Will Carleton was born in Hudson, Michigan, October 21, 1845. He is
best known by his domestic ballads, “Over the Hill to the
Poorhouse” and “Betsey and I Are Out.”
The “Neutral Ground” of the poem--Westchester County, New York--was so
called because it was held neither by the British nor the American
armies during the Revolutionary War. This locality is the scene of some
of the most stirring passages in Cooper’s _Spy_.
=Last stanza.= =Putnam.= See “Mary Butler’s Ride.”