impressed as a guide. He was hurriedly
mounted on a fine charger belonging to a staff officer, and Washington
bade him ride with all speed in the direction of the firing. Away they
went, Joseph's horse clearing fences and ditches gallantly, the
commander at his flank urging him on. "Push along, old man! push along,
old man!" was his repeated command, remembered and related for many
years after by Joseph. They rode, he said, to a point between
Dilworthtown and the meeting-house, half a mile away from the former
place, and here the sounds of the battle seemed close at hand. Bullets
flew thick, the general and his staff turned their attention from the
guide, and he, glad to be excused, slipped from his saddle and withdrew.

Precisely when and where Greene met the fugitives from the first rout is
another of the uncertainties. The best descriptions of the battle, upon
being compared carefully, will be found vague and to some degree
conflicting. But there are two points on the road from the meeting-house
to Dilworth, marked upon the military map of the field as the "Second
Position," where Greene undoubtedly posted his men. These positions are
near together: one is south of the road, half a mile east of the
meeting-house, on a hill-slope descending toward the west; and the other
is north of the road, at a ravine now known as Sandy Hollow.

It is said that Greene opened his lines, received the fugitives from the
front, and re-formed. Possibly this took place at this second position.
It is certain that here the British advance was sharply checked, and
the Americans stubbornly held their ground until late in the afternoon.
It was at this turn in the battle that La Fayette was wounded, and not
in the first encounter, as the current historical narrative would give
us to understand. A survey of the map ascertains very precisely the
place where he was shot, according to abundant testimony, and this is
more than a mile distant from Sullivan's lines. It is very unlikely that
La Fayette was in the first encounter, beyond the meeting-house. He
probably arrived on the field with Washington, or he may possibly have
accompanied Greene. The place where he was wounded is a field about
halfway from the meeting-house to Dilworth, south-west of the road and
about a hundred rods away. Trustworthy accounts say he was with
Washington at the time, both engaged in rallying the troops; and this is
quite likely: the place is only a little distance wes