After the battle of Camden, all the fragments of the army that could be gathered together were marched off from Charlotte to Salisbury, "constituting," in the language of the narrative referred to, "a wretched remnant of the late southern army; amongst the rest were six soldiers who left the hospital with other convalescents; they had all suffered in Buford's unfortunate affair, and had but two sound arms amongst them; indeed four of them had not one arm among them, and two only an arm apiece." Such are the shocking spectacles that war exhibits.

After a little breathing time had been allowed at Hillsborough, a board of officers, convened by order of General Gates, determined that all the effective men should be formed into two battalions, constituting one regiment; to be completely officered and provided for in the best possible manner that circumstances would admit, and the command of it given to Colonel WILLIAMS and Lieutenant-Colonel Howard. This nucleus of the southern army was encamped at some distance from the town-if the word "encamped" can be properly applied to men who were sheltered in "wigwams, made of fence rails, poles, and corn tops." But, notwithstanding this unostentatious mode of dwelling, by the judicious conduct of the officers, a spirit was diffused amongst the troops which was felt by the enemy in the next encounter. Parade duties were regularly attended, as well by officers as soldiers, and discipline not only began to be perfectly restored, but even gave an air of stability and confidence to the regiment which all their rags could not disguise. In this encampment, no circumstance of want or distress was admitted as an excuse for relaxing from the strictest discipline, to which the soldiers more cheerfully submitted, as they saw their officers constantly occupied in procuring for them whatever was attainable in their situation. Absolutely without pay; almost destitute of clothing; often with only a half ration, and never with a whole one, (without substituting one article for another,) not a soldier was heard to murmur, after the third or fourth day of their being encamped. Instead of meeting and conferring in small sullen squads, as they had formerly done, they filled up the intervals from duty with manly exercises and field sports; in short, the officers had very soon the entire confidence of the men, who divested themselves of all unnecessary care, and devoted themselves to duty and pastime within the limits assigned them.

On General Greene's assuming the command of the southern army, he soon discovered the superior abilities of Colonel WILLIAMS,

and appointed him adjutant-general of his army. In this high trust, he enjoyed the confidence of his general and the army, and fully merited it by his gallantry and his strict attention to his duties. In every action-and they were numerous-he displayed tact, judgment, and presence of mind. He gained great honor for his conduct in covering, with the rear guard, which he commanded, the memorable retreat of the army through North Carolina.

He baffled every attempt of the enemy to bring on a general engagement, and by checking his advance, gained sufficient time to enable the main body of the army to secure its retreat. The preservation of that army has been justly attributed to him for his firmness, coolness, and able manœuvres.

In the battle at the Eutaw Springs, he led that celebrated charge, which gained him the highest honors of the day. At a critical moment General Greene issued the order, "Let WILLIAMS advance and sweep the field with his bayonets." Promptly was the order obeyed—the field was swept, but the victory was dearly bought. Near the close of the war, he was sent by General Greene with despatches to congress, and was by that body promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, as a reward for his gallant services. About that period the state collector of the customs for Baltimore, died, and WILLIAMS received the appointment from the governor of Maryland. The office was lucrative, and he enjoyed it until the adoption of the constitution of the United States, when Washington appointed him to the same office, which he held until his death.

General WILLIAMS married Mary, the second daughter of William Smith, a wealthy merchant of Baltimore, who had been a member of congress. They had four sons, William, Edward, Henry, and Otho, all of whom inherited handsome fortunes, and many of the fine qualities of their father. William and Edward married, the former Miss Susan Cook, and the latter Miss Gilmore, of Baltimore. The four brothers have all, however, been called to early graves, and the only lineal representatives of the gallant, amiable, and accomplished WILLIAMS, are the two sons, and two daughters of his son William, and a daughter of his son Edward.

The health of General WILLIAMS had been very delicate for many years; the result of the cruelty inflicted on him while a prisoner, and of the severe service he was engaged in, during his campaign in the south. He died on the 16th of July, 1794, on his way to a watering place, regretted by his country and his friends.

DI

JOHN BROOKS

GOVERNOR BROOKS was one of the most favorable specimens of a truly useful character. He united the gentleman, the soldier, the civil magistrate, and the citizen, in a most perfect harmony of all the qualities which give respectability to public and private life.

He was born in the village of Medford, near Boston, in the year 1752. His family had been established in this place from the earliest settlement of the country, employed, from one generation to another, in the cultivation of the soil. The father of Governor BROOKS was a respectable farmer; and he himself passed the early part of his life in the usual occupations of village husbandry. The circumstances of the family prevented his acquiring an academical education; but he attained, in the town school of Medford, sufficient knowledge of the learned languages to enable him to engage to advantage in the study of medicine, -the profession of his choice.

While at school in Medford, the celebrated Count Rumford, a native of the neighboring town of Woburn, was his associate and friend; and the intimacy then formed was kept up by correspondence, till the death of that distinguished philosopher and friend of

man.

Having completed his medical studies, he established himself in the practice of his profession in the adjacent town of Reading, and there he was found at the commencement of the revolutionary war. No part of the community engaged with greater ardor in the cause of the country than the members of the medical profession; a circumstance, no doubt, to be ascribed in part to the brilliant example and commanding influence of Dr. Joseph Warren, the martyr of Bunker Hill. A company of minute-men was raised in the town of Reading, and young BROOKS, a stranger, just established in the town, and but twenty-three years of age, was chosen its commander. He was indefatigable in drilling and disciplining the men, and prepared himself for this duty by carefully observing the military trainings of the British soldiery, in Boston.