Richelieu River on scows. Wetherall remained at Saint-Hilaire until 25 November after his reinforcements arrived. Then, at 09:00, the column began marching north again. Wetherall's total force at this time was 406 regular infantry, 20 militia cavalry and 2 cannon. On 24 November, Brown at Saint-Charles received offers from Wolfred Nelson, the victorious Patriote commander at the Battle of Saint-Denis and from Élisee Mailhot and Cyrille Côté, commanders of the large Patriote force at Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu. Nelson offered Brown 300 men and two cannon. Mailhot and Côté offered reinforcements. Brown turned down both offers, believing himself capable of defying the British with the forces he had. Arrival at Saint-Charles As Wetherall marched north, he encountered smashed bridges and Patriotes firing upon him from both sides of the Richelieu River as the road neared the shoreline. At 13:00, the column came under fire for the first time from roadside houses and barns. These skirmishers, under the command of Bonaventure Viger, were deployed on both sides of the streams along the road, as well as the woods and buildings along the road. Meanwhile, Brown had constructed rail fences roughly south of Debartzch manor house. The Patriote picket fire wounded one Royal Regiment soldier, leading Wetherall to order the burning of the houses and barns along the road. As Wetherall continued north, the pickets retreated back to the fortified camp at Saint-Charles. Upon reaching Saint-Charles Wetherall deployed his troops with his two cannon out front. Brown, on the other hand, had not developed a competent command structure and was unaware of the arrival of Wetherall's force. The lack of a competent Patriote command structure forced Brown to oversee everything and at the time of Wetherall's arrival was reported to have been "attending the baking of bread" and "arranging food to be taken to the camp." Brown only became aware of Wetherall's arrival when one of the cannon fired a ball that struck the steeple of the church in Saint-Charles. Wetherall changed the disposition of his forces when he reached Brown's barricades. He placed his cannon slightly east of the road. A small unit was left to the west of the guns, and the rest was moved east of the gun position. Brown ordered a group of his men under the command of Henri-Alphonse Gauvin to a position behind a wood fence south of the fortified camp that had a ditch below it. From there,