Above the village of Queenston the channel of the river narrows, and the banks rise to the height of three hundred feet, thickly covered with trees and shrubs. At the ferry between Lewiston and Queenston the river is one thousand two hundred and fifty feet in breadth, with a depth of from two to three hundred feet and a very rapid current. Half way down the hill, or the mountain, as it was called, was the redan battery, where the flank light company of the 49th Regiment, under Captain {300} Williams was stationed. The other flank company of the 49th, the grenadiers, numbering only forty-six men, under Major Dennis, was at the village of Queenston, where also was stationed Captain Chisholm's company from York, and Captain Hall's company of 5th Lincoln militia. There was a small detachment of artillery in the village, with two 3-pounders, under the command of Lieutenant Crowther and Captain Ball. On the height opposite Queenston, on the American side, was Fort Grey, whose guns commanded that village. From this point the firing first came. It was about half an hour before daylight, probably about four a.m., in the midst of a violent storm of wind and rain, that, under cover of darkness, the Americans began crossing the river. They were seen by the militia sentinel on guard at Queenston, who immediately ran to the guardhouse to give the alarm. As soon as possible, the grenadier company of the 49th and the militia company stationed there, began firing on them, using also the two 3-pounders with good effect. Colonel Van Rensselaer, a relative of the general, who had charge of the troops crossing, was at this time severely wounded, as well as many of the rank and file, before the boats had gone far from their side of the river. The gun at Vrooman's Point, which commanded the landing at Lewiston, also joined in, and many of the boats were driven back, whilst others in a battered condition drifted down the {301} river and ran ashore near Vrooman's Point. Those on board, many of them wounded, were made prisoners. [Sidenote: The York volunteers] The detachment of York Volunteers at Brown's Point, two miles below, had heard the firing, and made ready to join their comrades in helping to drive the invaders back. Dawn was now glimmering in the east, but the semi-darkness was illumined by the discharge of musketry and the flash of artillery. In spite of the constant fire, some boats succeeded in effecting a landing.