Colonel Henry Ludington; A Memoir (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907. Excerpt: ... and some meals were made of the bark and twigs of birch trees and the berries of the juniper. Through all these hardships young Ludington led his comrades safely to their destination. Then, in the spring of 1760, he proceeded from Boston to Branford, and thus terminated for the time his active military career. In recognition of his services he received from King George II the commission of a lieutenant in the British Colonial Army, which he held until, in the succeeding reign, news came of the enactment of the Stamp Act, when he resigned it. Later, on February 13, 1773, he accepted a captain's commission from William Tryon, the last British governor of New York, which he held until the beginning of the Revolution. This commission was in the regiment commanded by Beverly Robinson, that eminent British Loyalist who was the intermediary between Sir Henry Clinton and Benedict Arnold. It was at Robinson's country mansion that much of Arnold's plotting was done, and it was there, while at dinner, that the traitor received the news of the failure of his treason through the capture of his agent, Major Andre. One other incident of Henry Ludington's service demands passing attention. In one of the returns of his regiment, in connection with the fifteen days' service in August, 1757, he is recorded as "Deserted." Generally speaking, no worse blot than that can well be put upon a soldier's record. But it is quite obvious that in this case it is devoid of its usual serious significance. It is certain that he did not actually desert in the ordinary present meaning of that term. This we know, because there is no record nor intimation of any steps ever being taken to punish him for what would have been regarded as a heinous crime; because soon after that entry against hi...