Troublous Times in Canada, John A. MacDonald [surface ebook reader TXT] 📗

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.