A number of separate incursions by the Fenian Brotherhood into Canada were undertaken to bring pressure on the British government to withdraw from Ireland, although none of these raids achieved their aims.

The Dedham, Massachusetts chapter of the Fenian Brotherhood, which had offices in the Norfolk House, hosted a meeting at Temperance Hall in which a raid into Canada was organized.

[7] After the Campobello raid, the "Presidential faction" led by Fenian founders James Stephens and John O'Mahony focused more on fundraising for rebels in Ireland.

The more militant "Senate Faction" led by William R. Roberts believed that even a marginally successful invasion of the Province of Canada or other parts of British North America would provide them with leverage in their efforts.

[8] Key to the plan was a diversionary attack at Fort Erie from Buffalo, New York, meant to draw troops away from Toronto in a feigned strike at the nearby Welland Canal system.

After assembling with other units from Canada and travelling all night, Canadian troops advanced into a well-laid ambush by approximately 600–700 Fenians the next morning north of Ridgeway, a small hamlet west of Fort Erie.

)[12][13] Canadian Militia troops at the Battle of Ridgeway consisted of inexperienced volunteers with no more than basic drill training but armed with Enfield rifled muskets equal to the armaments of the Fenians.

Prior to the formation of the square, confusion had already broken out when a unit of the Queen's Own Rifles mistook three arriving companies from the 13th Battalion (Canadian Militia) for British troops.

[citation needed] Fenian commander Brigadier-General Thomas William Sweeny was arrested by the United States government for violating American neutrality.

[19] Timothy O'Hea was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions he took at Danville, Canada East, on June 9, 1866, at about the time of the Pigeon Hill Raid.

Although only about 23 years old, O'Hea, a private in the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, Prince Consort's Own, of the British Regular Army, stationed in Canada, saw the threat posed by a burning railway car containing a large quantity of ammunition and fought the blaze single-handedly for an hour, saving the lives of many nearby.

Canadian soldiers, acting on information supplied by Thomas Miller Beach, anticipated and turned back the attack at Eccles Hill.

In the Battle of Trout River, Canadians replused a Fenian raid on 27 May 1870 outside of Huntingdon, Quebec, near the international border about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Malone, New York.

In 1871 O'Neill and an odd character named W. B. O’Donoghue asked the Savage Wing Council to undertake another invasion of Canada across the Dakota Territory border.

About 35 men, led by O'Neill, William B. O'Donoghue, and John J. Donnelly, hoped to join forces with Louis Riel's French-Indian Métis.

On October 5, O'Neill's force managed to capture a Hudson's Bay Company post and a Canadian customs house which they believed to be just north of the international border.

Ironically, though they did nothing to advance the cause of Irish independence, the 1866 Fenian raids and the inept efforts of the Canadian Militia to repulse them helped to galvanize support for Confederation in 1867.

Some historians have argued that the affair tipped the final votes of reluctant Maritime provinces in favour of the collective security of nationhood, making Ridgeway the "battle that made Canada.

"[22] Alexander Muir, a Scottish immigrant, author of "The Maple Leaf Forever" and member of the Orange Order, fought at Ridgeway with the Queen's Own Rifles.

This was seen as necessary for survival and self-defence; the raids showed Canadians that safety lay in unity and were an important factor in creating the modern nation-state of Canada.

[19] However, many Americans saw this as retribution against British-Canadian tolerance and aid to the Confederate Secret Service activities in Canada against the Union during the Civil War (such as the Chesapeake Affair and the St. Albans Raid).

The marker is located in the Black Rock neighborhood in Tow Path Park on the west end of Hertel overlooking the Niagara River.