Mr. R.W. McLachlan relates his recollections of one of the veterans at
Montreal. "Clad in an old artillery uniform, he was always seen
marching out alongside of the troops on review days. He was ever ready
to recount his adventures on the day of battle. Although we have heard
it often from his lips, all that we can remember is that: 'De Yankee
see me fore I see him, and he shoot me drough de neck.'"

* * * * *

It is the privilege of the men of Châteauguay to remember that their
region is haunted by the spirits of heroes.

"The dead still play their part"

sings the Canadian poet Sangster, and here the musing thought must for
ever conjure up De Salaberry, McDonell, the 800 waiting behind their
breastworks in the gloom of the woods, the touching scene of Captain
Longtin and his Beauharnois men, and the stubborn onset of Daly
against overwhelming odds. The meaning of it all is: that given a good
cause, and the defence of our homes against wanton aggression, we can
dare odds that otherwise would seem hopeless; that it is in the
future, as in the past, the spirits of men, and not their material
resources, which count for success; that we need only be brave and
just, and ready to die, and our country can never be conquered; and
that we shall always be able to preserve ourselves free in our course
of development towards our own idea of a nation.