Part 17 (1/2)

Lieut.-Col. Samuel P. Jarvis, commanding officer; Major Griffiths Wainwright.

Captains-Thomas Scott, Thomas Macklem, William M.

Herchmer, William Smith. Alex. R. Macdonald. Daniel H.

McMillan and Henry Cook.

Lieutenants-Donald A. Macdonald, David M. Walker, William N. Kennedy, Andrew McBride, William J. McMurty, Samuel B. Harman and James Benson.

Ensigns-A. J. Z. Peebles, Stewart Mulvey, Josiah J.

Bell, Samuel Hamilton, John Biggar, William H. Nash and Hugh John Macdonald.

Paymaster-Capt. J. F. B. Morrice.

Adjutant-Capt. Win. J. B. Parsons.

Quartermaster-Edward Armstrong.

Surgeon-Alfred Codd, M.D.

SECOND (QUEBEC) RIFLES.

Lieut.-Col. Louis Adolphe Casault, commanding officer; Major Acheson G. Irvine.

Captains-Z. C. A. L. de Bellefeuille, Allan Macdonald, Jacques Labranche, Samuel Macdonald, Jean Baptiste Amyot, John Fraser, Wm. J. Barrett.

Lieutenants-J. W. Vaughan, John P. Fletcher, Edward T.

H. F. Patterson. Oscar Prevost. Maurice E. B. d.u.c.h.esnay, Henri Bouthillier, Leonidas de Salaberry.

Ensigns-Ed. S. Bernard, John Allan, George Simard, Gabriel L. Des Georges, Alphonse de M. H. D'Eschambault, William W. Ross, Alphonse Tetu.

Paymaster-Lieut. Thos. Howard.

Adjutant-Capt. F. D. Gagnier.

Quartermaster-F. Villiers.

The following officers were appointed to positions on the Brigade Staff in connection with the expedition:-

a.s.sistant Brigade Major-Major James F. McLeod.

a.s.sistant Control Officer-Capt. A. Peebles.

Orderly Officer on Staff of Commanding Officer-Lieut.

Frederick C. Denison.

The total strength of the expeditionary force amounted to about 1,200, which was composed of about 350 officers and men of H. M. 60th Royal Rifles, detachments of Royal Artillery and Engineers, the First and Second Rifles above mentioned, and a contingent of Canadian voyageurs.

The whole expedition was in command of that gallant soldier Colonel Garnet S. Wolseley (who afterwards won honor and fame in foreign campaigns, and became a Field Marshal of the British Army). The troops left Toronto in May on their long trip to Fort Carry, going by steamboat to Prince Arthur's Landing (now Port Arthur), from which point they took the old ”Dawson route” to their destination. It was a most difficult undertaking, but the undaunted courage of the officers and men and their determination to overcome all obstacles triumphed, as they forced their way through rivers, lakes, swamps, muskegs and forest until they reached the prairie land of Manitoba. They were about three months on the way, arriving at Port Garry on the 24th of August. During this time it became necessary for the men to cut trails through brake and bramble, construct corduroy roads, build boats, ascend dangerous rapids, portage stores and supplies over almost insurmountable places, meanwhile fighting mosquitoes and black flies, and encountering countless dangers, all of which they cheerfully performed with their characteristic bravery until the whole expedition was successfully landed on Manitoba soil without serious mishap.

Their approach to Fort Garry was made so quietly and quickly that Riel and his followers had barely time to get out of the fort and scatter in all directions before the troops arrived, and therefore they did not have an opportunity of using force to quell the rebellion. Unfortunately Riel and his lieutenants succeeded in making their escape. Fort Garry was at once occupied by the column and the Union Jack hoisted on the flag-staff, amid ringing cheers for the Queen, while the artillery fired a royal salute.

The arrival of Col. Wolseley's troops was hailed with delight by the loyal residents of what is now the flouris.h.i.+ng city of Winnipeg, as they had suffered severe persecutions by the rebels during the period that Riel and his lieutenant Ambrose Lepine held sway in their career of rebellion. Lawful authority was quickly established, and all fragments of the revolt being stamped out by Col. Wolseley, the loyal citizens took up the work of temporary organization of the necessary civil inst.i.tutions for the proper government of the Province, pending the arrival of Hon. Mr. Archibald, who had been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the new domain. In this work Mr. Donald A. Smith (now Lord Strathcona) proved a tower of strength, and with the a.s.sistance of Dr. John Schultz and other loyal residents of the Province, matters were soon shaped into a state of peace, progress and prosperity.

Lieutenant-Governor Archibald arrived at Fort Garry on Sept. 2nd, and a few days later a.s.sumed the duties of his office. When it became absolutely certain that all of the embers of the rebellion had been extinguished, Colonel Wolseley returned to the east with the regular troops, leaving the Canadian volunteers still on duty in Manitoba. They remained at Fort Garry until the following spring, when their services being no longer required they were ordered home for ”muster out.”

That the Canadian volunteers and voyageurs acquitted themselves creditably on the occasion of the Red River Rebellion is a matter of history, and that their services were highly appreciated by Colonel Wolseley is evidenced by the fact that when he was put in command of the British troops operating in the Egyptian campaign, and desired a method of transporting his troops and stores up the River Nile, he remembered his Red River experience, and promptly asked for a contingent of Canadian voyageurs to handle his system of transport by the great water route, and got them. That they did their duty in the Land of the Pharoahs as thoroughly as they did on previous occasions at home, will always stand to their credit in the annals of the British Army.

APPENDIX