Journal of Sally Wister, October 19, 1777

Here, my dear, passes an interval of several weeks, in which nothing happen'd worth the time and paper it wou'd take to write it.¹ The English, however, in the interim, had taken possession of the city.

Second Day, October the 19th, 1777.

Now for new and uncommon scenes. As I was lying in bed, and ruminating on past and present events, and thinking how happy I shou'd be if I cou'd see you, Liddy came running into the room, and said there was the greatest drumming, fifing, and rattling of waggons that ever she had heard. What to make of this we were at a loss.  We dress'd and down stairs in a hurry. Our wonder ceas'd.

The British had left Germantown, and our Army was marching to take possession. It was the general opinion that they wou'd evacuate the capital.² Sister Betsy³ and myself, and G. E.⁴ went about half a mile from home, where we cou'd see the army pass. Thee will stare at my going, but no impropriety in my opine, or I wou'd not have gone. We made no great stay, but return'd with excellent appetites for our breakfast.

Several officers call'd to get some refreshment, but none of consequence till the afternoon. Cousin Prissa⁵ and myself were sitting at the door; I in a green skirt, dark short gown, &c. Two genteel men of the military order rode up to the door: "Your servant, ladies," &c; ask'd if they cou'd have quarters for Genl. Smallwood. Aunt Foulke thought she cou'd accommodate them as well as most of her neighbours, - said they could. One of the officers dismounted, and wrote

SMALLWOOD'S QUARTERS

over the door, which secured us from straggling soldiers. After this he mounted his steed and rode away.

When we were alone our dress and lips were put in order for conquest, and the hopes of adventures gave brightness to each before passive countenance.

Thee must be told of a Dr. Gould,⁶ who, by accident, had made an acquaintance with my father, — a sensible, conversible man, a Carolinian, — and had come to bid us adieu on his going to that state. Daddy had prevailed upon him to stay a day or two with us.

In the evening his Generalship⁷ came with six attendants, which compos'd his family, a large guard of soldiers, a number of horses and baggage-waggons. The yard and house were in confusion, and glitter'd with military equipments.

Gould was intimate with Smallwood, and had gone into Jesse's to see him. While he was there, there was great running up and down stairs, so I had an opportunity of seeing and being seen, the former the most agreeable, to be sure. One person, in particular, attracted my notice. He appear'd cross and reserv'd; but thee shall see how agreeably disappointed I was.

Dr. Gould usher'd the gentlemen into our parlour, and introduced them, "Gen'l Smallwood, Capt. Furnival, Major Stodard, Mr. Prig, Capt. Finley,⁸ and Mr. Clagan,⁹ Col. Wood, and Col. Line." These last two did not come with the Gen'l. They are Virginians, and both indispos'd. The Gen'l and suite are Marylanders.

Be assur'd I did not stay long with so many men, but secur'd a good retreat, heart-safe, so far. Some sup'd with us, others at Jesse's. They retir'd about ten, in good order.

How new is our situation! I feel in good spirits, though surrounded by an Army, the house full of officers, the yard alive with soldiers, — very peaceable sort of men, tho'. They eat like other folks, talk like them, and behave themselves with elegance; so I will not be afraid of them, that I won't.

Adieu. I am going to my chamber to dream, I suppose, of bayonets and swords, sashes, guns, and epaulets.

________________

¹ We are unfortunately given nothing in relation to the Battle of Germantown, which occurred October 4th, in this interval. The omission is difficult to understand, becauses she alludes, later, to "the battle of Germantown, and the horrors of that day." — H. M. J.

² On this date the British withdrew from Germantown into Philadelphia, and the Americans moved down the Skippack Road, and the roads adjacent, to take a nearer position. Washington's headquarters, for some days, were at "James Morris's, on the Skippack road," and on the 2d of November, at Whitemarsh, at the Emlen mansion hereafter mentioned. It was the movement of troops down the Morris road, no doubt, "half a mile away," — that Sally and her friends went to see. — H. M. J.

³ ELIZABETH WISTER, Sally's sister, born February 27, 1764.

⁴ GEORGE EMLEN, son of George and Ann (Reckless) Emlen, was born in Philadelphia, February 25, 1741, and died November 23, 1812. He was married to Sarah Fishbourne, daughter of William and Mary (Talman) Fishbourne, at Pine Street Friends' Meeting, Philadelphia, February 1, 1775. The Emlens had a country seat at Whitemarsh, fourteen miles north of the city. This estate was purchased by George Emlen, Sr., a wealthy Quaker merchant of Philadelphia, in 1745, and at his death, January 3, 1776, it had come into possession of his widow, Ann Emlen, his son George Emlen, Jr., and the other heirs. The Emlen mansion was used by General Washington as his headquarters during the encampment of the Continental Army at Whitemarsh, in the late autumn of 1777, and it was here a few months later that Sally Wister visited and wrote part of the Journal. The house is still standing near Camp Hill Station on the Reading Railroad. It is now owned by the estate of the late Charles T. Aiman. — Phila. Deeds, G. 7, p. 359; Emlen family records.

⁵ PRISCILLA FOULKE, daughter of William and Hannah, and sister of Caleb, Amos, and Jesse; "Cousin " simply by courtesy, as she was not of kin to Sally. She was born Oct. 3, 1744, and died Jan. 25, 1821, unmarried. — H. M. J.

⁶ DAVID GOULD, of Virginia, was appointed Hospital Surgeon in the Continental Line, September 8, 1777, and Senior Hospital Surgeon in Virginia, October 11, 1779. He died July 12, 1781, "while on his way to Philadelphia to settle his accounts." (Heitman; "American State Papers," xix., 21). Our journalist thus notes his death, in the back part of the book containing her Journal:

"August, 1781. And must I again trace with my pen an account of the death of another of our Northwales friends? The worthy Dr. Gould: — the last scene of his life was clos'd at Hartford [Harford?] in Maryland. Clos'd forever those lips, from which proceeded the most beautiful sentiments, cloath'd in the most elegant expressions. Silent forever that silver tongue, that charm'd the listening audience. Flown to happier regions that heart, where all the social virtues resided, where disappointment shall never enter.

"I hope

“‘The hand of friendship rais'd his languid head

“‘And smooth'd the pillow of his dying bed.’”

⁷ WILLIAM SMALLWOOD, son of Bayne and Priscilla (Heabard) Smallwood, was born in Maryland in 1732. His father was a merchant and planter, at one time presiding officer of the Court of Common Pleas, and also a member of the House of Burgesses; his mother was a native of Virginia. At an early age he was sent to school in England, where he finished his education. On January 2, 1776, he was made Colonel of the Maryland Battalion, and on July 10, with nine companies, he joined Washington in New York. His troops took an active part in the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, and at White Plains. At White Plains he was wounded, and for his gallantry on the occasion Congress appointed him a Brigadier-General, October 23, 1776. He was present at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At the latter place his Maryland troops retrieved the day, and captured part of the enemy's camp. During the winter of 1777-1778 he was stationed at Wilmington, Delaware. He won new laurels in the southern campaign, and received the thanks of Congress. In September, 1780, he was given the rank of Major-General, and remained in the army until the close of the war. In 1785, he was elected to Congress, but in the same year was chosen Governor of Maryland, and served in the latter office until 1788. He then retired to his plantation called "Mattawoman," on the Potomac, in Charles County, and resided there during the remainder of his life. The registers of Durham Parish show that he took an active part in the vestry meetings. In 1791 his subscription to the Vestry was estimated on three thousand pounds of tobacco, the largest crop in the parish. He died unmarried, February 14, 1792, and is buried on his plantation; his estate passed to collateral heirs. His old Colonial homestead, built of brick, still stands upon a high promontory on the shore of the Potomac. On July 4, 1898, the Sons of the American Revolution erected there a granite monument to his memory. — Nat. Cyc. of Amer. Bio., IX., 292; Heitman; Md. Journal and Balt. Advertiser, Feb. 21, 1792.

⁸ EBENEZER FINLEY, of Maryland, made Captain of Maryland Artillery, July 4, 1777. This company formed part of the First Continental Artillery, May 30, 1778. In June, 1780, Captain Finley became Department Judge Advocate of the Southern Department, and continued in that office until the close of the war. Heitman.

⁹ HORATIO CLAGETT, or Claggett, son of Thomas Clagett, of "Piscataway," St. George's County, Maryland, served as Ensign of the Third Battalion Maryland Flying Camp, from July to

December, 1776. He became First Lieutenant of the third Maryland regiment, December 10, 1776, and Captain, October 10, 1777. He was transferred to the Fifth Maryland, January 1, 1781, and to the Third Maryland, January 2, 1783. He was retained in the Maryland Battalion, April, 1783, and on the 30th of September was given the rank of Brevet-Major. His service in the army continued until November 3, 1783. After the war he went to London, England, married and died there. — Heitman; W. W. Bowie, "Bowies and Their Kindred (Washington, D. C., 1899), 399.

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. 73-8