Victoria Rifles

The Victoria Rifles of Canada
The cap badge of the Victoria Rifles of Canada
Active	22 January 1862 – 5 March 1965
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Type	Rifle regiment
Role	Infantry
Size	One battalion
Part of	Royal Canadian Infantry Corps
Garrison/HQ	Montreal, Quebec
Nickname(s)	The Vics
Motto(s)	Latin: Pro aris et focis (For the altars and for the hearths)
March	"Huntsmen's Chorus" and Lutzow's Wild Hunt
Battle honours	See battle honours (below)

Not to be confused with Victoria Rifles (Nova Scotia)

The Victoria Rifles of Canada was an infantry regiment of the Canadian Army that originated in Montreal, Quebec, on 22 January 1862, as The 3rd Battalion Volunteer Militia Rifles Canada. The regiment went through several changes of designation throughout its history. It was redesignated as the 3rd Battalion, The Victoria Volunteer Rifles of Montreal on 18 July 1862; as the 3rd Battalion Victoria Rifles of Canada on 5 December 1879; as the 3rd Regiment Victoria Rifles of Canada on 8 May 1900; as The Victoria Rifles of Canada on 29 March 1920; as Victoria Rifles of Canada on 15 November 1934; as the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion, Victoria Rifles of Canada on 7 November 1941; and finally Victoria Rifles of Canada on 1 June 1945. It was reduced to nil strength and transferred to the Supplementary Order of Battle on 5 March 1965.

The battalion was called out on active service during the 1866 Fenian Raids from 8 March to 31 March 1866, and during the 1870 Fenian Raids from 24 May to 24 June 1870.

During the Fenian raids, the Victoria Rifles participated in the Campobello fiasco in Cornwall with other regiments like the Royal Scots. In 1866 several companies from the Victoria Rifles were sent to reinforce defences in St-Jean, Lachine and Cornwall.

The raids of 1870 were the least effective of the Fenian attempts against Canada. The effort four years earlier at Campobello had the most far-reaching effects, as it induced New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to enter Confederation, while operations in Canada East and Canada West brought about a martial spirit similar to that which swept the United States at the outbreak of the Civil War. Because the campaign was of short duration, there was no time for disenchantment. Yet the raids of 1866 were clearly unfinished business, as the Brotherhood declared by warlike preparation.

The Victoria Rifles contributed volunteers for the Canadian Contingents during the Boer War, mainly as part of the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion of The Royal Canadian Regiment.

Between 1885 and 1902, The Rifles were sometimes called upon to help quell civil disruptions in Montreal and Valleyfield.