himself by the way in which he managed the
artillery which was under his command; and it is said that the enemy
were amazed to find batteries so splendidly handled in the ranks of the
Americans, who were not supposed by most British officers to be
possessed of great military ability, although the erroneousness of this
supposition was gradually impressed upon their minds as the war went on.

Our nobleman, however, had given another proof of his ability to adapt
himself to military circumstances. When Washington and his army were
wintered at Morristown, there was an evident desire among the British
commanders to attack him at that place, and there was constant danger of
an advance from the forces about New York. Lord Stirling was with the
troops under General Greene, defending the principal approaches to
Morristown on the east, and he very often had fights and skirmishes with
British detachments sent out to reconnoiter the country, or to break
into the American lines.

At one time a very large force, led by Clinton, advanced towards
Morristown; and this was believed to be a serious and determined attempt
to attack Washington, whose army was in a pretty bad plight, and not at
all prepared to fight large bodies of well-appointed troops. Lord
Stirling, with the other officers of the regular army, aided by forces
of militiamen greatly excited by atrocities which had been committed by
the British troops in the neighborhood, made a determined stand in the
region of the "Short Hills," and a battle was fought near Springfield.
Although the American forces were not able to defeat the British, they
so harassed them, placing themselves in all the passes through which it
was necessary to advance, that at last the Redcoats gave up the attempt
to reach Morristown, and retired to Elizabeth.

Throughout the war, this gentleman with the grand house, the park, the
deer, the splendid carriages, the butlers, and the hairdressers, fought
as earnestly and as patriotically as if he had been a sturdy farmer who
had left his cornfield for the battlefield, with an old blunderbuss over
his shoulder. Not only was he a good soldier, but he was a trustworthy
friend to the cause of the Colonies and to General Washington; and it is
said that it was through his means that the conspiracy among some of the
officers of the army against General Washington, of whom they were
jealous, was discovered and broken up.

Officers of the army were frequently quar