The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-07-20

The Late cFeninn Attempt.
The. following, which We extract
from an article in the New York
Citizen, throws more light on the late
Fenian movement, than any autLen-
tic account we have heretofore seen:
We have just had lengthy conver-
saton with n high officer Of Che army,
who was employed in snppressing the
Late Fenlan demonstrations along the
Canadian frontier.
What he said was Of much interest.
and We shall give it as nearly ~ pos
slble IN his own words, while still
fresh IN Our not unreliable memory.
"The Fenian attempt,' said our
informant, was far more formidable
than is commonly believed. They
had, So far rs could Judge, certainly
not less than 25, 600 men on the scene
OF their proposed action. They
claimed to have twice that number,
but they were not visible.
''Phese 21,000 men were Chiefly
veterans Of the Late rebe1ion-a few
Thousand from the South but a great
majority from the loyal Irish soldiers
of the North.
Their arms and ammunition were
abundant and excellent. I had q
room twice larger than this''-the
spacious chief office of the Cuizen-
''filled with my captures of sucl,
material. Their weapons were
chiefly Spencer rifles OF the best
quality, and their ammunition to cor
respond.
''That they c..uld aud would have
taken Montreal, there. can be no
doubt. AS little, that 10000 Eng
llsh veterans, at least, would have
been. required to stop them. The
Canadian militia were u candiUe-no
better than the reserved militia of
young boys and old men, we met in
the South during the later years Of
the recent struggle.
The officers were nearly all
veterans of the Union armies, and
behaved rs Well as could be wished.
They gave no trouble when notified
| of arrest, but did their utmost to
secure obedience from their men to
! the summons Of the United States for
their surrender
The country people, aud indeed
majority OF the troops sent to sup
press tleln, were warmly in favor of
the tenlan enterprise. The country
people lent their wagons, horses and
personal services to carry away and
hide the stores OF the intended
| raiders, SO that / hud much difficulty
III manly Of the captures.
1T was In the Eastern portion OF
st. Lawrence, Franklin aud Clinton
Counties, along the frontier, that the
tenlan depots We're chiefly located
and in these regions all the people
We're Fenlan symp,thizcrs, and their
able-bodiel were only one line re-
moved from becoming Fenian soldiers
Il believe the attempt will be
renewed this fail; and told an Eng
lish oiiicer-who appeared astonished
thereby THAT, in my Judgment, the
Calia'tas could not be held with less
than 25, 900 or 30, 900 British regulars
The regulars that were there, were
mostly green soldiers and could not
have withstood the Irish veterans.
The militia would have run like so
many frightened sheep; in fact. as
they did run in the few slight
encounters that were had
The mistake of the Fenians was,
that they allowed too much talking
and writing about their contemplated
movements. They should have col
lected all their nc'.uuL material alon o
the frontic:-ti.cir equipments were
plentiful and good-without allow
one word to leak out of what they
We're doing. This, taught by expe-
ricncc, they promise to do next fall
and If so, their success cannot be
doubtful"