This summer is full of 1812 battlefields, but tomorrow morning Peter
Vronsky is leading a battlefield tour of the key sites of the historic 1866 battle of Ridgeway, near Niagara Falls.
Peter is the author of the recent Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada (Penguin Books).
As he says:
Fought near the town of Ridgeway, Ontario, on June 2, 1866, the Battle of Ridgeway was Canada’s first modern battle, the first fought in the age of steam power and telegraph. It is the first modern battle led exclusively by Canadian officers and fought entirely by Canadian troops from the Queen’s Own Rifles (QOR) and the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI), currently celebrating their 150th anniversary. No British Army personnel were on the field of battle. Ridgeway was where Canada’s modern military sustained their first nine battlefield deaths, and the site of the last battle fought in Ontario against a foreign invading force crossing from the United States.
Tour goes Saturday, September 8, at 11:00 A.M. The tour will begin in the parking lot of the Ridgeway Battle Cairn Monument on Garrison Road just east of Ridge Road N. and will last approximately 90 minutes walking the perimeter of the battlefield. Everybody, including media, welcome and it is free of charge. For further details and downloadable battlefield maps for the tour please visit www.ridgewaybattle.ca/tour
