ly scarce in the army. Let it be recollected that this was what has been termed the "hard winter," and hard it was to the poor soldiers, as will appear in the sequel. So here I will close the narrative of my campaign of 1779. And happy should I then have thought myself if that had ended the war, but I had to see a little more trouble before that period arrived.
CHAPTER VI.
Campaign of 1780.
The soldier defending his country's rights,
Is griev'd when that country his services slights;
But when he remonstrates and finds no relief,
No wonder his anger takes place of his grief.
The winter of 1779 and '80 was very severe; it has been denominated "the hard winter," and hard it was to the army in particular, in more respects than one. The period of the revolution has repeatedly been styled "the times that tried men's souls." I often found that those times not only tried men's souls, but their bodies too; I know they did mine, and that effectually.
Sometime in the month of January there happened a spell of remarkably cold weather; in the height of the cold, a large detachment from the army was sent off on an expedition against some fortifications held by the British on Staten Island. The detachment was commanded by Major-General John Sullivan. It was supposed by our officers that the bay before New-York was frozen sufficiently to prevent any succours being sent to the garrisons in their works. It was therefore determined to endeavour to surprise them and get possession of their fortifications before they could obtain help. Accordingly, our troops were all conveyed in sleighs and other carriages; but the enemy got intelligence of our approach (doubtless by some tory) before our arrival on the island. When we arrived we found Johnny Bull prepared for our reception; he was always complaisant, especially when his own honour or credit was concerned; we accordingly found them all waiting for us—so that we could not surprise them, and to take their works by storm looked
