ly called Red Bank) the safe keeping of which post, with that of fort Mifflin, (Mud Island) was very properly deemed of primary importance.

The following account of the attack upon Red Bank and fort Mifflin, we select from Marshall's life of Washington: The British general and admiral, Howe, immediately after the battle of Brandywine, made a combined attack, by land and water, on the forts, Mercer and Mifflin.

"After effecting a passage through the works sunk in the river at Billingsport, other difficulties still remained to be encountered by the ships of war. Several rows of chevaux-de frize had been sunk about half a mile below Mud island, which were protected by the guns of forts Mifflin and Mercer, as well by the moveable water force, so that to raise the frames and clear the channel was impracticable, without having first taken the forts.

"On the 21st, colonel count Donop a German officer, who had gained great reputation in the course of the war, crossed the Delaware at Cooper's ferry, opposite Philadelphia, at the head of a detachment of Hessians, consisting, besides light infantry and chasseurs, of three battalions of grenadiers and the regiment of Mesbach, amounting to about twelve hundred men, in order to proceed next day to the attack of the fort at Red Bank.

"It was a part of the plan, that, as soon as the attack should be made by colonel count Donop, a heavy cannonade on fort Mifflin should commence from the batteries on the Pennsylvania shore, and that the Vigilant, a ship of war, should pass through a narrow and very confined channel between Hog island, next below Mud island, and the Pennsylvania shore, so as to attack the fort in the rear. Meanwhile, to divert the attention of the garrison, and of the marine force, from the Vigilant and from other more serious attacks, the advanced frigates, together with the Isis and Augusta, were to approach fort Mifflin in front, up the main channel, as far as the impediments in it would admit, and from thence batter the works.

The fortifications at Red Bank consisted of extensive outer works, within which was an intrenchment eight or nine feet high, boarded and fraized, on which colonel Greene after taking command of the place, had bestowed a good deal of labour. Late in the evening of the 22d, count Donop appeared before the fort, and attacked it with great intrepidity. It was defended with equal resolution. The outer works being too extensive to be manned by the force under colonel Greene, which did not exceed five hundred men, were only used to gall the enemy while advancing, and on their near ap

proach were abandoned by the garrison, who retired within the inner intrenchment, from whence they kept up against the Hessians, who pressed on with great gallantry, a most heavy and destructive fire. Colonel Donop, while leading on his troops, received a mortal wound, and lieutenant colonel Mingerode, the second in command, fell about the same time. Lieutenant colonel Linsing, now the oldest remaining officer of the detachment, drew off his troops; and, being favoured by the darkness of the night, collected as many of the wounded as could be brought off. He marched about five miles that night, and returned next day to Philadelphia. In this unsuccessful expedition, according to the best information which could be collected, the enemy lost about four hundred men. The garrison, which was reinforced from fort Mifflin, and aided by the gallies which flanked the enemy, both advancing and retreating, having fought under cover, lost only thirtytwo men killed and wounded. It would appear from the statement given by general Howe of this enterprise, that the inner works could not be carried without scaling ladders, and that colonel Donop had not been furnished with them. Had the requisitions of the commander in chief been complied with, and a camp been formed at a convenient distance by the Jersey militia, so as to have fallen upon the rear of the assailants, it is probable that the whole corps might have been destroyed.

"In order to be in readiness to perform the part assigned to the navy, the Augusta, a sixty-four gun ship, with four other smaller vessels, passed the lower line of chevaux-de-frize opposite to Billingsport, and lay above them, waiting the assault to be made on the fort from the land. The flood tide setting in about the time the attack commenced, they slipped their cables and moved with it up the river. The obstructions which had been sunk in the river had in some degree changed its channel, so that the Augusta and the Merlin grounded a considerable distance below the second line of chevaux-de-frize; and a strong northerly wind, which had prevented the Vigilant from coming up to the station assigned her, still continuing, so checked the rising of the tide, that these vessels could not be floated by the subsequent flood. Their situation, however, was not discerned that evening. The frigates approached the fort as near as possible, against which they kept up an incessant fire. The batteries from the Pennsylvania shore also were opened on the garrison, but night soon put an end to the cannonade. Very early next morning, it was recommenced, in the hope that under cover of the fire from the vessels and from the batteries, the Augusta and the Merlin might be got off. It was soon discovered that

they were on ground, and four fire ships were sent against them, but without effect. Meanwhile a very warm cannonade was continued on both sides, in the course of which the Augusta took fire, and it was found impracticable to extinguish the flames. In this state of things it became necessary to take out the men, and to withdraw the frigates, to prevent the injury they might sustain when she should blow up. This being in a great measure effected, and the Merlin, which could not be removed, being set on fire, the Augusta blew up, and in her were lost a few of the crew, among whom were a lieutenant Baldock, and the chaplain, and gunner. For their continuance in the vessel, no reason has been assigned.

"The repulse of the detachment commanded by count Donop, inspired congress with the most flattering hopes respecting the permanent defence of the post on the Delaware. That body expressed its high sense of the merits of colonel Greene, who had commanded in fort Mercer, of lieutenant colonel Smith, who had commanded in fort Mifflin, and of commodore Hazlewood, who commanded the gallies; and to each of these officers an elegant sword was presented, as a mark of the estimation in which his services were held by the public."

In the year 1786, general Knox, then secretary of war, presented Job Greene, Esq. eldest son of colonel Greene, with the sword directed to be presented by a resolve of congress, accompanied with a letter, in which he said, "The repulse and defeat of the Germans, at the fort of Red Bank, on the Delaware, is justly considered as one of the most brilliant actions of the late war. The glory of that event is inseparably attached to the memory of your late father and his brave garrison. The manner in which the supreme authority of the United States are pleased to express their high sense of his military merit, and the honourable instrument which they annex in testimony thereof, must be peculiarly precious to a son emulative of his father's virtues."

The noble manner in which colonel Greene sustained himself against superior force of veteran troops, led by an officer of high renown, has been related, as also the well earned rewards which followed his memorable defence. Consummating his military fame by his achievements on that proud day, he could not be overlooked by his discriminating leader, when great occasions called for great exertions. Greene was accordingly detached with his regiment with the troops placed under major Sullivan, for the purpose of breaking up the enemy's post on Rhode Island, soon after the arrival of the French fleet under count d'Estaing, in the summer of 1778, which well concerted enterprise was marred in the execution by some of those incidents which abound in war, and especi

ally when the enterprise, complicated and entrusted to allied forces, and requiring naval co-operation. Returning to head quarters, colonel Greene continued to serve under the commander in chief, whose confidence and esteem he had truly merited, and invariably enjoyed.

In the spring of 1781, when general Washington began to expect the promised naval aid from our best friend, the illfated Louis the XVI, he occasionally approached the enemy's lines on the side of York island. In one of these movements, colonel Greene, with a suitable force, was posted on the Croton river, in advance of the army. On the other side of this river lay a corps of refugees, (American citizens who had joined the British army) under the command of colonel Delancey. These half citizens, half soldiers, were notorious for rapine and murder: and to their vindictive conduct may be justly ascribed most of the cruelties which stained the progress of our war, and which at length compelled Washington to order captain Asgill, of the British army, to be brought to head quarters, for the purpose of retaliating, by his execution, the murder of captain Huddy, of New Jersey, perpetrated by a captain Lippincott, of the refugees. The commandant of these refugees, (Delancey was not present) having ascertained the position of Greene's corps, which the colonel had cantoned in adjacent farm houses, probably with a view to the procurement of subsistence, took the resolution to strike it. This was accordingly done by a nocturnal move on the 13th of May. The enemy crossed the Croton before day light the next morning, and hastening his advance, reached our station with the dawn of day, unperceived. As he approached the farm house in which the lieutenant colonel was quartered, the noise of troops marching was heard, which was the first intimation of the fatal design. Greene and major Flagg immediately prepared themselves for defence, but they were too late, so expeditious was the progress of the enemy. Flagg discharged his pistols. and instantly afterwards fell mortally wounded; when the ruffians (unworthy the appellation of soldiers) burst open the door of Greene's apartment. Here the gallant veteran singly received them with his drawn sword. Several fell beneath the arm accustomed to conquer, till at length overpowered by numbers, and faint from the loss of blood streaming from his wounds, barbarity triumphed over valour. "His right arm was almost cut off in two places, the left in one, a severe cut on the left shoulder, a sword thrust through the abdomen, a bayonet in the right side, and another through the abdomen, several sword cuts on the head, and many in different parts of the body."

Thus cruelly mangled, fell the generous conqueror of count

Donop, whose wounds, as well as those of his unfortunate associates, had been tenderly dressed as soon as the battle terminated, and whose pains and sorrows had been as tenderly assuaged. How different was the relentless fury here displayed!

The commander in chief heard with unutterable anguish and deep indignation, the tragical fate of his much loved, highly trusted, and faithful friend and soldier, in which feeling the army sincerely participated. On the subsequent day the corpse was brought to head quarters, and his funeral was solemnized with military honours, every tongue announcing with sadness of sorrow the magnitude of our loss.

Lieutenant colonel Greene was murdered in the meridian of life, being only forty-four years old. He left a widow with three sons and four daughters. He was stout and strong in stature, about five feet ten inches high, with a broad round chest, his aspect manly, and demeanor pleasing; enjoying always a high state of health, its bloom irradiated a countenance, which significantly expressed the fortitude and mildness invariably displayed throughout his life.

GRAEFF, GEORGE, an officer in the revolutionary army, in the year 1776, marched from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to aid in establishing the independence of his country, as a lieutenant; was on the march promoted to a captain, and, as such, commanded a company at the battle on Long Island. He died at Lancaster, on the 13th of November, 1823, in the sixty eighth year of his age. Mr. Graeff sustained through a long life, the character of an honest man, and received many proofs of the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens, by repeated appointments to stations of public trust and confidence.

GURNEY, FRANCIS, was born in Bucks county, in the province of Pennsylvania, about the year 1738. He received the rudiments of an English education in a country school, near the place where he was born.

Young Gurney was inclined by nature to deeds of enter prise, hardihood and valour. He manifested from his early years a strong predilection for the use and profession of arms. Nor had he more than entered on the threshold of life, when he was presented with an opportunity of gratifying to the utmost his favourite propensity. When he arrived at his eighteenth year, he found the embittered war of 1756, inundating in blood the northern section of the British provinces. He accordingly, with a promptness and ardour peculiar to his temperament, volunteered his services in the provincial army to aid in protecting his countrymen from the French bayonet and the Indian tomahawk. His place of destination was the frontiers of Canada, a region famous in history for