But even though they were sheltering in the upper storey of Cheery Welcome's tavern, Murdoch's voltigeurs canadiens were beginning to suffer from the fire of Captain Rockford's skirmishers. Reduced to half their original numbers they were thinking of abandoning the position, when suddenly the American officer who had been urging his men on fell to the ground. The grey-clad men from Lower Canada regained their composure and continued firing with renewed purpose. The officer was seen to recover, but not before the blue skirmish line had fallen back a little.
Meanwhile, on the right of the Canadian position, Henry Higgins could see trouble coming and there was very little he could do about it. A wall of grey was approaching and Brackenreid was nowhere to be seen. Time seemed to slow down. The Americans marched towards him. They paused, then aimed and ultimately fired. He felt an agonising pain in his shoulder and several of his men fell. The little band of redcoats recoiled from the fence and when time resumed its normal speed Higgins suddenly realised that he wasn't dead.
Then, just when it seemed as if all was lost, he heard the unmistakable sound of Bonzo's drumming and there at the fence stood Brackenreid and the rest of the company.
"Present.........fire!", and once again the men of the 9th U.S. infantry felt the full force of Canadian musketry. When the ringing stopped in his ears, Major Magnum saw that of his men only one rank remained.
Looks fun
ReplyDeleteI think Dave's suffering from deja-vu :)
DeleteThe end for this encounter I'm afraid. My U.S. forces will be withdrawing, your position is secure Neal.
ReplyDeleteDave.