"They have borne the brunt of battle and defeat all the morning, sir, and are now entitled to a rest. Form them in order directly in the rear of Englishtown, and there await further commands."
It seemed to Enoch as if these instructions had but just been given when the battle began to rage more furiously than ever, and now it appeared as if the troops in every direction were engaged.
"The left wing of the American army was commanded by Lord Stirling, the right by General Greene, and the center by Washington. Wayne, with the advance corps, took possession of the eminence in the orchard, a few rods south of the parsonage. A park of artillery was placed in battery on Comb's Hill, beyond the marsh on his right, and commanding the height on which the British were stationed. Finding themselves opposed in front, the enemy attempted to turn the American left flank, but were repulsed. They also moved toward the American right, where they were enfiladed by a severe cannonade from the battery commanded by General Knox and planted on high ground, where General Greene was posted. Thus assailed, the enemy fell back."
During this time Enoch had been sent from one portion of the field to the other with orders, being constantly under a heavy fire, and was so deeply occupied in finding this commander or that as not to thoroughly comprehend what was going on around him.
It was as if he rode over a vast tract of country, dotted here by redcoats, and there by patriots in buff and blue, or in homespun garments, each man seemingly bent only on loading and discharging his weapon, and all the while acting in what, to a novice, was an aimless manner.
During two hours he hardly remained idle five minutes at a time, and the screaming of the leaden and iron missiles, which at the beginning of the engagement had sounded so ominously in his ears, was now almost unheeded.
During the morning the one thought ever in his mind was the possibility of treachery by General Lee; but now that officer was in the rear, having in a measure redeemed himself, Enoch felt confident, so unbounded was his belief in the commander-in-chief, that the time must come, and soon, when the tide of battle would turn in their favor.
It was terrible in the extreme to ride amid the wounded men, who implored him to give them aid, when his duty demanded that he keep on regardless of their agony. It was as if he suffered from some horrible nightmare, when his horse leaped over dead bodies who lay with upturned faces and open eyes that stared at the pitiless sun which was sending down shafts of fire upon the combatants, the dying, and the dead.
It was while the Royal Grenadiers were pressing General Wayne behind the hedgerow most hotly that Enoch was sent to that officer to ask if he needed assistance, and found him partially sheltered by a barn near the parsonage, where he was urging his men, every one of whom had proved himself a hero, to yet greater exertions.
More than once had the Grenadiers crossed the hedgerow, hoping to dislodge the force that was playing such havoc among their ranks, and the general, watching closely the movements of the British, did not so much as turn his head when Enoch made known his message.