Page:History of the Fenian raid on Fort Erie with an account of the Battle of Ridgeway.djvu/60

Rh myself how he would be able to execute a night attack upon a force of whose situation or position he was ignorant.

It should also be remembered that Col Peacock was under the impression, as was every one else, that these Fenians meant to fight, and that even if they did not he thought he had secured against their escape by means of the Tug "Robb" which he had sent round for that purpose.

The bivouac having been formed, no fires were allowed to be lighted, and the men laid down in their ranks and went supperless to sleep, with no covering but the sky. It was a novelty to them, that, and the hope of meeting the Fenians the next morning, kept up their cheerfulness, and with numberless jokes on the comparative merits of their beds and the warmth of the bed clothing, the mass of them went to sleep. The cavalry men laying on the dusty road with their arms through their horses bridles, while the horses either laid down to sleep along with their riders or nibbled at the grass on the roadside. The artillerymen slept on their waggons and under them. The officers generally were wakeful, being under the impression that the enemy were within a mile or two of them.

During the night, while the watchful ones were looking anxiously for the day to break, so that they could move on once more, Col. Peacock received some important information. He heard that a reinforcement had reached his old camp at New Germany, and that Col. Lowry with an additional force was on the way to join him. Before day he also received a telegram informing him that large reinforcements to the extent of some 2000 or 3000 had crossed over from Buffalo and joined the Fenians.

The news of the enemy being augmented to an extent that would have given them a great preponderance over his