 In February 1869, the Defence minister, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, told the House of Commons that the Militia had 37,170 men under arms and 618, 896 in reserve.The primary action that the newly formed militia saw was from the Fenians, a group of Irish radicals who made several attempts in the late 19th century to invade some parts of southern Canada from the United States.The period of the Fenian raids in the 1860s and early 1870s was the peak of the efficiency of the Canadian militia.