There is a famous instance of this in Canadian history during the Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837.

Republican rebels organised by William Lyon Mackenzie seized an armory in the Upper Canadian capital of Toronto and planned to march south down Yonge St. beginning at Montgomery's Tavern just outside of town. At this time most of Toronto's garrison had been relocated to Lower Canada (Quebec) to combat the extensive rebellion that had sprung up under Louis-Joseph Papineau.

On 4 December, 1837, Mackenzie's rebels met at Montgomery's Tavern, had some drinks, and prepared to march on the colony's capital. They were met by a small group of loyalist troops partway and, after a short battle, the rebels retreated back to the tavern and dispersed.

Three days later on 7 December, the rebels reformed at Montgomery's Tavern and in the surrounding woods under the command of Anthony von Egmond, a close associate of Mackenzie who claimed to have fought in the Napoleonic Wars. The rebels were attacked at the tavern by loyalist troops under Colonel James Fitzgibbon and, under artillery fire, the rebels congregated in and around the tavern itself. When Fitzgibbon advanced on Montgomery's Tavern the rebels scattered and the loyalists burned the troublesome tavern to the ground.

Today the location of Montgomery's Tavern has been almost completely absorbed into the sprawl of Toronto but the site has been added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places.