Battle of Saint-Denis (1837)

Patriotes

The Patriotes were organized into civil and military wings. The military wing was commanded by Thomas Storrow Brown, a failed merchant from Montreal. The civil wing was organized into six sections, each representing a district and each of which could be armed as a battalion in the event of war. The Patriotes had two headquarters, one in Saint-Denis and the other in Saint-Charles.^[8][9]

The Patriotes in Saint-Denis were commanded by Wolfred Nelson. At his disposal were roughly 800 men, of which roughly half were armed with guns. The vast majority of the men were young, though there were some professionals and veterans within the group. To prevent desertion, Nelson threatened to cut the throat of any who ran. On the road from Sorel, Nelson placed overturned wagons and lattices of heavy brushwood. The church and town lay along the riverbank, preventing encirclement. To the other side of the town were woods that thinned as they got closer to Saint-Denis. The largest building in Saint-Denis was an old stone two-storey coach house that was owned by Madame St. Germain, who had moved out. The coach house, with walls 4 feet (1.2 m) thick, commanded the road and Nelson had loopholes cut in the walls. Nelson placed approximately 200 of his men within the house, most equipped with firearms. Around the coach house was situated a cluster of buildings.^[10][11]

Nelson set up a second strongpoint at his stone distillery where he placed more of his forces that were equipped with firearms. Those without firearms, most equipped with scythes, pitchforks and clubs, were placed in earthworks behind the church, though some of these did desert before the battle. North of the town the road ran through flat, plowed land, with the Richelieu River running close to the edge of the fields. Beyond the fields were woods in which Nelson placed skirmishers and outposts and had the bridges within broken.^[12] The Patriotes had been warned of the British approach during the night, and Nelson sent messengers into the countryside to call upon the inhabitants to defend St-Denis.^[13]

One-half mile (0.80 km) from the river bank, Papineau and Edmund Bailey O'Callaghan were waiting at Nelson's home. Shortly after the battle began, the two departed for St-Charles.^[14] Though his reasons for departure are unknown, some hold that Papineau believed they would fail and fled. His departure created mixed feelings among the Patriotes at all levels of the organization.^[15]

Government

The government of Lower Canada was headed by the Earl of Gosford, a civilian governor general. The military was headed by Sir John Colborne, a veteran of the Peninsular War. At Colborne's disposal in Lower Canada were several British infantry regiments. At Quebec City, were the Royal Regiment, 15th, 79th, 83rd Regiments of Foot and elements of the 66th Regiment of Foot. At Montreal, the 32nd Regiment of Foot was posted and at Île aux Noix and Sorel, further elements of the 66th Regiment were garrisoned. On Saint Helen's Island in the Saint Lawrence River, elements of the Royal Artillery were posted. As events grew more unstable in the territory, Colborne ordered the Royal Regiment to Montreal. Following the riot in Montreal between Thomas Storrow Brown's Société des Fils de la Liberté and the loyalist Doric Club, Colborne ordered the 24th Regiment of Foot to deploy to Montreal from their garrisons at Toronto and Kingston, Upper Canada.^[16]

Colborne planned his attack on the Patriote headquarters from two directions. He dispatched Colonel Charles Gore with 300 infantry composed of two companies of the 24th Regiment, one 12-pounder (5.4 kg) cannon with a detachment of Royal Artillery and members of the Royal Montreal Cavalry, a militia unit. The other force would be commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel George Wetherall of the Royal Regiment, leading three companies of the Royal Regiment, one company of the 66th Regiment and twenty Royal Montreal Cavalry and a Royal Artillery detachment and two 6-pounder (2.7 kg) guns.^[17] Gore was to attack the rebels from the north via Sorel, while Wetherall would attack from the south via Fort Chambly.^[7][18]

March south

On November 22, Gore arrived at Sorel at 18:00. He ordered one company of the 32nd Regiment, four companies of the 24th regiment, an artillery detachment with one 24-pounder gun and a troop of Montreal cavalry to depart. At 22:00, the force of 300 departed Sorel in the freezing rain. Saint-Denis was 18 miles (29 km) south of Sorel and the roads were surrounded by woods. The weather changed to rain mixed with snow, turning the roads into mud knee-deep with frozen potholes.^[19]

At 23:00, a caleche departed Sorel containing an officer of the 32nd regiment carrying orders for Lieutenant-Colonel Gore, which ordered him to await Wetherall's advance. However, roughly 10 miles (16 km) down the road, the caleche took a wrong turn and the officer ended up a prisoner of the Patriotes. Taken to Saint-Denis, the officer was later killed trying to escape during the battle.^[20]

As Gore approached Saint-Denis, skirmishers fired upon the column from the woods before retreating towards town. The British approach was heralded by church bells along the river. Upon arrival at Saint-Denis, Gore had the gun unlimbered and fired one roundshot at the coach house, doing no damage. A strong east wind had taken hold and it had begun snowing. Gore then arranged his forces and moved forward until halting at a coulee. From there he surveyed the town.^[21]

Assault

Gore ordered one company to cross the fields, accompanied by the gun, and set up a position at a barn on the right that would keep the gun in range of the coach house while providing some shelter. The company drove the barn's defenders off after a bayonet charge. As the gun was made ready, the position came under fire from the coach house and three gunners were wounded before the cannon could fire its first round. The cannon's first shot went through the second-storey window, killing three Patriotes. The second, third and fourth shots rebounded harmlessly off the walls.^[22] The fire coming from the coach house forced the artillerymen to move the cannon to safer position.^[23]

Gore decided to assault the building after watching the cannon fire rebound off the stone walls of the coach house. He ordered Captain Markham of the 32nd Regiment to lead three companies of roughly 200 men to assault the house. Markham tried three times and by 12:00 had cleared the buildings which surrounded the approach to the coach house. By 13:00, the British troops were in the house across the street from the coach house. However, they came under crossfire from the stone distillery and the coach house. Markham was injured three times, twice in the neck, once in the leg. Markham ordered a withdrawal, himself being carried on a stretcher and by 14:00 the British had withdrawn to the coulee.^[24]

Around 13:00 Nelson sent George-Étienne Cartier across the river to collect reinforcements. All the while, the cannon had continued to fire ineffectively though little to no return fire was coming from the second floor of the coach house. Gore made another attempt to take the town, sending his troops on an encircling mission to the left. As the British began making their way through the outbuildings, they encountered the earthworks that were filled with roughly 500 men. The advance lost momentum. At this point Cartier returned with reinforcements numbering roughly 100 and drove at the British right flank. This coincided with a sortie from the coach house and the earthworks. The British retreated once again to the coulee.^[25]

This time, the Patriotes began to move towards the British position. At 15:00, there remained only 6 rounds for the cannon of the 66 the artillery had brought with them. Gore ordered retreat and at 16:00, the British departed leaving wagons and some wounded behind. However as they reached a bridge, the gun became frozen in the mud and both the horses and the men were unable to free it. Gore was forced to spike the gun and retreat back to Saint-Ours.^[26]