constant skirmishes between small detachments, sometimes foraging parties, and at others a few pickets; and not a night passed without the per- * Abatis is a French word signifying trees cut down. It is a phrase used in fortifications; and an abatis which is composed of trees felled, so as to present their branches to the enemy, is frequently found in woody country one of the most available and efficient kinds of defense. ** Neilson, p. 15, 35 Effect of the Battle on the People.--Diminution of Burgoyne's Army, and Increase of Gates's.--Condition of the Enemy 059 formance of some daring exploit, either for the sake of adventure, or to annoy each other. The Americans were constantly gaining strength, and their superiority of numbers enabled them to form expeditions to harass the British, without weakening their lines by fatigue or endangering the safety of the camp. The success of the Americans in the late battle, and the rapid increment of the army, almost annihilated loyalty in the neighborhood, and made every republican, whether soldier or citizen, bold and adventurous. At one time about twenty young Americans, farmers residing in the vicinity, not belonging to the camp, and intent on having a frolic, resolved to capture an advance picket-guard of the enemy, stationed on the north bank of the middle ravine. They selected their officers, and each being armed with a fowling-piece and plenty of powder and shot, they marched silently through the woods in the evening, until they got within a few yards of the picket. The captain of the party then gave a tremendous blast upon an old horse-trumpet whieh he carried, and, with yells and the noise of a whole regiment, they rushed through the bushes upon the frightened enemy. No time was given for the sentinel's hail, for, simultaneously with their furious onset, the captain of the frolickers cried out lustily, "Ground your arms, or you are all dead men!" Supposing half the American army was upon them, the astonished pickets obeyed, and thirty British soldiers were taken by the jolly young farmers into the republican camp with all the parade of regular prisoners of war. This was one of many similar instances, and thus the British camp was kept in a state of constant alarm. *