North-West Rebellion

The Battle of Frenchman's Butte, fought on May 28, 1885, occurred when a force of Cree, dug in on a hillside near Frenchman's Butte, was... unsuccessfully attacked by the Alberta Field Force. A band of Cree led by Chief Big Bear, living in what is now central Alberta and Saskatchewan joined the North-West Rebellion of 1885 after the Métis success at the Battle of Duck Lake. The starving band seized food and supplies from several white settlements and captured Fort Pitt, taking prisoners. Major-General Thomas Bland Strange, a retired British officer living near Calgary, raised a force of cowboys and other white settlers, added to them two units of North-West Mounted Police , and headed north. He was reinforced by three infantry units from the east, bringing his forces to some 1,000 men. While he left some of his force to provide protection for the isolated white settlements in the area, he led several hundred troops east to Fort Pitt. The Cree burnt the fort ahead of him and retreated to the nearby hills. Over the next few days, Strange's scouts fought skirmishes with small groups of Cree and marched over Frenchman's Butte.
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The Battle of Duck Lake was an infantry skirmish 2.5 km outside Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, between North-West Mounted Police forces of the... Government of Canada, and the Métis militia of Louis Riel's newly established Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. The skirmish lasted approximately 30 minutes, after which Superintendent Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier of the NWMP, his forces having endured fierce fire with twelve killed and eleven wounded, called for a general retreat. The battle is considered the initial engagement of the North-West Rebellion. Although Louis Riel proved to be victorious at Duck Lake, the general agreement among historians is that the battle was strategically a defeat. On March 19, 1885, Louis Riel self-affirmed the existence of the new Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. Following Riel's declaration, the Canadian government sought to reassert their control over the turbulent territory.
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The Battle of Fish Creek , fought April 24, 1885 at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan, was a major Métis victory over the Canadian forces attempting to... quell Louis Riel's North-West Rebellion. Although the reversal was not decisive enough to alter the ultimate outcome of the conflict, it was convincing enough to persuade Major General Frederick Middleton to temporarily halt his advance on Batoche, where the Métis would later make their final stand. Middleton, having led his considerable Field Force out from Fort Qu'Appelle on April 10, was advancing upstream from Clarke's Crossing along the South Saskatchewan River when he discovered a hastily-organized ambush by Gabriel Dumont's Métis / Dakota force. On April 23, as the militia began advancing from Clarke’s Crossing, Dumont took 200 men and rode out from Batoche toward Tourond’s Coulée. Louis Riel accompanied them. When a report arrived that the North-West Mounted Police were advancing on Batoche, Riel returned there with 50 men. Dumont stationed most of his men in the coulée, where they set to work digging rifle pits.
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The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle of the North-West Rebellion. Fought from 9 May to 12 May 1885 at the ad hoc Provisional Government of... Saskatchewan capital of Batoche, the greater numbers and superior firepower of Middleton's force could not be successfully countered by the Métis , and the town was eventually captured. The defeat of the Métis led to the surrender of Louis Riel on 15 May and the collapse of the Provisional Government. In the weeks that followed, Poundmaker would surrender and only the Cree under Big Bear would continue to engage Canadian authorities – see Battle of Frenchman's Butte and Battle of Loon Lake. Conscious of the numerous reverses that had been suffered by government forces in previous clashes with the rebels , Middleton approached Batoche with caution, reaching Gabriel's Crossing on 7 May and advancing within eight miles of the town the following day.
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