Narrative of the Fenian invasion of CanadaSomerville, Alexander
History
Narrative of the Fenian invasion of Canada
Somerville, Alexander
Canada -- History -- Fenian Invasions, 1866-1870
enemy in a wooded country, carrying no water, no food, nothing but
bold confidence, which in war is something but not everything. For
want of their coats they mounted guards at night exposed to rain, to
swamp fogs, chills from the lake and the canal, wearing only their
red tunics and shirts, and all because they had not each a pair of
shoulder belts, to carry that first of a soldier’s life preservers,
the overcoat. Was no superior answerable for this neglect?
They were sent out without canteens to carry water when on the line
of march or on the battle-field. On the field of action and on the
retreat they drank from swampy ditches, lifting the water in their
shakos and caps and shoes; many were in consequence sick—their
intolerable thirst having been aggravated by the ambrosial breakfast
of a red-herring which the military genius of their commander,
administered to them at 4.30 a. m., preparatory to a long march
without water and the hazards of a battle.
It has since been ascertained that he had beef-steak for breakfast.
They had no knapsacks in which to carry changes of underclothing, or
the usual military necessaries. They had no mess tins in which to
divide food, and carry it when not all at once consumed. They had no
haversack to carry bread and small articles indispensable to personal
cleanliness and health, and not second to these, indispensable in
keeping the rifle in working order. They had not a wrench in the
battalion to unscrew locks, nor a worm screw, of which every man
should have one wherewith to draw charges from rifles. The nipples of
some were, after the action, plugged with dirt and could not be fired
off. There was no battalion armourer. They had no oil for springs,
or to protect burnished steel from rust. They had no portable camp
kettles, to cook food which should have been supplied by a Government
commissary. There were commissary agents who had no stores. The
Government were said to be ready for any emergency. The 1st and 2nd
of June proved that they had made no adequate preparation. And the
question remains for the time of present writing, month of August.
Has any better provision, or equipments for a campaign yet been made?
With all those wants the 13th carried with them their colors to the
woodlands. No commanders of practical experience permit colors to
be carried into forests, where the war from nature of the enemy and
contour of the country is likely to prove desultory. General Sir De
Lacy Evans, in Spain, than whom no soldier of riper and more varied
experience has lived in this century, never permitted his troops to
carry colors before the enemy in that country of woods, orchards,
rivers, and ravines.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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