Morgan's
company led in the secondary part of the column of infantry.
Smith's followed, headed by Steele, the Captain from particular
causes being absent.
Hendrick's company succeeded and the eastern
men so far as known to me, followed in due order. The snow was
deeper than in the fields, because of the nature of the ground.
The path made by Arnold, Lamb, and Morgan was almost
imperceptible, because of the falling snow. Covering the locks of
our guns, with the lappets of our coats, holding down our heads
(for it was impossible to bear up our faces against the imperious
storm of wind and snow), we ran, along the foot of the hill in
single file. Along the first of our run, from Palace Gate, for
several hundred paces, there stood a range of insulated buildings,
which seemed to be store-houses, we passed these quickly in single
file, pretty wide apart. The interstices were from thirty to fifty
yards. In these intervals, we received a tremendous fire of
musketry from the ramparts above us. Here we lost some brave men,
when powerless to return the salutes we received, as the enemy was
covered by his impregnable defences. They were even sightless to
us, we could see nothing but the blaze from the muzzles of their
muskets.
A number of vessels of various sizes lay along the beach, moored
by their hawsers or cables to the houses. Passing after my leader,
Lieutenant Steele, at a great rate, one of those ropes took me
under the chin, and cast me head long down, a declivity of at
least fifteen feet.
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