8 o’clock P.M.
Later in the afternoon , Col. Hoy was sent with one hundred men in the same road . He also came up with some scouts about six miles from camp . Here he was ordered to halt . By this time -- 8 o'clock P.M. -- information was received that a large force of the enemy , said to be five thousand strong , with artillery , were advancing in two columns ; one from the direction of Chippewa , and the other from Port Colborne ; also , that troops from Port Colborne were to make an attack from the lake side . Here truth compels me to make an admission that I would fain have kept from the public . Some of the men who crossed over with us the night before , managed to leave the command during the day , and recross to Buffalo , while others remained in houses around Fort Erie . This I record to their lasting disgrace .