Peel Raiders: Their History and Fate

After William Anderson was acquitted for arson in the destruction of the Sir Robert Peel, the American authorities stopped searching for any missing Peel raiders, except Bill Johnston. The uncaptured raiders simply went home or to business as usual. Some of them joined Johnston in the Thousand Islands. A few continued to fight for the Patriots and Hunters against the British in Upper Canada.

Bill Johnston's Peel Raiders Go on Trial

Within days of Bill Johnston's raid on the Sir Robert Peel, American constables arrested 13 of his pirate crew, including three men who never set foot on the ship. Most people in Jefferson County, NY, supported Johnston's men and waited expectantly for their trials to start. The show began on June 23, 1838, at the county court house in Watertown. And what a show!

Bill Johnston: 7. Proclamation of War

Despite having two countries combing the Thousand Islands searching for him after the burning of the Sir Robert Peel, Bill Johnston did not cower in fear nor flee to safer environs. Instead he issued a declaration of war. Picked up by newspapers, his words swept across Canada and the border states, and landed on the desks of Queen Victoria and President Martin Van Buren.

Where is Bill Johnston's Original Letter to Bernard Bagley

William Johnston wrote the following letter in August 1838 while in hiding in the Thousand Islands. He sent it to Bernard Bagley, a prominent lawyer in Jefferson County, NY. In it Johnston proposes to raise an army with funds Bagley provides, then liberate Canada and appoint Bagley to run the country.