Nehemiah Brown. cont'd.

Oct. 28th Nehemiah Brown, of King Street, near Portchester:

"Lieut. Brown had some disagreement with Colonel Sheldon, and left the regiment before the close of the war.

When Lieut. Gill, of Moylan's, was taken in East Chester (or New Rochelle) his horse was stunned by a shot and fell. Gill got up, crept up on the top of a rock, and seeing no escape said, "I surrender myself a prisoner!" His horse after laying on the ground a few moments apparently dead, suddenly rose and ran forward and joined his comrades. The British Commander (Beckwith?) said to Gill, "You must be either a fool or a madman!" Gill asked, "What do you mean?" "You could have had no hope of success against such odds. Why did you not surrender when we called upon you?" Gill replied, "I am never in the habit of surrendering till I am beaten". The British commander had previously offered quarters and called upon

Nehemiah Brown contd.

Gill to surrender. Gill formed a plan to decoy Bearmore up the country into an ambuscade. Selecting the three best horses in the regiment, and mounted himself upon a superb charger belonging to Col. White he approached Bearmore's corps and endea- =voured to provoke him to a pursuit. He insulted Bearmore by asking whose men they were, and when answered "a detach- =ment of His Majesty's Light Horse," replied, "That's a lie! You are only a set of plundering cow thieves!" He then asked Bearmore the number of his followers and offered battle with an equal number, or that Bearmore should select [three] of his men to engage him and his companions or finally that Bearmore should meet him in single combat accompanying his challenge with reflections upon Bearmore's courage which stung him to the quick. -- [marg: * In the original (pa 38) there was not (till I put it there myself) any reference as to the continuation of this subject -- and this accounts for the gap in this page.