Lincoln Sneezed

by Brian Boyington

  General Sweeney then spoke up: Lads, this time it will be different. We have the men, money, and supplies to be successful. We also have allied with Louis & Edmund who have been in contact with their followers who are ready to rise.” Loud applause broke up with pewter beer mugs pounded onto the table.

  Edmund O’Callaghan then stood up and began speaking. “Louis and I are very proud and grateful to be included in this crusade. As most of you are aware, we tried to work with the Canadian Assembly and submitted the 92 Resolutions. I won’t dally with the details” - general laughter and applause - “but they demanded that our rights as free citizens be respected. The Assembly rejected them, and the government tried to arrest us. We rose in revolt and almost won. Luis and I were forced to flee to the United States but have not forgotten for what we fought. We have contacted our agents in Upper Canada, and the people are eager to support us.”

  General Sweeney then continued: “Lads, time is of the essence. We must take Montreal quickly before winter sets in, for then we will control the St Lawrence. Tomorrow night we will board the trains to Port Henry.” More applause followed, including the pounding of beer mugs. The atmosphere was celebratory as the Fenians, and the Parti Patriote followers were confident in the fulfillment of their dreams.

  St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec Province

  The joint American and Fenian army debarked one mile south of Fort St Jean. Within an hour the town was occupied, and the Fort enveloped by siege lines on three sides. Louis-Joseph Papineau and Edmund O’Callaghan did their best to reassure the townspeople that they were liberators, not invaders. Many remembered who they were and most remembered the Patriote Rebellion. Most of the residents welcomed the troops; the others remained in their homes.

  Three gunboats which had accompanied the fleet shelled the fort from the river. Soon cannons from the siege lines joined the bombardment which continued all day and night. On the second day, the walls began to crumble. The cannonade intensified and the troops formed up for an assault. Realizing that his position had become untenable, the British commander lowered the Union Jack, raised the white flag and surrendered his 250 man garrison. The Imperial troops, along with the officers were loaded onto a barge and escorted by a gunboat back into Lake Champlain and held as prisoners of war. With the fall of Fort St Jean, the way to Montreal, only 50 miles away was open. Two days later, the army marched towards Montreal using the railroad tracks as a guide.

  Montreal, November 4, 1867

  General Sweeney’s army arrived at the bank of the St Lawrence River at the southern terminus of the Victoria Bridge. The British army garrison of 3500 men had blown up several of the center spans of the bridge. However, the bridge construction prevented complete destruction with 22 masonry piers installed for support and to break up ice. Sweeney’s engineers bridged the gaps, and other engineers bridged the Lachine Canal and constructed a cofferdam to restrict the water flow at the Lachine Rapids.

  Realizing that his position was hopeless and without chance of relief, the British Commander Colonel Phillips telegraphed a final message to Governor General Monck advising that his position was untenable and he requested permission to evacuate the city. Monck ordered him to escape to Quebec City and to take the leading loyalist families with him. The government, now located in Quebec City would assist in the rescue by sending troopships down the river. Colonel Phillips left a rear guard to man the redoubts to give the impression he was still defending the city. Under cover of night, his army and the loyalists escaped. Colonel Phillips engineers wired the bridges for destruction and were instructed to wait for the rear guard to arrive before blowing the bridges. If the Americans came first, the engineers were told to blow the bridges.

  The next morning, under cover of heavy cannon fire the infantry established two bridgeheads on the island. The British rear guard put up a good demonstration then gradually broke off the fight heading for the bridges on the opposite side. About one-half of them made it to the opposite bank, and then the bridges were destroyed.

  Louis-Joseph Papineau and Edmund O’Callaghan strode with pride into City Hall Plaza. As the Union Jack was hauled down and replaced with the Stars and Stripes, a second flag raising also took place. The tricolor flag of the Parti Patriote flew on a lower staff. The flag had horizontal stripes of three colors; green on the top for Irish, white in the middle for French and red on the bottom for British. A crowd was gathering and as the Parti Patriote flag rose, and a huge cheer and applause arose from the crowd and the Fenians. That night was a party atmosphere throughout Montreal with parades up and down the main boulevards.

  Kingston, Ontario

  Admiral Lee’s ironclads were sighted steaming towards the harbor. The British had sophisticated defenses lakeside protecting the city and the Royal Navy yard. These included the Martello towers at Fort Frederick, Shoal Tower, Murney Tower and Cathcart Tower. The towers supported Fort Henry, which protected the Rideau Canal. Each tower was cylindrical and had 32lb cannons protected by five meter thick walls. The cannons were on tracks, which allowed them to fire from gun ports over a 360-degree range of fire. Fort Henry also had 32lb guns mounted in masonry casements and on tracks on top on of the ramparts.

  Lee’s ironclads steamed in front of Fort Henry and the towers, pounding them with the 15” and 20” Dahlgren cannons. The 32lb cannon balls fired by the defenders bounced off the ironclads sloping sides. After each ironclad had made a pass by the forts, they turned parallel rotated the turret and made another pass. At each pass, the heavy cannon balls blasted chunks out of the limestone walls. The bombardment continued until dusk, and then the ironclads withdrew into Watertown New York, where they were re-supplied.

  After breakfast the following day, the attack resumed. On the third day, cannon fire blasted holes through the limestone walls. On the fourth day, Shoal Tower collapsed into the harbor, and large sections of Frederick Tower were blasted out. On the next pass, another part fell away, and one-half of the tower collapsed. Cathcart Tower on Cedar Island came under combined assault from both sides of the island and by the end of the day was in ruins with its guns silenced. Admiral Lee then ordered the ironclads to withdraw to Watertown for resupply and repair. Each ironclad had been struck more than 20 times by the British cannon and damage was beginning to mount. Murney Tower and Fort Henry itself, both heavily damaged were the last remaining defenses to be reduced.

  Cavalry troopers rode into Fort Henry with urgent dispatches. An estimated 30,000 American troops were marching east from previously fortified positions in Oshawa along the Kingston Road. At their current pace of marching, the Americans should be at Kingston within one week.

  November 7, 1867 - Toronto, Ontario

  Leaving General Rosecrans a garrison of 30,000 men in Toronto Grant marched east to join Sherman, who he had ordered to advance towards Kingston. Rosecrans was placed in command of all troops from Oshawa west to Detroit. His orders were to keep the area pacified, the ports open to ensure supply lines and patrol and pacify the countryside to the north and west. As Rosecrans was a deliberate officer, this assignment was very suitable to his reputation. He issued orders to expand the existing positions northward and ordered Michigan regiments to move by steamship to Georgian Bay. This advance would consolidate his northern flank and provide the United States with a claim to the territory by conquest.

  General Grant moved quickly, and his cavalry screens were soon in touch with Sherman’s column. Speed was of the essence as the first autumn snows had begun to fall. The first battle was a cavalry engagement near the village of West Quinte. The British settled the Quinte area in the 1780’s by displaced loyalists from the American colonies. Resentment against the United States was still strong.

  A battalion of Canadian militia cavalry, led by Major Johnathan Wilkes, comprised mostly of descendants of the refugees ambushed Sherman’s advance screen. Caught by surprise the United States cavalry began to retreat. Encouraged, the inexperienced Canadians, in bright red uniform jackets and bronz
e helmets, waving their sabers followed in hot pursuit. What started as a disorganized rout, was recognized by Sherman as an opportunity. He ordered two regiments of infantry forward. The front elements of the charging Canadians, led by Major Wilkes rode headlong into the ranks of infantry, who commenced volley fire, which decimated the attackers. Too late Wilkes realized his mistake and ordered a retreat. His retreating units collided head on with the following cavalry units. In confusion, the United States cavalry counter-attacked and in the resulting melee surrounded the Canadians. Eventually, Wilkes and less than 100 members of his battalion were able to extricate themselves and retreated towards Kingston. Fueled by his lifelong hatred of the United States, Wilkes vowed revenge.

  In the after action report, the colonel in charge of Sherman’s cavalry screen praised the Canadians for their charge; which was defeated by their exuberant inexperience. Sherman replied: “We will not give them time to learn.”

  November 15, Kingston, Ontario

  General Grant’s army advanced within 5 miles north of Kingston and camped on the west bank of the Great Cataraqui River. There they encountered prepared fortifications on the east side of the river. The defenses included a star-shaped fortress constructed of earthen and wood parapets with cannons; defended by 7,500 British imperial troops. The fort encompassed 5 acres, and there was a ditch in front of the ramparts with sharpened stakes protruding out. Drawbridges restricted access to the gates on two sides.

  Grant held a council of war with Generals Meade and Sherman. Grant began: “Kingston is ours for the taking. We cross this river, and Fort Henry will not be able to hold. My plans are for the engineers to build bridges in sections and link them together as we cross. While that construction is in progress, our massed artillery will bombard the British positions.”

  Sherman commented: “General Grant, I suggest we cross the river in three columns, two on the flanks and one in the middle. That way the British will have to divide the defenders, which will make a breakthrough easier.” Meade agreed, Grant consented and the Council adjourned.

  For the next three days, trees were cut down, and planks were cut to form the bridge sections for all three columns and to construct scaling ladders and bridging sections for the trench. The artillery which consisted of howitzers and siege guns pounded away steadily at the British defenses. The earthen walls absorbed most of the cannon balls, but explosive shot slowly began to create breaches, into which sections of the ramparts began to collapse.

  Snow began to fall on the evening of the third day, by midnight, several inches had accumulated, and blowing snow obscured vision. Grant ordered that the assault was to begin at dawn. Early in the morning, the engineers attached the first sections of bridges to the west bank and connected section after section of the bridge into the river. The bridges were more than one-half way across when British lookouts on the parapets observed the progress and sounded the alarm with a bugle call.

  Grant ordered the massed artillery to fire and under cover of the heavy concentration of explosive shot, the engineers continued to extend the bridges. As the British soldiers ran out of their barracks, cannon fire began to land in the Fort creating massive casualties. As the final sections were about to be placed in position, the assault regiments moved forward onto the completed sections carrying the ditch bridging sections and scaling ladders.

  Braving the heavy barrage, the British defenders were firing mostly blindly into the blowing snow, but as the sky began to lighten at dawn, the snow tapered off and visibility improved. With the last bridge sections, the assault regiments surged forward from three sides. At the same time, the cannons were moved forward to provide close fire support, focusing their fire on the top of the ramparts. About 100 feet from the ditch, the attackers stopped formed ranks and provided volley fire onto the top of the ramparts. The sappers carrying the ditch bridges moved forward to bridge the ditches. British fire cut many of them down, but others ran forward to bring the bridging closer.

  The freshly fallen snow was covered with the dead and wounded in blue uniforms, but still, the advance continued. Eventually, first one section of ditch, then others were bridged, and the regiments surged forward. Some poured through breaches in the walls, others placed scaling ladders on the walls and surged up. Attacked simultaneously from three sides and under intense bombardment the British defense began to crumble. The fighting was fierce, a veteran against veteran, hand to hand, knife to knife.

  In this type of conflict, numbers count and the mathematics of war took over. Slowly, the British fell back from the rampart, then off the wall. Soon, the gates opened, and the draw bridges lowered, allowing more American troops access into the fort. The call went out “Create the Square” which the British veterans did. However, with withering fire shooting down on them from three sides, the squares began the shrink, then fell apart. All over the fort, the surviving British soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered. The battle was over. Soldiers then lowered the Union Jack and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes. Grant’s army, bloodied from the assault cheered widely as he, Sherman and Meade rode into the fort.

  Characteristically, General Grant did not allow for a pause before ordering the advance on Fort Henry. Field hospitals were established to care for the wounded, and the army marched south towards Kingston.

  November 19, Watertown NY.

  Following repairs and joined by USS Detroit, USS Mohawk, and USS Gitchegumme, Admiral Lee aboard USS Mackinac led his ironclads out of the harbor to complete the task of reducing the remaining fortifications at Murney Tower and Fort Henry. However, the Royal Navy had a surprise. Three gunboats and two sloops of war had previously retreated up the Greater Cataraqui River. There they had been armored with 3 inches of iron plate.

  Led by the sloops, they sortied out as Lee’s ironclads approached Murney Tower, situated on a small island in the harbor. The two sloops attacked USS Mackinac, one on either side. As USS Mackinac endured a pounding from the Sloops of War on both sides, Admiral Lee ordered full speed and fired the two 20-inch Dahlgrens into the warship on the starboard side. At point blank range the Dahlgren cannon balls punched through the vessel’s armor, creating massive damage inside the hull with metal and wood splinters flying everywhere. The Mackinac’s armored sloped sides and rounded turret deflected the British hits. As she steamed past the British sloops, USS Mackinac approached the three gunboats which were in an arrow formation. At full speed, Lee ordered a ramming the lead gunboat at the paddle wheel which sheared off her starboard paddle wheel then fired the twin Dahlgren’s into the ruptured side. Mortally wounded, the gunboat began to sink.

  Courageously, even though overmatched, the British ships continued their attack. USS Huron and USS Gitchegumme, the next ironclads in line joined the battle, firing their 15-inch Dahlgrens into the sloops and the surviving gunboats with devastating results. USS Tadodaho, USS Potawatomi, USS Algonquin, USS Detroit and USS Menominee then joined the battle, and the combined cannon fire from the ironclads sank the remaining gunboats. The two remaining sloops of war, in danger of sinking, ran themselves aground and struck their flags.

  Now, unimpeded, all nine of the ironclads began an intensive bombardment of Fort Henry, Murney Tower, and the Royal Navy base. Five hours later, after a heavy bombardment, the limestone and masonry walls slowly began to crumble, and Murney Tower collapsed. By late afternoon the Royal Navy Yard was burning, and sections of the walls at Fort Henry collapsed into rubble. Admiral Lee ordered the ironclads back to Watertown for resupply.

  Once back in port he received telegraph messages from General Grant. Grant indicated his army had crossed the Great Cataraqui River north of the city and captured the fortifications located there. His army was advancing south towards Fort Henry. He estimated he would be in the position to attack within one day and requested artillery support from the lake. Lee returned Grants Telegraph indicating his ships would be in position. That night, longshoremen loaded both standard and explosive rounds onto the ships.
>
  November 20, Fort Henry

  Lee’s ironclads resumed the bombardment. At the same time, Grant assembled his field pieces and also began to bombard the fort. After two hours of constant bombardment from both the lake and the land, massive breaches began to open in the walls. Grant ordered his infantry forward. A Semaphore signal was sent to Admiral Lee to change to explosive shot. The naval barrage now had shells exploding on the walls and in the air inside the fort. The bombardment silenced the cannons on top of the walls, but those in the casements fired into the attackers.

  The engineers moved forward with the infantry with bridging materials to cross the dry moat. The field pieces were moved up to support the infantry, blasting away at the casements and widening the breaches. The infantry, while taking heavy losses swept over the moat using the portable bridges into the gaps in the walls. Semaphore signals were sent for the naval bombardment to cease in to prevent friendly fire killing of attacking soldiers. Hand to hand fighting continued for over an hour. Inevitably the overwhelming superiority in the number of American troops pushed the British back into the barracks. British soldiers fired through smashed out windows into the parade ground. The cannons on the walls were turned around and shot into the brick barracks walls. With their shelter collapsing around them, the British surrendered.

  The British had successfully burned four of the troop ships to prevent capture. However, with all the confusion three transport ships had been cut out by US Navy personnel during the bombardment. These sailors had infiltrated the harbor masqueraded as sailors on steam powered rescue boats bringing back Royal Navy survivors. Once on the dock, they overpowered the guards who came to assist them. They then took control of the ships and connected lines to the steamboats which towed them out of the harbor.

  The city of Kingston, itself, had been largely spared. The fighting focused on the forts, the Martel Towers, and the Royal Navy Yard. The bombardment had also destroyed the British headquarters at the nearby City Hall. Adjacent buildings were also damaged or destroyed, but the civilian and mercantile areas were mostly undamaged. The cost of victory in the Kingston campaign was high. 3,851 American soldiers died, another 5,150 were wounded. The British proportionally suffered worse. The 10,000 man garrison sustained 7,750 casualties. Those included General Whitehall and 3331 killed, 4,120 wounded with the balance captured. The Royal Navy suffered 199 crew members killed or missing and 500 captured.