of the accumulation of property, rather than abandon, or in any measure relax in the glorious cause of liberty and independence. Through the whole of this struggle he had the consolation of the accordance of his beloved wife; when soldiers were called upon to go into the service who were not possessed of blankets, her feelings induced her to supply them to the last one she had; when they wanted shirts or knapsacks she furnished them by cutting up her sheets even to those of her own bed, relying on divine Providence for strength to manufacture more in their room. In 1771, he marched with a volunteer company from the town of Dracutt to the siege of Burgoyne, and on the 17th of October, 1777, he had the consolation of seeing a whole British army, with Burgoyne at their head, march from the heights, music beating a retreat, upon the plains of Saratoga, and there lay down their arms and surrender themselves prisoners of war to the American army and militia. Burgoyne's army, when he left Canada, consisted of nine thousand five hundred and seventy-five men; when he surrendered there were on the field... British officers and soldiers-Germans Canadians, Tories, etc... General Burgoyne's staff Prisoners of war before the surrender. Sick and wounded.. Deserted .... Killed and made prisoners at Bennington... Killed between 17th September and 17th October.. Killed in Harkeman's battle... Total. 2,442 2,190 1,100 12 400 598 300 1,220 600 433 300 9,575 Varnum and his command again volunteered their services and guarded the German troops from Saratoga to Winter Hill, near Boston, depositing the prisoners there on the seventh day of November, 1777. In 1778, he marched in command of a company of militia to Rhode Island to join with General Sullivan in a contemplated attack upon that place in conjunction with a French fleet which met us there. The fleet being dispersed by a heavy gale of wind it became necessary for the General to retreat. They retreated by the way of Providence and served out the term of their enlistment at East Greenage and Warwick. In the year 1776-77 he left the senate chamber and marched with a militia company with General Lincoln to quell the insurrection of Shays and others in the western counties; this was not a bloody campaign but a very fatiguing one, the snow being deep and the weather exceedingly cold. The army marched from Hatfield after eight o'clock in the evening to Petersham before breakfast-time next morning, thirty-three miles, without eating or stopping, the snow being more than two feet deep; and about six inches of light snow had fallen the day before the troops marched from Hatfield. The evening was pleasant, but about twelve o'clock at night the wind became boisterous and the weather extremely cold; the light snow was blown about so as to fill the atmosphere like the most fatiguing snowstorm. The snow was much drifted, many of the men were severely frozen, in consequence of which several lost their lives, the insurgents fled, but from the state of the army, were not pursued. After the dispersion of Shays' army and the march of the militia upon Petersham to Pittsfield to quell the insurrection in that quarter, the General found it necessary to send an express to the General Court at Boston to procure money to pay such troops as he thought necessary to retain in service. The said Varnum was selected, made a rapid trip to Boston, procured the necessary supplies, and returned to Pittsfield, three hundred and twenty miles out, and in less than three days and a half. During this winter's campaign Mrs. Varnum was annoyed by a number of those friendly to the insurrection and insulted in a most menaced manner, but that heroic zeal and undeviating patriotism which was her uniform characteristic during the Revolutionary War enabled her promptly to repel their insinuations and menaces in a manner which compelled them to retire with apparent shame and confusion of face. The happy termination of this extensive insurrection may be fully learned by attending to the history of the same, and it is believed that the insurrection had a very considerable agency in the formation and adoption of a Federal Constitution. The company over which he presided all were cordial toward him, affectionate at all times, ready to afford him all the aid in the discharge of the duties of his office within their power; they were always attentive and obedient to his calls upon them and his commands when on parade. After serving eleven years in the capacity aforesaid he left them as their commander in a state of excellent order and discipline. On his return home from the Shays' insurrection he was elected by his brother officers as commander of the regiment in which he had so long served, and received a colonel's commission on the 4th day of April, 1787. The lieutenant-colonel and major, who were superseded by his election, served under his command for one year. Immediately after his promotion he ordered out the several companies in the regiment on different days and attended upon their discipline himself, so that his first regimental muster in the autumn of 1787 produced astonishment among the specta tors and especially among those who were best acquainted with military discipline. The officers were prompt and uniform in giving the words of command. Throughout the day many evolutions were performed with great precision and accuracy, and it was announced by many officers who had been through the Revolutionary War in the army as well as others that the regiment was highly pre-eminent in point of order and discipline to any other regiment in the commonwealth. This day excited a spirit of emulation among the military corps in the state which has never been extinguished, yet it is believed that this regiment retained their supremacy in the knowledge of tactics so long as he continued in the command of it, which was about six years. On the 22d day of November, 1802, he was elected and commissioned brigadier-general of the second brigade third division of the militia of Massachusetts, the same brigade in which he had performed his militia services, in which capacity he served about three years with the same military ardor and zeal for promoting military order, discipline and knowledge, which had characterized his military character in former commands. On the 25th of June in the year 1805, he was appointed major-general of the said third division by the unanimous vote in the house of representatives and a concurrent unanimous vote in the senate with the exception of one member whose name and county delicacy forbids us to mention. He has continued in that capacity from the time of his appointment to the present period. He has attended to the good order, discipline and acquisition in military knowledge, which has been manifest in his former stations and which the important extension of his military command required. He has attended to the reviews and inspections of the several regiments and corps composing the division, when called out by legal authority, except when bodily indisposition has prevented. And it is confidently believed that no division of the militia in the commonwealth stand pre-eminent to them if equal in all the acquirements necessary to enable an armed body of independent yeomanry, mechanics, and traders, whose breasts are fired with love of liberty and independence to support the wholesome laws of the country and repel every invading foe. Jame Contributed by M. Vannun THE POET'S AWAKENING One day as there lay in a green, shady nook, A youth, who was musing, half-lost in a dream, O dreamer, arouse thee! chase sleep from thy brow; Thy thoughts were not given to be wasted ever, O fear not! I'll lead thee, where wild flowers grow, Such sights I'll unfold to thy wondering eyes, The secrets of nature shall not say thee nay; The language of birds, and the thought of each flower, Thy tongue shall find words to fit daintiest thought, Thy dreams and thy musings, with love for a leaven, But, poet, in turn for this song-gift divine, Reward for thy worship is undying fame- Young minstrel, farewell; let thy song take its flight; NEW YORK CITY. Edmund Smith Middhton. MINOR TOPICS REVOLUTIONARY TROOPS Editor of Magazine of American History: Captain Jacob Rumph commanded a partisan company in the Revolutionary army, recruited chiefly from the Orangeburg (South Carolina) District. This company was conspicuous for its raids and fights with the South Carolina tories in 1783. The name of the officer who commanded the battalion, or regiment, of which Captain Rumph's company was a part, was Colonel Wm. Russell Thompson. Following is a list of names of members of Captain Rumph's company, taken from authentic records. The following list is sent to THE MAGAZINE, with the hope of eliciting further information in regard to the command. * * Colonel Wm. Russell Thompson was the officer in command of the forces which held General Clinton in check at the storming of Fort Moultrie. |