Tales, Traditions and Romance of Border and Revolutionary TimesEllis, Edward Sylvester
History
Tales, Traditions and Romance of Border and Revolutionary Times
Ellis, Edward Sylvester
Frontier and pioneer life -- United States -- Anecdotes; United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Anecdotes
"Lady Ackland had a tent not far from our house; in this she slept, and
the rest of the day she was in the camp. All of a sudden a man came in
to tell her that her husband was mortally wounded, and taken prisoner.
On hearing this she became very miserable. We comforted her by telling
her that the wound was very slight, and advised her to go over to her
husband, to do which she would certainly obtain permission, and then she
could attend him herself. She was a charming woman, and very fond of
him. I spent much of the night in comforting her, and then went again to
my children, whom I had put to bed.
"I could not go to sleep, as I had General Frazer and all the other
wounded gentlemen in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children would
wake, and by their crying disturb the dying man in his last moments, who
often addressed me and apologized '_for the trouble he gave me_.' About
three o'clock in the morning, I was told that he could not hold out much
longer; I had desired to be informed of the near approach of this sad
crisis, and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, and went
with them into the room below. About eight o'clock in the morning _he
died_.
"After he was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came
again into the room, and had this sorrowful sight before us the whole
day; and, to add to the melancholy scene, almost every moment some
officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded. The cannonade
commenced again; a retreat was spoken of, but not the smallest motion
was made toward it. About four o'clock in the afternoon, I saw the
house, which had just been built for me, in flames, and the enemy was
now not far off. We knew that General Burgoyne would not refuse the last
request of General Frazer, though, by his acceding to it, an unnecessary
delay was occasioned, by which the inconvenience of the army was much
increased. At six o'clock the corpse was brought out, and we saw all the
Generals attend it to the mountain. The Chaplain, Mr. Brudenell,
performed the funeral service, rendered unusually solemn and awful from
its being accompanied by constant peals of the enemy's artillery. Many
cannon-balls flew close by me, but I had my eyes directed toward the
mountain, where my husband was standing, amidst the fire of the enemy;
and, of course, I could not think of my own danger.
"General Gates afterward said, that, if he had known it had been a
funeral, he would not have permitted it to be fired on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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