# Winnipeg Regiments - North West Rebellion



## Dennis Ruhl (2 Jun 2011)

I suspect the record is screwed up a lot, even by the miltary itself in regimental histories.  If there is someone who really knows, comments would be appreciated.

The was the 90th Battalion, Winnipeg Rifles.  They were at Fish Creek and Batochje and still exist - no debate there.

There was the 92nd Battalion, Winnipeg Light Infantry in the Alberta Field Force.  There shouldn't be much doubt about this.  Strange and Boulton mentioned them at the time.  But the 91st Battalion gets pegged with the name Winnipeg Light Infantry in a lot of cases.  The Royal Winnipeg Rifles claim this one through the Winnipeg Light Infantry.

There was the 91st Battalion with no subtitle other than Infantry.  It served in Southern Saskatchewan although I have seen it get credit for being in the Alberta Field Force.  The 91st is mentioned in the literature of the day.  The Royal Winnipeg Rifles claim this one too.

Then there is the 95th Battalion, Manitoba Grenadiers which are mentioned a lot subsequent to the war but never at the time.  It is credited with being an ancestor of the 12th Manitoba Dragoons but I'm not sure it existed at the time of the rebellion under that name.  I Googled a lot of officers of the 95th Battalion and they were all on the nominal roll of the 91st.  It looks like the 91st morphed into the 95th at some point.

I've wondered about these inconsistencies for a long time.  Anyone know what really happened?


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## George Wallace (2 Jun 2011)

DHH may have the answers for you.  The National Archives probably hold their War Diaries and such, if they were kept.


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## Old Sweat (2 Jun 2011)

The following is taken from Appendix G "The Winnipeg Light Infantry" of my 2010 book _Named by the Enemy: A History of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles_ and the Army Historical Section's _The Regiments and Corps of the Canadian Army_ published in 1964.

Today's Royal Winnipeg Rifles fought at Fish Creek and Batoche.

The original 91st Winnipeg Battalion of Light Infantry served in the Alberta Field Force, seeing action at the Battle of Frenchman's Butte. The unit was disbanded in 1888. There also was a Winnipeg Battalion of Infantry which was formed on 30 March 1885 and served on General Middleton's lines of communications. It was disbanded in 1892.

On 4 January 1889 the 91st Battalion Manitoba Light Infantry was raised with its headquarters at Stoney Mountain and companies at St James, Kildonan, Selkirk, Springfield, Rockwood and Virden. The unit was disbanded on 4 November 1892.

On 1 April 1912 the third light infantry regiment raised in Manitoba was authorized as the 106th Regiment, Winnipeg Light Infantry. On 15 March 1920 it was re-designated The Winnipeg Light Infantry and then became The Winnipeg Light Infantry (M.G.) on 15 December 1936. It lost its M.G. title on 1 April 1946 and on 30 June 1955 was amalgated with the Little Black Devils.

The Winnipeg Grenadiers originated as the 100th Regiment on 1 April 1908. It received its Winnipeg Grenadiers title on 2 May 1910. In comparison the 12th Manitoba Dragoons was formed on 1 July 1903.

Modified to add: the DHH website includes a section on regimental lineages and perpetuation. It is the source of much of the above.


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## Dennis Ruhl (2 Jun 2011)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> The original 91st Winnipeg Battalion of Light Infantry served in the Alberta Field Force, seeing action at the Battle of Frenchman's Butte.
> 
> Modified to add: the DHH website includes a section on regimental lineages and perpetuation. It is the source of much of the above.



That's the problem.  The 92nd Battalion, Winnipeg Light Infantry was in Alberta, so says MGen. Strange and Maj. Boulton writing at the time.  And the 91st was in Saskatchewan, actually Assiniboia.  No-one else seems to agree with the official army history of the Manitoba units.  I suspect there are some fundamental errors.


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## OldSolduer (2 Jun 2011)

Try to contact The Royal Winnipeg Rifles Museum and Archives. They may have the answer.


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## Old Sweat (2 Jun 2011)

Dennis Ruhl said:
			
		

> That's the problem.  The 92nd Battalion, Winnipeg Light Infantry was in Alberta, so says MGen. Strange and Maj. Boulton writing at the time.  And the 91st was in Saskatchewan, actually Assiniboia.  No-one else seems to agree with the official army history of the Manitoba units.  I suspect there are some fundamental errors.


Strange commanded the Alberta Field Force, so his comment is moot. Boulton was with Middleton's column and fought at Fish Creek and Batoche. It could very well be that numbers changed during the campaign. 

It is not a conspiracy to cloud the issue.


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## Old Sweat (2 Jun 2011)

I have got a few books published at the time. Give me some time to look at them.


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## Dennis Ruhl (2 Jun 2011)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> Strange commanded the Alberta Field Force, so his comment is moot. Boulton was with Middleton's column and fought at Fish Creek and Batoche. It could very well be that numbers changed during the campaign.



He would have had dinner every day with LCol. W. Osborne Smith the Commander of the 92nd and not LCol. Thomas Scott commander of the 91st .  

Çhanged numbers?  Thats what I'm wondering about the 91st and 95th.  I've never heard of the 95th yet it shows up in the 12th Manitoba Dragoons history and endless Google hits.


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## Old Sweat (2 Jun 2011)

The two contemporary books I checked both refer to the 92nd with Strange and the 91st with Middleton. (A newer book has the 91st with Strange.) This is in line with the date both units were formed, with the latter on 30 March and the former on 1 Apr. However, that is not how they passed into history, and I suspect that the designation 91st may never have been officially given to Scott's unit. After all, there were a lot more important things to occupy the attention of the Department of Militia and Defence at the time. This may have allowed Smith to take the title. Frankly I don't know. There was more fiddling going on in the department at the time than on a rerun of the complete Don Messer series from the sixties.

Edit to add: the date of the formation date for the 91st is stated in some documents as 1 April 1883, and not 1 April 1885. This may, repeat, may have been done deliberately for a better position on the list of regimental seniorities, or it simply could have been an honest error. 

Wait out on the 95th. There was a regiment formed in Brandon, but other than that, I can't add anything at this time. It seems to me, however, that the Brandon unit postdates the Boer War.


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## Dennis Ruhl (2 Jun 2011)

http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/ol-lo/vol-tom-3/par1/arm-bli/12MD-eng.asp



> North West Rebellion
> 
> The 95th Battalion Manitoba Grenadiers were mobilized for active service on 10 April 1885, when "a Battalion at Winnipeg" was authorized to be formed.12 The battalion served in the Alberta Column of the North West Field Force.13 It was removed from active service on 18 September 1885 and retained on the Non- Permanent Active Militia order of battle.14
> Note:
> ...



Still as confused as ever.


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## Old Sweat (2 Jun 2011)

And what happened to the 93rd and 94th Battalions? Re the 95th, I still can't figure how a battalion formed in Winnipeg could be linked to another unit that was almost 200 kms to the west.

Dennis, have you ever considered another pastime? I admire your tenacity, but I have other issues to wrestle to the ground.


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## Dennis Ruhl (3 Jun 2011)

Old Sweat said:
			
		

> And what happened to the 93rd and 94th Battalions? Re the 95th, I still can't figure how a battalion formed in Winnipeg could be linked to another unit that was almost 200 kms to the west.
> 
> Dennis, have you ever considered another pastime? I admire your tenacity, but I have other issues to wrestle to the ground.



Thanks.  I thought someone might know why the official history of these units looks nothing like the histories I have read.  Another 1885 book that came up is _The Canadian North West_ by Graeme Mercer Adam.  It agrees with Strange and Boulton.  I quit.


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