You could do your country much service, as at present there are
600 men in Chester, to be increased by night to 700, to take
the arms and ammunition of the garrison; and as the garrison is
disaffected, it is supposed they will do it with little loss.
They are to leave Birkenhead by every train from the first in the
morning. All to be there by seven at the latest. They leave in
numbers of from thirty to sixty in every train.
At night the Mayor convened a public meeting, which was most earnest;
and over 500 citizens were sworn in as special constables, and paraded
the town in large bodies throughout the night. It was deemed desirable
to call out the yeomanry, and for that purpose the permission of Earl
Grosvenor and Lord de Tabley was telegraphed for. Earl Grosvenor
replied that he would come down by the night mail, and accordingly
he and Lord Richard Grosvenor arrived in Chester at 12.48 on Tuesday
morning and remained with the magistrates through the night.
Before leaving London, Earl Grosvenor communicated with the
Commander-in-Chief, who at once telegraphed that he had ordered a
battalion of Guards by special train to Chester. During the night the
Fenians evidently came to the conclusion that the preparations were too
much for them, and as the night advanced, parties of tens and twenties
were seen leaving, on foot, for Warrington and other neighbouring towns.
Although all danger of any serious attempt had died away after the
town’s meeting, the police were kept on duty, as many suspicious
characters were still to be seen in the streets. About nine o’clock on
Tuesday morning two haversacks with green bands and a quantity of ball
cartridges of private make were discovered on a piece of vacant land
close to the railway-station.