152 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



remainder of the cavalry closed the rear. Hopper Town was a strag- 

 gling village a mile long,- Col. Bailey's quarters being at the further end. 

 The nearest building was the Court House which contained an ol!icer's 

 piquet of 20 men, and covered the bridge over which the troops must 

 pass. The advance was ordered to force the bridge, which they did in 

 gallant style, and pushed forward through the town at full speed ; while 

 the rest of the cavalry dispersed to pick up the fugitives and take pos- 

 session of their abandoned quarters. Cornet Spencer, on arriving at 

 Bailey's post with six men only, the rest not being able to keep up, found 

 twenty-five men drawn up on the road opposite to him, on the further 

 side of the hollow, with Bailey's quarters on the right and a strong fence 

 and swamp on their left. The officer in command, who was afterwards 

 discovered to be Bailey, retreated with his men to the house, which was 

 of stone. Cornet Spencer, with his party, now augmented to twelve, 

 passed the ravine and, taking possession of the angles of the house, 

 ordered some of his men to dismount and attempt to force one of the 

 windows. Some servants from a small outhouse commenced a fire; 

 Corporal Burt, with three men was sent to them, broke open the door, 

 and took nine prisoners. Cornet Spencer made several offers to parley 

 with those who defended the house, but to no purpose ; they kept up a 

 continual fire; and finding it impossible to break open the door or force 

 the windows, he set fire to one angle of the roof, which was of wood. He 

 again offered the inmates quarters if they would surrender, but they re- 

 fused. By this time some of the speediest of the cavalrv had come to 

 his assistance and firing ceased. Captains Deimar and Wickham, who 

 had collected a great number of prisoners, now joined the advance. Col. 

 Bailey, as he opened the door to surrender was most unfortunately shot 

 by one of Diemar's Hussars, so that he died three days afterwards. Of 

 the Rangers' advance guards, two men were killed and two wounded, and 

 one man of the 17th Eegiment was also killed. In this house Col. Bailey, 

 two captains, three subalterns and twenty-one soldiers were taken, and 

 in all twelve officers and one hundred and eighty-two men were made 

 prisoners. Major DuBuy gave the Rangers the highest praise for their 

 gallant services on this occasion. 



On the 21st June the infantry of the Rangers landed on Staten 

 Island and marched to Richmond Redoubts. At midnight Simcoe re- 

 ceived orders to proceed instantly to Elizabethtown Point, where General 

 Knyphausen's army was encamped. There the Hussars of the rangers 

 joined the regiment. Lieut. McNab, who commanded them, had found 

 an opportunity of distinguishing himself by the intrepidity with which 

 he advanced into Elizabethtown, amidst the fire of the enemy, in order 

 to entice them into an ambuscade which had been laid for them but 



