登陆注册
5223600000078

第78章 Chapter (3)

"Well," continued he, laughing heartily, "that was MY lucky day.

I had a command there that morning of about thirty men, as an advance.

We had not left the guard more than five minutes before the Americans charged and swept all. The moment we heard the firing and the cries of our people, we squatted in the high grass like so many rabbits, then running on the stoop, till we gained the woods, we cleared ourselves." I laughed, and asked how many men he supposed Marion had that morning."He replied, he really did not know, but supposed he must have had three or four hundred.

"Well, sir," said I, "he had exactly thirty."The reader may perhaps conceive Ferguson's astonishment:

I cannot describe it.

Soon as the dishes were removed, we were presented with a spectacle to which our eyes had long been strangers, a brave parade of excellent wine: several hampers of which had been received at the fort the very day before we commenced the attack. To poor soldiers like us, who, for years, had hardly quenched our thirst on any thing better than water or apple brandy grog, this was a sight immensely refreshing.

Whether it was owing to the virtues of this noble cordial, with the recollection of our late glorious victories;or whether it was the happy result of our generosity to the enemy, and of their correspondent politeness to us, I do not know;but certain it is, we were all very gay. But in the midst of our enjoyments, which none seemed to relish with a higher glee than general Marion, a British soldier came up and whispered to one of their officers, who instantly coming round to the general, told him in a low voice, that the Americans were hanging the tories who had been taken in the fort!

In a moment he sprang up, in a violent passion, and snatching his sword, ran down towards our encampment. We all followed him, though without knowing the cause. On turning the corner of the garden which had concealed their cruel deeds, we discovered a sight most shocking to humanity, a poor man hanging in the air to the beam of a gate, and struggling hard in the agonies of death. "Cut him down! cut him down!" cried the general, as soon as he had got near enough to be heard, which was instantly done.

Then running up, with cheeks as red as fire coals, and half choked with rage, he bawled out, "In the name of God! what are you about, what are you about here!""Only hanging a few tories, sir," replied captain Harrison of Lee's legion.

"Who gave you a right, sir, to touch the tories?"To this, young M'Corde, of the same corps, replied, that it was only three or four rascals of them that they meant to hang;and that they had not supposed the general would mind that.

"What! not mind murdering the prisoners. Why, my God! what do you take me to be? do you take me for a devil?"Then, after placing a guard over the tories, and vowing to make an example of the first man who should dare to offer them violence, he returned with the company to Mrs. Motte's table.

Of the three unfortunate tories that were hung dead, one was named Hugh Mizcally. The name of the person so timely cut down was Levi Smith, a most furious tory. This title produced him such respect among those degenerate Britons, that they appointed him gatekeeper of Charleston, a circumstance that operated much against the poor whigs in the country. For Smith soon broke up a pious kind of fraud, which the wives and daughters of the tories had for some time carried on at a bold rate.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 北山小学逸事

    北山小学逸事

    刘志铁,男,辽宁凌源人,1987年毕业于朝阳市第二师范学校,曾当过多年中学教师,现供职于凌源市史志办公室。从1999年尝试文学创作至今,已在《辽宁日报》《辽宁法制报》《教师报》《经典美文》《华夏散文》《辽西文学》等省市报刊发表散文、随笔、小小说百余篇。一五月节快到了,总校从外地弄了几车粉条,打电话给各村小学,让每个学校派一个人来领粉条。北山小学校长老陈把这事交给了保管老魏,并嘱咐说:“每人十斤,咱们十七个人,总共一百七十斤,你找个小车吧,快点整回来,趁今天是星期六午后没学生分利索得了,省得下周一耽误课。”
  • 天火丹帝

    天火丹帝

    废柴没想到自己被推下悬崖之后,竟然因祸得福,得逆天丹道传承,踏上无上强者之路!
  • 亿万老婆买一送一

    亿万老婆买一送一

    七年前,她潇洒地丢下100块,带着儿子落跑。七年后,她带着天才儿子回来,没想到被宝贝儿子坑进MBS国际。她的顶头上司竟然是七年前的MR.¥100!……坏丫头,七年前你敢这么羞辱我,这次一定让你付出代价!当腹黑遇上腹黑,外加一个腹黑儿子,拼的是段数级别,拼的是演技,那么,看谁能技高一筹。
  • 邪王追妻吧之王妃太调皮

    邪王追妻吧之王妃太调皮

    她,来自二十一世纪,白日,她是普通的女子,黑夜,她是杀人不眨眼的恶魔加特工,再次睁眼,身体更换了灵魂,爹不疼,继母狠毒,庶姐庶妹心机太深,不好意思,原来的那个傻女孩早就不在了,欠了我的,给我还回来,你不惹我便罢了,惹了我,看我怎么折磨你。他,人称鬼王,所有女人离他一米内都会迎来死亡,当他遇到她,他追,她跑,他在追,她继续跑。
  • 广志

    广志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 最后一次放手

    最后一次放手

    年少的我们,毫无畏惧,想要把每一样东西都掌握于手里。友情、爱情、权利、金钱……然而,现实却令我们不得不迎面低头。不得不放手金钱、权利、爱情、友情……甚至生命!
  • 天道合伙人

    天道合伙人

    这是一个少年穿越为墨鸦,改变命运,并成为一个合格的合伙人的故事。(想法相似,不胜荣幸。内容雷同,不可能吧!)
  • 7天让你读懂经商心理学

    7天让你读懂经商心理学

    心理学是帮助人们了解自我、洞察人生、解释行为的一门实用科学。人的心理千变万化,这也使得人的心理现象成为一个极为复杂和奇妙的领域。但通过大量的试验以及经验的总结证明,人类的心理活动仍然是有一定规律的,人们对心理现象事实上都很熟悉,只不过由于缺乏科学的理解,因此觉得神秘罢了。然而,从普通大众看来,严谨深奥的心理学的确是晦涩难懂的,一些专业的名词术语在日常生活中总是难以被理解。所以,迫切需要一条合适的纽带将心理学的科学性运用到我们的现实生活与工作中。《7天让你读懂心理学》系列丛书无疑就是这样一条及时出现的纽带。本书为丛书之《7天让你读懂经商心理学》分册。
  • 中国历史博览2

    中国历史博览2

    《中国历史博览》着重于引导学生探讨历史规律,培养学生掌握研究历史问题的方法及从历史学习中汲取知识营养和智慧的兴趣。它既以生动有趣的文字激发学生对历史的丰富想像,又以极具历史价值的图片赋予学生直观的历史感受,是一本非常适合青少年阅读和学习的典藏图书。
  • 报予桃花一处开

    报予桃花一处开

    清明觉得她这一千三百岁的桃生中就败给了两句话:“我等你醒来,你要快快醒来。”这第一句是她灵智未开还是枝头酣睡的小桃花时迷迷糊糊听见的。“我来带你回家。”说这句话的人允诺护她永不凋零。两次,她都是一败涂地。最后一次,她把欠他的都还了个干净,舍心镇魔,万劫不复是她的选择。在那之后,天地同尊的青帝,一十七重天的主人——扶珏帝君不见了,而阴山之下,多了一个被压在大地狱里的神明万年后,不料她的命盘再起波折,这一次他不会再让人毁她,他找到她,就算魂魄尽散,他也要做到答应给她的永世安稳。