Butler's Barracks was the home of

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

military officer

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment *John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American performer *John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), British author and YouTuber *John Butler (born 1954), ...

(1728–1796), in what was then Newark, Upper Canada; present day

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of O ...

. Butler is most famous for leading an irregular military unit known as

Butler's Rangers Butler's Rangers (1777–1784) was a Loyalist provincial military unit of the American Revolutionary War, raised by American loyalist John Butler. Most members of the regiment were Loyalists from upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. Th ...

on the northern frontier during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The original barracks were constructed in 1778 on the banks of the Niagara River, and were torn down during the construction of Fort George in 1800. The building currently referred to as Butler's Barracks was constructed in 1818, and the site at one time was quite extensive, being first used by the Indian Department, and later by the British military. It is one of several military sites in the town along the

Niagara River The Niagara River () is a river that flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the province of Ontario in Canada (on the west) and the state of New York (state), New York in the United States (on the east) ...

: *

Fort George, Ontario Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of ...

Navy Hall Navy Hall is a wooden structure encased within a stone structure that was the site of Upper Canada's (Ontario's) Parliament of Upper Canada, first provincial parliament, from 1792 to 1796. It is a unit of Fort George National Historic Site located ...

Fort Mississauga Fort Mississauga National Historic Site is a fort on the shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort today consists of a box–shaped brick tower and historic star–shaped ear ...

The barracks was one of several buildings in the Commons area of the town: * Commissariat Officer's Quarters and Store (1839) - a -storey house home to the British Commissariat Department * Junior Commissariat Officer's Quarters (1817) - used as Headquarters Staff, a mess or dining facility for officers, and a residence * Commandant's Quarters * Indian Council House (1812?) - became Hospital in 1822 * fuel yard * storehouses * Gunshed (1821) The

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

passed control of the grounds to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

in 1871 and they became the training grounds and home to the 2nd Division of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. From October 1917 to March 1919, the Polish Army trained at Niagara Camp in an area known as

Camp Kosciuszko Camp Kosciuszko is the US V Corps' Forward Operating Station Poznan (FOS Poznan), PolandJohn Vandiver(28 Jul 2022) Polish patriot who aided American Revolution honored in renaming of US post in Poznan/ref> also denoted V Corps Headquarters (Forwar ...

. These men would go on to fight alongside the French Forces in

Haller's Army The Blue Army ( Polish: ''Błękitna Armia''; French: ''Armée bleue''), or Haller's Army, was a Polish military contingent created in France during the latter stages of World War I. The name came from the French-issued blue military uniforms ...

, also known as the Blue Army. After the war the barracks that were constructed at Camp Kosciuszko were used until the 1960s. It is now part of the

Fort George National Historic Site Fort George was a military fortification in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used by the British Army, the Canadian militia, and the United States Armed Forces for a brief period. The fort was mostly destroyed during the War of 1 ...

. The Lincoln and Welland Regimental Museum is located in Butler's Barracks. Exhibits include displays and artifacts from the 18th through the present, and include uniforms, weapons, medals, photographs, regimental band instruments, and other memorabilia.

Bibliography

*P.Valasek, ''Haller's Polish Army in France'' Chicago 2006

References

Butler's Barracks

Butler's Barracks at the Friends of Fort George
{Dead link, date=November 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Military history of Canada Barracks in Canada Buildings and structures in Niagara-on-the-Lake National Historic Sites in Ontario Tourist attractions in the Regional Municipality of Niagara History of the Regional Municipality of Niagara

See also

Bibliography

References