The unit's original purpose was twofold: to provide assistance and support to the local law enforcement authorities of the time as well as to provide a first line of defense for the city in the event that the fighting in Canada's Rebellions of 1837 spilled over the border and into the United States resulting in a third war with the United Kingdom in less than a century.
In 1838 the hospital cared for its first patients, twenty wounded Americans taken prisoner in the Battle of the Windmill during the Rebellion of 1837.
While in Canada, he studied law, but was banished from Canada for participating in the Rebellions of 1837.
1837 in literature | Rebellions of 1837 | Panic of 1837 | List of revolutions and rebellions | James Burton (1761–1837) | Civil List Act 1837 | 1837 in music | Piracy Act 1837 | Desmond Rebellions |
Colonel Walter O'Hara (ca. 1789 – 13 January 1874) was a prominent member of the British army in the 19th century, participating in battles fighting Napoleon, before immigrating to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he participated in the Rebellions of 1837 on the side of the government, defeating the rebels of William Lyon Mackenzie.