THE SECOND ALARM--GRAND UPRISING OF THE CANADIAN PEOPLE --DEPARTURE OF
TROOPS FOR THE FRONT--GEN. NAPIER'S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
Late on the night of the 31st of May, 1866, the second call to arms
was telegraphed from Ottawa, and within an hour the sound of bugles and
alarm bells was heard echoing and ringing in nearly every city, town and
village in the country. The alacrity with which our volunteers responded
to the summons on that eventful night is without a parallel in the
history of any nation. The whole country was aroused, and all were eager
to go to the front. Many young men pleadingly begged for a chance
to join the already "over strength" companies who could not be
accommodated, and were reluctantly obliged to satisfy their military
ardor by enrolling themselves in the Home Guards and shouldering rifles
for patrol duty.
In the town of St. Catharines the excitement was intense, on account
of its near proximity to the border and the alarming reports that were
being circulated of the near approach of the enemy. The town companies
of the 19th Lincoln Battalion, under command of Lieut.-Col. J. G.
Currie, and the St. Catharines Battery of Garrison Artillery, under
Capt. George Stoker and Lieut. James Wilson, were speedily mustered,
and all through the night kept faithful vigils on guard duty, anxiously
awaiting orders to move to the frontier. A Home Guard was hastily
organized and equipped, and every citizen vied with his neighbor to
shoulder his share of the responsibility in defending their homes and
kindred from the attacks of the invaders.
At Toronto the Queen's Own Rifles, the Tenth Royals, the Toronto
Garrison Battery, and the Toronto Naval Brigade, were quickly assembled
at the drill shed and preparations made to leave for the front at a
moment's notice. The citizens of the loyal old city of Toronto, who had
on many previous occasions rallied around the flag of their country when
danger threatened, were so strongly imbued with that patriotic feeling
which prevailed everywhere that they immediately enrolled a Home Guard
to defend the city in the absence of the volunteer regiments, and
faithfully and well was that duty performed.
The same intense patriotism was manifested by the people of Canada
generally, and a general muster of all military commands prevailed
wherever organized.
LIST OF TROOPS CALLED OUT FOR ACTIVE SERVICE.
As a matter of record and interest to the survivors of the Fenian Raid
of 1866, copies of the General Orders issued by the Militia Department,
designating the troops that were called out for active service on the
1st and 2nd of June. 1866, together with a list of the new companies
organized, are herewith given:
HEADQUARTERS, OTTAWA, 1st June, '66.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 1.
The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief directs that the following
named corps be called out for active service, and that the said corps
be immediately assembled and billetted at their respective headquarters,
there to await such orders for their movement as may be directed by the
Commander-in-Chief:
UPPER CANADA.
Windsor Garrison Battery.
Goderich Garrison Battery.
St. Catharines Garrison Battery.
Toronto Garrison Battery.
Port Stanley Naval Company.
Dunnville Naval Company.
Hamilton Naval Company.
Toronto Naval Company.
Mount Pleasant Infantry Company.
Paris Rifle Company.
Brantford Rifles, 2 Companies.
Kincardine Infantry, 2 Companies.
Paisley Infantry Company.
Southampton Rifle Company.
Vienna Infantry Company.
St. Thomas Rifle Company.
Windsor Infantry Company.
Sandwich Infantry Company.
Leamington Infantry Company.
Amherstburg Infantry Company.
Gosfield Rifle Company.
Durham Infantry Company.
Mount Forest Rifle Company.
Leith Rifle Company.
Dunnville Rifle Company.
York Rifle Company.
20th Battalion, St. Catharines, 5 Companies.
7th Battalion, London. 6 Companies.
Komoka Rifle Company.
Villa Nova Rifle Company.
Simcoe Rifle Company.
Port Rowan Rifle Company.
Walsingham Rifle Company.
Ingersoll Infantry Company.
Drumbo Infantry Company.
22nd Battalion Oxford Rifles, Woodstock, 4 Companies.
Brampton Infantry and Rifle Companies.
Albion Infantry Company.
Derry West Infantry Company.
Alton Infantry Company.
Grahamsville Infantry Company.
Stratford Infantry Company.
Bradford Infantry Company.
Barrie Infantry and Rifle Companies.
Collingwood Rifle Companies.
Cookstown Rifle Company.
Orangeville Infantry Company.
Fergus Rifle Company.
Elora Rifle Company.
Caledonia Rifle Company.
Stewartown Infantry Company.
Georgetown Infantry Company.
Norval Infantry Company.
Oakville Rifle Company.
Seaforth Infantry Company.
Chatham Infantry, 2 Companies.
Blenheim Infantry Company.
19th Battalion, St. Catharines, 6 Companies.
13th Battalion, Hamilton, 6 Companies.
Aurora Infantry Company.
Lloydtown Infantry Company.
King Infantry Company.
Scarborough Rifle Company.
2nd Battalion, Queen's Own Rifles, Toronto, 11 Companies.
10th Battalion (Royals), Toronto, 8 Companies.
LOWER CANADA.
Franklin Infantry Company.
Durham Infantry Company.
Hinchinbrooke Rifle Company.
Athelstan Infantry Company.
Rockburn Infantry Company.
Huntingdon Infantry, 2 Companies.
Hemmingford Infantry Company.
Roxham Infantry Company.
Lacolle Infantry Company (21st Battalion).
St. John's Infantry Company (21st Battalion).
Havelock Rifle Company.
Granby Infantry, 2 Companies.
Waterloo Infantry, 2 Companies.
Freleighsburg Infantry Company.
Phillipsburg Infantry Company.
Montreal Infantry, 6 Companies.
OTTAWA, 2nd June. 1866.
GENERAL ORDERS, No. 2.
The Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief has been pleased to call out
for active service the following corps in addition to those called out
by General Order No. 1, of yesterday's date:
UPPER CANADA.
1st Frontenac Troop Cavalry, Kingston.
1st Squadron Volunteer Light Cavalry, County of York.
Grimsby Troop Cavalry.
London Troop Cavalry.
St. Thomas Troop Cavalry.
Governor-General's Body Guard, Toronto.
Kingston Field Battery.
Hamilton Field Battery.
Welland Canal Field Battery.
London Field Battery.
14th Battalion Rifles. Kingston.
Brockville Rifle and Infantry Companies.
LOWER CANADA.
Varennes Infantry Company.
Napiersville Infantry Company.
St. Remi Infantry Company.
St. Luc's Infantry Company, 21st Battalion.
Sherbrooke Rifles, 2 Companies.
Danville Rifle Company.
Bury Infantry Company.
Richmond Infantry Company.
Melbourne Infantry Company.
2nd Lennoxville Rifle Company.
On 2nd June the following new companies were placed on
the list of the Volunteer Militia of Canada:
UPPER CANADA.
Oil Springs Infantry Company.
Bayfield Infantry Company.
Galt Infantry Company.
Oro Infantry Company.
Aylmer Infantry Company.
Strathroy Infantry Company.
Orillia Infantry Company.
Woodstock Infantry Company.
Wolfe Island Infantry Company.
Tamworth Infantry Company.
Kemptville Infantry Company.
Sydney Infantry Company
Hillsboro Infantry Company.
Dundas Infantry Company.
Bobcaygeon Infantry Company.
Bearbrook Infantry Company.
St. Mary's Infantry Company.
Clinton Infantry Company.
Huntley Infantry Company.
Widder Infantry Company.
Peterboro Infantry Company.
Edwardsburg Infantry Company.
Parkhill Infantry Company.
Stirling Infantry Company.
Ottawa Garrison Artillery (3rd Battery).
Waterloo Infantry Company.
Warwick Infantry Company.
Amherst Island Infantry Company.
Napanee Garrison Artillery.
Port Hope Garrison Artillery.
10th Royals, Toronto (2 additional Companies).
LOWER CANADA.
Stanstead Infantry Company.
Coaticooke Infantry Company.
Ste. Hyacinthe Infantry Company.
Sorel Infantry Company.
Tingwick Infantry Company.
Winslow Infantry Company,
Clarenceville Infantry Company.
Elgin Infantry Company.
Longueuil Infantry Company.
Boucherville Infantry Company.
Vercheres Infantry Company.
Abercorn Infantry Company.
Huntingdon Infantry (3rd Company).
St. Pie Infantry Company.
Vaudreuil Infantry Company.
St. Martine Infantry Company.
St. Athanase Infantry Company.
Beauharnois Infantry Company.
Knowlton Infantry Company.
Sutton Infantry Company.
On the evening of the 2nd of June the whole of the Volunteer Force
not already called out or enumerated in the above-mentioned lists, was
placed on active service, and on Sunday, the 3rd of June, the Province
had more than 20,000 men under arms, besides the numerous companies
of Home Guards. The entire force turned out not only willingly, but
eagerly, although at a season of the year when their business interests
suffered greatly by their absence. It was enough for every militia man
to know that the country needed his services, and personal interests
were cheerfully sacrificed. Instances of devotion to Queen and country
were general. Business matters were but a secondary consideration.
Merchants and their clerks left their shops, students their colleges,
professional men their offices, while factories were shut down and
farmers left their ploughs in the furrows to take up their rifles
to assist in the national defence. Those who were obliged by age or
infirmities to stay at home were not idle, but nobly did their part in
raising funds to assist the families of those bread-winners who had gone
to serve on the frontier posts. All over the country large sums were
raised for this purpose, and the patriotic Relief Committees were
exceptionally busy attending to the proper distribution of food and
supplies, both among the volunteers and the needy families who were
depending upon them.
In the order calling out the troops for active service the
Governor-General placed the whole force under the command of Lieut.-Gen.
Sir John Michel, and added:
In former times the Commander-in-Chief has had occasion to call for
the active services of the volunteer force to maintain international
obligations, and as a precaution against threatened action. These
threats have now ripened into actual fact. The soil of Canada has been
invaded, not in the practice of legitimate warfare, but by a lawless and
piratical band in defiance of all moral right, and in utter disregard
of all the obligations which civilization enforces on mankind. Upon
the people of Canada this state of things imposes the duty of defending
their altars, their homes and their property from desecration, pillage
and spoilation. The Commander-in-Chief relies on the courage and loyalty
of the volunteer force and looks with confidence for the blessings of
Providence on their performance of the sacred duty which circumstances
have cast upon them.
MAJOR-GEN. NAPIER'S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
As the Niagara district was chosen by the Fenians to be the theatre of
their first operations, Gen. Napier quickly made preparations to occupy
the salient points of this important territory. The Welland Canal,
connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, runs from Port Colborne on the
former lake to Port Dalhousie on the latter (a distance of 26 miles),
and lies at an average distance of about 13 miles inland from the
Niagara River. The Welland Railway also connected these two points,
running nearly parallel with the canal. To protect these two arteries of
commerce from destruction was a desideratum to the General commanding,
and his plan of campaign was framed on these lines. Port Colborne lies
about 19 miles west of Fort Erie, and Gen. Napier decided to mobilize a
force at that point and another at St. Catharines, 10 miles west of
the Niagara River. These were two very strategic points at which to
concentrate troops for the defence of the Niagara frontier, as they
possessed excellent advantages as bases of supply for the sustenance
of columns operating in any quarter of the district. On account of the
favorable rail communication with each of those places, troops could be
moved rapidly by trains from the interior, and would always be within
easy striking distance of an invading force on any portion of the
Niagara frontier. Therefore orders were issued to commanding officers to
assemble their corps immediately at their respective local headquarters,
and await further instructions.
The first body of troops which left for the front was the Queen's Own
Rifles, of Toronto, with a total strength of 480 of all ranks. The
regiment was assembled at the Drill Shed on Front Street at 4 o'clock on
the morning of June 1st, and received orders to proceed to Port Colborne
without delay. At 6.30 a.m. they embarked on board the steamer "City of
Toronto" for Port Dalhousie, where they entrained on the Welland Railway
for Port Colborne. Lieut.-Col. J. S. Dennis, Brigade Major of the Fifth
Military District, was in command. This officer had received orders
from Gen. Napier to occupy Port Colborne, and if necessary entrench a
position there and await reinforcements and further orders before an
attack was made on the enemy. The Queen's Own arrived at Port Colborne
about noon, and there being no indications of the enemy in the near
vicinity, the men were billetted among the citizens for dinner, as by
somebody's oversight no rations or food supply of any kind had been
forwarded for the sustenance of the troops.
Lieut.-Col. Dennis sent out couriers and mounted scouts to glean
information of the whereabouts of the enemy, who he finally located
at their camp near Fort Erie. During the afternoon the Thirteenth
Battalion, of Hamilton, under command of Lieut.-Col. A. Booker, arrived
at Port Colborne from Dunnville, accompanied by the York and Caledonia
Rifle Companies. These reinforcements made a total force of about 850
troops at Port Colborne, and as Lieut.-Col. Booker was the ranking
officer present, he took command of the column.
Meanwhile other troops were on the move towards the frontier. As before
mentioned. Gen. Napier had decided to also mobilize a force at St.
Catharines, and orders were given to Col. Geo. Peacocke, commanding
Her Majesty's 16th Regiment, to proceed thither with the forces at his
command, and assume charge of the operations for the defence of the
frontier. At 12.40 o'clock (noon) a force consisting of three companies
of Her Majesty's 47th Regiment, under command of Major Lauder, and the
Grey Battery of Royal Artillery, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Hoste, C.B.,
left Toronto via the Great Western Railway for St. Catharines. At
Hamilton this contingent was joined by Col. Peacocke with 200 men of the
16th Regiment, and the whole force proceeded to their destination. On
arrival at St. Catharines Col. Peacocke received telegrams advising
him that a strong body of Fenians were marching towards Chippawa, so he
resolved to move forward his force at once to that point and endeavor
to save the bridges across the Welland River (or Chippawa Creek) from
destruction.
[Picture (page 47) 0047.gif, a map
KEY TO MAP.
(a) Where Fenians landed, (b) Fenian Camp 1st June, (c) Fenian bivouac
night of 1st June, (d) Point at which Fenian pursuit was abandoned, (e)
Fenian Camp near the old Fort, night of 2nd June, from which point they
evacuated Canada, (f) Col. Peacocke's forces, night of June 1st. (g)
Col. Peacocke's Camp at noon, June 2nd. (h) Col. Peacocke's bivouac at
Bowen's Farm, night of 2nd June.]
He issued immediate orders for the Tenth Royals of Toronto, two more
companies of H. M. 47th Regiment, the Nineteenth Lincoln Battalion, and
Capt. Stoker's Battery of Garrison Artillery, from St. Catharines, to
reinforce him at Chippawa. These troops moved promptly forward, and
before daylight all were bivouacked on the streets of the quiet village
of Chippawa. No provision had been made for sheltering our volunteers,
as neither tents or blankets had been issued, so the weary, jaded troops
were content to lie out on the green sward under the star-lit canopy of
heaven, with the gentle June dew falling on their sleeping forms, until
at sunrise the bugles sounding the reveille awoke them to a realization
of the hard fare of a soldier's life on active service. By some blunder
of somebody no food had been provided for the volunteer battalions, nor
haversacks to carry it in if they did have it, so fortunate indeed was
he who received breakfast that morning. As the majority of the men had
left their homes early the day before, and had eaten very little since,
they keenly felt the pangs of hunger. But the patriotic people of
Chippawa did their best to cater to their needs, and were unsparing
in their efforts to provide the meals so urgently required, while the
regular troops shared their rations of hard tack, cheese, meat and tea
cheerfully with their Canadian comrades.
Although the Fenians had openly flaunted their intention of invading
Canada, and the secret service agents had made minute reports of the
determination of the marauders to make a raid, still the Canadian
military authorities seemed apathetic, and took very little heed of the
warnings until the eve of the event. Plenty of time was accorded the
Government to have the whole force properly equipped and in readiness,
but when the bugles sounded the alarm and the volunteers promptly
assembled to meet the foe, there was a woeful lack of the necessaries
which are indispensable to a successful campaign, namely, an available
supply of military stores, commissary and medical supplies. Many of the
companies and battalions which moved promptly to the front were totally
unprovided even with canteens or water bottles, and had to depend on
creeks or roadside ditches for a drink of water wherewith to allay their
thirst, which they scooped up in their hands or caps as best they could.
But "Johnny Canuck" never murmured, and marched cheerfully onward in the
shoes in which he usually stood, without provisions and weighted down
with heavy padded uniforms (which were designed for winter wear),
carrying a heavy rifle and accoutrements, with forty rounds of ball
cartridges in his pouch and twenty more in his pockets for ballast.
Still he had a stout heart within his breast, and a resolute
determination to do his duty in assisting to drive the invaders from
the shores of his native land served to impel him onward as he marched
through the choking dust of clay roads on a blazing hot June day, gaily
joining in the refrain of the old marching song:--
"Tramp, tramp, tramp, our boys are marching.
Cheer up, let the Fenians come!
For beneath the Union Jack we'll drive the rabble back
And we'll fight for our beloved Canadian home."
Those were stirring days, and many an old volunteer who participated in
the forced marches and hardships of the campaign on the Niagara frontier
particularly, still retains vivid recollections of that strenuous
period.
On the evening of the 1st of June, Col. Peacocke received definite
reports that the Fenians were still occupying their camp at Frenchman's
Creek, and at once conceived the plan of uniting the forces at Port
Colborne with his own column at Stevensville (a small country hamlet
about seven miles south-west of Chippawa) and make a combined attack on
Gen. O'Neil's position as soon as the junction of the two columns was
effected. He accordingly despatched Capt. Chas. S. Akers (an officer of
the Royal Engineers) across the country about midnight with orders to
Lieut.-Col. Booker to leave Port Colborne for Ridgeway by rail at five
o'clock next morning, and after detraining his troops at that station to
march by the nearest road to Stevensville, where he expected to meet
him with his column about 10 o'clock. Capt. Akers was given minute
instructions by Col. Peacocke as to the time he proposed to leave
Chippawa (6 o'clock) and also the route of his march, so that
Lieut.-Col. Booker could be thoroughly informed of his plans.
Capt. Akers arrived at Port Colborne about 2 o'clock a.m., on June 2nd,
and after delivering his despatches and verbal orders, had a conference
with Lieut.-Col. Booker and Lieut.-Col. Dennis as to the situation of
affairs at the front, which resulted in a proposal by Lieut.-Col.
Dennis that Col. Peacocke's plans should be altered (contingent on that
officer's consent) and that Lieut.-Col. Booker's column should advance
on Fort Erie direct and join Col. Peacocke near Frenchman's Creek,
instead of at Stevensville. This proposal was telegraphed to Col.
Peacocke, who promptly negatived any change in his plans, and insisted
on his original orders being obeyed.
Previous to the issuance of his order to Lieut.-Col. Booker, Col.
Peacocke had telegraphed to Lieut.-Col. Dennis that he had ordered the
International Ferry steamer to proceed from Fort Erie to Port Colborne,
and instructed him to put a gun detachment on board and patrol the
Niagara River from Fort Erie to Chippawa. As this steamer had not
arrived at 10.30 p.m., Lieut.-Col. Dennis availed himself of the
patriotic offer of Capt. Lachlan McCallum, owner of the powerful tug
"W. T. Robb," to place that boat at his disposal. Capt. McCallum was
the commanding officer of the Dunnville Naval Brigade, and the boat
was lying at her dock at that place when he received a telegram from
Lieut.-Col. Dennis shortly after midnight to proceed to Port Colborne
without delay. He quickly mustered his crew and the members of his Naval
Brigade and left Dunnville at 2 o'clock a.m., arriving at Port Colborne
at about 4 a.m. Meanwhile the Welland Canal Field Battery, under
command of Capt. Richard S. King, of Port Robinson, had reported at Port
Colborne, and received orders to embark on the "W. T. Robb," for the
proposed reconnaissance to the Niagara River. For some unaccountable
reason the field guns of this splendid Battery, which was one of
the most efficient in the Province at that time, had been removed
to Hamilton a few months previously, and their only armament on this
occasion was short Enfield rifles with sword bayonets. They mustered
three officers and 59 men when they joined the Dunnville Naval Brigade
on board the tug. The latter corps consisted of three officers and 43
men, armed with Enfield rifles and equipment, but were without uniforms.
Thus the total strength of the combatant forces which left Port Colborne
on the "W. T. Robb" was 108 of all ranks. Without waiting for a reply
from Col. Peacocke relative to the change in plans suggested by the
conference, Lieut.-Col. Dennis, accompanied by Capt. Akers, went on
board the tug, and assuming command of the expedition, ordered the
vessel to proceed at once to Fort Erie.
Shortly after the "W. T. Robb" left the harbor, a telegram was received
by Lieut.-Col. Booker from Col. Peacocke, ordering him to adhere to his
original instructions, and to leave Port Colborne for Ridgeway not later
than 5.30 a.m., to disembark there and march to Stevensville, so as to
effect the junction with his column at the specified hour. Lieut.-Col.
Booker's troops were already on board the train, having remained in the
cars nearly all night with very little sleep, and after being served a
hasty and very meagre breakfast, the train started from Port Colborne
about 5 o'clock. The total strength of the forces (which consisted
of the Queen's Own Rifles, the Thirteenth Battalion, and the York and
Caledonia Rifle Companies) was about 840 men. Preceded by a pilot engine
the train moved carefully eastward until it reached Ridgeway station,
where the force was detrained and formed up in column of march. It was
then found impossible to obtain horses and waggons at Ridgeway for the
transport of the stores, so that a large quantity of supplies and
other material which was urgently required had to be sent back to Port
Colborne by the returning train. This was a lamentable state of affairs,
which did not reflect much credit on the ability of some officer whose
duty it was to look after such matters.
Although Col. Peacocke had notified Lieut.-Col. Booker that he
would leave Chippawa with his column at 6 o'clock on his march for
Stevensville to form the proposed junction of forces, he was nearly two
hours late of his scheduled time in doing so, which had an important
bearing on the fortunes of the day, and the events which might have been
averted. The reinforcements (consisting of two companies of H. M. 47th
Regiment, the 19th Lincoln Battalion, the 10th Royals of Toronto, and
Stoker's Battery of Artillery, from St. Catharines) had arrived during
the night and early hours of the morning. Some time was lost in getting
the column ready for the advance, and it was not until 7 o'clock that
the "assembly" was sounded for the companies to "fall in." The troops
hurriedly bundled on their accoutrements and equipments, and in a
quarter of an hour were ready for the march. Another half hour was lost
in inspection, "telling off" the battalions, serving out ammunition and
other preliminaries, so it was nearly 8 o 'clock when the bugle sounded
"the advance" and the column was put in motion.
H. M. 16th Regiment supplied the advance guard, with the usual look-out
and flanking files. The main body of the advance was commanded by Capt.
Home and Lieut. Taylor, and the support by Lieut. Reid. The remainder
of the column was formed in the following order: The right wing of H. M.
16th Regiment, under command of Major Grant; the Grey Battery of Royal
Artillery (with six Armstrong guns), under Col. Hoste; H. M. 47th
Regiment, under Lieut.-Col. Villiers and Major Lauder; the Nineteenth
(Lincoln) Battalion (seven companies, with a strength of 350), and the
Tenth Royals of Toronto (417 strong). The volunteer battalions were
officered as follows:
NINETEENTH BATTALION--Lieut.-Col. James G. Currie in command; Majors,
John Powell and T. L. Helliwell; Adjutant, Silas Spillett. No. 1
Co.--Capt. Ed. Thompson. Lieut. Johnson Clench. No. 2 Co.--Capt. Fred
W. Macdonald, Lieut. F. Benson. No. 3 Co.--Capt. Wm. Kew, Lieut. J. K.
Osborne, Ensign Kew. No. 4 Co.--Capt. Mathias Konkle, Lieut. G. Walker,
Ensign Wolverton. No. 8 Co.--Capt. Henry Carlisle, Lieut. Edwin
I. Parnell, Ensign Josiah G. Holmes. Surgeon, Edwin Goodman, M.D.;
Quartermaster, Wm. McGhie. (The Clifton and Port Dalhousie Companies of
this Battalion were left to guard the Suspension Bridge, and the Thorold
Company was sent to Port Colborne to guard the Welland Canal).
THE TENTH ROYALS--Lieut.-Col., A. Brunel; Majors, James Worthington and
John Boxall (in command during march); Adjutant, C. H. Connon. No.
1 Co.--Capt. Geo. McMurrich, Lieut. John Paterson, Ensign F. Barlow
Cumberland. No. 2 Co.--Capt. Geo. B. Hamilton. Lieut. Fred Richardson,
Ensign Alex. Macdonald. No. 3 Co.--Lieut. H. J. Browne in command,
Ensign Walter H. Barrett. No. 4 Co.--Capt. Wm. A. Stollery, Lieut.
Arthur Coleman, Ensign W. D. Rogers. No. 5 Co.--Capt. Geo. W. Musson,
Lieut. Chas. S. Musson, Ensign J. Widmer Rolph. No. 6 Co.--Capt. J. W.
Laurence, Lieut. C. J. H. Winstanley, Ensign Hayward. No. 7 Co.--Capt.
J. W. Hetherington, Lieut. G. Brunei. No. 8 Co.--Lieut. T. Brunei in
command, Ensign L. Sherwood. Surgeon, Dr. J. H. Richardson; Assist.
Surgeon, Dr. James Newcombe; Paymaster, Capt. John H. Ritchey;
Quartermaster, Capt. Rufus Skinner.
The St. Catharines Garrison Battery of Artillery, under command of Capt.
George Stoker and Lieut. James Wilson, was left at Chippawa to hold that
place and guard the bridges.
A very grave error or oversight was made by the General Commanding in
not providing a force of cavalry to thoroughly scour the country in
advance of both of these columns before they started feeling their
way through a district that was practically unknown to the commanding
officers, and which was reported to be occupied by marauding parties of
the enemy. Had this been done on the first of June, and cavalry
scouts been employed on all the leading roads and highways gathering
information of the whereabouts and doings of Gen. O'Neil and his forces,
the events which subsequently transpired might have ended more happily.
At the eleventh hour the Militia authorities saw the necessity of
employing cavalry in the operations, and called out a portion of that
extremely useful branch of the service. One of these cavalry troops (the
Governor-General's Body Guard, of Toronto, under command of Major Geo.
T. Denison), performed splendid service in this direction, an account of
which will be given in a subsequent chapter.
Col. Peacocke marched from Chippawa by the River Road for Black Creek
on his way to Stevensville, a rather round-about route, which added some
miles to his journey and caused considerable loss of time. The day was
an oppressively close one, with not a breath of air stirring, and as
the sun rose higher in the heavens it cast forth a brassy heat that was
almost unbearable, and had a telling effect on the men, who were soon
drenched with perspiration and covered with dust. By 11 o'clock the heat
became more intense and the dust more denser, and the jaded soldiers
began to show signs of weariness, when Col. Peacocke resolved to halt
his column at New Germany, a point about three miles from Stevensville,
having covered 12 1/4 measured miles on this strenuous march.