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386 ON DISBANDING THE ARMY. |
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Ye, too, farewell, who fell in fields of gore,
And chang'd tempestuous toil for rest serene;
Soon shall we join you on the peaceful shore,
(Though gulfs irremeable roll between),
Thither by death-tides borne, as ye full soon have been.
1 David Humphreys. Soon after Humphreys graduated, he went to reside with Colonel Phillips, of Phillips Manor, New York. He joined the Continental army, and in 1778 became one of General Putnam's aids, with the rank of Major. In 1780 he was promoted to be aide-de-camp to Washington, with the rank of Colonel. He continued in the family of the Commander-in-Chief during the Avar, and after the resignation of the General, accompanied him to Mount Vernon. For his valor at Yorktown, Congress honored him with a sword. On the appointment of Mr. Jefferson, as ambassador to France, Col. Humphreys was nominated as Secretary to the Legation, and for the first time left his native country, in 1784. In 1786, he was a member of the Connecticut Legislature, and about that time he, Barlow, and Hopkins wrote the Anarchiad. In 1790, he was appointed Minister to Portugal, and afterwards Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain. His literary attainments were considerable. Besides several poems, he wrote various political pamphlets, and completed a life of General Putnam, which is included in a volume of lis works.
2 On disbanding the army. It will be difficult for any person who was not present with the troops at the conclusion of the war, to form an adequate idea of the affecting circumstances which attended the disbanding of the army. Note by the author of the sonnet. |
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