164 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



towards the Chicahominy, destroying a large quantity of public property 

 as he went. He encamped at Cooper's Mills on the night of the 25th, 

 and. after sending out a man whom he knew to be a rebel to give false 

 information to the enemy, marched at 2 o'clock in the morning with his 

 whole force to Spencer's Ordinary. A large number of cattle were in 

 that neighborhood, and Captain Branson, with his people, was sent to 

 collect tiiem. Capt. Shank, who commanded the cavaln, was feeding 

 liis horses at Lee's fann and Simcoe and Armstrong were with the in- 

 fantry. At that moment, the trumpeter, Black Barney, who had been 

 posted as a vidette, saw the enemy's cavalry approach and gave the alarm, 

 galloping back to the troop by a circuitous route so as to deceive the 

 enemy. Shank led his men to the charge witli such fury that the enemy'^ 

 cavalry were completely broken and their leader. Major Macpherson, 

 dashed to the ground and stunned. The enemy's infantry then appeared 

 and a lively battle took place which would require more space to describe 

 properly than we can afford. The enemy were in great force, more than 

 1,200 strong (more than three times Simcoe's strength), but so admir- 

 able were his tactics and so steady his troops that he forced them to 

 retire, which they did in much confusion. The enemy, who were com- 

 manded by Lafayette, lost heavily in killed and wounded and 32 of them 

 were taken prisoners. The Kangers lost 10 killed and 23 wounded, and 

 the Yagers one killed and tJiree wounded. The principal loss fell upon 

 the Hussars, of whom Cornet Jones was killed, and on the Grenadit^r 

 and Light Companies. Lafayette, to make his defeat appear as satis- 

 factory as possible, reported the British loss at 60 killed and 100 

 wounded; the muster rolls, however, speak for themselves and show the 

 loss to have been as above stated. Simcoe considers that the battle at 

 Spencer's Ordinary was the most creditable action in which the Rangers 

 were ever engaged. He says : 



" As the whole series of the service of light troops gives the greatest 

 latitude for the exertion of individual talents and of individual coiirage, 

 so did the present situation require the most perfect combination of 

 them; every division, every officer, every soldier had his share in the 

 merit of the action; mistake in the one might have brought on cowardice 

 in the other, and a single panic-stricken soldier would probably have in- 

 fected a platoon, and led to tlje utmost confusion and ruin. So that 

 Lieut.-Col. Simcoe has ever considered this action "the climax of a 

 campaign of five years, as the result of tnie discipline acquired in that 

 space by unremitted diligence, toil and danger, as an honorable victory 

 earned by veteran intrepidity." 



Two hours after the battle was over, Cornwallis came up with the 

 main army; and the Qiieen's Rangers, in public orders, received his 



