Redcoated Ploughboys: The Volunteer Battalion of the Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada, 1813-1815 by Richard Feltoe (review)

Richard Feltoe's new book, published to mark the start the bicentennial celebrations for a war that is hardly remembered in Britain, concentrates on the role played in the conflict by a particular Canadian regiment. In so doing, he reveals much about the nature of early settler society through the men who joined the local militias that were to be the mainstay of Canadian resistance to American ambition.

Feltoe begins with a clear and concise explanation of the war's origins and emphasises the fears within the Legislature of Upper Canada about the loyalties of the colony's settlers. How many of them would sympathise, they wondered, with the young republic to the south? As this book reveals, ver y few did, but when they came into contact with their former neighbours the resulting conflicts were particularly bloody. The great majority joined what became the Volunteer Battalion of Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada, and Feltoe makes an important point when noting that one of its characteristics was that it was less socially divided than those regular regiments of the British Army stationed in Canada. This cohesiveness ser ved the Militia well, particularly in its dealings with senior British officers who were unsure of its effectiveness as a fighting unit and struggled with the fact that its 'rules' were different to those of a 'normal' regiment. Feltoe spends time describing how one such officer, a Lt Col. Pearson, was 'determined to whip the Incorporated Militia into a militar y force that would meet his exacting standards of regimental quality' (p. 161). Eighteen months later Pearson was to praise these 'temporary' soldiers, expressing his great satisfaction 'at the orderly conduct which they have invariably practiced since their being first embodied' (p. 173) and that he had made a favourable report to the British authorities on their effectiveness and efficiency.

The Militia Regiment's story is told chronologically, with every battle and skirmish being described in detail. Indeed, it is one of the book's great strengths that its (many) battlefield maps are extremely well drawn and enable the non-specialist reader to grasp the positions and tactics of the opposing sides with comparative ease. The same cannot be said of the other illustrations, which are all in black and white, even the modern photographs of the sites where important battles took place. However, this is a minor quibble when compared to the wealth of detail provided both in the narrative and in its many appendices. From the idiosyncrasies of early nineteenth-centur y British measurements and currency to details of uniforms, armaments and equipment, along with information on rations and punishments to accounts of what happened to leading members of the regiment once the war had ended, Feltoe demonstrates both a militar y historian's mastery of his craft and an enthusiast's love of his subject. Redcoated Ploughboys is a welcome addition to the literature on a war which was, to Canadians, an important step towards the building of their nation.