"the shout Of battle, the barbarian yell, the bray Of dissonant instruments, the clang of arms, The shriek of agony, the groan of death." While the firing was kept up at the Middle fort, great anxiety prevailed at the Upper; and during this time Captain Hager, who commanded the latter, gave orders that the women and children should retire to a long cellar, which he specified, should the enemy attack him. A young lady named Mary Haggidorn, on hearing these orders, went to Captain Hager and addressed him as follows:--"Captain, I shall not go into that cellar. Should the enemy come, I will take a spear, which I can use as well as any _man_, and help defend the fort." The Captain, seeing her determination, made the following reply:--"Then take a spear, Mary, and be ready at the pickets to repel an attack." She cheerfully obeyed, and held the spear at the picket, till "huzzas for the American flag" burst on her ear, and told that all was safe.[42] [42] _Vide_ History of Schoharie county, p. 410-11. A STERLING PATRIOT. With nerve to wield the battle-brand, And join the border-fray, They shrank not from the foeman, They quailed not in the fight, But cheered their husbands through the day, And soothed them through the night. W. D. GALLAGHER. The most noted heroine of the Mohawk valley, and one of the bravest and noblest mothers of the Revolution, was Nancy Van Alstine. Her maiden name was Quackinbush. She was born near Canajoharie, about the year 1733, and was married to Martin J. Van Alstine, at the age of eighteen. He settled in the valley of the Mohawk, and occupied the Van Alstine family mansion. Mrs. Van Alstine was the mother of fifteen children. She died at Wampsville, Madison county, in 1831. In the month of August, 1780, an army of Indians and tories, led on by Brant, rushed into the Mohawk valley, devastated several settlements, and killed many of the inhabitants: and during the two following months, Sir John Johnson, made a descent and finished the work which Brant had begun. The two almost completely destroyed the settlements throughout the valley. It was during those trying times that Mrs. Van Alstine performed a portion of her heroic exploits which are so interestingly related by Mrs. Ellet.