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On
May 4, 1793, The Loyal Company of Artillery, was formed by Captain John
Colville, a member of Saint John’s first
Common Council. The Loyal Company of Artillery was formed in response to
France’s declaration of war against
Britain on February 1st,
1793.
3rd Field Artillery
Regiment was authorized on 28 May 1869 as the ‘New Brunswick Brigade of
Garrison Artillery’, but
traces its direct roots to The Loyal Company of Artillery. As the third
oldest artillery regiment in the British Commonwealth,
3rd Field
Artillery Regiment RCA (The Loyal Company) follows England’s Royal
Regiment of Artillery
and The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of London in length of
continuous service.
The
original regiment was composed of three companies: Dorchester Company,
named after Lord Dorchester and
based in Lower Cove; Carleton Company, based in the Market Building in
Saint John; and the Fort Howe Company.
The
regiment provided troops during the War of 1812 and the Fenian Raid of
1866. More recently, members of 3rd
Field
Artillery Regiment have served in the First and Second World Wars, as well
as in Korean and on numerous United
Nations peacekeeping duties.
The
regiment has won the Commandants Challenge Cup, presented to the mot
outstanding militia artillery regiment in
Canada, on numerous occasions. The unit was the first to win this award in
four consecutive years between 1973 and
1977, a record unprecedented in Canadian gunner history.
3rd
Field Artillery Regiment RCA was the first military unit in the City of
Saint John to receive the Freedom of
the City in 1969.
Unique
to an artillery regiment, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment RCA has it’s own
regimental colors and Queen’s colors.
The unit colors were presented by the Ladies of the City of Saint John and
were laid in the Garrison Church,
St. John’s Stone Church, St. Mark’s Parish, on September 13th,
1925 on the occasion of the Church’s 100th
Anniversary. The colors may
be seen in the church today.
The
regiment fires a 21-gun salute annually on May 18 (Loyalist Day). This is
the only salute authorized other than the
normal general artillery salutes. The unit gained this distinction by
using left over powder from previous salutes until
the salute was officially recognized. The occasion of this salute honors
Canada’s oldest continuous serving artillery
regiment and its parent city as well as its Loyalist tradition.
Today,
3rd Field Artillery Regiment has two batteries, 115 Battery in Saint John
and 89th Battery in
Woodstock, New
Brunswick. The Regimental Headquarters and Band are also located in Saint
John. |
