A CHRISTMAS DINNER. * 203 the house. Besides poultry there were beef and mutton. After dinner spiced wine was passed round, followed by pies, puddings, apples, nuts, and cider. I was detailed as a sergeant to take charge of the Lifeguard band, which played lively tunes during the feast, and so I saw all that was going on in the room, for we were stationed in the passage through which each guest went to the dining-room. "On such occasions Colonel Hamilton generally sat at the head of the table, but now being absent, the general presided at one end of the table himself, and Mrs. Washington at the other end. She was a short, stout built, and good little woman. We all loved her. Before the guests sat down, the general, standing, asked a blessing with solemn tones and closed eyes. Old Billy, Washington's bodyservant, whose head appeared like a bunch of white sheep's * According to De Chastellux, Washington was extremely fond of hickory nuts. Describing a dinner at head-quarters at which the marquis "assisted," he wrote, “After this the cloth was taken off, and apples and a great quantity of nuts were served, which General Washington usually continued eating for two hours, toasting and conversing all the time. These nuts are small and dry, and have so hard a shell that they can only be broken by the hammer. They are served half open, and the company are never done picking and eating them." It is also related by another writer that both Mrs. Washington and her husband were excessively fond of eggs as food. While she was at New Windsor eggs became so scarce that few could be procured for the general's table. So reported his purveyor, one of the Lifeguard. Washington immediately made a requisition on the quartermaster for a large quantity of salt. Salt was such a luxury among the people that it became a sort of currency. The country people were informed that salt would be given for eggs, and very soon the table at head-quarters was bountifully supplied with them. wool, was the chief waiter on that occasion, and moved with great dignity. In the evening some of the young people of the village were invited in, together with the non-commissioned officers of the Guard, and all indulged in innocent amusement, particularly dancing, until nine o'clock, when the company broke up. Captain Colfax, who commanded. the Guard, was a guest at the dinner. We all had a good time. "Oh! I forgot to tell you the best part of my story of this Christmas dinner," said the veteran. "It was the refusal of a proud little girl to accept Mrs. Washington's invitation to dine with her and her friends on that day. The little maid was then in her teens, and was less than three feet high. When she became a woman she was never a yard in height. She thought Mrs. Washington's invitation was given only for the purpose of gratifying the curiosity of her guests. The maiden's name was Anna Brewster, and she was descended from the famous Elder Brewster of the Mayflower. She was handsome, and perfect in form, the smallest woman ever seen in America. She lived a maiden until she was seventy-five years old, always dignified in manners and loved by everybody. More than fifty years ago a farmer's son living in the neighborhood, after spending an UZAL KNAPP. THE LIFEGUARDSMAN. 205 evening with her when she was about thirty years old, wrote an acrostic on her name. He gave it to a friend living in New York, who had it printed in a newspaper, which I have kept until now. I'll show it to you." The old Guardsman stepped into another room and brought out a faded and worn newspaper, from which I copied the effusion.* Sergeant Knapp lived until January, * The old Guardsman's memory was a little at fault concerning the acrostic. It was written by Moses Guest, a native of New Brunswick, who had been an officer in the New Jersey line and had assisted in the capture of the famous British partisan leader, Lieut.-col. J. G. Simcoe, in October, 1779. When he wrote the poem in 1794, he was thirtyeight years of age. In a collection of his poems, published in 1823, the acrostic appears, and in a note appended to it the author says it was written after spending an evening with the little young woman, who was then twenty-four years of age, and "only two feet eight inches in height." Mr. Guest, alluding to her refusal to accept the invitation to participate in the Christmas dinner, says she was afterwards prevailed upon to become one of Mrs. Washington's family. The rare volume of poems by Mr. Guest is in the possession of a friend. The following is a copy of the acrostic: "A pretty, charming little creature, Birth and power, wealth and fame, S he has a soul that's great, 'tis said, 1856, when he died at the age of ninety-six years. His remains repose at the foot of a flag-staff a few yards from Washington's head-quarters at Newburgh, in a beautiful sarcophagus made of brown freestone, designed by H. K. Brown, the sculptor. The life of Mrs. Washington at New Windsor was not, in its general aspects, unlike that at other places while in camp. There were more excitements and anxiety for herself and husband than at any other time while she was in camp, excepting at Cambridge, for there were important military operations in various places during the whole time. of her sojourn at New Windsor. At the beginning of January (1781) there was a serious mutiny among the Pennsylvania troops near Morristown. Arnold the traitor, at the head of British and Tory marauders, desolated plantations on the borders of the James River, in Virginia, and carried away a vast amount of plunder. The French army and navy at Newport demanded Washington's personal attention, and caused his absence from head-quarters nineteen days in March, on a visit to Rochambeau, to confer with. him concerning the ensuing campaign. In the Carolinas. battles and skirmishes, and other active military operations, were in progress all the winter and spring. Mrs. Washington was made specially anxious because of another invasion of the Potomac region by British armed vessels in April, which threatened the desolation of her home. One of these vessels anchored off Mount Vernon. The commander sent a flag on shore, demanding an interview on his vessel with Lund Washington, the trusted manager of the estate. Mr. Washington complied, when a demand was made for supplies as a ransom. The commander LIFE AT NEW WINDSOR. 207 agreed that if these should be furnished he would spare the estate. Already some of the slaves had deserted and were on the vessel. Mr. Washington, anxious to save the property, yielded. After receiving the quantity of supplies demanded, the vessel sailed down the river. This compliance on the part of his agent drew from Washington a most pointed rebuke, in a letter dated April 30th, in which he said: "I am thoroughly persuaded that you acted from your best judgment, and I believe that your desire to preserve my property and rescue the buildings from impending danger was your governing motive; but to go on board their vessels, carry them refreshments, commune with a parcel of plundering scoundrels, and request a favor by asking a surrender of my negroes, was exceedingly ill-judged, and, it is to be feared, will be unhappy in its consequences, as it will be a precedent for others and may become a subject for animadversion." The monotony of Mrs. Washington's life at head-quarters was broken occasionally by the arrival of strangers—military officers from the French camp in the East, civil officers from the French diplomatic bureau at Philadelphia, and a member, or members, of Congress. In February the general lost one of the most valued (socially and officially) of his military family, by the withdrawal of Colonel Hamilton. from his staff. The departure of that officer and his charming wife from head-quarters was deeply regretted by Mrs. Washington; but she always yielded with cheerfulness to the inevitable, and was a continual ray of sunshine beaming with hope for the often perplexed mind of the commander-in-chief. She remained with him until preparations |