by John C. Carter, special to The Observer
Headlines in the July 10, 1838 edition of the Sandwich Western Herald said it all: “Piratical Doings on the River St. Clair.” Editor Henry Grant vividly described an attack made upon Sombra on June 28 by what he called “Pirates-Rebels.” This was one of at least 13 incursions into Canada from the United States made between December 1837 and December 1838 by members of the Patriot Army. Four of these incursions constituted the St. Clair Raids.
With William Lyon Mackenzie’s initial rebellion put down in December 1837, many rebels fled to adjoining border states, including Michigan. There American sympathizers augmented numbers and banded together to renew efforts to “liberate” Upper Canada from British rule and “tyranny.”
Attacks along the Detroit River at Bois Blanc Island, Amherstburg and Fighting Island and the invasion and Battle of Pelee Island by rebel forces, heightened concern about more unrest in the Western District of Upper Canada early in 1838. Editor Grant pointed out that for some time past there has existed a suspicion that the Patriots “were hatching mischief in Michigan.” He added that “scoundrels were skulking about the villages of Newport, Palmer and Port Huron.” Their goal he believed was to effect a landing on the Canadian side of the St. Clair River.
The first alarm of impending difficulties occurred on June 22. It resulted in the Moore Militia being called out, but no rebel action resulted. Actual incursions would happen a week later. On the morning of June 28, a sloop belonging to Charles (Bourman) Bowerman landed an armed party at Sombra near the general store kept by Claude Gouin. Stock was plundered and the raiders proceeded to the commissariat under charge of Captain McDonald. Here they stole 8 barrels of flour and 15 bushels of oats. Captain McDonald and local tanner Angus McDonald were taken prisoner. With the booty and captives stowed aboard the sloop, the Patriots sailed back to the American side, dropping anchor close to Palmer, Michigan.
United States Deputy Marshal Cornwall crossed the river from Palmer to Sutherland’s Landing. His mission was to assure the commander of the Moore Militia, Lieutenant Colonel William Wright, that he would do all he could to preserve the peace and to maintain neutrality. Cornwall revealed to Canadian authorities that the American steamer General Gratoit would soon arrive from Detroit. It would be pressed into service to capture the rogue schooner and take the invaders into custody. In the mean- time, 17 Moore Militia volunteers and seven Chippewa warriors from St. Clair Rapids Reserve seized four log canoes and pursued the rebels. Shots were fired and the rebels ran their vessel ashore near the Reemer farm. An international crisis was diffused when Captain John Clarke chased 17 Patriots into the nearby woods. He then negotiated with Captain William Gurd and his native and militia contingent to return to the Canadian side, without further incident. The stolen goods were returned to their rightful owners, the McDonalds freed, and the sloop was hitched to the General Gratoit and towed back to Detroit. The potential for war between England and United States had been narrowly averted.
Letters written by area magistrates to Canadian officials on June 27 indicated that another group of rebels had landed at Nugent’s Inn about 2 miles above Babys Point. Here they hoisted a liberty pole and a tri-coloured flag, then awaited further orders. The Patriots had been ferried across the St. Clair River aboard the U.S. steamer Macomb. Local observers reported that up to 300 pirates had landed, and that 400 more were expected to cross in small boats and canoes. In a subsequent report issued by Upper Canada’s Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur, this number was significantly reduced to less than 100. The Moore Militia marched to Nugent’s Inn and arrested six men. Those incarcerated included Horace Cooley who had previously been in prison on a charge of carrying messages between the Patriots in Michigan and discontented residents of Upper Canada.
During the late evening on June 28, four rebels invaded the house of Mr. Lick on Bear Creek near the entrance of the Thames River. They shot Captain William (Carrie) Kerry of the Kent Militia to death before making good their escape. This unfortunate event was recorded in the New Fairfield diary of Moraviantown missionary Abraham Luckenbach. He noted that the original number of insurgents was estimated at between five and six hundred. After closer investigation the number proved to be no more than fifty. Luckenbach wrote that this incident and rumours of Patriot incursions “made all the inhabitants in our area uneasy.” He concluded however, that the Upper Canadian government “had the upper hand more and more every day, and protected us from inner turmoil.”
The fourth incursion originating along the St. Clair River had begun in Palmer on the evening of June 26. There American Patriot John S. Vreeland commanded a band of some 30 rebels aboard a stolen schooner. Their destination was Goderich, U.C. In a June 30 report from Detroit, a correspondent for the New York Courier & Enquirer wrote that the invaders “plundered the stores of everything valuable.” Lieutenant Colonel Richard Bonnycastle, Acting Commandant at Fort Henry, recorded that the Patriots had “extended their plunder, however, as far as the Goderich frontier in a sloop, which was taken possession of, after the pirates had escaped by the U.S. steamer Gratoit.” American authorities had been alerted, and the Gratoit went in pursuit of the invaders. After a long chase the Gratoit closed upon the rebel vessel in American waters. Those aboard the vessel were armed, but instead of fighting back they chose to ground it and with the exception of one brigand, all escaped.
In the aftermath of the St. Clair Raids, 11 captured Patriots were eventually tried before the Court of the King’s Bench in Sandwich, U.C. Charles Bowerman and Horace Cooley were found guilty of burglary and sentenced to hang. Their executions were later commuted and only Cooley was transported to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. He was accompanied by 92 Patriot colleagues sent there as political prisoners for their involvement in the rebellion. After an escape attempt, Cooley was delivered as a second offender to the notorious prison at Port Arthur. On receiving his pardon he remained in Tasmania, never to return to his home in London, U.C.