Battle of Batoche

The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Resistance, which pitted Canadian Militia units against a force of First Nations and Métis people. Fought from May 9 to 12, 1885, at the ad hoc Provisional Government of Saskatchewan capital of Batoche, the greater numbers and superior firepower of General Frederick Middleton's force eventually overwhelmed the Métis fighters.

The defeat of the defenders of Batoche and its capture led to the surrender of Louis Riel on May 15 and the collapse of the Provisional Government.

Other groups were pursued and eventually gave up the struggle as well. Poundmaker surrendered on May 26 at Battleford after a long siege. Cree fighters and families under Big Bear held out the longest. They fought off Canadian troops pursuing them in the Battle of Frenchman's Butte and Battle of Loon Lake. They gradually dwindled in number, disappearing into the bush along the way. Big Bear eventually turned himself in to the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Carlton in early July.

Batoche was the capital of Louis Riel's Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. Prior to the battle, trenches and concealed rifle pits had been dug around Batoche's perimeter.

Conscious of the numerous reverses that had been suffered by government forces in previous clashes with the rebels (see the battles of Duck Lake, Fish Creek, and Cut Knife), Middleton approached Batoche with caution, reaching Gabriel's Crossing on 7 May and advancing within eight miles (13 km) of the town the following day. Middleton's plan rested on an encirclement strategy: as his main contingent advanced and came in contact with Métis defensive lines, the steamboat Northcote, carrying some of Middleton's troops, would steam past the distracted defenders and unload fifty troops at the rear of the town, effectively closing the pincer.

However, due to the difficulty of the terrain and Middleton's penchant for prudence, his ground troops lagged behind schedule. When the Northcote appeared adjacent to the town on 9 May it was spotted by Métis rebels who had not yet come under fire from the advancing ground troops. The rebels' small arms fire did little damage because of the improvised armour that protected the large boat. They lowered Batoche's ferry cable, and the Northcote steamed unsuspectingly into it, slicing off its masts and smokestacks. Crippled, the ship drifted harmlessly down the South Saskatchewan River and out of the battle.

Ignorant of the Northcote's fate, Middleton approached the church at Mission Ridge on the morning of 9 May in order to bring his plan into effect. Some Métis in two houses south of the church began firing at Boulton's Scouts (irregular Canadian cavalry), but artillery was brought up to shell the houses, one of which caught fire. The Métis sharpshooters fled toward the settlement. The troops advanced toward the church. As they approached the church and nearby rectory, they saw some people near those buildings whom they took to be the enemy. Second Lieutenant Arthur L. Howard, a Gatling gun expert on leave from the Connecticut National Guard, fired his Gatling gun at the rectory. Then a white flag was unfurled, Howard's firing stopped, and several priests, nuns, women and children came across the lines. Finding the mission occupied only by civilians, Middleton brought his artillery out onto the ridge and began shelling the town.

The soldiers began advancing past the church, and got about half a kilometre before they came under heavy fire from both sides of the trail. The militia immediately took cover. Their enemies, hidden in well-constructed rifle pits, were invisible. One trooper later wrote: "[The militia was] down some distance apart from each other, firing at nothing, making guess shots and hearing the rebel bullets zip all round you, and the everlasting clack as the bullets struck the trees."