One evening, during this state
of things, two of the citizens, whilst prowling in a coppice, within a
few miles of the camp, on the look-out, came suddenly upon an infantry
soldier, who was off his guard at the moment, and whose firelock was
resting against a tree; the foremost of the Americans darted forward and
seized the weapon, while the second captured the wretched soldier. Under
ordinary circumstances, and in more honourable hands, the man would
have been conveyed as a prisoner of war to the American camp, but
plunder being their object, this would not answer the purpose of the
miscreants, the most resolute of whom ordered the captive (who was a lad
of seventeen or eighteen), to take off his jacket. Knowing this was a
preliminary step to his being shot, he fell on his knees and implored
mercy. His captors were, however, inexorable, and he began to cry
bitterly, and besought them to spare his life; these manifestations had,
however, no effect on his deadly foes, who now threatened to fell him
with the butt end of a fusee if he did not comply: this had the effect,
and the poor captive reluctantly pulled off the jacket and threw it on
the ground; this was immediately picked up by one of the party, to avoid
its being stained with the life-blood of the victim.
Pages:
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117