The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-01-05
81 JOhusbary, VI, January 5, 1850

lNlRfHs Nll hliHl u Nuun lthl OF NliHH WINCH
p caused 40 some luss Ia several Of The mosI
forward among ln snyageH, A last, how
oyerrlhey rrlruuled, abandoning u Hill which
they hHd previously fortified, aud bfeAkinR
! down the hrldge, aud long before The latter
could bo repaired, lhey were safe from fur
lhor moleHlplinu, There was good deal 10
excite apprehension even in ihis unmpOr-
TAFT raHooupIar. The Americans. though
Ihry gave way ~ Inri, fought Ike men cou-
sciuuH Of their own prowess, pud e0pfdent
~ the strength Of tho support which was he
bind them aud this, coupled with The rum
Urs which had REACHED IN relative 10 Ille H.
mount Of The garrison Of Bennington, iniled
not 10 HtHrlle both Col. Baume aud the bold
esl of his troops. B0sidoa much lime was
LOST lay The destruction Of The bridge II fe-
quIred full hour 20 far 20 ropnir it ns 10 en-
able ihe guns aud horses 10 pnaH; aud when
Ibis was done The day had declined 20 far
nH turender attempt to roach the point pfour
destination before sunset irliilehs. We bl-
Vouhched at the ihfm Of Whlmscou, about
/ four miles from Sankoick, aud three from
lieuningioni where The night waa spent, VI
not in sense Of absolute security NJ oil g.
vents without the occurrence ofnny accident
capable Of exciting alarm.
Tho morning Of the 18Th came IN with
heavy rainH,nnd n perfect hurricane of wind
eonAeq uenuy, the liiiln COLUMN. instead of
J pressing forward, was fain to Keep under
shelter ofihe farm huIidiHg. iiut u was not
permitted IA renulu long in situation 80
comfortable our early parade had lUst
been dismissed, when few shots iu the di-
rccllon ofthe advanced etnlrlrs gave notice
TINT the Americans, instead Of waiting 10 be
nllacked, were on the movci aud few MN
UIta 0ItuiWoi05, = Tr7'TT7' TT'-'''-'
out posts, Indicated more by the shouts Of
I fl I,It Al tl..t af ltstF
warned us TO make ready for an immediate
uitnck,
/ Col, Baumc lost 10 time in preparing TO
TO meet H., Forming his dsmounIod drn'
goous la close column among the home
-aiGAL, he directed the lroyinclAlsi supported
I hy FrHscf- mark smon, to advance "a the rs
sistnuco Of the packets with orders 10 Dis
putc every inch Of ground Ia the utmost.
mud finally 10 retire upon the reserve, should
all their efforts TO maintain themselves prove
intellectual.
Nv nn instant we wdrc in motion, mud
few minutes suffered to bring IA 20 the srcur
ocncliou We found our Indians threaten.
ed, rather lhhn seriously Hssuilcd, 10y con-
siderable body of miliih men, before whom
ihcy were falling back lcsurcly and IN order;
hut such waa tlle Violence Of iho storm, tlnt
not one in n dozen uuskols would explode,
aud hence tho skirinish was neither very nn.
imnted nor very bloody On seeing NJ, our
Savage allies uttered yell, which seemed
Ia strike panic into the hnsoms Of their hs-
r1ilruts; Cor the latter Instantly paused hung
l,rrk NJ It wcrr irrrsnuir,and finally retired
We followed flru time, hTiskiy aud imprtu-
ously; bit wc likewise i,ll the bad effects Of
The wCHttcr TOO uiuclrrD sccty u general en-.
gHgciucut; aud as tho movements Of the enc
Ht seemed Ia indicate wish ON ihcr pnrt
to drnw ~ on, We were Of course extremely
shy ia trusting ourselves hey oud our own
limits, We nccordngly ml,cd ms soon us
we had recovered thc ground which the Suv-
ages had lost, and, lying down behind the
iF.luA, cnl4ieHiud ugEArNes with watching ihc
result during mnny ioilrs, nud striving, NJ
we'll NJ "e could, to keep the priming of Our
hlcs from thc rain.
Whether lhc Americans ever ontcrtnined
any serious intention of attacking This day, !
cannot pretend as determine; hul IL they did,
the slate uf the weather compelled thcm To
rcliINuish H. Yet they vipiurnd 10 advance
from time to time in considerable numbers
MS It frcsolycd to try how far our position wus
truahlr; aud on each Occasion liIllc firing
took place; but no impression WIS made up
on tts, and the rain continuing Ia fall without
iuicrmiSsion, they nj last dpsslcd from their I
Efforts and Withdrew. Their proceedings I
were not Of nature however To he disregur- [
rirri or iJri III ee'.ie+t't lay iataa itlXig--
as ours. Col. Baume Immediately .
despatched messenger 10 The rcnr, for the
purpose Of bringing up an additional corps
which Gen. Burgoyne Ind stationed NJ Bat
ten Kill 10 support ms; whist ne SET surfu-
lously to the task OF Terrifying n position in
which he might await the coming up of sup
plies, of which he began now to ho conscious
thai he stood IN need. '-
farm nr Mnlmscou lies upnu both
sides of the Ilosnc, and consisted at this tinio
of soma six or eight log built huts, scattered u
horu and there over tho narrow eXpanse of
ground, To the letl was height,
which Col. Baume fastened TO occupy; he
posted here the Dungeons, with portion of
she workmen on their right, in rear of a little
zig zag breaslwork, composed of logs and
loose enrih Such Of the detached houses
ns come within the compass Of liis position
he filed with CANADIANS, supporting them
Of chasseurs and grenndiers,
likewise intrsnched hohiud hTcastworks; and
Ae kept the whole, with the exception of n
bout II hundred men,on the north side OF the
.,reattr bedding the road upon his hanks,nnd
in front and rear hy the lndlnns.
To complete these arrangements, and I
throw up the few works that were To render
hem efficient, occupied the eutire day, and |
some portions OF the night Of the l5Ihi and
seldom have men undergone hnrdshps more '
severe thnn our people endured whilst thus
employed. Let il he borne in mind, that the |
l5,i,-,yas day of continued rainT not such \
AIN as -NYe are accustomed TO witness ~ tins I
country, hut an absolute torrent, TO afford {
shelter against which human ingenuity has G
~ yet devised no covering.
Un.ler this, the men toiled on, the earth q
which ihey threw up being repeatedly wash r
I'd down again, aud the holes and bitches I
which they dug out filled in a moment, mud q