RIDGEWAY
The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada

Peter Vronsky

On June 1, 1866 Canada was invaded by Irish-American Fenian insurgents from their bases in the United States. The Fenian Brotherhood planned to take Canada hostage in an attempt to free Ireland from the British Crown and establish an independent republic. The invasion culminated on June 2, with the Battle of Ridgeway near Fort Erie, Ontario,  Canada's first modern battle and the first fought exclusively by Canadian soldiers and led entirely by Canadian officers.

Nine militia volunteers from Toronto's Queen's Own Rifles Regiment were killed in the battle, including three student soldiers from a University of Toronto rifle company called out while writing their final exams and who took the brunt of a Fenian charge at Limestone Ridge.  While Canadians had not fought a major war in Canada since the War of 1812, the Fenians were all battle-hardened veterans of the American Civil War, many having served in crack Irish brigades.

The "Ridgeway Nine" were Canada's first soldiers killed in action and Ridgeway was the last battle fought in Ontario against a foreign invader, but after the disastrous battle the Macdonald government covered-up what happened at Ridgeway so thoroughly that most Canadians today have never heard of this battle.

Ridgeway:  The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada by Peter Vronsky is the first book length study of the battle published in 100 years and is now available from Penguin Books wherever books are sold.

Preview Chapter One	Ridgeway Battle Maps	The Origins of the Fenian Brothehood	1866 Fenian Raid on Canada Sources and Downloads	Dedication to the Ridgeway Nine

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