CHAPTER Y.

THE   VOLUNTEER.

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His Qitalieications as a Soldier — Joins thk Army Around Boston — Arnold's
Expedition to Quebec—Burr's Secret Mission from Arnold to Montgomees
— Appoixtkd aid to General Montgomery — The Assault upon Quebec-
Captain Burr bears off the Body of his General—Appointed Aid to General
Washington—Keasons of his Discontent in that Situation.

As one who had been waiting for the signal, this young
student-at-law threw aside his books, and seized the sword, on
fire to join the patriot forces gathered around glorious Boston.

He felt that he was formed to excel as a soldier, A mere
stripling in appearance, with a stature of five feet six inches, a
slender form, and a youthful face, he yet possessed a p(yver
of prolonged exertion, and a capacity for enduring privation,
that were wonderful in a youth of nineteen. His courage
was perfect—he never knew fear; even his nerves could not
be startled by any kind of sudden horror. He was a good
horseman, a good helmsman, a tolerable fencer, and a decent
shot. Moreover, he loved the military art; knew all of it
that could be learned from books, and more highly prized the
soldier's glory than that of any other pursuit. To these quali¬
ties he added a mind cultivated and most fertile in those sug¬
gestions for which the exigencies of war furnish such frequent
occasions. And Avith all his power to win the confiding love
of equals and inferiors, men saw in his face and bearing what
Kent loved in Lear, authority I

No period of Aaron Burr's life is better known than the
time he spent in the revolutionary army. Two or three times,
in the latter part of his life, he was a claimant under the pen¬
sion and compensation acts passed for the benefit of the sol¬
diers of the Revolution; and, to substantiate his claim, his fel¬
low-soldiers gave written and sworn testimony respecting hia