At the Battle of Fish Creek part of Middleton's army was on the
opposite bank of the South Saskatchewan river. Later in the day
they crossed the river on a barge. Now Middleton had fresh troops.
But he saw that too many of his men had been killed and wounded. He
refused to allow another attack.
Late in the afternoon, as the rain turned to sleet, Middleton's
cold, wet soldiers were glad to withdraw. At dusk, a cold wind
started to blow. Soon, it became bitterly cold and the sleet turned
to snow. The worn out troops lay in the cold listening to the
groans of the wounded and dying. The soldiers who had crossed the
river suffered the most, because they had come without their
overcoats and blankets.
After the skirmish at Fish Creek, Middleton consolidated his
column on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River. They made
camp about a mile northwest of the battle site. On the day after
the battle, Middleton felt shaken and exhausted. His poorly trained
soldiers had performed poorly. On that day, the camp was quiet,
there was very little movement, and very little was done.
Throughout the camp there was a sense of gloom. Middleton felt
sorry for the young soldiers who had finally experienced the
realities of war.
At this camp they buried their dead, tended their wounded and
rested. There is a gravestone marking three soldiers buried here.
Of the ten who died at the Battle, the other 7 were reburied
elsewhere. As General Middleton's untried soldiers had performed
poorly in their first encounter with the enemy, he delayed
continuing his advance in order to train his troops for the main
assault on Batoche. After waiting for two weeks, Middleton resumed
his march to Batoche on May 8, 1885.
This site is a great place for a picnic. It is very scenic.
There is a firepit & an outhouse. You are looking for an ammo
can. Please rehide the cache well. FTF can take something without
trading anything. The road is not passable in wet conditions so
please don't attempt to get to this cache then.
Please ignore the number in the logbook as it is from an old
puzzle cache that no longer exists.
