CHAPTER IV.
OPERATIONS ON THE MISSISQUOI FRONTIER--THE BATTLE OF ECCLES' HILL--COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE FENIAN ARMY.
On the morning of the 24th of May Lieut.-Col.

W.Osborne Smith, Deputy Adjutant-General of the Fifth Military District, at Montreal, received advices from trustworthy sources that the Fenians were again assembling on the Vermont border, and that telegraph wires had been cut in several places by them.

He at once notified the authorities at Ottawa by wire of these events, and asked for instructions in regard to calling out the forces under his command for active service.
As was customary, the whole of the Montreal Garrison had been assembled that day for the usual parade and review in honor of Her Majesty's birthday.

As the hours wore on and no reply had been received from Ottawa by Col.

Smith in answer to his telegrams, he promptly took the extreme responsibility permitted by the 60th Section of the Militia Act, and called out for service a large portion of the troops of his district, including all the frontier and Montreal corps.