Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles-- Part 4: About Toronto's Mystery Murder

During the remainder of 1814, the regiment performed outpost duty during the unsuccessful Siege of Fort Erie and a detachment was present  at the Battle of Malcom's Mills, the last action of the war  on the Niagara Peninsula.

Two Irish-born soldiers of the regiment, John Henry and John Blueman, are notable for their alleged involvement  in one of Toronto's most enduring mysteries -- the 2 January 1815 murder of John Paul Radelmuller, keeper of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse.  Tradition holds that Radelmuller was killed by several soldiers from Fort York in a dispute over alcohol.

Research by one person has shown that these two were tried in March 1815 for the murder, although they were ultimately acquitted of the crime.

The regiment was disbanded in 1816.

Today the regiment's history and service is commemorated by  the Canadian Army's Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, an Army Reserve regiment headquartered in Cornwall, Ontario.  It has the words Glengarry Fencibles on its badge.

--Brock-Perry

200 Years Ago: McArthur's Raid Into Upper Canada, Last Major Battle Fought on Canadian Soil

OCTOBER 22, 1814:  American Brigadier General Duncan McArthur set out from Detroit, Michigan territory, with a force of Ohio and Kentucky militia and First Nations allies to raid communities in southwestern Upper Canada, a no-man's land following the British defeats at the Battles of Lake Erie and the Thames in the fall of 1813.

Rumored to be planning an attack on Burlington Heights, a major British base on lake Ontario, the marauders destroyed private property such as mills during their march.  Hampered by rainy weather and swollen rivers, McArthur's force assaulted the settlement of Malcom's Mills..  The town's defenders, Oxford and Norfolk County militia, were scattered by McArthur's troops, who returned to Detroit following the incident.

This was the last battle fought on Canadian soil during the war.

--Brock-Perry