He had been in council with the king, when an officer came in with the news that some Hessians had ridden in, saying that the troop to which they belonged had ridden out to a large house, two miles beyond the spot at which the regiment was quartered, and had there been attacked by a body of Irish troops, who had killed all their officers, and three-quarters of the troop.
"Knowing where the regiment was quartered, it at once struck me that the house might be our own, and, on the trooper being brought in, I found that it was so, and obtained permission from the king to accompany the regiment of Danish horse, who were at once sent out.

The king gave stringent orders to the officer in command that the house was to be respected, and a guard was to be placed there to protect it from marauders.

You can imagine my anxiety, as I rode out, and how it was increased when I found the place absolutely deserted.

From the trooper whom we took with us, we learned something of what had taken place.

He had been in the garden, but the officers and nearly half the troopers were in the house.