Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Battle of Saint-Charles
The Battle of Saint-Charles was fought on 25 November 1837 between the Government of Lower Canada, supported by the United Kingdom, and Patriote rebels. Following the opening Patriote victory of the Lower Canada Rebellion at the Battle of Saint-Denis, British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Wetherall advanced from the south on the Patriote stronghold of Saint-Charles in the Richelieu valley. On 25 November 1837 they engaged the Patriote forces under the command of Thomas Storrow Brown. After a two-hour battle, the Government of Lower Canada was victorious.
Within twenty years of the establishment of Lower Canada in 1791, new tracts of land were set aside for settlement by peoples other than French Canadians. The French remained predominantly on the seigneuries located by rivers and the new areas were settled largely by English-speaking British immigrants. The new English-speaking immigrants reaped greater benefits than the existing French communities under the British government. Those French Canadians who were elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada were mainly of the elite educated at Catholic colleges as social movement was restricted by the British who monopolized commerce and government postings. The French Canadian habitants faced diminishing lands to give to their children and competed with the English for the new lands on English terms, with British bureaucracy placing immigrant claims ahead of those of the habitants. Furthermore, outbreaks in dysentery, typhus and cholera swept through the colony in the mid-1830s, brought by arriving immigrants. Additionally, farms in the Beauce, Chaudière and Richelieu regions (and to a lesser extent, the area around Montreal) were devastated by wheat fly, grasshopper and caterpillar infestations, reducing the food available.
Efforts by the French within the Legislative Assembly, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, the elected leader of the Parti Patriote, to control government spending, were thwarted by the English-dominated Legislative Council of Lower Canada. Further discontent was stimulated when two journalist supporters of Papineau were arrested and jailed after disparaging the Legislative Council in their newspapers. The ensuing riot on 21 May 1832 was quashed when the garrison was called out, ending with three dead. With the parliamentary route blocked, Papineau and his allies argued for armed rebellion at an open-air meeting at Saint-Charles and published a declaration of independence. The supporters of Papineau formed para-military groups and visible support was seen in Montreal and villages to the east of the city. Sir John Colborne, commander of the military in the Canadian colonies, called out the militia and sent out warrants for arrest for suspected rebels on 16 November 1837. Papineau and other Patriote leaders fled Montreal to Saint-Denis in the Richelieu valley.
The Patriotes were organized into civil and military wings. The military wing was commanded by Thomas Storrow Brown, a failed merchant from Montreal. The civil wing was organized into six sections, each representing a district and each of which could be armed as a battalion in the event of war. The Patriotes had two headquarters in the Richelieu valley, one in Saint-Denis and the other in Saint-Charles. The key to the defence of Saint-Charles was a brick manor house owned by the seigneur Pierre Dominique Debartzch, which was seized on 19 November. Debartzch and his family had been taken prisoner by the Patriotes who had seized the seigneury and sent the family on to Quebec City. The Patriotes, commanded by Brown at Saint-Charles, turned the house into a barracks and a guardhouse holding prisoners of the Patriotes. Around the house, the Patriotes constructed earthen breastworks made up of logs and branches covered in frozen mud and turned the area into a fortified camp. The rampart wall stretched from the river on the western flank of Saint-Charles in towards the main road, with the manor house on its eastern flank. Neither the manor house or the breastwork supported each other. Brown smashed bridges and felled trees along the road south. Saint-Charles became the centre of Patriote resistance, with hundreds flocking to the site. Brown however, only had about 50 rifles to hand out to the volunteers. Brown's total force was roughly 200–250 men within the camp or on picket duty.
The government of Lower Canada was headed by the Earl of Gosford, a civilian governor general. The military was headed by Sir John Colborne, a veteran of the Peninsular War. At Colborne's disposal in Lower Canada were several British infantry regiments. At Quebec City, were the Royal Regiment, 15th, 79th, 83rd Regiments of Foot and elements of the 66th Regiment of Foot. At Montreal, the 32nd Regiment of Foot was posted and at Île aux Noix and Sorel, further elements of the 66th Regiment were garrisoned. On Saint Helen's Island in the Saint Lawrence River, elements of the Royal Artillery were posted. As events grew more unstable in the territory, Colborne ordered the Royal Regiment to Montreal. Following the riot in Montreal between Thomas Storrow Brown's Société des Fils de la Liberté and the loyalist Doric Club, Colborne ordered the 24th Regiment of Foot to deploy to Montreal from their garrisons at Toronto and Kingston, Upper Canada.
Colborne planned his attack on the Patriote headquarters from two directions. He dispatched Colonel Charles Gore with 300 infantry composed of two companies of the 24th Regiment, one 12-pounder (5.4 kg) cannon with a detachment of Royal Artillery and members of the Royal Montreal Cavalry, a militia unit. The other force would be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George Wetherall of the Royal Regiment leading three companies of the Royal Regiment, one company of the 66th Regiment and twenty Royal Montreal Cavalry under Captain Eléazar David and a Royal Artillery detachment led by Captain John Glasgow and two 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns. Gore was to attack the rebels from the north via Sorel, while Wetherall would attack from the south via Fort Chambly. Gore was the first to engage the rebels, and was defeated at the Battle of Saint-Denis on 23 November.
On 16 November, warrants for the arrest of the leaders of the Patriotes were issued by Sir John Colborne and at 07:00 on 18 November, a force led by Lt. Col. Wetherall departed Fort Chambly moving north towards Saint-Charles. Wetherall's force moved towards Chambly and as the column arrived, it was met by a group of roughly forty men which scattered upon taking sight of the British. Wetherall then paused at Chambly, to await further instructions from Colborne. From 18 to 22 November, Wetherall waited at Chambly for orders and a break in the weather. At dusk on 22 November, Wetherall's force crossed the Richelieu River to its western bank and began its march north. On 23 November, Wetherall halted his force at 03:00, only moving again at daybreak as far as Saint-Hilaire before stopping again at 12:00. The force paused at Saint-Hilaire, awaiting news of the northern force. At 00:00 on 24 November, news arrived of Gore's defeat. During this time at Saint-Hilaire, Colborne had sent messengers to Wetherall ordering him to withdraw, but both messengers were intercepted by the Patriotes. After receiving the news of the defeat, Wetherall sent a messenger back to Fort Chambly ordering his reserve of one grenadier company of the Royal Regiment to join him. To speed their travel, the company floated down the Richelieu River on scows. Wetherall remained at Saint-Hilaire until 25 November after his reinforcements arrived. Then, at 09:00, the column began marching north again. Wetherall's total force at this time was 406 regular infantry, 20 militia cavalry and 2 cannon.
On 24 November, Brown at Saint-Charles received offers from Wolfred Nelson, the victorious Patriote commander at the Battle of Saint-Denis and from Élisee Mailhot and Cyrille Côté, commanders of the large Patriote force at Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu. Nelson offered Brown 300 men and two cannon. Mailhot and Côté offered reinforcements. Brown turned down both offers, believing himself capable of defying the British with the forces he had.
Hub AI
Battle of Saint-Charles AI simulator
(@Battle of Saint-Charles_simulator)
Battle of Saint-Charles
The Battle of Saint-Charles was fought on 25 November 1837 between the Government of Lower Canada, supported by the United Kingdom, and Patriote rebels. Following the opening Patriote victory of the Lower Canada Rebellion at the Battle of Saint-Denis, British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Wetherall advanced from the south on the Patriote stronghold of Saint-Charles in the Richelieu valley. On 25 November 1837 they engaged the Patriote forces under the command of Thomas Storrow Brown. After a two-hour battle, the Government of Lower Canada was victorious.
Within twenty years of the establishment of Lower Canada in 1791, new tracts of land were set aside for settlement by peoples other than French Canadians. The French remained predominantly on the seigneuries located by rivers and the new areas were settled largely by English-speaking British immigrants. The new English-speaking immigrants reaped greater benefits than the existing French communities under the British government. Those French Canadians who were elected to the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada were mainly of the elite educated at Catholic colleges as social movement was restricted by the British who monopolized commerce and government postings. The French Canadian habitants faced diminishing lands to give to their children and competed with the English for the new lands on English terms, with British bureaucracy placing immigrant claims ahead of those of the habitants. Furthermore, outbreaks in dysentery, typhus and cholera swept through the colony in the mid-1830s, brought by arriving immigrants. Additionally, farms in the Beauce, Chaudière and Richelieu regions (and to a lesser extent, the area around Montreal) were devastated by wheat fly, grasshopper and caterpillar infestations, reducing the food available.
Efforts by the French within the Legislative Assembly, led by Louis-Joseph Papineau, the elected leader of the Parti Patriote, to control government spending, were thwarted by the English-dominated Legislative Council of Lower Canada. Further discontent was stimulated when two journalist supporters of Papineau were arrested and jailed after disparaging the Legislative Council in their newspapers. The ensuing riot on 21 May 1832 was quashed when the garrison was called out, ending with three dead. With the parliamentary route blocked, Papineau and his allies argued for armed rebellion at an open-air meeting at Saint-Charles and published a declaration of independence. The supporters of Papineau formed para-military groups and visible support was seen in Montreal and villages to the east of the city. Sir John Colborne, commander of the military in the Canadian colonies, called out the militia and sent out warrants for arrest for suspected rebels on 16 November 1837. Papineau and other Patriote leaders fled Montreal to Saint-Denis in the Richelieu valley.
The Patriotes were organized into civil and military wings. The military wing was commanded by Thomas Storrow Brown, a failed merchant from Montreal. The civil wing was organized into six sections, each representing a district and each of which could be armed as a battalion in the event of war. The Patriotes had two headquarters in the Richelieu valley, one in Saint-Denis and the other in Saint-Charles. The key to the defence of Saint-Charles was a brick manor house owned by the seigneur Pierre Dominique Debartzch, which was seized on 19 November. Debartzch and his family had been taken prisoner by the Patriotes who had seized the seigneury and sent the family on to Quebec City. The Patriotes, commanded by Brown at Saint-Charles, turned the house into a barracks and a guardhouse holding prisoners of the Patriotes. Around the house, the Patriotes constructed earthen breastworks made up of logs and branches covered in frozen mud and turned the area into a fortified camp. The rampart wall stretched from the river on the western flank of Saint-Charles in towards the main road, with the manor house on its eastern flank. Neither the manor house or the breastwork supported each other. Brown smashed bridges and felled trees along the road south. Saint-Charles became the centre of Patriote resistance, with hundreds flocking to the site. Brown however, only had about 50 rifles to hand out to the volunteers. Brown's total force was roughly 200–250 men within the camp or on picket duty.
The government of Lower Canada was headed by the Earl of Gosford, a civilian governor general. The military was headed by Sir John Colborne, a veteran of the Peninsular War. At Colborne's disposal in Lower Canada were several British infantry regiments. At Quebec City, were the Royal Regiment, 15th, 79th, 83rd Regiments of Foot and elements of the 66th Regiment of Foot. At Montreal, the 32nd Regiment of Foot was posted and at Île aux Noix and Sorel, further elements of the 66th Regiment were garrisoned. On Saint Helen's Island in the Saint Lawrence River, elements of the Royal Artillery were posted. As events grew more unstable in the territory, Colborne ordered the Royal Regiment to Montreal. Following the riot in Montreal between Thomas Storrow Brown's Société des Fils de la Liberté and the loyalist Doric Club, Colborne ordered the 24th Regiment of Foot to deploy to Montreal from their garrisons at Toronto and Kingston, Upper Canada.
Colborne planned his attack on the Patriote headquarters from two directions. He dispatched Colonel Charles Gore with 300 infantry composed of two companies of the 24th Regiment, one 12-pounder (5.4 kg) cannon with a detachment of Royal Artillery and members of the Royal Montreal Cavalry, a militia unit. The other force would be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George Wetherall of the Royal Regiment leading three companies of the Royal Regiment, one company of the 66th Regiment and twenty Royal Montreal Cavalry under Captain Eléazar David and a Royal Artillery detachment led by Captain John Glasgow and two 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns. Gore was to attack the rebels from the north via Sorel, while Wetherall would attack from the south via Fort Chambly. Gore was the first to engage the rebels, and was defeated at the Battle of Saint-Denis on 23 November.
On 16 November, warrants for the arrest of the leaders of the Patriotes were issued by Sir John Colborne and at 07:00 on 18 November, a force led by Lt. Col. Wetherall departed Fort Chambly moving north towards Saint-Charles. Wetherall's force moved towards Chambly and as the column arrived, it was met by a group of roughly forty men which scattered upon taking sight of the British. Wetherall then paused at Chambly, to await further instructions from Colborne. From 18 to 22 November, Wetherall waited at Chambly for orders and a break in the weather. At dusk on 22 November, Wetherall's force crossed the Richelieu River to its western bank and began its march north. On 23 November, Wetherall halted his force at 03:00, only moving again at daybreak as far as Saint-Hilaire before stopping again at 12:00. The force paused at Saint-Hilaire, awaiting news of the northern force. At 00:00 on 24 November, news arrived of Gore's defeat. During this time at Saint-Hilaire, Colborne had sent messengers to Wetherall ordering him to withdraw, but both messengers were intercepted by the Patriotes. After receiving the news of the defeat, Wetherall sent a messenger back to Fort Chambly ordering his reserve of one grenadier company of the Royal Regiment to join him. To speed their travel, the company floated down the Richelieu River on scows. Wetherall remained at Saint-Hilaire until 25 November after his reinforcements arrived. Then, at 09:00, the column began marching north again. Wetherall's total force at this time was 406 regular infantry, 20 militia cavalry and 2 cannon.
On 24 November, Brown at Saint-Charles received offers from Wolfred Nelson, the victorious Patriote commander at the Battle of Saint-Denis and from Élisee Mailhot and Cyrille Côté, commanders of the large Patriote force at Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu. Nelson offered Brown 300 men and two cannon. Mailhot and Côté offered reinforcements. Brown turned down both offers, believing himself capable of defying the British with the forces he had.