A Square Deal

General Otter’s greatest dilemma was even more dire than the military situation on the ground. He suddenly found that his most basic loyalties were in conflict. If he followed the orders of the Governor General, that represented the empire that he had served with complete devotion for his entire life, then he was dooming the home that he loved to complete destruction. Minto, absent any orders from the Home Office in London, had already decided on a course of action that could only end one way. He wanted to pull the troops back north of the St Lawrence, fortify Canada’s major cities, and make the Americans fight for each one, block by block. Otter knew the military realities and understood that this would only delay the inevitable and leave his nation in such ruins that, in the end, it would not matter who won the campaign. There would be no Canada left to rule.

At some point, as Otter agonized over this matter, he must have thought about the ammunition hoarding by the British Army. He must have considered the commitment of the troops, that were promised Canada, to the Balkan campaign. It is hard to believe that these issues were not in the back of his mind when he contacted Henri Bourassa and began communications with the professional radical. These communications did not come out of nowhere. Bourassa had already been sending Otter any number of notes and hinting at his position and it is testimony to Otter’s desperation that he now considered them a viable option.

Many have used Bourassa’s influence in the anti war movement, the anti imperialist faction, and his communications with the US State Department as evidence that the man was a paid American asset and traitor. This is not true and we know this because, thanks to declassified US State Department records, we now know who the actual spies were. They were a rather mundane married couple, by the name of Lucien and Marie Chartres, who lived in Quebec City, had no known ties to any political factions, and apparently had conned the actual US spies into giving them money for services that they only pretended to render.

This became something of a lucky break, or, at least, it did for the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt. Once he had learned of this alleged independence movement in Quebec, one that was largely the figment of Marie Chartres’ imagination, Theodore began formulating some plans of his own. When it was clear that victory on the Canadian front was within their grasp, and that there was little the Allies could do to reverse the situation, he sent a note to the Chartres’ in Quebec. This was done over the very vocal protests of John Hay and even some of Theodore’s political allies, such as General Bill Shafter.

Theodore would hear none of it because, apparently, he had thought of the same thing that Chamberlin and Wolseley had. He lectured his veteran diplomat and soldier as if they were children and shook his finger at them while explaining in no uncertain terms, “gentlemen, we cannot have the bulk of our forces lying fallow in the great white north, when we have real work to do elsewhere.”

Those words, recorded by Howard Taft, who was present at the meeting, seems to be as far as Roosevelt was willing to go in explaining his plans, or, at least, that was the impression of Taft who had not been privy to other meetings where, apparently, Theodore had no problem explaining, at length, what he wanted done. The basic lack of communications here did not seem to lay with the President who, above all else, loved to talk. If there was a problem with the new US policy it had to lay at the feet of others who simply could not see what Roosevelt was. One might call it a plan ahead of it’s time but, for someone like Roosevelt, there was no such thing. If the history books needed to catch up with the man then he was willing to turn the page.

Lucien Chartres was a bit shocked when he got a communications from his US handlers that was far beyond the scope of anything he had ever seen from them before. He was even more flabbergasted by the fact that they had delivered to him, a letter, that was hand signed by none other than Theodore Roosevelt. Lucien was not even sure he could do as requested since, despite his claims, he did not really know Henri Bourassa. Fortunately for the Chartres’ they did have some idea of how to get in contact with the man and the letter, signed by Roosevelt, was more than enough to quickly get them granted an audience.

When Bourassa was certain that the Chartres letter was authentic, he had all of the pieces he needed to act. While the US spy charges, that were leveled against the man were false, there was also the case of those who accused him of using his influence with the unions. These turned out to not only be correct but, an understatement. We now know that Bourassa had more than just influence, he was actually issuing orders to several unions, one of which represented the dock workers who were threatening to strike in the wake of Kingston. We have no actual documentation that he ordered this particular strike but, the timing certainly makes one wonder.

It did not take long before Otter and Bourassa met in person at Otter’s field headquarters just west of Montreal. Bourassa presented him the letter and even before the francophone said as much, Otter realized that he might be looking at his last way out of the disaster they were facing. He certainly must have had his reservations and for a lot of reasons. He had to wonder if Theodore Roosevelt could deliver on his promises. He also had to wonder if his own government would go along with it. Otter also had to know that no matter what Laurier said, Minto would never agree but, at this point, I think that the Governor General was the least of Otter’s worries.

If General Otter had any reservations about Roosevelt, they were soon laid to rest because, to his shock, the man who met with him under a flag of truce was none other than the President of the United States. Roosevelt, and a small honor guard who were only armed with their colt revolvers, marched out between the lines under a white flag, to meet with the commanding General of Canada’s armed forces. General Otter wore his field khaki’s that did not look so different from those worn by the privates in his army. Roosevelt was dressed in his custom uniform, made by Brooks Brothers, and had been worn during his time in New Mexico. The two men shook hands and Roosevelt requested that they put up a meeting tent and have lunch. Otter agreed.

The basics of Roosevelt’s proposal was very simple. Canada could keep her independence and territory. The British Army of North America would have to surrender and would be interned but, all Canadians would be allowed to stack arms and go home. In return, the United States wanted Canada to renounce all of her treaties with Great Britain. Furthermore, Canada would also be required to form a new government under a new constitution that officially stipulated the nations status as an unarmed neutral.

Needless to say, Otter was not enthused with the deal but, he also knew the alternatives. Given the circumstances they were generous terms but, there were many sticking points that would have to be worked out. He said as much to Roosevelt and, quite possibly, only then did he realize that Roosevelt was not the kind of man to be caught short. Roosevelt already had, in writing, a step by step time table that began with a truce between the armed forces of Canada and United States, starting twenty four hours from the conclusion of their meeting. It is important to note that this truce was only with the Canadian military and the British Army of North America was not included. It also demonstrated exactly how shrewd and talented Roosevelt was.

While Roosevelt promised that Canada’s borders would be respected that was not entirely true. He had built into his time table, a formula for US withdrawal, that was dependent on the various conditions of the truce being met. Naturally, one of these conditions was the surrender of the British Army. If Otter could not make it happen then, as Roosevelt pointed out, the US Army would have to do it and that meant more territory would be occupied for what could, possibly be, a much longer period of time. He did not bother to mention the fact that it would also mean a great deal more physical destruction and, in this case, for a war that Canada was no longer fighting.

Six hours after the end of the meeting, both Otter and Bourassa were back in Ottawa and had a meeting with Laurier and his cabinet. After hearing the American terms, and discussing the matter at length, ultimately Laurier only had a question and not a command. He asked of his General, “can we really make this happen?”

Otter only nodded and replied, “do we really have a choice?”

Laurier never said yes. He simply nodded and said, “then you know what to do.”

At eleven hundred hours, and eleven minutes, on the following day, the guns of Canada fell silent. The same cannot be said for those that belonged to the US Army. An all out attack fell on British lines just south of the St Lawrence Seaway. At the same time, US troops began marching right past their former enemies in other areas and were advancing on Ottawa and Montreal, virtually unopposed. Ironically, the city that started the entire process, Toronto, enjoyed it’s first day of peace in a very long time. US soldiers walked across the former no man’s land and began distributing their rations with those they were trying to kill only the day before.

Soon, shipments of food and medicine would be coming in on the first trains to enter the city in over a year, only, these trains had American flags prominently displayed on them. People had been expecting and dreading this day but, these trains were not filled with American soldiers, they only had relief workers who did nothing more than unload the vital supplies and then leave. The people of Toronto were stunned by this. Not only had their enemies showed an unimaginable kindness but, as the day went on people suddenly began to realize, they had held out. There was no enemy parade coming down their streets. To the people of the formerly besieged city, it was to be marked as a day of to celebrate for some time to come.

The same was not true in Ottawa, Montreal, or Quebec City. Here, some Canadian soldiers had not laid down their arms. This was not in violation of the agreement with the US and, in fact, Otter had notified his new American liaison, General John Pershing, of exactly what was to happen. Pershing actually accompanied Otter to the residence of the Governor General and when Minto saw the American General Officer walking in, side by side with Otter, he knew the day had come. As he would later record, he had just never expected it to happen like this.

Otter informed the man that he was now under house arrest but, that he and his staff would be allowed to return to Great Britain just as soon as transportation could be arranged. He was then told that any soldiers of the Commonwealth, now on Canadian soil, were considered persona non grata and required to surrender their arms to the proper authorities of the new Provisional Government of the Republic of Canada. If Minto was at a loss for words he did not show it. He simply thanked the men for the notification and asked if he could confer with his military counterpart, General Bullers.

With a nod from Otter, Minto retreated to his private study and called Bullers’ headquarters. He was then informed that Bullers had received the same demand from this new ‘provisional government.’ Bullers went on to point out that while they might not take this new government seriously, they could not ignore the Canadian military which had now taken control of the river crossings and ports on the St Lawrence. The simple fact was that the British Army was now without a real supply line and they could not hope to keep fighting for longer than a few more days.

Minto returned to his ‘guests’ and did not bother speaking with Otter. He directly addressed Pershing and told the young man, “so this is it. I recommend a truce as soon as practical and you will have our official surrender as soon as it can be arranged. Will this suit your President Roosevelt?”

The guns stopped firing in less than twelve hours. In under a week, Redvers Buller presented his sword to John Pershing at the home of the Governor General. After this ceremony, Minto had wished to have another, that presented the nation of Canada to the United States but, under orders from Roosevelt, Pershing would not allow any such thing. It was contrary to the new US policy which was aimed at getting out the idea that the US was giving Canada back to the Canadians. No matter how much anyone believed that, it most definitely had an effect on the entire world which would be reeling from the events in Canada for some time to come.

Strangely enough, these events would give no small amount of grief to the man who came up with strategy, Theodore Roosevelt. They would be effecting people in every nation and not just those at war with the United States. The two most prominent examples, probably impacted more than anyone else, were America’s two biggest allies, Russia and France. If Frank Zolhus had aimed to start a revolution, this was it.