94 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
them by, giving them a rousing cheer as they gallopped past towards 
the head of the column. Dusk came on as we hurried forward. After 
we had gone about 9 miles a bank of woods closed in, into which a rise 
in the road entered, and we saw some men on horses in the opening. 
It quickly became dark and a part of the 47th and our No. 1 company 
of the 10th were sent out in skirmishing order as advance picquets to 
the right of the road. The column halted and the whole force bivouacked 
in the open for the night. 
Our company lay under the lee of a rail fence, from the other side 
of which the fields sloped up towards the woods. The ground on which 
we were placed was fresh ploughed and soggy and no lights or fires were 
allowed. 
Luckily. our restless bugler boy with his wandering tendencies 
discovered a stack of straw in a field to one side of us, so the captain 
permitted one at a time from each of our double picket files to go and 
get an armful, and before long the whole company was bedded and out 
of the mud. The dark, still night was spent in watchful quiet and the 
remaining contents of the haversacks shared and eaten with relish. 
At earliest dawn (3rd June), three men were seen coming towards 
us over the fields from the woods at the right. Being challenged they 
threw up their hands and running forward climbed over the fence and 
asking to be taken at once to headquarters, were sent along our line 
towards the main road to Col. Peacock. ‘Good heavens,” said one as 
they passed by, “That’s Col. Dennis, but he has cut his long whiskers 
off.” So indeed it was. The shaven, haggard faced man, with slouched 
cap and tousled common clothes was the same man, but very different 
in appearance, from the stately Colonel Stoughton Dennis, District 
Commanding Officer of the 5th District, with handsome uniform and 
flowing Dundreary whiskers, who had gone out in command of the 
Queen’s Own only two days before. ‘‘What in the world has hap- 
pened?” ‘What has become of the Queen’s Own?” were some of the 
questions that at once went around. A few minutes afterwards as it 
was fairly light we were up and off. 
As we approached Fort Erie, which was 24 miles from our bivouac, 
the troops were extended in a wide sweeping semi-circle to envelop the 
fort and town, and so to close in on the Fenians whom we expected to 
bring to a fight with their backs to the river. 
Again No. 1 company was in luck for we were sent forward as an 
advance party to search the woods and houses in front of our part of 
the line. The first persons we encountered were several men of the 
Welland Battery, and Private Hindes of the Trinity College Company, 
and Private Junor of the University Company of the Queen’s Own, 
who had been taken prisoners by the Fenians on the previous day and 
