow,38,72,73,131; in command of Patriotes at St Charles,74,84-6,102,108.
Buller, Charles, secretary to Durham,109,113.
Bureaucrats, the,18. See 'Château Clique.'
Canada. See Lower Canada.
Cartier, Sir George,30; a follower of Papineau,37,131.
Catholic Church in Canada, the,7; opposes revolutionary movement,64-5,102,103.
Chartier, Abbé, encourages the rebels at St Eustache,95-6; escapes to the United States,99.
Chartier de Lotbinière, on French-Canadian loyalty,11.
'Château Clique,' the,22; and the Patriotes,25,31.
Chénier, Dr J. O., killed at St Eustache,93,94,95,97-9,102,108.
Christie, Robert, expelled from the Assembly,34,134.
Colborne, Sir John, his letter on the situation previous to the Rebellion,69-71; his 1837 campaign,74-5,83,94,97-101,102; administrator of the province,106-8; his 1838 campaign,122,124,125,126.
Côté, Dr Cyrile,89,108,118,120; defeated at Lacolle,121-2.
Craig, Sir James, his 'Reign of Terror,'15-20,23.
Cuvillier, Augustin,28-9; breaks with Papineau,37,42,44.
Dalhousie, Lord, his quarrel with Papineau,27-9.
Daly, Dominick, provincial secretary,107.
Debartzch, D. P., breaks with Papineau,71,84.
Desèves, Father,93; his picture of the rebels at St Eustache,96-7.
Doric Club, the,71.
Durham, Earl of, governor and Lord High Commissioner,104-6; his humane policy fails to find support in Britain,107-12; his appeal to Canadian public opinion,112-13; his Report,114-16.
Duvernay, Ludger, at Moore's Corners,89.
Elgin, Lord, and French-Canadian nationalism,116.
English Canadians, their conflicts with the Patriotes,51,64,128.
Ermatinger, Lieutenant, defeated by Patriotes,73-4.
Executive Council,22,25,59. See 'Château Clique.'
French Canadians, their attitude toward the British in 1760,2; their loyalty,2-5,128-9; their generous treatment,7-8; their fight for official recognition of their language,8-12,50; their struggle with the 'Château Clique,'22-5,29; their fight for national identity,26-7,29,115-16. See Patriotes.
French Revolution, the, and the French Canadians,4-5.
Gipps, Sir George, on the grievance commission,46,55.
Girod, Amury, commands the rebels at St Eustache,92-3,94,95,103; commits suicide,99-100,108.
Gladstone, W. E., supports the Russell Resolutions,60.
Glenelg, Lord, colonial secretary,46.
Goderich, Lord, colonial secretary,29,30.
Gore, Colonel Charles, commands the British at St Denis,75-7,88.
Gosford, Lord, governor of Canada,45-7,49-53,55,57-8,61,64,106.
Great Britain, and French-Canadian loyalty,2-5; her conciliatory policy in Lower Canada,7-8,9,44-6,57-60; and the Rebellion,104,110-111.
Grey, Sir Charles, on the grievance commission,45-6,55.
Gugy, Major Conrad,48; at St Charles,82-3; wounded at St Eustache,99.
Haldimand, Sir Frederick, governor of Canada,3-4.
Head, Sir F. B., his indiscreet action,52-3.
Hindenlang, leads Patriotes in second rebellion,120,121,123,124; executed,126.
Kemp, Captain, defeats the Patriotes at Moore's Corners,90-2.
Kimber, Dr, in the affair at Moore's Corners,89.