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State of the !1Ilit1a u 1/­ ,oo REPO i{T CL/ ,A.S­ \.9'G(;~9 ON THE STATE OF THE !1ILIT1A OF TITJ; PROVINCE OF CA ~ADA. PRESE.NTED 1'0 .BOTH HO SE' OF P_.\.HLIA.;\IFXT HY c''O~I\JAXD OF HIS EXCBLLENOY 'IIIE GOYER~Ol 1 .E~EH \L. .. .. ,, . , . ... , ••: . .... .tt .. :' , ' •' . <.!."ttani.1: J>IUXT ED HY IIU.NTEil, 1WSI~ • CO., SAi.LY ~ l'HEET. 1 GG. AD.JUTA~T GE~ERAL'R Ol"FICE, OrTAWA, .June, I 66. The underi;igned has the honor t-0 forward t-0 Your Excellency the accompanying Report relating to the Militin of the Province of Canada for I 65-613, which j,; rei;pi>ct­ • fully submitted for Your Excellency's consideration . P. L. MACDOUGALL, Colonel, .Adjt.-Gcn. ~lilitia, Canada. His Excellency the Right Honorable The Governor () cneral, &c.! &c., &c., .. Ottawa . REPORT . YOLU.N'TEEH '. On his first arrival in Cann<la, the ,\.djutant General wa:; dispo c<l to undervalue the importance of the c.xiqting Volunteer Poree. J~xpericncc hns convinced l1i111 that both 0:1 regar<l material and spirit, and al o as regards proficiency in <lrill, acquired under great d_isa<lvantagc-, thaL force is of great value A more i;cvere te:;t of the efficiency of the Yoluntcer sy. tcm for defence could not hove been applied than that which was iurnishcd by the circumstances of the past wine.er, and in no respect has it been found wanting, but on the contrary, fully equal to the cull' wade upon it. During the past autumn and winter an uneasy feeling was naturally produced along !110 whole of the U uitcd 8tatcs frontier by the preparationd and threatened incursion of the Fenians, which was not allayed by the measure adopteJ by theGovcrna:cnt in Xo\·cm­ ber of placing 500 Volunteers on service at Wiud~or, Sarnia, .Niagara and Pre-colt. In these circumstances all the Local Volunteer Corps along the frontier line •Ii we 1 an excellent i-pirit, and the alacrity with which they turned out spontu11cou-ly to dcfcn I the lives and properties of their fellow citizen" at tho-c point· most expo cd to nntici1 ated rni<ls, when tho~c raids appeared imminent, is worthy of the highe-t commc111l tiou. Tn )Jontrcnl, King ton, Toronto, Tia111iltou anil London, the local force volunt:irily furni:.;hctl a 11i~htly gnarcl ti\'Cr thrir nr111ourie~ for :sm·er.il ''"eek~; anti at Toronto till" st'rvice wat> continued up to the time when the Order of Ilis Excellency the Uo\Oruor General plnccd I0,000 Y uluntcrr;; on actual c:crvict!. ~\t many otlwr pbc.. , "llCh as Gormnill, Prc--cott, Brock ville, Clit'ton (Su"pcn<iou Brid~t!) the Joc.\I force on sc\'cral occasions mn:-.tercd uod re111ainc1l uu1lcr arm~ nil night • to repel auticipatctl attack, :11111 along the frontier lint! which extends from Hou c' l'oiut on the Ea t to ~t. Hl-gis on the W t'st, gn•at alacrity Wll" manife,.,tcd, a sy-tcm of -quad al::trm po"t~ was t•~tahlishcd nt intt•n·als of two mile" alon0 the whole of that. line, :rnd the ~pirit and 11isciplinc or the Local Force wn., :mch a" to rClllO\'C nil nnxicty for I he -afcty uf that, although thl' mo t cxpo.-.ccl part of the frontier. 'l'his :stntc of' affairs continnc·l until the information wl1ich wn. rccci\·ed from many diffcrcr1t quarters intlneccl ll i" Excellency the Governor t: encr:il in ,onncil to c.tll out fi r actual scr\'icc l 0,000 Yolnntccr~.* •Tho.M1htia. Oen rn\ Or1lcr I su d ly llie Excellrocy the Commander iG Chief will be found t page 7 of thi~ Report. -•1 7 '.. I \.<l.ubnt Ucncral, on l u"·. wny f ro m Ottawa to l\Iontrcnl ' On the ith .Mnrch, l bu, t ie. .i. J k , t ,(c .. r·iphic messn.,.o from tho IIonorabl" the Quebec l\IiliL'lry • 'chool, came in this wny f'rom • 0t1th Carol inn, to report him If recci\·cil nt Kemptvillc, nt four o cloc p.m., n c n • o to the Adjutant-General at )fontrcal. At the same time applications came pouring in tho Mini~tcr of .Militia, ns follow": from e\•ery town in Canada. for a supply of arm., and ammuuition for the purpo o of arming Home Guards; a.nu notably from the district behind Pre. cott and llrock\'illc, on the occa. • : OTT.\WA, )farch 7th, l GG. sion of an alarm, the country people flocked to those places from cou idcral:.le distance • •·'Po Colonel ~laul)uu~all. b t 1 I each man armed 'vith the be:it we:1pon he could pick up; and one man who ha•l walked .. l'.ill out ten thousand (10,000) men Of Yoluntecr .Force. Sood mo y e egrap l ten miles for tl1c purpose, havin~ nothing better at hand, shouldered a formidable lookin~ . " '£1 .. must be out in twenty-four (:H) hours, and for three (3) weeks pitchfork which doubtless would have done good i;ervicc if needed. On tho occ.tsion of nnmc,; ut ..,orps. lC). • ' ,,,. h direct this evening from Prel:lcott nn<l wh·1tcvcr further t11n<) mny be requnc<l. I clc.,iap d . bl the inspection by the Adjutant-GenerJI of the Companies on actual service at Ottmra, •tu Brigule' ~lnjors an<l Ofliecrs flvommnn a·ing sue•h UorJ>S as )·ou think most CSlrtl 0 to the smartness and soldier-like appearance of which reflected the hi~hc t credit on the be in rcu<liue•s to move l1n your orders to-morrow. Commandant, Lieut.-Colonel Wily, as well as on the Officer~ an•l men C·Jrnpo ing the Porne, '· ( igned,) JOUN A. MACDONAJ,D." it is worthy of mention that Lieut.-Colonel ,Y, .F. Coffin wa;i in the rank as a prh·atc. Ile had joined one of the Companies 'vhen danger was apprehended, thus etting an ex­ l >lJ ma.:in,.,.,_. u c o f the Po·t~ Offic"" v·w' ' the .\.<lJ'utant General was enabled in the1 cour,.e or tho j~roey to <le:-patch messaglls anJ letters .to the ~I~liti_a Staff Officers ~f t 1: ample of that loyalty, patriotism and high spirit, which ha•e been for generation the characteristics of his family. " \crnl Ji~trict-., prescribing the quota to be furnished 1Il each d1stnct .. o~ the arnva~ 0 the truin in ~Iontreal at midnight, answers were received from all the districts announcrn.g The Feninns would indeed have proved the invaluable, though involuntary benefactors thnt arran!!'emenf-1 were in pro;::re ·; and by ! o'clock p.m., on the following day (8th), it of Canada, if tho only experience derived from their foolic..h proceeding had been the mi:, rcport~d to the Adjutant General that the total number of 10,000 men were assembled proofs or warm attachment exhibited by Canadians universally for the li>nd of their birth at their respecth·~ head-quarters, awaiting further orders. .. or adoption. But the benefits conferred by the "Brotherhood '' do noc ;:top here. fly 'Phis force wa~ placed by His Ex.::ellency the Governor General at the d1spos1t10n. of uniting all classes, and by the opportunity afforded of tc.... ting its :'tlilitnry or"nniz:ition, Ilis Mxc 0 1leucy the J,ieutenant-Geaeral Commanding, and the Adjutant-General .ha~rng they have given to the Province a proud consciousne;:s of 'trcn!!th, and have b~cn the been directed to take the Orders of the LiQutenant-Gcnera.1 as to the d1stnbu­ means of obtaining for it, in England in particular and before the world at lar!!c, thnt tio11-hy the afternoon of Saturday, the 10th, that distribution was effected without status and consideration as a great people, to which by the mn~nitu<lc of its re-ourccs and mbtokc anll without accident; which, con!!idcring the great distances and the scattered na­ by the spirit and iotelligcnco of its population, it is ju"tly entitled.. ~ ture oft he Yolnntcer Force in the country par Lo;, reflects great credit on the zeal and alacrity Subscriptions were raised in moc;t of the principal town<1 to D""'"t the famil1c .. of tho•e Volunteers who had gone to servo on the frontier po-.b. lu Montreal a lnrg Elim wn of the taff Officers of the different district:1 1 and on the spirit and loyalty of the men com- po in~ the force. COilected for this purpose j although its distribution W:J<; UOt T<'.!lllllt~d OJ thn;:e COD,.idcr;i. The country too is greatly indebted to the Managers of the different railroads for then tions which Military custom and equity would seem to prc.,cribc. Tho Relict C-Owwittco invaluable hearty co-operation, which coulcl alone have enablcJ the :JJilitary .Authorities in :\Iontrcal would allow uo part of th('ir funds to be applied to tho a<:-.i,.t:mco of nny of satisfactorily to carry out their plan<1, and the proruptnei:s with which every i>ervicc w:ui the Volunteers who were actually employed in clefcnding the different approachc.; to t be executed, and the entire ab~cncc of c:i.aualty, speak volumes for the efficient management city, except such as bclon~cd to the ;'\Iontre:i.l J,ocal Force. or the lines. Xow the sy:;tem of po ts which was established in front of l'f~nt1~al Ii.
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