Let us look at the ground before taking up the story of the fight.
We have arrived at the crossing of Ridge road, and Garrison road; the latter leading to Fort Erie, distant seven miles, eastward to the right hand. At our left is a tavern, a white house and red barn, called the Smuggler’s Home, but which on the map bears the occupier’s name, Hoffman. This was afterwards used as a temporary hospital; so also the next two houses near the bend of the road, now in rear of us towards Ridgeway. On the Garrison road which, with a gentle ascent, crosses over the stoney ridge, and penetrates the forest thickets, is a school house.
Crossing a rail fence from the Garrison road, a person tracing the movements of the combatants, enters a field, which in June bore a crop of young wheat. Let this fence be named 1. The wheat field is about 200 yards wide. At fence 2 many bullet marks are seen. Cross it; the field lying before you, 350 yards wide, bears a crop; half spring wheat, half grass. Near fence 3 is a large maple, at 20 yards from the junction with the cross fence—that which runs nearly parallel with the front of the wood on your right hand. Here is a small enclosure of a quarter acre. Within this lay a Fenian picket at the commencement of the conflict. Behind this small enclosure, on ground stoney and slightly rising, are thirteen scoriated trees, leafless and of dismal aspect. The field beyond fence 3, has a crop of rye. The rye field merges with an orchard. The Fenian right flank, advance, occupied this orchard at the first. At the head of this orchard towards the right is a copse of thick brushwood, and on its higher edge a low stone wall running parallel with the upper woods, and about 150 yards from their front. Getting through the orchard and this copse and across another patch of open land about 100 yards wide, you reach a concession road. Its distance from the Garrison road is about 800 yards. This concession way crosses the Ridge road. You see in the corner a brick house—that is J. N. Angur’s house. The fences on each side of this road are, in the present reckoning, 5 and 6. The Fenian main body occupied that road, where the map shows black. They took the rails of fence 6, and laid them slanting on fence 5, with a face for a screen against bullets towards the south, from which direction the Canada volunteers were to advance. At bottom of that orchard on the Ridge road are two barns and a dwelling-house, a few hundred yards south of J. N. Angur’s brick house, which you see in the corner.
Crossing that concession road at about 300 yards east of J. N. Angur’s brick house, you are well up on the crown of the ridge. To your left is Stoneman’s orchard; and at the bottom of that orchard on the Ridge road is Stoneman’s house, and Reinhard’s house. Beyond Stoneman’s orchard, on the Ridge road, at the letter A. is Henry F. Angur’s house, where O’Neil made his head-quarters. Keeping near the crown of the ridge, where the concession road was crossed, you follow the track on which the Fenians fell back. You cross fence 7, and fence 8, and observe that they join at an angle. Also it is to be noticed that a portion of each is thrown down. From much treading, the grass shows here that a crowd had left a beaten track. This track was made by the Fenians hastening to another position in their rear. They having got through fences 7 and 8, had a thick pine wood on their left front; the fence 9, beyond a narrow wheat field crossing before them, and a maple grove of grand old trees, standing on their right, within which they buried some of their dead. You can see the grave of four. It was when they were driven back over fences 7 and 8, and out of Stoneman’s orchard by a concentrated fire from fences 5 and 6, concession road, that Booker’s bugles three times sounded retire. The Fenians then encouraged to a fresh attack counter marched round by the higher woods, and did execution on the retiring volunteers; the deadliest of it on those nearest the upper woods, the University Rifle company as we shall presently see.
Observe that all the open ground lying to the left of the Ridge road and down to a marshy rivulet on the edge of the forest, is farm land. It is intersected by many rail fences, all of zigzag form. The York Rifle, and Trinity College companies got along the lower edges of those fields, and on the concession road, formed the left of the advanced skirmishers.
The Toronto Rifles had the lead assigned them, Major Denison says because they were the senior corps. Coming up from Ridgway No. 5 company, under Captain Edwards, were sent forward as an advanced guard. They were armed with Spencer rifles. On arriving near, perhaps a little beyond, that part of the road marked B. B. intimation of the enemy having then been given by Mr. Peter Learn J. P. No. 5 extended from its centre. The troops were marching in a column at quarter distance. No. 1 moved forward and extended on the left, and No. 2 on the right of No. 5. As supports No. 3 formed the centre; No’s 4 and 6 the left and right.
In this formation one does not recognize an adherence to any ordinary battalion movement. Indeed throughout, the Q. O. seem to have acted as independent companies. After moving on in this way for some distance, according to Major D’s report, but precisely how far I have failed to ascertain, No. 7 was sent out as a flanking party to the left towards the woods on that side, supported by No. 8, Trinity College company. This last was but a section, about twenty in number. Subsequently, the University, and Highland Companies No. 9 and 10 went on the right; but for the present they formed a reserve. The York company went with the Trinity college youths as an additional support on the left.
The advance was steady. They with the Spencer rifles had only thirty rounds of cartridges per man, and these they fired rapidly away. They fell back, some reports say in seven, others in ten minutes from the time they began to fire. Rapid firing, with repeating rifles had in that instance the disadvantage of too quickly expending an imperfect supply of ammunition; but it produced noise, and had a formidable appearance. It assisted materially to drive back the foremost Fenian pickets. In crossing into the first field from the garrison road an officer of No. 5 was killed.
At this time, seven to ten minutes after the first firing of the Fenian pickets on the advance of the Queen’s Own, the Hamilton 13th moved over the stoney ground on right of Ridge road, distant from Garrison road, about a hundred yards. Companies No’s 1, 2, and 3, then advanced and extended as skirmishers; their supports being No’s 4, 5, and 6, Major Skinner and Adjutant Henery accompanied the front line. “They advanced,” says Adjutant Henery, who is an experienced Sergeant from Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards, “as steadily, evenly, as ever did soldiers on a field day.” Said Sergeant-Major Rosconnell, an old British soldier, “their advance over the fences and across those fields was as regular and steady as could be desired.” This was strictly a battalion movement. The Queen’s Own also advanced as companies, regularly, steadily, but not as a battalion. Let us here observe them from the high ground beyond concession road, as the Fenian chief O’Neil saw them. This is how they looked to their enemy: