Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1860-10-13
The zouaves of the Revolution.

At this time it may be interesting to know
that there were Zouaves in the. War of lnde-
| peudeDce. The extract Of a letter, written
by young soldier in the Connecticut army
to bis parents which follows, states the fact {:
DEAR PARENTS Our company arrived
here last night very late, hungry and tired.
| Training is q good deal harder than old
Squire Fell tells Of If he'd marched four.
| teen miles day for three days, and carried
! his prog, besides fathers old French war
fusee, | calculate he'd not been SO encoura-
! ging to US boys. don't find fault, mind
! only wish to let you know that we are not on
a May party.
! AT Milford tavern we were Joined by two
companies of soldiers from New Haven, and
u company of queer fellows as Jake calls
them, from the Southern colonies. They are
! all rltlemen, and are commanded by Colonel
| Cresap. They don't use any beds, as we do,
but sleep right on the ground, oil in row,
like Indians DO But their antics in military
exercises are of the curiousest kind. They
load and fire their rifles lying fat on their
bellies. After that they tangle themselves
all up in knot, snd look just like a porcu-
pine, with their guns sticking out all over
them. But the wondermost part OF their
actions is their hitting mark. Ary of them
can hit small potato at forty rods distance.
You never saw anything like it. When we
get to camp | will write more about these
ritemen, who would amuse the girls if they
could see them cut their antics"
The company described in this letter is
} also alluded to in Moore's Diary Of the Revo.
luton as follows:
"August 7M, l775.-On Friday evening
last arrived at Lancaster, Penn, on their
way to the American camp, Captain Cres.
| on'S nT of
active, brave young fellows, many of whom
! have been in the late expedition under Lord
Dunmore, against the Indians They bear
10 their bodies visible marks of their prowess
and show scars and wounds that would dc
e honor to Homer's Had. They show you, tc
J use the poets words,
: 'where the sor'd battle Lled at every vein
i "One of the warriors in particular shows
the cicatrlce of four bullet holes through bis
r body. These men have been bred 10 the
t woods to hardships and dangers from thei
f infancy. They appear as if they we're entirely
o uuacquainted with, and had never felt The
q passion of fear. With their rifles in the
, hand they assume kind of omnipotence owe
" their enemies. One cannot much wonder a
, this when we mention fact which can b'
a fully attested by several Of the reputabl,
), persons who were eye. witnesses of it. TIVE
brothers in the company took piece Of boart
!; i've inches broad and seven inches long, will
Y u bit OF white paper, about the size of dol
/ lar, nailed in the centre, and while one o
them supported this board perpendicular.
between his knees, the other at distance 0
> upwards Of 60 yards, and without any kind o
i ! rest, shot eight bullets through it successive
: ly, and spared brothers thigh.
v Another Of the company held barre
+ stave perpendioularly in his bands with on,
A edge close to his side, while one OF his com
a rades, at the same distance and in the SAM
manner before mentioned, shot several bullet
y through it withou: any apprehension Of dan
4 ger on either side The spectators, appearing
to be amazed at these feats, were told thu
there were upward of fifty persons in th
q same company who could do the same thing
that there was not one who could not plug |
|. bullets out Of 20, ss they termed it, within al
!. inch OF the head OF tenpenny nail. In short
a to evnce the confidence they possessed il
I their deXterity with these kind OF arms, SOM
OF them proposed to stand with apples ol
n their heads, while others, at the same dis
n tanee, undertook to shoot them of but tn
!. people who saw the other experiments, de
clined to be witnesses Of this.
"At night great fire was kiudled around
> pole planted 10 the court houje square, wher
, the company, with their captain at their head
4 all naked to the waist aud painted like sava
a ges, except the captain, who was in an India
h shirt, INDUCED vast concourse of peopl
!. with perfect exhibition of a war dance, an
o all the manGuvres of Indians, holding counci
4 going to war, circumventlDg their enemies b
!. de6les, ambuscades, attacking, scalpng, an
!, so forth. 1t is said by those who are Judge
If that no representation could possibly CON
a nearer the original. The captains expert
,r ness and agility, in particular, in these exp,
,s riments, astonished every beholder. Th
!. morning they will set cut on their march fG
a. Cambridge"