instant," says Johnson, in his life of Greene," Howard (who now commanded this regiment, Gunby having been unhorsed) rushed upon them, the British, from the left, and the battle was literally fought hand to hand. It was a contest not only for victory, but reputation, Officers and soldiers equally valued themselves as the Jovians and Herculians of the two armies nor were the incidents of it destitute of the features of chivalry and romance." Young Beatty rose high in the estimation of his superior officers, and of the army. His conduct had been such as to merit and receive no ordinary praise, and his patriotism and personal courage promised, at no great length of time, to elevate him to high rank in the army of his country. But fortune is not always propitious to the brave. His brilliant career was destined soon to be brought to a close; but the laurels he had won were doomed to acquire a fresher bloom and a richer verdure by the manner of his death. At the battle of Hobkick's hill, near Camden, which was fought on the 25th of April, in the same year, captain Beatty, while gallantly leading on the right company of the first Maryland regiment, received a mortal wound, and died, as he had always wished to die, in the lap of glory. Thus fell this brave and promising young officer, in the twenty-third year of his age, who has been emphatically termed by judge Johnson, the delight of his command;" who was indeed the pride of his regiment, and of the army, and whose untimely death was universally lamented by a grateful and magnanimous nation.

General Lee, in his memoirs of the war in the southern department, speaking of this battle, says, "The British lost no officer of distinction, which was not the case with us. The wound of lieutenant colonel Ford proved mortal, and captain Beatty, of the first Maryland, was killed, than whom the army did not possess an officer of more promise.'

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Colonel John E. Howard, who had a distinguished command to the south, and whose meritorious services are so well known, and recorded in all the histories of the Revolutionary War, does justice to the gallantry of captain Beatty, in the following extract of a letter to William B. Rochester, Esq. member of Congress from New York.

"Baltimore, February 18, 1813. "It would give me much pleasure to add my testimony to that of general Greene and others, of the great merit of captain William Beatty. Indeed, the general in few words has so strongly portrayed his character, that little can be added.

"Extract from the letter of general Greene to Congress: 'Among the killed is captain Beatty of the Maryland line, one of the best of officers, and an ornament to his pro fession.'

Judge Johnson, in his Life of general Greene, says, "The first symptom of confusion was exhibited by the commencement of a firing, contrary to orders. This was scarcely suppressed, when captain Beatty, who led the right company of the first Maryland regiment, and who was the delight of his command, fell, pierced to the heart. Captain Beatty was under my command.”

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS, captain in the American navy, during the Revolutionary War, was born in the city of Philadelphia, in the year 1750. Among the brave men, who perished in the glorious struggle for the independence of America, captain Biddle holds a distinguished rank. His services, and the high expectations raised by his military genius and gallantry, have left a strong impression of his merit, and a profound regret that his early fate should have disappointed, so soon, the hopes of his country.

Very early in life he manifested a partiality for the sea, and before the age of fourteen, he had made a voyage to Quebec. In the following year, 1765, he sailed from Philadelphia to Jamaica, and the Bay of Honduras. The vessel left the Bay in the latter end of December, 1765, bound to Antigua, and on the 2d day of January, in a heavy gale of wind, she was east away on a shoal, called the Northern Triangles. After remaining two nights and a day upon the wreck, the crew took to their yawl, the long-boat having been lost, and with great difficulty and hazard, landed on one of the small uninhabited islands, about three leagues distant from the reef upon which they struck. Here they staid a few days. Some provisions were procured from the wreck, and their boat was refitted. As it was too small to carry them all off, they drew lots to determine who should remain, and young Biddle was among the number. He, and his three companions, suffered extreme hardships for the want of provisions and good water; and, although various efforts were made for their relief, it was nearly two months before they succeeded.

Such a scene of dangers and sufferings in the commencement of his career, would have discouraged a youth of ordinary enterprise and perseverance. On him it produced no such effect. The coolness and promptitude with which he acted, in the midst of perils that alarmed the oldest seamen, gave a sure presage of the force of bis character, and after he had returned home, he made several European voyages, in which he acquired a thorough knowledge of seamanship.

In the year 1770, when a war between Great Britain and Spain was expected, in consequence of the dispute relative to Falkland's Island, he went to London, in order to enter into the British navy. He took with him letters of recommenda

tion from Thomas Willing, Esquire, to his brother-in-law captain Sterling, on board of whose ship he served for some time as a midshipman. The dispute with Spain being accommodated, he intended to leave the navy, but was persuaded by captain Sterling to remain in the service, promising that he would use all his interest to get him promoted. His ardent mind, however, could not rest satisfied with the inactivity of his situation, which he was impatient to change for one more suited to his disposition.

In the year 1773, a voyage of discovery was undertaken, at the request of the Royal Society, in order to ascertain how far navigation was practicable towards the North Pole, to advance the discovery of a north-west passage into the south seas, and to make such astronomical observations as might prove serviceable to navigation.

Two vessels, the Race Horse and Carcase, were fitted out for the expedition, the command of which was given to captain Phipps, afterwards lord Mulgrave. The peculiar dangers to which such an undertaking was exposed, induced the government to take extraordinary precautions in fitting out, and preparing the vessels, and selecting the crews, and a positive order was issued that no boys should be received on board.

To the bold and enterprising spirit of young Biddle, such an expedition had great attractions. Extremely anxious to join it, he endeavoured to procure captain Sterling's permission for that purpose, but he was unwilling to part with him, and would not consent to let him go. The temptation was, however, irresistible. He resolved to go, and laying aside his uniform, he entered on board the Carcase before the mast. When he first went on board, he was observed by a seaman who had known him before, and was very much attached to him. The honest fellow, thinking that he must have been degraded, and turned before the mast in disgrace, was greatly affected at seeing him, but he was equally surprised and pleased when he learned the true cause of the young officer's disguise, and he kept his secret as he was requested to do. Impelled by the same spirit, young Horatio, afterwards lord Nelson, had solicited and obtained permission to enter on board the same vessel. These youthful adventurers are both said to have been appointed cockswains, a station always assigned to the most active and trusty seaman. The particulars of this expedition are well known to the public. These intrepid navigators penetrated as far as the latitude of eighty-one degrees and thirty-nine minutes, and they were, at one time, enclosed with mountains of ice, and their vessels rendered almost immoveable for five days, at the hazard of instant destruction.

Captain Biddle kept a journal of his voyage, which was afterwards lost with him.

The commencement of the revolution gave a new turn to his pursuits, and he repaired, without delay, to the standard of his country. When a rupture between England and America appeared inevitable, he returned to Philadelphia, and soon after his arrival, he was appointed to the command of the Camden galley, fitted for the defence of the Delaware. He found this too inactive a service, and when the fleet was preparing, under commodore Hopkins, for an expedition against New Providence, he applied for a command in the fleet, and was immediately appointed commander of the Andrew Doria, a brig of fourteen guns, and one hundred and thirty men. Paul Jones, who was then a lieutenant, and was going on the expedition, was distinguished by captain Biddle, and introduced to his friends as an officer of merit.

Before he sailed from the capes of Delaware, an incident occurred, which marked his personal intrepidity. Hearing that two deserters from his vessel were at Lewistown in prison, an officer was sent on shore for them, but he returned with information that the two men, with some others, had armed themselves, barricadoed the door, and swore they would not be taken; that the militia of the town had been sent for, but were afraid to open the door, the prisoners threatening to shoot the first man who entered. Captain Biddle immediately went to the prison, accompanied by a midshipman, and calling to one of the deserters whose name was Green, a stout, resolute fellow, ordered him to open the door; he replied that he would not, and if he attempted to enter, he would shoot him. He then ordered the door to be forced, and entering singly with a pistol in each hand, he called to Green, who was prepared to fire, and said, "Now, Green, if you do not take good aim, you are a dead man." Daunted by his manner, their resolution failed, and the militia coming in, secured them. They afterwards declared to the officer who furnishes this account, that it was captain Biddle's look and manner which had awed them into submission, for that they had determined to kill him as soon as he came into the room.

Writing from the capes to his brother, the late judge Biddle, he says, "I know not what may be our fate: be it, howover, what it may, you may rest assured, I will never cause a blush in the checks of my friends or countrymen." Soon after they sailed, the small-pox broke out and raged with great violence in the fleet, which was manned chiefly by New England seamen. The humanity of captain Biddle, always prompt and active, was employed on this occasion to alleviate the general distress, by all the means in his power. His own

crew, which was from Philadelphia, being secure against the distemper, he took on board great numbers of the sick from other vessels. Every part of his vessel was crowded, the long-boat was fitted for their accommodation, and he gave up his own cot to a young midshipman, on whom he bestowed the greatest attention till his death. In the meanwhile he slept himself upon the lockers, refusing the repeated solicitations of his officers, to accept their births. On their arrival at New Providence, it surrendered without opposition. The crew of the Andrew Doria, from their crowded situation, became sick, and before she left Providence, there were not men enough capable of doing duty to man the boats; captain Biddle visited them every day, and ordered every necessary refreshment, but they continued sickly until they arrived at New London.

After refitting at New London, captain Biddle received orders to proceed off the banks of Newfoundland, in order to intercept the transports and storeships bound to Boston. Before he reached the banks, he captured two ships from Scotland, with four hundred highland troops on board, destined for Boston. At this time the Andrew Doria had not one hundred men. Lieutenant Josiah, a brave and excellent officer, was put on board one of the prizes, with all the Highland officers, and ordered to make the nearest port. Unfortunately, about ten days afterwards, he was taken by the Cerberus frigate, and, on pretence of his being an Englishman, was ordered to do duty, and extremely ill used. Captain Biddle hearing of the ill treatment of lieutenant Josiah, wrote to the admiral at New York, that, however disagreeable it was to him, he would treat a young man of family, believed to be a son of lord Craston, who was then his prisoner, in the manner they treated lieutenant Josiah.

He also applied to his own government in behalf of this injured officer, and by the proceedings of congress, on the 7th of August, 1776, it appears, "that a letter from captain Nicholas Biddle to the marine committee, was laid before congress and read: whereupon, Resolved, That general Washington be directed to propose an exchange of lieutenant Josiah, for a lieutenant of the navy of Great Britain: that the general remonstrate to lord Howe on the cruel treatment lieutenant Josiah has met with, of which the congress have received undoubted information." Lieutenant Josiah was exchanged, after an imprisonment of ten months. After the capture of the ships with the highlanders, such was captain Biddle's activity and success in taking prizes, that when he arrived in the Delaware, he had but five of the crew with which he sailed from New London, the rest having been distributed among the captured vessels, and their places supplied by men who