Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1858-05-04
ouc.i IS my intention, your excellency,
II you think my services worthy of re-

ouc.i is my intention, your excellency
II you think my services worthy of re
gard -
" g are always glad 10 receive s,icf
good recruits IN the cause of freedom a.
thou art. The service thou has, render
ed is great one TO the American cause
Captain Doolittle. allow me to coneratu.
late you! for such is the commission YOU
hold henceforth in the continental army
The heart of the new made officer was
too full 10 express his thanks; but he re-
solved to prove by deed. and not by word,
that he was worthy of Washington's con-
Sideration. The chief sa "
+ that some immediate steps must be taken
not only 10 save lphia-which, as
he learned by the dispatches brought bv
! Doolittle, the enemy were determined 10
possess-but TO arouse the spirit of the ma
| ton, that had now sunk to the lowest
depth of despondency. He resolved to
anticipate the British, ard cross the froz-
Ell Delaware, on the night of the 26,h of
December, where he learned that large
body of Hessians were eDccmped. He
followed up his plan with eminent sue
cess; Tor the attack being totally unex-
enemy were taken prisoners of war. He
recrossed the river again, and, though his
shadow of an army was weary and ex-
hausted, he determ,aed to make an attack
on the British forces a, Princeton. Here
he had the good fortune 20 lill sixty, and
take three hundred prisoners more. This
good fortune served to dispel the gloom
that had settled over the Ame rican cause.
], is an undoub,ed fact, that Malachi
Doolittle had Colonel's commission in
the army before the close of the war,
which took place when Great Britain ac-
knowledged the. he..Independence of the Uni
ted States. Novembe~ 30th 1882
On the banks of the river Baritan,
some ten years after the incidents detail
ed in our story, there stood fine house,
built in the style of the Elizabeihan period
the residence of Colonel Doolittle and
family, who was now one The wealthiest
farmers n the whole country. He was
one of the most hospitable of men. and
neither friend nor stranger could pass his
door without being asked to take a mug
of the Colonel's good cider; or if it hap
pened to be about tea time, cup of tea,
and a slice of short cake, made by the
fair hands of his wife Molly. There was
an old man, too, who sat IN the cosiest
place by the freside, who for long time
after the close of the war; would advocate
the cause of the King and talk about hav-
ing somebody arrested for stealing sor-
rel horse-at which his daughter would
wink slylv to her husbahd-but he finally
came TO the conclusion, as peace and plen-
" crowded the land Of freedom, that Cen
eral Washington was not so much of
rebel after ALL
There was an old lady, too, who ap-
peared to never grow tired of praising
her son-in-law and little boy, The very
image Of his mother, who, al the close of
many a summers day. would climb upon
his fathers knee, and say, with a tone of
earnest entreaty,
Now, pa, do tell me all about Ensign
Spencer, ard General Washington and
the Hessians, and how you hooked grand
pa horse and listed for a soldier"
Willingly, my son." the colonel would
reply, " but | have related the story so
often, ! should think you knew it by heart"
ct Col. Dooliltle, for the especial benefit
of his son and heir, often related the story
over and over again.
Such is one of the many incidents con-
nected with the dark hours of the Revo-
luton. Though purchased with the blood
of thousands, it Jeff the legacy of freedom,
10 mankind, and few in those times
which tried mems souls acquired greater
fame IN the American cause, than NAL
achi Doolittle, The Blacksmith's Appren-
tice.