- James FitzGibbon
James FitzGibbon (
November 23 1782 –December 10 1863 ) was a British soldier and hero of theWar of 1812 .He enlisted in the
Knight of Glin ’s Yeomanry Corps at age 15. Three years later, he joined the Tarbert InfantryFencibles , an Irish home service regiment, from which he was recruited into theBritish Army 's49th Regiment of Foot as a private soldier. He first fought in battle in 1799 atEgmond aan Zee , theNetherlands . He later served as a marine in the Battle of Copenhagen, for which he received theNaval General Service Medal .He went to
Canada in 1802, by which time he was asergeant . He played a key role in the suppression of a near-mutiny atFort George, Ontario . In 1806, when he was the regiment'sSergeant-Major , his commanding officer,Isaac Brock , made him an officer. This was extremely unusual at the time as most officers' commissions were bought. Later the same year he was appointed regimentaladjutant . In 1809, he was promoted to the rank ofLieutenant .FitzGibbon fought at the
Battle of Stoney Creek in June 6, 1813. Three weeks later, he led 50 soldiers in guerrilla-style raids on a large American force that had captured Fort George on theNiagara Peninsula . It was he who was warned byLaura Secord onJune 22 about an impending surprise attack by 500 American troops. This led to theBattle of Beaver Dams near present dayThorold, Ontario , where FitzGibbon's force, together with about 400 Mohawk and Odawa warriors, defeated the Americans and took 462 prisoners. The victory made FitzGibbon a popular hero and he was promoted toCaptain in the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles.In 1814 he fought at the
Battle of Lundy's Lane . After the war, he remained inUpper Canada and became apublic servant and acolonel in the militia.During the
Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, FitzGibbon was appointed Acting Adjutant-General of Militia. He organised and led the forces that defendedToronto fromWilliam Lyon Mackenzie 's rebel force.He was a
Freemason . From 1822 to 1826, he was deputy provincial grand master, the highest office in Upper Canada.He moved to
England in 1847 after the death of his wife Mary Haley, with whom he had four sons and a daughter. In 1850 he was appointed aMilitary Knight of Windsor . He died atWindsor Castle in 1863 and is buried there in the crypt of St. George's Chapel.In 2003 his descendants donated some of his personal effects, including a
signet ring and a ceremonialsword , to theCanadian War Museum inOttawa .External links
* [http://www.glengarrylightinfantry.ca The Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles]
* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=4426 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10118 Historica’s Heritage Minute video docudrama about “Laura Secord.”] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Flash_Player (Adobe Flash Player.)]
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