An answer had been received from Mr. Conyers, on the same afternoon that
his wife's letter was sent to him. He had been in council with the king,
when an officer came in with the news that some Hessians had ridden in,
saying that the troop to which they belonged had ridden out to a large
house, two miles beyond the spot at which the regiment was quartered, and
had there been attacked by a body of Irish troops, who had killed all
their officers, and three-quarters of the troop.
"Knowing where the regiment was quartered, it at once struck me that the
house might be our own, and, on the trooper being brought in, I found
that it was so, and obtained permission from the king to accompany the
regiment of Danish horse, who were at once sent out. The king gave
stringent orders to the officer in command that the house was to be
respected, and a guard was to be placed there to protect it from
marauders. You can imagine my anxiety, as I rode out, and how it was
increased when I found the place absolutely deserted. From the trooper
whom we took with us, we learned something of what had taken place. He
had been in the garden, but the officers and nearly half the troopers
were in the house. Suddenly, the sounds of a conflict were heard within.
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