SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LIFE AND CHARACTER 
 
 OP 
 
 JOHIsr L^CEY, 
 
 Brigadier General in the Revolutionary Army. 
 
 BY 
 
 y^, Y- f^- PAVIS, ^. JA. 
 
 PRINTED PRIVATELY. 
 
 1 868. 
 

"ithh M^Uh 
 
 DLSTINaUISIIED REVOLUTIONARY HERO 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED 
 
 TO HIS DESCENDANTS. 
 
P» R E F ^V C E . 
 
 The following sketch of the life and character of 
 General John Lacey was written a few years ago for 
 a popular magazine of the day. The most material 
 facts were taken from the General's papers which fell 
 into the hands of his son-in-law, the late distinguished 
 Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, Pennsyl- 
 vania. It is now printed in book-form, at the instance 
 of some of my literary friends, who are kind and par- 
 tial enough to believe that it is of sufficient interest 
 to be placed in a shape that will be more likely to 
 preserve it than the pages of a magazine. I claim no 
 merit for the sketch other than being a truthful memoir 
 of one of those grand old patriots who fought to estab- 
 lish constitutional liberty in the United States, 
 
 W. W. H. BAYm. 
 
 DoijUstown,, Pa., Aayust, 1868, 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTEK 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN LACEY, 
 
 CHAPTER J. 
 
 jOHN LACEY, a captain in the Continental 
 Armjs and a brigadier-general in the militia of 
 Pennsylvania, dnring the war of the American Revo- 
 Intion, was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 
 He was born in the township of Buckingham, on the 
 fourth day of February, in the year 1755,* and made 
 
 NoTM.— The date of General Lacey's birth, as given above, has been called in 
 question. Three years ago Thomas Warner, of Bucks county, addressed the fol- 
 lowing letter to the author on the subject of " The Lacey Family," and published 
 in the Doylestown Democrat, which is considered of sufilcient interest to be in- 
 serted entire ; — 
 
 Died in Wrightstown, on the 16th of 1st month, 1866, Benjamin Lacey, a much 
 respected citizen, in the Vlst year of his age. 
 
 Perhaps it will not be inappropriate, at this time and in this place, to give a 
 little account of the Lacey family. Their primogenial ancestor here was William 
 Lacey. He emigrated from England, we believe from the Isle of Wight, and 
 was among the early settlers in the neighborhood of Wrightstown. His son 
 John married Kachel TIestou in 1718. Prom this connection there were eleven 
 children, four or five of whom died in their minority. Only three of the whole 
 number married, namely : Rachel, to John Terry, in 1738 ; .John to Jane Chap- 
 man, 17-lG; and Joseph to Esther Warner, in IT-W fir 1750. 
 
S LIFI^ AND CHAUACTEK OF JOHN LACEV. 
 
 t]ie place of his nativity his home, until near the close 
 of the war, when he removed to the State of New 
 Jersey. His ancestors were followers of the great and 
 good Penn, and educated in the strict tenets of the So- 
 ciety of Friends. They came among the first settlers, 
 who followed the fortunes of the founder of Pennsyl- 
 vania, to the New World, and took up their abode in 
 Bucks county. He was the son of John and Jane 
 Lacey, and the grandson of John and Rachel Lacey. 
 His paternal great-grandfather emigrated from the Isle 
 of Wight, England ; and his grandmother, whose name 
 was Heston, was a native of New England, whence 
 her family removed to Bocks county at an eai'ly day. 
 His mother was the daughter of Abraham and Susan 
 
 Johu Lacey and Jane Chapman had eight children— and inasmuch as one of 
 them became a noted man in his day and generation, perhaps it will be as well 
 to mention that there is a register of the family, among the records of births and 
 deaths kept at Wrightstown. A copy thereof, verliatim et liUratum, is as follows : 
 
 Rachel Lacey, daughter of John and Jane, born 15th of 9 mo., 1747; Susanna 
 Lacey, daughter of John and Jane, bom 19lh of 2 mo., 1750; John Lacey, son of 
 John and Jane, born 4th of 12 mo., 1752; Abraham Lacey, son of John and Jane, 
 born 4th of 1 mo., 1754; James Lacey, sou of John and Jane, born 11th of 8 mo., 
 1756; Benjamin Lacey, son of Johu and Jane, born 23d of 7 mo., 1758; Elizabeth 
 Lacey, daughter of John and Jane, born 4th of l?th mo., 1760; Wm. Lacey, son 
 of John and Jane, born 9th of 2 mo., 1765. 0( the above, Rachel died 16th of 6th 
 mo., 1700: Abraham, 28th of 10th mo., 1764, and James on the 29lh of 10th mo., 
 1759. 
 
 The paramount object in presenting this record here is to show the time when 
 •John Lacey, jr., was born, who afterward became General Lacey, of Revolution- 
 ary memory. Historians, in referring to this matter, have fixed upon a difi'crent 
 period. They have it that General Lacey was born on the 4th day of February, 
 1755. The writer had some correspondence with Dr. Darlington, his son-in-law, 
 on this subject, in 1862. He stated that he had the popular time of General 
 Lacey's birth from himself, which was in 1755, and presumed it was authentic 
 
 We apprehend It is a very singnlar circumstance that there should be such a 
 disparity between the two accounts. Instead of harmonizing, as they ought to, 
 there is a difference of two year* and two months between them. Perhaps this 
 is the first time this matter has been noticed in a public manner. It is something 
 for the historian as well as the antiquarian to think of. Such a discrepancy as 
 this will be likely to puzzlo them a little, for it seems to be ii rcc oacilable. 
 
LIFE x\ND CHAliACTEK OP JOHN LACEY. 9 
 
 Chapman; and his maternal o-randmother was an Olden 
 of New Jersey. The ancestors of this distinguished 
 man were all farmers, and he was proud, up to the 
 very day of his death, in being the descendant of such 
 a reputable and useful class of people ; and, in accord- 
 ance with the mild doctrines of him to whom they 
 looked up, as "Prophet, Priest and King," were 
 opposed to all wars and rumors of wars. Oppression 
 drove them from their pleasant homes and fertile fields 
 in England, to seek an asylum in a strange land, and 
 when they set up their altars in this new-found prom- 
 ised land, they discountenanced strife and contention 
 of every kind. 
 
 At that day the Society of Friends, in whose " faith 
 
 General Lacey married Anastasia Reynolds, daughter of Col. Thomas Rey- 
 nolds, of Burlington county, New Jersey, and had one son, Thomas R., and three 
 •daughters, Eliza Bud, Kitty Reynolds, and Jane Chapman Lacey. Eliza Bud 
 married William L. Smith, in ISOO ; Kitty R., Dr. Darlington, in 180T ; and Jane 
 C, Jonathan Hough, in 1814. 
 
 The only son of General Lacey, Thomas R., is now living in Burlington, New 
 ■Jersey, and will be 79 years old on the 17th of this month. He has, or had two 
 daughters, but only one sou, William N, Lacey, who has two boys, John and 
 William, 
 
 Joseph Lacey and Esther Warner, though they had eight •children, there is 
 now, since the decease of Benjamin, (noticed at the beginning of this article,) 
 ■only three survivors of the name among their descendants. 
 
 Of the brothers and sisters of John Lacey, ^commonly called General Lacey,) 
 but very little seems to be known. They all left the place of their nativity .and 
 went to a more southern latitude. William and Susanna removed to and settled 
 in the State of Georgia. Elizabeth married and settled in the neighborhood of 
 the city of Washington ; Benjamin also married and settled in Georgetown, in 
 the District of Columbia. He lefi two sons— Charles, who died a lieutenant in 
 the navy, and John, who settled in or near Washington. 
 
 The Lacey family was once quite numerous in this section of country ; but 
 instead of going on increasing with every generation, they have been diminish- 
 ing. But seven of the name are now living that we have any certain knowledge 
 of, and these have been previously mentioned- Unfess the name is perpetuated 
 by some of the number who now are, it will be likely to run out in the course of 
 another generation. T. W, 
 
 WrighUtown, 2d mo. \t<t, 186*5. 
 
 2 
 
10 LIFE AND CHAliACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 aiid practice" joniig- Lacey was reared, took but little 
 pains in the education of their children, deeming it 
 amply sufticient for every purpose of life if they could 
 read and write their native tongue. His parents being 
 of this class, and having but a limited education them- 
 selves, did not see the necessity and advantage of 
 learning, and thought their son fitted to make his 
 way in the world with the same amount of information 
 they possessed. For this error of judgment he was a 
 sore suflerer in after years. Under these circumstances 
 he enjoyed but very limited advantages of education. 
 He was early sent to such schools as there were in the 
 neighborhood, but they afforded very slight opportu- 
 nity for the acquisition of knowledge. He has left 
 upon record that the teacher of the school he went to 
 could neither read nor write correctly, and knew not 
 the meaning of grammar ; and that in the neighbor- 
 hood in which his father's family resided, the only 
 books allowed to be used in the schools were the Bible, 
 the Testament, and Dilworth's Spelling-book. These 
 books, it must be admitted, were not very well calcu- 
 lated to advance his literary pursuits ; and that a boy, 
 educated in such seminaries of learning, would not be 
 very well prepared to discharge the duties of life. 
 
 Young Lacey was kept at these schools until he 
 was thirteen or fourteen years of age, when his father 
 considered his education finished, and set him at 
 work; being employed on the farm, in the saw or 
 grist-mill, or in the cooper's sliop. He was not un- 
 mindful of the disadvantages he labored under, in 
 point of education, and after he left school endeavored 
 
LIFE AND CllAKACTKU OF JullN l.ACEV. 11 
 
 to remedy them as much as possible, by reading and 
 private study. He spent most of his leisure moments 
 from work in reading such books as he could borrow- 
 in the neighborhood ; and in the mill, while attending 
 to his work, would often have his favorite author in 
 his hand, and would devote every leism*e moment 
 to its perusal. In this manner, by constant persever- 
 ance and application, he was enabled, in some manner, 
 to overcome the disadvantages of his youth ; but in 
 after life, when called to lill stations of honor and 
 responsibility in the service of his country, he felt very 
 sensibly the defect in his early training, and deplored, 
 with deep regret, the misfortune. His experience 
 should be a warning to parents, of the present day, 
 not to neglect the education of their children, when 
 the means of ac(iuiring knowledge are within the reacli 
 of eveiy one, and to be had almost " without money 
 and without price." In this country, where every 
 avenue is open to all, and the son of the humblest 
 citizen may be called to till the highest station under 
 the constitution, education is of the first importance. 
 It then becomes the duty of every parent to educate 
 his children in such a manner, that they will he able 
 to discharge all the duties which may devolve upon 
 them in after life. 
 
 For some years, the youth of General Lacey was 
 spent without any occurence of note to mark his his- 
 tory. His time was principally divided between the 
 farm, the mills, and the cooper's shop, reading and 
 study in his leisure moments, and now and then taking 
 half a day for a fox-hunt. Thus life, with him, moved 
 
12 LIFE AND CHAKACTEH OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 smoothly on, knowing but little of the great world 
 beyond the narrow limits in which he " lived, moved, 
 and had his being," until the month of July, 1773, 
 when an event occurred which somewhat changed his^ 
 course of life. He had had, heretofore, frequent 
 longings for a peep into the outside world, but no op- 
 portunity offered for the gratification of his desires ; 
 but now the time seemed at hand, when he could 
 realize his wishes. At the monthly meeting, held that 
 year, in July, at the Wrightstown Meeting House, hi& 
 nncle Zehulon Heston, who was a preacher among the 
 Friends, stated he had had a call to make a missionary 
 visit to the Delaware Indians, then settled on the Ohio 
 river, and asked permission to make the pilgrimage, 
 with a recommendation to the " Meeting for Suffer- 
 ings, of Friends in the city of Philadelphia." Llr- 
 Heston was now an old man of 70 years, and in his. 
 youth had been on terms of close intimacy with many 
 of the young men of this tribe, who then lived along; 
 the Delaware in Bucks county, which accounts, in 
 some degree, for his great anxiety to visit them. 
 Young Lacey was present at the meeting that day, 
 and when he heard his uncle make his proposition, it 
 appeared to him to be a good opportunity to see the 
 country, and he made up Iris mind to try and obtain 
 permission to accompany him. So, when the meeting 
 was out, he waited mpon his uncle, and proposed him- 
 self as a companion on his journey, giving as the reason 
 for wishing to go with him, that he was old and infirm, 
 and would want some assistance on the way. His 
 uncle appeared pleased with the offer, and the next 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LAe:EY. V^ 
 
 day spoke to his parents about it, who gave their 
 consent for their son to accompany him. His name 
 was inchided in the certificate of the Wrightstown 
 Meeting, and all things being in readiness, they set off 
 on their journey, and reached Philadelphia the same 
 day. Here his uncle transacted the necessary business 
 with the " Sufferings Meeting," and on the 9th they 
 commenced their journey for Pittsburg, being accom- 
 panied by John Parish, a pious Friend, in whose hands 
 was placed a sum of money for their expenses, and also 
 to purchase a few presents for the Indians. 
 
 They reached Pittsburg on the evening of the 18th — 
 nothing worthy of note occurring on the way. They 
 traveled the whole distance on horse-back, crossing 
 mountains, fording rivers, and suffering a good deal 
 from exposure. The roads were so bad as to be 
 wholly impassable for wagons, and all the goods then 
 taken west had to be carried on pack-horses, of which 
 they met a large number on the way. The new scenes 
 that young Lacey saw on the journey, struck him with 
 astonishment, and he says, afforded him " much for 
 contemplation." They remained in Pittsburg two 
 days, and left on the 20th for the Indian town of 
 Newcomer's-Town, situated on the Muskingum river. 
 They crossed the Allegheny river in canoes, swimming 
 their horses, and set off through the wilderness, to the 
 North West. They were accompanied, as guides, by 
 John Gibson, an Indian Trader, and Captain White- 
 Eyes, an Indian chief. They reached Newcomer's- 
 Town on the 25th, and were received in the most 
 friendly and cordial manner by the king, Ne-tcnc-Aele- 
 
14 LIFE AND CllAKACTER OF JolIN LAC'EY. 
 
 mon. The king immediately called a meeting of the 
 sachems or chiefs at his palace, when the visitors had 
 a formal presentation to the great men of his tribe, 
 after which they were assigned to their quarters. On 
 the 28th, the nation assembled in the great council- 
 house, when Messrs. Heston and Parish presented 
 their credentials from the meeting in Wrightstown 
 and the meeting of Sufferings in Philadelphia. These 
 were interpreted to the Indians, after which Mr. Hes- 
 ton made a prayer and proceeded to address the 
 assembly, every word of which was explained to the 
 Indian listeners. Captain White-Eyes also made a 
 speech and delivered a belt of wampum to the visitors, 
 in token of their friendship and good-will. They re- 
 mained several days at Newcomer's-Town, during 
 which time the missionaries held frequent meetings for 
 religious worship, which the Indians freely attended, 
 and behaved with decorum. During this time Lacey 
 was not idle. He was a close observer of every thing 
 he saw and heard around him — he mixed freely among 
 the Indians, and learned as much as possible of their 
 manners and customs. He kept a journal, in which 
 he noted down every thing of interest that came under 
 his notice, and by this means carried home with him 
 a large fund of knowledge, which, at that day, could 
 not have been obtained from any other source. Hav- 
 ing concluded the object of their mission, they set out 
 on their journey home by way of Virginia. Young 
 Lacey reached his father's house on the 14th of Sep- 
 tember, having traveled upward of one thousand miles, 
 and been absent two months and seven davs. 
 
LIFE AND (CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 15 
 
 Tlie following interesting abstract from his journal, 
 we copy entire, as it will throw some new light npon 
 the manners and customs of the aboriginal inhabitants 
 not generally known, and which I have never seen 
 recorded elsewhere. He says: — 
 
 "After we had been presented to the king and 
 council, we were conducted to an empty log house or 
 cabin — such as are made by colliers, at iron-works — 
 covered with palisades and bark. There were three 
 berths erected in it, on crotches set in the ground ; on 
 each was spread, or laid, a course of split plank or 
 palisades, wide enough for two persons to lie on. On 
 these planks were spread one or more deer or bear 
 skins, for beds. No floor but the bare earth was in 
 this house, and many others in the town. Indeed few 
 only had floors, and these, I believe, were confined to 
 the nobility alone ; none others, that I saw, had any 
 boards in them. The king's and Kill-buck's were 
 tolerably well furnished, and their bed-rooms were up 
 stairs. The skins, however, made comfortable beds, 
 and we could not complain of our lodgings. Between 
 sunset and dark, our habitation was sm"rounded by 
 a large number of (some twenty to thirty) young Indian 
 girls, dressed in their best apparel, who kept up an 
 almost incessant serenade on jews-harps. Although 
 Quakers, neither my friends nor myself showed any 
 signs of disapprobation. If we had, we should have 
 been obliged to let them play on. They would ap- 
 proach the door, but venture no farther. We all 
 supposed that their design was a mere compliment, an 
 honor conferred on us as friends and strano-ers, and 
 
16 LIFE AND CHAKACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 took no further notice than apparently to be pleased 
 with their music, which continued night after night, 
 for nearly the whole of the first week of our residence. 
 Two white men, traders — John Freeman, and James 
 Forbes — had a store of goods in this town— with whom 
 I made an early acquaintance, and was often invited 
 to dine and sup with them. On the second or third 
 day of our residence, while at dinner. Freeman asked 
 me if I did not observe the Indian girls playing on 
 jews-harps, at our lodgings, and asked if I knew their 
 meaning. I answered in the affirmative, and that I 
 supposed it was out of compliment. He said it was a 
 custom when a stranger comes to reside at the town, 
 for ever so short a time, the girls, or single women, 
 present themselves in that way, in token of their wil- 
 lingness to enter into a contract for such time as his 
 business required his stay there ; during which they 
 acted as housekeeper, and performed every necessary 
 service, in the care of your baggage or goods, cooked, 
 washed, and conducted in all things with punctuality, 
 honesty and care, as well of your person as goods ; 
 that if you were in danger of insult, they would give 
 you the earliest notice — and in that respect they were 
 sometimes peculiarly useful; no part of their contract 
 would be neglected, but in all things they would per- 
 form their duty as a good housewife ought to do. 
 You must pay for all these services, in money or cloth- 
 ing, according to your agreement. 
 
 " Being thus master of this secret — of which I knew 
 my companions to be ignorant — I could not refrain 
 from laughter at the simple credulity of my uncle, and 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 17 
 
 iFriend Parish, who seemed to be tickled and exhilir- 
 ated with the young squaws' music, as they crowded 
 the threshold of their habitation. Although they 
 would crowd and jostle each other for the possession 
 of the door, they did not venture into our apartment. 
 After some time, finding their music to have made no 
 impression upon us, and that we were not inclined to 
 accept their services, they disappeared, which my com- 
 panions seemed really to regret — sorrowfully saying 
 they believed the girls had got tired of them, which I 
 have no doubt was really the case. 
 
 " I believe this custom to be not only hcensed, but 
 approved and encouraged by the chiefs of the nation, 
 as I observed Captain Kill-buck's daughter, with her 
 harp, among the crowd, and one of the foremost to 
 approach the door. She had a sprightly, innocent 
 countenance, and a fine person. The numbei- of in- 
 habitants, according to Captain Kill-buck's account, 
 amounts to upward of three hundred, at this town ; and 
 their young men — which they counted as warriors — 
 upward of one hundred. " 
 
 On his return home, Mr. Lacey again commenced 
 work at his former occupations, his father giving him 
 the principal care and management of the mill. In 
 this manner we find him engaged until the spring of 
 1775, when the difficulties between Great Britain and 
 her then colonies had assumed an alarming aspect, and 
 foreboded open rupture. As the difficulties waxed 
 warmer and warmer, the people began to take sides 
 and array themselves for or against the mother coun- 
 try. From the first, Mr, Lacey had been a close 
 3 
 
18 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 reader of the various publications, and observer of tlie 
 occurrences which took place, and w^as induced to 
 believe the claims of Great Britain unjust and cruel. 
 Hence, from the beginning he was an ardent patriot, 
 and espoused the cause of his country with all the en- 
 thusiasm his nature was capable of; and he defended 
 the cause of the struggling infant colonies with so 
 mu(3h zeal and ability, as soon to draw upon himself 
 the notice of the neighborhood in wliich he lived. 
 His non-resistance principles, in which he had been 
 trained from his early youth, and taught to consider 
 the very acme of his faith and practice, were scattered 
 to the wind, and he announced his determination to 
 enroll himself under the banner of his country, and 
 assist in her defense. In this lesolution it was his 
 misfortune to differ with his family and most of his 
 relations and friends, v/hich, with many, caused a 
 breach that was never healed in future years. A ma- 
 jority of the religious sect to which he belonged took 
 the side of the mother country, and were anxious that 
 his assistance should be given to the same cause ; but 
 he was fiir too indignant at the conduct of Great Bri- 
 tain to take sides against the land of his birth. Every 
 other consideration was lost sight of but his love of 
 country, and the duty he owed to her and posterity ; 
 and he was determined, at all liazards, to devote his 
 service to the cause of liberty. His feelings were 
 manly, just, and patriotic, and ho knew no other course 
 than to follow in the path of duty. This path- he took 
 and it led him on to usefulness and glory. 
 
 When tlu^ dithcultics assumed the asjHH't (nf open bus- 
 
LIFE AND C1IA11AC:TKU OF JOHN LACEY. 19 
 
 tilities, we find Mr. Lacey one of the first in the field. 
 As early as July, 1775, he was chosen the " Standard 
 Bearer'''' in the second battalion of the Bucks county 
 militia. About the same time, the young men of the 
 neighborhood, fired with patriotism, formed them- 
 selves into a volunteer company in order to learn the 
 use of arms and be in a better condition to serve their 
 country. Many of them, like himself, were members 
 of the society of Friends, and took this step in direct 
 opposition to the known wishes of their parents and 
 friends. Mr. Lacey was elected their captain, which 
 was a well-merited compliment to his activity in the 
 cause of his country, and which at this early day made 
 him a "man of mark" in the neighborhood where he 
 was best known. But now came a trying time to the 
 young Quaker captain, and his patriotism had to pass 
 through a severe ordeal. His company was no sooner 
 organized, and he had hardly yet had an opportunity 
 to make a bow to Mai's, when the Friends' Meeting 
 took the matter in hand, and used their most strenu- 
 ous exertions to break up the organization. Those of 
 the "Manor Born," were warned of the path of sin 
 they were treading in, and recalled back into the fold. 
 They all obeyed the summons except Lacey who re- 
 mained true to his colors ; and seeing that he was 
 more stubborn than the rest, and still persisted in his 
 new calKng, the society took harsher means with him. 
 Although he was proof against all their j)ersuasions 
 and ajJpeals, they did not dream that he dare resist the 
 ofiicial power of the church, and therefore they thought 
 to frighten him back to what they considei'ed his dutv, 
 
20 LIFE AND CH AH ACTEi; UF JOHN I-ACEY. 
 
 l)j reuding him out of meeting. But they httle knew 
 the man with whom they had to doaL He was, there- 
 fore, in due manner and form excommunicated and 
 declared to be without tlie pale of the church of his 
 fathers. The following Fnendly Bull was issued upon 
 the occasion : 
 
 "Whereas, John Lacey, Junr., hath had his birth 
 and education amongst Friends, but hath so far devi- 
 ated from the principles of Friends as to learn the art 
 of war, and having been treated with on that account, 
 but not coming to a sense of his error, we give forth 
 this testament against such practice, and can have no 
 further unity with him as a member of our society^ 
 nntil he comes to a sense of his misconduct and con- 
 demns the same to the satisfaction of Friends, which 
 that he may do is our sincere desire for him. 
 
 (Signed) "Jos. Chapman, d'k." 
 
 Resistance to this proceeding was a severe trial. 
 He was strongly attached to the society of Friends ; 
 in its mild and peaceful tenets he had been reared and 
 educated — his earliest and dearest affections and asso- 
 ciations were connected with it, and he had been 
 taught to yield a ready obedience to all the require- 
 ments of the society ; it had been the faith of his 
 fathers for generations, and under these circumstances 
 it required no ordinary effort to tear asunder these ties, 
 and place himself in hostile opposition to his family 
 and friends. His heart was torn with conflicting emo- 
 tions, but in the emergency he acted promptly, and as 
 became a hero and a man. The patliM' ay of duty was 
 too -plainly marked out before him to hesitate and 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JoHN LACEY. 21 
 
 falter. The call of patriotism was louder than that of 
 sect, and his duty to his country was more urgent than 
 obedience to churchly creeds. He acted a noble part 
 upon this trying occasion, and this single circumstance 
 shows him to have been a young man of much more 
 than ordinary nerve and capacity. A man of less firm- 
 ness and ability would have given way under the 
 pressure that w^as made upon him, but nothing could 
 shake his indomitable resolution, or cause him to turn 
 aside from what he believed to be right. All honor is 
 due him for the course he took, and his devotion to 
 the cause was soon rewarded by his admiring country. 
 He has left behind him the following record of his own 
 feelings in reference to the course he took, and which 
 contains so much high-souled patriotism that we can- 
 not forbear to insert it at length. He says :- — • 
 
 " I alone stood the ordeal of the Quaker Society — 
 of which I was then a member. Moved by an irre- 
 sistible impulse to espouse the cause of the colonies 
 —to support the liberty, the independence, and the 
 political safety of my native country against the strong 
 arm of British oppression ; and offering upon the altar 
 of the public weal, the sacrifice of my private interest 
 and social felicity — my career was not to be controlled. 
 The recital of dangers only increased my ardor. Thus 
 wound up in the political enthusiasm of the times, to 
 be inactive was to me an intolerable biirthen, wdiich 
 at that period I could not brook, and thus my ardor 
 led me to accept a captain's commission in the troops 
 to be raised to oppose the British army, then in pos- 
 session of Boston. " 
 
22 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 Ill the autumn of 1775, tlie Committee of Safety of 
 Pennsylvania, on the call of the Congress then as- 
 sembled in Philadelphia, issued orders for the raising 
 of six regiments of troops, as her quota for the Conti- 
 nental Army then being formed for the defense of the 
 colonies. Mr. Lacey was commissioned a captain in 
 one of the Pennsylvania regiments, on the 5th day of 
 January, 177G. He received his recruiting orders on 
 the 20th of the same month, and although the winter 
 was very cold, he set about raising his company with 
 great zeal, and such was his activity and good fortune, 
 that by the 12th day of February he had enlisted his 
 complement of eighty-five men, and was ready to 
 march to the scene of action. His company was made 
 up principally of young men in his own neighborhood, 
 farmers' sons, whom he had always known, and who 
 had every conlidence in him. His is said to have 
 been one of the finest-looking companies in the Penn- 
 sylvania line, and was attached to the 4th Pennsyl- 
 vania regiment, commanded by Colonel Anthony 
 Wayne. Captain Lacey, with his company, marched 
 for Chester, on the Delaware river, on the 12th, by 
 order of the colonel. They reached Darby on the 
 14th, where they were quartered on the inhabitants. 
 They remained here until the 21st of March, when 
 they were marched to Chester, where they drew their 
 arms the next day. The regiment, which was now 
 all assembled at this place, was ordered to New York. 
 They embarked in shallops for Trenton, from which 
 place they marched overland to their place of destina- 
 tion, Avhere they arrived on the 28th. Sucli ^vas the 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OE JOHN LACEY. 23 
 
 energy displayed by Captain Lacey in his new sphere 
 of duty, that he had his company uniformed before any 
 other one in the regiment, and being first ready to 
 march, was sent on in advance of the other companies, 
 whicli were to follow as they should be equipped. 
 When they arrived in New York they were quartered 
 in some empty houses on Broadway, which had been 
 vacated by the owners in consequence of the rumored 
 approach of the enemy. Here they remained until 
 the 14th of April, when, on the arrival of Captain 
 Robinson's company, they were encamped on Long 
 Island, under the command of Major Houseker, who 
 had also joined them. The remaining companies of 
 the regiment soon after joined the camp, and on the 
 27th of April Col. Wayne arrived in New York and 
 assumed the command. Captain Lacey at this time 
 thus describes the uniform of his company : " Our 
 regimental coats were deep blue faced with white, 
 white vests, and overalls, edged with blue cloth ; a 
 very beautful uniform, but on experience was found 
 much better adapted for parade than utility in the 
 hardships of a camp, as it too easily became soiled and 
 was hard to clean." 
 
 Immediately upon the arrival of Colonel Wayne at 
 the camp on Long Island, he ordered Captain Lacey 
 to return to Darby and settle the men's board, while 
 they were quartered there, and a part of which it 
 appeared had remained unpaid. He returned and 
 arranged the matter to the entire satisfaction of those 
 interested, and immediately retraced his steps to New 
 Yoi'k to join lii;^ regiment. In thn incantinu\ on the 
 
24 LIFE AND CHAltACTEI? OF JOHN LACF.Y. 
 
 27th of April, an order was issued by tlie commander- 
 in-chief for six more regiments to march for Canada, 
 and join the troops already sent in that direction. 
 They were at once got ready, and embarked and sailed 
 up the river for Albany. Captain Lacey reached camp 
 on the 11th of May, and found that live companies of 
 his regiment, among which was his own, had gone to 
 Canada, the balance remaining in camp under the 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston and Major 
 Houseker. Lacey's company had been given to Cap- 
 tain Moore, who was a great pet of Colonel Wayne, 
 and Moore's, which was unarmed, was left behind 
 with orders for Lacey to take charge of it until he 
 should join his regiment. Captain Lacey felt himself 
 justly aggrieved at this procedure, and laid his com- 
 plaint before the general officer who commanded on 
 Long Island. He directed Lieutenant-Colonel John- 
 ston to send Captain Lacey to overtake his company, 
 with a letter to Colonel Wayne explaining the reason 
 of his being in advance of the balance of the regiment. 
 He embarked immediately at New York in a vessel for 
 Albany, in company wdth several other officers who 
 were going to join their regiments, and reached the 
 army on the 30th, encamped on the east side of Lake 
 Champlain, about half way between Crown Point and 
 St. John's. He presented himself at Colonel Wayne's 
 quarters, and reported for duty with his company; 
 but Wayne refused to allow him to take command of 
 it until at such time as Moore's should arrive ; he was 
 to continue his rank, and act as a volunteer in the 
 meantime. AlthoiiLdi sorolv diaoTiiuMl at this unjust 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 26 
 
 treatment from Colonel Wayne, Captain Lacey, like a 
 good soldier and true patriot, resolved to be of all the 
 service lie could ; lie even overlooked wrong for the 
 sake of his country. 
 
 On the 31st of May the troops embarked and sailed 
 down Lake Champlain in about two hundred vessels 
 of various kinds. The tents were used for sails ; 
 Colonel Wayne's division leading the van. Thus, with 
 a fair wind they moved in beautiful array over the 
 smooth surface of the lake, toward St. John's, where 
 they arrived the same day, after dark. The troops 
 encamped at the head of the river Sorel, aljout sixteen 
 miles below the Isle aux Noix. They remained here 
 until the 3d of June, when they marched by land to 
 Charablee, except a few men who went with the boats 
 to conduct them safely down the rapids. As soon as 
 the boats had arrived, they again embarked and sailed 
 down the river to its junction with the St. Lawrence, 
 where the army encamped on the bank of the river. 
 Notwithstanding the misunderstanding that had taken 
 place between Colonel Wayne and Captain Lacey, the 
 former sent the latter, while they lay at Sorel, the 
 following invitation to dinner, which is inserted more 
 as a matter of curiosity than from any other cause : 
 
 " Col. Wayne's best compliments wait on Capt. 
 Lacey, and begs the favor of his dining mth him on a 
 roasted pig, at 2 o'clock this afternoon, by the edge of 
 the woods. 
 
 "To Captain Lacey, Present." 
 
 Under the circumstances, this seemed very much 
 like endeavoring to heal up the wounded honor of 
 4 
 
2G LIFE AX I) CIIAL'AlTEK OF .foIlX LACFV, 
 
 Captain Laccy with a good dinner ; but lie did not 
 feel at liberty to decline, and lience Captain Lacey 
 politely accepted the invitation, and particularly as an 
 opportunity to dine on "roasted pig" was not of 
 e very-day occurrence. 
 
 On the 5th of June Captain Lacey was sent for by 
 General Sullivan, and ordered to carry dispatches to 
 General Arnold at Montreal, an account of which trip 
 we will relate in his own words. 
 
 "A post-chaise, or rather a common chaise, without 
 a top, (what they call in Canada a calash,) stood at the 
 door of the generars quarters, the letters were handed 
 to me by one of the general's aids, with some hard 
 money to pay the drivers at the end of each stage, and 
 some verbal directions how to proceed. I instantly 
 jumped into the vehicle, to which was geared a small 
 chunk of a horse, and the coachman drove off in full 
 speed up the east side of the Sorel river. We left 
 head-quarters about 4 o'clock, p. inl, and after two 
 changes arrived within six miles of Chamblee, having 
 traveled all night, crossed the river in a boat, pursued 
 my course on foot to La Prairie, came to Montreal 
 about 12 o'clock, and delivered my letters to General 
 Arnold, with whom I dined. In passing up the river 
 Sorel I had an agreeable and fine prospect of the adja- 
 cent country. On the margin of the river, and as far 
 back into the country as I could see, the soil appeared 
 to be a sandy loam, and very fertile. The banks, and 
 for some distance (as far as I could see) the land, 
 lay a considerable height above the water, l)ut very 
 level. Some of my drivers could sjicak Englisk 
 
LIFE AND CllAKACTElJ OF JOHN LACEY. '2 { 
 
 They informed me that back from the river there was 
 a great body of swamps, or marshy ground, and the 
 country uninhabited. Along the bank and margin of 
 the river, the villages seem to unite with each other, 
 so that it might almost be said to be a string of vil- 
 lages from the Chamblee to the mouth or junction of 
 the KSorel with the river St. Lawrence. At every 
 cross-road, or vicinity of a church — of which there 
 appeared not a few — was erected a cross or crucifix, 
 attached to a large post fixed in the ground. As we 
 passed each, my driver never failed to pull off his hat 
 and make a low bow, as he sat in our calash, turning 
 liis face toward it, and muttering at the same time 
 a few^ words in French, wdiich I did not understand. 
 I could not help reflecting on the force of prejudice 
 and education, on seeing these poor, ignorant Cana- 
 dians so very attentive and exact in their devotion to 
 those inanimate posts of wood. 
 
 "About 4 o'clock the same day, June 6th, I received 
 other letters from General Arnold to General Sullivan, 
 at the Sorel. The General ordered five men to ac- 
 company me in a large canoe. We hoisted a blanket 
 for a sail, and had a fine, fair and easy wind down the 
 river, until we came off La Prairie, where w^e were 
 overtaken by a squall of wind and rain. We steered 
 for the shore, expecting every moment to be overset, 
 the waves ran very high ; we were afraid to take down 
 our sail, and kept nearly before the wind, so as to 
 make the first land in our course. Luckily, we made 
 out to reach the land, but the instant our canoe struck 
 she sunk. Fortimatclv for us, the M-ater l)einir slioaL 
 
28 LIFE AND CHAKACTEI! OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 we reached the shore in safet^y. Being thus cast away,, 
 in an enemy's country, we conceived it unsafe to apply 
 to the inhabitants for assistance. As none of us could 
 speak a word of French, even if they were disposed to 
 assist us, we could not make them understand what 
 we wanted. Providentially, however, we discovered 
 a batteaux on the shore, near the place Avliere we had 
 landed, which we supposed had been either found 
 adrift or stolen, and drawn up out of the water. It 
 proved to be a good one, with four oars in it. After 
 considerable efforts w^e launched it into the river, the 
 wind and storm abating, we got under way, although 
 the waves were still greatly agitated, and our new 
 vessel very leaky, and continued our course down the 
 river all night. In the morning the w4nd shifted, 
 being ahead, we had hard rowing. Having no pro- 
 visions with us, we landed on one of the islands, with 
 which the St. Lawrence abounds ; got plenty of bread 
 and milk of one of the inhabitants — to whom I offered 
 paper money — but the mistress of the house, (the man 
 not appearing,) refused to take it, saying ''no honne.'^ 
 I then paid her in specie, when she seemed to be quite 
 overjoyed, brought us more bread and milk, and, as 
 well as she could, invited u-s to eat. We re-entered our 
 boat, and after hard rowing reached the mouth of the 
 Sorel river about 10 o'clock, and delivered my letters 
 to General Sullivan. I had set out precisely at 4 
 o'clock, P. M., on the 5th went to Montreal, said to be 
 45 miles and more by land ; delivered dispatches to 
 General Arnold, received others from him, and re- 
 turned to Sullivan's head-quarters, at the mouth of the 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JuHN LACEY. 
 
 29 
 
 Sorel, by 10 o'clock, A. m., of the 7th ; havino; per- 
 formed the journey in less than two days, and traveling 
 on foot from the river Sorel near Chamblee to La 
 Prairie, opposite Montreal, on the south side of the 
 river St. Lawrence, about 15 miles. The road, from 
 the Sorel to La Prairie, was tolerably good, but 
 swampy and causewayed in many places ; here and 
 there a habitation and improvement, the people ap- 
 pearing to live very poor, the land level, and broken 
 by the swamps. Those parts above the water appeared 
 fertile and very natural to grass, producing also straw- 
 berries in abundance." 
 
 On the return of Captain Lacey to the camp at 
 Sorel, he found the Pennsylvania troops had gone 
 down the St. Lawrence to Three Rivers, to reinforce 
 General Thompson and Colonel St. Clair. General 
 SulHvan complimented him highly for the manner in 
 which he had executed his mission to General Arnold, 
 and desired him to remain with him at the Sorel until 
 he joined the army below, which he expected to do in 
 a few days. The British had erected strong works at 
 the Three Elvers, which the Americans intended to 
 surprise and capture. The attempt was made on the 
 8th of June, which failed, and our troops suffered a 
 heavy loss, besides being much disorganized in the 
 retreat. In this attack General Thompson and Colonel 
 Irvine of the 6th Pennsylvania regiment were made 
 prisoners. On the 10th, General Sullivan ordered 
 Captain Lacey, with a party of ten men and one officer, 
 to proceed down the St. Lawrence until they should 
 meet the retreating armv, and show them the way to 
 
'W LIFE xVND CHAUACTEll OF JuHN LACEV. 
 
 camp, which thej did not all reach until the evening 
 of the next day. In this engagement Captain Lacey's 
 company lost seventeen men, most of whom were 
 captured. 
 
 A council of war was held at head-quarters on the 
 night of the 13th, when it w^as deemed advisable to 
 evacuate Canada, concentrate the American army at 
 Ticonderoga, and there make a stand against the ap- 
 proach of the British. The movement was begun on 
 the morning of the 14tli ; the army marching up the 
 river by land, and the baggage and military stores 
 being transported in batteaux by water, after a most 
 laborious and fatiguing time the army and baggage 
 reached the Isla aux Noix, and encamped there on the 
 19th. The sick and invalids w^ere sent off in batteaux 
 the next morning, but the army lemained encamped 
 on the island for nearly a w^eek, until the boats returned 
 from Crown Point. While the troops were encamped 
 here they were truly in a pitiable condition. The 
 situation w^as a very unhealthy one, and both officers 
 and men seemed to contract all the ills that " flesh is 
 heir to." In order to show the reader more clearly what 
 they sufl'ered here, we will give Captain Lacey's account 
 of it, in his own words, and let it be borne in mind 
 that this suflering was endured in order to secure to 
 us the many blessings we now enjoy. We should 
 never forget the immense price that was paid for our 
 Liberty ! 
 
 "Having nothing to do, curiosity led me to visit 
 the New England camp. Here my feelings were in- 
 descril)al)lc : some men in_, and some out of tents, sick. 
 
LIFE AND CKA::ACTEU uF roIIX LACEV. 31 
 
 on tlie bare gioimd, infected with flnxes, fevers, small- 
 pox, and overrun with legions of lice ; and none but 
 the sick to wait on one another. My eyes never before 
 beheld such a scene, nor do I ever desire to see such 
 another. The lice and maggots seemed to vie with 
 each other, creeping in millions over their victims ; 
 and the doctors themselves either sick or out of medi- 
 cine. The estimate in both camps was that from 15 
 to 20 died daily. I examined the burying-ground of 
 each camp ; found two large holes dug in the earth, 
 one for each camp. While there, I saw several corpses 
 brought— carried in a blanket by four soldiers, one 
 holding each corner. On their arrival at the pit or 
 grave, those next it would let go of the blanket, while 
 the other two giving it a hoist, rolled the dead body 
 into the pit— where lay several bodies already deposited 
 in the same way, with no other covering but the rags 
 in which they died, heads and points as they happened 
 to come to the ])lace. In this manner the burial con- 
 tinued all day. As soon as the breath had left the 
 unfortunate victim, the body was laid on a dirty 
 blanket, and thus toted oft' to the silent tomb, without 
 a sigh from a friend or relative, or a single mourner 
 to follow it. In the evening the dirt in front of this 
 general grave, or depository of the dead, was thrown 
 over the bodies, leaving a new space open for the next 
 day. This scene of human wretchedness and misery 
 engrossed my attention, and induced a daily visit. 
 The New England and New York camp was most 
 infected with small-pox, and scarcely a single one sur- 
 vived an attack of that disease. Tlie whole armv was 
 
32 LIFE AND CHARACTER <)F JOHN LACEY. 
 
 computed to be about five thousand men ; of which it 
 could not be said tliat more tiian one-tliird was fit for 
 duty. Our retreat was certahilj a wise measure, and 
 was well conducted." 
 
 The army all reached Crown Point by the 1st of 
 July, when General Gates assumed the command. 
 Here they remained until the 9th, when they moved 
 up to Tieonderoga, where they encamped. On the 
 morning of the 12th, the three remaining companies of 
 Wayne's regiment, which had been left behind at Long 
 Island, joined the camp, and for the first time the 
 wliole regiment was together. In the meantime, the 
 diificulty between Colonel Wayne and Captain Lacey 
 was not settled, and the situation of the latter became 
 so unpleasant, that he determined to resign his com- 
 mission as soon as the campaign should draw to a close. 
 The breach between them became widened instead of 
 reconciled, and Captain Lacey found it impossible, 
 under the circumstances, to remain in the service with 
 any degree of satisfaction ; and although he regretted 
 deeply the necessity which impelled him to this step, 
 lie considered that his honor and duty to himself re- 
 quired it, and he gave notice to that effect to his 
 commanding oflicer. His friends persuaded him to 
 remain, but he was inflexible in his determination to 
 resign at the conclusion of tlie campaign, and when he 
 could be of no more service to his country in the posi- 
 tion he then occupied. It is not our place to take any 
 part in this difficulty between these two officers, but 
 as a fjiithful chronicler of events, we could not pass 
 over them unnoticed. The historv of both has become 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTEK OF JOttK LACEY. 33 
 
 |)Tirt of our national gloiy, and whatever faults either 
 may have committed, which led to this unfortunate 
 misunderstanding, their valuable services in the cause 
 of Independence are ample enough to cover them all 
 up. Captain Lacej was ordered by Colonel Wayne, 
 on the 13th, to take command of his own company, 
 \vhich he did ; and Moore, who had had charge of it, 
 was ordered to his own. He found his company in a 
 sad condition, exhibiting an entire want of care ; hav- 
 ing lost since he parted with it on Long Island, two 
 sergeants, two corporals, drummer and fifer, and twen- 
 ty-eight privates. He immediately exerted all his 
 onergies to put it in a good state of discipline, and he 
 devoted all his time to this object not required by 
 other duties. On Sunday, the 14th, he was sent with 
 one hundred and fifty men and fifty batteaux to Crown 
 Point, to bring to Ticonderoga the Gth Pennsylvania 
 regiment, which he accomplished without loss. 
 
 While the army occupied this position, the New 
 York, New Jersey, and New England troops were 
 encamped on Mount Independence, and the Pennsyl- 
 vania regiments within the old French lines, north-west 
 of the old fort. The men were put to work in strength- 
 ening the redoubts and breastworks, ^nd deepening 
 the ditches, and were thus employed for several weeks 
 in making every necessary preparation to resist the 
 enemy, who, it was supposed, would follow and attack 
 them at this place. The works had gone very much 
 to ruin, and it required a good deal of labor to repair 
 them, and place them in a proper posture of defense. 
 In addition to the heavy fatig-ue-dutv both officers and 
 
34 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 men were obliged to imdergo daily, tliey were also 
 exercised in various military manffinvres, sucli as rush- 
 ing to the alarm posts, manning the lines, and going 
 through the necessary firing to repel an attack. The 
 health of the army was now much better than hereto- 
 fore, w^hich was caused, in a great measure, by their 
 regular duty and better supplies. The sick from 
 Crown Point were sent to the barracks at the south 
 end of Lake George, where they were rapidly recover- 
 ing. Much of the sickness that had prevailed to such 
 an alarming extent, while the troops were in Canada, 
 was caused by the unwholesome as well as scanty 
 supply of food that was furnished to the army. The 
 men were obliged to eat rusty pork, and coarse, un ^ 
 bolted meal, and there was not even a supply of this 
 poor fare ; there seldom being issued more than half 
 a ration at a time, and sometimes not that much. 
 There is no wonder then, that men living on such 
 provisions, much exposed and hard at work all the 
 time, should sicken and die. 
 
 Captain Lacey makes the following note of the re- 
 ception of the Declaration of Indejxmdeiice, viz. : 
 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston brought with him 
 the Declaration of Congress, on the 4tli, of the Inde- 
 pendence of America. It made a little buzz, but soon 
 subsided, and was foi-gotten. A few officers left the 
 army in consequence of it, among whom was Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Allen." 
 
 In the beginning of September large reinforcements 
 arrived at the camp from ditferent quarters, and aftairs 
 assumed a nioro warlike asjioct : ;nid it was exi>ectcd 
 
LIFE AND L'llAKACTEi; OF JOHN LACEY. 3o 
 
 that, before the campaign closed, they would have an 
 opportunity to meet the enem}^ The works were 
 completed the IStli of Se]Jteniber, when the officers 
 and men were publicly thanked for the industry and 
 energy they had exhibited in their completion. Dur- 
 ing this time Captain Lacey was almost constantly in 
 command, either in the entrenchments or on picket- 
 guard, and in every instance acquitted himself with 
 great credit. 
 
 Among the papers of General Lacey are many of 
 the orders of General, then Colonel, Wayne, by which 
 it appears that he was a very strict disciplinarian, and 
 at the same time something of a martinet, in regard to 
 the personal appearance of his men. After the severe 
 labors of repairing the works at Ticonderoga were 
 ended, he paid considerable attention to the cleanliness 
 and appearance of his regiment^ as the following order 
 will show : 
 
 Colonel Wayne's Ordeks, September 19. 
 
 " The 4th battalion are to be all under arms, on 
 Sunday next, at 9 o'clock, A. m., and, as soap is now 
 plenty, and new shirts ready to be delivered to such 
 companies as are in w^ant, no excuse can be admitted 
 for appearing dirty or indecent. All officers and 
 soldiers will be particularly careful, on that day, to 
 appear on the parade as neat as possible ; for which 
 purpose the officers will see that the men have their 
 hair well-powdered and neatly tied and plaited." 
 
 Tlie soap he speaks of was, without doubt, much 
 
36 LIFE AND CHAIJACTIH OF JOHN LACET. 
 
 needed ; but, with our modei-n notions of soldieringv 
 we cannot see how the plaited pig-tails sticking out 
 from the hinder part of the head could add any thing 
 to the martial appearance of the men. 
 
 They had been waiting the approach of the enemy 
 for some time, expecting every day to hear of their 
 advance toward Ticonderoga, as our spies had brought 
 word that they had a fleet of armed vessels on the 
 lake, nearly ready for operations, and that their army 
 only waited orders to move from Isle aux Noix and 
 Isle La Motte, where they were encamped. In the 
 beginning of October General Arnold, with a fleet of 
 gun-boats, sloops, etc. , met them some distance beyond 
 Crown Point, when a severe action took place. Ar- 
 nold fought bravely, but was defeated with considerable 
 loss, and many of his vessels fell into the enemy'S' 
 hands. Upon this defeat, tlie British army marched 
 upon Crown Point, six miles from Ticonderoga, which 
 they took possession of on the 15th. Upon this near 
 approach of the enemy General Gates had every thing 
 placed in readiness to resist an immediate attack, and 
 the necessary orders were issued in rapid succession. 
 The x4.merican army was in high spirits at the prospect 
 of an engagement, and looked forward ^vith much 
 Gonfldence to victory. Word was brought by the 
 scouts, on the morning of the 28th, that the enemy 
 were approaching the American lines by land and 
 water. The alarm^guns were fired, and the troops- 
 marched to their respective positions, prepared for 
 battle. All was excitement and bustle. This move- 
 ment, however, proved only a feint to cover a recon- 
 
LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 37 
 
 noitering party, and the troops, much out of humor, 
 were marched back again to their encampments. 
 From this time to the 13th of November nothing of 
 importance took place, when information was received 
 that the British army had evacuated the works at 
 Crown Point and retired to St. John's, in order to go 
 into winter-quarters, thus closing the campaign and 
 giving up the contest until the opening of the next 
 spring, when they hoped to be better prepared to carry 
 on operations against the colonies. 
 
 The retirement of the British army into winter- 
 quarters also closed the campaign of 1776, on the part 
 of the Americans, on the northern frontiers. A part 
 of the troops returned home, the balance went into 
 winter-quarters, and Colonel Wayne was placed in 
 command, by order of General Gates. He ordered 
 one officer from each company to return home to enlist 
 men for the war, to fill up the ranks of those then in 
 service. Captain Lacey was one of those selected for 
 that duty, from the 4th regiment, and, as Colonel 
 Wayne approved the selection, he immediately pre- 
 pared to return home. The following is his account 
 of the journey homeward : 
 
 "In a few days after, we left the encampment, 
 crossed Lake George in batteaux, proceeded on through 
 Albany, and down the North River by water, about 
 sixty miles, when we struck across the country, to 
 avoid the enemy ; came through the town of Esopus, 
 and struck the river Delaware some distance above the 
 Blue Mountains ; crossed the river and continued our 
 course through Pennsylvania; passed the Wind-Gap 
 
38 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 in the Blue Mountains ; came by Nazareth and Beth- 
 lehem ; crossed the Lehigh river at the last mentioned 
 place ; and, after traveling a few miles, I left the other 
 officers, and came to Durham, and from thence took 
 the main road through Bucks county to my father's, 
 in Buckingham township, where I once more arrived 
 in safety, about the first of December, and found the 
 family all well." 
 
LIFE AND CHATIACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 39 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ^gAPTAIN LACEY found, on his return home, 
 J^^ that quite a change had taken place in his own 
 neighborhood and in the county generally. When he 
 left, in the winter, every thing was quiet and peaceful ; 
 but now friends and acquaintance were arrayed in 
 hostile opposition. As the war had progressed, and 
 especially since independence was declared, the people 
 had taken sides for and against the cause of the colo- 
 nies, and were extremely bitter in their feelings toward 
 each other. He says : "A sullen, vindictive and 
 malignant spirit seemed to have taken hold of a large 
 portion of the people of the county, whose hostility to 
 the Revolution was too apparent not to be noticed, and 
 seemed only to be waiting for a good opportunity to 
 break forth openly in favor of England, and against 
 their own country. Happily for the Whigs, however, 
 the Tories were a set of poltroons and cowards, afraid 
 openly to espouse their cause and declare themselves ; 
 wdiile the Whigs, on the other hand, acted openly, 
 avowed their intention and deterniination to live free 
 
40 LIFE AND CHARACiTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 and independent, or die glorionsly in the struggle for 
 their rights. The Tories sneakingly continued to act 
 under cover, giving secret information whenever they 
 could to the British ; ridiculing the American ofiicers, 
 and using every means they could invent to discourage 
 the Whigs and to dissuade them from joining the 
 American army or militia." He further says, that 
 " the hostility of the Tories to independence was so 
 violent, that nothing but cowardice prevented their 
 taking up arms and openly declaring themselves in 
 favor of and joining the British army. They actually 
 did every thing they dared to do, by encouraging the 
 youth to go over and join the British ; and many of 
 the young men were thus sent." 
 
 Among those who were thus hostile to the cause of 
 their country was his own family, and most of his 
 inmiediate friends and acquaintance. As soon as he 
 returned home, his family made a powerful effort to 
 detach liim from the cause of his countrj^, and to 
 induce him to take up arms in favor of the British. 
 They brought every possible argument and persuasion 
 to bear upon him, and even went so far as to promise 
 to secure him a commission of field-officer in the Brit- 
 ish army, if he would quit the cause of the colonies. 
 His uncles were particularly anxious to wdn him over 
 to the English ; and his uncle Abraham Chapman 
 waited upon him, as the representative of the others, 
 and held out many inducements for him to turn traitor. 
 Four of his cousins had already gone over to the Brit- 
 ish, his uncle told him, and it seemed only to require 
 his disafibctiun to make the treason of ihe family com- 
 
LITE AND niAT^AfTETJ OF JOHN E.\( KY. 41 
 
 |3lete. But all their efforts made no impression upon 
 him, other than to strengthen his attachment to the 
 cause he had espoused. He was a patriot from the 
 purest motives, and no earthly inducement could cause 
 him to change his allegiance ; neither would he allow 
 -any private difSculties with others, in the same ssrvice, 
 or real or imaginary injuries received from his superi- 
 ors, to shake his adherence to the cause of the inde- 
 pendence of the colonies. When his uncle Abraham 
 found he could not win him over and make a Tory of 
 him, he then asked him not to betray him, but keep 
 what he had said a profound secret. They never 
 ^gain mentioned the subject to him, but gave hiin up 
 •as a hopeless patriot, past redemption. 
 
 Captain Lacey now determined to put in execution 
 the resolution he had made several months before, of 
 resigning his commission at the conclusion of the cam- 
 paign. He was in a situation to do this with entire 
 piopriety, and without causing any reflection to rest 
 upon him, which might have been the case if he had 
 a-esigned while in the enemy's country. But before 
 he took this step, however, he consulted his uncle, 
 John Wilkinson, esquire, who was one of the earliest 
 friends of liberty in the county, and who had helped 
 to form the State constitution, and was then an active 
 .member of the Assembly. He laid all his grievances 
 before him, and, upon his advice, he resigned his 
 commission to the Council of Safety, then sitting in 
 Philadelphia, and accompanied it wuth a narrative of 
 the circumstances that compelled him to take this 
 course. The resignation of his commission was not 
 (3 
 
42 LivK Axn rnAKAC'iHU of JOHX lackv, 
 
 in accordance with his feelings, but induced by wliat 
 lie deemed a sense of duty to himself, in which he con- 
 sidered his honor and reputation were at stake. He 
 had become much attached to the service, being ex- 
 ceedingly martial in his feelings and prone to the 
 profession of arms. The service lost a valuable officer, 
 but it was not long ere he was called to act in a capa- 
 city of greater usefulness to his country. His resigna- 
 tion was accepted, and he retired to the private walks 
 of life. 
 
 He was not allowed to remain long in peace and 
 retirement ; his services were needed for his bleeding 
 country, and he was again called to duty. A new 
 constitution was adopted for Pennsylvania, in 1776, 
 and the Legislature was in session for the first tnne 
 nnder it, in the city of Philadelphia, in the winter and 
 spring of 1777, busily engaged in organizing the new 
 State government. In order to arm the people, to 
 oppose the advance of the British the coming campaign, 
 it was deemed necessary to reorganize the militia of 
 the State. To accomplish this desirable object a new 
 militia law was passed the 17th day of March, 1777, 
 to go into effect immediately. The act provided for 
 the appomtinent of five military officers, one lieutenant 
 Avitli the rank of colonel, and four sub-lieutenants with 
 the rank of lieutenant-colonel, for each county, who 
 were to constitute a sort of civil and military tribunal, 
 to carry the law into operation. This tribunal, among 
 other things, " were to hold courts ; to class and dis- 
 trict the militia, and organize them into regiments and 
 companies: to bold the electi(^n for officers: to call out 
 
LlFi: AND CHAIMCTEi: OF JOHN LACEV. 4o 
 
 the classes and liiid substitutes in place of delinquents; 
 to assess, and cause the assessments on delinquents to 
 be collected and paid into the State treasury ; with 
 other extensive powers, enumerated in the law." John 
 Kirkbride, esquire, one of the members of the xVssem- 
 bly, was appointed lieutenant, and Messrs. John Gill, 
 John Lacey, Samuel Smith and Andrew Keichline 
 sub-lieutenants, for the county of ]3ucks. The com- 
 mission of Captain Lacey was dated the 22d day of 
 March, 1777. They immediately entered upon the 
 duties of their appointments, and met at Newtown, 
 within a few days, to organize and proceed to business. 
 They divided the county into five districts, each of 
 which was to furnish a regiment, with the requisite 
 officers, to be elected by the men. They appointed 
 reliable persons in each township, to take the names 
 of all persons between the ages of eigliteen and fifty- 
 three years, who speedily made a return of the same, 
 when an election was held for officers, the names of 
 ■which were sent in to the Executive Council for com- 
 missions. Such was the dispatch with which the 
 several duties which devolved on Colonel Laco}^ were 
 discharged, that when he carried in his return to the 
 council, he was complimented on being the first to 
 make return. Much of tlie energy displayed in these 
 proceedings was due to him, whose superior knowledge 
 of military organization enabled him to discharge his 
 duties with promptitude, and at the same time he in- 
 fused some of his own energy and perseverance into 
 his colleagues. John Armstrong, esquire, of Cumber- 
 land county, M-as appointed major-general, and .Alcssrs. 
 
44 LIFE \ND CHARACTi:n OF JOHN LACEF. 
 
 Joliii Cadwallacler, Samuel jMereditli and James Potter 
 were appointed brigadier-generals. The militia of the 
 district in which Colonel Lacey lived chose him their 
 lieutenant-colonel, as this otiice did not interfere with 
 that of suls)-lieutenant, HJs commission was dated tlie- 
 Gth day of 3Iay, 1777, when he immediatel}" assumed 
 the connnand in accordance with his rank. 
 
 At the opening of the campaign of 1777 every ap- 
 prehension was entertained by the Executive Council, 
 tliat Pennsylvania would be made a point of attack by 
 the British ; and feeling the necessity of being fully 
 prepared to meet such a crisis, the president of the 
 council addressed a strong letter to each of the sub- 
 lieutenants in the se\eral counties. He entreated 
 them, in the strongest terms, to exert themselves to 
 the utmost to have the militia in readiness to meet 
 the enemy at any point at whicli they might appear, 
 and also be prepared to answer any requisition the 
 conunander-hi-chief might make upon them. This- 
 letter is dated the 16th day of April, 1777, and signed 
 by Thomas Whartom,, Jr., President of the Council; 
 it breathes a lofty spirit of patriotism, and could not 
 help having the desired etfect upon the militia, and 
 rousing up both officers and men to great exertions. 
 The apprehension of a visit from the British army 
 appears to have increased with the State authorities, 
 and soon afterward the following circular was addressed 
 to each lieutenant of the several counties : 
 
 ("CIECULAK.) 
 
 "June 15t]i, 1777. 
 '^Sir: — The council have received undoubted in- 
 
LIFE AND CflARACTER OF JOHN LACEV. 4i> 
 
 tellig-enee that the enemy are on their march witli a 
 nnmerons army to invade this State. In my letter of 
 the 13th inst. I liave ordered that the first class pro- 
 ceed immediately to camp, and that the second be in 
 perfect readiness to marcli when called npon. Since 
 the express set off with that letter, the movement of 
 the enemy makes it absolntely necessary that the sec- 
 ond class be also ordered instantly to camp ; and as you 
 value your Freedom we entreat you to exert yourself 
 to have the third class ready to march at a moment's 
 warning; for, next to the blessing of Providence, our 
 Liberty and safety depend upon the virtuous eiforts of 
 the people. A letter has been written by the general 
 oflicers to you and the other lieutenants of the counties, 
 to order out the whole militia. Altliough this has- 
 been done with a good intentior., as they are zealously 
 attached to the cause, yet the council are of opinion 
 it may tend to confusion, and that these gentlemen did 
 not properly consider the eml)ariassment which would 
 ensue upon such a step. 
 
 " You are, therefore, hereby ordered, without loss- 
 of time, to march the first and second class to Bristol, 
 and to put in readiness the third class also, as there in 
 too much reason to suppose they will be ordered out 
 as soon as they can possibly be equipped. A compli- 
 ance with the militia law is the only means whereby 
 the tines and forfeitures of dehnquents can be recovered. 
 It is therefore recommended by the council, that a 
 strict attention be paid to the direction of the law, and 
 particularly that the greatest regard be had to that 
 part of it which directs the procuring of substitutes — ■ 
 
4() LIFE AND ClIAUACTEi; OF JUJIX LACKV. 
 
 wliicli you are to exert yourself to obtain by every 
 means the law will justify. 
 
 " As there are many worthy persons who may not 
 fall in either of the classes mentioned, whose warm 
 attachment to the cause of Freedom may induce them 
 to turn out as volunteers, the service of these gentle- 
 men, at this important and critical time, will be most 
 thankfully received by the council, which I beg you to 
 make known as opportunity may otfer. 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " Your very humble servant, 
 (Signed,) "Tiios. Wiiakton, Jun., Pres't. 
 
 " To Joseph Kirkbride, Esq., 
 Lieut. ]3ucks County." 
 
 Colonel Lacey appears to have Ijeen opposed to 
 calling out the militia e^i 'iiias,si\ and, with the council, 
 entertained serious apprehensions that such a course 
 would derange their whole sjstem, and do much 
 harm. But at the same time if it was deemed best to 
 pursue such a course, he signitied his M'illinguess to 
 give all the aid in his power. He seemed to have 
 only one desire, and tliat was to defeat the enemy and 
 establish the liberties of his countr3\ He wrote his 
 views fully to Colonel Kirkbride, on the 16th of June, 
 from Buckingham, and sent the letter by his brother. 
 
 In the meantime the enemy had embarked from 
 New York for the Chesapeake, and there was no longer 
 any doubt but that Philadelphia was the point of at- 
 tack. The whole country became alarmed, and the 
 most patriotic appeals were made by the State authori- 
 ties to the militia, to induce them to turn out promptly 
 
LIFE AND CllAllACTEU OF JOIIX LACEV. 4< 
 
 to repel the invasion. Washington with his army was 
 liastening from the East to the supposed point of attack, 
 and the Execntive Council, in Phihidelpnia, were doing 
 all in their power to support the commander-in-chief. 
 Thej issued frequent orders to the lieutenants of the 
 several counties to have their forces in readiness, and 
 w^ere active in their efforts to further the cause of their 
 country. The officers of Bucks county were very 
 energetic during tliis period, but none exhibited as 
 much efficiency as Colonel Lacey, whose previous ex- 
 perience fitted him in a peculiar manner to discharge 
 the duties which now devolved upon him. The presi- 
 dent of the coun(;il wrote to Colonel Kirkbride, on the 
 31st of July, that two hundred and twenty-eight sail 
 of the enem.y's fleet were at the capes of the Delaware, 
 and urged him to have the class of the militia ordered 
 out marched to Chester as soon as possible. During the 
 latter part of the summer and fall, several drafts were 
 nuide from the militia to join the main army, under 
 Washington, and in every instance Ikicks county fur- 
 nished her full quota. The battle of Brandywine ^vas 
 fought on the 11th of September, and on the 26tli the 
 British army entered Philadelphia in triumph. Wash- 
 ington, with the American army, crossed the Schuyl- 
 kill, and took up a strong position on the Skippack 
 creek, and the 4th of October he attacked the British 
 in their encampment at Germantown, at daylight, but 
 again failed in his object, and was obliged to retreat. 
 Colonel Lacey w^as in this action, but had no command ; 
 he appears to have been a voUmteer upon the occasion. 
 As a matter of cjeneral interest to the reader, we here 
 
48 LIFE AXD fnARACTER oF fOllX I.ACEY. 
 
 insert his own account of the engagement. He ex- 
 presses himself witli mnch clearness, and exhibits no 
 mean knowledge of military affairs, 
 
 "General Howe having placed a part of his troops 
 on the heights of German town, a village about five 
 miles from the city, General Washington conceived 
 this to be a suitable object to strike at. He accord- 
 higly put his troops in motion, and made a vigorous 
 attack on the enemy, who were unapprised of his 
 movements, until their sentinels hailed the advanced 
 columns of our troo]*s. These rushing forward drove 
 the enemy on all qvuirters, and took possession of their 
 t-amp. This would have been a decisive day in favor 
 of Americ.'i, had not the American troops halted to 
 dislodge a few of the enemy, who had taken shelter in 
 ,a large stone house belonging to Benjamin Chew ; 
 which so retarded their progress that the enemy had 
 time to rally ; and being supported by fresh troops 
 from the city, the Americans were arrested in their 
 pursuit. Broken parties coming up (in pursuit of the 
 tiying enemy) to the newly formed line of the Jh'itish 
 troops, ^vere nnable to force them a sec(nid time, and 
 had to fall back. The eneniy taking advantage of 
 their disorder advanced. The Americans not being 
 able to form were pushed i)ack in their turn. 
 
 " The general, tinding the day lost, ordered a retreat 
 —which was effected in tolerable order. Thus ended 
 an aifair which at the onset promised so favorably, and 
 which we had every reason to believe, had it not been 
 for the stoppage at Chew's house, would have resulted 
 in a comjilete victory : but Ife who holds the destinies 
 
T.IPK x\Nl) CUAltACTin; OF JOllTs T.A('i:T. 41) 
 
 'of l);ittles and events iu his own hand liad decreed 
 •otlierwise. After this the enemy retired to the city, 
 -and General Washington encamped in a very advan- 
 tageous position, on the Heights of White Marsh. 
 
 " Althongh I had no command at this time I was 
 with the militia in the ahove affair. They were posted 
 on the right of the American army, with orders 'to 
 turn the enemy's left. Before they came to the place 
 ^dlotted to them, the enemy were gone ; and their 
 new line was formed so far to the left, I saw there was 
 little likelihood of our coming in contact with them. 
 I rode forward to where the main array was engaged, 
 and had an opportunity of seeing the manner in which 
 the business was conducted. We had full possession 
 of the enemy's camp, which was on fire in several 
 places. Dead and wounded men were strewed about 
 in all quarters. When the order for retreat came the 
 American troops were in much disorder. Those in 
 front — driven back by the enemy — and falling on those 
 in the rear increased the confusion, and rendered it 
 impossible to form in such order as to oppose the ad- 
 vancing enemy. A general retreat was inevitably 
 -necessary to save the American nrmy from a general 
 route. 
 
 '' The affair at Chew's house was not, in my judg- 
 ment, the only cause of the loss of this battle. There 
 were others equally important. General Green's divi- 
 sion — composing the left wing of the army — was either 
 Jed astray by their guides, or mistook their way, and 
 wandered so far to the left that they never came into 
 action. The right wing, composed of about four thou- 
 .7 
 
50 LIFK AND CIIAKAC TElf OF JolIN LACEY, 
 
 saiul Pennsylvania militia— in like manner being so 
 far to the right, never saw the enemy that day. Had 
 they acted their part equally with the centre, which 
 was commanded in person by General Washington, 
 ;iiid pushed the enemy's flanks with spirit and alacrity, 
 as they ought to have done, the enemy must have been 
 ]3re vented from forming a second line, which they did 
 without opposition — and after rallying had none to 
 contend with but the centre division of the American 
 army, and only a part of that — the other portion hav- 
 ing halted at Chew's house. Those who did advance 
 in pursuit, being broken and out of order, were unable 
 to make any impression upon the enemy, thus drawn 
 up in order, and consequently soon gave way. The 
 fate of the day, so favorable to the American arms at 
 the outset, instantly changed. General Washington, 
 perceiving the day to be lost, gave a general older 
 for retreat." 
 
 The above is of interest because it was written by 
 an eye-witness, and has never before appeared in print. 
 
 Toward the latter end of October, the Executive 
 Council ordered out another class of the militia, to 
 supply the place of those whose term of seivice was 
 about to expire. They were ordered to rendezvous at 
 Newtown in the beginning of November, and were 
 placed in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lacey. He 
 marched from thence to Wliite ]\Iarsh with a force of 
 some three or four hundred men, and joined the bri- 
 gade of General Potter. The British soon after took 
 post at Chestnut Hill, when the two armies being 
 within siii'ht of each other, almost daily encounters 
 
LIFE AND CllAUAC'J'Ei; OF .M»11N LALFV. 51 
 
 took place between them. Colonel Lacey with his 
 reo-iment was in several of these combats, and in every 
 instance behaved with great credit. Tlie enemy, de- 
 clining a general engagement, retired to the city, and 
 General Potter's brigade took up a position on the 
 west side of the Schuylkill, near the Gulf Mills, on the 
 main road leading to Philadelphia. Here the Ameri- 
 cans were attacked the next morning by the British, 
 and a severe combat ensued. Colonel Lacey with his 
 regiment occupied the centre of the first line, consist- 
 ing of three regiments, and was drawn up on an emi- 
 nence, with the right resting on the main road. The 
 other two regiments lied at the first fire, but Lacey's 
 stood their ground and exchanged shots with the 
 enemy until they began to outflank him, when he fell 
 back in good order to the second line, under General 
 Potter, drawn up on a height, about half a mile in the 
 rear. The enemy rushed on and in a short time com- 
 pelled the second line to give way also. Lacey with 
 his regiment covered the retreat of the flying militia, 
 and tried, in vain, to rally them to make further 
 resistance. Soon a general rout ensued, and he was 
 obliged to join the main l)ody and hasten oft' the field 
 as rapidly as possible. In his eftbrts to rally the scat- 
 tered forces he came near being captured, the account 
 of which we give in his own words, as follows : 
 
 " I was among the rear, and having in attempting 
 
 to rally the men got some distance from the road, I 
 
 came to a fence, which I got my horse over with much 
 
 . difliculty ; but on coming to a second fence, after 
 
 passing over a field, (it being one side of a lane leading 
 
52 LIFi: AND ( '11 Al.'ACTEi: OF .JOJl.V LAC'ET. 
 
 from tlic' ScliuylkllU to the Gulf road, and a stoiif 
 fence,) I called to the men who were passino- over it 
 to throw off a rider. All being in such a hurry, and 
 thinking of nothing but self-preservation, they took 
 no notice, but left me to get over as well as I could. 
 Twice did I run my horse against the fence without 
 effect ; on the third effort it gave way. 1 found my- 
 self in a lane and set off at full-speed for the main road, 
 about two hundred yards distant, on entering which I 
 discovered a column of the enemy's horse on the top 
 of the hill about fifty yards from me. They called to- 
 me to surrender. I halted ; but on casting my eye& 
 down the road I saw our flying troops about two hun- 
 dred yards below. By a mere mechanical movement,, 
 without time to think, I clapped spurs to my horse, 
 and, lying, flat up his withers, went at full speed after 
 them. The enemy fired their pistols or carbines at 
 me, and I heard the bullets whisp by me. Two dra- 
 goons pursued me, and finding them gaining upon me 
 as I came up with the hindmost troops, I ordered our 
 men to turn about and fire. Several muskets were 
 discharged as the men ran, by firing ofi' their shoulders, 
 without stopping or turning about. Conceiving myself 
 in more danger, by this mode of firing, from my own 
 men than from the enemy, I called upon them to 
 desist, or they would shoot me. On my gaining the 
 rear of our retreating troops, one of the dragoons took 
 up his horse ; but the- other horse, being too mettle- 
 some, refused to yield to his rider ; they dashed in. 
 among our men and were both shot down together. 
 The transaction was so sudden and instantaneous that 
 
LIFE AND ('HAI^ACTEU OF JOHN LACLi'. U.'v 
 
 it was impossible to save either the luau or the horse^ 
 more than twenty guns being fired at them in the 
 6ame moment." 
 
 General Washington, in his orders, complimented 
 the regiment of Lientenant-Colonel Lacey for the- 
 handsome manner in which they behaved in this afftiir. 
 The loss of the Americans w^as one officer and seven- 
 teen men. General Potter with his brigade now 
 marched to Swede's Ford, where they met the main, 
 army nnder Washington, on their way to go into win- 
 ter-quarters. It was about the middle of December, 
 and the weather had become cold and wintry, yet the- 
 services of the militia in the field could not be dis- 
 pensed with, and they were again ordered to take post 
 on the west side of the Schuylkill, in order to watch 
 the enemy and cover the main army while building 
 their huts at the Valley Forge. A court-martial, of 
 which Colonel Lacey was appointed judge-advocate-, 
 was here convened by order of General Potter, to try 
 such men as threw away their arms and equipments at 
 the Gulf Mills, in order to facilitate their escape. 
 Some were sentenced to be publicly whipped, which 
 sentence was carried into effect and caused much dis- 
 turbance in camp. In a few days the brigade was 
 ordered to join the rest of the militia at North Wales, 
 under the command of General Armstrong, Avho was 
 the major-general of all the militia raised in the State. 
 On their arrival at General Armstrong's head-quarters-, 
 Colonel Lacey with his regiment was ordered to- 
 proceed to the Cross Roads, now Harts ville, near the 
 Neshaminy. He continued his m.ar(>-h, and encamped 
 
ij4 LU'J: AN[J CIIARACTKK OF JOHN LACEV. 
 
 on the 2()tli day of December in a wood about half-way 
 between the cross-roads and the Billet, near Hat- 
 borough, in Montgonierj^ county. He established his 
 quarters in a house near the camp, and mentions that 
 he there slept in a house for the first time for two 
 months. He had only been in camp three daj^s, when 
 he received an order from General Armstrong, in pur- 
 suance of an order from General Washington, to march 
 his regiment the next morning to the lower end o 
 Germantown, without baggage, with cooked provi- 
 sions, and oiie axe to each company, and there await 
 further orders. Being there joined b}^ the whole of 
 the Pennsylvania militia, they marched toward Phila- 
 delphia, and commenced an attack on the outposts of 
 the enemy in the Northern Liberties, with cannon and 
 small arms. After remaining under arms for some 
 time, without any serious demonstration being made, 
 they were ordered to return to their camps ; when 
 Colonel Lacey marched his regiment back to his former 
 position near the Cross Roads. As the service of his 
 men would expire the last of December, he had only 
 time to have them mustered and paid off before that 
 period arrived, when they were discharged and re- 
 turned to their respective homes. 
 
LIFE AND t'HAKACTEU OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 'y^-'MTH the forcg;oiiig operations on the Hchnylkill, 
 k^M> ^iid before Philadelphia, was closed the cam- 
 paign of 1777 in this section of the country. Colonel 
 Lacey, on the discharge of his regiment, returned to 
 liis father's house, in the township of Buckingham, 
 where he hoped to be able to spend the winter in 
 peace and quiet. But in this he was disappointed, 
 from two causes : first, because he was soon again 
 called into the service of his country, in a new and 
 more useful situation ; and secondly, because the To- 
 ries and Refugees in that neighborhood continually 
 harassed him, and gave him no rest wdiile he remained 
 at home. He had rendered himself so obnoxious to 
 them by his activity in the American cause that they 
 made many threats against his life, and also threatened 
 to burn his father's house and mills for harboring him. 
 He complains at this time of the course the Whigs 
 took as doing much injury to the American cause — 
 that many of the most active were seeking hiding- 
 places, and some were even courting the Tories in the 
 
•oO LIFK AND niAUACTEK ( »F lollX LAt'EV. 
 
 iieighborliood, to secure their safe tj— that an open 
 and notorious communication was kept up between the 
 tiitj and country, to carry provisions and information 
 to the Bi'itisli. The opposition to the cause of the 
 colonies had increased, and tlie near proximity of the 
 British army liad so mucli ehited the disaffected tliat 
 they openly threatened vengeance against all who dare 
 oppose them. It was almost dangerous for an open, 
 active patriot to live in the neighborhood, and at one 
 time Colonel Lacey had serious thoughts of removing 
 farther back into the interior, both on account of 
 greater safety, and to get rid of the constant annoy- 
 ance to which he was subjected. 
 
 This disaftectiun extended to such a degree tlirough- 
 •out the country, during the time Washington with his 
 army lay at the Valley Forge, that in many instances 
 lie found it very ditticult to procure the necessary 
 *<upplies for his troops. The mihtary chest was quite 
 empty, and the inhabitants would not furnish anything 
 to the army withtMit pay, unless they were obliged to 
 do so by force. The soldiers were iji great want of 
 straw, whicli could not be had because the farmers, 
 most of whom were hostile in the neighborhood of 
 the camp, would not thresh their grain. To put a stop 
 to this evasion Washington issued the following order, 
 which we have no doul)t brought the offending farmers 
 to their sensfi^s : 
 "•'•By His Ki'ceUency, (ieorgi'^ Washington, Esquire, 
 
 General and Commander- m-cliief of the Forces of 
 
 the Vmted States of A merica. 
 
 *' By virtue of tlie jiowor iUid (Hrection to me 
 
LIFE AND CHAliACTER OF JOHN LACFY. 57 
 
 •especially given, I hereby enjoin and require all per- 
 sons residing within seventy miles of my head-quarters 
 to thresh one-half of their grain by the first day of 
 March next ensuing, on pain, in case of failure, of 
 having all that shall remain in sheaves after the period 
 ■above mentioned, seized by the commissaries and 
 quarter-masters of the army and paid for as straio. 
 Given under my hand, at head-quarters, near the 
 Valley Forge, in Philadelphia county, this 20th day of 
 December, 1777. 
 
 (Signed,) "G. Washington. 
 
 *' By His Excellency's command, 
 
 " Robert H. Harrison, Secretary." 
 
 General Lacey was not suifered, however, long to 
 remain idle. At the opening of the year 1778 his 
 sphere of usefulness was much enlarged by being 
 appointed a brigadier-general in the militia of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and assigned to the discharge of most arduous 
 and important duties. He received the following 
 communication, announcing his appointment, from the 
 president of the Executive Council : 
 
 "Lancaster, January 9 tli, 1778. 
 
 "Sir:— You are this day appointed a brigadier- 
 general of this State, and the secretary will, by Colonel 
 Hart, forward to you a commission empowering you 
 to act as such. 
 
 " Brigadier-General Potter has obtained leave to 
 visit his family, and you are to take the command in 
 his absence. 
 
 " Two classes of the militia from the county of York, 
 ■two from the county of Cumberland, two from the 
 s 
 
58 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 county of Northampton, and one from the county of 
 Northumberland, are now ordered into tlie field, and 
 the lieutenants of the counties of Philadelphia and of 
 Bucks are directed to supply you with twenty light- 
 horse each, without officers, as they must be necessarily 
 divided into small parties where officers will be useless. 
 " I am, sir, 
 
 " Your very humble servant, 
 (Signed,) " Tnos. Wharton, Jr., Pres. 
 
 "To Brig. -Gen. Lacey, at camp." 
 
 Accompanying the above was the following from 
 the secretary of the Executive Council, enclosing his 
 commission : 
 
 "Lancaster, January 9th, 1778. 
 
 " Sir : — Enclosed is a commission authoring you to 
 act as a brigadier-general in the militia of this State. 
 
 " I congratulate you on this appointment, which, at 
 the same time it does you honor in acknowledging your 
 merit as an officer, aifords a reasonable ground of hope 
 for benefit to the public, by calling you into the iield 
 in an important station. I sincerely wish you success, 
 and aui, with great respect, 
 
 "Your very huml)le servant, 
 (Signed,) " T. Matlack, Secretary. 
 
 " To Bru!.-Gen. Lacey, at camp." 
 
 The bestowal of this commission was conferring a 
 high honor upon Colonel Lacey, and when we consider 
 that at this time he was not yet twenty-three years of 
 age, and was promoted o\'er the lieutenants and also 
 the sub-lieutenants of the different counties, who were 
 older in vcav!^ than hiinsolf, and manv of whom out- 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTEPv OF J< >11X LACEY. oU 
 
 ranked liim, it appears more than a simple approval of 
 merit, and exhibits the great confidence reposed in 
 hitn by the Execntive Council. His future activity 
 and usefulness showed this trust wan not misplaced. 
 It would be but natural to suppose that the appoint- 
 ment of so young a man, over the heads of older officers, 
 would have created a jealous}^ on their part toward 
 him ; such, however, was not tlie case, because they 
 all knew his superior qualifications for the station he 
 was called to fill. As evidence of the satisfaction his 
 appointment gave to the militia "ofiicers of his own 
 county, it need only be mentioned that Colonel Kn-k- 
 bride, the Heutenant of Bucks, wrote him the moment 
 he heard of his promotion. His letter is dated at 
 Belle vue, 13th of January, 1778, in which he compli- 
 ments him upon his appointment, wliile he regrets the 
 loss of so able and eflicient a sub-lieutenant. As soon 
 as General Lacey received his commission, he prepared 
 to enter upon the discharge of his new duties, which 
 were onerous enough to liave shaken the confidence of 
 a more experienced officer. 
 
 This honor was none the less pleasing because it was 
 unsolicited ; as the first intimation he had of it was 
 the notification of his appointment from the president 
 of the council. At first he thought of refusing the 
 commission, because of his youth and want of confi- 
 dence in himself to fill so high a station ; but upon 
 reflection he concluded to accept, as it might aftbrd 
 him a better opportunity to serve his country, in whose 
 cause his heart was fully enlisted. He iimnediately 
 received a very )>ressing invitation \\-u\n (leneral Potter 
 
60 LIFE AND CHARACrrEE OF JOHN LACLTT. 
 
 to come and see him at camp ; but when he arrived' 
 there he fomid the general had left, and things were- 
 in great confusion, of which he gives the following 
 account. He says, '" I found the camp in a deplorable 
 condition ; Major-General Armstrong and General 
 Potter gone, the number of the troops reduced from 
 about three thousand to six hundred ; those lately 
 departed had left their camp-equipage strewed every- 
 where — muskets, cartouch-boxes, camp-kettles and 
 blankets — some in and some out of the huts the men. 
 had left, with here and there a tent, some standing 
 and some fallen down. No one seeming to have the 
 charge or care of them, my first efforts were made to 
 have them collected and sent oft* to a place of safety. 
 How easy it would have been for a few of the enemy to 
 have di'iven the scattered militia at the difterent posts 
 on the roads leading to Philadelphia. Not more than 
 sixty rank and file being at this camp, the destruction 
 of near three thousand stand of arms and accoutrements 
 here might have been easily effected, which the enemy 
 most certainly would have done had tliey known the 
 unprotected state these arms were in." 
 
 The above condition of things at camp shows not 
 a very flattering prospect under which the general was 
 to commence his new career. The obstacles he had 
 to contend against seemed almost insurmountable ; but 
 his iron will and steady perseverance overcame them 
 all. The responsibilities he now assumed were arduous 
 and harassing in the extreme, and it is cause of aston- 
 ishment that he discharged them so as to give such, 
 entire satisfaction to the commander-in-chief. The 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY- 61 
 
 British lay in snug winter-quarters in Pliiladelphia, 
 enjoying themselves amid the comforts and luxuries of 
 the capital ; while Washington and his band of heroe& 
 were quartered in rnde aud cheerless huts near Valley 
 Forge, where they suffered from cold, want of pro- 
 visions and many other causes. The enemy made 
 frequent incursions from Philadelphia into the country, 
 to obtain provisions and forage, as well as to strike 
 terror into the minds of the few inhabitants who re- 
 mained loyal to the cause of the colonies. The 
 country people were also in the daily practice of carry- 
 ing produce of all kinds into the city, which they sold 
 to the enemy for a high price ; and at the same time 
 gave them much valuable information as to the situ- 
 ation of affairs in the surrounding country. These 
 spies, for they were in i-eality such, informed them 
 who were the most active Whigs, and where they 
 lived ; and it was not infrequent that strong parties of 
 the enemy came out from the city in the night, sur- 
 prised and carried off* as prisoners the most useful 
 citizens, besides burning houses, barns, mills, and 
 doing other damage to property. Mills on some of 
 the streams were secretly engaged in grinding grain 
 for the use of the British army, which was conveyed 
 into the city under a strong escort. It was the desire 
 of Washington to break up this dangerous connection 
 between the tow^n and country, and to General Lacey, 
 with his raw mihtia, was intrusted this important 
 duty. The situation of Washington in winter-quartersy 
 west of the Schuylkill, prevented him from checking 
 these incursions, and^ besides, his force was too weak 
 
62 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 to spare any part of it for tliis purpose. His field of 
 operations extended from the Schuylkill to the Dela- 
 ware ; and the district of country between these two 
 rivers was placed under his jurisdiction. His situation, 
 while it was full of responsibility, was at the same time 
 dangerous and delicate. All the surrounding country 
 was much disaifected, and in many parts the inhabi- 
 tants were open in their adherence to the British. 
 The enemy had declared they would have him dead 
 or alive, and their spies watched him so closely that 
 all his movements were well known to them. The 
 troops he had under him were raw militia, badly armed 
 and equipped, and almost entirely unused to the duties 
 of a soldier ; they were slow coming into the field, and 
 often, at the expiration of their period of service, he 
 was left almost without a command. And then, to 
 add to his unpleasant situation, he was often obliged 
 to dismantle the mills, and to destroy the crops and 
 other private property of his relations, friends and 
 neighbors, to prevent them falling into the hands of 
 the enemy. Now when we consider that he was a 
 young man, not yet twenty-three years of age, and 
 without much experience in the world, when he as- 
 sumed this command, we become sensible to the trying 
 position in which he was placed. He shrunk from no 
 duty, how^ever unpleasant it might be, but carried out 
 every order of Washington in the most decided man- 
 ner, and with strict impartiality. He passed the winter 
 and spring in scouring the country within the limits 
 of his command, and during this time he was engaged 
 in several dangerous enterprises against the enemy. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 63 
 
 Soon after General Lacey assumed the command of 
 liis brigade, Washington addressed liim the following 
 letter, in the shape of instructions as'to^thc line of duty- 
 he was to be employed in. It was dated : 
 
 " Head-Quarters, Valley Forge, 
 "Jan. 23, 1778. 
 
 " Sir :— I received your favor dated the 21st inst. 
 I must request that you will exert yourself to fulfill the 
 intention of keeping a body of troops in the country 
 where you are posted. Protecting the inhabitants is 
 one of the ends designed, and preventing supplies and 
 intercourse with tlie enemy and city is the other. 
 This, perhaps, with the utmost vigilance cannot be 
 totally effected ; but I must entreat you to take every 
 step that may render it possible. x4s to the reduction 
 of your numbers, I wish you to make timely applica- 
 tion to the President of the State, to keep up the 
 necessary force under your command. 
 
 " I am well informed that many persons, under the 
 pretence of furnishing the inhabitants of Germantown, 
 and near the enemy's lines, afford immense supplies to 
 the Philadelphia market — a conduct highly prejudicial 
 to us and contrary to every order. It is therefore 
 become proper to make an example of some guilty 
 one, that the rest may expect a like fate should they 
 persist. This I am determined to put into execution; 
 and request you when a suitable object falls into your 
 hands that you will send him here with a witness ; or 
 let me know his name, when you shall have power to 
 try, and (if proved guilty) to execute. This you will 
 be pleased to make known to the people, that they 
 
64 LIFE AND CHARACTEK ((F JOHN 1>ACEY. 
 
 may again have warning. Your want of whiskey 1 
 cannot remedy— we are in the same situation here, 
 and notliing ejffectnal can be done until the arrival of 
 the Committee of Congress, whom we expect every 
 day. 
 
 " I am, sir, 
 
 " Your most humble servant, 
 (Signed,) "Geo. Washington." 
 
 General Lacey first estal)lished his head-quarters at 
 Graham (or Graeme) Park, situated near the county 
 line, not far from where the Doylestown and Willow 
 Grove turnpike crosses that road. He fixed his depot 
 of provisions and stores at Doylestown, because of 
 the security of the place, where he also stationed a 
 small guard for tlieir protection. He wrote the presi- 
 dent of the council from canqj, the 24tli of January, 
 complaining of the slowness with which the militia 
 came in, and stated that his numbers were not adequate 
 to prevent communication with the city. He says his 
 force was as follows : "About seventy rank and file at 
 his camp at Smithfield, and at the Spring House and 
 Plymouth about three hundred." This was a very 
 small force to watch such an extensive scope of country 
 as was intrusted to him. He considered his situation 
 too much exposed where he was for the strength of his 
 force, and deemed it advisable to move farther into the 
 country, to wait reinforcements. For this purpose 
 he changed his camp to liodmaiUs farm, in Warwick, 
 where he had his head-quarters until about the first of 
 March, when he moved down the York road to the 
 Crooked l^illot, now Hatborough, where he encamped. 
 
IJFK AND CHAKACTEU OF JOHN LACEY. 65 
 
 The camp at " G. Eocl man's, Warwick," was on what 
 is now known as the Poor House farm ; and the Mr. 
 Rodman mentioned was a sterhng patriot of those 
 days, and, hke General Lacey, was excommunicated 
 from the Friends' meetino; for taking sides with the 
 colonies. He answered Washington's letter of the 23d 
 from Rodman's farm, and mentioned among other 
 things an accident which took place in camp on the 
 24th. A spark of fire communicated with the cart- 
 ridges, by which about six thousand were destroyed, 
 some tents and cartridg-e-boxes consumed, and five 
 men severely burned. He also states in the same letter 
 that the communication with the city was chiefly car- 
 ried on by women. 
 
 Up to the 2d of February, nearly a month after he 
 took tlie comnumd of the brigade, none of the militia, 
 eitlier from Northumberland, Cumberland, York or 
 Northampton counties, had joined him, and only two 
 horsemen from Philadelphia and Bucks. With this 
 small force he found it impossible to accomplish any 
 thing, and to add to his other causes of trouble, his 
 men were so badly supplied with rations by the proper 
 department, that two-thirds of their time, when not 
 engaged in other duty, was employed in collecting 
 provisions. The want of a properly organized com- 
 missariat seems to have been a great drawback upon 
 the efficiency of his operations when he first assumed 
 the command, and the abuses wdiich grew ont of it 
 caused much murmuring among the people. Troops 
 when not supplied by the proper State authorities 
 will ]iillno:e in spite of all their officers can do, and in 
 
GG LiF!" .'^^'D rilAKArrr:!; oi' JitiiN lacev, 
 
 this instuiicc they did not refrain from it. Sometimes 
 parties of militia, with arms in their hands, went through 
 the country without authority and took articles by 
 force, iiuliscriminately from friend and foe. This con- 
 duct rendered tlie service unpopular with many — they 
 deemed it bad enough to be robbed by their enemies, 
 but entirely insupportable when thus treated by those 
 whom they considered friends and had a riglit to look 
 to for protection. Of course, General Lacey suffered 
 by this conduct, but as soon as it came to his knowl- 
 edge he took immediate measures to remedy the evil 
 comi)lained of. This he accomplished by organizing 
 as toon as possible a commissary department, by which 
 means supplies were regularly furnished his command, 
 except now and then, in a case of great necessity, he 
 was obliged to levy contributions upon the inhabitants, 
 but which was always done under orders and by direc- 
 tion of an officer, vouchers being given for whatever 
 w^as taken. Private pillage by the soldiers was entirely 
 broken up, and the murmurings of the people quieted. 
 The intercourse between the city and country was 
 kept up, in spite of all the exertions made by General 
 Lacey to put a stop to it, and on the Stli of February 
 Wasliington wrote him to allow every thing captured 
 going into or coming out of the city, to redound to the 
 benefit of the men, in order to incite them to greater 
 activity ; but at the same time the commander-in-chief 
 advised him to move his camj^ uearer the city, and 
 iustead of trusting to fixed guards to keep out constant 
 patroles and scouts in every direction. Ilis force by 
 tli(> \')\]\ r.f Fclirunvv h:i;l dwiM-Hod dowu to sixiy men 
 
LIVE AND CllAKACTER ( »F JOHN LAe'EY. ()( 
 
 tit for duty, not more tlian sufBcient to guard his own 
 camp and stores, and the surrounding countr}^ was left 
 ahnost wholly un])rotected from the incursions of the 
 enemy. On the night of the 13th a large body of the 
 enemy's horse came as far up the York road as Butler's 
 tavern, now the Willow Grove, thirteen miles from 
 the city. They took Mr. Butler prisoner, thence went 
 to Major Wright's tavern, near Whitemarsh, captured 
 the major and some other persons, and returned in 
 safety. The next night a large body of cavalry and 
 infantry surprised the village of Smithfield, and made 
 aome prisoners. On the evening of the 17th Newtown 
 was visited by these marauders, where they took pris- 
 oner Major Murray and some of his men, and robbed, 
 ^lie fulling-mill at that place of all the cloth that was 
 m it. The news of the descent upon New^town reached 
 General Lacey the next morning, when he immediately 
 ■•narched his whole disposable force in that direction, 
 hoping to be able to intercept the enemy in their re- 
 treat, but before he arrived there he learned they had 
 left the place and returned to Philadelphia. About, 
 the 23d he made an attempt, by order of General 
 Washington, to destroy a large quantity of hay at 
 Point-no-Point, which it was feared would fall into the 
 hands of the enemy. He made two attempts to destroy 
 it, both of which failed, because his guide deceived 
 him. He again changed his head-quarters, and on the 
 3d of March we find him encamped at the Crooked 
 Billet. In the meantime he had been very active in 
 the discharge of his arduous duties, but his usefulness 
 was much impaired l>y the smallucss of his numbers. 
 
(JS LIFE AND CIlAliACTEf: OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 It seemed almost impossible to induce the militia to 
 turn out, and those who did join him were mostly 
 without arms, and he had no means of supplying them. 
 About the first of March a large drove of cattle was 
 captured by the enemy, because he had no men to 
 protect them, while they were being driven to Wash- 
 ington's camp. 
 
 The reader will be able to judge, from the following 
 letters, of the un])leasant situation in which General 
 Lacey was placed. The first is to General Potter, and 
 is as follows : 
 
 " Camp, Ckooked Billet, 
 "March 4th, 1778. 
 
 " Dear General : — You very well know tlie situ- 
 ation you left me in, and the declining state of the 
 militia, which at last was reduced so low that I could 
 not, on the greatest emergency, parade more than 
 forty men. In this forlorn condition I thought proper 
 to send all the arms and stores belonging to the brigade 
 to Allentown. The time of these forty was to expire 
 in a few days ; and no tidings of a fresh supply near, 
 I expected to be left alone. In this melancholy pre- 
 dicament I moved my little camp to the banks of the 
 Neshaminy, where I could not be easily surprised. 
 But to my comfort, a few days before their time ex- 
 pired, near 400 unarmed men arrived from Cumberland 
 and about 80 from York county. I immediately sent 
 oft' express after express to forward down some arms, 
 which were deposited at Colonel Antes's ; but to my 
 sad misfortune, the whole w^ere unsuccessful. Colonel 
 Antes was from- home, and no person left in his room 
 
LIFE AND C1IAT?ACT1:R OF JOHN LACEV. 69 
 
 to officiate. I then detached off wagons, I thought 
 sufficient, to bring the arms to complete my numbers ; 
 but the road proved so bad, they only brought three 
 hundred. In the meantime, I picked up one hundred 
 old arms, which had not been moved for want of 
 wagons, and gave them to the men ; bnt near fifty of 
 them were without ffints, and not one flint in camp to 
 supply them. The evening my arms arrived, my other 
 little party's time expired. Here I was, in the midst 
 of business, and that all in confusion ; Major Cum- 
 mings, whose business this was to see after, was gone 
 to Lancaster. At this critical moment a large party 
 of cattle was on the way to camp, the drover of which 
 applied to me for a guard ; but in my tattered condi- 
 tion, I thought myself unable to supj)ly him. I advised 
 him to keep back in t]ie country, where I thought 
 there was no danger; but he, keeping too low, the 
 cattle were taken by the enemy the next night near 
 Bartholomew's tavern. Many censure me for not 
 sending a gnard with them, which I think was out of 
 my power in the condition I then was ; for the men 
 had double duty to do for their own safety. From 
 this detail you will be able to see how things have 
 passed since you left me. At this time I am cruelly 
 off for provisions. I keep my men all in one camp as 
 yet. 
 
 " I am, dear general, etc., 
 (Signed,) "J. Lacey." 
 
 The second was addressed to General Armstrong, 
 and dated 
 
70 LIFE AXij cuAUAC ri:!; of John lackv. 
 
 " Camp, Crooked Billet, 
 "March 4th, 1778. 
 
 " Dear General :■ — Little did I expect to take the 
 held so soon, when I saw you hist ; neither did I expect 
 so much trouble was allotted to me as I have found 
 since I have had the command. I do not mean hard 
 fatigue of body, for that, where things go on smoothlj^ 
 I pride in ; but it is the incessant fatigue and anxiety 
 of mind of which I complain. I have been turned out 
 into a wide country to protect its inhabitants, and stop 
 an intercourse with the enemy (which it would require 
 two thousand troops to effect) with only fifty men, 
 which was actually my strength for a long time ; and 
 when a reinforcement came, they were helpless, and 
 without arms, and none in camp. It was some time 
 before the arms (which were at Colonel Antes's and at 
 Allentown) could be brought to camp for the want of 
 wagons. While in this avdrward situation, a drove of 
 cattle, which was passing through the country, was 
 taken by the enemy, on account of my not being able 
 to provide them wnth a guard. 
 
 " We are sadly off for want of provisions. What we 
 do get is almost carrion, and not our allow^ance of that. 
 " I am, dear general, w^ ith respect, 
 
 " Your most obdt. and humble servant, 
 (Signed,) "J. Lacey. 
 
 " General Armstrong." 
 
 The state of affairs described in the foregoina: letters 
 S3ems almost sufficient to have shaken the resolution 
 of any man, or at least to have discouraged him. But 
 it was not so with (Ten(M'al Lacev : b.e was made of 
 
LIFE AND CliAHA( r:]{ ot'^ 'OIIK LACF.Y. ii 
 
 Kterner stutf; his soul was fired with a lofty patriotism, 
 and he allowed no discouraging circumstances to come 
 between him and the duty he owed to his country. 
 He labored on unceasingly, and, whether in prosperity 
 or adversity, he was ever the same unwavering and 
 devoted friend to the cause of liberty. If tried by the 
 dangers by Avliich he was surrounded, and the difficul- 
 ties he had to contend against, he stands forth as true 
 a patriot as was found in the land. He filled up the 
 measure of his duty equal to any officer who served in 
 the armies of the struggling colonies ; and the people 
 of his native county and State should be proud and 
 jealous of his memory and reputation. 
 
 We make the two following extracts from General 
 Lacey's correspondence, in order to show how general 
 was the disati'ection of tlie people in the region of 
 country embraced within his field of operations. The 
 first is dated March the 4th, and addressed to the 
 president of the council, as follows : 
 
 " Sir : — It is distressing to learn the number of peo- 
 ple who flock to the enemy with marketing ; amongst 
 whom are many 3"oung fellows wdio have fled from 
 their homes to save their fines, and are carrying on a 
 peddling-trade between the city and country. I liav<? 
 taken several of them avIio were going to the enemy 
 with jjaicels of meal on their backs. Some of them I 
 am acquainted with, and I do believe they were going 
 to join the enemy." 
 
 The second is dated Marcii the 11th, and also ad- 
 dressed to the president of the council. In speaking 
 (if scuutiiia' around the cOuntrv, lie says: 
 
72 LIFE AND CIJAIIACTEK UF .101 IN LACEY. 
 
 " As soon as I approaeh within eight or ten miles of 
 the enemy's hnes, the inhabitants, having their horses 
 concealed in by-places, mount them, and taking their 
 way through fields and jjrivate paths repair directly to 
 the city with the intelhgence that the rebels are in the 
 neighborhood. Not one word of intelhgence can we 
 procure from them — not even the directions of the 
 roads. " 
 
 He rendered himself, by his zeal and activity, parti- 
 cularly obnoxious to the Tories and all other disaffected 
 persons, who endeavored to do him all the injury they 
 possibly could. Charges were made against him to 
 his superiors that he showed partiality, and allowed his 
 own friends and relations to pass to and from the city 
 M'ith impunity, hoping thereby to injure his reputation. 
 ]3ut in every case he showed that such charges were 
 false and malicious, and propagated by his enemies. 
 So far from showing any partiality to his own friends, 
 he was often obliged to put in execution the most 
 stringent orders against his Tory relations ; and some 
 of them were so nuich embittered against him, for the 
 strictness with which he discharged his duty, that they 
 never forgave him as long as thej^ lived. 
 
 From the Crooked Billet General Lacey with his 
 command, moved down to Whitemarsh, where we find 
 him encamped on the 11th of March. From this place 
 he made a return of the strength of his brigade, as 
 follows : 
 
 Present at this place, rank and file 399 
 
 On command with cattle do. 50 
 
l.TFK AND CHAl.'ACTEl^ OP JOHN LACEY. 1^ 
 
 I)o. do. with Captain Henderson and Cap- 
 tain Hmnpheys, in Bucks eoimtj 50 
 
 At Doylestowii, guarding stores 35 
 
 Sick . 64 
 
 On furlough 9 
 
 Deserted. 9 
 
 616 
 
 He rouiained only a few da_ys in camp at White- 
 marsh, when he again moved up toward the Nesha- 
 miny in order to protect the mills along that stream, 
 many of which were grinding grain for the army. 
 Some of them had a large stock of grain and flour on 
 hand, and it was feared the enem.y might make a sud- 
 den foray and destroy them. In order to prevent the 
 cattle, horses and wagons, forage and all kinds of stock 
 falling into the hands of the enemy, Washington de- 
 termined to liave them collected and driven to the 
 American army ; giving certilicates to the owners, so 
 that the deserving might, at some future day, receive 
 pay. The property of the Tories, in particular, was 
 to be taken care of. For the accomplishment of this 
 object, General Wayne issued an order to General La- 
 cey, dated " Bensalem, March 15, 1778," command- 
 ing him to order his troops on this service, and to su- 
 perintend the execution thereof. This was a delicate 
 duty, for he had to deal witli friends and foes alike, 
 but he discharged this, as he did every other duty, to 
 ihe entire satisfaction of the commander-in-chief. 
 
 We insert the following order, because it has refer- 
 10 
 
74 (AVE .\\i> ('J[A(;a('THi; (»f .u>iis lackv, 
 
 euce to the eolloctiou of liorses meiitioiied above, and 
 also mentions certain villainies practiced upon the in- 
 habitants. It is interesting to the people of Bucks 
 county, because of the locality where it was written. 
 
 "• r.UIOADE ORDERS. 
 
 '^DoYLESTOWN, March 19th, 1778. 
 
 "• I'd/'o/, Salon; C'ou/ifcj'su/n, AVilniington. 
 
 " Officer of the day, to-morrow, 3Iajor Mitchell. 
 
 "Adjt. of York connty, detail 3 captains, 3 ser- 
 geants, 4 corporals, 48 privates. 
 
 "All horses taken from the inhabitants, not received 
 by Colonel Butler, are to be sent to Zenas Fell's, where 
 a gnard is appointed to have the care of thezn until 
 the owners come and take them away. 
 
 "•A party of men is to be sent through the neighbor- 
 hood to search for horses, which it is reported some 
 villains, belonging to the militia, have concealed in 
 order to convey away by stealth, wdien their time ex- 
 pires. Should any be found so concealed, they are tO' 
 be brought to camp, with the persons in whose custody 
 they are found. The persons are to be confined ; who 
 shall suffer the severest punishment. 
 
 " No person whatever is to take any horse, on any 
 pretense, from any of the inhabitants, on the penalty 
 of suffering for tlieii" conduct. 
 
 " The Cleneral expects that neither field nor inferior 
 officers will quarter out of camp. 
 
 (Signed) "J. Lacey, Brig. Genl.'' 
 
 About this period the duly ;ilso devolved upon Oeu- 
 
XAVl: AN)) ClIAUACrKlJ (»;■' .JollX LACEV. ti) 
 
 eral Lacey of aiTestiiig several proniiiient citizens of 
 Bucks county, for their adherence to and holdinoj in- 
 tercourse with the British. In most cases they were 
 liberated on their parol, being bound, witli good securi- 
 ties, in several hundred pounds, not t(^ go out of the 
 county, nor hold conmiuni(iation with the enemy. We 
 do not deem it advisable to mention the names of any 
 of these persons, because their descendants are now 
 living in the county, are people of good standing, and 
 are not responsible for the treason of their ancestors. 
 
 On the 19th of March he placed Lieutenant Kob- 
 ert Vanhorn, of ►Southampton township, Bucks county, 
 in command of a troop of horse, with the following 
 instructions for his guidance: 
 
 "Camp, March 19th, 1778. 
 
 ^' Sir:— You are to proceed with your troop toward 
 the enemy's lines— to keep on the roads leading to 
 Bristol, to Smithtield, the York and the Whitemarsh 
 roads. You will keep constant patrols on these roads, 
 by night and day ; and if the enemy should come out, 
 yoi\ will immediately send me notice. If your parties 
 should meet with any j^eople going to market, or any 
 persons whatever going to the city, and they endeavor 
 to make their escape, you will order your men to fire 
 upon the villains. You will leave such on the roads, 
 their bodies and their marketing lying together. This 
 I wish you to execute on the first offenders you meet, 
 that they may" be a warning to others. You are to let 
 no person whatever go to the city. You are to stay 
 on the lines until further orders. You will send me 
 word of TOur movenients, and what information von 
 
if) iJFi'; AXi) ciiAiiArTKf; of .U'inx lacey. 
 
 t-aii get of tlie enenij, every clay, by one of the troo|/.. 
 " I am, sir, your iDost obtlt., 
 (8igned) "J. Lacey. 
 
 " To M\\ Vanhohn, 
 
 " Commanding tlie Light-Horse,*' 
 
 During this season General Lacey and liis small party 
 A\ere very active in scouring the country for many 
 miles around Philadelphia. His force at some times. 
 was so much reduced that he was obliged to keep them 
 in one body, and headed them himself, in expeditions- 
 against the enemy. Ho was closely watched by the 
 British and Tories, and, as the spring opened, they 
 were more active in their exertions to (;apture him. In 
 order to avoid snrprise, he frequently changed his 
 camp, and would not remain in some localities more 
 than two or three days. By l)eing thus constantly on 
 his guard, he escaped the parties of the enemy who 
 were sent out to surprise him. 
 
 By the end of March, the intercourse with the enemy 
 in Philadelphia had reached such a height, and become 
 so injurious to the cause of the colonies, that it was 
 held in serious consideration to depopulate the whole 
 country between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, 
 for fifteen miles ai-ound the city, by compelling the in- 
 liabitants, by force, to remove back l)eyond that dis- 
 tance. A conference was held on this subject, at the 
 Spring House, on the 23d instant, between Generals 
 Mcintosh and Lacey, and several field-otiicers of the 
 army. They agreed upon the benefit the cause of In- 
 dependence would derive from the measure, and Gen- 
 (^"al ]Mclntosli was authorized to lay the plnn hefu-o 
 
LIFE AM) CIIAKA. j'Kli OF JolIX LACEV. i i 
 
 General Washington, on his return to head-quarters. 
 General Lacey also addressed him on the same sub- 
 ject, on the 29tli, in which communication appears the 
 following paragraph, showing the had condition of 
 things. 
 
 "Every kind of villainy is carried on b}^ the [jeople 
 near the enemy's lines; and, from their general con- 
 duct, I am induced to believe but few real friends to 
 America are left within ten miles of Philadelphia. 
 Those wlio have appeared the least active, have either 
 been made prisoners by the enemy, or compelled to fly 
 to some other part of the countrj^ for safety. I have 
 a number of notorious offenders now confined, who 
 were taken by my parties, going to market." 
 
 When the people in the district to be depopulated 
 heard what was contemplated, they were much alarm- 
 ed, and sent two deputies to General Lacey, whom he 
 designates as "R. V." and "Mr. P.," to lay their 
 protest before him. They protested strongly against 
 the measure, and said teams enough to remove one- 
 third of their effects could not be procured in all that 
 country ; that it was cruel and distressing to send them 
 away from their homes, and, if he would ahow them 
 to remain on their farms, they would submit t(j every 
 insult from the two armies. Washington, in reply, 
 said "the measure is rather desirable than practica- 
 ble," and, although he was aware of the good effect it 
 would produce, if it could be carried out, he thought 
 the obstacles too many and too serious to give his as- 
 sent to the measure proposed. 
 
 1)1 liis various scouts ( icneral Laccv luul made sev- 
 
7s J.irK AND CllAUACTKi; OF JOllN J.ACKV. 
 
 eral prisoners, priiicipallj persons wlio were cai-rjino' 
 marketing to the enemy, and some wlio had acted as 
 guides to them in their incursions into the country. 
 By direction of the Commander-in-Ohief, many of these 
 were tried by court-martial, some found guilty and 
 sentenced to be executed. One notorious oftender, 
 called "J. ]> ," an inhabitant of Smithtield, Phil- 
 adelphia county, was sentenced to be hanged, but es- 
 caped from the jtrovost guard on the morning of the 
 20th of April, and w^ent over to the enemy. He men- 
 tions two other persons as notorious characters— c ailed 
 
 "J. M' " and "J. AV- ," both of whom were 
 
 tried. The sentence of many Avas afterwards remitted, 
 and they were sent to the Lnnca.ster jail, to be placed 
 at hard labor. He convened a court-martial, of whicli 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Sidman was president, at North 
 Wales, on the 21st of April, to try the otKcer who suf- 
 fered the said "J. B ^" to escape, and after a full 
 
 hearing he was found guilty of tlie charge, and sen- 
 tenced to be cashiered for such notorious neglect of 
 duty. He was a captain in the Northampton county 
 militia; and was dismissed from the camp, in accord- 
 ance with the finding of the court. This severity was 
 deemed advisable, because of late several prisoners had 
 been sufiiered to escape, and it was thought necessary 
 to make an example of some one who neglected his 
 duty. On the 9tli of x4.pril he writes to General Wash- 
 ington from Doylestown, and reports a severe skir- 
 mish between some of his troops stationed at Smith- 
 Held, and a large party of the British. The enemy 
 came up on tlu' UKirning of the Sth, with a large force. 
 
LIH-: AND C'llAtiACTKl.' oF JollX LACl-V. 71) 
 
 and attacked Captain Hnniplirey's command, consist- 
 ing of a small party of continentals, before daylight. 
 Tliej were supposed to be three hundred strong, 
 and took the Americans entirely by surprise. Captain 
 Humphre}^ narrowly escai)ed being captured, as he and 
 some of his men ran out the back as the British enter- 
 ed the front door. He collected a small party hastily, 
 and opened a severo tire upon the enemy, who, after 
 skirmishing awhile, retired with considerable loss. 
 The loss of the Americans w^as one killed, two w^ound- 
 ed and one officer taken prisoner. The same morning 
 a party of his scouts fell in with a brxly of the enemy, 
 on the York road, near Doctor Beimev^ille's, and suf- 
 fered a loss of live killed and two badly wounded. 
 About the same time, the enemy made an incursion up 
 to Bristol and captured Colonel Penrose and some 
 other officers, and returned again to the city without 
 meeting with any opposition. After General Lacey 
 discharged the Northampton county inilitia, whose 
 time of service had expired, he moved with his 
 whole force toward Philadelphia, on learning that a 
 body of the enemy had tiled off from the Germantown 
 road toward the York road. He marched as far as 
 Edge Hill, when finding the enemy had returned to 
 the city, he moved his little command up the York 
 road to the Billet, where he encamped. He sent an 
 order for the baggage-wagons he had left at North 
 Wales to join him at the ]3illet the same night ; but 
 failing to start until the next morning, they were met 
 on their way down by a party of the enemy's horse by 
 which tlicy sustained a loss of one wagon, and eiohf 
 
80 Lin: AXI) ClIAlJACTEn ol' loUX LAcEV. 
 
 horses, besides having several men severely wounded, 
 and five or six made prisoners. 
 
 The time of two- thirds of his men was now about 
 to expire, and from the smallness of the nundiers left 
 him, he found it absolutely necessary to draw in his 
 scouts and to keep his force in one body. Two classes 
 of the militia, from the counties of Philadelphia, Bucks, 
 York, and Cumberland, were ordered into the field to 
 supply the place of those whose time of service had 
 expired, but they did not reach camp until the others 
 had left. From this cause his force had dwindled 
 down, on the 27tli day of April, to fifty-three men fit 
 for duty; and in reply to (General Armstrong, wdio 
 wrote him on the 21st, making inquiries about his 
 numbers, and other matters of interest connected with 
 the service, he makes the following statement of his 
 forces for some time past. He says: 
 
 "My numbers, after General Potter left me, de- 
 creased every day, until tlie_y were reduced to the 
 amount mentioned in my former letter. On the 24th 
 of February, my returns from York and Cumberland 
 amounted to four hundred and fifty, rank and file, fit 
 for duty ; JMarch 4tli, I had two hundred and seventy- 
 eight j>resent, fit for duty, one hundred and twenty- 
 four on command; March 21st, three hundred and fif- 
 teen present fit for duty, forty-seven on conmiand ; 
 ^Uarch 2Gth, one hundred and sixty-two present fit for 
 duty, one hundred and forty-eight on command ; 
 April 6th, one hundred and fifty-eight present fit for 
 dnty, one hundred and ten on command ; Ajiril 19th, 
 two liuiidrcd and tiftoon present fit for duty, tliii'ty-six 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 81 
 
 v>n command ; April 27th, fifty-three present fit for 
 duty, none on command. 
 
 " This is the trne state of my brigade at these 
 different times, except a party of horse from Bucks 
 and Philadelpliia counties, of between fifteen and 
 twenty, whose times have all expired, and who have 
 left me." 
 
 The numbers seem very small, indeed, for the 
 amount of duty imposed upon them. They had to 
 watch the five main roads leading into the city, with 
 a detachment for head-quarters, and another to guard 
 the stores at Doylestown ; besides frequent scouts had 
 to be sent off in various directions on extra duty, 
 11 
 
UVE ANI» ClIAlfAC'l'KR ()V .(OUK LArilV^ 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 <L^I-|T the conclusioii of the last cluiptei", we left Geii- 
 ^^^ eral Lacey, with tlie main body of his troops, in 
 camp at the Billet, which place he made his head- 
 quarters. Here he was attacked, on tlie morning of 
 the first day of ^lay, at daylight, by a large body of 
 tlie enemy, suffered a considerable loss in killed, 
 wounded and prisoners, and was obliged to retreat 
 some distance up the country. 
 
 The Crooked Billet, as the place was then called, 
 now known by the name of Hatborougb, was at that 
 time a small village of about a dozen or fifteen houses, 
 situate on the n»ain road (the York road) leading 
 from Philadelphia to New York, and about sixteen 
 miles from tlie former cnty. T'he American troops 
 were encamped in or near a large wood at the n[)per 
 end of the village, on the lann of Baniuel Irvine, and 
 now owned by the estate of John ]>eans, deceased. 
 In his front it extended some three or four hundred 
 yards along the York road, ami a greater distance 
 to the east, containing about twenty-live acres. In 
 
LIFK AXl) (lIAltAcrKi: oF .(ollN I.ACKY. SH 
 
 his rear there was mi open cultivateil country iiioro 
 than half a mile, to the county line, with a small body 
 of timber about midway to that road. General Lacey 
 was quartered in a stone house, about three hundred 
 yards in the rear of his encampment, on the opposite 
 side of the road. It was then owned by a man named 
 Gilbert, but now belongs to John ]\I. Hogeland. 
 There is some difference of opinion as to the house 
 which Lacey was quartered in ; some contending it 
 was that of Asa Comly, some distance higher up 
 the road, and then owned by John Tompkins. But 
 from the most reliable information we have been able 
 to obtain, as well as the situation of the premises, we 
 feel confident he w^as quartered in the honse of jMr. 
 Hogeland. The wood in front of the encampment 
 still shows traces of spoliation by the troops, in order 
 to obtain fuel ; the new growth of trees, in the place of 
 those cut down, being much smaller than in other parts 
 of the wood. He was joined the evening before the 
 attack by a body of militia, without arms, who fared 
 badly the next day. The exact number of the Ameri- 
 cans has never been rightly known, but is supposed 
 not to have exceeded four hundred in all, who were 
 raw militia. General Lacey took the necessary mea- 
 sures to prevent a surprise, and if his orders had 
 been carried out by those whose duty it was, he 
 would not have been found by the enemy unprepared 
 to meet them. The evening before he gave orders 
 for the patrols, under two commissioned otheers, of 
 whom Lieutenant Neilson was one, to leave the camp 
 between two and three o'clock the next morning, 
 
84 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 scour the country toward the enemy's hues, and report 
 to him the first intimation of theif approach. They 
 did not leave camp, however, until near day light, 
 and when they met the enemy neg-lected to give the 
 alarm. Under these circumstances the Americans 
 Avei'e taken entirely by surprise. 
 
 The counnander-in-chief ot the British army had, for 
 some time, leemed it of importance to attack and 
 disperse the force of General Lacey, which had, 
 during the winter and spring, done them much harm, 
 by stopping the communication between the city and 
 countr}", and preventing people carrying their pro- 
 duce to market. Major Siuicoe, tlie commander of 
 the " Queen's Rangers," an active refugee corps which 
 had made many incui-sions into the surrounding coun- 
 try, had it in contemplation to surprise Lacey's camp. 
 He laid his plans before Colonel Balfour, and asked 
 his co-operation. Spies were immediatel}^ sent into 
 Lacey's neighborhood, and all his movements closely 
 watched ; every information which they obtained 
 being immediately communicated to these British 
 officers. In a few days after their lirst interview, 
 Balfour informed Simcoe that General Lacey was 
 to be at the Billet, with his corps, on the first day 
 of May, and furnished him such other information 
 as would be of service to hini. 8imcoe laid this 
 intelligence before General Howe, who approved his 
 plans and gave him permission to attack the Ameri- 
 cans ; and, from his superior knowledge of the country 
 and the roads, upon him devolved the duty of making 
 the necessai'v arrangements to insure success. His 
 
LIFE AND CHAEACTEE OF JOHN LACEY. 85 
 
 plan was, to march with tlie Queen's Ranger's, and 
 attack General Lacey on the left and rear, and thus 
 cut oif his communication with the upper country ; 
 while another body of British troops should ambuscade 
 themselves in a wood, on the road from the Billet 
 to the Horsham meeting-house, wliich runs in the 
 direction of the Valley Forge. It Avas supposed, 
 if Lacey should be defeated, he would march toward 
 the main army, ard that this ambuscade, placed in 
 the wood for that purpose, would effectually cut oif 
 his retreat Simcoe was to begin the attack, and, 
 when the firing of the Rangers should be heard in 
 the rear, another body was to move up in front, thus 
 placing the Americans between two fires ; and, acting 
 in concert, it was supposed they would be able to 
 accomplish their object without nmch dithculty. In 
 addition to the Queens' Rangers, under Simcoe, there 
 was selected for this enterprise a large detachment 
 of light infantry and cavalry, the whole under the 
 command of Lieut. -Colonel Abercrombie. Spare 
 horses were led, in order to mount the infantry, if 
 necessary for greater expedition. Having made 
 all the preliminary arrangements, the morning of 
 the first day of May was fixed upon as the time for 
 attack, and the troops ordered to hold themselves 
 in readiness. 
 
 The British troops left Philadelphia the afternoon 
 before, under the direction of guides who were well 
 'acquainted with the country. They marched out 
 the Second Street road, and up the JMiddle road to 
 the village of Huntingdon, v>'here the force separated. 
 
86 I.IFK ANIJ CJIAKACTKR OF JOHN LACEA'. 
 
 The main body, composed of the light infantry and 
 most of the cavah'y, commanded by Abercrombie 
 in person, struck across to the York road, and so 
 on up to Horsham, in order to form the proposed 
 ambuscade, and also attack Lacey in front. Simcoe 
 continued his march up the Middle road, occasional Ij^ 
 making a detoui- to avoid such places as Lacey's men 
 might chance to be at, thus prolonging the distance 
 he had to march. He turned to tlie left into the 
 Byberry road, along which he marched to what is 
 now known as Lloyd's Corner, when he again changed 
 his direction, by turuing into the road which runs 
 from the Willow (rrove to the county line. At the 
 lirst cross-roads, where Archil>ald Banes used to 
 live, he again turned to the left, and came out into 
 the county line a short distance above the eight-square 
 school-house. Just above this point he struck across 
 the fields, on the farm of Isaac Boileau, the nearest 
 way to the Billet. The instructions to Captain Kerr's 
 division, which marched with Major Simcoe, were 
 to seize and barricade Lacey's quarters, and hold them 
 as a rallying point, in case of any discomfiture. They 
 were exceedingly anxious to capture Lacey, and 
 placed spies in the apple-trees around his quarters 
 to watch his movements: but, fortunately, he escaped 
 without being discovered. Simcoe, during the night, 
 fell in with Captain Thomas's company of armed 
 refugees, which he would certainly have mistaken for 
 Americans, and attached them, had lu; not received 
 information about twilight that they were in the 
 neighborhood. But for this knowledge, a serious 
 
LIFE AND C'HARACTEU OF JOHN EACEY. 87 
 
 episode to the British might have happened. Both 
 parties marched as rapidly as possible, in order to 
 reach then- destination while under cover of darkness, 
 aiid commence the attack at or near the same time. 
 Simcoe marched with such caution, that he escaped 
 all Lacey's patrols; but daylight appeared when he 
 was yet some distance from the American camp. The 
 officer who commanded the party in ambush met one 
 of the patrols within two miles of Lacey's camp, 
 who, when fired upon, fled in a contrary direction. 
 The patrol which left camp about daylight was 
 divided into three parts ; that under Lieutenant Neil- 
 Bon took the right hand road from the Billet, leading 
 to Horsham, and on which the ambush was placed. 
 After proceeding al)out a mile and a half, they tirst 
 saw the enemy's light-horse, when they took post 
 in a wood to tire upon them when they should come 
 within reach. Soon they saw a party of foot following, 
 when Lieutenant Neilson ordered a soldier, luimed 
 John ]Morrow, to return to camp and give the alarm. 
 He did so, and when he arrived there he found the 
 men already paraded behind the camp, and fell into 
 ranks with them; he was too late to save them 
 from surprise. Another scout, which went in a different 
 direction, was commanded by Ensign Laughlin. 
 They marched about two miles without discovering 
 any thing of the enemy ; wlien they returned 
 and were close to the camp when they first heard the 
 firing. Abercrombie, fearing he should not be in 
 time to support Simcoe, detached the cavalry and 
 mounted infantry to the place of ambuscade, in 
 
88 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 advance, and with the main body marched up the 
 York road, to attack the ilmericans in front. From 
 the manner in which Lacey was snrrounded, Amber- 
 crombie mast have detached a party up the Easton 
 road to turn his right flank and fall npon his rear, 
 in concert with the Queen's Rangers. They propably 
 came into the York road where the county line crosses 
 it, and were the cavalry which attacked him on the 
 left flank, soon after he commenced his retreat. He 
 mentions, in his dispatch to General Armstrong, that 
 one party of the enemy passed the cross-roads in his 
 rear before his scout got there. 
 
 The first intimation General Lacey had of the 
 approach of the eneuiy was about daylight in the 
 morning, when they were within al)Out two hundred 
 yards of his camp. He was in bed at the time, and 
 had barely time to dress, mount his horse and join his 
 men, before they were within musket-shot of liis 
 quarters. He discovered the enemy in front and 
 rear, near the same time, who opened a fire upon 
 him, some being sheltered behind fences and in houses, 
 His situation was a critical one, and as there was no 
 time left for speculation as to t]ie course he should 
 pursue, he was obliged to act upon the emergency 
 of the occasion. Seeing himself almost surrounded, 
 and the enemy's force mnch superior to his own, he 
 deemed it injudicious to make a stand against them, 
 and therefore ordered a retreat. J To moved in 
 cohuuns to the left, in the direction of a wood, with 
 his wagons following in his rear, across open fields and 
 in fall view of the enemy, wlio were in pursuit. He 
 
lAVE AND CtllAKACTEll OF JOHN LACEY. 89 
 
 relates that when he emerged into tlie open fields, 
 And a large bodj of the enemy's horse appeared in 
 front, his men gave him an anxious look, as much as 
 to ask him what they should do. He told them to 
 "*' deliver their fire and push on." After marching a 
 short distance, his flanking parties first began to 
 exchange shots with the enemy, whicli grew warmer 
 and warmer as they advanced, and soon he was hotly 
 engaged. He moved on across the fields, in tolerable 
 order, until he reached the wood, where he was 
 obliged to make a stand, to open his way, for by this 
 time all the parties of the enemy had come u[), and 
 iiow attacked him on all sides. In his report of the 
 action to Washington, he says; "I kept moving 
 on till I made the wood, when a party of both 
 horse and foot came up the Byberry road, and attacked 
 my right flank— the party from the Billet fell upon 
 my rear— the horse from the rear of ray camp came 
 upon my left flank, and a body of horse appeared 
 directy in front." The enemy now began to concen- 
 trate all their force upon the wood, and being still 
 much exposed, and having suflfered considerable loss, 
 General Lacey thought it would be safer to move on, 
 wdiicli he did with the loss of all his baggage, which 
 fell into the enemy's hands. It was Simcoe with 
 his rangers and cavahy Mdio appeared on Lacey's 
 right ^flank and front, about the time he reached the 
 wood. When he had quitted the main road and 
 struck across the fields, to march directly to the Billet, 
 •and was informing the oflicers of the plan of attack, 
 lie heard firing in the direction of Abercorabie's detach- 
 12 
 
90 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JolIN LACEY, 
 
 ment, and exclaimed, "The dragoons have discovered 
 ns," and marched forward at a rapid pace to join 
 in the action. He came upon the riglit flank of the 
 retreating Americans, as it has heen ah'cady men- 
 tioned, in liis march intercepting small parties of 
 the flying militiamen, who were mostly killed. While 
 he pnshed on for the main body of the Americans, 
 he dispatched thirty dragoons to intercept the baggage 
 of General I^acey, which they succeeded in doing, 
 as it was crossing the fields. As the Americans were 
 marching through the wood Major Simcoe endeavored, 
 by a ruse, de gueri-e, to induce them to lay down their 
 arms. He rode up within hailing distance, and com- 
 manded them to surrender. As they did not stop, 
 he next gave the commands, in a loud tone, " make 
 ready" — ^" present" — " fire" — hoping to deceive them 
 into the belief that he had a large body of troops with 
 him. In this he was disappointed ; they moved on as 
 before, and paid no other attention to him than to bow 
 their heads at the word — "fire." They continued to 
 retreat, skirmishing as they marched, for nearly two 
 miles, the British hanging upon their flanks and rear, 
 and now and then a man falling — killed or wounded. 
 They passed across the farm of Thomas Craven, now 
 owned by Mr. Finney, thence through what is now 
 the village of Johnsville, in Warminster township, 
 Bucks county, and so on nearly to Hart's Corner, 
 on the Bristol road, Avhere they suddenly turned to 
 the left into a wood, and thus escaped the pursuit. 
 Thence they struck across the country to the York 
 rord, which they came into just below the Cross Road&, 
 
LIFE AND CHAItACTEU OF JUlliN LACEV. ^)1 
 
 now Harts ville, and moved down toward the Billet, 
 hoping to find the enemy, in the hour of victory, off 
 their guard, and thus be able to gain some advantage 
 over them. They, however, found upon their ar- 
 rival at the scene of action that the enemy had retired, 
 carrying with them most of their killed and wounded. 
 The British followed the retreating Americans until 
 they made the sudden turn to the left, when they 
 gave up the pursuit and returned to the field to 
 gather up the spoils and prepare to return to the city. 
 The enemy behaved in the most cruel and inhuman 
 manner to our wounded men, whom they found 
 lying on the field, many of whom they mangled 
 shockingly and burnt in buckwheat straw. The latter 
 circumstance, for the sake of humanity and the credit 
 of the English name, we would fain disbelieve, but 
 there is such undoubted evidence to sustain it, that we 
 are fully convinced of its truth. On the farm of 
 Thomas Craven, in a field near the county line, was a 
 large heap of buckwheat straw. Garret Kroeson, 
 deceased, who then lived in the neighborhood, says a 
 skirmishing party of Americans, much fatigued, crept 
 into this straw about sunrise in the morning, when a 
 Tory who knew their secret resting place, informed the 
 British. They set fire to the straw while the Ameri- 
 cans were asleep, burnt some to death on the spot, 
 and others were so badly burned they died in a short 
 time. They also set fire to the wounded, many ot 
 whom had dragged themselves to the straw for shelter, 
 while they were yet alive, and caused them to expire 
 in the most excrutiating agony. We have abundant 
 
92 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACET. 
 
 proof of this. General Lacej, in his letter to General 
 Armstrong, of the date of the 7th of May, speaks of 
 this cirenmstance in the following manner : " Many 
 of the nnfortnnate who fell into the merciless hands or 
 the British, were more cruelly and inhumanly butchered.- 
 Some were set on fire with buckwheat straw, and 
 others had their clothes burnt on their backs. Some' 
 of the surviving sufferers say they saw the enemy set 
 lire to tlie wounded while yet alive, who struggled to- 
 put it out but were too weak, and expired under this 
 torture. I saw those lying in the buckwheat straw — 
 they made a most melancholy appearance. Others I 
 saw, who, after being wounded with a ball, had received 
 near a dozen wounds with cutlasses and bayonets. I 
 can find as many witnesses to the proof of these 
 cruelties as there were people on the spot, and that 
 was no small number who came as spectators." The 
 loss of the Americans was twentj'-six killed, and eiglit 
 or ten wounded, most of whom fell wdiile marching 
 across the open fields; several pj-isoners were taken, 
 but it is not known how many. The loss of the 
 British could never be ascertained, as they carried 
 the killed and wounded with them to the city — it 
 must, however have been considerable. One field 
 ofiicer is snpposed to have fallen, and another officer 
 was- severely wouaided in the knee, near the house 
 of Thomas Craven, into which he was carried. Major 
 Simcoe admits that some- of his rangers were wounded, 
 as was also the horse of his orderly hussar. He like- 
 wise mentions that the shoe-buckles of one Captain 
 McGill probably saved the life of that ofiicer. General 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 93 
 
 Lacey states that he captured two of their horses, and 
 that five were left dead on the field. Of the Americans, 
 two ofticers of the patj-ols were killed and also a Captain 
 Downey, who was horribly mangled, and whose 
 obituary notice we insert. The baggage captured 
 from the Americans, was taken to Philadelphia and 
 sold, and the proceeds divided among the men of 
 the expedition. It yielded one dollar to each man. 
 
 The following obituary notice of Captain Downey 
 appeared in the Pennsylvania Packet, in Ma3% 1778: 
 
 "Plumstead, Bucks County, May 4th, 1778. 
 "Among the slain near the Crooked Billet, on Friday 
 the first instant, fell the gallant Captain Juo. Downey, 
 late school master in Philadelphia, whose worth entitles 
 him to a place in the annals of America. He took an 
 active and early ])art in our struggle for liberty. He 
 went as a volunteer to Jersey last winter was a yean 
 where he behaved gallantly in the battles of Trenton 
 and Princeton. He being chosen captain of a 
 company of Philadelphia militia, served his tour 
 of duty, two months, last summer, at Billingsport,, 
 when, on account of his superior knowledge of mathe- 
 matics, the Executive Council employed him to make 
 a military survey of the river Delaware, which he 
 performed with great exactness. Since which time he 
 has performed many very important services to hi& 
 country, a love to which prompted him to attempt 
 any thing which promised its welfare. He lately 
 acted as an assistant commissarj^ and in this capacity 
 was with our brave militia when attacked last Friday, 
 From his knowii readiness to fight and bleed for 
 his country', it is more than probable when the attack 
 began he made the attempt to join his countrymen when 
 he was shot throuo-h the shoulder, and that he lav in 
 
94 LIFE AND CHAKACTEK OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 his blood until the enemy returned, when they 
 dispatched him in a cruel manner, for his body 
 was found with one of his hands almost cut off, his 
 head slashed in several places, his skull cut through, 
 his brains coming out at his nose and scattered all 
 around. He was an enlightened patriot, an affection- 
 ate friend, a gallant soldier, a fond husband and 
 an indulgent parent. He had no inheritance to 
 leave, as his little property was left in Philadelphia ; 
 but he has left a sorrowful widow, and five helpless 
 children, in very indigent circumstances. They are 
 worthy the notice of the charitable." 
 
 The dead were collected and buried in one grave, 
 near where they fell, in a field along the county line, 
 and a short distance above Craven's Corner. The 
 wounded were carried to the house of Thomas Craven, 
 near l)y, where they were well taken care of, 
 and remained until they recovered, or were able 
 to be removed to their own homes. After General 
 Lacey had paid the last sad rites of Inunanity 
 to the dead, and had his wounded made comfortable, 
 he took up the line of maich for the Cross-Roads, 
 now Hartsville, v;here he encamped on the north 
 bank of Neshaminy creek, which he considered 
 a very safe position, and of easy defense. 
 
 When the British returned from the pursuit, the^^ 
 rode up to several houses in the village and asked 
 for bread and cheese, but did not tarry a long time, 
 from fear that the Americans might rally and attack 
 them. They plundered some of the houses, and 
 spread great consternation among the inhabitants. 
 A small party of them went to the house of David 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 95 
 
 Marple, a very aged man, and grandfather of Col. 
 David Marple, of Warminster township, Bucks county, 
 and ordered him and his family to catch the chickens 
 for them and have them cooked. He told them he 
 was nnable to do it, when they excused Inm, and 
 ordered his sons and daugliters to catch them, which 
 they were obliged to do. They even compelled them 
 to take the setting hens from their nests. 
 
 The last British soldier was killed in a wood a short 
 distance above what was then known as Hart's Corner, 
 on the east side of the Bristol road. He was chasing 
 an American named Vandyke, and had come witliin a 
 few yards of him, while running through the wood. 
 He snapped one pistol at him, which missed lire. 
 Vandyke, in his alarm, seems not to have recollected 
 that he carried a loaded musket on his shoidder, but 
 was retreating as rapidly as possible, with a fair pros- 
 pect of having his brains blown out by his pursuer. 
 When the dragoon was about drawing his second 
 pistol, it accurred to the Anierican that his gun was 
 loaded, and might in this critical posture of affairs do 
 him some service, Thereupon, without any delay, he 
 took deliberate aim at the Englishuian and shot him 
 dead ; then mounted his horse and rode away to join 
 the main body of Americans. This incident used to be 
 related by Captain Baird, now deceased, who was an 
 officer in the action, and we think an eyewitness to 
 the affair. 
 
 At this period, there lived in the neighborhood of 
 the Billet two men named Van Bnskirk, both of whom 
 bore the title of Captain ; one was noted for l)eing a 
 
96 LIFE AND ClIAEACTER OF JOHN LAC'ET. 
 
 stauneli Whig, and the other was quite as violent aTory* 
 The British knew only of the Whig, andhadlong been 
 anxious to capture him, as he had made himself very 
 obnoxious by his activity in the cause of the colonies. 
 While they were burning the buckwheat straw, many 
 of the neighbors collected there, to see what was going 
 on, and among the number was the Tory Captain Van 
 Buskirk. He was known to those present, and some 
 one of them called him by name. A British officer 
 hearing this, immediately asked him if he was Captain 
 Van Bnskirk. Ho replied that he was, no doubt 
 feeling pleassd that he was thus noticed, and looked for 
 some compliment for his services to King Greorge. Alas ! 
 the poor man was most sadly mistaken, for he was 
 immedixately arrested and placed in irons, being 
 mistaken for the other captain of the same name. He 
 asserted his innocence again and again, and assured 
 them he was the wrong person, and not the Whig Van 
 Buskirk, whom they wanted. But his protestations 
 had no other effect than to raise a laugh at his expense ; 
 they could not be caught in any such trap as that, in 
 •order to allow an arch-rebel to escape, and therefore 
 they held on to liinu His neighbors smiled but said 
 nothing in his behalf — thinking the joke was entirely 
 too good an one to be rectified. They hurried him otf 
 to Philadelphia with them, where they kept him in jail 
 tbr some time, and treated him very badly. At last 
 some persons in the city, who knew him, interested 
 themselves in his behalf, and convinced his captors he 
 was the wrong person, and not the one they wanted. 
 Upon this they set him at lil)erty, and made many 
 
TJFE AND CHAKACTEIt OF JCtHN LACEY. 97 
 
 apologies fur the injury tliey had done him. But it did 
 not cure the wound. He returned home, and ever 
 after was as stanch a Whig as his namesake. The 
 medicine had worked a radical cure. 
 
 Soon after the British had turned into the cross- 
 a:oad at Lloyd's Corner, they stopped at a farm house — 
 lately owned by Captain Kelley of the navy — and roused 
 up the inmates, to procure a guide to show them the 
 nearest way to the Billet ; they were behind their time, 
 and were in great haste. Ayoung man, living with the 
 family, put his head out the window and demanded 
 their business. They told him he must show them the 
 road to the Billet, and ordered him to dress and come 
 down immediately. He refused to go, until they 
 threatened to shoot him if he did not comply with 
 their demand. He told them if he should go, and the 
 Americans caught him, they would certainly kill him, 
 and that he could only show them tlie way on condition 
 that they would furnish him with a fast horse, to 
 enable him to escape if his countrymen should attempt 
 to capture him. This they agreed to, and mounted 
 him on a fleet animal and placed him at the head of 
 the column. He soon found the horse he rode was a 
 very fast one, and watching his opportunity, when he 
 was a short distance in advance, put whip to him and 
 made his escape. They fired their pistols at him, 
 which only increased his speed, but they did not dare 
 pursue him, for fear of falling into an ambush of the 
 Americans ; he therefore got olf without any difficulty. 
 This was related to the writer by the late Judge Watts 
 ■of Bucks county, who saw the man, about daylight, 
 13 
 
98 LIFK AND CUAIiAC'TER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 riding along tlie road wliicli runs from the county 
 line to the Bristol road at the top of his speed. He 
 was witliout hat or coat ; and my informant did not 
 know what was the matter then, but learned the cause 
 of it in a few days. AVhen Judge Watts saw him he 
 was passing through what is now the village of Davis- 
 ville. An ofRcer of Simcoe's column left his horse at 
 the house of Isaac Boileau, a short distance above the 
 eight-square schoolhouse, on the county line, in 
 charge of a negro slave named Moore, and threatened 
 terrible things against him if he should let any of the 
 " ReheW'' take him l)efore his return. Tn a short time 
 a retreating American, hard pressed, came that way, 
 and demanded the horse ; the negro refused to give 
 him up until the soldier made some demonstration of 
 enforcing liis modest recpest, when he surrendered 
 him. The American mounted him and rode away 
 across the fields. Not long afterward the English 
 returned, and the officer came to inquire for his horse, 
 which he saw was gone. The poor black was much 
 alarmed, and as well as he could told him the Ameri- 
 can had forced him to give the horse to him. The 
 Englishman was in a terrible rage when he learned 
 what had taken place, and immediately put the negro 
 under arrest, and carried him along with tlie troops ; 
 but he was released after traveling a few miles, and 
 returned home in safety. This was related to the 
 writer by an eyewitness to the transaction. 
 
 The last American killed was at Hart's Corner. In 
 company with another man, named Cooper, he had 
 retreated alon^- the road which runs from Johnsville to 
 
LIFE AND CHAKACTEli UF JOHN LACEV. 99 
 
 the Bristol road. The main body was in advance of 
 them, and they were sitting side by side on the fence at 
 the end of the road, resting themselves before going 
 into the wood, when two British dragoons, nn observed 
 by them, raised the hill at the house in which General 
 White used to live, and approached within range of 
 t^eir carbines. One of them fired his piece at them, 
 the ball from which struck Cooper's companion, who 
 fell off the fence, dead. Cooper jumped over into the 
 wood, and escaped. The blood remained on the fence 
 for many years. 
 
 Isaac Tompkins relates that he was a small boy at the 
 time of the battle, but remembers the day very distinctly. 
 He then lived with his father, in the building in which 
 Mr. Fretz now keeps store in Hatborough. He had 
 just got up, about sunrise in the morning, when his 
 sister, who had been sent into the garden to plant 
 cucimibers, came running into the house shouting "the 
 British are coming," when tliey looked out and saw a 
 large body of red-coated dragoons marching up the 
 road. These were part of Abercrombie's command, 
 who made the attack in front. 
 
 The late Jonathan Delany used to mention a 
 circumstance he witnessed. He was living at the time 
 in Frankford, through which one detachment of the 
 British troops passed on their return to the city. Among 
 the prisoners w^as an old man, wlio wore on his shoes a 
 pair of large silver l)uckles. They attracted the atten- 
 tion of a soldier, who, as they were marching through 
 the street, left the ranks, and stooped down to tear 
 them off. The old man, who was not disposed to l»e 
 
100 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 robbed of his property, strnck the thief on the heaJ 
 with his fist, and knocked him over on to the ground. 
 The other soldiers who witnessed the act gave a loud' 
 shout in approval of the prisoner's courage. 
 
 Nathan Marple, father of Col. Marple, was then a 
 lad of about sixteen years of age, and lived with his- 
 father in the Billet. He heard the firing early in the 
 morning, and supposing Lacey's men were getting 
 ready to dinll, started across the field to go to them. 
 He had not got far, however, when he saw the British 
 dragoons riding across the fields toward the camp; 
 they had cloaks on, and he could not see their red- 
 coats. He took warning at what he saw, and returned 
 home. He further relates, that he saw an oflicer ride 
 some distance in front of his men, halt, rise up in his 
 stirrups, and look all around as if he were reconnoiter- 
 ing. He immediately heard the report of a gun, and 
 saw the officer fall to the ground. The horse, instead 
 of running away as might be supposed at the loss of 
 his rider, wheeled around and cantered back to his 
 company. 
 
 Mr. Safety Maghee, of Northampton township, 
 Bucks county, a gentleman who died a few years ago 
 nearly ninety-six years of age, gave us the following 
 as his recollection of the action at the Crooked Billet. 
 He says : — 
 
 "In 1778 I was living with my uncle, Thomas 
 Folwell, in Southampton township, in the house where 
 Horatio G. Yerkes now lives. On the morning of 
 the battle of the Billet, now Hatborough, I heard the 
 jirincr verv distinctly, and a black man named Harry 
 
LitE AND CIIAKACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 101 
 
 and myself concluded we would go and see what was 
 going on. I was then about thirteen years old. We 
 started from the house and went directly toward where 
 the firing was. When we came near where Johns- 
 ville now stands, we heard a heavy volley there, which 
 brought us to a halt. The firing was in the woods. 
 The British were in pursuit of our militia and chased 
 them along the road that leads from Jolmsville to the 
 Bristol road, and also through the fields from the 
 Street road to the Bristol road. They overtook the 
 militia in the woods at the corner of the Street road 
 and the one that leads across to the Bristol roatl. 
 When the firing had ceased, we continued on and 
 found thi*ee womided militia-men near the wood ; 
 they appeared to have been wounded by the sword, 
 and were much cut and hacked. When we got to 
 them they were groaning heavily. They died in a 
 little while, and I understood they were buried on the 
 spot. They appeared to be Germans. We then 
 passed on, and in a field near by we saw two horses 
 lying dead — they were British. One ol them was shot 
 in the head, and the gun had been put so near that the 
 hair was scorched. While we were on the field, 
 Harry picked up a cartouch box that h" a been dropped 
 or torn ofi^ the wearer. Shortly after, we met some of 
 the militia returning, and when they saw the black 
 fellow with the cartouch box, they became very much 
 enraged, and accused him of robbing the dead and 
 took it away from him. These dead horses were on 
 the farm of Col. Joseph Hart. Soon pfter this we 
 retnrncd home. The last man wo,s killed on the 
 
102 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 Bristol road, at the end of the road that comes across 
 from Johnsville. A British officer who was woimded 
 in the battle was taken to the house of Samuel Irvin 
 who lived near bj. His wounds were dressed tliere, 
 and he afterward returned with the troops to Phila- 
 delphia. This aifair created a good deal of excitement 
 in tlie neighborhood." 
 
 The news of the battle spread far and near over the 
 country in a few hours, and many of the inhabitants 
 were so much alarmed they hardly dared venture 
 from home that day, until they were aasm'ed the British 
 had returned to Philadelphia. A day or two before, a 
 child of Samuel Flack, who lived in Doylestown, and 
 kept tavern where Corson's hotel now stands, had died, 
 and was to be buried that day at Neshaminy. The 
 people in the neighborhood were so much afraid that 
 only four persons would venture with the corps to the 
 place of burial — two young men and two young 
 women, one of whom was a IMiss Mary Doyle, after- 
 ward a Mrs. Mitchell, and mother of Mrs. Nathaniel 
 Cornell, of Doylestown. They were all mounted on 
 horseback, the men being armed, and carrying the 
 coffin ; and they obtained the fastest horses they could, 
 so they might escape from the enemy if they should be 
 pursued. When they reached the burying ground, 
 the two young men dismounted and buried the body, 
 while the young women remained on horseback, to be 
 ready to fly at the first alarm ; after this duty was 
 performed they remounted and hurried home as rapidly 
 as possible. They could see the smoke from the 
 burning buckwheat-straw as thev rode alone;. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OP JOHN LACEY. 103 
 
 Many have blamed General Lacey for the affair at 
 the Billet ; and those who were hostile to the cause of 
 the colonies endeavored to injure his reputation, by 
 making him responsible for the loss he sustained. 
 This attempt, however, failed, and his conduct receiv^ed 
 the approbation of his superiors. His situation was 
 truly a critical one, and nothing but the coolest judg- 
 ment, and most determined bravery of himself and 
 men, saved them from an entire defeat, and the cap- 
 ture of his wdiole force. Throughout the whole 
 affair he shows himself to have been a man of more 
 than ordinary capacity for command, and justly 
 covered himself with fresh laurels. In no wdse is he 
 answerable for the sudden surprise. The place he 
 selected for his camp was an eligible one, and of 
 some natural defense ; and he took every precaution 
 the evening before to obtain the earliest information 
 of the approach of the enemy. The officers to whom 
 he had intrusted the duty of patroling the roads 
 leading to his camp disobeyed his orders, and instead 
 of being out upon duty were in camp ; and afterward, 
 when they did discover the enemy in time to alarm the 
 camp, they neglected to do so, and hence the surprise 
 was complete. The most vigilant officers are liable 
 thus to be deceived by their subalterns, and it would 
 be unjust indeed to blame the commander f )r such 
 inattention to duty on the part of his subordinates. 
 From this cause General Wayne was surprised at the 
 Paoli, the night after the battle of Brandywine ; and 
 many other distinguished commanders have suffered 
 severe losses in the same manner. The only 2:ood 
 
104 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 rule by which to judge military officers is by what 
 they accomplish ; and applying this standard to 
 General Lacey his actions will bear the closest scrutiny. 
 His camp of four hundred men was surprised and 
 surrounded, at daylight, by a force of more than three 
 times as many British troops— he had raw militia — the 
 €nemy were veterans, inured to war. In spite of this 
 disparity of force and circumstances, he formed his 
 little Spartan band into columns, and cut his way 
 through the enemy, with the small loss of only about 
 thirty-five men killed and wounded. He had to 
 march a considerable distance across on open country, 
 and fought every foot of the way, being pressed at the 
 same time in front and rear, and on both flanks. We 
 are astonished he was able to extricate himself at all 
 from his perilous situation ; and it seems quite like a 
 miracle he did not fall into the enemy's hands with 
 his whole force. So highly was his conduct ap- 
 preciated by the Executive Council, that Timothy 
 Matlack, Esq., the Secretary, wrote him on the 16th of 
 May to the following effect : " Your conduct is highly 
 approved ; and your men have justly acquired great 
 reputation by their bravery." This commendation 
 had some meaning ; and, in addition, all the well 
 wishers of the cause of liberty applauded the conduct 
 of himself and men. The enemy also tacitly acknowl- 
 edged his superior skill and courage, for Lieut. Col. 
 Simcoe, in his account of the expedition, says they 
 failed in the object they had in view, which was to 
 capture General Lacey and his whole force. Hence, 
 the British, in reality, sufi'ered a defeat, althougli they 
 
l.TFE AND C'llAKACTEU OF JOIllS LACEY. 105 
 
 iremained masters of the field. With this evideiute 
 'before them, who will deny to General Lacey great 
 honor as a brave and skillful officer ? 
 
 As soon as General Lacey was fixed in his new 
 ■camp at the Neshaminy, he ordered a general court- 
 martial to try the officers of his scouts for disobedience 
 of orders and neglect of duty on the morning of the 
 surprise and attack at tlie Billet. It convened at 
 camp, May the 4th, 1778, and was composed of twelve 
 officers ; Colonel Smith was president, and WilHam 
 Findley, afterward a distinguished politician and 
 governor of the State, was the judge-advocate. The 
 two officers tried, were Lieutenant Neilson and Ensign 
 Laughlin : the former was found guilty of the charge 
 laid against him, and sentenced to be casliered, which 
 was carried into efi:*ect ; the latter was acquitted and 
 ordered to his regiment for duty. Besides these two 
 officers several persons were tried before the same 
 court-martial, for various offenses — some being soldiers, 
 and others citizens who were charged with holding 
 intercourse with the enemy. Several were found 
 .guilty, some of whom were sentenced to be whipped, 
 and others to be confined in the jail at Lancaster. 
 
 General Lacey continued his camp at the Neshaminy, 
 near the Cross-Roads, until he was relieved from the 
 command. General Washington writes him from the 
 Valley Forge, on the 11th day of May, announcing to 
 him the return of General Potter from the westward, 
 who was appointed to supercede him in the command 
 of the Pennsylvania militia, and requests that he will 
 4-emain with him. a few davs, to give him some knowl- 
 14 
 
106 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY, 
 
 edge of the roads and make him acquainted with those 
 on whom he could rely as guides, for intelligence, etc. 
 Lacey, as he w^as desired by the commander-in-chief, 
 remained a few days in camp, wdth General Potter, 
 to give him the necessary information to enable him to 
 operate with effect in the surrounding country. Gen. 
 Potter shortly afterward marched with the militia nearer 
 to Philadelphia, and left Col. Watts, from Cumberland, 
 in command of the troops in Bucks county. Lacey left 
 camp the 5th of June, after returning thanks to the 
 troops that had been under his command for their good 
 conduct, and retired to his home in Buckingham. 
 Although he had now no command according to his 
 rank, he was as active as ever in the cause of his 
 country. He continued to discharge the important 
 duties of sub-lieutenant of the county of Bucks, and 
 exerted himself to keep up an efficient organization of 
 the militia, and also to rouse up his fellow-citizens to 
 sustain tlie cause of their country against the common 
 enemy. 
 
 In the spring of 1778, the British government began 
 to fear for the safety of the royal army cpiartered in 
 Philadelphia, and therefore ordered the English com- 
 mander to evacuate that city and retire to New York. 
 They crossed the Delaware into New" Jersey, the 18th 
 day of June, and took up the line of march for Amboy. 
 Washington, from his winter-quarters at the Valley 
 Forge, closely watched the movements of the enemy, 
 and, as soon as they made preparations to pass the 
 Delaware, put his army in march to intercept them as 
 they crossed the Jerseys. The more eifectually to 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER UF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 101 
 
 harass the retreating British, Washington called out a 
 large body of the militia of Pennsylvania and New 
 Jei^sey, to hang upon their rear ; and requested Colonel 
 Kirkbride, the lieutenant of Bucks, to have those from 
 that county ready for this duty. For this purpose 
 General Lacey addressed a circular to each one of the 
 colonels of his brigade, urging them to assemble their^ 
 reo-iments as soon as possible, and march in pursmt ot 
 the enemy. He met them at Doylestown, the place ot 
 rendezvous, and did all in his power to hasten their 
 departure for the scene of action; but we have not 
 been able to obtain any information as to the service 
 he or his brigade performed at this trying period in 
 our revolutionary struggle. In the summer of '78, 
 while he was engaged in the arduous military duties 
 that devolved upon him, he received a civil appoint- 
 ment of responsibihty from the Executive Council. It 
 was that of one of the commissioners for the county 
 of Bucks, on confiscated estates ; who were required 
 by law to seize and dispose of the " personal estate and 
 eftects of those who had abandoned their familes or 
 habitations and joined the army of the king of Great 
 Britain." He continued to discharge the duties of this 
 appointment until the fall, when he was elected a 
 member of the Assembly. He took his seat in Novem- 
 ber, and made an active and useful member ol the 
 Legislature. During this time he applied himself 
 closely to his studies, thus endeavoring to make up the 
 deficiency of his youth; but he allowed nothing to 
 interfere with his official duties, and it was only during 
 his leisure moments that he pursued his studies. 
 
108 LIFE AND CHARACTEK OF JOHN f-ACEY. 
 
 Abont this period a fierce party ^^'arfare arose in the 
 State in regard to a change in the Constitution of 1776, 
 which had many bitter opponents at the time of its 
 adoption. The parties at this day were divided on 
 this question ; and so bitter were many of the op- 
 ponents of the Constitution, tliat they even refused to 
 accept office under it. This was the case witb 
 General Cadwallader, who refused the commission 
 of brigadier-general in the Pennsylvania militia. He 
 thought the Constitution was not li1)eral enough in its 
 provisions, and lience opposed its adoption ; which 
 opposition was contimied until they succeeded in 
 having a new one formed, in 1790. The people of 
 Bucks county were opposed to any change, and 
 appear to have had a good deal of feeling on the 
 subject. Soon after General Lacey took his seat as a 
 member of tlie Assembly, he was written to l)y one 
 George Wall, of Solel)ury, who says, among other 
 things, that hv. is well informed, " if any memljer 
 (meaning tlu)se from Bucks) attempts such a measure, 
 he will incur the displeasures of all truelndependenters, 
 to such a degree that lie will be in danger of being 
 tarred and feathered, or plunged into the Delaware." 
 A remonstrance, numerously signed, was forwarded to 
 General Lacey, against any change in tlie Constitution ; 
 but what course he took, Ave do not know positively, 
 though it may be presumed he opposed the measure, 
 as sucli was the sense of the people whom he repre- 
 sented. 
 
 He appears to have returned home to Buckingham 
 the latter part of December, and remained there nntil 
 
LIFE AND CHARAC1EK OF JOIIX r,ACEY. lOi) 
 
 fhe beginning of February, when he again went to 
 Phihiclelphia, to attend to his official duties. While at 
 home he had an opportunity to do further service to- 
 his country, iu counteracting tlie efforts of several 
 Tories to defraud the government. The year before 
 ('78) Washington found it necessary, in order to 
 mount his cavalry for the (coming campaign, and also 
 to supply the artillery and baggage-wagons, to order 
 the inhabitants to bring in their horses on certain 
 days, and at pla(-es named, to have them appraised and 
 turned over to the quarter-master, who was to give a 
 receipt and certificate for tliem, and wliich were to be 
 paid for at some future time. At tlie close of the 
 year Captain ]\I'Calla was ordered to pay for the 
 horses taken in this manner for the use of the Con- 
 tinental army. Many persons, whose horses had been 
 taken from them going to or returning from Philadel- 
 phia, wdiile the British were there, and which were 
 confiscated by the express order of (renei-al A^^Tshing- 
 ton, took advantage of the ignorance of those who 
 were to pay of the circumstances under which they 
 were taken, and presented their claims. Their 
 animals were appraised by some of their Tory neigh- 
 bors, and papers made out to suit the case, and in 
 most instances they were valued at two or three time& 
 their worth. Tliis system of contemplated fraud upon 
 the government came to the knowledge of General 
 Lacey, who exposed the nuitter, and prevented it 
 being carried out. Most, if not all, the horses which 
 had been confiscated were captured by the order of 
 Lacey, and therefore he knew to whom they had 
 
110 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 belonged, and how far tlie owners were gnilty of 
 holding intercourse with the enemy. As soon as he 
 learned what M^as on foot, he wrote a full account of 
 the matter to the proper officers, and thus put them on 
 their guard. His timely warning saved the country 
 several thousand dollars, which would have gone into 
 the pockets of some of the rankest Tories in the 
 county, as a premium for their treason. 
 
 During the year 1779, General Lacey was chosen a 
 member of the Executive Council of the State, then the 
 highest executive authority, and continued as such for 
 that and the t\vo following years. He immediately 
 took his seat in that body, and there, as well as in 
 every other pul)lic station that he filled, was active and 
 useful. He was almost constantly in Philadelphia, 
 attending the sessions of the council, until August of 
 the following year, when he was again called to 
 discharge more active duties in the field. The spring 
 and summer of '80 were a dark and trying period for 
 America. The enemy had almost overrun the South, 
 and brought nearly the whole country under subjection. 
 Charleston fell on the 12th of JMay ; and the defeat of 
 General Gates, at Camden, on the 15th of August 
 following, completed the triumph of the British. In 
 the North things also wore a discouraging appearance, 
 and Washington was beset with pressing difficulties on 
 every side. The army was nuich reduced in strength 
 by the expiration of the time of a large number of the 
 men, who had only been enlisted for a short period. 
 When their time was uj^ they invariably went home, 
 and no inducement could prevail upon them to remain; 
 
LIFE AND CHAHACTER OF JOHN LACEY. Ill 
 
 and the evils of short enlistments were now more fully 
 experience than ever. In addition to this, the military 
 chest was empty, and the ai-niy in want of provisions, 
 which could not beprocured without being talcen from 
 the inhabitants by force. The depreciation of the 
 paper money of Congress had so much reduced the 
 credit of the government, that persons were not 
 wiUing even to make contracts for the supply of the 
 army ; and, at this time, the troops were in actual 
 want. At length the discontent broke out into open 
 mutiny, and several regiments paraded with their arms, 
 witli the intention of marching home, but were finally 
 prevailed upon to remain. The Enghsh commander 
 made every eifort to induce the discontented to join 
 his standard, l)ut without effect ; although their 
 sufferings were great, they had not become so lost to 
 every sense of duty as to be guilty of rank treason. 
 During this period of great trial the State authorities 
 of Pennsylvania made unusual efforts to relieve the 
 sufierings of the army. The Legislature voted liberal 
 appropriations of money to sustain the credit of 
 Congress, and purchased provisions and took all other 
 necessary steps to heal up the difficulties. They 
 adjourned from the first of June to the first of Septem- 
 ber, but before doing so invested the Executive Council 
 with discretionary powers during the recess, even to 
 the extent of declaring martial law throughout the 
 State, if thought necessary. From this it seems extra- 
 ordinary exertions were required to sustain the cause 
 of the colonies. General Lacey was, during this trying 
 period, an active meml)er of the Council, ;ind in his 
 
112 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LAOET. 
 
 •correspondence speaks of the many and serions difficul- 
 ties they had to contend with, and of the great exer- 
 tions they made to meet them. All his letters, both 
 private and pnV)lic, breathe the loftiest spirit of patriot- 
 ism, and exhil)it a love of country that no adversity 
 could shake. 
 
 During these serious difficulties in the army, Wash- 
 ington believing the enemy intended to strike another 
 blow at Pennsylvania, immediately ordered out the 
 militia of tlie State for its defense. When the or- 
 der came fr((in (leueral Washington to call out the 
 mditia. General Lacey was in Philadelphia attending 
 the Council. lie was immediately dispatched into the 
 <;ounties of Bucks and Berks to assemble the troops, 
 being clothed v\dtli full powers for this purpose by the 
 following letter from President Reed : 
 
 "Philadelphia, August 1st, 1780. 
 
 " Dear Sir : — You will please to proceed witli all de- 
 spatch to J>ucks county, to forNvard the troops demanded 
 by General AA^ashiugtoii from that county. In the 
 equipments you will issue such orders of impress for 
 wagons, horses, blankets, arms and accoutrements, as 
 you shall judge necessary at this important crisis, and 
 to whicth all officers, civil and military, will yield due 
 obedience, as they will answer the contrary at their 
 peril. You will tlien proceed to Berks county for the 
 ■same purpose, and with the like powers. After seeing 
 the men in proper foi'wardness, you will then return to 
 this city for further consultation on the measures neces- 
 -sary for the troops, and in the meantime you will give 
 -such directions to Colonel Fanner, the conimissary of 
 
LIFE AND CHABACTEK OP JOHN LACEY. 113 
 
 the State, and to the deputy quartermaster, with re- 
 spect to your stores and the transportation of your 
 baggage, as you judge necessary and suitable to your 
 rank. 
 
 " I am, su*, your obedient, 
 
 " and very humble servant, 
 (Signed.) " Jos. Eeed, President, 
 
 " The Hon. General Lacey." 
 
 Pm-suant to the above order from President Peed, 
 Oeneral Lacey proceeded into Bucks and Berks to 
 assemble the militia, and used every necessary exertion 
 to have them in the field early. The Council also 
 clothed him with authority to impress horses for the 
 main army, of which Washington stood in great need. 
 After making all suitable arrangements for the calhng 
 out and marching of the militia to the place of ren- 
 dezvous, he proceeded to Trenton, New Jersey, in 
 order to assume the command. He arrived there about 
 the 1 3 th of the month, and selected a healthy spot for 
 tL^ncampment, where they were to be drilled and 
 chsciplined before joining the continental army under 
 Washington. The troops came in slowly, and by the 
 16th not more than three hundred had assembled, 
 many of whom were without arms and blankets. No 
 provision had been made for their support, and, in 
 consequence thereof, there was much dissatisfaction 
 among them ; and it was with much difliculty enough 
 provisions could be procured at first to last them from 
 day to day. In a few days a commissariat was estab- 
 lished, when they were regularly furnished with good 
 rations. President Reed, the commander-in-chief of 
 15 
 
114 LIFE AND CHAKACTER OF JuHN LACEl, 
 
 tlie militia of Pennsylvania, arrived in camp on tlie 
 evening of tlie IGtli, and assnmed the command tlie 
 next day. The troops continued to arrive from time 
 to time, by squads and companies, and by the lOtli, as 
 is shown by the field-return of that day, they immbered 
 1045, rank and file, divided into four regiments. A 
 severe course of discipline and drilling was introduced, 
 and they made great improvement in the necessary 
 duties of a soldier. By the 29 th two more regiments 
 had come into camp, and the whole number, rank and 
 file, was 1416 ; a very respectable force. The men 
 were beginning to get a little uneasy, remaining so long 
 at the same place, as is generally the case with raw 
 troops, and it was contemplated to change the location 
 of the camp to a point farther down the river, near 
 Bordentown ; but before this change could be efltected, 
 General Reed received orders from General Washing- 
 ton to dismiss the brigade for tlie present, and allow 
 the officers and men to return home. This sudden 
 alteration in the views of the commander-in-chief was 
 caused by the reception of the news that the second 
 division of the French army, which was about to sail 
 to our assistance, and in concert with whom the main 
 army and mihtia were to act against the enemy in the 
 contemplated attack upon New York, was blockaded 
 in the harbor of Brest, and would not be able to reach 
 America during the present campaign. Under the 
 circumstances, Washington thought it most compatible 
 with the public service to countermand his former or- 
 der, and dismiss the militia, liecause their services were 
 not required for any other purpose. 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTEK OF JOHN LACEY. 115 
 
 When the militia returned home from Trenton 
 (leneral Lacey went to Philadelphia and again took 
 his seat at the Council board. He was much disap- 
 pointed to be obliged to return from the field so soon, 
 where he was anxious to distinguish himself, and where 
 he believed he could be of more service to his country 
 than in any other situation. He expressed his regrets 
 in strong language, in a manly and patriotic letter to 
 Colonel Wall, dated September 8 th, and in which he 
 speaks in the highest terms of the discipline and good 
 conduct of his troops. He remained in Philadelphia 
 most of the fall and ensuing winter, in attendance upon 
 the Council, during which time he was assiduous in 
 the discharge of his duties. He kept up a brisk cor- 
 respondence with the prominent men in the State, 
 both giving and receiving much valuable information 
 in regard to the condition of the affairs of the colonies. 
 
 During the winter General Lacey was married to 
 Miss Anastasia Reynolds, the youngest daughter of 
 Colonel Thomas Reynolds, of New Mills, now Pem- 
 berton, Burlington county. New Jersey. The mar- 
 riage took place on the 18th day of January, 1781. 
 Colonel Reynolds was also a patriot and hero of the 
 Revolution, and rendered important service to his coun- 
 try during the struggle for liberty. He was captured 
 by the enemy at an early period during the war, and 
 suffered imprisonment for a long time at New York, 
 and was at length exchanged for Lieut. Col. Simcoe, 
 a British partisan officer — the same who commanded 
 part of the British troops at the battle of the Billet. 
 He passed some time at New IMills, after his marriage, 
 
116 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 
 
 and early in the spring returned to Philadelphia. In 
 the latter part of September (1781) the British army, 
 in garrison at New York, made some demonstrations 
 against Pennsylvania, and in consequence thereof, tlie 
 militia of the State were called out and encamped at 
 Newtown, Bucks county, under the command of Gen- 
 eral Lacey. They remained here until al)Out the 
 middle of October, when it appearing the enemy did 
 not intend to make any attack upon this State, they 
 were discharged and retiu-ned to their homes, with the 
 thanks of the Executive Council for the spirit with 
 which they turned out. "Wliile the militia lay at New- 
 town, the officers from Philadelphia county addressed 
 a petition to General Lacey, requesting permission to 
 go home and vote at the coming election. He granted 
 their request, and allowed the men to march, without 
 arms, under the command of two of their own officers, 
 to their respective places of voting. Some dissatisfied 
 and disaffected person sent the order he issued upon 
 that occasion to the " Pennsylvania Packet," in wln'ch 
 paper it Avas published, with some severe comments, 
 and casting much censure upon him. The object was 
 to endeavor to make it appear that he had used mili- 
 tary force to influence the election, thus seeking to 
 injure liis standing and reputation. A representation 
 to the same effect was also made to the General ^\.s- 
 sembly, whereupon General Lacey addressed a com- 
 munication to the Legislature, giving a full history of 
 the circumstances, and asking for an investigation. 
 "Whether the General Assembly investigated the matter 
 we are not able to say, but from the tacts stated in his 
 
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN LACEY. 117 
 
 communication, he was not liable to the least blame, 
 but acted with his usual consistency and honor. The 
 surrender of the British army, at Yorktown, which took 
 place the 19th day of October, 1781, virtually put an 
 end to the war, and after this event General Lacey's 
 services were no longer required in the field. 
 
 In the fall of '81, or the beginning of the year '82, 
 General Lacey removed from Pennsylvania to the vil- 
 lage of New Mills, New Jersey, where he entered 
 largely into the iron business. Here he passed the 
 remainder of his life. It is not to be supposed that a 
 man who had taken such a prominent part in the 
 struggle for liberty, would be overlooked by the people 
 of his adopted State. He soon assumed a leading po- 
 sition in that section of the country, and was called to 
 fill several important and responsible public stations. 
 He was elected to the Legislature, and was also a judge 
 and justice of the county in which he lived. He lived 
 in peace and contentment, an active and useful mem- 
 ber of society, and died, much lamented, the 17th day 
 of February, 1814, aged fifty-nine years, leaving a 
 widow and four children. 
 
 Thus we have narrated tlie leading facts in the life 
 of General John Lacey, most of which have never 
 before been given to the public. He lived and acted 
 in the most trying period of our country's history, and, 
 by his devotion to the great principles of liberty, well 
 merits the appellation of a faithful patriot. ]\Iany 
 became more distinguished by the force of circum- 
 stances, but none were more devoted to the cause, 
 periled their life with more cheerfulness, or were gov- 
 
118 LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF JOHN LACET. 
 
 erned by a higher sense of duty. He was a patriot 
 from principle, and espoused the canse of the colonies 
 because it accorded with his conviction of right. He 
 forsook family, friends, and personal interest, for what 
 he believed to be his duty ; and, although his path was 
 constantly beset with difficulties, he never once taltered. 
 He was a man of far more than ordinary capacity, and 
 the defects of early education overcome, by close ap- 
 phcation to study during the hours of relaxation from 
 labor and tlie leisure of the camp and covmcil. He 
 presented an admirable combination of character — 
 warm-hearted and amiable, but firm and unyielding in 
 the discharge of duty. In all the relations of life he 
 might have borne the motto of Chevalier Bayard upon 
 his helmet, Avithout blushing — Sans j^eur, sans rejrroche. 
 He was admirably adapted for a soldier, and possessed 
 qualities that would have procured him a marshal's 
 baton, if he had served under the great Napoleon. He 
 was remarkably iine-looking, and is said to have made 
 a very handsome appearance in uniform. He was 
 courageous and determined in a high degree, and was 
 noted as one of the severest disciplinarians in the ser- 
 vice ; he was very active, and could endure more hard- 
 ships than most men ; he was just in all things ; and, 
 next to patriotism and honesty, justice seemed to be 
 the star by which he was guided. 
 
 Such, briefly, were the characteristics of Cleneral 
 Lacey, the subject of this memoir. It requires neither 
 brass nor marble to perpetuate his memory, for his 
 good deeds will be remembered by his countrymen — a 
 far more endurinij: monument. Peace to his aslies ! 
 
APPE^STDIX 
 
THE LACEY MONUMENT. 
 
 A few years ago a project was put on foot by the inhabitants of 
 Hatborough and vicinity to erect a monument to the memory of 
 General Lacey. The ladies, old and young, were very active in 
 the enterprise. By means of subscriptions, and a fair held by the 
 ladies in a grove near the battle-field of the Crooked Billet, suf- 
 ficient money was raised to cover the expense. It was erected in 
 the summer of 18G1, on a lot purchased for the purpose, fronting 
 the turnpike, at the upper end of the village. Arrangements were 
 made to inaugurate the monument the 5th of December of that year. 
 The ceremonies passed off with great eclat, in presence of an im- 
 mense concourse of people which had assembled to witness them. 
 An eloquent address, appropriate to the occasion, was delivered by 
 the Reverend Jacob Belville, in the LoUer Academy, after the in- 
 augural ceremonies had taken place at the foot of the monument. 
 The following account of the afi'air is copied from the published 
 proceedings, viz: — 
 
 Thursday, the i5th of December, 18G1, was the day fixed upon 
 for inaugurating the " Crooked Billet" Monument, at Hatborough, 
 Montgomery county, in commemoration of those who tell at the 
 battle of the Crooked Billet, May 1st, 1778, and who were cruelly 
 massacred by the British troops and Tories, led on by the Tories 
 of the Revolution, residing in the vicinity. The day was most 
 auspicious, calm and beautiful, the sun rendering it mild by his 
 warm rays. The inaugural ceremonies were conducted at the base 
 of the monument, in the forenoon, and as soon as the column was 
 capped, and the urn being raised to its position, Rev. Dr. Steele 
 was called upon and addressed the Throne of Grace in a solemn 
 16 
 
4 APPENDIX. 
 
 prayer. Several patriotic and eloquent addresses were made by- 
 gentlemen, who were present by invitation of the managers. The 
 venerable and highly esteemed Dr. William Darlington, celebrated 
 for his scientific, historical, and literary attainments, and who is 
 now in his eightieth year, but whose intellect is as vigorous, active, 
 and bright as in his younger days, was present, and his lively con- 
 versation lent a charm and gave additional interest to the occasion. 
 He was accompanied by two young ladies, direct descendants of 
 General Lacey. The monument is beautiful, large and imposing, 
 and stands upon a high bank overlooking the road. It consists of 
 a plinth, five feet square and one foot thick, and a double base, all 
 of Montgomery county marble ; upon this rests a die, enriched with 
 a projecting moulding, on which is the Latin motto, "■ Defensores 
 Lihertatis per Insidias Ahrupti f on the square below is en- 
 graved the inscription ; above this is another die, bearing the coat 
 of arms of the " Old Keystone State," in alto relievo ; this is exqui- 
 sitely beautiful and an admirably executed piece of workmanship 
 —the horses arc well proportioned and seem instinct with life, the 
 head ot the eagle has a beautiful curve, and all the parts are well 
 worked out; rising from this second die is a well proportioned 
 shaft or obelisk, nine feet high, on which is sculptured full sized 
 cross-swords and a shield, in bold relie'"; upon the obelisk is a neat 
 capitol, and the whole is surmounted with an urn, from which 
 issues a flame. It stands some twenty-four feet high, and is of the 
 finest Italian marble from the base up. The monument will be sur- 
 rounded by a wall and an iron railing. 
 
 Dr. William Darlington, of West Chester, a son-in-law of General 
 Lacey, being present and called upon, addressed the audience 
 briefly, thanking the people of the neighborhood for the patriotism 
 they had shown by the erection of a beautiful monument, and said 
 it was chiefly owing to the energy of the gallant Colonel of ihc lO-tth 
 Ringgold Kegiment,* Pennsylvania Volunteers, and his friends, 
 that this enterprise, which we had been called upon to-day to con- 
 summate, had been commenced. 
 
 General John Davis replied that he could not permit it to go forth, 
 that his family were the only ones prominent in this movement, 
 that where all had acted so nobly all should share the praise— that 
 
 ' Colojcl \V. W. TT. Divisi, who was the pi-ime mo\\;r in the entefpriseto raise 
 this inomimt'iit. 
 
APPENDIX. 5 
 
 to the ladies of Hatborough and vicinity they were principally in- 
 debted ; it was to them, who had labored so assiduously and earn- 
 estly in this good work, that the managers were enabled to complete 
 the enterprise. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Tolaud, of Chestnut Hill, was present and added 
 his testimony in favor of what had been done by the patriotic sons 
 of patriotic sires, to perpetuate the memory of the gallant brave 
 who had given up their lives on that sacred spot. He was glad to 
 see before him the veterans of the war of 1812 ; Dr. Darlington, a 
 major, and General John Davis, a captain of that war ; they were 
 connecting links that bind the past with the present, that unite the 
 patriotism of 1812 and 18G1, the defenders of liberty against foreign 
 aggression, and the protectors of that liberty against a wicked and 
 causeless rebellion. The olden scenes of ITTG were being enacted 
 over again by those brave spirhs who have obeyed their country's 
 call and are now at the seat of war. Those who had professed to 
 be our brethren were now in open rebellion against us, and attempt- 
 ing to overthrow the Constitution and the Government. 
 
 Eev. 3Ir. Hand was also glad to add his testimony to what had 
 already been said. He congratulated the community upon what 
 had been accomplished. This was a fitting and beautiful testi- 
 monial to the brave men, who in the dark days of the Revolution 
 had risked their all, and some had even given up their lives upon 
 that field to secure our liberties. The events of this day were en- 
 couraging to those who were now in the service of their country. 
 They had gone forth upon a sense of duty to crush this spirit of 
 rebellion, and a grateful people would reward them. Those who 
 fell upon this spot little thought they would have their names handed 
 down to posterity, and their deeds live in imperishable marble ; 
 over eighty years have passed away and they are not forgotten. 
 
6 APPENDIX. 
 
 rNHCEIPTION ON THE MON JMENT. 
 
 Defensor es Libertatis per Insidias Abrnpti. 
 
 [The Defenders of Liberty slain by surprise.] 
 
 [on tub west feont.] 
 
 CROOKED BILLET BATTLE, MAY 1, 1778. 
 
 Genei^l John Lacey, 
 
 commanding tbe American patriots wlio were here engaged in 
 
 contiict 
 
 FOR INDEPEiv'DENCE. 
 
 [south side.] 
 
 The Patriots of 177G 
 
 ACHIEVED OUR INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 Their Successors 
 
 ESTABLISHED IT IN 1812. 
 
 We are now struggling 
 
 FOR ITS PERPETUATION IN 1861. 
 
 *' The Union must and shall he Preserved." 
 
 [EAST SIDE.] 
 A GRATEFCL TRIBUTE 
 
 by the 
 
 HATBOROUGH MONUMENT ASSOCIATION, 
 
 chartered and erected 
 
 A. D. 1861. 
 
 [noetu side.] 
 
 IN MEMORY OF PATRIOTIC 
 
 John Downey, 
 
 And others who were cruelly slain on this ground, in the struggle for 
 AMERICAN LIBERTY. 
 
^i^.^ ^ 
 
 
 
^.O *" n „ o ° C^