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(South of Montreal, Québec, Canada)
Chambly is located on the Richelieu River.
And the Richelieu was an invasion zone.
The Americans who wanted to go further often travelled on the Richelieu.
For Salaberry, this location was like a cork used to prevent the Americans from going further.
So the militiamen were trained on the spot, and if there was an attack, they were ready to push the Americans back.
This is the first French Canadian regiment.
Salaberry's son was the founder of the regiment,
and he continued the tradition with the same motto and crest of arms.
The motto, Force à superbe Mercy à foible, is the Salaberry family's motto.
So the linkage
is very close at the family level, but also as part of the citizen-soldier tradition.
There was a direct link between the militia and the patriotic forces.
How did the Patriote leaders become leaders, from a military point of view? It was because
they had served in the militia, either in 1812 or after.
Louis-Joseph Papineau, born in 1786, was a young man in 1812. Papineau was there to defend
the French Canadians who needed leadership, not to defend the Empire.
In my opinion, Papineau's passion was the establishment of a democratic system. For
him, the power belonged to the people.
And...
One of Papineau's important qualities was that he was often fighting against the British,
but at the same time, he always had great admiration for the British parliamentary system.
He did have some reluctance... He told the British: "You don't apply the democratic ideal
here that you set up in England. And this was what he was opposed to.
The War of 1812 trained leaders. When we talk about Girouard, Papineau, Nelson, and there
were many others...
So, the political elite of 1837 were often teenagers 18 to 30 years of age during the
War of 1812. They were trained and had lived through a military experience that marked
them for the rest of their careers.