War declared in Ridgeway

Fenian poster paint 'terrible depiction,' critics say

If it’s war the Ridgeway BIA wants, it’s war it will get.

Rick Doan, a former Greater For t Erie Museum board member, isn’t about to throw up the white flag during a battle.

“We will continue this fight on the second Battle of Ridgeway,” he said near the spot where almost 150 years ago British Canadian soldiers attempted to hold their ground during the Fenian raids.

This time, however, the invasion isn’t the Fenians themselves, but depictions of them.

Banners dedicated to showing off Ridgeway’s history now hang from streetlights in the downtown area. Eleven of them show members of the Fenian Brotherhood, clad in green, standing over three slain British or Canadian red coats and one appearing to be begging for mercy. Fenians were IrishAmericans who wanted to invade Canada from the U. S., in the 1860s and trade it with Britain for Irish independence. Many of them were veterans of the U.S. Civil War, which had just ended, and were experienced warriors.

“It’s a terrible depiction. It’s just not right and isn’t suitable for hanging down there,” said Doan.

Not only is it an “awful scene” but it’s not historically accurate, said Doan, as battles would have been fought over distances, not up close, and that the British Canadian soldiers held off the invasion.

Ridgeway BIA chairman Derrick Dea has a different opinion.

“We won the war, but we lost the Battle of Ridgeway,” he said. “That was the only battle we lost, and that is why we picked the image. It is the one most relevant.”

The image comes from the book Ridgeway: The American Fenian Invasion and the 1866 Battle That Made Canada, and Dea said the author, Peter Vronsky, was one of the many historians contacted for input.

“There was a lot of deliberation with the BIA on what images to use. It wasn’t like we just jumped at it and did it,” said Dea.

Doan and about a dozen protesters could be seen two weekends ago, marching down Ridge Rd. with guns in hand.

Not lethal weaponry, though, like the first Battle of Ridgeway featured.

But water guns, with the words “Fenian Flushers” portrayed as their accompanying name.

“We went up and down shooting all the Fenian flags with water,” said Doan. “We made sure people saw our protest of the signs because they won’t take them down.”

Dea said he’s not afraid of the retaliation.

“The banners are staying, there’s no question about that. We aren’t changing history for anybody.”

Other banners in the series show the Point Abino Lighthouse, the train station and the Ridgeway Bertie Township Hall.

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