The "Skedaddle Guards" forced to enlist in the British Army?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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A large number of Michigan men avoided the draft by crossing the Detoit River and staying in Windsor. The British government stated they should leave or all would be forced to enlist in the Britiah Army. Did the British government have the right to do this?

I am not sure they could force the enlistment of Americans. Was there a limit to how long an American could "visit" Canada before they were force to become a British subject?
 
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Conscription /Draft Dodgers forced to be inducted into the Royal Army, don't give two hoots if the Brits had the "right' or not. They ran to Canada, stayed in Canada to avoid service. Well they got served up some hard lessons in Karama huh?
 
A large number of Michigan men avoided the draft by crossing the Detoit River and staying in Windsor. The British government stated they should leave or all would be forced to enlist in the Britiah Army. Did the British government have the right to do this?

I am not sure they could force the enlistment of Americans. Was there a limit to how long an American could "visit" Canada before they were force to become a British subject?
Certainly the British had the right to do so. The US has drafted non citizens in it's military since at least the Civil War more likely since the Colonial militia's. Unless the British and Americans had a treaty that prohibited drafting American citizens who entered British Canada then the American draft dodgers are fair game.
Leftyhunter
 
Good question. Did the British Army have a draft or did the recruit have to take the King's shilling first? I know the Royal Navy used to resort to press gangs to get sailors.
 
Good question. Did the British Army have a draft or did the recruit have to take the King's shilling first? I know the Royal Navy used to resort to press gangs to get sailors.
Per Wiki and our friend @Waterloo50 can confirm this; the first British draft was from 1916 to 1920. The second draft was from 1939 to 1960.
Service in the British Army was not popular during the Revolutionary War so the British had to outsource troops from the various Germanic Principalities. @major bill has not informed us if the British followed through with their request.
Leftyhunter
 
I would have to read the newspaper article to see. The Civil War era Detriot newspapers are indexed and while seeing what newspapers had articles about an event I saw one of the newspapers had an article about the "Skedaddle Guards" being told to leave or get drafted in to the British Army. It may well have only been a threat.
 
This is the index entry from the Detroit Free Press for Oct. 1, 1864.

"Order by Commander in Chief of her Majesty's forces in Canada, commanding all A.ericans in Canada to who have fled the draft to report at once for enrollment in military service of her Majesty's government".
 
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Per Wiki and our friend @Waterloo50 can confirm this; the first British draft was from 1916 to 1920. The second draft was from 1939 to 1960.
Service in the British Army was not popular during the Revolutionary War so the British had to outsource troops from the various Germanic Principalities. @major bill has not informed us if the British followed through with their request.
Leftyhunter
Hi Lefty,
The British government did indeed use the military service act in1916.
A number of recruitment Acts had been used throughout the early 1700s, the acts basically offered a financial bounty for volunteers and it also gave powers to magistrates to press enlistment, considering that poverty was high, there was a constant flow of debtors, thieves and general scum into the ranks of the British army. I think I’m right in saying that the bounty to join the army was about 5 guineas. The British army had never really been keen on impressment but they weren’t beyond using the influence of alcohol and the promise of instant cash to persuade young men to join up. Any drunk young man that accepted the five guineas had unwittingly signed a verbal contract, in some respects the army enlistment was slightly better than the press gangs of the navy, at least with the army a choice was offered, the problem was that recruiters would often discuss enlistment over a few beers and that obviously resulted in a lot of men waking up in the barracks with a hangover and a new career.
 
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A large number of Michigan men avoided the draft by crossing the Detoit River and staying in Windsor. The British government stated they should leave or all would be forced to enlist in the Britiah Army. Did the British government have the right to do this?

I am not sure they could force the enlistment of Americans. Was there a limit to how long an American could "visit" Canada before they were force to become a British subject?
All I want to know is what is a Skeddle Gurad?
 
This is the index entry from the Detroit Free Press for Oct. 1, 1864.

"Order by Commander in Chief of her Majesty's forces in Canada, commanding all A.ericans in Canada to who have fled the draft to report at once for enrollment in military service of her Majesty's government".
Confusion over the term 'enrolment,' I think. From the 1863 Militia Act:
'2. The Militia shall consist of all the male inhabitants of the Province of the age of eighteen years or upwards and under sixty, not exempted or disqualified by law...
'6. The mode of enrolment of the Militia shall in Upper Canada, be as follows, that is to say:- the Assessor or Assessors for each Municipality shall, annually, commencing with the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four... include in their Assessment Roll, the names and residences of all male persons in their respective Municipalities, between the ages of eighteen and sixty years'

They were being warned that they needed to register for potential service in the Canadian militia, not that they were actually being enlisted. There's more details on the numbers enrolled in the Adjutant-General's report for the year 1864.
 
Thanks Waterloo. Was the term greenhorn used back then?

In all the books I don't recall reading about a 5 guineas bounty. That's a lot of money (105 pounds, right?)
 
Thanks Waterloo. Was the term greenhorn used back then?
'Tyrones, fresh-water Souldiers, or new levyed; Greenhorns'; Christopher Irvine, Nomenclature of Scottish History (1682)

In all the books I don't recall reading about a 5 guineas bounty. That's a lot of money (105 pounds, right?)
1 guinea = £1 1s (£1.05). The bounty in 1805 was 12 guineas, and by 1812 it had risen to £23 17s 6d for lifetime service and £18 12s 6d for limited service (7 years). Depending on how you measure inflation, the lifetime service bounty would represent between £1,512 ($1900) and £21,880 ($27,587) in today's currency- which doesn't seem a lot for up to 21 years service, particularly when you deduct the cost of kit and necessaries.
 
All I want to know is what is a Skeddle Gurad?

This was the term the newspapers used for men who crossed the river in to Canada to avoid being drafted or men hired as substitutes who took the money and fled to Canada to avoid service. The men were said to have "skedaddled" to Canada.

The term also loosely applied to men who joined the Army to receive the enlistment bonus and deserted by crossing over the river in to Canada. The hotels in Windsor Canada were full of these men.
 
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This was the term the newspapers used for men who crossed the river in to Canada to avoid being drafted or men hired as substitutes who took the money and fled to Canada to avoid service. The men were said to have "skeddled" to Canada.

The term also loosely applied to men who joined the Army to receive the enlistment bonus and deserted by crossing over the river in to Canada. The hotels in Windsor Canada were full of these men.
I wonder if they meant to say skedaddled?
 
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