high ground by the
meeting-house," he was obliged to retreat. Ordering his men to seek
shelter in a near swamp, Old Put waited till the British dragoons were
almost within sword's length of him, when he put spurs to his horse and
dashed over the brow of the hill, zigzagging down a rude flight of
seventy stone steps set into the precipitous declivity.

The dragoons dared not follow after this intrepid horseman, but they
sent a flight of bullets, one of which passed through his hat. Arrived
on level ground he made no halt until he had reached Stamford, where he
collected a force of militia in short order, with which he turned upon
Tryon, compelling him to retreat, and chasing him to his lair, capturing
forty prisoners and retaking a large amount of plunder.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE DISABLED VETERAN

General Putnam was sixty-one years old at the time of his famous exploit
at Horseneck, and apparently in the full possession of his powers; but,
as it eventuated, this was the beginning of his last campaign, which
actually opened with the removal of the soldiers from Redding to the
Hudson, about the last of May, where Putnam was appointed to the command
of the right wing of the army, with headquarters on the west bank of the
river. Previous to removal, he wrote the following interesting letter to
a friend, Colonel Wadsworth, of Hartford, which the author of this
memoir copied from the original in possession of the Connecticut
Historical Society:

Redding, _ye 11 of May, 1779_.

Dear Sir: On my arrivol to this plas I could hear nothing
of my hard mony and so must conclud it is gon to the dogs we have
no nus hear from head Quarters not a lin senc I cam hear and what
my destination is to be this summer cant even so much as geuss but
shuld be much obbliged to you if you would be so good as to send me
by the teems the Lym juice you was so good as to offer me and a par
of Shoes I left under the chamber tabel. I begin to think the nues
from the sutherd is tru of ginrol Lintons having a batel and
comming of the leator it is said he killed 200 hundred and took 500
hundred what makes me creudit it is becaus the acounts in the New
york papers peartly agree with ours

my beast Respeacts to your Lady and sistors and Litel soon.

I am dear sir with the greatest respects your most obed and humbel
Sarvant

Israel Putnam.

Old Put's anxiety as to hi