"THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS.
"Gallants attend, and hear a friend
"'Twas early day, as poets say,
Trill forth harmonious ditty;
Just when the sun was rising,
Strange things I'll tell, which late befell
A soldier stood on log of wood,
In Philadelphia city.
And saw a thing surprising.
"As in amaze he stood to gaze
(The truth can't be denied, sir),
He spied a score of kegs, or more,
Come floating down the tide, sir.
"A sailor, too, in jerkin blue,
The strange appearance viewing,
First d—d his eyes, in great surprise,
Then said, 'Some mischief's brewing.
'"These kegs, I'm told, the rebels hold,
Pack'd up like pickled herring;
And they've come down t' attack the town
In this new way of ferry'ng.'
"The soldier flew, the sailor too,
And, scared almost to death, sir,
Wore out their shoes to spread the news,
And ran till out of breath, sir.
"Now up and down, throughout the town,
Most frantic scenes were acted;
And some ran here, and others there,
Like men almost distracted.
"Some fire cried, which some denied,
But said the earth had quaked;
And girls and boys, with hideous noise,
Ran through the streets half naked.
"Sir William* he, snug as a flea,
Lay all this time a snoring;
Nor dream'd of harm as he lay warm
In bed with Mrs. L... ngt
"Now, in a fright, he starts upright,
Awaked by such a clatter;
He rubs both eyes, and boldly cries,
'For God's sake, what's the matter?'
"At his bed-side he then espied
Sir Erskine, at command, sir;
Upon one foot he had one boot,
And t'other in his hand, sir.
"'Arise! arise!' Sir Erskine cries;
'The rebels—more's the pity—
Without a boat, are all afloat,
And ranged before the city.
'"The motley crew, in vessels new,
With Satan for their guide, sir,
Pack'd up in bazs, or wooden kegs,
Come driving down the tide, sir.
"' Therefore prepare for bloody war;
These kegs must all be routed; '
Or surely we despised shall be,
And British courage doubted.'
"The royal band now ready stand,
All ranged in dread array, sir,
With stomach stout to see it out,
And make a bloody day, sir.
"The cannons roar from shore to shore;
The small-arms loud did rattle;
Since wars began I'm sure no man
E'er saw so strange a battle.
"The rebel dales, the rebel vales,
With rebel trees surrounded,
The distant woods, the hills and floods.
With rebel echoes sounded.
"The fish below swam to and fro,
Attack'd from every quarter;
Why sure (thought they), the devil's to pay
'Mong folk above the water.
"The kegs, 'tis said, though strongly made
Of rebel staves and hoops, sir,
Could not oppose their powerful foes,
The conq'ring British troops, sir.
"From morn to night, these men of might
Display'd amazing courage,
And when the sun was fairly down.
Retired to sup their porridge.
"A hundred men, with each a pen,
Or more, upon my word, sir,
It is most true, would be too few,
Their valor to record, sir.
"Such feats did they perform that day
Against these wicked kegs, sir,
That, years to come, if they get home,
They'll make their boasts and brags, sir."
* This was a musical instrument invented by Dr. Franklin. He saw, in London, a musical instrument, consisting of tumblers, and played by passing a wet finger around their rims. The glasses were arranged on a table, and tuned by putting water in them until they gave the notes required. Franklin was charmed by the sweet tones, and, after many trials, succeeded in constructing an instrument of a different form, and much superior. His glasses were made in the shape of a hemisphere, with an open neck or socket in the middle, for the purpose of being fixed on an iron spindle. They were then arranged, one after another, on this spindle; the largest at one end, and gradually diminishing in size to the smallest at the other end The tones depended on the size of the glasses. The spindle, with its series of glasses, was fixed horizontally in a case, and turned by a wheel attached to its large end, upon the principle of a common spinning-w-heel. The performer sat in front of the instrument, and the tones were brought out by applying a wet finger to the exterior surface of the glasses as they turned round. It became quite a popular instrument. A Miss Cecilia Davies acquired great skill in playing upon it, and, with her sister, performed in various cities in Europe. She performed in the presence of the imperial court of Vienna at the celebration of the nuptials of the Duke of Parma and the Archduchess of Austria. Metastasio composed an ode for the occasion, expressly designed to be sung by her sister, and accompanied by the armonica.—Sparks's Life of Franklin, page 264.
Alarm during the Mischianza Fete.—Boldness of Americans.—Interesting Places near Philadelphia.
On the night of the Mischianza, while the enemy were enjoying the festivities of the fete, Colonel Allen M'Lane, father of one of our ministers to the court of St. James, devised a stratagem to break them up. At ten o'clock he reached the abatis in front of the British works with one hundred and fifty men, in four divisions, supported by Clow's dragoons. They carried camp-kettles filled with combustibles, and at a given signal they fired the whole line of abatis. The British beat the long alarm roll, and the assailants were attacked and pursued by the strong guard along the lines. The officers at the fete managed to keep the ladies ignorant of the cause of the tumult without. M'Lane and his associates escaped to the hills of the Wissahicon, and bent their way toward Valley Forge. This was the last time the British felt the annoyance of the patriots while in Philadelphia; for they soon afterward evacuated the city, crossed the Delaware, and marched for New York. We shall overtake them on the plains of Monmouth.
Germantown, Whitemarsh, Barren Hill, and Valley Forge, lying within a short distance of Philadelphia, are all intimately connected, in their Revolutionary history, with the city, particularly in relation to its possession and final evacuation by the British in 1777—8. We will proceed to these interesting localities, after considering, for a moment, the patriotism of the women of Philadelphia, which beamed out, clear as Hesperus, at the darkest hour of the struggle for freedom."
In the summer of 1780 the distress of the American army was very great, on account of the scarcity of clothing, and the inadequate means possessed by the commissary depart-
** He is represented by some as Sir William Erskine.
** Sir William Howe.
*** The wife of a Boston refugee, who was then a commissary of prisoners in Philadelphia, being second only to Cunningham in cruelty, while others speak of him as an honorable man.
Patriotism of the Philadelphia Women.—Mrs. Reed and Mrs. Bache.—De Chastellux's Visit to Mrs. Bache.