Page:History of the Fenian raid on Fort Erie with an account of the Battle of Ridgeway.djvu/78

Rh leaving his camp, and moving down to the next cross road. With one portion of his command he took that route to the village, sending the other portion under command of Lieut.-Col. Villiers down in the direction of the Lake shore. Just as he was starting he received the first message sent to him by me, to the effect that there was still a body of Fenians about the old Fort. He consequently threw out skirmishers, and advanced in proper order to secure them. He soon received my second message contradicting the first, but he heard so many stories from the people similar to those which had at first imposed upon me, all corroborating each other, that he continued his march with skirmishers thrown out. A few stragglers were seen, and four reported shot, one of whom unfortunately turned out to be a farmer in the neighbourhood, who had foolishly armed himself with a Fenian musket and bayonet which he was taking home as relics of the raid. This column afterwards captured a number of stragglers in the woods.

While Col. Peacock was marching in by the west and south west, Col. Lowry with 4 guns under Capt. Crowe, R.A., the Oakville Rifles under Col. Chisholm, a battalion of Simcoe Volunteers under Lieut.-Col. Stephen, in all about 500 men, after having staid at Clifton over night, left there at 3.40 a.m. for Black Creek, and waited at that place until he was joined by 200 rank and file of the 60th Rifles under Capt. Traverse and 140 of the 16th under Capt. Hogge, who had been at New Germany during the night, while waiting for them, Lieut.-Col. the Hon. J. H. Cameron went on in a pilot engine to examine the state of the road, on his report that the road was passable, Col. Lowry moved on to Frenchman's Creek where he unloaded his force from the cars, and sending some skirmishers into the woods moved out to the river, and there was informed by Col. Wolsely who had passed on horse-back to the front that they were too late, that the Fenians had escaped. He then marched onto Fort Erie, reaching there about 8.15 a.m. Col. Peacock arrived shortly after.