Canadian cavalry), but artillery was brought up to shell the houses, one of which caught fire. The Métis sharpshooters fled toward the settlement. The troops advanced toward the church. As they approached the church and nearby rectory, they saw some people near those buildings whom they took to be the enemy. Second Lieutenant Arthur L. Howard, a Gatling gun expert on leave from the Connecticut National Guard, fired his Gatling gun at the rectory. Then a white flag was unfurled, Howard's firing stopped, and several priests, nuns, women and children came across the lines. Finding the mission occupied only by civilians, Middleton brought his artillery out onto the ridge and began shelling the town. The soldiers began advancing past the church, and got about half a kilometre before they came under heavy fire from both sides of the trail. The militia immediately took cover. Their enemies, hidden in well-constructed rifle pits, were invisible. One trooper later wrote: "[The militia was] down some distance apart from each other, firing at nothing, making guess shots and hearing the rebel bullets zip all round you, and the everlasting clack as the bullets struck the trees." The now-dismounted irregular militia cavalry, Boulton's and French's Scouts, were deployed on the right. The 10th Royal Grenadiers, militia infantry from Toronto, were in the centre, with the 90th Winnipeg Rifles militia, and Howard and his Gatling on the left, to protect the artillery. The infantry of the Midland Battalion, militia from eastern Ontario, were kept in reserve near the church, which was now being used as a Canadian field hospital. A very dangerous situation developed when a group of Métis rushed the artillery. Only Howard's directing a heavy stream of Gatling fire at the attackers prevented a disaster. From these few minutes the frustrated soldiers got the only clear view of the Métis fighters that they were to have until the final moments of the battle, three days later. After the attack was repulsed, the artillery was pulled back a couple of hundred meters, and the infantry and dismounted Scouts followed suit. The Métis then redeployed their men to try to outflank the militia, and heavy fighting ensued. After noon, the artillery was ordered forward again, and it began fruitlessly bombarding the invisible Métis rifle pits. The gunners were under heavy fire, in a very unsafe position. The Midlanders, who had been brought forward from the church,