Page:History of the Fenian raid on Fort Erie with an account of the Battle of Ridgeway.djvu/54

 CHAPTER VI.

THE MOVEMENTS OF COL. PEACOCK'S COLUMN.

Col. Peacock having ordered Lieut.-Col. Booker to meet him at Stevensville between 10 and 11 a.m., and having afterwards changed the time of meeting to about 11.30 p.m. set off from Chippawa at 7 a.m. In deciding upon his route to Stevensville, he had the map, Dewe's Post Office map, as has been before mentioned for his guidance, aided by the information he could obtain from the people of the neighbourhood. This map shows a direct road from Chippawa to Stevensville through Black Creek, making an almost imperceptible obtuse angle at Black Creek. Now the only road in fact, or at least the only travelled road to Black Creek is the river road which follows the windings of the river bank. At that place a road strikes back into the interior to New Germany, and from there due south to Stevensville. In addition to this, the bridge on the river road over the mouth of Usher's Creeks being broken made this road longer still, by rendering a detour necessary to avoid the obstruction.

There was another road from Chippawa direct to New Germany and Stevensville called the Sodom Road, this was mentioned to Col. Peacock by Mr. Kirkpatrick the Reeve, but the guides all representing that the river road was the best, and that the Sodom road was in so bad a state that artillery could not go over it, he allowed them to take him by the former road to Black Creek and thence to New Germany.

It was unfortunate that his column did not take the Sodom road. In moving up to join Col. Peacock with my command on the afternoon of the same day, I marched by that road, and found that it was quite suitable to move troops and artillery over, and by marching some seven miles my corps reached New Germany a point to arrive at which. Col. Peacock had marched about 10 miles.