Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1845-10-23

enlivenlng air. and plungng my rowels
int" my steed, ! whrled HIM around in
The road. and went off on gallop 10 over.
lake the Generals staff.
II was now len clock, and so much
lime had been consumed iha, II became
impossible To reach our destination befnre
day break, and consequently all certainty
OF surprise was over. hasiv council
was therefore called on horseback To de
Irrmlne whether 10 retreat or mol.
few minutes decided. All were unani
nous TO proceed al every peril.
Gentlemen said Washington, after
they had severally spoken. then we all
agree; The attack shall take place Gene
ral.' he continued, turning to Sullivan,
Your brigade shall march by The river
road while will take that by Pennington
let us arrive as near eight o'clock, as
possible. But do not pause when YOU
reach the outposts--dri them in before
their ranks can form, and pursue them 10
the very centre OF the town. | shall
be there 10 take them in the flank
the res, we must leave to the God of
battles. And now gentlemen to our
posts In five minutes we were in mo-
tion.
The eagerness Of our troops 10 come
up to the enemy, was never more conspc-
uous than on the morning of that eventful
day. We had scarcely lost sight of Sulli.
vans detachment across the intervening
fields, before the long threatening storm
burs! over us. The nigh, was intensely
cold; the sleet and rain ratified necessarily
upon the soldiers knapsacks, and the
wind shreked, howled and roared among
the old pine trees with terrific violence
AT times the snow fell perpendicularly
downwards--the it beat horizontally into
our faces with furious impe,uosi,v. and
again il was whirled wildly on high eddy
ing round and round. sweeping away on
The whistling tempest far down in the
gloom. The tramp of the men-the low
orders of the officers-the occasional raj.
tie of musket were almos, los, in the
shrlll voice OF the gale, or The deep. sullen
roar of the forest. Even these sounds a,
length ceased. and we continued to march
in profound silence, increasing as we
drew near the outposts of the enemy
The redoubled violence of the gale, though
/, added TO the sufferngs of our brave
contlnentals, was even hailed with ioy, as
1t decreased the chances Of our discovery,
and made us once more hope FOR a sue.
cessful surprise. Nor were those suffer.
ings light. Through that dreadful nigh,
nothing but the lofty patriotism of free
men could have sustained them Half
I,ln hoI
companies without blankets, they We,
pressed heavily on against the storm,
,hongh drenched TO the skin. shigering
at every blast. and too often marking their
fonsleps with blood. old as am, the
recollection is still vivid in nv mind -
God forbid tina, such sufferiugs should
ever have 10 be endured again.
The dawn at last came; but the storm
still ragged. The trees were borne down
with the slcet. and The slush was ANGLE
deep IN the roads. The fields tia, we
| passed were covered viii wet spongv
snow, and the half buried houses looked
bleak and 'desoate in the uncertain morn.
ing light. II has been my lot, witness
but few such toreboding scenes. At this
instant messenger dashed turiouslv up
To announce thai the on,posts Of the Brit
ish were being driven in.
| .Fnrward-forward!' cried Wasing
ton. himself. gall"ping up 10 the head Of
HE column, Push on. my brave fellows
| -pN''
The men started like hunters r. the crv
"t the pack, their Generals voice,
seconded by hasty fire from the rifle.
men IN the van. and forgetting every
thing but the foe. marc he'd rapidly in ST.
lent eagerntss towards the sound uf the
conflict. As they emerged from the
woods the scene bnrst upon them. Tie
town lay bat short distance ahead. Just
discernible through the twilight, and
seemed buried in repose. The sirerls
were wholly deserted and as We, the a.
larm had not reached the main body Of
the enemy. A single horseman was seen
however, fleeing momen, through the
mIst-he WAS lost behind clump of
trees, and then reapPeared, dashng wildly
down the main street of the village. |
had no doubt but that he was messenger
from the ouiposts for reinforcement, and
- FuHS'Su W DuCC We kUtW all nope
was gone. To the forces he left, we now
. turned our attention.
/ The first charge Of our gallant continent
tails had driven dae ou,posts in like
shock Of all avalanche. Just aroused
from sleep, and taken completely by sur
prise, they did not al 6rsl pretend to
make stand, but retreated rapidly in
disorder. before our vanguard. few
moments. however. had sufficed to re-
call their Keeling faculties, and perceiving
the insignificant force opposed TO them.
they halted. hesitaled. rallied, poured in a
heavy fire, and even. advanced cheering
10 the onset. But at this moment our
main body emerged from the wood. aud
when my eye first fell upon The Ilessian
/ srenadiers, they were beginning again 10
stagger. ..f.,. t.1.-
On. on--push on, continentals Of
the - : shouted the officer in com:
mand. rw 5
The men with admirable discipline
stIll forbore their shouts, and steadily
pressed on aga:ns, the now hving out