James FitzGibbon

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James FitzGibbon

James FitzGibbon (born November 16, 1780 in Glin , County Limerick , Ireland ; † December 12, 1863 in Windsor Castle , England ) was a British- Irish soldier and civil servant and is considered a hero in Canada in the war of 1812 with the United States .

Life

James FitzGibbon was born in Ireland in 1780, the son of a farmer and weaver . He left school at eleven and became a member of the Lord of Glin's bodyguard at 15, where he soon became a sergeant . In 1798 he joined the Tarbert Infantry Fencibles , a Home Service Regiment (a kind of militia ). From there he came to the 49th Infantry Regiment of the British Army , with whom he took part in a campaign in Holland in 1799. He took part in the 1801 naval battle of Copenhagen as a marine , distinguished himself here and received the Naval General Service Medal . In 1802 he came to Canada with the 49th Infantry Regiment.

His commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Brock , saw him as a soldier with above average ability, encouraged him to continue his education, promoted him to sergeant major in 1802 and ensign in 1806 . This made FitzGibbon one of the rare cases at the time in which a soldier rose from the ranks of the crew to become an officer . In 1809 he became a lieutenant . After the outbreak of the war with the USA in 1812 , he distinguished himself several times in independent commandos. After participating in the victorious Battle of Stoney Creek , before which he allegedly spied on the US camp in disguise, he was given the command of a force of 50 men and the order to send the American troops to Fort George in the Canadian border fortress occupied by them worry and watch. He was so successful in this guerrilla-style warfare that the Americans detached about 500 men to drive him away or to take him prisoner. FitzGibbon was warned by Laura Secord , who became a Canadian national heroine through her dangerous walk, and was able to prepare an ambush with his soldiers and about 400 Indians among the captains William J. Kerr and Dominique Ducharme near his location Beaver Dams. At the Battle of Beaver Dams on the morning of June 24th, after a three-hour battle, FitzGibbon succeeded in persuading the Americans to surrender by showing them a much larger number of British soldiers and exploiting their fear of the Indians. Fame for this success, achieved with the help of the Indians and Laura Secord, fell largely on FitzGibbon, who was rewarded with a gold medal and the rank of captain in the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles , a militia unit. The remainder of the war he was mainly used in observation and reconnaissance missions, but also took part in the bloody battle at Lundy's Lane in 1814. In the same year he married Mary Haley . Four sons and one daughter survived from her marriage.

After the dissolution of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles in 1816, he remained an officer on half payment until 1825 and then resigned from the army by selling his officer license. In 1826 he became a colonel in the militia. In 1816 he began a career in colonial administration that took him to numerous different posts in military and civil administration. Several of these appointments were owed more to the patronage of the governors than to actual accomplishments, which exposed FitzGibbon to criticism from liberal reformers like William Lyon Mackenzie . He also played a prominent role as a Freemason in Canada. His contributions to the integration of Irish immigrants are undisputed. He mediated several times in conflicts, pacified riots and riots through courageous intervention (such as in 1824, 1832, 1833 and 1836) and reduced tensions between Protestant and Catholic Irish. B. tried to stop the parades of the Orange Order . FitzGibbon played an important role in the suppression of the Upper Canadian Rebellion of 1837. He foresaw the outbreak of the uprising early and took arbitrary measures when Governor Sir Francis Bond Head refused to do so. When appointing a commander in chief for the attack on the rebel army near Toronto on December 7, 1837, FitzGibbon was initially overlooked by Head and only appointed commander after emphatic protests. After leading the 1,000-strong government troops to a victory over the Mackenzie-commanded insurgents, he resigned the following day in protest of Head's treatment.

In the years that followed, FitzGibbon's life was increasingly overshadowed by his growing financial difficulties. Attempts by various bodies to honor his services through donations of land or monetary payments failed because of objections or lack of interest from the British government or Canadian authorities. It was not until 1845 that the Legislative Council of Canada granted him a payment of £ 1,000, which, however, was only half of his debt. His position as an official of the Legislative Council, which he had held since 1841, he lost in 1846 through compulsory retirement because he had received his salary but no longer carried out the activity. The constant financial worries and the reluctance to suffer and humiliations made FitzGibbon bitter and contentious; in the judgment of a friend, he became himself his worst enemy.

In 1847 he left Canada and went to England , where he was appointed Military Knight of Windsor . As such, he spent the rest of his life at Windsor Castle as a military pensioner. He died in 1863 at the age of 83 and was buried in the crypt of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

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personal data
SURNAME FitzGibbon, James
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British officer
DATE OF BIRTH November 16, 1780
PLACE OF BIRTH County Limerick , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1863
Place of death Windsor Castle