The Confrontation at Montgomery's Tavern, also known as the Bar Fight on Yonge Street and possibly The Yonge Street Rebellion of 1837, is the name given to an incident occurring during the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837.
When the Patriotes Rebellion broke out in the Fall of 1837, Sir Francis Bond Head sent the British troops stationed in Toronto to help suppress it. With the regular troops gone, William Lyon Mackenzie and his followers seized a Toronto armoury, and organized an armed march down Yonge Street, beginning at Montgomery's Tavern on December 4, 1837.
Colonel Robert Moodie. along with six other loyalists, attempted to ride through the rebel roadblock to warn Governor Bond Head in Toronto. Moodie fired his pistol, apparently in an attempt to clear the way. A number of the rebels returned fire, killing him.
On the same day, December 5, Mackenzie's approximately 500 rebels marched upon Toronto's city hall, in an effort to seize the arms and ammunition that were stored there. They were met by a truce party, to whom Mackenzie explained the rebels' demands.
Later that afternoon, Mackenzie led his troops farther down Yonge Street towards the city, where they met a party of 20 loyalist volunteers. In less than half an hour the confrontation was over. The front rank of Mackenzie's men fired, then dropped to the ground to let the next rank fire over their heads. Those behind thought the men in front had been killed, and fled in panic, with a number of dead and wounded.
That night, reinforcements for the loyalists arrived from Hamilton. By the next day, December 7, they forces were 1500 strong. They marched up Yonge Street and attacked Mackenzie's force at Montgomery's Tavern. During the second "battle" the rebels were routed within half an hour. Loyalist forces then looted the tavern and burned it to the ground, before marching back to Toronto.
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