Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/462

 and decks bristled with pikes and bayonets, and whose black and heavy sides contrasted vividly with the red hues of the soldiers' uniforms, grouped thickly at the port-holes, and on the taffrails, as if impatient to pour forth upon the land so invitingly spread below and around. To one gallant heart, this inaction was especially irksome. Captain Talbot had obtained the command of a fire-ship, and lay directly before the city, awaiting orders. To secure a more efficient position, and the better to disguise his purpose, he took advantage of a light wind, ascended the Hudson fifteen miles, and anchored just above Fort Washington.

"For three days, in this romantic spot, he quietly awaited an opportune moment for action. On the one side, the banks of the noble river sloped gradually upward, half-covered with low cedars, whose dark umbrage already wore the refreshing tints of spring; on the other, like natural fortifications, rose the gray and upright rocks of the tufted palisades. Few dwellings were then visible; the ripple of the water on the pebbly shore was audible in the lull of the wind, and the tranquil and sequestered beauty of the scene gave no hint of the deadly preparations then making on board the un-warlike craft that swung so gently at her moorings. The lapse of a few hours after Captain Talbot had chosen his anchorage, evidenced the sagacity of his movements. Three of the enemy's ships, in order to protect the left of their army, in case of need, had shifted their ground from the harbor, to a spot about half way between the mouth of the Hudson and the fire-ship. Orders were therefore soon forwarded to the latter, to make a night attack. She was filled with combustibles, and besmeared with turpentine. Several trains of powder were laid; and one of the crew was easily induced to strip himself, and lie down upon deck, with a lighted match, ready, at a moment's warning, to ignite the vessel.

"At two o'clock in the morning they weighed anchor, and dropped slowly down with the tide. The nearest of the three ships was the Asia, of sixty-four guns, whose tall spars and towering hull no sooner loomed upon the eager gaze of Captain Talbot's hardy band, than they steered directly for her broadside. Unsuspicious of any danger, it was but a moment before her little adversary had flung her grappling irons, that the Asia fired; and then a scene ensued, that baffles description. From the depth, as it were, of profound silence, there echoed the reverberation of cannon, the cries of the wounded, and the piercing shouts of alarm and revenge. In an instant, the darkness of a cloudy night gave place to a red flashing glare, that revealed the fort, the waters, and the fields, with the distinctness of noonday ; and brought into vivid relief the huge vessels of war now alive with their startled crews, who hastened to the relief of the Asia;—some pouring water on the rising flames, others disengaging the fire-ship from her side, and not a few intent at the guns, which hurled an incessant shower of balls at the boat in which the daring originator of this sudden conflagration, was propelled by his brave men