f the Americans in cavalry, their
General did not think fit to employ it in harassing our
march. But the very knowledge that every danger was provided
against, and that they could not be attacked without having time
to make ready, gave to the soldiers a degree of steady confidence
which they would otherwise have wanted; and the want of which,
had the case been different, might have been productive of
disorder at a moment when good order was of vital importance.

BLADENSBURG.

We had now proceeded about nine miles, during the last four of
which the sun's rays had beat continually upon us, and we had
inhaled almost as great a quantity of dust as of air. Numbers of
men had already fallen to the rear, and many more could with
difficulty keep up; consequently, if we pushed on much farther
without resting, the chances were that at least one half of the
army would be left behind. To prevent this from happening, and
to give time for the stragglers to overtake the column, a halt
was determined upon, and being led forward to a spot of ground
well wooded, and watered by a stream which crossed the road, the
troops were ordered to refresh themselves. Perhaps no halt ever
arrived more seasonably than this, or bid fair to be productive
of more beneficial effects; yet so oppressive was the heat, that
we had not resumed our march above an hour, when the banks by the
way side were again covered with stragglers; some of the finest
and stoutest men in the army being literally unable to go on.

The hour of noon was approaching, when a heavy cloud of dust,
apparently not more than two or three miles distant, attracted
our attention. From whence it originated there was little
difficulty in guessing, nor did many minutes expire before
surmise was changed into certainty: for on turning a sudden angle
in the road, and passing a small plantation, which obstructed the
vision towards the left, the British and American armies became
visible to one another. The position occupied by the latter was
one of great strength and commanding attitude. They were drawn
up in three lines upon the brow of a hill, having their front and
left flank covered by a branch of the Potomac, and their right
resting upon a thick wood and a deep ravine. This river, which
may be about the breadth of the Isis at Oxford, flowed between
the heights occupied by the American forces and the little town
of Bladensburg. Across it was thrown a narrow bridge, extending
f