1. “...we are indebted today for some of the most vivid pen pictures of scenes in the Revolutionary war, during the British occupation of Philadelphia in 1777-8, of which she was an eye-witness. She recollected and narrated, long after, the personal appearance of Lafayette, Pulaska, as well as our Washington, and of General Howe, Clinton, Erskine, and Count Donop, on the side of the enemy. Her account of the march through Haddenfield, New Jersey, where she resided, of the Hessians under the latter named commander, in their attack on and retreat from Fort Mercer, was realistic in the extreme; strongly with their panic-stricken and demoralized appearance after their repulse. The raid of the British through New Jersey and their cruelty were all remembered, while the evacuation of the city across the River Delaware, as the troops crossed to Gloucester Point and marched on to Haddenfield, where they encamped two days, were accurately described. An extract at random, from family papers, reads as follows:
‘Sir Henry Clinton, Lord Cornwallis, Sir William Erskine road abreast at the head of the column as the troops marched out of town. The officers were resplendent in gold lace trimmings and facings, and the men made a splendid appearance in scarlet uniforms and white gaiters buttoned above the knee. I was much impressed, to see the appearance of the Scotch Highlanders, as a body of fine, tall, powerful men, dressed in their plaids, kilts, and bonnets. While the armyhalted in Haddenfield, a Scotch officer was quartered in my mother’s house. He made a great pet of me, being a little girl, allowing me to put on his velvet bonnet, with it’s handsome, drooping plumes, and danceup and down the room. I recollect that my mother had long discusions with this officer, and it is my impression that he greatly deplored the war. The horses of the army were turned into the field of standing grain, the wheat at the time being ripe for the sickle. Everything was conducted with the strictest military precision. After meals the pewter plates, knives, and forks were cleaned and scoured until they shone, and then packed away, ready for instant departure.’ ” [48]