Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/127

 DELAWARE COUNTY. 103 Falls. One of them, Benjamin,* was wounded, and becom- ing sick and faint from loss of blood, he eluded the vigilance of the watchful enemy, and secreted himself in the crevice of an impeding ledge of rocks, where he succeeded in stanching , the blood by tow from his cartridge-box, and binding up the wound with a handkerchief, joined eagerly in the fight. The other was J ohn, who mingled in the hottest of the fight, and, strange to say, was almost the only person who escaped un- injured, although he received nine bullet-holes through his hat and clothes.'' The campaign of 1779 was principally, on the part of the Americans, of a defensive character; this mode of operation being the least expensive — an important consideration in the then crippled state of the finances. The belligerent operations were carried on during the year in three different quarters; the forces of Washington and Clinton in the north; the British troops sent south to subjugate the Carolinas and G-eor- gia ; while the marine of England and France were contending fiercely upon the high seas. The tide of war in the north was marked by various reverses to the American arms. The British had captured the forts at Yerplanck and Stony Point, which latter place, however, wras shortly after gallantly retaken by the brave General Wayne. The infamous Grovernor Tryon, with six thousand troops, had made a predatory incursion into Connecticut. His course was marked alike by devastation and blood. Fairfield and Norwalk were laid waste, and his forces were about to fall upon New London, which would have shared the same fate, had it not been for the timely check of Clinton, who ordered Tryon to another quarter. These, together with the expedition of Greneral Sullivan, formed the principal fea- tures of the foregoing campaign.
 * Benjamin afterward lived at Deposit.