goods were in, out of Rancocus Creek into the Delaware; which was only two miles from the ferry where they were taken prisoners. Just as they got to the mouth of the creek, and were entering the river, the sun rose, April 9, 1778.

About half a mile above the mouth of Rancocus creek, one of the American row galleys fired a few thirty-two pound shot at them, but did not venture to advance any nearer the gun boats, seeing them so full of men.

The ebb tide soon wafted the refugees out of the reach of the ball's from the row galley, when the refugees and sailors went singing down the stream of the Delaware with their prize, in full expectation of obtaining the reward of a hundred guineas for Captain Hewson's head; but as the old saying has it, "'tis not all gold that glitters," just so in this case. For as Sir Henry Clinton had succeeded Sir William Howe in the command of the royal army in Philadelphia, and Howe had been taught by six months' martial experience, that his location in the chief city of Pennsylvania was not quite as solid as the rock of Gibraltar, he left the city, and went to England. So that the gentleman who had offered the reward of a hundred guineas for Hewson had followed after Sir William Howe to the land of legitimate bondage, in consequence of his violent opposition to the cause of the independence of the United States. So the poor plundering refugees and sailors lost their reward of prize money for Captain Hewson's head. As soon as the prisoners were landed in the city, they were taken to the prison in Walnut Street. And as the small pox was in the same, and many of the prisoners disabled by it, and Captain Hewson not knowing that he ever had the infection, Mrs. Hewson having followed her husband to the city, after he was taken prisoner, waited in person on Sir Henry Clinton; and represented his case with so much female grace and etiquette, that she obtained from the British commander an order for his parole, and

hired a room in a boarding house in Walnut Street, and procured a physician to inoculate him, and he being so well prepared by his physician and good nursing, had the infection very lightly.

About the first of June, 1778, Sir Henry Clinton ordered all his prisoners off to New York, when Captain Hewson and his fellow officers with all the rest of the prisoners, were shipped on board his transports, and sent round to the same under convoy of his ships of war. Sir Henry heard a small voice, which the zephyrs from off old Ocean softly whispered in his martial ear, that a French fleet was soon expected on the American coast, with a number of troops on board. Then the British commander in chief viewed it most prudent to depart from Philadelphia as speedily as possible: and, having sent all his fleet round to their strong hold at New York, Sir Henry Clinton evacuated the capital of Pennsylvania; lest a small share of Burgoyne's misfortune should overtake him also. When Washington became apprized of Clinton's intention of abandoning Philadelphia, he called a council of war of his officers, to consider the expediency of inviting a general engagement, and, although he could not bring into the field more than about twelve thousand effective men, still Washington thought the honour of his country's armies, and the interesting cause of the national salvation of this young republic, made it advisable to risk a general battle. But several of his generals thought otherwise. Sir Henry Clinton, in consequence of special instructions from his royal master, left Philadelphia as suddenly and silently as possible, by marching his army out of the lower end of the city, and crossed the Delaware from a ferry at Greenwich Point. The progress of the British army through the State of New Jersey was necessarily very slow, in consequence of an enormous quantity of heavy baggage, and in case of any emergency, or being opposed in his route by Washington, or meeting with any difficulty in obtaining supplies for his army, he took a month's provisions for about sixteen or eighteen thousand men with him, with such an army and train of baggage, as almost resembled a suite of fifty thousand men, and covered almost as great an extent of ground: but as Washington did not altogether yield to his council of war, he was fully determined to try the edge of his sword with that of Sir Henry Clinton, before he reached the city of New York. But the British general, contrary to the expectation of the American general, when he arrived at Mount Holly, shaped his course through Monmouth, instead of keeping to the left, as Washington supposed, toward the Raritan river, which still farther led Washington to suppose, that Clinton's chief object was to draw him into an engagement in that champaign country, and there, by a rapid change of motion, to pursue his route to New Brunswick. But Clinton most probably had chosen that route, because he thought it very possible that General Gates might form a junction with Washington at the Raritan River, and thus cut off his retreat to New York; so that the American General was for two or three days somewhat perplexed in his martial mind, at the dark manœuvres of the British commander. But the moment that Washington discovered that

Clinton meant to pursue his course to the seacoast, in order that his shipping might arrive at New York, he crossed over the Jerseys with his army as fast as possible, so as not to let him escape without measuring the length of each other's swords. At day light on the morning of the 28th of June, 1778, Clinton ordered General Knyphausen to move off from Monmouth court house, with the provisions and heavy baggage of the British army, while Clinton maintained his position in the vicinity of Monmouth court house, until about eight o'clock A. M., when Washington being at the head of the continental army, moved on, and a general action was soon brought on between the British and American armies, which lasted nearly the whole of that day, and would have proved decisive, had it not been for the defection of General Lee, who had been some time a prisoner with the British at New York, where it was supposed the officers of the British army had disaffected his mind to the cause of a republican government, and made Lee the present of a handsome gold snuff-box, set with kingly diamonds, filled with gold dust, in order to obscure his American vision. Lee ordered a cowardly retreat of that part of the American army under his command; but Washington coming up at the moment, ordered Lee under arrest, which treacherous conduct of Lee prevented the Americans from a most decided victory over the royal army. This took place, as before observed, on the 28th of June, 1778, on one of the hottest days of that summer, and many of the soldiers of both armies fell dead upon the field of battle, in consequence of the excessive heat of the day. Some of the wives of the American troops kept supplying the army with water, to the honour of their character and republican zeal in the cause of the freedom of their country, like the Spartan ladies of old times. Passing over a number of incidents and occurrences of that memorable day, the British army at last gave way, and retired behind a defile, and before any disposition could be made by Washington to renew the attack, night came on, and both armies rested from the contest of that hot day.

No very great advantage was gained by either of the belligerent armies, by this hard-fought battle; nor was the loss very great on either side: the British left on the field nearly three hundred men, the Americans somewhat less. Washington with his men lay all night upon their arms; expecting Sir Henry Clinton to renew the attack next morning; but the British general, disappointed him by moving his whole army at midnight. Washington thought he might very justly claim the victory of the day, the weather being extremely hot, and the American army not in a condition to pursue the royal army, over a hot and deep sand, which lay in some part of the way between Monmouth court house, and that part of the seashore of New Jersey, where the British fleet lay in waiting to receive Clinton and his army on board. The British general continued his route without farther molestation to the seashore, and the royal shipping kindly conveyed him and his army to New York. Washington, after refreshing himself and his wearied troops, and providing as far as was in his power, for the relief and comfort of the sick, and wounded,

and then moved at his leisure towards the Hudson river to the strong hold at West Point.

Captain Hewson and his brother officers, after they were taken to the Provo prison, in New York, in a few days obtained their paroles to a boarding-house at Flatbush on Long Island, and after they had been boarding for several weeks, some of the envious tories became jealous of their easy condition, and laid information against them to the commanding officer on that station, that they saw them in a boat trying to make their escape, when the officer sent them to the Provo prison at New York. After a hearing before the Provo officer in New York, and their informers could prove nothing against them, only that they saw them a little distance from the shore of the island in a small vessel a fishing, the commanding officer of the Provo sent them back to their boarding-house on the island, without renewing their paroles; when they all instantly saw that according to the rules and articles of war in use among belligerent nations of modern times, that their former paroles had become null and void, (like the dark mass of wild matter, before the Eternal Spirit said, "Let there be light, and there was light,") by the oversight of the commanding officer of the day, at the Provo in New York. So that if they could by any means get off the island and make their escape, they could do it now without a breach of military honour. After this they watched every opportunity that the island presented to their view, in order to make their escape from the house of bondage; and as they often walked out on Sundays to different places on the island within the limits of their paroles, they examined some of the inlets and small creeks of the island, that lay opposite the strand on which Sandy Hook Light House is built, and also to find some kind of a water vehicle, to convey them by night to the Jersey shore: when they discovered one of those small craft, used by the islanders, in taking the clams and oysters out of their creeks and bays about the island, called a canoe. Captain Hewson and his four brother officers that boarded at the same house, cast their vision on one of the canoes which lay upon one of those small inlets, when the next thing was to procure some kind of instruments to propel the canoe through the water to the Jersey shore, a distance of about twelve miles, so as to strike the strand about three miles to the south of the light-house, towards the sea, at the point they marked to descend upon, when one of the officers by the military name of Captain Hogdon, a master shipwright, obtained a few tools from the German host at the house they billeted at, and made about four or five paddles, and after conveying some of their clothes to the vicinity of the canoe, they hid them among the bushes, near their small watery vehicle; and thus having their expedition all ready for starting, they immediately retired to their beds, and lay till about ten o'clock in the evening; and then as secretly as possible left the house. Having put their clothes on board their canoe, they started in this small vessel over a rough sea of about twelve miles wide.

Captain Hogdon, the master shipwright, being the most acquainted with the management of a small craft in rough water, was appointed

as the steersman of the canoe, while three of the other officers were appointed to handle the paddles in order to propel the canoe through the water, and the fifth officer, who was the least acquainted with boats and water travelling, sat in the bottom of the canoe, in order to bale out the water, as they often shipped some from the spray of the sea, while they were crossing from Long Island to the strand of Sandy Hook: and it required no small skill in Captain Hogdon to keep a continual look-out, when a large wave of the sea was coming, to cause the canoe to head the same. Just about day they made the strand, on which the main light house of the harbour of the city of New York is located, and taking it for the fast land of the Jersey shore, they landed; and after walking about a quarter of a mile over the strand, they saw that there was water between them and the fast land of the Jersey shore, and as they had not physical strength sufficient to take their heavy, canoe over the strand, to the water which lay between them and the Jersey shore, they were all at a stand to know what to do; as a body of British troops were always stationed at the light house, to protect the same, which was not three miles from them: when Captain Hogdon called out to Captain Hewson not to "give up the ship of liberty. I know you are a good swimmer: come on then, let us make another effort for our lives and the cause of freedom." But two of the poor fellows could not swim; these two hid themselves among the bushes on the strand; when the other three that could swim bade them adieu, with a promise that if the Supreme Being should spare their lives to reach the Jersey shore, they would obtain a boat and bring them off to the land of liberty. The three that could swim went over to the other side of the strand next the Jersey shore, where the dividing water did not appear to them to be more than two or three hundred yards over, and commenced swimming for nearly a quarter of an hour, but seemed to gain nothing on the fast land, so that the Jersey shore appeared no nearer then when they started: which inauspicious phenomena was caused by the ebb and tide of a small river that passed into York Bay, on the inner side of the strand, which separates what is called Sandy Hook from the main land on the Jersey shore. When Captain Hogdon discovered that the ebb tide was sweeping into the bay, he cried to Hewson and the other officer, "Come on, my brave men; place your hands on your boards and breathe a minute, and let us make one more struggle for our lives, our liberty, and our families." After swimming about a hundred yards, Captain Hogdon let down his feet and cried out, "Bottom, my good fellows;" and in a few minutes they were all safe on the Jersey shore: Captain Hewson being so much exhausted of his strength, that he wished to lay down on the shore to rest for a few minutes; but Captain Hogdon told him if he went to sleep on the shore, he would wake no more in this world. So after he had roused him from the lethargy that was fast insidiously creeping on him, they went up from the shore about half a mile to a farm house, in which dwelt a warm friend to the cause of his country, who kindly received them and sent his boat with two of his hands, to bring off the two brother officers they had left on the