"Oh!" groaned the general, and jerking his rein, until his horse reared
in the air, his chin fell on his chest, and he began to sink from the
saddle. Cockburn caught him and called for assistance. They hurried him
back to the boats, where he might have surgical aid; but he died before
the boats were reached.
Fernando Stevens heard the sharp report on his right, as Ross fell, and,
turning his eyes in that direction, saw the smoke slowly curling up from
the muzzle of Sukey's rifle.
"Say, Fernando, I ought to count three or four for that one, shouldn't
I?" Sukey coolly asked. "He was a big one." [Footnote: The reader will
pardon this slight deviation from history. The real slayers of General
Ross were two Baltimore mechanics, Wells and McComas, both of whom fell
in the conflict on the same day, and to whose memory a monument has been
erected by the citizens of Baltimore.]
The British were thrown into momentary confusion by the sudden death of
General Ross; but Colonel Brooke rallied them, and Fernando's riflemen
fell back until they joined General Stricker's men.
The British came on and a severe fight, which lasted two hours, ensued,
when Stricker ordered a retreat to his reserve corps. There he reformed
a brigade and fell back toward the city, as far as Worthington's Mill,
where they were joined by General Winder and some fresh troops.
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