Page:History of the Fenian raid on Fort Erie with an account of the Battle of Ridgeway.djvu/31

26 It may be considered that as an officer of volunteer cavalry I have no right to criticize the acts of my superiors. I joined the volunteer cavalry from patriotic motives, from love of the service, and for the purpose of defending my country in case of need. During eleven and a half years spent in that service I have sacrificed large sums of money and injured my business seriously by time devoted to it gratuitously. I do not consider that these services, these sacrifices, take from me the right as a loyal subject to agitate as a citizen those principles which I believe advantageous to the country I belong to. If I see a campaign lost, a great moral advantage gained to the enemy through the effects of a prejudice on the part of the Minister of Militia, I consider it my duty as a loyal citizen to endeavour to have it rectified in the future. Again, as a cavalry officer, I would be unworthy to hold a commission in that noble arm of the service, did a desire to obtain favour for personal advantage prevent me from speaking out or writing plainly on behalf of the service to which I have the honor to belong.

Another great want that Col. Peacock laboured under was a good military map, one showing him the roads, villages, &c. He was supplied with Dewe's post office map, a map well suited for the purpose for which it was published, but calculated to be of more injury than benefit to an officer planning a campaign. The effect of the inaccuracies of this map will be explained hereafter.

The want of an efficient staff was also felt not only by Col. Peacock, but much more still the next day by Lieut.-Col. Booker when he was engaged with the enemy.

Colonel Peacock being deficient in cavalry endeavoured to improvise a scouting force, by getting a few mounted men in the neighbourhood to ride out in the direction of Fort Erie to seek information These men being civilians, most of them