_General Fraser_ (Vol. ix., p. 161.).--The communication of J. C. B.
contains the following sentence:
"During his interment, the incessant cannonade of the enemy covered
with dust the chaplain and the officers who assisted in performing the
last duties to his remains, they being within view of the greatest part
of both armies."
As some might suppose from this that the American army was guilty of the
infamous action of knowingly firing upon a funeral, the following extract
from Lossing's _Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution_, lately published,
is submitted to the readers of "N. & Q." It tells _the whole truth_ upon
the subject. It is from vol. i. p. 66.:
"It was just sunset in that calm October evening, that the corpse of
General Fraser was carried up the hill to the place of burial within
the 'great redoubt.' It was attended only by the members of his
military family, and Mr. Brudenel, the chaplain; yet the eyes of
hundreds of both armies followed the solemn procession, while the
Americans, ignorant of its true character, kept up a constant cannonade
upon the redoubt. The chaplain, unmoved by the danger to which he was
exposed, as the cannon-balls that struck the hill threw the loose soil
over him, pronounced the impressive funeral service of the Church of
England with an unfaltering voice.[2] The growing darkness added
solemnity to the scene. Suddenly the irregular firing ceased, and the
solemn voice of a single cannon, at measured intervals, boomed along
the valley and awakened the responses of the hills. It was a minute
gun, fired by the Americans in honour of the gallant dead. The moment
information was given that the gathering at the redoubt was a funeral
company fulfilling, amid imminent perils, the last breathed wishes of
the noble Fraser, orders were issued to withhold the cannonade with
balls, and to render military homage to the fallen brave."
I may add, for the information of English readers, that Lossing's
_Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution_ is a work of great general
accuracy, written by a gentleman who travelled thousands of miles to
collect the materials. The drawings for the work were drawn, and the
numerous woodcuts engraved, by him. They are the finest woodcuts ever
produced in this country.