[cruikshank] FROM ISLE AUX NOIX TO CHATEAUGUAY 37 



had been frequently paraded and exercised on the ice in the early- 

 morning their first movements attracted little attention until the two 

 columns were quite halfway across and seen to be steadily advancing 

 toward the American shore. The sentries hastily gave the alarm 

 and the works were manned with every sign of haste and confusion. 

 Before they could open fire the British columns had separated, each 

 of them moving as rapidly as the snow drifts would permit and ex- 

 tending into skirmishing order as it advanced. The guns were unable 

 to keep up and finally stuck fast in the snow. As they approached the 

 American shore and gained the shelter of the high banks, the infantry 

 swiftly closed without any word of command, and after a brief halt 

 under cover to regain their breath, rushed directly upon the nearest 

 batteries. The town was occupied by three small companies of volun- 

 teer artillery and a weak battalion of militia infantry. The advance 

 party of the left column, bravely led by Staff Adjutant Ridge accom- 

 panied by a few gunners of the Royal Artillery under Bombardier 

 Anderson, who had abandoned their own gun in a snow drift and were 

 armed only with their rammers, carried the eastern battery without 

 firing a shot, taking two officers and thirteen privates and capturing 

 three field pieces which were immediately turned against the remain- 

 ing defences of the town. The timber breastwork and a small redan 

 battery, being thus turned and taken in reverse by this fire, were 

 soon abandoned by their occupants with two more guns. Fort Oswe- 

 gatchie was next taken after a feeble resistance, its garrison retiring 

 to the arsenal, a substantial stone building on a commanding site 

 near the eastern end of the bridge over the Oswegatchie river, where 

 they made a determined stand supported by another field piece 

 which was actively served. This gun was eventually taken with the 

 officer in command and several wounded men after a fierce struggle 

 in which three Canadian militia officers were wounded. A portion 

 of the American militia retreated across the bridge but the majority 

 sought shelter in the woods or in buildings on the same side of the 

 frozen stream whence they maintained such a galling and annoying 

 fire that it was ultimately found necessary to bring forward several 

 field guns by hand to dislodge them. 



Meanwhile the column under Jenkins had encountered a most 

 stubborn resistance from Forsyth's riflemen and small detachments 

 of artillery and the 21st United States Infantry holding the batteries 

 near the mouth of the Oswegatchie and the stone barracks of La 

 Presentation. It was exposed for several minutes to the fire of seven 

 guns and the musketry of two hundred men at close range while strug- 

 gling through the deep snow. After resting for a moment under the 

 shelter of the bank, Jenkins led a charge in person against the battery 



