exception of the badly wounded; among the latter, however, were
Commodore Barney and Captain Miller, who both fell into the enemy's
hands.

"Of the marines, nearly one-third were among the casualties, and the
flotilla-men suffered considerably, though in smaller proportions. The
people of the flotilla, under the orders of Barney, and the marines,
were justly applauded for their excellent conduct. No troops could
have stood better, and the fire of both artillery and musketry has
been described as to the last degree severe."

Jerry, who reads each day what I write, says that by putting down the
account of what we of the flotilla did, I am blowing my own horn; but
I do not so consider it, since the fact is a matter of history, and if
we won praise on that disastrous day, then we should boast of it to
the end that the picture may not be so black.

And now to return to us of the Avenger who were fugitives, without any
idea of where safety might be found.

Strange to say, not one of us had been wounded, while many a better
man close beside us had met his death.

Darius took it upon himself to lead our party, and right willing were
we to have him act as commander, though I question if he really knew
where he was going when we left the bloody field.

There is no shame in my heart when I set it down that we ran from the
enemy, and did our level best at that game; the order to retreat had
been given after we had done all that might have been expected from
well seasoned troops, and to have remained longer would have been a
useless sacrifice.

By instinct, rather than deliberation, Darius led us southward, close
on the heels of several hundred men, all of whom were quite as eager
as we to keep out of the enemy's clutches.

To the best of my knowledge the British did not pursue; they had won a
victory, but in so doing received quite as much of a drubbing as was
needed, and officers as well as privates were willing to remain on the
hard-earned field.

I believe it was a full hour before Darius would allow us to slacken
the pace, and then we were well among the foremost of the fugitives.

By this time we were so nearly winded that it was impossible to
continue the flight without a breathing spell, and the old man allowed
us to halt when we were close upon the city.

We could see that our people were bearing to the west, in order to
give Washington a wide berth, and, when it was possible to speak
because of my heavy bre