ons.

Andrew found himself riding desperately by the side of his cousin,
Lieutenant Thomas Crawford. For a time they kept to the road, and then
turned across a swampy field, where they soon came to a wide slough of
mire. They plunged their horses into the bog. Andrew struggled through,
but when he reached the bank he found that his cousin's horse had
fallen, and that Thomas was trying to fight off his pursuers with his
sword. Andrew started back, but before he could get near his cousin the
latter had been forced to surrender. The boy then turned, and succeeded
in outriding the dragoons, and finally found refuge in the woods, where
his brother Robert joined him that night.

The next morning hunger forced the two boys to seek a house, and they
crept up to their cousin's. They left their guns and horses in the
woods, and reached the house safely. Unfortunately a Tory neighbor had
seen them, and, seizing their horses and arms, he sent word to the
British soldiers. Before the boys had any notice of attack the house was
surrounded and they were taken prisoners.

Andrew never forgot the scene that followed. There were no men in the
house, only his cousin's wife and young children. Nevertheless the
soldiers destroyed everything they could find, smashed furniture,
crockery, glass, tore all the clothing to rags, and broke in windows and
doors. Then the officer in charge ordered Andrew to clean his high
riding-boots, which were crusted with mud. The boy refused to do it,
saying, "I've a right to be treated as a prisoner of war."

The officer swore, and aimed a blow with his sword at Andrew's head.
Jackson threw up his left arm as a shield and received two wounds, one a
deep gash on the head, the other on his hand. The officer then turned to
Robert Jackson, and ordered him to clean his boots. Robert also refused.
Then the man struck this boy on the head, and knocked him to the floor.
It was a bad business, and the whole performance, especially the brutal
treatment of a defenseless woman and two boy prisoners, made a deep
impression on Andrew's mind. He was only fourteen years old, but his
fighting spirit was that of a grown man.

Shortly after this Andrew was ordered to mount a horse, and guide some
of the soldiers to the house of a well-known man named Thompson. He was
threatened with death if he failed to guide them right. There was
nothing for it but to obey, but the boy hit upon a plan by which he
might give Thompson a cha