The vicar Deseves has left us a vivid picture of the life which the rebels led. No attempt was made to drill them or to exercise discipline. Time hung heavy on their hands. He continually saw them, he says, passing through the village in knots of five or six, carrying rusty guns out of order, smoking short black pipes, and wearing blue _tuques_ which hung half-way down their backs, clothes of _etoffe du pays_, and leather mittens. They helped themselves to all the strong drink they could lay their hands on, and their gait showed the influence of their potations. Their chief aim in life seemed to be to steal, to drink, to eat, to dance, and to quarrel. With regard to the morrow, they lived in a fool's paradise. They seem to have believed that the troops would not dare to come out to meet them, and that when their leaders should give the word they would advance on Montreal and take it without difficulty. Their numbers during this period showed a good deal of {97} fluctuation. Ultimately Girod succeeded in gathering about him nearly a thousand men. Not all these, however, were armed; according to Deseves a great many of them had no weapons but sticks and stones. By December 13 Sir John Colborne was ready to move. He had provided himself with a force strong enough to crush an enemy several times more numerous than the insurgents led by Girod and Chenier. His column was composed of the 1st Royals, the 32nd regiment, the 83rd regiment, the Montreal Volunteer Rifles, Globensky and Leclerc's Volunteers, a strong force of cavalry--in all, over two thousand men, supported by eight pieces of field artillery and well supplied with provision and ammunition transport.