|
|
Article: War at the border: with Fenians massing on our country's doorstep, it fell to an unlikely band of sharpshooting citizens in Quebec to defend Canada.(Cover story)
- Article from:
- The Beaver: Exploring Canada's History
- Article date:
- October 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Canada's National History Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
John Bell squinted down the barrel of his Ballard Sporting Rifle just as he had many times while target shooting with the other Home Guards. He swallowed the last few morsels of the Boston crackers he'd been chewing, probably the only food he'd eaten on the morning of May 25, 1870. It was now nearly noon.
The twenty or so men around him, local farmers and tradesmen like himself, lay hidden behind the boulders and tree trunks of Eccles Hill, Quebec, keeping a careful watch on the little wooden bridge that spanned Groat's Creek, near the border between the United States and the new Dominion of Canada. Suddenly the men ...