I found the above riddle while perusing the stacks yesterday. Who wants to take a guess? The riddle was supposedly “[s]hot on the point of an arrow, from General Washington’s army into Cornwallis’s tent, the night before [a] decisive battle.”
Image from: As great a man as Nelson! … : the life of the most noble the Marquis Cornwallis, that great man to his country! : who has been engaged in the service of it ever since the year 1776, up to 1805, in the American and Indian war … to which is added, the riddle shot from the camp, with an explanation. London : Printed by Ann Kemmish … for, and sold by J. Ker … also sold by T. Hughes … N. & J. Muggeridge … Wilmott and Hill … Kemmish … Barfoot … Perks … S. Elliot … A. Neil … Dixon … T. Evans … &c &c., [1806]. VCC970.3 C82L
Helps if at least some of your misspent youth was misspent on wuzzles.
I understand you undertake to overthrow my undertakings.
Ed got it right! I hadn’t seen one of these in such a long time, but I loved them as a child.
That is so cool. I can’t believe we never learned that in history class. Was riddle warfare a common strategy?