Boon's Lick times. [volume] (Fayette, Mo.) 1840-1848, 1845-10-25
No, i:s.
THE BATTLE OF TRENTON.
From The manuscript of an e5e wjtneSs.


"Whose bullet on the night air sang"
! had scarcely put my foot in the stirrrr
before an aidde.camp, from the command.
er-in-chief galIoped up to me with sum.
mons TO the side Of Washington. Tn. gener
al in chief was already on horseback. sur.
rounded by his staff, and Cd the point Of set.
ting out. He was calm and collected, as i
10 his cabinet. No sooner did he see me
than he waved his hand as n signal to halt.
checked my steed on the instant, and lift.
ing my hat, waited for his commands.
You are a native Of this countryp
'Ges-your exceliency.'
'You know the road from M'Conkev's fer.
ry to Trenton, by the river and Pennington
the bye roads and alI7
'As well as | know my al phabet,' and
patted the neck ofmy impatient charger.
Then may have occasion for YOU, you
will remain with the staff; ah that is spir.
ted animal you ride, Lieutenant Archer
he added, smiling as the fiery beast made a
demivoIve that set half the group in com
motion.
Your exceency--'
Never mind said Washington smiling
again, as another impatient spring of m,
charger cut short the sentence. i see the
heads Of the columns are in motion; YOU
will remember and waving his hand. he
gave the rein 10 his steed-whiIe fell be
wIdered in the staff.
The ferry was close at hand, but the in
tense cold made the march anv thing but
pleasant. We all, however, hoped on the
morrow TO redeem our country, by striking
a signal blow, and every heart beat high
with anticipation Of victory. Column after
column Of our little army def'ed at the fer
~, and the night had scarcely set in before
the last detachment had been embarked
As wheeled my horse on the little bank
above the landing place, paused an instant
to look back thro' the obscurity Of the
scene. The night was dark, wild and
clouds betokeued an an
preaching tempest, and | could with diff
Guilty penetrate with my eve the increas
ing gloom. AS | put my hands across nv
brows to pierce into the darkness, gust o.
wind sweeping down the river. whirIed the
snow into my face and momentarlly bind.
ed my sight. At last diScerned the oppo
site side amid the obscuritv. The lanIscape
was wild and gloomy. A few dc.ola,e
looking houses only were in sigh. and they
scarcely perceptlbie in the shadowv twi
light. The bare trees lifted their heavy
arms on high, grooming and creaking in the
gale. The river was covered with drifting
ice that now jammed with a crush together.
and floating slowly apart, leaving scarcely
space for the boats to pass. The danger o
the navigation can better be imagined than
desCrIbed--iur the utmost eXcrtiOn could
Just prevent the irail structures from being
crushed. Occasionally d stray fife would
be heard shooting over the waters. mlng'e
feebly with the fercer pjping> Of the winds
and anon the deep roll Of the drum would
boom across the night, thu neigh Of horse
would float form the opposite shore, or the
crush of the jammng ice would be heard
like far off thunder. the cannoniers be.
meath me were dragging piece Of artillery
up the ascent and the men were RAPIDLY
forming on the shore below me as they
landed. 1t was stirring scene. At his
instant band OF the-reg'ment struck
Up an en.ivenrng air, and plunging my
rowels into my s,eed whirird him around
in the road, and went off in gallon to over
take the staff of The commander in chief.
II was now ten o'clock, and so much time
had been consumed that it became impoSsi.
Bile 10 reach our destination before day break.
and consequently all certainty OF surprise
was over. A hasty council was therefore
called on horseback, to determine whether
tn retreat or not. A few minutes deci e !.
All were unanimous 10 proceed at any p r !.
'Gentlemen,' said Washington, after they
had severaIy spoken, then we all agree;
the attack shall take place. General he
continued, turning 10 Sullivan. 'your trg
AIDE shall march by the river road. whl. !
take that by Pennington-let us arrive as
near eight O'Clock as possible. Bat DO no.
pause when YOU reach the outpostS-drve
them before their ranks can form. and pur
sue them to the very centre OF the town
| shall be there to take them in the funk
tie rest we must leave to the God of bat
ties. And now. gentlemen, TO our posts.
In five minutes, we were in motion.
The eagerness of our troops to come W
with the enemy, was nevermore cOnspiGuou.
than on the morning of that eventful day
We had scarcely lost sight OF Sujlrvan's de
tachment across the intervening fiel IS, be
fore the long threatened storm burst over
US. The night was intensely cold; The slee,
and rain ratified necessarily upon the men,
knapsacks; and the wind shrieked, howiec
and roared among the old pine trees Wit
terrific violence. At times the snow fel
perpendculaTy-then it beat horizontal,
INTO our faces with furious impeIuosity
and again it was whirled wildly on high
eddying round and round, sweeping away
on the whis'ling temPes,s far down IN thu
glonm. The tramp OF the men-the low