Raiders and Rebels

The forces that shaped the Upper Canada rebellion in the Western District often affected whole families. The best example is the Malcolm clan, which spawned 13 rebels spread across two generations. Despite two being sentenced for treason and two having rewards on their heads, all survived with great stories to tell.

During the Patriot War, few of the US-based civilian armies that amassed to attack Upper Canada had the luxury of a competent leader or posed any real threat to that British colony. The principal exception was Henry S. Handy and the regiments he formed and armed in 1838.

Of the 10 published personal accounts by Patriot War rebels, the biography of Elijah Crocker Woodman appeared last, 113 years after his death. Unlike the other Patriot War chroniclers transported to a distant penal colony, he never made it home.

Robert Marsh participated in three of the nine raids into Upper Canada during the Patriot War, including the first and the last. In his 1848 memoirs—the short title is Narrative of a Patriot Exile—he demonstrated an unflinching belief in American-style democracy and an unbending dislike of British colonial rule. Despite seven years of hard times, he never regretted his actions.

Updated February 2014
In January 1838, Canadian militia repulsed Brigadier-General Thomas Jefferson Sutherland at Fort Malden. The militia also captured the Patriot's schooner and her commander, Brigadier-General Edward Alexander Theller.

One of the curious footnotes of the Patriot War is the makeup of the militia. It included an all-black company, with Rev. Josiah Henson, 48, as the senior black officer. Like many, he was an escaped American slave. Canada gave the black militiamen freedom and the opportunities available to free men, and they were grateful.

While all eyes were riveted on the trials and executions of captured Hunters at Kingston in eastern Upper Canada, a new army of Hunters and Patriots prepared to attack the colony’s western border near Windsor. It turned out to be the final organized invasion of the Patriot War and a bungled bloody affair like all the raids before it.

After General Donald McLeod's rout at Fighting Island, the remnants of his army joined another Patriot army forming in Ohio. Under the command of Colonel Edwin D. Bradley, Major Lester Hoadley and Captain Henry Van Rensselaer drilled recruits from Canada, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, preparing them for another assault on Canada--the fifth and largest so far.

After hatching out a battle plan with Admiral Bill Johnston, William Lyon Mackenzie, and other Patriot leaders at the Eagle Tavern in Buffalo, General Donald McLeod departed that city January 18, 1838. His mission—take an army and attack Canada near Windsor to draw British attention to the western front.

Long before the Three Stooges and brother Shep entertained the North American masses, four Patriot generals staged their own dark slapstick comedy near Detroit in 1838.