later the War of 1812. Border wars between Mexico and the United States in the 1830s increased this antagonism. Mexican general Juan Almonte had fought honourably in these latter wars, and by 1853 he had become Mexico's ambassador to the United States.

In the ensuing climate of Canadian mistrust of US territorial ambitions, General Almonte's name would have been well known to Waterford's citizens. Though there is no decisive evidence