The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-11-20

SaNlN, ana rapidly.
But it was not alone because we be-
held houses and barns ahundantly
around us, that onr spirits returned to
us on the present occasion. There
. were other objects discernible, not less
capable than these of putting soldiers
upon their mettle The road by which
we travelled was deeply indented with
the track of mems feet and horses
hooves, and bya few green fields Oh
each side presented manifestations of a
recent encamplnent The ashes of fires
not long extingnished were still smok-
ing. Morsels of provision, bits of
clothing, firelock, here and there, and
numerous bundles of straw, all told a
tale of troops having spent the night
here; whilst palings, torn down in large
quantities, seemed to imply, that oftLe
force whose route we were following.
no oinconsiderahle portion was composed
of cavalry. The expectation of being
momentarify charged, could not, under
these circumstances, fail to arise in the
minds of all; and as we had no horses
of our own, competent to protect the
infantry even from the attack of sin
gle squadron, the infantry made ready
to form into squares at moments
notice, and protect themselves.
1t was at this juncture that the
mounted drivers proved of the most
essential service to the expedition.
Being attached to the advance guard,
they were placed, like us, under the
general orders of Major Brown, and,
directed by their own officer, Captain
Lemprierc of the artillery they were
most active, and most daring, in their
efforts to hinder surprisal. They
rode, sometimes as far as musket-shOt
ahead of the light infantry; and posted
themselves, in sections of three or four
at the corners of every grove, rou. d
which they found it either unsafe or
impracticable to attempt a circuit.
The infantry of the advance, too, was
particularly active; not a single hiding
place was left unexplored, by which
means, though prudently on the alert
the main body was enabled to move on,
under the full assurance that no enemy
ing allowed for the assumption OF
any order which night he necessary.
Things continued thn:, no enemy
making his appearance, till about ten
O'Clock, when the worn out condition
of his troops compelled the general to
halt. We had traversed distance of
not less than twelve miles, and had
journeyed for the last hour under sun,
than which it were hard to conceive
any more scorching. There was not a
breath OF air to fan our cheeks, and the
dust and fine sand were not less annoy
ing to our eyesight and respiration,
than they had been on the afternoon
when our inroad began. Numbers of
our best men had already fallen by the
way-side, and numbers more were
prepared to imitate their example. 1t
was, therefore, with degree of salts
faction, of which the very memory has
doubtless departed from those who ex
p ,rienced it, that we listened to the
n ,tes which directed us to rest. We
threw ourselves down upon the grass,
and in five minutes the mass of the
army was asleep. For myself, the ex-
ertions of to-day. superadded to the
t oil and anxiety Of last night, COM
pletely overpowered me. Though the
loss of life had been the consequence,
question whether 1 should have been
able to resist the drowsiness which
overwhelmed me- My eyes were closed
before m Y head reached the ground,
and | continued perfectly ignorant of
all that was passing, for a full hour
and half:
1t was not without some difficulty
a; he himself informed me, that at the
close of that period my Young friend
WilIilms contrived to shake me into Il
state of renewed consciousness. At
length, however, by dint of violent ex-
ertions on his part, was enabled to
open my eyes, and to see that the corps
t. which | WAS attached had already
begun its march ,And that the others
We're preparing to follow. IIurrying
after it, we soon overlook our livision
and the same routine OF securing the
fl Ids, scampering through tlickets,
and feeling our way over dclilcs and
hollows, was repeated, with the same
results as before.
We had proceeded about couple OF
miles from the halting- place, and the
hour of noon was past, when our atten
tion was suddenly drawn to the left, by
several heavy clouds of dust which
rose in that direction Though we
could not doubt from what source the
dust procrestrti, the intervention of Il
considerable copse between us and it,
hindered us from saying with certain
ty That the enemy was in the position.
The screen thus interposed was, how
ever, speedily withdrawn. 4 farther
advance of some hundred and fifty
yards brought us clear Of the planta-
ton, and the American army became
visible Williams and | We're walking
together at that instant. Are these
| Yankees!" said he, with all the naivete