They were about twenty-four hundred
in number. Every man carried three days' cooked rations, and an ample
supply of heavy ammunition. Few of the soldiers were adequately clothed,
and their shoes were in such bad condition that Major Wilkinson, who
rode behind them to the landing-place, reports that "the snow on the
ground was tinged here and there with blood." The cold was increasing.
The ice was forming rapidly. The wind was high, and there were signs of
a snow-storm.
Boats were in readiness, and about sunset the troops began to cross. The
passage was attended with such difficulties as would have deterred men
less resolute. The current of the river was exceedingly swift, the cold
intense, and, although it was the night of a full moon, the thick snow-
clouds made the night dark.
Colonel Knox, afterward General Knox of the Artillery and Secretary of
War, rendered efficient service on this occasion. Soldiers from Yankee
Marblehead manned many of the boats, and lent the aid of their practiced
skill and wiry muscle. Every man worked with a will, and yet it was
three o'clock in the morning before the troops were all over.
It was four o'clock before they were formed in two bodies and began to
march, one division close along the river, and the other on a parallel
road, some little distance in the country.
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