Page images
PDF
EPUB

to Arnold, to obtain what trifling baggage we had left at our quarters; mine was either forgotten, or miserable as it was, had been plundered; but as good luck would have it, the knapsack of one Alexander Nelson of our company, who was killed when running to the first barrier, was disclaimed by all of our men. Your father in consequence, laid violent hands upon the spoil. It furnished Boyd and myself with a large, but coarse blue blanket, called a "stroud," and a drummer's regimental coat. The blanket became a real comfort, the coat an article of barter. It was on this day, that my heart was ready to burst with grief, at viewing the funeral of our beloved general. Carleton had, in our former wars with the French, been the friend and fellow-soldier of Montgomery. Though political opinions, perhaps ambition or interest, had thrown these worthies on different sides of the great question, yet the former could not but honor the remains of his quondam friend. About noon, the procession passed our quarters. It was most solemn. The coffin covered with a pall, surmounted by tranverse swords— was borne by men. The regular troops, particularly that fine body of men, the seventh regiment, with reversed arms, and scarfs on the left elbow, accompanied the corpse to the grave. The funerals of the other officers, both friends and enemies, were performed this day. From many of us, it drew tears of affection for the defunct, and speaking for myself, tears of greeting and thankfulness, toward General Carleton. The soldiery and inhabitants, appeared affected by the loss of this invaluable man, though he was their enemy. If such men as Washington, Carleton and Montgomery, had had the entire direction of the adverse war, the contention, in the event, might have happily terminated to the advantage of both sections of the nation. M'Pherson, Cheeseman, Hendricks, Humphreys, were all dignified by the manner of burial.

On the same, or the following day, we were compelled (if we would look), to a more disgusting and torturing sight. Many carioles, repeatedly one after the other, passed our dwelling loaded with the dead, whether of the assailants or of the garrison, to a place, emphatically, called the "deadhouse." Here the bodies were heaped in monstrous piles. The horror of the sight, to us southern men, principally consisted in seeing our companions borne to interment, uncoffined, and in the very clothes they had worn in battle; their limbs distorted in various directions, such as would ensue in the moment of death. Many of our friends and acquaintances were apparent. Poor Nelson lay on the top of half a dozen other bodies-his arms extended beyond his head, as if in the act of prayer, and one knee crooked and raised seemingly, when he last gasped in the agonies of death. Curse on these civil wars which extinguish the sociabilities of mankind, and annihilate the strength of nations! A flood of tears was consequent. Though Montgomery was beloved, because of his manliness of soul, heroic bravery and suavity of manners; Hendricks and Humphreys, for the same admirable qualities, and especially for the endurances we underwent in conjunction, which enforced many a tear: still my unhappy and lost brethren, though in humble station, with whom that dreadful wild was penetrated, and from whom came many attentions toward me, forced melancholy sensations. From what is said relative to the "dead-house," you might conclude that General Carleton was inhumane or hard-hearted. No such thing. In this

northern latitude, at this season of the year, according to my feelings (we had no thermometer), the weather was so cold, as usually to be many degrees below zero. A wound, if mortal, or even otherwise, casts the party wounded into the snow; if death should follow, it throws the sufferer into various attitudes, which are assumed in the extreme pain accompanying death. The moment death takes place, the frost fixes the limbs in whatever situation they may then happen to be, and which cannot be reduced to decent order, until they are thawed. In this state, the bodies of the slain are deposited in the “dead-house,” hard as ice. At this season of the year, the earth is frozen from two to five feet deep, impenetrable to the best pick-axe, in the hands of the stoutest man. Hence you may perceive a justification of the "dead-house." It is no new observation, "that climates form the manners and habitudes of the people.”

About the first of January we were removed from the Reguliers to the Dauphin jail, where we were well accomodated. It was an old French building in the Bastile style. We had scarcely got settled in our new quarters before we had a plan laid to effect our escape, and join the forces of our countrymen outside. Our scheme was for one party of us to overpower the sentinels and seize their depot of arms, set fire to the jail and surrounding buildings to amuse or employ the enemy while we were running to St. John's gate. In the meanwhile another party were to proceed at once to attack and carry St. John's gate, and instantly to turn the cannon upon the city. We expected in this event to maintain our position on the walls until the American army should arrive from without. In that case St. John's gate was to be opened. But if unfortunately beaten, we were to spring from the walls into the snow and each man to trust to his own legs. It was supposed, in the worst result, that the hurry and bustle created by so sudden, unforseen, and daring an attack would throw the garrison into consternation and disorder to such a degree as to admit of the escape of many; sluggards might expect to be massacred. In an old room of the prison into which we broke was a pile of iron and iron hoops and lumber from which we secretly constructed swords and spears, rough but serviceable weapons, sufficient in the hands of our daring fellows to bring down the stoutest of the enemy. When evrything was ready our well-laid plan was foiled by the indiscretion of two youths; my heart was nearly broken by the excess of surprise and burning anger to be thus accidentally deprived of the gladdening hope of a speedy return to our friends and country.

Our leaders were carried before the governor's council. They boldly admitted and justified the attempt. We did not fare the worse in our provisions nor in the estimation of the enemy; but we were, as a precaution against future attempts, put in irons. Several cart loads of bilboes, foot-hobbles and handcuffs were required, although there were not quite enough for us all.

A new species of interesting occurrences, mingled with much fun and sportive humor now occurred, which was succeeded by a series of horrible anguish. The doors were scarcely closed, before we began to assay the unshackling. Those who had small hands, by compressing the palms, could easily divest the irons from their wrist. Of these there were many, who became the assistants of their friends, whose hands were larger. Here there

was a necessity for ingenuity. Knives notched as saws, were the principal. means. The head of the rivet, at the end of the bar, was sawed off, it was lengthened and a screw formed upon it, to cap which, a false head was made, either of iron or of lead, resembling as much as possible the true head. Again new rivets were formed from the iron we had preserved in our secret hoards, from the vigilance of the searchers. These new rivets being made to bear a strong likeness to the old, were then cut into two parts-one part driven into the bolt tightly, became stationary, the other part was moveable. It behooved the wearer of the manacle to look to it, that he did not lose the loose part, and when the searchers came to examine, that it should stand firm in the orifice. Some poor fellows, perhaps from a defect of ingenuity, the hardness of the iron, or the want of the requisite tools, could not discharge the bilboes. This was particularly the melancholy predicament of three of Morgan's men, whose heels were too long to slip through the iron which encompassed the small of the leg. It was truly painful to see three persons attached to a monstrous bar, the weight of which was above their strength to carry. It added to the poignancy of their sufferings, in such frigid weather, that their colleagues at the bar, having shorter heels, could withdraw the foot and perambulate the jail where their companions left them, there they must remain seated on the floor, unless some kind hands assisted them to remove.

Sentries, on our part, were regularly stationed at certain windows of the jail, to descry the approach of any one in the garb of an officer. Notwithstanding every caution to avoid detection, yet the clang of the lock of the great door was upon some occasions the only warning given us of the impending danger. The scamperings at those times were truly diverting, and having always escaped discovery, gave us much amusement. The clanking of the fetters followed, and was terrible; such as the imagination forms in childhood, of the condition of the souls in Tartarus; even this was sport. Happily our real situation was never known to any of the government officers; unless the good blacksmith (a worthy Irishman, of a feeling heart), might be called such, and he was silent.

We remained in irons for several months, until one day in May, Colonel M'Lean visited the prison in company with Major Carleton and other officers. Being near the major I overheard that admirable man say to M'Lean “Colonel, ambition is laudable. Cannot the irons of these men be struck off?" This the colonel ordered to be done immediately, and we were soon freed from the incumbrance.

Toward the middle of April, the scurvy, which we had been imbibing during the winter, made its appearance in its most virulent and deadly forms, preceded and accompanied by a violent diarrhea. Many of those who were first affected were taken to the hospital. But the disease soon became general among us. We were attended several times by Doctor Maybin, the physician-general, who, by his tender attentions, and amiable manners, won our affections: he recommended a cleansing of the stomach, by ipecacuanha and mild cathartics, such as rhubarb, together with due exercise. Those who were young, active, and sensible of the doctor's salutary advice, kept afoot, and practiced every kind of athletic sport we could devise. On the contrary, those who were supinely indolent, and adhered to

their blankets, became objects of real commiseration—their limbs contracted, as one of mine is now: large blue and even black blotches appeared on their bodies and limbs-the gums became black-the morbid flesh fell away-the teeth loosened, and in several instances fell out. Our minds were now really depressed. That hilarity and fun which supported our spirits in the greatest misfortunes, gave way to wailings, groanings and death. I know, from dire experience, that when the body suffers pain, the mind, for the time, is deprived of all its exhilarations-in short, almost of the power of thinking. The elbow joints, the hips, the knees and ankles were most severely pained. It was soon observed (though the doctor's mate attended us almost daily, and very carefully), there was little or no mitigation of our disease except that the diarrhea, which was derived from another cause than that which produced the scurvy, was somewhat abated; and that our remedy lay elsewhere in the materia medica, which was beyond the grasp of the physician. The diarrhea came from the nature of the water we used daily. In the month of April, the snows begin to melt, not by the heat of the sun, but most probably by the warmth of the earth beneath the snows. The ground, saturated with the snow-water, naturally increased the fountain-head in the cellar. Literally, we drank the melted snow. The scurvy had another origin. The diet-salt pork, infamous biscuit-damp, and close confinement, in a narrow space, together with the severity of the climate, were the true causes of the scurvy.

There was no doubt in any reflective mind among us, but that the virtuous and beneficent Carleton, taking into view his perilous predicament, did everything for us, which an honest man and a good Christian could.

The seventh of May arrived. Two ships came to the aid of the garrison, beating through a body of ice, which perhaps was impervious to any other than the intrepid sailor. This relief of men and stores, created great joy in the town. Our army outside began their disorderly retreat. My friend Simpson, with his party, were much misused, from a neglect of giving him information of the intended flight of our army. Some few of the men under his authority, straggled and were taken in the retreat. They came to inhabit our house. Now, for the first time, we heard an account of the occurrences during the winter's blockade, which to us, though of trivial import, were immensely interesting. The sally of this day, produced to the prisoners additional comfort-though the troops took a severe revenge upon our friends without, by burning and destroying their properties. The next day, more ships and troops arrived: a pursuit took place, the effect of which was of no consequence, except so far as it tended to expel the colonial troops from Canada. To the prisoners, this retreat had pleasing consequences; fresh bread, beef newly slaughtered, and a superabundance of vegetables, was a salutary diet to our reduced and scorbutic bodies.

After we were relieved of our irons and had full bodily liberty a singular phenomenon which attends the scurvy, discovered itself. The venerable and respectable Maybin, had recommended to us exercise, not only as a mean of cure, but as a preventive of the scorbutic humors operating. Four of the most active would engage at a game of "fives." Having played some games in continuation, if a party incautiously sat down, he was seized by the most violent pains in the hips and knees, which incapaciated him from play for

many hours, and from rising from the earth, where the patient had seated himself. These pains taught us to keep afoot all day, and even to eat our food in an erect posture. Going to bed in the evening, after a hard day's play, those sensations of pain upon laying down immediately attacked us. The pain would continue half an hour, and often longer. My own experience will authorize me to say two hours. In the morning, we rose free from pain, and the routine of play and fatigue ensued, but always attended by the same effects, particularly to the stubborn and incautious, who would not adhere to the wholesome advice of Doctor Maybin. Those who were inactive, retained those excruciating pains to the last, together with their distorted, bloated, and blackened limbs. Upon our return from Canada, in the autumn of 1776, I saw five or six of my crippled compatriots, hobbling through the streets of Lancaster on their way home. It cost a tear-all that could be given. By the month of August, the active were relieved from those pains.

In the beginning of August, we were told by Captain Prentis, that the Governor had concluded, to send us by sea to New York upon parole, for the purpose of being exchanged; that the transports, which had brought the late reinforcements from Europe, were cleansing and preparing for the voyage. Now there was exultation. On the seventh of August, we subscribed our written paroles. We embarked a day or two after in five transports conveyed by the Pearl frigate and arrived in the harbor of New York on the 11th of September.

Now it was for the first time that we heard of the dilemma in which our country stood. The battle of Long Island, on the twenty-seventh of August, had been unsuccessfully fought by our troops, many of whom were prisoners. In such hurrying times, intercourses between hostile armies in the way of negotiation upon any point, are effected with difficulty. We had waited patiently several weeks, to be disembarked on our own friendly shore; yet tantalized every day with reports, that to-morrow we should be put on shore: some, and in a little while all, began to fear it was the intention of General Howe, to detain us as prisoners in opposition to the good will of Sir Guy Carleton.

Near the end of the month our gloomy fears were set at rest by the intelligence that we were to embarked in shallops and landed at Elizabethtown Point on the Jersey shore. Every eye sparkled at the news. On the next day, about noon, we were in the boats :-adverse winds retarded us. It was Morgan stood in the bow of the boat; making a spring, not easily surpassed, ten or eleven at night, before we landed; the moon shone beautifully. and falling on the earth, as it were to grasp it-cried "O my country." We that were near him, pursued his example. Now a race commenced, which in quickness, could scarcely be exceeded, and soon brought us to Elizabethtown. Here, those of us who were drowsy, spent an uneasy night. Being unexpected guests, and the town full of troops, no quarters were provided for us. Joy rendered beds useless; we did not close our eyes till daylight. Singing, dancing, the Indian halloo, in short, every species of vociferousness was adopted by the men, and many of the most respectable sergeants, to express their extreme pleasure. A stranger coming among them, would have pronounced them mad, or at least intoxicated; though since noon,

« PreviousContinue »