Book: Ridgeway

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Nor is this more than an individual case amongst others of a similar
class. What of the tens of thousands of the people's money given,
without the sanction of Parliament, to the Grand Trunk Railway in the
interest of English stockholders; and the postal subsidies handed over
to the same line, in excess of the tender made by the Managing
Director for the carrying of her Majesty's mails? Was not the
government liberal with the hard earnings of their poor dupes
throughout the land, when they virtually informed the authorities of
the Grand Trunk that they were altogether too modest in their
estimates, and that the country ought not to take advantage of such
nice young men, but give them more than they asked for performing the
service mentioned? Glorious! wasn't it? We might also allude to the
manner in which Sir John A. taxed the struggling industry of the
Province, millions to build up his pet Parliament Houses at the back
of God speed--buildings that almost rival those of England--and refer
also to the delightful manner in which the Crown Lands were dealt with
by another member of this happy family: citing the case of the Wallace
Mine Claim, in which the Commissioner managed to dispose, at a mere
nominal figure, of a portion of the public domain by private sale
among a few of his friends, including a gentleman presumed to be his
own agent, and that, too, in the face of a law which made it
imperative upon the government to advertise all lands in the _Canada
Gazette_ before they were put upon the market. For appearance sake,
the lands were advertised in the _Gazette_; but when a purchaser
dropped in to make inquiries, it leaked out that they had been all
disposed of previously. In this way the business of the people has
been conducted for years; and what is the result? To-day they are
without immigration, trade or commerce--to-day there is no public
confidence existing in any portion of the Dominion; for the government
seem to grasp the purse-strings with one hand while they hold a drawn
sword in the other. There is no security to be found in any corner of
the State; and no projects, formed for the future of its people. To be
sure, certain parties prate and jabber about the Volunteer Service and
national defenses; but what have they to defend? If their frontier
were bristling to-morrow with forts and bayonets, all they could hope
to accomplish would be the shutting out of American liberty and
national prosperity from the people. This must be self-evident to any
individual who is at all conversant with the true nature of the case,
or cognizant of the fact, that there cannot possibly be any hope for
Canada so long as she holds herself aloof from the great social and
political compact of this Union, upon the pulses of which, in her
present helpless and isolated position, she will always have to dance
attendance and pay the piper besides. Either the sunlight or the
shadow of the Republic must fall on her without intermission. If she
choose the former, well and good; let her cut herself free of the
despotic tyrant that now holds her in cunning thrall, and step into
the broad effulgence of American freedom, or if she will it, until
circumstances of themselves precipitate her into the arms of the
Commonwealth with less grace than she might otherwise have fallen into
them, let her feel the blighting influence of the cold clouds that
cannot fail to envelope her and paralyze all her energies in the
interim. There is no need of mincing the matter--Canada beneath the
skull and cross-bones of St. George, must ever remain a poor, puny
starveling; while under the proud and ample folds of the glorious flag
of this mighty Republic, she should at once become great, powerful and
prosperous, as yet another star added to the refulgent galaxy that now
rides high amid the noontide of nations.




CHAPTER XII.


One grand evidence of the deep rooted sentiment that actuates
Fenianism in the great Irish American heart, is to be found in the
fact, that at the time of the Pittsburgh Convention, the Organization
was in debt, and that within the brief space intervening between that
period and the invasion of Canada, the Brotherhood armed and equipped
thousands upon thousands of their number, and still had not expended
the last dollar in their treasury. This is, of itself, a most
significant fact, and one that goes far to exalt the Irish element on
this continent in the eyes of both soldiers, citizens and statesmen.
The abiding faith of our people in the justice of their cause, and the
fixed conviction that it shall one day triumph, enable them to deal
with reverses and opposition in a manner at once intelligent,
dignified and philosophic. They know that repeated failures have been
the crucible in which the holiest and the most successful projects
have been tried in all ages; and, like that of the spider of Bruce,
the heart never fails within them. Amongst them, too, were found upon
the eve of their descent upon the Province, as well as long previous
to it, men of undoubted patriotism, genius and chivalry. And at no
point was this more obvious than at Buffalo. We say, more obvious, for
we know that scarce a city, town or village in the State, and far and
wide outside it, but contained just us good men and true as were
possessed by Buffalo; but we refer to it thus particularly, as it is
more immediately connected with our tale. We could mention many names
as sterling in every relation as those we now introduce; but none, we
apprehend, more intimately blended with the actual descent of the
brave O'Neill upon Canada, save the handful of heroes who joined him
in that proud and daring expedition; and none which, in the hour of
the sorest need of the Organization, sacrificed more for the sake of
Ireland.

When the moment was considered ripe for the movement, then, the eyes
of the Fenian authorities were turned towards Buffalo, and other
points on the frontier lying close upon the Canadian borders. In this
city, Francis B. Gallagher, Esq., and five or six others were regarded
as marked personages towards which a peculiar portion of the movement
should gravitate before finally crossing the lines. These gentlemen,
from their independent circumstances, excellent social standing and
undoubted patriotism, were regarded as pillars of strength upon which
the expedition might properly lean for a moment, and adjust itself
before attempting to cross the Rubicon and enter the country of the
enemy. There were more, also, in this city, who evinced a spirit of
the truest love of Ireland upon that occasion, as upon all previous
once, and who assisted in forwarding the grand objects of the
organization to the utmost stretch of their abilities, but as their
names are too numerous to mention here, and as they had their
counterpart, as they have to-day, in various localities throughout the
Union, we shall merely note the circumstance of their existence. As to
the Brotherhood in its military aspect here, no portion of the State
or Union was better represented in this connection, or more competent
to distinguish itself upon the field. Its civil relations, also, were
equally creditable; Mr. Gallagher, as the period for action
approached, becoming active, anxious and restless; devoting his time
assiduously to the affairs of the Brotherhood, and constantly
communicating with headquarters on some point of importance. And thus
affairs stood when the first draft of men arrived in the city under
Senator Bannon, of Louisville, Ky., and Senator Fitzgerald, of
Cincinnati, and when the movement on Canada might be said to have
fairly commenced.

Soon, however, it began to be discovered that, although Buffalo, and
other places, were alive to their duty and ready to contribute their
quota to the expedition, there was a screw loose somewhere; and on the
evening of the thirty-first of May, it was ascertained that, although
numbers of volunteers had arrived from various points, through the
unfortunate neglect or incapacity of the then Secretary of War, there
was no one to command them. This was a dreadful state of affairs
indeed, and one which admits of no palliation. It was expected that
General Lynch, or some other distinguished officer, would take charge
of the expedition from this point; but that gallant and experienced
soldier, owing to the receipt of incorrect orders, did not arrive in
time to assume the command. Up to this point, and for some time
previously, matters had been conducted in a manner so careless by the
War Department, that the mere casual observer might reasonably presume
some parties connected with it courted failure. Arms and ammunition
had been despatched to the frontier without due precaution, and to
parties to whom they ought not have been transmitted, for various
reasons. Again, the massing of forces at the various points of
debarkation was neither compact nor simultaneous,--a circumstance
which occasioned so much delay, that the American government could not
possibly close their eyes to the fact of the invasion, without
compromising themselves before the world. Had one simultaneous and
compact movement characterized the expedition, the American
authorities would never have interfered with it; but when it was
rubbed under their nose for days, through the blundering or
criminality of those who undertook to direct it from the War
Department, what was to have been expected other than is now known to
have occurred?

In addition to this, no transport had been actually secured for the
troops that had arrived at Buffalo, and the dilemma was intensified to
the extremest pitch. What ship-owner, in the face of such bungling,
would run the risk of placing any of his vessels at the disposal of a
party so uncomfortably situated? That was a question which presented
itself at the last moment, and which was more easily put than
answered.

When all was dark and uncertain, however, and when the heart of many
began to fail, in stepped the gallant O'Neill upon the platform,
offering to command the expedition. He had arrived previously from
Nashville, Tenn., with his contingent, and felt how dreadful the
position in which the project was placed. A council of war was held,
at which Captain Hynes was present; and as this latter gentleman had
delegated authority from Gen. Sweeney, Colonel O'Neill--now
General--was at once placed in command. So far so good; but how were
the troops to get across the river? The interrogatory, as already
observed, was a perplexing one; but it was instantly solved by Mr.
Gallagher and one or two other gentlemen, who voluntarily, and at the
imminent risk of every dollar they possessed, pledged all they were
worth in the world, and procured the necessary means for crossing the
river, and landing the first instalment of the army of the Irish
Republic upon British soil.

The number of men assembled at Buffalo on the night already mentioned
was about eight hundred,--being detachments from the following
regiments:--13th Infantry, Colonel John O'Neill; 17th Infantry,
Colonel Owen Stan; 18th Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Grace; 7th
Infantry, Colonel John Hoy, and two companies from Indiana, under
Captain Haggerty; but the number of men that could be gotten together
when the expedition crossed did not exceed six hundred.

An authentic report of this brief but glorious campaign will be found
at the close of this work. We introduce it as historical information,
from a most unerring source. The subject, it will be perceived, is
treated in the most impartial and unimpassioned manner; dealing simply
in dry details, and in that curt, soldier-like matter of fact style,
which aims at nothing like effect, and seeks only to recount
circumstances as they occurred, and that, too, in the briefest
possible manner.

Scarcely had the last boat, with the invading expedition, pushed off
from the American shore, on the night of the 31st of May, already
mentioned, when another craft, pulled by two men, its only occupants,
followed in the wake of the receding troops, dropping a little further
down the river, as it neared the Canadian side. From their dress and
appearance, the rowers might have been recognized by many a
Buffalonian, as Black Jack and the Kid, who were evidently bent upon
dogging the invaders, and, while keeping at a safe distance, dealing
in such plunder on their outskirts as might swell their own villainous
coffers, while the criminality should attach to the Fenians. This
course was prompted on their part by a sort of blind, bull-dog
adherence to everything English, and a hope of picking up in the red
trail of the campaign such valuables as would increase their already
large though ill-gotten store.

On reaching the Canadian shore, both these worthies, who had but a few
nights previously conveyed Kate across the Niagara, set out for the
village of Fort Erie, which lay about four miles up the river, and
which they did not wish to approach directly from the American side,
but creep towards in the rear of the moving mass.

Under no circumstances does the human wolf exhibit itself to such
monstrous intensity as under those of war. Not the wolf in the uniform
of the soldier, for, let him be as blood-thirsty as he may, he buys,
on the field, to some extent at least, the right to be savage. The
current coin in which he deals is human gore; and in this relation he
freely exchanges with his antagonist the circulating medium, and gives
or takes, as the necessities of the moment may demand. He stands a
nine-pin on the great bowling-alley of the field, and takes his chance
of being knocked down in common with his opponent, who occupies a
precisely similar position. He offers life for life; and, lamentable
as the doctrine may be, he seems licensed to plunder, and, if needs
be, kill. Here, of course, we speak of the mere hireling, who has no
higher object before him than that of simple gain--who is actuated
solely by a sordid love of gold--whose soul and body are as
purchasable as a pound of beef in the shambles, and who is moved by
the wretched pulses of mammon only. Such an one, although low in the
scale of humanity, and unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath
with the glorious patriot who unsheathes his sword for Father-land,
Liberty and Heaven, is an angel of light compared with the lynx-eyed,
dastardly prowler, who, when the heart of his quarry has been stilled
by some other hand, gropes, gloved with clotted sore, among the
mangled remains for the booty he never earned; or who, when the
thunder of the field, or the onward course of a victorious army lays
waste the fair land, takes advantage of the dread and confusion of the
inhabitants, and gorges himself with plunder, as though he were a
victor to whom should belong the spoils. Such wreckers of the dead are
the ghouls of our race; and never had they more faithful
representatives than the two villains who, in due course, mingled with
the invaders in the village, anxious to commence their depredations
before even a single shot was fired.

Barry, as already intimated, joined the expedition, and was now
numbered among the invaders. Of course he perceived that with such a
mere handful of men, nothing could be effected in the Province; but,
then, he never supposed for a moment, that they were other than the
simple advance-guard of a numerous following close upon their rear. In
addition, it was anticipated that the landing of troops upon the
Canadian shore would be effected simultaneously along the frontier at
different points. This was the settled conviction of O'Neill, and of
his officers also, as the scheme formed a leading feature of the
programme of the campaign. But here the fates were against them; for
transportation, as we are led to believe, was not secured effectively
at any point save Buffalo. In fact, this city appears to have
acquitted itself with regard to the invasion, in a manner that
reflects the highest credit upon the Fenian authorities of the
district; for even when the expedition, on finding that the American
Government had interfered with the transport of reinforcements, had
considered it prudent to return, the means of reaching the American
shore were placed at its command by the patriotic gentlemen already
alluded to; while, farther still, when the United States authorities
were seizing the arms of the Brotherhood in every direction, Buffalo,
through the admirable management of these persons, contrived to keep
its quota intact.

During the morning of the landing, Nicholas happened to get a glimpse
of the Kid and big dark companion in the village; and the circumstance
awoke strong hopes in his bosom in relation to gaining some
intelligence of Kate. From all he had heard, and from having found the
trinket in their boat, he felt convinced that either one or the other
of these scoundrels knew something of her. He, therefore, kept track
of them until a fitting opportunity, when he accosted the Kid, as a
sort of half acquaintance, and, by way of attempting to surprise him
into a confession of some knowledge of Kate, produced the silver
chased button already referred to, and asked him if he knew the name
of the lady that had recently dropped it in his boat. For a moment the
villain, who was, of course, none other than the Stephen Smith that
was in the habit of visiting the Wilsons, seemed taken aback; but
instantly recovering himself, replied, that his boat was so often
hired by fishing parties, it would be difficult to tell the name of
the lady from whose dress it might have dropped--that was, "provided
it had dropped from a lady's dress, at all."

Although the thrust was adroitly parried, Nicholas, who was on the
_qui vive_, noticed his momentary confusion, and determined to keep
his eye upon him, in the hope that something might soon turn up that
would throw the villain more completely into his power, and enable him
to extract from him the intelligence which he still felt satisfied was
in his possession. With this end in view, he set one of his comrades,
who had escaped from the Fort with him, to watch with the utmost
caution and secrecy every manoeuvre of the wretch and his companion;
fully satisfied, as he was, that both the rascals were determined to
follow in the wake of the army, for purposes already mentioned.

The conduct of the Invaders at Fort Erie was of such general
excellence, that the inhabitants of that place speak of them, up to
the present hour, in terms of such admiration as to excite the jealous
animadversions of many of the Canadian people themselves.
Notwithstanding that the village and its vicinity lay helplessly at
their disposal, and was, for the moment, theirs by right of conquest,
they entered it rather in the character of guests than in that of
masters. Although the usages of war placed all that it contained at
their feet, they never appropriated to their use even one solitary
loaf of bread or glass of ale without having first paid for it. As to
their generosity and chivalry in this connection, let us quote from
the work of Major George T. Denison, Jun'r, commanding "the Governor
General's Body Guard," Upper Canada; author of "Manual and Outpost
Duties," "Observations on the best Defensive Force for Canada,
&c."--an officer who took part in the campaign against the Fenians,
and who cannot be charged with partiality to the invaders. In this
work, published in June, 1866, by Rollo & Adam, Toronto, and entitled
"The Fenian Raid on Fort Erie, with an account of the Battle of
Ridgeway," the author, page 62, observes, first, as to the disastrous
result of the collision between both armies, to the Canadians:--

"The loss of this fight was the loss of the whole expedition. The two
Commanding Officers were wandering about the country, the main body of
the men captured or lying wounded about the village; the Captain of
the Artillery struck down with the loss of a leg, and the Tug almost
denuded of men, and the few left so hampered with a lot of useless
prisoners, as to be unable to undertake anything."

And again, after having complimented the invaders on some instances of
personal bravery, he remarks, page 69:

"Before closing this chapter, I must mention that, from all accounts,
the Fenians, except in so far as they were wrong in invading a
peaceful country, in carrying on an unjustifiable war, behaved
remarkably well to the inhabitants. I spent three weeks in Fort Erie,
and conversed with dozens of the people of the place, and was
astonished at the universal testimony borne by them to their unvarying
good conduct. They have been called plunderers, robbers and marauders;
yet, no matter how unwilling we may be to admit it, the positive fact
remains, that THEY STOLE BUT FEW VALUABLES; THAT THEY DESTROYED,
COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING, LITTLE OR NOTHING, AND THAT THEY COMMITTED NO
OUTRAGES UPON THE INHABITANTS, BUT TREATED EVERYONE WITH UNVARYING
COURTESY. On taking a number of the Welland Battery and the Naval
Company prisoners, THEY TREATED THEM WITH THE GREATEST KINDNESS,
putting the officers under their parole and RETURNING TO THEM THEIR
SIDE ARMS; taking them down to the wharf on their departure, and
releasing them, bidding them adieu with EXPRESSIONS OF GOOD WILL."

"Another incident," he goes on to say, same page, "occurred, worth
mentioning: A number of them went to a widow lady's house, near Fort
Erie, and asked her for something to eat. They were about going into
the kitchen to sit down, and she told them she would not let them
in,--they laughingly replied, 'very well, ma'am, we'll do here very
well, it is a very nice yard;' and accordingly they sat down on the
grass and ate the bread and butter and milk she gave them. Another
squad in the same way took breakfast there. In the evening a man came,
ragged and tired, looking for something to eat. Seeing a loaf of bread
on the table he took it up. The lady said: 'That is the last loaf I
have.' The man looked at her and said slowly: 'Is that the last loaf
of bread that you have? then I'll not take it,' and laid it on the
window-sill. Seeing this, she asked him to take half. After pressing
it upon him, he at length took a portion of it. This story is
undoubtly true, as I obtained it from the lady herself, with whom I am
intimately acquainted."

"It perhaps," he continues in the next paragraph, page 70, "does not
come with a good grace from a Canadian to give any credit to the
Fenians, who, without any ground of complaint against us, invade our
country and cause the loss of valuable lives among us; but as a
truthful narrator of facts, I must give them credit on the only ground
on which they can claim it."

This is honest and soldierly on the part of Major Denison; but should
these pages chance to meet his eye, he will find his theory untenable
in relation to the immunity of Canada from the consequences of any
acts for which England may seemingly be responsible only. The war of
1812 was not a war against Canada, but against Great Britain, and yet
Canada was invaded by the Americans and made the principal theatre of
the conflict. How multifarious soever, or widely scattered its
colonies or dependencies, every nation is a unit, and consequently
amenable as well in detail as in the aggregate, for any offence
committed against public justice or humanity. When you quarrel with a
man, you don't quarrel in particular with his eye, his foot, or his
nose, although you may punish him as a whole by inflicting injury upon
all or any of these organs; and thus it is in the case under
consideration; the New Dominion is the foot or the eye or the nose of
John Bull, and as such, any enemy of England is justifiable in maiming
him in any or all of these parts. This is the hard logic of the point;
and if Canada wishes to escape its consequences, she must demonstrate
to the Irish people, or to any other who may be at enmity with
England, that she is neither part nor parcel of the British Empire.
How ridiculous the plea set up by Canada, that because she was not
forsooth an active individual agent of gross tyranny and injustice
towards Ireland, she ought to be exempt from any of the consequences
arising to the real culprit in the case. The same argument might be
urged with as much reason, by half the population of England herself,
who are just as innocent in this respect as the people of Canada; they
having never been consciously concerned in any oppression of Ireland,
either individually or collectively. But they are the friends, allies
and abettors of the government which has perpetrated such crimes in
relation to Ireland,--nay, more, they create and sustain the agencies
through which these wrongs are committed; and in this they are joined
heart, hand and soul, by the people of Canada or the representatives
of that people. Canada, then, having sworn allegiance to the Crown of
Great Britain, is constructively, as well as virtually, as much an
enemy of Ireland as England is. The Firm, comprising Great Britain and
all its colonies and dependencies throughout the world, is known as
John Bull & Co., and the distinctive sign of the house, in all its
ramifications, is the Union Jack or some adaptation of the red cross
of St. George to local predilections. As in ordinary mercantile
transactions, a debt incurred by any branch of the establishment
involves the responsibility of the whole, and can be levied for in
London or Hokitika. This is the true state of the case, and any
individual who would advance a doctrine contrary to it, is either a
simpleton or a knave.

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