Canada General Service Medal

 

For General Service In Canada 1866 - 1871.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

The Canada General Service Medal was a British Empire campaign medal presented for service during two separate rebellions in Canada between 1866 and 1871. The medal was instituted in 1899 and was awarded to both Imperial and Canadian forces for duties related to the Fenian raids between 1866 and 1871 and the Red River rebellion of 1870.

 

The medal was not issued until 1899 and had to be retrospectively applied for by potential recipients and subsequently 16,121 medals were issued - 15,300 to Canadian units.

 

The Canadian War Museum released large numbers of original un-named medals onto the market in the 70s and 80s - initially unmarked, but later releases were stamped; 'CWM' or; 'SPECIMEN'.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in silver. The obverse of this medal bears the head of Queen Victoria and the inscription; 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'.

 

The reverse depicts the old Canadian ensign within a wreath of maple with the inscription; 'CANADA' above.

 

The ribbon suspender is of a plain, straight and swivelling style, attached to the medal by a claw mount.

 

The recipient's details can be found on the medal's rim usually engraved in sloping capitals or impressed in small sans-serif capitals

 

 

 

The ribbon is 32mm wide and red in colour with a central white stripe.

 

 

This medal was issued with the following bars:-

 

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- The Fenian Raids Of 1866.

- The Red River Rebellion 1870.

- The Fenian Raids Of 1870.

 

The Fenian Raids Of 1866 - The Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood, who were based in the United States, on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland.

 

They divided Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were torn between loyalty to their new home and sympathy for the aims of the Fenians. The Protestant Irish were generally loyal to Britain and fought with the Orange Order against the Fenians.

 

While the U.S. authorities arrested the men and confiscated their arms, there is speculation that some in the U.S. government had turned a blind eye to the preparations for the invasion, angered at actions that could have been construed as British assistance to the Confederacy during the American Civil War. There were five Fenian raids of note.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Red River Rebellion 1870 - The Red River Rebellion (or the Red River Resistance, Red River Uprising, or First Riel Rebellion) was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Colony, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.

 

The Rebellion was the first crisis the new government faced following Canadian Confederation in 1867. The Canadian government had bought Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869 and appointed an English-speaking governor, William McDougall. He was opposed by the French-speaking, mostly Métis inhabitants of the settlement.

 

Before the land was officially transferred to Canada, McDougall sent out surveyors to plot the land according to the square township system used in Ontario. The Métis, led by Riel, prevented McDougall from entering the territory. McDougall declared that the Hudson's Bay Company was no longer in control of the territory and that Canada had asked for the transfer of sovereignty to be postponed.

 

The Métis created a provisional government, to which they invited an equal number of Anglophone representatives. Riel undertook to negotiate directly with the Canadian government to establish Manitoba as a province.

 

Meanwhile, Riel's men arrested members of a pro-Canadian faction who had resisted the provisional government. They included an Orangeman named Thomas Scott. Riel's government tried and convicted Scott, and executed him for threatening to murder Louis Riel.

 

This was considered an act of treason. Canada and the Assiniboia provisional government soon negotiated an agreement. In 1870, the legislature passed the Manitoba Act, allowing the Red River Colony to enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba. The Act also incorporated some of Riel's demands, such as provision of separate French schools for Métis children and protection of the practice of Catholicism.

 

After reaching agreement, Canada sent a military expedition to Manitoba to enforce federal authority. Now known as the Wolseley Expedition (or Red River Expedition), it consisted of Canadian militia and British regular soldiers led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley.

 

Outrage grew in Ontario over Scott's execution and many eastern folk demanded that Wolseley's expedition be used to arrest Riel for murder and suppress what they considered to be rebellion. Riel peacefully withdrew from Fort Garry the day the troops arrived.

 

Warned by many that the soldiers would harm him, and denied amnesty for his political leadership of the rebellion, Riel fled to the USA. The arrival of troops marked the end of the Rebellion.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Fenian Raids Of 1870 - The Battle of Eccles Hill was part of a raid into Canadian territory from the United States led by John O'Neill and Samuel Spiers of the Fenian Brotherhood.

 

The army of the Fenian Brotherhood was defeated by local militia units based in Huntingdon on May 25, 1870.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.