Battle of Duck Lake

52°49′27.19″N 106°16′25.98″W / 52.8242194°N 106.2738833°W / 52.8242194; -106.2738833

Battle of Duck Lake
Bataille du lac aux Canards (French)
Part of the North-West Rebellion

This contemporary illustration of the Battle of Duck Lake offers a romanticized depiction of the skirmish.
DateMarch 26, 1885
Location
Duck Lake, south of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Result Métis victory
Belligerents
Provisional Government of Saskatchewan (Métis) Canada
Commanders and leaders
Gabriel Dumont Leif Crozier
Strength
200–250[1] 95[1]
Casualties and losses
5–6 dead[1][2]
3 wounded[1]		 12 dead[1][3]
12 wounded[1][3]
Official nameBattle of Duck Lake National Historic Site of Canada
Designated1924
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The District of Saskatchewan in 1885 (within the black diamonds) included the central section of Saskatchewan and extended into Alberta and Manitoba.
The Métis conflict area is circled in black.

The Battle of Duck Lake (26 March 1885) was an infantry skirmish 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) 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.[4] 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.[5] The battle is considered the initial engagement of the North-West Rebellion.[6] Although Louis Riel proved to be victorious at Duck Lake, the general agreement among historians is that the battle was strategically a disappointment to his cause.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Mulvaney, Charles Pelham (1886). The History of the North-west Rebellion of 1885: Comprising a Full and Impartial Account of the Origin and Progress of the War, Scenes in the Field, the Camp, and the Cabin; Including a History of the Indian Tribes of North-western Canada. Toronto: A.H. Hovey & Co. p. 32. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  2. ^ Barkwell, Lawrence J. (3 March 2010). "Heroes of the 1885 Northwest Resistance. Summary of those Killed". Louis Riel Institute. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  3. ^ a b Panet, Charles Eugène (1886). Report upon the suppression of the rebellion in the North-West Territories and matters in connection therewith, in 1885: Presented to Parliament. Ottawa: Department of Militia and Defence. p. xi. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
  4. ^ Morton (1972), p. 4.
  5. ^ Morton (1972), p. 5.
  6. ^ Barkwell, Lawrence J. (2011). Veterans and Families of the 1885 Northwest Resistance. Saskatoon: Gabriel Dumont Institute. ISBN 978-1-926795-03-4.[page needed]