The Ridgeway Nine Memorial was unveiled during the 150th Anniversary events of the Battle of Ridgeway by the Fort Erie Museum Association, and made possible by donations from The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Association, Bertie Historical Society, and Fort Erie Museum Services. The statue honours the nine brave volunteers who fell at Lime Ridge on June 2, 1866, while defending the Niagara frontier against Fenians.
The Battle of Ridgeway, also known as the Battle of Lime Ridge or Limestone Ridge, was fought near the village of Ridgeway and the town of Fort Erie in present-day Ontario. The morning of June 2, 1866, was the first modern industrial-era battle fought and led by Canadian troops and Canadian officers. Around 850 Canadian soldiers fought with 750 to 800 Irish-American Fenian insurgents who had invaded Canada near Fort Erie in the hopes of holding Canada ransom for Irish independence. Between 1866 and 1871, this group raided Canadian territory from New Brunswick to Manitoba.
Nine Canadian soldiers were killed in action. Thirty-three men were wounded, some severely enough to require amputation of their limbs. Four more Canadian militia volunteers eventually died in the months following the battle, either of wounds sustained or of disease contracted at Ridgeway.
