Memoirs of Lieut.-General Scott, LL.D. (Volume 1) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. CHANGE OP PBOFE88ION ADVENTUBE AS A VOLUNTEER RETURN TO THE BAB ENTEKS THE ARMT. It was as a newly fledged lawyer, looking on the trial just described as a fine professional study, that a different career suddenly dawned upon me. In a single night I became a soldier. Burr's trial commenced May 22, 1807. A month later the outrage was committed by the British frigate Leopard, on the United States frigate Chesapeake, in our waters near the capes of Virginia. The whole country was fired with indignation. July 2, President Jefferson issued a proclamation, interdicting the use of our harbors and rivers to all British war vessels. Yol- unteers were called for to enforce the interdict?that is, Became a Volunteer. 19 to prevent landings to obtain fresh water, provisions, etc. The proclamation reached Eichmond late in an evening. I had not before belonged to any military organization; but early the next morning, at the parade of the Petersburg troop of cavalry (which had tendered its services in advance), I was in their ranks, mounted and fully equipped for the field, having travelled twenty-five miles in the night, obtained the uniform of a tall, absent trooper, and bought the extra fine charger under me. From that, my first parade, the troop marched off for the scene of its duties. The route marches and encampments of volunteers have, unfortunately, become too familiar to hundreds of thousands of our people of the present day, to be worth describing in this place. One incident, however, occurred to me in the expedition, which came very near being of great national importance. I belonged to a detached camp, in a charming grove, some two miles from Linn Haven Bay, opposite to the anchorage of the British squadron. There lay Sir Thomas Hardy, a favorite of Ne..