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The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada

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The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada ^a^' ;. ^.y >»e^/ mm Hi y' '^ mm 55" (b Q,^i^^^^\ of lis tS^mi h kv?-; \ ](_(XJU^rYVv.^CX^ ^A^vWw ^lA/v^ (3 'y + From the Oil Painting by Lafayette. LORD ROBERTS, llOXOK.Xm COLONEL 0¥ THE OrEEX'S OWN RIFLES. The QuEEN's O^N Rifles OF CANADA. A .& .^ A HISTORY OF A SPLENDID REGIMENT'S ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT AND SERVICES, .& .& a .© INCLUDING A STORY OF PATRIOTIC DUTIES .a ^ WELL PERFORMED IN THREE CAMPAIGNS, a .a BY Captain Ernest J. Chambers, R.O., Author of the Histories of the First Prince of Wales' Regiment, the 3rd iMontreall Field Battery, etc.. etc. E. L. RUDDY, 60 Victoria Street, Toronto, Publisher, 1901. CONTENTS. 1. The First Ui'Pkr Canada Militia. II. The Ui'i'KR Canada Militia of 1IS12. III. Till-: MiiTTiA ()i- riiK Rkp.elliox ok 1837. (i|- 1\'. TllK X'oI.lNTKKK RiKLK Co.MI'ANlKS " 1m I- TV-SlX." v. Oroanizkd as a Battalion. VI. The Fenian Kxlttement. VII. The Rai'tism of Blood At Ridcewav. \'III. A Period of Peace and Procre.s.s. IX. The North-West Rebellion—With Otter to Battlefcjkd. X. FlOHTINO PoLNDMAKER AT Cl T KmI F Hll.L. XI. Fifteen Years of Re(;imextal Work and Development. XII. Queen's Own Men in Khaki. XIII. I'NDFR THE ADNHRINO CjA/.V. OF RoVALT\ . XIV. .An HiiNoRAHLF Record on the Rifle Ran(;e. I DEDICATED BY PERMISSION TO FIELD MARSHAL THE RT. HON. F. S. EARL ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR, PRETORIA AND WATERFORD, V.C. K.G.. K.P.. G.C.B., G.C.S.I.. G.C.I.E., COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE BRITISH FORCES AND HONORARY COLONEL OF THE QUEENS OWN RIFLES OF CANADA. Knleied accordiiitj to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand nine hundred and one, at the Department o\' Ai^riciilture, by E. L. Ruddv. l'l!INTIN« BY K. ii. Mfl.KAN. Rrvnisr; nv Wilson. Mrxiii'v. A- i'Assinv. t'M'Ki! i;v RnrHiE A Hampav. : PREFACE. 1 HI'. IM\I-" I'\\CI^ to that splenditl series ot rei^iinental recurds, "Cannon's Histories" ot the P)ritish rei^iments. the prime motive of the Kin^;" in ordering" the preparation ot" those tamihar works of ^^ ->'^''^w^^ " l^r:' reterence is thus explained jT f "The character and credit of the British Army must chieflv depend upon the zeal and ardour by which all who enter into its service are animated, antl consequently it is ot the highest importance that any ' measure calculated to excite the spirit of emulation, by which alone a^reat " and oallant deeds are achieved, should be adoptetl. " Xothiny can more fully tend to the accomplishment of this desirable object than a full display of the noble deeds with which the military history of our country abounds. To hold forth these bright examples to the imitation of the youthful soldier, and thus to incite him to emulate the meritorious conduct of those who have preceded him in their honourable career, are amonj^- the motives which have given rise to the present publication." These sentences explain \ery clearly one ot the practical benetits of every regimental history; but I ha\e always considered that any history of a Canadian active militia regiment that does not appeal very directK to the interest ot the reading public outside the regiment, and in a special way to the whole ot the militia, falls far short of accomiilishing what such a publication should. I fullv realize the danger of attempting to embrace within the necessarily limited space of a regimental historv anything like a complete history ot our service, but feel that a mere bald record of any one regiment's organization and services must be tlat and unquestionably unprofitable, without some preliminary reference, however brief, to the miiitarx' conditions existing in the district ot its origin pi-c\ious to its organiza- tion, or without some notice of militarx' ex'ents in the countr\" outside ot tiiose with which the regiment in (|iiestion chanced to be directK connected. Conseiiuentlw while not forgetting that the work with which I have been entrusted is the prepara- tion of a regimental histor\ , 1 ha\e endeavored to ])roduce a publication which will have .something more than a mere regimental interest, and with such a regiment as the (Juecn's Own RiHes as my theme, it is m\ ovsii tank it I ha\'e tailed lo accom- plish that much. The oreatest good can be accomplished b\ drawing" the attention ot the reatling, thinking public of Canada to the history ot such a fine and representative regiment as the Queen's Own Rifles. It shows under what discouragements and difficulties such corps are maintained, and gives an insight into the great sacrifices the pulilic service of the country calls upon the militiaman to make. It recalls, too, the invaluable service rendered to Canada by her patriotic militia, and helps to keep alive the military spirit in the Dominion. This latter is not the least important of the functions of the militia force it.self in my humble opinion. There are those, who, professing a great abhorrence of war, deprecate the fostering of a military spirit in the community, on the supposition that such a course is but calculated to produce warfare and jeopardize the commercial prosperity, the political independence and the domestic happiness of the country. However these trood people arrive at such a childi.sh conclusion, it is impossible to imagine. h"or the people of a country to say that they abhor war is not to insure peace, though it uncjuestionabK' expresses a worthy and honoral)le feeling. As a matter of fact the progress of a country along the paths of peace but brings nearer the risk of war. The commonK' accepted theory is that peace produces national wealth, war national is the nation which can pre.ser\e poverty ; that wealth power, and that peace long enough to s.^ive her a great preponderance of wealth, can command permanent peace throughout the length and breadth of the world. And this reasoning, in .spite of the obvious fact that the increase of the commerce and wealth of a cotintry increa.ses its vulnerability and e.xcites the cupidity and invites the attack of its neighbors ! No country can be rea.sonably powerful, whether for pur|)Oses of war or for pur])oses of peace, unless it has the practical means at hand to \indicate its character. .Solon remarked to Croesus when the latter showed him his treasure: -"\'es, sir. but if another should come with better iron than you, he would be master of all this gold. " The Duke of Cambridge, in a service speech, once said that "Where there is a great physical power in e.xistence, peace is the result of that power, iKjt war." The only way a country can manifest its sincerity in the wish to preserve peace is to keep well prepared for war, and to stm-dily maintain the militar\' spirit of its population, rather than to proclaim from the housetojjs its adhesion to the cowardK', destructi\e, wicked doctrine of peace at any price. The present bloody war in .South Africa is primarily due to the effect produced upon the Boer mind by the tremendous concessions, honorably enough, but supremely foolishly, made by a former British government, in 6 purirsuance of a milk-and-water policy aloni;- the lines of the impracticable principles ot those good people who vainly expect the longed-for time when the spears shall be turned into priming hooks to be hastened by the suppression of the militar\ sj)irit in the various communities which go to make u|) this world's struggling po[)ulati(in. If Canadians are proud of and attachetl to the tie which binds them to the liritish Lmpire, as ol course they are, the\ ha\e sjjecial cause to cherish the military spirit o| the counlr\-, a spirit which had its honest origin in the first militar\ scttlei-s from Britain, kr;uiceand a spirit which repelled invasions in 1770, 1S12, 1 Sb() ,uul 1S70, and a wholesale appreciation of which was largely responsible for the preservation of peace upon many a threatening occasion. And as the maintenance of the Canadian militia has depended upon the military spirit of the country rather than upon official encouragement, so is it unquestionably true that the militia organization has done much on its part to keep alive the militarv spirit. While the loyal heart of Canada still throbs with proper pride at the praise bestowed upon those of her martial sons who but recently returned from .South .\frica, after assisting some of the other cubs of the lion to wipe something oft" the slate, a history ot a regiment which has done perhaps more than anv other to keep up a wholesome military .spirit in the Dominion, and has helped to elevate the stantlard of efficiency in the Canadian militia, should be of general interest not onl\' in Canada l)ut throughout the Empire. And at a time like the present, when the officers and men of the (Jueen's Own Ritles, and their tViends and admirers, are rejoicing over the fact that .so many of the past and present members ot their distinguished reginient have during the campaign now drawing to a conclusion been able to render conspicuous service to the Flmpire. they might naturcdly be e.xpected to welcome a connected record of the origin and past ser\-ices ot their corps with special satisfaction. I have esteemed it a proud privilege to be entrustetl with the writing of this history ot Toronto's crack ritle regiment, but must admit that I have found the responsibility involved a very serious one.
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