Battle of Duck Lake
52°49′27.19″N 106°16′25.98″W / 52.8242194°N 106.2738833°W
| Battle of Duck Lake Bataille du lac aux Canards (French) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the North-West Rebellion | |||||||
This contemporary illustration of the Battle of Duck Lake offers a romanticized depiction of the skirmish. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Provisional Government of Saskatchewan (Métis) | Canada | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Gabriel Dumont (WIA) | Leif Crozier | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200–250 | 95 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
5–6 dead 3 wounded |
12 dead 12 wounded | ||||||
| Official name | Battle of Duck Lake National Historic Site of Canada | ||||||
| Designated | 1924 | ||||||
The Métis conflict area is circled in black.
The Battle of Duck Lake was an infantry skirmish on 26 March 1885 between North-West Mounted Police forces of the Government of Canada, and the Métis militia of Louis Riel's newly established Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. The skirmish took place 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) outside Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, and lasted approximately 30 minutes, after which Superintendent Leif Newry Fitzroy Crozier of the NWMP, his forces having endured fierce fire with twelve killed and eleven wounded, called for a general retreat. The battle is considered the initial engagement of the North-West Rebellion. Although Louis Riel proved to be victorious at Duck Lake, the general agreement among historians is that the battle was strategically a disappointment to his cause.