The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-05-01
IHE WAR In MANITOBA
A Pitched Battle Between the
Canadians and Riel's Rebels.
Fighting That Resulted in Severe
Losses to the Dominion Troops.

The following details of the battle between
General Middletons force and the rebel army
in Manitoba from Winnipeg have been re.
ceived: When the troops left Clark's Cross
ing on Thursday, there were few in the
army who expected the fight would occur.
General Middleton, however, warned the
scouts to keep sharp lookout, and the adj
vance was made with great caution. The
troops camped for the night thirty miles
west Of Clark's Crossing A good
/ nights rest was obtained, and the forward
march was commenced at seven o'clock on
the following morning The scouts were
well in advance. Before proceeding five
miles two of the scouts came galloping back
and reported to General Middleton that the
rebels were intrenched in the bluffs a mile in
advance of the column. The line of march
was along a trail which winds among the
! bluffs, and afforded q magnificent intrenched
position to the rebels The trail at this
point crosses Fish creek, which is swampy on
either side, 50 that the troops had to wade
knee deep in water Middleton at once ar
ranged his column and gave the order t. ad-
vance For the first time the 400 volunteers
who had gone on the expedition regarding it
rs a picnic awakened to the horrible reality
! that they were going to face death. Major
Boultons scouts led followed by the Nine
tieth battalion of Winnipeg. The general
with his two aides were well to the front
As they approached, the rebels, from their
ambush in the timber on the bluffs opened
fire, and poured a deadly voley into our
/ troops. Ten of our men, principally scouts,
toppled from their horses and at least
fifteen horses rolled over dead The gem
eral ordered return fire, which was
obeyed, but little effect was taken on the
rebels. Our scouts then manuuvred around
to position where stood two haystacks and
couple of log houses The general then
ordered Captain WISE his aid, to bring for
ward an advance guard of the Ninetieth,
under Captain Clark.
Captain Clarks company advanced to the
bluff and began skirmishng. The captain
was running with his company from one
! bluff to another, when bullet struck him in
the back and he fell severely, if not mortally,
wounded. He was carried to the rear.
All this time the rebels, who were standing
in their rifle pits or hidden behind trees
We're pouring their deadly bullets thick and
fast upon our troops, who appeared perfectly
helpless and unable to dislodge the insur-
gents from their position, chosen with so
much foresight Two guns of a battery then
came up at gallop under command of Cap
tain Peters, the guns being supported by the
garrison division under Captain Peters and
Lieutenant Rivers After firing a couple Of
/ shrapnes at the half breeds the latter re-
! tired into the ravine. While being driven
across Sergeant Stewart, of Boulton's cavalry,
| killed one Indian, who had already shot four
| horses The remainder of the Nmeteth were
| then sent up, Major Buchan commanding the
right battalion and Major Boswell the left
half. G company of the infantry school,
| Toronto, being on the extreme right had sew
sral holly contested scrimmages with the
rebels for possession of the knoll, 800 yards in
advance of the ravne.
Our men were finally beaten back and re-
treated from the knoll, leaving the rebels in
possession of it. Seeing matters were grow
ING serious and that defeat stared him in the
face. General Middleton sent courier in
mad haste to the river to summon the left col
umn on the opposite side to his assistance. Pre-
, cautions had been taken to bring scow up the
! river to enable the troops to cross in the
event of battle. Lord Melgund was in COM
maud of the left column, and when he heard
3 firing on the opposite side about nine in the
morning, the time at which the battle com
menced, lie ordered his column to advance
quickly AMI be at the river banks ready to
| cross In obedience to General MlddletOnS
order a scow was at once got in readiness.
I No = company OF the Tenth, under Captain
/ Mason and Iieutenants irving ana Hay, then
crossed Lord Melgund AMI Cap
tain Young crossed with them.
and after march of about three-quarterS of
! n mile from the rivers bank, came up with
the right column who were engaged with the
enemy The latter We're then under cover of
deep ravine. Meanwhile A battery (regu-
lars and a company of the Ninetieth under
| CAPTAIN Forrest dashed across the opening
and gained the top of the ravine. The rear
troops were then worked forward and the
! artillery constantly shfte | for an advan-
tageouS position for Smelling the rebels who
were still in the rifle pits and old houses.
The Smelling began, but through want of
| practice it was not so effective as was eX-
! ppctel During the slelling operations the
! opposing forces were within few yards OF
each other. The insurgents were halI-breeds
and Indians, who kept up constant war
whoop. 1t was observed that those shot
We're struck in vital parts, showing
that the rebels We're excellent marks
men. When Company Of the Tenth
arrived they were sent over on the right
flank and thrown out in skirmishing order SC
as as to entilade the ravne and to relieve
some of the troops who had been in action al
Cav. About sixty of the rebels were seen TO
retreat on horseback, the remainder in the
ravine being unable to do SO owing to their
/ horses having been either captured or shot
Things remained unchanged up TO
| 5 o'clock, when there could not
| have been more than ten men in the
rifle pits in the rnvine at which time the gen
eral had the troops drawn up preparatory To
| making a charge and capturing the men III
the pits, which was expected to close the en-
| gagement, as he had ordered the teams to get
] ready To move ABOUT nan Hlllc hc'li CT
the river in the open, to camp for the night
During the engagement the bullets flew thick
as hail
Heavy losses occurred among our troops,
but the loss to the insurgents was small.
After several hours fighting the general,
finding it impossible to dslodge the rebels
ordered Withdrawal, and the army finally
fell back on the camping ground Of the pre-
vious night
The loss of the Canadian troops was about
eight killed and fifty wounded. OF the lat
ter number We're expected to die. As far
as could be seen the enemy left no dead OF
the field, though twenty five of them wer,
shot and dozen captured. The rebels seen
to lie composed of about an equal number Of
half breeds and Indians, in all not more than
two hundred, and are supposed TO be unde
the command of Gabriel Dumont
GENERAL BARRI0S.
How the President of Guatemala me