In 1858, James Stephens, Thomas Clarke, John O'leary and Charles Kickham founded the “Irish Republican Brotherhood” in Dublin (IRB , in Gaelic ) as a secret organization that was supposed to fight the British occupation and mobilize the Irish to make Ireland independent. At the same time, an American branch of the IRB was created in the US under the name "Fenian Brotherhood" (and its Fenian members ) with John Mahony at the head, which, initially, had to raise funds in America among the large Irish colony for the independence cause.
The American branch showed its own personality and decided to act on its own by attacking the part of Canada (British Columbia ) controlled by the British. In 1866, the Fenian Brotherhood passed a resolution to raise funds to raise an army. Although the normal thing would have been to keep the plan secret, the American press itself echoed the news but, in no way, was it taken seriously. The recruitment was not as successful as expected – remember that the Civil War had ended a year earlier – and they could only muster an army of 7,000 men under the command of John O'Neill (former Confederate Army officer like many of the Fenians).
Fenians versus Canadians
On May 31, 1866, Commander O'Neill, along with 800 Fenians, crossed the Niagara River and arrived in Canada. They defeated a small Canadian volunteer army and took the small town of Fort Eire where they raised the green Fenian flag. Seeing that things were serious, the American president, Andrew Johnson , sent his best generals, Ulysses S. Grant and George Meade , whose first mission was to retain the rest of the forces on American soil and cut off the supply routes. Surrounded and unable to receive reinforcements, the Fenians withdrew and O'Neill was arrested.
It was a madness of some "enlightened" that, however, served to accelerate the beginning of unification with the creation of the Canadian Confederation (1867).
Sources:Canadian Genealoy, Great Episodes in History – Joseph Cummins
Image:Encore Editions