Litchfield enquirer., 1837-12-07

About five miles or perhaps less from St. De | nls, the Cavalry, who were in advance, came
 to bridge which had been destroyed, and
 saw at a little distance further party of men
 engaged in destroying another. By making
 nttle detOWr, they succeeded in passing the
 guliy over which the first bridge had led, and
 Mnile tne main body were engaged in repair
 second, and succeeded in capturinr two oI
 them and driving off the rest before fhev had
 more than half completed their iob. Five
 other bridges, mostly quite small. were af I rewards found broken down, as the columu advanced, and the delay required to repair
 them so as to allow of the passage of fine
 howitzer, materially retarded the march,
 and added to its difficulty.
 At length, towards noon, and after 8 most
 harrassing niarchof more than twelve hours,
 the detachment reached the outskirts of the
 village of St. Denis. The advanced guard of
 the Cavalry was fired on, almost before It had
 come within range, from the houses and
 barns on the roadside, and immediately fell
 back to make report. Captain Markhams
 Company was first ordered up, and after
 wards, the other Companies. Several of the assal!ants were shot down by the skirmishers, and m short time the houses and barns from which the first firing had taken place were cleared by flight or otherwise. of their occupants, but not until Capt Markham. who was then leading on the skirmishing party, had received four wounds, so severe that he was carried off the the ground, as it was then supposed, mortally wounded. The attention of the troops was now directed to large stone house, of three stories, near the en- trance ofthe village, which was strongly bar ricaded and garrisoned, and from which a most galling fire was kept up. The howit- hr0llrhf fO hooN considerable effect, but unfortunately was not found sufficient to render it untenable.- Towards halfpast two o'clock, the ammuni- tion of the troops and artillery was nearly ex- pended, and 1t became necessary to retreat. Since an early hour in the morning, the men had not tasted food. In the course of the march large portion of them had lost their shoes, and actually come into engagement barefoot. The steamboat Varernes. which had been ordered to follow up the river from Sorel, few hours after the march of the troops, with supplies of food and ammunition, had not arrived or been heard of; the fact being that at St. Ours, miles below, she had been obliged to put back, by a fire ofmusiet- ry from small party on the bank of the riv- CT. The retreat was therefore commenced, and after bivouacking for the night, a few miles from St. Denis, Col. Gore returned to OOACA tAC AOAL ShlIuNSIls six, or as some state, seven men were killed, and nine or ten, including Capt. Markham, wounded. The loss on the other side is SUD- posed to have been considerably greater Exclusive of those killed and wounded by the fire of the skirmishers, the constant dis charge of the howitzer into the large house which was crowded with men, must have been very destructive.
 Just as the retreat was commencing, the Deputy Sheriff and Messrs. Leclerc and Wragg, the two magistrates who had gone with the troops, set off for Sorel, charged with verbal messages, and accompanied by two of the cavalry. Arrived there, they came on (with the exception of MT. Wragg, whose horse broke down on the road, and who did not get into Sorel in time) in the St. George to this city, arriving here between l2 and l o'clock A. M. on Friday. Two pieces of ar- tilery, under Major Jackson, and a company of the 32d, went down immediately. with a fresh supply of ammunition, to Sorel, in the same boat, leaving before 5 o'clock in the morning. Immediately on reaching Sorel, they set out to effect a junction with Col. Gore, but meeting him within few miles of that place, the whole force returned to re- cruit. the troops who were in retreat being too much fatigued to allow of their returning to St. Denis. The John Bell, which left for So- rel about noon on Friday, with further sup plies of ammunition, proceeded thence to Quebec the same night, at about Il o'clock. Her return may reasonably be expected to bring intelligence. The affair of St. Denis can hardly fail to produce proclamation of martial law within that district, howeverjust- ly reluctant the Executive may be to resort to so extreme measure.
 Otherwise than upon the clearest evidence of its absolute necessity, it IS undoubtedly step which cannot be taken-espccially by a Governor, the terms of whose commission leave the whole right to resort 10 it, to that precept of common law, which allows him as the representative of Majesty, to assume whatever power he may find essential to the of the Government. Under such circumstances, it is necessary for gov- ernor to be doubly guarded in his measures. We have no fear, however, that us matters now stand, the decisive step tDiU be promptly taken, and when taken, as decidedly follow. ed up.
 Destruction cf the Village of St. Charles.
 SATURDAY, November 25.
 In the above narrative, we have noticed only the movements in the direction of Sorel. On Wednesday night Lieut.. Col. Wetherall left Chambly for St. Charles at the same hour at which Col. Gore left Sorel. The force under his command consisted of four companies of the Royals, and ono or two companies of the 66th, with two pieces of Ar tillery under Capt. Glasgow, and about 20 Cavalry under Captain David. Immediate ly on their crossing the basin to the east side of the river, blue lights fired by the rebels gave notice of their march to tho lower town. The troops proceeded, encountering the worst of weather aud roads, through the night, and through the forenoon of Thursday, till on ar- irving nj RnllvillA some six ar seven miles