Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/197

 Rh friendship. When we afterwards returned to Canada, I made the acquaintance of his family. One of our greatest troubles was the smell of the wounds when they began to fester.

“Once I undertook the cure of Major Plumfield, aide-de-camp to General Phillips. A small musketball had gone through both his cheeks, shattered his teeth and grazed his tongue. He could not keep anything in his mouth; the matter almost choked him, and he could take no nourishment but a little broth, or something fluid. We had Rhine wine. I gave him a bottle, in hopes that the acid of the wine would cleanse his wound. He constantly took a little in his mouth, and that alone did such good service that he was healed, by which I gained another friend. And thus, in the midst of my hours of trouble and sorrow, I had moments of pleasure that made me very happy.

“On one of these sad days General Phillips wished to visit me and accompanied my husband, who used to come once or twice every day at the peril of his life. He saw our situation, and heard me entreat my husband not to leave me behind, in case of a hasty retreat. He, himself, supported my cause, when he saw my great repugnance to being in the hands of the Americans. On going away he said to my husband: ‘No! I would not come here again for ten thousand guineas; for my heart is quite, quite broken.’

“Meanwhile, all who were with us did not deserve pity. There were also cowards among them, who stayed in the cellar for nothing, and afterwards, when we were prisoners, could take their places in the ranks and go on parade. We stayed six days in this