Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles: The Catholic Regiment

From the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles site.

The enlistment of this group  was begun in the autumn of 1811 when war with the United States seemed all but inevitable.  On the first of December of that year, Sir George Provost wrote to Lord Liverpool, the Colonial Secretary:

"I have sent Capt. Macdonell, of the King's Regiment, into the townships where the Glengarry  emigrants are settled in Upper Canada, to ascertain their ability to form a  regiment of light infantry.

"Capt. Macdonell is selected for his zeal, ability, and intelligence, with a name and national character acceptable to them, and the same religious persuasion, as they are all Roman Catholics."

--Brock-Perry

The Glengarry Light Infantry-- Part 2: The Battles of Ogdensburg

Edward Baynes was appointed the regiment's colonel, Major Francis Battersby became the units lieutenant colonel and Captain George MacDonnell became the major.

The Glengarry Light Infantry gathered and trained first at Trois-Rivieres in the first half of 1812 and then for the latter part its companies were  deployed to various sites in Upper Canada.

On 3 October, two of its companies were at  Prescott on the St. Lawrence River and were involved in the failed attack on Ogdensburg on the American side of the river.

(Civil War/Fort Fisher hero Newton Martin Curtis is buried in Ogdensburg, New York.)

However, the American town remained a target.  George MacDonnell, who had been promoted to lieutenant colonel and commanded the garrison at Prescott, mounted a successful attack in Ogdensburg, this time across a frozen St. Lawrence River.

A company of Glengarry Light Infantry and some militia made a frontal attack while the main body of MacDonell's force turned the  American right flank.  The Reverend Alexander Macdonell was conspicuous  in urging the militia and Glengarry soldiers in their advance.

--Brock-Perry

The Glengarry Light Infantry-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

Alexander Macdonell was much involved with this military organization. 

The Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles  was a light infantry group raised primarily in the Glengarry District of Upper Canada shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo-American War of 1812 (another name for the War of 1812).  It was disbanded shortly after the war ended.

Many of the inhabitants of the Glengarry District  were Catholics from Glengarry, Scotland and many had already served in the Scottish Glengarry Fencibles from 1794 to 1802.  During that time, they performed duty on the Channel Islands and fought in the Irish Rebellion of 1798

The fencible unit raised in Canada would serve the same enlistment as  regular soldiers, but would only have to serve in North America.

By 1812, as war with the United States appeared more and more inevitable,  Governor General of Canada, George Prevost,  decided he'd raise the unit of his own accord, and appointed Captain George Macdonell of the 8th (King's) Regiment to raise the "Glengarry Levy."

Originally it was to have  376 members.  Recruits received a bounty of  four guineas on enlistment and were promised 100 acres at the war's conclusion.

Partly through the efforts of the unit's chaplain, Alexander Macdonell (it was composed mostly of Catholics), the unit soon exceeded 600 men.  Prevost raised the corps level to regiment and named it the  Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles.

--Brock-Perry

Will the Real Alexander Macdonell or Alexander McDonell Sign In?

One man with two different spellings of his last name or two different men?

From Wikipedia.

Wikipedia says not to get confused with Alexander McDonell, a politician.  Will the real Alexander Macdonell or is it McDonell please stand up?

I can see where there might be some confusion between the two because of the same first name and possible spellings of their last name.

They were both emigrants from Scotland, both fought in the War of 1812 on the British side and Upper Canada Rebellion.  Alexander McDonell was born in 1786, Macdonell was born in 1762.

Both were politically involved and both also worked with immigrants.  However, the Wikipedia article did not say anything about the Catholic religion work that Macdonell did in the McDonell article.

So, Who Is Who?  Perhaps Two Different Men Then.  --Brock-Perry

Alexander Macdonell in the War of 1812

From the Catholic Encyclopedia.

"During the War of 1812, Alexander Macdonell's powerful influence was successfully used  in rousing the martial spirit of his countrymen, and, indeed, the other inhabitants in defence of their adopted land.

"With the reorganized 'Glengarry Fencibles' he was present at several engagements against the American forces.

"His civil and military service was recognized by the British government in 1816 by an addition to his own government allowance, and by  an annual grant of 100 pounds (money) each, to three clergymen and four school-masters."

--Brock-Perry

Alexander Macdonell-- Part 5: Becomes Catholic Bishop of Upper Canada

A central figure in the religious and political life of the Crown Colony of Canada, Macdonell was appointed vicar general in 1807 and vicar apostolic in 1820 and was  consecrated bishop or Regiopolis in 1826.

During his tenure thousands of Irish immigrants arrived, and by 1840, there were 34 priests and  48 parishes in  Upper Canada (today's province of Ontario) for which Macdonell had secured financial assistance from the local and British governments.

A firm conservative, Macdonell was a legislative counsellor  from 1831, and soon came under fire from the Reform Movement.

He died while in Britain attempting to secure funds for the Regiopolis College and recruiting more Catholic emigrants.  Alexander Macdonell was buried at  St. Margaret's Convent in Edinburgh, Scotland, but his remains were removed to  St. Mary's in Kingston in 1861.

--Brock-Perry

Alexander Macdonell-- Part 4: Bringing Catholicism to Canada

From the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Alexander Macdonell, Roman Catholic   bishop.

Born at Fort Augustus, Glengarry, Scotland 17 July  1762. Died at Dumfries, Scotland, 14 July1840.

Ordained in 1787, he spent the next several years  in the Scottish Highlands.  In 1793, he persuaded  the British government to establish the Catholic corps, the Glengarry Regiment, of which he was the chaplain.

In 1802, the regiment was disbanded and two years later Macdonell got the British government to promise 200 acres to every soldier who emigrated to Canada.  Macdonell and a large group of Catholic settlers did just that.  They settled in what became known as Glengarry, Upper Canada.

--Brock-Perry

Canada's First Catholic Bishop Alexander Macdonell-- Part 3

By 1822, the Catholic population of York had grown to 1,000 and Macdonell moved from Glengarry to York (Toronto) and built a home at the corner of Jarvis and Richmond in 1832. of Upper Canada's Catholic crusade.

That home is barely noticeable today, but at one time it was the center of Upper Canada Catholic crusade.

Macdonell has been described by  William Foster Coffin as "a medieval churchman, half bishop, half baron, [who] fought and prayed with equal zeal, by the side of men he had come  to regard as  his hereditary followers."  

Thomas D'Arcy  McGee referred to him as the "greatest Tory of Canada."

Macdonell was definitely a man of many talents, despite his allegiance to the Crown and chief among him were his power of political persuasion.  As a member of the Legislative Assembly, he would eventually push for government salaries to be paid to Catholic priests and teachers in the colony in return for their loyalty to the Crown.

However, this effort met with resistance from Anglican Church heads of Upper Canada and John Strachan in particular.

It turns out that  the political ties between Strachan and Macdonell were not enough to overcome their religious differences.

--Brock-Perry

About Canada's First Catholic Bishop, Alexander Macdonell-- Part 2

Before he came to Canada, Alexander Macdonell  raised a Catholic regiment to defend British interests during the Irish Rebellion in 1798.  The regiment would be disbanded and its men left destitute, but Macdonell  persuaded the Crown to give them land in Upper Canada in return for their loyalty. 

Macdonell first settled in Glengarry near Kingston.  He went to the Upper Canada capital in York in 1806 and found that Catholics were few and far between.  The town had a population of 200 of whom less than a quarter were Catholic.  In all of Upper Canada, there were only three Catholic churches and three Catholic priests.

Macdonell reported to his superiors on what he had seen at York and was given the task of acquiring more land for churches in the town.  (Of course, York eventually became Toronto.)

A plot on George on present-day Adelaide would be set aside "for the purpose of erecting a chapel for public worship."  But, it was destroyed by fire during the War of 1812.  (Likely burned by American troops when they torched the town.)

--Brock-Perry

About Canada's First Catholic Bishop, Alexander Macdonell-- Part 1

From the November 14, 2021, "NowToronto  "Hidden Toronto:  First Catholic  bishop's residence" by Enzo Dimatteo.

It's barely noticeable today but it was once the home of the man behind Upper Canada's Catholic crusade.  It's at 113 Jarvis in Toronto.

John Strachan was Canada's first  Anglican bishop and known for his Tory politics and ties to the Family Compact.  He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada.  Today there are schools and a street named for him near where his home used to stand at University and Front.

It was there that  loyalist forces gathered on the first night of the rebellion against the Family Compact led by Mackenzie in 1837.

But his equal, and the subject of this article was Alexander Macdonell (sometimes called McDonell).  This man was also a staunch Tory and he became John Strachan's religious counterpart as Upper Canada's first Catholic bishop.

Like Strachan, Macdonell was born in Scotland and his Catholic upbringing preached obedience to the Crown, but he was perhaps an even more strident  crusader of Tory values.  Indeed, he would take up arms in defense of the Crown in a number of wars, including the War of 1812, when he raised a regiment against the American forces.

--Brock-Perry