Weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1858-1865, 1860-08-15
THE NORTH CAROLINA STANDARD: WEDNESDAY AUGUST ID
THE zoUAyEs OF THE REVOLUTION.

-.
! To the Editors Of the N. y. Fleming Post: ~
At this time it may be interesting to your hume,
rous readers to know that that there we're Iouaves
in the War of Independece Theextract Of letter,
written by young soldier in the Connecticut army
to his parents, which follows, states the fact:
"DEAR PARENTs: Our company arrived here last
night very late, hungry and tired. Training is a
good deal harder than old Squire Fell tells Of
he'd marched fourteen miles a day for three days
and carried his prog besides fathers old French war
fussee calculate he'd not been so encouraging to
us boys don't find fault, mind; only wish to
let you know that we are not on May party
At Milford tavern we were joined by two compa-
MES of soldjer from New Haven and company OF
queer fellows. Jack calls them, from the South
colonies. They rifemen, and are command
ed by Col Crcsap They don't use any beds, as we
do, but sleep right on the ground, all in row, like
Indians do. But their antics in military exercise
are of the curiousest kind. They load and fire
their rifles lying fiat on thei- bellies. After that
they tange themselves all up in knot, and look
just like porcupine with their guns sticking out
all over them But the wondermost part of their
actions is their hitting mark. ANY one of them
can hit small potato at forty rods distance. You
never saw any thing like it. When we get to camp
I will write more about these rfemen, who would
amuse the girls if they could see them cut their
antics"
The rest of the letter is of private nature. and
uninteresting to the public. If it is agreeable,
would like you to publish the extract, and obllge
descendant of the writer.
j. s. PRATT.
The company described in this letter is also alu-
ded to in Moore's Diary of the Revolution, as fol-
lows:
AUGUST I, l776-On Friday evening last arrived
at Lancaster Pennsylvania, on their way to the
American camp, Capt Cresap's company OF ritemeE
consisting of one hundred and thirty active, brave
young fellows, many of whom have been in the late
expedition under Lord Dunmore against the Indians
They bear in their bodies visible marks of their
proves, and show scars and wounds which would
do honor to Homers Had They show you to use
the poets, words
"Wherc the CORD battle bled at every ve.n!"
One of the warriors in particular, shows the cica
trices of four bullet holes through his body These
men have been bred in the woods to hardships and
dangers from their infancy. They appear as if they
entirely unacquainted with, and had never felt
the passion of fear With their rifles in their hands,
they assume a kind of omnpotence over their ene-
mics. One cannot much wonder at this when we
mention fact which can be fully attested by several
of the reputable persons who were eye-winesses of
it. Two brothers in the company took piece Of
board five inches broad and seven inches long, with
bit of white paper about the size of dollar nailed
in the centre, and while one of them supported this
board perpendicularly between his knees the other.
at distance of upwards of sixty yards and without
any kind of rest shot eight bullets through it sue
cessively, and spared brothers thigh. Another of
the company held barrel stave perpendicularly in
his hands, with one edge close to his side while
of his comrades, at the distance, and in the
manner before mentioned, shot several bullets
through it. without any apprehension of danger on
either side. The spectators appearing to be amazed
at these facts, were told that there upwards of
fifty persons in the same company who could do the
thing; that there was not one who could not
plug nineteen bullets out of twenty, they termed
it, within an inch of the head of teapenny nail
In short to evince the confidence they possessed in
their dexterity with these kind of arms, some of
them proposed to stand with apples their heads,
while others, at the same distance, undertook to
shoot them off; but the people who saw the other
experiments declined to he witnesses of this.
At night great fire was kindled around pole
planted in the Court House square, where the COM
panv, with the Captain at their head, all naked to
the waist and painted like savagcs, except the Cap
tain, who in an Indian shirt, INDUCED vast
concourse OF people with perfect exhibition of a
war dance, and ali the manGuvres of Indians hold
ing council, going to war, crcumventing their enc
mics BY tetiles, ambuscades, attacking, scalpng,
and so forth 1t is said by those who are judges,
that no representation could possibly come nearer
the original. The Captains experiences and agility,
in particular in these experiments astonshed every
beholdcr This morning they will set out on their
march for Cambridge"