Rebellion of 1837
The citizens of Elgin County found themselves on both sides of
the Rebellion of 1837. In our role as a chronicler of our military
past, we begin with the role of the Government side and initially
with the role of the St. Thomas Cavalry.
Yes that's right, cavalry! They saw action at the Battles of Bois
Blanc Island, Amherstburg, the taking of the Schooner Ann
and the Battle of Pelee Island where the Cavalry rode their horses
the fifteen miles across the frozen ice and the infantry travelled
by sleigh before they could take on the enemy 'patriots'.
Please note that the spelling of the Schooner 'Ann' is not
consistant because sources vary.
175th Anniversary in 2012
2012 marks the 175th anniversary of this conflict and we decided
to tell you about it in the words of those who were there
including: Samuel Williams and Roswell Tomlinson.
More to Fight than the Enemy
Bytown Gazette -
Wednesday, February 28, 1838
OBITUARY - "At Port Stanley, in the District of London, Upper
Canada, on the 25th of January, Charles Ogilvy,
Esq., son of the late Daniel Ogilvy Esq., of Park Connoa,
Montrose, Scotland.
He was one of the Brave ST. THOMAS VOLUNTEERS
CORPS, who boarded the deadly armed Piratical
Schooner, Ann of Detroit, in the River Detroit, near
Malden, where he, and other of his comrades went into the river up
to their necks in the water to scramble up the bulwarks of the
schooner. A very dangerous enterprise at the inclement season of
the year (the night of Tuesday the 9th of January, 1838) he there
caught a cold from the severe attack of which he never
recovered.
Having no relations in this Province, Editors of Newspapers in
Canada and the United States will confer a kindness to his friends,
by inserting the above, in the hope that some of his friends,
residing and traveling in the United States, may see the same."
Go to: St. Thomas Cavalry
Go to: Reminiscences of Samuel
Williams
Go to: Reminiscences of Roswell
Tomlinson