On arrival at the place our kind
friends helped us off. We rowed very fast till we were a great
distance from land. The moon rose soon, and the wind being fair we
arrived we knew not where, about a half hour before day. We went on
shore, and soon found it was Norwalk, Conn. We had bade farewell to
Long Island, for the present, upon which I composed the following
lines:--
"O fair you well, once happy land,
Where peace and plenty dwelt,
But now oppressed by tyrants' hands,
Where naught but fury's felt
"Behold I leave you for awhile,
To mourn for all your sons,
Who daily bleed that you may smile
When we've your freedom won
"After being rested, just as the day began to dawn, we walked to a
place called the Old Mill, where we found a guard (American) who
hailed us at a distance, and on coming up to him kindly received us,
and invited us to his house to warm us. This being done we went home
with Captain Rodgers, for he lived in Norwalk. Here we went to bed at
sunrise, and stayed till 10 o'clock. After dinner we took leave of
Captain Rodgers and started for head-quarters in Pennsylvania, where
the grand Army was at that time. In seven days we arrived at Valley
Forge.
"Elias Cornelius."
This portion of the journal of Dr. Cornelius was published in the
_Putnam County Republican_, in 1895, with a short account of the
author.
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