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Date > 1800 > 1840-1849 > 1842

Subject > Soldiers, Warriors and Leaders

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Title: A New, British, System

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Description: Britain did not have a large army during the 18th century. Instead, it depended on the Royal Navy. Regiments in the small British army served in both Britain and its colonies, moving every few years to a new station. There was no special colonial army, such as France had kept in Canada.

Site: National Defence

Title: Sir George Augustus Wetherall (1788-1868)

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Description: Lieutenant-Colonel Wetherall, 1st, or The Royal Regiment of Foot, won the battle of St. Charles on 25 November 1837. This print shows him later in life, in the uniform of a British general. (Library of the Canadian Department of National Defence)

Site: National Defence

Title: Officer, Queen's Light Dragoon, 1838-1849

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Description: This light cavalry squadron was raised in Montreal by Captain Thomas Walter Jones in early December 1837. Forty-five volunteers from the unit were part of General Colborne's column at Saint-Eustache on 14 December 1837. Colborne kept the unit under arms throughout the remainder of the Rebellions, and they were presented with a guidon in April 1838. From 1839 until 1849, the Dragoons were stationed on the American frontier to intercept deserters. This contemporary print of an officer in full dress dates from this period. In 1849, when riots broke out in Montreal after the passage of the Rebellion Losses Bill, a detachment of the Queen's Light Dragoons protected Governor General Lord Elgin from injury at the hands of stone-throwing rioters. (Library and Archives Canada, C-040835)

Site: National Defence

Title: Pay

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Description: A soldier's pay was never high, and very seldom adjusted as the cost of living increased. From 1797 to 1867, the rate was a shilling (12 pence) a day, from which deductions were made for food, clothing and other expenses. Little money would be left to spend as a man wished.

Site: National Defence

Title: Cost Overruns at Quebec and Halifax

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Description: The budgets for the new fortifications built at Quebec, Kingston and Halifax between 1820 and 1848 were huge - both in terms of money and years of labour. Unfortunately, all of these projects took far longer to build and were many times more expensive than was planned.

Site: National Defence

Title: The Pacific Coast

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Description: Along the Pacific coast, British and American interests clashed throughout the first half of the 19th century. Britain claimed the whole coast, increasing American settlement eventually lead to the Oregon crisis of 1845. This prompted the birth of a British colony on Vancouver Island.

Site: National Defence

Title: Officer, 7th, or Queen's Own Regiment of Hussars, 1842

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Description: The 7th Hussars was one of the few British cavalry regiments that served in Canada. It left Ireland in May 1838 and arrived at Montreal in June. In November 1838, it was deployed with other troops against the Patriotes in the Beauharnois area, near Montreal. The regiment remained at Montreal and Laprairie until 1843 when it went back to Britain. As can be seen in the illustration, hussar officers had a magnificent (and expensive) uniform that featured much gold lace and cords. The pelisse (the fur-trimmed jacket) of the 7th Hussars was blue until 1842 when it was changed to scarlet. (Library of the Canadian Department of National Defence)

Site: National Defence

Title: A Diplomatic Solution

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Description: Although troops were sent to the Aroostock region in 1839, neither Britain nor the United States really wanted a war. A truce was signed in November to help prevent any outbreak of fighting, and a treaty fixing the border line through the disputed land was finalized in August 1842.

Site: National Defence

Title: Barracks

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Description: The British garrison in Canada lived almost exclusively in barracks during the 18th and 19th centuries, unlike troops during the earlier French regime. This made British troops a somewhat isolated society within the colony as a whole. The authorities felt that this improved discipline.

Site: National Defence

Title: 32 pounder guns mounted on traversing wooden garrison platforms

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Description: These early 19th century British artillery pieces are mounted on platforms that allow guns to swing in a wide arc and thus follow a moving target such as a ship. These reconstucted carriages are found at the Coteau-du-Lac National Historic Site near Montreal, Quebec. The fortifications were built to defend the canal lock - the first built in North America.

Site: National Defence

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