Captain Morgan and I crossed over early to meet with Captain Jacob Griffin, a Fishkill tavern owner and chairman of the Dutchess County “Committee of Observation.” Griffin was so much taken with the mission of our Rifle Company and our leader he invited to the gathering crowd a Mrs. Moira Flemming, the widow of a sea captain. She brought with her an obviously well-cared for, round leather case about a foot long. She opened it and announced, “Captain Morgan, this three-draw brass Dollond spyglass was made for my late husband in 1758. It extends to thirty-two inches in length. If he’d had it with him last year when his unarmed cargo vessel was attacked and sunk off Nova Scotia by a Royal Navy revenue cutter, he might well have seen the threat coming and avoided the enemy. I want you to have this and use it to kill as many of the accursed lobster-backs as possible.”

At the end of her brief soliloquy, the crowd erupted with cheers and tears. Captain Morgan took the case, extended the tube to its full length and said, with emotion I had not yet heard in his voice, “I see his name engraved here and will every time I use it. I assure you, madam, your generous gift will be put to good use.”

We departed Fishkill at a rapid pace and were more than halfway to Litchfield, Connecticut, before dark.

Sunday, July 30th, 1775: We made our way through Litchfield and half the distance to Farmington, about forty miles total without incident by sunset today. The terrain is flatter and the roads are in better shape in Connecticut than most of the terrain we have covered. Amazingly, we have not had to wade through mud since the downpour in Pennsylvania.

Monday, July 31st, 1775: The twelve-mile hike from Litchfield to Farmington went without incident but as we covered the ten miles to Hartford, Capt. Morgan began urging us to “pick up the pace” to get across the Connecticut river before nightfall. We arrived at the Hartford Ferry at dusk but with only one boat in service, it was well after dark before all our troops were at the bivouac Lt. Humphrey found for us on the north side of town.

As soon as the men were bedded down, Capt. Morgan told me to assemble the officers behind the #1 wagon where he placed a lantern on the tailgate. The young waxing moon was still just a sliver in the east, and the captain’s countenance in the shimmering lantern light was as dramatic as anything I have yet seen.