“That he considered it very arrogant in a surgeon, whose business it was to cure, to be aping the demeanour and duty of a commissioned officer, and that he was no more indisposed to die than other gentlemen, but that he had an utter aversion to the noise and tumult of battle,—that it stunned and stupified him.” On one occasion, when the Legion was passing through a narrow defile, the centre was alarmed by the drums of the infantry beating to arms in front,—Skinner, with the full sense of what was due to himself, whirled about, and giving his horse a short turn by the bridle, brought him down on his back in the middle of the defile, completely blocking it up, and preventing either egress or ingress—relief or retreat. The infantry and cavalry which had passed the gorge, immediately deployed on the hill in front, while the remainder of the Legion, galloping up, were completely severed by this singular and unexpected obstruction, until Captain Egglestone dismounting some of his strongest troopers, succeeded in dragging the horse out of the defile by main force. It turned out that the alarm was false, otherwise the doctor’s terror might have caused the destruction of one-half of the corps. But to recur to the incident brought to mind by the howling of the wolf. When the Legion was on its march to form a junction with Marion, on the little Pedee, it one night encamped in a large field on the southern side of a stream, with the main road in front. The night passed on very quietly, until about two or three in the morning, when the officer of the day reported that a strange noise had been heard by the picquet in front, on the great road, resembling the noise of men moving through the adjoining swamp. While he was yet speaking, the sentinel in that quarter fired his piece, which was immediately followed by the bugle calling in the horse patroles, the invariable custom upon the approach of an enemy. The drums instantly beat to arms, and the troops arranged for defence. The sentries on being questioned, all concurred in the same account, “and one patrol of horse asserted that they had heard horsemen concealing with the greatest care their advance.” Lee was in great perplexity, for he knew that he was not within striking distance of any large body of the enemy, and that Marion was at least two days distance in advance; but soon a sentinel in another direction fired, and the same report was brought in from him; and it was apparent, however unaccountable, that the enemy were present. A rapid change in the formation of the troops was made to meet the attack in this quarter, but it was hardly accomplished before the fire of a third sentinel in a different direction, communicated the intelligence of danger from another quarter. Feelings of intense anxiety were now aroused, and preparations were made for a general assault, as soon as light should allow it to be made. The picquets and sentinels held their stations, the horse patrols