_Invasion of the frontier of Eastern Townships, Lower Canada.
Freligsburg. Pigeon Hill. Losses by Fenian invasion. Compensation
paid. Another invasion threatened._
The Fenian plans of invasion, as sketched in the first chapter,
embraced the river St. Lawrence and the Eastern Townships frontier
of Lower Canada. The intervention of the United States authorities
to enforce the laws of neutrality and intercept the incursion of the
Fenians into Canada has been lightly esteemed, after the event, by
some in this country from whom a wiser policy might be expected. I
am not of their number, but prefer to say, as Her Majesty’s speech
at the prorogation of the imperial parliament said; as the Prime
Minister, head of the great conservative party of Britain, said; as
his son, Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs said,
that the friendly action of the American government was just and
honorable and entitled to the thanks of this Province and of the
Empire. On the 8th of June President Johnson issued a proclamation
directed in strong terms against such citizens of the United States
as had taken part in or been accessory to the Fenian raid upon
Canada. It was late, but the government had intervened to arrest
the passage of Fenians to the frontier, before the proclamation was
issued. Its true value is to be estimated by a calculation of what
was likely to have occurred had no hindrance to the invaders been
opposed by the American authorities; or by the measure of disquietude
now, month of September, prevailing in apprehension that the
President and his cabinet have ceased to enforce neutrality, as they
enforced it in June.
The portion of the Narrative which falls to this concluding chapter
comprises a mingled sketch of Fenians pressing to the frontier, and
intercepted by United States troops; or crossing the boundary line
in Lower Canada, committing depredations and escaping from before
Provincial forces directed against them.
Under date of New York, June 5th, it was reported that quantities
of ammunition and arms had been seized at O’Day’s, in Buffalo, the
day before and confiscated. But that on the other hand that Fenians
were moving upon Canada from Malone and were said to have artillery.
A Montreal despatch to New York said that all was quiet on the 4th
at Plattsburg, Lake Champlain and in that vicinity. That there was
a large number of Fenian spies in the city. That the Mayor had
compelled the police to take the oath of allegiance, but that a
number had refused, (last not true). And it was thought the Fenians
would cross and make a stand near Cornwall.
A Rutland, Vermont, despatch of same date, June 5th, said that the
main body of Fenians at Fairfield met smaller columns at Swanton
and Fairfax about 12 miles from the Canada lines. And that they had
in large force crossed the border and were marching toward the St.
Lawrence, the border there being only a geographical line. And in the
night of June 4th, a force was said to have come up by the Vermont
Central railroad, 2000 strong.
Same date specials from St. Albans, Vermont, said 31 cases of Fenian
arms had been seized at Rouse’s Point. And the St. Albans Fenian camp
under Colonel Spears had moved towards the Canada line. And special
messages from General Sweeney had reached Spears. Something important
was expected to be immediately done.
Ogdensburg specials intimated that Canada had about 2,000 regulars
and volunteers assembled at Prescott, the scene of the fight at
Windmill point in the rebellion days of 1837, where United States
adventurers committed the mistake, the crime of crossing into this
Province.
Other specials of the same date, June 5, received in New York, were
as follows: One from Potsdam said, the Beauharnois canal [in the St.
Lawrence group] was cut by Fenians from Coteau du Lac to the river;
also, that Gen. Murphy was to cross at St. Regis and Cornwall with
4,500 infantry, and another column was to cross at Beauharnois or
Laprairie, and cut the Lachine canal. Gen. Spears, with 3,000 men was
to move from St. Albans via Philipsburg, cutting the railroad at St.
John’s Junction and the Grand Trunk at St. Hilaire and St. Hyacinthe.
WATERTOWN, N. Y., June 5.—The Fenian train was come up with at
Richville by a company of U. S. troops, who took the arms, ammunition
and men in charge. CINCINNATI. O., June 5.—$3,000 were subscribed for
the Fenian cause at a meeting on the previous night. It was stated
that 3,000 Fenians had left for the frontier.
BOSTON, June 5.—It was estimated that 600 Fenians left Boston
yesterday afternoon for St. Albans and northern New York. About 300
belonging to the 3rd regiment left by the Lowell road. About the same
number took the Fitchburg R. R.
A Montreal special said the authorities had reliable information that
the Fenians were marching from Fairfield on St. Armand.
TORONTO, June 5.—A Toronto special said the Volunteers and Regulars
had been recalled from the front, and would concentrate at Toronto.
BOSTON, June 5.—That day special despatches from St. Albans said
the main column of the Fenians commenced moving from Fairfield at 4
o’clock p. m. yesterday. The column headed towards Canada. Seven car
loads of Fenians arrived from Massachusetts this morning bound for
the front.
NEW YORK, June 5.—Colonel James Kerrigan, late member of Congress,
left on Saturday in command of a full brigade, the officers were
taken from various volunteer regiments in the late rebellion.
NEW YORK, June 5.—The _Tribune’s_ telegram, dated Hamilton, C. W.
said 2000 men were concentrated along the line of the Detroit and St.
Clair rivers. The main concentration of troops was about Prescott,
that being considered the real point of attack. Few troops from the
west had been sent to that point, it being guarded by the regulars
and volunteers from Montreal. The west was quiet all the troops being
at the front.
The reports telegraphed on the 6th, 7th and 8th were but repetitions
of the foregoing, with additions to the effect that Spears had
crossed near St. Albans; and Heffernan at a point farther west. Then
came detailed accounts of the marching of Volunteers and regulars
from Montreal and elsewhere in the east to confront the invaders in
the counties of Missisquoi and Huntingdon. A Montreal correspondent
wrote of the volunteers thus:
“Frelighsburg, 11th June.—I learned on Sunday afternoon that troops
were to be sent to St. Johns by special train; and managed to
procure permission to come out with them. This was so far towards
the front, and I might either by a team, or another train with
troops for the front reach the Missisquoi frontier. The troops sent
forward were, a part of the force recently garrisoning Cornwall—a
portion of the 25th Regt, under Col. Fane, and the Argenteuil
Rangers under Lieut.-Col. the Hon. J. J. C. Abbott. The 25th men,
Montrealers know. The Argenteuil Rangers—the Gentiles (corruption
of Ar-genteuil) as they are called by their fellow soldiers of
the line. They are a splendid body of men, fine, strapping,
yeomanry—lacking something of the nattiness of dress, and precision
of drill, of their companions in arms; but seeming in every way,
fit for hard fighting when called upon. Some of them were strapping
fellows from 6 to 6½ feet high.
“Altogether, the two corps filled eighteen cars, which were drawn
by two or three engines. Regulars and Volunteers vied with each
other in alacrity to reach the front, and eagerness to meet the
robbers. This campaigning, however, falls with great severity on
those farmers from Argenteuil—many of them having left without
having put in all their crops, and fearing now lest they may reach
home too late to put them in, so as to secure a good crop this
season. The barracks at St. Johns were full of troops—the Artillery
under Col. Pipon, the provisional battalion of Montreal Volunteers
under Capt. Bond, detachments of the R. C. Rifles, and other corps
under Lieut.-Col. Hibbert, and the Chasseurs under Lieut.-Col.
Coursol being all here, and a part of the troops already under
canvass. The 25th and Rangers were compelled therefore to encamp
upon ground somewhat damp after the heavy recent rains, and their
officers could procure no straw for them at the late hour of their
arrival. They had, however, a very fine night, and did not suffer
such discomforts as some of the Volunteers on the Huntingdon
frontier in the midst of rain, &c. I found our Montreal boys
indignant that they had not had a chance at the front.”
To follow the operations on the Missisquoi frontier and elsewhere in
Lower Canada would lead to a narrative for which the present sheets
cannot be prolonged.
The Fenians who had invaded and posted themselves on Pigeon Hill were
driven out of the land; but many who were on the border ready to
come in stayed their advance in obedience to the injunctions of U.
S. General Meade acting on the proclamation of the President of the
United States.
The Villages of Freligsburg, parish of St. Armand East, and of Pigeon
Hill, St. Armand West, District of Bedford, Canada East, were the
centre of invasion by the force under Spears, the days of occupation
being the 7th, 8th and 9th of June. A return of the damage done by
plunderers was made to the Provincial Government, with the report of
Joshua Chamberlin, Esq., Commissioner. These copious documents were
not printed though laid before the legislature. I have, however,
to-day, Sept. 10, received a written copy of them, but not in time
to be used in this Upper Canada section of the Narrative. For these
I return thanks to the officers of Government who sent them. The
claimants for compensation were in number 102. Each gave a detailed
statement of losses. The total amount claimed being $18,232.80.
Allowed $15,463.83.
It is noticeable that damage to bureaus, and safes, and to axes
broken in breaking safes, are items of account. Also, in Freligsburg
very considerable quantities of high wines, old rye, and other
liquors are named. The losses on the Fort Erie frontier were about
$6,000.
As this page closes rumors of another invasion, more secretly
planned, and on a wider scale than that of June, and the military
preparations to meet it occupy the minds of the people of Canada.
Some public personages who assume to be leaders of opinion, and
who, whether with good intention or evil design, resisted for
several years a full organization of a defensive Militia, are, in
this supreme crisis, engaged in reviling public men who happen to
be in possession of power, and who have practically evinced the
capacities of statesmen. Though the men in power may have made
political mistakes, and I think the conservative section of them did
grievously err in not conciliating the American national mind in the
years of civil war (see chapter eight), it is now the duty of all
good citizens to be of courage, of one mind, loyal to the ruling
authorities.
ALEXANDER SOMERVILLE.
The “Whistler at the Plough.”
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
when a predominant preference was found in the original book.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
Pg iii: ‘M’Pherson’s celebrated’ replaced by ‘Macpherson’s celebrated’.
Pg vi: ‘conduct and and’ replaced by ‘conduct and’.
Pg vii: ‘City elergymen’ replaced by ‘City clergymen’.
Pg vii: ‘was in preperation’ replaced by ‘was in preparation’.
Pg viii: ‘on incontestible grounds’ replaced by ‘on incontestable grounds’.
Pg viii: ‘inadequecy of’ replaced by ‘inadequacy of’.
Pg 12: ‘States of Tennesee’ replaced by ‘States of Tennessee’.
Pg 19: ‘also were parolled’ replaced by ‘also were paroled’.
Pg 22: ‘any magesterial’ replaced by ‘any magisterial’.
Pg 23: ‘which, occuring’ replaced by ‘which, occurring’.
Pg 25: ‘too welll to’ replaced by ‘too well to’.
Pg 30: ‘with eathers’ replaced by ‘with feathers’.
Pg 34: ‘an il-favored face’ replaced by ‘an ill-favored face’.
Pg 39: ‘Phenecia’ replaced by ‘Phoenecia’ (three times).
Pg 39: ‘indeed grievious’ replaced by ‘indeed grievous’.
Pg 39: ‘secresy and hope’ replaced by ‘secrecy and hope’.
Pg 40: ‘with thousands af’ replaced by ‘with thousands of’.
Pg 41: ‘inland front Niagara’ replaced by ‘inland from Niagara’.
Pg 41: ‘to possesss the’ replaced by ‘to possess the’.
Pg 42: ‘noon. Cincinnatti’ replaced by ‘noon. Cincinnati’.
Pg 43: ‘a Home Gnard’ replaced by ‘a Home Guard’.
Pg 46: ‘indispensible to’ replaced by ‘indispensable to’.
Pg 46: ‘to prove disultory’ replaced by ‘to prove desultory’.
Pg 49: ‘Rule Brittania’ replaced by ‘Rule Britannia’.
Pg 55: ‘perrenial vigour’ replaced by ‘perennial vigour’.
Pg 57: ‘or leviathens of’ replaced by ‘or leviathans of’.
Pg 57: ‘are harrassed by’ replaced by ‘are harassed by’.
Pg 58: ‘forshadow as far’ replaced by ‘foreshadow as far’.
Pg 58: ‘indispensible in’ replaced by ‘indispensable in’.
Pg 58: ‘battle of Manasses’ replaced by ‘battle of Manassas’.
Pg 61: ‘the noblest efiorts’ replaced by ‘the noblest efforts’.
Pg 63: ‘in consquence of’ replaced by ‘in consequence of’.
Pg 63: ‘platform accomodation’ replaced by ‘platform accommodation’.
Pg 64: ‘Lient.-Col, Booker’ replaced by ‘Lieut.-Col. Booker’.
Pg 65: ‘platform accomodation’ replaced by ‘platform accommodation’.
Pg 65: ‘Lient. Colonels’ replaced by ‘Lieut.-Colonels’.
Pg 67: ‘billetted the men’ replaced by ‘billeted the men’.
Pg 73: ‘The superintendant of’ replaced by ‘The superintendent of’.
Pg 74: ‘and the occurrances’ replaced by ‘and the occurrences’.
Pg 74: ‘they all night in’ replaced by ‘they were all night in’.
Pg 74: ‘At p. p. 52, 53’ replaced by ‘At pp. 52, 53’.
Pg 76: ‘York vilages’ replaced by ‘York villages’.
Pg 77: ‘bteakfast that he’ replaced by ‘breakfast that he’.
Pg 78: ‘in eommand of’ replaced by ‘in command of’.
Pg 79: ‘repeated vollies of’ replaced by ‘repeated volleys of’.
Pg 79: ‘gaiety of of remark’ replaced by ‘gaiety of remark’.
Pg 83: ‘a statemant made’ replaced by ‘a statement made’.
Pg 84: ‘their casualities’ replaced by ‘their casualties’.
Pg 86: ‘fighting postion’ replaced by ‘fighting position’.
Pg 88: ‘disultory portions’ replaced by ‘desultory portions’.
Pg 88: ‘few casualities’ replaced by ‘few casualities’.
Pg 94: ‘a brigade. * * During’ replaced by ‘a brigade.... During’.
Pg 96: ‘over the railngs’ replaced by ‘over the railings’.
Pg 96: ‘half columm’ replaced by ‘half column’.
Pg 103: ‘Did you abserve’ replaced by ‘Did you observe’.
Pg 104: ‘Capt. Jckson’ replaced by ‘Capt. Jackson’.
Pg 106: ‘tactics of disultory’ replaced by ‘tactics of desultory’.
Pg 106: ‘they were informnd’ replaced by ‘they were informed’.
Pg 114: ‘four scholarshps’ replaced by ‘four scholarships’.
Pg 118: ‘of the malitia’ replaced by ‘of the militia’.
Pg 121: ‘disultory campaign’ replaced by ‘desultory campaign’.
Pg 121: ‘as a Brit-sh’ replaced by ‘as a British’.
Pg 123: ‘Beamsville und’ replaced by ‘Beamsville and’.
Pg 124: ‘Col. M’Givern’ replaced by ‘Col. McGiverin’ (twice).
Pg 127: ‘the Artilery under’ replaced by ‘the Artillery under’.
Pg 128: ‘It is noticable’ replaced by ‘It is noticeable’.