in a field near the
high road at a place called Ridgway, he sent his pickets forward.
They found heavy ground in front and about three-quarters of a mile
away some 1,400 men of the "Queen's Own" of Toronto and the Hamilton
Volunteers advancing rapidly in line. O'Neill, after a few rounds,
withdrew his pickets, and the Canadians, taking the movement for
flight, came briskly on. As soon as they were clear of cover,
O'Neill, firing a volley, gave orders for a charge. At it they went
with a cheer, and the whole Canadian line gave way. They ran as fast
as their legs could carry them, leaving some fifty killed and
wounded. After chasing them for two miles, O'Neill halted his men and
brought them back to Fort Erie, where they intrenched. The Canadians
did not stop until they reached Colburne, eighteen miles away. The
Fenian loss was twenty-five. In the night O'Neill learned that no
help was coming from the United States' side, while news reached him
that a force of 5,000 Canadian and British regulars was advancing on
Fort Erie. Accordingly, at 2 a.m. on June 3, he surrendered to the
United States forces with 400 of his men, who were detained for a few
days on the U.S.S. _Michigan_ and then let go. The balance of his
force, about 250 men, escaped in groups across the river. There was
another little victorious skirmish with the Canadians lower down
under Captain Spear, who also slipped back over the border unpursued.
What fighting took place was workmanlike and creditable.

There was a flicker of Irish fighting spirit in the Boer War. Many
thousands, no doubt, were in the English army of 250,000 men brought
against the 30,000 Boers, but there was a small "Irish Brigade" that
fought on the Boer side, and was notably engaged at Spion Kop, where
the English were driven so sweepingly from their position by
desperate charges.

In the War of 1870, between France and Prussia, the good wishes of
the Irish went with France, for the sake of the old friendship,
largely helped, no doubt, by the fact that at the summit of army
command was Marshal MacMahon, a descendant of a warrior of the old
Irish Brigade. His service in Algiers; his skill and daring in the
Crimean War before Sebastopol, where he led the division which
stormed the Malakoff; his victories in the Italian War of 1859
against Austria, including the great battle of Magenta, all made him
a striking, romantic figure. He failed in 1870 against the Prussians
at Worth, and was ma