| Although badly battered this slightly tinted image of a Canadian militiaman dates from after Garnet Wolseley's Red River Campaign of 1869-70 and the Riel Rebellion of 1885. This soldier wears the Canadian version of the British 1877-81 pattern tunic which continued to be worn in Canada long after it was superseded by the 1881 pattern tunic in the regular British forces. He is armed with what most likely is a Snider-Enfield single shot breech loader and his pack can be seen on the floor to the left of the rifle's butt. While the Snider had long been replaced by the Martini-Henry in the British army by the time of Louis Riel's 1885 uprising it was still in front line use by the Canadian militia. 1/6 Plate Tintype or Ferrotype Unknown Photographer Canada c. 1880 |
