rom the chief street in that town to the continuation of the
road, which passed through the very centre of their position; and
its right bank (the bank above which they were drawn up) was
covered with a narrow stripe of willows and larch trees, whilst
the left was altogether bare, low, and exposed. Such was the
general aspect of their position as at the first glance it
presented itself; of which I must endeavour to give a more
detailed account, that my description of the battle may be in
some degree intelligible.

I have said that the right bank of the Potomac was covered with a
narrow stripe of willow and larch trees. Here the Americans had
stationed strong bodies of riflemen, who, in skirmishing order,
covered the whole front of their army. Behind this plantation,
again, the fields were open and clear, intersected, at certain
distances, by rows of high and strong palings. About the middle
of the ascent, and in the rear of one of these rows, stood the
first line, composed entirely of infantry; at a proper interval
from this, and in a similar situation, stood the second line;
while the third, or reserve, was posted within the skirts of a
wood, which crowned the heights. The artillery, again, of which
they had twenty pieces in the field, was thus arranged on the
high road, and commanding the bridge, stood two heavy guns; and
four more, two on each side of the road, swept partly in the same
direction, and partly down the whole of the slope into the
streets of Bladensburg. The rest were scattered, with no great
judgment, along the second line of infantry, occupying different
spaces between the right of one regiment and the left of another;
whilst the cavalry showed itself in one mass, within a stubble
field, near the extreme left of the position. Such was the
nature of the ground which they occupied, and the formidable
posture in which they waited our approach; amounting, by their
own account, to nine thousand men, a number exactly doubling that
of the force which was to attack them.

In the mean time, our column continued to advance in the same
order which it had hitherto preserved. The road, having
conducted us for about two miles in a direction parallel with the
river, and of consequence with the enemy's line, suddenly turned,
and led directly towards the town of Bladensburg. Being of
course ignorant whether this town might not be filled with
American troops, the main body paused here till the advanced
gua