Fenian Invasion Part 3

Who were the Fenians? What about Canada? The Irish Fenian Brotherhood of North America were now split into two factions over their next move. At a meeting held in Chicago in 1863 the Roberts faction of the Brotherhood decided to seize Canada as a home for the Irish Republic. By the end of the Civil War in 1865 the Robert’s faction were convinced that the Washington officials of the victorious North were in no mood to enforce neutrality laws. What better way for the I.R.A.(Irish Republican Army) to get even with Great Britain than to capture British North America’s colonies - Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia for a start!
Writer’s Note: This writer has examined the American Civil War through visitations to battle sites and numerous articles for the Review. The North with its powerful Union Army led by General Ulysses S. Grant emerged victorious in April 1865. Grant noted that many of the Union army regiments were made up entirely of Irish men. So? The optimism of the Fenian Brotherhood’s leaders grew immensely as a result of the crushing North victory. Funds began pouring into its coffers. We read that they began to draw up more grandiose plans for the conquest of Canada, The Fenian leaders in 1865 believed that they had the expertise to wage a successful attack on Canada won by the success of “their boys in blue”. It was expected that once the invasion began several thousand men of Irish desert would desert the standing British military force in the colonies. Note: This never happened. If it had it would mean that fewer than 50,000 British regulars would be left for the defence of Canada. The optimism of the Fenians was unabated - Canada, they believed, was theirs for the taking!
Next: Part Four: What do we do?