HISTORY

Captain James Fitzgibbon

An Irishman, James Fitzgibbon was a well-respected leader, and an enterprising soldier. At one point, he disguised himself as a butter peddler in order to enter and observe an American camp at Stoney Creek. The group of devoted soldiers which he led, called themselves the Bloody Boys or the Green Tigers (accounts differ), and practiced what was considered unconventional warfare at the time.

While most of the American soldiers treated the local British inhabitants well, American raiding parties under the command of Dr. Cyrenius Chapin were dubbed "marauders" and plundered and terrorized the locals. Fitzibbon asked for and received permission to raise 50 men of his choice to mount a guerrilla-style harassing raid on the American forces. The objective was to make their victory painful and convince them it would not be worth the cost. FitzGibbon's men wore grey green uniforms and learned to blend into the woods.

Fitzgibbon rose in the ranks due in part to the attention of his commander, Isaac Brock. Brock is said to have taught Fitzgibbon manners, diction and other forms of refinement, but this may just be storytelling for effect.

It was Fitzgibbon who received Laura Secord's famous message of impending American attack at Beaver Dams. There, he bluffed the Americans into surrender though their force was twice the size of his own. Later, he and his Bloody Boys were prepared to take Black Rock on their own until Lieutenant Colonel Bishop and his troop of 200 men were offered to follow. For his actions, FitzGibbon was made captain of the Glengarry Light Infantry Fencibles.

For the remainder of the war, his efforts primarily lay in reconnaissance and intelligence, though he served during the bloody Battle of Lundy's Lane.