311 



across the Hudson. It was not permitted to retreat un- 

 molested. General Howe pursued the flying Americans 

 to New-York and from that to New-Brunswick, and 

 again from New-Brunswick to Princeton and Trenton, 

 where his tide of success was suddenly checked by the 

 bold achievement of our great captain. 



Ere this, however, the college had been burned by the 

 British troops, and the students dispersed. This was 

 either at the close of Mr. De Witt's junior or the com- 

 mencement of his senior year, and he must have been at 

 this time nearly twenty years of age.* 



He returned to his native home, pursued his studies as 

 he found opportunity, and passed much of his time in 

 the family of his uncle, General James Clinton, then a 

 colonel in the revolutionary army, and father of De Witt 

 Clinton. 



With Gen. Clinton and his brother, Governor George 

 Clinton, he was a great favorite. From them and from his 

 father, he could not fail inspiring the principles of true 

 patriotism. During the next year, the formidable incur- 

 sion of Burgoyne roused all the military spirit of the state. 

 A battalion was organized in Ulster county to join the 

 American army under General Gates, and with this Mr. 

 De Witt marched as volunteer adjutant. On arriving at 

 the seat of war the men were incorporated into a regi- 

 ment already existing, and being thus deprived of his 

 temporary command, he fell into the ranks as a private, 

 and in this capacity was present at the battles which 

 decided the fate of Burgoyne, and at his subsequent sur- 



The service being ended, for which he and his com- 

 panions had volunteered, he again returned to his fa- 

 ther's house. He pursued his mathematical studies, 

 combining with these, an attention to the practical busi- 

 ness of surveying. Not many months, however, had 

 elapsed, before General Washington, in a letter to Ge- 



* He received the degree of A. B. from Queens College in 1776, and of 



