Memoirs of Aaron Burr | Page 3

respecting visit to a billiard-table;
enters the family of Joseph Bellamy, D. D. for the purpose of pursuing
a course of reading on religious topics; in 1774 determines to study the
law; letter from Timothy Edwards

CHAPTER IV.
Removes to the family of Judge Reeve; amusing letter from Matthias
Ogden; to Ogden; from Jonathan Bellamy; from Ogden; from Lyman
Hall to the Rev. James Caldwell

CHAPTER V.
Battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill; Burr visits Elizabethtown, and,
in company with his friend Ogden, joins the army under Washington
before Cambridge; great disappointment and mortification at
witnessing the irregularities in the camp, and the want of a police; letter
from Roger Sherman to General David Wooster; from James Duane to
General Montgomery, announcing his appointment as a
brigadier-general in the continental army; General Montgomery's
answer; Burr sickens in camp; hears of General Arnold's intended
expedition against Quebec; volunteers as a private; forms a mess, and
marches from Cambridge to Newburyport with knapsack and musket;
letters from Dr. James Cogswell, Peter Colt, &c. to dissuade him from
proceeding with the expedition; efforts of his guardian to prevent him
from marching; sufferings on the march through the wilderness; escape

from drowning in passing the rapids; on arriving at the Chaudiere, is
despatched by Arnold to Montgomery with information; places himself
under the protection of a Catholic priest, who furnishes him with a
guide; the guide becomes alarmed; Burr is secreted for some days in a
convent; arrives in safety at Montgomery's headquarters; is appointed
one of his aid-de-camps; the plan of attack upon Quebec changed;
Judge Marshall's explanation of the reasons for the change; Burr's
opinion on the same subject; the attack made on the night of the 31st of
December, 1775; General Montgomery, Captains McPherson and
Cheeseman, and all in front, except Burr and a French guide, killed;
Colonel Campbell orders a retreat.

CHAPTER VI.
Resolve of Congress to erect a monument to the memory of General
Montgomery; procured by, and executed under the superintendence of
Dr. Franklin in Paris; erected in front of St. Paul's Church, in the city of
New-York, in 1789; Arnold takes command; Burr acts as brigade major;
Arnold resolves on demanding a surrender of Quebec, and that Burr
shall be the bearer of a sealed message; refuses, without first reading its
contents; after reading, considers it unbecoming an American officer,
and declines delivering it; receives complimentary letters for his
intrepidity in the attack; letter from Ogden; army moves to the mouth
of the Sorel; Burr determines on leaving it, which Arnold forbids, but
he persists; in Albany is notified that General Washington wishes him
to come to New-York; reports himself to the commander-in-chief, who
invites him to join his family; letter from Ogden informing him that
General Washington wishes him to take up his residence at
headquarters; joins Washington's family, but soon becomes
discontented; on the suggestion of Governor Hancock, accepts the
appointment of aid-de-camp to Major-general Putnam; letter to Ogden;
reasons for quitting Washington's family; letter from Paterson to Burr;
to Paterson

CHAPTER VII.
Some account of Mrs. Coghlan, daughter of Major Moncrieffe of the
British army; her residence in General Putnam's family; her removal to
the family of General Mifflin; her allusions, in her memoirs, to a young
American officer (Colonel Burr) with whom she had become
enamoured; letter of General Putnam to Miss Moncrieffe; Burr's
character for intrigue; destruction of confidential papers, improper for
public inspection; letter from Theodore Sedgwick to Burr; from Ogden;
to T. Edwards; from Ogden; General Putnam ordered to take command
on Long Island in the place of General Green; Burr reports to Putnam
unfavourably of the state of the army, but proposes to beat up the
enemy's quarters; is opposed to an action, considering it likely to prove
disastrous; battle on the 27th of August, 1776; Burr presses upon
Putnam and Mifflin the necessity of an immediate retreat; council of
war, and retreat ordered; General McDOUGALL has charge of the
embarcation of the troops from Brooklyn on the night of the 29th; Burr
assists him; his conduct this night inspires General McDOUGALL with
a confidence in him for vigilance and intrepidity which was never
afterward diminished; the retreat effected in good order; Burr is in
favour of an immediate evacuation of the city of New-York; on the
15th of September the British land on Manhattan Island; General
Washington orders a retreat, which the enemy endeavour to intercept;
in the confusion, General Silliman's brigade is left behind, and General
Knox conducts it to a small fort (Bunker's Hill) in the suburbs of the
city; Burr discovers the perilous situation of the brigade, and
recommends Knox to retreat; Knox refuses, and denies the
practicability; Burr induces the officers and men of the brigade to place
themselves under his command, and,