FENIAN RAID OF ‘66 (Part 10)

[People’s Press, 30 June 1908]

EXTRACTS FROM THE TRIBUNE OF FORTY-TWO YEARS AGO, TELLING OF THE NOTED INVASION.

             “Now that the first Fenian invasion has taken place, and the enemy has, for a time held possession of Canada soil, we may speculate more definitely upon their intentions and prospects, and the light in which the U.S. Government views them.

             The secrecy with which the late movement was concocted makes it evident that the Fenian Brotherhood have money and arms and can procure the services of plenty of drilled men to assist them in furthering their designs.

             It is hard to determine upon what was really the object of the late isolated attack at Bertie. The conduct of the invaders would lead us to believe that they came not solely for plunder, and their unwillingness to leave the vicinity of the river, shows that they either did not wish to destroy public property, or that they were arrant cowards and afraid to venture. And again, if the invaders had intended to try to hold the soil, they would probably have been better supported with reinforcements.

             We are forced to the conclusion that the movement was either a feint or that it was undertaken in order, if possible, to embroil the Canadian and United States authorities in a quarrel, in the hope that it would ultimately prove a casus belli.

             If their movement was a feint it has failed most signally in its object, for no other attack has been made, and instead of deceiving us, it has acted as an alarm , and we are now prepared at all points. If their object was to cause a disagreement between us and our neighbors, they, the Fenians, will probably find out to their severe cost, that it will only cause their movements to be more closely watched in the future.

             Let the object of the raid have been what it might, the temporary measure of success gained by the invaders, and their escape through the blundering of our Colonel, will certainly ensure another attack unless they are put down by the strong arm of the U.S. Government. That Government is now no doubt seizing all the Fenian arms its agents can find, and had it not been for their promptness in doing this, Lower Canadians would no doubt have been the scene of strife as now. But it does not depend on this. If the raiders themselves can avoid punishment, they no doubt find arms somewhere. The spirit of the law is not always carried out, as was proven by the release of St. Albans raiders, and if O’Neill and his men can procure their release, we may expect to hear from them or their friends in some other quarter very shortly. If, on the other hand, the United States is made too hot for the Fenians to organize in, we may expect the whole thing to die gradually away for the present, perhaps forever, unless in case of national war, when the Fenian element would be a potent engine for our reduction.

             One good end was accomplished by the invasion, and that is the bringing forth more prominently before the world the indomitable courage and heroism of which our gallant volunteers are possessed. The Welland Canal Battery, the Queen’s Own and all the troops engaged at Lime Ridge, acquitted themselves most nobly. The only blot on the side of the whole history of the campaign is the painful evidences of mismanagement on the part of some our commanding officers.

             Orders to Retreat- The President’s proclamation having afforded Sweeney an excellent excuse for avoiding the halter which awaited him, upon his arrival to Canada, he has sent the following dispatch to his confrere Roberts, now confined in jail.

             Send no more men to the front. The stringent measures of the United States Government have rendered success impossible at present.-Promulgate this immediately. T.W. Sweeney”

The above dispatch was printed in the Tribune of June 14, 1866.

             “Watertown, June 11- An extra train of eight cars loaded with homebound Fenians passed here at seven o’clock this evening. Every train from the north brings a few stragglers. They are badly demoralized and very hungry.” – Tribune, June 14, 1866.