"150th Anniversary of Ridgeway" Topic

Today, June 2, 2016, is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Ridgeway. The what… you ask? Don't worry, almost no one knows about it. The battle was fought between Canadian militia and Irish-American veterans of the ACW. The what… you ask? It's true. In 1866, Irish Republicans in the US set out to invade Canada on three fronts with arguably some of the best, battle-hardened soldiers of the world, who otherwise had no other pursuits or prospects after the Civil War. The plan was to hold Canada hostage until Britain granted Ireland its independence. Some balls, huh? As it turned out, only one invasion actually happened, launched from Buffalo, across the Niagara River, and into southern Ontario. Everyone on both sides of the border saw the invasion coming, but no one knew where it would happen till the day. Canadian militia from across southern Ontario converged on the Niagara Peninsula and faced off against the invaders, who by and large were quite respectful of the land they tread. Battle finally ensued, with untrained Canadian militia sort of holding their own, till some dubious orders were given and the defenders had to retreat. By then, the Fenians got word that theirs was the only invasion, and British regulars were on their way. It was time to go. To keep the international peace, an American gunboat awaited the Fenians in the Niagara, arrested their officers, and sent their men home. That this was the same US government that had sideways armed the Fenians from surplus stores… let's not look straight at that.

Ultimately, an anecdote in North American history, but an important one for Canada as it motivated the various separate provinces to form a confederation (Canada as we know it today).

If you want to see some uniforms from the era, there's a page on the battle on the All the King's Men site. A project I did before ATKM ever existed, and which still holds a place in my heart. These are converted, plastic 54s. No, they're not for sale. Nor do I make them.

link

Ken;
Sad to say, I am very far behind still on my own Ridgeway project. I may pull it off for Fall-In, though.

And you beat me to the punch on mentioning it on TMP too…

Eric

Too Fat Lardies just released army lists for the Fenian Raids for their new Sharp Practice 2 rules.

toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=5864

& along the same lines, they've also released lists for the 1798 Irish Rebellion too.

toofatlardies.co.uk/blog/?p=5858

Learn something new every day. Thanks for the info!

Looking at the ATKM link I think it would be possible to produce the Canadians from existing ranges with a little bit of conversion.

RAFM has 25mm figures for the Red River Rebellion which occurred a few years later, so the uniforms should be pretty close. Although I notice the ATKM figures are in pillbox style hats, while RAFM's are in other style hats & helmets.

The Perry's 1860's "British Intervention Force" is perfect for and what I'm using for my Fenian Raids Anglo-Canadians. For Fenians I'm painting and converting Perry ACW plastics.

Sorry, I just realized RAFM's figures are for the 1885 North-West Rebellion, not the 1870 Red River Rebellion that was occurring at the same time as Fenian raids. That's why the RAFM figure look different from the Perry & All the King's Men figures.

There is a fairly complete range in 10mm by Pendraken:

link

And a Yahoo Group that covers conflicts in Canada:

link

And in 15mm one can do it up as indicated on this blog:

link

For the Fenians in any scale, a mix of dismounted Union cavalry and infantry should do the trick.

I say you Colonials don't have a very good track record when it comes to invading Canada do you….

I tried to invade Canada with Orcs once. That didn't work out well either.

Proof positive of what I've said for years. The Irish are some of the greatest warriors in the world. Unless they're fighting for Ireland.