Point of Interest
Winter March of the 104th Regiment
Street Address: 575 Queen St, Fredericton, NB
Two markers commemorate the remarkable winter march of the 104th Regiment during the War of 1812. The first is a Historic Sites and Monument Board of Canada plaque on the wall of the Soldiers’ Barracks facing Queen Street and the second is a monument funded by John Irving of the Commercial Properties Ltd and unveiled in December 2014 at the entrance to Officers’ Square off Queen Street. Late in 1812 the British detected a major build up of American troops, naval ships, and supplies at Sackets Harbor, New York. The British feared that the Americans would invade Upper Canada before the ice had left the St Lawrence River and reinforcements could arrive. A desperate gamble was taken by stripping New Brunswick of its only British regular infantry regiment and marching it overland to Upper Canada in the dead of winter. On 16 February 1813, the first of six of the 104th Regiment’s ten companies, consisting of approximately twenty officers and 550 men left Fredericton on snowshoes pulling toboggans. On 15 March, the regiment arrived in Quebec City and, after a short period of rest, continued on to Kingston, Ontario. They marched in harsh winter weather some 1,100 km for an average of 54 days, arriving in time to participate in an assault on the key American naval base at Sackets Harbor. Considering the distance involved and the trying conditions, this trek by the 104th Regiment during the War of 1812 was an amazing feat of endurance.
Map of the March.
Memorial Plaque at Officers Square, Fredericton
