The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1900-10-05

COlccallilcHt u;il'ptliS W w ucSlltDlt
the Americans soon discovered us; and
clapping spurs to their horses, galloped
of. Concluding, of course, that they
must be we'll acquainted with the diff
ferent roads which intcrsectcd the for
est, we very naturally gave them up
as lost, and continued our journey, with
the conviction in our minds that more
work would be cut out for us, ere many
hours should pass by.
Soon after this, the bugles of the
army sounded halt, and we, as we'll
as the main body, prepared to obey it;
but just as we had fixed upon con-
venicnt spot for the purpose. a soldier
came running up with intelligence that
the three horscmcn were still in the
thicket, about muskct-shot from our
right. Taking with me dozen men,
| instantly plunged into the wood; and
here, sure enough, they sat upon the
edge of one Of the lakes, their horses
being fastened by the brides to a tree
hard by. Ny party preserved pro-
found s!irncr, and We closed Yallantly
around them; but the crashing of the
b)uehs there was no sitting. and when
we reached the spot they we're gone.
They had leapcd into Il canoe on the
first alarm, and were now padding, as
fast as they could, to the opposite shore.
There was no time to be lost. called
out to them to surrender, and by way
of enforcing the summons, commanded
the whole of my people 10 level their
pieces. The spectacle was too alarm
ing for raw recruits; so they held up 4
white handkerchief in token of submis-
sion, and pulled back again. Immedi-
atcly on landing they were, as may be
supposed, disarmed, and then, with
their three beautiful chargers, con-
Quoted to headquarters.
On coming in with the prisoners, we
found the army halted near farm
house, around which were several
cleared fields, we'll adapted, in case of
need, for rapid military formation.
The General himself, attended by Adj
miral Cockburn, was sitting in the
midst of his staff by the way-side, and
few orderlies were leading their horses
backwards and forwards. OF the SOL
diers, q few had strayed from the ranks;
but blue jackets might be seen in every
direction, pursuing pigs, fowls, and
other live stock, at full speed, and with
much apparent satisfaction. Nor was
| it possible to refrain from laughing at
| the singular behaviour Of these men.
All the threats, orders and entreatics
| of their officers were set at defiance;
they knew nothing about discipline on
shore, and they were not now going to
| leave it. At last, the very endcavor
| to bring them back was abandoned, :,
and they continued to amuse them
selves, as well as us, till the column
again began to move. Nor did any
one appear to enjoy the joke more than
| General Ross. He was laughing
heartily, as were the Admiral and the
rest of the group, when we Appeared;
and he with difficulty suppressed his
mirth, even though the presence of the
prisoners drew his attention to graver
| matters.
Having put 4 few questions to the
young men, as to the duty on which
| they had been themselves employed,
Gen. Ross proceeded to catechise them
respecting the number and position of
the force appointed for the defense of
Baltimore. Their answers were neith-
er very distinct nor very satisfactory.
They spoke of 4 levy en- masse-hinted
| that every male capable Of bearing
arms was cnrOllcd--and calculated the
| strength of the whole, including three
thousand regulars, at twenty thousand
men The cavalry, they said, consisted
| principally of.volunteer troops, to one
of which they had themselves belonged;
and most of it, rs well as large por-
tion of the infantry. had met us in the
field of Bladensbnrg. In artillery,
again, they affirmed, that the strength
of the Americans was prodigious; up
wards of 100 pieces cf cannon were in
battery: and these being manned by
seamcn from the fleet. would, they OBJ
served to us. do their duty. The Gen
eral heard all this with countenance
| which never once varied in its express
sion; and then ordering them to the
rear, in spite Of many urgent entreat-
les that he would dismiss them on their
parole, he commanded the bugle to
sound, and the troops again stood to
their arms
Whilst the column was making ready
to prosecute its more orderly advance,
We stoutly plunged once more into the
thickets. and pressed on. For about
half an hour we proceeded without the
occurrence Of any circumstances cal
culated to excite in us a more than
usual degree of alacrity. There were
the same obstacles Of brake and brlar
to overcome, and from time to time,
the same impedments of ponds and
creeks to be surmountcd; but still no
enemy, nor any trace of an enemy,
could be deserted. At length however
| the face of affairs underwent Il change