104 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

avenged for the recent affair at the Island of St. Helena, where Napoleon the Great had been imprisoned and had died.

As soon as such intelligence was circulated in England, the alarm became general, and attention was directed to the defences of the nation; and almost every British subject, from the titled nobleman to the humble cottager, who were not otherwise connected with the naval or military services of the country, and who had capacity to take charge of a rifle, enrolled themselves as volunteers to do honor for their country’s flag. So enthusiastic were the feelings with which all British subjects were animated, that in a very short time 220,000 volunteers were ready to take up arms in defence of their nation’s freedom, homes and honor. Military officers were sent to the various colonies to inspect the fortifications; and upon their recommendation, arms, accoutrements, and ammunition were to be forwarded as advised. And not only was the enrollment of volunteers in the mother country extensive but also in all the colonies.

The administration of Sir Dominick Daly may be considered to have closed with the establishment of the volunteers, in‘ asmuch prior to his departure, His Excellency placed in the hands of the Adjutant General, Colonel Swabey, two military commissions, one of which was to be presented to Mr. Thomas Morris, the other to the writer of these pages. On the strength of these documents, therefore a volunteer corps became organized, with headquarters at Charlottetown, which consisted of one captain, one subaltern and from thirty to forty gunners, but the knowledge required of an artilleryman was not to be obtained by merely signing a muster roll. The ordnance at George’s Battery at this period consisted of two brass field guns, together with two limbers, one field wagon, twelve sets of artillery harness and a small supply of ammunition. Also one hundred stand of rifles and swords, one hundred stand of muskets and bayonets with other equipments. The battery, now known as the Artillery Corps, assembled for exercise two or three times weekly, and were instructed in standing gun drill, ranges, elevation and field movements. The recruits having no previous opportunity of witnessing artillery exercise, yet by strict attention to their officers, were soon ready for any duty required of them.

On the 7th of June, Governor George Dundas, Esq.,