The Battle of the Windmill was fought in November 1838 in the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion. Loyalist forces of the Upper Canadian government and American troops, aided by the Royal Navy and U.S. Navy, defeated an invasion attempt by a Hunter Patriot para-military unit based in the United States, which had the intention of using the beachhead as a launchpad for further offensives into Canada. Canadian, British, and American troops thwarted the invasion, successfully defending Canadian soil and forced the invaders to surrender. Others still in the U.S. were captured and arrested by U.S. officials.
Contemporary engraving of the Battle of the Windmill as seen from the American shore.
The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada, which started the previous month, that emboldened rebels in Upper Canada to revolt.
Battle of Montgomery's Tavern
Marketplaces like St. Lawrence Market were commonly used public spaces by political unions.
The appointment of Francis Bond Head as the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada was initially warmly greeted, though his administration was later met with controversy.
Democratic cartoon from 1833 showing Jackson destroying the Second Bank of the United States, to the approval of the Uncle Sam like figure to the right, and annoyance of the bank's president, shown as the Devil himself
