The Fenian Raid - Baseley Family
Added by mmrhowes1 on 2 Sep 2008
A stranger arriving at Woodford and enquiring for Mr. Bethel Baseley would perhaps be greeted with stony looks of astonishment but if he asked for Charlie Baseley or the old veteran, everyone would be able to direct him to the old fashioned rambling cottage in the High St. where an old soldier, who served the Queen on the battlefield well over half a century ago is passing his declining days full of years and honour.
Despite his 83 years Mr. Baseley still has the look of the old soldier, and when I called to interview him recently he rose from his chair in the chimney corner and drew himself up with a military air, his eyes sparkling with the eagerness and enthusiasm of youth as he spoke to me of his years with the Colours.
Mr. Baseley was drafted to Canada in the troopship Himalaya. Soon after they arrived in the Dominion the FINIAN RAID of 1866 broke out and Mr. Baseley's regiment under Colonel Hawley were sent up to cope with it.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Baseley's many officers included a young Lieut. Buller who afterwards rose to fame as Sir Redvers Buller, one of the most tragic figures in the South African campaign - "He was a good soldier and a perfect gentleman" said Mr. Baseley and he added "poor old Buller, they did him in".
After a short campaign the Fenians were driven over the American border, but the next year fighting broke out again. The fighting was of the "tip and run" variety but gradually the soldiers wore the Fenians down when it was discovered from the captures made that they were armed only with rifles having a range of 300 yards wheras the KRR had just previously been served out with the new Schnider rifle which could be sighted up to a mile. Thus the regulars were able to inflict losses on the Fenians without coming under the range of their fire. Gradually they drove them along the coast near the Niagara Falls until they took to their boats. The British troops had them covered with big guns, but they were unable to fire them because the Fenians had entered American territorial waters. A USA gunboat came on the scene, however, and captured the whole lot of them, and the incident was closed.
The operations were conducted by the Canadian Government and Mr. Baseley was high in praise of the way in which they fed and looked after the Troops. The raids however were carried out in the winter months, and the weather was very severe, "enough to starve us, I can tell you" the old veteran remarked.
Two or three years later Mr. Baseley saw service again, this time under Field Marshall Sir Garnet Wolseley in the Red River Expedition against the rebel Louis Riel. Mr. Baseley served 5 years in Canada and his total service with the Colours amounted to 15 years and 1 day.
On leaving the Army, he was placed on the Reserve, and in 1878 was called to the Colours again on the occasion of the Russo-Turkish War, but was not sent out of England.
Thirty years after the Fenian Raid he made application for the medal issued by the Canadian Government, and this was granted to him together with a small pension, which is now merged in his Service Pension.
"When I joined the Army", Mr. Baseley said, "the conditions were different from what they are now, but a soldier's life was not a bad one, and on the whole we had a very good time. The pay was small, 1s 2d a day, and out of that we had to provide our own rations, so we did not have a great deal for ourselves. The rifleman's full dress consisted of black trousers and tunic, with red facings, and 'the old shako', this latter giving place to a forage cap for undress wear. Discipline was very strict and cleanliness was always insisted upon, but I was never crimed in my life".
Mr. Baseley came to Woodford in 1893 and for a little time worked for Messrs. Oliver, the contractors, afterwards being employed in the sand sheds at the Great Central Railway, which position he had to relinquish on reaching the age of 65 years. This did not mean the end of his career, however, for he still tills his allotment - a chain in extent - and does the whole of the work himself.
Additional information about this story
Description Taken from Newspaper interview - In the Armchair -
Date c1924
Attached to Bethuel Baseley (1841 - 1930)
