Everything about James Fitzgibbon totally explained
James FitzGibbon (
November 23 1782 –
December 10 1863) was a
British soldier and hero of the
War of 1812.
He enlisted in the
Knight of Glin’s Yeomanry Corps at age 15. Three years later, he joined the Tarbert Infantry Fencibles, an
Irish home service regiment, from which he was recruited into the
British Army's
49th Regiment of Foot as a private soldier. He first fought in battle in 1799 at
Egmond aan Zee, the
Netherlands. He later served as a
marine in the
Battle of Copenhagen, for which he received the
Naval General Service Medal.
He went to
Canada in 1802, by which time he was a
sergeant. He played a key role in the suppression of a near-
mutiny at
Fort George, Ontario. In 1806, when he was the regiment's
Sergeant-Major, his commanding officer,
Isaac Brock, made him an officer. This was extremely unusual at the time as most officers' commissions
were bought. Later the same year he was appointed regimental
adjutant. In 1809, he was promoted
Lieutenant.
FitzGibbon fought at the
Battle of Stoney Creek in June 6 1813. Three weeks later, he led 50 soldiers in
guerrilla-style raids on a large American force that had
captured Fort George on the
Niagara Peninsula. It was he who was warned by
Laura Secord on
June 22 about an impending sneak attack by 500 American troops. This led to the
Battle of Beaver Dams near present day
Thorold, Ontario, where FitzGibbon's force, together with about 400
Mohawk and
Odawa warriors, defeated the Americans and took 462 prisoners. The victory made FitzGibbon a popular hero and he was promoted to
Captain in the Glengarry Light Infantry
Fencibles.
In 1814 he fought at the
Battle of Lundy's Lane. After the war, he remained in
Upper Canada and became a
public servant and a
colonel in the militia.
During the
Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, FitzGibbon was appointed Acting Adjutant-General of Militia. He organised and led the forces that defended
Toronto from
William Lyon Mackenzie's rebel force.
He was a
Freemason. From 1822 to 1826, he was deputy provincial grand master, the highest office in Upper Canada.
He moved to
England in 1847 after the death of his wife Mary Haley,with whom he'd four sons and a daughter. In 1850 he was appointed a
Military Knight of Windsor. He died at
Windsor Castle in 1863 and is buried there in the crypt of
St. George's Chapel.
|-
Link title
|}]], with whom he'd four sons and a daughter. In 1850 he was appointed a
Military Knight of Windsor. He died at
Windsor Castle in 1863 and is buried there in the crypt of
St. George's Chapel.
In 2003 his descendants donated some of his personal effects, including a
signet ring and a ceremonial
sword, to the
Canadian War Museum in
Ottawa.
Further Information
Get more info on 'James Fitzgibbon'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://james_fitzgibbon.totallyexplained.com">James FitzGibbon Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
