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The Wolseley Expedition

The Wolseley Expedition is a Manitoba Heritage Council commemoration in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Manitoba · Bonnycastle Park, Main Street and Assiniboine Avenue, Winnipeg · location approximate

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In 1870, Canada sent a military expedition to the Red River Settlement to oversee the transfer of political control from Louis Riel's Provisional Government. Led by Colonel Garnet Wolseley of the British Army, the force consisted of about 800 workers and voyageurs, 417 British regulars, and 783 Ontario and Quebec militiamen. Denied access to American railways, Colonel Wolseley's contingent required two full months to complete the arduous journey from Thunder Bay to the Winnipeg River. On August 24, 1870, they took command of Upper Fort Garry, which had been vacated recently by Riel and his followers. The presence of Wolseley's volunteers heightened the already strained political, cultural, and religious tensions in Red River society. Many militiamen remained in Manitoba and were followed by other Protestant Ontarians. Their numbers changed the balance of the French and English-speaking population and led to a Manitoba which reflected many of Ontario's social and political structures.

Français

En 1870, le Canada a envoyé un contingent militaire dans la colonie de la rivière Rouge pour surveiller le transfert du pouvoir politique du gouvernement provisoire de Louis Riel. L'expédition, menée par le colonel Garnet Wolseley de l'Armée britannique, était composée d'environ 800 ouvriers et voyageurs, de 417 soldats de la Force régulière et de 783 miliciens de l'Ontario et du Québec. Se voyant refuser l'accès au chemin de fer américain, les troupes du colonel Wolseley ont mis deux mois à terminer le dur voyage entre Thunder Bay et la rivière Winnipeg. Le 24 août 1870, Wolseley prit le commandement du Fort Garry qui venait d'être déserté par Riel et ses hommes. La présence de Wolseley et de ses troupes ajoutait aux tensions religieuses, culturelles et politiques qui existaient déjà au sein de la colonie de la rivière Rouge. De nombreux miliciens sont restés au Manitoba et furent rejoints par d'autres Ontariens protestants. Cela modifia la proportion des populations francophone et anglophone et résulta en un Manitoba qui reflétait un bon nombre des structures sociales et politiques de l'Ontario.

This is the Manitoba Heritage Council’s text as the Historic Resources Branch publishes it. The Branch calls these plaque inscriptions and says they reflect the time they were written; TreeAlive has not compared them with the plaques themselves, so a plaque may read differently. The Branch’s plaque list ↗

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Plaque text and location: Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques, Historic Resources Branch, Government of Manitoba, as the Branch publishes them on its plaque pages. The text is the Manitoba Heritage Council’s text as the Branch publishes it; the pin on this page is ours, worked out from the location the Branch gives and marked approximate. Contains information from the Government of Manitoba, licensed under the OpenMB Information and Data Use License (Manitoba.ca/OpenMB)
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