During the Rebellions of 1837-38 there were no artists at work for the parti patriote, although some reconstructions were produced later by illustrators such as Octave Henri Julien (ca. 1852-1908). The British Army, however, was supplied with officers trained in sketching and they recorded the action from the victor's viewpoint.
At St. Denis, on 23 November, 1837, the Patriotes secured their only victory, but it served to nourish nationalist traditions. A rebel force under Wolfred Nelson successfully beat back an attack by British troops under Colonel Charles Gore. Protected by stone buildings, the defenders were able to repulse Gore's forces who had advanced without artillery.
The situation was different at St. Charles two days later. The Patriotes assembled behind a barricade of logs and frozen mud. The artillery of Lieutenant-Colonel George Weatherall battered down this barrier, while showering the defenders with roundshot and shrapnel; the walls constructed to protect the rebels became a deathtrap and the slaughter was frightful. Clearly the courage of unorganized Patriotes armed with muskets was no match for trained soldiery backed by cannon.
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1818-1861), a captain with the 1st Royal Regiment, witnessed the attack on St. Charles and fought subsequently at St. Eustache. This colour lithograph (17.8 x 26.6 cm) captures the details which Beauclerk's trained eye recorded in his original drawing of the struggle at St. Charles. Note, for example, that the British artillery occupied an undefended hill overlooking the rebel defenses. The artist prepared six views of scenes and actions relating to these events, and in 1840 they were reproduced in Lithographic views of military operations in Canada during the late insurrections.
