FENIAN LOSSES.
The casualties of the Fenians were heavy in both engagements, but the exact number is unobtainable, as no record was kept, and many of their wounded were removed to the United States and lost track of. At Ridgeway it is known that at least ten Fenians were killed, and quite a number severely wounded, some of whom afterwards died in Buffalo from their injuries. During the Fort Erie fight nine Fenians lost their lives and fourteen were wounded, most of them seriously.
The bravery and courage of the men who composed the Welland Canal Field Battery and the Dunnville Naval Brigade in standing up before an enemy nearly ten times their number, and fighting valiantly until the last round of their ammunition was expended and they were obliged to succumb to overpowering forces, will serve to show the resolute spirit and determination of these gallant troops. They were truly "a Spartan band," who were ready to sacrifice their lives on the spot, and their valor won the admiration of even the Fenians themselves, who complimented them highly on the stiff resistance they made, in the face of unequal odds, in the engagement.
The following personal narration of the fight, which was given by a member of the Dunnville Naval Brigade who participated in the engagement, is so vivid and graphic that I am pleased to reproduce it, as it gives a faithful and accurate account of the operations of the small Canadian force at Fort Erie on that eventful occasion:
On Friday, June 1st, at 10 p.m., Captain McCallum received a telegram to ship his men on the tug Robb, and proceed immediately to Port Colborne. About 2 a.m. on Saturday (2nd) we started, and arrived there a little after 4 a.m. We then took on the Welland Field Battery, numbering 59 men and 3 officers, commanded by Capt. King, of Port Robinson, which, together with the 43 men and 3 officers composing the Naval Brigade, made a total of 108 men. Col. Dennis, of the volunteer force, then came on board and took command of the expedition, when we at once started for Fort Erie, to co-operate with the gallant Queen's Own and the 13th Battalion, who were to leave Port Colborne early that morning for the same place. As we approached the village of Fort Erie all the men were sent below, leaving no one on deck but an officer dressed in civilian clothes. Nothing could be seen but the Fenian pickets and some stragglers. We went down the river nine miles, and received information that the main body of the Fenian army had fallen back to a wood some six or seven miles distant; but could gain no positive information as to their whereabouts. The movement was made about 3 o'clock a.m.; but in order to guard against surprise, they left their pickets behind. These our officers determined to capture, as well as all the stragglers. The boat then steamed back to Fort Erie, when a party of four men went ashore and succeeded in taking seven prisoners the first haul. The Welland Field Battery was also landed, with instructions to scour the woods along the liver bank for stragglers. The boat was then headed down the stream, and was proceeding very slowly, keeping a sharp lookout along the bank. We had not gone far before discovering a small body of eight or ten Fenians ahead of us, armed with rifles and bayonets fixed, who were about to get into a small boat and re-cross to the American shore. The speed of our boat was immediately increased, and on arriving opposite them an officer and eleven men got into a yawl and pulled for the shore. The enemy looked at us for a moment or two and then took to their heels and ran, thinking, no doubt, that we had a large gun on board to support our men. This, however, was not the case; but had the authorities placed one on board at Port Colborne, the casualties to be hereafter mentioned would never have occurred. Two of the squad were captured, however, and we proceeded down the river, sending out small parties of from eight to ten men until there were no more men to be spared. The parties were instructed to pick up all the stragglers and pickets they could, and hold them until the boat returned. On our return we picked up our men and their prisoners, together with the Battery and their prisoners, and proceeded to Fort Erie and tied up to the wharf of the Niagara River Railroad. We had not been there long before intelligence reached us that the Fenians were coming down the Garrison Road in force, and would be in the village in ten minutes. Col. Dennis seemed confused, and like the rest of us, thought they were being driven by the Queen's Own (at that time we were ignorant of the repulse of those forces). The moment they were seen approaching the Field Battery (which had been landed) were ordered aboard, and in another minute was again ordered ashore. Capt. McCallum was then asked how many of the Naval Brigade could be spared for a support. He replied that he thought it very imprudent to attempt an attack upon so large a force with his small body, and advised Lieut.-Col. Dennis to retire to the boat, and push out into the stream and endeavor to ascertain their strength and movements. The Colonel, however, decided to meet them. Capt. McCallum then said he would give him 25 men, himself and 2nd Lieutenant (leaving only seven men besides the crew on board to guard the prisoners, 59 in number). The Colonel formed his line in the open street opposite the hill in the rear of the village, but partially hid from him by some buildings on his right flank. In a moment the enemy appeared, coming over the hill in every direction; the buildings before mentioned hid them from view until they were upon him. From our position on the boat we could see all that was going on, and Lieut. W. T. Robb, of the Naval Brigade, seeing the small band was in great danger of being cut off, called to the Colonel that he was being outflanked and pointed to the hill, but he was not heard, and in a moment more the whole body were surrounded. It was, you may be sure, sickening to see one's friends and neighbors in such a perilous position, but even in this trying moment they did not at once surrender. Captains McCallum and King called on the Colonel to order the men to fire. He said no, but ordered them to the "right about," instead of "left half face," towards the boat; he, I suppose, mistaking the lower wharf for the one the boat was moored to, and started on a run, the men following. The enemy fired a volley in their rear, making one poor fellow kiss the dust, the balls striking the ground at their feet. The Captains called on their men to turn and fire, which they did with some effect. The next volley from the Fenians brought poor Capt. King down, and two others. Capt. McCallum called out to scatter, which was done; the enemy at this time were within 40 or 50 yards of them. We on the boat, with the aid of the crew who had rifles, tried to draw the fire of the Fenians, who were coming down Front street, on the boat, which we succeeded in doing. Their Adjutant, who was on horseback, here fell, and after picking him up they directed their fire at us and made a furious attempt to capture the boat. In this they were foiled by our cutting the line and backing down the stream, receiving at the same time a volley by way of a parting salute. By this time our men and the Battery had got into a house attached to the Post Office, from which they continued to resist the attack by every means in their power. Not a great deal of injury was inflicted upon the attacking party owing to a wood pile in the vicinity, behind which the enemy took shelter until our men had emptied their pouches and all the ammunition with them was gone. The Fenians then came up and demanded their surrender, which was at first refused. On the answer being given, fire was applied to the house in two places, the enemy standing around with bayonets fixed to prevent any one from escaping. Our men, seeing no way of escaping, then surrendered, determined to run the chance of being shot to being roasted. After disarming our men, some of the lowest of the Fenians threatened to shoot the prisoners for making a resistance while in the house. Col. O'Neil and the other officers prevented any violence being done, and at the same time threatened to shoot the first one who ill-treated the prisoners. In the meantime 15 men of the Battery, with Capt. McCallum and two of the Naval Brigade, were retreating down the river, a body of Fenians in full pursuit, exclaiming "Shoot the b—y officer." One who had got within ten feet of the Captain shot at him twice with a revolver, missing him each time, when one of the Brigade, named Calback, bayoneted him in the neck, turned and shot another through the heart, and then said to the Captain that the balls were coming too thick for comfort, advising him at the same time to take care of himself. Seeing our boat coming to the rescue of the Captain and the others, the enemy gave up the chase. It was high time for some more to come on board. As I have before mentioned, there were but seven left to take care of the 59 prisoners and work the ship. No doubt they would have attempted to rise had it not been for a few rifles at full cock pointed at them. Seeing our own perilous position with an enemy numbering 900 at Fort Erie, and thousands of sympathizing spectators on the opposite shore, our Captain determined to run the gauntlet and proceed to Port Colborne with his prisoners, fearing that the enemy might get a tug or two in Buffalo and attempt their rescue, thus causing more loss of life than was necessary. We then steamed up the river, close to the American shore, in silence, having been forbidden to fire while in American waters. As soon as we arrived opposite Lower Black Rock, the Fenians opened a furious fire upon us, and continued firing while we were going a distance of three-quarters of a mile. Their whole aim seemed to be the pilot-house, through which six shots passed, one of them grazing the head of our gallant Lieutenant Robb, who remarked to the wheelsman to jump up and take his place in case he fell. Those six shots struck the boat, doing no further injury than disfiguring the woodwork and painting. We arrived safely at Port Colborne and marched our prisoners to the railway station amid the deafening cheers of the volunteers and the citizens. Our officer delivered them to Lieut.-Col. Wm. McGiverin, who escorted them to Brantford, guarded by thirty men of the St. Catharines Special Service Company of Home Guards. A more rascally set of vagabonds were never congregated together. There were a great many Dunnville people at the Port on our arrival, and when they heard of the capture of our men volunteered to go and attempt their rescue; but owing to the scarcity of arms we could not accept them, besides we could not move without orders. These we received after waiting some time, which was to cruise along the lake as far as Windmill Point and no further. (It was a great pity we had not a gun on board and gone to Fort Erie, for if we had we could have captured or sunk the whole of the Fenian army, either of which would have given us great pleasure). On our return again to Port Colborne we received orders to proceed to Fort Erie, the Commander offering us as many men as we wanted. Our Captain said twelve good ones were all he wanted; these were immediately furnished him and we started. On our way down we built breastworks of cordwood along the bulwarks of the boat. These were impregnable to rifle bullets. When within six miles of Fort Erie two volunteers were called for to go ashore without arms and proceed cautiously down the lake and gather what information they could. All offered, but young Murdy and Edie were the chosen ones, two as brave boys as ever sun shone on. They went ashore, and then the boat resumed her journey. On turning into the river we saw the place was occupied by our troops, and the enemy in a scow made fast to the U. S. steamer Michigan, on the American shore. You may imagine the satisfaction this state of things gave us, nearly as much as if we had captured them ourselves. Our boys were much disappointed on finding the bird flown. We had heard of the repulse of the "Queen's Own" at Port Colborne, and every one went down with the determination to do all in their power to avenge their loss. Our joy was unbounded when we reached the wharf at finding our Second Lieutenant, Angus McDonald, and the greater part of our men, together with the most of the men belonging to the Battery. There were not many of our men taken, as they had no uniform, except the officers, and after slipping off their belts, they looked like civilians, in which capacity they effected their escape, and at once proceeded to Port Colborne and Dunnville to report themselves. Strange to say, the only one of our company touched was by a bayonet in the breast; not so bad as to prevent him from doing duty. The Welland Canal Field Battery was not so fortunate, having five wounded, namely: Captain King, leg, below the knee, amputated; Fergus Scholfield, foot amputated; John Bradley, leg amputated; John Herbison, wounded in the leg, and another with a flesh wound through the thigh. The Fenian casualties were Major Bigelow, with five balls through his breast, an Adjutant and six men killed, all shot through the breast, besides fourteen wounded, making in all twenty-two casualties—the gallant Queen's Own were avenged. The Fenian officers and men told the prisoners at the camp that their strength was 640 engaged in the fight, and 260 on the top of the hill as a reserve, and if all the Canadians fought as well as they did, they feared it would be a hard struggle, but they were determined to conquer.