The abortive revolutionary insurrection, inspired by William Lyon Mackenzie, was crushed by British authorities and Canadian volunteer units near John Montgomery's tavern on Yonge Street at Eglinton, north of Toronto.

[5] Many reform candidates lost their seats, and the new Tory-dominated legislature passed legislation that entrenched their power or supported their business enterprises.

[6] When the Lower Canada Rebellion broke out in the fall of 1837, Bond Head sent the British troops stationed in Toronto to help suppress it.

The government forces had 1,200 men and two cannons, and Bond Head ordered that they march towards Montgomery's Tavern at noon on 7 December 1837.

When he saw the poorly equipped militia, he proposed defending their position until reinforcements arrived from the rural areas of Upper Canada.

[15] One hundred and fifty men were posted in the woods approximately a half-mile south of the tavern on the west side of Yonge Street.

During the week of the rebellion I was [in] the Commercial Bank Guard in the house on King Street, afterward the habitat of George Brown’s 'Globe'.

[14] Van Egmond and Lount were captured by British forces; the former died of an illness he received while imprisoned and the latter was hanged for treason.

[21] The site of the tavern is now occupied by a two-storey Art Deco post office designed by Murray Brown and built in 1936.

The building, known as Postal Station K, bears the cypher EviiiR for Edward VIII, who reigned as king for eleven months in 1936.

[citation needed] As of spring 2016, construction is underway to incorporate the former post office building into a new structure that will include retail space and a podium for the 27-storey Montgomery Square luxury rental apartment tower.