Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1893-06-01

HpiuHEt ChCpuFagll-, guiding, leading,
while bullet after bullet struck him with
fatal accuracy What the bayonets Of
the onemy'S foot could not do, the charge
Of Iarleton's cavalry did; they broke
before il, and what was left of the two
Maryland and orr Delaware regiments,
rctrcatcd. Lee, III his memoirs, General
Greene, Ohio Williams and Sergeant
seymour, in their diaries, all use the
same expression, the same language,
viz; In this battle the regiment OF Del
aware was nearly anuihilated," and il
was really and truly so.
The battle lasted scarcely an hour
Delaware entered the fight 800 strong.
At the end Of that battle there were
only ls5 men left, including officers.
De halb fell with eleven wounds IN his
body, He died three days afterward,
debating from his death bed u letter, in
which he spoke Of the gallant be-
hayiour of the Delaware regiment"
Well might the brave De kalb, with his
dying breath, breathe bcnedictons on
his faithful brave divisions We'll
might he say that "it WAS glorious To die
whilst leading such troops" We'll
might their bravery eXtort eulogies, as il
did, from the enemy, Cornwallis and
RawdOn and Webster, and even the
proud, superciious, bitter and cruel
soldier, IarlctUn, praised them Ohio
Williams says they stood too long, but
they never received orders to retreat
nor amy order from any general officer,
unlil the action became desperate.
| General Gates himself was not there.
lie had gone of with the flying militia
and upon the evening Of the day of the
battle, was at Charlotte 60 miles away.
Like our Delaware Brcakwlter, that 70.
ceivcs the swell Of the whole Atlantic,
50 as To shipping, these Delaware
inca received the full force of Britain's
army that our ship OF government
| might be anchored.
hc Delaware regiment was with
Greene, IN his celebrated retreat before
! CORVALLIS, from the Catawba till the
! termination Of his pursuit at ltamsey's
! Mills. ''Nt this time, most Of the men
were entirely without shoes, they
marched night and day, and had no
| tlmG To cook what provisions they had"
Among It's officers there was not II
| blanket for every three, 50 that among
those whose hour admitted rest, it was
| = rule that ~ every fire, one should
/ keep on ms iaet, IN routine, to keep the
| lire IN yiIur." "A number of the men
had not i rag Of clothes on them, except
a piece Of blanket, Indian fashion,
| around their waists"
have recorded two samples Of how
the Blue Hens Chickens fought They
showed the same unidentified courage iii
| every subsequent battle. There is
scarcely a general order issued by Gen
4 eral Greene in this whole campaign.
after any battle, in which the Delaware
regiment y not particularly praised, Z
| w neither It was Greene, or Morgan, or
Williams, or Howard, or Luu-eithcr
| speaking OF wrttng--it was always,
The brave kirkwood and his Delawarcs,
or 'klrkwood and his brave Della.
wares.
When General Greene submitted to
Congress his report Of their last battle,
that Of ltutaw springs, Congress passed
u resolution Of thanks to him and his
army, and included is this one: "rhat
the thanks of the United states, in Con,
gress assembled, be presented to the
officers aud men Of the Maryland and
! Virginia brigadcs and Delaware bat.
talon Of Continental troops, for the un-
parallelcd bravery and hrrOism BY them
displayed n advancing TO the enemy
through an lnCesSant fire, and charging
them with an impctuosity and ardOl
that could not be resisted
In this campaign the bayoDct wa:
constantly rcsorcl To- both sides be
llcyGd IN IT, CORVALLIS doubles;
thought that the half.cIothcd. bare
footed, hatStarycd rebels could no
stand before il in the hands Of hi,
"Buiis.' He mlstOok his men. Thos,
ragged, hungry soldiers were rs FOOD q
il, and feared it less than the liritisI
soldiers, Greene and Williams and How
ard believed in it, and Kirkwood knew
how to Use It, In every battle their or,
was: "Liive them the bayonct. nan
give them tho buy0net, and the Della
ware regiment was always one of thOs
selected 70 give them the bay0nct."
Want and suffering could not dis
courage our COntinentalS. The miltit
might run away in battle after battle. 4
they almost Invariably did, they onlt
fought the harder, In fact, fighting VA
what they enlisted for, and lighting wa
what they did.
! General Greene truly describes hi
own and his army's business "N
fight, got beat, rise and tgnt again
r lis especial culogy of his Delaware sol
diers was his romar< after the wal
/ THAT they exceeded all soldiers nc Ia
! ever secn as they could fight all ia
. and lanccnil night"
In u recent issue Of EVERY l3vENtS
I 1t was said that General Greene cav
(, the llcIawares the name Of Blue Hen