Julia Defield - Women in Laura Secord's World


Julia Defield is renowned for her heroism in saving British military commander Captain James Fitzgibbon from marauding American soldiers who had invaded her home.

Julia's friend Jane Kirby was walking along a trail near the Falls, on her way to the Defield's house on the Portage Road, near Lundy's Lane – which also happened to be an inn.

When she was almost there, she saw two Americans arrive on horseback, dismount, and go inside.

It just happened that the British Lieutenant, James Fitzgibbon, was scouting the land that day.

And from where Jane was, she could see them all.

She ran to Fitzgibbon, waving her handkerchief, warning him away, telling him about the Americans.

But instead of leaving, Fitzgibbon charged the Defield house.

Inside he fought with the Americans while Julia watched in horror, her child in her arms.

Fitzgibbon was losing the fight, and would have been sliced through, if Julia had not kicked the American's sword right out of his hand. And throwing her child to the floor, she fought with him, wrenching the sword away.

Fitzgibbon was able to take both Americans prisoners, and drove them out minutes before the rest of their own men arrived at the inn.

Jane, Julia - and her child - survived the battle, and Julia even managed to hide the sword.

Historical Accounts of the Fitzgibbon incident

In 1894, Mary Fitzgibbon, daughter of Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, published a biography of her father which included, in one of the appendices, an account of the interaction between her father and the American soldiers at Defield's Inn.

It read,

"...Lieut. FitzGibbon went in pursuit of forty-six vagabonds, volunteer cavalry, brought over by a Dr. Chapin from Buffalo, and who had been for some tine plundering the inhabitants round Fort Erie and Chippewa; he came near to them at Lundy's Lane. about a mile below the Falls, but discovered that they had been joined by 150 infantry. As his force. was but forty-four muskets, he did not think it advisable to attack, and therefore his party was kept concealed.

"He, however, rode into the village at the ending of the Lane, dressed in grey, to reconnoitre, but could not perceive the enemy. Mrs. Kirby, who knew him, ran out, and begged him to ride off, for that some of the enemy's troops were in a house at a short distance. He saw a horse at a door, and supposing that there were none but his rider in the house, he dismounted and approached it, when an infantry soldier advanced and presented his piece at him. He made a spring at him, seized his musket, and desired him to surrender, but the American resisted and held fast. At this instant a rifleman jumped from the door with his rifle presented at FitzGibbon's shoulder, who was so near to, him that he seized the rifle below the muzzle and pulled it under his arm, keeping its muzzle before him and that of the other musket behind him. In this situation, Lieut. FitzGibbon called upon two men who were looking on, to assist him in disarming the two Americans, but they would not interfere. Poor Mrs. Kirby, apparently distracted, used her influence, but in vain. The rifleman,finding he could not disengage his piece, drew FitzGibbon's own sword out of its
scabbard witih his left hand, with the intention of striking at him, when another woman, a Mrs. Defield, seized the uplifted arm, and wrestead the sword from his grasp. At this moment an elderly man named Johnston came up and forced the American from his hold of the rifle, and Lieut. FitzGibbon immediately laid the other soldier prostrate. A young boy of thirteen years, a son of Dr. Fleming, was very useful in the struggle, which lasted some minutes. Lieut.FitzGibbon, thus relieved, lost not a moment in carrying off his two prisoners and the horse, as the enemy's force was within two hundred yards of him, searching a house round a turn in the road."

- Mary FitzGibbon, 1894. A Veteran of 1812:
The Life of James Fitzgibbon,
pp. 315-316


In 1923, Ernest Green published 'Lincoln at Bay: A Sketch of 1814'. In it, he recounted the following version of Julia Defield's heroics (pp. 27-29) (he spells her surname 'Duffield'):

" 'Twas last June," said he. "Chapin's gang was ridin' up an' down the Portage every day, plunderin' an' takin' prisoners an' scarin' women and young 'uns so that they was afraid t' stay in the houses, and if they heard the Yankees was comin' they run an' hid in the bush.
The only thing th' Yankees was skeered of was FitzGibbon 's bloody boys and Merritt's men, and they was so bold and moved so fast that the Yanks thought they wus half a dozen times as many as they really was.

'They used to ride at night right into the Yankee lines an' catch spies and sometimes they'd catch a Yankee, too. One time they had the planks off'n Chipway bridge and would 'a' bagged Chapin's whole gang only a lot of Yankee regulars come up and druv 'em away. Two or three times they ambushed th' Yankees right on the road below here and shot some of 'em.

"Of course the Yanks and our men wus both pretty roiled and some cruel things was done. Why, one day Fitz come ridin' down the Lane with his green coat on and some uv the neighbors that had been, scared into th' bush by Chapin's men thought Fitz was a Yankee an' near shot him afore they seed who he wus.

"This time you're talkin' about, Fitz come out from DeCou's, along the Lane, looking for Chapin. He left his men t'other side th' hill and come down here alone fer news. Chapin had just passed up and two of his men had stayed over there at Duffield's. Mrs. Kerby seen Fitz comin' and tried t' sign him t' go back, but he didn't know what she meant an/ come on down.

"He went right into Duffield's and there wus one of the Yankee soldiers. Th' Yankee pointed his gun at Fitz but Fitz said, 'Hello' and went up as if he wus goin' t' shake hands. The soldier wasn't sure what Fitz wus, 'count of his green coat, so he didn't shoot and when Fitz got clost enough he grabbed th' gun under his arm an' tried to pull it away from the Yank. The Yankee yelled an' another o' them come runnin' in from the back. He was goin' t' shoot Fitz, but Fitz jumped back and grabbed that un's gun, too, and got it under his arm with the other.

"If Fitz wasn't so big an' strong, he wouldn't 'a' had no chance against the two of 'em, but he held on fer all he was worth and neither Yankee could get his gun away. Neither dared shoot, for Fitz had a gun pointin' each way and if one fired he'd hit t'other.

"So they went rasslin' 'round th' place, pullin' an' pushin' an' shoutin' an' cussin', an' upsettin' things until they got opposite th' door an' all of them went out into the yard.

"A lot of women an' children an' old men come around, but they wasn't strong enough t' help Fitz much . Doctor Fleming's boy threw stones at the Yankees, but didn't do no good.

"Then one uv th' Yanks saw Fitz's sword and got hold of it an' pulled it out with his left hand and wus goin' t' stick Fitz with it, but Mrs. Duffield was standin' on the steps with her babby in her arms an' she kicked it outen his hand. He managed t' pick it up again and then she put th' young 'un on the ground, grabbed th' sword away from the Yank an' run in the house with it.

"Then Duffield an' old man Johnson came along and went t' help Fitz. They held one uv the Yankees and Fitz soon put th' other one down. Both uv them was tied an' Fitz druv 'em ahead of him over the hill. They'd just got out o' sight, when Chapin and his men came back. Fitz says he's goin' to get a bounty for Mrs. Dufield."

FitzGibbon, Mary Agnes. 1894. A Veteran of 1812: The Life of James FitzGibbon.Toronto: WIlliam Briggs. 336 pages plus Appendices and Errata. Electronic version available online through Google Books.

Green, Ernest. 1923. Lincoln at Bay: A Sketch of 1814. Tribune-Telegraph Press, Welland, Ont. 88 pp. Electronic version available through the Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/lincolnatbayske00gree

MacKenzie, Ruth. 1996. James Fitzgibbon: Defender of Upper Canada. P. 33. Preview on Google Books here. Available from Dundurn Press in print or eBook form, at https://www.dundurn.com/books/james-fitzgibbon.

Powell, Kathleen. 2009. Daring arrest near the Lane. Niagara Falls Review. http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2009/06/19/daring...

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