Colonel Benjamin Talmadge was a distinguished officer in the American
army of the Revolution, and was a favorite aide of Washington. It was
he who was charged with the painful duty of superintending the
execution of Major Andre, who suffered as a spy. He was a tall,
venerable man, and though cumbered with years, when I knew him, was
active and energetic in attending to his business. The first time I
ever met him, he was standing in front of his yard-gate, shaping a
gate-pin with a small hatchet, which he used as a knife, to reduce it
to the desired size and form. One end he held in his left hand; the
other he rested against the trunk of a sycamore-tree, which grew near
by and shaded the sidewalk. I knew his character and his services. As I
approached him, my feelings were sublimated with the presence of a man
who had been the aide to and confidant of George Washington. He was
neatly attired in gray small-clothes. His white hair was carefully
combed over the bald portion of his head, as, hatless, he pursued his
work. His position was fronting me, and I caught his brilliant gray
eyes as he looked up from his work to know who was passing.
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