A thousand men were raised, 527 by Massachusetts, 315 by Connecticut, and 158 by Plymouth.  Massachusetts organized a company of cavalry and six companies of foot soldiers, Connecticut five and Plymouth two companies of foot.  All were placed under the command of Governor Winslow, of Plymouth.  The winter had set in earlier than usual; much snow had fallen, and the weather was extremely cold.  The seven companies of Massachusetts, under the command of Major Samuel Appleton of Ipswich, started on their march, Dec. 10.  On the evening of the 12th, having effected a junction with the Plymouth companies, they reached the rendezvous, on the north side of Wickford Hill, in North Kingston, R.I.  On the 13th, Winslow commenced his move upon the enemy.  On the 18th, the Connecticut troops joined him.  His army was complete; the enemy was known to be near, and all haste made to reach him.  The snow was deep.  The Narragansetts were intrenched on a somewhat elevated piece of ground of five or six acres in area, surrounded by a swamp, within the limits of the present town of South Kingston.  The Indian camp was strongly fortified by a double row of palisades, about a rod apart, and also by a thick hedge.  There was but a single entrance known to our troops, which could only be reached, one at a time, over a slanting log or felled tree, slippery from frost and falling snow, about six feet above a ditch.  There were other passages, known only to the Indians, by which they could steal out, a few at a time, and get a shot at our people in the flank and rear.  Many of our men were cut off in this way.  The allied forces had expected to pass the night, previous to reaching the hostile camp, at a garrison about fifteen miles distant from that point; but the Indians had destroyed the buildings, and slaughtered the occupants, seventeen in number, two days before.  Here the troops passed the night, unsheltered from the bitter weather.  The next day, Dec. 19, was Sunday; but their provisions were exhausted, and the supply they had expected to find had been destroyed with the garrison-house.  There could be no delay.  They recommenced their march, at half-past five o’clock in the morning, through the deep snow, which continued falling all day, and reached the borders of what was described, by a writer well acquainted with it, as “a hideous swamp.”  Fortunately, the early and long-continued extreme cold weather of that winter had rendered it more passable than it otherwise would have been.  But the ground was rough, and very difficult to traverse.  They were chilled and worn by their long march, following winding paths through thick woods, across gullies, and over hills and fields.  It was between one and two o’clock in the afternoon, and the short winter day was wearing away.  Winslow saw the position at a glance, and, by the promptness of his decision, proved himself a great captain.  He ordered an instant assault.  The Massachusetts troops were in the van; the Plymouth, with the commander-in-chief,