In a small picnic area just behind the Municipal Maria building at the corner of Clarence and Bath Streets

Commemoration

At nearby Wellesley Island on the night of May 29-30, 1838, a band of Upper Canadian rebels and their American supporters burned the Canadian steamer "Sir Robert Peel." The attackers, about thirteen in number, were led by William "Bill" Johnston, a former Canadian who had fled to the U.S. during the War of 1812. He became a trader and smuggler and, in 1838, was appointed Commodore of the "Patriot" army. He participated in several attacks upon Canada during the Rebellion and subsequently settled in Clayton, New York, where he became keeper of a lighthouse.

Background

Unlike Lower Canada, the rebels in Upper Canada were quickly routed by British forces and the Family Compact.  A number of them fled to the United States where they encouraged adventurous Americans to join them in desultory attacks on Upper Canada.  None of them amounted to anything significant but the constant threat kept the militia busy in the late 1830s.

Johnston was born to loyalist parents in the American colonies.  In 1812, he was accused of spying for the United States and fled British North America to the States.  There he used his knowledge of the Thousand Islands to spy on the British and attack supply boats.  After the war he, and his family, lived in New York State where he made money as a smuggler. He joined the renegade Canadians and was appointed Admiral of the Eastern Navy, which did not actually exist, by William Lyon Mackenzie.

His attack on the Sir Robert Peel was done in revenge for a British attack on the American ship Caroline in 1837.  His crew was arrested by American authorities but a jury acquitted the first man tried and the rest were released.  Johnston was hunted by both sides.  Later Johnston carried supplies to the attackers at the Battle of the Windmill.  

He later surrendered to American authorities.  He was tried several times but not convicted.  He escaped from jail more than once.  He died peacefully in his son’s hotel in Clayton, NY.