Halifax Volunteer Battalion

Not to be confused with Halifax Provisional Battalion

The Halifax Volunteer Battalion (1860–1868) included six companies that were raised in present-day Halifax Regional Municipality. The six companies included the Scottish Rifles, Chebucto Grays, Mayflower Rifles, Halifax Rifles, Irish Volunteers and Dartmouth Rifles which were all raised in the fall of 1859. The upper ranks of the battalion was made up of distinguished people from the community filling the ranks of officers. The battalion served ceremonial functions, raised money for charities as well as defended the city against possible military threat during the Fenian Raids.

The present-day The Halifax Rifles (RCAC) descended from the 63rd regiment of the Halifax Volunteer Battalion.

In the wake of the Crimean War (1853–1856), there developed a Volunteer Force in Britain. As part of this movement, in Nova Scotia, thirty-two Volunteer companies were raised in the Province, with a total strength of two thousand three hundred and forty-one. In Halifax there were eleven companies with a total strength of eight hundred and sixty-eight men.

From the outset there was an inclination exhibited to organize by nationalities, and in December 1859, English, Scotch, Black and Irish companies were formed, each keeping its particular national character. The First Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, Montreal, organized November 17, 1859, and the 2nd Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada, Toronto, organized 26 April 1860. Eighteen days later, the Halifax Volunteer Battalion was raised – the third battalion to be raised in all of British North America.

On May 14, 1860, six of the eleven volunteer companies qualified to form the Halifax Volunteer Battalion. Sir William Fenwick Williams, a Nova Scotian hero of the Crimean War, was requested to accept the position of honorary colonel. Capt. William Chearnley of the Chebucto Greys was appointed commander of the whole battalion. (Colonel Chearnley came to be considered the father of the regiment and retired in 1871. When he died he was given a military burial by the battalion.)

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Wikipedia