THE SECOND REBELLION
The frigate _Inconstant_, with Lord Durham on board, was not two days
out from Quebec when rebellion broke out anew in Lower Canada. This
second rebellion, however, was not caused by Lord Durham's departure,
but was the result of a long course of agitation which had been carried
on along the American border throughout the months of Lord Durham's
regime.
As early as February 1838 numbers of Canadian refugees had gathered in
the towns on the American side of the boundary-line in the
neighbourhood of Lake Champlain. They were shown much sympathy and
encouragement by the Americans, and seem to have laboured under the
delusion that the American government would come to their assistance.
A proclamation signed by Robert Nelson, a brother of Wolfred Nelson,
declared the independence of Canada under a {118} 'provisional
government' of which Robert Nelson was president and Dr Cote a member.
The identity of the other members is a mystery. Papineau seems to have
had some dealings with Nelson and Cote, and to have dallied with the
idea of throwing in his lot with them; but he soon broke off
negotiations. 'Papineau,' wrote Robert Nelson, 'has abandoned us, and
this through selfish and family motives regarding the seigniories, and
inveterate love of the old French bad laws.' There is reason to
believe, however, that Papineau had been in communication with the
authorities at Washington, and that his desertion of Robert Nelson and
Cote was in reality due to his discovery that President Van Buren was
not ready to depart from his attitude of neutrality.
On February 28, 1838, Robert Nelson and Cote had crossed the border
with an armed force of French-Canadian refugees and three small
field-pieces. Their plan had contemplated the capture of Montreal and
a junction with another invading force at Three Rivers. But on finding
their way barred by the Missisquoi militia, they had beat a hasty
retreat to the border, without fighting; and had there been disarmed by
the American {119} troops under General Wool, a brave and able officer
who had fought with conspicuous gallantry at the battle of Queenston
Heights in 1812.
During the summer months, however, the refugees had continued to lay
plans for an insurrection in Lower Canada. Emissaries had been
constantly moving among the parishes north of the New York and Vermont
frontiers, promising the _Patriotes_ arms and supplies and men from the
United States. The rising was carefully planned. And when November
came large bodies of disaffected habitants gathered at St Ours, St
Charles, St Michel, L'Acadie, Chateauguay, and Beauharnois. They had
apparently been led to expect that they would be met at some of these
places by American sympathizers with arms and supplies. No such aid
being found at the rendezvous, many returned to their homes. But some
persevered in the movement, and made their way with packs on their
backs to Napierville, a town fifteen miles north of the boundary-line,
which had been designated as the rebel headquarters.
Meanwhile, Robert Nelson had moved northward to Napierville from the
American side of the border with a small band of refugees. {120} Among
these were two French officers, named Hindenlang and Touvrey, who had
been inveigled into joining the expedition. Hindenlang, who afterwards
paid for his folly with his life, has left an interesting account of
what happened. He and Touvrey joined Nelson at St Albans, on the west
side of Lake Champlain. With two hundred and fifty muskets, which had
been placed in a boat by an American sympathizer, they dropped down the
river to the Canadian border. There were five in the party--Nelson and
the two French officers, the guide, and the boatman. Nelson had given
Hindenlang to understand that the habitants had risen and that he would
be greeted at the Canadian border by a large force of enthusiastic
recruits. In this, however, he was disappointed. 'There was not a
single man to receive the famous President of the _Provisional
Government_; and it was only after a full hour's search, and much
trouble, [that] the guide returned with five or six men to land the
arms.' On the morning of November 4 the party arrived at Napierville.
Here Hindenlang found Dr Cote already at the head of two or three
hundred men. A crowd speedily gathered, and Robert Nelson was
proclaimed 'President of the Republic of {121} Lower Canada.'
Hindenlang and Touvrey were presented to the crowd; and to his great
astonishment Hindenlang was informed that his rank in the rebel force
was that of brigadier-general.
The first two or three days were spent in hastening the arrival of
reinforcements and in gathering arms. By the 7th Nelson had collected
a force of about twenty-five hundred men, whom Hindenlang told off in
companies and divisions. Most of the rebels were armed with pitchforks
and pikes. An attempt had been made two days earlier, on a Sunday, to
obtain arms, ammunition, and stores from the houses of the Indians of
Caughnawaga while they were at church; but a squaw in search of her cow
had discovered the raiders and had given the alarm, with the result
that the Indians, seizing muskets and tomahawks, had repelled the
attack and taken seventy prisoners.
On November 5 Nelson sent Cote with a force of four or five hundred men
south to Rouse's Point, on the boundary-line, to secure more arms and
ammunition from the American sympathizers. On his way south Cote
encountered a picket of a company of loyalist volunteers stationed at
Lacolle, and drove it {122} in. On his return journey, however, he met
with greater opposition. The company at Lacolle had been reinforced in
the meantime by several companies of loyalist militia from Hemmingford.
As the rebels appeared the loyalist militia attacked them; and after a
brisk skirmish, which lasted from twenty to twenty-five minutes, drove
them from the field. Without further ado the rebels fled across the
border, leaving behind them eleven dead and a number of prisoners, as
well as a six-pounder gun, a large number of muskets of the type used
in the United States army, a keg of powder, a quantity of
ball-cartridge, and a great many pikes. Of the provincial troops two
were killed and one was severely wounded.
The defeat of Cote and his men at Lacolle meant that Nelson's line of
communications with his base on the American frontier was cut. At the
same time he received word that Sir John Colborne was advancing on
Napierville from Laprairie with a strong force of regulars and
volunteers. Under these circumstances he determined to fall back on
Odelltown, just north of the border. He had with him about a thousand
men, eight hundred of whom were armed with muskets. {123} He arrived
at Odelltown on the morning of November 9, to find it occupied by about
two hundred loyal militia, under the command of the inspecting
field-officer of the district, Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor. He had no
difficulty in driving in the loyalist outposts; but the village itself
proved a harder nut to crack. Taylor had concentrated his little force
at the Methodist church, and he controlled the road leading to it by
means of the six-pounder which had been taken from the rebels three
days before at Lacolle. The insurgents extended through the fields to
the right and left, and opened a vigorous fire on the church from
behind some barns; but many of the men seem to have kept out of range.
'The greater part of the Canadians kept out of shot,' wrote Hindenlang;
'threw themselves on their knees, with their faces buried in the snow,
praying to God, and remaining as motionless as if they were so many
saints, hewn in stone. Many remained in that posture as long as the
fighting lasted.' The truth appears to be that many of Nelson's men
had been intimidated into joining the rebel force. The engagement
lasted in all about two hours and a half. The defenders of the church
made several successful sallies; and just when the {124} rebels were
beginning to lose heart, a company of loyalists from across the
Richelieu fell on their flank and completed their discomfiture. The
rebels then retreated to Napierville, under the command of Hindenlang.
Robert Nelson, seeing that the day was lost, left his men in the lurch
and rode for the American border. The losses of the rebels were
serious; they left fifty dead on the field and carried off as many
wounded. Of the loyalists, one officer and five men were killed and
one officer and eight men wounded.
Later in the same day Sir John Colborne, at the head of a formidable
force, entered Napierville. On his approach those rebels who were
still in the village dispersed and fled to their homes. Detachments of
troops were immediately sent out to disperse bands of rebels reported
to be still under arms. The only encounter took place at Beauharnois,
where a large body of insurgents had assembled. After a slight
resistance they were driven out by two battalions of Glengarry
volunteers, supported by two companies of the 71st and a detachment of
Royal Engineers.
In these expeditions the British soldiers, especially the volunteers,
did a good deal of burning and harrying. After the victory at {125}
Beauharnois they gave to the flames a large part of the village,
including the houses of some loyal citizens. In view of the
intimidation and depredations to which the loyalists had been subjected
by the rebels in the disaffected districts, the conduct of the men, in
these regrettable acts, may be understood and partially excused. But
no excuse can be offered for the attitude of the British authorities.
There are well-authenticated cases of houses of 'notorious rebels'
burned down by the orders of Sir James Macdonell, Colborne's
second-in-command. Colborne himself acquired the nickname of 'the old
Firebrand'; and, while he cannot be charged with such a mania for
incendiarism as some writers have imputed to him, it does not appear
that he took any effective measures to stop the arson or to punish the
offenders.
The rebellion of 1838 lasted scarcely a week. It was a venture
criminally hopeless. Failing important aid from the United States, the
rebels had an even slighter chance of success than they had had a year
before, for since that time the British regular troops in Canada had
been considerably increased in number. The chief responsibility for
the rebellion must be placed at the door of Robert Nelson, who at {126}
the critical moment fled over the border, leaving his dupes to
extricate themselves as best they could from the situation into which
he had led them. As was the case in 1837, most of the leaders of the
rebellion escaped from justice, leaving only the smaller fry in the
hands of the authorities. Of the lesser ringleaders nearly one hundred
were brought to trial. Two of the French-Canadian judges, one of them
being Elzear Bedard, attempted to force the government to try the
prisoners in the civil courts, where they would have the benefit of
trial by jury; but Sir John Colborne suspended these judges from their
functions, and brought the prisoners before a court-martial, specially
convened for the purpose. Twelve of them, including the French officer
Hindenlang, were condemned to death and duly executed. Most of the
others were transported to the convict settlements of Australia. It is
worthy of remark that none of those executed or deported had been
persons of note in the political arena before 1837. On the whole, it
must be confessed that these sentences showed a commendable moderation.
It was thought necessary that a few examples should be made, as Lord
Durham's amnesty of the previous year had evidently encouraged some
{127} habitants to believe that rebellion was a venial offence. And
the execution of twelve men, out of the thousands who had taken part in
the revolt, cannot be said to have shown a bloodthirsty disposition on
the part of the government.
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