Anburey's Travels in America [pp. 710-712]

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view in such perfect regularity as to form the most complete and splendid regatta you can possibly conceive." * *
iI i the front, the Indians went with their birch canoes,
containing twenty or thirty in each, then the advanced corps
in a regular line, with the gun-boats; then followed the
Royal George and Inflexible, towing large booms, which are
to be thrown across two points of land with the other brigs
arid sloops following; after them the first brigade in a regiuilar line, the Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, Riedesel, in their
pinnaces; next to them were the second brigade, followed
by the German brigade; and the rear was brought up with
the sutlers and followers of the army. Upon the appearance of so formidable a fleet, you may imagine, they were
not a little dismayed at Ticonderoga, for they were apprised of our advance, as we could ey day see their
watch-boats."
Burgoyne, before embarking from Ticonderoga, issued a
proclamation, in which he says, "This army must not retreat." Had a bulletin been issued at Saratoga, the same
phrase might have been inserted, with the alteration of one
word-" This army cannot retreat."
DIGGING POTATOES.
"At this encampment [Freeman's farm] a number of men
got into a potato field, and, whilst gathering them, a scouting party of the enemy came across and fired on them, killing and wounding near thirty, when they might with ease
have surrounded the whole party and taken them prisoners.
Such cruel and unjustifiable conduct can have no good tendency, while it serves greatly to increase hatred and a
thirst for revenge."
CAPTAIN VAN SWEARINGHAM.
"In this skirmish, a batman of General Fraser's rescued
from the Indians an officer of the Americans, one Captain
Van Swearingham, of Col. Morgan's Virginia Riflemen.
They were on the point of stripping him, which the man
prevented, and recovered his pocket-book from them, containing all his papers of consequence, and his commission.
He offered the soldier all his paper dollars, and lamented
that he had no hard ones to reward him with,
" The batman brought him up to Gen. Fraser, (who had
come up to the two companies he had detached) when he
interrogated him concerning the enemy, but could obtain no
other answer than that their army was commanded by Generals Gates and Arnold. Gen. Fraser, exceedingly provoked that he could gain no intelligence, told him if hlie did
not immediately inform him as to the exact situation of the
enemy, he would hang him up immediately. The officer,
with the most undaunted firmness, repliedi'You may if you
please.' The General, perceiving he could make nothing
of him, rode off, leaving him'n in the custody of Lieutenant
Dunbar, of the Artillery.
"My servant just at this period arrived with my canteen,
which was rather fortunate, as we stood in need of some re -
freshment after our niarch through the woods and this little
skirmish. 1 requested Dunbar, with his prisoner, to partake
of it; and, sitting down upon a tree, we asked this Captain
a variety of questions, to which he always gave evasive answers-and we both observed he was in great spirits. At
last I said to himn,' Captain, do you think we shall have any
more work upon our hands to-day?' To which he replied,
'Yes, yes, you'll have business enough, for there are many
hundreds all round you now.' He had hardly spoke the
words, than from a wood a little way in our front there
came an excessive fire. Dunbar ran to his guns, saying,
'A, you must take charge of the Captain.' There
being only one officer besides myself with the company, I
committed him to the custody of a sergeant to convey him
to the house where the rest of the prisoners were, with par ticular orders, as the General had desired that he should
not be ill-treated."
eight hour s o f life of most exquisite torture. T his he immediately consented to, and when the Colonel entered the
,tent with Major Harnage, who were both wounded, they
asked him whether he had any affairs they could settle for
him. His reply was,' that being a minor, every thing was
already adjusted; but he had one request, which he had
just life enough to utter: tell my uncle I died like a soldier.'
" H e has as expeditiously conve yed can non to the summit of this hill, as he brought it up in that memorable battle at Minden-where, it is said, such was his anxiousness
in expediting the artillery, that he split no less than fifteen
canes in beating the horses-at which battle he so gallantly
distinguished himself by the management of his artillery as
totally to rout the French."
" The Indians [with Burgoyne] were under the direction
of Mr. St. Luc and one Langdale, both great partisans of
the French last war. The latter (Langdale) is the one who
planned and executed with the nations he is now escorting,
the defeat of Gen. Braddock."
Lieutenant Anbu~rey relates a story of an American
scouting party, captured by a party of Indians, which is
rather long to copy in detail, but of which the following is
the substance: The Americans, after a severe struggle,
were overpowered and taken prisoners by the Indians.
The leader of the scouting party, a very brave fellow, was
wounded in the skirmish, and unable to walk; whereupon,
the Indians brought him in upon their backs, a distance of
near three miles. Upon their approach to the camp, they
raised the warwhoop, and the British were surprised to see
an Indian advancing with an American prisone r on his back.
The wounded man was taken before General Fraser, but
would give no answerto any question. The General, imagining that by showing him attention he might gain some
information from him, ordered him some refreshment. The
surgeon, upon examining his wound, told him he must immediately undergo an amputation-which being performed,
he was requested to keep himself still and quiet, or a locked
jaw would immediately ensue. To this, he replied, with
great firmness,' Then I shall have the pleasure of dying in
a good cause-that of gaining the Independence of the
American colonies.'
a I mention this circumstance," says Lieutenant Anburey, " to show how cheerfully some of them uwill sacrifice
their lives in pursuit of this favorite idol. Such was the
man's restless disposition, that he actually died next mornin,g. This was generally regretted as one amnong the very
few who act from principle. Had he survived, a different
statement of the case might have rendered him as strenuous a loyalist, as great a hero, as he was a stubborn rebel."
MISS M'CREA.
The following is in brief our aunthors version of the fate
of this young lady. He r parents, he says, were Tories,
who abandoned their home to avoid thde ill-treatment of the
Americans, and left their child alone t here, she bein g d etermined, upon the approach of the British army, to leave
her father's house and join the army, as she was on the
point of being married to an officer in the provincial troops.
Some Indian scouts met her in the woods, and were conducting her kindly into camp. When within a mile of it,
an altercation arose between the two Indians with regard to
whose prisoner she was, they having an eye to the reward
paid in such cases; and words growing high between them,
one of them raised his tomahawk and slew her.
The parents of this ill-starred young femiale added to the
dishonor of deserting the cause of her countiy, the shock
In the course of the last action, Lieut. HIervey, a youth
of sixteen, and nephew to the Adjutant General of the
same name, recei ved several wounds, and was repeatedly
ordered off the field by Col. Anstrither; bult his heroic ardor
would not allow him to quit the battle, while he could stand
and see his brave lads fighting beside him. A ball striking
one of his legs, his removal became absolutely necessary;
and while they were conveying him away, another wounded
him mortally. In this situation, the surgeon recommended
him to take a powerful dose of opium to avoid seven or
1840.]
J3nburey's Travels in Imerica.
711
GEII. PFIILLIPS.
LORD BALCARRAS.
"In the action at Hurbiirton, Lord Balcarras, who commanded the Light Infantry, had near thirty balls shot
through his jacket and trowserg, and yet only received a
small graze on the hip."
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