that stood in its route, without scarcely retarding its progress. We all stood breathless, waiting the result, when, as it happened (and well for us there was such a thing as chance) the wheel, when within about fifteen feet of the barracks, and with the motion almost of a cannon-ball, struck something that gave it an elevation of twenty or thirty feet into the air, and passed over the barracks and several rods beyond them before it struck the ground again. The reader may rest satisfied that this last circumstance did not cause many tears of grief to fall.
The Americans had a fortification upon Verplank's point, on the eastern side of the Hudson, opposite Stoney point, garrisoned by a Captain and about one hundred men. The British took this place and made the garrison prisoners, after a close siege of about a week, and fortified the point. They appeared, by their conduct, to have a strong inclination to possess West point. To make a diversion in their own favour and draw off some of our forces from the vicinity of that fortress, they sent the infamous Gov. Tryon into Connecticut with his banditti, who took possession first of New-Haven and plundered it, and then embarked and went and plundered and burnt Fairfield and Norwalk. The two Connecticut brigades were then sent in pursuit of them. We marched nearly down to the seacoast, when the enemy getting scent of us they took to their shipping and made the best of their way back to New-York. We returned as soon as possible. Being on our march the fifteenth day of July, and destitute of all kinds of eatables, just at night I observed a cheese in a press before a farmer's door, and we being about to halt for the night, I determined to return after dark and lay siege to it; but we went further than I expected before we halted, and a smart shower of rain with thunder happening at the time, the cheese escaped. It cleared off with a brisk wind at northwest and cold; we were all wet to the skin, and had no tents with us, lying on the western side of a cleared hill. I never came nearer perishing with the cold in the middle of summer in all my life, either before or since.
In the night we heard the cannon at Stoney point, and early next morning had information of the taking of that place, by the Light Infantry of our army, under the command of Gen. Wayne. Our officers were all on tiptoe
