III.—CAPTAIN LEE.
In the centre of the village extended a level piece of ground, surrounded
by dwelling houses, stretching from the eastern side of the road, with the
market-house, a massive and picturesque structure, arising on one side,
while the German Reformed Church, with its venerable front and steeple,
arose on the other.
The gallant Captain Lee, of the Partizan Rangers, had penetrated thus
far into the town, in common with many other companies of the army, but
soon all others retreated, and he was left alone in the heart of the British
army, while the continentals were retreating over Mount Airy and Chesnut
Hill.
Lee had pursued a Hanoverian troop as far as the market house, when
he suddenly perceived the red-coated soldiers of Cornwallis breaking from
the gloom of the mist on the south, while a body of troopers came rushing
from the school house lane on one side, and another corps came thundering
from the church lane on the opposite side.
Lee was surrounded. The sable-coated troopers whom he had been pursuing,
now turned on their pursuers, and escape seemed impossible. The
brave Partizan turned to his men. Each swarthy face gleamed with
delight—each sunburnt hand flung aloft the battle-dented sword. The confusion
and havoc of the day had left the Partizan but forty troopers, but
every manly form was marked by wide shoulders, muscular chest, and lofty
bearing, and their uniform of green, their caps of fur, with bucktail plume,
gave a striking and effective appearance to the band.
“Comrades, now for a chase!” shouted Lee, glancing gaily over his men.
“Let us give these scare-crow hirelings a chase! Up the Germantown
road, advance, boys—forward!”
And as they galloped along the Germantown road, riding gallantly four
abreast, in all a warrior's port and pride, the Hanoverians, now two hundred
strong, came thundering in their rear, each dark-coated trooper leaning over
the neck of his steed, with sword upraised, and with fierce battle-shout
echoing from lip to lip.
Only twenty paces lay between the Rangers and their foes. The monotonous
sound of the pattering hoof, the clank of the scabbard against the
soldier's booted leg, the deep, hard breathing of the horses, urged by boot
and spur to their utmost speed, the fierce looks of the Hanoverians, their
bending figures, their dress of deep black, with relief of gold, the ponderous
caps, ornamented with the fearful insignia of skull and cross-bones, the
Rangers sweeping gallantly in front, square and compact in their solid
column, each manly form in costume of green and gold, disclosed in the light,
in all its muscular ability and imposing proportions, as they moved forward
with the same quick impulse, all combined, form a scene of strange and
varying interest, peculiar to those times of Revolutionary peril and bloodshed.
The chase became exciting. The advance company of sable-coated
troopers gained on Lee's gallant band at every step, and at every step they
left their comrades further in the rear.
Lee's men spurred their steeds merrily forward, ringing their boisterous
shouts tauntingly upon the air, while their exasperated foes replied with
curses and execrations.
And all along through the streets of Germantown lay the scene of this
exciting chase, the clatter of the horses' hoofs awake the echoes of the an
cienthouses, bringing the frightened denizens suddenly to the doors and windows,
and the pursuers and pursued began to near the hill of the Mennonist
graveyard, while the peril of Lee became more imminent and apparent.
The Hanoverians were at the horses' heels of the Rangers—they were
gaining upon them at every step; in a moment they would be surrounded
and cut to pieces.
Lee glanced over his shoulder. He saw his danger at a glance; they
were now riding up the hill, the advance company of the enemy were in
his rear, the main division were some hundred yards behind. In a moment
the quick word of command rung from his lips, and at the instant, as the
whole corps attained the summit of the hill, his men wheeled suddenly
round, faced the pursuing enemy, and came thundering upon their ranks like
an earth-riven thunderbolt!
Another moment! and the discomfitted Hanoverians lay scattered and
bleeding along the roadside; here a steed was thrown back upon its
haunches, crushing its rider as it fell; here was a trooper clinging with the
grasp of death to his horse's neck; yonder reared another horse without its
rider, and the ground was littered with the overthrown and wounded
troopers.
They swept over the black-coated troopers like a thunderbolt, and in another
instant the gallant Rangers wheeled about, returning in their charge of
terror with the fleetness of the wind, each man sabreing an enemy as he
rode, and then, with a wild hurrah, they regained the summit of the hill.
Lee drew his trooper's cap from his head, his men did the same, and then,
with their eyes fixed upon the main body of the enemy advancing along the
foot of the hill, the gallant Rangers sent up a wild hurrah of triumph, waving
their caps above their heads, and brandishing their swords.
The enemy returned a yell of execration, but ere they reached the summit
of the hill, Lee's company were some hundred yards ahead, and all
pursuit was vain. The Rangers rode fearlessly forward, and, ere an half-hour
was passed, regained the columns of the retreating army.
