The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1894-06-23
expected ppened, panic tllys
took. possession 81, the Canadians and

mltted, that the riding OF our sOmeeEs ~
q body from around our right caused the;
scare, which stamped their force. Some
man il the Canadian ranks shouted:
"Cavalry Fsnian cavalry The CRY was
taken up BY several, and before the COM com
|msnd could be brought to its senses the
rout was complete. This may have been
the reason, for up to the moment OF
their flight they appeared az cool as vet
Grams, aud manoeuvred 90 II at review,
and not where bullets were flying thick
and fast. 5
I may mention here that some twenty
or thirty OF our men who had not seen
service in the civil war thought, when
they saw the strength Of the Canadian
force, discretion the better part Of valor,
and fell back on Fort Erie. where they
wore gobb!ed up by the Welland Canal
Battery, which had come down from
Fort Colborn.
At the village Of Ridgeway, where the
pursuit of the volunteers ended, O'Neill
held council Of war regarding further
advance or falling back on Fort Erie for
information in reference to other cross
tings. The latter was decided on.
During the return march we learned
that the village Of Fort Erie was in pos
session of the above battery, commanded
by Capt. King.
On approaching the village O'Neill di-
vided his force into three divisions, send
ing ore round on the left, giving me
command Of The detachment to come in
on the right, and taking command Of the
centre himself.
On the other side like DISPOSE ion
was made by Capt. King OF the members
Of his battery, one portion taking pos
session Of tho postoffce to repel the at
tack of our centre, and the remainder
placed so as to meet the attack from our
right and left wings.
Getting within 400 yards Of the posi-
tion occupied by Capt. Kings command,
we doubled until we lessened the dir
lance by some two hundred yards, when
the order to charge was given. In this
charge Capt. King was severely wounded
and his leg amputated few hours latss.
The Fenian surgeon, DR.. Donueily OF
Pittshurg, assisted in the operation.
+! The members Of the battery stationed
| outside the postohice surrendared "a tho
fall Of their commander, but the force ~
possession of the postofice still held cut.
Seeing this, directed some of our men
TO collect newspapers, twist them into
torches, and under the protection Df
shsrpshooters, whom plaeed behind .
lot Of timber on the river front, nlaks q
dash at tho building, break ii the win
dows and fire the place. This WIS done,
but before the fire took sufficient hold to
infict any damage Of consequence the
force in possession surrendered. ].
paroled officers and rnep, by direc-
ton Of O'Neil, on their honor not to take
| up arms, il the fighting continued, until
q proper exchange Of prisoners was Of
feoted. This was willingly given; after
which friend and foe mingled On frisn ally
terms. $s t3
O'Neill sent a dispatch to Buffalo by
special officer, addressed to the proper
Fenian authorities there. The dispatch
was to the effect that it crossings had
been made at other points on the border
he (O'Neill) would t,g willing, even with
the small force at his disposal, to again
march into the interior and sacrifice the
command it success at other points could
DO assured by such movement.
AT about midnight on the 3rd OF June
dispatches reached O'Neill directing him
to quit Canada soil before dawn. Trans.
portatlon would be provided for his COM
| mand, which should leave the moment
| tugs and boats arrived. II:
On arrival of the above the men stepped
on board, the lines were cast "a, when
! the boats noses were turned tor Buffalo,
and in silence the evacuation Of Canada
by Irish troops completed. \, .ss
I, will conclude by relating, in connec.
tion with the Canadian invasion, d fact
which I believe he's never been pub.
lished, the truth Of which / vouch for.
The morning after the evacuation Of
Fort Erie was made complete BY the
Fenians, it was taken posses sion Of BY !
force of regulars, which included. the
Forty seventh regiment, commanded gby
Col. Peacock. The Colonel was heard to
cay that il We had met his regiment and
not the volunteers be would have swal-
lowed us all up; and there would, in fact,
be nothing Of Us left but button OF two.
This sally Of the gallant colonel was
speedily conveyed to US, whom meeting
Of the Fenian officers in Buffalo was
called by Col. "Mike" Burns, who COM
manded the Fsnian troops in Buffalo in
the absence OF O'Neill who had been
summoned in New York. z .s 81 l IS.
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