ssed the Fenian "bugaboo" from their
minds, and were enjoying a period of peace and prosperity, when again
the Demon of War loomed up on the border more terrible than ever. This
time it was the Roberts-Sweeny section of the Fenian Brotherhood who
were bent on making trouble for Canada, and if possible carry out their
elaborate plan of campaign for conquering our Provinces. All during the
winter and spring the Fenian leaders had been secretly and sedulously at
work making preparations for simultaneous raids on Canada at different
places, and towards the end of May the Irish Republican Army began
massing on the border for that purpose. At strategic points all along
our extensive frontier the Fenian forces were quietly gathering,
evidently with the purpose of trying to work out the wide scheme of Gen.
Sweeny to capture Canada and hand us over body and bones to the United
States.

At St. Albans, Vermont, and adjacent villages, a large force gathered
for the purpose of making a raid from that quarter, in the possible hope
that with the reinforcements they expected, they might be able to hold
that section of country and operate against the City of Montreal with
some degree of success, in conjunction with two other columns which were
expected to carry the St. Lawrence line.

At Malone, New York, another strong force assembled under the command of
the Fenian Gen. M. J. Heffernan, who announced his intention of making
an attack on Cornwall. Gen. Murphy and Gen. O'Reilly, both veteran
officers of the Union Army in the Civil War, were attached to this
column, and were very assiduous in their efforts to make it an efficient
fighting force.

At Ogdensburg, New York, Gen. Sweeny personally supervised the
mobilization of a large contingent of his warriors. This column was
organized for the purpose of attacking Prescott, Brockville, and other
points along the St. Lawrence, and after taking possession of the
Canadian shore and the Grand Trunk Railway, be available for his plan
of sweeping the whole country east as far as Montreal, and join with
the other columns (which were to start from Malone and St. Albans) in
capturing that city.

Cape Vincent, Oswego, Rochester and other points along the Upper St.
Lawrence and Lake Ontario were places of rendezvous for the Fenian
troops who were steadily arriving from the interior of New York State,
while the Western and Southern contingents gathered at Detroit, Toledo,
Cleveland, Erie and Buf