The post. [volume] (Middleburg, Snyder County, Pa.) 1864-1883, 1876-10-26

WhASh w voouhuS VIII utsst boiOosou Aoi
his own quarters, but he would not
occupy il while his ragged soldiers
were uncovered, and 80 pitched his
tent in their midst on the frozen
ground. Streets were laid out, and
foot by foot the city of huts went up
till over a thousand Of them stretch
ed away over the surrounding hills,
Into these the 'lns Of liberty"
crept and lay "a III. Ia the straw.
What passed there for the next
three monthes history will never tell
us. II was written with q pen Of
suffering on individual hearts, but
never found outward expression.
Washington's wife joined him, and
tho wintery field covered with how
els presented sad spectacle as she
camo upon It, to share with her hus
band his privations, and if possible,
lessen his cares through the long
winter. Forage soon became scarce,
and Washington was compelled to
use the power conferred on him aud
ordered all the grain within seventy
miles to be thrashed out but he was
environed with the Tories, who
burned up theirs rather than letit
fall in his hands. Tho snow soon
began to pile around them, while
their clothes fell away in rags from
their backs. Sickness increased
from exposure, and, as il Heaven
itself was determined to augment
their misery, exhaust their heroic
patience, and drive them to despair,
the cold set in with severity un-
known for years. There were no
parades, no more drills, for there
were scarcely enough left fit to per-
form mere camp duty. Sickness or
rags shut them up in their foul hov-
els. The dreary dsys wore on, all
alike in suffering. They varied only
as the driving snow piled deeper
round their hut, or piercing cold in
creased, or food grew less. All day
long, week in and week out, the wind
as it roared by, or the morning and
evening gun sending its dull echo
over the wintry hills, were the only
music to cheer their loneliness. The
dreary monotony of the scene was
broken only by platoons OF men, of
ten several times day, bearing,
with reversed arms, q comrade to
his grave beneath the snow, playing
the mournful tune of 'Boslyn Castle
as they marched slowly, heavily for-
ward. Sometimes naked soldier
would borrow blanket to fit to a
neighboriug hut, and then fit back
again and crawl, like frightened
wild animal, out of sight. Along
the snowy paths Washington, some
times with the young Marquis lay
fayette by his side, would often slow
ly walk, with his heart breaking at
the sights and sounds that met him
at every step
Into the midst of this desolation
the noble Baron Steuban walked one
day, decked with military honors
won on the fields of Europe, and
gazed, one eau guess with astonish-
ment, on the army he had given up
home, ease aud country, to link his
fortunes with. At length, forage
gave out aud gaunt famine stalked
into the midst of this scene of woe
and desolation. Not a hoof entered
the camp and the lowing OF cattle
ceased to be heard. Teams and
men came in empty handed. A for
eign officer, walked amid the novels,
and seeing men with no covering
but blanket fitting from one hut
to another, and hearing through the
crevices the soldiers muttering, mo
pay, no provisions, no rum, said he
then despaired of American Inde-
pendence. Washingtons heart at
last became filed with fearful fore-
boadings and he looked around him
in dismay, and in q letter to Gen.
Clinton, in the middle Of February
said "For some days past there
has been little less than famine in
the camp. A part of the army has
been week without any kind Of
flesh, and the rest three or four
days. Yet he added "Naked aud
starving as they are, we cannot
enough admire the incompatible
patience and fidelity of the soldiers
A noble compliment and nobly won.
At the same time Warren wrote to
Green "The situation Of the camp
is such that, in all human probability
the army must dissolve. The
horses are dying for want Of foarge.
The country is in the vicinity of the
camp is exhausted. ." What
consequences have we nationally to
expectf" Says DR.. Thatcher "It
is with great difficulty that men en-
ough can be found in q condition fit
to discharge the military camp
duties from day to day and for this
purpose those who are naked bor-
row of those who have clothes.
What q picture is this, though
|sketched in mere outline by the
Commander in-chief and his officers!
The imagination shrinks from filing
up the frightful details. The army
was slowly dying, not from the ra--
wages Of shot and shell, but from
exposure. sickness aud slow strava>
|<ifR Night-moonlesA stareless
|night-had closed over that city of
bowels. Even Washington, in whom
''hope shone Ikea pillar of fire
when it had gone out in all other