Volume II Part 35 (1/2)
”The command to annoy the enemy was no sooner given than, bang! bang!
went off every gun we had in position.
”Now there was a stir. The enemy's guns were in a short time manned, and returned our fire; and the day's work was begun, which was carried on briskly the greater part of the day on both sides of the Niagara.
”About two o'clock, another Provincial dragoon, bespattered, horse and man, with foam and mud, made his appearance--not wearing his sword or helmet.
”Said an old Green Tiger to me, 'Horse and man jaded, sir; depend upon it, he brings bad news.' 'Step down and ascertain what intelligence he brings.' Away my veteran doubles, and soon returns at a funeral pace.
'Light heart, light step,' were my inward thoughts. I knew by poor old Clibborn's style of return something dreadful had occurred.
”'What news, Clibborn? What news, man? Speak out,' said I, as he advanced towards the battery, that was still keeping up a brisk fire.
Clibborn walked on, perfectly unconscious of the b.a.l.l.s that were ploughing up the ground, uttered not a word, but shook his head.
”When in the battery, the old man sat down on the platform; still no word, but the pallor and expression of his countenance indicated the sorrow of his soul.
”I could stand it no longer. I placed my hand on his shoulder, 'For Heaven's sake, tell us what you know.' In choking accents he revealed his melancholy information: 'The general is killed; the enemy has possession of Queenston Heights.'
”Every man in the battery was paralyzed; the battery ceased firing.
”A cheer by the enemy from the opposite side of the river recalled us to our duty. They had heard of their success down the river. Our men, who had in various ways evinced their feelings--some in weeping, some in swearing, some in mournful silence--now exhibit demoniac energy. The heavy guns are loaded, traversed and fired, as if they were field-pieces--too much hurry for precision. 'Take your time, men; don't throw away your fire, my lads.' 'No, sir, but we will give it to them hot and heavy.'
”All the guns were worked by the 49 men of my own company, and they wished to avenge their beloved chief Brock, whom they knew and valued with that correct appreciation peculiar to the British soldier. They had all served under him in Holland and at Copenhagen.
”I had a very excellent reconnoitring-gla.s.s; and as I kept a sharp look-out for the effect of our fire, and the movements of the enemy, I observed that powder was being removed from a large wooden barrack into ammunition waggons. The only man of the Royal Artillery I had with me was a bombardier, Walker. I called his attention to the fact I had observed, and directed him to lay a gun for that part of the building wherein the powder was being taken. At my request he took a look through my gla.s.s, and, having satisfied himself, he lay the gun as ordered. I, with my gla.s.s, watched the spot aimed at. I saw one plank of the building fall out, and at the same instant the whole fabric went up in a pillar of black smoke, with but little noise, as it was no more.
Horses, waggons, men, and building all disappeared; not a vestige of any was seen.
”Now was our turn to cheer; and we plied the enemy in a style so quick and accurate, that we silenced all their guns just as a third dragoon come galloping up to us, shouting 'Victory! Victory!' Then again we cheered l.u.s.tily; but no response from the other side. Night now hid the enemy from our sight.
”The commissariat made its appearance with biscuit, pork, rum, and potatoes; and we broke our fast for that day about nine p.m.
”How strange and unaccountable are the feelings induced by war! Here were men of two nations, but of a common origin, speaking the same language, of the same creed, intent on mutual destruction, rejoicing with fiendish pleasure at their address in perpetrating murder by wholesale, shouting for joy as disasters propagated by the chances of war hurled death and agonizing wounds into the ranks of their opponents!
And yet the very same men, when chance gave them the opportunity, would readily exchange, in their own peculiar way, all the amenities of social life, extending to one another a draw of the pipe, and quid, or gla.s.s; obtaining and exchanging information from one and the other of their respective services, as to pay, rations, and so on--the victors, with delicacy, abstaining from any allusion to the victorious day. Though the vanquished would allude to their disaster, the victors never named their triumphs.
”Such is the character of acts and words between British and American soldiers which I have witnessed, as officer commanding a guard over American prisoners.
”J. DRISCOLL,
”Of the 100th Regiment.”
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 198: Such was the high esteem in which the character of General Brock was held even by the enemy, that during the movement of the funeral procession of that brave man from Queenston to Fort George, a distance of seven miles, minute guns were fired at every American post on that part of the lines; and even the appearance of hostilities was suspended.]
[Footnote 199: Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. xv.]
CHAPTER LIV.
THIRD AMERICAN INVASION OF UPPER CANADA, AT AND NEAR FORT ERIE, ON THE NIAGARA RIVER, UNDER GENERAL SMYTH--HIS ADDRESS TO HIS SOLDIERS--THE LUDICROUS AND DISGRACEFUL FAILURE OF HIS EXPEDITION--THREE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONS REPELLED IN 1812 BY THE SPARTAN BANDS OF CANADIAN VOLUNTEERS, a.s.sISTED BY A FEW REGIMENTS OF ENGLISH SOLDIERS.