Andrew Bulger

Andrew Bulger (1789–1858) was a soldier and administrator, born in Newfoundland.

In 1804 he joined the Royal Newfoundland Fencibles as Ensign. On the outbreak of the War of 1812, a substantial detachment from the regiment was sent to Upper Canada to serve as marines on armed vessels on the Great Lakes. With this contingent, Bulger saw action at the Battle of Detroit and Battle of Stoney Creek, and on the Saint Lawrence.

Late in 1813, he was appointed Adjutant to Lieutenant Colonel Robert McDouall, newly appointed commander of the post at Fort Mackinac. Leading a party of the Royal Newfoundland, he was slightly wounded in the Engagement on Lake Huron in which two American gunboats were captured, saving the British post from blockade and starvation.

He was subsequently appointed to command the post at Fort McKay, at Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin. He faced a hard winter, in which he had to contend with lack of supplies, mutinous troops, difficulties with Indian allies and a quarrel with the Indian Department representative, Robert Dickson. He nevertheless remained in charge until news arrived of the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war.

After the war, on the recommendation of Gordon Drummond, temporarily Governor General of Canada, Bulger was appointed Secretary for the Red River Settlement, taking up the post in 1822. He quickly found the post unappealing. He quarrelled with the local representatives of the Hudson's Bay Company, who monopolised the fur trade and supplies in the colony. Eventually his stand was vindicated.

He left the colony in 1823, in poor health. He subsequently served for many years as clerk to the office of Military Secretary in Quebec and later in Montreal.