purpose, notwithstanding the disparity of force they would be obliged to encounter, these five soldiers of fortune boldly advanced to the enemy's post.

"Having arrived in the neighborhood of it at night, they kindled numerous fires, the light of which reached their adversaries, so arranging them, as to represent, by them, the lines of a considerable camp. To render their stratagem the more imposing, they then rode hastily about, in various directions, in imitation of the staff of an army, disposing their sentinels, and issuing their orders in a loud voice.

"The artifice succeeded, and Captain French supposed that he was menaced by a large body of Americans. Accordingly, on being summoned by Col. White, he surrendered his detachment, the crews of the five vessels, amounting to nearly fifty in number, with the vessels themselves, and one hundred and fifty stand of

arms.

"But the difficulty of the enterprising captors was not yet terminated. The British soldiers and sailors might discover the imposition that had been practised on them, and attempt a rescue ; and five armed men were not sufficient to restrain, by force, near a hundred without arms. The same genius, however, that had planned the first part of the adventure, was competent to the completion of it.

"With great seriousness, and some emotion in his manner, Col. White told Capt. French, that in consequence of certain recent enormities, perpetrated by a detachment of British and royalists, his troops were so deeply exasperated, that he was afraid they would advance on the captured party, and in violation of his commands put them to death: that he had, already, experienced great difficulty in restraining them; and should they be placed

as a guard over the prisoners, he was convinced their rage would become ungovernable. He, therefore, directed the British Captain to follow, with his whole party, Capt. Etholen, and two of the soldiers as guides, who would conduct them, without delay, to a place of safety, and good quarters. For his kindness and humanity, Col. White received the thanks of his prisoners, who immediately marched off, in a body, with their small escort, anxious to hasten their pace, lest the enraged Americans should advance on them, and cut them to pieces.

"The Colonel and one soldier remained behind, with a view, as he informed Captain French, to restrain by his presence any improper violence his troops might be inclined to offer, and to conduct their march at some distance in the rear. Meanwhile, he collected as expeditiously as possible, a body of militia from the neighboring district. Placing himself at the head of these, who were mostly mounted on good horses, he soon overtook his prisoners, whom he found safe under their guides, and rejoicing in the generous treatment they had experienced.

"This affair of partisan gallantry, though not very momentous in its consequences, was, notwithstanding, so extraordinary in its nature, conducted with so much address, marked with such a chivalrous spirit of enterprise, and so honorable to the officers. who conceived and executed it, that it should be much more generally known and admired than it is."

NARRATIVE OF THE BARONESS REIDESEL.

EVERY American reader is familiar with this lady's name. She was the lady of one of Burgoyne's Major-Generals, a distinguished German officer, and with two infant children, accompanied her husband in the disastrous campaign of Burgoyne. She was a beautiful and accomplished woman, and the devotion which prompted her to follow her lord to the camp and tented field, and the sufferings and privations she there was compelled to undergo, have always excited the admiration and sympathy of the world. The sufferings which beset the English army on their retreat, after the battle of Saratoga, exceeds the power of words to describe. But no history gives so vivid and powerful a picture of the retreat, as the simple and unaffected narrative of Baroness Reidesel. General Wilkinson, who introduces her account into his memoirs, remarks, that she suffered more than the horrors of the grave, in their most frightful aspect; and he adds, that he had 66 more than once seen her charming blue eyes bedewed with tears at the recital of her sufferings."

"As we had to march still further, I ordered a large calash to be built, capable of holding my three children, myself and two female servants; and in this manner we moved with the army in the midst of the soldiery, who were very merry, singing songs, and panting for action. We had to travel through almost impassable woods, and a most picturesque and beautiful country, which was abandoned by its inhabitants, who had repaired to the standard of General Gates: they added much to his strength, as they were all good marksmen, and fitted by habit for the species of warfare the contending parties were then engaged in; and

the love of their country inspired them with more than ordinary courage. The army had shortly to encamp. I generally remained about an hour's march in the rear, where I received daily visits from my husband. The army was frequently engaged in small affairs, but nothing of importance took place; and as the season was getting cold, Major Williams, of the artillery, proposed to have a house built for me, with a chimney, observing that it would not cost more than five or six guineas, and that the frequent change of quarters was very inconvenient to me it was accordingly built, and was called the Block-house, from its square form, and the resemblance it bore to those buildings.

"On the 19th of September, an affair happened, which, though it turned out to our advantage, yet obliged us to halt at a place called Freeman's Farm; I was an eye-witness to the whole affair, and as my husband was engaged in it, I was full of anxiety, and trembled at every shot I heard. I saw a great number of the wounded, and, what added to the distress of the scene, three of them were brought into the house in which I took shelter. One was a Major Harnage, of the sixty-second British regiment, the husband of a lady of my acquaintance; another was a lieutenant, married to a lady with whom I had the honor to be on terms of intimacy; and the third was an officer of the name of Young.

"In a short time afterwards I heard groans proceeding from a room near mine, and knew they must have been occasioned by the sufferings of the last mentioned officer, who lay writhing with his wounds.

"His mournful situation interested me much; and the more so, because the recollection of many polite attentions, received from a family of that name during my visit to Englund, was still forcibly impressed on my mind. I sent to him, and begged him

a

to accept my best services, and afterwards furnished him with food and refreshments; he expressed a great desire to see me, politely calling me his benefactress. I accordingly visited him, and found him lying on a little straw, as he had lost his equipage. He was a young man eighteen or nineteen years of age, and really the beloved nephew of the Mr. Young, the head of the family I have mentioned, and the only son of his parents. This last circumstance was what he lamented most; as to his pain, he thought lightly of it. He had lost much blood, and it was thought necessary to amputate the leg, but this he would not. consent to, and of course a mortification took place. I sent him cushions and coverings, and my female friends sent him a mattress. I redoubled my attention to him, and visited him every day, for which I received a thousand wishes for my happiness. At last his limb was amputated, but it was too late, and he died the following day. As he lay in the next room to me, and the partition was very thin, I distinctly heard his last sigh, when his immortal part quitted its frail tenement.

"But severer trials awaited us, and on the 7th of October, our misfortunes began. I was at breakfast with my husband, and heard that something was intended. On the same day I expected Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, and Frazer, to dine with us. I saw a great movement among the troops; my husband told me it was merely a reconnoisance, which gave me no concern, as it often happened. I walked out of the house, and met several Indians in their war dresses, with guns in their hands. When I asked them where they were going, they cried out, "war! war!" meaning that they were going to battle. This filled me with apprehension, and I had scarcely got home before I heard re