The Good Neighbors and Their Undefended Fence: US–Canadian Cross-Border Military Excursions Before the First World War

Abstract

This article analyzes US–Canadian military relations in the nineteenth and early-twentieth century through the lens of frequent cross-border visits between the Canadian Militia and the US National Guard. Beginning in 1857 and continuing until the eve of the First World War, Canadian and American citizen soldiers visited back and forth between cities across the continent, taking part in celebrations of Queen Victoria's birthday and the Fourth of July. After 1898 these recreational visits became an annual event for several regiments on both sides of the border, interrupted only occasionally by the vagaries of Anglo-American diplomacy, periodic shortages of regimental funds, or the disapproval of higher authorities in Ottawa or Washington. Although US–Canadian military relations in this period are typically remembered as being non-existent, with the two North American nations scarcely communicating unless it was through British intermediaries, this article explores the very friendly relations that existed between the Canadian Militia and their counterparts in the US National Guard.

Keywords:

• US–Canadian military relations
• Canadian militia
• US National Guard
• recreational activities
• ceremonies and parades

Notes

1. “The Montreal Excursion,” Brooklyn Eagle (May 18, 1879): 4. The “regular military,” in this case, refers to British garrison that formed the main defensive force in British North America until their removal in1871. The “militia” consisted of Canadian volunteers organized into local regiments.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid.

4. J.L. Granatstein, “The American Influence on the Canadian Military, 1939–1963,” Canadian Military History 2, No. 1 (Spring 1993): 63.

5. For a concise account of Canada's strategic position between Britain and the US before the First World War, see Roger Sarty, “Canada and the Great Rapprochement, 1902–1914,” in The North Atlantic Triangle in a Changing World: Anglo-American–Canadian Relations, 1902–1956, ed. B.J.C. McKercher and Lawrence Aronsen (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996). Detailed discussions of nineteenth and early twentieth century Canadian defense policies are available in C.P. Stacey, Canada and the British Army, 1846–1871: A Study in the Practice of Responsible Government, rev. ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1963 [1936]), and C.P. Stacey, Canada and the Age of Conflict, vol. 1, 1867–1921 (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1984). For Canada's defense relationship with the British Empire, including the consequences of Britain's often turbulent relationship with the US, see Richard A. Preston, Canada and “Imperial Defense”: A Study of the Origins of the British Commonwealth's Defense Organization, 1867–1919 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967); Donald C. Gordon, The Dominion Partnership in Imperial Defense, 1870–1914 (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1965); and Carl Berger, The Sense of Power: Studies in the Ideas of Canadian Imperialism, 1867–1914 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970). On the Canadian Militia before the First World War, see Desmond Morton, Ministers and Generals: Politics and the Canadian Militia, 1868–1904 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970). While Norman Penlington's Canada and Imperialism, 1896–1899 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965) devotes considerable attention to Canada's relationship with the US, Penlington's focus is on the imperial defense movement and not the Canadian Militia.

6. On state militias and the US National Guard, see John K. Mahon, History of the Militia and the National Guard (New York: Macmillan, 1983); Michael Doubler, Civilian in Peace, Soldier in War: The Army National Guard, 1636–2000 (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 2003); Jim Hill, The Minute Man In Peace and War: A History of the National Guard (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1964); Russell Weigley, Towards an American Army: Military Thought from Washington to Marshall (New York: Columbia University Press, 1962), 200–222; and Eleanor Hannah, Manhood, Citizenship, and the Illinois National Guard: Illinois, 1870–1917 (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2007). None of these works mention cross-border military visits between the US and Canada. For American perspectives on these visits, readers are directed to the regimental histories of various state militia and National Guard units that took part in these events. For an example, see Colonel Emmons Clark, History of the Seventh Regiment of New York, 1806–1889 (New York: The Seventh Regiment, 1890): 429–431.

7. C.P. Stacey, Canada and the British Army, 60, 100, 254 and 260.

8. From 1885 until after the First World War, the Canadian Military Gazette (hereafter CMG) contained comprehensive coverage of military affairs in the Dominion of Canada, including editorials, news features, and reprinted newspaper articles from across the country that reflected a broad spectrum of political viewpoints. Its sources ranged from Canadian governmental and military releases to clippings from Toronto's Mail and Empire and the Montreal Star to Goldwin Smith's Toronto Weekly Sun. As well, it provided excerpts form British and American service periodicals such as Broad Arrow and the United Service Magazine. As the widely distributed organ of the non-permanent militia, editors John Bayne Maclean and Andrew T. Thompson were active in providing commentary on military affairs throughout Canada, including debates in the House of Commons, commentaries on how recent decisions might affect the militia, or the latest scores of international rifle matches. Widely quoted in the military columns of newspapers across the country and in the Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, the Canadian Military Gazette represents an invaluable resource for any study of the Canadian Militia before the First World War.

9. Ernest J. Chambers, The Origin and Services of the 3rd (Montreal) Field Battery of Artillery (Montreal: E.L. Ruddy, 1898): 32.

10. In the history of the 5^th Royal Scots by Ernest Chambers, we find the following pen sketch of the regiment, borrowed mostly from the Portland Transcript's account of their 1858 visit: “The dress of the Highland company was a green coatee faced with red and gold, plaid pants, tartan scarfs. Highland bonnet with ostrich plumes, and red feather. The piper, in full Highland costume, with his kilt and his bare knees, attracted some attention. The Highlanders were thoroughly Scotch in form and features, spare and sharp, and in their native costume looked like true followers of the Bruce.” Ernest Chambers, The 5^th Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders: A Regimental History (Montreal: Guertin, 1904): 36.

11. Chambers, Origin and Services of the 3rd (Montreal) Field Battery of Artillery, 32.

12. Ibid., 33.

13. In addition to the regimental history by Ernest J. Chambers, the 3^rd (Montreal) Battery's visit to New York is also described in Clark, History of the Seventh Regiment of New York, 429–431.

14. Charles T. McClenachan, Detailed Report of the Proceedings had in Commemoration of the Successful Laying of the Atlantic Cable (New York: Edmund Jones & Co, 1863), 98–103.

15. Chambers, Origin and Services of the 3rd (Montreal) Field Battery of Artillery, 36.

16. “In Honor of the Queen: Brooklyn's Share in the Grand Birthday Celebration,” Brooklyn Eagle (May 25, 1879): 4.

17. Personal correspondence, Campus Martius Museum, Marietta, Ohio, July 4–6, 2011; see also “National Soldiers” Reunion: Preparations for the Gathering at Marietta, Ohio, on September 3,” Brooklyn Eagle (August 25, 1878): 4.

18. Hannah, Illinois National Guard: Illinois, 1870–1917, 207.

19. “The Seventh May Get No Invitation,” New York Times (8 June 1892): 9. Major-General Herbert's position as GOC in general and his stance on this subject in particular serves as a reminder of the unique political situation that existed in Canada after Confederation. Without the power to negotiate treaties or conduct its own foreign affairs, Canada retained both a British-appointed Governor General and a British Army officer to serve as General Officer Commanding the Canadian Militia.

20. In the late 1890s, this practice of officers treating their soldiers to a drink at the end of a parade night became so common as to be almost obligatory, leading some to complain that men were being stirred to enlist by a promise that “the captain puts up the drinks.” See “‘Treating’ a Company,” CMG 12, No. 4 (February 15, 1896): 16.

21. From a 1922 regimental history of the 31^st British Columbia Horse, a cavalry regiment based in the BC interior: “As a general rule the horses were hired by either the regimental commander or squadron leader from ranchers or Indians, and the owners of the horses looked to the militia officers for their money after each training. However, some troopers entered into a private hiring with owners of individual horses, and sometimes the naughty troopers neglected to hand over the government hire at the end of the training, and the man's C[ommanding] O[fficer] had, perforce, to make good.” Lieutenant Colonel C.L. Flick, A Short History of the 31^st British Columbia Horse (Victoria: Reliable Press, 1922): 19.

22. Berger, The Sense of Power, 260.

23. For the impact of the Venezuela Crisis on the Canadian Militia after 1896, see James Wood, Militia Myths: Ideas of the Canadian Citizen Soldier, 1896–1921 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010), 38–44.

24. In This Kindred People: Canadian-American Relations and the Anglo-Saxon Idea, 1895–1903 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004), Edward P. Kohn outlines the significance of British support for the US during the Spanish–American War and the new “Anglo-American understanding” that emerged: 94, 109, 132, and 142. As a result, Canada also began to play a stronger role in the North American triangle and was viewed by Americans as an increasingly independent entity, 9, 48, 107, and 203. See also Richard Preston, The Defence of the Undefended Border: Planning for War in North America, 1867–1939 (Montreal and London: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1977), 146.

25. “News of the Service—United States Visitors,” Canadian Military Gazette 13, No. 5 (March 2, 1898): 8.

26. “Ottawa Corps in Burlington,” CMG 13, No. 14 (July 19, 1898): 12.

27. Douglas E. Harker, The Dukes: The Story of the Men who have Served in Peace and War with the British Columbia Regiment (D.C.O.), 1883–1973 (Vancouver: British Columbia Regiment, 1974), 19.

28. “Dead Past Is Forgotten,” Vancouver Province, 1898, newspaper clipping in J.R. Tite Fonds, City of Vancouver Archives.

29. Charles Bancroft Gillespie, Portland Past and Present (Portland: Portland Evening Express, 1899), 55.

30. Chambers, The 5^th Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders, 73.

31. “The Royal Scots at Portland,” CMG 13, no. 14 (July 19, 1898): 12.

32. Chambers, The 5^th Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders, 74.

33. Gillespie, Portland Past and Present, 60.

34. Ibid., 62.

35. On common ties in culture and the rapprochement between Britain and the US in this period, see Edward Kohn, This Kindred People, 8, 26, 48, 93, 148, and 197.

36. Chambers, The 5^th Royal Scots of Canada Highlanders, 67.

37. Ibid., 68.

38. Gillespie, Portland Past and Present, 65.

39. Carl Berger, The Sense of Power, 49 and 259.

40. “Divisional Orders,” CMG 14, No. 14 (July 18, 1899): 11.

41. “Celebrations in New York,” CMG 14, No. 13 (July 4, 1899): 11.

42. “Trooping of the Colour,” CMG 14, No. 18 (September 19, 1899): 5.

43. “Toronto,” CMG 14, No. 19 (October 3, 1899): 13.

44. “Celebration of Victoria Day—Windsor,” CMG 17, No. 11 (June 3, 1902): 13.

45. Ibid.

46. Kristin L. Hoganson, Fighting for American Manhood. How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish–American and Philippine–American Wars (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press), 141.

47. Mark Moss, Manliness and Militarism: Educating Young Boys in Ontario for War (Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2001), Ch. 4.

48. Hoganson, Fighting for American Manhood, 71, 201 and 205, and Moss, Manliness and Militarism, 15, 16, 110–15, and 161 both discuss “the crisis of masculinity” as explored by Anthony E. Rotundo in American Manhood: Transformations in Masculinity from the Revolution to the Modern Era (New York: Basic Books, 1993). For the links between manliness and citizenship, see Hoganson, 10, 11, and 205.

49. Moss, Manliness and Militarism, 27. See also pp. 32, 47, 102, 117, and 121.

50. See F. Matthew Holman, A Sense of Their Duty: Middle Class Formation in Victorian Ontario Towns (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000).

51. House of Commons, Debates, July 30, 1903, p. 7675.

52. See Wood, Militia Myths, Ch. 4.

53. Leopold S. Amery, “Canadian Citizenship and Imperial Defence,” September 23, 1910, in Selected Papers from the Transactions of the Canadian Military Institute 18 (Toronto: CMI, 1910): 15.

54. “Sir William Mulock on Canadian Defence,” CMG 21, no. 7 (September 11, 1906): 5–6.

55. For a discussion of the symbolic meanings behind amateur military service in the US during this period, see Hannah, Illinois National Guard, Ch. 2. Canadian examples are discussed in Moss, Manliness and Militarism, 52 and 142. Hannah's work includes a perceptive discussion of National Guard parades in nineteenth century Illinois; for British and Canadian perspectives on military parades, see Peter G. Goheen, “Parades in Victorian Urban Canada,” Urban History Review 18, no. 3 (February 1990): 237–243; and Scott Hughes Myerly, “‘The Eye Must Entrap the Mind’: Army Spectacle and Paradigm in Nineteenth-Century Britain,” Journal of Social History 26, No. 1 (Fall 1992): 105–131.

56. Kohn, This Kindred People, 171.

57. Ibid., 198.

58. Ibid., 171. For Canada's emerging role as the “linchpin” between Britain and the US, see Kohn, 26, 49, and 95.

59. Morton, Ministers and Generals, 200.

60. Ibid., 191, and Preston, The Defence of the Undefended Border, 146 and 176.

61. “Our American Visitors,” CMG 20, No. 17 (September 13, 1905): 29.

62. Foggy [pseud.], “Picnics,” CMG 21, No. 17 (September 11, 1906): 7.

63. “The 43^rd's Visit to Uncle Sam,” CMG 20, No. 17 (September 13, 1905): 27.

64. “Ottawa,” CMG 21, No. 17 (September 10, 1906): 29.

65. Rifleman [pseud.], “Association Shooting Again,” CMG 20, No. 23 (December 12, 1905): 18; “Vancouver International Rifle Matches” CMG 21, No. 20 (October 23, 1906): 12; “Vancouver,” CMG 23, No. 20 (October 27, 1908): 11.

66. “Contributions from the Canadian Scout,” CMG 21, No. 11 (June 12, 1906): 10.

67. Ibid.

68. Foggy [pseud.], “Keep Up Our End of the Stick,” CMG 21, No. 4 (February 27, 1906): 10–11; A.T. Hunter, “In Defence of the Empire,” CMG 21, No. 8 (April 24, 1906): 5; John S. Ewart, “Canadian Independence,” The Kingdom Papers, No. 1 (Ottawa: n. p. 1911): 7–8; Roger Sarty, “Canada and the Great Rapprochement,” 15. Many militia advocates in Canada now began calling for a replacement of British “fuss and feathers” by an emphasis on Canadian assumption of responsibility for their own home defense.

69. J. Castell Hopkins, Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1907 (Toronto: Annual Review Publishing, 1908): 401.

70. “Annual Meeting D.R.A.,” CMG 21, No.7 (April 10, 1906): 6. On Frederick Borden's role as Canada's Minister of Militia and Defence, see Carman Miller, A Knight in Politics: A Biography of Sir Frederick Borden (Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2010).

71. “Ottawa News,” CMG 22, No. 13 (July 9, 1907): 11.

72. H.V. Nelles, The Art of Nation Building. Pageantry and Spectacle at Quebec's Tercentenary (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999), 199.

73. Ibid.

74. See William H. McNeil, Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).

75. Richard A. Preston, Canada and “Imperial Defense,” 441–45; Sarty, “Canada and the Great Rapprochement,” 38.

76. “Ottawa News” and “Montreal News,” CMG (July 27, 1909): 8, 10.

77. Ottawa Citizen, quoted in “Sir Henry Pellatt's Enterprise,” CMG 25, No. 1 (January 11, 1910): 6.

78. “Ottawa News,” CMG 25, No. 17 (September 13, 1910): 13.

79. “Hamilton,” CMG 28, No. 23 (December 9, 1913): 13.

80. Gerald M. Craig, The United States and Canada (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968), 175–7.

81. Stacey, Canada and the Age of Conflict, 149.

82. Berger, The Sense of Power, 9.

83. W.L. Grant, “The Fallacy of Nationalism,” Empire Club of Canada: Addresses Delivered to the Members During the Session of 1911–12 (Toronto: William Briggs, 1913), 222–28.

84. Preston, The Defence of the Undefended Border, 211.

85. For example, see Prime Minister Laurier's famous statement that as the nineteenth century had been the century of the US, so the twentieth century would be the century of Canada. House of Commons, Debates, February 21, 1905, 1421–2.