th diminished by their attempts to persuade
me that they were quiet country people, come out for no other
purpose than to shoot squirrels. When I desired to know whether
they carried bayonets to charge the squirrels, as well as muskets
to shoot them, they were rather at a loss for a reply; but they
grumbled exceedingly when they found themselves prisoners, and
conducted as such to the column.

But to return to the principal narrative. The army had now
advanced within a few miles of Nottingham, and the men were
beginning to look forward with some anxiety to a halt; whilst as
yet nothing beyond the capture of a few stragglers had occurred
to confirm the rumours which, in the morning, and during the
whole of the march, had occasioned so much more circumspection
than appeared to be requisite. The day was likewise far spent,
and, as was to be expected, the ranks were beginning to be less
carefully preserved, when a smart firing in the wood upon the
right of the road gave new life and energy to the soldiers. It
was now confidently expected that the enemy would make a stand.
The column closed its order, ready to wheel into line in a
moment, and everything was on the qui vive: but it proved to be
no more than a rencounter between a party of American riflemen
and the flank patrol. After firing a few shots, the enemy gave
way, and our main body, which had continued to move on during the
skirmish, came in without the slightest opposition to the town of
Nottingham.

We found this place (a town or large village, capable of
containing from a thousand to fifteen hundred inhabitants)
completely deserted. Not an individual was to be seen in the
streets, or remained in the houses; whilst the appearance of the
furniture, &c., in some places the very bread left in the ovens,
showed that it had been evacuated in great haste, and immediately
before our arrival. The town itself stands upon the banks of the
Patuxent, and consists of four short streets, two running
parallel with the river, and two others crossing them at right
angles, The houses are not such as indicate the existence of much
wealth or grandeur among the owners, being in general built of
wood, and little superior to cottages; but around the village are
others of a far better description, which convey the idea of good
substantial farm-houses, a species of mansion very common in the
United States. For several miles in every direction the country
was in a high state of