Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1830-02-04
A TALE OF TRAINING.
Or a chapter Of tie .4icent,res Of tie .Mos,a.
chasefts Militia


equal TO Josh Bssnpole, of RE. Us grew
up faster than hop-vine or q string bean
He was man before he knew il. and he;ny
told Of 1t. gave himself such airs that he wa,
thought quite Tie thing by all the girls ten
miles round. lie was an absolute dandy. il
such thing could be, among the woods
he was the foremost in all husking parties
outings, house-warnings, slsish-rides. and
serapes OF all colsrs wore an eel-skin Queue
and ruffied shirt on Sundays, and so by
hook and crook got into such favor with the
feminine gender, that he might almost have
/ taken his pick out of the whole town. There
was not one who would have said no to such
4 gallant gay Lothario as our Josh, except
4 one. but as the devil would have it. she hap
Il pened to be the very one Josh wanted.
There Is no accounting for the whims of q
3 woman, so we shall not attempt to assign the
j cause why Nancy Crabtree turned up her
nose at Josh Beanpole. Certain it is that
Josh stuck to her ike burr without any eff
feet She carried her head high, looked
askew, and gave Josh the go-by whenever he
attempted to be fa:I'iiiar
Some thought that she looked upon Josh
with all his accomplishments 10 be no great
shakes. Others thought she had sat her cap
for the parson Of the parish There might
81
for when the parson to her great surprise.
/ married the widow Sly, Nance began to re
lent, and Josh found himself getting into ia
vor. He laid siege to her heart with re-
doubled ar,lor. and the whole town at last
Thought it would be a match. Still, she was
nov and then little ofIish, and Josh was
sharp-sigsited enough to see that hs must
cast about for some uncommon expedient to
push H.. ,'ait-;'The girls thought he, ARE
Ion OF titles and show aud parade-Nance
would have snapped upwith the parson to a
dead certalnty-now if can get to he a cap-
tam OF militia, | shall como OF eonaneror.
II she-turns up her nose at me then, the dey,
lis in her.
So Josh SET abort intriguing for the office,
and as the actual incumbent had been for
several years somewhat crsmped with the
rheumatism, and unable to march faster THAI
common time, or carry his body nearer to a
perPendicular than IS degrees, people began
to think he had served his couatry long
enough. Without much difficulty he was
prevailed upon to resign. Josh set himself up
as candidate for the office, and having
openeda grocery store, came in by an unan-
lmous vote. for it is a standing maxim in the
country, that the best man in the world for a
militia captain was grocer or tavern keep
o.
his wishes. A captain who could resist
captain? But little did he think that the very
stick which he took up to help him oyer the
ditch would itself knock him into the mud -
However, let US not anticipate the catastro-
phe of the story.
In order to begin the campaign with un-
common splendor, Josh determined upon a
sham fight; there is nothing like sham fight
for all lovers Of military glory; nothing like a
sham fight for all lovers Of fun and frolic up
and down the country. II was Immediately
noised abroad, and great preparations were
made in all quarters for witnessing the grand
show to be made by the Rye company and
their new captain. Josh had bespoken a
bran new uniform Of blue, turned out with
yellow flannel, and it was thought would cut
such dash, and make such flaming APP
pearance as to steal the heart Of every girl
who was made OF pcnetrable stuff. josh was
not whit behind any body in the confidence
erh his hopes. by the hosey!' said he, as b.
looked at himself ~ his regimentais, If tai.
don't :ake the sunshine out Of her Eyes, she's
harder than hickory
At last the long expected day came: ant
what floe&ing, and crowding, and busting
there was, ,he Ike ha, not been known ii
those parts 'witlin the memory Of the oides
inhabtant' Such throngs OF Jolly uaFfsei
and old sranaies, such crowds Of every age
sex eno seaditinn: sush rafting OF chalses
and carts, and wagons; such an array 0
booths and tents, and extempore retaiiia;
shops; such shew of gingerbread, sugar
plums and n.ola.ses candy There WIS NJ
end to the wonders and the novelties wficl
this grand occasion brought into display
Jesh marched his company up aud dow
with great eclat. and though they did not Iii.
play regularity ofuniform, and wer
unable exactly TO keep time in marching, W
they were prononncedto have an uncommon
~ martial appearance.
According 10 the plan previously draw
mp, the sham fehtwas to represent the car
ture Of Lord Cornwalis, at Yorktown, and
spacious pisstye on the side oil a hill WAS ii,
cd upon to be the scene of the conflict II
wooden walls OF this formidable dwelling we
accordingly cleared OF the ,winish mulutud
and by the help OF few plank and rate
melamorphosed into the Publications of Yer
town Josh placed h..!f az his company u
der Lieutenant Shute in the pigstye, TO n
as the British army under Lord CORNWALL
while he himself IN the character of Gsnei
Washington took the command Of the b
sieging army.-Fhe whole plan of the attac
defence and surrender was as follows: