Battle of Batoche

Battle of Batoche
Part of the North-West Rebellion
James Peters' photograph, Opening the Ball at Batoche, captures the initial Canadian bombardment. Peters commanded "A Battery".
Date May 5 – May 12, 1885 Location Batoche, Saskatchewan Result Decisive Dominion victory
Belligerents
Provisional Government of Saskatchewan (Métis)	Dominion of Canada
Commanders
Gabriel Dumont Louis Riel	Frederick Middleton Bowen van Straubenzie
Strength
250	916
Casualties and losses
51 dead, wounded, or captured	8 dead 22 wounded

The Battle of Batoche was the decisive Canadian defeat of Métis attempt to maintain Aboriginal independence in the disputed "Canadian" North West Territories. The defeat led to the surrender of Louis Riel on May 15, 1885 and the collapse of his Provisional Government of Saskatchewan's resistance in the North-West Rebellion (the Cree, however, would continue to successfully engage Canadian authorities in the weeks that followed – see Battle of Frenchman's Butte). Fought over the week of May 5 to May 12 at the ad hoc Métis capital of Batoche, the siege was noted as the first true demonstration of tactical excellence and professional conduct by the Canadian army in 1885.^{[citation needed]}

Early advances and the crippling of the Northcote

Conscious of the numerous reverses that had been suffered by government forces in previous clashes with the rebels (see the battles of Duck Lake, Fish Creek, and Cut Knife), Middleton approached Batoche with caution, reaching Gabriel's Crossing on May 7 and advancing within eight miles (13 km) of the town the following day.

Middleton's plan rested on a clever encirclement strategy: as his main contingent advanced directly against Métis defensive lines, the troop transport Northcote would steam past the distracted defenders and unload 50 men at the rear of the town, effectively closing the pincer. However, due to the difficulty of the terrain and Middleton's penchant for prudence, his force lagged behind schedule, and when the Northcote appeared adjacent to the town on May 9 it was spotted by Métis who had not yet come under artillery fire. Although their small arms fire did little damage to the armoured ship, the Métis were able to lower Batoche's ferry cable into which the Northcote steamed unsuspectingly. Its masts and smokestacks sliced clean off, the crippled ship drifted harmlessly down the South Saskatchewan River and out of the battle.

Mission Ridge

Ignorant of the Northcote's fate, Middleton approached the church at Mission Ridge on the morning of May 9 in order to bring his plan into effect. Finding the mission occupied only by priests and civilians, Middleton brought his artillery out onto the ridge and began shelling the town. There his Gatling gun was used to good effect, providing covering fire for the withdrawal of cannon that had come under sniper fire and dispersing an attempt by Dumont to capture the guns.

Canadian advances saw less success but were carefully conducted, keeping casualties to a minimum. A Métis attempt to surround the Canadian lines failed when the brushfires meant to screen the sortie failed to spread, and at the end of the day, both sides held their positions at Mission Ridge, Canadian soldiers retiring to sleep behind their network of improvised barricades.

Probing attacks of May 10 to 11

On May 10, Middleton established heavily defended gunpits and conducted a devastating, day-long shelling of the town. Attempted advances, however, were turned back by Métis fire, and no ground was gained. The next day, Middleton gauged the strength of the defenders by dispatching a contingent of men north along the enemy's flank while simultaneously conducting a general advance along the front. Having redirected a portion of their strength to hold the northward flank, the Métis lacked the manpower to oppose the Canadian thrust, ceding ground with little resistance. Canadian soldiers ventured as far as the Batoche cemetery before turning back. Satisfied with his enemies' weakness, Middleton retired to sleep and contended to take the town in the morning.

The storming of Batoche

By May 12, Métis defences were in poor shape. Of the original defenders, three-quarters had either been wounded by artillery fire or scattered and divided in the many clashes with the Canadians on the outskirts of the town. Those that still held their positions were fatigued and desperately short of ammunition. To this effect, some Métis were forced to fire nails and rocks out of their rifles, from their remaining gun powder supplies.

Middleton's attack plan was designed to mirror the success of the previous day's flanking feint, with one column drawing defenders away to the north and a second, under Colonel van Straubenzie, assaulting the town directly. Straubenzie's soldiers performed brilliantly, charging into Batoche in the face of heavy fire and driving the remaining Métis clear of the town.

Aftermath

The Métis defeat at Batoche virtually ended the North-West Rebellion. Louis Riel was captured and hanged for treason in Regina on November 16 while Gabriel Dumont fled to the United States, returning to Batoche only in 1893. Middleton's forces proceeded north to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Following the battle, several Canadian soldiers from Millbrook, Ontario, took the bell from the Batoche church back to Ontario as a prize. The fate of the bell has become an issue of longstanding controversy, involving several Métis organizations and the provincial governments of Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

Legacy

In the spring of 2008, Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Christine Tell proclaimed in Duck lake, that "the 125th commemoration, in 2010, of the 1885 Northwest Resistance is an excellent opportunity to tell the story of the prairie Métis and First Nations peoples' struggle with Government forces and how it has shaped Canada today."^[2]

Batoche, where a Métis Provisional Government had been formed, has been declared a National Historic Site. Batoche marks the site of Gabriel Dumont's grave site, Albert Caron's House, Batoche school, Batoche cemetery, Letendre store, Gabriels river crossing, Gardepy's crossing, Batoche crossing, St. Antoine de Padoue Church, Métis rifle pits, and RNWMP battle camp.^[3][4]

Footnotes

References

• Barkwell, Lawrence.J. Women of the 1885 Resistance. Winnipeg: Louis Riel Institute, 2008.
• Barkwell, Lawrence.J. Veterans and Families of the 1885 Resistance. Winnipeg: Louis Riel Institute, 2008.
• Barkwell, Lawrence J. Batoche 1885: The Militia of the Metis Liberation Movement. Winnipeg: Manitoba Metis Federation, #0-9683493-3-1, [2005].
• Barnholden, Michael. Gabriel Dumont Speaks. Vancouver: Talon Books, 1993.
• Beal, Bob and Rod Mcleod. Prairie Fire: The 1885 North-West Rebellion. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1984.
• Bingamin, Sandra Estlin. "The Trials of the 'White Re-bels', 1885." Saskatchewan History, Vol. 25, 1972: 41-54.
• Boulton, Charles Arkell. Reminiscences of the North-West Rebellions. Toronto: Grip Printing & Publishing Co., 1886.
• Cameron, W. B. "The Half-Breed Rising on the South Sas-katchewan, 1885." Saskatoon: University of Sas-katchewan, Northwest Resistance Database, MSS C550/1/28.1 Part I.3.
• Cameron, W. B. "The Northwest Mounted Rifles." Saska-toon: University of Saskatchewan, Northwest Re-sistance Database, MSS C550/1/28.1 Part I.4.
• Combet, Denis. "Les Mémoires dictés par Gabriel Dumont" et le "Récit de Gabriel Dumont." Ca-heirs franco-Canadiens de l'Ouest, Vol. 14, Nos. 1 et 2, 2002: 105-156.
• Kermoal, Nathalie. "Les roles et les souffrances des femmes métisses lors de la Résistance de 1870 et de la Rébellion de 1885." Prairie Forum, Vol. 19, No. 2, Fall 1993: 153-168
• Lee, David. "The Metis Militant Rebels of 1885." Cana-dian Ethnic Studies, XXI, 3, 1989; 1-19.
• McLean, Don. 1885: Metis Rebellion or Government Con-spiracy? Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute, 1985.
• Mulvaney, Charles Pelham, M.D. The History of the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Toronto: A. H. Hovey & Co., 1885.
• Payment, Diane. Structural and Settlement History of Bato-che Village. Manuscript Report Number 248. Ot-tawa: Parks Canada and Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, 1977.
• __________ "Monsieur Batoche." Saskatchewan History, Vol. 22, No. 3, 1979: 81-103.
• __________ Batoche 1870-1910. St. Boniface, Manitoba: Les Éditions du Blé, 1983.
• __________ Batoche, Saskatchewan 1870-1930: Histoire dune communauté métisse/History of a Métis Community. Ottawa: Parks Canada Manuscript, 1984.
• __________ "The Métis Homeland: Batoche in 1885." NeWest Review, Vol. 10 (9), May 1985.
• __________ "Batoche After 1885, A Society in Transi-tion." In F. Laurie Barron and James B. Waldram (Editors): 1885 and After: Native Society in Transition. Regina: University of Regina, Cana-dian Plains Research Center, 1986: 173-187.
• __________ The Free People – Otispemisiwak. Ottawa: National Historic Parks and Sites, Environment Canada, 1990.
• __________ "'La vie en rose'? Métis Women at Batoche, 1870 to 1920." In Christine Miller and Patricia Chuchryk (Editors): Women of the First Nations: Power, Wisdom and Strength. Winnipeg: Univer-sity of Manitoba Press, 1996, reprinted 1997: 19-37.
• __________ "The Willow Cree of One-Arrow First Nation and the Metis of Batoche 1870 to 1920: An Am-bivalent Relationship." Winnipeg: Parks Canada, Cultural Resource Services, 1997.
• Tolton, Gordon E. Prairie Warships: River Navigation in the Northwest Rebellion. Vancouver: Heritage House, 2007.
• Travis, Ralph. "Prairie General." Military History, vol. 12, No. 6, Issue 125, 1984: 241-249.
• Wiebe, Rudy and Bob Beal (Editors). War in the West: Voices of the 1885 Rebellion. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Ltd., 1985.