Canadian Military History Gateway

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Date > 1800 > 1840-1849 > 1840

Subject > Armed Forces

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Title: Recruitment

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Description: Most of the British army was recruited in Great Britain. By the mid-19th century, half of the men were English or Welsh, one third Irish and the remainder Scottish. Recruits were (in theory) volunteers signed up by a regimental recruiting party, and service was for life (until 1847).

Site: National Defence

Title: Officer's jacket, Queen's Light Dragoons, 1838-1850

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Description: The Queen's Light Dragoons were a volunteer troop of cavalry raised in 1822 in Toronto (then called York) as the York Dragoons. In 1838, after service in the Upper Canada Rebellions, the unit was granted a new title as a reward for good service. At the same time, it adopted the style of uniform jacket shown in this photograph - dark blue with buff facings and silver lace. Worn with a Light Dragoon pattern shako, this uniform persisted to 1871, through a number of changes in regimental title and status. The unit is still active as The Governor General's Horse Guards. (Canadian War Museum)

Site: National Defence

Title: A Series of Amerindian Nations

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Description: During the eighteenth century, the northwest Pacific coast was home to a series of Amerindian nations, including the Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Nootka and Salish. These were maritime cultures - excellent sailors and fishermen who depended on the sea's resources

Site: National Defence

Title: Infantry officer wearing frock coat, 1830s

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Description: This British officer is wearing the popular dark blue frock coat. For most duties officers wore this comfortable coat with a peaked cap rather than the tight scarlet coat and the shako, which were worn on more formal occasions such as parades. (Parks Canada)

Site: National Defence

Title: Introduction to the Study of Military History for Canadian Students

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Description: This publication offers nine examples of Canadian campaigns chosen from different periods of history. It also includes a very brief history of the development of Canadian Army organization. The Principles of War, in the form adopted by the Canadian Chiefs of Staff, are printed as an appendix.

Requires Adobe Reader, download here

Site: National Defence

Title: Social Changes

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Description: The new British way of defending colonies led to great social changes in Canada during the late 18th century. With no professional colonial army to join, the elite of Canadian society lost much income and influence. As well, British soldiers developed no roots in the colony.

Site: National Defence

Title: Oregon Crisis Prompts Action

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Description: It took yet another American border crisis in 1845 to prompt Canadian politicians to try to reform the militia. Terrified by news of United States expansionism in Texas and Mexico, the politicians created a new Militia Act in 1846, promoting the concept of volunteer military units.

Site: National Defence

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

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