Search results for ""Author Robert L. Dallison""

When most people think of the War of 1812, they think of the Niagara frontier, the British burning of the White House, the harrowing tale of Laura Secord, and the much-ballyhooed Battle of New Orleans. But there was more of British North America involved in the war than Upper and Lower Canada. With Great Britain locked in battle with Napoleon's France, the United States pounced on the chance to declare war on Britain. In New Brunswick, the threat of invasion was a very real possibility. Fearing for their lives, families, and property, the people and their legislative assembly adopted every possible measure to make New Brunswick ready for war. However, an officially undeclared state of neutrality was established along the Maine border, and the threat faded. Supporting the British army in its efforts in Upper and Lower Canada and the navy in its operations along the Atlantic coast led to major growth in the province's war economy.As the war moved into its final year and Napoleon's empire fell in Europe, Britain became much more aggressive in its North American campaign. Buoyed by this, the New Brunswick government decided to press its claims to the unresolved international border with Maine. The British military thus occupied the Penobscot River Valley, and northern Maine was declared part of New Brunswick. By the end of the war, and the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, the unresolved border remained unresolved.The economic, political, geographical, and societal results of the War of 1812 continue to be felt in New Brunswick. The war strengthened the colony's ties to Britain, built up its economy, and led to the growth of major cities, especially with the settlement of retiring soldiers. Shipbuilding and supplying the British troops had led to growing profits for farmers, fishermen, merchants, and labourers. Although it would be decades later before the boundary issue was officially settled, there were areas still in dispute. Unlike its Upper and Lower Canadian cousins, the war in New Brunswick may not have involved the burning and pillaging of towns and villages, but its effects were nonetheless important and far-reaching.A Neighbourly War is volume 19 in the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

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In the early 1860s, Irish immigrants in the United States were eager to help the Fenian brotherhood overthrow the British in Ireland. The American Fenians' mission: to invade British North America and hold it hostage. New Brunswick, with its large Irish population and undefended frontier, was a perfect target. The book tells how, in the spring of 1866, a thousand Fenians massed along the St. Croix River and spread terror among New Brunswickers. When the lieutenant-governor called in British soldiers and a squadron of warships, the Fenians saw that New Brunswick was no longer an easy target, and they turned their efforts against central Canada. The Fenian "attacks" and the demand for home defence fanned the already red-hot political debate, and a year later, in July 1867, New Brunswick joined Confederation. Turning Back the Fenians is volume 8 in the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.

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Few Canadians realize how close the colony of Nova Scotia came to joining the American Revolutionary War in 1775. Many Nova Scotians were immigrants from New England, including the Planters who, some twenty years earlier, had taken over the farms of the expelled Acadians. Between family ties and unrestrained privateering, there was much sympathy in Nova Scotia for the American Patriots. In Hope Restored, Robert Dallison tells the story of how the British raised two regiments and sent their members to the area that, as a result, became New Brunswick, thus overcoming the groundswell and fending off Patriot attacks. These soldiers had two jobs: to fight the Americans, and to settle the land as a bulwark against invasion. Spem reduxit (hope restored) became their motto and the motto of the province they founded. As well as telling the story of the Loyalist regiments, Hope Restored describes many Loyalist and Revolutionary War sites, some of which can be visited today. Among them are the Loyalist Encampment and Cemetery in Fredericton, Saint John's Fort Howe, and the MacDonald Farm Provincial Historic Park in Northumberland County.Hope Restored is the second book in the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series published by Goose Lane Editions in collaboration with the New Brunswick Military Heritage Project. Written by historians and military personnel, the books in this series will explore subjects ranging from New Brunswick's pivotal role in the American Revolution to one veteran's account of caring for World War I cavalry horses. All of the volumes will be fully illustrated with modern and archival maps, photos, and works of art and are available at all bookstores in New Brunswick.

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