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publication of a few letters, interesting on account of the light which
they shed upon our revolutionary history.

Many of the citizens of Philadelphia must remember Mrs. Sarah Kemp, who
died in Race street, in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
Andrew Kemp, the only son of this respectable matron, entered the American
army, almost at the very commencement of the struggle, and before, as his
mother has often informed me, he had reached his majority. As he shall be
my first witness against General Reed, it is proper to make the reader well
acquainted with him. His gallantry, and a personal service which he had the
good fortune to render to one of General Washingston's[TN] immediate staff,
soon promoted him from the ranks, and he fought with great bravery, at the
battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and
Monmouth. Sergeant Kemp was one of the garrison of Fort Mercer, under the
command of Colonel Greene, when that fortress was assailed in the autumn of
1777, by the Hessian troops, commanded by Colonel Donop. In this affair,
which, though not one of the most remarkable, was one of the most brilliant
of the Revolution, Sergeant Kemp particularly distinguished himself, and
was wounded slightly in the arm, and severely in the left thigh by a musket
ball: at the subsequent capture of Fort Mercer by Cornwallis, Kemp was one
of the few who fell into the hands of the enemy--the remainder of the
garrison succeeding in safely evacuating the fort. In a few weeks, he
managed to effect his escape from Howe's winter quarters at Philadelphia,
and immediately joined the American army at Valley Forge. The privations of
that encampment, dreadfully aggravated the sufferings of poor Kemp; but,
after languishing during the season in one of the military hospitals, he
resumed active service in the spring, and served in May under Lafayette at
the affair of Barren Hill. At the battle of Monmouth, he fought with his
usual intrepidity, but the fatigues of the engagement renewed the affection
of his imperfectly healed leg; and, about three weeks after, he was obliged
to submit to its amputation. Upon leaving the army, he received from
General Washington himself a certificate of conduct and character, which I
copy from the original before me.

_Head Quarters, June 23, 1778._

Sergeant Andrew Kemp is personally known to me as a brave and
faithful soldier, who has