two high points of rocks butting upon the shore, which caused a small draught of wind (when there was any air stirring) from the river; here we repaired two or three hours, in the heat of the day, and then went to work again till dark.
After we had been two or three days at this invigorating business, the troops were inspected by General Stuben; when he found out our situation, he ordered us off immediately. "You may as well knock those men on the head," said he, "as keep them there, they will die if kept there much longer, and they can do no more if you knock their brains out." He had more sense than our officers; but they did not feel the hardships which we had to undergo, and of course, cared but little, if any thing at all, about us. We were called off, and I never was so glad to get clear of any duty as I was to get clear of that. A state-prison would be preferable to it, for there one might chance to get something to eat, or at least to drink.
And now there was to be a material change in my circumstances, which, in the long run, was much in my favour. There was a small corps to be raised by enlistments, and in case of the failure of that, by drafts from the line; these men were called "Sappers and Miners," to be attached to the engineer's department. I had known of this for some time before, but never had a thought of belonging to it, although I had heard our Major (to whose company I belonged) tell some of our officers (after I had neatly marked his name upon his chest) that if there was a draft from our regiment, he intended I should go, although, he added, he did not wish to part with me. I, however, thought no more about it, till a Captain of that corps applied for a draft of one man from each regiment throughout the whole army present. This Captain was personally acquainted with our Major and told him he would like to have him furnish him with a man from the regiment that he knew was qualified for a non-commissioned officer; the Major then pitched upon me. How far he was to be justified in his choice the reader may, perhaps, be enabled to judge by the construction of this present work; I give him my free consent to exercise his judgment upon it.
I was accordingly, transferred to this corps and bid a farewell forever to my old comrades, as it respected any
