Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1854-02-08
nli5lella
THE MILITARY CHAR ,CTER OF AARo
BUKR.

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The literary taste of Aaron Burr is ac-
knowiedged to have been Of high order
The natural acutcncss of his mind was highly
favorable to success in all subjects pertaining
to Belles-lettres. With most retcntive
memory and an imagination easily excited,
he spent several months, after leaving the
College Halls Of Princeton, in reading the
history of the most renowned military char-
actors and to his plastic mind. 'sthc militia
ry hero" became the ssbeau ideal' Of his soul
An all-pervading principle. Under the
influence of this tutelary genius. the first gun
fired at Lexington, ITS, electrified his ar
dent mind with the eager anticipation of gain
ing laurcls on the field of Mars. 1t had been
his purpose to enter at once on the study of
the Law, but his youthful soul was filed with
images too highly colored to allow for mo-
ment the thought of applying to the drudgery
Of professional life. He applied to his guar
dian for permission to join the Continental
Army. His slender frame, delicate to fault,
the indulgence with which he had ever been
treated, and the eliminating influence of a
students life, all urged upon his guardian the
propriety of denial. In his own mind he
had already passed s'the Rubicon," and ex-
postulation was useless. He fastened to
Charlostown, boy of twenty, and presented
himself as volunteer-not in the cause OF
his country so much as in the field, where
distinctions might be gained. He soon found
that the American troops, disorderly and UNI
disciplined as they were at this early period,
laid no claim to the character of such an ar
my as his fancy had spread out before him.
Finding no place for distinction in the reg
ular army, he was eager to join the detach-
ment under Arnold, the object of which was
to march across the unbroken wilderness, to
cooperate with Gen. Montgomery in IN at
tack upon Quebec. Again kind friends in
tcrposed, representing the certain destruction
that awaited mere STRIPPING, in wild march
of more than thirty days, at period of the
year when the severity Of Northern winter
might naturally be anticipated. But his alb
sten,iousness in the vulgar indulgences ofeat-
ing and drinking, practised i'll College to en-
able him to accomplish his ambitious purpo-
SEES, carried him triulnphantly through an en-
terprisc, before which Napoleon's celebrated
passage of the Alps dwindles into insignif-
canoe. In this protracted march, young
Burr exhibited the quality of endurance be-
yond what his friends deemed possible.
No less worthy of admiration was the sa-
gacity which he displayed in pioneering the
way from the head waters of the Kennebec
to the neighborhood of Quebec, and the con-
sequent renown, excited his youthful erer-
gies to the utmost: and he nightly explored
the surrounding localities, until no point Of
approach was to him unknown. As aid to
Montgomery, in the action IN which this brave
General fell, he put forth a mighty effort
but the plan of attack, decided on against the
wishes OF Burr, was not feasible, and after the
retreat from the city, he was glad Of an OPP
portunity to abandon corps in whose COM
mander he reposed no confidence, and he
pressed his way southwark, unattended, to-
wards the theatre of war. During this soli-
tary march his sagacity and penetration were
more than match for the red man himself
and he passed unframed through region
that proved fatal to many.
His manly bearing in the northern CAM
paign had reached the ears of the Comman-
der-in-chief, who sent q message to Col. Burr.
on his way homeward, inviting him to join
his "household establishment" in the hon
orable capacity Of 'sone of his Aids" Had
Burr's moral character been equal to his in
cipient military renown, his fortune would
now have been secured but Washington
scanned the principles Of his young aid-de-