onies, and p

per and gall

gentlemen, p

x-hunt and g

ara! now prai

His call and the

lara! now fo

rrah! and for swee

LLIAMSO

ers came, until the Line became restless, and the fear grew that the fight would begin before we could reach the field of battle. The sun began to sink over the Hei

. The men received the news joyfully, and it was wonderful to see the change in their bearing; for while the doubt hung over them, they were restless and murmuring was

oon out attending to my duties. At seven o'clock we were on our march to the ferry, crossing the East River at the foot of the main street of the small town of Brooklyn; then we took a road leading over a creek called Gowanus, and knew that we were marching to guard the right of the Ame

made us spring to arms; then the sharp rattle of the musketry of Atlee's men and the boom of Carpenter's cannon on our immediate right told that the enemy was pushing them hard. T

er there," said Dick, "but why

shots. Hour after hour went by, and yet they never advanced beyond a certain point except when a company or so would dash forward and a sharp skirmish would break forth for

ighting, while we are merely exchanging courtesies with ou

eed. There was a hurried movement among the staff, and Stirling's glasses swept the country to our left and rear. A momen

the men. "Why, we have

g place, but now that we had come out to the opening a wild scene of terror and dismay lay before us. Gowanus Creek, deep and unfordable, with its sullen tide rising fast, lay like a great ugly serpent across our path, while over the meadow and far in our front the broken streams of fugitives were swarming, flying toward the bridge at the mill, the only hope of crossing Gowanus Creek. And as I looked, to my horror, the mill and the b

a large stone house crowned a hill immediately in the rear a

r coats as they took possession of

driven from there or w

e long line of the British formed to make their

"charge that hill, hold Cornwal

ll, as he sprang from

ke from the throats of our Marylanders the wild, thrilling yell of the southern provinces, and we leaped to the charge up the long hill, straight into the face of Cornwallis's army, a handful against thousands. Up, up the hill we dashed. A fire as of hell broke upon us and rattled and roared about our ears, thinning our ranks and strewing our pathway with the dead. Men fell to the right and to the left of me, and I strode across the bodies of the slain

and the marsh behind us as we re-formed our

n, men of

r that call, for the bodies of our co

nd charge home

ying, "Charge home! Charge home!" and we dashed in upon the scarlet line. Ah me, for a moment, then it was glorious, as steel met steel, and we drove them, ten times our number, back, and rolled them up against the house and forced them off the plain. And then our hands were on the ugly muzzles of the guns, and

e cried, as we m

last;" and o

n for an instant. But only for an instant. Our men melted away under the storm of lead from the Cortelyou house, and the weight of the advancing

land Line, now sadly thinned, for one-third of our men were dyeing the long dank grass with their blood. But that line, thin as it was, closed up the wide gaps in the ranks with as jaunty a step and as g

done, and until the last fugitive was over Gowanus Creek we must check the British advance.

soul, and the line once more swung forward to breast the hill. Up

ain by weight of numbers they forced us off the crest, an

led on us to follow, and ye

ss the long hillside, and more than half

ver the roar of the battle, and for the fifth time we picked up

ack from the shock. And, as I was carried down the hill with the retreating line, I saw the tall figure of L

around me. Dick, who was near, echoed my shout, and we dashed forward

an that was with us had fallen and only Dick and I r

d," I cried, "but we hav

ave done everything that men can do, but it

Dick reeled. "Struck, by George!" he

aid Lord Stirling; "you

r there was no time to parley under that ra

my assistance I saw that the last of the fugitives had rea

ting yell of defiance; then, turning, we plunged into the creek and swam to the other side, wh

assistance, I swam with him across the creek a

d once more, but the great General himself came to thank

eat; during the famous march on the night after the battle, and in the re

ode up to our lines. We greeted him with the yell he loved to hear, for i

the Committee of Public Safety, sitting at Annapolis, announcing the battle and the famous part we had taken the

ou?" said the General, smili

een, G

you can carr

at Gowanus Ford, Gene

ou are a true Marylander. I wish