The next morning, a Sunday, saw Canadian skirmish lines re-established, but at no closer than 200 yards of the jeering Métis. While Riel visited his men, assuring them that God was on their side, the more pragmatic Dumont exhorted them to conserve their ammunition, which was running low.

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On May 11, Toronto's Royal Grenadiers advanced, bringing the Gatling gun up with them. At the ridge overlooking Batoche, two gun crews of the Winnipeg Field Battery began shelling the town, but were surprised by a number of Métis and Indians who had crept up along the ravine to within 20 yards. Captain Arthur L. Howard, operating the Gatling, ran his gun ahead of the battery and fired it into the charging rebels, mowing down some and putting the rest to flight. That marked the end of Canadian progress for the day and, for all the excitement, it left the redcoats no closer to victory as Middleton, twice bitten and thrice shy, resisted the pleas of his officers to resolve the issue with a bayonet charge.

Then, on May 12, an exasperated Ontarian took matters into his own hands. While Middleton was eating lunch, Lt. Col. Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams led his Midland Battalion against the Métis trenches. Their cheers inspired the 90th Winnipeg Rifles and the Royal Grenadiers to join the charge. An enraged Middleton ordered his bugler to sound recall, but the troops ignored it and the general committed the rest of his men to their support.

The Métis fired at the oncoming Canadians with the last of their bullets, then reported to reloading with nails, pebbles and metal buttons. Most waited until the last minute to abandon their positions. When Dumont ordered a 93-year-old Métis named Joseph Ouellette to withdraw, the white-haired frontiersman replied, 'Wait, I want to kill another Englishman.' Moments later, the Canadians overran the trenches and fought their way into Batoche. One young soldier leaped into a trench to find himself sharing it with the corpse of an elderly Métis — Joseph Ouellette.

After being dislodged from the town, some Métis continued to snipe from trees along the river, but by 7 that evening it was over, as women and children emerged from the cellars and riverbank caves and the last of their men were rounded up. One souvenir-hunting redcoat discovered a shrine in a poplar grove, where Riel had conducted prayer meetings. It consisted of a cheap lithograph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, mounted on cardboard, draped with a scrap of white muslin and nailed to a tree. The Canadian considered taking the sad little icon home, but then thought better of it and left it there.

The pivotal battle in Canada's civil war was hardly comparable to Gettysburg in terms of casualties, but it was bad enough for the Canadians: Eight dead and 46 wounded among Middleton's troops, 16 dead and 30 wounded among the Métis. The rebels' wily leader, Dumont, refused to surrender and escaped the patrols sent after him to eventually reach the safety of Montana. The indomitable 'Prince of the Prairies' later became a star attraction at Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show.

After hiding out in the woods for three days, Riel gave himself up to a party of mounted scouts. A week later, Riel was taken by steamer to Saskatoon, and then in a heavily guarded wagon caravan to the territorial capital of Regina, where he was placed in a Mounted Police guardhouse to await trial. With Batoche secured, Middleton marched on to relieve the town of Prince Albert, and then traveled to Battleford to receive the unconditional surrender of Poundmaker on May 26.

Pursued by the troops, Mounties and volunteers of General Strange's column, Big Bear led a fighting withdrawal into the swampy northern wilderness, but after June 18 his starving Cree began turning themselves in at Fort Pitt. On July 2, Big Bear and his 12-year-old son surrendered at Fort Carlton.

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