Fenian Raid at Fort Erie Part 1

by Earl Plato
It was 141 years this past June 2nd, 2007 that the Fenians fought our Canadian troops at the Battle of Ridgeway.
Who were the Fenians and what prompted this attack?
Writer’s note: This is a synopsis of a series of articles I wrote 16 years ago. That was the year of the Re-enactment held on the Ridgeway battlefield. It was attended by many onlookers. Many of us have good memories of those warm summer-like days and David Owen’s stirring narrative
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It is simply stated by some writers that the Fenian Movement began on St. Patrick’s day in 1858 by one James Stephens. However, there are other historical writers such as Mabel Walker in her book, The Fenian Movement and Hereward Senior in his work, The Fenians and Canadians. who go back further in Irish history to account for the creation of this revolutionary movement known as the Fenian Brotherhood. Following the terrible Potato Famine in Ireland (1845-1847) in which hundreds of thousands died. There was an unsuccessful Irish revolt against British rule in1848. Emigration from Ireland to North America greatly increased at that time. It was estimated that over two million of them came to the United States by 1865. Most of these newcomers settled in the industrial North eastern states. This was the time when the demand for labourers was growing. The earlier settlers of that area were leaving for new lands in the western U.S.A. Employers welcomed the Irish immigrants as replacements. History recorded, however, that there were others who saw the newcomers with “jaundiced eyes.” The native-born Protestant population of the north eastern states who had not followed the exodus to the American west deplored the increasing number of Roman Catholic churches and parochial schools. One writer of that day stated “ We objected to the noisy celebrations the Irish held on Sundays.” The ostracized Irish reacted to the openly displayed Protestant prejudice by forming societies which “became exceedingly clannish.”
Next: The Fenian Brotherhood