Your letter of the 30th ult., asking for some account of the campaign in which I served under the command of Col. Burr, during the Revolutionary War. was received some davs ago, and has been constantly in my mind. I will reply to it with pleasure, but the compass of a letter will not admit of much detail. I resided in the lines from the commencement of the Revolution until the winter of 1777, when my father's house was burnt by order ci the British General. The County of Westchester, very soon after the commencement of hostilities, became, on account of its exposed situation, a scene of the deepest distress. From the Croton to Kingsbridge every species of rapine and lawlessness prevailed. Jso man went to his bed but under the apprehension of having his house plundered or burnt, or himself or family massacred before morning.' Some, under the character of Whigs, plundered the Tories; while others, of the latter description, plundered the Whigs. Parties of marauders assuming either character, or none, as suited their convenience, indiscriminately assailed both Whigs and Tories. So little vigilance was used on our part, that the emissaries and spies of the enemy passed and repassed without interruption. These calamities

a Thachcr's Military Journal, 185. b Davis's Mem. of Burr, vol, i, 165.

c We are indebted for this important letter to our friend and neighbor, T. R. Randall, LL.D., of tills village. Editor Historical Magazine. Copied from Historical Magazine, new series, vol. ix, No. G. June, 1871. page 284.