soon became extremely critical.
He was not followed by the main body of the division; he had no guide;
and was himself totally ignorant of the situation of the town. It was
yet extremely dark, and he had not the slightest knowledge of the course
to be pursued, or of the defences to be encountered. Thus circumstanced,
it was thought unadvisable to advance further.

The cold was intense and the storm very violent; this, together with the
fatigue by the exertion we had made tended to check our ardour. We had
now passed the first barrier; but a second we knew was before us and not
far distant. We had no pilot and the night was very dark and dismal. We
took shelter from the fury of the storm under the sides of some of the
buildings and waited for day light to direct us. At the dawn of day we
collected in a body, seized the ladders and were proceeding to the
second barrier, when on turning an angle in the street, we were hailed
by a Captain Anderson who had just issued from the gate with a body of
troops to attack us. Captain Morgan who led our little band in this
forlorn hope, answered the British captain by a ball through his head,
his soldiers drew him within the barricade and closed the gate; a
tremendous fire from the windows of the buildings and port holes of the
wall, was directed against our little host.

Thirty of our privates being killed and thirty five wounded, and
surrounded as we were on all sides without any hope of relief, we were
obliged to surrender ourselves prisoners of war.

During the whole of the attack by the different corps there were eleven
commissioned officers, thirty four privates, sergeants and corporals,
killed; thirty five wounded, and three hundred and forty five made
prisoners. This was the melancholly issue of our long and distressing
campaign. The prisoners, of whom I was one, were confined in a large
building called the Regules, where we had but very little fire or
provision. Our daily ration was three ounces of pork and two, (sometimes
three) small bran biscuit, and a half a pint of the water in which our
pork was boiled.

January 1st, 1776. Our condition, which we thought was almost
insupportable by such a sparing allowance of fuel and provision as was
furnished us, was rendered tenfold more distressing by sickness.--About
the 10th of this month we began to be infected with the small pox, which
we took the natural way. With this mortal disease about one ninth part
of the prisoners d