Journal of Sally Wister, September 26, 1777

We were unusually silent all morning; no passengers came by the house, except to the mill, & we don’t place much dependence on Mill news.

About twelve o’clock, cousin Jesse¹ heard that Gen. Howe’s army moved down towards Philadelphia. Then my dear, our hopes & fears were engaged for you. However, my advice is, summon up all your resolution, call Fortitude to your aid, and don't suffer your spirits to sink, my dear; there's nothing like courage; 'tis what I stand in need of myself, but unfortunately have little of it in my composition.

I was standing in the kitchen² about 12, when somebody came to me in a hurry, screaming, "Sally, Sally, here are the light horse!" This was by far the greatest fright I had endured; fear tack'd wings to my feet; I was at the house in a moment; at the porch I stopt, and it really was the light horse.

I ran immediately to the western door, where the family were assembled, anxiously waiting for the event. They rode up to the door and halted, and enquired if we had horses to sell; he was answer'd negatively.

"Have not you, sir," to my father, "two black horses?"

"Yes, but have no mind to dispose of them."

My terror had by this time nearly subsided. The officer and men behav'd perfectly civil; the first drank two glasses of wine, rode away, bidding his men follow, which, after adieus in number, they did. The officer was Lieutenant Lindsay,³ of Bland's regiment, Lee's troop. The men, to our great joy, were Americans, and but 4 in all. What made us imagine them British, they wore blue and red, which with us is not common.

It has rained all this afternoon, and to present appearances, will all night. In all probability the English will take possession of the city to-morrow or next day. What a change will it be! May the Almighty take you under His protection, for without His divine aid all human assistance is vain.

"May heaven's guardian arm protect my absent friends,

From danger guard them, and from want defend."

Forgive my dear, the repetition of these lines, but they just darted into my mind. Nothing worth relating has occurred this afternoon. Now for trifles. I have set a stocking on the needles, and intend to be mighty industrious. This evening some of our folks heard a very heavy cannon. We supposed it to be fir'd by the English. The report seem'd to come from Philada. We hear the American army will be within five miles of us tonight.

The uncertainty of our position engrosses me quite. Perhaps to be in the midst of war, and ruin, and the clang of arms. But we must hope the best.

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¹ JESSE FOULKE, son of William and Hannah, and brother to Caleb and Amos. He was therefore a "connection by marriage," but not of kin, at all; the term "cousin" is purely complimentary. He was born Nov. 9, 1742, and died unmarried, March 16, 1821. He and his unmarried sister Priscilla continued to occupy the old Foulke mansion, and lived to advanced years. — H. M. J.

² The kitchen was "a small distance from the house." See infra, under date of June 5, 1778.

³ WILLIAM LINDSAY, whose father, William Lindsay, had come from Jamaica and settled at Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia, was appointed a Cornet in Colonel Bland's Regiment of Virginia Light Dragoons, June 16, 1776. On the 18th of December of the same year he was raised to the rank of Lieutenant. March 15, 1777, he became Third Lieutenant of the First Continental Dragoons. He received a wound near Valley Forge, January 21, 1778. On the 7th of April following he was made Captain of Lee's Battalion of Light Dragoons. He resigned from the Army, October 1, 1778. He lived for a time near Fredericksburg, but having received the first appointment to the office of Collector of the Customs for Norfolk and Portsmouth under the Federal government, he removed with his family to the latter place. He died September 1, 1797, while on a trip to Newport, Rhode Island, and was buried there in Trinity churchyard. By his wife, Martha Fox, he had several children, of whom Colonel William Lindsay was a prominent officer of the United States Army. — Bland MSS., Cong. Lib., Wash.; Heitman; "Lindsay Genealogy," 225 (Albany, 1889); Norfolk Herald, Sept. 29, 1838; Columbian Sentinel (Boston), September 13, 1797.

SOURCE: Albert Cook Myers, Editor, Sally Wister's Journal A True Narrative Being A Quaker Maiden's Account Of Her Experiences With Officers Of The Continental Army, 1777-1778, pp. 69-73