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guarding the country has arrived in town. We was daily expecting a strong reinforcement from Kentucky which has just arrived- ???? the enemy two ???? they had not got here on New Years day when they made another attempt more bold to force our lines and were repulsed again as usual, but	all day	they kept	up	a tremendous cannonading. After that
they made	no more	advances	till the 8th when they made the most
desparate to storm our works with a reinforcement of 25 hundred men It Is, I believe, acertained that they now have ten thousand men and we 15 thousand ( there is such a bend in the river it begins to turn at town and we living in the suburbs above that in a strait line were only two miles from the battleground so that we hear all the battle as if we was there. The battle on the 8th commenced at daylight and continued without cessation till after ten. The cannon began firing first and it seemed like one continuous peal of tremendous thunder, our windows shook allmost as If the house had been riding on a cart, and the small arms roared like distant	thunder.	The	horrors of that morning is passed my
ability to	describe	If I attempt	it. I shall only say we were prepared
to run as far as we could knowing that if that mercyless foe got the upper hand that not only all property but even our lives would be destroyed. In the heat of the action, some of the enemy crossed the river, above our men which was placed there with some large cannon but our men spiked them and through the powder in the river. They still continued up within three miles of our powder magazine before they were ???? and driven back When we knew that we thought our dlstruction inevitable till we heard of their retreat. But the slauter and carnage of the day surpasses any battle fought since the commencement of this war. The enemy is from 15 hundred to two thousand killed wounded and taken prisoner and we are only 15 in all killed and wounded. The British officers say they never saw such fighting before. That they had been In Lord Wellingtons army and have been fighting in Europe these ten years but never saw such well directed fire and such bravery as in the Americans. He sayd It appeared litterally to rain lead. The entrenchment before our breast work was filled with dead and dieing. Lord Wellingtons brother-in-law who is their commander in chief is slain and three of the others. How they will get on 1 know not. This is the 20th day they have been here. Our cannon are still playing on them and have been daily.