History of the 10Th Royals and of the Royal

... vf^ ) •r- K. { .» ''' is. l-..»- 9> •»,..• :• *^ - i LIEUT.. COL. 1. \V. I'l'MBKRLANI). (Founder of the Keginieiif. fflSTORY OF THE ^"'**'lbtli ROYA.LS AND OF THE Royal Grenadiers From tJie formation of the Regiment until i8g6. BY THOMAS EDWARD CHAMPION. (fiiitai't'^ The hunter, ROSE COMPANY, Ltd. MDCCCXCVI. i^mu Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one . thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, by Thos E. Champion, in the office of the Minister of Agriculture. PRINTED AND BOl'Nl) BY Tub Hunter, Kose Company, Ltd. TORONTO. / *' llcrtbtf, tt«c ilcrtt»«/' TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JAMES MASON, AND THK OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE OF CANADA, ^HIS HISTORY OF THEIR REGIMENT, FROM ITS FIEST FORMATION TO THE PRESENT YEAR, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR, THOS. E. CHAMPION. Toronto, September, 1896. PREFACE. supply a long felt want." Such is a very common reason given for publishing a new book, or undertaking some new enterprise. In writing this history I have acted from no such motive, on the contrary, I undertook the work thinking that if a readable history of the Royal Grenadiers was written, that it would create a desire for the book, not only from Toronto, but from many places outside the city, where men who formerly served in the 10th Royals or in the Royal Grenadiers have settled, and who wôuld be glad to possess some memento of the corps in which they had passed many pleasant and useful hours. To all those who have assisted in the work by lending me MSS., books, news- papers, or by personally giving me information, I tender my hearty thanks, and I hope that every one who reads the book may take as great an interest in its perusal as I have done in writing it. With these few words I leave the volume to the judgment of the public. Thos. E. C. Toronto, September, 1896. CHAPTER I. THE FIRST MILITIA ACT—THE ACT OF 1822—THE TRAINING DAYS—INTERESTING DETAILS. HE history of the Militia of Upper Canada, -^' or what is now known as the Province of 4),) Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, com- mences ahnost with the foundation of the Province. Simcoe's first Parliament met at Nia- ^f gara, September 17th, 1792, and sat until Octo- ber 15th following. Eight acts were passed and received the Royal assent, but the question of national defence was not among them, that was deferred uiitil the second session. The Legislative Assembly met for the second session. May 81st, 1793, and the House in their address in reply to the speech from the throne, thus addressed the Lieu- tenant-Governor, who had in that speech urged upon the Legislature the necessity of providing for the defence of the country. •' We assure Your Excellency that our utmof*: diligence shall be used to frame and complete sucli a Militia Bill as will not only show our own promptness to fulfil Your Excellency's wishes, but our own energy in defending that noble constitution which Great Britain has given us, and which, by enabling us to repel all insults, will secure to us the invaluable blessings that we derive from it." — 8 HISTORY OF THE ROYAL GRENADIERS. During the session of 1793 an act was accordingly passed which enabled the Government in case of need to call upon all male adults between the ages of 16 and 60 to bear arms in defence of their country whenever called upon to do so. Commissions from the rank of Colonel to Ensign were granted to prominent settlers in each of the nineteen counties into which the Province was then divided, and on paper the whole thing was as perfect as could be. Each county had its own regiment, with its proper complement of officers; the strength of these "regiments " may be estimated when it is remembered that at that particular period the total population of Upper Canada did not exceed twelve thousand white people, men, women, and children, with about an equal number of Indians. This Act was repealed in tola by the 4th Parliament of Upper Canada, in its 4th session, and a new one passed, which received the Royal assent March IGth, 1808. This act, though being very far from perfect, was framed with care, and was found during the troubles of 181 •M4 to work effectively. The provisions of the Act referred to n the latter part of the preceding paragraph were numerous, almost evêry possible contingency being provided for, always excepting that of giving the men any payment for their services, on that point nothing whatever was said, or apparently thought of, by the framers. The preamble set forth as follows : " Whereas a well-regulated militia is of the utmost im- portance to the tlefence of this province." The following were its leading provisions : The Lieut- enant-Governor, or whoever was acting as administrator THE FfRST MILITIA ACT 9 had the power to appoint officers, in all ranks, to that of Colonel, who were to rank with officers of H. M. regular forces, only as juniors in their rank. For instance, a captain in the Imperial service wôuld take precedence of an officer of similar rank in the Canadian Militia, though the commission of the latter might bear date anterior to that held hy the former officer. p]ach militia regiment was to be formed in certain specified districts, and each company of the battalion was to be drawn from certain limits contained within those districts. Every male from 16 to 60 years of age, was liable to be called upon to serve, but those between 50 and 60 years old, were only to be called out in time of war, or on training-day. The " training-day " was one of the events of the year, fifty years since, it was on June 4th, George Ill's, birth- day. Anyone who absented himself from muster on that day, without good and sufficient excuse, was liable to a tine of ten shillings currency, or two dollars. It lay with the captains of companies to say what was a good excuse and what was a frivolous one. A good many ** summonses " always followed in the wake of training- day. Within fourteen days after the muster of June 4th, in each year, complete rolls had to be sent to the Lieu- tenant-Governor of all companies and of all regiments, and if this duty was neglected the captains of each company and the commanding officers of each regiment were liable to penalties, ^5, for the former and £10 for the latter. 10 HISTORY OF THE ROYAL GRENADIERS. The militia were liable to serve anywhere in the Pro- vince of Upper Canada, or in Lower Canada, if required, for the assistance of that province. They could not, though, be called upon for continuous service of more than six months. By the 14th clause of this Act it was enacted that each militiaman after enrolment "shall within six months after such enrolment provide himself with a good and sufficient musket, fusil, rifle or gun." If he failed in this duty he was liable to a penalty of five shillings, " unless excused by his commanding officer." The 31st clause of the same Act authorized the formation of troops of cavalry, and what is now known as the Governor-General's Body Guard, was subsequently enrolled under its provisions. This Act received the assent of the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor on March IGth, 1808, v/as ratified in due course by the Imperial authorities, and became the law of the land. During the war of 1812 General Brock and Sir Gordon Druminond, President and Lieutenant-Governor respectively, availed themselves largely of the powers it gave them, and right gallantly at Detroit, Queenston Heights, Stony Creek, Chrysler's Farm, and Lundy's Lane, did the Canadian Militia do their duty. In the second session of the 8th Parliament of Upper Canada certain amendments were passed in the Act of 1808, or rather incorporated with it, but the amended Act was only to be in operation for four years, unless re-enacted at the expiration of that period, and as the latter was not done, the former one came again into operation INTERESTING DETAILS. 11 One interesting circumstance though may be mentioned " in connection with this Act of 1822 ; it is among the things not generally known " in connection with Cana- dian history, and that is, that " Training day " was changed by it from June 4th to April 23rd. The latter date was chosen as being St. George's Day, the patron saint of England. In the session of 1823 a short Act was passed, permit- ting the formation of batteries of artillery, but none ap- pear ever to have existed, except upon paper, for many years after it was passed. From the close of the war in 1814 until 1837 little was heard of the Militia or of iis existence, excepting upon " Training Day," and that was looked upon by many as a big picnic more than as a public duty. The military spirit was only quiescent though, it was not dead. What caused it to blaze forth again will be glanced at in the next chapter. CHAPTER II. THE CANADIAN MILITIA IN 1837— THE ROYAL CANADIAN KIFLES —"A DULL time"—THE CRIMEAN WAR—THE MILITIA ACT OF 1855. N December, 1837, the embers of disaffection, which had been smouldering in many parts of the country, burst into flame, and the inhabitants of the hitherto loyal Province of Upper Canada learned for a certainty that a portion of the population, led by William Lyon Mackenzie and others, had taken up arms against the constituted authorities, and were encamped on Yonge street, at Montgomery's tavern, some few miles north of the city, preparatory to making an attack upon it and its inhabitants.

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