The medals won by Lachlan, Third of Glentruim were as follows:-- * The Fenian Raid was an armed invasion of Canada by the Fenian Brotherhood -- a group of Irish patriots who had served in the Union army during the US Civil War. In May 1866 some 700 Fenians crossed the Niagara River near Buffalo, New York to invade the British province of Canada West and hold it for ransom until the British Government granted freedom to Ireland. The Fenians were defeated by British Army forces after they spent twenty-two days of skirmishing with Canadian militia units in a limited area. A second Fenian Raid took place in May 1870 where the invaders sought to seize Montreal with the same objective and met with similar failure after one day.
Some may wonder why the US Government would allow an armed invasion force to operate within its territory when it was presumably at peace with the United Kingdom. Perhaps it had something to do with the British Government allowing a band of Confederate States Army raiders to enter the US from Canada in 1864, seize the town of St Albans, Vermont, steal $220,000 from the bank there and return to Canada.