THE TOWN OF YORKTOWN. 701 



got well. When I saw him the day after the beating, he was dreadfully 

 bruised. Huson's wound proved much more serious than he had at first 

 supposed, for it Med internally; and when within twenty rods of our 

 house, exclaimed " I am a dead man," and fell from his horse a corpse. 

 His comrades applied to some tories living in the neighborhood, who 

 took the body and buried it about eighteen inches deep, under an apple 

 tree in Veil's orchard on the east side of the road. The next day they 

 dug another grave behind the hill in the woods, south-east of William 

 Smith's house, a very out of the way place. The better to conceal the 

 grave, they cut down a tree — making it fall directly over the spot. Five 

 months afterwards, it became generally known that Huson was buried 

 there ; whereupon the neighbors disinterred the remains, and crowds of 

 people came, some from a great distance, to see the remains of one who 

 had been such a terror and scourge to the whole country round. They 

 wanted to satisfy themselves that he was really dead ; some proposed to 

 hang the corpse on a jibbet, but finally better feelings prevailed and they 

 consigned it to the grave where it probably remained undisturbed. 

 Several of the men who first buried him we afterwards discovered to be 

 the same party who also robbed our tenant house and intended to pil- 

 lage us. Whitney, as a reward for killing Huson, was exempted from 

 paying taxes during the remainder of his life. This Huson was of the 

 same family as the man who was hung for instigating the negroes to in- 

 surrection in New York city. 



Rochambeau, while in our neighborhood, had his head-quarters at 

 Parkers (then Samuel Dilway's) while another French General was 

 quartered at my father's. The Generals always dined together alternately 

 at each others quarters, this brought them, once a week, to our house. 

 Great preparations were always made on these occasions — a French cook 

 who had been in the employ of the king of France, and his assistants, 

 serving in the kitchen. 



"I once entered a complaint, to the General staying at our house, that 

 some of his soldiers were in the habit of stealing turnips. He accom- 

 panied me to the field about three-quarters of a mile back of the house, 

 that he might judge for himself; when we came to the field he gave me 

 four crowns as pay for what turnips his soldiers had taken, that satisfied 

 me and we returned to the house. I recollect that while returning I 

 offered him a^each, which he declined taking. 



" One morning a man came running to our house saying, Col. Green 

 and about fifty of his men who were quartered at Danford's, (now Joshua 

 Carpenter's ) had been killed. It appeared that the British light horse, 

 each rider with another behind him, had surprised the Americans im- 

 mediately after they had drawn in their sentinels, early in the morning, 

 killing and wounding them as they lay in their tents, which were pitched 

 around the house. Col. Green was in bed at the time ; he sprang up and 

 seized his sword, but was soon cut down. It was supposed nearly 200 

 bullets were fired into the house ; at the same time there was a party of 

 Americans stationed at our house commanded by a lieutenant — but it 

 was probably unknown to the British, or they might have cut them off 

 too. Had they attacked the house, the family would have been in great 



