12 Co HE SPARKS LIBRARY. [miscellany.] Collected by Jared Sparks, LL.D., President of Harvard College. Purchased by the Cornell University^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRAR| i 3 1924 092 886 773 ED IN U S f Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092886773 DIARY (fic^^ Mr-'-^ or THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. FEOM NEWSPAPEES AND OEIGINAL DOCUMENTS. BY FKANK MOORE. VOL. I. NEW YOEK: CHARLES SCEIBNEE, GEAND STREET. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON & COMPANY. /CORi UNIVERSilYi Entered accoriUng to Act of Congress, in the year ISS"?, bv If. A. Mnorc, in t!ie Cierlc's Oflico of tlie District Court of the United States for tljc Siintlieni Dibtrict of New York. PREFACE. The materials of these volumes are taken from Whig and Tory newspapers, published during the American Eevolution, private diaries, and other cotemporaneous writings. They present to the student of this day the same view the readers of the revolutionary period en- joyed — the manners and customs of the people, and the moral and rehgious, as well as political features of the time. As far as practicable, the language of the writers has been preserved. For every assertion presented the reader will find an authority which must be his guide in ascertaining its value in an historical point of view ; while, at the same time, he must keep in mind the truth that the errors and lampoons of a period belong as much to its history as the facts and flatteries. Among the newspapers from which the editor has drawn his material, no one requii'es an especial notice in this place ; a history of the periodical writers of IV PBEPACE. the last centmy would ia itself exceed tlie limits of these volumes. Such a work would prove an interest- ing and important addition to the literature of America. In conclusion, the editor acknowledges his oLhga- tions for the many favors and facilities extended to him by the various Historical Societies of the United States, most especially to the officers of the New York His- torical Society, from whom he has received the most valuable assistance. New York, October, 1859. LIST OF AUTHOEITIES USED IN THIS WORK. Newspapers and other Printed Material. Bailey's Feeeman's Journal. Beoadsides — New Yokk Historical Society. Boston News Letter. Boston Independent Chronicle. Boston "Weekly Advertiser. Boston Gazette and Country Journal. Constitutional Gazette. Connecticut Courant. Connecticut Gazette. Connecticut Jouenal. Essex Gazette. Freeman's Journal and New Hampshire Gazette. Georgia Gazette. Gaine's New York Gazette. " Weekly Meecuey. London Evening Post. London Gazette. London Morning Post. London Public Advertiser. Massachusetts Spy. Maryland Gazette. Maryland Journal. Middlesex Journal. New England Chronicle. New England Gazette. New Hampshire Gazette. New London Gazette. New Jersey Gazette. New Jersey Journal. Newport Mercury. New York Packet. New York Journal. New York Gazette. Pennsylvania Gazette. Pennsylvania Journal. Pennsyvania Ledger. Pennsylvania Packet. LIST OF AUTHOKITIES. Pennstltania Evening Post. Pinckxey's Virginia Gazette. Providence Gazette. Rivington's Eoyal Gazette. South Carolina Gazette. St. James' Ci-ikoniole. The Universal Intelligencer. TJpooTT Collection op Newspaper Eitbaots — Xew York Historical Society. Virginia Gazette. Manuscripts. Letters of Captain Israel Carver. " Edward Churchill. " Jonathan Churchill. " General Horatio Gates. " L. W. Elliott. Diary op Captain Smythe, op the Royal Aemt. " Elkanah Gould. " Solomon E. Clift. " John V. Mason. " John Parks. LIST OF MAPS AND PLATES. Portrait of William Moultrie {Frontlxpirce.) , . Vol. Map of Lake Champlain and Lake George . . . - View of Boston ....._ View of Quebec . . . . . , _ Map of Boston and Vicinity . . . . _ View of New York . . . . . _ Portrait op Gdy Carleton ... - Plan op the Operations op the British and Rebel Army, 17'7'7 - Portrait of General Burgoyne Portrait of Sir Henry Clinton {Fr Portrait of Henry Lee Plan op the Siege of Savannah Plan op the Siege op Charleston View of Charleston Portrait of Major Andre Portrait of James Rivington Map of New York Portrait of Cornwallis . ontispiece.} Vol. I. Page 78 97 - 185 - 212 - 811 - 454 - 494 - 513 II. - 209 224 - 258 - 273 - 336 - 448 - 498 - 512 DIARY OF THE REVOLUTION. CHAP TEE I Janttart 1. — ^TiiE cliief troubles of onr Israel' are the Phil- antrops, the Hazlerods, the Sir Froths, the Tims, the Bens, and the Bobs. These are men, who, for larsre „ ,»•.,, ' ^ o Causes of trouble shares in the American plunder, have sold them- '° ^°=""°- selves to do wickedly. The barbarians Avho have been aiding and assisting bad governors and abandoned ministers, in all their attempts to subjugate and enslave these once happy col- onies : the hireling prostitutes who have been constantly representing to ministry that the friends of liberty were a small, insigniiicant, divided faction ; that the people had not virtue to sacrifice any parts of the profits of their trade, or the luxury of their living for the sake of their country ; or spirit to withstand the least exertion of power. Tliese are traitors who were for none but licensed town-meetings,^ and gave ad- ministration the outlines of the execrable Boston Port Bill and the other detestable bills for destroying the charter," and those sacred compacts which Anrericans once thought were of some value, the faith of kings being the security. Tliese are the unbbishing advocates for pensioned governors, dependent judges, hired attorneys, and sherifi" created jurors, that the people might, under color of law, be stript of their property, without their consent, and suitably punished if they should dare to complain : the odious rebels, who, for the support of these hateful measures, have invited the troops and sliips, that are now distressing the inhabitants of Boston, and alarm- ' The town of Boston. ^ See the Governors proclamation. " Of Massachusetts Bay. 8 DIAEY OF THE EE VOLUTION. [1775. ing not only a single province, bnt a wliole continent. And wlien almost every event has turned ont contrary to their pre- dictions, and when it miglit be reasonal)ly expected that the union of the colonies, the resulutioiis of the Continental Con- gress, and the late associations and preparations to withstand all hostile attempts upon our persons or projjerties, might lead administration to suspect at least the policy or safety of push- ing this people to extremities ; wc find this infamous cabal playing over the old game of ministerial deception, and Tim- othy Kuggles ' with a gravity peculiar to himself and an owl, Timoth PaK'^ies- ^sscrtiug in the public prints — " that though .isscrtion. many of the people had for some time past been anning, their numbers would not appear in the field so large as imagined, before it was known that independency was the object in contemplation ;"^ and further, that since that time, many associated in divers parts of the province, to support what he calls " Government." — But the views and designs of these pensioned prostitutes of Massachusetts, — in all that they say or write, are perfectly kenned by the most short-sighted amongst us. In vain are their scare-crows, raw-head and bloody bones, held up to deter us from taking the most eflfect- ual means for our security. Tlie little scribbling, illiberal ' The Chief Justice of the province of Massachusetts Bay. See statement and plan of association, published by Judge Ruggles in most of the Boston papers, Dec. 23-27, 1774, and reprinted in Gaines' New York Gazette, Jan. 9, 1776. '' An assertion as false as it is impudent .ind injurious, first uttered by a hirelin>' priest,* in the New York Freeholder^ who at the same time declared that he had rather be under the government of Roman Catholics than Dissenters — a declara- tion truly characteristic of the doctor, and his little club of malignants. — The people of Massachusetts have hitherto acted purely on the defensive ; they have only opposed those new regulations which were instantly to have been executed and would have annihilated all our rights. For this absolutely necessary and manly step they have received the approbation of the Continental Congress, one of the most respectable assemblies in the world. They aim at no independency, nor any thing new, but barely the preservation of their old rights. They have referred their cause to the whole continent, and are determined to act only in free consultation, and close union with their brethren. This is indeed the safety of all. — Editor of the Journal. ■* Dr. Myles Cooper, the President of King's, now Columbia, College, a vigorous writer in favor of tlie crown. lYYS.] ISAAC SEARS AND JOHN CASE. 9 pieces, which have disgraced the Massachusetts Gazettes, will not lessen the Continental Congress in our esteem ; or retard the measures they have recom- mended, notwithstanding the sums paid to effect it. Tliese writers, and their attempts to encourage or mislead, are treated with inefiable contempt by their countrymen. It has, however, been unhappy for both countries that the represen- tations and projects of such men as these have been heeded and adopted on the other side of the Atlantic ; men whose very livings have depended upon the continuation of those measures which Americans have so long complained of, and sought to have redressed. If these unnaturah should succeed in their present misleading attempts, to the preventing a speedy close to our differences, we shall then have good reason to conclude that hlindness has happened to Britons, that the fulness of American Liberty might come in.' Januajey 3. — ^This morning, Mr. John Case, an old man of near sixty years of age, from Long Island, was entreated by an acquaintance of his to go to the house of Jasper Drake, tavern- keeper near Beekman's Slip, where he was told Captain McD 1,"" Captain S s," and others wanted to converse with him on politics. He went, and soon entered into conver- sation with Captain McD ^1, who attempted to convince him that he was in an error, but not being able to effect it, politely left him. Captain S s, with several CaptoinSoars other persons, then attacked him with the force John case, of their eloquence and noise, but Case said he was an un- learned man, and but of few words, — that he could not reply to above one. That he judged, liowever, the fairest way to come at the truth would be to recur to the origin of the pres- ent contest between Great Britain and the Colonies, and to trace from the time of the stamp act, the encroachments of ministerial power, and the increasing demands for provincial privileges. This was objected to by Captain S s, as it would reqiiire too much time and attention to discuss. He " Pennsylvania Journal, Jan. 26. ' Alexander Mac Dougall. ' Isaac Sears, afterwards called by the loyalists, King Sears. * 10 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [17Y6. said that lie would qiiestion liim a little, and asked Case whether the king had not A-iolated his coronation oath ? Mr. Case replied, that he thought he had not, and reasoned on this and other matters in as cool a manner as possible, in order not to irritate C^aptain S s, who, however, soon grew warm, and branded Case with the appellation of Tory, and told him that if he was in Connecticut government he would be put to death. S s then demanded of Case whether, if the Bos- tonians were to take up arms, he would fight for the king ? Case answered, that if he fought on either side, he would cer- tainly fight for no one else, as he conceived King George to be his lawful sovereign, for the minister a few days before prayed for our rightful sovereign Lord King George the Third, on which S s replied he was sorry that he had turned churchman, where such prayers were used ; Case replied, these expressions were delivered the preceding Sunday by Dr. Eodgers ' at the Presbyterian meeting, for he himself was a Presbytei'ian. After a few more queries and replies of a similar nature, S s told him that he would not sufier a Tory to sit in company with gentlemen, placed a chair in the chimney corner, caught Case by the arm, and forced him into it. He then called for a negro boy, Avho belonged to the liouse, and ordered him to sit along with him ; for that ho (Case) was only fit to sit in company with slaves ; but the negro had too much understanding to comply. Mr. Case then called for some wine, and offered it to the company, but S s refused to accept of it, pushed him down in the chair where he before had placed him, and ordered the rest not to drink witli a Tory ; and further, that whoever spoke to Case, should forfeit a bowl of toddy, which was exacted by him from two persons who happened to disobey his mandates. S s then told Case that his age protected him, for if he was a young man, he would Iiave placed him on a red-hot gridiron : and after he had detained this old man as Ions' as lie thought proper, he dismissed him.'' ' Jolin Roclgers, D. D., pastor of the Wall street church. ^ This account was published in Rivington's Gazette, Jan. 12, in the form of a deposition, witnessed by Mr. Case. 1'7Y5.] ADVICE TO THE MINISTEY. 11 JANUiSiY 6.' — The professorsliip lately instituted by our most gracious sovereign, at King's College in ISTew York, is to be held by a tutor of the college, at the same time a clergyman. His business, besides teaching, will "^' ° ^^^' be to deliver annual lectures in defence of the Christian, and on the principles of natural religion. His title, the Eegius Professor of Divinity, with a salary from the Crown. An in- contestable evidence this, of his Majesty's desire of supporting the Christian religion in America, as it is in England, by annual lectures in its defence." Jah-tjaet 8. — A LETTER from London of a late date, says, Lord North behaves with the greatest firmness and composure, and is resolutely determined to carry his point ^oi-d Nora with the colonies, and smiles with contempt upon ^"""^ ^''™- any tales of congresses and combinations in America. The Duke of Kichmond has positively declared hisTi,^ p^^gof jjich. opinion, that the colonies have proceeded to such ™°°'^''' °p™*™- unjustifiable lengths, their pretensions cannot any longer be supported ; and that the constitutional authority of Parliament over them must be maintained ; and that this is the language of most people of England.'' Jantjaet 9. — A wEiTEE in England gives the following ad- vice to administration with respect to America : " Let author- ity give way to pradence ; dignity is supported Aav,cototho best by justice; the bread of at least one him dred Ministry. thousand manufacturers is of more importance than a shadowy authority ; the lives of our fellow-subjects, descended from ourselves, and though born in a distant climate, are dear to us. One passionate resolve may sacrifice a million of British subjects, and subject this nation and its dependencies to ruin, and those who framed it to everlasting infamy. More is at stake than many comprehend ; those who say otherwise are ignorant, or foes in disguise." ' . ' Gaines' New York Gazette, .Jan. 9. ^ The same. ° Supplement to Holt's New York Journal, Jan. 6. 12 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775 Januaet 10. — ^This evening was married by the Keverenc Doctor Auclimuty, Mr. Joseph Dillon, son of Captain Dillon Josepii Dillon commandcr of His Maj esty's packet, the Mercnry married. ^^ ]yj;-gg Joanna Yan I-Iorne, danghter of Mr. Gar ret Van Home, late an eminent merchant of this city ; a ver^ amiable and truly deserving young lady.' The people of Marblehead, Massachusetts, met to-day anc resolved, that, as a great number of the inhabitants of tha' Motion in Marble- town may soon bo called forth, to assist in defend head, Mass. -^g ^j^g charter and constitution of that province as well as the rights and liberties of all America, in ordei thereto it is necessary that they should be properly disci plined and instructed in the art of war ; they also ordered tha a committee of fifteen be appointed to attend to the conduc of the ministerial tools and Jacobites in that town, and to re port their names to the town, that effectual measures may b( taken to silence them in the future, or expel them from th( community." Januaey 12. — This day, his Majesty's frigate, the King fisher. Captain Montague, went up to Turtle Bay to lay there for the winter season." At a late meeting of exotics, styled The Sons of Liberty, ir New York, the pamphlet entitled " Farmer A. W.'s Yiew ol the controversy between Great Britain and the Colonies," &c. published last week by Mr. Eivington, was introduced by on( of the mushrooms, and after a few pages being read to th( company, they agreed nem. con. to commit it to the flames without the benefit of clergy ; though many, very many in deed, could neither write nor read ; however, their commoi executioner immediately threw it into the fire, where it wai consumed, and its spiritual part ascended in vapor, to th( ' Gaines' Mercury, Jan. 16. ^ TJpcott, ir. 295. = New York Gazette, Jan. 16. 1775.] AFFAIES EST CONNECTICUT. 13 upper regions ; whither not one of the company durst aspire, even in idea.' January 17. — ^The Provincial Congress of South Carolina met on the 11th instant, and have continued in session, Sun- days not excepted, until to-day. They have shut up the courts of law ; no process is to issue in civil cases, and all proceed- ings had, since the return day, September 20, 1774, are to be staid. This is such a step as no other province has yet taken. ^ A COEEESPONDENT says : — " The violent party in Philadel- phia are greatly crest-fallen ; they see with mexpressible cha- grin the numbers of their former adherents which they lose every day. The Pennsylvania Farmer, a gentleman of great discernment, and possessed of a very large estate, has deserted them, greatly alarmed at the length our committee are carry- ing matters ; he has declared he will not meet them any more, and he does not declare alone." * Anothee writer observes, that the cause of the enemies of American liberty must needs be in a most desperate condi- tion, since they have recourse to the most infamous acts and falsehoods to carry their poiat. Of these he instances a long catalogue, among which are the following : — That the people in several colonies are deserting the cause of their country and joining its enemies to enslave it. That several of the most eminent patriots had deserted the cause, particularly the Philadelphia farmer — who remains the same invariable friend lie has ever been to his country and mankind, and is now one of the delegates for the province of Pennsylvania, to meet next May in general Congress." '' Januaet 19. — ^The Governor of Connecticut called his counsel together on the 4th instant ; their deliberations are kept very secret ; but we are told they have ordered three ' Rivington's Gazette, Jan. 12. ^ Gaines' Mercury, Feb. 6. ' John Dickinson. ■■ Extract of a letter from Philadelphia, in Rivington's Gazette, Jan. 19. " Holt's Journal, Feb. 9. 14 DIAEY OF TUB KEVOLUTION. [1775. hundred barrels of gunpowder, and lead in proportion, to be purchased at the public expense. The militia in the whole colony is mustered every week, and in most towns they lla^'c a deserter from, his Majesty's forces, by way of drill sergeant. Nothing but a spirit of independence Avould suffer matters to be carried to such extremities, as make all prudent inhabitants fear that our parchment will soon totter.' Januaey 20. — A LITTLE after ten o'clock this CYening, two young men passing down Milk street, near the entrance into Disturbance .t ^^oug Lanc, they were accosted by an officer, not Boston. ^j^ .j-i^g English, but as they supposed in another language, Avhich they did not understand ; they asked him what he meant ; he replied he meant to tell them to go about their business. They had not gone far before the officer called to them to stop. They stopped till he came up to them, and angry words ensued. The young men, however, parted from him the second time, and went on their way towards their homes. The officer followed and overtook them near the head of the lane, and stopped them again, telling them he supposed they were stiff Americans ; to which one of them said he gloried in the character. Here again words ensued, and the officer drew his sword, flourished it and struck' one of the young men on the arm, who immediately seized him. At this juncture, three or four of the town watch, -who were upon the patrol, came up and separated them, advising them to go home. The two yoimg men did so, but tlie officer refused, saying he was prisoner of the watch and would go with them ; they told him he was not their prisoner, but might go where he pleased, and if he desired it, they would see him safe home : but he insisted upon it that he was their prisoner. Tlie watch- men went down the lane towards their head-quarters in King street, where they had been going before, and the officer ac- companied them. Li the way they met with several persons, whom they took to be servants of officers, who, supposing the officer to be in custody of the watch, attempted to rescue him, ' Extract of a letter from Hartford, Jan. 13 ; Rivington's Gazette, Jan. 19. 1775.] balfoue's expedition. 15 but lie insisted upon being a prisoner, and said the watchmen were his friends, and he would go witli tliem. They then went forward, and in Quaker Lane, which leads into King- street, they were met and assaulted by more than twenty officers of the army, who took several of their watch poles from them, and wounded some of them.' Janttaey 23. — ^Tms morning a detachment of about one hundred and twenty soldiers from the army in Boston, under the command of Captain Balfour, were embarked jj^jf^j^ ^igjtg in armed vessels for Marshlield, about forty miles Marshfleu. from that place. "VVe arc at a loss for the occasion of this ex- traordinary manoeuvre, as all of our accounts from Marshlield ' Edea and Gills' account, as published in Rivington's Gazette, Feb. 9. The same paper contains the following "Other Side of the Question:" — You have read in that fund of lies and sedition, Edes and Gill,* of a " high-handed riot." There have been five field officers on a court of inquiry, to inspect into the con- duct of the officers concerned on that occasion. It commenced by Lieutenant Myers, 38th Regiment, being, without the smallest cause, insulted by two towns- people, who not only called him a Tory, rascal, scoundrel, &c., but damned the king, governor, army, and every friend to government ; the former he put up with, the latter resented, by knocliing the person down. He was immediately surrounded by the watch ; and though he immediately surrendered, and gave his sword to a Mr. Winslow, who came up at the time, (a private gentleman,) and informed them, and this gentleman, of the cause of the quarrel, they treated him with every indignity possible ; not only allowed the two men to knock him down in the midst of them, but they themselves kicked and beat him all the way to the watch-house, a, little short of a quarter of a mile. The noise about the watch-house brought together a few officers, whom Mr. Myers requested not to interfere, iconcealed from them the cruel treatment he had met with, and insisted on remaining in custody. The insolence of the watch to those gentlemen occa- sioned a fresh riot, when the interposition of a party from the main guard pre- vented any bad consequences. Immediately after, Myers was released, by order from the governor. Complaints were immediately lodged against the officers, and bail is to be given to-morrow for their appearance. I cannot quit this sub- ject without observing, that the high-flyers are much disappointed in the event of this riot ; not only at the little mischief done, but at the ready submission of every officer concerned, to the laws of the country. The spirit of the people here seems to subside a little ; and we have every reason to believe, that, in order to keep it up, the vagabonds of the town are employed to insult the troops, which they do daily, in hopes of bringing about another massacre. * The publisliers of tie Boston Gazette and Country Journal. 16 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17Yo. agree that tlie people in that vicinity were peaceable, and no injury had been offered any of the Tories. A few persons there, it is said, wlio have rendered themselves disagreeable and contemptible to their neiglibors, have taken it into their heads to make complaint to General Gage for military protec- tion. In this they have engaged a nnmber of idle yonng fel- lows, and some negroes to join them. The letters from thence state that the numbers and quality of the petitioners are des- picable. Some inhabitants not unfriendly to the Tory cause, signified their disapprobation of this measure. Tlie sending soldiers alarms and irritates the country ; but what service the Tory cause is to receive from this step, time will discover.' Januaut 25. — A despicable pamphlet lately published in Boston, now commonly called the " Grey Maggot,^^ has as- serted, " That the only apology which could be rey aggo . ^^^^^^ |.^^. ^j^^ conduct of the Continental Congress in adopting the Suffolk resolves, was that they came into this vote immediately after drinking thirty-two bumpers of Ma- deira, of which the next morning, when their heads were cool, they were ashamed, and then prudently determined not to do the business till after dinner for the future ! " If it would not offend the characters of that truly august assembly to take so much notice of this most impudent and false assertion, as seriously to contradict it, we would say, that it appears from the minutes of the Congress, that as they sat till late in the after- noon, they never did any business after dinner, and that the Suffolk resolves were acted upon Saturday, in the forenoon. From this instance the public may see to what an astonishing height of unbliishing falsehood and the basest calumny against the most respectable characters, the enemies of our common rights have now attained ; and how ready they are to perform any dirty drudgery for the sake of procuring or preserving a titled or lucrative place.^ SATmiDAT last, after a few days' illness, died at Philadelphia, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, universally lamented, ' Pennsylvania Journal, Feb. 8. ^ The same paper. 1Y75.] SIMILITUDE BETWEEN ENGLISH AND EOMANS. 17 Tliomas Lawrence, Esq., Yendue Master, one of the alder- men, and for some time mayor of that city, which „, ■' •> ^ Thomas Liiwrenco omces he hlled with unsullied reputation. In ^^'"^■ short, benevolence marked his character, and virtue in him wore her most amiable dress, being constantly exercised in love towards his family, uprightness in his dealings, sincerity in his friendships, cheerfulness in his conversation, and an earnest desire to promote peace and happiness around him. This day his remains Avere deposited in the family vault in Christ' church burying-ground, attended by a very large number of respectable citizens. The funeral was conducted agreeable to the resolves of the Continental Congress.' T" Those who have turned the least part of their attention to history," says a writer in England, " will find a strong simili- tude between us at the present time and the En-iish ami Eomans in their declension. The latter at that liom^ns- period were more luxurious, dissipated, and fanciful in dress, equipage, arts, &c., than at any other time — so are we. Suicide more peculiarly marked that era — so it does ours. Their emperors held the dignity of government in such open con- tempt that they frequently made their horses consuls. Ours, in this last point, goes beyond them, by making asses sena- tors ; yet with all this, the/brm of government was supported. — Alas ! ours at present is nothing but a form." ' Janhaey 27. — ^In the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, eleven persons were chosen to observe the actions of the Tories, and make report from time to time, what they can hear and observe.^ Januaet 28. — ^Testeedat the house, bam, and barrack of Jacob Yan Binschola, of Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, was ' Gaines' Mercury, Jan. 30. — On the 20th October, 1774, the Continental Con- gress, in their Articles of Association, resolved, that, " on the death of any rela- tion or friend, none of us, or any of our families, will go into any further mourn- ing-dress than a black crape or ribbon on the arm or hat, for gentlemen ; and a black ribbon and necklace for ladies ; and we will discontinue the giving of glovea and scarfs at funerals." — Journals of Congress. " Holt's Journal, Feb. 9. ' New York Journal, Feb. 16. Vol. I.— 2 p. 18 DIAEY OF TUB EETOLUTION. [1775. burnt to the ground, together with every tiling therein contained. The villainous action was perpetrated by a negro fellow belong- ing to the family, who some time before had been corrected by his master. Confessing his guilt, he has been tried and burnt to-day.' Febeuaey 1. — This day the Provincial Congress of Massa- chusetts, met at Cambridge, and the Hon. John Hancock was chosen president.'' Fasteng and prayer, appointed by authority, throughout the colony of Connecticut, " to implore the divine mercy at this Connecticut To- clark aud Critical time." A number of Tories be- ries. longing to the town of Stamford, in that colony, met at a certain tavern to spend the day in regaling themselves, and, as their manner commonly is upon such occasions, testi- fying their loyalty to the king, by disobeying the proclama- tion of his Governor. Tliey received intelligence of some casks of powder, which a carman was entrusted with, for the use of the colony. Of this they gave immediate information to an under officer of the customs, who seized the powder, and ordered it to his own house." Febetjajky 3. — ^A numbee of men from a distant town having heard of the seizure of the powder at Stamford, went in a body to that toAvn : proceeded in an orderly Affair at Stamford. "' ' -"^ •' j^'- manner to the house where the powder was lodged, which they entered without opposition, and having found it, rode off with the casks, without any bad conse- quences, saving a -plentiful discharge of Eillingsgate from the mortified disappointed faction, and the no small consternation of the informers, Mdio upon the first news of the company's approach, ran ofi^ with great trepidation, and hid themselves until all was over.' ■ Gaines' Mercury, Feb. 13. ' New York Gazette, Feb. 13. ' Holt's Journal, Feb. 16. ' Holt's Journal, Feb. 16. — Rivington, in his Gazette of the 9th Feb., pub- lishes the following : One day last week, seven half barrels of gunpowder were 1775.] THE SHIP JAMES AT SANDY HOOK. 19 Febeuaet 9. — Yesteedat some gentlemen were dinino- together at a house in New York, and in the course of the conversation, one of the company frequently used Definition of a the word Tory ; the gentleman at whose house '^°''^- they dined, asked him, ' Pray, Mr. , what is a Tory ? ' He replied, ' A Tory is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched.' ' Febeuaey 16. — On Tlrarsday morning, the 2d instant, the ship James, Captain Watson, arrived at ISTew York from Glasgow, with a cargo of coals and dry goods, but ^^ ^^^ ,^^^^ ^^ as she did not arrive within the time prescribed ^™''^ ^^°°''' by the tenth article of the association of the Continental Con- gress,'' a strict watch was constantly kept, by some of the sub- committee, and a number of inhabitants, to prevent the land- ing of any goods, in a clandestine manner ; and the captain was requested to procure such necessaries as he might stand in need of, and immediately quit the port. "With this request, seized by William Hubbard, Esq., at Stamford, in Counecticut, on its way from New York to New Haven, over land. We have just received advice, that the house of the collector of Stamford was, the day after the seizure of the gunpowder, attacked by a number of Liberty lads, who took possession of the powder, and carried it off on horses to Fairfield. They were headed by one Bartram, a quondam sergeant in the provincial service. A party from Hartford, with Colonel Wyllys, Captain Alcott, two of the Messrs. Bull, thirty of them in all, marched to Fairfield, took possession of the powder, and lodged it in the loyal town of Hartford. '■ New York Journal, Feb. 9. ^ Association, Article 10. — In case any merchant, trader, or other person, shall import any goods or merchandise, after the first day of December, and before the first day of February next, the same ought forthwith, at the election of the owner, to be either re-shipped, or delivered up to the committee of the county or town wherein they shall be imported, to be stored at the risk of the importer, until the non-importation agreement shall cease, or be sold under the direction of the committee aforesaid ; and in the last-mentioned case, the owner or owners of such goods shall be reimbursed out of the sales, the first cost and charges, the profit, if any, to be applied towards relieving and employing such poor inhab- itants of the town of Boston, as are immediate sufferers by the Boston Port Bill ; and a particular account of all goods so returned, stored, or sold, to be inserted in the public papers ; and if any goods or merchandise shall be imported after the said first day of February, the same ought forthwith to be sent back again, without breaking any of the packages thereof. — Journals of Congress. 20 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [lYYo. lie seemed rather unwilling to comply, and was encouraged to hope from the assurances of a number of ministerial tools, who promised to support him, that his cargo would be landed ; for which pxirpose they employed a few vagrants to go on board the ship, which then lay in the harbor, and bring the colors on shore, with a view of raising a posse, to assist in landing the goods ; but the banditti that were collected for this pur- pose were soon suppressed by the inhabitants, who are for supporting the association, and who began to assemble in great numbers ; upon which the captain, conceiving the ship to be in great danger, sent the mate on shore, i-equesting assistance to get her under sail, as the seamen refused to do that duty. This request being complied with, they immediately got her under weigh, and fell down about four miles below the city, where she remained, attended by a boat, with a member of the committee and some of the townsmen on board, till last Thurs- day night (9th), when she Avas again brought into the harbor, by an officer and a number of men belonging to his Majesty's ship King Fisher ; which ship it is supposed came down from Turtle Bay expressly for the purpose of protecting her, and intimidating the inhabitants. As soon as it was known that the ship was coming up again, the people, highly exasperated, began to assemble to- gether in great numbers, and immediately went to the cap- tain's lodgings ; seized him, and after conducting him through many of the principal streets, attended by a prodigious con- course of people, he was, without suffering the least hurt or injury, put on board a boat, with some hands to row him, and sent off. His ship then lying at anchor ten miles below the town, he went on board the man-of-war, which lay in the har- bor, where his own ship did not arrive until the next morning, when she came to anchor under the cannon of the King Fisher. In this situation matters remained until Saturday, when they began to unmoor the ship, intending to get under sail, but were prevented by the lieutenant of the man-of-war, who hailed the ship, and demanded if they had a clearance. Being assured in the negative he ordered them not to unmoor. This obstruction greatly exasperated a number of people that were 1775.] MAEYLAHD IN MOTION. 21 collected to see her get under sail, wlio went in quest of tlie captain of the King Fisher, to know by what authority he detained the ship, hut they could not meet with him ; he was, however, soon after waited upon, by one of the gentlemen to whom the ship was consigned, and on being informed of the lieutenant's conduct, and asked his reasons for detaining her, he replied that he had nothing to do with her, and imme- diately gave orders to let her pass. Accordingly she got under sail the next morning about ten o'clock, accompanied by a boat, with two of the committee and a number of inhabi- tants on board ; which boat, after taking out the pilot, left her at two o'clock P. M., about a league to the southward of Sandy Hook, with a fresh gale, and at half-past four o'clock she was out of sight. As every artifice has been used, and a variety of manoeuvres put in practice, by a set of ministerial hirelings, to procure the landing of the cargo of this ship, it must give real pleasure to every lover of his country to observe that the good people of New York are determined to support the association of the general Congress at all events.' It appears that the inhabitants of Maryland are all in motion ; forming county meetings, choosing committees of observation to carry into effectual execution, Maryland in withoiit fear, favor, or partiality, the measures motion, recommended by the grand Continental Congress, and forming companies to learn the art military. Anne Arundel county, including the citizens of Annapolis, have resolved that every person who should refuse to contribute to the purchase of arms and ammunition for the use of that county, before the first of this month (Feb.), shall be deemed an enemy to America, and his name published in the Maryland Gazette. The General Assembly of New Jersey have approved of the proceedings of the Continental Congress, and instructed their delegates to propose and agree to every reasonable and consti- tutional measure for the accommodation of the unhappy differ- ences at present subsisting between the mother country and the colonies." ' Holt's New York Journal, Feb. 16. ' Upcott, iv. 297. 22 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. The members of the Philadelphia committee of correspond- ence deny the rumors reflecting on their patriotism.' "While the county delegates were in session at Fairfield, Connecticnt, the day before yesterday, the following toast , . , ,. , was drank by a company of gentlemen in that Arithmetical -^ o Toasts. tQ^y,;^ . — ^Addition to Whigs ; Subtraction to Tories; Multiplication to the friends of Liberty, and Division to the enemies of America.' FiDBEUAET 17. — ^It is Said that at least three-fourths of the people in Cortlandt's manor, New York, have declared r, „ ,.. „ their imwillingness to enter into the Congres- Cortlamlt s Manor o o Disafleotej. gignal mcasurcs,^ that a great number of the j)eo- ' Gaines' Mercury, March 13. ' Holt's Journal, Feb. 23. — At the meeting of the delegates, every town in the county was represented except Ridgefield and Newton. In the evening of the day the meeting was held, "two of the inhabitants of a place lately known and called by tlie 7>aine of Ridgefield, put up at a public house in Weathersfield, Conn., and entering into conversation, boldly justified the vote of the said late town of Ridgefield, in disapproving of the doings of the Continental Congress ; and pro- ceeded far in supporting Court doctrines of passive obedience to Parhament, &c. This was taken notice of by a number of gentlemen present, who considered it, in efTect, as a direct breach of the Association of the said Congress, and therefore voted, that, ' in their opinion, it was proper that those persons should be returned the way from whence they came, under safe conduct, from town to town, to the said place lately hiomi by the said name of Ridgefield:^ and, that all honest and true men to this country might know and avoid them, proper persons were ap- pointed instantly to attend them on their return as far as Farmington, and there to acquaint the inhabitants of their behavior, and leave them to their further transportation, as is usual; and as by law is provided, in cases of strolling idiots, lunatics, &c. A letter was accordingly written to the gentlemen at Farmington, representing their unhappy and desperate situation, which was signed by the principal gentlemen present; and the unhappy men, properly escorted, set off at nine o'clock, amidst the hisses, groans, &c., of a respectable concourse of people, the populace following them out of town, beating a dead march."— C'/«/?'s Diary, and HoWs Journal, Jan. 23. = This rumor is denied by " a gentleman of undoubted veracity," as follows : "There are not any of the landholders in said manor, except one C y, a miller, at Peekskill, and a few interlopers of his kidney, that are of that perverse senti- ment. The proprietors of the manor of Cortlandt, together with all the other landholders, except the above miller and his few adherent Tories, are unanimous in favor of the Congress measures." — Holfs Journal, March 2. 1775.] ELIZABETHTOWN EIOT. 23 pie in general in Westchester county are preparing to do the like, and that the association against the Continental Congress has been signed by three hundred persons in the neighborhood of Poughkeepsie only. Many lists are sent about Dutchess county, on which also many hundreds have subscribed.' On Friday last, at Messrs. Shai'p and Curtenius's furnace, in New York, a cylinder was cast for the steam-engine of the waterworks now in course of erection in that city. This is the first performance of the kind ever attempted in America, and allowed by judges to be extremely well executed." Febettaet 18. — A FEW days ago a riot occurred at Eliza- bethtown in Jersey. The scene opened between twelve and one o'clock, with seizing a poor Staten Islander, for Eu^jib^thtown no other crime than because some people of that ""'• ever loyal island were supposed to have been ready to assist in landing some goods from Captain Watson's Scotch ship, which lately left New York, and is' departed with his cargo for Jamaica, having arrived at New York after the first of February, the day limited by the Congress for the importation of goods. The man's boat was dragged ashore, and his oysters distributed to the hungry vagabonds, who were visibly headed in the centre of the town, by Jonathan TT T ■ r' 1 -n TT r- ^ Judge Hampton. Jlampton, a Justice oi the r eace, a Judge ot the county court, and chairman of the committee. Hampton was the man who attempted lately to obstruct the passage of his Majesty's royal regiment of Ireland, over the ferries, and pre- vented wagons from carrying their baggage ; this same Hampton was the man who raised a riot lately in Sussex county, attacked a peddler, and destroyed his property. About four o'clock, when the mob discharged the poor oyster man, they proceeded to abuse all the people in the town who wore known to be well affected to the constitution ; they erected a gallows, in order more particularly to insult them, and fixed up a liberty pole in the middle/of the town. It must be ob^ served, that the worshipful J/udge, Jonathan Hampton, was, ' tJpcott, iv. 297. ^ Rivington's Gazette, Feb. 16. 24 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. . [1775. as usual, completely drunk -vvhcn the riot commenced. For the honor of the police, it must be recorded, that two of the aldermen, Messrs. Blanchard and Dayton, exerted themselves greatly to suppress those violences, but they Avere only able to check them. Two of the Delegates contributed towards a col- lection that was made for their ever-staunch friends the '>n6b. Mr. Alderman Elanchard ordered the gallows to be demolished, after it had existed two hours ; and their deity, the liberty pole, was struck by an order from the coimiiittee, without the consent of that exemplary and able guarantee of American freedom, the righteous and immaculate Judge Jonathan Hamp- ton. This was a glorious day to the sons of licentiousness ; and it was also a glorious day to the sons of loyalty ; for it has made in Elizabethtown more proselytes to the side of order and government, than all the other endeavors that have been exerted to abate the fever of the times.' Last night, Mr. John Schoonmaker, being in bed at his house in Ulster county, ISTew York, overheard the follow- Ne'H'o Plot in ^""^S couversatiou between his OAvn negro York, Ulster Co. j^j^^j ^ negro named Joe, belonging to Mr. Jo- hannes Schoonmaker. " Yoi-h. How many 1 — Joe. A great many. — York. From where ? — Joe. From Keyserick, Hurley, and Kingstown.^ — Yoi^k. How much powder have they ? — Joe. Two 230unds. — York. That is not enough, they should have more to get through with it, and drums enough to prevent hearing the cries. Tliey will begin two at your house, two at John De Puis, and in proportion, more at other houses. It Avill be put in execution between this and Wednesday night. "Wlien once begun we must go through with it. "We are to set fire to the houses, and stand at the doors and the windows to receive the people as they come out.'" ' Rivington's Gazette, March 2. "^ Gaines' Mercury, March 6. — ^Thia account having been deposed before a magistrate, the two negroes were committed to gaol, and, together with several other negroes, examined before four magistrates who met for that purpose, but no further discoveries could be made. Another account names Marbletown, as well as the three above mentioned; 1775.] A PATEIOTIC MINISTEE. 25 Febetjaet 20. — ^The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts Bay lias resolved : that tlie great law of self-preservation calls upon the inhabitants of that colony, immediately Massaciiusctts to prepare ^ against every attempt that may be K'='«'iiitions. made to attack them by surprise. And, upon serious delib- eration, most earnestly recommended to the militia in general, as well as the detached part of it in minute-men, that they spare neither time, pains, nor expenses, at so critical a junc- ture, in perfecting themselves forthwith in military discipline ; and that skilful instructors be provided for those companies which are not already provided therewith. It also recommends to the towns and districts in that colony, that they encourage such persons as are skilled in the manufactory of fire-arms and bayonets, diligently to apply themselves there for supplying such of the inhabitants as shall be deficient. They have since adjourned to the twenty-second of next month, then to meet at Concord, an inland town, about eigh- teen miles from Eoston.' Febeuaey 23. — Soins time ago a Presbyterian minister, not far distant from North Haven, Connecticut, applied to a lieu- tenant of the militia to step into the market and ^ patriotic give him the words of command, in order to his Minister. performing the manual exercise ; the officer declined it, but being repeatedly pressed to a compliance, consented. Tire minister declared he had practised the military exercises with an intention of going to Boston against the King's troops, if there should be occasion for his service. Having taken post in the market, he shouldered, faced, marched, and performed all the motions with much exactness, to the great delight of a and that the negroes were to be divided into parties, to fire the houses, cry 3Ie ! and kill the people as they came out. The motive for this conspiracy was the recovery of their freedom. A large quantity of powder and ball was found with several negroes ; and besides this, there are said to be advices in town, that be- sides the two negroes before mentioned, seventeen or eighteen have been com- mitted to gaol. A report has likewise been current, that these negroes were to be joined by five or six hundred Indians ; but it does not appear that there is any good founda- tion for the report. — Pennsylvania Journal, March 8. ' Gaines' Mercury, Feb. 27. 26 DIAEY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [17Y5. turbulent Hibernian, who was about eighteen years ago sold in this part of the world,' and on all occasions insults the name and government of our most gracious sovereign, and bids defiance to the law. This republican thanked the divine for his fine performance, applauded his gallant resolutions, and conducted him to enjoy a mug of flip, at his own house. A gentleman passing by, whilst the puritan was exhibiting a la militaire, asked him if he had quite forsaken his spiritual for a soldier's profession, on which the crowd menaced him with the disci- pline of tar and feathers, but the former secured himself by a precipitate retreat." It appears that the upper House of the Georgia Assembly, though they say they disapprove of some of the measures Sentiments of ^^ ^^^^ othcr colouies, are heartily disposed to Georgia. maintain their rights and liberties ; while the lower House declare, " they should be insensible not to feel their numerous grievances and wish them redressed, and that they only contend for the enjoyment of their constitutional rights and libei-ties, which soften every care of life, and render existence itself desirable." ' Eebeuauy 27. — Some time ago, Dr. Clarke, of Heading, a gentleman distinguished by a firm attachment to the king and Dr Clarke of *^^^ Constitution, was seized in the township of Beading. Hartford, Connecticut, and to the indelible dis- grace of their police, carried upon a rail about the parish, under which cruelty he several times fainted. When dis- missed by his tormentors, and examined by Dr. Tidmarsh, he was found to be injured in a manner unfit for description. The doctor was menaced with the same treatment for his hu- manity to the sufi'erer, whose only crime was speaking in terms of respect of the king, and of his government.* ' This probably refers to the custom of selling a man for the commission of' a crime. " Rivington's Gazette, Feb. 23. ° Holt's Journal, March 2. ■* Gaines' Mercury, Feb. 27. Leslie at Salem. 17Y5.] Leslie's expedition. 27 Febeuaet 28. — Last Sunday an attempt was made by a regiment of tlie king's troops, under Colonel Leslie, to seize some brass cannon -whicli General Gage had heard was deposited at or near Salem, Massachu- setts; The troops were sent to Marblehead in a transport, ap- parently manned as usual. Between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, as soon as the people had gone to meeting, the decks were covered with soldiers, who having loaded, and iixed their bayonets, landed with great despatch ; and instantly marched off. Some of the inhabitants suspecting they were bound to Salem, to seize some materials there preparing for an artillery, despatched several messengers to give information of it. Tliese materials were on the north side of the North River, and to come at them it was necessary to cross a bridge, one part of which was made to draw up to let vessels pass. The inhabitants kept a look out for the appearance of the troops. The vanguard arrived, and took their route down town as far as the long wharf ; perhaps to decoy the inhabitants thither, away from the place to which the main body was destined. The main body arrived soon after and halted a few minutes by the town-house. It is said inquiry Avas immediately made by some of the officers, for a half-brother of Colonel Browne,' the ' Colonel John Sargent. He was a merchant of Salem. His name is at the head of those who addressed Governor Gage on his arrival in Salem, in June, llli ; in which address they acknowledge they " are deeply sensible of His Majesty's paternal care and affection to this Province in the appointment of a per- son of His Excellency's experience, wisdom, and moderation in these troublesome and difficult times." This was pronounced a most contemptible " Tory produc- tion," which disgraced the public prints. Sargent was a notorious Tory, and was proscribed in the banishment act of 1778, and went to England. Colonel William Browne was one of the most prominent inhabitants of Salem, and previous to the troubles which led to the Revolution, enjoyed great popular- ity ; but by espousing the cause of the mother country, he forfeited all claim to the favorable consideration of the people. He was one of the "infamous seven- teen " rescindersiu 1768, — signed the address to Governor Hutchinson in 1774, and accepted ofBce under Governor Gage. Upon the breaking out of the Eevolutiou he became a refugee, and was included in the act of banishment of 1778, and the conspiracy act of 1779. His landed estates, which were numerous and valuable, were all confiscated to the use of the Government; and in 1779 his homestead, in Salem, was sold to the late Elias Hasket Derby, senior, where, in 1799, he erected his princely mansion at an expense of eighty thousand dollars, which was taken 28 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1Y75, mandamus counsellor. Be this as it may, lie was soon whis- pering in the Colonel's ear, in the front of the regiment, and when he parted from the Colonel, the regiment marched with a quick pace towards the north bridge ; just before their enter- ing upon which the bridge was pulled up. The regiment, however, pushed on till they came to the bridge, not observing (as it seemed) that it was drawn up. The Colonel expressed some sur2)rise, and turning about, ordered an officer to face his company to a body of men standing on the wharf on the other side of the drawbridge, and to fire. One of the townsmen' (who had kept along side of the colonel from the time he marched from his own house) told him he had better not fire, that he had no right to fire, without further orders, and if you do fire (said he) you will all be dead men. The company neither faced nor fired. The Colonel then retired to the centre of his regiment, as- sembled his officers, and held a consultation ; which being ended, he advanced a little, and declared he would maintain his ground, and go over the bridge if it was a month first. Tlie same townsman replied, he might stay there as long as he pleased, no one cared for that. The half-brother before men- tioned (it is said) made towards the bridge, but seeing the drawbridge up, he said, " It is all over with us." He has since disappeared. Meanwhile two large gondolas that lay aground (for it was low water) were scuttled, lest they should cross the channel in them. But whilst one gentleman with his assistants was scuttling his own gondola, a party of about twenty soldiers jumped into it, and with their bayonets charged against the unarmed townsmen (some of whom they pricked), and compelled them to quit it ; but before this a sufficient hole was made in the bottom. This attack of the soldiers, and some other occurrences, occasioned a little bicker- down in 1815, and near its site now stands the City Market House. Colonel Browne, after leaving the country, was appointed GoYernor of Bermuda, and died in England in 1802, aged sixty-five. He was a graduate of Harvard College, of the class of 1Y55. — EndicoWs Account. ' Capt. John Felt. 1775.] EXPEDITION TO SALEM. 29 ing, but by the interposition of some of tlie inhabitants, the disputes subsided. At length some gentlemen asked the Colonel what was liis design in making this movement, and why he would cross the bridge? He said he had orders to cross it, and he would cross it if he lost his life with the lives of all his men ; and asked why the king's highway was obstructed ? He was told it was not the king's road, but the property of the inhabitants, who had a right to do what they pleased with it. Finally the Colonel said he must go over ; and if the bridge was let down so as he might pass, he pledged his honor he would not march above thirty rods beyond it, and then immediately return. The regiment had now been at the bridge about an hour and an half, and every thing being secured, the inhabitants directed the bridge might be let down. The regiment imme- diately passed over, marched a few rods, returned, and with great expedition went back to Marblehead,' where they went on board the transport without delay." ' " There were eighty military companies in Marblehead at that ti::ip, com- prising nearly the whole male population, between sixteen and sixty years of age. They were all promptly assembled under Colonel Orne, and ordered to t-tation themselves behind the houses and fences along the road, prepared to fall upon the British on their return from Salem, if it should be found that hostile measures had been used by them ; but if it should appear that no concerted act of violence upon the persons or property of the people had been committed, they were charged not to show themselves, but to allow the British detachment to return unmolested to their transport. — John HowarcTs Account : Upham\ Address. ' The following " translation " appeared in the Massachusetts Spy, March 2 : — "Csesar, though celebrated for an heroic mind, was liable to be betrayed by the vil- lainous toad-eaters at his table, into low freaks ; in the prosecution of which he would sometimes disgrace even his most worthy officers, — for such undoubtedly was Caius Zessala. This brave, sensible, polite man, was despatched from Castelli- num two hours after sunset, on the 5th of the Kalends of March, (answering to our 25th of February,) with near 300 picked men in a galley, under verbal orders to land at Marmoreum, and proceed to Saleminum, while the inhabitants of both places were engaged in celebrating a solemn institution. Zessala was not to open his written instructions till he reached the causeway. He conducted the affair with a despatch and propriety worthy of his character, expecting to find he had been sent to surprise one of Fompey's fortified magazines. But great indeed was his chagrin, when he read that his errand was only to rob ' ^"^'"'s^'"'- place in the evening at the lower end of the common. Ex- presses set off immediately to alarm the country, that they might be on their guard. When they were passing about a mile beyond Lexington, they were stopped by a party of officers who came out of Boston in the afternoon of that day, and were seen lurking in bye-places in the country until after dark. One of the expresses immediately fled, and was pursued a long distance by an officer, who, when he had over- taken him, presented a pistol and cried out, " You're a dead man if you don't stop ! " but he kept on until he gained a ' Rivington's Gazette, April 20. ' Holt's Journal, April IS. ^ Pennsylvania Journal, May 24. 61 DIAET OF THE KEVOLrXION. [l^TS. lioiise, wlien, stopping suddenly, lie was thrown from liis liorse ; and having the presence of mind to call ont to the people of the house, " Turn out ! turn out ! Tvc got one of them ! " the officer immediately retreated as fast as he had pursued. The other express,' after undergoing a strict examination, was allowed to depart. The body of the troops, in the mean time, under the com- mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, had crossed the river and landed at Phipps' farm. They proceeded with great silence to Lexington, six miles below Concord. A company of militia, numbering about eighty men, had mustered near the meeting- house. Just before sunrise the king's troops came in sight, when the militia began to disperse. The troops then set out upon the road, hallooing and huzzaing, and coming within a few rods of them, the commanding officer cried out in words to this effect, " Disperse, you damned rebels ! damn you, dis- perse ! " upon which the troops again huzzaed, and at the same time one or two officers discharged their pistols, which Avere instantaneously followed by the firing of four or five of the soldiers, and then there seemed to be a general discharge from the whole. It is to be noticed, they fired upon the militia as they were dispersing agreeably to their command, and that they did not even return the fire. Eight of our men were killed, and nine wounded. The troops then laughed, and damned the Yankees, and said they could not bear the smell of gunpowder. Soon after this action, the troops renewed their march to Concord, where they divided into parties, and went directly to the several places where the province stores were deposited. Each party was supposed to have a Tory pilot.^ One body ' Paul Revere. ' " A young man, unarmed, who was taken prisoner by the enemy at Lexing- ton, and made to assist in carrying off their wounded, says, he saw a barber who lives in Boston, thouglit to be one Warden, ivith the troops, and that he heard them say he was one of their pilots. He liltewise saw said barber fire twice upon our people, and heard Earl Percy order tlie troops to fire the houses. He also says that several British officers were among the wounded, who were carried into Boston, where our informant was dismissed. They took two of our men prison- ers, and they are now confined in the barracks." — Massachusetts Spy, May 3. 1''"'5.] BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. 65 went into the jail yard, and spiked and otherwise damaged the cannon belonging to the province, and broke and set fire to tlie carriages. They then entered a store and rolled ont abont a hundred barrels of flour, which they nnheaded, and emptied about forty into the river.' Some took possession of the town-house, which was soon after discovered to be on fire, but which was extinguished without much damage. Another party took possession of the ISTorth Bridge. About one Imn- dred and fifty of the militia, who had mustered upon the alarm, coming towards the bridge, were fired upon by the troops, and two were killed upon the spot. Thus did the troops of Britain's Idng fire fiest at two several times upon his loyal American subjects, and put a period to ten lives before one gun was fired upon them ! Our people then returned the fire, and obliged the troops to retreat, who were soon joined by their other parties, but finding they were still pursued, the wliole body moved back to Lexington, both troops and militia firing as they went. During this time an express was sent to General Gage, who despatched a reinforcement under the command of Earl Percy, with two field-pieces. Upon the arrival of this rein- forcement at Lexington, just as the retreating party had reached there, they made a stand, picking up their dead, took all the carriages they could find, and put their wounded thereon. Others of them — to their eternal disgrace be it spoken — were robbing and setting houses on fire, and dis- charging their cannon at the meeting-house. ' " The shrewd and successful address of Capt. Timothy Wheeler, on this oc. casion, deserves notice. He had the charge of a large quantity of provincial flour, which, together with some casks of his own, was stored in his barn. A British officer demanding entrance, he readily took his key and gave him admis- sion. The officer expressed his pleasure at the discovery, but Capt. Wheeler, with much affected simplicity, said to him, putting his hand on a barrel, ' This is my flour. I am a miller, sir; yonder stands my mill; I get my living by it. In the winter I grind a great deal of grain, and get it ready for market in the spring. This,' pointing to one barrel, ' is the flour of wheat ; this,' pointing to another, ' is the flour of corn ; this is the flour of rye ; this,' putting his hand on his own casks, 'is my flour; this is my wheat; this is my rye; this is )n««e.' 'Well,' said the officer, ' we do not injure private property ; ' and withdrew, leaving this im- portant discovery untouched." — Holmes^ Annals. Vol. I.— 5 66 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1YY5. "While tliis was teansacting a party of the militia at Meno- tomy,' attacked a party of twelve of the enemy, who Avere carrying stores and provisions, killed one of them and took possession of their arms and stores, without any loss. The troops having halted about an honr at Lexington, found it necessary to make a second retreat, carrying with them many of their dead and wounded. This they continued from Lexington to Charlestown, with great precipitation, the militia closely following them, firing till they reached Charles- town ISTeck, where they arrived a little after sunset."" Passing ' This party was led by the Eev. Phillips Payson, D. D.,* to whom the follow- ing extract refers:' — "The Rev. Mr. Payson, of Chelsea, in Massachusetts Bay, a. mild, thoughtful, sensible man, at the head of a party of his own parish, attacked a party of the regulars, killed some and took the rest prisoners. This gentleman has been hitherto on the side of gOTcrnment, but oppression having got to that pitch beyond which even a wise man cannot bear, he has taken up arms in de- fence of those rights, civil and religious, which cost their forefathers so dearly. The cruelty of the King's troops, in some instances, I wish to disbelieve. They entered one house in Lexington where were two old men, one a deacon of the church, who was bed-ridden, and another not able to walk, who was sitting in his chair ; both these they stabbed and killed on the spot, as well as an innocent child running out of the house." — Pennsylvania Journal, August 2. ^ "In this action the regulars have lost in all, si.xty-five killed, one hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty-eight made prisoners. Of the provincials, fifty have been killed, thirty-four wounded, and four are missing. The following officers and gentlemen are of the number: — Justice Isaac Gardner, of Brookline; Capt. Isaac Davis, of Acton ; Captain Jonathan Wilson, of Bedford ; Lieut. John Brown, and Sergt. Elisha Mills, of Ncedham ; and Deacon Josiah Haynes, of Sudbury, killed ; Capt. Eleazer Kingsbury, of Needham ; Captain Samuel Williams, of Cambridge ; Captains Charles Mills, Nathaniel Barrett, and George Minot, of Concord; Capt. Oliver Barnes, and Deacon Aaron Chamberlain, of Chelmsford, wounded. " Captains John Ford and Oliver Barrow, and Deacon Davis, all of Chelmsford, distinguished themselves in the course of the day. It can be fully proved that Captain Ford killed five regulars. James Howard, a private in the Acton com- pany, and a regular, coming out of a house, caught sight of each other, and dis- charged their pieces at the same instant ; both shots taking effect, the last dropped down dead, and the first expired a few hours after. A big boy joined in the chase of the retreating troops and was very expert in firing at them ; at length a ball from the enemy grazed his head, and produced a flesh wound ; he soon re- covered the shock, bound up his head with a handkerchief, and renewed his pur- suit." — Gordon's American Revolution, vol. i., p. 326. * Dr. Payson was bom at "Walpole, Massachusetts, on the 18th of January, 1786. He grad- uated at Harvard College in 1T54, and from the time of his ordination (three years after) until his death, he was constantly ami zealously engaged in the service of the church. During the Eevolution, he boldly advocated the cause of the Colonists. He died January 11, 1801. 1775.] YANKEE DOODLE. 67 over the Neck tlie enemy proceeded up Bunker Hill and encamped for the night.' Apeil 20. — One Mansfield, a breeches maker in Boston, who went out with the troops yesterday, Avas in the skirmish fired at by the regulars through mistake — they taking him to be one of the provincials. The ball entered his neck and came out of his mouth. Wretches like him often meet their just reward. Some officers in the king's army, it is said, have sworn that the Americans fired first. Their method of cheating the devil, we are told, has been by some means brought about. They procured three or four traitors to their God and country, born among us, and took with them ; and tliey first fired upon their countrymen, which was immediately followed by the regulars. It is said also that these wretches were dressed in soldier's clothing. Yesteedat, when the second brigade, iinder Earl Percy, marched out of Boston, to reinforce the first, nothing was played by the fifes and drums but Yankee Doodle, (which had become their favorite tune ever since that notable exploit, which did so much honor to the troops of Britain's king, of tar- ring and feathering a poor countryman in Boston, and parad- ing with him through the principal streets, under arms, with their bayonets fixed.) Upon their return to Boston, one asked his brother officer how he liked the tune now. " D — n them ! " returned he — -"they made us dance it till we were tired!" Since which Yankee Doodle sounds less sweet in their ears." A deseetee from Boston says that Gen. Gage has written ' Pennsylvania Journal, May 24: — "The British officers and soldiers have done ample justice to the bravery and conduct of the Massachusetts militia — they say that no troops ever behaved with more resolution. A soldier who had been in the action, being congratulated by a fellow-soldier on his safe return to Boston, declared, 'That the militia had fought like bears, and that he would as soon attempt to storm hell, as to fight against them a second time.' " — Pennsylvania Packet, May 1. ' Pennsylvania Journal, May 24. 68 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. home since the battle of Lexington, that the Americans load their rifle-barrel guns with a ball slit almost in four quarters, which when firing out of those weapons, breaks into four pieces and generally does great execution.' The first stand made by the country in the late engage- ment was Avith only two hundred men at Concord Bridge, Battle which the soldiers were endeavoring to pull up. of Lexington, r^^ goldicrs gavc the first fire, and killed three or four. It was returned with vigor by the country people, and the regulars began soon to retire. The country people im- mediately lined the roads, which are secured with stone walls, and their numbers hourly increasing, they annoyed the regu- lars exceedingly, allowing them to halt but two or three times, and then in open plains for a few minutes. A considerable body of provincials formed an ambuscade near Cambridge for the troops on their return ; but the bridge having been destroyed by the first brigade in their march out, the troops took their roiite through Charlestown, and by that means avoided a total overthrow. The number of the regulars when the two brigades joined, is said to have been at least eighteen hundred. It does not appear that they were attacked by more than six hundred provincials until they got near to Charlestown, when a very strong reinforcement from the towns of Marblehead and Salem fell in with them, and gave them two severe fires. This quickened their pace to Bunker Hill, where they took refuge, formed in order, and remained until reinforced by the third brigade sent over from Boston to se- cure their retreat. This was efi'ected without further loss. A gentleman, who mixed with the soldiers at Charlestown ferry, says he saw at least two ofiicers and soldiers brought over wounded in an hour. It is impossible at this time to as- certain the number of the killed and wounded on either side. A young gentleman who was within twelve miles of the field of battle informs us that the country had buried one hundred and ninety soldiers, and it is supposed a great number must have been carried off and burnt on Bunker Hill by their com- ' MSS. letter from Hunnewell to Gould. 1715.'] THE FISHERY BILL. 69 rades. General Haldiman and Lord Percy are both returned safe, having been enclosed on all sides by their soldiers, dur- ing the retreat. Mr. Pavil Eevere, who left Boston to acquaint Messrs. Hancock and Adams of the design against them, was taken prisoner, but got clear again by a stratagem. Colonel Murray's son,' who conducted the first brigade to Concord, is a prisoner, and not killed as reported. Upon the whole, Lord North's troops have had a severe drubbing ; and when we con- sider the disparity of numbers and discipline, and the sudden and unexpected attack against the country, we have reason to ac- knowledge the interposition of Heaven on that memorable day."' Testeedat the ship Samson arrived at 'New York from England. Accounts by this vessel mention that the forces destined for, and on their way to America, are eleven regiments of foot, and two of light horse, on board ninety-five transports, with seventeen men-of-war, all victualled for twelve months ; other accounts reduce the forces and ships to about half the above number. All, however, agree, that the design of their coming is to dragoon the British colonies into a surrender of their liberty and property, and to destroy the English constitution : — They who refuse to fight for their liberty deserve to he slaves. A letter from London received by the captain of the Sam- son says, " The friends of America, on the arrival of the packet, were much alarmed at a report that New York ^ ^ , ^ The Fishery Bill. was disafi'ected to the common cause, and had determined to break the resolves of the Congress, especially that of non-importation. However, we had the pleasure, from the best accounts, to find it otherwise. I have now to inform you that notwithstanding all we could do, the Eishery BilP ' Samuel Murray, a graduate of Harvard College in 1*772, proscribed in 1778, and died in 1785. ° Pennsylvania Packet, May 1. = "The Black Act." — A bill to restrain the trade and commerce of the Prov- inces of Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire ; the colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and Providence Plantation, in North America, to Great Britain, Ireland, and the British Islands in the West Indies ; and to prohibit such prov- inces and colonies from carrying on any fishery on the Banks of Newfoundland, or other places therein mentioned, under certain conditions, and for a time to be limited. — Holfs Journal, April 20. 70 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. •was yesterday (March 1) read the third time, and passed the House of Commons, whereby a stop is to be put to all the fisheries on the first of July, except the whale fishery, which is to be continued vmtil the first of November. Every impar- tial man must in his heart condemn a bill so replete with in- humanity and cruelty. It will be an everlasting stain on the annals o? our pious sovereign, who, from the best accounts, is the grand promoter of these proceedings. We hope the firm- ness of your countrymen will evince to all the world, your just sense of measures so unjust ; and will, in due season, retort them with vengeance on the guilty heads of the enemies of the British empire.' Apeil 23. — A WEiTEE in "Wethersfleld, in a letter to ISTew York, says : " The eyes of America are on New York. The Wethersfleld to ministry have certainly been promised by some of New York. jQ^y leading men, that your province would de- sert us ; but you will be able to form a better judgment when you see how this intelligence is relished. Take care of your- selves ! We have more than men enough to block up the enemy at Boston ; and if we are like to fall by treachery, by heaven, we will not fall unavenged on the traitors. K balls, or swords, will reach them, they shall fall with us. It is no time now to dally or be merely neutral. He that is not for us is against us, and ought to feel the first of our resentment. You must now declare, most explicitly, one way or the other, that we may know whether we are to go to Boston or New York. If you desert, our men will as cheerfully attack New York as Boston, for we can but perish, and that we are deter- mined upon, or be free. I have nothing to add." ' April 24. — The communication between Boston and the country is entirely stopped up, and not a soul permitted to go in or out withoiit a pass. This day the Governor has disarmed all the inhabitants, after giving them his word and honor that the soldiers should not molest nor plunder them. Cambridge ' Holt's Journal, April 20. ' Holt's Journal, April 21. 1775.] NEW TOEK ASSOCIATION. 71 is the head-quarters of the provincials, and they are command- ed by General Putnam. They are entrenching themselves at Eoxbury, and erecting batteries to play on the lines.' The following anecdote, we are assured, is authentic. It was communicated by a gentleman from the neighborhood of Boston : — An American soldier who had received a wound in his breast, in pursuing General Gage's troops on the nineteenth of April, supported his body against a tree, when a brother soldier came up to him and offered him his assistance. " I am beyond your assistance, (said the wounded man,) pursue the enemy." With these words on his lips, he fell back and died.^ A GENTLEMAN who travelled lately through Connecticut, informs us that he met with an old gentlewoman who told him that she had fitted out and sent five sons and eleven grandsons to Boston, when she heard of the engagement be- tween the provincials and regulars. The gentleman asked her if she did not shed a tear at parting with them ? " No," said she, " I never parted with them with more pleasure." " But suppose," said the gentleman, " they had all been killed." " I had rather (said the noble matron) this had been the case, than that one of them had come back a coward." ^ Apeil 29. — The following association was set on foot in New York to-day, and signed by above one thousand of the principal inhabitants. It is to be transmitted through all the counties in the province, where, we make no doubt, it will be signed by all ranks of people : " Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America, depends, under God, on the firm union of its in- habitants, in a vigorous prosecution of the New York /I .. rt , T • 1 Association. measures necessary lor its saiety, and convinced of the necessity of preventing the anarchy and confusion which attend a dissolution of the powers of government ; we, the freemen, freeholders, and inhabitants of the city and county ' Extract of a letter from Boston, in the New York Gazette, May 1. ^ Pennsylrania Packet, June 12. ^ Virginia Gazette, June 24. 72 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1775. of New York, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in the Massachusetts Bay, do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves ; and do associate under all the ties of religion, honor, and love to our country, to adopt and endeavor to carry into execution, what- ever measures may be recommended by the Continental Con- gress, or resolved upon by our provincial convention, for the purpose of preserving ' our constitirtion and opposing the exe- cution of several arbitrary and oppressive acts of the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles, (which we most ardently desire,) can be obtained ; and that we will, in all things, follow the advice of our general committee, respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and the safety of individuals and private property." ^ May 1.— It is said that several letters written by General Gage were intercepted last week on their way to IvTew York ; oongress whicli Contain matters of a very serious and to be Seized, alarming nature. It is expected the public will soon be made acquainted with the contents of the General's letters, which are now in possession of the patriots of New York. Some believe that the Congress are to be seized, and sent to England, and this belief is strengthened by letters from London. It therefore becomes the duty of every man to pre- pare for such a ministerial attempt, and to be ready, at an hour's notice, to defend the Congress. On Saturday last a meeting of the military associators was held in Philadelphia, when it was determined that each Associations in Ward should be formed into one or more com- ^^ '^^' '"■ panics ; the ofHcers to be chosen in the respect- ive wards. Two troops of light-horse are now raising there. Two companies of expert riflemen, and two companies of artillerymen are forming. Tliey have six pieces of brass ar- ' Rivington's Gazetteer, May 4. 1 ' < 5.] THE POST OFFICE. 73 tilleiy and several light iron ones. Their provincial arms, powder, and equipments, are all secured. Three provincial magazines are forming. In short, 3fars has established his empire in that city ; and it is not doubted but they will have in a few weeks from this date, four thousand men well equipped for their own defence, or for the assistance of their neighbors. Several gentlemen who measured the ground on which the people stood at the meeting on Saturday, are of the opinion that their number amounted to eight thousand." May 2. — A coeeespondent at Paris, says :■ — ■" I find the French are extremely attentive to our American politics, and to a man, strongly in favor of us. "Whether mostly from ill- will to Britain, or friendship to the colonies, may be matter of doubt ; but they profess it to be i^pon a principle of humanity, and a regard to the natural rights of mankind. Tlrey say that the Americans will be either revered or detested by all Europe, according to their conduct at the approaching crisis. They will have no middle character ; for in proportion as their vir- tue and perseverance will render them a glorious, their tame submission will make them a despicable people." ^ Mat 4. — The post having been interrupted, the postmaster, who has hitherto without legal authority been appointed from home, and as a conveniency, permitted here un- . , ., ,. 1 , T-^., ,, The Post Office. questioned, has discharged the riders, the expense of which he has no longer a fund to support. An office for this necessary business will doubtless be put under proper regulations by the Continental Congress, and no more be permitted to return to the rapacious hands of unauthorized in- truders ; since it would be the most contemptible pusillanim- ity to suffer a revenue to be raised from our property, to defray the expense of cutting our throats. It is said, Mr. William Goddard, who has been a great sufferer, with many others, by the mal-practices of an illegal holder of this office, is now on a journey, in order to put the business under proper regulations to be laid before the Congress.' ' Pennsylvania Packet, May 1. ' Gaines' Mercury, July 10. ° Holt's Journal, May 4. / 7J: DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1775. EiviNGTON, in his paper of this morning, offers the following to the pnblic : — " As many publications have appeared from Eivington ™y prBss wliicli have given great oifence to the Apologues, colonies, and particularly to many of my fellow- citizens, I am therefore led by a most sincere regard for their favorable opinion, to declare to the public, that nothing which I have ever done, has proceeded from any sentiments in the least imfriendly to the liberties of this continent, but altogether from the ideas I entertained of the liberty of the press, and of my duty as a printer. I am led to make this free and public declaration to my fellow-citizens, which I hope they will con- sider as a sufficient pledge of my resolution for the future to conduct my press upon such principles as shall not give offence to the inhabitants of the colonies in general, and of this city in particular, to which I am connected by the tenderest of all human ties, and in the welfare of which I shall consider my own as inseparably involved." ' May 5. — Tnis evening arrived at Philadelphia, Captain Osborne, from London, in whom came passenger the worthy Dr. Benjamin Franklin, agent for Massachusetts government, and the province of Pennsylvania. Welcome ! once more, To these fair western plains — thy native shore ; Here live beloved, and leave the tools at home, To run their length, and finish out their doom. Here lend thine aid to quench their brutal fires, Or fan the flame which Liberty inspires. Or fix the grand conductor, that shall guide The tempest back, and 'lectrify their pride. Eewarding Heaven will bless thy cares at last, And future glories glorify the past. Why staid apostate Wedderburn behind, The scum — the scorn — the scoundrel of mankind ? ' ' Eivington's Gazetteer, May 4. ' Referring to Wedderburn's attack on Dr. Franklin in the Privy Council, in England, January, 1774. ^ ' * ^0 THE EASTERN DELEGATES. T5 Whose heart at large to every vice is Icnown, Aad every devil claims him for his own ; AVhy came he not to take the large amount Of all we owe him, due on thine account? ■ Mat 6. — ^This afternoon, arrived at New York from the eastward, on their way for Philadelphia, to attend the Conti- nental Congress, the Hon. John Hancock and Thomas dish- ing, Esqs. ; Samuel Adams and Eobert Treat Paine, Esqs., delegates for the province of Massachusetts Bay ; and the Hon. Eliphalet Dyer, Eoger Sherman, Esq., and Silas Deane, Esq., delegates for the colony of Connecticut. They were met a few miles out of town by a great number of principal gentlemen of that place, in carriages and on horseback, and escorted into the city by near a thousand men under arms. The roads were lined Avitli a greater number of people than were ever known on any occasion before. Their arrival was annoimced by the ringing of bells, and other demonstrations of joy. They have double sentries placed at the doors of their lodging.'' Testeeday there was a meeting at Williamsburg, Virginia, of the committee and part of the militia of King "William county ; when the contents of the second express from the northward was communicated. It had such an effect on the minds of the people, that near two hundred pounds was im- mediately subscribed for the use of our brethren now fighting in the common cause. Most of the principal gentlemen sub- scribed ten pounds each, and as not half the country were present, there is no doubt it will be nearly doubled.' ' Pennsylvania Packet, May 8. " Eivington's Gazetteer, May 11. ' Virginia Gazette, May 6 : — The first express with the news of the Battle of Lexington reached Williamsburg on the morning of the twenty-ninth of April. The express leaving Watertown on the morning of the battle, passed through Worcester, Mass., Brookline, Norwich, New London, Lyme, Saybrook, Killing- worth, East Guilford, Guilford, Branford, and New Haven, and arrived at Fair- field, (on the 22d.) It arrived at New York on Sunday, (23d,) and was imme- diately forwarded to Philadelphia, by Isaac Low, chairman of the New York Com- mittee, and reached that place at four o'clock in the afternoon of the next day, (24th.) On the arrival of the news at Baltimore, the inhabitants seized upon the Provincial magazine, containing fifteen hundred stands of arms. — Pennsylvania Journal, April 24 ; Virginia Gazette, April 29 ; Holts Journal, June 1. 76 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1775. Mat 8. — Tins morning tlie delegates from the eastward, together with Philip Livingston, James Duane, John Alsop, and Francis Lewis, delegates for New York city ; Colonel William Floyd for Suffolk, and Simon Boerum for Kings county, in New York, set out for Philadelphia attended by a great train, to the North Eiver ferry, where two or three sloops and a nnmher of other vessels were provided. It is said about five hundred gentlemen crossed the ferry with them, among whom were two hundred militia under arms.' May 9. — ^The committee of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, met yesterday and recommended the people to asssociate into Bucks county, compaiiics, and learn the military exercise of Pennsylvania. g^j,j-^g_ gome towuships liavo already begun, and many others, animated with the same zeal for the welfare of their country, readily fall in with the plan, a knoAvledge of which, we have great reason to fear, we shall be soon called upon to give a proof of. The unanimity, prudence, spirit and firmness, which appeared in the deliberations of yesterday, do honor to Bucks county, and will, we hope, in some measure, wipe off those asjDcrsions they too deservedly lay under. A large number of the inhabitants assembled, and the resolves of the day being made public, testified their highest appro- bation of the conduct of the committee, and unanimously voted them the thanks of the county. A disciple of that species of creatures called tories being formally introduced to a tar-barrel, of which he was repeatedly pressed to smell, thought prudent to take leave abruptly, lest a more intimate acquaintance with it should take place.^ Mat 10. — ^The commanding oflScer at Cambridge has given leave to the regulars who were taken prisoners, either to go to Boston and join then- respective regiments, or have liberty to work in the country for those who will employ them. Li consequence of which, those who were confined in Worcester, Massachusetts, fifteen in number, heartily requested to be ' Holt's Journal, May 11. - Pennsylvania Packet, May 15. ITTO.] _ EFFECT OF THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON. Y7 employed by the people, not choosing to return to then- regi- ments to fight against their American brethren, though some of them expressed their willingness to spill their blood in defence of their king in a righteous cause. They all set out yesterday for different towns.' To-DAT the eastern delegates arrived at Philadelphia. They were met about six miles out by the officers of all the compa- nies in the city, and by many other gentlemen on horseback, in all amomiting to five hundred. When they came within two miles of the city they were met by the company of rifle- men, and a company of infantry, with a band of music, who conducted them through the most public streets of the city to their lodgings, amidst the acclamations of near fifteen thousand spectators.' The proceedings of April nineteenth have united the colonies and continent, and brought in New York to act as vigorously as any other place whatsoever, and has raised an Effect of t^eBattio army in an instant, which are lodge'd in the sev- "f^^^'-t''™- eral houses of the towns round Boston, till their tents are finished, which will be soon. All that is attended to, besides ploughing and planting, is making ready for fighting. The non-importations and non-exportations will now take place from necessity, and traffic give place to war. "We have a fine spring, prospects of great plenty ; there was scarce ever known such a good fall of lambs ; we are in no danger of starving, through the cruel acts against the I^ew England governments ; and the men who had been used to fishery, a hardy generation of people, Lord North has undesignedly kept in the country to give strength to our military operations, and to assist as occasion may require. Tlianks to a superior wisdom for his blunders. The General is expecting reinforcements, but few have arrived as yet, the winds, contrary to the common run this season, instead of being easterly, have been mostly the reverse. When the reinforcement arrives, and is recovered of PennsylTania Journal, May 24. ' Virginia Cfazette, May 27. 78 DIAEY OF TILE EETOLUTION. [1775. the voyage, the General will be obliged in honor to attempt dislodging the people, and penetrating the country. Both soldiers and inhabitants are in want of fresh provisions, and will be like to suffer much, should the provincial army be able to keep the town shut up on all sides, excepting by water, as at present.' Mat 17. — ^This evening arrived at Philadelphia, John Brown, Esq., from Ticonderoga, express to the General Con- gress, from whom we learn that on the beginning Ticonderoga taken. °„ ' ^ ^ nn n of this instant, a company of about ntty men from Connecticut, and the western part of Massachusetts, joined by upwards of one hundred from Bennington, in New York government, and the adjacent towns, proceeded to the eastern side of Lake Champlain, and on the night before the tenth cur- rent, crossed the lake with eighty-five men, not being able to obtain craft to transport the rest, and about day -break invested the fort, whose gate, contrary to expectation, they found shut, but the wicker open, through which, with the Indian war- whoop, all that could, entered one by one, others scaling the wall on both sides of the gate, and instantly secured and dis- armed the sentries, and pressed into the parade, where they foiTQcd the hollow square ; but immediately quitting that order, they rushed into the several barracks on three sides of the fort, and seized on the garrison, consisting of two officers, and upwards of forty privates," whom they brought out, dis- ai-med, put under guard, and have since sent prisoners to Hartford in Connecticut. All this was performed in about ten minutes, without the loss of life, or a drop of blood on our side, and but very little on that of the king's troops. In the fort were found about thirty barrels of flour, a few barrels of pork, seventy odd chests of leaden ball, computed at three hundred tons, about ten barrels of powder in bad condition, near two hundred pieces of ordnances of all sizes, from eighteen-pounders downwards, at ' Dr. Gordon in Gaines' Mercury, June 19. ' A party of the 26th, commanded by Capt, De la Place, who was surprised in his bed. Ill "^"^g CiownPoiiil o Ficondero^a ^ iSabbnthDa) « Point 5':6Rc JlAl A'' ^0 Fatr Rouiii ^Narrows fe W BtflStBaT .S(juU:\ W ^. FartTf-imotirr ^ '** •;, ^ ,J0. ■;,o ^PiP- ifwoRodoi J§; ■ii^ k. k' - ■&■ &^ id ^ G Haytrard Liik ntFw:l^l 1' }- 1 ' '5.] CEOWN POINT TAKEN. 79 Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which last place, being held only by a corporal and eight men, falls of course into our hands. By this sudden expedition, planned by some principal per- sons in the four neighboring colonies, that important pass is now in the hands of the Americans, where, we trust, the wis- dom of the grand Continental Coiigress will take effectual measures to secure it, as it may be depended on, that adminis- tration means to form an army in Canada, composed of British regulars, French, and Indians, to attack the colonies on that side. Mr. Brown brought intercepted letters from Lieutenant Malcom Fraser, to his friends in New England, from which it appears that General Carleton has almost unlimited powers, civil and military, and has issued orders for raising a Canadian regiment, in which, Mr. Fraser observes, the officers find diffi- culty, as the common people are by no means fond of the ser- vice. He likewise remarks, that all the king's European sub- jects are disaffected at the partial preference given to the late converts to loyalty, as he phrases it, to their utter exclusion from all confidence, or even common civility. Matters are in- deed in such a situation, that many, if not most of the mer- chants, talk of leaving the province. Mr. Brown also relates that two regular officers of the 26th regiment, now in Canada, applied to two Indians, one a head warrior of the Caughanawaga tribe, to go out with them on a hunt to the south and east of the rivers St. La"nTence and Sorel, and pressing the Indians farther and farther on said course, they at length arrived at Cohass,' where, the Indians say, they were stopped and interrogated by the inhabitants, to whom they pretended they were only on a hmit, which the inhabitants (as the Indians told Mr. Brown) replied must be false, as no hunters used silver (bright) barrelled guns. How- ever, the Cohass people dismissed them all, and when they returned into the woods, the Indian warrior insisted on know- ing what their real intention was, and they told him that it was to reconnoitre the woods, to find a passage for an army to ' Northern New Hampshire. 80 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. march to the assistance of the king's friends at Boston. The Lidian asked, where they would get the army ? Tliey answered, in Canada, and that the Indians in the upper castles wonld join them. The chief on this expressed resentment that he, being one of the head men of the Canghanawaga tribe, should never have been consulted in the affair. But Mr. Brown presumes the aversion of this honest fellow and his friends to their schemes, was the reason of their being kept from their knowledge. The conductors of this grand expedition are to be Monsieur St. Luke le Corne, the villain who let loose the Indians on the prisoners at Fort William Henry, and one of his associates. Oh George^ lohat tools art thoio obliged to mahe use of ! ' May 18. — -We hear from Halifax, that the people have at last shown they have spirit. It seems the agents for procur- ine; forage for the expected regiment of dragoons WMgs in Halifax. , , , . , „ , -, had taken without consent oi tlie owner, and were shipping for Boston, a great quantity of hay, iipon which the people set fire to, and wholly destroyed it ; and when that work was finished, they attempted the like by the king's mag- azines, which they several times fired, but they were extin- guished by the people from the ships of war lying there, who made a brisk fire on the people, and prevented them from ' Pennsylvauia Journal, May 24 ; see also the following authentic account of the taking of the fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, by a party of the Connecticut forces : — "Captain Edward Mott, and Captain Noah Phelps, set out from Hartford, on Saturday, the 29th of April, in order to take possession of the fortress of Ticon- deroga and the dependencies thereunto belonging ; they took with them from Connecticut, 16 men unarmed, and marched privately through the country till they came to Pittsfield, without discovering their design to any person till they fell in company with Col. Ethan Allen, Col. Easton, and John Brown, Esq., who engaged to join themselves to said Mott and Phelps, and to raise men suffi- cient to take the place by surprise, if possible. Accordingly, the men were raised, and proceeded as directed by said Mott and Phelps. Col. Ethan Allen command- ing the soldiery, on Tuesday they surprised and took the fortress, making prisoners the commandant and his party. On Wednesday morning they possessed them- selves of Crown Point, taking possession of the ordnance stores, consisting of upwards of 200 pieces of cannon, 3 mortars, sundry howitzers, and 50 swivels, &c." — Bivington's Gazetteer, May 18. I'^'TS.] FIEE m BOSTON. 81 effecting tlieir design. Tlie fugitives from Boston are gone for Halifax, bnt the people say, no d — d Tories sliall be allowed to breathe in their air, so that those d — Is can't find a resting- place there, which was the only place on the continent that they even dared to hope they might stay in.' They had a great fire in Boston last night. It appeared to bo between King street and the market ; it continued all night, and is not yet extinguished. "What has really hap- pened, is to us uncertain as yet.'' Mat 21. — A coeeespondent writing from Boston, says : — " As to the inhabitants removing, they are suffered to go out under certain restrictions. This liberty was ob- -, „ . ^ Boston. tamed alter many town-meetmgs, and several con- ferences between their committee and General Gage. The terms mutually agreed to were : ' Tliat the inhabitants shoidd deliver up all their arms to the selectmen.' This was gener- ally done, though it took up some days. On this condition the inhabitants were to have had liberty to move out of town, with their effects, and during this to have free egress and re- ' Holt's Journal, May 18, and the Virginia Gazette, June 24. ' Eivington's Gazetteer, May 25. The fire began in the barracks, under the arch formerly improTed by Benjamin Davis, about half after eight o'clock, 17th May. The soldiers were receiTing some cartridges, by which means one took fire, and communicated to many more, which immediately set fire to the room. The following is a list of the stores burnt, with the owners' names prefixed : — John Hancock, 1 store and shed ; Thomas Fayerweather, 1 store ; Benjamin Andrews, 2 ditto; Edward Gray, 2 ditto; Joseph Barrel, 1 ditto; .John Head, 1 ditto ; John Williams, 1 ditto, with 50 barrels of flour, donation ; Heyslop and Co., 1 ditto ; Andrew Black, 1 ditto ; Nathaniel Carey, 1 ditto and shed ; Alex- ander Hill, 1 ditto and shed ; James Russel, impost office ; John Soley, 1 store ; John Sweetser, 1 ditto ; three ditto at the town dock ; six stores, and a cooper's shop, owned by Eliakim Hutchinson; adjoining the town dock, improved for bar- racks, one store by Elias Thomas, sailmaker ; two stores leading down to tlie barracks, improved by Grant Webster and William Blair. Instead of ringing the bells as usual, the soldiers beat to arms, by which the people were in great con- fusion, not being used to such signals in time of fire. N. B. The inhabitants took particular care to save the goods in Mr. Han- cock's store.* * Holt's Journal, June 1. YOL. I.— 6 82 DIAEY OF THE EETOLUTION. [1776. gross. But mark the event. Tlie arms being delivered, orders were issued by tbe general, tliat those who inclined to remove, must give in their names to the selectmen, to be by them re- turned to the military town major, who was then to write a pass for the person or family applying, to go through the lines or over the ferry. But all merchandise was forbid ; after a while, all provisions were forbid ; and now, all merchandise, provisions, and medicine. Guards arc appointed to examine all trunks, boxes, beds, and every thing else to be earned out ; these have proceeded to such extremities, as to take from the poor people a single loaf of bread and half a pound of choco- late ; so that no one is allowed to carry out a mouthful of pro- visions ; but all is submitted to fjuietly. The anxiety indeed is so great to get out of town, that even were we obliged to go naked, it would not hinder us. But there are so many ob- structions thrown in the way, that I do not think those who are most anxious, will be all out in less than two or three months. Vastly different from what was expected ; for the general at first proposed, unasked, to procure the admiral's boats to assist the inhabitants in the transportation of their effects, which is not done, and there are but two ferry boats allowed to cross. They have their designs in this, which you may easily guess at. We suffer much for want of fresh meat. Tire transports, with the marines, are all arrived." ' May 24. — This day. Dr. Myles Cooper, president of King's College in JSTew York, sailed for Bristol, in the Exeter, having remained for near two weeks on board the King Fisher, commanded by Captain Montague, where he thought fit to shelter himself from the resentment of a people who consider him as the writer of several pieces highly injurious to the liber- ties of America. Tlie Bev. Dr. Chandler, and the Eev. Mr. Cook, go passengers with him.' It having been thought highly expedient, at this exigency of our public affairs, that every person among us who is known to be an enemy to the rights and privileges of this country, ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 1. ' Pennsylvania Journal, May 31. 1775.J THE BRITISH GEITEEALS AT BOSTON. 83 and has been aiding and abetting tlie cursed plans of a ty- rannical ruler, and an abandoned ministry, should be disarmed and rendered as incapable as possible of doing fur- t^^j^^ disarmed ther material mischief, the Tories in Worcester, "* ^'"•"o^'^'^- Massachusetts, were notified to appear with their arms and ammunitions on Monday last. Tliey accordingly appeared, and after surrendering their arms to the committee of corre- spondence, and being strictly ordered not to leave the town, or to meet together without a permit, were dismissed.' The people of ISTew Jersey have taken possession of the treasury of that province, in which was the amount of between twenty and thirty thousand pounds ; which money is to be ap- propriated to the payment of the troops now raising in that province, for the defence of the liberties of America.'' Mat 25. — The man-of-war Cerberus arrived at Boston, with the three generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, together with about seven hundred marines and two hundred drafts." ' Pennsylvania Packet, June 6. ° Holt's Journal, June 1. '■' Holt's Journal, June 8 : — A storm of thunder and lightning that occurred on the day the generals embarked from England, gave rise to the following lines, which TTOre published under the signature of Hamden : The chiefs embark, and clouds involTC the skies, Storms sweep the sea, and blusterous winds arise ; The heaVns themselves, red with uncommon ire. Their thunders hurl, and flash indignant fire. Oh Thou ! who rules the earth, and guides the flood, Have mercy on the innocent and good. Oh ! spare the land, and let thy vengeance fall, On those who dare whole nations to enthrall ; Send thy own thunders on the guilty head, And, to appease thy wrath, strike the vile monsters dead. But, oh ! restrain the hand of civil war And let thy favor'd nations cease to jar. Establish firm the American's rights and laws. And may this land resound with their applause ; Then shall our vows in all thy temples rise, And praise ascend in incense to the skies. Pennsylvania Paclcet, June 26. Si DIAl^T OF THE EKVOLUTION. [17T5. Mat 2G.— Last Sabbatla' about ten o'clock A. M., an ex- press arrived at General Thomas's quarters at Ifoxbnry, Mas- skirmish .at saclmsetts, informing liim tliat four sloops, two of Gi-ape Island. ^|^gj^ amicd, liad sailed from Boston to the south shore of the bay, and that a number of soldiers were landing at Weymouth. General Thomas ordered three com- panies to march to the support of the inhabitants. When they arrived, they found the soldiers had not attempted to land at Weymouth, but had landed on Grape Island, from whence they were carrying off hay on board the sloops. The people of Weymouth assembled on a point of land next to Grape Island, but the distance from Weymouth shore to said island was too great for small arms to do much execution. JSTevcrtheless, our people frequently fired. The fire was re- turned from one of the vessels with swivel guns, but the shot })a.'^sed over our heads, and did no mischief. Matters con- tinued in this state for several hours, the soldiers poling the hay down to the waterside, our people firing at the vessel, and they now and then discharging swivel guns. The tide was now come in, and several lighters which were aground were got afloat, upon which our people, who were ardent for battle, got on board, hoisted sail, and bore directly down upon the nearest point of the island. The soldiers and sailors imme- diately left the barn, and made for their boats, and put off from one end of the island, whilst our people landed on the other. Tlie sloops hoisted sail with all possible expedition, whilst our people set fire to the barn, and burnt seventy or eighty tons of hay, then fired several tons which had been poled down to the water side, and brought oif the cattle.^ As the vessels passed Horse-Neck, a sort of promontory which extends into Germantown, they fired their swivels and small arms at our people very briskly, but without effect, though one of the bullets from their small arms, which passed over our people, struck against a stone with such force, as to take off a large part of the bullet. "Wliether any of the enemy were wounded, is uncertain, though it is reported three of them '■ May 21. ^ Virginia Gazette, June 11. 1TT5.] BATTLK OF UOG ISLAND. '85 Avere. It is tliouglit tliat they did not cany oif more tlian one or two tons of liay.' Mat 28. — ^Yesteedat a party of tlie American army at Cambridge, to tlie miniber of between two and tbree liundred men, bad orders to drive off the live stock from jg^^^j^ ^^ Hog and Noddle's islands. In attempting to carry ^"s ^"'™'^' out these orders, they were attacked by the king's troops. The combat began on Hog island about five o'clock in the af- ternoon, and continued almost incessantly till midnight. The attack was made with cannon, swivels, and small arms, from an armed schooner, sloop, and eight or ten barges, upon our people, who had small arms only, but were very advanta- geously posted by Colonel Putnam, who got to them just in season to station and com.naand them properly. He placed them in a ditch up to their wastes in water, and covered by the bank, to their necks. The schooner, sloop, and boats full of men, came within twelve or fifteen rods of them, and gave our people a fine opportunity to place their shot well. About midnight the fire ceased a little, and our people retreated to the main land, where they were soon after joined by Captain Foster with two field-pieces, which were planted on the way of Winnesimit ferry. At daylight this morning, the combat was renewed, and as the schooner passed the ferry way, she was briskly attacked by our people, with the field-pieces and small arms, which soon clearing her deck, she drifted on shore, where our people set fire to her, and she blew up, notwith- standing the utmost endeavors of the people in the boats to tow her off, and save her from destruction. In this they ex- posed themselves much to our fire, and suffered greatly. When they found the schooner was lost, they with difficulty towed off the sloop, much disabled, and retired to their den ; and thus ended the combat. This afternoon our people got out of the wreck twelve four-pounders, six swivels, and every thing else that was valuable, without molestation ; they after- wards destroyed or removed from both the islands all the ' Kivington's Gazetteer, June 8. 86 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTIOK. [1Y75. stock, a large qiiantity of hay, and burned all the barns and lionses. All this was done in sight, and as we may say, under the noses of the -whole fleet and army at Boston without molesta- tion. The killed of the enemy (General Gage's crew of enemies to the English constitution) they themselves allow to be more than one hundred, besides wounded ; others, who have good opportunity to know, say their killed and wounded ex- ceed three hundred, and I believe they have suffered as much as in their precipitate flight from Lexington on the memorable 19tii of April. Our killed none ! wounded three ! Heaven ap- parently, and most evidently, fights for us, covers our heads in the day of battle, and shields onr people from the assaults of our common enemies. "VVliat thanks can speak our gratitude ! These interpositions, and our determined resolutions, may perhaps make our haughty enemies glad to quit their unjust professions for a cooler and more calm retreat, in some distant quarter of the globe ; and leave us peaceably to enjoy those rights and liberties which God in our nature has given us, as our inalienable right, and which they are most unjustly en- deavoring to wrest from us by violence.' A coEEESPONDENT gives the following etymology of the word Yankee : — ■" When the E"ew England colonies were first settled, the inhabitants were obliged to fight their way against many nations of Indians. They found but little difficulty in subduing them all, except one tribe Avho were known by the name of Yankoos, which signifies invinc'Me. After much waste of blood and treasure, the Yankoos were at last subdued by the ISTew England men. Tlae remains of this nation (agree- ably to the Indian custom) transferred their name to their con- Cjuerors. For a while they were called Yankoos, but from a corruption, common to names in all languages, they got through time the name of Yankees. A name which we hope will soon be equal to that of a Eoman, or an ancient Englisli- nian.° ' Virginia Gazette, June 24, and Pennsylvania Journal, June 21. ' Clift's Diary, and the Virginia Gazette, June 10. 1TY5.] noddle's island. 87 May 30. — A captalct who was lately seized by Admiral Greaves and taken into Boston, has jnst come out ; he says he was at the wharf at Noddle's island when the battle began. The master of the Diana schooner told him, that guns were never better served than the Amer- icans' ; that not a shot missed him.' One man was carried on board for dead, biit the next morning he came to, and had not the least wound about him ; others were frightened almost to death. There is an amazing difference in the looks and behavior of the enemy since the battle, from what there was before ; before there was nothing but noise and confusion, now all is still and quiet, insomuch that one can hardly perceive that there is any fleet or army there. From the general down to the common soldier, they seem to be in a great panic, and are afraid to go to bed for fear the Yankees will kill them before morning.^ Juio; 1. — ^The synod of New York and Philadelphia, at their late meeting in the former city, appointed the last Tlmrs- day in Jime to be observed by all the congrega- ■' „„., General Past. tions under their care, as a day of fasting and prayer, on account of the alarming state of our public affairs. Should the Continental Congress appoint a fast, the synod have directed that to be observed in preference to the day ap- pointed by themselves, provided that it is not more than four weeks distant from the last Tliursday of June ; if at a greater distance, they have ordered both days to be kept. They also recommend to all the congregations in their charge, to spend ' General Putnam, by hia ingenious invention and invincible courage, having nearly expended his cannon ball before the king's schooner, toolc this method to get more from the Somerset in Boston harbor: He ordered parties consisting of about two or three of his men, to show themselves on the top of a certain sandy hill, near the place of action, in sight of the man-of-war, but at a great distance, in hopes that the captain would be fool enough to fire at them. It had the de- sired effect, and so heavy a fire ensued from this ship and others, that the country round Boston thought the town was attacked. By this he obtained several hun- dred balls, which were easily taken out of the sand, and much sooner than he could have sent to head-quarters for them. — Constitutional Gazette, Sept. 23. ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 28. 88 DliUKY OF THE EEVOLUTIOX. [1775. the afternoon of the hist Tln^rsday in every month in public prayer, during tlie continnance of our present troiihles.' The martial spirit wiiicli prevails among the inliahitants of Somerset county, in Xew Jei'scy, truly merits the attention Somerset, of ^^ic puljlic. "We liavc Certain intelligence that ew.. er.^ej. flicy aro fomiiug themselves into companies, and daily exercising, to heroine complete masters of the military disei]dine ; and particularly, that the township of Bridge- water, in said coimty, met at liariton, the sixth instant, and chose Mr. Abraham Ten Eyck, captain, under whose com- mand eighty-five volunteers immediately enlisted, to be in readiness at an hour's warning, to march for the assistance of any neighboring colony, on any emergency. Tlieir pay and other necessaries are pro^^-ided by said township. The other counties and townships, it is hoped, will follow their example, as it may be necessary to repel force by force, in order to secure our national rights and pri^'ileges." A PAELiAJviENTAET youugster opening one day imseason- ably, an old sportsman, who sat next him, whispering in his ear, reminded him, that when a young dog was faulty, it was customary to couple him with one better trained, and whose experience might correct his error ; true, replied the boy arch- ly, when young dogs run counter, I know it is usual to couple them ; but when old dorja run counter, we hang them tqy.^l JcxE 4. — Yesterday morning a detachment of cavalry from the Williamsburg' volunteers, in their uniforms, well mounted „ . r, , , . ^^^ equipped, with a wagon containing their Peyton Eandolpli. ° o baggage and provisions, set out in a regular military procession, to meet the Hon. Pettoit Kandolph, Esq., late president of the Grand Continental Congress, on the way from Philadelphia, his presence being requisite at the general assembly now sitting. To-day about noon, the troop of horse met that gentleman at Puffin's ferry, accompanied by ' Holt's Journal, June 1. ^ Rivington'a Gazetteer, June 1. ' Pennsylvania Packet, June 12. * In Virginia. 1 ' ' i>-] LEXINGTON PEISONEES. 89 G» Colonel Carter Braxton, and escorted tliem to Williamsbiir^^ after having been joined by a company of infantry, -who marched ont the distance of two miles for the same purpose. Tliey arrived about sunset, and were attended to the lion, sen- tlenian's house by the whole body of cavalry and infantry, whose very martial appearance gave great satisfaction to the spectators. Tlie bells began to ring as our worthy delegate entered the city, and the unfeigned joy of the inhabitants, on this occasion, was ^■isible in every countenance ; there were il- luminations in the evening, and the volunteers, with many other respectable gentlemen, assembled at the Kaleigh, spent an hour or two in harmony and cheerfulness, and drank several patriotic toasts.' June 6. — ^This being the day agreed on for the exchange of prisoners, between twelve and one o'clock. Dr. Warren^ and Brigadier-General Putnam, in a phaeton, together Exciwnse of lcx- with Major Dunbar, and Lieut. Hamilton of the '°s'™ P'"^"™'''- 64:th, on horseback, Lieut. Potter, of the marines, in a chaise ; John Hilton of the 4Tth, Alexander Campbell of the 4th, John Tyne, Samuel JVIarcy, Tliomas Perry, and Thomas Sharp of the marines, wounded men in two carts ; the whole escorted by the Weathcrsfield company, under the command of Captain Chester, entered the tovm of Charlestown, and marching slow- ly through it, halted at the ferry, where, upon a signal being given. Major Moncrief landed from the Lively man-of-war in order to receive the prisoners and see his old friend General Putnam.' Their meeting Avas truly cordial and affectionate. The Avounded privates were soon sent on board the Lively, but Major Moncrief and the other officers returned with General Putnam and Dr. "Warren to the house of Dr. Foster, where an entertainment was provided for them. About three o'clock a signal was made by the Lively, that they were ready to deliver up our prisoners, upon which General Putnam and Major Moncrief went to the ferry, where they received Messrs. ' Postscript to Pennsylvania Packet, June 19. " Josepli Warren. ° Major Moncrief and General Putnam served throughout the French war in the same regiment. 90 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17T6. John Peck, James He-w's, James Erewer, and Daniel Preston, of Boston ; Messrs. Samuel Frost and Setli Pnssell, of Cam- bridge ; Mr. Joseph Bell, of Danvers ; Mr. Elijah Seavei', of Poxljurjr ; and Caesar Augnstus, a negro servant of Mr. Tiles- ton, of Dorchester, who were conducted to the house of CajJ- tain Foster and there refreshed ; after which the general and major returned to their company, and spent an hour or two in a very agreeable maimer. Between iive and six o'clock Major Moncrief, with the officers that had been delivered to him, were conducted to the ferry, where the Lively's barge received them, after which General Putnam, with the prisoners that had been delivered to him, returned to Cambridge, escorted in the same manner as before. The Avhole was conducted with the utmost decency and good humor, and the Weathersfield company did honor to themselves, their officers, and their country. The regular officers expressed themselves as highly pleased ; those who had been prisoners politely acknowledged the genteel kind treatment they had received from their cap- tors ; the privates, who were all wounded men, expressed in the strongest terms their grateful sense of the tenderness which had been shown them in their miserable situation ; some of them could do it only by their tears. It would have been to the honor of the British arms if the prisoners taken from us could with justice have made the same acknowledgment. It cannot be supposed that any officers of rank, or common hu- manity, were knowing to the repeated cruel insults that were offered them ; but it may not be amiss to hint to the upstarts concerned, two truths of which they appear to be wholly ignorant, viz. : That compassion is as essential a part of the character of a truly brave man as daring, and that insult offered to the person completely in the power of the insulter, smells as strong of cowardice as it does of cruelty.' Juira; 8.' — This forenoon, Laughlin Martin and John Dealy were carried through the principal streets of Charleston, South Carolina, in complete suits of tar and feathers. The very ' Virginia Gazette, July 1. 1TT5.] PHILADELPHIA BATrALIONS. 91 indecent and daring behavior of the two culprits, in several instances, occasioned their being made public spectacles of. After having been exhibited for about half an Tarring hour, and having made many acknowledgments of "■' °'^^'^>'^^'™- their crime, they were conducted home, cleaned, and quietly put on board of Captain Lasley's ship, lying wind bound for Bristol. Upon the intercession of Martin's friends, and his promises of future good behavior, he is allowed to come on shore and follow his business as usual.' This morning the three battalions of the city and liberties of Philadelphia, consisting of fifteen hundred men, the artillery company of one hundred and fifty, (with two pi^^^y^^ u^ twelve and four six-pound brass field-pieces,) a Battalions. troop of light horse, several companies of light infantry, rangers, and riflemen, in the whole above two thousand men, marched to the commons, and having joined in brigade, went through the manual exercise, firings and manoeuvres, (with a dexterity scarcely to have been expected from such short practice,) in the presence of the honorable members of the Continental Congress, and several thousand spectators ; among whom were a great number of the most respectable inhabitants of this city.'' The New York Provincial Congress have desired the Gen- eral Assembly of Connecticut to send sufficient force to hold the important fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, until that province can raise troops for the purpose, and they will ' Gaines' Mercury, July 3. " Eh-ington's Gazetteer, June 15 : — Colonel John Hancock was asked to re- ■riew the battalions, which gave rise to the following lines : — While Freedom's daughters all their aid afford, And deck the warrior with the gorgeous sword ; Do thou, great Hancock, all their ranks inspire "With patriot virtues, and the hero's fire. Form'd by thy blest example — they shall claim The fair one's fondness, and the conqueror's fame. Pennsylvania Packet, June 12. 92 DIAEY OF THE i:i:V(>LrTION. [1775. reimburse tlie expense, those fortresses being witliin the limits of that province.' The grand American army at Cambridge is nearly com- pleted. Great numljers of the Connecticnt, JSTew Hampshire, and Khode Island troops arc arrived tliero. Among the latter there is a fine company of artillery, with fonr excellent field- pieces. Many large pieces of battering cannon are expected soon from difl'erent places. Twelve pieces, eighteen and t^veuty-fonr-ponnders, with a quantity of ordnance stores, are already arrived from Providence.^ Colonel Skeene, governor of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, is at Philadelphia upon his parole of honor, to keep within eight miles of the city between the Delaware and Schuylkill, and not to correspond with any person on political subjects. Tliis gentleman concealed the circumstance of his being an officer, from the captain with whom he came a passenger. But a few days before they nrade the capes of Delaware, tliey spoke a ISTew England vessel, who informed them of the taking of Ticonderoga. The Colonel instantly declared he would march with five thousand men from Canada, and retake it ; and manifested such warmth on the occasion that the captain of the ship discovered the quality of his passenger, and after reprimanding him for the imposition he had practised upon him, thought it prudent, upon his arrival at Philadelphia, to deliver him up. The Colonel had taken care, however, to destroy his despatches, and now finds how ineffectual is his commission to tamper with they members of the Congress, in the way that an immaculate ministry procure the sanction of an immaculate Parliament.^ June 12. — To-dat General Gage has issued a proclamation, offering pardon in the king's name to all those, excepting ^^„^,^ Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who will forth- Prociamation. -^yitli lay dowu their arms, and return to their usual occupations. Those who do not accept the mercy he ■ Eivington's Gazetteer, June 8. ^ Park's Diary. ^ Virginia Gazette, July 8. 1775.] gage's proclamation. 93 oifers, and who give protection to those gentlemen, or assist them in any way, are to be treated as rebels and traitors. Martial law is also declared, " for so long a time as the present unhappy occasion shall necessarily require." A correspond- ent says : — " The proclamation is replete with consummate impudence, the most abominable lies, and stuifed with daring expressions of tyranny as well as rebellion against the estab- lished constitutional authority both of Great Britain and of the American States." TOM GAGE'S PROCLAMATION; Or blustering denunciation (Replete with defamation) Threatening devastation, And speedy jugulation, Of the now English nation. — Who shall his pious ways shun? ' Whereas the rebels hereabout, Are stubborn still, and still hold out ; Refusing yet to drink their tea. In spite of Parliament and me ; And to maintain their bubble, Right, Prognosticate a real fight ; Preparing flints, and guns, and ball, My army and the fleet to maul ; Mounting their guilt to such a pitch, As to let fly at soldiers' breech ; Pretending they desigu'd a trick, Tho' ordered not to hurt a chick ; But peaceably, without alarm, The men of Concord to disarm ; Or, if resisting, to annoy. And every magazine destroy : — All which, tho' long obliged to bear, Thro' want of men, and not of fear ; I'm able now by augmentation. To give a proper castigation ; For since th' addition to the troops, Now reinforo'd as thick as hops ; I can, like Jemmy at the Boyne, Look safely on — fight you, Burgoyne ; And mow, like grass, the rebel Tankees, I fancy not these doodle dances : — 94 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. Yet, e'er I draw the vengeful sword, I have tliought fit to send abroad, This present gracious proclamation, Of purpose mild the demonstration. That whosoe'er keeps gun or pistol, I'll spoil the motion of his systole ; , Or, whip his , or cut his weason. As haps the measure of his treason : — But every one that will lay down His hanger bright, and musket brown, Shall not be beat, nor bruis'd, nor bang'd, Much less for past offences hang'd ; But on surrendering his toledo, Go to and fro unhurt as we do : — But then I must, out of this plan, lock Both Samuel Adams and John Hancock; For those vile traitors (like debentures) Must be tucked up at all adventures ; As any proffer of a pardon, "Would only tend those rogues to harden : — But every other mother's son. The instant he destroys his gun, (For thus doth run the king's command,) May, if he will, come kiss my hand. — And to prevent such wicked game, as ' Pleading the plea of ignoramus ; Be this my proclamation spread To every reader that can read : — And as nor law nor right was known Since my arrival in this town ; To remedy this fatal flaw, I hereby publish martial law. Meanwhile, let all, and every one Who loves his Hfe, forsake his gun ; And all the council, by mandamus. Who have been reckoned so infamous, Return unto their habitation, Without or let or molestation. — Thus graciously the war I wage. As witnesseth my hand, — ToM Gage. By command of Mother Caey, Thomas Flucker, Secretary.' It is said that there are no less than three German princes upon their travels incog, in ISTew England. This looks not a ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 28. - 1775.] THE POST-OFFICE. 95 little suspicions ; certain it is, that there is not a Court in Germany, that would not send their best generals to the assist- ance of the Americans.' The following paragraph is extracted from some remarks on Gage's account of the battle at Lexington, which is pub- lished in the London Gazette of to-day. The Gage's Account miserable Gazette writer concludes his narrative "' Lexmgton. by informing the public that General Gage says, " that too much -praise cannot he given to Lord Percy for his remarkaile acticity the whole day.'''' The public will think this a very singular compliment ! The preceding part of the narrative has told us a story about the troops marching, or in plainer English, retreating from Lexington. They did not halt, but continued their retreat for fifteen miles. "What then are we to understand by the remarkable activity of Lord Percy ? His personal bravery is too well known to leave room for suspicion that he would show " remarkable activity " in retreating ; yet the account in the Gazette leaves the compliment so ambiguous, that an invidious reader might suppose Lord Percy made it, like the swift-footed Achilles, with a light pair of heels. It is not surprising that Gage should wish to pay his court to Northumberland house ; but when he pays another compli- ment, as he cannot write himself, he should entrust a better hand than the pensioned compiler of the Gazette.^ Jttne 14. — A FEW days ago returned to New York from the eastward, Mr. William Goddard, who has been indefat- igable in solicitina; the establishment of post-ofiices >^ '^ '^ The Post-Offloe. on constitutional principles, in which he has at last succeeded. The matter has been taken up by the commit- tees, provincial Congresses, or assemblies, in the colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Ehode Island, and Con- necticut, throughout which, ofSces, postmasters, riders, and rates of postage have been established and are to belaid before the Continental Congress, there to be approved or altered as ' Extract from a London paper in the Constitutional Gazette, August 26. ■■' Constitutional Gazette, August 26. 96 DIAKY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. shall be thought expedient. It is hoped ]S^c^v York and the other governments will adopt similar measures. Tlie rates of postage have Leen continued as before.' June 15. — The Continental Congress elected Colonel George "Washington, a delegate from Yirginia, general and commander-in-chief of all the American forces." — It "was last year reporti'd that Sir Jeflery Amherst had said, that -with five thousand English regulars he would engage to march from one end to the other of the continent of North America. This be- ing spoken of piiblicly in a coffee-house in ISTorth America, Colonel Washington, who was present, declared, that with one thousand Virginians he M'ould engage to stop Sir Jeffery Am- herst's march. It is the fashion at St. James' to despise the Americans, to call them cowards, poltroons, Ac, and the reso- lution seems to be taken to put their courage to the proof The very able, spirited, and prudent conduct of this gallant officer when he covered and preserved the remains of the Eng- lish army after one of their defeats in the last war in North America,^ lias endeared him to e^'cry brave man, and stamped him with the name of being a most noble officer.* It is said that all the men-of-war which were in the harbors near Boston, have been called to that ^^lace, and that every method is taken to strengthen the town. The intrenclnnent ' Holt's Journal, June 15 : — Mr. Holt announces a " Constitutional Post-Office,'' as kept in his printing office, in his paper of June 22. '^ Journals of Congress. — The following is the staff appointed by the Conti- nental Congress : — George Wasliington, Esq., of Virginia, General and Com- mander-in-Chief of all the American forces ; Artemas Ward, Esq., of Massachu- setts Ba}', Charles Lee, Esq., Philip Schuyler, Esq., of Albany, in New Yorlc Prov- ince, Israel Putnam, Esq., to be Major-Generals; and Horatio Gates, Esq., Ad- jutant-General. General Washington has appointed Thomas Mifflin, Esq., of Philadelphia, to be his aide-de-camp; and Major-General Lee has appointed Samuel Griffin, Esq., of Virginia, to be his aide-de-camp.* ' Braddock's Expedition. ' Extract from a London paper of April 16, 1775, republished in the Penn- sylvania Packet, June 12. * Eivington's Gazetteer, June 29. ^JT"! 1 1 ' f^'-^f 1.1, VOL. I. — 7 1775.] BATTLE OF BEEEd's HILL. 97 at the fortification is no^7 extended quite across tlie Neck, by Avliicli the town is "become an island. Some of the transports from Cork have arrived at Boston, and the grenadiers and in- fantry appear to be in motion. General Gage by his late con- duct, seems to be greatly alarmed.' June 17. — ^Last night a detachment from the camp at Cambridge, marched to Chai-lestown, and there took possession of Breed's Hill, about half a mile from the ferry. B^ttig „f Their intrenching tools not coming up in season, ^""^'^'^ ^''"■ it was twelve o'clock before they began their work. At day- light this morning they were discovered from Boston, when the men-of-war at the ferry, the battery from Cop's Hill, and the floating batteries, kept up a continual cannonading and bombarding, which fortunately did but little execution, al- though their intrenchments were very far from being completed. This continued till about two o'clock, when a large army, under the command of General Howe, landed in Charlestown, and after plundering it of all its valuable efi'ects, set fire to it in ten different places. Then, dividing the army, part of it marched up in the front of the proviacial intrenchments and began an attack at long shot ; the other part marched round the town of Charlestown under cover of the smoke occasioned by the fire of the town. The provincial sentries discovered the regu- lars marching upon their left wing, and gave notice to the Connecticut forces posted there. Captain Knowlton,^ of Asli- ford, with four hundred of said forces, immediately repaired to, and pulled up, a post and rail fence, and carrying the posts and rails to another fence, put them together for a breastwork. He then gave orders to the men not to fire until the enemy were got within fifteen rods, and then not till the word was given. The word being given, the regulars fell surprisingly ; it was thought by spectators who stood at a distance that the provincials did great execution. The action continued about two hours, when the regulars on the right wing were put into confusion and gave Avay. The ' Virginia Gazette, July 1. '' Tliomas Knowlton: — See Battle of Harlem Plains, September, 1776. Vol. I.— 7 98 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. Coimccticnt troops closely pursued them, and ■were on the point of pushing their bayonets, when orders were received from General Pomeroy, for those who had been in action for two hours to fall back, and their places to be supplied by fresh troops. These orders being mistaken for a direction to retreat, the troops on the right wing began a general retreat, which was handed to the left, the principal place of action, -wliere Captains Knowlton, Chester, Clark, and Putnam, had forced the regulars to give way, and being warmly pursuing them, were, with difKculty, persuaded to retire ; but the right wing by mistaking the orders having already retreated, the left, to avoid being encircled, were obliged to retreat with the main body. They retreated with precipitation across the causeway to "Winter's Hill, in which retreat they were exposed to the fire of the enemy from their shipping and floating batteries. Tlie provincials sustained their principal loss in passing the causeway. Tlie regulars pursued the provincials to "Winter's Hill, where the latter being reinforced by General Putnam, I'enewed the battle, repulsed the regulars with great slaughter, and pursued them till they got under cover of their cannon on the shipping. The regulars then returned to Bunker's Hill, and the provincials to "Winter's Hill, where they are now in- trenching and erecting batteries. In this action fell our worthy and much lamented friend. Doctor "Warren, with as much glory as "Wolfe, after performing many feats of bravery, and exhibiting a coolness and conduct which did honor to the judgment of his country in appointing him a few days before one of our major generals.' The number of regulars which first attacked the provincials, was not less than two thousand. Tlie number of the provin- cials was only fifteen hundred, who, it is supposed would soon have gained a complete victory had it not been for the unhappy mistake already mentioned. The regulars were afterwards re- ' Joseph Warren was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on the eleventh of June, 1741. He graduated at Harvard College in 1759, and studied medicine under Dr. James Lloyd. Four days previous to the battle of Breed's Hill, he re- ceived his commission as Major-General, and fell just as the retreat of the pro- vincials commenced. — Oordon. 1775.] LOED WILLIAM CAMPBELL. 99 inforced with a thousand men. It is uncertain how great a mimber of them were killed or wounded, hut all agree that their loss is more than one thousand. General Howe says, " jou may talk of your Mindens and Fontenoys, but I never saw nor heard of such a carnage in so short a time." ' ■"o^ JuNTS 18. — ^Yesteedat evening, his excellency the Hight Honorable Lord William Campbell, govemor-in-chief of South Carolina, with his lady and family, arrived at Charleston in the Scorpion man-of-war from England. His Lordship was saluted on his arrival by the Tamar man-of-war, by Fort John- son, and the several forts in town ; and about one o'clock to- ' Gaines' Mercury, July 3 ; Pennsylvania Packet, June 26. Another account of this battle is given by a gentleman in Providence, Rhode Island, to his friend in New York, as follows: — "On the evening of the 16th, Col. Putnam took pos- session of Bunker's HUl with about two thousand men, and began an intrench- ment, which they had made some progress in. At eight in the morning, a party of regulars landed at Charlestown, and fired the town in divers places. Under cover of the smoke, a body of about five thousand men marched up to our in- treuchments, and made a furious and sudden attack ; they were driven back three times ; and when they were making the third attack, one of our people impru- dently spoke aloud that their powder was all gone, which being heard by some of the regular officers, they encouraged their men to march up to the trenches with fixed bayonets, and entered them ; on which our people were ordered to retreat, which they did with all speed, till they got out of musket-shot. They then formed, but were not pursued. In the mean time six men-of-war and four floating bat- teries were brought up, and kept up a continual fire on the causeway that leads on to Charlestown. Our people retreated through the fire, but not without the loss of many of the men. The brave Doctor Warren is among the killed, and Colonel Gardner is wounded. We left six field-pieces on the hill. Our people are now intrenched on Pleasant Hill, within cannon shot of Bunker's Hill. The loss of the King's troops must be very considerable ; the exact number we cannot tell.* Among the slain is Major Pitcairn.f If our people had been supplied with ammunition they would have held possession most certainly. Our people are in high spirits, and are very earnest to put this matter on another trial." — RivingtorCs Oazetteer, June 29. * Of the regulars, two hundred and twenty-sis were killed, and eight hundred and twenty wounded. Of the provincials, one hundred and thirty-nine were killed, and three hundred and fourteen missing. ■ + Lieutenant Piteairn, son to Major, was standing hy his father when that noble officer fell, and expired without uttering a word. He looked very wishfully at the lieutenant, who kneeled down and cried out, "My father is killed, I have lost my father." This slackened the firing of the regulars for some minutes, many of the men echoing the words, " We have all lost a father."— Vpcott, iv. 318. 100 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. day liis Lordsliip landed at Cliampnoy's wharf, where he was received by several gentlemen, and also by the grenadier com- pany and the regiment of militia under arms. From the Avharf his Lordship walked in procession, preceded by the grenadier company, to the state-house, where his commission was read and published in the council chamber, in the presence of some of the members of his majesty's council. From this place he returned in the same order to the Exchange, where his commission was again read ; after which his Lordship and the whole company repaired to the state-house, where a genteel entertainment Avas provided.' June 20. — This morning the three battalions of Philadelphia, and the liberties, together with the artillery company, a troop of lighthorse, several companies of light infantry, rangers, and riflemen, in the whole about two thousand, marched out to the commons, and having joined in brigade, were reviewed by General Washington, who is appointed commander-in-chief of all the North American forces by the honorable Continental Congress. They went through the manual exercise, firings, and manoeuvi-es with great dexterity and exactness. Tliis evening Tliomas Jefferson, Escp, arrived here from Virginia, to attend the Congress, agreeable to his election, in the room of the Hon. Peyton Pandolph, Esq. He is attended by Doctor M'Clurg.' June 22. — ^Tiie Provincial Congress of South Carolina broke up, after three weeks of unremitted application. Tliey have requested, by public advertisement, that men of every denomi- nation and persuasion will carry with them to all places of divine worship, loaded fire-arms. This, on Sunday last, was almost generally complied with." June 23. — One of the surgeons attending the military hos- pital at Boston, has written home, that the provincials in the late engagement, " had either exhausted their ball, or were ' Virginia Gazette, July 8. ' Eivington's Gazetteer, June 29. '■' Pennsylvania Journal, July 12. 1TY5.] WASHINGTON AT NEW TOEK. 101 determined that every wound should prove fatal. Tlieir mus- kets were charged with old nails and angular pieces of iron, and from most of the men being wounded in the legs, I am in- clined to believe it was their design, not wishing to kill the men, to leave them as burdens on us, to exhaust the pro- visions, as well as to intimidate the rest of the soldiery." ' Jttne 24. — ^Testeedat morning General Washmgton and General Lee set off from Philadelphia to take command of the American army at Massachusetts Bay. They were accompanied a few miles from town by the troop of lighthorse, and by all the officers of the city militia on horseback. Tliey parted ^vith our celebrated commanders, expressing the most ardent wishes for their success over the enemies of our liberty and country. Major Thomas Mifflin is appointed aide-de-camp to General "Washington, and accompanies the general to the camp near Boston. The active and successful part which this gentleman has taken in the civil and military affairs of the province of Pennsylvania, has endeared him so much to his fellow-citizens that few men have ever left us more universally beloved or regretted.^ June 25. — This afternoon at four o'clock. General Washing- ton, attended by Generals Lee and Schuyler, and the light- horse of Philadelphia, on the way for the Amei-ican camp at Cambridge, landed at Colonel Lispenard's seat, about a mile above New York, from whence they were conducted into the city, by nine companies of foot, in their uniforms, and a greater number of the principal inhabitants of that city than ever appeared on any occasion before.' r The ship Juliana, Captain Montgomery, arrived at Sandy Hook last night, from London, in'which vessel his excellency Governor Try on camp passenger. He landed at New York at eight o'clock this evening, and was conducted to the house of i ..'. h' ' Upcott, iv. 813. ^ Kivington's Gazetteer, June 29. ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 28. 102 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. the Hon. Hugh "Wallace, Esq., by an immense number of the principal people of that city.' June 26. — ^The Massachusetts occasional newspaper of to- day, gives the foUoM-ing account of the action at Eoston on the British Account of Seventeenth : — " Tliis town was alarmed at break the Battle of Breed's Hill, ot day, by a nrmg irom the Lively sliip-ot-war ; and a report was immediately spread that the provincials had broke ground, and were raising a battery on the heights of the peninsula of Charlestown, against the town of Boston. They were plainly seen, and in a few hours a battery of six guns played upon their works. Preparations were instantly made for the landing a body of men ; and some companies of grena- diers and light infantry, with some battalions, and iield artil- lery, amounting in the whole to about two thousand men, under the command of Major-General Howe and Brigadier- General Bigot, were embarked with great expedition, and landed on the peninsula -without opposition, under cover of some ships-of-war and armed vessels. The troops formed as soon as landed ; the provincials on the heights were perceived to be in great force, and strongly posted. A redoubt thrown up on the 16th at night, with other works full of men, defended with cannon, and a large body posted in the houses of Charlestown, covered their right ; and their left was covered by a breastwork, part of it cannon proof, which reached from the left of the redoubt to the Mystic river. Besides the aj)pearance of the provincials' strength, large columns were seen pouring in to their assistance ; but the king's troops advanced. The attack began by a cannonade, and notwithstanding various impediments of fences, walls, &c., and the heavy fire they were exposed to, from the vast num- ber of provincials, and their left galled from the houses of Charlestown, the troops made their way to the redoubt, mount- ed the works and carried it. Tlie provincials were then forced from other strongholds, and pursued till they were driven clear of the peninsula, leaving five pieces of cannon behind them. Charlestown was set on fire during the engagement, and most ' EiTington'B Gazetteer, June 29. 1T75.] BATTLE OF BEEEd's HILL 103 part of it consumed. The loss they sustained must have been considerable, from the vast number they were seen to carry off during the action, exclusive of what they suffered from the shipping. About a hundred were buried the next day after, and thirty found wounded on the field, some of whom are since dead. About one hundred and seventy of the king's troops were killed and since dead of their wounds ; and a great many were wounded. Tliis action has shown the bravery of the king's troops, who under every disadvantage, gained a complete victory over three times their number, strongly posted, and covered by breast- works.' ' Eivington's Gazetteer, July 13: — Another account from Boston mentions, that the provincials occupied a post at Charlestown on a commanding ground, which overlooked Boston, at 1,500 yards distance, which works they had con- structed in the night. It consisted of a redoubt, with cannons mounted, and a continued intrenchment to a drained swamp on one side and defended by the houses in Charlestown on the other, which were filled with provincial troops. On the approach of day, the British artillery began to fire on the provincials' works, from a battery of six 24-pounders, and a howitzer from Copp's hiU to- wards the north end, which played principally upon the redoubt. About two o'clock in the afternoon, the- grenadiers and fight infantry, consisting of twenty companies, with the 5th, 38th, 43d, and 52d regiments, embarked, and were landed on Charlestown point, about six hundred and fifty yards from the provincials' works, which, being formed, the boats returned for the 63d and 47th regiments, the marines, and ten pieces of artillery, the whole under the command of Major-Gen- eral Howe, who had a low swampy land to pass, and to surmount a higher piece of ground, formed by nature for defence. The fire of six field-pieces and a heavy one of musketry from the provincials continued without intermission, on the British troops, and they still poured in fresh men from Cambridge, from the mo- ment the forces marched from the encampment; signals being made by three guns from Eoxbury church, and smoke from hill to hill, and the bells ringing, so that before the action was over, they were reinforced with a large body of men. At last, after an obstinate attack of an hour, reaching the summit very gradually, the British troops stormed the redoubt, and the provincials retired. They were cautiously pursued until another rising ground was obtained, which entirely com- mands the whole peninsula, but more immediately the neck of land. The loss in killed and wounded of the provincials cannot be accurately ascer- tained. Five field-pieces and four hundred intrenching tools, with twenty-nine prisoners, fell into the hands of the British troops. One armed ship, two sloops, and five floating batteries fired on the neck, but they did not altogether answer the end intended, as they neither prevented rein- forcing or retreating. — Eivington's Gazetteer, July 13. 104 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1775. June 27. — ^Yesteedat afternoon General "Washington with his suite, attended "by the several ISTew York militia companies, Washington loaves a troop of gentlemen of the Philadelphia light- New York, liorse, commanded by Captain Markoe, and a mmi- ber of the inhabitants of New York, set out for the provincial camp at Cambridge, near Boston. Last night he rested at King's Bridge, and this morning proceeded on his journey.' June 29. — A coeeespondent at Charleston, South Carolina, writes : — " Our place has rather the appearance of a garrison town than a mart for trade ; one company keeps guard all day, and two every night. In our situation we cannot bo too watchful and may require much strength, for our negroes have all high notions of their liberty, and we lately learnt by inter- cepted letters and other ways, that there have been endeavors to set the Indians on us. Mr. Stuart, the superintendent of In- dian affairs, is accused of being the person who has forwarded this wicked design, and he has fled for safety. " Tlie Tories in Georgia are now no more. Tlaat province is almost universally on the right side, and is about to choose delegates to send to the Congress." " ' Pennsylvania Journal, July 5 : — Before the general's departure, the provin- cial congress of New York presented him with an address, in which, after ex- pressing their gratification at his appointment, they say: — "In you, sir, and in the worthy generals under your command, we have the most flattering hopes of success in the glorious struggle for American liberty, and the fullest assurances, that, whenever this important contest shall be decided by that fondest wish of every American soul, an accommodation with our mother country, you will cheer- fully resign the important deposit committed into your hands, and reassume the character of our worthiest citizen.'' The general, after declaring his gratitude for the regard shown him, added, " May your warmest wishes be reahzed in the success of America at this important and interesting period, and be assured that every exertion of my worthy col- leagues and myself, will be equally extended to the re-establishment of peace and harmony between the mother country and these colonies. As to the fatal but necessary operations of war, when we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen, and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in that happy hour, when the establishment of American liberty, on the most firm and solid foundations, shall enable us to return to our private stations in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and happy country." — Pennsylvania Journal, July 5. = New York Gazette, July 24. 1775.] GENEEAL PUTNAM. 105 Jotte 29. — ^Yesteedat General Wooster, with seven com- panies of liis regiment, and Colonel Waterburj, with his regi- ment complete, both consisting of about eighteen hundred men, arrived at New York from Connecticut. They appear to be a healthy, hearty body of men, and are now encamped about two miles out of town.' The reports from the northward are various ; it is thoiTght from the best accounts, that the Canadians will be very reluc- tant to enter into the service against the colo- -, . . . 1 ^ 1 rM 1 Canada. nies, and it is pretty certain that (General Caiieton lias hanged two or three of them for refusing, and speaking discouraging to others ; so that it is on the whole believed that through all the stratagems of tyranny, Carleton will dragoon a number of the Canadians and Lidians into the service. It is generally believed he is making preparation to come against us ; but some think otherwise, and that he is only fortifying at St. John's to prevent any incursion from us. Doubtless a short time will discover which of those is the truth. We have certain intelligence that Guy Johnson is making all the interest possible to raise the Indians about the Lakes and Oswegatcha against us.° July 1. — Geneeai Putnam, who commanded the Connecti- cut troops, is a veteran soldier of great experience. He served during the whole of the last war against the o ™» . General Putnam, French, and was wounded fifteen different times in the service of his country. He was once taken prisoner by the Indians, who first scalped, then tied him to a tree, and were about to make a stroke at his head, which would have put an end to his existence, when a French ofiicer happening at the instant to pass by, saved his life. When he heard of the battle of Lexington, he was following his plough. As soon as he was satisfied of the truth of the news, he took one of his horses out of the plough, and bid his servant take the other and follow him with his arms to Boston. ' Rlvington's Gazetteer, July 6. '•• Gaines' Mercury, July It. 106 DLIET OF TUE EEVOLUTION. [1775 Sliould the boasting General Bnrgoyue ridicule tlie simplicity of onr American Ciuciunatus, and be asked at the same time where his master's orders found him when he was commanded to repair to Boston, the answer would most probably be, " in a gambling house or brothel. 'K July 3. — A weitee in London says : — " Tliough the Amer- ican soldiery perhaps may not be so regularly disciplined as the king's troops, yet it must be considered that there is a very material difference between a man who fights for his natural liberty, and the man who only lights because he is paid for it. The former defends himself in a just cause ; the latter is the mere dupe of power. The former is animated by the zeal of his attachments to the public weal ; the latter has no attach- ments at all, except to his pay for slaughter and bloodshed." " This night died of the wounds he received in the battle of the seventeenth of June, the amiable, the gallant Colonel Tliomas Gardner, of Cambridge, Massachusetts.' Noira; of the men who have been raised by the several col- onies, are, in future, to be distinguished as the troops of any particular colony, but as the forces of " The United Colonies OF NoETH Ameeioa," into whose joint service they have been taken by the Continental Congress, and are to be paid and supported accordingly." Colonel Lashee's battalion was reviewed at ISTew York by Major-General Schuyler, accompanied by the Brigadier-Gen- erals Montgomery and Wooster, in the presence of a very re- spectable number of the principal gentlemen and ladies. They went through the exercises and evolutions with the greatest order, alertness, and decorum. Tliat country can never be en- slaved, whose rights are defended by the hands of its citizens." ' Pennsylvania Packet, July 3, and Virginia Gazette, August 12. ^ New York Gazette, July 3. ' Gaines' Mercury, July 17. * Letter from Dr. Leonard to John Murray. — Window. ' New York Gazette, July 10. 1775.] FETE TO GENERAL WOOSTEE. lOT July 4. — The Provincial Congress of ~Sew York, being in- formed by a Bumber of the freeholders of the city, that the corporation had prepared and intended to present an address to Governor Tryon, congratulating him on his return to gov- ernment, the Congress unanimously voted, that they disap- proved of the same, and ordered that the secretary serve a copy of the above vote on the mayor, which was done accord- ingly.' July 5. — General "Woostee, and the officers of the Connec- ticut forces at New Tort, dined at Mr. Samuel Frances, in the Fields, where an elegant entertainment was pro- Dinner to vided by the members of the New York Military sei"*>-ii 'Wooster. Club. The day was spent in the utmost harmony, every thing conspiring to please, being all of one mind, and one heart. The following loyal toasts were drank : — 1. The king — ^better coimsellors to him. 2. Tlie hon. Continental Congress. 3. General Washington, and the army under his command. 4. The several provincial congresses and committees in the con- federated colonies. 5. A speedy union on constitutional prin- ciples between Great Britain and America. 6. Conquest and laurels to all those heroes who draw their swords in support of freedom. 7. Confusion and disappointment to the friends of despotism and the enemies of America. 8. May the disgrace of the rebels against the constitution be as conspicuous as that of the rebels against the house of Hanover. 9. All those worthies in both Houses of Parhament, who stood forth advo- cates of America and the rights of mankind. 10. The Lord Mayor, and worthy citizens of London. 11. The glorious memory of King "William. 12. The immortal memory of Hampden, Sydney, and every patriot who fell in defence of liberty. 13. May the enemies of America be turned into salt- petre, and go off in hot blasts. 14. May Great Britain see her error before America ceases in affection. 15. May America ever be the dread and scourge of tyrants. 16. The daughters of America in the arms of their brave defenders only. 17. ' TJpcott, ir. 317. 108 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTITION. [1775. Death and jack-boots, before dishonor and wooden shoes. 18. The glorious nineteenth of April, when the brave Americans convinced General Gage and the friends of tyranny, that they dare fight and conquer also.' July 7. — It is said that Governor Martin, of E'orth Caro- lina, has issued a proclamation,^ " tending to persuade, seduce, Martin's ^^^ intimidate the good people of that province Proclamation, ffom taking measurcs to preserve those rights and that liberty, to which, as subjects of a British king, they have the most undoubted claim," and that " the committee of the counties of New Hanover, Brimswick, Bladen, Dublin, and Orslow, in order to prevent the pernicious influence of the said proclamation, have iinanimously resolved that, in their opinion, his excellency Josiah Martin, Esq., hath, by the said procla- mation and by the whole tenor of his conduct since the un- happy dispiites between Great Britain and her colonies, dis- covered himself to be an enemy to the happiness of that colony in particular, and to the freedom, rigljts, and privileges of America in general." " JtTLT 8. — This forenoon, a trumpeter came from the regu- lar's aiTny, with a letter from General Burgoyne to General Lee ; ]3j,j^^ ^^n^ and was conducted blindfolded by the guards, ^"'^ to the head-quarters, in Cambridge. After de- livering the letter he was permitted to return. The contents of this letter has occasioned much speculation and is variously reported ; but we hear the substance of it is nothing more than this : That General Burgoyne laments being obliged to act in opposition to a gentleman for whom he formerly entertained a great veneration ; but that his conduct proceeds from princi- ple, and doubts not that General Lee is actuated by the same motive ; he wishes affairs may be accommodated, and desires to have a conference with General Lee." This has been proposed to the general officers, and to the Provincial Congress, but they declare against it, as it has given ' Eivington's Gazetteer, July 6. ° Dated Fort Johnston, June 16. ' Pennsylvania Packet, July 31. ' New York Gazette, July 24. 1775.] SKIRMISH ON EOXBUET NECK. 109 rise to suspicions and jealousies among the men, who are not ignorant that a politeness of this kind one hour, is quite con- sistent with cutting throats the next." July 9. — ^Yesteedat morning, about half-past two o'clock, Ave Avere called up and informed that the regulars had attacked the liaes at Eoxbury. "We heard distinctly the firing of small arms and artillery on Eoxbury Neck, and soon discovered a great fire in that quarter, but two hours elapsed before we knew the cause, which was as follows : Two hundred volunteers, from the Ehode Island and Mas- sachusetts forces, undertook to burn a guard-house of the reg- ulars on the ISTeck, Avithin three hundred yards of their principal works. They detached six men, about skirmish on ten o'clock in the evening, with orders to cross on ^''"'^"^ ^'''*- a marsh up to the rear of the guard-house, and there to Avatch an opportunity to fire it. The remainder of the volunteers secreted themselves in the marsh on each side of the ISTeck, about two hundred yards from the house. Two pieces of brass artillery were drawn softly on the marsh within three hundred yards, and upon a signal from the advanced party of six men, two rounds of cannon shot were fired through the guard-house. Immediately the regulars, Avho formed a guard of forty -five or fifty men, quitted the house and were then fired on by the musketry, who drove them with precipitation into their lines. The six men posted near the house set fire to it, and burnt it to the ground. After this they burnt another house nearer the lines, Avithout losing a man. They took tAvo muskets and accoutrements, a halbert, &c., all which Avere bloody, and showed evident marks of loss on the part of the regulars. Tlie houses have been a long while made use of by the regulars as an advanced post, and has given them an opportunity of dis- covering our operations at Eoxbury." July 10. — A gentleman who came out of Boston to-day, ^ Markoe to Clift, July 9 ; also Holt's Journal, July 27. ' Extract of a letter from the Camp at Cambridge, July 9, in Holt's Journal, July 2Y. 110 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTTTION. [1775. says the inhabitants have been numbered, and amount to six thousand five hundred and seventy-three. The Affairs in Boston. i -i t i • soldiers number, women and children, thirteen thousand six hundred. Three hundred Tories are chosen to patrol the streets ; forty-nine at night. It is very sickly there ; from ten to thirty funerals in a day, and no bells al- lowed to toll ; Master Lovell' has been taken up and put in jail, in -consequence of some letters found in Dr. Warren's pockets. Tlie regular officers say : " Damn the rebels, they will not flinch." A great number of floating batteries are building, and five transports and three sloops are sailed for hay and wood to the eastward. This gentleman also says, that the ofl[icers and soldiers triumph very much at the death of Dr. "Warren, saying, it is better to them than five hundred men.'' The following instructions for the oflficers of the several regiments of the Massachusetts Bay forces, who are immediately Massnciinsetts to go upou the recruitiug service, were issued this Eeemiting Orders, ^^rning at Cambridge, by General Gates :— " You are not to enlist any deserter from the ministerial army, nor any stroller, negro, or vagabond, or person suspected of being an enemy to the liberty of America, nor any under eighteen years of age. " As the cause is the best that can engage men of courage and principle to take up arms ; so it is expected that none but such will be accepted by the recruiting officer. The pay, pro- vision, &c., being so ample, it is not doubted but that the officers sent upon this service will, without delay, complete their respective corps, and march the men forthwith to camp. " You are not to enlist any person who is not an American bom, unless such person has a wife and family, and is a settled resident in this country. The persons you enlist must be pro- vided with good and complete arms." ^ ' James LoTell, the schoolmaster. " Pennsylvania Journal, July 26. ' Gaines' Mercury, July 24. 1TY5.] THE AEMTES AT BOSTON. Ill Jttlt 11. — A coEEESPONDENT informs US that one of tlie gen- tlemen appointed to command a company of riflemen, to be raised in one of the frontier counties of Pennsyl- pennsyivama vania, had so many applications from the people Eiflemen. in his neighborhood, to be enrolled for the service, that a greater number presented than his instructions permitted him to engage, and being unwilling to give oifence to any, thought of the following expedient. He, with a piece of clialk, drew on a board the figure of a nose of the common size, which he placed at the distance of one hundred and fifty yards, declar- ing that those who should come nearest the mark should be enlisted. Sixty odd hit the object. — G-eneral Gage, take care of your nose.'. The regulars are situated on Bunker's and Breed's Hills, both on the peninsula, where the late town of Charlestown stood, and within reach and under the cover of The Armies at the guns, from the batteries in the town of Boston, Boston. and the ships in the harbor, and of a number of floating bat- teries, which they have built, that carry two guns in their bows, two in their sterns, and one on each side. The Ameri- cans are situated near Charles river, about two hundred rods below Harvard College, where they have a redoubt, which begins the line ; then about sixty rods from that another re- doubt, and lines continued near one hundred rods. At Charles- to^vnroad, on the west side of the road, at the foot of Prospect Hill, another redoubt, and strong fortification. On Prospect Hill, is Putnamls post, a very strong fortification ; and be- tween that and Winter Hill a redoubt. On "Winter Plill, a strong citadel, and lines over Charlestown road, to Mystic ; then in Mr. Temple's pasture, a strong redoubt, that com- mands to Mystic river, so that they have a complete line of cir- cumvallation from Charles river to Mystic river. Tlae Ameri- cans' main fortress is on Prospect Hill; the regulars on Bunker's Hill, within cannon shot of each other. A hill be- tween these two posts, a little to the eastward of Prospect Hill, ' Virginia Gazette, July 22. 112 DIAEY OF TlIE EEVOLUTION. [1776; called Coblle Ilill, will soon create a squdUble as to wliicli shall have it. It will not be many days before a contest begins, which will probably bring on a general engagement. In four or five days more, the Americans will be well prepared, and won't care how soon the regulars conic ; the soojier the better. At Eoxbury side the regulars have dug across the neck, and let the water through, and the Americans in turn, have in- trenched across the enter end of the neck, and are strongly for- tified there, and on the hill by the meeting-house ; so strong, that it is believed every man in Eoston, and at Bunker's and Breed's Hills mnst fall, before they can force a passage that way into the country.' JuLT 12. — Tnis afternoon, at fifty-five minutes past three o'clock, there was a violent shock of an earthquake at Jessup- Earth uake borougli, twclvo niilcs southwest of Lake George.' at Lake ueoigo. rpj^g earth was much agitated, with small tossing, agile waves, and the noise thereof as loud as thunder ; and it was with difficulty that some people that were building a honse could sit on the timber. At fifty-one minutes after six, and forty-one minutes after seven, were two small shocks with less noise.^ DuEixG a severe cannonade at Boxbury, last week, a bomb, thirteen inches in diameter, fell within the American lines, and burnt furiously, when four of the artillerymen ran up, and one kicked out the fuse, saved the bomb, and probably some lives — a stroke of heroism worthy of record. The regulars have so hardened the provincials by their repeated firing, that a can- nonading is just as much minded as a common thunder shower. All things look well. The provincials are now strongly posted, as are the regulars. IST either side are willing to attack each other in their lines. We have just got over land from Cape Cod, a large fleet of whale boats ; in a day or two we shall man them in Cambridge ' Holt'a Journal, July 27. '' In New York. ' PennsylTania Journal, August 9 : — The first shook wa3 considerable at Ticonderoga, Fort Edward, and was felt by some people in Albany. 1775.] StTFFEEING IN BOSTON. 113 and Mystic rivers, and try to keep tlie regulars' boats from insulting us." July 16. — As to intelligence from Boston, it is seldom -we are able to collect any that may be relied on ; and to repeat the vague flying rumors would be endless. We g^^^^.;^ j^^ heard yesterday by one Mr. Eolston, a goldsmith, "^o"'""- who got out from Boston in a fishing schooner, that the distress of the troops increases fast, their beef is spent, their malt and cider all gone ; all the fresh provisions they can procure, they are obliged to give to the sick and wounded ; that thirteen of the provincials who were in jail, and were wounded at Charles- town, are dead ; that no man dared to be seen talldng to his friend in the street ; that they are obliged to be within every evening at ten o'clock according to martial law, nor can any inhabitant walk the streets after that time without a pass from Gage ; that Gage has ordered all the molasses to be distilled into rum for the soldiers ; that he has taken away all licenses for selling of liquors, and given them to his creatures ; that he has issued an order that no one else shall sell under a penalty of ten poiinds ; that the spirit which prevails among the sol- diers is that of malice and revenge ; that there is no true courage to be observed among them ; that their duty is hard, always holding themselves in readiness for an attack, which they are in continual fear of ; that Doctor Eliot^ was not on board of a man-of-war as was reported ; Mr. Level, with many others, is certainly in jail ; that last week a poor milch cow was killed in town and sold for a shilling sterling a pound ; that the transports from Ireland and ISTew York arrived last week, but every additional man adds to their distress.'' Jtilt 19. — "Wednesday evening last, a number of ladies and gentlemen collected at a place called East Farms, in Connec- ticut, where they had a needless entertainment, and made themselves extremely meiTy with a good glass of wine. Such ^ Extract of a letter from Cambridge in the New York Gazette, July 31. ' Andrew Eliot, D. D., pastor of the new church in Boston. ' Pennsylvania Journal, August 2. YoL. I.— 8 Hi DIARY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1775. entertainments and diversions can hardly be justified upon any occasion ; but at sucli a day as this, when every thing around us has a threatening aspect, they ought to be dis- countenanced, and every good man sliould use his influence to suppress them. And are not such diversions and entertain- ments a violation of the eightli article of the Association of the Continental Congress ? And is it not expected that the Com- mittee of Inspection will examine into such matters, and if they find any persons guilty of violating said Association, that they treat them according as the rules of it prescribe ? ' Last Monday night, two men belonging to the Swan, Cap- tain Ayscough, being on shore, at Newport, Khode Island, saw fit to attempt an escape from their old and de- AJarm at Newport. -.-,.. m tested habitation. The next morning two or three of the ferry boats which pass between Newport and Co- nanicut were fired upon and brought to, an event so singular that two respectable members of the committee waited upon Captain Ayscough to know the reason. He told them that two of his men the night before were sent on shore upon some errand, and had not returned, and added, that he was confi- dent the inhabitants knew where they were, and that they were detained by them purposely. The two gentlemen de- clared themselves ignorant of the matter, and believed the whole town to be. However, to pacify Captain Ayscough, they assured him that they would summon the committee to- gether, inquire into the matter, and, at the same time, desired Captain Ayscough to write a letter to the committee, stating his grievance. Tlais he did, and they promised to wait on him in the afternoon with an answer. As the captain's letter was rather in the threatening style, the committee could not help inquiring what he meant thereby, and assured him in their reply, that they were not to be intimidated, and did not thinlc themselves by any means accountable for the desertion of any of his men. Captain Ayscough read the letter with considera- ble composure, folded it up and then gave it to "Wallace, cap- tain of the Eose; Ayscough, at this time, being on board ' Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut, page 175. 1TY5.] ALARM AT NEWPORT. 115 Wallace's ship. Captain "Wallace immediately flew into a most terrible passion, tlirew the letter down in a violent fit of rage, damned the committee and the Congress, and swore at Ajscough for writing to snch a parcel of damned rebels, and declared that if he knew the two gentlemen who were then present to be of the committee they never should go on shore again. They endeavored to pacify him, but ia vain. He swore, repeatedly, that if there was a God in heaven, the town should be destroyed before morning ; that he was the king's oflElcer and would not be insulted. Hereupon the two gentle- men left the ship. A signal gun was instantly discharged, and the three pirates in the harbor and their tender immediately weighed anchor and came close in with the town. Their tom- kins were taken out, the marines on board beat to arms, and all the hostile preparations imaginable going forward against a defenceless seaport, consisting (exclusive of the men) of not less than six thousand women and children. About lialf-past nine in the evening, a cannon was discharged from the Rose, when many really thoiight the firing on the town was begun. Several women fainted away ; others went into fits, and a few absolutely miscarried by the fright. This morning about one or two o'clock, one of the Swan's men ret^irned, and in order, it is supposed, to save himself from a flogging, as it was necessary for him to give some account of himself, he invented the following lie, and swore to it upon the Holy Evangelist, namely : " That the Rhode Island rebels had taken him and his companion, and wanted that they should enlist among them to fight against the king, but that they re- fused, and because they did, the rebels gagged them and then carried them to Providence jail, but that he broke away and travelled thirty miles to get on board again ; " with much of the same stuff. The captains of the pirates either believed this gross and inconsistent falsehood, or fain would make the inhabitants think so ; accordingly it was taken down in writing, sent on shore, and satisfaction demanded, or the town should certainly be laid in ashes that very day. Another cannon was now discharged, four ferry boats and two wood sloops seized, quanti- 116 DIAET OF THE REVOLUTION. [1T75. ties of tar and otlier inflammatory and combustible matter put into the same, in order to set on fire and send into the wliarves, as a more expeditious way of destroying the town than by can- non only ; the cannon at the same time were to be fired on every part of the town. The court-house, Doctor Stiles" meeting-house, and the printing oifice were first of all to feel the efi^ects of this horrid plot. The most terrible parade was kept up by these low ministerial tools till near two o'clock this afternoon, when two persons of undoubted veracity (fann- ers witliin two or three miles of the town) went on board the Swan. One of these gentlemen assured the captains of the three ships, that he saw the stragglers, for whose desertion such terrible confusion had ensued, in his corn-field yester- day morning, and described them ; the other gentleman de- clared that he saw them in the afternoon near where he was making hay, and likewise described them. After fully proving that they knew the men, by pointing out the one who had re- turned, notwithstanding four others were first produced in order to deceive them, they came on shore ; when, all at once, the boats and prisoners were dismissed, the ships weighed anchor and stood up the river. Let every honest American rise up in opposition to such inhuman, and must we add, when speaking of Britons too^ worse than savage cruelty. To prepare, after so hostile a manner, to destroy thousands of lives and rviin vast estates, merely because two drunken wretches had fied from a ship under the command of a petty tyrant, is what will make a considerable figure in some future page, when our many trials are handed down to posterity by some able historian." A WEiTEE says that General Gage's army is now divided into three companies. " The first company is under ground ; , the second is above ground : the third is in the Gage 8 Army. i * ^ i hospital ; and the general has received express orders from home for the second and third companies to march and follow the first." ' ' Ezra Stiles, D. D., of the Second Congregational Church in JTewport. ° Pennsylvania Packet, August 7. ' Constitutional Gazette, Oct. 11, l''"^^-] DECLAEATION OF CONGEESS. IIT Yesteeday morning, according to orders issiied the day be- fore by Major-Greneral Putnam, all the continental troops under his immediate command assembled on Prospect Hill, when the declaration of the Continental Congress' was read, after which an animated and pathetic address to the army was made by the Eeverend Mr. Leonard,' chaplain to General Putnam's regiment, and succeeded by a pertinent prayer ; when General Putnam gave the signal, and the whole army shouted their loud amen by three cheers ; upon which a cannon was fired from the fort, and the standard lately sent to General Piitnam was exhibited, flourishing in the air, bearing on one side this motto, An Appeal to Heaven, and on the other side, Qm Teanstulit Sustinet. The whole was conducted with the utmost decency, good order, and regularity, and to the universal acceptance of all present. And the Philistines on Bunker's Hill heard the shout of the Iseaelites, and, being very fearful, paraded themselves in battle array.' A eepoet is current, that the troops will not winter at Bos- ton, but the province they are to remove to is not clear. Some say Ehode Island will be the head-quarters, others rp^^^p^ j„ remove ISTew York, with Long Island, as it lies so con- &»" Boston, tiguous. It is to be remarked, that either of these provinces is a more desirable and proper climate for troops to winter in than Boston, and at Boston no good can be expected from the winter campaign, whereas there is a chance of doing something on new ground, and among new people, not so expert in arms or so inured to the field. "What adds to the probability of the report is, that such a measure would embarrass the Pro- vincials more than any other whatever, for the men, who still look on themselves as trained militia only, would think they had a right to be discharged when they had no enemy to op- pose, and the peace of their province as it were totally restored. "Whereas, according to the principles and spirit of the leaders of that unfortunate town and province, they must by all means " The declaration of the Continental Congress, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms. — See American Eloquence, vol. i., p. 286. ' Abiel Leonard, D.D. = Virginia Gazette, August 12. 118 DIAItY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. persuade tlie men to follow the regulars to any distant prov- ince, in order to stir np the same spirit of opposition there, that has reigned in Boston ; for it is an imdoubted fact, that if government gains any one province over to its side, the busi- ness is done, and the others would soon follow. Another thing in favor of the troops moving is, that it would probably alarm the Congress so much, that that august and respectable assem- bly would soon break up, there being a great deal of difference between holding such meeting with a body of troops in the neighborhood, and in having no forces near them for hundreds of miles.' July 21. — ^Yesterday, agreeably to the recommendation of the delegates in the hon. Continental Congress, was observed with the utmost solemnity, by fasting, abstinence, and devotion. In all the churches in New York were large congregations, and excellent discourses, delivered from the several pulpits, expressive of the truly calamitous situation of this unhappy continent.'' At New Castle, in Delaware, the Eeverend Mneaa Eoss delivered a discourse in the morning, from Dent. 23, 9th verse, " "When the host goeth forth against the enemy, then keep thee from every wicked thing ! " And in the afternoon, the Eeverend Joseph Montgomery preached from Deut. 29th chap., 9th and 10th verses transposed, " Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God ; yoiu' captains of your tribes, your elders and your oificers, with all the men of Israel ; keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do ! " Both of the services were attended by all the militia, with their proper ofBcers in their uniform, and a numerous concourse of the other inhabitants.' July 24. — -By authentic accounts from South Carolina, we are informed that the colony of Georgia has appointed dele- gates to the Continental Congress now in Philadelphia, where they may be expected daily to arrive. The same accounts ' Upcott, vol. iv., p. 319. " New York Gazette, July 24. ' Pennsylvania Packet, July 24. lYYS.] TIGHT ON CHAELESTOWN NECK. 119 inform, that the people of Carolina have taken into their pos- session about one hundred and thirty barrels of gunpowder imported in the ship , Captain Maitland, from London, on Government account." Jtjlt 25. — Captain Dowdle, with his company of riflemen, from Yorktown, Pennsylvania, arrived at Cambridge about one o'clock to-day, and since has made proposals Dowdio's Eiflo- to General "Washington to attack the transport ™°- stationed at Charles river. He will engage to take her with thirty men. Tlie general thinks it best to decline it at present ; but at the same time commends the spirit of Captain Dowdle and his brave men, who, though they just came a very long march, offered to execute the plan immediately." July 28. — ^A deseetee from Boston says, that, yesterday morning. General Gage surrendered in the orders of the day, his command of the army to General Howe, and p^^^^^ ^^ q^^^,^ now acts only as a Civil Governor ; that he is Eesignation. lampooned and despised by the whole army ; that Howe is much censured for his mode of attack on our lines last month ; that their artillery was wretchedly served ; and, what is more strange, that all their spare cartridges which they brought out, were twelve-pounders, and they took only nine-pounders can- non, so that when the Americans were obliged to quit their liues, the regulars had not one round of artillery.' July 30.— Last Friday the regulars cut several trees, and were busy all night in throwing up a line, and sHrmisiion abbatis in front of it. In the evening orders were chariostown Neck. given to the York County Eiflemen to march down to our ' Holt's Journal, July 27. Last night arrived at Philadelphia, the Georgia Packet, from Georgia, in which came passengers the Hon. John Houston, Archi- bald Bullock, Noble Wimberly Jones, Lyman Hall, and Doctor Zubly, delegates appointed to represent that colony in the Continental Congress. — Pennsxjlvania Packet, August 14. '^ Extract of a letter from Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 25, in the Pennsyl- vania Journal, August 9. ^ Pennsylvania Packet, Postscript, August 14. 120 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. advanced post on Charlestown Neck, to endeavor to sun-ound the advanced guard, and to bring off some prisoners, from whom we expected to learn their design in throwing up the ab- batis on the Neck. Tlie rifle company divided, and executed their plan in the following manner : Captain Dowdle, with thirty-nine men, filed off to the right of Bunker's Hill, and creeping on their hands and knees, got into the rear without being discovered. The other division of forty men under Lieutenant Miller, Arere equally successful in getting behind the sentinels on the left, and were within a few yards of joining the division on the right, when a party of regulars came dovra the hill to relieve their guard, and crossed our riflemen under Captain Dowdle, as they were lying on the ground in an Lidian file. The regulars were within twenty yards of our men before they saw them, and immediately fired. The rifle- men returned the salute, killed several, brought off two prison- ers, and their arms, with the loss of Corporal Creuse, who is supposed to be killed, as he has not been heard of since the aftair. In return for this the regulars alarmed us last night in their turn. At one o'clock this morning, a heavy firing of small arms and cannon occasioned our drums to be beat to arms, and the corps were immediately ordered to their posts. The firing continued in three different quarters, Koxbury, Sewell's Point at the mouth of Cambridge river, and at the advanced post at Charlestown Neck. Some hoiirs elapsed before we knew the de- sign of the enemy, which was this : We had surrounded some of their out-guard the night before, which induced them to serve our sentinels in like manner. They sent two flat-bottomed boats to Sewell's Point to at- tack our redoubt there. Tlie boats, after a iiseless fire of sev- eral hours, retired. The piccpiet guard of the enemy on Charlestown Neck, attacked and drove in our advanced guard, who, being reinforced by General Lee's orders, recovered their ground and beat the enemy, killed several, and brought off seven muskets without losing a man, although our men engaged them under their guns, within point blank shot of their lines.' ' Constitutional Gazette, August 12. CHAPTEE III. Atjgttst 4. — ^The good people of Yirginia now consider Lord Dnnmore as their mortal enemy, and will no longer brook the many gross insults they have received from him, which are daily repeated ; and the d — d shirtmen, as they are emphati- cally called by some of his minions, it is more than probable, will make some of them rue, before long, their ill-timed, base, and ungenerous conduct.' An officer in General Gage's army says : — " The reason that so many more of the king's troops were wounded than killed in the late action in ITew England, is, that the Amer- icans use a small shot, called hucTc shot, which is much smaller than the soldiers' bullets." ' Last Sabbath, a child of Colonel Eobinson, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, was baptized by the Heverend Mr. Dunbar," of Stoughton, by the name of George "WASHnsroTON." Atjgttst Y. — Ois Friday evening last, arrived at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on their way to the American camp. Captain Cresap's company of riflemen, consisting of one , , in. . T ^11 Ci-esap'a Eiflemen. hundred and thirty active, brave young leliows ; many of whom have been in the late expedition under Lord Dunmore, against the Indians. They bear in their bodies visi- ble marks of their prowess, and show scars and wounds which ' Pennsylvania Journal, August 16. ' Samuel Dunbar, D. D. ' Gaines' Mercury, August 14 ' Constitutional Gazette, August 23. 122 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. would do honor to Homer's Iliad. Tliey show you, to use tlie poet's words : — " Where the gor'd battle bled at every vein ! " One of these warriors, in particular, shows the cicatrices of four bullet holes through his body. These men have been bred in the woods to hardships and dangers from their infancy. Tliey appear as if they were entirely unacquainted with, and had never felt the passion of fear. With their rifles in their hands, they assume a kind of omnipotence over their enemies. One cannot much wonder at this, when we mention a fact which can be fully attested by several of the reputable per- sons who were eye-witnesses of it. Two brothers in the com- pany took a piece of board five inches broad and seven inches long, with a bit of white paper, about the size of a dollar, nailed in the centre, and while one of them supported this board perpendicularly between his knees, the other, at the dis- tance of upwards of sixty yards, and without any kind of rest, shot eight bullets through it successively, and spared a brother's thigh ! Another of the company held a barrel stave perpen- dicularly in his hands with one edge close to his side, while one of his comrades, at the same distance, and in the manner before mentioned, shot several bullets through it, without any apprehension of danger on either side. Tlie spectators appear- ing to be amazed at these feats, were told that tliere were up- wards of fifty persons in the same company who could do the same thing ; that there was not one who could not plug nine- teen bullets out of twenty, as they termed it, within an inch of the head of a tenpenny nail. Li short, to evince the confi- dence they possessed in their dexterity at these kind of arms, some of them proposed to stand with apples on their heads, while others at the same distance, undertook to shoot them oif ; but the people who saw the other experiments declined to be witnesses of this. At night a great fire was kindled around a pole planted in the Court House Square, where the company, with the captain at their head, all naked to the waist, and painted like savages, (except the captain, who was in an Indian shirt,) indulged a vast concourse of people with a perfect exhi- 1775.] THE SOTITHEKN EIjFLEMEN. 123 bition of a Tvar-dance, and all the manoeuvi-es of Indians, hold- ing council, going to war, circumventing their enemies by de- files, ambuscades, attacking, scalping, &c. It is said by those who are judges, that no representation could possibly come nearer the original. The captain's expertness and agility, in particular, in these experiments astonished every beholder. This morning they will set out on their march for Cambridge.' AtrGusT 8. — ^The riflemen on their way from the southern colonies through the coiintry, administer the new-fashioned discipline of tar and feathers to the obstinate and refractory Tories that they meet on their road, which has a very good effect. Those whose crimes are of a more atrocious nature, they punish by sending them to General Gage. They took a man in New Milford, Connecticut, a most incorrigible Tory, who called them d — d rebels, &c., and made him walk before them to Litchfield, which is twenty miles, and carry one of his own geese all the way in his hand. When they arrived there, they tarred him, and made him pluck his goose, and then bestowed the feathers on him, drummed him out of the com- pany, and obliged him to kneel down and thank them for their lenity.j August 9. — ^Tms morning the following appeal was posted in the city of Philadelphia :■ — " To the Spinnees in this city, the suburbs, and country :■ — ^Tour services are now wanted to promote the Ameeican" Mais'ufactoet, at the corner of Market and Ninth streets, where cotton, wool, flax, &c., are delivered out ; strangers, who apply, are desired to bring a few lines, by way of recommendation, from some respectable person in their neighborhood. One distinguishing characteristic of an excellent woman, as given by the wisest of men, is, " That she seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands to the spindle, and her hands holdeth the distaff." In this time of j)ublic distress, ' Virginia Gazette, September 9, and Pennsylvania Journal, August 23 ' Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut, page 480. 124 DIAKT OF THE KEVOLUTION. [1775. joii have now, each of yon, an opportunity not only to help to sustain your families, but likewise to cast your mite into the treasury of the public good. The most feeble effort to help to save the state from ruin, when it is all you can do, is as the widow's mite, entitled to the same reward as they who, of their abundant abilities, have cast in much." ' The riflemen from York County^ liave annoyed the regu- lars very much. By a gentleman who left Boston yesterday, we hear that Captains Percival and Sabine, of the marines. Cap- tain Johnson of the royal Irish, and Captain Le Moine of the Train, were killed on Monday. Captain Chetwyn, son of Lord Chetwjm, is mortally wounded. The number of privates killed this week we have not heard. The regulars have thrown up a breastwork across the neck at the foot of Bunker's Hill, to se- cure their sentries and advanced guards. Yesterday Captain Morgan arrived from Virginia with his company of riflemen ; but they are grown so terrible to the mercenaries, that nothing is to be seen from their breastworks but a hat. General Gage has built thirteen boats, which will carry sixty men each, and tliey have been several days practising the men to row them about in Boston harbor, from which we may suppose some party is to be made by water.' August 10. — Yesteeday the Falcon sloop-of-war, under the command of Captain Lindzee, hove in sight of Gloucester, Cape Attack on Auu,^ and seemed to be in quest of tAvo schooners from the "West Indies, bound to Salem, one of which he soon brought too ; the other taking advantage of a fair wind, put into Gloucester harbor ; but Lindzee having made a prize of the first, pursued the second into the harbor, and brought the first with him. He anchored, and sent two barges with fif- teen men in each, armed with muskets and swivels. These were attended by a whale boat, in which was the lieutenant and six privates, with orders to seize the loaded schooner, and carry ' Pennsylvania Journal, August 9. ' Pennsylvania. ' Extract of a letter from Cambridge, August 9; Pennsylvania Journal, August 16. * Massachusetts. l'i^'^5.] LINDZEB AT GLOUCESTEE. 125 Iier under the Falcon's bow. The militia and other inhabit- ants were alarmed at this dangerous attempt, and prepared for a -vigorous opposition. The barge men, \mder the command of the lieutenant, boarded the schooner at the cabin windows, which provoked a smart iire from the people on the shore, by which thi-ee of the enemy were killed, and the lieutenant wounded in the thigh, who thereupon returned to the man-of- war. Upon this Lindzee sent the other schooner and a small cutter he had to attend him, well armed, with orders to fire upon the damned rebels, wherever they could see them, and that he woidd in the mean time cannonade. He immediately fired a broadside upon the thickest settlements, and stood with a diabolical pleasure to see what havoc his cannon might make. " Now," said he, " my boys, we will aim at the damned Presbyterian church. Well ! my brave fellows, one shot more and the house of God will fall before you." While he was thus venting his hellish rage, and setting himself as it were agamst heaven, the Almighty was on our side. Not a ball struck or wounded an individual person, although they went through our houses in almost every direction when filled with women and children. Under God our little party at the water-side performed wonders, for they soon made themselves masters of both the schooners, the cutter, the two barges, the boat, and every man in them, and all that pertained to them. In the action, which lasted several hours, we have lost but one man, two others wounded, one of whom is since dead, the other very slightly wounded. We took, of the men-of-war's men, thirty-five ; several are wounded, and one since dead ; twenty- four are sent to head-quarters. The remainder being impi-essed from this and the neighboring towns, are permitted to return to their friends. This mOming Captain Lindzee warped off with but one-half of his men, with neither a prize boat nor tender, except a small skiff the wounded lieutenant returned in. Among the prisoners taken, is one Budd, gunner of the Falcon sloop-of-war, who was some time ago at Machias witli a number of others, and carried to Worcester, and upon being released from close confinement, took an opportunity of run- ning off with a few of the Tory gentry, and got on board the 126 DIAEY OF THE EBVOLUTION. [1^75. Falcon again. It is hoped this fellow, if re-taken, will be better secured.' Last evening, returned to Boston, after aboiit three weeks' cruise, twelve transports, having on board about a thousand ministerial butchers, under convoy of three men-of-war. Dur- ing their cruise they plundered and pillaged about two thou- sand sheep, and upwards of one hundred head of cattle, from Gardiners' and Fishers' Islands, near JSTew London, Connecticut, though it is said, after they were secured, they tendered pay- ment. They also took and carried in with them, an outwai-d boimd vessel, with about forty head of cattle and thirty sheep. With this trophy of victory, on their arrival at Boston, the beUs were set to music, to the no small joy and rejoicing of the Tories there. How is the glory of Britain departed ! Her army which not long since was the terror of many nations, is now em- ployed in cutting the throats of his majesty's loyal subjects, and SHEEP STEALING ! Fclous, indeed l\. August 12.' — ^A writer in Plymouth, England, says : — " The whole country here is in great consternation about the fire kindled in America, and it is thought that the assistance of our pious and reverend fathers in the church, will be much wanted there, to quench the flames of zeal for liberty, and to spirit up the soldiery, as Father O'Neil did in Ireland, ' De- claring that all who died in their country's cause, should sup with him in Paradise that night.' But the king getting the bet- ter of the action. Father O'lSTeil clapped spurs to his horse and made oif ; which one of his party observing, cried out, ' Oh father, will you not stay and sup with us to-night ? ' To which the pious father answered, ' That it was a fast day with him.' "We might expect the same answer from our pious fathers ; they would sooner fast, if called upon, than go over to America." ' Virginia Gazette, September 16. ' Constitutional Gazette, August 23 and 30. Pennsylvania Journal, August 16. 1775.] ST. FBANCIS INDIANS. 127 August 14. — ^Tms day being the anniversary of the ever memorable litb of August, 1765, when an opposition to the ministerial plan to enslave the Americans was first made, it was celebrated by the field-officers of the sixth brigade, under the command of Colonel James Frye, at the House of Jona- than Hastings, Esq., in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the following toasts were drank, viz. : 1. The Continental Congress. 2. Success to our undertak- ings. 3. The memorable 14th of August, 1765. 4. May American valor ever prove invincible to the attempt of minis- terial tyranny to oppress them. 6. The twelve united colo- nies. 6. All our friends in Great Britain. 7. Liberty without licentiousness. 8. A speedy and happy conclusion to the present unhappy disputes. 9. The 19th of April, 1775. 10. A speedy entrance, possession, and opening of the town of Boston. 11. Tlie President of the Continental Congress. 12. General Washington, and the other general officers of the American army. 13. A speedy export to all the enemies of America, without any drawback. 14. Immortal honor to that patriot and hero, Doctor Joseph Wan-en, and the brave American troops, who fought the battle at Charlestown, on the 17th of June, 1775.' Intelligence was received this morning, at "Williamsburg, Yirginia, that a brig which was lately taken, laden with pro- visions, and carried into Boston by ministerial pirates, returned from thence to Norfolk last "Wednesday, having on board seven officers of the regular army. We do not hear that any soldiers are come with them, or are to follow, but it is certain that the Earl of Dunmore's ship is now completed for an expedition ; and that his lordship has fitted up thirteen field-pieces for service. It is apprehended ho intends to commence hostilities upon York, or James river very soon.^ Last night, arrived at the camp in Cambridge, Swashan the chief, with four other Indians of the St. Francis tribe, conducted ' Game's Mercury, August 28. ' Constitutional Gazette, August 26. 128 DIAEY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [17Y5. by Mr. Reuben Colburn, who has been honorably recompensed for his trouble. Tlie above Indians came to offer their services in the cause of American liberty, have been kindly received, and are now entered the service. Swashan says he will bring one-half of his tribe, and has engaged four or five other tribes, if they should be wanted. He says the Indians of Canada, in general, and also the French, are greatly in favor of the Americans, and are determined not to act against them.' August 17. — ^This morning, at East Hartford, Connecticut, sallied from the Lyon Tavern and its dependencies, a corps of female infantry, of twenty rank and, file, with a Female Infantry. •' ' . . ^ , t t fiank guard of three chosen spirits of the male line, and marching Avestward about one mile in martial array and excellent order, saving stride and gabble, these attacked and carried, without opposition from powder, law, or conscience, Mr. Pitkin's store, in which was lodged a quantity of sugar de- signed for the army, of which they plundered and bore away in triumph two hundred and eighteen pounds. A travelling gentleman falling in with the rear, whom they mistook for the owner of the spoils, was attacked and drove with great fury ; but being well mounted, made his escape. The whole was com- pleted in two hours, and without loss of blood, except from a few accidental scratches of side arms, underslung without scabbards. Tliat so unexampled a spirit of heroism may not want due notice and encouragement, it is proposed that this corps be augmented by voluntary enlistment to a battalion, for the rang- ing service in the northern department, to be in the uniform of rifie frocks, and the snug Scotch kilt, and allowed, besides perquisites and plunder, a generous bounty on scalps, and a fine new standard with an elegant device of a lady inverted, and to be commanded by the celebrated Madame de la Mell Ilobh Oreg Scratch.'' August 21. — ^We hear from Cecil county, in the province Pennsylvania Journal, August SO. ' Connecticut Courant, September 10, and Barber's Connecticut Collections, p. 75. 1775.] THE ASIA FIEES UPON NEW YOEK. 129 of Maryland, that Mr. Elihu Hall, jr., a young gentleman of family, fortune, and character, in said county, last Sabbatli had his first-bom son baptized John Hancock, as well to express his esteem of the New England bravery in general, as in par- ticular honor of the great American Pateiot of that name, who now, under God, presides in the honorable Conthiental Congress.' Captain Eoss, with his company of riflemen and the stores, arrived at Cambridge on Friday last. There has not a random shot of a rifleman done any execution lately, worth mention- ing. A letter from a selectman in Boston to his son in our camp, advises him to quit it, as there was to be some very im- portant stroke made in a few days ; we do not pay much re- gard to it, as it is very improbable he should know any thing of what they intend. Our lines are so strong we have nothing to fear but a surprise. There have been letters passing between the Generals "Washington and Gage, on his treatment of our officers who are in jail in Boston. Our letter was in very mild terms, carefully avoiding any epithets that might be deemed unpolite. Gage's answer was in a diff'erent strain, directed to " George Washington, Esq.," calling us rebels and usurpers, and what not, affecting great clemency in having forborne to hang our prisoners. General Washington gave him a suitable reply ; and so it stands : — -We broke a Colonel Gerish yester- day, for cowardice on Bunker's Hill, the 17th of June." August 28. — -The Provincial Congress of Is'ew York hav- ing resolved that the cannon should be removed from the bat- tery in the city, a number of the citizens collected ^^^ y^^^ g^^,, for that purpose last Wednesday evening ; and "Po- part of the provincial artillery, under the command of Captain John Lamb, were posted on the battery to prevent the landing of any party from the Asia man-of-war, to annoy them while at Avork. When they marched down, which was about eleven ' Pennsylvania Packet, August 21. ' Extract of a letter from the Camp at Cambridge, August 21 ; Gaine's Mer- cury, September 11. Vol I.— 9 130 DIAET OF THE EETOLUTION. [1775. o'clock, they observed one of the above ship's barges lying at some distance from the shore, where she continued upwards of an hour ; then she got under sail-, and fired a musket at the men that were posted on the Battery. This was immediately returned by a smart fire of musketry from the artillery, and a few of the Independent light infantry belonging to Colonel Lasher's bat- talion, that were likewise posted there for the above purpose. Soon after this the Asia fired three cannon, when the drums beat to arms, which alarmed the inhabitants. When they had assembled she began a heavy and smart fire, of nine, eighteen, and twenty-four-pounders, and some grape shot, succeeded by a discharge of musketry from the marines, but without doing any other mischief than damaging the upper part of several houses near the fort and Whitehall, and wounding three men. Notwithstanding the fire from the Asia, the citizens eff'ected their purpose, and carried oif twenty-one pieces of cannon, being all that were mounted on carriages. Since this disturb- ance the women and children have been continually moving out of town, with their most valuable eflfects.' This evening was married, at the seat of Thaddeus Burr, Esq., at Fairfield, Connecticut, by the Eeverend Mr. Elliot, the Hon. John Hancock, Esq, President of the Continental Congress, to Miss Dorothy Quincy, daughter of Edmund Quincy, Esq., of Boston. Florus informs us, that " in the second Punic war, when Hannibal besieged Pome and was very near making himself master of it, a field upon which part of his army lay, was offered for sale, and was immediately pur- chased by a Poman, in a strong assurance that the Eoman valor and courage would soon raise the siege." Equal to the conduct of that illustrious citizen was the marriage of the Honorable John Hancock, Esq., who, with his amiable lady, has paid as great a compliment to A^nerican valor, and dis- covered equal patriotism, by marrying now while all the colonies are as much convulsed as Pome when Hannibal was at her gates.'' ' Game's Mercury, August 28. " New York Gazette, September 4. 1775.] BOSTON LIBEETY TBEB CUT DOAVN. 131 Attgtist 31. — ^Yesteedat morning a tender chased into Stonington harbor two small sloops, wMcli had a number of people on board bound to Block Island. They had but just time to get on shore before th^ tender came in, which after making a tack came close alongside of Captain Denison's wharf, discharged a full broadside into the stores and houses, and sailing out again, in a little time returned with the Rose man-of-war and another tender. As soon as the Eose could get her broadside to bear on the town, she began a very heavy fire, also the tenders, who were under sail, and continued firing the whole day, with very little intermission. During the time a flag was sent off from the shore, desiring Captain Wallace, commander of the Rose, to let them know what he meant by firing on the town. His answer was, that he did it in his own defence. "We have one man mortally wounded, and the hoiises, stores, &c., very much shattered. This morning they sailed out and anchored at the north side of the west end of Fisher's Island, where they remain. There were five or six people killed on board the tenders, by the inhabitants, who assembled, and were under arms the whole day. They have carried off a schooner loaded with molasses, belonging to Patuxet, near Providence, from the "West Indies, and the two small sloops that landed the people.' September 1. — ^The enemies to liberty and America, head- ed by Tom Gage, lately gave a notable specimen of their hatred to the very name of liberty. A party of Boston Liberty them, of whom Job WiUiams was the ringleader, '^""^ "="' '^'"^'^■ a few days since repaired to a tree at the south end of Boston, known by the name of Liberty Tree, and armed with axes, &c., made a furious attack upon it. After a long spell of laughing, and grinning, sweating, swearing, and foaming with malice diabolical, they cut down a tree, because it bore the name of liberty. Be it known to this infamous band of traitors, that the Geaot) AMEEicAiq^ Teee of Libeett, planted in the centre of the united colonies of North America, now flourishes with unrivalled, increasing beauty ; and bids fair in a short time to ' New York Gazette, September 11. 132 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1775. afford under its wide-spreading branches, a safe and liapjiy retreat for all the sons of liberty, however numerous and dis- persed.' Septeidbee 5. — On Monday last, died at Brunswick, New Jersey, in the sixty-third year of his age, on his way to New York, the Hon. James Habersham, Esq., presi- James HaberBham* - , ^ t f /-\ • tt dent of his Majesty s council of Georgia. He was a man of great probity, integrity, and honor ; an able coun- sellor, an affectionate and tender parent, and well acquainted with the delicacies of true friendship. In his life he was gi'eatly beloved, esteemed, and honored by all his friends ; and his death is equally regretted by all who had the honor of his acquaintance. His remains were on Thursday evening in- terred in the family vault of ISTathaniel Marston, Esq., in Trinity Church-yard, at New York." The following remarkable piece was distributed in a hand- bill, through the city of London, last July : Lieutenant-General Bastwick's beating orders for free American Yolunteers : — " All gentlemen volunteers, natives Bastwick's ^^ Great Britain, friends to the liberty of America, Beating Orders, ^^j^q ^pg willing to scrvo their sovereign by saving their country, and to succor and support their injured brethren, inhabitants and possessors of the great "Western hemisphere, suffering by the murderous orders of an unoffended but im- placable man, have now the singular honor paid them of being solicited to stand forward in a cause, where their own character, their conscience, and even their interests should urge them to the most conspicuous exertions. Let all such, of all sizes from three feet nine to six feet three, and the shorter the better, who can feel no wounds but the wounds of the constitution, who bleed already at every pore for the distresses of the op- pressed Americans, whose lungs are panting for the fame they are going to enjoy by relieving them, whose hearts lie in the right places, and are ready to burst within their breasts, for ■ Constitutional Gazette, September 9. ' Kivington's Gazetteer, Sept. 1. 17Y5.] bastwick's beating oedees. 133 want of vent to tlie vengeance they wish to take. Let all such repair to the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldergate street, where they will be honorably entertained by Lieutenant-Gen- eral Jedediah Bastwick, and may enter into present pay and quarters. Entrance money, fifty acres of land in the Alleghany Mountains, or their value payable at the Royal Exchange. Bringers will be proportionally rewarded. No persons well and alive will be refused. A fine fifty gun ship lies ready at the Nore, to waft the brave adventurers in military heroism to the real scenes of action in America, to the scenes of glory, victory, and triumph. Now is your time for making your fortunes. "Who is there afilicted whom I will not relieve? The ends of the world are come upon us, and we shall soon possess them for our own. The completion of the scripture is at hand. ' Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will relieve you.' Your armor is but light. A rifle barrel, or a tomahawk, is all you have to bear ; and you have now your choice of joining with myriads of brave partakers in the same glorious warfare, by entering into one of the following regiments : Ticonderoga Pioneers, Schenectady Scalpers, Mo- hawks, Missalago Hatchetmen, Ohio Scouts, Massachusetts Minute Men, Scarondarona Split Shirts, Lake Champlain Pikes, Lake Ontario Jacks, Concord Riflemen, or the Gen- eral's own Regiment of Alleghany Mountaineers. God save AsfEEICA ! " ' Ameeica is determined and unanimous, a very few Tories excepted, who will probably soon export themselves. Britain, at the expense of three millions, has killed one hundred and fifty Yankees this campaign, which is twenty thousand pounds a head, and on Bunker's Hill she gained a mile of ground, half of which she has since lost by not having post on Ploughed Hill ; during the same time sixty thousand children have been bom in America. From this data 's excellent mathemati- cal head will easily calculate the time and expense requisite to kill us all, and conquer our whole teri'itory.^ ' Constitutional Gazette, September 23. ' Clifl's Diary. 134r DIAEY OF THE EETOLtmON. [17TS. A JUNTO SONG.' 'Tis money makes the member vote And sanctifies our ways ; It makes the patriot turn his coat, And money we must raise. And a taxing we will go, we'll go. More taxes we must sure impose, To raise the civil list ; Also pay our ayes and noes, And make opposers hist. One single thing untaxed at home. Old England could not show. For money we abroad did roam. And thought to tax the new. The power supreme of Parliament, Our purpose did assist, And taxing laws abroad were sent, Which rebels do resist. Shall we not make the rascals bend To Britain's supreme power ? The sword shall we not to them send. And leaden balls a shower ? Boston we shall in ashes lay, It is a nest of knaves : Will make them soon for mercy pray, Or send them to their graves. But second thoughts are ever best. And lest our force should fail. What fraud can do, we'll make a test, And see what bribes avail. Each colony, we will propose. Shall raise an ample sum ; Which well applied, under the rose, May bribe them — as at home. We'll force and fraud in one unite, To bring them to our hands ; Then lay a tax on the sun's light. And king's tax on their lands.' " To the tune of " .4 begging we will go, will go,'" Sf-c. ' Holt's Journal, Sept. 7. l'^'?^^.] ^ FALSE ALAEM. 135 September 8. — ^It is reported and generally believed, that Lord Diinmore is called home, with what view we have not yet learned, but probably it is to render an account of his saga- cious and spirited conduct in Yirginia, which can hardly fail to attract the attention of Lord North, and the Butonian Junto, so as to have his eminent services recompensed with some higher department in the state, perhaps Lord Dartmouth's. His lordship has this satisfaction upon his departure, that he will leave Yirginia with the universal consent of the inhabitants of all ranks and denominations.' Septembee 11. — ^The people of !N"ew Hampshire are build- ing a strong fort at Pierce's Island, in Piscataqua river, in order to prevent their capital, the town of Portsmouth, from being attacked by the piratical ships-of-war which now infest this coast. In the late exploit of cutting down the Liberty Tree in y Boston by Gage's men, a soldier in attempting to dismantle it of one of its branches, fell on the pavement, by which he was instantly killed. General Gage, it is said, has hanged three of the provin- cials, for breaking open and plundering some of the houses in Boston evacuated by the inhabitants ; so that the great thieves, it seems, begin to hang the little ones. O ! glorious times in- deed ! But what then ? Wty, then the fate of these petty rogues is, in some respects, like that of the little fish that are occasionally devoured to fatten and keep alive the larger ones. Besides, administration have herein verified the ancient aphor- ism, viz. : set a rogue to catch a rogue. Well, what next ? "Why the next thing is, a short but fervent petition, that Jack Ketch, Esq., might go forward in the business of hanging with despatch, till the world is filled with great thieves as well as little ones^ One of the royal sloops at anchor near Norfolk, was lately kept in constant alarm a whole night ; with her matches burn- ing, tomkins out, guns loaded with grape shot and all hands ■ Pennsylvania Journal, Sept. 20. " Constitutional Gazette, Sept. 16. 136 DIAET OF THE KEVOLTJTION. [1775. at their quarters, till day-light discovered the formidable enemy which had caused such terrible apprehensions, to be only one of the neighbors with his negroes catching mullets. The gov- ernor, it is said, was sent for, to assist with his sage advice at the council of war that was held on this mighty occasion.' September 15. — An officer in Boston, writes thus to his father in London : " "Why should I complain of hard fate ? General Gage and his family have for this month past, lived upon salt provisions. Last Saturday, General Putnam in the true style of military complaisance, which abolishes all personal resentment and smooths the horrors of war when discipline will permit, sent a present to the General's lady of a fine fresh quar- ter of veal, which was very acceptable, and received the return of a very polite card of thanis." " In a late hurricane at Virginia, it seems Lord Dunmore fared but indifferently, as by some accident or other, occasioned by the confusion in which the sailors were, his lordship fell overboard, and was severely ducked. But according to the old saying : " Those who are born to be hanged, will never be drowned." ° September 17. — Last week the Heverend Doctor Morrison received a call to the elegant new church in Brattle street, in Boston, vacated by the flight of Doctor Cooper ; and to-day lie delivered an excellent discourse to a genteel audience. His discourse tended to show the fatal consequences of sowing sedition and conspiracy among parishioners, which this pulpit has been most wickedly practising ever since the corner-stone was laid.* September 18. — TVe are much astonished at the behavior ' Pennsylvania Journal, September 13. ' Extract from a London paper in the Constitutional Gazette, September 16. ^ Constitutional Gazette, September 30. ' From Draper's Boston News Letter; republished in the Virginia Gazette, of October 28. 1TY5.] THE BEITISH NAVY. 137 of some of those captains of men-of-war, who are stationed npon our coasts. They seem greedily to antici- pate the horror of blood shedding ; and although war is not yet proclaimed, nor any hostilities ordered by Par- liament against the colonies in general, yet confiding in their strength, they daringly assault our towns, and destroy lives upon the least provocation whatever. When Porto Bello was restored to the Spaniards, it was agreed that the English should have a free trade there ; before some of the people of the town destroyed one of the English vessels there in the night, and mi^rdered the men on board her. "When this was known, ships were sent to demand satisfaction, which was refused. Orders were then given to beat down the town. The commander in that service sent a boat on shore to inform the inhabitants of his business, and desire the women and children to remove out of the city. Tie allowed them a whole day for the purpose — sent ashore again to see if it was done, and then battered down only some of the houses, and a church or two, and that in the day time. Such was the true old British spirit, even when dealing with Spaniards and execu- ting positive orders ! How difi^erent from this is the conduct of those inhuman commanders now upon our coasts ! How detestable their character ! A Wallace and an Ayscough dis- graced humanity and brought reproach upon the British Navy by wantonly employing it to terrify women and children. But the conduct of a Yandeput is more surprising ^ „ , , ■^ 1 Captain Vandeput. and cruel than even theirs. Tliey only threatened — ^he actually fired upon a defenceless town, and his previous preparations showed that he was not actuated by a sense of duty, but by the cold-blooded barbarity of an assassin. He acknowledges in his first letter that he was informed of the design of taking away the cannon from the battery ; why then did he not, by a letter to the magistrates, let the city know ho esteemed it his duty to defend those guns ? In that case the town, apprised of his determination, might have thought it more prudent to desist than to provoke him. But upon his own principle of protecting the battery, what right had he to elevate his guns, and fire heavy balls at random upon the city. 138 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. a great part of whose inhabitants must consist of children and women. Surely the blood of innocents will rise in judgment against him. It was not owing to his wishes or endeavors, but only to the goodness of Almighty God, that Inmdreds of men, totally ignorant of what was doing at the battery, were not murdered. O ! had this happened in the days of good old King George, that father of his people, it would have cost Vandeput not only his character and his ship, but his head would atone for his horrid barbarity.' September 19. — This morning the mayor of New York informed the committee of safety, that Governor Tryon ac- quainted him he had received a letter from Lord Dartmouth, informing him that orders had been given to the commanders of his majesty's ships in America, that in case any more troops should be raised, or any fortifications erected, or any of his majesty's stores taken, the commanders of the ships-of-war should consider such cities or places in a state of rebellion.'' Last Saturday night, in Duchess County, New York, James Smith, Esq., a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Affair in ^^^^ couuty, was Very handsomely taiTcd and Duchess County, feathered, for acting in open contempt of the re- solves of the county committee, as was Coen Smith, of the same place, for the like behavior. They were carted five or six miles into the country. Tlae judge undertook to sue for, and re- cover the arms taken from the Tories by order of said commit- tee, and actually committed one of the committee, who assisted at disarming the Tories, which enraged the people so much, that they rose and rescued the prisoner, and poured out their resentment on this villanous retailer of the law."" The besieged army in Boston have pulled down a number of houses between the Haymarket and the old fortification ; ' Extract of a letter from Annapolis, Maryland, in the Constitutional Gazette, September 20. ' Constitutional Gazette, September 20. " XJpcott, iv. 327. 1775.] HAMPTON SHIPPING SEIZED. 139 but whether from the want of fuel, or to make room for erect- ing any new defence, or digging a canal, we have not. been able to learn. One of the impressed seamen, who had the good fortune to make their escape from there last night, says that the sailors on board the men-of-war are very sickly, and almost all of them very feeble and greatly emaciated, owing to bad provisions. Last war, thirteen brothers, sons of one woman in the colo- ny of Connecticut, each of them six feet high, all went into the war in defence of their country, and were all brave men. Tliis perhaps is the most remarkable instance of the kind any coun- try hath produced. The name of this prolific and heroic family is Huntlt.' Septembee 20. — ^A system of justice similar to that adopted against the devoted town of Boston, is likely to be established in Yirginia, by the renowned commanded of the jj^^p^^^ 8^^^;,,^ fleet there. He has in the course of this week, as seized. a reprisal for the loss of a tender, seized every vessel belonging to Hampton that came within his reach, and thereby rendered himself the terror of all the small craft and fishing boats in this river, especially the latter, having brought some of them under his stern, by a discharge of his cannon at them. He has likewise seized a vessel belonging to the Eastern shore, and having honored the passengers so far with his notice, as to re- ceive them on board his own vesselj took the liberty of send- ing one of their horses as a present to Lord Dunmore. This act of generosity, we doubt not, will gain him considerable interest with his lordship, it being an instance of his industry in distressing a people, who have of late become obnoxious to his excellency for their spirited behavior. We hope that those who have lived under and enjoyed the blessings of the British^ Constitution, will not continue tame spectators of such flagrant violations of its most salutary laws in defence of private prop- erty. The crimes daily committed by this plunderer, we would not willingly brand with the odious name of piracy, ' Game's Mercury, October 2. ' Captain Squires, of the Otter. s^ 140 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1775. but we are confident they come under those oflFences to which the English laws have denied the benefit of clergy.' ^ TO THE BOSTON WOMEN. Boston wives and maids, draw near and see Our delicate Souchong and Hyson tea, Buy it, my cViarming girls, fair, black, or brown, If not, we'll cut your throats, and burn your town.^ September 22. — Tnis week will ever be remembered as the most remarkable epoch in the annals of this country, for the Governor Martin's ""' °"°"""- Second regiment, Colonel Moultrie, Isaac Mott, lieutenant-colo- nel, late of the Eoyal Americans. Fort Johnson fortified, and ' Virginia Gazette, November 25. 166 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1773. garrisoned with four Imndred and fifty men. Mount Pleasant fortified with four cannon, two hundred men stationed to pre- vent the shipping taking water. No provisions allowed the king's ships. Two schooners fitted out, mounting fourteen and twelve guns, and full manned as cruisers. The three forts in Charleston and the first bastion, fortified with cannon. An intrenchment, about four miles from town, laid out ; tools made and men ready to begin the intrenchment when the ex- press came away. Women and children almost all moved out of town, and barracks built for them in the country. They have twenty tons of powder, and the cjuantity daily increasing. Two thousand men in uniforms, blue faced with red. Light horse, five hundred, blue faced with white, and well furnished. The militia in the country in fine order ; drill sergeants having been sent among them many months past. The regulators in the back country, who were under oath, have entered into a treaty to remain neuter ; Thomas Fletcher and Patrick Cun- ningham, their chiefs, are now in Charleston. The people are render no apprehensions from their negroes. The Honorable "William Henry Drayton, the worthy judge of the superior court, has made a treaty with the Cherokees to assist the in- habitants in case of necessity.' ITovEMBEE 10. — Yesterday a party of regulars from Boston, amounting to four or five hundred men, embarked in a nuni- Fi-hton ^^^ ^^ barges from Charlestown Point, about one Lecbmei-e's Point, o'dock, V. M., wheu the tide was at a high flood, and landed upon Lechmere's Point, under cover of a man-of- war and a floating battery, where they seized a sentinel who was drunk and asleep upon his post. The other sentinels fired upon them, and. then gave the alarm to the camp upon Pros- pect Hill. Lechmere's Point is a piece of high land sur- rounded by marsh, and wlien the tide is up is entirely an island. This circumstance the regulars knew, and intended to take ad- vantage of it. Their purpose was to steal the sheep and cattle that were feeding there. They effected a landing without op- ' Eivington's Gazetteer, November 9. I'^'ifS.] FIGHT ON LECHMEEe's POINT. 167 position (as indeed there were none at that time on the ground to oppose them), and began to drive tlie cattle to their boats. liis excellency ' ordered Colonel Thompson and his regiment of Pennsylvania riflemen to tnrn out immediately, and they obeyed with cheerfulness. Colonel Thompson and Colonel Mifflin" headed them, and passed the morass up to their breasts in water. When they Avere all over and formed under cover of a hill, they marched forward. Colonel Thompson gave the Indian yell, which was re-echoed back from the whole regiment, who immediately rushed out from their am- buscade, and poured in whole volleys upon the regulars, who returned the fire in great confusion, and retreated with the greatest precipitation on board their boats, firing at random upon our men, Avho kept up a heavy fire upon them, notwith- standing the constant blaze from the man-of-war, floating bat- tery, and boats, which latter mounted six patteraroes, or swiv- els, each. The event of the skirmish is yet uncertain : doubt- less they must have lost a number of men, as our shot were well planted. We fired a few shot at them from Prospect Hill, and a field-piece, we had planted for the purpose, in the valley below. Some of our men are badly wounded, but we hear of none of them who were killed. When the enemy saw they were likely to be prevented in accomplishing their purpose, with a villanous malice, characteristic of the tools of despot- ism, they stabbed the poor dumb cattle. During the engage- ment twenty-two large ships hove in sight, with troops from England and Ireland.' Tills day three dead bodies have floated along shore, sup- posed to be drowned by the sinking of a barge, which our field-pieces stove. The enemy had cannon placed at the water's edge, along Charlestown Point, which, together with the large artillery from Bunker Hill, made an incessant roar, with grape-shot, chain-shot, &c., but to no purpose. The rifle- men drove them like a herd of swine down a steep place, where some of them were killed, drowned, or scared to death, ' General Washington. ' Thomas Mifflin. ' Eivingtou'a Gazetteer, November 23. 168 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1775. in siglit of their brethren in iniqnity, who covered the tops of Fort Beacon and Bunker liill to view the noble exploit of cow- stcaliiig. The general has since ordered all the stock to be driven off the peninsula of Dorchester. Captain Adams, of Beverly, Mass., in a privateer, has taken two prize schooners, and a sloop, laden with fish and oil from Halifax, for the besieged army in Boston ; and has also retaken a sloop, off Marblehead, with two officers, six seamen, and two marines, prisoners, who were put on board to pilot her into Boston. Captain Coit, in a privateer from Plyraonth in Massachu- setts, has taken two prizes laden with fish, flour, hogs, sheep, cattle, potatoes, cheese, and all kinds of poultry, from Halifax, for the use of the hungry crew in Boston. Tlie vessels were brought safe into Plymouth, where Captain Coit (a humorous genius) made the prisoners land upon the same rock our ancestors first trod when they landed in America, where they gave three cheers, and wished success to American arms.' THE QUARKEL WITH AMERICA. Rudely forced to drink tea Massachusetts in anger Spills the tea on John Bull — John falls on to bang her, Massachusetts enrag'd, calls her neighbors to aid, And gives Master John a severe bastinade ! Kow, good men of the law ! pray who is in fault, The one who begins, or resists the assault?^ No'^rEiiBER 13. — A GENTLEMAN who lately came out of Bos- ton assures, that the rebels in Boston, by order of their gene- The Old soutii ^'^^' II*J^'*'e, have taken down the pulpit, and all Church. j.]^Q pews in the Old South meeting-house, and are using it for a riding school. This he saw. Thus we see the ' Extract of a letter from Roxbury, Masbachusetts, in the Pennsylvania Journal, November 29. ' Fiimiliarly stated by a London paper, republished in the Constitutional Gazette, November 25. l'i'75.] TIIK rEEVAILING TOAST. 169 hoiise once set apart for true worship and service of God, turned into a den for thieves ! ' THE PAUSING AMERICAN LOYALIST. To sign, or not to sign? Tbat is the question, Wlietlier 'twere better for an honest man To sign, and so be safe ; or to resolve, Betide what \Yill, against associations. And, hy retreating, shun tliem. To fly — I reck Not -where : And, by that flight, t' escape Feathers and tar, and thousand other ills That loyalty is heir to : 'Tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished. To fly — to want — To want? Perchance to starve : Ay, there's the rub ! For, in that chance of want, what ills may come To patriot rage, when I have left my all — • Must give me pause ; — There's the respect That makes us trim, and bow to men we hate. For, who would bear th' indignities o' th' times, Congress decrees, and wild convention plans, The laws controU'd, and inj'ries unredressed, The insolence of knaves, and thousand wrongs "Which patient liege men from vile rebels take. When he, sans doubt, might certain safety find, Only by flying ? Who would bend to fools. And truckle thus to mad, mob-chosen upstarts. But that the dread of something after flight (In that blest country, where, yet, no moneyless Poor wight can live) puzzles the will. And makes ten thousands rather sign — and eat. Than fly — to starve on loyalty. — Thus, dread of want makes rebels of us all: And thus the native hue of loyalty Is sicklied o'er with a pale cast of trimming ; And enterprises of great pith and virtue. But unsupported, turn their streams away, And never come to action.'' NovEiiBEK 17. — A LETTER from England by the last packet, says : — The prevailing toast in every company of true Eng- lishmen, is, " Yictory to America ! and re-establishment to the British Constitution." ' Pennsylvania Journal, Nov. 29. ' Middlesex Journal, January 30, 1776. 170 DIAKY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1Y75. Can any one read -with a grave face tlie liigli sounding additions newly granted to General Gage, (vide tlie public prints.) To appoint a man governor over a country as large as China, whilst he remains " in durance vile," in a little nook, scarce a mile and a half in diameter, and cannot obtain a pig from Hog Island, nor a truss of hay from Noddle Island, though botli within three miles of hini, puts him much in the condition of a Moorfi eld's monarch, who, with a crown and sceptre, pretends to give laws to mighty nations. — ^Tlie re- nowned governor of Barataria was forbidden by his physicians to taste any delicate food. Tlie viceroy in North America is compelled to a similar diet. In vain he wishes for venison, poultry, and even fresh meat ; salt beef and rusty bacon are pronounced to be fittest for him, by those who are empowered to prescribe ; he must take them or fast. Decide, ye casuists, if y^ can, which is the greatest object of pity, the faithful squire of the English Don, or the trusty arms bearer of Eng- lish Quixotry.} Colonel ITenuy ' received an express yesterday morning, at "Williamsburg, Virginia, with the following intelligence, viz. : that Lord Dunmore having received advice that about two hundred of the militia ^ were on their march to join the troops destined for the protection of the lower parts of the country, marched from Norfolk last Tues- day, about one o'clock in the afternoon, with about three hun- dred and fifty men, consisting of regular soldiers, sailors, run- away negroes, and Tories, to intercept them ; who, not having the last intelligence of his lordship's approach, were obliged to engage under every disadvantage, both as to the enemy's superiority in point of numbers, and the situation of the ground, being hemmed in by a fence. Our people fought a considerable time, and it is thought did great execution ; but were at last overpowered, and forced to retreat, with the loss of Mr. John Ackiss, in the minute service, killed on the spot ; * Constitutional Gazette, November 25. '^ Patrick Henry. ^ Of Princess Anne County, Virginia. ITTS.] ADDEESS TO THE AEMY. lYl and Colonel Joseph lintcliings, and one Mr. Williams wonnd- ed, who were taken prisoners with seven others. The pnblic, no doubt, will be exceedingly incensed, on finding that Lord Dunmore has taken into his service the very scum of the conn- try, to assist him in his diabolical schemes, against the good people of this government, all well attached to his Majesty, bnt mortal enemies to his infamons ministry and their subor- dinate tools ; but it is to be hoped his sphere of mischief will soon be circumscribed within narrow bounds, as Colonel "Wood- ford, with about eight hundred as brave troops as the world can produce, are now on their march to Norfolk ; and, should his lordship incline to give them battle, we have not the smallest doubt they will give a very satisfactory account of him.' ISTovEinjEE 21. — ^Tnis morning the following address to the worthy ofScers and soldiers in the American army, was distributed in the camp at Cambridge, Koxbury, and else- where : ' Honor %oill Crown every Defender of Liberty. Your exertions in the cause of freedom, guided by wisdom and animated by zeal and courage, have gained you the love and confidence of your grateful countrymen ; and ^^^^^^^ t^ ^^^ they look to you, who are expeeienced veteeans, ■*-''™^- and trust that yoii will still be the Gtjaedians of Ameeica. As I have the honor to be an American, and one among the Free Millions, who are defended by your valor, I would pay the tribute of thanks, and express my gratitude, while I solicit you to continue in your present honorable and important sta- tion. I doubt not America will always find enough of her sons ready to flock to her standard, and support her freedom ; but experience proves that exjMriencecl soldiers are more capa- ble of performing the duties of the camp, and better qualified to face the enemy, than others ; and therefore every friend of America will be desirous that most of the gentlemen who ' New York Gazette, December 4. ' Mason's Journal. 1Y2 EIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1775. compose the present army may continue in the service of their country until " Libekty, Peace, and Safety " are cstablislied. Althougli your pri\'ate concerns may call for your assistance at home, yet the voice of your country is still louder, and it is painful to heroic minds to quit the field when Liberty calls, and the voice of injured millions cries " To arms ! to arms ! " i^ever was a cause more imjDortant or glorious than that which you are engaged in ; not only your wives, your chil- dren, and distant posterity, but humanity at large, the world of mankind, are interested in it ; for if tyranny should prevail in this great coiintry, we may expect Liberty will expire through- out the world. Therefore, more human glory and happi- ness may depend upon your exertions than ever yet depended upon any of the sons of men. lie that is a soldier in defence of such a cause, needs no title ; his post is a post of honor, and although not an emperor, yet he shall wear a crown — of glory — and blessed will be his memory ! Tlie savage and brutal barbarity of our enemies in burning Falmouth,' is a full demonstration that there is not the least remains of virtue, wisdom, or humanity, in the Independence. ,_,.., t, , put • ^ Jintish court ; and that they are tully determined with fire and sword, to butcher and destroy, beggar and en- slave the whole American people. Therefore we expect soon to break off all kind of connection with Britain, and form into a Grand Republic of the American United Colonies, which will, by the blessing of heaven, soon work out our salvation, and perpetuate the liberties, increase the wealth, the power and the glory of this Western world. Notwithstanding the many difficulties we have to en- counter, and the rage of our merciless enemies, we have a glorious prospect before us, big with every thing good and great. The further we enter into the field of independence, our prospects will expand and brighten, and a complete Ke- public will soon complete our happiness. " Blindness seems to liave happened to Britain, that the fulness of America might come in ;" and we have every encouragement to " stand ' Falmouth was destroyed by Captain Mowatt, on the 18th of October. l^'S.] eivington's peess desteoyed. 1Y3 fast in tlie liberties wlierewitli heaven hatli made its free." Persevere, te guardians of Libeety ! May success be your constant attendant, nntil tlie enemies of freedom are no more, and all future generations, as tliey successively tread tbe stage of time, and taste the joys of libeety, will rise up and call YOU blessed." "We hear the Earl of Dunmore has composed a most elab- orate and profound treatise on the Art of Government, with which his lordship intends soon to favor the pub- lic ; and that is the true reason of the printing press in Virginia being carried on shipboard. In twenty-two years will be published, dedicated (without permission) to his Excellency Governor Martin, in fifty volumes, folio, a nar- cotic work, entitled " The Yawnings of Tautology," or " The Gapings of Prolixity," with this motto " Brevis esse laboro. Uor." with a soporific but friendly admonition to " Messrs. Caswell, Ashe, Howes, alias Howe," &c., by the Lady Dow- ager Threadbare Spintext, of Drowsy Hall, in the county of Laudanum." ISTovEJiBEE 29. — Ok the twentieth of this month, sixteen respectable inhabitants of New Haven, Connecticut, in com- pany with Captain Sears, set out from that place j;i,,j„„tj,„. p^ „ to East and West Chester, in the province of De'sti-oyed. New York, to disarm the principal Tories there, and secure the persons of Parson Seabury, ' Judge Fowler, and Lord Under- ' Article under the signature of " A Freeman," in the New England Chronicle, November 23. ° Constitutional Gazette, November 25. ^ Samuel Seabury, D. D., first Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. He was born in 1728; graduated at Yale College in 1751, and visited England to study medicine, but relinquished that study for that of the ministry. He was first settled at Brunswick, (New Jersey,) then at Jamaica, on Long Island, and afterwards in Westchester, New Tork. After the commencement of the war, he fled to New Tork city, where he remained until the declaration of peace. In November, 1784, he was consecrated as bishop of the Episcopal Church of Con- necticut, and for many years after discharged the duties of the office at New London, in Connecticut. He died in 1796. to 17-i DIARY OF THE Ep:yOLUTIO]Sr. [17Y5. liill.' On tlieir way tliitlicr tliey were joined by Captains Richards, Sillick, and Mead, with ahont eiglity men. At Maniai-cjncck they Lnrnt a small sloop, which was pnrchased by government, for the purpose of carrying provisions on board the " Asia." At East Cliester they seized Jndge Fowler, then repaired to "West Chester and secured Seabnry and Undcr- hill. Ilavuig possessed themselves of these three caitiffs, they sent thorn to Connecticut nnder a strong guard. The main body, consisting of seventy-five, then proceeded to New York, Mdiere they entered at noonday on horseback, bayonets fixed, in the greatest regularity, went down the main street, and drew up in close order before the printing office of the infa- mous James Eivington. A small detachment entered it, and in al)out three-quarters of an hour brought off the principal part of his types, for which they offered to give an order on Lord Dunmore.' They tlien faced and wheeled to the left, and marched out of town to the tune of Yankee Doodle. A vast concourse of people assembled at the Coffee House, on their leaving the ground, and gaA'e them three very hearty cheers. On their way home they disarmed all the Tories that lay on their route, and yesterday arrived at New Haven, es- corted by a great number of gentlemen from the westward, the whole making a very grand procession. Upon their en- trance into town they were sainted with the discharge of two cannon, and received by the inhabitants with every mark of approbation and respect. The company divided into two parts, and concluded the day in festivity and innocent mirth. Captain Sears returned in company with the other gentlemen, and proposes to spend the winter at New Haven, nnless pub- lic business should require his presence at New York. Sea- bury, Underhill, and Fowler, three of the dastardly protesters against the proceedings of the Continental Congress, and who it is believed had concerted a plan for kidnapping Captain Sears, and conveying him on board the Asia man-of-war, ' Nathaniel Underhill, Mayor of Westchester. '' See account of the seizure of Holt's types, &c., at Virginia ; ante. 1TT5.] TI1J5 i'eople's evil. 1Y5 are (with the types and arms) safely lodged in New Haven, Avhere it is expected Lord Underliill will have leisure to form the scheme of a lucrative lottery, the tickets of which cannot be counterfeited ; and Parson Seahnry sntiicient time to com- pose sermons for the next Continental fast.' DECEinsER 1. — A WEiTEE in England says : — ^Tlie blood of the unfortunate Stuarts, some of which crept into Brunswick veins, and fouled the purer sources of that illus- ,,. , „ -i ' 1 Kins 8 Evil versus trious family, received a grand addition to its own i'«»pi t carried it, with the loss ot a number ol men. in this attack, Colonel Arnold had the misfortune to have his ' EiCHARD MoNTGOMEKY was born in the north of Ireland, in the year 1737. He entered the English army, and was with General Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. Quitting the army in 1772, he settled in America, where he married a daughter of R. R. Livingston. On the commencement of the difficulties between the colonies and Great Britain, he warmly espoused the cause of the colonists, and, in the fall of 1775, was connected with General Schuyler in the command of the expedition against Canada. In October, owing to the indisposition of General Schuyler, the chief command of the army devolved upon Montgomery. The progress of his troops from Ticonderoga to the redoubts before Quebec, was marked with bravery and success. They took Chamblee on the 18th of October, St. John's on the 3d of November, and on the 12th he led them into Montreal. In December, he joined General Arnold, who had come from the camp at Cambridge, through the wilder- ness of Maine, and they together marched to Quebec. Every mark of distinction was shown to the corpse of General Montgomery, who was interred in Quebec on the 2d of January, 1776.* In 1818, his body was removed, in accordance with an act of the New York Legislature, and re-interred at St. Paul's church-yard, in New York city. * Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 25, 1776.] ATTACK ON QUEBEC. 187 leg splintered by a shot, and was obliged to be carried to the hospital. After gaining tlie battery, his detachment passed on to a second barrier, which they took possession of. By this time the enemy, relieved from the other attack, by onr troops being drawn off, directed their whole force against this detach- ment, and a party sallying out from Palace gate, attacked them in the rear. Tliese brave men sustained the whole force of the garrison for three hours, but finding themselves hemmed in, and no hopes of relief, they were obliged to yield to num- bers, and the advantageous situation the garrison had over them. After this nnfortimate repulse, the remainder of the army retired about eight miles from the city, where they have posted themselves advantageously, and are continuing the blockade, waiting for the reinforcements which are now on their march to join them.' ' New York Packet, February 1, 1776. CIIAPTEE Y. January 1. — ^The virtue of tlie British court seems to have swallowed up all the virtue of the island of Great Britain. state of tho '^^'^^ common people are lost in a night of igno- Country. rancc. They annex no ideas to slavery hut wood- en shoes and soup meagre. Even the Koman Catholic religion has now no terrors in it to Englishmen. The American colonies are just beginning to emerge from Egyptian darkness, with respect to the rights of human nature. About two hundred years ago, the human heart discovered its folly and depravity upon the theatre of religion ; about one hundred years they both appeared through the medium of science. We are shocked at our species, when we read the his- tory of the human understanding at these memorable periods. The present age shows equal absurdities and vices upon the theatre of politics. Here we discover in other forms .every thing for which we condemn our ancestors. Posterity will tread most heavily upon our ashes, as the principles of gov- ernment are more simple than the principles of religion and science. They will wonder whether we were men or brutes. There has always been such a mixture of monarcliy and aristocracy in republics, that they ne'S'er have had fair play in the world. We can say but little from experience of their expe- diency or duration. Most of the free states in the world have been formed by men just emerged from a state of slavery. No wonder, therefore, they have been liable to disorders, and a speedy dissolution. What sort of government would the negroes in the southern colonies form, if they were suddenly set at liberty ? Almost all the blood that has been shed in 1T76.] NOEFOLK BTIRNT. 189 contests for liberty, has been to shake oif a subjection to for- eign states. The British constitution, with all its imperfections, even absolute monarchy itself, ■would insiire more happiness to the colonies than thej' can expect (according to the usual operation of moral and natural causes) from a union with the people, or a dependence upon the ministry of Great Britain.' It is wonderful how happily the Americans have been pre- served. " From Bunker's Hill fight to the present day, the reg- Tilars have fired, on the Cambridge side, about a thousand balls, bombs, and carcases ; and, on the Eoxbury side, better than two thousand, and have killed, including those who have died of their wounds, on the Cambridge side, seveuj and in Roxbury, five. Yesterday the new Admiral Shuldam, arrived at Boston, with several ships, which occasioned great firing most of the day.= Jaitoaey 2. — ^Testeedat, at about quarter after three o'clock, the British fleet lying off Norfolk, "Virginia, com- menced a cannonade against that town, from up- ° ' -^ Norfolk Burnt. wards of one hundred pieces of cannon, and con- tinued till nearly ten o'clock at night, without intermission. It then abated a little, and continued till two this morning. Under cover of their guns, the regulars landed and set fire to the town in several places near the water, though our men strove all in their power to prevent them. The houses being chiefly of wood, took fire immediately, and the fire spread with amazing rapidity. It is now become general, and the whole town will probably be consumed in a day or two. Ex- pecting that the fire would throw the Americans into con- fusion, the enemy frequently landed, but Avere every time re- pulsed. The burning of the town has made several avenues through which the enemy may now fire with greater effect. ' "Seasonable Thoughts," in the Pennsylvania Journal, January 3. » Constitutional Gazette, January 13. J 190 DIAEY OF TIIE EEVOLUTION. [1Y76. The tide is now rising, and we expect, at high water, another cannonade. ]\Iay it be as ineffectual as the last, for we have not one man killed, and but a few wounded.' Deacon WiiiTCOirB, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, (who was a member of the assembly of Massachusetts Bay, till the pres- ent war commenced, had served in former wars Deacon mitcomb. ^^^^ ^^^^ .^ different engagements,) had served as ■ a Colonel in the Continental army ; but, on account of his age, was left out upon the new regulation. His men highly resented it, and declared they would not enlist again after their time was out. The Colonel told them he did not doubt there were sufficient reasons for the regulation, and was satisfied with it. He then blamed them for their conduct, and said he would enlist as a private. A Colonel Brewer heard of it, and offered to resign in favor of Colonel Wliitcomb. The whole coming to General Washington's ears, he allowed of Colonel Brewer's resignation in favor of Colonel Whitcomb, appointed the for- mer barracli-master till he could further promote him, and ac- quainted the army with the whole affair in general orders. Let antiquity produce a more striking instance of true great- ness of mind." A coEEESPONDENT in Loudou says : " Several contractors have set off for Eome for a fresh supply of Jesuit's bark ; as tea does not agree with an American stomach, being apt to pro- duce the heartburn. There is a rumor the new parliament in- tends to force the bark upon the Yankees, especially as Doctor Bute recommends it as a great specific for the fever of rebel- lion, for which, no doubt, they will have gratitude enough to thank the doctor, by heartily wishing he may very soon expe- rience the quintessence of the axe, the halter, or the syrup of gun fiints.^ " Colonel Allen is now chained and kept close in Pendennis Castle, in Cornwall, England. He was brought over to be ^ New York Packet, January 25, and Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 16_ ' Constitutional Gazette, December 13. " New York Packet, January 4. l''"''^-] TO THE YIEGINIANS. 191 tried by tlie act wliicli passed last session, and wliicli was re- pealed two days before the unhappy prisoner arrived." ' "We hope our countrymen will not be at all dispirited at the destruction of ISTorfolk, but rather rejoice that half the mis- chief our enemies can do us is done already. They ^^ j,^^ have destroyed one of the first towns in America, Virginians. and the only one (except two or three) in Virginia, which car- ried on any thing like a trade. We are only sharing part of the sufferings of our American brethren, and can now glory in having received one of the keenest strokes of the enemy, without flinching. They have done their worst, and to no other purpose than to harden our soldiers, and teach them to bear without dismay, all the most formidable operations of a war carried on by a powerful and cruel enemy ; to no other purpose than to give the world specimens of British cruelty and American fortitude, unless it be to force us to lay aside that childish fondness for Britain, and that foolish, tame de- pendence on her. "We had borne so long with the oppressions of an imgenerous restriction of our trade — of a restriction, in some instances, which seemed calculated merely as badges of our subjection, and had been contented so long with barely refusing to purchase commodities which they had taxed for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, that our patience and moderation served but to encourage them to proceed to greater lengths. To greater lengths they have proceeded, as far as the proudest tyrant's lust of despotism, stimulated by cruelty, a rancorous malice, and an infernal spirit of revenge, could hurry them. How sunk is Britain ! Could not Britons venture to wage war with America till they were told that Americans were cowards — till they had disarmed them, or had, as they thought, put it out of their power to procure arms ; nor even then without the assistance of Koman Catho- lics and Indians, and endeavoring to raise amongst us a do- mestic enemy ? Was this like a brave and generous nation ? If they were lost to all the feelings of Britons, for men con- ' Middlesex Journal, January 4. 192 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776, tending foi* tlic support of tlio Eritisli constitution, if tlicy were determined to conquer America, why did they not at- tempt it lilfe Britons ? Why meanly run about to the differ- ent powers of Europe, entreating them not to assist us ? "Why make use of every base and inhuman stratagem, and wage a savage war unknown amongst civilized nations ? Surely who ever has heard of Carleton's, Connolly's, and Dunmore's plots against us, cannot but allow that they must have been author- ized by a higher power ; and whoever believes this cannot but wish to be instantly and forever removed from under such a power, and to be guarded most effectiially against it. Most freely would we cut the gordian knot which has hitherto so firmly bound us to Britain, and call on France and Spain for assistance against an enemy who seem bent on our destruc- tion, but who, blessed be the God of Hosts, have been baffled in most of their attempts against us, been chastised in all, and 'have made many attacks against us without being able to kill a single man.' Januaey 7. — This morning, the sixth daughter of Captain Bancroft, of Dunstable, Massachusetts, was baptized by the name of Maetha Dandeidgb, the maiden name of his Excel- lency General "Washington's lady. The child was dressed in buff and blue, with a sprig of evergreen on its head, emblem- atic of his Excellency's glory and provincial affection.^ As Lord North has owned in Parliament that the ministry have been misled and deceived by American informers, it is American ^^^ justico that the public should know them. informei-B. pjgj.g ^^^^ j^^.^ . ^entworth, Governor of New Hampshire ; Hutchinson, late governor of Boston, pensioner on Ireland, £1,000 a year ; Benj. Hallo well, a commissioner of customs at Boston, £600 a year ; Kuggles, one of the council of Boston, £200 a year pension ; Oliver, lieutenant-governor, made such by Hutchinson ; Moff'at, custom-house officer at ' "An American" in the Virginia Gazette, January 5. ' Essex Gazette, January 18. 1/T6.] MAJOE knowlton's expedition. 193 JSTcw London, £300 a year ; William Smith, an attorney at New York, and a counsellor ; James Delancey, a captain in the army ; John Watts, a contractor with Harley and Oliver Delancey ; Stockden, an attorney and king's counsellor at New Jersey ; Franklin, governor of New Jersey, son of Ben- jamin; Dulany, an attorney and commissary at Maryland; Dunmore, Governor of Virginia ; Martin, brother to Target, governor of North Carolina ; Jonathan Sewall, a school-mas- ter at Boston, judge of the admiralty, £600 a year ; Auch- muty, a priest.' Jaitijaet 8. — ^Tms evening. Major Knowlton was despatched with a hundred men, to make an incursion into Charlestown. He crossed the mill dam, which lies between „ ,» . . .. ' E.nowlton s visit Cobble Hill and Bunker's Hill, about nine *» tuiariestown. o'clock, and immediately proceeded down the street, on the westerly side of Bunker's Hill. A part of the men, under the command of Captain Keyes, at the same time were or- dered to take post on the east side of the street, just under the hill, in order to intercept any person who might escape from the houses in the street, some of which were occupied by the en- emy. These houses, which are a little without the compact part of the town, the enemy suffered to remain, in June last, for their own convenience. Tliey were now surrounded and set fire to by our men. In one of them they found six soldiers, and one woman, all of whom, except one refractory fellow who was killed, were brought off. In another of the houses, according to the infor- mation of the prisoners, lived seventeen of the enemy's car- penters. The woman says she went to this house in order to borrow something, just before our men arrived ; but seeing no light, and not being able to get into that part of the house where they kept, she concluded they were all asleep. As it is very certain no one escaped from the house, and as our men set the building on fire very suddenly, it is thought the whole seventeen perished in the flames. We burnt ten houses, and ■ "A Clerk," in the Middlesex Journal, January 13. Vol I.— 13 J 194 DIAEY OF TUE EEVOLUTION. [lYTG* bronght off six or seven muskets. Three or four houses are still standing. Tlie whole was performed in less than an hour, ■without the loss of a single mail, either killed or wounded. The regulars in the fort on Bunker's Hill did not act with that regularity which those gentlemen who labor hard to show the superiority of red coats over brown coats, would persuade us that regulars always do ; for they kept a hot and close fire on absolutely iiothing at all : that is, they fired without an object. Our people calmly executed their purpose, laughed in security, and in security returned to their camp.' Janijaey 17. — ^Though much has been said of late about Whig and Toey, few persons are acquainted with their ori- oi-i"iii of gi^"^ • — I^i tl^6 y^'^^ 1679, King Charles the Second ■Whig and Tory, f^^n gicj, j^ the sumnicr, upou which the Duke of York, his brother, an avowed papist, returned immediately to court, without the king's leave, with a view to secure the succes- sion of the crown to himself, as his Majesty had no legitimate is- sue. This alarmed the Protestants, and made them eager for the sitting of parliament, and gave rise to sundry petitions, signed by great numbers of hands, both in city and country, which was very displeasing to his Majesty. That arbitrary tyrant told the petitioners, that he was judge of what was fit to be done. " Tou would not take it well," said he, " if I should meddle with your aifairs, and I desire you will not meddle with mine."' — Upon this, counter-addresses were promoted by the influence of the court over all the nation, expressing a detestation and abhorrence of the practice of the petitioners, and referring the sitting of the parliament absolutely to the king's pleasure, by which they obtained the name of abhor- rers ; which occasioned a great ferment among the people, so that sundry of the privy council deserted their stations at court. The petitioners for the sitting of parliament, and their ad- versar'iEs, the abhorrers of such petitions, gave rise to the two grand/parties, which have since divided the nation under the distinguishing names of "Whig and Toey. The "Whigs, or low- ' Pennsylvania Evening Post,- January 23 and 30. 1776.] WHIGS AND TORIES. 195 cliurclimen, so called from moderation about the hierarchy and their charity for their fellow-Christians of other denomina- tions, were the more zealous Protestants, declared enemies to Popery, and willing to remove to a further distance from the superstitions of the Church of Eome. They were firm to the British constitution and the liberties of their country. The clergy of this persuasion were eminent for their candor and charity, so that they were far from confining salvation to their own communion. Tlieir laity were remarkable for their zeal in promoting the famous bill for excluding the Popish Duke of York from the crown, as the best expedient to secure the Protestant establishment. They were for confining the royal prerogative within the compass of law, for which reason their adversaries charged them with republican principles, and gave them the reproachful name of Whig, or sour milk, a name first given to the Presbyterians in Scotland, when they were perse- cuted by the high church, because, when they were forced to flee from their habitations, hungry and thirsty, they often drank butter-milk whig, or whey, when they came to any friend's hoiise that would shelter and entertain them. Tlie Tories, or high-churchmen, stood on the side of the prerogative, and were for setting the king above law. They went into all the arbitrary measures of the court, and adopted into our religion (says Dr. Welwood) a Mahometan principle, under the names of non-resistance and passive obedience ; which, since the times of that impostor who first broached it, has been the means of enslaving a great part of the world. These gentlemen leaned more to a coalition with the Papists, than with the Presbyterians. They cried up the name ard authority of the church, and being men of little tenderness and conscience themselves, paid no regard to the consciences of others. They were for forcing the non-conformists to come into the church by all kinds of coercive measures, as fines, im- prisonments, gibbets, &c. But with all their zeal about ' the church, they were, generally, persons of lax and dissolute morals, and would risk the whole Protestant religion, rather than go into any measures of exclusion or limitation. Most of the high-church clergy were for raising money without Parlia- 196 DIAEY OF THE EKVOLUTION. [1776. ment ; one or two court bishops giving measures to the rest, and they to their clergy. ISTo men did more to enslave the nation and introduce Popery, than they. Their adversaries therefore gave them the name of Tories ; a name first given to Irish robbers or highwaymen, who lived upon plunder, and were prepared for any daring or villanous enterprise. The non-conformists fell in unanimously with the "Whigs, or low- churchmen, in all points relating to liberty and the civil con- stitution, as they must do always, if they are consistent with themselves. Whig and Tory, then, are names used only with allusion to their originals, from whence they are borrowed — sour milh and highway robber. Such as trust to our common dictionaries for an explanation, will only deceive themselves ; and they should know, that they only discover their ignorance in history, when they profess they are not Tories, because they are net Irish robbers/j Mr. "Washington is just such another character as ray Lord Essex, the Parliament's general in King Charles the First's Xotterofa time. Putuam may very well be compared to Virginian. Iretou. Hancock is one of the greatest despera- does living. Adams generally sleeps with the memoirs of the Cardinal de Eetz under his pillow. The slow and lenient measures of the British Government have been interpreted by our rulers into fear. We poor, distressed Americans, make a fine joke of your pity. Do not imagine we desire peace, even upon those terms we seem to solicit it. Were you to agree to those terms, behold some new demands without satisfaction for which we cannot think of laying down our arms. Tlie king must dismiss and punish those servants who have so highly offended us. After King Charles had granted the Re- bel Parliament all they could ask, for want of a better pre- tence, they declared they could not trust him, and so began the Civil War. Let somebody remember, that the Congress has amused you with proposals of accommodation, merely to gain ' New York Packet, January 18. 1'7'<^6.] AN EXTKMPOEE. 197 time ; it has answered their end, and they were tolerably well prepared by the latter end of the summer. This winter some of their grand schemes are to be put in execution. They have had amazing success ; for all Canada is in their hands already. Tlie Canadians have used General Carleton extremely ill. Mont- real was taken almost without a blow. Troops are now marching for ISTova Scotia, and you may expect to hear of the surrender of Halifax some time in February. Tlae American cruisers have had as good luck with your transports ; indeed the country is so well provided for defence, that every town looks like a store-house, filled with all kinds of warlike neces- saries. All people, both high and low, seem as i^nanimous, as easy, and composed as if engaged in the most safe and justifi- able undertaking in the world. ^ The following lines were spoken extempore by an American lady, on hearing that the conquering hero, General Gage, was on his passage home to England : From Boston comes the frighted cow,'' The ruins left to hapless Howe ! Clinton, a Euss in mind and body. Is almost drowned in Boston toddy : Burgoyne, like Wedderburne or Meredith, Is seeking pelf through Britain's very death. Earl Percy there, as well as here, The ladies think is very queer ! They give him tea and keep him warm, For surely he can do no harm. Oh Putnam, Ward, and martial Lee ! The fair's best wishes are for ye. The guardians of dear Liberty ! ' Januaey 20. — ScYLUErs the Scythian, having fourscore sons, ' Letter from " A Virginian," to the editor of the Middlesex Journal, pub- lished in that paper, January 23. ' It is observable that she hag never got over the panic with which she was struck at Braddock's defeat ! But at all appearances of danger, her hair is ob- served to rise and stand on end. This is not a fault, but a very great misfortune. ' From the London Public Advertiser, republished in the Pennsylvania Even- ing Post, February 3. 19S niAEY OF THU REVOLUTION. [17Y6. desired nothing so much as to bring them up in the love of each other, and to show them how invincible concord would render them, as he lay on his death-bed, he called them around him, and giving to each of them a bundle of javelins, bade them try if they could break the bundles. The young men having attempted and declaring it impracticable, Scylurus untied the bundles in their presence, broke the jave- lins one by one, with the greatest ease, and from thence took occasion thus to address his children : " Behold, my sons, your strength, whilst linked together in the bonds of amity ; on the contrary, how weak, and what an easy prey you must be, when separated in your interests by discord and sedition." ' January 23. — The Jersey boys are scouring Long Island. They have taken Justice French and some more ringleaders, and a great many arms. No opposition is made to Tory Uunting. ° "^ -'■-'■ them. The people curse their leaders, say they de- ceived them, promised to STipport them, and in the time of dan- ger left them. They will never trust them again. An officer in this expedition says : " We set out from Woodbridge on Wednesday the seventeenth instant, with about six hundred militia, and were joined at New York with a detachment from Lord Stirling's battalion, consisting of near three hundred. On Friday morning we crossed, with all our troops, at Horn's Hook, near Hell Gate, and met with no opposition ; we then pro- ceeded on our way towards Jamaica, took in custody some of the principal persons proscribed; sent out parties, and brought in many of those who voted against sending delegates ; dis- armed them and required them to sign an obligation we had drawn up, in which we enjoin them not to oppose either the Continental or Provincial Congresses, but to be subject to them, and not to aid or assist the ministerial troops in the present con- test. From Jamaica we went to Hampstead town, where we ex- pected the warmest opposition, but were disappointed, as the in- habitants came in and brought their arms voluntarily, for two days, as fast as Ave could receive them. We have about three ' New York Packet, January 25. l'?^T6.] THE BLOCKADE OF BOSTON. 199 hundred stand of arms and a considerable quantity of powder and lead. We are now on our way to Oyster Bay, and shall scour the country as we go, and exert ourselves to discharge the trust enjoined on us. Colonel Heard sent his detachment home last Tuesday, as he thought the militia sufficient. He is inde- fatigable in discharging his duty ; treats the inhabitants with civility and the utmost humanity. The delinquents express themselves well pleased that a detachment of Jerseymen, and not of jSTew England, were sent to disarm them. Many of those who are proscribed as princiijals, have either fled or secreted themselves ; several we have in custody. Some others, I believe, are yet to be had, but by some means or other they procured a list of the persons pointed out as principals before our arrival. We are making inquiry how they got their intelligence, but are not yet informed. Those that have come in, and surrendered their arms, are much irritated with those who have led them to make opposition, and have deserted them in the day of diffi- cialty. I conceive they will be as safe if not safer in our ciis- tody, than at present among their neighbors, of whom some of them seem very apprehensive, and complain that they have met with insults already." ' Januaey 25. — We hear that the enemy, in Boston, the evening on which our troops burnt the houses at Charlestown, were entertaining themselves at the exhibition of a play, which they called the Blockade of Boston ; in the midst of which a person appeared before the audience, and with great earnestness, declared that the Yankees were attacking Bunker's Hill. The deluded wretches, at first, took this to be merely farcical, and intended as a part of their diversion. But soon convinced that the actor meant to represent a solemn reality, the whole assembly left the house in confusion, and scampered off with gi'eat precipitation." ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, January 25 and February 3. ' Another account of Major Knowltou's expedition is given by an officer in the king's army : — On the 8th instant, between eight and nine o'cloclc at night, we were a'armed by some of the enemy, who came over a small neck of land by a mill upon Charlestown side, and came into some houses that were not destroyed 200 DIAliY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. Lately, we have had several deserters from the enemy. One of them stationed at Charlestown mills, pitched his com- panion over the dam, and tlien ran for Cobble Hill. Last Friday, General Clinton, with a considerable nnmbcr of grenadiers and light infantry, sailed from Boston, and were supposed to be bound for Virginia." The Whigs in South Carolina, are in high spirits. Tliey have large supplies of powiler and arms; and having resolutely refused the men-of-war provisions or water, they were obliged to q^iit the coast. The Tamer (on board of which is Lord William Campbell, late Governor of South Carolina) having taken a sloop from Bermuda, with two hundred and sixty half johannesses, the property of a house in Charleston, the convention granted the injured an order to on the lYth of June, where they surprised and took one sergeant and three private men prisoners, who belonged to a wooding party, after which they set fire to the houses, and retreated under a heavy fire of eannon and musketry from one of our redoubts. Among the rest they had got a stout fellow of ours (a grenadier) prisoner, who pretended to be lame, and could walk but slowly, upon which they made him deliver up his arms ; and the rebel captain who commanded the party told his men to retreat, saying, " I swear I will take this serpent of a regular under my charge ; " but upon his going over the neck of land, the grenadier struck the captain a severe blow on his face with his fist, took him up in his arms, pitched him headlong into the mud, and then ran off. But what is most extraordinary, a new farce was that night to have been acted at Boston, called The Blockade of Boston; the play was just ended and the curtain going to be drawn up for the farce, when the actors heard from without that an attack was made on the heights of Charlestown, upon which one of them came in, dressed in the character of a Yankee sergeant (which character he was to play) desired silence, and informed the audience the alarm guns were fired ; that the rebels had attacked the town, and were at it tooth and nail over at Charlestown. The audience thinking this was the opening of the new piece, clapped prodigiously ; but soon finding their mistake, a general scene of confusion ensued. They immediately hurried out of the house to their alarm posts ; some skipping over the orchestra, trampling on the fiddles, and every one making his most speedy retreat. The actors (who were all ofiBcers) calling out for water to wash the smut and paint from off their faces ; women fainting, and, in short, the whole house was nothing but one scene of con- fusion, terror, and tumult. I was upon guard at the advance lines before the to^vn of Roxbury, and we expected a general attack that night, iut the rebels were not so forward, for in a few hours every thing was quiet. — Extract of vo ; the author of the Calm Address, Taxation no Tyranny, the Plain Question,' and other writers in favor of American taxation, two and two ; such North American merchants as, at the time they publicly went up to the throne with a peti- tion in favor of the Americans, Avere privately soliciting min- istry to indemnify any loss they miglit sustain by sending over cargoes of goods, in order to defeat the non-importation agree- ment, two and two ; Messieurs Knox, Mauduit, and other agents for the friends of government in ISTorth America, two and two ; Governor PoAvnal, with the best map, that is extant, of that country in one hand, and a typographical description of it (especially of his own province) in the other ; the many respectable gentlemen who, from time to time, have been tarred and feathered for their loyalty and attachment to the constitution, to appear in that dress, two and two ; all those prudent knowing ones, who, by refinement or duplicity, have in some measure persuaded the colonists (say rebels) to think them their friends, but are now lately come over to give pri- vate information, and to avail themselves of something bene- ficial from the general confusion, to appear in their parti-col- ored dominoes, with black crapes over their faces, two and two. The procession will be preceded by the Doctor of Dr. Johnson, 'i-l'iQ-'] OLD LIES EENEWED. 233 Music, from Eliode Island, witli his newly raised band of Highland bagpipers ; and the Avhole to move upon the (piick step, to the tune of Yankie Doodle. After the sermon is over, the procession will return, in the same order, to the place fj'orn whence it came, wliere an elegant entertainment will be ready at four o'clock, and the ceremony, it is expected, Avill conclude with great festivity in the evening. N. B. — Tlie nobility and others, who honor the procession with their attendance, are requested to give orders to their coachmen not to stop tip the passage in the narrow part of the Strand.' Apeil 19. — Bt a late arrival from England we have the following, which are but the old lies renewed : — Government proposes to have in America, in the spring, foreign „ q,^, j^j^^ troops, consisting of Hessians, Brunswickers, Han- Eenewed.' overians, and Waldeckers, seventeen thousand ; British troops, sixteen thousand. Press warrants are sent out to Admiral Greaves, to press all American seamen. Press warrants are expected to be issued out soon, as the captains of all the out- Avard bound ships have been very solicitous to procure protec- tions. Orders have been sent to Plymouth for all the guard- ships there to take on board their full complement of men, as in time of war. Orders have been sent to all the outposts to be A^ery cautious and strict in examining all persons and ves- sels, &c., that may be judged the least suspicious. Orders are given for a quantity of beef and pork, sufhcient for ten ships of the line for six months, to be got ready as soon as possible. A compact Avas lately signed betAveen the court and three Northern powers, by Avliich the latter have stipulated to furnish Great Britain between them, Avith 60,000 troops, the better to enable the latter to carry on the continental Avar. GoA^ern- ment have sent over to Germany to engage 1,000 men called Jagers, people brought up to the use of the rifle barrel guns in boar hunting. They are amazingly expert. Every petty prince who hath forests, keeps a number of them, and they are ' Freeman's Journal, September 28. 234 DIAEY OF THE BEVOLTJTION. [1776. allowed to take apprentices, by wliich means they are a nu- merous body of people. These men are mtended to act in the next canijmign in America, and our ministry plume themselves much in the thought of their being a complete match for the American riflemen.' April 20. — -A weiter gives the following reasons for a dec- laration of the indciDendcnce of the American colonies : — 1. T, , The colonies will be delivered from two govern- Kpasnns for o Independence, ^icnts dircctly opposcd to eacli other. 2. The colonies will be delivered from the disorders which arise from the unlimited, undescribed, and sometimes arbitrary power of conventions, committees of safety, and committees of inspec- tion. 3. A criminal correspondence with the enemies of this countiy will be prevented, or punished, under the articles of high treason. 4. The colonies will be delivered from the dan- ger of crown officers, whose apparent interest it will always be to remain inactive, or to co-operate with the enemies of America. 5. The British constitution may be immediately restored to each colony, with the great and necessary improve- ments of a governor and council chosen by the people. 6. France will immediately attack Britain in the most defenceless parts of her empire, and thus draw oS her fleets and armies from our coasts. 7. All the powers of Europe will conceive such ideas of our union, love of freedom and military resour- ces, that they will not bo tempted to accept of a share in us, upon the condition of conquering us." Tnis is not a time to trifle. Men who know they deserve nothing from their country, and whose hope is on the arm Eeconciiiation ^^^^^ ^^^^^ souglit to euslavc yc, may hold out to Opposed. jQ^^^ ^g Q^^Q 3 ]^g^^j^ done, the false light of recon- ciliation. There is no such thing. 'Tis gone ! 'Tis past ! The grave hath parted us — and death, in the persons of the slain, " Constitutional Gazette, April 20 and May 15. ° Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 20. ' The author of a series of letters to the people of Pennsylvania, favoring a reconciliation between the mother country and colonies, and against independence. 1770.] EECOjSrCIHATION OPPOSED. 235 hath cut the thread of life between Britam and America. Conqnest, and not reconciliation, is the plan of Britain. But admitting even the last hope of the Tories to hapjjen, which is, that our enemies after a long succession of losses, wearied and disabled, should despairingly throw down their arms and propose a reunion. In that case, what is to be done ? Are defeated and disappointed tyrants to be considered like mis- taken and converted friends ? Or would it be right to receive those for governors, who, had they been conquerors, would have hung us up for traitors ? Certainly not. Reject the offer then, and propose another ; which is, we will make peace with you as with enemies, but we will never reunite with you as friends. This eifected, and ye secure to yourselves the pleasing prospect of an eternal peace. America, remote from all the wrangling world, may live at ease. Bounded by the ocean, and backed by the wilderness, who hath she to fear but her God? Be not deceived. It is not a little that is at stake. Rec- onciliation will not now go down, even if it were oftered. 'Tis a dangerous question, for the eyes of all men begin to open. There is now no secret in the matter ; there ought to be none. It is a case that concerns every man, and every man ought to lay it to heart. He that is here, and he that was horn here, are alike concerned. It is needless, too, to split the business into a thousand parts, and perplex it with endless and fruitless investigations. This unparalleled contention of nations is not to be settled like a school boy's task of pounds, shillings, pence, and fractions. The first and great question, and that which involves every other in it, and from which every other will flow, is happiness. Can this continent be happy under the government of Great Britain, or not % Secondly. Can she be happy under a government of our own ? To live beneath the authority of those Avhom we cannot love, is misery, sla- very, or what name you please. In that case there will never be peace. Security will be a thing unknown, because a treacherous friend in power is the most dangerous of enemies. The answer to the second question — can America be happy under a govermnent of her own, is short and simple, viz. : As 230 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTIOM'. [1Y76. liapi^y as slio pleases ; slie liatli a blank slieet to write upon. Put it not ofT too long. Painful as the task of speaking trutli must sometimes be, yet wc cannot avoid giving the following bint, because much, nay, almost every thing, depends upon it ; and that is, a thorough knowledge of the persons whom wo trust. It is the duty of tlie public, at this time, to scrutinize closely into the conduct of their committee members, members of assembly, and delegates in Congress, to know what they do and their motives for so doing. "Without doing this we shall never know who to confide in, but shall constantly mistake friends for enemies, and enemies for friends, till in the confusion of persons we sacrifice the cause.' °) Apeil 23. — We have all the debates in Parliament, by which it appears that the determination of the court is, first to conquer, and then to £i;rant pardons to those they Movements -L ? o i tl of the Ministry, dioosc, and for this purpose only are the com- missioners declared to be sent. This is the ostensible plan, but we are informed they are to bribe through thick and thin, to procure the betraying of America ; so that it behoves all men to watch, with the most attentive consideration, the con- duet of those intrusted with the public concerns, ■whether colonial or continental. The last act of Parliament is a curi- ous piece of retrospective injustice. After declaring the thir- teen colonies in rebellion, and without his Majesty's protection, and our property made seizable wherever found on the water, it goes on to give legal sanction to all the violences and rob- beries, &c., that their people had committed previous to their passing that act. The Congress have, in consequence of this, recommended the fitting out privateers to cruise on British property. It may be depended upon as fact, that the agents of the Scotch factors have been desired by the administration to make no noise about their debts in America ; for that they, the min- istry, will see their debts paid by forfeiting American estates. ' " The Forrester," in the Pennsylvania Journal, April 24. 1TT6.] THE EFFECT OF ELECTIONS. 237 Thus vre may account for the meaning of the intercepted letter lately published in the Virginia Gazette, wherein the factor is desired to make out a list of debts and send them to Scotland ; and thus these harpies, after having already pillaged a great part of the jjroperty of Virginia, are now making out ac- counts, under court auspices, by which all the remaining prop- erty of the country is to become theirs." This evening a paper printed in red letters, and called the American Gazette, was carried to the Plough Inn, at Sud- bury, in England, and read before a number of ™ . *J ' o y The American tradesmen and others, who unanimously con- Gazette. demned it to the flames, it being calculated to stir up sedition against his Majesty's person and government. Some straw was immediately procured, and a fire made on Stour Hill, where the said paper was publicly burnt before a great num- ber of spectators. While it was burning, a person solemnly repeated, " So may the schemes of America, that are formed against the government of Great Britain, fall to the dust." There were several kinds of fireworks exhibited on the occa- sion, and the evening concluded by drinking success to his Majesty's arms.^ Apeil 27. — The essence of liberty consists in our having it in our power to choose our own rulers, and so far as we exer- cise this power we are truly free. Many advan- -■^ •' mi Effect of Elections. tages fiow from such a plan of government, iho following two have rarely been attended to, but every one will perceive them as soon as mentioned : A poor man has rarely the honor of speaking to a gentle- man on any terms, and never with familiarity but for a few weeks before the election. How many poor men, common men, and mechanics, have been made happy within this fort- night by a shake of the hand, a pleasing smile, and a little familiar chat with gentlemen who have not for these seven years past condescended to look at them. Blessed state which -■ Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 14. ' Middlesex Journal, May 1. J 238 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLtJTION. [1776. brings all so nearly on a level ! " What a clever man is Mr. ," says my neighbor ; " how agreeable and familiar ! He has no pride at all ! he talked as freely to me for half an hour as if he Avere neighbor • there. I wish it were election time always. Thursday next ho will lose all knowledge of , and pass me in the street as if he never had known me." How kind and clever is the man who proposes to be sher- iff, for two months before the election : — he knows everybody, smiles upon and salutes everybody, until the election is over ; but then to the end of the year he has no time to speak to you, he is so engaged in seizing your property by writ of ven- ditioni exponas, and selling your goods at vendue. Tlaus the right of annual elections will ever oblige gentle- men to speak to you once a year, who Avould despise you for- ever, were it not that you can bestow something upon them. Lying is so vulgar a failing that no gentleman would have any thing to say to it but at elections. Tlien, indeed, the greatest gentleman in the city will condescend to lie with the least of us. This year their humility is amazing, for they have stooped to the drudgery of going from house to house to circulate election lies about division of property. I cannot commend their policy herein, for such poor fellows as I am, with nothing more. However, it shows their willingness to come down a pin, which is such a favor that we ought to be truly thankful for it. In a word, electioneering and aristo- cratical pride are incompatible, and if ever we should have gentlemen to come down to our level, we must guard our right of election effectually, and not let the assembly take it out of our hands. Do you think even Mr. J would ever speak to you, if it were not for the May election ? Be free- men, then, and you will be companions for gentlemen an- nually.' A coEEESPON"DENT in London says: — '-His Majesty's right arm is lame, occasioned by a sprain from flourishing his sword over the heads of his new made knights. ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 27. l'irT6.] FAIRFIELD TOEIES. 239 " The Eev. Mr. Peters/ from Lebanon, in Connecticut, lias obtained liis Majesty's leave to jDiclv liops at 9d. per day, a penny more tliaii the usual price, as a reward for his past faithful services ; and by this lucrative business it is supposed he will soon acquire a fortune equal to that he left behind him. " James Rivington,' of New York, is appointed cobweb sweeper of his Majesty's library. There are many other posts and rewards given to persons who have fled from the colonies, equal to the above mentioned^] ^ The Congress have struck a number of silver and copper medals, which are distributed among the officers of their army, and worn by them constantly. On one side are two vases swim- ming on the water, with the motto, Frangimur si Collidimur ; on the other side is an emblematical device : four hands clinched together, and a dove over them ; beneath them is a serpent cut in pieces.'' Mat 8. — Last week a certain Mr. Cable, in Fairiield, Con- necticut, sent a load of provisions to the ininisterial plunder- ers, and was loading a second time for the same -. , , . -, , rn ^ Fairfield Tories. purpose, but was discovered by a iory, who was concerned in the affair, and who made oath before a magistrate, of the scheme in agitation. The said Cable was observed to be sounding for deep water about the channel, which he found at a place called the Black Kock, and through which place he was to pilot a gang of cruel murderers, about one thousand in number, whose orders Avere to massacre men, women, and ^ Samuel A. Peters, LL.D., an Episcopal clergyman, especially celebrated for a malicious and fabulous history of Connecticut. He "was born in Hebron, Con- necticut, Becember 12, 1735 : graduated at Yale College in IVoY, and afterwards took charge of the church of his native town, and one in Hartford. He was obliged to tlee to England, in 1774. He returned to America in 1805, and died in New York, April 19, 1826. ^ Eivington sailed from New York for London in the ship Samson, in com- pany with Major Moncrieflfc, and several loyalists, on the 10th January, 1776. — New York Packet, January 11. ' Constitutional Gazette, May 4. ' Middlesex Journal, May 2. 240 DIARY OF TIIK REVOLUTION. [1Y76. children. Tlie signal of tlieir landing was to be three cannon fired ill the night. This gang chiefly inhabited about Newtown, in Connecti- cut, and from that place all along to Dobb's ferry on the North River. Cable was on this discovery apprehended, and committed to Fairfield gaol, and also another villain named Pardelow, at Greenwich, who was detected enlisting men for the ministerial service, was examined before the committee of safety for Greenwich, and committed to gaol. Two more were apprehended, but discharged for want of sufficient proof. A list of the names of a number of them that had enlisted has been obtained, and a party of men are gone in pursuit of them.' ^ May 16. — ^Tiie Committee of Safety in Philadelphia having already made known to the inhabitants of that city, the press- ing occasion there is for a large quantity of lead, to be em- ployed in the defence of this country, and requested them to spare for the public use the various species of leaden weights in their respective families ; they have, as the most expeditious and easy method of procuring such lead, appointed Thomas Nevill, Frazer Kinsley, William CoUiday, and John Darcy to go round the city and receive it at the several houses, they paying at the rate of sixpenceper pound as formerly specified, it being understood that clock weights are not at present com- prehended among them, as the iron weights to replace them are not yet made. It is expected that every virtuous citizen will immediately and cheerfully comply with this requisition, but if any persons should be so lost to all sense of the public good as to refuse, a list of their names is directed to be returned to the committee." Yesterday is rendered memorable by a unanimous res- olution of the Virginia convention,' now sitting at "Williams- burg, to instruct their delegates in the Continental Congress " Constitutional Gazette, May 8. ° Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 18. ^ There were one hundred and twelve members present. IVTG.] A'IEGINIA INSTEUCTI0N8. 241 to move for a declai-ation of independence and freedom. It is the resnit of the most mature deliberation, and we hope will be speedily ratified by the Gone;ress. Let the ^. . . ,, , I- -J the true interest of their country, do not long su}i])ort tlieir own or their comitry's cause ; but being an in- sufficient basis for such a trust, by the assistance of avarice and luxury attempt the arduous task, till whatever they pretend to support falls, together with themselves, in one general ruin. Witness the British Parliament ! There, virtue has long since been a crime; avarice hath taken the field, and entered the gates where the public councils are held ; justice gives up the keys, and flies to seek an asylum in some propitious clime. And now behold what folLiws ! How is the blood of her citizens sported with ? — some lining an ignol)le life, others dying an in- glorious death ! Who can atone for such a crime as this ? to sacrifice more than a thousand troops on death's grim altar, to gain what in reason's ^^■ew was not their right, and what those who survived the bloody scene could not maintain. Then t<") shun such horrid deeds, let us despise both avarice and avaricious men. Consider, I entreat you, that folly in a judge, a general, or a king, is folly indeed, and draws most aggravated ruin at its heels. O let virtue, prudence, and resolution, take the field ! Let them possess the bench, the council chamber, and the senate. Tims alone can a people be rendered happy, and a country glorious ; but give me leave, my countrymen, as I both feel for ourselves and millions yet unborn, to Avarn you neither to suffer inattention to possess your minds or idleness your pens ; and nuiy each one Avithin his own peculiar sphere, stri^-e for the good of the whole. Then shall we, as individuals, be hapj)y ; as a people, terrible to our enemies ; and as a country, glorious wherever fame shall celebrate the exploits of heroes, and just triumphs of virtuous deeds. And provinces and kingdoms, over which the Koman Eagle never flew, shall bow 1''"''6.] VIEWS OF THE DEPENDANTS. 249 to the imperial sceptre of the free and independent States of America.' Mat 31. — A captain, lately arrived from St. Croix, says, that on the tenth instant, in latitude 3i° longitude 67° 24', he fell in with a brig, the captain of M'hich told him, that he sail- ed in company with a fleet of seventy sail of transports, under convoy of two sixty-four, four forty gun ships, and two bomb ketches, from which he parted on the fifth in a hard gale of wind. The fleet had on board a large number of Hessians, Brunswick- ers, and English troops, all iotni/l to Pkilailrlp/a'a, "in order to disperse," as the captain expressed himself, " that hornet's nest the Congress, after which they were certain the continent would become a very easy prey." God grant that the patriots may be prepared to receive this armament.'' June 1. — XoTwiTiisTANOiNa the savage treatment we have met Avitli from the King of Britain, and the impossibility of the colonies being ever happy under his government ^.^^^^ ^^ ^^^ again, according to the usual operation of nat- Dependants. ural and moral causes, yet we still find some people wishing to be dependent once more upon the crown of Britain. I have too good an opinion of the human understanding, to suppose that there is a man in America who believes that we ever shall be happy again iu our old connection with that crown. I, therefore, beg leave to oblige the advocates for dependence to speak for themselves in the following order : — ■ 1. I shall lose my office. 2. I shall lose the honor of being related to men in oflice. 3. I shall lose the rent of my houses for a year or two. 4. We shall have no more rum, sugar, tea nor coffee, in this country, except at a most exorbitant price. 5. "We shall have no more gauze or fine muslins imported among us. 6. The K^cw England men will turn Goths and Vandals, and overrun all the Southern Colonies. IST.B. — It is the fashion with the people who make this objection to independ- ' Addressed to all Americans ivho love liberty, and hold tlicir country dear, by " Amicus Patrias ct Filius Libcrtatis." — Providence Gasettc, May 25. ^ Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 1. 250 DIAKY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1776. cncc, to despise the eonrage and discipline of the New England troops, and to complain that they are unwilling to fight out of their own colonics. 7. The church will have no king for a head. 8. The Presbyterians will have a share of power in this country. K. B. — These people have been remarked, ever since the commencement of our disputes with Great Britain, to prefer a Quaker or an Episcopalian, to one of their own body, where he was ecpially hearty in the cause of liberty. 9. I shall lose my chance of a large tract of land in a new purchase. 10. I shall want the support of the first officers of government, to protect me in my insolence, injnstice, and villany. 11. The common people will have too much power in their hands. IST. B. — The common people are composed of tradesmen and farmers, and include nine-tenths of the people of America. Eiualljr. — ^Sooner than submit to the chance of these probable evils, we will have our towns burnt, our country desolated, and our fathers, brothers, and children butchered by English, Scotch, and Irishmen ; by Hanoverians, Hessians, Brunswickers, Waldeckers, Canadians, Indians, and Negroes. And, after all, such of us as survive these calamities, will submit to such terms of slavery as King George and his Parliament may impose upon us.' June 10. — ^To-day, the grand question of Independency was proposed to the first, second, foiirth, and fifth battalions of associators of Philadelphia and suburbs ; consisting of about two thousand ofliecrs and men. Against it, in the first battalions, fc>ur officers and twenty three privates — second, two privates — fourth and fifth unanimous for independence. The lieutenant of the third battalion refusing to put the question, ga\-e great umbrage to the men, one of whom replied to him in a genteel spirited manner. " Ho^\' our delegates in Congress may act," says a Pcnn- sylvanian, " we know not, though we have a right to know, and intend to promote an inquiry for that purpose." — Take ' Arliulc signed Hutchinson, Cooper, C'ato, ^-c, in the Pennsylvania Evening Po t, June 1. 1776.] THE NANTASKET EXPEDITION. 251 heed, Tories ; you are at your last gasp ! You have had many warnings, and many kind invitations ! ' June 14. — ^Yesteeday, the inhabitants of the town of Boston were made acquainted, by beat of drum, that an expedition was to be midertaken against the TheNantasket enemy's ships in JSTantasket road, and for erecting Expedition. proper fortiiications in the lower harbor. Accordingly detach- ments from the colonial regiments, commanded by the Colonels Marshall and Whitney, and the battalion of train, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Crafts, were embarked on board boats at the long wharf, together with cannon, ammunition, pro- vision, intrenching tools, and every necessary implement, and sailed for Pettick's Island and Hull, where they were joined by some continental troops, and seacoast companies, so as to make near six hundred men at each place. A lilve number of the militia, from the towns in the vicinity of Eoston harbor, with a detachment from the train, and some field-pieces, took post at Moon Island, Hoff's Neck, and Point Alderton. At the same time, a detachment from the continental army, under the command of Colonel "Whitcomb, with two eighteen- pounders, one thirteen-inch mortar, with the necessary apparatus, intrenching tools, &c., were embarked for Long Island to take post there. The troops, delayed by a calm, did not arrive at their several places of destination till near day- light this morning. JSTotwithstanding this, however, such was their activity and alertness, that they had the cannon planted, and a line of defence hove up on Long Island and Nantasket hill in a few hours, when a cannon-shot from Long Island announced to the enemy our design. Soon after, a signal was made for the whole fleet, consisting of eight ships, two snows, two brigs, and one schooner, to unmoor and get under weigh. Tlie Commodore Banks bore our fire, and returned it with spirit, till a shot from Long Island pierced the upper works of his ship, when he immediately unmoored or cut his cables, and got under sail, and happy for him that he did so, for in a ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 11. 252 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION". [1770. small space of time aftei-n-ards, a shell from otir ■works fell into the very spot he had hut just before cpiitted. Unhappily, our eannon did not arrive at Pettiok's Island and Nantasket as soon as might have heen wished, but the fire from the latter place, l)eing properly pohitcd against the commodore's ship, which came to in the Light House channel, is apprehended to have done consideral;>le execution. However, the enemy were compelled once more to make a disgraceful precipitate flight ; and we have it now in our power to congratulate our friends on our being in full possession of the lowest harbor of Boston ; and, had the wind been to the eastward, we are confident we should have had the much greater pleasure of giN'ing thcni joy on our being in the possession of many of the enemy's ships. Through Divine Pro^'idencc, not one of our men were hurt.' It is now certain, that there is not a ministerial troop in all tJew England, except siich as are prisoners ; nor is there a ministerial ship in any harbor in ITew England.^ And it is worthy of special notice that the fourteenth day of Jane, 1774, was the last day allowed for trading vessels to leave or enter the port of Boston, through the cruelty of a British act of Parliament ; and that the fourteenth of June, 1776, through the blessings of God upon the operations of a much injured and oppressed people, is the last day for British men-of-war, or ministerial vessels, to remain or enter within the said port, but as American prizes. Thus has Providence retaliated.'' June 17. — ^Posy John" Hancock has got frightened again, and has writ a letter to those plundering " Sons of Lil)erty," as they call themselves, all about an attempt our John Hancock. . , , , . -^-r gracious king s troops are going to make on JNew York. He says the important hour is at hand that is to decide, not only the fate of the universe, but that of New Yoris: and the Congress in particular; and that he knoM^s if their ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 26. '' New York Packet, June 2Y. ^ Freeman's Journal, June 22. 1776.] TEEATirENT FOE THE TOEIES. 253 feelings are at all like liis, they'll do something brave. — Tliey'll possibly do as he does, that is — keep out of harm's way, through a strict watch for the reglars, and, if requisite, a vigorous use of those gouty legs, that were so shamefully overworked on the morning the gallant Percy mai'ched to Lexington.' A coEEESPOXDENT in Philadelphia, who signs himself a " determined independent," says : " The mild treatment which the Tories have met with, has only encouraged Treatment for the them in their disaffection, and, until an example is Toiiea. made of some of them, we shall always be exposed to private domestic dangers. Necessity, when self-preser\'ation is the ob- ject, justifies severity. "We have reasoned, we have pleaded with these men long enough, and all will not do. It signiires nothing meddling with the little and ignorant ones — their great- est error is want of knowledge ; but I would begin with the ' Smythe's Journal, p. 38: — The following, published in the Fenn'-ylvania Evening Post, June 18, probably is the letter referred to : — Philadelphia, June 11, I'lTO. Gentlemen : — The Congress have this day received advice, and arc fully con- vinced, that it is tlie design of General Howe to make an attack upon the City of Xew York, as soon as possible. The attack, they have reason to believe, will be made within ten days. I am, therefore, most earnestly to request, by order of Congress, to call forth your militia, aa requested in my letter of the 4th instant, and to forward them with aU despatch to the City of New York ; and that you direct that they march in companies, or any other way that will hasten their arrival there. The important day is at hand that will not only decide the fate of the City of New York, but in all probability of the whole Province. On such an occasion there is no necessity to use arguments with Americans. Their feelings, I well know, will prompt them to their duty, and the sacredness of the cause will urge them to the field. The greatest exertions of vigor and expedition are requisite to prevent our enemies from getting possession of that town. I must, therefore, again most earnestly request you, in the name and by the authority of Congress, to send for- ward the militia, agreeable to the requisition of Congress, and that you will do it with all the despatch which the infinite importance of the cause demands. I have the honor to be. Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble servant, John Hancock, President. 25i DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. heads and chiefs of them. It is time, it is high time to do it, if we mean to live in safety. Matters are ripening very fast, and either an independence must be declared, by which wc can legally punish the traitors, or the associators must, in my opinion, bo obliged to declare martial law for their own pro- tection.' June 18. — ^This afternoon, the Provincial Congress of New York gave an elegant entertainment to General Washington Entertainment to ^'^^ ^^^^ suitc ; the general and staif officers, and Washington. ^]jg commanding officer of the different regiments in and near the city. Many patriotic toasts were offered and drank with the greatest pleasure and decency. After the toasts, little Phil, of the Guard, was brought in to sing H 's new campaign song, and was joined by all the under officers, who seemed much animated by the accompanying of Clute's drum- sticks and Aaron's fife. Our good General Putnam got sick and went to his quarters before dinner was over, and we missed him a marvel, as there is not a chap in the camp who can lead him in the Maggie Lauder song.° A NEW SONG.' When virtuous ardor, from motions sincere, Nerves the arm of a soldier, what foe can he fear? Undaunted he fights, and his glorious name Immortal shall flourish through every campaign. No horrible story of Briton or Hessian, Can appal or incline him to quit a profession, Which eager to follow, his soul's all in flame, And burns for a part in the next brave campaign. In fatigue, toil, and danger, he nobly delights, No station alarms him, no terror aifrights ; All the hardships of war, like a god, he sustains, And thirsts for the glory of future campaigns. ' Constitutional Gazette, June 19. = MS. letter from Captain Caleb Gibbs, of Washington's Guard, to his "Dear Penelope." '' This probably is the song referred to by Captain Gibbs. l''"''^.] THE PLOT m KEW YOEK. 255 Though each of his foes were like Hercules brave, While their efibrts are tending a land to enslave, With contempt he beholds th' unsoldierly stain, And courts the fierce combat, and speedy campaign. Should their number, the legions of Xerxes surpass ; Were their limbs of firm steel, and their bodies like brass, He'd attempt to dissolve them with gunpowder flame, And smile at the terrors of such a campaign. The love of his country impassions his breast. For its sake, with whole squadrons the field he'd contest. Exert every nerve, and inflate every vein. And a thousand times die in a single campaign. Come then, each true soldier, thus let us behave. Such motives are ours and like him well be brave ; Let's disclose to the world from what heroes we came, By the deeds of their sons, the ensuing campaign. Let spirit and union dispel party strife. While struggling for freedom and empire and life; Ungenerous sentiments nobly disdain Fir'd with the idea of such a campaign. Then wreaths shall be twined of unfading renown, Our brows to encircle and actions to crown ; And the clarion immortal, of sonorous fame. Shall transmit to all ages, this glorious campaign.' June 24. — Since Friday last, a most barbarous and infernal plot has been discovered among the Tories in ISTew York. Two of General Washington's guards are concerned," Thepiot a third whom they tempted to join them made 'n New York, the first discovery. The general report of their design is as ' Kew York Packet, June 13. ' General Washington, in a letter to the President of Congress, dated New York, June 28, says; — "The plot had been communicated to some of the army, and part of my guard engaged in it. T H ,* one of them, has been tried, and, by the unanimous opinion of a court-martial, is sentenced to die, having enlisted himself and engaged others. The sentence, by the advice of the whole council of general officers, will be put in execution to-day, at eleven o clock. The others are not tried. I am hopeful this example will produce many salutary conse- quences, and deter others from entering into the like traitorous practices." — Official Letters, ed. 1795, v. i., p. 165. * Thomas Hickey. 2~>G DIAEY OF THE EEYOLUTIOX. [1770. follows: upon the arrival of tlie Britisli troops, tlicy were to niurder all the staif officer;^, hlo^v up the magazhics, and secure the passes of the town. Gilliert Forbes, a gunsmith, in the Broadway, was talceu between two and three o'clock on Satur- day morning, and carried lietbre our Congress, who were then sitting. lie rel'used to nialvc any discovery, upon ^vhich he was sent to jail. The Eeverend Mr. Livingston went to see him early in the morning, and told him he ^vas very sorry to find he had been concerned, that his time Avas very short, not having abdve three days to live, and advised him to prepare himself. This had the desired effect ; and he rerpicsted to be carried before the Congress again, promising to discover all he knew. Several have been since taken, between twenty and thirty, among them the may (jr.' They are all now in confine- ment. Their party, it is said, consisted of about five hundred." JiT^rE 2S. — This forenoon, was executed in a field between the Colonels M'Dougall and Huntington's cam]i, near the Bowry-Iane, New York, in the presence of near t-sventy thousand spectators, a soldier belonging to his Excellency General "Washington's guards, for mutiny and conspiracy ; being one ' David Matthews was ma3'or at that time, as will appear from the following: — " Xew York, February 22. — Wednesdaj', se'niglit, his Excellency our gOTcrnor was pleased to appoint Whitehead Hicks, Esq., one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of this province. Mr. Hicks having at the same time surrendered the office of mayor, his Excellency was pleased to appoint David Matthews, Esq., to that office ; and last Friday they were both qualified to act in their respective sta- tions." — S'ew York Parlcct, February 22. ^ Pennsylvania Journal, June 26. A further account in the same paper says : — *' Yesterday, (23,) the mayor was examined twice, and returned prisoner under a strong guard. We have now thirty-four prisoners, and many more it is expected will be taken up. A party of our men went over to Long Island, Saturday last, to take up some of the Tories ; they returned yesterday, and brought to town one Down- ing, who is charged with being in the heUish plot. They took six more prisoners and put them in Jamaica jail, on Long Island. The Tories made some resistance, and fired on our men in the woods ; our people returned the fire, wounding one man mortally ; they then called for quarter. This morning a party of three hun- dred men is ordered, but on what business is not known. The mayor acknowl- edges he paid Mr. Forbes, the gunsmith, who is one of the gang now in irons, £140, by order of Governor Tryon. Yesterday the general's housekeeper was taken up ; it is said she is concerned." 1T76.] SULLIVAif's ISLAND. 267 of those "who formed, and was soon to have put in execution, that horrid plot of assassinating the staff officers, blowing up the magazines and securing the passes of the town, on the arrival of the hungry ministerial myrmidons. It is hoped the remainder of those miscreants, now in our possession, will meet with a punishment adequate to their crimes.' During the execution. Kip the moon-curser, suddenly sank down and expired instantly.^ June 29.' — ^Oue boys have pretty well thrashed Sir Peter Parker and all his forces. Yesterday morning, an attack was commenced by one of the small vessels of the ^^^^^.^ ^^^ British fleet, on the forfat Sullivan's Island, and, sniiivan's island, notwithstanding our small number, a part of which was engaged in watching Clinton and Cornwallis, at the other (east) end of the island, we sustained it with the most complete success.' A writer on board the fleet gives the following account of this action : " The signal for attacking was made by Sir Peter Parker, on the twenty-seventh of June, but the wind coming suddenly to the northward, the ships were obliged again to anchor. Tlie troops had been encamped on Long Island since the fifteenth, and it was intended that General Clinton should pass the neck that divides Long Island from Sullivan's Island,* and attack by land, while Sir Peter Parker attacked by sea. General Lee had made such a disposition of masked batteries, troops, &c., that it is the opinion of all the officers of the army whom I have heard mention this circumstance, that if our troops had attacked, they must have been cut off' ; but this assertion does not satisfy the ITavy, for they certainly expected great assistance from the army. " On the morning of the twenty-eighth, the wind proved favorable, and it was a clear, fine day, but very sultry. Tlie Thunder Bomb began the attack at half-past eleven, by throw- ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 2. » Gywn's letter to Colonel Crafts. = Clift's Diary. * Sullivan's Island is situated on the northern side of Charleston harbor, about four miles from the city. Vol. I.— 11 258 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17T6. ing shells, while the ships were advancing. Tlie ships that advanced to attack the battery were the Bristol and Experiment, two fifty-gun ships, the Soletay, Active, Actteon, and Syren of twenty-eight guns, the Sphynx of twenty, and the Friend- ship, an armed ship of twenty-eight guns. "With this force what might not have been expected ? Unfortunately, the Bomb was placed at such a distance, that she was not of the least service. This, Colonel James, the principal engineer, imme- diately perceived ; to remedy which inconvenience, an addition- al quantity of powder Avas added to each mortar: the con- sequence was the breaking down the beds, and totally dis- abling her for the rest of the day. " The Bristol and Experiment suffered most incredibly : the former very early had the sjDring of her cable shot away, and, as she lay end on to the battery, was raked fore and aft ; she lost upward of one hundred men, killed and wounded. Captain Morris, who commanded her, lost his arm.' Perhaps an instance of such slaughter cannot be produced. Twice the quar- ter-deck was cleared of every person except Sir Peter, and he was slightly wounded ; ' she had nine thirty-two pounders in her mainmast, which is so much damaged as to be obliged to be shortened ; the mizzen had seven thirty-two pounders, and was obliged, being much shattered, to be entirely cut away. It is impossible to pretend to describe what the shipping suffered. Captain Scott, of the Experiment, lost his right arm, and the ship suffered exceedingly ; she had much the same number killed and wounded as the Bristol. Our situation was rendered very disagreeable, by the Actason, Syren, and Sphynx running foul of each other, and getting on shore on the middle ground. ' He died a week after, on board the Pigot. ^ Sir Peter's breeches were torn off, his thigh and knee wounded, so that he wag able to walk only when supported on each side. These circumstances gave rise to the following extempore, which appeared in the Constitutional Gazette, soon after the action : — If "honor in the breech is lodged," As Hudibras has shown. It may from thence be fairly judged, Sir Peter's honor's gone 1TY6.] Sullivan's island. 259 The Spliynx disengaged lierself by cutting away her bowsprit ; and as it was not yet flood tide, she and the Syren fortu- nately warped off. Tlie Actteon was burnt next morning by Captain Atkins, to prevent her falling into the hands of the Provincials.' " Our ships, after lying nine hours before the battery, were obliged to retire with great loss. The Provincials reserved their fire until the shipping were advanced within point blank shot. Their artillery was surprisingly well served, it is said, under the command of a Mr. Masson and De Brahm. It was slow, but decisive indeed. They were very cool, and took great care not to fire except their guns were exceedingly well directed : but there was a time when the battery appeared to be silenced for more than an hour. The navy say, had the troops been ready to land at this time, they could have taken possession ; how that is, I will not pretend to say." I will ' While she was on fire, Mr. Millegan, one of the CaroHna marine officers, and a party of men boarded her, brought oif her colors, the ship's bell, and as many sails as three boats would contain.— iKsto York Gazette, July 29. '' General Chnton was very much censured for not attempting to ford the shallow water (which was only three feet deep) between the east end of Sullivan's Island and Long Island, where he had been encamped, and attacking the Ameri- cans there. An EngUsh correspondent says : — " My wife is quite an American, and every conquest the Americans make, every battle they win, and every one of our ships they take, she says Providence is. on their side, and it is only fighting against the wind to continue the contest. I am on the opposite side, and we have many interesting broils, or civil wars about it. She has it all in her head from the famous battle of Lexington, where our arms shone in their full lustre, to the siege of Sullivan's Island, where we came off with the worst ; and this last affair, I must acknowledge, has almost set me wavering. "One circumstance happened yesterday that fairly made me mad. My son Tommy being playing in the garden, in the middle of which is a small pond about three feet deep ; his mother (I suppose on purpose to vex me) ordered Tommy to wade through the pond, which he refused, telling her he should be drowned, as it was too deep; orders were immediately given for Tommy to sound it, which he began preparing for, by taking a leather sucker and making it stick fast to a stone, tied about four feet of string to the end of a stick, and reached it as far as he was able, and he returned and told his mother it was as deep as a certain mark on the cord which he had made ; which, on measuring, was found to be three feet, one inch, and seven-eighths ; which, had he attempted, would have proved fatal to him. " I well knew the design of this burlesque, so I threw down my pipe with a ven- 260 BIAEY OF TIIE EEVOLUTION. [1776. rather suppose it ; but the fire became exceedingly severe ■when it was renewed again, and did amazing execution, after the battery liad been supposed to have been silenced. Tliis will not be believed when it is first reported in England. I can scarcely believe what I saw on that day ; a day to me one of the most distressing of my life. The navy, on this occasion, have behaved with their usual coolness and intrepidity. One would have imagined that no battery could have resisted their incessant fire.'" geanco, and secured a retreat, being fully sensible I could not, like the brave Sir Peter Parker, silence lier battery. As soon aa I came home last night, my enemy had the daring effrontery to present me with a print, neatly framed and glazed, called Troops fording a Brook ; and with an air of exultation, asked me whether the officer on the grenadier's shoulders was not General Clinton ? " — Middlesex Journal, September 7. ' Middlesex Journal, September 14. CHAPTER VII. Jtjxt 1. — Eteet moment that I reflect on our aifairs, the more I am convinced of the necessity of a formal declara- tion of Independence. Eeconciliation is thought Tjj„^„j,tg „^ of now by none but knaves, fools, and madmen ; ifdepondence. and as we cannot oifer terms of peace to Great Britian, until, as other nations have done before us, we agree to call ourselves by some name, I shall rejoice to hear the title of the United States of America, in order that we may be on a proper footing to negotiate a peace. Besides, the condition of those brave fellows who have fallen into the enemy's hands as prisoners, and the risk which every man runs, who bears arms either by land or sea in the American cause, makes a declaration of Lidependence abso- lutely necessary, because no proper cartel for an exchange of prisoners can take place while we remain dependants. It is some degree of comfort to a man, taken prisoner, that he belongs to some national power, is the subject of some state that will see after him. Oliver Cromwell Avould have sent a memorial as powerful as thunder to any king on earth, who dared to use prisoners in the manner which ours have been. What is it that we have done in this matter ? Nothing. We are subjects of Great Britain and must not do these things ! Shame on your cowardly souls that do them not ! You are not fit to govern ! Were Britain to make a conquest of America, I would for my own part choose rather to be conquered as an independent state than as an acknowledged rebel. Some foreign powers might interpose for us in the first case, but they cannot in the %62 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [17T6. latter, because the law of all nations is against us. Besides, the foreign European powers will not long be neutral, and unless we declare an independence, and send embassies to seek their friendship, Britain will be beforehand with us; for the moment that she finds she cannot make a conquest of America, by her own strength, she will endeavor to make an European afl'air of it. Upon the whole, we may be benefited by independence, but we cannot be hurt by it, and every man that is against it is a traitor.' July 4. — Tms day, " after much deliberation, the Congress has adopted Independency, for the following reasons : " When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have Declaration counected them with another, and to assume of Independence, amoug the powcrs of tlic earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the jDursuit of happiness. — That to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to eilect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that go\'ernments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accord- ingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, wliile evils are sufferable, than to right ■ " Kepublican," in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, Juno 29. 1776.] THE DECLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 263 themselves by abolishing tlie form to -vvbicli tliey are accus- tomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them imder absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw oif such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of govern- ment. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained, and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inesti- mable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with a manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise ; the state remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization 264 DIARY OF THE EEVOLTTnON. [1776. of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hitlier, and raising the conditions of new appropri- ations of lands. He has obstructed the administrations of justice, by refusing liis assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their sub- stance. lie has kept among ns, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to the civil power. . He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and iinacknowledged by our laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders Avhich they should commit on the inhabitants of these states. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. For imposing taxes on us without our consent. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences. For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbor- ing province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies. For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments. For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them- selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what- soever. 1TT6.] DEOLAEATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 265 He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has phmdered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and per- fidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally imworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the ex- ecutioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. Li every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of at- tempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable juris- diction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends. We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, 266 DIARY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1776. do, in tlie name, and by tlie authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly pnhlish and declare, that these UNITED COLONIES are, and of right ought to be, FEEE AND INDEPENDENT STATES ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and tliat all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved ; and that as Free and Independ- ent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.' July 5. — Tnis day, the Yirginia Convention resolved, that the following sentences in the morning and evening church rh,^ . i„ fi,„ service shall be omitted : — " O Lord, save the ciiurcS Service. Ijing, aud morcifuUy hear iis when we call upon thee."' That the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eigh- teenth sentences in the Litany, for the king's majesty, and the Poyal Family, &c., shall be omitted. That the two prayers for the king's majesty, and the Koyal Family, in the miorning and evening service, shall be omitted. That the prayers in the communion service, which acknowl- edge the authority of the king, and so much of the prayer for the church militant as declares the same authority, shall be omitted, and this alteration made in one of the above prayers in communion service : " Almighty and everlasting God, we are taught by thy holy word, that the hearts of all rulers are in thy governance, and that thou dost dispose and turn them as it seemeth best to thy goodly wisdom ; we humbly beseech thee to dispose and govern tlie hearts of the magistrates of this com- monwealth, that in all their thoughts, words, and works, they may eveiTnore seek thy honor and glory, and study to preserve thy ' Signed by order and in behalf of the Congress, John Hancock, President: Attest, Charles Thomson, Secretary.* * Penni.ylvania Journal, -July 10. 17T6.] VIEGINIA CHUEOH SEEVICE. 267 people committed to their charge in wealth, peace, and godli- ness. Grant this, O Merciful Father, for thy dear Son's sake, desus Christ, our Lord, Amen." That the following prayer shall be used instead of the prayer for the king's majesty, in the morning and evening service : " O, Lord, our heavenly Father, high and mighty. King of kings, Lord of lords, the only Kuler of the universe, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth, most heartily we beseech thee with thy favor to behold the magis- trates of this commonwealth, and to replenish them with the grace of thy Holy Spirit, that they may always incline to thy will, and walk in thy way ; endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts ; strengthen them, that they may vanquish and overcome all their enemies ; and finally, after this life, they may obtain everlasting joy and felicity, through Jesus Christ oiir Lord, Amen." In the twenty-sixth sentence of the Litany use these words : " That it may please thee to endue the magistrates of this commonwealth with grace, wisdom, and understanding." In the succeeding one, use these words : " That it may please thee to bless and keep them, giving them grace to execute justice and maintain truth." Let every other sentence of the Litany be retained, without any alteration, except the above sentences recited.' Maeeied, a short time since, in Mansiield, Connecticut, IVIr. Luke Flint, of "Windham, to Miss Mary Slate, daughter of Mr. Ezekiel Slate, — an agreeable and happy pair. "What de- serves the public notice, and may serve to encourage the man- ufacturers of this country, is, that the entertainment, though served up with good wine, and other spirituous liquors, was the production of their iields and fruit gardens, assisted alone by a neighboring grove of spontaneous maples. The bride and two of her sisters appeared in very genteel-like go^vns, and others of the family in handsome apparel, with sun- dry silk handkerchiefs, &c., entirely of their own manufacture.' ' New York Gazette, July 29. ' Connecticut Gazette, July 11 * 18. 268 DIAUT OF THE EEVOLtTTION. [1776. Titles are tlie offspring of monarcliical and arbitrary govern- ments. AVliile the object of the present war witli Great Britain was reconciliation., the titles of excellency, honor- able, &c., were submitted to by the people of America; but since the Declaration of Independence, the colo- nies have divorced monarchy forever, and become free, inde- pendent states. It becomes then necessary to adopt the simple language of free governments. The Eoman Senate in the height of its glory and happiness had no other title than Senatus populus que Jiomaniis, that is, the senate and people of Eome. Scipio was addressed by the name of Scipio, at the head of his army. Aristides was called Aristides, in the councils and public streets of Athens. Let us leave the titles of excellency and honorable to the abandoned servants of a tyrant king, — the King of England, while we satisfy ourselves with beholding our senators, governors, and generals rich in real excellence and honor.' Day before yesterday. Governor Franklin, of New Jersey, passed through Hartford, in Connecticut, on his way to Gov- ernor Trumbull, at Lebanon. Mr. Franklin is a William Franklin. i . . noted Tory, and ministerial tool, and has been ex- ceedingly busy in perplexing the cause of liberty, and in serving the designs of the British King and his minions. The people of the Jerseys, on account of his principles, connections, abilities, and address, viewed him as a mischievous and dan- gerous enemy in that province, and consequently thought it expedient to remove him, under a strong guard, to Connecticut. He is safely arrived, and will probably have leisure to recon- noitre his past life. lie is son to Doctor Benjamin Franklin,^ the genius of the day, and the great patron of American Liberty. If his excellency escapes the vengeance of the people, due to the ciioniiity of his crimes, his redemption will flow, not from his ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 13. William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey, was the natural son of Dr. Franklin. He was born in 1731 ; was appointed governor in 1763, and continued in office until he was sent to Connecticut. On his release he went to England, where he died on the l7th of November, 1813. 1776.] DECLARATION OF mDEPENDENCE. 269 personal merit, but from the high esteem and veneration which this country entertains for his honored father.' July S.^ — ^At twelve o'clock to-day, the Committees of Safety and Inspection of Philadelphia, went in procession to the State House, where the Declaration of the Independency of the United States of America was read to a very large number of the inhabitants of the city and county, and was received with general applause and heartfelt satisfaction. And, in the even- ing, our late king's coat-of-arms was brought from the hall in the State House, where the said king's courts Avere formerly held, and burned amidst the acclamations of a crowd of spectators.' The Declaration was received at Easton, in Pennsylvania, and proclaimed in the following order : — The Colonel and all the other field olHcers of the first battalion repaired to the court-house, the light infantry company marching there with their drums beating, fifes playing, and the standard, (the de- vice for which is the Thirteen United Colonies,) which was ordered to be displayed. After that the Declaration was read aloud to a great number of spectators, who gave their hearty assent with three loud huzzas, and cried out, " May God long preserve and unite the Peee and Independent States of America." ^ At Trenton, New Jersey, the Declaration was this day proclaimed, together with the new constitution of the colony, lately established, and the resolve of the Provincial Congress for continuing the administration of justice during the interim. The members of the Provincial Congress, the gentlemen of the committee, the officers and privates of the militia under arms, and a large concourse of the inhabitants, attended on this great and solemn occasion. The Declaration and other proceedings were received with loud acclamations. The people now are convinced of what we ought long since ' Constitutional Gazette, July 13. ° Constitutional Gazette, July 17. ^ PennsylTania Evening Post, July 11. 270 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. to hare known, that onr enemies have left us no middle way between perfect freedom and abject slavery. In tlie field, we trust, as well as in council, tlie inhabitants of New Jersey will be found ever ready to support the freedom and independence of America.' July 9. — ^Tras evening Nassau Hall, at Princeton, in New Jersey, was grandly illuminated, and Independency proclaim- ed under a triple volley of musketry, and a universal accla- mation for the prosperity of the United States. The ceremony was conducted with the greatest decorum." On the late alarm at Elizabethtown, when an immediate attack of the regulars was expected,' and every man, capable of bearing arms, was summoned to defend it, An Anecdote. ^ there were three or four young men (brothers) going out from one house, when an elderly lady, mother or grandmother to the young men, without betraying the least signs of timidity, witli a resolute calmness encouraged and assisted them to arm. "When they were ready to go, and just setting out, she addressed them thus : — ■ " My children, I have a few words to say to you ; you are going out in a just cause to fight for the rights and liberties of your country. You have my blessing and prayers, that God will protect and assist you. But if you fall ; his will be done. Let me bog of you, my children, that if you fall, it may be like men ; and that your wounds may not be in your back parts." * July 10. — ^Tms afternoon the Declaration of Independence was read at the head of each brigade of the Continental Army, Independence postcd at and in the vicinity of New York. It New York, was reccivcd everywhere with loud huzzas, and the utmost demonstrations of joy ; and to-night the equestrian statue ' Pennsylvania Journal, July IT. ' Extract of a letter from Princeton, in the Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 13. ' The regulars attempted an attack on the 3d of July. * Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 10. 1TY6.] INDEPENDENCE IN NEW YOEK. 271 of George III., whicli Tory pride and folly raised in the year 1Y70, lias, by the Sons of Freedom, been laid prostrate in the dirt — -the just desert of an ungrateful tyrant ! The lead where- with the monument was made is to be run into bullets, to assimilate with the brains of our infatuated adver- g^^^^^, ^^ George saries, who, to gain a pepper-corn, have lost an ^^^- ut upon Mr. Leiferts' refu they told Iiim he must then take up witli tlie continental price. The quantity taken was two boxes. Mvs. L s hoped that none of the relations would assist in the mob, but the persons she mentioned were the first in fact." August IT. — A gentleman who lately escaped from New York, and joined the army on Staten Island, says : — ■" Every means of defence has been concerted to secure the city and whole island of New York from an attack of the royal army. Should General Howe succeed in that enterprise, his antago- nist, Mr. Washington, has provided a magazine of pitch, tar, and combustibles, to burn the city before he shall retreat from his present station. Tlie numbers of his men are daily dimin- ishing ; they desert in large bodies, are sickly, filthy, divided, and unruly. Putrid disorders, tlie small-pox in particular, have carried ofl^ great numbers. Wlien I left the city there were six thousand in their hospitals, to which use they have devoted King's College. John Morin Scott is appointed Governor of ISTew York, and Samuel Tucker, a cordwainer of Trenton, is exalted to- that rank in New Jersey. Tlie persecution of the loyalists continues unremitted. Donald M'Lean, Theophilus liarden- brook, young Fueter, the silversmith, and Eem Eapelje, have been cruelly rode on rails, a practice most painful, dangerous, and, till now, peculiar to the humane rejsublicans of New England. Mr. John Eapelje, of Brooklyn, and Mr. James Coggeshal, have been seized on their way to join General Howe, with a quantity of sheep in their possession ; however, the latter afterwards escaped, and found means to carry a number of fat wethers to the army. Mr. John Foxcroft, postmaster-general, Mr. DasliAvood, ' Constitutional Gazette, August 26. 1776.] STATE OF AFFAERS. 289 Mr. Smitli Eamage, Messrs. Ilugli and Alexander Wallace, and Mr. Abraham Lott, the treasurer, are committed to gaol, having refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Congress ; in short, every one suspected of an hostile disposition to that body, are disarmed and conducted into a d — ^nable durance, Avhich was the case of the venerable chief justice Horsmanden, who, at eighty, was hurried into the country by a party of ruf- fians ; but he proved so troublesome on the journey, that they chose to leave him on the road, without performing the injunc- tions of their demagogues. Frequent have been the messages from General Howe to Mr. Washington, and Colonel Patterson has also been repeat- edly in conference with the latter ; but it seems that Mr. "Washington's ultimatum was, that he woidd hearken to no propositions from the British commissioners. The Phcenix and Kose men-of-war, have passed up the North River about twenty-four miles, where they were attacked by row galleys^ and floating batteries, all which they either burnt or sunk, with a vast number of men. It was a dangerous service, and to the honor of Captain Hyde Parker and Captain James Wallace, most intrepidly and efi'ectually performed. They are just returned, having expended all their ammunition. On my arrival in General Howe's camp, I found Mr. Cort- landt Skinner appointed colonel, and Mr. John Morris, late of the 47th regiment, lieutenant-colonel of a corps consisting of fifteen hundred loyal Americans, and Major Eogers, the famous partisan, in the last war, colonel of a corps of rangers. The Hessians arrived here on the 12th instant, full of health and ardor for immediate service. The guards, on their arrival, were ordered to land' and refresli tliemselves after a tedious voyage, but they desired to be led on directly to action, in re- sentment of the atrocious insults to their King and country. Their impatience was beyond expressing, when they were told of some indignities lately offered to the statue of their royal sovereign in New York. I find the whole British army is now increased to between twenty -four and twenty-five thousand men, and not raore than one hundred sick and disabled men among them. Vol. I.— 19 290 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [IT'76. Some people, lately arrived here from Pliiladelpliia, tell us that Mr. J. Dickinson is employed by the Congress, in digest- ing a code of laws for the United States of America. We are informed that Mr. John Alsop, one of the New York dele- gates, has escaped from the Congress, and is on Long Island, on his way to join General Howe. Dr. Peter Middleton, Mr. Theophilus Bache, Mr. Philip John Livingstone, sheriff of Duchess county, Mr. John "VYatts, jun., recorder of New York, Mr. Augustus Van Cortlandt, and Messrs. Robert and Samuel Anchmuty, are lately arrived in this island, having narrowly escaped from their pursuers. Lady Johnson is seized by order of General Schuyler, by way of reprisal for Sir John, her husband, who has taken an active and loyal part, at the head of his faithful Mohawks. Tliese have declared that, should the least injury be done to her, they would desolate and extirpate every person and prop- erty belonging to this same general. A person just escaped from New York informs us, that there is again a fresh hunt for the friends of government, who are called Tories, and that Mr. Augustus Van Llorne, Mr. Vincent Pearce Ashfield, Captain Haradd, Mr. John Eoome, jun., Mr. John Stone Fairholme, and Captain Turnbull, late of the Royal Americans, are made prisoners ; Captain Archibald Kennedy, of the royal navy, is confined in Morristown, and Governor Franklin, accompanied by that merry heart, David Mathews, Mayor of New York, now under sentence of death for eminent proofs of loyalty to his King and the old constitution, are removed into Connecti- cut government for the better security of their persons. Early this morning a 'petiaugre, with sixteen of the provincial sol- diers, completely anned, arrived here. They found means to desert to us, and have each man received £3 currency for their firelocks ; the general has disposed of them on board the men- of-war, to act as marines. Five guineas a man is given for re- cruits, who daily enter in great numbers. We are told by persons escaped from Jersey, that Lord Stirling, who com- manded and was reconnoitring at Amboy, was killed by a cannon ball from our batteries, and that he was buried at that place. Colonel Guy Johnson is arrived here from England. 1''"'6.] GENEEAL LEe's UBIQUITY. 291 On the passage in a Halifax packet, a privateer engaged her ; bnt after Captain Boulderson had gallantly defended his ship three glasses, the adventurer ended the contest by a retreat. On this occasion Dr. Constable received a wound, but is likely to do well. The episcopal churches in ISTew York are all shut up, the prayer books burned, and the ministers scattei'ed abroad in this and neighboring provinces. It is now the Puritan's high holiday season, and they enjoy it with rapture all over the continent. Tlieir behavior exactly assimilates the manners of the king-killing tribe during the English grand rebellion, but perhaps they may soon find an alteration in their spirits, from the execution of a plan for a general attack of the island of ITew York, &c., for which prep- arations are now making. The whole army is on ship board ; General Clinton with the guards, Highlanders, and some other troops, is to land and attack the enemy's posts on Long Island. Lord Cornwallis is on the point of departure, with a consider- able detachment of troops, round Long Island, and to land at' ISTew Eochelle, near "West Chester ; and General Howe, with the main body of the army, to proceed up the North Eiver, and make a descent into "West Chester county, as nearly oppo- site as possible to the place where Lord Cornwallis may secure a landing. Should General Howe succeed in this arrange- ment, it will be difficult for Mr. "Washington to move from the island of New York, so that a general engagement may be expected. We fancy that several days will elapse before the attack is made, to give time for Lord Cornwallis to get into the Sound, before General Howe attempts his landing in "West Chester county. It is said that Mr. 'Washington's magazines are all in Cortlandt's Manor, and to get possession of them must surely be an object of General Howe's serious attention, and an ad- ditional inducement to attempt a landing in the rear of the provincial forces.' A coEEESPONDENT wishcs some able hand would undertake " Extract of a letter, dated Staten Island ; TIpcott, Iv. 883. 292 TIT A BY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [1776. to describe General Lee's marcli from Boston to Charleston, and would point out the remarkable circumstances of his meet- ing General Clinton at New York the day he arrived there ; of his finding him in Hampton Eoad when he came to Vir- ,, , einia : of Clinton's leavinsr Cape Fear iust after Genernl Lee so? o i. ^o Ubiquity. ]^jg arrival in North Carolina ; and of his unlucky meeting at Fort Sullivan. The world must have a high opinion of General Lee's activity and vigilance, when they read of his march of more than eleven hundred miles, and of the circum- stances attending it throughout ; and Clinton himself must look on General Lee as his evil genius, thus haunting him along a coast of such vast extent, and meeting him at last in Philippi." So early as the reign of Charles the Sixth, of France, (the time of our Henry the Fourth,) the French King (Charles) gave a masquerade, in which himself and five Tar and Feathers. ° . ,. . , , . . . com'tiers disguised tlieir persons to imitate satyrs, by covering their naked bodies with close linen habits, which habits were then to be besmeared with rosin, on which down was stuck all over. One of the company, in a frolic, touched one of these satyrs with a lighted torch, as they were dancing in a ring ; the consequence was, all the six masques or satyrs were enveloped in flames instantaneously. Four of the six died immediately, and the King never recovered the fright and disorder occasioned by the accident."/ Attgust 20. — Last Friday two fire-ships, commanded by Captahis Fosdyke and Thomas, gentlemen volunteers' of rank Battle on the "^ ^'^ amiy of the United States, proceeded up Hudson Eiver. ^|jq jSTorth Eivcr with intent to give a suitable warming to those piratical gentry that have infested it since the 12th of July last. The night was dark and favorable to the design, and the enemy did not perceive our vessels till they were near aboard of them. Captain Fosdyke grappled the Phoenix, but the fire ' Pennsylrania Eyening Post, September 3. ' Middlesex Journal, August 20, 1776.] BATTLE ON THE HUDSON EIVBE. 293 not communicating so soon as was expected, slie disentangled ■ herself in about twenty minutes, after sustaining considerable damage in her rigging. Captain Thomas fell on board one of the tenders, which was soon consumed ; and we are truly sorry to inform the public this intrepid commander is yet. missing. Tliis gallant enterprise struck so great a panic upon the enemy, that they thought it prudent to quit their stations ; and yester- day, taking advantage of a fresh wind at S. E., attended with considerable rain, they run the gauntlet, through a great num- ber of well-directed shots from our batteries in and near New York, which no doubt must have damaged them much. Our galleys played smartly, and followed the ships a con- siderable distance into the bay. The enemy's fire seemed to be mostly directed tipon the city, as the tops of the houses were crowded with spectators ; but very little damage was done to the buildings, nor any lives lost upon the occasion.' August 22. — ^Tnis night we have reason to expect the grand attack from our barbarian enemies ; the reasons why, follow : The night before last, a lad went over to Staten ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ Island, supped there with a friend, and got safe ^°* Expected. back again undiscovered. Soon after he went to General "Washington, and upon good authority reported, that the English army, amounting to fifteen or twenty thousand, had embarked and were in readiness for an engagement ; that seven ships of the line, and a number of other vessels of war, were to surround this city and cover their landing ; that the Hessians, being fifteen thousand, were to remain on the island and attack Perth Amboy, Elizabethtown Point, and Bergen, while the main body were doing their best at ISTew York ; that the Highlanders expected America was already conquered, and that they were only to come over and settle on our lands, for which reason they had brought their churns, ploughs, &c. ; being deceived, they had refused fighting, upon which account General Howe had shot one, hung five or six, and flogged many. Last evening, in a violent thunder storm, Mr. ■ (a veiy ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 20. ^94: J)IAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1Y7G. intelligent person) ventured over. lie brings ninch the same account as the above lad, witli tins addition : — tliat all tlie horses on the island -were by Howe's orders killed, barrelled up, and put on board — the wretches thinking they could get no landing at I^ew York, and of consequence be soon out of provision ; that the Tories were used cruelly, and with the High- landers Avere compelled to go on board the ships to fight in the character of common soldiers against us. Tlie British army are prodigiously incensed against the Tories, and curse them as the instruments of the war now raging. Mr. further in- forms, that last night the fleet was to come up, but the thun- der storm prevented. The truth of this appears, from the cir- cumstance of about three thousand red coats landing at ten o'clock this morning on Long Island, where by this time it is supposed our people are hard at it. There is an abundance of smoke to-day on Long Island, our folks having set fire to stacks of hay, &c., to prevent the enemy's being benefited in case they get any advantage against us. All the troops in New York are in high spirits, and have been under arms most of the day, as the fleet have been in motion, and are now, as is generally thought, only waiting for a change of tide. Forty- eight hours or less, will determine it as to New York, one way or the other. Tlie thunder storm of last evening was one of the most dreadful we ever witnessed ; it lasted from seven to ten o'clock. Several claps struck in and about New York. Many houses were damaged, and several lives lost. Three ofiicers, a cap- tain and two lieutenants, belonging to Colonel M'Dougal's regiment, were struck instantly dead. Tlie points of their swords, for several inches, were melted, with a few silver dol- lars they had in their pockets ; they (the persons) were seem- ingly roasted. A dog in the same tent was also killed, and a soldier near it struck blind, deaf, and dumb. One in the main street was killed, as likewise ten on Long Island. Two oj' three were much burnt, and greatly hurt. "When God speaks, who can but fear ? ' ' rennsylvania Journal, August 28. 1T76.] BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 295 August 26. — ^Tuesday last, a number of ships ■with troops on hoard, sailed from Staten Island out of the ISTarrows ; next day they were followed by many more, and about Biitisii Troops ten o'clock Thursday morning, about ten thousand island. ° men landed between ISTew Utrecht and Gravesend, on Lone: Island. Friday, a party of them came and took possession of Flatbush, which immediately brought on a very hot fire from the Americans, who are advantageously posted in the woods, and on every eminence round that place. The advanced party of the regulars arc encamped a little to the north-west of Flatbush church, and have a battery somewhat to the westward of Mr. Jeremiah Vanderbilts, from whence they continue to fire briskly on our people, who often approach and discharge their rifles within two hundred yards of their works. We have had only four men wounded since the enemy landed, biit we were certain many of them fell ; and a Plessian was killed last Friday. Several dollars were found in his pocket, and he had an excellent rifle. Many of the regulars are in rifle dresses.' '-'&'' August 30. — About twelve o'clock last Monday night, (26th,) we were alarmed by the return of some of our scout- ing parties, who advised us that the English were battle of Lon<' in motion, and coming iip the island, with several ^*^^'"'- field-pieces. It was generally thought not to be the main body, but only a detachment, with a view to possess them- selves of some advantageous heights. On which near three thousand men were ordered out, consisting chiefiy of the Penn- sylvania and Maryland troops, to .attack them on their march. Aboiit sunrise the next morning, (27th,) Ave came up with a very large body of them. Tlie Delaware and Maryland battalions made one party. Colonel Atlee with his battalion, a little before us, had taken post in an orchard and behind a barn ; and, on the approach of the enemy, he gave them a very severe fire, which he brave- ly kept up for a considerable time, until they were near sur- ' Freeman's Journal, September 1. 296 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. rounding him, -ffhen lie retreated to tlie woods. Tlie enemy then advanced to ns, upon which Lord Stirling, who com- manded, drew us up in a line, and offered them battle in the true English taste. The British army then advanced within about three hundred yards of us, and began a very heavy fire from their cannon and mortars, for both the balls and shells flew very fast, now and then taking off a head. Our men stood it amazingly Avell — not even one of them showed a disposition to shrink. Our orders were not to fire until the enemy came within fifty yards of us ; but when they perceived we stood their fire so coolly and resolutely, they declined coming any nearer, al- though treble our number. In this situation we stood from sunrise till tvv-elre o'clock, the enemy firing upon us the chief part of the time, when the main body of their army, by a route we never dreamed of, had entirely surrounded us and drove within the lines, or scattered in the woods all our men except the Delaware and Mai-yland battalions, who were stand- ing at bay witli double their number. Thus situated, we were ordered to attempt a retreat, by fighting our way through the enenry, who had posted themselves, and nearly filled every field and road between us and our lines. "We had not retreated a quarter of a mile before we were fired upon by an advanced part of the enemy, and those upon our rear were playing upon us with their artillery. Our men fought with more than Eo- man virtue, and would have stood until they were shot down to a man. "VVe forced the advanced party, which first attacked us, to give way, through which opening we got a passage down to the side of a marsh, seldom before waded over, which we passed, and then swam a narrow river, all the time exposed to the fire of the enemy. The companies commanded by Captains Eamsey and Scott were in the front, and sustained the first fire of the enemy, when hardly a man fell. Tlie whole of the right wing of our battalion, thinking it impossible to march through the marsh, attempted to force their way through the woods, where they were almost to a man killed or taken. The Maryland battalion has lost two hundred and fifty-nine men, amongst/whom are twelve officers. Cap- 1776.] BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 297 tains Veazey and Bowey, the first certainly killed ; Lieuten- ants Butler, SteiTct, Dent, Courley, Muse, Prawl, Ensigns Coats and Fernandes ; wlio of them are killed or who prison- ers, is yet uncertain. Many of the officers lost their swords and gans. "We have since entirely abandoned Long Island, bringing oif all our military stores.' Generals Sullivan and Stifling are both prisoners ; Colonels Atlee,' Miles, and Piper, are also taken. Tliere are about a thousand men missing in all ; Ave took a few prisoners. By a lieutenant we took, we understand they had aboiit twenty-three thousand men on the island that morning. Most of our gen- erals Avere on a high hill in our lines, viewing us with glasses. "When we began our retreat, they covld see the enemy we had . to pass through, though we could not. Many of them thought we would surrender in a body, without firing. "When we be- gan the attack. General Washington wrung his hands, and cried oiit, " Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose." Major Guest commanded the Maryland battalion, the colonel and lieutenant-colonel being both at York ; Captains Adams and Lucas were sick. The major. Captain Kamsey, and Lieutenant Plunket, were foremost, and within forty yards of the enemy's muzzles, when they were fired upon by the en- emy, who were chiefly under cover of an orchard, save a few ' General "Washington called a council, and it was determined to retreat early in the evening of the 29th, but the strong tide and a furious wind from the east prevented it. About half-past eleven, however, the wind changed to the southerly, and the boats passed and repassed with perfect safety. In our suspense, we all prayed for relief, and surely the Lord was with us, for we were not only accom- modated with a changing of the wind, but a fog overhung our army and con- cealed our redoubts, until the last soldier landed in New York. We all feel sore, but swear we'll do better in our next trial, which we are anxiously expecting.— Letter from Esekiel Cornell* '' Samuel John Atlee commanded a Pennsylvania company in the French war. After his capture at Long Island, he remained a long period with the British, and soon after his release was appointed a commissioner to treat with the Indians. In 1780 he was elected to Congress, and was a member of the committee appomted to investigate the case of the mutiny of the I'eimsylvania troops in 1731. He died at Philadelphia in November, 1786. * Lieutenant-Colonel Corneil, of Scitoate, in Massachusetts. Ho commanded tho regiment in wiich Captain Stephen Olney served.— &6 Mrs. Williarm's Life of Olney. 298 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1116. that showed themselves and pretended to give up, clubbing their firelocks until Ave came Avithin that distance, when they immediately presented and blazed in our faces. Tliey entirely overshot us, and killed some men away in the rear.' I had the satisfaction of dropping one of them the first fire I made ; I was so near that I could not miss. I discharged my rifle seven times that day as deliberately as ever I did at a mark, and with as little perturbation." August 31. — A few days ago, a most infamous letter from ' Another account of this action is given as follows : — The great, the import- ant day, big with the fate of America and liberty, seems to draw near. The British troops began to land on Long Island last Thursday, nearly their whole force, supposed to be more than twenty thousand British and foreign troops. They marched through tlio small town of Utrecht, on their way to Flatbush, another town about fire miles from New York, near which they encamped ; but were much harassed by our riflemen. Scouting parties were sent from our army to the adjacent woods, but were rather scanty in their numbers, considering the extent of ground they had to guard. The British forces, in three divisions, taking three different roads, and the advantage of the night, almost surrounded the whole of our out parties, who, though encircled with more than treble their numbers, bravely fought their way through the enemy, killing great numbers of them, and brought off some prisoners. The New York first battalion behaved with great bravery. Lord Stirling's brigade sustained the hottest of the enemy's fire ; it consisted of Colonel Miles's two battalions. Colonel Alice's, Colonel Smallwood's, and Colonel Hatch's regiments ; they were all surrounded by the enemy, and had to fight their way through the blaze of their fire — they fought and fell like Romans! Lieutenant-Colonel Parry, of the Pennsylvania musketry, was shot through the head as he was giving orders to, and animating his men. The major part of Colonel Atlee's and Colonel Piper's regiments are if issing. Doctor Davis and his mate were both taken prisoners aa they were dressing a wounded person in the woods. Colonel Miles is missing, (a truly amiable character,) and supposed to be slain. General Parsons, with seven men, came in yesterday morning much fa- tigued, being for ten hours in the utmost danger of falling into the enemy's hands. Our killed, wounded, and missing, are imagined to be about one thousand; but for our encouragement the missing are hourly coming in. Our outguards have retreated to the main body of the army within the lines. The British army have two encampments about a mile from our lines, and by their mancouvrcs 'tis plain they mean to attack us by surprise, and storm our intrenchments. Our men show the greatest bravery, and wish them to come to action. The firing continued yes- terday all the day. — Pennsylvania Journal, September H. '' Extract of a letter from New York, September 1, in the Freeman's Journal, September 28. 'i-'T^^Q-l ZEDWITZ'S LETTER. 299 Colonel Zedwitz to Tryon, the late governor of New York, was intercepted and fell into our hands.' After presenting liis compliments in a formal manner to Lord TT Ti • ,1 ,, ni.T,, Zedwitz's Letter. Howe, and beggmg the contents of his letter to be explained to him, Zedwitz proceeds to profess a con- sciousness that the world will censm-e him for his treachery in corresponding with the enemy of those in whose service he had engaged ; but he apologizes for himself by appealing to the governor as a person who knew he had been forced to accept his commission for fear of ruin to himself and family ; and as he had engaged through compulsion {a most villanotis lie, for he solicited for it) from a rebellious mob, he infers that he can be under no obligation to conform to his engagements. Besides this, he observes that previous to his entrance in the conti- nental army, he took the governor's advice on the occasion, and promised to do all he could in his new capacity, for his Majesty's service. He next declares that ever since his return from Canada, he had been laying plans for the performance of his promise, and was in a fair way of domg something, when Forbes and the mayor were detected in their conspiracy,^ which obliged him to lay aside his schemes ; as Forbes had indiscreetly men- tioned to the court on his trial a message from Governor Tryon to him, to wit : " that he would make his fortune if he would execute a certain commission." This, he says, rendered him suspected, and for the present frustrated his designs. How- ever, as an instance that he was retiirning into favor, he in- forms the governor that General Washington had lately em- ployed him to translate a paper into high German, which was to be printed and distributed among the Hessian troops. Fie advises to keep a good look-out. In his next paragraph, he invents this abominable false- hood, that he had lately seen four villains at General W.'s house, with fourteen bottles of a mixture as black as inlc, with which they were to poison the watering place on Staten Island, and were to receive a recompense of one thousand pounds each from the general. . ' Cliffs Diary. = See page 255, ante. 300 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. He then informs, that a person always near the general, who was a friend to the King, though an interested one, had offered to furnish him with weekly returns of the strength and detail of the army till December, for the sum of four thou- sand pounds sterling, to be paid beforehand in hard gold ; that he had proposed a reward of two thousand pounds sterling, M'hich was agreed to, and he therefore desires (if the plan be agreeable) that the money might be immediately conveyed to him. He concluded with informing them that he shortly ex- pected a full colonel's commission, with the command of the three forts up the North Hiver. The wickedness of this despicable man was discovered by the person whom he engaged to convey his letter. He endeav- ored to debauch one Steen, who, being a German, in but in- different circumstances, and unemj)loyed in our service, he im- agined would be a proper instrument for his purpose. But Steen perceiving his intention, and being an honest man and a friend to the country, only amused him with a seeming com- pliance till he got his letter into his hands, and then, without delay, had it laid before the general. Zedwitz, on his trial, acknowledged the letter to be his own, but pleaded that it was intended merely as a trick upon the enemy, to extract frojn them two thousand pounds sterling, in lieu of certain expenses he had put himself to in raising a regi- ment in Germany, at the request of the Marquis of Granby, for which he liad never been reimbursed. The verdict of the court-martial is not yet known, but 'tis sujjposed he will suffer according to the merit of his crime.' September 3. — General Howe gives the following account of the late action on Long Island : — On the twenty-second Battle of 0^ ■'^^t month, in the morning, the British, with Lout' Island. Colouel Douop's corps of Cliasseurs and Hessian gi-enadiers, disembarked near Utrecht on Long Island, without opposition, the whole being landed with forty pieces of can- non, in two hours and a half, under the direction of Oommo- ' Pennsylvania Journal, September 4. ITYG.] BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 301 dore Hotliam, Lieutenant-General Clinton commanding tlie first division of the troops. Tlie enemy liad only small parties upon the coast, wlio, upon tlie approach of the boats, retired to the woody heights commanding a principal pass on the road from Flatbush to their worlvs at Brooklyn. Lord Cornwallis was immediately detached to Flatbush with the reserve, two battalions of light infantry, and Colonel Donop's corps, with six field-pieces, hav- ing orders not to risk an attack upon the pass, if he should find it occujjied ; which proving to be the case, his lordship took post in the village, and the army extended from the ferry at the Narrows, through Utrecht and Gravesend, to the village of Flatland. On the twenty-fifth, Lieutenant-General de Heister, with two brigades of Hessians from Staten Island, joined the amiy, leaving one brigade of his troops, a detachment of the 14th regiment from Yirginia, some convalescents and recruits, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple, for the secu- rity of that island. On the twenty-sixth, Lieutenant-General de Heister took post at Flatbush, and in the evening Lord Cornwallis, with the British, drew off to Flatland. About nine o'clock, the same night, the van of the army, commanded by Lieutenant- General Clinton, consisting of light dragoons and brigade of light infantry, the reserve under the command of Lord Corn- wallis, excepting the 42d regiment, which was posted to the left of the Hessians, the first brigade, and the Tlst regiment, with fourteen field-pieces, began to move from Flatland across the country through the new lots, to seize a pass in the heights, extending from east to west along the middle of the island, and about three miles from Bedford, on the road to Jamaica, in order to turn the enemy's left, posted at Flat- bush. General Clinton being arrived within half a mile of the pass, about two hours before daybreak, halted and settled his dispositions for the attack. One of his patrols, falling in with a patrol of the enemy's officers, took them, and the general learning from their information that the rebels had 302 DIAEY OF THE EEVOL-DTION. [1776. not occiix)ied the pass, detached a battalion of light infantry to secure it, and, advancing with his corps, npon the first appearance of day, possessed himself of the heights, with such a disposition as must have insured success, had he found the enemy in force to oppose him. The main body of the army, consisting of the guards, 2d, 3d, and 6th brigades, with ten field-pieces, led by Lord Percy, marched soon after General Clinton, and halted an hour before day in his rear. This column (the country not admitting of two columns of march) was followed by the 49tli regiment, with four medimn twelve-pounders, and the baggage closed the rear with a separate guard. As soon as these corps had passed the heights, they halted for the soldiers to take a little refreshment, after which the march was continued, and about half an hour past eight o'clock, having got to Bedford, in the rear of the enemy's left, the attack was commenced by the light infantry and light dragoons upon large bodies of the rebels having cannon, who were quitting the wood heights before mentioned, to return to their lines, upon discovering the march of the army. Instead of which, they were driven back, and the army still moving on to gain the enemy's rear, the grenadiers and 32d regiment being in front of the column, soon approached within musket-shot of the enemy's lines at Brooklyn, from whence these battalions, without regarding the fire of cannon and small arms upon them, pursued numbers of the rebels that were retiring from the heights so close to their principal redoubt, and with such eagerness to attack it by storm, that it required repeated orders to prevail upon them to desist from the attempt. Had they been permitted to go on, it is my opinion they would have carried the redoubt ; but as it was apparent the lines must have been ours at a very cheap rate, by regular approaches, I would not risk the loss that might have been sustained in the assault, and ordered them back to a hollow way, in the front of the works, out of the reach of musketry. Lieutenant-General de Heister began soon after daybreak to cannonade the enemy in his front, and, upon the approach 1T76.] BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 303 of our riglit, ordered Colonel Donop's coi-ps to advance to the attack of the hill, following himself at the head of the brigades. The light infantry, about that time, having been reinforced by the light company, the grenadier company, and two other companies of the guards, who joined them with the greatest activity and spirit, had taken three pieces of cannon, and were warmly engaged with very superior numbers in the woods, when, on the Hessians advancing, the enemy gave way, and was entirely routed in that qiiarter. On the left, Major-General Grant, having the fourth and sixth brigades, the 42d regiment, and two companies of the "New York Provincials, raised by Governor Tryon in the spring, advanced along the coast with ten pieces of cannon, to divert the enemy's attention from their left. About midnight, he fell in with their advanced parties, and at daybreak with a large corps, having cannon and advantageously posted, with Avhom there was skirmishing, and a cannonade for some hours, until by the firing at Brooklyn, the rebels, suspecting their retreat would be cut oif, made a movement to their right, in order to secure it across a swamp and creek, that covered the right of their works ; but being met in their way by a party of 2d grenadiers, who were soon after supported by the Ylst regiment, and General Grant's left coming up, they suffered considerably. Numbers of them, however, did get into the morass, where many were suffocated or drowned. The force of the enemy detached from the lines where General Putman commanded, Avas not less, from the best accounts I have had, than ten thousand men, who were under the orders of Major-General Sullivan, Brigadier-Generals Lord Stirling and WoodhuU. Their loss is computed to be about thirty-three hundred killed, womided, prisoners, and drowned, with five field-pieces and one howitzer taken. On the part of the King's troops, five oflicers, and fifty-six non-commissioned ofiicers and rank and file are killed ; twelve oflicers, and two hundred and forty-five non-commissioned officers and rank and file are wounded ; one officer and twenty grenadiers of the marines taken, by mistaking the enemy for the Hessians. 304 DIAEY OF THE liEVOLUTION. [1776. Tlie Hessians had two privates killed, tliree officers, and twenty-three rank and file wounded. The wounds arc in general very slight. Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton is shot through the body, biTt there are the greatest hopes of his recovery. The behavior of both officers and soldiers, British and Hessians, was highly to their honor. More determined courage and steadiness in troops have never been experienced, or a greater ardor to distinguish themselves, as all those who had opportunity amply evinced by their actions. In the evening of the 27th, the army encamped in front of the enemy's worlcs. On the 28th, at night, broke ground six hundred yards distant from a redoubt upon their left, and on the 29th, at night, the rebels evacuated their intrenchments, and Hed Hook, with the utmost silence, and quitted Governor's Island the following evening, leaving their cannon and a cpantity of stores, in all their works. At daybreak on the 30th, their flight was discovered ; the pickets of the line took possession, and those most advanced reached the shore opposite to N^ew York, as their rear guard was going over, and fired some shot among them. Tlie enemy is still in possession of the town and island of ISTew York, in force, and making demonstration to oppose us in their works on both sides of King's Bridge. The inhabitants of Long Island, many of whom had been forced into rebellion, have all submitted, and are ready to take the oaths of allegiance.' September 4. — "VVe hear that the main body of our enemy's army are now encamped near Ilellgate ; to which jjlace they have transported a number of boats over land; NewToik. ,.^. 11. 1 1,1 and it IS 'supposed they intend to cross and land a little above their encampment, and attack our army near King's Bridge, where we are making great preparations to receive them. General Sullivan and Lord Stirling, who were both miss- ' Letter from General Howe to Lord George Germaine ; Upcott, iv. 401. 1''6.] LONG ISLAND SPEECH. 305 ing after tlie battle of the 27th iilt., are both alive and well ; the former, on his parole, having obtained leave to go to Con- gress last Saturday, passed 'New York on his waj to Pliiladel- phia. It is said his business is to obtain an exchange of him- self and Lord Stirling, for General Prescott, a prisoner in Pennsylvania, and General McDonald, a prisoner in ISTorth Carolina. Since our troops have evacuated Long Island, the Tories and regulars treat the friends of their country with great se- verity and cruelty. Colonel Woodhull, late President of the New York Congress, for refusing to give up his side arms, was wounded on the head with a cutlass, and had a bayonet thrust through his arm. By some people who left Huntingdon last Monday, we hear that the inhabitants of Suffolk county were to give up their arms yesterday. Yesterday sixty-four women landed at Milford from Long Island, and we hear numbers are coming oif daily to the con- tinent. Colonel Zedwitz has had his trial, and has been acquitted by a casting vote. He is yet held a prisoner. A letter from New York mentions that when the Tories on Long Island went to congratulate General Howe on his suc- cess in driving the rebels from thence, he replied they ought rather to condole him on the loss of eighteen hundred brave men, and three generals.' Septembee 6. — A MEETING of a large body of the inhabi- tants of Long Island, New York, was held, at which the fol- lowing speech Avas delivered by an American re- j^^^„ jg,^,^^ cruiting officer in the Provincials, now raising speecii. for his Majesty's service, by order of his Excellency General Howe : — Gentlemen, Feiends, and Counteymen : — Being appointed by his Excellency General Howe to raise a corps of Provin- cials for his Majesty's service, I readily engage in the attempt ' Freeman's Journal, September 14 and 28. Vol I.— 20 306 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. from principle, and in consequence of the fullest conviction that there are yet very many among us who still retain the most mishaken loyalty to our gracious sovereign, and zealous attachment to the blessings of the British constitution ; -who have long been anxioiis to vipe away from our country the re- proach of a supposed universal revolt and disaffection of the Americans ; and who are prompted as well by inclination, as by a sense of duty, to embrace the earliest opportunity of tes- tifying by their conduct a continuance of their allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third, and a willing acknowledg- ment of the necessaiy and constitutional supremacy of the Brit- ish legislature over the whole empire. It is irksome to censure any collective bodies of our coun- trymen — ^we wish their conduct had been less culpable. I am confident we all hope that the sword of justice may be directed by the hand of compassion — that the guilty may be reclaimed, and that the deluded may be received with tenderness and mercy. But, gentlemen, now is the time to exert our endeav- ors if we wish to rescue ourselves from the evils of Bepublican tyranny, or our country from ruin. The misrule and persecutions of committees, conventions, and Congresses are no longer to be endured ; they have become insupportable — they are too enor- mous for description. Tliere are none of us but what have al- ready either seen or felt the cruelty and oppression of their Republican despotism. Without effecting one salutary pur- pose, those self-created bodies have violated all the sacred ties of civil society, prostrated all law and government, and ar- bitrarily usurped an absolute control over the natural rights, the reason, and the consciences of their fellow-subjects. In- stead of supporting constitutional liberty, and redressing pub- lic grievances, the special purposes of their original associa- tions, they have denied tlieir fellow-citizens the greatest and most valuable of all possible privileges : those of personal lib- erty, and freedom of speech. Instead of endeavoring, by dutiful representations in a constitutional method, for a recon- ciliation with the parent state, and thereby restoring to us the innumerable benefits and advantages of the former happy union between Great Britain and the colonies, they have most 1776.] LONG ISLAND SPEECH. 307 imjustiiiably and perversely erected the standard of independ- ency. This is not all. They have increased and mnltiphed the distresses of poverty and want among our poor. They have, moreover, deliberately involved their country in all the turbulence of faction, in all the evils of anarchy and licen- tiousness ; and to complete the transcendent enormity of their crimes .against the interest and prosperity of America, as well as the state to which we are united by the ties of nature, and bound by every civil, moral, and political obligation, they have disregarded the liberal and benevolent declaration of his Majesty's commissioners of peace, and with the most obdurate and unfeeling dispositions for the distresses of their country- men, obstinately and wickedly jjrecipitated the whole British continent of America into all the guilt of rebellion, and all the horrors and calamities of a civil war. In a few words, gentle- men, they have deluded the populace, they have betrayed their trust, they have foi-feited the confidence of the public, they have ruined our country. Isot to oppose them and their measures, were criminal. ISTot to join and assist the Eng's forces at this time would be at once unwise, unmanly, and ungrateful. And, gentlemen and countrymen, permit me to add, that the repeated assurances which have been given by the friends of government and good order, of their readiness to enter into his Majesty's service, leave me no room to doubt of the most immediate and honorable success. Your loyalty to your King, your duty to your country, your regard for your wives and children, the cause of 'S'iolated justice and of injured majesty, all call aloud for your strenuous aid and united en- deavors in assisting the royal army and navy in re-establishing the authority of his Majesty's government in the colonies, and with it a return to America of those happier days we all have seen, when the voice of peace and plenty was heard in our land, and we experienced, imder the protection and benignity of the British State, the tranquil enjoyment of such constitu- tional and established liberties and privileges as were equal to our wishes, and known only to British subjects.' ' Gaine's Mercury, October 14. 308 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. September 7. — Since our victory over Mr. Washington and liis dirty pack of Xew England long-faces, -we have received several challenges from the rebel camp, to fight man to inan. Mr. Washington, vho is one of the most capable men in the rebel army, don't seem to knov that he might send his mes- sages in by a flag, and therefore ve receive most of them on the Avind." The following letter to Lord Viscount Howe, commander- in-chief of his Britannic Majesty's forces in JSTorth America, is Letter to published in the paper of to-day:' — My Lord: Lord Howe. J ^^^^ ^^i^^ there is great exultation among the English and mercenary troops under your lordship's command, on account of tlie late victory they obtained with an army of ten thousand men, (having a large train of artillery and many light horse to assist them in the work,) over three thousand Americans, having neither artillery nor horse to oppose their enemies with. Your army was commanded by a great many generals, colonels, &c., which, by superior cunning or general- ship, had inclosed this handful of Americans, in full confi- dence of taking captive all that they spared alive ; but the courage of these men baffled your hopes, who after laying great numbers of their enemies dead, that opposed their re- treat, more than two-thirds reached their own lines in safety ; therefore, we think you have no cause to exult. My Lord, I assure you the Americans are not in the least dispirited at this unequal defeat; but, on the contrary, are much exasperated that you should act so cowardly in attack- ing three thousand men badly provided,- with at least ten thou- sand of your veteran English troops, accompanied by thou- sands of orang-outang murdering brutes. The Americans wish for an opportunity to fight the invaders of their once happy land, on an equal footing, and let the fate of America rest on the issue of this conflict. The mode we would propose is as follows, and which we ' MS. letter from John Hawk. ' Signed " Fairbattle," in the Pennsylvania Evetiing Post, September 1. 1T76.] THE AEMIES AT NEW TOEK. 309 are anxious for your lordship to adopt ; and, it being equitable, and your lordship being famed for generosity of sentiment, we have no doubt of succeeding to your wish. Let your lord- ship select ten thousand of your best troops and officers, with your lordship at their head ; draw them up on the extensive plains of Long Island, where you will have every opportunity of displaying your great abilities. Arrange them in whatever manner you please ; then let an equal number of Americans form themselves in battalia, and let each army be provided in all respects equal, with trains of artillery, and all other offen- sive weapons ; then, on a given signal, begin the attack, and leave the issue to the God of armies. This is what the Amer- icans have requested me to propose to Lord Howe ; and the sooner he agrees to the proposal the better. September 9. — Since the retreat of our army from Long Island, Mie British have extended themselves a considerable length on the shore bordering the Sotind, and on Armies Tuesday a large number of them landed on Black- "'^^f^^^ ^ork. well's Island ; but the shot from our batteries soon made them recross the river. On Wednesday, a ship from the fleet, sup- posed to be a frigate, passed between Governor's Island and Red Hook, and that evening reached a position in the Sound abreast of the island the enemy had been driven from ; when, under cover of her guns, they, the next day, again came over to it in large bodies. This brought on a brisk cannonade for near- ly two hours, in which the ship sustained so great a damage in her hull, as obliged her to move close in with the Long Island shore, for shelter from' our shot and bombs. At the same time of attack, a iiring also began from the enemy's batteries on Long Island, opposite New York, which was returned witli such spirit by our people, in their fortresses at and about the ship yards, that they have given us little or no annoyance since, from that quarter. Several men-of-war now lie within gun-shot of our main battery, and the greatest part of the fleet is stationed behind Governor's Island, though they have lately had very favorable winds to come up to New York ; which gives us reason to 310 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. tlunk they do not mean to attack it by water, until tliey know tlie snccess of tlieir forces in attempting to land on York island. Last Thnrsday, a barge was seen in tke East River, sound- ing tke cliannel, where it is obstructed by scuttled vessels ; but she soon made off, in consequence, it is supposed, of obser^-- ing our people at the main fort, preparing to give her a suitable salutation.' Septembee 1G. — Yestekday morning, aljout eleven o'clock, the British troops, under cover of a tremendous fire from eight „ .^., , or ten ships-of-war, effected a landing near Mr. Bntisb enter i ' o New York. Stuy\'esant's house in the Bowery, and in a few hours after took possession of the city of ISTew York. About the same time, the Asia man-of-war and two other ships pro- ceeded up the North Biver, but were very roughly handled by the American battery at Bowie's Hook. This morning, at daylight, the Asia came down much faster than she«went up, she and her consorts having narrowly escaped destruction by four of our fire ships that run in among them." A PAETT from the enemy attacked the Americans, when a battle ensued, and continued about two hours, when the enemy gave way, and were pursued about two miles. In this action, the brave and intrepid Colonel Knowlton," of Ash- ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, September 14. ^ Freeman's Journal, Oct. 5. ^ Thomas Enowlton was born in the town of Boxford, Massachusetts, in No- vember, 1740, and when a child, removed with his parents to Ashford, in Con- necticut. Before he was sixteen years old, he served as a private in the old French war, and, in 1760, he accompanied General Lyman at the siege of Havana. On his return to Ashford he married and became a farmer, in the employment of which he continued until the battle of Lexington. Soon after that occurrence, he was chosen captain of the Ashford militia company, and set off for the American camp, arriving there in time to take an important part in the battle of Breed's nill."* He was present at the action on Long Island, and was actively engaged in the army until he received the fatal wound. After he was wounded he was re- moved from the field, and expired about sunset. In his death the country sus- tained a great loss. His gallantry, on all occasions, commanded the highest re- spect of "Washington, who, in alluding to his death, said, "lie would have been an honor to any country." — See Waxhinc/ton^ s Official Letters, vol. i., p. 248. * See pages 97 and 193, ante. ■f- :. - r I flit '^1'.'' ' II 1 Hi'."'.'.,! ;' I ' t , :UI1 L 1< ^', •if 'i-'^TQ.} FIEE IN NEW TOEK. 311 ford, in Counecticut, was killed ; and it is said Colonel Seldon, of Lyme, is among tlie slain. The loss the enemy sustained is said to Lave been very considerable. Our army is now be- tween the nine and ten mile stones, (Harlem,) where they are strongly fortified and intrenched. Tlie enemy's lines are about one mile and a half below them.' Septembee 22.' — ^Yesteedat there was a terrible fire in Xew Tort. It broke out first at the most southerly part of the city, near "White Hall, and was discovered be- Loyai account of tween twelve and one o'clock in the morning; the York, wind blowing very fresh from the south, and the weather exceeding dry. Tlie rebel army having carried off" all the bells of the city, the alarm could not be speedily communicated, and very few of the citizens were in town, most of them being driven out by the calamities of war, and several, of the first rank, sent prisoners to New England and other distant parts. A few minutes after the fire was discovered at White Hall, it was observed to break out in five or six other places, at a considerable distance. In this dreadful situation, when the whole city was tlireat- ened with destruction, Major-General Eobertson, who had the chief command, sent immediately for two regiments that were encamped near the city, placed guards in several streets, and took every other precaution that was practicable to ward oft' the impending ruin. Lord Howe ordered the boats of the fieet to be manned, and after landing a large number of officers and seamen to assist us, the boats were stationed on each side of the city in the Xorth and East Kivers, and the lines near the royal army were extended across the island, as it manifestly appeared the city was designedly set on fire. The fire raged with inconceivable violence, and in its destructive progress swept away all the buildings between Broad street and the iN'orth Eiver, almost as high as the City Hall ; and from thence, all the houses between Broadway and ^ Cliffs Diary. 312 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1T76. the ISTortli Eiver, as far as King's College, a few only excepted. Long before the main fire reached Trinity church, that large, ancient, and ^'enerable edifice was in flames, which baffled every effort to suppress them. Tlie steeple, which was one hundred and forty feet high, the upper part wood, and placed on an elevated situation, resembled a x&st pyramid of fire, exhibiting a most grand and awful spectacle. Several women and children perished in the fire. Their shrieks, joined to the roaring of the flames, the crush of falling houses, and the wide- spread ruin which everywhere appeared, formed a scene of horror great beyond description, which was still heightened by the darkness of the night. Besides Trinity church, the rector's house, the charity school, the old Lutheran church, and many other fine buildings, were consumed. St. Paul's church and King's College were directly in the line of fire, but saved with very great difiiculty. After raging about ten hours, the fire was extinguished between ten and eleven o'clock this morning. During this complicated scene of devastation and distress, at which the most savage heart might relent, several persons were discovered with large bundles of matches, dipped in melted rosin and brimstone, attempting to set fire to the houses. A New England man, who had a captain's commis- sion under the Continental Congress, and in their service, was seized, having these dreadful implements of ruin. On being searched, the sum of five hundred pounds was found upon liim. General Kobertson rescued two of those incendiaries from the enraged populace, (who had otherwise consigned them to the flames,) and reserved them for the hand of deliberate justice. One "White, a carpenter, was observed to cut the leather buckets which conveyed water ; he also wounded, with a cutlass, a woman wlio was very active in handing water. This provoked tlie spectators to such a degree, that they instantly hung liim up. One of those villains set fire to the college and was seized ; many others were detected in the like crime and secured. The oificers of the army and navy, the seamen and soldiers, greatly exerted themselves, often Avitli the utmost hazard to 1776.] FIEE IN NEW YORK. 313 themselves, and showed all tlmt alertness and activity for which they are justly celebrated on such occasions. To their vigorous eiforts in pulling down such wooden buildings as would conduct the fire, it is owing, under Providence, that the M'hole city was not consumed ; for the number of inhabitants was small, and the pumps and fire-engines were very much out of order. This last circumstance, together with the removal of our bells, the time and place of the fire's breaking out, Avhen the wind was south, the city being set on fire in so many diiferent places nearly at the same time, so many incendiaries being caught in the very act of setting fire to houses' ; these, to men- tion no other particulars, clearly evince, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that this diabolical afl:'air was the result of a pre- concerted, deliberate scheme. Thus, the persons who called themselves our friends and protectors, were the perpetrators of this atrocious deed, which in guilt and villany, is not infe- rior to the Gun-powder Plot ; whilst those who were held up as our enemies were the people who gallantly stepped forth, at the risk of their lives, to snatch us from destruction. Our dis- tress was very great before, but this disaster has increased it tenfold. !RIany hundreds of families have lost their all, and are reduced from a state of afiluence to the lowest ebb of want and wretchedness — destitute of shelter, food, and clothing. Surely "there mtist be some chosen curse — ^somc secret thuader in the stores of heaven, red with uncommon wrath to blast " the miscreants who thus wantonly sport with the lives, property, and happiness of their fellow-creatures, and i:nfeel- ingly doom them to inevitable ruin.' ' New York Mercury, September 30, 1'7'76, and Freeman's Journal, January 1, ll'll : — Mr. David Grim, a mercliant in New Yorlc, who saw the conflagration, hag left the following account of it : — It commenced in a small wooden house, on the wharf, near Whitehall slip, which was then occupied by a number of men and women of a bad character. The fire began late at night. There being but a few inhabitants in the city, in a short time it raged tremendously. It burned all the houses on the cast side of Whitehall slip, and the west side of Broad street to Beaver street. A providential and happy circumstance occurred at this time ; the wind was then southwesterly. About two o'clock in the morning the wind veered to the southeast ; this carried the flames of the fire to the northwestward, and burned both sides of Beaver street to the east side of Broadway, then crossed oli DIAKY OF THE EETOLUTIOX. [ITTO. This day, one Hale,' in Xcnv York, on suspicion of being a spy was taken up and dra;j,-ged -witliout ceremony to tlie execu- tion pubt, and luing np. General Washington lias since sent in a flag, supposed to Le on that account. Broadway to Beaver lane, and burning all the houses on both sides of Broadway, with some few houses in Neir street to Rector street, and to John Harrison's, Esq., three-story brick house, which house stopped the fire on the east side of Broad- way ; from thence it continued burning all the houses in Lumber street, and those in the rear of the houses on the west side of Broadway to St. Paul's church, then continued burning the houses on both sides of Partition street, and all the houses in the rear (again) of the west side of Broadway to the North Piiver. The fire did not stop until it got into Mortkile street, now Barclay street. The college yard and the vacant ground in the rear of the same, put an end to this awful and tremendous fire. Trinity church being burned, was occasioned by the flakes of fire that fell on the south side of the roof. The southerly wind fanned those flakes of fire in a short time to an amazing blaze, and it soon became out of human power to extinguish the same; the roof of this noble edifice being so steep that no person coidd go on it. St. Paul's church was in the like perilous situation. The roof being flat, with a balustrade on the eaves, a, number of citizens went on the same, and e.'ctinguishcd the flakes of fire as they fell on the roof. Thus hap- pily was this beautiful church saved from the destruction of this dreadful fire, which threatened the ruin thereof and that of the whole city. The Lutheran church being contiguous to the houses adjoining the same fire, it was impossible to save it from destruction. This fire was so furious and violently hot, that no person could go near it, and there were no fire engines to be had, at that time, in the city. — Barher\ New York, p. 303. A correspondent at Harlem, on the 2Cth wrote : — Friday last was discovered a vast cloud of smoke arising from the north part of the city, which continued till Saturday evening. The consequence was, that the Broadway from the new City Hall down to Whitehall is laid in ashes. Our friends were immediately sus- pected, and according to the report of a flag of truce who came to our lines soon after, those who were found on or near the spot were pitched into the conflagra- tion; some hanged by the heek, and others by their necks with their throats cut. Inhuman barbarity ! — Frccmaiis Journal, October 5. ' Nathan Hale was u, descendant of John Hale, first minister of Banby, Mas- sachusetts. He was the sixth child of Richard and Ehzaboth Hale, and was born in Coventry, Connecticut. Ho graduated at Yale College in 1773, with distin- guished honors. Of his private history little is known. The subjoined account was published some time after his execution. — Tlie following is a rjennine xpcdmen of Tory benevolence, and may be depended upon as real matter of fart : — " Samuel Hale, late of Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, after his elopement from thence, visited an uncle in Connecticut, where ho was hospitably entertained ; but as his uncle was a Whig, and had a son, a young gentleman of a liberal edu- cation and most amiable disposition, who strongly felt for his bleeding country, and being very active in the military way, was urged and prevailed upon to take 17T6.] ADAMs' SPEECH. 315 September 29. — A few days ago one Dr. Hull, belonging to "Wallingford, Connecticut, was di-ummed out of liis regiinent, at the Amerieau camp at I-Iaiiem, for selling sol- diers certificates that they were unfit for duty. lie charged eight pence for each man, and any one in his regi- ment might hare had a certificate for that sum. He deserves to be advertised as a scoundrel as much as "Wentworth." SiA^CE the victory at Chai-leston, the inliabitants of the southern colonies are more unanimous and spirited in support of the cause of American Independence than they g^j„„^, ^(lams' were before. A very artful speech made at Speech. Philadelphia by Samiiel Adams (who is esteemed by all as one of the most subtle men in the Congress) to a very numer- ous body of the citizens, militia, &e., has almost irritated them to madness against Great Britain, and made them re- solve to conquer or die in the cause they have espoused.'' a commission in the Continental army ; consequently Samuel was obliged to con- duct with caution, and counterfeit, as well as he could, a whiggish phiz while ho tarried, which, however, was but a short time, before he made his escape to Gen- eral Howe in New Yorlc. Some time after this. Captain Hale, at the request of the general, went into New York in disguise, and having nearly accomplislied his designs, whom should he meet but his aforesaid cousin Samuel, whom he attempted to shun, but Sam knew him too well. Captain Hale soon found he was advertised, and BO particularly described that he could not get through Long Island; he therefore attempted to escape by the way of King's Bridge, and so far succeeded as to get to the outer guard, where he was suspected, apprehended, carried back and tried, and yet would have been acquitted had not his affectionate and grateful cousin Samuel appeared and made oath, that he was a captain in the Continental army, and that ho was in there as a spy ; in consequence of which he was imme- diately hung up. However, at the gallows he made a sensible and spirited speech, among other things told them they were .^shedding the blood of the innocent, and that if he had ten thousand lives, he would lay them all down, if called to it, in defence of this injured, bleeding country. " The Printers throughout the continent are desired to exhibit this tragical scene to the public, that they may see what mercy they are to expect if they fall into the hands of Tories." — Freeman's Journal, February 18, 1111- ' Jonathan TVentworth, of New Hampshire. ' TJpcott, iv. SQ'?. CIIAPTEE VIII. OcTOBEE 1. — A WEITEE ill tliG Loiidon Gazette, in a letter' to tlie lord mayor, says : — I was last week on board the Amer- The Yankee ^'^^^ privateer called tlie Yankee, commanded by Privateer. Captain Jolmson, and lately brought into this port by Captain Eoss, who commanded one of the "West India sngar ships, taken by the privateer in July last ; and, as an Englishman, I earnestly wish your lordship, who is so happily placed at the head of this great city, (justly famed for its great humanity even to its enemies,) would be pleased to go like- wise, or send proper persons, to see the truly shocking, and I may say, barbarous and miserable condition of the unfortu- nate American prisoners, who, however ci'iminal they may be thought to have been, are deserving of pity, and entitled to common humanity. They are twenty-five in number, and all inhumanly shut close down, like wild beasts, in a small, stinking apartment, in the hold of a sloop, about seventy tons burden, without a breath of air, in this sultry season, but what they receive through a small grating overhead, the openings in which are not more than two inches square in any part, and through which the sun beats intensely hot all day, only two or three being permitted to come on the deck at a time ; and then they are exposed in the open sun, which is reflected from the decks and water like a burning glass. I do not at all exaggerate, my lord ; I speak the truth ; and the resemblance that this barbarity bears to the memorable ' Dated August 0. ITTG.] THE YANKEE PEIVATEEE. 317 black hole at Calciitta, as a gentleman present on Satnrday observed, strikes every one at the sight. All England ought to know that the same game is now acting upon the Thames on board this privateer, that all the world cried out against, and shuddered at the mention of in India, some years ago, as practised on Captain HolloweU, and other of the liing's good subjects. The putrid steams issuing from the hold are so hot and offensive, that one cannot, without the utmost danger, breathe over it, and I should not be at all surprised, if it should cause a plague to spread. The miserable wretches below look like per- sons in a hot bath, panting, sweating, and fainting for want of air ; and the surgeon declares, that they must all soon perish in that situation, especially as they are almost all in a sickly state with bilious disorders. Tlie captain and surgeon, it is true, have the liberty of the cabin, (if it deserves the name of a cabin,) and make no com- plaints on their own account. Tliey are both sensible, and well-behaved young men, and can give a very good ac- count of themselves, having no signs of fear, and being sup- ported by a consciousness of the justice of their cause. They are men of character, of good families in New England, and highly respected in their different occupations ; but being strip- ped of their all by the burning of towns and other destructive measures of the present unnatural war, were forced to take the disagreeable method of making reprisals to maintain them- selves and their children, rather than starve. JSTumbers of gentlemen, and friends of government, who were on board at the same time, will confirm the ti-uth of this my representation, being very sensibly touched themselves at the horrid sight. English prisoners, taken by the Americans, have been treated with the most remarkable tenderness and generositj', as numbers who are safely returned to England most freely confess, to the honor of our brethren in the colonies. And it is a fact, which can be well attested in London, that this very surgeon on board the privateer, after the battle of Lexington, April nineteenth, 17T5, for many days volvintarily and gen- 318 BIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTIOX. [1776. eronsly, without fee or reward, employed himself in dressing the King's -wounded soldiers, who hut an hour before would have shot him if they could have come at him, and in making a collection for their refreshment, of wine, linen, money, &e., in the town ^^'here he lived. This is a real fact, of which the most ample testimony may be had. Tlie capture of the privateer was solely owing to the ill- judged lenity and brotherly kindness of Captain Johnson, who not considering his English prisoners in the same light that he would Frenchmen or Spaniards, put them under no sort of confinement, but permitted them to Avalk the decks as freely as his own people, at all times. Taking advantage of this indulgence, the prisoners one day watching their opportunity, when most of the privateer's people were below and asleep, shut down the hatches, and making all fast, had immediate possession of the vessel without using any force. I shall conclude with saying, that though this letter is addressed to your lordship, I hope that all who may read it, and have any influence, will do all in their power to gain the necessary relief ; and it is humbly apprehended, that the well disposed, who are blessed with affluence, conld not better bestow their bounty than upon those poor objects. Yegetables and ripe fruits of all kinds, with porter, &c., must be very useful, as well as the means to procure other necessaries. The privateer lies opposite to Eatclifie Cross, a mile and a half below the Tower, and by asking for Captain Johnson, admittance may be obtained.' The important day is come, big with the fate of millions, and America now beckons to her sons to kindle all their native fire, push into action every power, and press to the seas or fields where Fame and Glory call. The united wisdom of America in Congress has deter- mined that it is necessary to the salvation of these States, that an army be raised to serve during this war. The wisdom of this measure must appear to all ; therefore let us all promote ' " Humanitas," in the Pennsylvania Journal, NoTember 6. l^TG.] AK Al'I'EAL. 319 it Avitli our utmost power. lie that enlists into this army of freemen, in defence of every thing good and great, enrolls his name in Fame's brightest temple, where it will shine (if not blotted by after misconduct) with growing lustre down applauding ages ; while posterity rises through successive eras to taste the bliss of freedom handed down by US, their forefathers ; and every infant tongue and hoary head will bless our memory ; with rapture hail the day when wo drew the sharpened steel against the Tyrant George, and with transports all their own, pass down the stream of time till time shall be no more ! — How angelic the design to communi- cate felicity to all those millions who may rise after us, and inhabit these United States? "The blessings of future nges, which the conscious imagination anticipates," crowd together in the patriot's breast, and are the solid pleasures which delight his inind ! The history of mankind bleeds with the destruction whicli tyranny has made in all countries and nations ; and while wo weep over the " tragic pages stained with the blood of patriot citizens," they speak like a voice of tliuuder in the ears of Americans to guard against the execrable monster ! Despotic kings, from the days of Nimrod to this hour, have deluged the world in blood, and have been the curses of mankind ; — but in the whole catalogue of royal villains, has there been one of a more infernal character than George the Third ? Do not our heroic ancestors, who fled from the tyranny of Britons, and subdued American wildernesses in spite of savage barbar- ity, speak to us from their celestial abodes, to defend the dear inheritance of Liberty, which they left us, while Posterity mingle their cries, reason and religion unite their voice in the pressing call ! Imploring the assistance of Him, Avho gave us the rights of humanity, let us with a sacred ardor and unalterable firmness watch over and defend the rights of America, "nor pauh-.e to waste a coward thought on Life." Every good mind must feel a glow of gratitude to heaven for the animating prospect of seeing America the asylum of liberty, the land of virtuous freedom, the seat of learning, of industry, manufactures, commerce, and husbandry ; the nurse 320 DIAEY OF TUE KEVOLUTION. [1776. of heroes, the parent of science, tlie bosom of virtue, and the guardian of mankind. The whole series of divine dispensa- tions, from the infant days of our fathers in America, are big with importance in her favor, and point to something great and good. If we look round the world, and view the nations Avitli their various comiections, interests, and dependencies, ^we shall see innumerable causes at work in favor of this growing country. JSTature and art seem to labor, as it were, travail in birth, to bring forth some glorious events that will astonish mankind, and form a bright era in the annals of time.' The Hessians plunder all indiscriminately, Tories as well as Whigs ; if they see any thing they want they seize it, and say, " Eebel good for Ilesse man." A Tory complained to General Howe that he was plundered by the Hessians. Tlie general said he could not help it — it was their way of making war. So the friends of government are protected ! This is great en- couragement for the Tories. Lord Dunmore told Lord Stirling he was sorry he kept such company. Llis lordship replied, " My lord, I have kept whiter company than your lordship has of late." ' OcTOBEE 8. — So vast a fleet was never before seen together in the port of New York, or perhaps in all America. The ships are stationed up the East Eiver or Sound, as far as Tur- Bntish Elect. '- ' tie Jiay, and near the town. The multitude of masts carries the appearance of a wood. Some are moored up the Ts^orth Eiver, others in the bay between Eed and Yellow Hook ; others, again, oif Staten Island, and several off Powle's Hook, and towards the kills. The men-of-war are moored chiefly up ISTew lork Soimd, and make, with the other ships, a very magnificent and formidable appearance. Five men-of-war have been detached from the squadron into the North Eiver, above Greenwich, probably to assist the operations of the army Freeman's Journal, October 29. ' Alluding to his enlisting the Negroes of Virginia to fight against their mas- ters. — Freeman's Journal, October 29. 1T76.] CADWALLADEE COLDEN. 321 against the rebels, who still remain on the northern extremity of the island, and on the heights above King's Bridge. Tlie savage burning of the city by the New England in- cendiaries Avill be a lasting monument of inveterate malice against the trade and prosperity of this colony, as well as rooted disaifection to British law and government. Tliey had long threatened the performance of this villanous deed ; and this is the best return that the people of property in this city, who have espoused their cause, are to expect for their heed- less credulity.' October 14. — Lately died, at his house upon Long Island, Cadwalladee Golden, Esq., for many yeara lieutenant-gov- ernor of New York, a man of great probity, cadwaiiador knowledge, and steadiness, which he had occasion coiden. to show upon many occasions. Wlien above ninety years of age, not all the threats of rebellious incendiaries could shake his undissembled loyalty to his sovereign, nor all their wiles seduce him from his attachment to the constitutional liberties of his country, in opposition to the republican system of pop- ular tyi-anny. He died full of days, and had the satisfaction, before his departure, to know that the arms of his prince had prevailed, in a single instance, over the forces of the rebels. They who knew him best, will give his character that eulo- gium, which even a stranger will rejoice to pay to such distin- guished merit.'' It has been observed that the British power, in the begin- ning of a war, generally makes but feeble, and oftentimes un- successful exertions : but that in the prosecution , „ ^ ^ British Power, of hostilities, her force gradually increasing, like a gathered torrent, becomes almost irresistible. Tlie last war is a striking evidence of the truth of this observation ; and we have seen since the commencement of these troubles, the same line of conduct pursued towards these colonies. Tlie first force ' From the New Tork Mercury.- — See Freeman's Journal, October 29. ^ Gaine's Mercury, October 14. Vol. I.— 21 322 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTIOK. [1776. sent out -was small, and emploj-ed with apparent reluctance— we might have said, sent out with a wish that they might not he employed at all. This, instead of being imputed to its proper motive, was construed into the weakness and (who could have thought it !) into the timidity of Britain. Our country- men at home were stigmatized as cowards, while their brave hearts only abhorred the idea of fighting against those who claimed the title of brethren and friends. Nothing but re- peated insults and menaces against their King, their country, and themselves, could have induced a persuasion in the army, that the leaders of the sedition seriously meant nothing else than to become rebels and enemies. At last the British lion is roused. TVe have seen, in the course of a summer, a powerful army cross over the Atlantic, under the conduct of a gallant iieet. We have heard of other considerable armaments arriv- ing safely elsewhere upon this continent ; and we have no reason to doubt but that, if it were possible these should fail, greater and greater would be sent out to reduce this country to its indefeasible allegiance and duty. To all this there are only to be opposed the loisdom of a Congress consisting of men either of new and doubtful characters, or of none at all ; a wretched paper currency which will only eat iip the property of the continent without adding an atom to it ; and a vagabond army of ragamuffins, with paper pay, bad clothes, and worse spirits. Is it reasonable to think that such a cause, with such supporters, will ever be able to maintain itself against veteran battalions of brave and loyal Britons, contending for British honor and constitutional liberty ? Is it not strange that a peo- ple in such circumstances should be persuaded to reject all overtures of reconciliation, by the machinations of an artful and ambitious Congress ? It can only be accounted for by the old adage, Quos Deus vult jperdere prius dementaV October 16. — This morning, at ten o'clock, the members of his Majesty's council, the judges, and all the other well aifected citizens, who were not driven away by the hand of violence, or ' New York Gazette, October 14. 1776.] irEETING AT NEW YOEK. 323 sent prisoners to other provinces, met at tlie City Hall in New York, when a decent and respectful address to Lord Howe and General Howe, the King's commissioners for re- Meeting at New storing peace to America, was read, representing ^''"*- the firm attachment of the inhabitants to onr rightful and gracious sovereign, George the Third, and their sense of the constitutional supremacy of Great Britain over these colonies ; lamenting the interruption of that harmony which formerly subsisted between them, and praying that the city and county might be restored to his Majesty's peace and protection. The address was unanimously approved and adopted, and it was agreed that the inhabitants should all sign it. But the num- ber assembled being too great to sign at that time, two respect- able citizens were appointed to attend at a public house, ad- joining the City Hall, from ten o'clock a. m., to two o'clock p. M., every day, to take subscriptions till all had signed. As this measure was the first step which was necessary to be 'taken on our part towards effecting a reconciliation with Great Britain, joy was lighted up in every countenance, at the pros- pect of returning peace and union with the parent state. The populace expressed the feelings of their hearts by loud accla- mations and shouts of applause. After this, an affectionate address to his Excellency Wil- liam Tryon, Esq., our worthy governor, was read, "requesting him to present the above address to the commissioners, and otherwise to exert himself that the prayer of it might be grant- ed." This address was also unanimously approved and agreed to ; and the honorable Mr. Chief Justice Horsmanden was desired to sign and deliver it to his Excellency, in behalf of the inhabitants. The well-known humanity of the commissioners, and the tender regard they have manifested for the welfare of America in their several declarations, afford the most flattering hopes that the address to them will be productive of the desired effect. And it is most devoutly to be wished, that the conti- nent may follow the example of this city — that the Ameri- cans in general may avail themselves of his Majesty's clem- ency and paternal goodness, in offering to restore them to his 324 dijVky of the eevolution. [1776. royal protection and peace. Those wlio continue deaf to such benevolence, and tliereby prolong the present destructive and unnatural rebellion, will be utterly inexcusable in the sight of God and man. Their obstinacy must be detested by the wise and virtuous ; the inevitable ruin attending it will be unpitied by all, and posterity will execrate their memories.' It is an observation of the celebrated Montesquieu, " that individuals rarely incline to part with power — great bodies never." Tlie conduct of the Congress furnishes another instance of the truth of this remark. Though it is the grand interest of America to be reconciled to Great Britain, and though it has been the constant and re- peated profession of the several assemblies, that reconciliation was their object; yet, when reconciliation was held out by government, and commissioners were appointed to confer with the colonies upon their own ground for that purpose, these ambitious incendiaries, seeing that, upon such an event, all their assumed consequence must be lost, had art enough to hasten a declaration of absolute indejoendence, before the de- sired commission could possibly arrive. Tlie delegates had jDerfect information of what was intended, and fearing that this act of benevolence and conciliation might operate upon many persons in the colonies, whose properties made it their interest to solicit peace, resolved to put it out of the power of the sev- eral assemblies to listen to any overtures, by previously draw- ing them into an acquiescence with the avowal of independ- ency. Thus the avarice of some indigent men, bankrupts both in fortune and character, and the ambition of others who lusted after power, has plunged this once happy country into a flood of miseries, for which the lives and fortunes of these parricides would, in the issue, make but a poor atonement. 'Tis easy to foresee that, so long as these demagogues have the direction of affairs, no peace or settlement can be hoped for. And it is not to be believed that the colonies can have had rec- onciliation sincerely in view, because they have hitherto em- ' New York Gazette, October 21. 1'776.]' meecer's descent on staten island. 325 ployed means wliicli tlaey must have known were exception- able and oifensive. ISTor can it be supposed that they will ever be really desirous of it, till they have applied themselves, not through the medium of a Congress, but of their own re- spective assemblies, to the promoting of this salutary measure.' Last night. General Mercer passed over to Staten Island with part of the troops posted at Perth Amboy, ISTew Jersey, and advanced within a few miles of Richmond Mercer's descent town, having been informed that a company of °^ ®'^'''° ''''™''' British troops, one of Hessians, and one of Skinner's militia lay there. Colonel Griffin was detached with Colonel Patter- son's battalion, and Major Clarke at the head of some riflemen, to fall in upon the east end of the town, while the remainder of the troops inclosed it on the other quarters. Both divisions reached the town by break of day this morning, but not before the enemy were alarmed. Most of them fled after exchanging a few shot with Colonel Griffin's detachment. Two of them were mortally wounded, and seventeen taken prisoners, with the loss only of two soldiers killed on our side. Colonel Grif- fin received a wound in the foot from a musket ball, and Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was slightly wounded in the arm. Amongst the prisoners taken in this action, are eight Hessians. Our troops brought oflF from Staten Island forty-five muskets, a number of bayonets, cutlasses, &c., and one standard of the British light horse." ' New York Gazette, October 21. ' Pennsylvania Journal, October 23 ; Game, in his paper of October 21, says : — A body of the rebels skulked over from the New Jersey shore to Staten Island, and after cowardly setting fire to two or three farm houses, skulked back again to their former station. Probably, from their conduct, it may be judged that these were the people who, about the middle of last August, committed such an act of villanous barbarity as cannot be recited without indignation. A very little boy, belonging to an officer of the army, was playing by himself upon the shore of Staten Island, opposite the Jerseys, when about seven or eight of the riflemen or ragged men, came down slily, and discharged their muskets upon him. Imme- diately upon the poor creature's falling, they gave three cheers and retired. This was a most cruel, dastardly, and infamous murder upon a defenceless, innocent child. Such poltroons will always run away at the appearance and approach of men. 326 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1Y76. OcTOBEE 22.^ — BeIiold A CowAED ! — Tlie public is desired to take notice, that Daniel Pittee, ensign in Captain Timothy Stow's company, Colonel Wheelock's regiment, applied at head-qnarters for a discharge, iipon hearing the enemy were likely to attack onr lines. He was refused, and next day de- serted our camp. Tliis infamous runaway belongs to the south parish of Dedham, in the county of Suffolk.' OcTOBEE 23. — Eeiday morning last, we were alaraied by the drums beating to arms, and the enemy landed at Hodman's r, , o, . . V Point with their whole force. Tire brigade under Glovers Skirinisn o io Eastchester. ^|-^g command of Colonel Glover, consisting of about seven hundred men, one regiment being absent for guard, marched down towards the place where the enemy were advancing, with a body of sixteen thousand, and a ycTj large artillery. The first attack was made by a small party, on their advanced guard, which were effectually routed and forced to retreat to their main body, who, when they came up, were fired upon by two regiments, advantageously posted by Colonel Glover and Major Lee, (who behaved gallantly,) which brought many of them to the ground. Thus we con- tinued fighting them and retreating the whole afternoon, until they came to a stand, where they now remain, stretching- down along the Sound, towards Connecticut — we suppose for forage. Our men behaved like soldiers — ^conformed to the or- ders of the officers and retreated in grand order, which is the life of discipline. Our loss is about nine or ten killed, and about thirty wounded. The enemy, a deserter says, lost two Iiundred killed on the spiot, and a great number wounded. People may think what they please of the regular and spirited behavior of the British troops, but I that day was an eye-wit- ness to the contrary. I saw as great irregularity, almost, as in a militia ; they would come out from their body and fire single guns. As to their courage, their Avhole body of sixteen thou- sand were forced to retreat by the fire of a single regiment, and many of them old troops. The fourth regiment was one that ' Published by order, at Ticonderoga ; Freeman's Journal, November 5. 1TY6.] SKIEMISH AT EASTClIESTEE. 827 run ; and had we been reinforced witli half their number, we might have totally defeated them ; the shot from their artil- lery ilew very thick about our heads. The next day, General Lee (under whose command we are) came and publicly returned his thanks to Colonel Glover, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their noble, spirited, and soldier-like conduct during the battle, and that nothing in his power should be wanting to serve those brave officers and men ; and General "Washington has since expressed himself much in the same words in his general orders. General Lee says we shall none of us leave the army, but all stay and be promoted ; biit how that will be is rmcertain. Yesterday one of the corporals and two men in our regiment, by leave from the colonel, went out to see what they could pick up, and by going in the mouth of the enemy they brought off a number of fat cattle, flushed with their success, they went again this afternoon, and going directly in the rear of the Hessian camp, went into a house where they Avashed for the British officers, and were bringing off three tubs of shirts, but the man of the house informed the camp. They turned out four hundred, who obliged our lads to retreat ; but meeting with some of their comrades, they at- tacked and drove the Hessians, killed the major, took his com- mission and ten guineas out of his pocket, and have taken three of them prisoners, besides a number killed ; many of our officers who saw them, say they are ugly devils. They are now in camp. The enemy have so far quitted York, that our people have been down as far as a place called Bowery Lane, which is but one mile from the extent of the city.' " What's human life ? — to gaze upon the sun, And go the vulgar round of endless years ? Or is it to be free ? " — Taste Independence, Blissful moments ; defend it till ye die ! By the favor of Providence we have reached that political point (which the wise have long seen to be the only foundation ' Extract of a letter from Mile Square, in Eastchester, New York. — Freeman's Journal, November 12. 328 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. of safety) — Independence ; our work is now plain before us — to persevere to the end in supporting the Declaration we have made to the world. To do this, every consideration urges us ; to retreat is death — is slavery, calamities of every name, and all the gloomy horrors of the most odious and execrable tyranny. Before us is all the glory of Freedom^ pregnant with every felicity our wishes can grasp, or human nature enjoy. If we continue our exertions with that wisdom and magna- nimity with which we began. Liberty will soon triumph, wealth flow in through ten thousand channels, and America become the glory of all lands. Tyranny is now exerting her utmost power, and if resisted a little longer, George, and all his mur- derers, must bid adieu to America forever; then we shall have the double happiness and honor of subduing the tyrants, and enjoying liberty; the expense and dangers it has cost us will sweeten the blessing. If we have not suffered enough yet to make us duly prize the inestimable jewel, let us patieiftly bear what is yet to come. B\it if we continue in the ways of well-doing, we shall certainly succeed ; for unen-ring Avisdom has told us, " if we trust in the Lord and do good, we shall dwell in the land and be fed ; " therefore we have nothing to do but to be faithful to God and our country, and the blessings we contend for will be the portion of us and our children. The price of liberty is not to be gained in a day, nor bought with a small price, but is the reward of long labor and unremitting ex- ertions ; and a people are commonly made to realize their depend- ence on Heaven for so great a favor, before they are crowned with complete success. The poor Dutch provinces were op- pressed by a Spanish tyrant, like George of Britain, and they (although poor and small in number, compared with the States of America) resisted the tyrant who had at his command a great and rich nation, and after a bloody contest of many years, gloriously triumphed in the complete freedom of their country. During the conflict, they were sometimes reduced to such extreme difiiculties as would have sunk any but free minds into absolute despair ; but they were blessed with a succes- sion of heroes and statesmen, who wisely preferred liberty to every thing else ; and persevered through a long series of the 17T6.] DEBARKATION OF THE HESSIANS. 329 severest calamities of every kind, with undiminished fervor in the glorious cause, until they arrived at the blissful period of In- dependent States, and remain to this day a glorious monument of the stipereminent virtue and valor of freemen. Let us im- itate this bright example. With them we shall shine in the history of mankind, until the heavens are no more. The blood and treasure it may cost, will heighten the value of liberty, and brighten the future days of peace and glory, when we or posterity shall recount the noble exertions, and amazing intre- pidity of those Avho were honored by Heaven as the instruments of saving this great people from infernal tyranny. It will add to the joys of prosperity, and sweeten the sacred triumphs of freemen, when encircled with the charms of peace, to look back upon the trying scenes of the present time, and review the difSculties surmounted through a series of conflicts, while each moment was big with importance, and the fate of thou- sands hung upon every hour.' Testeeday, the Hessians, the "Waldeckers, and other troops, debarked from their respective ships, at E"ew York, and passed by the East Eiver, in a multitude of flat- De],„]k;,t,„n „f bottomed boats and other vessels, in the highest uessians. spirits imaginable. It being a very fine day, the scene was rendered extremly beautiful by the crowds upon the water, cheering their military brethren and other spectators on shore, and making the hills resound with trumpets, French horns, drums and fifes, accompanied by the harmony of their voices. These have added an agreeable reinforcement to the Eritish army, and they are, to all appearance, as fine troops as any in the world. ITothing can exceed the unanimity and ardor of the seamen upon the present occasion. Tlie sailor looks upon the soldier as his brother, and when a soldier has occasion to pass over water, rather than his uniforin shall be damaged, hauls him away upon his shoulders from the boat to the shore; while the soldier welcomes the sailor on his part, and rejoices ' Addressed to the Independent sons of America, by a soldier. — J!lew Samp- shire Gazette, November 26. 330 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [177C. to see the old Britisli spirit for King and country, revived in in everybody about Lim. Tlie very seamen on board the transports vie witli the seamen of the men-of-war, in dis- tinguishing themselves in actual service. One soul seems to animate them all ; and it is confessed by many of the oldest officers, that such a spirit of harmony and military ardor was never seen to unite the two services of land and sea, so entirely before.' Lost, an old black dog, of the American breed ; answers to the name of Putnam ; — had on a yellow collar with the follow- ing inscription, " Uhi libertas ihi patrici, 1776. General Putnam, -j- 7-77 n* ttt • • ^ L(mg Idana : is an old domestic animal, — barks very much at the name of K(ort)h, and has a remarkable howl at that of Howe. "Was seen in Long Island some time ago, but is supposed to have been alarmed at some British troops who were exercising there, and ran oif towards Hell- gate. As he was a great favorite of the "Washington family, they are fearful some accident has happened to him." The cowardly rebels, besides being very successful in the use of their legs, are the noisiest rascals in the world. Xot sobered down by being driven from every post they have formed, they are now wasting their powder in celebrating the capture of a few cattle frona Long Island. Yesterday morning, before daybreak, a party of them stole over from Eastchester, and carried off four old working oxen, a mangy dog and two kittens, and they are so rejoiced at this success of their arms, and the prospect of a good dinner, that Mr. Washington has ordered a,feic dejoie, and the usual complement of bad cider-rum.° OcTOBEE 27. — ^Tnis morning, about seven o'clock, two frigates moved up the North Kiver, and came to an anchor Skirmish at ^^^1" Burdctt's feiTy, apparently with an intention Bui-detfb Ferry, ^q g^^p ^j^q fgj.j,y ^^^j ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^ Communica- tion between Fort Lee and Fort "Washington. The enemy at ' New York Gazette, October 28. ' Middlesex Journal, December 3. = MS. letter from S. Hawke. 1776.] SKIRMISH AT buedett's feeey. 331 the same time appeared on Plaiiem plain, and Colonel Maga-\v, who commands on York Island, ordered the lines to be manned. The ships endeavored to dislodge them by firing on their flanks, but they fired to very little purpose. The barbette battery, on the high hill on the left of the furry, opened on the frigates, and fired a considerable time without doing them any, or but very little damage. Upon our ceasing to fire, a gun from fort number one on York Island began to play on them with great advantage, and hulled the one highest up above twenty times. At this time two eighteen- pounders, which were ordered down this side the river opposite the ships, gave them so warm a salute that they hoisted all sail ; the foremost slipped her cable and appeared to be in the greatest confusion ; she could make no way although rowed by two boats, till the lower one perceiving her distress, sent two more barges to her assistance, who at length dragged her out of the reach of our fire. It is very probable that many of her men were killed ; and she herself extremely damaged ; but the weather was so hazy that it was impossible to see any thing distinctly at a distance. The enemy by this time had begun a smart fire on the island with field-pieces and mortars ; our men returned the compliment. They were out of their lines great part of the day. There were but few discharges of small arms. Our men killed about a dozen Hessians, and brought them off. "We had one man killed with a shell. This was the account at five o'clock; it is now seven, and the firing has just ceased, but nothing extraordinary has happened. We take this day's movement to be only a feint; at any rate it is little honorable to the red coats. Yesterday, a party of the light horse and infantry took possession of Phillip's Manor, between King's Bridge and our main army ; they continued there all night, but this morning they retired.' ISTovEMBEE 1.; — Died at Williamsburg, in Virginia, Colonel ' Extract of a letter from Fort Lee ; Pennsylvania Journal, NoTember 6. 332 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. Eichard Bland, of Prince George, wlio lived universally beloved, and died universally lamented. He was Eicliard Bland. ' , . *' , ,. . more than thirty years a representative m General Assembly for that county, and filled the trust with so many shining abilities, so much unremitted attention, that he gained the esteem and confidence of his constituents. When his country called him forth to the arduous and im- portant task of a delegate in the Continental Congress, he approved himself an able and zealous friend and advocate for the rights and liberties of his injured country. In a private sphere of life he supported the character of a humane and benevolent man, an aft'ectionate, kind, indulgent husband and parent, and, amongst his acquaintances, that of a Avann and steady friend. In short, he possessed all the inestimable qualifications that could render him dear to society, — all that could form the virtuous, upright man.' A AVEiTEE in the Gazette offers the following explanations and amendments to General Howe's late letters to Govern- Generai Howe's ™6nt, " ill Order to make the matter entirely clear Letters explained, j^j-^^ intelligible : "— " The Mercury packet is despatched to inform your lordship of the arrival of the Halifax fleet, &c., at Sandy Hook, &c., where I met with Governor Try on on board of a ship, {to which a most loyal people oJ>liged him to retire^ and many gentlemen, fast friends to government {a few Scotchmen of no property nor probity) attending him, from whom I had the fullest information of the state of the rebels, who are very numerous, and very advantageously posted with a strong intrenchment, &c., with more than one hundred pieces of cannon for the defence of the town from the sea, and to obstruct the passage of the fleet up the ]SI^orth Kiver, {so that we may sooner th'mh of snuffing the m,oon than doing execution Jicre.) " "W"e passed the Narrows with three men-of-war, and the first division, &c., landed the grenadiers, &c., to the great joy of a most loyal people, {wJio, hecause they are now left to " PennsylTania Journal, November 13. 1776.] Howe's lettek amended. 333 our discretion, are exceeding loyal^ wlio {as they pretend) have long suffered on that account, under the oppression of the rebels stationed amongst them, who precipitately fled on the approach of the shipping, {and probably to entice tos to pursue them, in order to cut us to pieces ', hut thanlis to our prof ound wisdom, we did not venture to stir an inch.) " In justice to Captain Eaynor, who made the disposition of the boats in landing the troops, and to Captain Curtis, who was to superintend the execution, I must express my entire satisfaction in the {toise and spirited) conduct of these gentlemen, {as I already mentioned the rebels fled, and there was not a soid to hinder or harass our landing) and the dependence to be placed upon their services in this line, {yiz; in landing troops without the least opposition) " I propose waiting here {though there is hardly a possi- bility of staying loithout exposing my few troops to the utmost danger) for the English fleet, or for the amval of Lieutenant- General Clinton, in readiness to proceed, (but by no means much further) unless by some imexpected change of circum- stances, {and, entre nous, I expect that change every moment) it should be found expedient to act with the present force, {to defend our retreat on hoard the ship>s) " Vice Admiral Shuldhani was joined on his voyage by six transports, &c. Tliere is no other intelligence of that embarkation, {that stands tn need of being published) except an account {because of its being) piiblished in the New York papers, that two transports of the fleet were taken by the enemy's privateers, {biit in what manner, place, or time, your lordship need not hnoio, and suffice it j) that Major Menzies was killed in the engatyement, and that Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, with fifteen other oflicers, and about four hundred and fifty of our men, were made prisoners, {but how many men were hilled and wounded in the engagement I cannot tell, for it xoas not published in the New Yorh papers) " Governor Franklin, who for a long time maintained his ground in Jersey, {I suppose under pretence of being a friend to America, hut now discovered,) has been lately taken into custody Q)y a most loyal people) at Amboy, and is now a pris- oner at Connecticut. 334 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17Y6. " The mayor of New York was a few days ago confined on a frivolous complaint, viz., of sending intelligence to Governor Tryon, {in order to dcsiroij the main Provincial a/rmy of thirty thousand men, and to letray the whole plan of the Congress laid in defence of the glorious cause of Lilcrty,) brought to trial, and condemned to suffer death. " Xotwithstanding these violent proceedings, {as we Tories and Jacobites ccdl it,) I have the satisfaction to inform your lordshij) {in the same manner as all our goveriiors did hefore; and should it turn out to the contrary, the minister can hut •plead misinformation in the House of Commons) that there is great reason to expect a numerous body of inhabitants to join the army from the provinces of New York, the Jerseys, and Connecticut, who only wait for ojjporttmities to give proofs of their loyalty and zeal for government ; (witness that from the ahove provinces, containing two hundred thousand inhabitants f) sixty men came over two days ago with a few arms, and I un- derstand {though I toill not be positive) that five hundred more are ready to follow their example. This disposition of the people i^iz., the five htmdred men out of two hundred thou- sand, wlio are reccdy to join our ministerial army) makes me impatient for the arrival of Lord Howe, concluding the powers with which he is furnished {which, as I am informed, is to treat vnth the Congress, and to mahe great condescensions) will have the best effect at this critical time. " A naval force is preparing to be sent up the North Hiver, and orders are given for two of his Majesty's ships, one of forty guns and the other of twenty, to proceed on that service ; Q)ut your lordship must looh upon these two ships as good as sunk already, as being exposed to the fire of the above-men- tioned one hundred pieces of cannon of the rebels.) " Several men have, within these two days, come over to this island, (/ believe I have mentioned that already^ and to the ships ; and I am informed that the Continental Congress {and vihich your lordship must have hnown some months ago) have declared the United Colonies Free and Independent States." ' ' Pennsylvania Journal, November 6. 1776.] ACTION AT WHITE PLAINS. 335 Last Monday we ' received intelligence that the enemy, with their whole body, were advancing towards ns. The army were immediately alarmed, and part of General Wads- Action at worth's brigade, with some other regiments under wute Plains. the command of General Spencer, consisting in the whole of five or six hundred men, were sent out as an advance party, to skirmish with the enemy, and harass them in their march. We marched on to a hill about one mile and a half from our lines, with an artillery company and two field-pieces, and placed ourselves behind walls and fences, in the best manner we could, to give the enemy trouble. About half after nine o'clock, our advance parties all came in, retreating before the enemy ; and the light parties of the enemy, with their ad- vanced guard, consisting of two or three thousand, came in sight, and marched on briskly towards us, keeping the high grounds ; and the light horse pranced on a little in the rear, making a very martial appearance. As our light parties came on to the hills and discovered where we were, the enemy began to cannonade us, and to fiing shells from their hobits and small mortars. Their light parties soon came on, and we firing upon them from the walls and fences, broke and scat- tered them at once ; but they would run from our front and get round upon our wings to flank us, and as soon as our fire discovered where we Avere, the enemy's artillery would at once begin to play upon us in the most furious manner. We kept the walls until the enemy were just ready to surround us, and then we would retreat from one wall and hill to an- other, and maintain our ground there in the same manner, till numbers were just ready to surround us. Once the Hessian grenadiers came up in front of Colonel Douglass's regiment, and we fired a general volley upon them, at about twenty rods distance, and scattered them like leaves in a whirlwind ; and they ran off so far that some of the regiment ran out to the ground where they were when we fired upon them, and brought off their arms and accoutrements, and rum, that the men who fell had with them, which we had time to drink round ' The Americans at the White Plains, New York. 336 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTTTION. [1776. with befoi'G tliey came on again. Tliey fonned at a distance, and waited until their artillery and main body came on, Avhen they advanced in solid columns upon us, and were gathering all around us, ten to our one. Colonel Douglass's and Silli- man's regiments fired four or five times on them, as they were advancing, and then retreated, biit not until the enemy began to fire on their flanhs. Colonels Silliman, Douglass, and Arnold behaved nobly, and the men gained much applause. Colonels Webb's, Silliman's, and Douglass's regiments had the principal share in the action. Colonel "Webb had four killed, and eight or ten wounded ; Colonel Silliman lost six, and had ten or twelve -wounded ; Colonel Douglass had tliree killed, and six wounded. Colonels Brooks's, Smallwood's, and Eitzma's regiments, who were drawn up on the hill near the lines, suff'ered considerablj-. Our loss in the whole may be seventy or eighty killed or wounded. It is said by all the deserters and captains, who agree in their stories, that the en- emy had about three hundred killed and wounded. Tlie scene was grand and solemn; all the adjacent hills smoked as though on fire, and bellowed and trembled with a pei-petual cannonade and fire of field-pieces, hobits, and mortars. The air groaned with streams of cannon and musket shot ; the hills smoked and echoed terribly with the bursting of shells ; the fences and walls were knocked down and torn to pieces, and men's legs, arms, and bodies, mangled with cannon and gi-ape-shot all around its. 1 was in the action, and under as good advantages as any one man, perhaps, to observe all that passed, and write these particulars of the action from my own observation. No general action was designed on our part, and I believe one thousand men were never, at one time, engaged with the enemy. They came on to the hills opposite oiir lines, and halted ; and after cannonading part of the lines a short time, they became very still and quiet. Yesterday, (October 31st,) it was observed that they had near finished four or five batteries which they had erected, against us ; and as our ground, near the centre of the town at Wliite Plains, was not good, being overlooked by neighboring 17Y6.] GEJTEIIAL PTJTKAM. 337 hills, the generals, last night, drew off most of the troops from the lines there, and this morning the guards and sentries burned the town and forage all around it, and came off about nine o'clock. We carried off all our stores, and planted our artillery on the hills about a mile and a half back of the centre of the town. The enemy advanced, this forenoon, on to the ground we left, but as soon as they came over the hill, we saluted them with our cannon and field-pieces, and they advanced no further. Their main body now lies over against us, and they have formed no lines across the country, as yet, below us. Tlieir light horse may possibly scour across as far as the river, but how that is we cannot determine. All things seem to be quiet at Fort Washington.' Waitted, by a gentleman fond of curiosities, who is shortly going to England, a parcel of Congress l^otes, with which he intends to paper some rooms. Those who wish to make some- thing of their stock in that commodity, shall, if they are clean and fit for the purpose, receive at the rate of one guinea per thousand for all they can bring before the expiration of the present month. Inquire of the printer. N. B.- — It is ex- pected they will be much lower.'' ITovEMBEK 3. — ^Theee is a general curiosity in mankind to inquire into the character of those who arrive at stations of high trust and dignity. In the dreadful times of , ,. . ■; . ., T T T • 1 111 General Putnam. public commotion and civil discord, this laudable passion is most strongly excited. To satisfy this in part, an old friend of General Putnam's gives the following authentic account of that ofiicer : The general's paternal state consisted of a small farm in the colony of Connecticut, by the diligent cultivation of which, he supported himself till he entered the colony's service, dur- ing the late Trench war in America. Tlie stories that have Pennsylvania Evening Post, November 14. ' New York Gazette, October 28. Vol. I.— 22 338 DIAEY 01" THE EETOLUTION. [17Y6. been repeatedly told, of liis being a blacksmitli and carpenter, are the contradictory effusions of ignorance and falsehood. AYlien very young, he gave a proof of early courage, in follow- ing a fox that had plundered the poultry-yard into its den, creeping on his hands and knees, -where, discovering it by the brightness of its own eyes, he destroyed it. This is not a very important fact, but it is a real one, well known to the people of Pomfret. When a major of the rangers, in the year 1T58, leading the van of a scouting party, he was overpowered and taken by a body of five hundred Lidians and Canadians. During the lat- ter part of the engagement, he was tied to a tree, and exposed to the fire of his own men. At last the enemy being forced to retreat, an Indian, in passing, struck him with the butt end of his musket, intending to kill him, but happened only to break one of his jaw-bones; immediately after a Canadian came up, cut the straps that fastened him to the tree, and led him off. He was carried to Ticonderoga, and soon after ex- changed. A romantic account of this skirmish was given in the j)iiblic prints some months ago, in which it was said that he had received a multitude of wounds, beside being scalped. All this is fiction ; the blow above mentioned was the only one he received in that action. In the colony service he considerably increased his estate. He has now a large, well-cultivated farm, and generally repre- sents the town of Pomfret, in the colony assembly. When the discontents in New England rose very high, in 1775, he was very much caressed by the American party ; and, on a false rumor spreading through the country, of the King's troops having massacred five hundred inhabitants of Boston, he headed a large party of volunteers, in Connecticut, and marched to the relief of Boston, but soon returned home, on that intelligence being contradicted. After the action at Concord, in April, 1775, he joined the Massachusetts troops, commanded by Warren.' He was then a colonel in rank. On June seventeenth, at one o'clock in the ' Major-General Joseph Warren. 1776.] GENEEAL PUTNAM. 339 morning, tliey took possession of Bunker's Hill, opposite to Boston, wliere in a few hours tliey threw up a redoubt and in- trenchment. "When he saw the British troops embarking to attack them, he advised "Warren, who commanded in chief, to retreat, and founded his opinion on the following reasons : — - " That he had often served with the King's troops ; that al- though one-half or two-thirds of them should be killed, yet those that remained would certainly storm their works ; that the moment the intrenchment was mounted, his countrymen, whom he knew very well, would run ; for though they would fight as long as any troops whatever, while under cover, yet they would never stand an open engagement, and the push of the bayonet ; that the spirit of veteran troops ought not to be expected from them, who were raw men, badly disciplined, and badly armed ; that it would be highly injudicious to put them, at first, to so severe a trial, as the check they would in all probability receive, would tend greatly to dishearten them, and have a very bad effect on all their future operations." This salutary advice was rejected by Warren, who was very opinionated, addicted to liquor, and in haste to distinguish himself, this being the very first morning of his apprenticeship in the art of war. He replied, " Tliat they had been branded as cowards, but would show the military they could fight as well as themselves," and ordered the colonel to return to Cam- bridge, and bring on the rest of the men. Putnam obeyed. On the march back, his men followed him with spirit enough till they reached the fort of Bunker's Hill, when the heavy firing, it being then the heat of the engagement, made them shrink. (This he has often mentioned when speaking of that day's service.) "Whilst he was laboring fruitlessly in this manner, the King's troops stormed the redoubt, and he was instantly joined by the fugitives ; upon which they all i-e- treated over the neck as fast as possible. The colonel had fre- quently given it as his opinion that if but five hundred men had pursued them, he could not have kept one man at Cam- bridge. But no pursuit being made, he took post there ; and as they heard from Boston that very night what dreadful havoc they had made amongst the King's troops, the men immedi- 340 DIABY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1776, ately recovered their spirits. So much does success in war de- pend on the improvement of a single moment. The colonel was now promoted to the rank of major-gen- eral, but his commission was hardly delivered to him, when it was debated, in the General Congress, to supersede him, and give his rank to Mr. Thomas,' a favorite of General "Washing- ton. He was only saved from this insult by the necessity they had for his services. During the summer and autumn, 1775, whilst Boston was blockaded, he was by far the most popular officer in the American camp ; he was the first to take up the spade and the mattock, and to join the common men in all the fatigues of the day, which very naturally endeared him to them. His popularity, however, suifered a great shock, towards the latter end of the same year ; for, at the request of the General Congress and the commander-in-chief, attempting to persuade the men, whose time of service was nearly expired, to continue in arms four months longer, till another army could be embodied, he raised a general clamor against himself. The men went oif precisely at their time, and exclaimed against him over all the country, as an enemy to liberty. By this defection, in the space of six weeks in the middle of winter, there were not more than seven thousand men in the extensive lines round Boston. If General Howe had had good intelligence, he might have cleared the whole environs of that town in less than twenty-four hours ; for such a small body of troops were very insufficient to defend a line of intrenchments and redoubts, that extended at least twelve or fourteen miles, from Mystic Eiver all round the head of the Bay to Dorchester Point. Another raw army was at last drawn together, which made some sem- blance of attacking Boston, on which General Howe left it. Since the war has been moved into the territory of New York, we find General Putnam commanding in the lines, at the bat- tle of Brooklyn. It is not surprising that new levies should be beat by veterans. After the defeat, the desertion of their lines was a wise measure, as their retreat might have been cut off by ships of war posted in the East Eiver. General John Thomas died at Sorel, in Canada, on the 2d of June, 1116. 17Y6.] SKIEMISI-I AT MOUNT WASHINGTON. 341 There is no doubt but General Putnam wishes as sin- cerely for peace as any man on either side of the question ; yet there is no man in either army will do his duty with greater bravery in the field. He never was a favorer of American In- dependency. As to his person, he is middle size, very strongly made, no fat, all bones and muscles ; he has a lisp in his speech, and is now upwards of sixty years of age." ISTovEMBEE 8. — ^This day, a few of the common soldiers of the tJdrd and fifth Pennsylvania battalions, gave rise to a little skirmish, which, though trifling in itself, we g,^.^^,^,^ ^^ ^j^^^t cannot help relating it, as it seems to point out Washington. some of the effects of discipline. The scene of this little rencontre lay on an eminence be- tween the termination of Mount Washington and King's Bridge,' in a transverse line with, and under the full command of a height in possession of our Hessian enemy. Near the summit of this eminence, and facing some of our works, is a large' rock or natural breastwork, where a small body of their men were posted. Two of our people had the boldness to ad- vance up this hill without the least cover, in order, they said, to have a fairer shot at those planted behind the rocky barrier. These siistained the musketry of the Hessians, and the fire from a field-piece from the neighboring height. Some more of our men went up to their assistance. The fire upon the breastwork was now redoubled, and poured in upon our enemies, in such a close and well-managed succession as entirely silenced them. The Hessian main guard, who were posted about four hun- dred yards from this place, seeing the danger of their sentries, turned out and marched to their relief. About fifty of the enemy were in motion. Our little body was now augmented to be- tween fifteen and twenty. They were at but a very small distance from the breastwork, when, perceiving the route of the Hessians, they saw they must either give up the ground they had gained, or intimidate the approaching enemy. At this crit- ' A correspondent of the Middlesex Journal, December 21. " Near New York. 342 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1YY6. ical juncture, I could see the brave fellows form with the ut- most regularity and order ; and then, as if under the command of the best officer, arrange into three divisions. The specta- tors on both sides, as if by mutual agreement, seemed willing to trust the issue of this little afiair to those already in the field and in motion. Two of our divisions immediately began a circuit around the bend of the hill, in order, as was supposed, to get on the rear of the enemy at the rocks, and oppose the main guard, who were coming on, whilst the centre division advanced towards the rock, keeping up, all the while, a regular fire. This little piece of instinctive, or, rather, mechanical generalship, had a most beautiful efi'ect. The sentries, aware of their danger, precipitately retreated, carrying off two killed or wounded. Our men took possession of theii- post, burned their huts, and secured a rifle gun, a musket, and blanket, which we suppose belonged to those who were carried off. Upon gaining the contested ground, they gave three cheers for the Congress, which was returned by their flanking parties, and replied to by the Hessian artillery. The divisions now united, and seemed, notwithstanding the enemy's field-pieces and superior force, which was advancing against them, resolved on defending the height they had so martially obtained. For this purpose we could see them dis- pose themselves along a rail fence that commanded the road, by which the Hessian guard must pass before they could make an advantageous attack. They were now reinforced with a few stragglers from other regiments. Their fire was so very well directed and judiciously managed as to keep the Hessians at bay ; and, at length, forced them to take shelter in an orchard, nearly opposite to our little line of adventurers. They held their ground till niglit, and then came ofi" in good or del*, and with only one man wounded' — -a Ser- geant "Wright, of the third Pennsylvania regiment. He re- ceived a ball in advancing to the rocky breastwork. I have been more particular in the detail of this little aff'air, as it seems to show, in some measure, the force and advantages of good discipline. Here, a few men, without any preconcerted 17 Y6.] SKIEMISH AT MOUNT WASHINGTON. 343 plan, met together by chance, and without a leader to direct them, exhibited an epitome of generalship that would not have dishonored even Hannibal or Scipio. Examples of this kind show, more than any thing else, the importance and necessity of early and late inculcating the strictest forms of discipline. It is by no means improbable, that the beauty and order of most of the animal motions arise from repetition. Tliis, par- ticularly in the soldiery, begets habits which are often prefer- able to the greatest courage.' ISTovEMBEE 9. — HiTHEETo the achievements of our little army on York Island have been extremely fortunate. Tlie genius that presides there seems to be of the enterprising kind. Last campaign it was thought a matter of great hardi- hood and praise to burn the enemy's guard house at Koxbury, on Boston Neck, and a few houses in Charlestown,' under cover of the night ; but here such exploits are conducted in open day. This morning, we found the enemy once more in possession of the rock from whence we had routed them yesterday. About eighty men, under the command of Colonel Penrose, of Philadelphia, and Major Hubley, (late an officer at the northward,) resolved to dislodge them a second time. As the men were in high spirits, and the barn and dwelling-house which the guard occupied at but a small distance, the colonel proposed storming them. We soon regained the rock, and, with surprising rapidity, the houses, notwithstanding an inces- sant fire from the enemy's artillery, main guard, and a small redoubt in an orchard adjoining the guard, that commanded the road. The Hessians were soon obliged to abandon their posts. "We killed on the spot about ten, and the rest either es- caped or were burned in the houses, which some of our men, without orders, immediately fired. It is something remarkable that on our side we had only one man wounded. Perhaps the sally was so unexpected as to have entirely disconcerted and confused the enemy. As ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, November 21. ' See page 19S, ante. 344 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTTTION. [1Y76. it is, no men ever behaved more resolutely or bravely than ours.' JSTovEiiBER 13. — Yesteedat the Eritish decamped from Dobb's ferry, and marched as far as Phillip's manor, (five miles from King's Eridge,) where they halted and pitched their tents. They seem to be bending their course towards York Island, and it is apprehended they mean to attack Fort "Washington. Yesterday we reinforced the garrison at that place with five hundred men, and we hope it is very tenable. Deserters inform us that they are resolved to take it this cam- paign, if they are obliged to invest it with their whole army. Tlie three ships which went up the ISTorth Kiver a few days ago, have fallen down within three miles of Fort Lee, and will push by the first fair wind. Last night we went a Tory hunting witli a party of fifty men, but the birds had flown before we arrived. However, we were repaid by a sight of the enemy's encampment, whose fires being very nimierous and greatly extended, exhibited a delightful appearance.'' It is very remarkable, says a correspondent, that the event of this unnatural war shoidd so directly contradict Lord Sand- wich's assertion in calling the Americans " cowards," and that his particular friends should suffer so essentially. Major Pit- cairne re-echoed his lordship's opinion, and boasted, before he embarked at Portsmouth, that if he drew his sword but half out of the scabbard, the whole banditti (as he termed them) of Massachusetts Eay, would flee from him. Behold, he is slain, on the first time he appears in the field against them. Captain Howe, of the Glasgow, anotlier of his lordship's friends, falls in with two or three ragamufiin privateers, and he brings his lordship an undeniable proof that the Americans are not cowards ; and now we have a Gazette account that these cowards have beat two fifty-gun ships, four frigates, of twenty-eight guns each, and two others of twenty-eight guns ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, Nov. 21. ° Pennsylvania Journal, Nov. 20. 1776.] FOET -WASHrNGTOK TAXEN. 345 each, making together two hundred and fifty-two guns.' How many had those cowardly Americans? Why, truly, nineteen. And though the King's ships had so many as two himdred and fifty-two well manned, to so few as nineteen, yet those cowardly Americans made those heroes and friends of Lord Sandwich, with his hoon companion Sir Peter Par- ker, and a Scotch lord, confess that their attempt to take an insignificant fort "was impracticable, and that a further attempt would have been the destruction of many brave men, without the least probability of success." They certainly con- fided in Lord Sandwich's bare ipse dixit, and could not be otherwise convinced, without losing one of the King's ships, and having five more nearly battered to pieces, besides losing sixty-four killed, and one hundred and forty-one wounded.'' Novt;mbee 16. — ^Aboijt two o'clock this afternoon a large body of British troops from New York, with a body of Hes- sians from King's Bridge, made an attack upon jort Washington the American lines at that place. At the same *^'^'^^- time, a number of boats from the shipping came up Harlem Biver, and landed a piarty of men, who advanced forward with an intention to cut off our retreat, which in part they effected ; but a part of our men taking advantage of a hill, got safe to the fort ; the other part, being almost surrounded, were obliged to fight their way through the enemy, by which means the heaviest fire from our troops was directed against the Hessians, who were beat back, and obliged to be reinforced three several times by large detachments from their main body. In this manner our small army, under the command of Colonel Ma- gaw, retreated, sustaining with unexampled resolution a con- tinual fire of the cannon, field-pieces, and musketry of more than five to one in number, till they reached Fort Washing- ton, when the engagement ceased. Soon after the engagement ended, the enemy made a demand of the fort, and Colonel Magaw finding it impossible to defend it, surrendered the same to the enemy about sunset. ■ At Sullivan's Island. ' PennsylTania Journal, November 27. 346 DIAET OF TIIE EEVOLUTION. [1776, Tlie mimber of our men ^vho were killed in the above engagement is imccrtain, bnt the whole loss in killed and taken prisoners, is upwards of two thousand. "What loss the enemy sustained is likewise uncertain, but if we may believe the account given by a deserter who came to head-quarters since the engagement, the Hessians had between four and five thousand men killed on the spot. Master James Level, of Boston, who has been a prisoner more than eighteen months, is now on his way from New York to Boston, having been exchanged for Governor Skeene, who was some time held a prisoner in Hartford. We hear Colonel Ethan Allen is now on board a ship at New York ; that he has been treated since his being taken a prisoner with the utmost barbarity, till lately, but the rigor of his oppressors has been a little softened, and he is now treated according to his rank ; and we hope an exchange will soon take place, when he may again return into the bosom of his grateful country.' John Hakcook, Esq., President of the American Congress, is now more the object of pity than contempt. His fortune alone raised this very weak man to consideration John Hancock. . ,.., ,, , .ii t • m the political world, and with the diminution and loss of property, his power and influence have declined and fallen. Adams' conspiracy, like that of most others, was originally composed of persons destitute of property and the means of living. Mr. Hancock was therefore early admitted a most useful member, and with his name and credit, a system of sedition was undertaken and reared to a general rebellion and revolt, which, through the poverty and dishonest characters of the others, could not have been supported and propagated without these aids. They even found it necessary for some time to play him off as head of the league ; and he not only contributed profusely towards the charges and expenses of the common cause, but advanced moneys for the discharge of the debts, and for the maintenance and subsistence ' Freeman's Journal, December 3. ITTC] JOHN HANCOCK. 347 of Ms indigent friend Adams, who had no other visible means of freedom from a jail. He had in retm'n the appearance of gratitude and respect, in being raised to the first honors in the election and gift of the people, and thought himself indebted to Adams for the promotion to the president's chair. But this person was too much a politician to have regard to his benefactor in these preferments; he made him only the stalking horse of his own ambition, and consulted his honor no further than was conducive to his own interest, and the designs of the confederacy. These could not long be pro- moted by Hancock, exhausted of his whole estate ; and he has lately siiifered repeated acts of mortifying neglect, and had many clear evidences of the wishes of his old friends, not so much for his ruin, which would little avail them, as for his retirement with Mr. Speaker Gushing, whom they had before laid aside as useless. His natural peevishness was irritated by these unexpected and ungrateful dispositions of his friends ; he would least of all brook an injury from one so much obliged to him as Adams personally had been, and his resentment hurried him into an open opposition and conten- tion with this insidious man, which probably before this time has terminated in his own fall and ruin. For it appears by the last advices from Philadelphia, in a channel of intelligence of great credibility, that this very Adams had made a inotion in Congress for the expulsion of his benefactor Hancock, founded on the ostensible reason of holding principles incom- patible with independency; in which, though he did not immediately and directly prevail, because it was not thought derogatory of the honor and prejudicial of the general interest of that body to depose and expel their president, yet it was not doubted that a more decent method would be taken to lay him aside.' IN'ovEMBEE 18. — ^By a person lately from the American camp, a gentleman of undoubted veracity, who was prisoner and enlarged by General Howe, we are informed that the ' " Caesar," in the Middlesex Journal, December 26. 348 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1776. enemy lost before the lines of Fort "Washington, seventeen Imndred killed on the field, and ninety-six wagon loads of ■\vonnded, the inost mortally ; that our people ° ' behaved with the greatest intrepidi-ty and resolu- tion; that our loss was about three hundred killed and wounded. — -This account may be depended on, as it came from divers of the British officers, with whom the gentleman was intimately acquainted. The attack did not commence at the lines at Harlem, as has been reported, that post being at least six miles distant from Fort Washington, but at the outlines north of the fort, distant about a quarter of a mile ; that the Hessians made the attack, and marched within point blank pistol shot of the lines, where they were kept at least two lioiirs, and were, by the intrepidity and well-placed fire of our people, cut down in whole ranks. The brave Americans kept their post until a heavy column of British troops appeared in their rear ; the lines there being entirely open, obliged them to retreat and en- deavor to gain the fort ; but the British troops being nearer the fort, cut ofl" and obliged a considerable part to surren- der prisoners. Tlie fort was immediately summoned, but the commanding officer first pleaded for a term of five days ; that being refused, plead for the honors of war, which was also de- nied, and the garrison was informed that unless they surren- dered at discretion, the fort would be immediately invested, and they must abide the consequence. A council of war was immediately held, and it was decided that, as they had not any water, nor could get any at the places from which the garrison had been supplied with the article, they being in pos- session of the enemy, and that the fort was not capable of dcr fence, agreed to surrender it and themselves at discretion. Tlie commanding officer of the fort is a gentleman of great cour- age, and would have defended it as long as a single soldier re- mained to support it, had it been capable of defence. Tlie liighest honors are due to liim, his gallant officers, and the bra^'e soldiers who were under his command.' ■ ; ' Freeman's Journal, December 10. 17Y6.] THE PRUDENT GENEEALS. 34:9 Geoegk Selwyn, tlie otlier evening, in one of the polite gaming hoiTses in London, hearing a young gentleman speak- ing with great animation of the miraculous escape Anecdote of of General Howe, who was said to have been seiwyn. patting Lord Percy's charger, at the time the animal was shot under him, replied : — " Yoii are right ; and never was a more miraculous escape, or perhaps more temper shown upon any occasion, than by the two general officers, in that situation." " How was that ? I did not hear any thing about it." " No ! — why it seems they were disputing about the age of the horse, and had made a bet upon it ; — Lord Percy said he was aged ; Sir "William said otherwise ; and just as the latter was looking into his mouth, to satisfy his doubts, a nine pounder came from Fort "Washington, and severed the horse's head from his body ; upon which Sir William Howe, with great composure, took up the head and showed his lordship the mark in his mouth. Lord Percy, instantly dismounting, paid him the money, and then, with the greatest intrepidity, led his brigade to the walls of the fort." ' THE PRUDENT GENERALS COMPARED. When Rome was urged by adverse fate, On Cannae's evil day, A Fabius saved the sinking state, By caution and delay. " One only State ! " reply'd a smart ; Why talk of such a dunce ? When Billy Howe, by the same art, Can save thikteen at once.'' Novembee 21. — An officer in the British navy has written home, that the bravery of the King's troops cannot be too highly commended. He then says that every capital enterprise hitherto made by General Howe, has either been in the night or by break of day, our soldiers being taught to depend more upon their bayonets than their muskets ; and about twilight is » Middlesex Journal, January 4, 1111. " Same, January 2. 350 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION". [1Y76. found the best season for hunting the rebels in the woods, at Aviiich time their rifles are of very little use ; and they are not found so serviceable in a body as musketry, a rest being requi- site at all times ; and before they are able to make a second discharge, it frequently happens that they find themselves run through the body by the push of a bayonet, as a rifleman is not entitled to any quarter. He also says, that on the rebels first retreating, a clergy- man at "Westchester assembled the people, and, in a very pathetic and loyal address, advised them to repentance and submission, which had the desired effect. This conduct en- raged the rebels against him exceedingly, and on their return they cut his throat, and afterwards mangled the dead body in a shocking manner. His wife and children were stripped al- most naked, and driven round the rebel camp. They were treated in this cruel manner several days, and then sent to our camp. JSTotwithstanding these instances of savage cruelty, their prisoners with us are treated with the utmost humanity.' Yesterday, a party of the British army landed near Dobb's ferry, and soon after took possession of Fort Lee. On the ap- pearance of our troops, the rebels fled like scared Fort Lee taken. ,,. ,. „ rabbits, and m a few moments after we reached the hill near their intrenchments, not a rascal of them could be seen. They have left some poor pork, a few greasy proclama- tions, and some of that scoundrel Common Sense man's letters, which we can read at our leisure, now that we have got one of the " impregnable redoubts " of Mr. Washington's to quarter in. * * * * "VVe intend to push on after the long-faces in a few days.° In the country dances published in London for next year, there is one called " Lord Howe's Jig," in which there is " cross over, change hands, turn your partner, foot it on both sides," and other movements admirably depictive, says a correspond- ent, of the present war in America." ' Middlesex Journal, December 31. ^ Markoe to Oswald. * ' Pennsylvania Journal, March 12. 1776.] EEVIEW AT PHILADELPHIA. 351 AiTEfi the late battle of the "White Plains, the provincial officers who were taken prisoners, being dispersed in differ- ent parts of the regular army, were occasionally General asked to dine at the tables of our general officers. ^^ ii<='ster. It happened one day that a party of them dined with General De Heister, the Hessian General, who, as soon as the cloth was taken away, drank " the King." Some of the provincials drank the toast, others drank their wine and said nothing. At last, one who had more plain dealing about him than the rest, refused drinking it, giving it as a reason, with many apolo- gies, " that if it had been a favorite toast with him, he would not then be in the situation he was at present." This occa- sioned some confusion, and in particular brought on an alterca- tion between him and the general, which in the end terminated in the latter so far forgetting himself as to strike the former with his cane. Tliis no doubt is nothing more than what is com- mon in the German discipline, yet, though it may be thought advisable for us to want their assistance as soldiers, it is to be hoped British generals will reprobate such feelings and man- ners.' Theee is very good intelligence that the British intend to make a push for Philadelphia. We hear part of their force is embarked, either to go up the Delaware, and make their at- tacks on both sides at once, or else to amuse the Southern States, and prevent their sending any assistance to Philadel- phia. We have not force enough to oppose their march by land. We look to New Jersey and Pennsylvania for their militia, and on their spirit depends the preservation of Amer- ica. If in this hour of adversity they shrink from danger, they deserve to be slaves indeed ! If the freedom that success will insure us, if the misery that awaits our subjection, will not rouse them, why let them sleep till they awake in bondage." November 27. — ^Yesteedat afternoon, at the review of the militia for the city of Philadelphia and liberties, nothing could ' Upcott, iv. 419. ' Pennsylvania Journal, November 27. 352 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. exceed the zecal and ardor of the men, wlio unanimously turned out volunteers, to serve their country at this important junc- ture. So laudable an example, it is hoped, -will he followed in the other parts. At eleven o'clock this forenoon, a very large and general town meeting was held in the State House yard. The mem- „ ,. , hers of the General Assembly and the Council of Meeting at '' Philadelphia, gafety were present ; Mr. Kittenhouse, vice-presi- dent of the council, being in the chair. The intelligence which has been received of the probability of General Howe having it in contemplation to invade the State, was laid before the citi- zens, and they were informed that the Congress requested the militia of the city, and several of the counties, and part of the militia of each of the other counties, to march into New Jer- sey. The people expressed their cheerful approbation of the measure, by tlie most unanimous acclamations of joy ever ob- served on any occasion, and the militia are ordered to be re- viewed to-morrow, at two o'clock in the afternoon. General Mifflin addressed his fellow-citizens in a spirited, animating, and affectionate address, which was received by them with marks of approbation, which showed their esteem for, and confidence in, the general.' ITovEMBEE 30. — ^This day, the Howes have issued a procla- mation commanding all persons whatsoever, who are assem- prociamationof ^^^d together iu arms against his Majesty's gov- the Howes. ernment, to disband themselves, and return to their dwelliirgs, there to remain in a peaceable and quiet man- ner. They also charge and command all such other persons as are assembled together under the name or names of general or provincial Congresses, committees, conventions, or other asso- ciations, by whatever name or names known and distinguished, or who, under color of any authority from any such Congress, committee, convention, or other association, take upon them to issue or execute any orders for le^^ying money, raising troops, fitting out armed ships or vessels, imprisoning and otherwise ' Freeman's Journal, December 24. ITTG.] HOWEs' PEOOLAMATION. 363 molesting his Majesty's subjects, to desist and cease from all such treasonable actions and doings, and to relinquish all such usurped power and authority, so that j)eace may be restored ; a speedy remission of past offences quiet the apprehensions of the guilty, and all the inhabitants of the said colonies be enabled to reap the benefit of his Majesty's paternal goodness, in the preservation of their property, the restoration of their commerce, and the security of their most valuable rights, under the just and moderate authority of the crown and parliament of Great Britain. And they further declare and make known to all men, that every person who, within sixty days, shall ap- pear before the governor, or any other oflicer in his Majesty's service, having the command of any detachment or parties of his Majesty's forces, or before the admiral or commander- in-chief of his Majesty's fleets, or any officer commanding any of his Majesty's ships-of-war, or any armed vessel in his Maj- esty's service, within any of the ports, havens, creeks, or upon the coast of America, and shall claim the benefit of this proclamation, and, at the same time, testify his obedience to the laws by subscribing a declaration in the words following : " I, A. B., do promise and declare that I will remain in a peaceable obedience to his Majesty, and will not take up arms in opposition to his authority," shall and may obtain a full and free pardon of all treasons, misprisons of treason by him heretofore committed or done, and of all forfeitures, attainders, and penalties for the same ; and upon producing to them, or either of them, a certificate of such, his appearance and decla- ration, shall and may have and receive such pardon made and passed to him in due form.' Messes. Howe. — We have seen your proclamation, and as it is a great curiosity, think it deserves some notice ; and lest no one else should deign to notice it, will make ^n^wcr to nowes a few remarks upon what was designed for public P'oo'imation. benefit. In this rarity we see slaves offering liberty to free Americans; thieves and robbers offer to secure our rights ' Upcott, iv. 417 Vol. I.— 23 354 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1776. and property ; murderers offer us pardon ; — a perjured Tyrant, 1 ly tlie moutli of two of his hireling butchers, " commands" all the civil and military powers in these independent States, to resign all pretensions to authority, and to acknowledge subjection to a foreign despot, even his mock majesty, now reeking with blood and murder. This is truly a curiosity, and is a compound of the most consummate arrogance and folly of the cloven-footed spawn of despairing wretches, who are laboring to complete the works of tyranny and deatly It would be far less wicked, and not quite so stupid, for the Grand Turk to send two of his slaves into Britain, Ilowelizts and W. Howoldozt, to command all the Britons to acknowl- edge themselves the slaves of the Turk, offering to secure their rights and property, and to pardon such as had borne arms against his Sublime Highness, upon conditions of their making submission within " sixty days." Messieurs Howe and "W". Howe, pray read your proclama- tion once more, and consider how modest you appear; and reflect on the infinite contempt with which you are. viewed by the Americans, and remember the meanest freeman " scorns the highest slave." "We do not, however, suppose you are such idiots as to expect your proclamation will meet with any thing but contempt from these independent States; you have had too much experience of their wisdom and valor to hope for any thing else ; but as you have failed to subjugate the Colonies, (and as our haughty masters have told the nation you would " bring them to obedience,") this proclamation is to furnish a puff in the place of victory ; thereby to support the dying hopes of those miserable wretches who are wishing for our destruction. So that George and his slaves, while they are gaping for the tidings of our being conquered, will, instead thereof, receive your conquering proclamation, commanding us to submit ! Truly, if we had any pity for tyrants or their tools, we should pity you ; but, to be honest, we sincerely despise you, and all your abettors, without the least mixture of fear, esteem, or compassion, except that which is due to the greatest criminals. 17T6.] A FABLE. 355 Before concluding, we will give you some good advice, and some information, wliich we had thought of issuing by- way of proclamation, but it may suffice in this place. We advise you, and each of you, jointly and separately, to make the best of your way to Britain ; and if your master should frown upon his wicked servants for not. having done more wickedly, you may perhaps escape with your necks ; and if not, you will perhaps only be hanged, and that may preserve you from a worse punishment in America. — And now for information, (which you seem very much to want :) Know ye, the States of America are now completing an army raised for the whole war, consisting of eighty-eight battalions, viz., sixty-four thousand and sixty-four men, who are to be reinforced if necessary from the well-formed militia in the States, which may be three hundred and forty-six thousand. This will be somethmg of an object; but add to this vast army our resource by sea, (the captures this year are estimated at not less than two millions sterling ;) and consider our rapid progress in arms and all the implements of war; can you suppose, can even the button-making idiot of Britain imagine these United States, with the glorious prize of liberty in their hands, and the most animating prospect of every felicity that Heaven can bestow, will resign themselves, their posterity, and all that is great and good into the devouring jaws of hellish tyrants? You are no doubt pleased with being reinforced by a few dastardly Tories at IS'ew York ; and we sincerely wish every wretch who deserves that name was with you. "We would inform you, that we have assurance from Europe, that several nations are preparing to revenge past injuries received from Britain, and that his Tyrantship will have full employ very soon, without troubling the States of America. In concluding, let us advise you to prepare for your latter end that you may be proper objects for a pardon.' Theee was a large forest, inhabited by a few sheep. In ' An American, in the Boston Gazette, December 30. 356 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1YY6. the neigliborliood was a nation of mastiff dogs, another of foxes, anotlier of wolves, and another of bojirs. The sheep were protected by the doffs till they increased to a Arabic. '- , . , *^, „ f, T . 1 • 1 ,1 great multitude. After a bloody war, m which they were saved by the dogs from both the foxes and the wolves, the sheep imagined themselves to be a very mighty people, and some old stinking rams told them it was not proper that the dogs should any longer rule over them. The dogs had bit them they said, and intended to bite them more severely. And so the sheep proclaimed themselves a commonwealth of free people. Tet while they complained how the dogs had oppressed them, they boasted with the same breath, that so greatly had they prospered, that in twelve years they were become a match for the world, though it was evident that before that time they could not defend themselves against the foxes only. The dogs, upon this, resolved to bring them back to obedience, but the sheep implored the foxes, the wolves, and the boars to attack the dogs, which they gladly performed ; and while the best mastiffs were in the country of the sheep, these different tribes so violently attacked their old formidable enemies the dogs, that they utterly broke their strength, and ruined them as a people. But the sheep did not long boast of their profound politics ; the foxes, the wolves, and the boars poured in upon them, and soon rendered them the most abject and miserable of all animals. THE MOEAL is this. Tlie Americans are, in reality, as defenceless as sheep ; it is impossible they can, for several centuries, con- stitute an empire ; they want many requisites. The English are generous, brave mastiffs ; the French have always been sly, ravenous foxes, the Spaniards cruel wolves, when they conquer, and the Dutch mere wild boars, wherever they can effect a settlement. Amboyna and all their settlements witness this. But though, for the fable's sake, I suppose the conquest of the mastiffs, I trust that event is yet very distant; and that half a million of determined fighting 1'^'76.] MONMOUTH COUNTY TORY. 357 slieep, with all tlieir ingratitude, (a circumstance infinitely more to be feared tlian the strength of their horns,) will never effect so imworthy a purpose. And let me add, there is a circumstance in the natural history of the sheep which greatly resembles American courage. When you go near a flock of sheep, a few will at first run, then the whole body of them will draw up in a line like soldiers ; will watch your motions ; will seem as if they felt vastly bold, aye, and will stamp their feet on the ground in a menacing manner ; but let a mastiff walk up to them, and half a million of these determined threateners, will instantly take to their heels, and fly off in the greatest fear and confusion.' Decembee 1. — Since the rebels abandoned Fort Lee, they have been hurrying through the Jerseys, closely followed by Cornwallis and his magic lights. The arch-rebel Washing- ton is now at Brunswick, but how long he will remain the devil only knows, (for the Lord won't have any thing to do with him.) Yesterday we heard that our friends were coming on, and, in that event, we shall soon lose the company of the Congress tatter de mallions, which certainly most of the people here (Brunswick) do not feel sorry for. * * * * * * * ISTed has just come in from Bonum, by the back road, and says that the troops are now passed through that town, and will soon be here.^ December 2.- — ^Testeeday, on the appearance of the enemy at Brunswick, General Washington ordered a retreat to Princeton, where we arrived early this morning. We are in a terrible situation, with the enemy close upon us, and whole regiments of Marylanders and Jerseymen leaving us. To- morrow we go to Trenton, where the general is determined to make a stand. .* * * A Tory from Monmouth lower coimty, was brought in here to-day by a party of the Pennsylvania boys. He mistook them for the reg'lars, and came quite into camp without perceiving his mistake. This afternoon, after ' "Britannicus," in the Middlesex Journal, December 26. ' Carver, f 35S DIAEY OF THE EETOLtJTION. [1776. taking off liis breeches and giving him an absolution, by set- ing liim on the ice, (to cool his loyalty,) they set him to work bringing in fagots. He seems pleased with his new office, knowing that he got off easy. Notwithstanding General Stirling deprecates severity to the infernal Tories we catch, they get absolution often.' When Governor Trumbull recommended to the house- holders in Connecticut, who were not obliged to do military ^^^ duty, to form themselves into companies, choose MaiTied Eegiment. ^heir owu officers, and equip themselves for the defence of these States, a number of aged gentlemen in the town of Waterbury embodied themselves, and nominated their own officers, who were honored with commissions. When the regiment of militia, to which they belong, was ordered to ISTew York, agreeable to a late resolve of the general assembly, this company was the first that marched and reached the place of rendezvous. It is now at Hje, and consists of twenty- four men ; their ages added together, are a thousand years ; they are all married men, and when they came from home left behind them their wives, with an hundred and forty-nine children. One of them is fifty-nine years of age, and is the father of nineteen children, and twelve grandchildren ; fourteen of his own children are now living. A worthy example of patriotism. — Let others go and do likewise.'' Me. Washington has orderea the people of New Jersey to burn and destroy all the hay and corn which they can- not carry back into the country. Tliis, among other enor- mities of the like kind, will ruin many farmers in that province and desolate the country. And yet this is the man, who has the assurance to accuse others of devastation and mischief. Eebels are hopeful reformers. So great is tlie rage of fighting among the Presbyterian 23reachers, that one of them has taken no less than seven different commissions, in order to excite the poor deluded Clift's Diary. ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, February 25, 1111. 1776.] EETEEAT TO TEENTON FALLS. 359 men •who liave taken up arms, they know not why, to stand forth with an enthusiastic ardor, against their King and the constitution. Two or three members of Congress, one or two of them worse than nothing, and the other involved in debt, have realized great sums, which they have remitted to Holland and some of the European banks ; where, it is supposed, they mean to retire when the desperate game they are now play- ing can be no longer maintained. This is plunder upon their country, under the infamous pretence of patriotism and public virtue. Charity itself cannot wish that men with such ill- gotten goods, acquired at the expense and ruin of a once happy and flourishing country, should ever be able to enjoy them in peace and security." This morning, at Charleston, South Carolina, John Roberts, a dissentiag minister, was seized on suspicion of being an ene- my to the rights of America, when he was tarred and feath- ered ; after which, the populace, whose fury could not be ap- peased, erected a gibbet on which they hanged him, and after- wards made a bonfire, in which Roberts, together with the gibbet, was consumed to ashes." Decembee 12. — SmcE last Sunday, we have all been at the laboring oar, from the generals to the privates. Early in that day we heard that Cornwallis was coming in three . . „ . . •J o Americans Ketreat different ways.' Knowing our weak situation, he '° Trenton raiia. made a forced march to come up with us, and was within two miles of Princeton, when Lord Stirling began his retreat with two brigades. Boats from every quarter were collected, and our stores, together with the troops remaining at Trenton, were immediately conveyed over the Delaware. On Sunday morn- ing, having every thing over, we crossed the Delaware, and took our quarters about half a mile from the river. About eleven o'clock the enemy came marching down with all the pomp of ' Gaine's Mercury, December 2. ' Upcott, iy. 419. = Cliffs Diary. 360 DIAET OP THE EEVOLTTTION. [1776. war, in great expectation of getting boats, and immediately pur- suing ; but of tliis we took proper care, by destroying every boat, sliallop, &c., we could lay our bands on. Tbey made forced marches up and down the river, in pursuit of boats, but in vain. This is Tliursday ; the enemy are much scattered, some in Trenton, directly opposite ; from that on their left to Eordentown and Burlington, on the river banks. They are at least twelve thousand strong, determined for Philadelphia, for which purpose they are transporting flat-bottomed boats from Brunswick to Trenton by land.' Deoembee 13. — This morning, about eleven o'clock. Gen- eral Lee was taken prisoner at Baskenridge, in New Jersey, General Lee ^7 Coloucl Harcourt with a party of light horse. t.aken Prisoner. q^Ijq gentry pkccd at the door of the house at which General Lee was stopping, saw the troopers coming on the run, and at first supposed them to be ours ; but soon per- ceived his mistake by their swords, which are more crooked than ours. His piece not being loaded, he charged; they rode up to him and said, "Don't shoot; if you fire we will blow your brains out." General Lee cries out, " for God's sake, what shall I do ? " The lady of the house took him up stairs, in order to hide him between the chimney and the breastwork over the fireplace, but he could not, the place be- ing so small. The enemy at this time firing in at the win- dows, the captain gave orders to set fire to the house. The general seeing no way of escaping, sent down he would resign himself. They fired three times at the messenger, but missed him. The general came down without his hat or outside coat, and said, " I hope you will use me as a gentleman ; let me get my hat arid coat." The captain said, " General Lee, I know you well ; I know you are a gentleman ; you shall be used as such. I know you too well to suffer you to go for your hat and coat," and ordered him to mount. Upon which they went ofi", carrying with them the general and a Frenchman, left the baggage, wounded one of the aide-de-camps, and one or two of ' Extract of a letter from Trenton Falls, in the Freeman's Journal, December 31. 17Y6.] CAPTUEE OF GENEEAL LEE. 361 the guard. Tliere were but thirteen men with the general. He was about four miles from his division, and a mile out of the road.' Intelligence of General Lee's unguarded situation was given to the enemy last night, by an inhabitant of Baskenridge, personally known to the general, and who had made great pretensions of friendship for the American cause, though at heart the greatest villain that ever existed. This Judas rode all the preceding night to carry the intelligence, and served as a pilot to conduct the enemy, and came personally with them to the house where the general was taken. The enemy showed an ungenerous, nay, boyish triumph, after they had got him secure at Brunswick, by making his horse drunk, while they toasted their king till they were in the same condition. A band or two of music played all night to proclaim their joy for this important acquisition. They say we cannot now stand another campaign. Mistaken fools ! to think the fate of America depended on one man. They will find ere long that it has no other eff'ect than to urge us on to a noble revenge.^ ' The following is said to be an authentic copy of a letter sent by General Lee to Captain E y, after his being taken prisoner: — Sir, — The fortune of war, the activity of Colonel Harcourt, and the rascality of my own troops, have made me your prisoner. I submit to my fate, and hope that whatever may be my destiny, I shall meet it with becoming fortitude ; but I have the consolation of thinking, amidst all my distresses, that I was engaged in the noblest cause that ever interested mankind. It would seem to me, that Provi- dence had determined that not one freeman should be left upon earth ; and the success of your arms more than foretells one universal system of slavery. Imagine not, however, that I lament my fortune, or mean to deprecate the malice of ray enemies ; if any sorrow can at present aflJict me, it is that of a great continent ap- parently destined for empire, frustrated in the honest ambition of being free, and enslaved by men whom unfortunately I call my countrymen. To Colonel Har- court's activity every commendation is due ; had I commanded such men, I had this day been free ; but my ill fortune has prevailed, and you behold me no longer hostile to England, but contemptible and a prisoner ! I have not time to add more; but let me assure you that no vicissitudes have the power to alter my sen- timents ; and that, as I have long supported those sentiments in difficulty and in dangers, I will never depart from them, but with Ufe. — Middlesex Journal, Feb- ruary 20, 1777. " freeman's Journal, December 31, 1776, and January 14 and 21, 1777. 362 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1776. Decembee 14. — A coEEESPONDENT gives the following re- ceipt to make & patriot: — ^Take two drachms of reason and six ounces of resolution ; half a pound of eloquence and a pound of logic ; three grains of truth and a pound of falsehood ; stir them up together in a quart of opposition, with the necessary- ingredients of poverty and distress ; strain out all the per- nicious juice of principle or honesty, and leave the dregs of treachery to settle at the bottom. Thus, after being boiled in the heat of ministerial vengeance, you will have a modeen pa- TEioT. ]Sr. B. — K the least use is made of that attracting weed caHied. pension, the compound will instantly dissolve." Saturday morning last, (7th,) Sir Peter Parker, with seventy sail of men-of-war and transports, came into Narra- British Fleet at g^^^^et Bay, froui New York, and anchored above Ehode Island. ^|-^g jiarbor of Newport. On Sunday they landed a body of troops, under the Generals Clinton and Percy, who took possession of the town, the inhabitants having previously determined that the place was not defensible against the ene- my's shipping. The few troops we had on the island retreated to Bristol, leaving behind them some pieces of artillery. By the best accounts yet received, the enemy's troops do not con- sist of more than iive thousand men ; among them are a num- ber of Hessians, some horse, and many invalids. They are intrenching, it is said, at a place called Meeting House Hill, three miles distant from Bristol ferry. From the first appearance of the fleet, the militia and inde- pendent companies of the State have been in motion, and are since joined by a large body of troops, with some companies of artillery from the neighboring States. The readiness and zeal manifested on the occasion, by the troops of Rhode Island and her sister States, reflect on them the highest credit, and we hope will prove a happy presage of their success, should the enemy attempt to gain a lodgment in Providence, or pene- trate the country. "We hear the enemy's troops were escorted into Newport ' Middlesex Journal, December 14, 1776.] M. MASTEAU'S AFFAIR. 363 by a set of ■well-known infamous Tories, who have long in- fested that town, and who may yet possibly meet with the fate justly due to their atrocious villanies.' Some time ago a most excellent couf de main was executed at Guilford, in England, by Monsieur Masteau, a professor of fireworks, who had for some evenings exhibited jj jj^jje^^.s specimens of his infernal abilities, in divers rock- •^*'''''- ets, horizontal wheels, flying pigeons, &c., in a field adjoining the town, enclosed all round with a high wall. As this was to be the last night, Monsieur, with all the po- litesse and address imaginable, applied to every family in town, begging them to take tickets " for the most august, su- perb, and grand exhibition of fireworks ever seen in the king- dom," assuring them he did not mean to get a penny by it, but did it purely to blaze his own reputation, and to testify his gratitude for the many honors he had received from the in- habitants of Guilford. He proposed to display a most sur- prising specimen of his art, by showing them forts and castles in the air, firing cannon, with ships under sail attacking them — ^being an exact representation of Sir Peter Parker's action with the Americans at Charlestown. After a series of mancBU- vres between the ships and castles, he told them that they would all blow up together — when the air would be filled with rockets and flying fiery dragons. Tliese wonderful promises drew a vast concourse of people to the place ; and when all his tickets were come in, proclama- tion was made at the door, " that Monsieur, out of his great regard for the poorer sort, would admit them at two-pence each ; " which soon introduced the whole canaille into the field ; when Monsieur, recollecting something material left at his lodging, stepped home to fetch it — having first ordered his tyro to let off two rockets during his absence ; then locking the whole company into the field, he set off with the key in his pocket. The two rockets being let off, and Monsieur not returning, ' Freeman's Journal, December 24. 364 DIAEY OF TI-IB EEVOLUTION. [1776. the company began to grow clamoroiis, when the deputy at- tempted to fire other piccon, but to his great surprise, not one woukl fire, and on examination i)roved to be only paper cases, without a grain of composition within side. It is impossible to describe the indignation of the deluded multitude, who had now been locked in nearly an hour ; and it was some time be- fore they could get out, which was at last effected by breaking open the door, when they were informed that the Monsieur had been met three miles from the town, on a dog-trot for London.' Decembee 21. — Some ministers of the established church of Scotland, are said to be such staunch friends to America, that since the declaration of war against the Americans, they have neglected to pray for his Majesty. One of them at Ed- inburgh having neglected it, the clerk, or, as he is there called, the precentor, being more loyal than the pastor, entertained the audience as follows : After sermon he took out of his pocket a paper, which he read, " The prayers of this congrega- tion are desired for Janet Brown, an aged pauper, under great distress both of body and mind, and for King George," which sent the congregation home in a laugh.' DECEjnjEE 26. — Geneeal Washington, finding it absolutely necessary to rouse the spirits of the army, which have been sorely depressed by the long series of disasters Battle of Trenton. , . i , , , n ^ which have attended us for almost the whole of this month, resolved to attempt surprising a considerable body of Hessians, quartered at Trenton, consisting of about nineteen hundred, and a detachment of British light horse. The plan was as spiritedly executed as it was judiciously concerted, and terminated in fully answering the warmest expectations of its projectors. Yesterday morning, orders were given for a large part of the army to have three days' provisions ready cooked, and forty rounds a man, and to be ready to march by three ' New York Gazette, January 13, 1111. ' Pennsylvania Journal, April 23, 1777. 1TT6.] BATTLE OF TEENTON. 365 o'clock in the afternoon; accordingly the farthest brigades marched by two o'clock. About eleven o'clock at night it began snowing, and continued so until daybreak, when a most violent northeast storm came on, of snow, ram, and hail to- gether. Early, the American army, which did not exceed twenty- four hundred men, crossed the Delaware with several compa- nies of artillery, and thirteen field-pieces, and formed in two divisions ; one commanded by General Greene, the other by General Sullivan, and the whole by General Washington. The attack began about seven o'clock by the van-guard of Sulli- van's division, who attacked the Hessians' advanced guard, about a mile from the town. These they soon drove, when the whole pushed with the utmost vigor for the town, which they immediately entered. General Greene's division attacked the town on the other side at the same time. The Hessians did as much as could be expected from people so surprised, but the impetuosity of our men was irresistible ; fifteen minutes decided the action, and the enemy threw down their arms and surren- dered prisoners of war. They consisted of three regiments of grenadiers and fusileers, and were equal to any troops the Prince of Hesse could boast of. The troop of British dra- goons, without waiting to be charged, scampered off with the utmost expedition. Could the brigade under Colonel Ewing have landed below the town, as was intended, the light horse must inevitably have been taken, as well as a considerable number of the Hessians who got off; but the violence of the wind was such, and the quantity of ice so great, that he foimd it impossible to cross. Our success, though not complete, was great. The men behaved with the utmost bravery. Finding that their guns did not generally go off, owing to their having been exposed to the snow and rain for six hours, they charged bayonets, and, with three cheers, rushed like bloodhounds upon the Hessians, who, astonished at their fury, fled or threw down their arms ; and it was owing to the ardor of the attack that so little blood was shed. Tlie army returned the same day, and, notwithstanding a continual pelting for twelve hours, of a most . violent rain, hail, and snow-storm, we had only two 366 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1116. men frozen to death. Luckily they found some hogsheads of rum at Trenton, large draughts of which alone preserved the lives of many. The soldiers behaved exceedingly -well with respect to plundering, considering they were animated by re- venge for past insults, exasperated by the injuries done their messmates taken at Fort Washington, and animated by every incentive that could work upon the license of a successful army. The general gave the Hessians all their baggage, and they have since gone to the western counties of Pennsylvania, with their packs unsearched. They were amazed at the gener- osity of the general, so opposite to their own conduct, and called him a very good rebel. The enemy who lay at Bordentown soon had the alann, which was communicated to all the parties along the river, who, after remaining under arms the whole day, in the evening marched off, leaving us to take possession of Bordentown, Mount Holly, and Burlington.' On the Hessian standards taken at Trenton, were engraved these words : — ■"■ Nescit Pericula," a fearlessness of danger, which was not displayed in the battle where the standards were sur- rendered to the American arms, and which hath drawn on the timid Hessian and his vaunting motto, the following epigram : The man who submits without striking a blow, May be said, in a sense, no danger to linow ; I pray then, what harm, by the humble submission, At Trenton was done to the standard of Hessian ? ' Freeman's Journal, January 21. ° Freeman's Journal, February 11, 1111. CHAPTEE IX. Jakitaey 1. — His Majesty intends to open this year's cam- paign with, ninety thousand Hessians, Tories, JSTegroes, Jap- anese, Moors, Esquimaux, Persian archers, Lap- ji^m^riea to be landers, Feejee Islanders, and light horse. "With subdued. this terrific and horrendous armament, in conjunction with a most tremendous and irresistible fleet, he is resolved to termi- nate this unnatural war the next summer, as it will be impossi- ble for the rebels to bring an equal number in the field. His Majesty has also the strongest assurances that France will co- operate with him in humbling his seditious subjects; and as his admiral and general are still extending the arms of mercy for the gracious reception of those who will yet return to their duty and allegiance, for Heaven's sake, ye poor, deluded, mis- guided, bewildered, cajoled, and bamboozled Whigs ! ye dumb- founded, infatuated, back-bestridden, nose-led-about, priest- ridden, demagogue-beshackled, and Congress-becrafted inde- pendents, fly, fly, oh fly, for protection to the royal standard, or ye will be swept from the face of the earth with the besom of destruction, and cannonaded in a moment into nullities and nonentities, and no mortal can tell into what other kind of quiddities and quoddities.' It is confldently reported in London, that the Congress have devolved all their power upon Mr. Washington, and appointed him dictator, in example of the Eomans. The -v^asbington ap- reason, if the fact be true, is very apparent. They poi'^te'ir'ictator. find themselves in a slippery situation, and are glad to throw ' Extract of a letter from London, in the Freeman's Journal, March 22. 368 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. tlieir bm-den upon lUo first simpleton of consequence tliat would take it. Wasliington luis now no mean character to support. He must be the first or lad of men, who would accept power upon such terms. But as the Congress are desperate, so is this gentleman. As the first instance of this protectorship, he has ordered all persons to take an active part in his concerns, and for the support of his authority, imder pain of confiscation of all their properties.' Ean away, from St. James's, an old servant called Common Sense and Honesty, formerly belonging to his late Majesty, „ , Geora;e the Second, and by him imported from Honesty run a\yay o 7 j j. from St. James's. Hanover. He served the old King faithfully, and was of great service in procuring him the esteem and affection of all his subjects ; but being constantly made a laughing stock by the Lords Bute and Mansfield, since his Majesty's demise, he took the resolution suddenly to absent himself from court. His present owner, it is said, is very indifferent whether he ever returns or not, having, by the arts and misrepresenta- tions of these noblemen, and others, taken a prejudice against him ; but some of the people who knew the old King and the regard he had for his useful servant, have authorized the print- er to promise five thousand pounds reward to any person who shall bring him back to the palace, and prevail upon him to continue only one month longer in his Majesty's service.^ JjUTOAjjY 5.' — -AstoNGST the worthies Avho have joined, or PennsTivanians P^* tliemselvcs uudcr the protection of Howe and joined Howe, company, at Trenton, we find the names of the fol- lowing noted personages, viz. : John Allen, Esq., (son of the celebrated rhetorical, impar- tial, learned judge, whose memory will outlive the five mile stone,) late a member of the Philadelphia Committee of Obser- vation, Inspection, &c. Andrew Allen, Esq., (brother to Jack,) late a member of Congress, one of the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety, and, ' Gaine's Mercury, February 3. " From the London Gazette, October 10 ; See Freeman's Journal, March 22. 1T7Y.] JOSEPH GALLOWAY. 369 at the same time, a sworn advocate for George III., of Britain, and liis creatures. William Allen, Esq., (brother to Andrew,) late a lieuten- ant-colonel in the Continental service, which station he resigned — not because he was totally unfit for it, but because the Con- tinental Congress presumed to declare the American States Free and Independent, without first asking the consent, and obtaining the approbation of himself and wise family.' Joseph Galloway, Esq., late a member of the Congress, Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate, and printer of a public newspaper in Philadelphia.^ Jajstxtaet 7. — On the second instant, intelligence was re- ceived by express, that the enemy's army was advancing from Princeton towards Trenton, where the main body -g^^jy^ ^^ of the Americans were stationed. Two brigades Princeton, under Brigadier-Generals Stephen and Fermoy, had been de- tached several days before, from the main body, to Maidenhead, and were ordered to skirmish with the enemy during their march, and to retreat to Trenton, as occasion should require. " Freeman's Journal, February 4 and Marcli 15. " These lines are the thoughts of a few minutes, which, if severe enough, "Print them egad." Gall'way has fled, and join'd the venal Howe, To prove his baseness, see him cringe and bow ; A traitor to his country, and its laws, / A friend to tyrants, and their cursed cause. Unhappy wretch ! Thy interest must be sold. For continental, not for polish'd gold ; To sink the money, thou thyself cried down. And stabb'd thy country, to support the crown. Go to and fro, hke Lucifer on earth. And curse the Being that first gave thee birth ; Away to Scotland, and thyself prepare, Coal dust and brimstone is their only fare ; Fit materials for such Tory blood. Who wrong their country, and deny their God ; There herd with Bute, Mansfield, and his brother,* Bite, twist, sting, and poison one another. * Murray, " coDfidential Secretary to the Pretender." TOL. I.— 24 370 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [ITTT. A body of men under command of Colonel Hand, were also ordered to meet the enemy, by whicb means their march was so much retarded as to give ample time for our forces to form, and prepare to give them a warm reception npon their arrival. Two field-pieces, planted upon a hill, at a small distance above the town, were managed with great advantage, and did con- siderable execution for some time; after which they Avere ordered to retire to the station occupied by our forces on the south side of the bridge, over the little river which divides the town into two parts, and opens at right angles into the Dela- ware. In their way through the town, the enemy suffered much by an incessant fire of musketry from behind the houses and barns. Their army had now arrived at the north- ern side of the bridge, whilst our army were drawn up, in order of battle, on the southern side. Our cannon played very briskly from this eminence, and were returned as briskly by the enemy. In a few minutes after the cannonade began, a very heavy discharge of musketry ensued, and continued for ten or fifteen nahautes. During this action, , a party of men were detached from our right wing, to secure a part of the river, which, it was imagined, from the motions of the enemy, they intended to ford. This detachment arrived at the pass very opportunely, and effected their purpose ; after this the enemy made a feeble and unsupported attempt to pass the bridge, but this likewise proved abortive. It was now near six o'clock in the evening, and night coming on, closed the en- gagement. Our fires were built in due season, and were very numerous ; and whilst the enemy were amused by these ap- pearances, and preparing for a general attack the ensuing day, our army marched, at about one in the morning, from Trenton, on the south side of the creek, to Princeton. When they ar- rived near the hill, about one mile from the town, they found a body of the enemy formed upon it, and ready to receive them ; npon which a spirited attack Avas made, both with field- pieces and musketry, and, after an obstinate resistance, and losing a considerable number of their men upon the field, those of them who could not make their escape, surrendered prisoners of war. We immediately marched on to the centre ITTT.] BATTLE OF PEmOETOIf. 371 of tlie town, and there took another party of the enemy near the college. After tarrying a very short time in the town, General Washington marched his army from thence, towards Eocky Hill, and they are now near Morristown, in high spirits, and in expectation of a junction with the rest of onr forces, suffi- ciently seasonable to make a general attack upon the enemy, and prevent, at least, a considerable part of them from reach- ing their asylum in New York. It is difficult precisely to ascertain the loss we have sustained in the two engagements, but we think we have lost about forty men killed, and had near double the nmnber wounded. In the list of the former are the brave Colonel Ilazlet, Captain Shippen, and Captain iNeal, who fell in the engagement upon the hill near Princeton; amongst the latter was Brigadier-General Mercer,' Avho re- ceived seven woimds — five in his body, and two in his head, and was much bruised by the breech of a musket, of which bruises he soon after died. Tlie loss sustained by the enemy was much greater than ours, as was easily discovered by view- ing the dead upon the field, after the action. "We have near a hundred of their wounded prisoners in the town, which, to- gether with those who surrendered, and were taken in small parties endeavoring to make their escape, amount nearly to the number of four hundred, chiefly British troops. Six brass pieces of cannon have fallen into our hands, a quantity of am- munition, and several wagons of baggage. A Captain Leslie was found amongst the dead of the enemy, and was this day buried with the honors of war. A number of other officers were also found on the field, but they were not known, and were buried with the other dead. According to information from the inhabitants of Princeton, the number which marched out of it to attack our army, amounted to seven thousand men, under command of General Cornwallis. This body, as soon as they discovered that they were out-generaled by the march of General Washington, being much chagrined at their disap- pointment, (as it seems they intended to have cut our army to pieces, crossed the Delaware, and have marched immediately, ' Hugh Mercer. 372 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1T77. without any further delay, to Philadelphia,) pushed with the greatest precipitation towards Princeton, where they arrived about an hour after General Washington had left it ; and im- aginine he would endeavor to take Brunswick in the same manner, proceeded directly for that place. Our soldiers were much fatigued, the greatest part of them having been deprived of their rest the two preceding nights ; otherwise Ave might, perhaps, have possessed ourselves of Brunswick. The enemy appear to be preparing to decamp and retire to New York, as they are much disgusted with their late treatment in New Jersey, and have a great inclination to rest themselves a little in some secure Avinter-quarters.' ^ Pennsylvania Journal, February 5. Gaine, in his paper of January 13, gives another account of this battle : — Several skirmishes between the King's troops and the rebels have lately happened in the Jerseys. But the most distinguished encounter occurred on the 3d instant, near Princeton. The I'Tth regiment, con- sisting of less than three hundred men, fell in with the rebel army of between five and six thousand, whom they attacked with all the ardor and intrepidity of Britons. They received the fire from behind a fence, over which they immedi- ately leaped upon their enemies, who presently turned to the right about with such precipitation as to leave their very cannon behind them. The soldiers in- stantly turned their cannon, and fired at least twenty rounds upon their rear ; and had they been assisted with another regiment or two, the rebels would have found it rather difficult to make good their retreat. This has been one of the most splendid actions of the whole campaign, and has given a convincing proof that British valor has not declined from its ancient glory. Of Colonel Mawhood, their gallant commander, and of his conduct in the affair, too many encomiums cannot be said. The loss was about twenty killed, and eighty wounded, of the troops. Of the rebels above four hundred were killed and wounded. Among their slain were eleven officers. Mr. Mercer, (one of the rebel officers, since dead,) when he was taken up by our people, asked how many the numbers were who had thus attacked him, and upon being told, he cried out with astonishment, " My God ; is it possible? I have often heard of British courage, but never could have imagined to find such an instance as this ! " Another account says, that the l7th regiment just before they charged the rebels, deliberately pulled off their knapsacks and gave three cheers ; then broke through the rebels, faced about, attacked, and broke through a, second time. Colonel Mawhood then said, it would be prudent, as they were so few, to retire ; upon which the men, one and all, cried out, " No, no ; let us attack them again ; " and it was with great difficulty their colonel could induce them to retreat ; which at length they performed in the utmost order. To the honor of this brave regiment, both as soldiers and as men, not one of them has ever attempted to plunder, nor encouraged it in others. 1777.] WEST SHIPS BUILT IN NEW ENGLAND. 373 Jantjahy 9. — ^The enemy have abandoned Elizabetlitown. Our people have entered it and taken thirty "Waldeckers and fifty Highlanders, and about thirty baggage -wagons fully loaded. The enemy who had all the Jerseys, are now only in possession of Amboy and Brunswick. This is a great reverse in the course of a fortnight, to the British power. Whether they mean to collect their whole force at Brunswick, and give us battle, or Avhether they mean to push for Staten Island, and abandon the Jerseys entirely, is matter of doubt. We shall make a move towards them to-day, with a view to avail our- selves of circumstances. The enemy appear to be panic-struck in the extreme. God prospers our arms in an extraordinary manner. There is to be an eclipse of the sun to-day ; we mean, if possible, to attack the Germans as soon as it begins, and take the advantage of their ignorant superstition.' Admiral Gayton has taken upon him publicly to declare, in opposition to the author of Common Sense, and from his own knowledge, that when he was in America forty years since, "there never had been a man-of-war of any kind built in New England." ^ It is but just that the public should be informed, that in the year 1690 a fourth-rate ship-of-war was launched at ISTew Castle, in Piscataqua Eiver: and in the year 1696 another, whose force is not remembered. The former was the Falkland, and the latter the Bedford Galley. It is not probable that Admiral Gayton had any knowledge of these ships having been built here, so that he cannot be charged with falsehood, but it is hoped if he should publish any thing further relating to this country, he will express himself not quite so positively, especially if he undertakes to prove a negative. The evidence of the above facts depends on an original manuscript letter from Mr. Emerson, formerly minister of ' Extract of a letter from Morristown, New Jersey, iu the Freeman's Journal, January 28. ' See Essex Journal, of December 26, 17Y6. 374 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. New Castle, to the late Mr. Prince, and is to be found among the collection of manuscrii3ts relating to the history of Ncav England, made by fifty years' industry of that worthy gentle- man, unless it has been pilfered or destroyed by the Saracen- like barbarity of the late occupiers of the Old South meeting- house in Boston, in an apartment of which those valuable manuscripts were deposited.' Jaitoaey 19. — Geneeal Howe has discharged all the privates, who were prisoners in New York ; one-half he sent siifferings to the worM of spirits for want of food — the "priMners." Other hc liatli sent to warn their countrymen of the danger of falling into his hands, and to convince them by ocular demonstration, that it is iniinitely better to be slain in battle, than to be taken prisoners by British brutes, whose tender mercies are cruelties.'' Tlie foUowino; account of the sufferinfrs of these imfortimate men was obtained from the prisoners themselves : — As soon as they were taken they were robbed of all their baggage, of whatever money they had, though it were of paper, and could be of no advantage to the enemy, of their silver shoe-buckles, and knee-buckles, &c., and many were stripped almost naked of their clothes. Especially those who had good clothes, were stripped at once, being told that stick clothes were too good for rebels. Tims deprived of their clothes and baggage they were unable to shift even their linen, and were obliged to wear the same shirts for even three or four months together, whereby they became extremely nasty ; and this of itself was sufficient to bring on them many mortal diseases. After they were taken, they were in the first place put on board the ships and thrust down into the hold, where not a breath of fresh air could be obtained and they were nearly suffocated for want of air. Particularly some who were taken at Port "Washington, were first in this manner thrust down into the holds of vessels in such numbers, that even in the cold season of JSTovember they could ' Freeman's Journal, January 14. ° Freeman's Journal, February 18. 1T77.] PEISONEES IN NEW TOEK. 376 scarcely bear any clothes on them, being kept in a constant sweat. Yet these same persons, after lying in this situation awhile, till the pores of their bodies were as perfectly opened as possible, were of a sudden taken out and put into some of the churches in New York ; Avithout covering or a spark of fire, where they siiifered as much by the cold as they did by the sweating stagnation of the air in the other situation ; and the consequence was, that they took such colds as brought on the most fatal diseases, and swept them off almost beyond conception. Besides these things, they suffered extremely for want of provisions. The commissary pretended to allow half a pound of bread and four ounces of pork per day ; but of this pittance they were much cut short. What was given them for three days was not enough for one day ; and in some instances, they went for three days without a single mouthful of food of any sort. They were pinched to that degree, that some on board the ships would pick up and eat the salt which happened to be scattered there; others gathered up the bran which the light horse wasted, and ate it, mixed with dirt and filth as it was. 'Nov was this all, both the bread and pork which they did allow them was extremely bad. For the bread, some of it was made out of the bran which they brought over to feed . their light horse, and the rest of it was so muddy and the pork so damnified, being so soaked in bilge water in the transportation from Europe, that they were not fit to be eaten by human creatures ; and when they were eaten, were very unwholesome. Such bread and pork as they would not pretend to give their own countrymen, they gave to our poor sick, dying prisoners. Nov were they in this doleful condition allowed a sufficiency of water. One would have thought that water was so cheap and plentiful an element, that they would not have grudged them that. But there are, it seems, no bounds to their cruelty. The water allowed them was so brackish and withal nasty, that they could not drink it, till reduced to extremity. Nov did they let them have a sufficiency even of such water as this. 376 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. When -u-inter came on, our people suffered extremely for ■want of fire and clothes to keep them warm. Tliey were confined in churches where there were no fireplaces, that they could make fires even if they had wood. But wood was only allowed them for cooking their pittance of victuals ; and for that purpose very sparingly. They had none to keep them warm even in the extremest of weather, although they were almost naked, and the few clothes that were left upon them were their summer clothes. Nor had they a single blanket or any bedding, not even straw, allowed them till a little before Christmas. At the time those were taken on Long Island, a consider- able part of them were sick of the dysentery, and with this distemper on them were first crowded on board the ships, afterwards in the churches in E"ew York, three, four, or five hundred together, without any blankets, or any thing for even the sick to lie upon, but the bare floors or pavements. In this situation that contagious distemper soon com- municated from the sick to the well, who would probably have remained so, had they not in this manner been thrust in together without regard to sick or well, or to the sultry, unwholesome season, it being then the heat of sum- . mer. Of this distemper numbers died daily, and many others, by their confinement and the sultry season, contracted fevers and died of them. During their sickness, with these and other diseases, they had no medicines, nothing soothing or comfortable for sick people, and were not so much as visited by the physician by the month together. E'er ought we to omit the insults which the humane Britons ofli'ered to our people, nor the artifices which they used to enlist them in their service and fight against their country. It seems that one end of their starving our people was to bring them, by dint of necessity, to turn rebels to their own country, their own consciences, and their God. For while thus famishing they would come and say to them, " This is the just punishment of your rebellion. Nay, you are treated too well for rebels ; yoi; have not received half you deserve or half you shall receive. But if you will enlist into his 1777.] PEISONEES IN NEW YOEK. 377 Majesty's service, you shall liave victuals and clothes enough." As to insults, the British officers, besides continually curs- ing and swearing at them as rebels, often threatened to hang them all ; and on a particular time, ordered a number, each man to choose his halter out of a parcel offered, wherewith to be hanged ; and even went so -far as to cause a gallows to be erected before the prison, as if they were immediately to be executed. They further threatened to send them all into the East Indies, and sell them there for slaves. In these, and numberless other ways, did the British officers seem to rack their inventions to insult, terrify, and vex the poor prisoners. The meanest upstart officers among them would insult and abuse out colonels and chief officers. In this situation, without clothes, without victuals or drink, and even water, or with those which were base and unwhole- some, without fire, a number of them sick, first with a conta- gious and nauseous distemper ; these, with others, crowded by hundreds into close confinement, at the most unwholesome season of the year, and continued there for four months with- out blankets, bedding, or straw; without linen to shift, or clothes to cover their bodies. !N"o wonder they all became sickly, and having at the same time no medicine, no help of physicians, nothing to refresh or support nature, died by scores in a night ; and those who were so far gone as to be unable to help themselves, lay uncared for, till death, more kind than Britons, put an end to their misery. By these means, and in this way, fifteen hundred brave Americans, who had nobly gone forth in defence of their in- jured, oppressed country, but whom the chance of war had cast into the hands of our enemies, died in New York, many of whom were very amiable, promising youths, of good fami- lies — the very flower of our land. And of those who lived to come out of prison, the greater part, as far as I can learn, are dead and dying. Their constitutions are broken, the stamina of nature worn out, they cannot recover — they die. Even the few that might have survived, are dying of the small-pox. For it seems that our enemies determined that even these, 378 BIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. Avhom a good constitution and a kind Providence had carried tlirougli unexampled sufferings, should not at last escajDe death, just before their release from imprisonment infected them Avith that fatal distemper. To these circumstances we subjoin the manner in which they Ijuried those of our people who died. They dragged them out of their prisons by one leg or one arm, piled them up without doors, there let them lie till a sufficient number were dead to make a cart load ; then loaded them up in a cart, drove the cart thus loaded out to the ditches made by our peo- ple when fortifying New York ; there they would tip the cart, tumble the corpses together into the ditch, and afterwards slightly cover them with earth. * * * * "While our poor prisoners have been thus treated by our foes, the prisoners we have taken have enjoyed the liberty of walking and riding about within large limits, at their pleasure ; have been fully si^pplied with every neces- sary, and have even lived on the fat of the land. None have been so well fed, so healthy, so plump, and so merry as they ; and this generous treatment, it is said, they could not but remem- ber. For when they were returned in the exchange of pris- oners, and saw the miserable, famished, dying state of our prisoners, conscious of the treatment they had received, they could not refrain from tears.' Eut it is not the prisoners alone who have felt the effects of British humanity. Every part of the country through which they have marched, has been plundered and ravaged. ISTo discrimination has been made with respect to Whig or Tory ; but all alike have been involved in one common fate. Tlieir march through New Jersey has been marked with savage barbarity. But Westchester witnesseth more terrible things. Tlie repositories of the dead have ever been held sa- cred by the most barbarous and savage nations. But here, not being able to accomplish their accursed purposes upon the living, they wreaked their vengeance on the dead. In many places, the graves in the church-yards were opened, and the ' Connecticut Journal, January SO. ITYY.] PEISONEES IN NEW YOEK. 3Y9 bodies of the dead exposed upon the ground for sereral days. At Morrisania, the family vault was opened, the coffins broken, and the bones scattered abroad. At Delancey's farm, the body of a beautiful young lady, which had been buried for two years, was taken out of the ground, and exposed for five days in a most indecent manner. Many more instances could be men- tioned, but my heart sickens at the recollection of such inhu- manity. Some persons try to believe that it is only the Hes- sians who perpetrate these things, but I have good authority to say that the British vie with, and even exceed the auxil- iary troops in licentiousness. After such treatment, can it be possible for any persons seriously to wish for a reconciliation with Great Britain ? ' To the melancholy picture already exhibited of the brutal behavior of the Britons, (who vainly boast being ever pre- eminent in mercy,) aided by Hessian and Waldeck mercena- ries, in New York and New Jersey, it gives us pain to add that they have not only outraged the feelings of humanity, to many people who were so imhappy as to fall into their hands, particularly the fair sex, but have degraded themselves beyond the power of language to express, by Avantonly destroying the curious water works at New York, an elegant public library at Trenton, and the grand orrery, made by the celebrated Bit- tenhouse, which was placed in the college at Princeton, a piece of mechanism which the most untutored savage, staying the hand of violence, would have beheld with wonder, reverence, and delight ! Thus are our cruel enemies warring against lib- erty, virtue, and the arts and sciences. " How are the mighty fallen^ ' JiGsruAET 24. — At a crisis when America is invaded by one of the most powerful fleets and armies that ever the world be- held arrayed in order of battle : when the hand ^ , An Appeal. of tyranny is uplifted to fell the glorious plant of liberty, which our ancestors have cherished from the earliest ages as the tree-of life ; when war, with all its horrors, is in- ' Freeman's Journal, February 18. ' The same, January 28. 380 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLtlTION. [1777. vading tliis once liappy land, and every sacred riglit is at stake ; when every filial and affectionate sentiment should en- gage ns to step forth in support of those who have been the guardians of our tender years, or the sweet companions of our halcyon days, must not that soul be frozen even to apathy that is not roused by such important and irresistible impulses ! Our country, our lives, our liberties, our parents, our children, and our wives, &c., are the sacred pledges for which we are now contending. "We stand on the brink of a precipice, from which we cannot advance without the noblest exertions of virtue, unanimity, and fortitude. A single false step may precipitate us from the enjoyment of the inestimable blessings of liberty, peace, and independence, to the abyss of slavery and woe. But, on the contrary, whilst we are animated by the glorious cause we are engaged in ; whilst we with cheerfulness embark in the defence of the most valuable of sublunary blessings ; whilst we are united in oiir sentiment, vigilant in our duty, and active in our operations, we need not dread the thunder of cannon, nor tremble at the names of heroes arrayed in all the splendor of a corrupt court, or crowned with the faded laurels which have been plucked by the hand of tyranny. Such, my countrymen, is the present state of America; such the consequence of slumbering in the arms of peace, whilst your enemy is at your gates ; and such the glorious re- ward of those who nobly stand forth and oppose the progress of a mercenary army, more venal than a court favorite, more savage than a band of Tartars, and more spiritless than the sorry, sooty sons of Afric, when opposed by men animated by liberty and the sacred love of their country. Should any one among you require the force of example to animate you on this glorious occasion, let him turn his eyes to that bright luminary of war, in whose character the conduct of Emillus, the coolness of a Fabius, the intrepidity of a Han- nibal, and the indefatigable ardor and military skill of a Cse- sar, are united. Let not the name of Brutus or Camillus be remembered whilst that of Washington is to be found in the annals of America. . Great in the cabinet as in war, he shines with unrivalled splendor in every department of life; and IT^'ii"^-] WASHINGTON. 381 whilst his abilities as a statesman and a general excite our won- der, his disinterested patriotism and domestic virtues command universal veneration. When sent out by Governor Dinwiddle to order the French to desist from their encroachments on Vir- ginia, view him in the early period of life, traversing in the service of his country the dreadful wilds of America, through nations of savages, Avith no other attendant but an interpre- ter. Behold him at the head of a handful of his gallant coun- trymen, engaged for many hours with more than treble the number of French, at the Meadows, where the fire first ceased on the side of the enemy, who previously proposed a parley ; and though surrounded by numbers, yet, a stranger to the im- pulses of fear, he capitulated on the terms of retiring with the honors of war. Follow him to that tremendous scene which struci; a universal panic in the bravest of the British troops, when, as aide-de-camp to the intrepid Braddock, amidst the dreadful carnage of that day, he was engaged in giving out the orders of that unfortunate general with a coolness that marked the hero, and at length brought him oif the field of battle, after he had received his mortal wound. Again, be- hold him exchanging the din of arms for the calmer scenes of life, still active in the service of his country in the senate, un- til the impending storm, which is now bursting on America, called him forth as the guardian protector of his country. Behold him abandoning the delights of peace, the enjoyment of afiluence, and the pleasures of domestic felicity, and enter- ing with ardor upon a military life again. Let imagination paint him at the head of a few raw, undisciplined troops, desti- tute of arms and ammunition, besieging an army of veterans supported by a powerful navy ; consider with what xmparal- leled fortitude he withstood the difficulties that surrounded him on every side ; behold him embracing the earliest oppor- tunities of driving the enemy from their advantageous post, and obliging them to abandon the long persecuted town of Boston. Again, survey the plains of Long Island, whither he flew like a guardian angel to protect and bring off his brave troops, Burroimded on every side by a host of foes, and with a conduct unparalleled in history, secured their retreat across 3S2 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1777. a river of which the enemy's ships were in full possession. Surely Heaven interposed in behalf of America on that day, by permitting such numbers to escape with glory from such a superior force I Behold his glorious struggles on the heights of Harlem, and at the White Plains, counteracting the best concerted plans of the ablest generals of the age ; in thought attend him, (if thought does not lag behind,) when, as it were, he bounded from the White Plains to the Jersey shore, cover- ing the retreat of his men from Fort Lee, and throwing him- self with them before the enemy, and with the scattered re- mains of his disbanded army, now amounting to only three thou- sand men, checking at every step the progress of the British army, and often halting to offer battle to numbers vastly superior to his own. Gracious Heaven ! can any Virginian — his country- men, or can any American who regards him as the saviour of the States, reflect on his situation at that juncture without hor- ror ? Would he not rather share his fortunes for the rest of the war, than hazard the salvation of his country by a short enlist- ment, at the end of which his general might be left without an army to support him ? Yet, even in such a situation, his calmness and intrepidity never forsook him, but he appeared still greater in proportion to the dangers that surrounded him. At length, when the enemy flattered themselves with the pleasing expec- tations of a speedy accomplishment of their darling wish, we behold him by ooup de main dissipating the fears of his coun- try, and striking terror into troops who, the day before, con- ceived themselves on the eve of a triumph. Whilst each effeminate son of peace was revelling in luxury, his active mind was employed in preparing for scenes equally glorious to himself, and terrible to his enemies. Success attended this matchless enterprise, and Philadelphia, with the rest of Amer- ica, hailed him her deliverer and guardian genius. Such, my countrymen, is the general who directs the mil- itary operations of America ; such the glorious leader of her armies ; such the hero whose bright example should fire every generous heart to enlist in the service of his country. Let it not be said you are callous to the impressions of such noble Eonsiderations, but, by following his glorious example, show 1777.] Washington's proclajiLA.tion. 383 yourselves worthy of possessing that inestimable jewel, Liberty, and reflect that you have nothing to dread whilst you are en- gaged in so glorious a cause, and blessed with a "Washington for a leader.' Januaey 25.- — ^The following proclamation was this day published by the Lord Protector, Mr. George "Washington : " Whereas several persons, inhabitants of the United States of America, influenced by inimical motives, intimidated by the threats of the enemy, or deluded by a proclama- Washington's tion issued the 30th of November last, by Lord Prod™'''''"'- and General Howe, styled the King's Commissioners for grant- ing pardons, &c., (now at open war, and invading these States,) have been so lost to the interest and welfare of their country, as to repair to the enemy, sign a declaration of fidelity, and in some instances have been compelled to take the oaths of alle- giance, and engage not to take up arms, or encourage others so to do, against the King of Great Britain : And whereas it has become necessary to distinguish between the friends of America and those of Great Britain, inhabitants of these States, and that every man who receives protection from, and is a subject of any State, (not being conscientiously scrupulous against bearing arms,) should stand ready to defend the same against hostile invasion : I do, therefore, in behalf of the United States, by virtue of the powers committed to me by Congress, hereby strictly command and require every person, having sub- scribed such declaration, taken such oaths, and accepted such protection and certificate, to repair to head-quarters, or to the quarters of the nearest general officer of the Continental army or militia, (until further provision can be made by civil authority,) and there deliver up such protection, certificate, and passports, and take the oath of allegiance to the United States of America ; nevertheless, hereby granting full liberty to all such as prefer the interest and protection of Great Britain to the freedom and hap- piness of their country, forthwith to withdraw themselves and families within the enemy's lines. And I do hereby declare, that ' Freeman's Journal, April 12. 384 DIAET OF THE EEVOLrXION. [1117. all and every person who may neglect or refuse to comply with this order, within thirty days from the date hereof, will he deemed adherents to the King of Great Britain, and treated as common enemies of these American States." 'Tis hardly possible to read over this miserable proclama- tion without pity and astonishment. Tliat Mr. "Washington, who once was esteemed a gentleman, should forfeit that Loyal Criticism. . . . n p . character by becoming the tool oi an impracti- cable ambition, is a matter of commiseration ; but, that he should be so contaminated by the vice of his associates as to lose all regard to the common forms of morality, all dignity of sentiment, and decency of conduct, was not to have been expected from a man who owned the least pride, or felt the least consciousness of virtue. His desperate situation may be his apology, but it cannot be his excuse. He might have been mistaken in respect to his notions of civil polity ; but he could not have been deceived in those actions and ideas of moral turpitude, which is the disgrace of human nature. 'Tis an old and true ohsevvaiion, -Jfagistratus indicat Vimm, "the Ruler shows the Man ; " and we have now nothing more to learn of this famous Mr. "Washington. He has the boldness to declare, that there are " some in- stances " of persons who " have, been compelled to take the oath of allegiance." Tliis is an absolute falsehood in fact, and he knew it was a falsehood ; he knew such conduct was re- pugnant to the genius and spirit of the British nation, or he would have produced one instance to confirm his assertion. The bravery of Britons, which sooner or later will make him tremble, disdains any but voluntary professions of allegiance, and above all things, despises the dastardly subterfuges of falsehood and slander. The next material circumstance in this Proclamation, is sufficient to make an honest man shudder. It may be styled, a Proclamation for the encouragement of Perjury. Mr. "Washington " strictly commands and requires every person," who has taken a solemn oath of Allegiance to the King, and called God to witness the truth and sincerity of it, to repair to him or his officers, and take another solemn oath, and call 17T7.] "WASHINGTON CEITICIZED. 385 God to Avitness the sincerity and tnitli of his adherence to the cause of rebellion. Such an impious disregard, such a flagrant violation of all that is serious and sacred amontr men, has rarelj been seen in any age, country, or jarofession. For the honor of human nature, it may be said, that it was left for rebels to their King and destroyers of their country, to give a piiblic sanction to Wilful Perjury. 'Tis no wonder that a principle of this kind should be attended with a suitable practice. IVIr. Washington grants by this proclamation " full liberty" to all such as prefer the protection of Great Britain to his o^vn, "forthwith to with- draw themselves and families within the enemy's lines." Tliis is only a trap to discover those who are not affected to the rebellion; and even this mean idea has been followed by a conduct of which a common Turk would have been ashamed. Doctor Brown, of Newark, in the Jerseys, relying not merely upon Mr. Washington's word as a gentleman, but upon his public faith pledged in the foregoing paper as a public man, immediately wrote to him, desiring leave to with- draw himself and family to New York, pursuant to his proclamation. Instead of complying with the Doctor's wishes, he sent a party of his rebels to drag him away to Morristown. He is now confined there in jail, his family is almost distracted, and all his property seized. So much for the public faith of Mr. Washington ! He seems indebted for the last cruel idea of his proclama- tion to the worthy author of " Common Sense," and the "American Crisis." This gentleman is for seizing all the property of people who refuse to join in his measures, for the sake of the spoil ; and has the confidence to declare, that such a seizure would enable his rebellious adherents to carry on the war for two years longer. 'Tis to be hoped, for the honor and safety of America, that the good people of this country will give an exact account of him and some of his associates in half the time. It is every man's interest, who has any thing to lose, to take care of a person who has the impudence to profess himself a public robber and destroyer, and can call this unheard of cruelty and devastation by the name of Vol I.— 25 3S6 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. " soft resentment." IIowevGr, if men wlio can encourage perjury by proclamation, and plunge thousands of families into irretrie^•al)le ruin, only for the purpose of answering their dark ambition ; if men who can have the consummate boldness to break their public faith, and, calling the gentle government of Britain, tyranny, can become the most insolent and outrageous tyrants themselves ; if such can possibly arrive at the rule of this once happy country, it will be the interest of every one who loves the enjoyment of liberty more than the sound, to retire from America as speedily as he can. In such an event, (which, however, is not likely to happen,) he would escape the anarchy, riot, and bloodshed, which these "unprincipled impostors" sooner or later would spread over the land, and which would then become the vengeance of Providence itself on this most ungrateful and unnatural rebellion.' Januaet 26. — -Last evening, the little theatre in John .street, in New York, was opened, with the celebrated burlesque John Street entertainment of Tom Thumb, written by the late Theatre. ]\jj[j._ FieMiug to ridiculc the bathos of several dramatic pieces that at his time, to the disgrace of the Eritish stage, had engrossed both the London theatres. Tlie charac- ters were performed by gentlemen of the navy and army. The spirit with which this favorite piece was supported by the performers, proves their taste and strong conception of the humor. Tlie performance convinces us that a good education and knowledge of polite life, are essentially necessary to constitute a good actor. The play was introduced by a prologue written and spoken by Captain Stanly. "We have great pleasure in applauding this first effort of his infant muse, as replete with true poetic genius. Tlie scenes, painted by Captain De Laneey, have great merit, and would not disgrace a theatre, though under the management of a Garrick. The house was crowded with company, and the ladies made a brilliant appearance." ' New York Gazette, February 10. ' Gaine's Mercury, January 27. 1777.] FEANKLIN AT PAKIS. 387 The defeat of tlie Hessians at Trenton, was primarily owing to a dispute which existed between the English and German troops. Colonel Rahl, apprehending n^^^nattbn that he should be attacked by superior numbers, ®"'""^^'"'*'^''™''""- required of Lord Cornwallis a reinforcement. Two regiments, under Colonel Grant, were detached for that purpose. The English troops showed a reluctance to assist the Hessians. They halted a few hours, during which interval Colonel Kahl was defeated. The disputes between the Englisli and the Hessians troops originated from the following incident: An officer of the regiment of Losberg engaged some English officers at Prince- ton in a conversation respecting military discipline. An English officer, whether heated by liquor, or irascible through passion, replied to the German by throwing a punch bowl at his head. The insult was properly resented. But the seeds of discord being thus unhappily sown, a crop of evils ensued. The private men, adopting the quarrels of their officers, in- dulged themselves in frequent rencounters.' Febeuaey 1. — An anonymous correspondent living in London, says : We have received, through the indefatigable assiduity of Lord Stormont, the English ambassa- p^^^kiin to the dor at the court of France, a copy of Doctor KingonheFrencii Eranklin's proposals' from the American Congress to the French court, Avhich are as follows : Mat it please toue Majesty: — "We, the most puissant, high and invincible of States of North America, have em- ' Pennsylvania Journal, June 25. ^ Doctor Franklin, having been elected a commissioner from the Congress to conclude a treaty of amity with the Trench court, sailed for France on the 27th of October, and arrived at Nantz on the 13th of December, 1776. He at once proceeded to Paris, " where," says a correspondent, " he now engrosses the whole attention of the public. People of all ranlss pay their court to him. His affa- bility and complaisant behavior have gained him the esteem of the greatest people in this kingdom. Lord Stormont has represented him to the French min- istry as a traitor to his country, and that it was a high affront to the King his master, to show so much favor to one of his rebellious subjects ; but this is paid little regard to. Lord Stormont is fully employed in watching the Doctor's mo- tions." — Extract of a Letter from Paris, February 1 ; Upcott, iv. 457. 3SS ni.vKY OF THE eevolutiox. [1777. powered our trusty and Avell-beloved Benjamin Franklin, one of the principal members of our Commonwealtli, to make the following overtures of a treaty with your most christian Maj- esty, in behalf of, and for ns the above States, upon the sub- sequent honorable principles and conditions. Tliat being now to our sorrow convinced of the dastardly and cowardly behavior of the army of this commonwealth, in not daring to face the troops of our once parent state, and at the same time sensible of having drawn God's curse and heavy displeasm-e upon us for our enormous ingratitude and disobedience towards our Mother country ; we came to a resolution of applying to your Majesty's aid in this our sad inability and disappointment in striving against such power, that as your Majesty is styled "The Most Christian," for whose religion and laws we the Independents of America, as well as our ancestors, alwaj^s had the most high and cordial esteem and reverence, as they are framed and calculated for the security and promotion of the purest and most extensive liberty, both religious and civil. We flatter ourselves that your arms may be more successful in this oi^r just and laudable cause, so conformable to the laws of God and man. And should your most christian Majesty's arms prove victori- ous against those oiir cruel enemies, and we thereby be reinstated in the enjoyment of oizr most equitable rights, and reassuming, and once more clothing ourselves with that Heaven descended power which we exercised over said States, we shall condescend to requite and acknowledge your effort and expense in the said war and conquest, with giving yon our permission and liberty to conquer also for your own use and dominion your ancient colony of Canada, which Avhen there was no risk and resistance against us, we so justly and bravely invaded, and partly conquered, but at the appearance of the troops of our late parent State, we so heroically evacuated again, of which the bearer, Mr. Franklin, is a living instance, having escaped out of a window, without even breaking his neck, owing to the assistance of his guardian spirit, who probably intends him for a more conspicuous and exalted death, as a reward for his shining public virtues. ITTT.] A BOK MOT. 389 You shall liave our sovereign consent and permission also to conquer both the Floridas, which were exchanged for the territories on the Mississippi, which, with the province of Quebec, the British nation, at a considerable expense of blood and treasure, conquered for us last war, as a small return for the inestimable benefits which they had derived from our commerce and friendship. As another instance of our acknowledgment for these your signal services, we the aforesaid most powerful States siirrender you the full property and dominion of the British "West India islands, which are now, and ever have been, dependent on these States for the common necessaries of life, and are therefore naturally subordinate to them, and at their control and disposal. As a further motive and encouragement, we also cov- enant and engage, that such sums of money in our own specie shall be transmitted and delivered into your most christian Majesty's coffers, as shall be adequate to the expense you may incur in assisting us, and as shall appear equal to the gratitude and dignity of these States to give. "We lastly permit our subjects to carry on trade with yours, as long as it suits their conveniency and interests. These our most gracious concessions, we hope, will in- duce you to accept our oifers, and most amply satisfy and reimburse you for the troubles and difficulties you may undergo in conquering our said enemies, and reinstating lis in the possession and dominion of the countries which have been discovered and protected at the expense of the British nation, and we have a just right and claim to by virtue of our charters granted us by said nation, and by the laws of God and nature.' LoED Stoemont, whose time is chiefly employed in circulating reports to discredit the Americans, having in a very serious manner lately told a Erench noble- 1 • 1 n -i-rr 1 , A Bon Mot. man, that six battalions m Washington s army had laid down their arms, the nobleman applied to Doctor ' Upcott, iv. 455. 390 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [lYTY. Franklin, to know whether the story was a truth, i^ne veriti,) to which the Doctor answered, " Non, Ifonsieur, ce n^est pas ri'vite, c'est sculement tin Stonnont. No, Sir, it is not a truth, it is only a Stormont." This answer was afterwards handed about amongst the Avits of Paris, and the word Stormont has since become the cant phrase for a lie." Febettaey 6. — It may be relied on as a matter of fact, that when the enemy took possession of Newport, in Ehode Island, a person who lived on the island, and had been a Prescotts J- ' Barbarity. lieutenant of a privateer, was taken up and car- ried before Lord Percy, Sir Peter Parker, and Colonel (or as some call him) General Prescott. Says Prescott, " "What are you? " " I have been a lieutenant of a privateer." " A lieu- tenant of a privateer, ha! Damn your blood, one of the damn'd thieves," and immediately made up to him and hit him a knock in the jaws, and said he should be hanged. lie told the colonel he, too, had had prisoners iu his power, and always had used them well ; and even when ho himself had short allowance the prisoners had a full allowance of provi- sions. " Yes, damn you, I have been a prisoner among you and know how I was treated ; " and hit him another knock. Lord Percy desired the colonel not to proceed in that way, as he was a prisoner ; the colonel told the prisoner he should be chained neck and heels, and be fed with nothing but oatmeal and wetel, and while he lived his life should be miserable, and hit him another knock, which Lord Percy again disapproved of, and ordered him to be put into prison, which he said was enough without blows or irons. We shall leave it to our readers to make their own reflec- tions on this treatment, and to determine from it the character of Colonel Prescott, and whether it does not indicate him to be a blustering coward : for according to an established maxim, the brave are always generous, and treat with humanity those whom the fortune of war has made their prisoners.'' ' New York Journal, September 8. ° Pennsylvania Journal, February 19. 1777.] A NEW CATECHISM. 391 The characteristic virtue of the natives of Ehode Island is liberality, and it should seem (at least it is hoped) Heaven favors this sequestered isle. It were a pity human blood should stain the most beautiful spot in all America, where, till the commencement of the unhapjDy war, the inhabitants lived in all that reciprocal friendship, that harmony and happiness, which minds undisturbed by ambition, or iininfluenced by prejudice, so fully and amply enjoy.' A coEEESPONDENT thinks the following new catechism will amply repay an attentive perusal : '' What is loar ? — ^It is the curse of mankind, the mother of pestilence and famine, and the undistinojuishins; , ^11 • K New Catechism. destroyer oi the human species. How is war divided ? — ^Into offensive and defensive. What is the chief end of offensive war ? — Sometimes it is to regain by the sword what had been unjustly taken away from the rightful possessor ; but, for the most part, it is to gratify the ambition of a tyrannic prince, by subjecting to his arbitrary will a people whom God had created free, and giving their hard-earned possessions to support him in luxury, idle- ness, and sensuality. Are there any instances of such princes? — Tes, many, both in ancient and modern times. History is filled with the wicked lives and miserable deaths of tyrants. The present King of Great Britain, whose history is not yet completed, is a living example of such a prince. He carried an offensive war into the East Indies, and deprived many thousands of those innocent people of their lives and properties, that he might snuff the spices of the east, and repose his sluggard limbs on the sofa of a nabob. He is now carrying an offen- sive war into America, without one specious plea for so doing, most wickedly aiming at the absolute disposal of that exten- sive country and all its numerous inhabitants ; for this purpose he has spread desolation and death tlirough their peaceful habitations, pursuing his iniquitous designs with every aggra- vated species of obstinacy, cruelty, and horror. ' TJpcott, iv. 455. " Brasher's Journal. 39li DIAllV OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. What may he said of such a ^^rwice f — ^That lie looks upon manldnd as created only for his nse, and makes their misery his support ; that the spirits of thousands, who have fallen a sacrifiec to his ambition, cluster around the polished points of his imperial crown, and daily cry aloud to Heaven for justice ; that his throne is built of the bones of his fellow creatures, and rests on the skulls of the slain ; that his unhallowed feasts are sprinkled with human blood, and that the groans of wid- ows and orphans attend him with innumerable curses at every rising sun. What will he the probaljle end of such a prince f — That history will do justice to his memory, in spite of all the fawn- ing sycophants of his court, and hand his name to posterity with infamy and detestation ; that whilst his royal carcass fat- tens the common worms of the earth, his miserable soul shall give an account to God for the wanton slaughter of his crea- tures, Avhose blood will most assiiredly be required at his hands ; and that the vaults of hell shall ring -with, Ilail^ thou great destroyer of the human species ! What is a defensive v;ur ? — It is the taking up arms to re- sist tyrannic power, and bravely suffering present hardships, and encountering present dangers, to secure lasting liberty, property, and life to future generations. Is a defensive war fustificdAe in a religious view ? — The foundation of war is laid in the wickedness of mankind. "Were all men -^'irtuous, just, and good, there would be no contention, or cause of contention, amongst them ; but as the case is far otherwise, war is become absolutely necessary, as many other things are Avhich are only the product of the weaknesses or iniquity of men. Even the invaluable blessings of a constitutional government would be unnecessary incum- brances, were there no open violence or secret treachery to be guarded against. God has given to man wit to contrive, power to execute, and freedom of will to direct his conduct. It can- not be, therefore, but that some will abuse these great priv- ileges, and exert these powers to the ruin of others. The op- pressed will then have no way to screen themselves from injury but by executing the same powers in their defence, and it is ITYT.] A NEW CATECHISM. 393 tlieir duty so to do. If it were otlierwise, a few miscreants woirld tyrannize over the rest of mauldnd, and make tliem abject slaves of oppression and pensioners of tlieir will. Thns it is that a just defensive war is not only necessary, hut an in- dispensahle duty, and consistent with religion, accommodated as it must be to out present imperfect state of existence. Is it ujpon these prinGiples that the jpeople of America are nmv resisting the arms of England, and opposing force hy force ? — Strictly so. Tire Americans had nothing in view but to live peaceably and dutifully in a constitutional submission to Great Britain. They suifered patiently, for a long time, many unjust encroachments of power, being loath to offend their rulers by a too strict attention to every right, till at last the designs of the court became too evident to be mistaken, and they were pushed to the distressing necessity of choosing one of two evils, viz., either to enlist themselves and their un- born posterity the avowed unconditional slaves of a cor- rupt and wicked administration, or to brave the horrors of war in a noble contest for liberty and life. Tlrey have wisely de- termined on the latter ; and after solemnly appealing to God and the world for the justice of their cause, they are prosecut- ing the war tinder the favor of Heaven, and with the most promising hopes of success. Supported by the equity of their principles, they have surmounted the greatest difficulties, and exhibited instances of bravery not exceeded by the heroes of antiquity — and may Heaven prosper their virtuous under- taking. Jixht it has often ieen said that America is in a, state of rehellicm : tell me, therefore, whctt is rebellion ? — It is when a great number of people, headed by one or more factious lead- ers, aim at deposing their lawful prince, without any just cause of complaint against him, in order to place another on his throne. Is this the case of America ? — By no means. They have repeatedly declared, with all sincerity, that they were ever ready to support, with their lives and fortunes, the present King of Great Britain on the throne of his ancestors, and only requested in return the enjoyment of those inestimable rights a 39-J: DIAEY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [1777. Avhicli the Eiitish Constitution confirms to all its subjects, and Avitliont which the boasted freedom of that coustitntion is hut a solemn mockery, and an empty name. To whom has the British court committca tJie conduct of the present vxir? — To Lord and General Howe. Who are these gc)ithmen?—Thej are the brothers of Colonel IIoAve, who fought bravely by the side of the Ameri- cans in a former war, and fell in battle ; who, by his amiable character, endeared himself to those people so much, that they lamented his fate with unfeigned sorrow, and erected, at their own expense, a costly monument to his memory. But these gentlemen, with unrelenting hearts and sacrilegious hands, have defiled their brother's monument with the blood of those whose affection reared it to his honor, and plunged their mur- derous weapons into bosoms glowing with love and esteem for their mother's son.' What progress have the ErujJ'ish, made in sulduing Amer- ica ? — Yery little. They got possession of Boston by the tacit consent of its inhabitants, but could not hold it long. They were but tenants at will, strictly speaking, for their landlords turned them out without any warning, and distrained upon cer- tain military stores, &c., although they had sat there at a rent of about five hundred pounds per day. Whcct did they nextf—Thcj took Staten Island, where there was nothing to oppose them, and a part of Long Island, by an exertion of almost their whole force against a small part of the American army, and then ferried themselves over to the city of New York ; from thence they crept into the Jerseys, ' Lord Viscount George Howe was the eldest son of Sir E. Scrope, second Lord Viscount in Ireland. He arrived at Halifax in the summer of 1757, having under his command five tliousand British troops, who had been despatched from England to assist in the expedition against the French. In the next year he was with Abercrombie at the renowned attack on Ticonderoga, and at the first fire of the French, who were posted in the woods a short distance westward of the fort, he fell mortally wounded. " In him the soul of the army seemed to expire.'' His kindly disposition, bravery, and many virtues, endeared him to the soldiers ; and Massachusetts, as a " proof of her love and esteem for his gallantry and daring," erected a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey. At the time of his death he was thirty-three years of age. IT 77.] A NEW CATECHISM. 395 find taking advantage of a critical period, when tlie American army was disbanded by tlie terms of enlistment, and before a new force conld be raised, they heroically advanced to the bants of the Delaware, well knowing there was nothing to oppose their progress. On the banks of the Delaware they set them down, settled, as they thought, for the winter season, and plundered the adjacent coimtry. In the mean time these ex- traordinary conductors of the war published a wonderful and gracious proclamation, offering such protection as they could afford to all those who would accept of it, upon the easy terms of absolute, unconditional submission. But the Americans, whose resources are endless, soon found a spirited militia to supply the place of the disbanded troops until a new army could be raised. This militia crossed the Delaware in a snow storm at midnight, and after marching ten miles, very unciv- illy attacked the enemy before they had breakfasted, and drove them from the banks of the Delaware in the utmost con- sternation, and with a loss of twelve himdred men. The Amer- ican army then recrossed the Delaware and suffered the enemy to return to their post, where they anxiously waited the arrival of an expected reinforcement. But the American general, by a stroke of policy above their comprehension, once more passed the river with his army, and kindled a few fires in the night near their station ; and whilst they were foolishly gazing at the beauty of the curling flames, he marched on, attacked, routed, and entirely defeated the said reinforcement. The shattered remains of General Howe's army are now close con- fined in Brunswick, where they are doing penance on salt meat and musty biscuit. Where are injustice, obstinacy, and folly xmited in one character m an C7iiinent degree f — In George the Third. lie is unjust, because he endeavors to gain by force what is denied him by the laws of the realm over which he presides, in direct violation of his coronation oath, and pursues his unconsti- tutional claims to the effusion of human blood ; he is obstir nate, because ho refuses to hear the humble petitions and mod- est reasonings of an oppressed people, and will not yield to the forcible convictions of truth ; and his folly is conspicuous 396 DIAEY OF THE EEA'OLITTIOX. [1777. in qnaiTelling witli a people avIio loved and honored liim, who were the chief snpporters of his crown and dignity, and a never- failing sonrce of increasing Avealth. Who is tJie soggiest man in the world? — Lord Howe. ^Y]to is the xocal^cstf — General Howe. 117(0 is the greatest liar vijon earth f — Hngh Gaine, of ISTew York, printer.' Who is the most ungrateful man in the world? — Governor Skinner.^ Why do you ccdl him governor? — ^Because when Lord and General Howe thought that they had conquered the Jerseys, they appointed liim licntenant-governor of that State. Skin- ner assumed that title over one-tenth part of the said State, and continued his xisurpation for six weeks, five days, thirty- six minutes, ten seconds, and thirty hundred parts of a second, and then was deposed. Why is he called ungrcdefid ? — Because he has joined the enemies of his country, and enlisted men to fight against his neighbors, his friends, and his kinsfolk ; because he has en- deavored to ti'ansfer the soil that gave him bread from the rightful possessors to a foreign hand ; because he is doing all lie can to defraud the fruit of his body of their just inherit- ance ; and because, to gain present ease and transitory honors, he Avould fasten the chains of slavery on three millions of people and their offspring forever. Who is the hest man living? — His Excellency General Washington, to whom the title of Excellency is applied with the greatest propriety. He has left a peaceful habitation and an affluent fortune to encounter all the dangers and hardships of war, nobly stepping forth in the defence of truth, justice, and his country. Lr private life he wins the hearts and wears the love of all who are so happy as to live within the sphere of his action. In his public character he commands universal respect and admiration. Conscious that the principles on which he acts are indeed founded on virtue, he steadily and And editor of the Now York Gazette and Weekly Mercury. Cortlandt Skinner. 1777.] BEITISH AT NEWPOET. 397 coolly piirsiies those principles, witli a mind neitlier depressed by disappointments nor elated by success, giving full exer- cise to that discretion and wisdom which he so eminently pos- sesses. He retreats like a general and acts like a hero. If there are spots in his character, they are like the spots in the sun, only discernible by the magnifying powers of a telescope. Had he lived in the days of idolatry, he had been worshipped as a god. One age cannot do justice to his merit, but the iinited voices of a grateful posterity shall pay a cheering trib- iite of undissembled praise to the great asserter of their coun- try's freedom.' Febetjaet 18. — OcE cruel enemies are still in possession of ^Newport, Khode Island, but by all appearances they will not infest it three weeks hence. Percy, the person British at New- so famous for his well-OTdered retreat from Lex- p"''' ^''- •^■ ington, is, since Clinton's departure, chief commander on the island, and makes head-quarters at Mr. Levy's house, near the parade. By the best accounts that can be collected, their numbers do not exceed three thousand ; they give out five or six thousand. From two or three of their late villanous pa- pers it may easily be discovered they are not unacquainted with the art of lying. One of them contains an address to Clinton, signed by four hundred and forty-four of the inhabi- tants, welcoming him to the island, desiring his protection, swearing allegiance to George the Third, acknowledging him as their true and lawful sovereign, and expressing their surprise at the strange infatuation of a deluded people, who are led into the present rebellion by the art of a few designing men. By the most authentic information, one-half of the signers were induced to put their names to the address by the persua- sions of the principal Tories, who, by the assistance of all the powers of darkness and the father of liars at their head, in order to carry their point, gave out that Philadelphia was in their possession, and Connecticut had, to a man, laid down their arms and sworn allegiance to George the Third. ' Pennsylvania Journal, February 19. 398 DIAKY OF THE EETOLUTION. [1777. Tliere are one hundred flat bottom boats building with all expedition in the different parts of Khode Island. The other day two or three scows -with soldiers went from Providence to (piarter at Tiverton. Their appearance in passing through Bristol ferry caused a general alarm on the island, and set the Hessians to retreating with the utmost precipitancy with their baggage, mto the town. There is no doubt but that six thou- sand troops could dispossess these sons of Belial with the gi'eat- cst ease ; a trial of Avhich we expect very shortly. Doctor II r's death and false character was lately published in one of their papers. May it be the fate of every Tory scoundrel that now infests this once happy land, to niahe his exit out of America before the present month is closed.' At the adjourned superior court lately held at Hartford, in Connecticut, the following persons were convicted of the fol- connecHcat lowing crimcs, viz. : Moses Dunbar, of Water- criminais. bury, couvictcd of having a captain's commission from General Howe, and enlisting men to serve in the minis- terial army — sentenced to suffer death, but the time of his ex- ecution is not fixed upon. Tlie Keverend Eoger Yiets, of Simsbury, convicted of aiding and assisting Major French, and a number of other prisoners, in making their escape, and holding a traitorous correspondence with the enemy- — ^sen- tenced to pay twenty pounds to the State, and suffer one year's imprisonment. Gurdon "Whitmore, of Middletown, found guilty of high treason by the jury, but an arrest of judgment being pleaded in his favor, a final determination of the trial was put off till March next. At the same time the Keverend Mr. Nichols, of "Waterbury, was tried for treasona- ble practices against the United States, and accpiitted.' Febeitaby 27. — By a passage from the London papers it appears that the mildness of the Massachusetts government, Massaciusetts ^ud the gcnerosity of the Whigs to the Tories, is i'«'''"^y- attributed altogether to timidity, and an appre- liension that the cause of the Americans is gone. " It is now ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, March 8. ' Upcott, iv. 453. 1Y7T.] STATK OF THE AMEEICAN AIIMT. 399 very common," says the passage referred to, " to see the friends of government walking arm in arm in the streets of Eoston, unnoticed ; and they hold meetings and visit one another, which they have not done since General Gage's army came among them. In short, it is said they are very mnch dis- heartened." It seems, then, that the Tories are allowed more liberty under the present government than they were in Gage's time, which is iindoubtedly true ; but then all is owing to fear. It is in this manner our enemies construe all we say and do. The humanity with which we have treated those who have fallen into our hands by the fortunes of Avar, is ascribed to the same principle of fear, and has been returned by the most bar- barous treatment of the subjects and friends of the United States, who have fallen into their hands — even the sailors on voyages of mere trade. They have been murdered in a system- atical way, by crowding them together in cells and dungeons, and gradually starving them. This is not high painting ; it is literally true. But we may venture to say, it is not the interest of our enemies to treat us in this manner. If gratitude will not, prudence ought to teach them better. Did the impartial world know all the circumstances, and the unexampled provo- cations we have met Avith, they would admire us as much for our moderation and mildness, as for our braA-ery and love of liberty.' Maech 1. — A DESEETEE from the reoel army at Westchester, who came into ISTew York this morning, says that the Congress troops are suffering extremely for food and rum ; state of the that there is not a AA'hole pair of breeches in the American Amy. army, and that the last news from Mr. Washington's camp Avas, that he had to tie his up Avith strings, having parted with the buttons to buy the necessaries of life. There is a great plenty of rag money, but since old Franklin went to France, there is no one left to argue it into the favor of the Jerseymen, who, though justly called republicans, are not willing to give ' Freeman's Journal, March 4. 400 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1171. even bad provisions foi" Congress notes, or more rebel promises to pay. At a frugal dinner lately given by tbe nnder officers in Pleatli's command, (supposed to be in honor of his demand at Fort Independence,') bnt seven Avere able to attend ; some for the want of clean linen, bnt the most of them from having none other than breeches past recovery." Maeck 4. — This day at noon, " Ilis Excellency Thomas Wharton, jim., Escp, President of the Supreme Executive Coim- Thomas wii.irton ^^^ ^^ ^^^® Conimonwealth of Pennsylvania, Cap- iiiaugurated. tain-Gencral and Commander-in-Chief in and over the same," was proclaimed at the court house in Philadelphia, in the presence of a vast concourse of people, who expressed the highest satisfaction on the occasion by unanimous shouts of acclamation. ■ This refers to the attempt made in January, 1777, to take Fort Independence, and thus secure a passage into New York island. About lour thousand militia, in four divisions, under Generals Heath, AVooster, Parsons, and Lincoln, were des- tined for the service. General Heath was commander-in-chief. AU met on the lieiglits about and near Kingsbridge. The fort had but a trifling garrison, which could have made no effectual resistance had a vigorous push been made ; and the men were in spirits for the attempt. In this way only could it be carried, was defence attempted, as the Americans had no other artillery than three field-pieces. With these they fired a number of shots at eighty or one hundred Hessians, and a few light horse, who collected on the York side of Harlem Eivcr. The Hessians were thrown into a momentary confusion, but soon formed again. General Heath demanded a surrender of the fort, and threatened in case of non-compliance. The threat was disregarded. The troops were now employed chiefly in picking up Tories, in foraging, and in taking stores that had been in the possession of the enemy, till more artillery could arrive from Peekskill, which a council of war had agreed to send for. About nine days from the first appearance of the Americans before the fort, the artillery came to hand, and consisted of one brass twenty-four pounder and two howitzers. The twenty-four pounder was fired twice when the carriage broke ; and a few shells were thrown without any execution. A great number of teams were then employed in carrying off forage. The British, who had been re- inforced during these delays, sallied out, but were repulsed. Soon after the Americans retired. General Heath's conduct was censured by men of sense and judgment, who were with him on the expedition. It was fraught with so much caution, that the army was disappointed, and in some degree disgraced. His summons, as he did not fulfil his threats, w-as idle and farcical, and tended to bring on all of them the ridicule of their enemies. — Gordon, ii. 181. ' Smythe's Diary, 51. 1777.] THOMAS WHAETON. 401 The procession began at the state hoiise, and -vvas con- ducted in the following order, viz. : — Constables with their staves ; Sub-Sheriifs ; High-Sheriif and Coroner ; His Excel- lency the President and Vice-President ; Members of the Su- preme Executive Council ; Sergeant-at-Arms ; the Honorable Speaker of the House — Clerk of the House on his left hand ; Members of the General Assembly ; gentlemen members of the Council of Safety, and the ISTavy Board. These dined to- gether at the city tavern, where an entertainment was provided by order of the House ; the members of Congress then in the city, and the general ofScers of the army of the United States of America, being also present. After dinner the following healths were drank, under the discharge of cannon, &c. : — 1. The United States of America. 2. Tlie Congress. 3. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 4. General "Washington, and the Army of the United States of America. 6. The ISTavy of the United States. 6. The Friends of Liberty in all parts of the world. 7. Perpetual union and strict friendship among the States of America. 8. The Arts and Sciences. 9. Agriculture. 10. Trade and Nav- igation. 11. Tlie memory of the brave patriots, of all ranks, who have gloriously fallen in their country's cause. 12. May every American know his true interest. 13. May Justice, Firmness, and Humanity, ever characterize Americans. 14. May human I^jiowledge, Yirtue, and Happiness, receive their last perfection in America. 15. May every private considera- tion give way to the means of our public defence. 16. Gen- eral Lee, and all our friends in captivity. 17. Doctor Franklin. The bells of the city were rung, and the whole was con- ducted with the utmost decency, and no accident happened of any kind.' Ran away from Isaac Harris, living in Pittsgrove, Salem County, Pennsylvania, an English servant man, named William Blackmore ; about twenty-two years of age ; five feet five, or six feet high ; light complexion, light straight hair ; a very ' Freeman's Journal, April 5. Vol. I.— 26 402 DIAKY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [177Y. clumsy fellow, turns the toe of his right foot very much out in his walk ; very much addicted to swearing and getting drunk ; lie has run away several times, and has an iron collar round his neck, marked I. II. and "W". B., which he wears under his shirt, but may be easily discovered. Had on, when he went away, a brown cloth coat with blue sleeves, a light colored cloth jacket, leather breeches, and blue stockings. All recruiting officers are requested not to enlist him. He will endeavor to get to the ministerial army if he has oppoi'tunity, as he is a great Tory. Wlaosoever takes up and secures the said servant in any gaol so that his master may have him again, shall receive six dollars and reasonable charges paid if brought home.' Maeoh 6. — Day before yesterday, departed this life, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, the Eeverend Samuel Auch- muty, D. D., Hector of Trinity Church in ITew York, a gen- tleman greatly heloved and respected. He was born at Eoston, in the province of Massachusetts Bay, and educated at the college of Cambridge, in the same Samuel colony, whcre he took the usual degrees in the Attcumuty. liberal arts. He devoted himself early to the sacred ministry, and soon after his ordination was fixed as assist- ant minister of Trinity Church and catechist, in the year 1T48 ; in which stations he contimied till 1764, when, on the death of the late worthy Doctor Barclay,^ he was chosen Eector. About this time the degree of Doctor in Divinity was con- ferred on him by the University of Oxford. During his residence in ISTew York, which was twenty-nine years, he discharged the pastoral duties of his function with assiduity and fidelity ; of which, the respect showed to him by the inhabitants, and the flourishing state of the Episcopal congregations in the city when our public troubles broke out, are incontestable proofs. Firmly and conscientiously attached to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England, he was indefatigable in promoting her interests ; yet without any of that narrow spirit " Pennsylvania Journal, March 12. ' Henry Barclay, D. D. ITYY.] SAMUEL AUCHMUTT. 403 of bigotry, wMcli is the disgrace of religion. His senti- ments were generous and enlarged, which led him to prize merit wherever he fomid it, and this disposition and conduct will ever command the approbation of the rational and vir- tuous part of mankind, and succeed where bigotry will assur- edly fail. Christianity never appears more amiable or winning than when accompanied with that easy-tempered cheerfulness which rectitude and benevolence of heart naturally inspire. In this he greatly excelled, and it gave him many advantages to serve the cause of religion. Eew men ever possessed a more humane, benevolent, and compassionate heart. He often melted into tears at the sight of distress, which never sought his aid in vain. He was a liberal, sympathizing friend to the indigent and afflicted, a zealous promoter of every institution or scheme that could contribute to the welfare of mankind, and was never more happy than when alleviating the misfortunes of others, or em- ployed in some office of benevolence and friendship. Sitch a temper and disposition must necessarily endear him to his intimate acquaintances, and enable him to shine in the more tender connections of social life. He was indeed a sincere, warm friend, a most affectionate, tender husband and father. Those who were unfriendly to the Church of England and to the British Constitution could hardly be well affected to him, considering his station and principles. Yet no man had a more placable, forgiving disposition iinder injuries or ill usage. He pitied those misguided people ; but as for malice, it found no harbor in his bosom. He practised the Apostolic rule, — Let not the sun go down iijpon your wrath. During the troubles which have involved this coimtry in its present calamities, he took that part, as may be easily supposed, which duty, truth, and reason pointed out. Un- shaken in his loyalty to our gracious sovereign, and in his attachment to the Constitution, he spumed the breath of popular applause where conscience forbid him to receive it. This drew upon him much persecution, which, with the distress 404 MAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. he felt for tlie miseries of this country, greatly impaired his constitution ; the case could scarcely be otherwise with a person of his extreme sensibility. His ill state of health obliged him to reside in the country the greatest part of last summer, and when ISTcw York was reduced by his Majesty's forces in September, he applied repeatedly to the rebels, in whose hands he was, for leave to return, which was as often denied. This obliged him to come away privately, and exposed him to such hardships, while making his escape, that his constitution was reduced still lower. With difficulty he got there; but how was he shocked on viewing the ruins of so great a part of the city consumed by the fire in September! especially those of Trinity Church, that ancient and once venerable edifice. Tlie sight drew fioods of tears from him ; and although he lost by the fire, private property to the amount of some thousands of pounds, yet the destruction of Trinity Church, and of so much of the property belonging to its corporation, which has been estimated at forty thousand pounds, affected him much more. When the King's troops penetrated into Jersey, his family was set at liberty to return. His spirits seemed to revive, his health to mend, and he and his friends indulged themselves in the pleasing expectation of peace and happiness at last, after struggling through so much disquietude, anxiety, and persecu- tion. But alas ! these flattering hopes were soon blasted ! His lungs had been weakened by constant exertions in preaching, and other parochial duties : a severe cold which he caught at a funeral, and could never wholly get the better of, weakened them still more, and greatly injured his voice. On Tuesday, February twenty-fifth, he was seized with a bilious fever, which, by the assistance of physic, was removed in a great measure, yet left him exceedingly weak, and the disorder set- tling on his lungs, finally carried him ofi" in a few days. On his death-bed he behaved with that patience, calmness, and fortitude which became a Christian, and which a well- grounded hope of immortal happiness inspires. In his last moments he retained the perfect use of his understanding and 1777.] SKIEMISH AT PUNK HILL. 405 reason, and joined fervently in prayer abont four hours before he expired. He died without a struggle or a groan. To-day his remains were interred in the chancel of St. Paul's church — a church which was built under his inspection, consecrated by him to the service of Almighty God, and where he preached his last sermon on Sunday, February twen- ty-third, two days before he was seized by his last illness. Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labors, and their loorJcs do follow the-in^ Maech 8. — ^This day, between the hours of twelve and one o'clock, Brint Debadee, a soldier belonging to the tenth Penn- sylvania regiment, was shot upon the commons in ^^.^^^ Detadee Philadelphia, pursuant to the sentence of a gen- ^'"''• eral court-martial. Tliis unhappy man was in his twenty- fourth year, in the vigor of life, and it is hoped his untimely and dreadful end will be a warning to others, who, when they desert, not only defraud their oificer and abuse their country, but are also guilty of the dreadful and heinous crime of per- jury. Of his past misconduct he appeared very sensible, and behaved in his last moments with great resignation and calm- ness, declaring that he sincerely forgave all his enemies, and hoped that his example would be serviceable to some of his thoughtless brother soldiers. He was attended by the Eev. Mr. Coombe, and the Eev. lEr. Eogers. The last gentleman, being a chaplain in the service, delivered to the soldiers pres- ent a pathetic address, suitable to the melancholy occasion.^ Maech 9. — Yesteedat, the British, supposed to be about three thousand, came out from Amboy, and posted themselves on Punk Hill. They brought artillery and a g^.^i^^^tp^^^ number of wagons, as if to forage, though there '^'"' ^™ ''"'''^' were none left in that neighborhood worth notice. General Maxwell, with the troops under his command, was on a rising gi-ound to the northward, in plain view, though at a good dis- tance. The enemy Avere too well situated to be attacked. ' Gaine'a Mercury, March 10. ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, March 8. 406 DIAET OF THE EETOLUTION. [1777. Maxwell sent a party to the left to amuse them, while his real design was to the right, on the heights towards Bonamtown. He sent a strong party that way to examine their lines, if they had any, and to fall in near the end of them, that he might fall on their flank ; this was performed hy part of Colonel Potter's battalion of Pennsylvania militia, and part of Colo- nel Thacher's IsTew England ti-oops. Colonel Cook, of the Pennsylvanians, had been ordered from Matuchin to come down on Carman's HQl, and keep along the heights till he met the enemy. About half a mile lower down, between Car- man's Hill, and Woodbridge, the two parties being joined, met a strong advanced party of the enemy. On the first firing. Colonel Martin and Lieutenant-Colonel Lindley were sent to support them ; they all behaved well and kept their ground till they were supported from the main body, which immedi- ately marched that way. The enemy also sent out a reinforce- ment, biit on another regiment of Americans being sent on the left to cut them off from their main body, the party gave way in great confusion, and the fiame catching their main body, all went together. Our people pursued them and took a prisoner and a baggage wagon close in their rear, a good way down in the plain ground. Bonamtown lay too near on the right, and a plain, open ground towards Amboy, to pursue far. They left four dead on the field, and we took three prisoners. By the quantity they carried off in sleds and wagons, it is supposed they had near twenty killed, and twice that number wounded. General Maxwell says that by a soldier taken prisoner, he learns that General Howe was at Bonamtown during the en- gagement, till he saw his troops make the best of their way home, when he thought it was time for him to go.' Maech 15. — I AM no prophet, nor the son of a prophet, yet I believe in the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments, and also in some other prophecies ; nor can I forbear thinldng ' Extract of a letter from Haddonfield, New Jersey, in Pennsylrania Journal, March 19. 1777.] pedan's peophecy. 407 there is something prophetic and important in the number seven — else why do the holy scriptures hold out the number seven so frequently, and so remarkably? Tliere ,,, ,^, -irt T. 11 Behman's Seven. we may read that God rested from his work the seventh day, that the seventh day is the Sabbath, of the seventh year of release, of seven times seven being the year of the ju- bilee, of seven vials, seven trumpets, seven golden candlesticks, and of the seven spirits of God. In civil story, too, the number seven is distinguished. Witness the seven wonders of the world, seven wise men of Greece, and the seven champions of Christendom. Seven days make a week ; the seventh son is of course a doctor, and nine sevens form the grand climacteric year. If there should be, indeed, any peculiar significancy in the number seven, which I believe no one will be hardy enough to dispute, the oftener that number occurs in any subject, es- pecially in dates and eras, the more sigiiificant and important must be the subject, date, or era ; from hence the importance of the present year, in which three sevens unite, may be fairly deduced. I have been led to these reflections by a tradition which hath been handed down from the first settlement of ISTew Eng- land : that when three sevens should meet in the date of the year, the American colonies would become independent States ; and a prophecy that was some years ago published — that in the year 1777 there would be war throughout Europe. Wheth- er appearances favor this last prophecy or not, let those say who are better acquainted with the European States than I am, and know how the war between the United States of America and Great Britain will aifect them ; but a great number of circumstances concur to countenance the prophecy respecting the establishment of American Independency, which are too obvious to be mentioned. I cannot, however, leave this subject without acknowledg- ing my great obligations to an ingenious gentleman, who is deeply read in prophecies, for furnishing me with the follow- ing prophecy, which relates directly to my subject, and had escaped my observation. Alexander Pedan, an eminent Scotch divine, not more remarkable for his piety and suffer- 408 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17Y7. ings than Ills spirit of propliecy, hath left it on record, that M'hen three sevens shoukl meet, a star of the first lustre and magnitude would fall from the crown of Great Britain. Most prophecies are deli-\'ered in enigmatical terms, which time only can develop. However, may we not conjecture that the noted divine, Alexander Pedan, had in idea the present year ? And does it require much skill in enigmatical learning to see tlirough these prophecies, and to conclude, with a degree of confidence, that this very year, lYTY, will be the grand jubilee of American Freedom and Independency ? May He that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand ac- complish the prophecy ! Tlius devoutly wisheth and prayeth Behman.^ A coEEESPONDENT in London says, that since the ministry have not been able, by their arms, to reduce America, a pro- isciiemcitorcducoJ®'^**^^' ^^^^ delivered to them a scheme which will the Americans. goQi^,^ bring tlio rcbcls to an unconditional submis- sion ; and it is confidently reported that administration have with great avidity adopted it, and mean to carry it into exe- cution by contract, proposals for which having already been received from two Englishmen and eleven Scotchmen. It is that sixty thousand barrels of lamp black be immediately bought in Kussia, Prussia, or Scotland, and that it be sent on or before midsummer day to the respective colonies ; that commissioners be appointed in every such colony to paint -the faces, and every other part of the bodies of the Americans as black as negroes ; and that soon after this operation they shall be sold, as negroes arc, at public auction, twenty in a lot, to tlie Creole planters of Jamaica, Barbadoes, Antigua, &c., and that the money arising from such sales be principally applied in improving his Majesty's loyal but barren kingdom of Scot- , land, and the remainder in pensions to North, Bute, Mansfield, the two Howes, the Minden hero. Governors Dunmore, Tryon, and their heirs for three lives, and five pounds a year to every Bostonian in Brompton Kow, who will return thither and be the negro drivers.' ' Freeman's Journal, March 15. ^ Pennsylvania Journal, July 23. 1777.] AITACK ON PEEKSKILL. 409 Maeoh 17. — Last night, a detachment of the Queen's rang- ers, and New York companies, with twenty of the Hessian troops, and a subaltern, under the command of u- , ^ * w ^, ^ ' ' Fight at Ward's Captains John Branden and Archibald Campbell, ^°"=''- were ordered out from l^ew York to attack a party of the rebels at De Lancey's MiUs, in "Westchester county ; but they having intelligence of the movement of our detachment, fled to the house of Stephen Ward, about nine miles north from Kings- bridge, where the party attacked them, about nine o'clock at night, killed between forty and fifty, and took twenty-seven prisoners, amongst whom were a major, a captain, (woimded,) and a forage-master. They brought off at the same time twenty-four head of cattle, and four horses, part of which the rebels had robbed the friends of government of that day. Our loss would have been very inconsiderable, had it not been for the death of the brave Campbell, Avho, after the villains had begged for quarters, Avent into the house, and Avas imme- diately shot through the heart. "We had five privates killed on the spot, and six wounded, one of whom is since dead.' Maech CO. — ^This morning, a young woman passing an evac- uated house in Woodbridge, New Jersey, saw throtigh the windoAV a drunken Hessian soldier, Avho had straggled from his party. There being no men within less than a mile of the toAvn, she went home, dressed herself in man's apparel, and armed with an old firelock, returned to the house, entered it, and took the Hessian prisoner, whom she soon stripped of his arms and was leading off, when she fell in with the patrol guard of a New Jersey regiment, stationed near "VYoodbridge, to whom she delivered her prisoner.'' Maech 27. — ^The American post at Peekskill, JSTcav York, since the removal of the militia of the Eastern States, has been in a manner in a defenceless situation, there ^j^^^^ „„ being only part of two regiments stationed there, P'-ckskiu, n. a . under the care of General McDougal, amounting to about two ■ Gaine'a Mercury, March 24. " Freeman's Journal, April 26. 410 DIAEY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [1117. hundred and fifty men. Tlie enemy having received intelli- gence of this, formed an expedition thither with a view to take or destroy the stores belonging to the continentals, that were deposited there. Accordingly, on Sunday last, 23d, they appeared with a frigate, four transports, and several other small vessels, in the bay, and landed about one thousand men, with several pieces of cannon. General McDougal not thinking it prudent to hazard a battle with such an unequal force, and not having seasonable advice of the enemy's movement, was under the necessity of destroying the stores in order to pre- vent their falling into their hands, and retired about two miles into the pass in the Highlands, carrying with him his baggage and military stores, his advanced guard being stationed at Courtlandt's house, in the valley. The enemy the same day took possession of the village, and remained close in their quarters until the next day in the afternoon, when a party of them, consisting of about two hundred men, possessed them- selves of a height a little south of Courtlandt's. The general having received a reinforcement from Colonel Gansevoort's ' regiment of about eighty men, under the command of Lieu- tenant-Colonel "Willett,'' permitted them to attempt to dispossess the enemy from that eminence. Colonel Willett having accordingly made the necessary dis- position, advanced with his small party with the greatest firm- ness and resolution, and made the attack. The enemy instantly fled with the greatest precipitation, leaving three men dead on the field, and the whole body, panic-stnick, betook themselves to their shipping, embarking under cover of the night ; and by the last accounts they had sailed down the river. Before they embarked, they gave out that they intended to stop at Tarrytown, on their Avay down, and attempt to destroy our magazine of forage at "Wright's mills. Upon their evacuating the place. General McDougal took possession of his former quarters, and detached a party of men to watch their motions. The enemy on this occasion have been exceedingly disappoint- ed, as they have not been able to carry off any stores left be- ' Peter Gansevoort, Jr. ' Marinus Willett. 177Y.] ATTACK ON PEEKSKILL. 411 hind by oiir men, and no other stock than about forty sheep, and eight or ten head of cattle, with which they were supplied by our good friends, the Tories. Never did troops exhibit more firmness and resolution than did our army on this occa- sion. Notwithstanding the disparity of numbers was great, and the measure absolutely necessary, it was with the utmott reluctance they retired to the pass. As usual, these heroes of Britain have burnt some houses, plundered the inhabitants of what they could conveniently take with them, frightened the women and children, and raised the spirits of their Tory brethren in that quarter ; but which, alas ! as is always the case when tmnaturally elevated, are now again proportionately depressed.' A British officer in this expedition gives another account of it : — On Saturday last and the two following days, an important enterprise was effected upon a large magazine, which the rebels had formed at Peekskill, near Briush account of 1 TT» TIT T 1 T p/^Ti theAttaokoii the Highlands, under the conduct oi Colonel Peekskui. Bird and Major Hope, assisted by Lieutenant Durnford of the Engineers, with only five hundred men. The troops were embarked on board four transports on Saturday, with every precaution of secrecy as to their destination, and jjroceeded up the North Biver under the convoy of the Brune frigate. Captain Ferguson, and an armed galley. They came upon the rebels, almost unapprised of the adventure, on the Sunday afternoon, who soon ran away froni their post, (though they were at least equal to the troops in number,) with the greatest precipitation. Before they quitted the spot, they set fire to the mills up Gregory's Creek, in which were stored above five hundred barrels of flour, and eighty hogsheads of i-um, also to two large storehouses containing an immense quantity of military stores ; and to their forage yard, with all the hay, straw, and corn. Tliey likewise staved a great number of hogsheads of rum, during the approach of the ships. Immediately upon landing, the troops advanced to the ex- ' Connecticut Journal, April 2. 412 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. ecution of their design, and burnt and destroyed the whole magazine, the barracks, the workshops, storehouses, and all the appurtenances of this principal deposit of military furni- ture and stores, which the rebels had been forming for a long time Avith the greatest expense and labor. Besides the bar- racks, which were exceedingly well constructed, and several other buildings, above one hundred and fifty new wagons were committed to the flames, together with a vast collection of intrenching tools, carpenter's tools, and an immense quan- tity of beef, pork, flour, rice, and biscuit, all in casks, and above four hundred hogsheads of rum. Many casks of tal- low, boxes of candles, hogsheads of molasses, about a dozen casks of coff'ee, some boxes of chocolate, chests of arms, artil- lery stores, thirty casks of nails, twenty boxes of grape shot, and a large quantity of bar and slit iron, were either conveyed to the ships, or entirely destroyed. Tlie camp equipage, be- longing to McDougal, who commands the rebels in that quar- ter, was in part destroyed, and in part brought away, with some ofiicers' uniforms, and colors. In the conflagration, which with such a collection of combustible matters may be easily imagined to have been prodigious, a large quantity of bark for tanning, and of leather for shoes and other purposes, was consumed. In short, the destruction was complete and effectual, scarce any thing escaping that could be of use either to the troops or to the rebels. Several sloops and boats were likewise destroyed, and others brought oif laden with some of the most valuable articles. A fine twelve-poimder, which the rebels had placed there, was dismounted, and left without its trunnions. Tlie whole aff'air was carried on with the utmost spirit and harmony, and to the honor of the soldiers it may be said, that not one of them, among the streams of rum that run about in every quarter, was in the least disordered in his duty. They only expressed their disappointment in not having had a brash with the rebels. Nothing could exceed the cool intre- pidity and precautions of the commanding officers throughout the enterprise, nor the alacrity and vigor of the whole party. Not a man was lost or hurt upon the occasion. The sailors performed their part with equal spirit, and as British seamen 17T7.] JAMES MOLBSWOETir. 413 are used to do. The loss of the rebels cannot be easily calcu- lated ; tbeir disappointment and want, in consequence of it, may be more easily guessed at, and the more, as that loss is now irreparable." Majsch 31. — This day, James Molesworth, a spy, was exe- cuted on tlie commons near Philadelphia. It appears by sun- dry evidences, and his own confession, that he had been sent from ISTew York to procure pilots for conducting the British fleet up the river Delaware." ' Gaine's Mercury, March 31. ^ Upcott, v. 15. CIIAPTEE X. Apeil 1.-~-The pasteboard dollars of the Congress are now refused by the hottest among the rebels themselves. One, who was a member of a committee to punish those who might re- fuse them, was lately pmiished for refusing them himself ; and, in short, every one is putting them oif from himself, in ex- change for almost any thing that can be got for them.' Yesterday, a Connecticut parson, with a parcel of the rag money in one of his moccasins, was taken at Kingsbridge and brought into New York. He was this morning obliged to chew up. all the money, and declare, in the presence of a large assemblage of people, that he will not again pray for the Con- gress, or their doer of dirty work, Mr. Washington ; on the conclusion of which he was set at liberty, with orders not to go above the third line. He is an obstinate hypocrite, but will now have plenty of time for psalmody and repentance, which latter, I veouw, he stands much in need of.'':. Apeil 5. — Last Thursday, a party of rebels, under the command of one George Eabcock, came into the hoiise of Mr. Affair at North t)harles Slocum, at ISTorth Engston.^ His son Kingston, K. I. cojnjng to tlic door, was immediately collared by one of the banditti. Young. Slocum clenched with him, and would soon have made him repent his rashness, had it not been for the interference of the rest of the gang. His father, seeing the scuffle, came out of the house to interfere in behalf of his son, when the infamous Babcock discharged a pistol at him. The ball entered a little below his heart, and he died in " Upcott, iv. 463. ' Smythe's Journal. ' In Ehode Island. 1 ''^7.] SKIRMISH AT BOUNDBEOOK. 415 about thi-ee hours. Not content with the misery they had al- ready occasioned to this unhappy family, they took both his sons and dragged them before theirassembly^-^ho, in their clemency, permitted them to retuni under a strong guard to attend the funeral of their murdered father. The mourning relatives were accordingly escorted to the grave by this un- feeling clan, who immediately upon their return home, caiTied both the young men off to Providence jail. Tliis unparalleled barbarity is said to be occasioned by the information of some villain that has escaped from Newport. Every breast susceptible of the miseries of its fellow crea- tures must feel for this unhappy family — a husband murdered ! a number of orphan children deprived of him to whom they were wont to look up for support ; and to complete the tragic scene, two sons, Avhose presence at home might in some meas- ure have alleviated the loss of their parent, are likewise torn from their wives, expecting soon to share the same cruel fate. And all this performed by men who have decorated their stand- ard with the specious names of Liberty and Justice.^ ArELL 14.^ — Day before yesterday. General Lord Cornwal- lis, Generals Grant and Matthews, with the first battalion of grenadiers, one battalion of light infantry, a de- skirmish at tachment of the guards, the light horse, two bat- B^-ibrook. talions of Hessians, and the Yagers, commanded by Colonel Donop, marched from New Brunswick, in New Jersey, be- tween eight and nine o'clock at night, in order to surprise a large body of the rebels stationed at Boundbrook, seven miles distance from that city, commanded by a General Lin- coln. The expedition was conducted with so much secrecy that scarce any of the inhabitants knew of the departure of the troops till Sunday morning. They avoided the roads, and got close to the rebel intrenchments before day ; heard the sentinels cry " All's well," and were ordered to lie on their anus till the rebels should fire their morning gun. The order being given for the attack, their troops rushed on with their Gaine's Mercury, April 14. 416 DIAET OF THE EEVOLIJTION. [1777. usual intrepidity, and put the rebels to flight, killed upwards of one hundred, took seventy-three prisoners, (among whom was one of Lincoln's aide-de-camps, one captain, one lieuten- ant, and a man in irons, sentenced by the rebels to be shot,) three brass cannon, a quantity of arms, two wagons loaded with ammunition, a number of horses, one hundred and twen- ty head of cattle, sheep, hogs, &c., besides destroying three hundred barrels of flour, several hogsheads of whiskey and 'New England rum, with sundry other articles that the flourish- ing States cannot very well spare. The troops returned on Sunday forenoon, and the rebels crawled back to Boundbrook on their departure. Our loss was one man killed, and two Yagers wounded. Many of the friends of government availed themselves of the confusion the rebels were thrown in by the above disaster, and came into Brunswick with the troops ; several of the reb- els embraced the same opportunity, and brought in their arms. It is said that the rebel general had not time to collect his clothes, his safety requiring his utmost dexterity and swiftness. The prisoners were brought to New York to-day, and are lodged in gaol with their wretched brethren.' The late proclamation, issued by Sir "William Howe, we ■ Upcott, V. 19. The following is another account of this action : — " On Satur- day, the 12th instant, Lord Cornwallis, with the Generals Grant and Matthews, with a body of British troops, and Colonel Donop with a detachment of Hessians, surprised a large body of the rebels at Boundbrook, about seven miles from Bruns- wick, New Jersey, under the command of one Benjamin Lincoln, late secretary to the conventions and congresses of Massachusetts Bay, and a forward person in all the rebellious proceedings of that colony. The troops lay upon their arms till daybreak, and commenced the attack upon the rear of the rebel quarters, who made so weak a resistance as only to wound slightly four of the soldiers. Above one hundred of the rebels were killed, eighty-five taken prisoners, among whom was a fellow who passed for Lincoln's aide-de-camp, and two others under the style of officers. The rebels taken have been brought to town, and are the most miserable looking creatures that ever bore the name of soldiers, being covered with nothing but rags and vermin. Three brass field-pieces, muskets, ammunition, camp equipage, papers, several horses, near two hundred head of cattle, with sheep, hoga, rum, flour, bread, &c., were chiefly brought away, and the rest, such as the rum and salted provisions, being very bad, were destroyed." — Gaine's Mercury, April 21. 1777.] gaine's facts and ceiticisms. 417 hear, lias been read to the several corps in the rebel army, by their respective leaders, who strove to show them that the de- sign of it was to lead them to bondage and destruc- nngh Gaino's tion, to alienate them from their allegiance to Mes- criticisms, sieurs John Eancocic, Samuel Adams, and the other members of the Congress, and to bring them out of their present state of happiness and freedom. Many and wonderful were the speeches made upon this occasion, all founded upon an evident fear lest their poor deluded followers should see and think for themselves. Their fear seems to have been just ; for many, in following their own senses, have quitted the desperate and wicked cause they have been engaged in, and have brought in (some of them at least) two or three muskets apiece, for which they have been handsomely paid in silver dollars.' Some whole companies have come in, and particularly from the northward. A party of them who came up a few days since from Amboy, in order to join the royal provincials, were as- tonished to see any ships in New York harbor, as it had been industriously reported among the rebels that they were all sailed for England, and that the troops were to quit the colonies as soon as fresh ships could arrive to carry them home. A very few weeks will convict these impostors of their num- berless falsehoods. Several men-of-war, and above one hundred transports, are stationed in the ISTorth Eiver. The East River is crowded with merchantmen, prize-vessels, and ships of all sorts. A correspondent remarks, that whilst most of the other seaport towns and colonies groan under the dearness of provis- ions, and the common necessaries of life, New York is supplied, at very little more than the usual rate in this season of the year, with every species of food and all kinds of clothing and dry goods. The Philadelphia newspapers are stuffed with continual false accounts of skirmishes and other exploits of their raga- muffins in the Jerseys, in which they always obtain most wonder- ' The Congress paper dollars are now used for papering rooms, lighting pipes, and other conveniences. — Carver. Vol I.— 27 418 DIAT^T OF TUB EEVOLUTION. [1777. ful and "never-to-bc-lieard-of-victories." Tlie following may servo for a specimen, taken from tlio Pennsylvania Journal of the second of April. In a skirmish, wliich is stated to have happened near Quibblctown on the twenty-fonrth of March, they say the British " mnst have lost some men, as they were seen carrying them off in the time of action, which happened within half a mile of their breastworks. "VYe had two rifles broke, but not a man hnrt in this skirmish ; an evident proof, that Providence shields the jnst and brave, (they mean them- selves,) for we forced them from an advantageous wood, where they were posted behind trees and onr people entirely exposed in an open field. The troops that were engaged with onrs were British and not Hessian. Onr whole party did not exceed one hundred and thirty, and the enemy not less than three hundred men." "What opinion must these pieople have of their followers, when they suppose them capable of believ- ing such enormous falsehoods as these ? Some days ago, the daughter of Mr. Jonathan Kniffin,of Hye, in Connecticut, was murdered by a party of rebels near or upon Budd's ISTeck. She was carrying some clothes to her father in company of two men who had the charge of a herd of cattle. They were fired upon by the rebels from behind a stone wall. The poor young woman received a ball in her head, of wliich she instantly died. The men escaped unhurt. They plundered lier dead body of its clothes, cut one of her fingers almost off in order to take a ring, and left the corpse most indecently exposed in the highway. Such are the advo- cates of this cursed rebellion ! Yet the officer (so called) who commanded the party, and who is said to be a colonel among the rebels, gloried in the exploit, and swore it was better to kill one woman than two men ; adding, moreover, that he would put both man and woman to death, who should presume to cultivate their farms or their gardens in the neighborhood of Eye this spring.' Theee men-of-war have sailed up the Delaware, and an- " Gaine's Mercury, April 14. 1777.] BEITISH EAVAGES, 419 chored oif Eeedy Island. This has thrown all the rebellious part of Philadelphia, with the congress at their head, into the utmost perturbation. Handbills have been distributed to implore the people to assemble in arms against the troops of their sovereign, but it won't do. The people begin to see the baseness and villany of their leaders, and think it high time to take care of themselves. Some of the E"ew England and other people who do not belong to the province, have attempted to burn the city, and actually did set it on fire in two places. This has induced the Quakers and other inhabitants to mount guard every night for the preservation of their property from destruction by these lawless incendiaries.' Apeil 18. — The committee appointed by Congress some tune ago to inquire into the conduct of the British troops in their different marches through 'Sew York and Ecportontho -*T -F- T T T rrn i . Eavages of the JN ew Jersey, have to-day reported : — Inat m every Bntisii. place where the enemy has been, there are heavy complaints of oppression, injury, and insult, suffered by the inhabitants, from officers, soldiers, and Americans disaffected to their coun- try's cause. Tlie committee found these complaints so greatly diversi- fied, that as it was impossible to enumerate them, so it appear- ed exceedingly difficult to give a distinct and comprehensive view of them, or such an accoimt as would not appear ex- tremely defective when read by unhappy sufferers or the coun- try in general. In order, however, in some degree to answer the design of their appointment, they determined to divide the ob- ject of their inquiry into the following parts, and briefly state what they found to be the truth upon each. First : — The ivanton and oppressive devastation of the country, and destruction of property. The whole track of the British army is marked with desola- tion, and a wanton destruction of property, particularly through Westchester county, in the State of New York, the towns of jSTewark, Elizabethtown "Woodbridge, Brimswick, Kingston, ' Game's Mercury, April 21. 420 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLITTION. [1Y77. Princeton, and Trenton, in ISTew Jersey. The fences destroyed, houses deserted, pulled in pieces or consumed by fire, and the general face of waste and devastation spread over a rich and once well-cultivated and well-inhabited country, would affect the most unfeeling with compassion for the unhappy sufferers, and with indignation and resentment against the barbarous ravagers. It deserves notice, that though there are many instances of rage and vengeance against particular persons, yet the destruc- tion was very general and often undistinguished ; those who submitted and took protections, and some who were known to favor them, having frequently suffered in the common ruin. Places and things which from their piiblic nature and general utUity should have been spared by civilized people, have been destroyed or plundered, or both. But above all, places of worship, ministers, and other religious persons of some partic- ular Protestant denominations, seem to have been treated with the most rancorous hatred, and at the same time with the highest contempt. Second : — The hihuman treatment of those who were so un- fortunate as to hecome ])risoners. The prisoners, instead of that humane treatment which those taken by the United States experienced, were in general treated with the greatest barbarity. Many of them were kept near four days without food altogether. "When they received a supply, it was insufficient in quantity, and often of the worst kind. They suffered the utmost distress from cold, nakedness, and close confinement. Freemen and men of substance suf- fered all that a generous mind could suffer from the contempt and mockery of British and foreign mercenaries. Multitudes died in prison. Wlien they were sent out, several died in be- ing can'ied from the boats on shore, or upon the road attempt- ing to go home. The committee, in the course of their inqui- ry, learned that sometimes the common soldiers ex|3ressed sympathy with the prisoners, and the foreigners more than the English. But this was seldom or never the case with the officers ; nor have they been able to hear of any charitable as- sistance given them by the inhabitants who remained in or re- 1777.] BElTISn EAYAGES. 421 sorted to the city of New York, whicli neglect, if universal, they believe was never known to happen in any similar case in a Christian country. Tliird : — The savage hutchenj of those %olio had suhnitted, and were incapalle of resistance. The committee found it to be the general opinion of the people in the neighborhood of Trenton and Princeton, that the British, the day before the battle of Princeton, had deter- mined to give no quarter. Tliey did not, however, obtain any clear proof that there were general orders for that purpose, but the treatment of several particular persons at and since that time, has been of the most shocking kind, and gives too much countenance to the supposition. Officers woinided and dis- abled, some of them of the first rank, were barbarously man- gled or put to death. A minister of the gospel, who neither was nor had been in arms, was massacred in cold blood at Trenton, though humbly supplicating for mercy.' Pourth : — The lust and irictality of the soldiers in abusing women. The committee had authentic information of many in- stances of the most indecent treatment and actual ravishment of man-ied and single women ; but such is the nature of that most irreparable injury, that the persons suffering it, though perfectly innocent, look upon it as a kind of reproach to have the facts related, and their names known. Some complaints ' The following circumstances relative to the death of the KeTerend Mr. Eose- burgh, chaplain to a battalion of the Pennsylvania militia, who was killed at Trenton, on the evening of the second of January, are given in the affidavit of the Reverend George Duffield : — " As a party of Hessian Jagers marched down the back of the town after the Americans had retreated, they fell in with him, when he surrendered himself a prisoner ; notwithstanding which, one of them struck him on the head with a sword or cutlass, and then stabbed him several times with a bayonet, whilst imploring mercy and begging his life at their hands.' This account was given by a Hessian, who said that he had killed him, (save only that he did not know Mr. Roseburgh's name, but called him a damned rebel min- ister,) and that Cortlaudt Skinner, and several other officers who were present at the relation of the fact, highly applauded the perpetrator for what he had done. After he was thus massacred he was stripped naked, and in that condition left lying in an open field, till taken up and buried near the place by some of the in- habitants. — Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 29. ■i22 DIAKV OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. ■were made to the commanding ofScers on tliis subject, and one affidavit made before a justice of the peace, biit the committee could not learn that any satisfaction was ever given, or punish- ment inflicted, except that one soldier in Pennington was kept in custody for part of a day. On the whole, the committee are sorry to say that the cry of barbarity and cruelty is but too well founded ; and as in conversation those who are cool to the American cause, have nothing to oppose to the facts but their being incredible and not like what they are pleased to style the generosity and clem- ency of the English nation, the committee beg leave to observe that one of the circximstances most frequently occurring in the inquiry, was the opprobrious, disdainful names given to the Americans. Tliese do not need any proof, as they occur so frequently in the newspapers printed under their direction, and in the intercepted letters of those Avho are officers, and call themselves gentlemen. It is easy, therefore, to see what must be the conduct of a soldiery greedy of prey, towards a people whom they have been taught to look upon, not as freemen defending their rights on principle, but as desperadoes and profligates, who have risen up against law and order in gen- eral, and wish the subversion of society itself. This is the most charitable and candid manner in which the committee can account for the melancholy truths which they have been obliged to report. Indeed, the same deluding principle seems to govern persons and bodies of the highest rank in Britain ; for it is worthy of notice that not pamphleteers only, but King and Parliam.ent, constantly call those acts lenity, which on their first publication filled this Avhole continent with re- sentment and horror.' Apeel 20. — To THE ToEiES. — "Wanted for his Majesty's ser- vice, as an assistant to his Excellency General Howe and Hugh Gaine, printers and publishers of the JSTcw York Ga- zette, a gentleman who can lie with ingenuity. Enquire of Peter K"umbskull, collector and composer of ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 24. 1777.] ATTACK ON DAKBUEY. 423 lies for tlaeir Excellencies at New York. N. B. — A good liand will receive the honor of knighthood.' A coEEESPONDENT in England says : — An American priva- teer was some time since taken by one^ our frigates. She car- ried the continental colors, which are thirteen red and white stripes ; bnt it was observed that this privateer had but twelve stripes in his colors. On being asked the reason, he answered that since we had taken the province of New Tork, the Con- gress had-ar-ptTTfince less ; and that whenever they lost any of the provinces, it Avas their orders to cut away one of the stripes from their colors, so that there should be no more stripes than provinces. A gentleman, who was a prisoner in America, has brought to Whitehaven, a Boston almanac for the year, in which the days of his Majesty's birth, accession, &c., are not marked as usual, but the particular days relative to Oliver Cromwell in- stead of them. The year is denoted by the " first of American Independence, which began July 4, 1776."/' Apeil 30. — Last Friday, the twenty-fifth instant, twenty- six sail of British ships appeared off Norwalk Islands, stand- ing in for Cedar Point, where they anchored at attack on four o'clock p. M., and soon began landing troops. Banbury, conn. By ten o'clock they had landed two brigades, consisting of up- wards of two thousand men, and marched immediately for Danbury, where they arrived the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon. The handful of continental troops there were obliged to evac- uate the town, having previously secured a part of the stores and provisions. The British, on their arrival, began burning and destroying the stores, houses, provisions, &c. On their appearance, the country was alarmed. Early the next morning Brigadier-General Silliman, with about five hun- dred militia, (all that were collected,) pursued them. At Eead- ' Pennsylvania Journal, April 30. ' Low's Astronomical Diary ; TJpcott, v. 21. 424 DIAIIY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. ing he was joined by Major-General Wooster, and Brigadier- General Arnold. The heavy rain all the afternoon retarded the march of the Americans so much that they did not reach Bethel (a village two miles from Danbury) till eleven o'clock at night, much fatigued, and their arms rendered useless by being wet. It was thought prudent to refresh the men and attack the enemy on their return. Early the next morning, (which proved rainy,) the whole were in motion. Two hun- dred men remained with General Wooster, and about four hundred were detached under General Arnold and General Silliman, on the road leading to Norwalk. At nine o'clock A. II., intelligence was received that the British had taken the road leading to ISTorwalk, of which General Wooster was ad- vised, and pursued them. lie came up with them about eleven o'clock, when a smart skirmishing ensued, in which General "VVooster, who behaved with great intrepidity, unfortunately received a wound by a nuisket ball through the groin, which it is feared will prove mortal. General Arnold, by a forced march across the country, reached Kidgefield at eleven o'clock, and having posted his small party, (being joined by about one hundred men,) waited the approach of the British, who were soon discovered advancing in a column, vpith three field-pieces in front and three in rear, and large flank guards of near two hundred men in each. At noon they began discharging their artillery, and were soon within musket shot, when a smart action ensued between the whole, which continued about an hour, in which the Americans behaved with great spirit ; but, being overpowered by numbers, were obliged to give way, though not until the enemy were raising a small breastwork, thrown across the way, at which General Ai'uold had taken post with about two hundred men, (the rest of~oTir small body were posted on the flanks,) who acted with the greatest spirit. The general had his horse shot under him, when the enemy were Avithin about ten yards of him, but hickily received no hurt ; recovering himself, he drew his pistol and shot the sol- dier who was advancing with his fixed bayonet, lie then or- dered his troops to retreat through a shower of small and grape shot. In the action the British suffered very considera- 1777.] ATTACK ON DANBUET. 425 bly, leaving about tliirty dead and -wounded on the ground, ' besides a number unknown buried. Here we had the misfor- tune of losing Lieutenant-Colonel Gold, one subaltern, and several privates killed and wounded. It was found impossible to rally our troops, and General Arnold ordered a stand to be made at Saugatuck bridge, where it was expected the enemy Avould pass. At nine o'clock on the morning of the 28th, about five hundred men were collected at Saugatuck bridge, including part of the companies of Colonel Lamb's battalion of artillery, with three field-pieces, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Oswald, a field-piece with part of the artillery company from Fairfield, sixty continental troops, and three companies of vol- unteei's from ISTew Haven, with whom Generals Arnold and Silliman took post about two miles above the bridge. Soon after the enemy appeared in sight, their rear was attacked by Colonel Huntington, (commanding a party of about five hun- dred men,) who sent to General Arnold for instructions, and for some oflicers to assist him. General Silliman was ordered to his assistance. The enemy finding our troops advanta- geously posted, made a halt, and after some little time wheeled oif to the left and forded Saugatuck Eiver, three miles above the bridge. General Arnold observing this motion, ordered the whole to march directly for the bridge, in order to attack them in the flank. General Silliman at the same time to attack their rear. The enemy, by running full speed, had passed the bridge on Fairfield side with their main body, before our troops could cross it. General Silliman finding it impossible to over- take them on their route, proceeded to the bridge, where the whole were formed. They marched in two columns, with two field-pieces on the right, the other on the left of the enemy, when a smart skirmishing and firing of field-pieces ensued, which continued about three hours. Tlie enemy having gained the high -hill of Compo, several attempts were made to dis- lodge them, but without efi'ect. Having landed a number of fresh troops to cover their embarkation, which they efi'ected a little before sunset, they weighed anchor immediately, and stood across the Sound for Huntington, on Long Island. Our 426 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. loss cannot exactly be ascertained, no return being made ; it is judged to be about sixty killed and M'ounded. Among the killed arc one lieutenant-colonel, one captain, four subalterns, and Doctor David Atwater, of New Haven, whose death is greatly lamented by his acquaintance. Among the number wounded are Colonel John Lamb, (of the artillery,) Arnah Bradley, and Timothy Gorliam, volunteers from Xew Haven, though not mortally. The enemy's loss is judged to be more than double our number, and about twenty prisoners. They behaved, on this occasion, with their usual barbarity, wantonly and cruelly murdering the wounded prisoners who fell into their hands, and plundering the inhabitants, burning and destroying every thing in their way.' Tlie following is Gaine's account of this affair : — " In con- sequence of information received of the rebels having collected large magazines at Danbury, in Connecticut, a detachment of two hundred and fifty men from each of the following regiments, fourth, fifteenth, twenty-third, twenty-seventh, forty-fourth, and sixty-fourth, a subaltern's command of dragoons, three hundred of Governor Erown's corps, and six three-pounderg, under the command of Major- General Tryon, and Brigadier-Generals Agnew and Sir Wil- liam Erskine, proceeded up the East Biver, and on Friday ■ evening last, at six o'clock, landed at Compo Point, near JSTor- walk. Tlie debarkation being completed about ten, tlie troops got in motion, and after a march of twenty-fi\'e miles, arrived without opposition at Danbury, at three o'clock on Saturday afternoon. The remainder of that day, and part of next morn- ing, were employed in destroying the stores, which were found to exceed their exjDectation. At nine o'clock they began their march back to the shipping, and proceeded without interrup- tion until they approached Bidgefield, where they found a body of the rebels, under the command of Mr. Arnold, who had fortified the entrance of the town, which they carried after small opposition, with considerable loss on the side of the reb- " Connecticut Journal, April 30, and Pennsylvania Journal, May 14. 'i-'i^'^-] ATTACK ON DANBrET. 427 els, tlie rear repulsing another body, who attacked them at the same time, imder Mr. Wooster. The troops continued their march next morning at four o'clock, the rebels firing on their flanks and rear, but from such a distance as to do them but little injury. About half a mile from the ships Avliere the troops halted, part of the rebel army, which consisted of at least four thousand, kept up a heavy fire from behind stone walls, whilst two columns made a show of attacking ; but part of the detachment charged them with fixed bayonets, and put them to a total rout, with considerable slaughter. The troops, after remaining some time upon the ground, embarked with the greatest regularity and order, without further interruption from the rebels, who never showed themselves more. " The spirit and firmness shown by the troops on this occa- sion, does them infinite honor. " The loss sustained was fourteen men killed, ten officers and eighty men wounded, most of them slightly." ' We are here presented with an account of the Danbury expedition from two diff'erent sides ; by which it appears, that the English paid dear for their entertainment in Connecticut ; but if we may judge of Mr. Gaine's modesty in tellmg a story from the account he gave of the action at Princeton in ■' Pennsylvauia Journal, May 14. The followirg account ivas sent by another hand :— Governor Tryon, whose bloodthirsty, thieTish disposition, and beggarly cir- cumstances, impel him to rob and plunder for subsistence, having collected a gang of thieves and starved wretches from among the British troops and Tories, came over from Long Island on the 26th ultimo, and landed at Compo, between Norwalk and Fairfield ; from thence they beat through the woods to Danbury, where they found a quantity of provisions, some of which they eat, and some they destroyed, and some they attempted to carry off; but a number of people collect- ing, alarmed their guilty fears, and caused them to fiee baclc with precipitation, through thick and thin, wet and dry, rough and smooth, leaving bag and bag- gage, about fifty kiUed and forty taken prisoners, eighteen or twenty of whom are now in jail in New Haven. Thus ended the glorious expedition of the freebooter Tryon. The poor rogue found such good picking while Governor of New York, that his head aches beyond conception to get possession of that government again ; but he must gnaw his trencher a great while before that time arrives. We expect another visit from these hungry bellies in a short time, and it may be proper enough to keep a good look out. — From a Connecticut Paper. See New Ycn-k Gazette, May 19. 4:28 DI,VET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. January last, where lie says (speaking of tlie British troops) " that they had ten killed, and a few wounded ; " when it is an uncontroverted fact, that we buried one hundred and four regulars who were killed outright, and left fifty wounded at Princeton, besides above two hundred taken prisoners; we have, by a comparison of their accounts of the two affairs, good reason to think they have j^aid such a price as that a few more of those bargains would lower the stock of Howe & Co., so that they woidd bo obliged to keep close, or beat a retreat.' THE EXPEDITION TO DANBURT. A "royal attack and feat," under the command of General Tryon, to destroy the stores of beef, pork, and rum. SCENE.— NEW YORK. Without wit, without wisdom, half stupid and drunk, And rolling along arm in arm with his punk. The gallant Sir Winiam,'' who fights all by proxy. Thus spoke to his soldiers, held up by his doxy : " My boys, I'm a going to send you with Tryon, To a place where you'll all get as groggy as I am ; And the wounded, when well, shall receive a full gill, But the slain be allowed just as much as they will. By a Tory from Danbury I've just been informed, That tlierc's nohodij ihcre^ so the place shall be storni'd.^^ TRYON. If there's nobody there, sir, and nobody near it, Two thousand will conquer the whole, never fear it. [Joe Gai.lop-aivat,' a refwjee Tory, with several others.] JOE. Good soldiers, go fight, that we all may get rich. SOLDIERS. Go get you a halter. * « « » Get out, and go live in the woods upon nuts, Or I'll give you my bayonet plump in your D'ye think you contemptible thief-looking crew, That we fight to get beef for such rascals as you ? ^ Pennsylvania Journal, May 14. ' General Sir William Ilowe, whose irregularities are now pretty well known. ' See page 309, ante. 1777.] THE EXPEDITION TO DAUBUET. 429 Come on, my brave boys, now as bold as a lion, And march for the honor of General Tryon ; My lads, there's no danger, for this you may know, That I'd let it alone if I thought it was so. SCENE.— COXNECTIOUT. TROOPS LANDED. TKTON. In cunning and canting, deceit and disguise, In cheating a friend, and inventing of lies, I think Tm a match for the best of my species, But in this undertaking I feel all in pieces ; So I'll fall in the rear, for I'd rather go last; — Come, march on, my boys, let me see you all past ; For his Majesty's service (so says my commission) Requires that I bring up the whole expedition. SCENE.— DANBUET. TE00P3 AKEITED. TRTON. Come, halloo, my lads, for the day is our own, ISo rebels are here ; not a soul in the town ; So fire all the houses, and when in a blaze, "We'll honor the King with a shout of huzzas. [A noise among the soldiers.^ TETON. In his Majesty's name, what's this mutinous jargon? SOLDIERS. We came to^ get drunk, sir, for that was the bargain ! IRISH SOLDIER, DRUNK. Huzza for the Congress — ^the Congress and toddy. TETON. Tou scoundrel, I'll run you quite through the body. SECOND IRISH SOLDIER. By the head of St. Paddy, I care not a louse for King George nor his daddy. THIRD IRISH SOLDIER. 'WTiat plenty is here ! Oh what eating and drinking ! Who'd stay in New York, to be starving and . FOURTH IRISH SOLDIER. The rebels, huzza ! in a hat fuU of rum. 430 DIAEY OF TUE KEVOLUTION. [1777. PIFTn lEISn SOLDIEH. Come let us drink bumpers, Jact, — out of a drum. SCOTCH SOLDIER. Laird Bute and his clan arc a bundle of thieves. ENGLISH SOLDIER. Lord North and Iiis gang are a kennel of slaves. TVELSn SOLDIER. And a Welshman, prave poys, never harbors with knaves. ALL. Then let us go over. Who'd stay to be starv'd, that might thus live in clover 1 \Tliay Smg:\ Let freedom and love be the glee of our song, Let America flourish — the Congress grow strong. And brave Washington conqueror all the day long. \A consultation of officers. At a distance, houses and stores onjire.] TRYOX. I wish I was back, for I'm woefully soar'd, The light will be seen and the noise will be heard. And the rebels will gather so thick in our way, That whether we run for it or whether we stay. The fate of the whole will be doubtful — and then — lA sudden alarm; an officer in afrirjht gallops about crying'] To arms, to arms, to arms, — ten thousand men Are pouring from the clouds — ten thousand more Are got between the army and the shore. Ten thousand women too. TRTON. Eun, run ; stop, stop. Here, help me on my horse before I drop. {Enter an officer fro^n Nevi York. To Trton.] OFFICER. The King hath promised, sir, you shall be knighted. TRTON. The devil take the King — for I am so frighted — OFFICER. But, sir, you must attend to what I've said. 177Y.] THE EXPEDITION TO DASBUBT. 431 TRTON. Why, then, the King must knight me when I'm dead. OFFICER. But I bring orders, sir, which say "you must" — TRTON. Aye, must or not, I'll have a gallop first. \_Sets off with the whole after him.'\ SCESTE.— THE SHIPPING. {Troops on board. Trton surrounded with Surgeons.'] TETOX. My belly's full of balls — I hear them rattle. SURGEON. 'Tis only, sir, the echo of the battle. TETON. Do search me over — see where 'tis I'm wounded. SURGEON. You are not hurt, sir. TRTON. Then I am confounded; For as I stood, not knowing what to do. Whether to fight, to fly, or to pursue, A cannon ball, of two and thirty pound. Struck me just where Sir Peter ' got his wound ; Then passing on between my horse's ears — SURGEON. Compose yourself, good sir — forget your cares, You are not slain — you are alive and well. TETON. Between my horse's ears, and down he fell, Then getting up again, SUEGEON. Dear sir, compose. And try to get yourself into a doze ; The hurt you've got is not so dangerous deep, But bleeding, shaving, patience, time, and sleep, With blisters, clysters, physic, air, and diet, Will set you up again, if you'll be quiet. " Sir Peter Parker. See page 258, ante. 432 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. So thick, so fast, the balls and buUeta flew, Some hit me here, some there, some thro' and thro' — And so by thousands did the rebels muster tTnder Generals Arnold and old Wooster, That let me, let me, let me, let me but Gctoifahve — -farewell Connecticut.^ \ Mat 3.- — Majoe-Genekal David Woostee died this day, of the M-Qunds he received in tlie late affair at Danbury, in Con- necticut, lie was born at Stratford, in tliat State, on the second of March, 1710-'ll, and was educated at Yale College, where he graduated in the year 1738. Soon after the Spanish war broke out in 1739, he was employed, first as lieutenant, and then as captain, of the armed vessels built by Connecticut for a Guarda Coasta. After this he engaged in the military service of this country, and was a captain in Colonel Eurr's regiment, in the expedition against Louisburg in 1745. After the reduction of that place, he was sent to France, with a part of the prisoners taken there, and from thence went to England, where he received the honor of a captaincy on the establishment, in Sir "William Pepper ell's regiment. During the peace which soon followed, he received his half pay, and was chiefly employed in his private affairs. When the war with France was renewed in 1765, ho was soon thought of as a gentleman qualified for a higher sphere of command, and served his country as colonel and commandant of a brigade to the end of the war. From the first rise of the present controversy with Great Britain, in 1764, though his interest as a half-pay officer might have apologized for him, if he had observed a per- fect neutrality, yet so fully convinced was he of the ruinous measures of the British court, and so jealous was he for his country's rights, that regardless of his private interest, he took an open and decisive part, and avowedly espoused the cause ' "Comus," in the Pennsylvania Gazette, May 14, and Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 22. I'^Tk] GENEEAL DAVID WOOSTEE. 433 of America, and persisted in that line of conduct to the day of his death. As soon as hostilities -were commenced in the Lexington battle, the General Assembly of Connecticut set about raising an army, and Colonel Wooster, from his ap- proved abilities, well-known courage, and great experience, was appointed to the chief command. The same summer he was appointed a brigadier-general in the continental service. Hon- ored Avith these commissions, he first commanded the troops sent to guard New York, where it was expected that part of the British army, which came over in 1775, would land. In the latter part of that campaign, he, with his troops, went into Canada, and assisted much in the reduction of St. John's, Mont- real, &c., and after General Montgomery's death, had the chief command in that province. He returned home in the summer of 1776, and not long after was appointed first major-general of the militia of Connecticut. He had been out the whole of the last winter, at the head of a body of men raised by the State for its own security, and was but lately returned, when on Saturday the 26th of April last, he received the news that the enemy, in a large body, had landed at Compo. He immediately set off for Fair- field, leaving orders for the militia to be mustered and sent for- ward as fast as possible. "When he arrived at Fairfield, finding General Silliman had marched in pursuit of the enemy with the troops then collected, he followed on with all expedition, and at Reading overtook General Silliman, with the small body of militia, of which he of course took the command, and pro- ceeded that same evening to the village of Bethel. Here it was determined to divide the troops, and part were sent off imder Generals Arnold and Silliman, the rest remained with General "Wooster, and them he led by the route of Danbury, in pursuit of the enemy, whom he overtook on the Sabbath, about four o'clock, near Eidgefield. Observing a part of the enemy who seemed to be detached from the main body, he determined to attack them, though the number of his men was less than two hundred ; he accordingly led them on himself with great spirit and resolution, ordering them to follow him. But being inex- perienced militia, and the enemy having several field-pieces, ToL. I.— 28 434 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [177Y. our men, after doing considerable execution, were broken and gave way. Tlie general was rallying them to renew the at- tack, when he received the fatal wound. A musket ball from the distance of fifty rods, took him obliquely in the back, broke his back bone, lodged within him, and never could be found. lie was removed from the field, had his wounds dressed by Doctor Turner, and was then conveyed back to Danbury, where all possible care was taken of him. The sur- geons were from the first sensible of the danger of the case, and informed the general of their apprehensions, which he heard with the greatest composure. The danger soon became more apparent, his whole lower parts became insensible, and a mortification, it is thought, began very early. It was designed to carry his remains to New Haven, to be interred there, but that being found impos- sible, they will be interred at Danbury.' May 5. — ^This day, Earl Percy, the hero of Lexington, weary of the American war, though covered with laurels, sail- ed from Newport, in Rhode Island, for England, in a ship mounting fourteen guns only. The command devolves on General Prescott. A person belonging to the nest of pirates at Providenoe presents his compliments to Sir Peter Parker, at Newport. Should Sir Peter attempt an expedition up the bay, he might possibly find that a nest of pirates would prove as fatal to his breeches as the nest of hornets on Sullivan's Island, which Sir Peter so very imprudently disturbed.^ It is now thought, says a writer in London, that General Washington will hold the two posts of Protector and General, in imitation of the redoubtable hero of republicanism, Oliver Cromwell, who was, many years after he was raised to the Protectoral chair, his own generalissimo. And the former will doubtless regard the orders of Congress, as Oliver did those of the Hump Parliament. — The writer of this article is cer- ' Connecticut Journal, May 14. ' See page 258, ante. 1V77.] THE MINISTEEIAL PRESS. 435 tainly entirely ignorant of the characters of General Washing- ton and Oliver GrormoelU Mat 6. — ~We have often had occasion to observe, that lying and misrepresentation, to the greatest extent, is a neces- sary part of the ministerial plan of operation strictures on the against ns. Tliey have given us a thousand proofs '^°^ '^'■''°^- of this, and continue to give new ones every day, to the utter disregard of truth or justice, sincerity, honor or honesty. The original design of the court of Great Britain, in their contest with America, was so base and treacherous, and so utterly inconsistent with the jDrinciples of the English Consti- tution, that they were obliged to have recourse to every arti- fice, in order to deceive the people of England, and even their own emissaries who were not yet so abandoned and hardened in villany, as heartily to co-operate in the destruction of the English Constitution, which had so long been the boast and glory of the nation, had raised it to its highest degree of opu- lence and splendor, and had been the distinguishing character- istic of England from every other nation. In speculation, one would have thought it impossible to persuade Englishmen, or any of those who were real friends to them, to lend a helping hand to the destruction of that revered Constitution, which it had been the work of ages to form and establish ; a Consti- tution which secured the freedom and property of the people, gave the King as much power as any wise man could wish to have, or as any wise people could, with safety to themselves, possibly trust in the hands of their supreme magistrate. He had an almost unlimited power to do good, and was only I'e- strained from doing evil, and becoming a tyrant in stead of a father to his people. But a wicked and abandoned court and ministry were not content with this. They had broke through every moral and religious restraint, and nm into boundless extravagance and expense, which no honest income was sufficient to support ; and in defrauding the public, by betraying the trust reposed in them, and converting the na- ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 27 and June 10. 436 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [lYYT. tional revenues to their own use, they know tliey were liable to be called to a severe account and punishment, and could not be screened even by the King himself, under a Constitu- tion, where the law was above him, and bound him as well as his subjects. They knew that under a government where the King is arbitrary and makes his will the supreme law, they could, by keeping in his favor, effectually secure themselves from being called to account for the most atrocious and trea- sonable breaches of trust they could possibly be guilty of ; they therefore, with much application and artful contrivance, formed a deep-laid design to destroy the Constitution, by making the King absolute, and the people slaves. To execute this design, they found means to draw in a for- midable combination, partly of men in similar circumstances with themselves, and the rest, such as had a greater relish for the advantages they might expect under a despotic prince, than in a government where every member, from the highest to the lowest, was under the restraint of law. It was no dif- ficult matter to seduce the King himself to enter into this com- bination, and promote the design with all his power and influ- ence. He was not of a disposition to resist so strong a temp- tation as ajipeared in the offer of unlimited power ; and as little doubtful of his qualifications to exercise it Avith propriety' as Phaeton was of his ability to drive the chariot of the Sun. Sxich were the motives of the King and his ministry for their conduct respecting America. Eut it was necessary to deceive the people, and pretend other motives for this conduct, in or- der to conceal these. To this end, the expedient of lying and deception was adopted, and has been continually appropriated by the ministry and all their emissaries, both in Europe and America, to serve their purposes upon all occasions. AVlaenever we have had an opjjortunity to examine any ac- counts they have published; either from England or America, we have found them either absolutely false, or grossly misrep- resented ; we have, therefore, reason to suppose they have had the same disregard to truth in those accounts we have not had the means of examining, as we have found in others. The following paragraphs, lately published, are illustrations 1777.] THE inUISTEEIAL PRESS. 437 of these observations : — " The Ncio Yorkers, we are informed, are exasperated to the highest degree against the Congress, and the army acting xmder their orders ; and declare, that when they act against the rebels, they will neither give nor receive quarter y Who are the persons here styled New Yorkers ? Tlie city of New York, that rueful scene of ruin, violence, and distress, is inhabited at present by a few sorts of people, viz. : 1. A crew of bloody miirderers and base robbers, sent by the King of Great Britain to enslave the Americans, and plunder them of their property. 2. A still more infamous and execrable herd of Tory natives and former inhabitants of New York, who, with unparalleled folly and villany, have joined the foreign enemies of their country in promoting its destruction, in entailing upon it and even their own posterity, endless slavery and subjection to a tyrant's will. And all this for the despicable consideration of a little present emolument, or perhaps only the delusive hopes even of that ; or from the basest cowardice, which, to shun a lesser evil, has plunged them, loaded with guilt, into a greater. 3. A number of poor, helpless, or indigent people, who, unable to remove, or having nothing to lose, have remained in New York, and been forced to submit to every imposition of an insolent, tyrannical enemy. 4. A number of honest, worthy men, who have unfor- tunately fallen into the enemy's hands, and because they had acted as friends to their country, as they were in duty bound to do, have not only been detained as prisoners, but treated with every kind of insult, cruelty, and inhumanity. These four sorts make up the present inhabitants of the city of New York. As to the two first, we have no doubt of their rancor, malice, and cruelty ; they have repeatedly given unquestion- able proofs of it, and they never had, or ever will have, a dis- position to give quarter to any honest man that has had the misfortune to fall into their hands, or even to treat him with humanity. And it is not improbable, that at a time when they thought to carry all before them — ^that all was quite over 438 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1777. with US, that we were entirely in their power and should be obliged to ask for quarter, which they were determined to re- fuse, they might have made such a declaration, that they would neither give nor receive quarter, in order to give a color of reason and equity to their barbarous treatment of our people. At this time they did not imagine they should ever be in our power, and have occasion to ask that quarter for themselves which they refused to us. But the tables being turned since they made that declaration, we may be assured their humor of refusing quarter has subsided, and they would receive it now with as much humility as they possessed of haughtiness and cruelty when they refused it to us. But their behavior having left them no room to hope for it, there re- mains only to them a fearful looking for of judgment and ret- ribution. Meanwhile their number is become so small, their strength so weak, their distress and anxiety so great, that their very existence seems to have become a curse, and those they have most injured can hardly wish them to be more miserable than they really are. "^2/ <^ iMer received from lihode Island, we leave advice that con engagement lately happened near that place hetweeii seven privateers, fitted out lyy the colonists, and four Kinc/s frigates, when, after a warm contest, one of the privateers was sunh, and the others were heat off." This engagement of the vessels we do not remember to have heard of, and believe it to be no more than a fiction, in- vented to make their principals think they were still going on with mischief, and had done more than it has been in their power to do ; though we must do them the justice to own, they do as much as they can. " We hecor that government has received advices hy the way of Holland, from Neio Yorh, which give an account of some further advantages gained over the rebels, and that several de- spatches had passed hetioeen Lord and Sir William Hoioe and the ruling powers of the Congress, hut that nothing decisive had heen resolved on when these advices ca^ne away.'''' This, of their negotiation with the Congress, &c., is a lie throughout, devised, probably, in part for the same purpose as 177T.] A QUESTION FOE GENEEAL HOWE. 439 tlie last mentioned, and partly to amuse the opposite party in England, to whom the ministry pretended that Sir William and Lord Howe were sent out principally with a view to ac- commodate differences, and effect a reconciliation between Great Britain and America ; though the full powers of these famous commissioners extended no farther than to the grant of par- dons, if they thought proper, to such of the Americans as should consent to imconditional submission to the authority of the King and Parliament of Great Britain, and to be bound by laws of their making, in all cases whatsoever. " We hear that of the thirty nurses that lately tooh care of the sick in the Philadelphia hospital, no less than tiuenty- seven of them died in one loeeTtP Tire death of twenty-seven of the thirty nurses in the Phil- adelphia hospital, is probably a wilful mistake. That it is not true is certain. If the account had been, that of thirty sick persons who had been prisoners at New York, twenty-seven had died under the care of the nurses in the Philadelphia hos- pital, we might have believed the relation to be true ; because it is well known that those poor prisoners were generally starved to death, or from want of food and through barbar- ous usage in many respects, died in nearly the above proportion, after they were released in exchange for prisoners in our hands, who were well kept, and returned in health and good order. There are many other articles in the English papers, and from them republished in American papers, that ought not to appear in any of our papers without proper notes to guard the imwary reader from deception and false impressions." May 8. — ^A coeeespondent has offered the following query and remarks to General ITowe : — ^" If with thirty thousand men you conquered two towns and one village in ^ Question for one year, how many years will it be before you Seiiemi iiowe. will be able to conquer and occupy all the towns and villages on the continent of America ? " It is incumbent upon your excellency to answer this ques- ' " 0.," in the New York Journal, September 15. 440 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. tion immediately, in order tliat the few recruits wliom you have enlisted by your late proclamation, in which you have offered them the forfeited property of the Whigs, may know exactly how many hundred years they must wait before you eject the Wliigs, and give them the peaceable possession of their estates. Oh, fie, Sir "William ; fie, for shame ! Such proclama- tious become a general at the head of a powerful and victori- ous army, and a whole country almost prostrate at his feet, and not the poor, contemptible chief of a vanquished, blockaded, half-starved, half-naked, half-rotten, half-paid, mongrel ban- ditti, composed of the sweepings of the jails of Britain, Ire- land, Germany, and America. Oh, fie ; Sir William ! Blush, blush for your proclamation ! Carleton, Burgoyne, Howe, Bow Wow Wow ! ' Some days ago a villain was taken up at Peekskill, in New York, in whose custody were found eighty-eight counterfeit Connecticut forty shilling bills, and one of thirty dollars, Continental currency, badly done, being paler and fainter impressed than the true ones. Those of Con- necticut are done on copper-plate, and not easily to be distin- guished from the true ones, but from that circumstance ; the true ones being done off at the common printing press. An- other of these adventurers, with two thousand seven hundred pounds of counterfeit money about him, is secured at Peeks- kill. It seems they are tempted to follow this desperate employ- ment by the terms offered in the following advertisement taken from H. Gaine's Gazette of the 14th of April last, viz. : " Persons going into the other colonies may be supplied with any number of counterfeited Congress notes for the price of the paper per ream. They are so nearly and exactly executed that there is no risk in getting them off, it being almost impos- ■ " A Tar," ia the Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 8. 1777.] THE DANBTTEY EXPEDITION. 441 sible to discover that they are not genuine. Tliis has been proved by bills to a very large amount, which have been suc- cessfully circulated. Inquire for Q. E. D., at the coffee house, from eleven p. m., to four a. m., during the present month." ' Mat 12.' — ^The rebels have industriously reported, and even had the assurance to publish in some of their newspapers, that the King's troops employed in destroying the ^iio Dantury magazine at Danbury, " behaved with great bar- Expedition, barity, wantonly and cruelly murdering the wounded prison- ers Avho fell into their hands, and plundering the inhabitants, burning and destroying every thing ia their way." That this is a most audacious falsehood, fabricated to delude the weak and credulous into a state of desperation, the inhabitants of the country from Norwalk to Danbury can, if they dare, suf- ficiently testify. The country people know that not the least plunder was committed either upon their goods or cattle, even where the houses were abandoned ; that the soldiers paid for every article they wanted ; and that neither man, woman, nor child received the least injury or molestation from the army, except the rebels who attacked them, or were found in arms. They accomplished the object for which they entered the coun- try, and then returned, in the utmost order, to the place of embarkation. For the same inflammatory purpose, the following article, taken from the Connecticut Journal of the thirtieth of April, was evidently composed : " A member of Congress, in a let- ter dated April fifteenth, 1777, writes to his friend in this town, (l^ew Haven,) that an extract of a letter from England to the commissioners, (Doctor Franklin, &c., in France,) men- tions, that the British ministry intends totally to destroy the ]S"ew England States, and make slaves of the southern." So we see what we poor people of New England have to depend on. A certain old gentleman would be puzzled to exceed this story in impudence or falsehood. The author at least must have had his full inspiration to invent it." ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 13. ' Gaine's Mercury, May 12. 442 BIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [177T. May 24. — Testeedat, General Parsons having received information tliat the British had collected, and were collecting Attack on Sa" l^^'ge quantities of forage at Sag Harbor, on Long Harbor. Island, together with about two hundred of the continental troops who had previously rendezvoused at Sach- em's Head, in Guilford, embarked on board a number of whale boats, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Meigs, to destroy it. At about six o'clock in the afternoon they arrived at the beach, on the side of Plumgut, and transported their boats about fifty rods over the beach, when they again embarked, and landed several miles from Sag Harbor, where (after leaving a suitable guard to protect the boats) they marched with such secresy as not to be discovered till within a few rods of the sentry. They soon set about destroying the forage, &c. As the enemy stationed there were entirely off their guard, the troops met with little opposition. An armed schooner of twelve guns, which lay not far from the shore, kept an inces- sant fire on them, but happily did them no damage. The Americans returned the fire with their small arms, but whether with eifect is not known ; five or six of the enemy on shore were destroyed, and three or four made their escape ; the oth- ers were made prisoners. The Americans then set fire to the hay, (about one hundred tons,) which was on board transports, and on the wharves, and entirely destroyed it, with ten trans- port vessels, mostly sloops and schooners, and one armed vessel of six or eight guns, two or three hogsheads of rum, &c. Tliey then returned to Guilford, having performed their expedition in twenty-four hours.' A LATE letter from England says : — " Mr. Eigby has pro- posed in the cabinet a scheme for adjusting all disputes with America. His plan is to decide the quan-el after '^ ^^ " ■ the Poman fashion, by single combat. Mr. Rigby ofiers himself as the champion of England ; he will box Wash- ' Connecticut Journal ; see Barber's Connecticut, 217. — Return of Prisoners taken at Sag Harbor : — 1 captain, 2 commissaries, 3 sergeants, 63 rank and file, 10 masters of transports, 27 seamen ; in the whole, 90. The Americans brought off fifty muskets. One of the commissaries above mentioned, is Mr. Joseph Chew, formerly of New London, in Connecticut. 1777.] AN ADVISORY PETITION. 443 ington, Lee, or Putnam. This is at least as good a mode of re- conciliation as that projected by the Howes.' Mat 29. — General G y, from Amboy, to-day, says the rebels in Philadelphia are very unsettled in their minds, and are mostly friendly to government, although their j^_^ Advisor situation prevents their acting so. In the evening Petition, before the meeting at the State house on the tenth instant, a gentleman who reached Amboy a short time before G y left, passing the hour at Mrs. D 's, where a cheerful party of oiot-of-doo7'-reT)els had met, amused himself in preparing the following advisory petition to the Congress, which was highly applauded, and forthwith voted to be sent to old Thomson : ' Low AND LOUSY BEGGARS, REBEL TAILORS, LAWYERS, PIMPS, PAR- SONS, AND COBBLERS : — Siucc by your machinations you have led us into difficulty Avitli our just and gracious King George the Third, and now have left us at the mercy of a worse than lord protector, we humbly veouw we will see you all to the devil be- fore we'll continue our allegiance to you or your pious Connec- ticutian tricks, either by love, labor, or lying ; for which last we are in constant expectation of a judgment. And we further advise and declare, that if you don't " disband, and at once re- turn to the peaceful employments " discerning nature hath pointed out for you, (you, "W., to your ink and horn book ; you. A., to your cheating ; you, H., to your goose, and you, D., to your wax,) you must expect to receive unseasonable things at unseasonable hours. "We have been misled by the knaves among you, bewrayed by the dirtiest of you, and soporated by the stupidity of all of you, until we know not where to go, are unclean, and are become mere tools in your hands, and without the least spark of the ancient freedom of Britons. Tlierefore, beware ! Get home ! Get out of debt, and make your wives happy, and leave the affairs of kingdoms to those your God has placed over jOTi." "William Stone, a traitor and spy, who was convicted of ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, May 15. ' The Secretary of Congress. ' Smythe's Journal, 61. 444 DIARY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1T77. having a commission from General Howe, and endeavoring to enlist men to serve in tlie ministerial army, was executed at Hartford, in Connecticut, pursuant to the sentence of a court- martial.' June 2. — This day, came on the trial of Mather Byles, late minister of the gospel in Boston, charged with being an enemy to the United States ; when, after a fair Mather Byles. •' , . . '_ ' . and candid examination of evidences, the jury re- turned their verdict, that he, Mather Byles, is and has been since the nineteenth of April, ITYS, inimically disposed towards Massachusetts and the other United States, and that his residence in the State is dangerous to the public peace and safety. He was then delivered into the custody of a proper officer, who conducted him to the Honorable the Board of War, there to be dealt with agreeable to a late act for such persons made and provided.'' The American republicans, like the rebels of all ages, from their justice, j)eacelovmg, and meroi/, pretend to have the espe- washington '^^^^ favors of God, aud none of the devil's, on their forbids Gaming, gj^g^ j^j-^^j f^j. ^|j,jg j-fjasou Avc rarely see a proclama- tion from the rebel camp, without a pious sentence bringing ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 10. ° Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 17. Mather Byles, D. D., wag bom in Boston on the 26th March, 1706. He was educated at Harvard College, from which institution he graduated in 1725. He became a distinguished minister and loyalist, and for his political principles was separated from his people, to whom he was never afterward united. In 1776 he was denounced in town meeting as inimical to his country, and obliged to enter into bonds for his appearance at a, special court, at which he was found guilty, as appears from the above. When brought before the board of war, by whom he was respectfully treated, his sen- tence seems to have been altered ; and it was directed that he should be confined to his own house and there guarded. After a few weeks the guard was removed ; a short time after, a guard was again placed over him, and again dismissed. Upon this occasion he observed, that " ke was guarded, regarded, and disregarded!'' The substance of the charges made against him was, that he continued in Boston with his family during the siege ; that he prayed for the King and the safety of the town. His literary merit introduced him to the acquaintance of many men of genius in England. The names of Pope, Lansdowne, and Watts are found among his correspondents. He died July 5, 1788. — Curwen. 1777.] WASHINGTON FOEBIDS GAMING. 446 up tlie rear. The late orders given by the head rebel at Morristown, in the Jerseys, a copy of which is printed in all the rebel prints, is a greater illustration of this Yankee piety than any yet come out. In it Mr. Washington forbids card ■ playing under the penalty of a court-martial, ostensibly for the reason that it is wicked and brings a disgrace on the officers, but in reality to enlist the parsons and other old women stronger in the cause of rebellion. Old De Ileister used to say, " Isht dakes de veek to fool der Deutsche, isht dakes de day to fool de Anglees, isht dakes der tyfel to fool de rebel, but all together couldn't fool de Lord." So it is with Mr. Washington: — However easily he may bait old Witherspoon, Billy Livingston, Jacky Jay, and some of the other pious ones, who are hanging on the rear of his moral forces ; when the time comes, he'll find he can't " fool the Lord" with pretended piety or Presbyterian general orders.' June 3. — A writer in London, says : — A young fellow named Dawkins, who was some time since tried at Chelmsford assize, and transported for stealing cheese, &c., has, we hear, just sent ' Carver, 113. The following are the orders referred to by this writer: — Head-Quaktees, Moekietown, May 8, WiH. General Orders : — As few vices are attended with more pernicious conse- quences in civil life, so there are none more fatal in a military one than that of gaming, which often brings disgrace and ruin upon officers, and injury and pun- ishment upon the soldiery. And reports prevaiUng, which it is to be feared are too well founded, that this destructive vice has spread its baneful influence in the army, and in a pecuUar manner, to the prejudice of the recruiting service, the Commander-in-chief, in the most pointed and explicit terms, forbids all officers and soldiers playing at cards, dice, or at any games, except those of exercise or diversion, it being impossible, if the practice be allowed at all, to discriminate between inno- cent play for amusement and criminal gaming for pecuniary and sordid purposes. ********* The commanding officer of every corps is strictly enjoined to have this order frequently read, and strongly impressed upon the minds of those under his com- mand. Any officer or soldier, or other person belonging to, or following the army, either in camp, in quarters, on the recruiting service, or elsewhere, presuming, under any pretence, to disobey this order, shall be tried by a court-martial, etc. — Pennayhania Evening Post, May 13. '146 DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1777. a letter to his mother, informing her the American Congress have presented him M'ith a captain's commission. He says several other Essex patriots, who like him were torn from their dearest connections, and banished for their firm attachment to the cause of Liberty, now rank high in the American army." June 9.' — Abeaiiam Patten, a spy from the rebel army, •w'as executed at Brunswick, New Jersey, last Friday, between eleven and twelve o'clock. He had agreed to Abraham Patten. . t njv • j. j? n ij. gn^e a grenadier litty guineas to carry lour letters to Washington and Putnam ; the soldier took the cash, and carried the letters to his Excellency Lord Cornwallis, wherein was proposed on a certain day to set fire to Brunswick in four places at once, blow up the magazine, and then set off a rocket as a signal for the rebels to attack the town. At the gallows he acknowledged all the charges brought against him, and said he was a principal in setting fire to New York, but would not accuse any of his accomplices. The said Patten formerly lived in New York and has left a Avife and four children at Baltimore in Maryland.' Juite 13. — This day the Assembly of Pennsylvania re- solved, that Mr. Parker, Colonel Coats, and Mr. Whitehill, be a committee to purchase a coach and present the same to the Honorable Mrs. Washington, the worthy lady of his Excellen- cy General Washington, as a small testimonial of the sense the Assembly have of his great and important seiwices to the American States. June 14. — The committee appointed to purchase a coach to be presented to the Honorable Mrs. Washington, reported, that they had bought a very elegant one, and, in the name of the House, had presented it to that lady, by whom it had been politely accepted.' OoNGEESS this day resolved that the flag of the United States ■ PernisylTania Ledger, October 29. ' Upcott, v. 35. ' Same, v. 37. 1777.] ADAMs' CODE OF LAWS. 447 be thirteen stripes, alternate red and wliite ; and that the union be thirteen stars Avhite in a blue iield, representing a new con- stellation.' Juke 17. — A memoeial was lately transmitted from Eng- land to Sir Joseph York, at the Hague, to be presented to the States-Gi-eneral. The memorial complains of the gj^, j^^^^, h York at conduct of the States for permitting the Ameri- ""^ ^^'«"^- cans to be supplied, through the means of their subjects, with such warlike stores as have been prohibited by proclamation. Sir Joseph York delivered the memorial to the monthly pres- ident of the assembly, who, after laying it before the assembly, returned to the ante-chamber, in which Sir Joseph was waiting. Sir Joseph requested an answer. Tlie president informed him that the memorial was then imder consideration. Sir Joseph wished the assembly to be informed " that unless a categorical answer was returned to the memorial, he should quit the Hague iminediately." Tlie president delivered this message to the assembly, and soon returned with the following retort : " I am desired by the States-General to acquaint your excel- lency that there are not any gates to the Hague." A gentleman just returned from making the tour of France, says : — " From Dunkirk to Brest, from thence to Bordeaux to Bayonne, then through Toulouse to Marseilles, and lastly, through Lyons and Dijon to Paris, I met neither men nor women, in high or low stations, but were friends to the Amer- A coEEESPONDENT in Loudou says : — "When the Congress had declared for Independence, a new mode of government was consequently the first object to be considered, and Adams had himself prepared almost a complete code of laws ; but many were rejected, though with great caution, and an expla- nation of each particular impropriety, from a dread of too much oifending that great man, who, to make use of an ex- pression in a letter received some time since in America, was ' Pennsylvania Journal, Sept. 3. ^ Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 17. 448 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. " SO clever a felloAv, and so dangerous a v n, that it was no man's interest to quarrel witli liim." ' June 25. — This day, the Senator''s liemenibrancer, a curious performance of Mr. John Stewart, of London, consisting of fourteen copper-plate prints, done on white satin, and most ele- seDator's g^'^t^J framed and gilt, presented to the public by Eemembrancer. Doctor Eenjamiu Franklin, were placed in the council chamber at Philadelphia. Tliis performance is dedi- cated by the author to Doctor Franldin.'' June 30. — On Sunday morning, the 22d, the British left Brunswick, in Jersey, apparently with an intention to embark ; they gave out that they were going to Philadel- Affairs in Jersey. -., , , .. phia by water, but their real design was to draw General Washington from the mountains above Quibbletown, and force a general engagement. Their policy, however, was not an overmatch for our prudence. Light parties harassed him, but not in such numbers as to produce any considerable action. Great part of our army, however, had left the moun- tains, and General Lord Stirling was posted at the short hills with about one thousand men. On Thursday morning. General Howe having reinforced his army with all the marines that could be spared, began his march towards the American camp. By accounts of deserters and others, his numbers were from twelve to fourteen thousand. Lie met with Lord Stirling's party early in the morning ; a smart engagement ensued, and the Americans stood their ground manfully for a considerable time ; but the amazing su- periority of numbers obliged them to retreat ; and, the enemy having flanked them, they lost two pieces of cannon with a number of men. No return having yet been made, the exact number of killed, &c., cannot be ascertained. The British con- tinued near the place of engagement that day, and are now at Westfield. Tlie Americans are encamped in the old spot, only large bodies are posted at all the passes, and in some advanta- ' ITpcott, V. 43. ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 28. l^TT.] GENERAL HOWE IN NEW JEESEY. 44:9 geous places below the mountains. It is suspected tliat tlie enemy would force our camp if possible ; but to attack us in tbe mountains is a tbing devoutly to be wished for by every one that desires to see the destruction of the Britisli army. We must not omit to mention a little affair that happened in the engagement. The fire growing hot, and our men beginning to retreat, a British officer singly rode up to a can- non that was playing on the enemy, and with his pistols and hanger forced every man from it ; then seeing Lord Stirling, he cried, " Come here, you damned rebel ; and I will do for you." Lord Stirling answered him by directing the fire of four marksmen tipon him, which presently silenced the hardy fool by killing him on the spot.^ Our men recovered the field- piece, which their want of small arms obliged them to abandon.^ General Howe, in a letter to Lord George Germaine, gives the following account of the above : — Having established a corps sufficient to the defence of Amboy, the army assembled at Brunswick on the 12th of Jim.e. The enemy's principal force being encamped upon the mountains above Quibbletown, with a corjDS of two thousand men at Princeton, it was thought advisable to uo^e-s Move- make a movement in two columns from Brims- ments in jci-s>jj-. wick on the 14th, in the morning, leaving Brigadier-General ilathew with two thousand men to guard that post. Tlie first division, under the command of Lord Cornwallis, advanced to Ailsborough, and the second to Middle Bush, under the com- mand of Lieutenant-General De Heister, with a view of draw- ing on an action, if the enemy should remove from the momi- tain towards the Delaware ; but on finding it to be their inten- tion to keep a position which it would not have been prudent ' The person who was killed in attempting to talie the cannon in the affair of Lord Stirling, was the Honorable Mr. Finch, son of the Earl of Winchelsea, who came out this spring as a volunteer. After he fell, his horse came over and was taken by our army. Finch was buried with great pomp by General Howe. — Pefm- sylvania Journal, July 16. ' Pennsylvania Journal, July 2. Vol I.— 29 450 DIAEY OF TUE EEVOLUTION. [1777. to attack, I determined without loss of time to pursue the prin- cipal objects of the campaign, by withdrawing the army from Jersey ; and, in consequence of this determination, returned to the camp at Brunswick on the 19th, and marched from thence to Amboy on the 22d, intending to cross to Staten Island, from whence the embarkation was to take place. Upon quitting the camp at Brunswick, the enemy brought a few troops forward, with two or three pieces of cannon, whicli they fired at the utmost range, without the least execution, or any return from us; they also pushed some battalions into the woods to harass the rear, where Lord Cornwallis command- ed, who soon dispersed them with the loss of only two men killed and thirteen wounded ; the enemy having nine killed and about thirty wounded. The necessary preparations being finished for crossing the troops to Staten Island, intelligence was received that the enemy had moved down from the mountain, and taken post at Quibbletown, intending, as it was gl^'en out, to attack the rear of the army removing from Amboy ; that two corps had also advanced to their left, one of three thousand men and eight pieces of cannon, under the command of Lord Stirling, Gener- als Maxwell, and Conway, the last said to be a captain in the French service ; the other corps consisted of about seven hun- dred men, with only one piece of cannon. In this situation of the enemy, it was judged advisable to make a movement that might lead on to an attack, which was done on the 26th, in the morning, in two columns ; the right, imder the command of Lord Cornwallis, with Major-General Grant, Brigadiers Mathew and Leslie, and Colonel Donop, took the route by Woodbridge, towards Scotch Plains; the left column where I was, with Major-Generals Sterne, Vaughan, and Grey, Brigadiers Cleveland and Agnew, marched by Metuchin meeting-house, to join the rear of the right column in the road from thence to Scotch Plains, intending to have taken separate routes about two miles after the junction, in order to have attacked the enemy's left flank at Quibbletown. Four battalions were detached in the morning, with six pieces of cannon, to take post at Bonam-Town. l'^< '.] GENERAL HOWE's LETTEE. 451 The right cohmin having fallen in with the aforementioned corps of seven hundred men, soon after passing "Woodbridge, gave the alarm, by the firing that ensued, to their main army at Quibbletown, M'hich retired to the mountain with the utmost precipitation. The small corps was closely pushed by the light troops, and with difficulty got off their piece of cannon. Lord Cornwallis, soon after he was upon the road leading to Scotch Plains from Metuchin meeting-house, came up with the corps commanded by Lord Stirling, whom he found advan- tageously posted in a country much covered with wood, and his artillery well disposed. The King's troops, vieing with each other upon this occasion, pressed forward to such close action, that the enemy, though inclined to resist, could not long maintain their ground against so great impetuosity, but were dispersed on all sides, leaving behind three pieces of brass ordnance, three captains and sixty men killed, and upwards of two hundred officers and men wounded and taken. His lordship had five men killed, and thirty wounded. Captain Finch of the light company of the guards was the only officer who suffered, and to my great concern, the wound he received proving mortal, he died on the 29th of June, at Amboy. The troops engaged in this action were the 1st light infan- try, 1st British grenadiers, 1st, 2d, and 3d Hessian grenadiers ; 1st battalion of guards, Hessian chasseurs, and the Queen's Eangers. I take the liberty of particularizing these corps, as Lord Cornwallis, in his report to me, so highly extols their merit and ardor iipon this attack. One piece of cannon was taken by the guards, the other two by Colonel Mingerode's battalion of Hessian grenadiers. The enemy Avas pursued as far as Westfield with little effect, the day proving so intensely hot that the soldiers could with difficulty continue their march thither ; in the mean time it gave opportunity for those flying to escape by skulking in the thick woods until night favored their retreat to the moun- tains. The army lay that night at 'Westfield, returned the next 452 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. day to Railway, and the day following to Amljoy. On the 30th, at ten in the forenoon, the troops began to cross over to Statcn Island, and the rear guard, under the command of Lord Corn- Avallis, passed at two in the afternoon, Avithout the least aji- pearance of an enemy. The embarkation of the troops is proceeding with the utmost despatch, and I shall have the honor of sending your lordship further information as soon as the troops are landed at the place of their destination.' GENERAL HOWE'S LETTER. The substance of Sir TF.'s last letter from Kew York, versified. As to kidnap the Congress has long been my aim, I lately resolv'd to accomplish the same ; And, that none, in the glory, might want his due share, All the troops were to Brunswick desir'd to repair. Derry down, &c. There I met them in person, and took the command, When I instantly told them the job upon hand ; I did not detain them with long-winded stuff, But made a short speech, and each soldier look'd bluff. With this omen elated, towards Quibbletown I led them, concluding the day was our own ; For, till we went thither, the coast was quite clear, — But Putnam and Washington, d n them, were there ! I own I was stagger'd, to see with what skill The rogues were intrencli'd, on the brow of the hill ; With a view to dismay them, I show'd my whole force. But they kept their position, and car'd not a curse. There'were then but two ways, — to retreat or attack. And to me it seem'd wisest, by far, to go back ; For I thought, if I rashly got into a fray, There might both be the Devil and Piper to pay. Then, to lose no more time, by parading in vain, I determin'd elsewhere to transfer the campaign ; So just as we went, we return'd to this place, With no other diff 'rence, — than mending our pace. ' Upcott, V. 55. 1777.] GENERAL HOWE ADVEETISED. 453 Where next we proceed, is not yet very clear, But, when we get there, be assur'd you shall hear ; I'll settle that point, when I meet with my brother, — Meanwhile, we're embarking for some place or other. HaTing briefly, my lord, told you, — how the land lies, I hope there's enough — for a word to the wise ; 'Tis a good horse, they say, that never will stumble, — But, fighting or flying, — I'm your very humble.' "Wheeeas a certain "William ITowe, alias General Howe, alias Sir "William, alias any thing or notlaing, has lately gone off, greatly in debt to sundry persons in JSTew Jer- q^^^^^, j.j„^^ sey and other parts of the continent, and has not Advertised. left wherewithal to make payment for the same ; this is there- fore to caution all persons not to trust him on any account, as they will certainly lose their money. Said Howe is charged with having, in company with one Cornwallis, not yet taken, broken into several houses in New Jersey, and stolen and car- ried off many valuable effects ; likewise with being concerned in counterfeiting the currency of this continent, and of having starved to death several good subjects of the States, while he was chief jailer at !N"ew York. He is a very ill-looking fellow, and is an indented servant to a certain George "Whelp, alias Guelpli, alias King George. Wlioever will secure said Howe in any of the jails of this continent, or will give notice where he is to the American army, shall be handsomely rewarded. N. B. — He was lately seen skulking about Amboy, "West- field, and Spanktown, in the Jerseys, and has not since been heard of. Should he attempt to practice any more of his vil- lanies, 'tis hoped all persons will be on their guard to appre- hend him.' ' TJpcott, V. 45. ° Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 10. -'^^^"brjLHTti-cai': /y^^-i'f rco^ Li_ u 1YT7.] buegoyne's peoclamation. 455 America, tlie power, the justice, and, when properly sought, the mercy of the King. Tlie cause in wliich the British arms are tlms exerted, ap- plies to the most affecting interests of the human heart ; and the military servants of the crown, at first called forth for the sole purpose of restoring the rights of the constitution, now combine with love of their country, and duty to their sover- eign, the other extensive incitements which spring from a duo sense of the general privileges of mankind. To the eyes and ears of the temperate part of the public, and to the breasts of suffering thousands in the provinces, be the melancholy ap- peal, whether the present unnatural rebellion has not been made a foundation for the completest system of tyranny that ever God, in his displeasure, suffered for a time to be exercised over a froward and stubborn generation. Arbitrary imprisonment, confiscation of property, perse- cution and torture, unprecedented in the inquisitions of the Eomish church, are among the palpable enormities that verify the affirmative. These are inflicted by assemblies and com- mittees, who dare to profess themselves friends to libertj^, upon the most cpiiet subjects, without distinction of age or sex, for the sole crime, often for the sole suspicion, of having adhered in principle to the government under which they were born, and to which, by every tie, divine and human, they owe allegiance. To consummate these shocking proceedings, the profanation of religion is added to the most profligate prostitu- tion of common reason ; the consciences of men are set at naught ; and multitudes are compelled not only to bear arms, but also to swear subjection to an usurpation they abhor. Animated by these considerations ; at the head of troops in the full powers of health, discipline, and valor ; determined to strike where necessary, and anxious to spare where possible, I, by these presents, invite and exhort all persons, in all places Aviiere the progress of this army may point, and by the bless- ino: of God I will extend it far, to maintain such a conduct as may justify me in protecting their lands, habitations, and families. The intention of this address is to hold forth security. i56 DIAKY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. not depredation to tlie country. To those -vvliom spirit and principle may induce to partake of tire glorious task of re- deeming their countrymen from dungeons, and re-establishing the blessings of legal government, I offer encouragement and employment ; and upon the first intelligence of their associa- tions, I will find means to assist their undertakings. The do- mestic, the industrious, the infirm, and even the timid inhab- itants, I am desirous to protect, provided they remain quietly at their houses ; that they do not suffer their cattle to be re- moved, nor their corn or forage to be secreted or destroyed ; that they do not break up their bridges or roads ; nor' by any other act, directly or indirectly, endeavor to obstruct the oper- ations of the King's troops, or supply or assist those of the enemy. Every species of provision brought to my camp, will be paid for at an equitable rate, and in solid coin. In consciousness of Christianity, my royal master's clem- ency, and the honor of soldiership, I have dwelt upon this invitation, and wished for more persuasive terms to give it im- pression ; and let not people be led to disregard it, by consid- ering their distance from the immediate situation of my camp. I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direc- tion, and they amount to thousands, to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain and America ; I consider them the same Avherever they may lurk. If, notwithstanding these endeavors, and sincere inclinations to effect them, the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and men in denounc- ing and executing the vengeance of the State against the wilful outcasts. The messengers of justice and of Avratli await them in the field ; and devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant but indispensable prosecution of mili- tary duty must occasion, will bar the way to their return.' July 2. — The following answer to Burgoyne's proclamation was written by a young officer, and designed for the soldiers in the American army : ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 21. I'^'J'T.] ANSWER TO BUKGOYME. 457 To John Burgoync, Esq^dre, Lieutenant- General of Ids Maj- esty's armies in America, Colonel of the Queen's regiment of light dragoons, Governor of Fort William in Korth Britain, one of the Representatives of the Commons of Great Britain, and commanding an army and fleet em- ploy ed on an expedition from Cconada, die, (&c., c&o. Most high, most mighty, most puissant, and sublime General. "When the forces micler your command arrived at Quebec, in order to act in concert and upon a common principle with the numerous -fleets and ai'mies which already dis- '^ ^ Answer to play in every quarter of America the justice and Bnrgoyno. mercy of your King, we, the reptiles of America, were struck with unusual trepidation and astonishment. But what words can express the plenitude of our horror when the Colonel of the Queen's regiment of light dragoons advanced towards Ticon- deroga. Tlie mountains shook before thee, and the trees of the forest bowed their lofty heads ; the vast lakes of the north were chilled at thy presence, and the mighty cataracts stopped their tremendous career, and were suspended in awe at thy approach. Judge, then, oh ineffable Governm- of Fort William in North Britcdn, what must have been the terror, dismay, and despair that overspread this paltry continent of America, and us its wretched inhabitants. Dark and dreary, indeed, Avas the pros- pect before us, till, like the sun in the horizon, yonr most gracious, sublime, and irresistible proclamation opened the doors of mercy, and snatched us, as it were, from the jaws of annihilation. "We foolishly thought, blind as we were, that your gracious master's fleets and armies were come to destroy us and our liberties ; but we are happy in hearing from you (and who can doubt what you assert ?) that they were called forth for the sole purpose of restoring the rights of the constitution to a froward and stubborn generation. And is it for this, oh sublime lieutenant-genercd, that you have given yourself the trouble to cross the wide Atlantic, and with incredible fatigue traverse uncultivated wilds ? And 458 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [lYTT. ^^'e ungratefully refuse tlie proffered blessing ? To restore tlie rights of tlie constitution you liave called together an amiable host of savages, and turned them loose to scalp our -women and children, and lay our country waste — this they have per- formed with their usual skill and clemency, and "\ve yet remain insensible of the benefit, and unthankful for so much goodness ! Our Congress have declared Independence, and our Assem- blies, as your highness justly observes, have most wichedly iiii- prisoncd the avoAved friends of that power with which they are at war, and most peofanely compelled those, whose con- sciences will not permit them to fight, to pay some small part towards the expenses their country is at in supjDorting what we call a necessary defensive war. If we go on thus in our obsti- nacy and ingratitude, what can wo expect but that you should, in your anger, give a stretch to the Indian forces under your direction^ amounting to thousands, to overtcdie and destroy us ; or which is ten times worse, that you should withdraw your fleets and armies and leave us to our own misery, without completing the benevolent task you have begun, in restoring to us the rights of the constitutiooi. We submit, we submit, inost iniissant Colonel of the Queen^s regiment of light dragoons, and Governor of Fort William in North Britain ! "VVe ofli'er our heads to the scalp- ing knife and our bellies to the bayonet. "Who can resist the force of your eloquence ? Who can withstand the terror of your arms ? Tlie invitation you have made in the consciousness of Christiconity,yourroycdina,ster\3 clemency, and the honor of soldiership, ^Q thankfully accept. The blood of the slain, the cries of injured virgins and innocent children, and the never- ceasing sighs and groans of starving wretches now langnishin, in the jails and prison ships of N'ew York, call on ns in vain whilst your sublime proclamation is bounded in our ears. For- give us, oil our country ! Forgive its, dear posterity ! For- give us, all ye foreign powers wdio are anxiously watching our conduct in this important struggle, if we yield implicitly to the persuasive tongue of the most elegant Colonel of her Majesty'' s regiment of light dragoons. Forbear then, thou magnanimous lieutenant-genercd ! For- & 1777.] buegoyne's peoclamation. 459 bear to denounce vengeance against us ! Forbear to give a stretch to those restorers of constitutional rights, the l/ultan forces under your direction. — Let not the messengers of wrccih await us in, the field, and devastaiion, famine, and every con- comitant horror, bar our return to the allegiance of a prince, who, by his royal will, would deprive us of every blessing of life, with all possible clemency. "VYe are domestic, we are indicstrio^is, we are infirm and timid ; we shall remain quietly cd home, and not remove our cattle, or corn , or forage, in hopes that you will come at the head of troops in the full poiuers of health, discipline, and valor, and take charge of them for yourselves. Behold our wives and daughters, our flocks and herds, our goods and chat- tels. — Are they not at the mercy of our Lord the King, and of his lieuienant-general, member of the House of Commons, and, governor of Fort William in North Britain ? ' PROCLAMATIOX. By John Burgoyne, and Burgoyne John, Esquire, And grac'd with titles still more higher; For I'm lieutenant-general too, Of George's troops both rod and blue. On this extensive continent ; And of Queen Charlotte's regiment Of light dragoons the colonel : And governor eke of Castle "Will. And furthermore, when I am there, I In House of Commons I appear, V (Hoping ere long to be a Peer,) J Being member of that virtuous band Who always vote at North's command ; Directing, too, the fleet and troops From Canada as thick as hops ; And all my titles to display, I'll end with thrice et castera. The troops consign'd to my command, Like Hercules to purge the land, Intend to act in combination With th' other forces of the nation, ' A, B, C, D, etc., etc., in the New York Journal, September 8. 460 DIAEY OF THE IlEVOLITTION. [lYYT. Displaying wide thro' every quarter "WTiat Briton'a justice ivould be after. It is not difficult to show it, And every mother's son must know it, That what she meant at first to gain By requisitions and chicane. She's now detcrmin'd to acquire By kingly reason, sword, and fire. I can appeal to all your senses. Your judgments, feehngs, tastes, and fancies; Your ears and eyes have heard and seen IIow causeless this revolt has been ; And what a dust your leaders kick up, In this rebellious civil hick-up. And how upon this curs'd foundation "Was rear'd the system of vexation. Over a stubborn generation. But now inspir'd with patriot love, I come th' oppression to remove ; To free you from the heavy clog Of every tyrant-demagogue, AYho for the most romantic story. Claps into limbo loyal Tory, All hurly burly, hot and hasty, ■Without a writ to hold him fast by ; Nor suffers any living creature (Led by the dictates of his nature) To fight in green for Britain's cause, Or aid us to restore her laws : In short, the vilest generation, Which in vindictive indignation. Almighty vengeance ever hurl'd From this, to the infernal world. A Tory cannot move his tongue, But whip in prison he is flung, His goods and chattels made a prey By those vile mushrooms of a day. He's tortur'd too, and scratch'd, and bit. And plung'd into a dreary pit. Where he must suffer sharper doom Than e'er was hatch 'd by Church of Rome. These things are done by rogues, who dare Profess to breathe in freedom's air. To petticoats alike and breeches, Their cruel domination stretches. For the sole crime, or sole suspicion, (What worse is done by th' inquisition!) 1777.] buegotne's peoolamation. 461 Of all still adhering to the Crown, Their tyrants striving to kick down, "Who by perverting law and reason, Allegiance construe into treason. Religion, too, is often made A stalking horse to drive the trade. And warring churches dare implore Protection from th' Almighty pow'r ; They fast and pray : In Providence, Profess to place their confidence ; And vainly think the Lord of all Regards our squabbles on this ball ; Which would appear as droll in Britain As any whim that one could hit on : Men's consciences are set at nought. Nor reason valued at a groat ; And they that will not swear and fight. Must sell their all, and say good night. By such important views there prest to, I issue this my manifesto. I, the great knight of Be la Ifancjm, Without Squire Carleton my Sancho, Will tear you limb from limb asunder, With cannon, blunderbuss, and thunder ; And spoil your feath'ring and your tarring, And cag you up for pickl'd herring. In front of troops as spruce as beaux. And ready to lay on their blows, I'll spread destruction far and near ; And where I cannot kill, I'll spare ; Inviting, by these presents all. Both old and young, and great and small. And rich and poor, and Whig and Tory, In cellar deep, or lofty story, Wher'er my troops at my command. Shall swarm like locusts o'er the land, (And they shall march from the North Pole, As far at least as Pensecolc,) So break off all their communications. That I can save their habitations ; For finding that Sir William's plunders. Prove in the event apparent blunders. It is my full determination. To check all kinds of depredation ; But when I've got you in my pow'r, ITavor'd is he, I last devour. 462 DIARY OF THE EEYOLUTIOX. [1TY7. From him who loves a quiet life, And keeps at home to kiss his wife, And drinks success to King Pigmalion, And calls all Congresses Rabscallion, With neutral stomach eats his supper, Nor deems the contest worth a copper, I will not defalcate a groat, Nor force his wife to cut his throat ; But with his doxy he may stay. And live to fight another day ; Drink all the cider he has made, And have to boot, a green cockade. But as I like a good Sir Loin, And mutton-chop whene'er I dine. And my poor troops have long kept lent, Not for religion hut for want. Whoe'er secretes cow, bull, or ox. Or shall presume to hide his flocks ; Or with felonious hand eloign Pig, duck, or gosling from Burgoyne ; Or dare to pull the bridges down, My boys to puzzle or to drown ; Or smuggle hay, or plough or harrow, Cart, horses, wagons, or wheel-barrow ; Or 'thwart the path, lay straw or switch. As folks are wont to stop a witch, I'll hang him as the Jews did Haman, And smoke his carcass for a gammon. I'll pay in coin for what I eat, Or Continental counterfeit ; But what's more likely still, I shall (So fare my troops) not pay at all. With the most Christian spirit fir'd. And by true soldiership inspired, I speak as men do in a passion. To give my speech the more impression. If any should so hardened be, ) As to expect impunity, y Because procul a fulmine, J I will let loose the dogs of hell, Ten thousand Indians, who shall yell. And foam and tear, and grin and roar, And drench their maukesins in gore ; To these I'll give full scope and play From Ticonderog to Florida ; lYYT.] rouETii OF july in boston-. 463 They'll scalp your heads, and kick your shins, And rip your guts, and flay your skins, And of your cars be nimble croppers. And make your thumbs tobacco stoppers. If after all those loving warnings, Jly wishes and my bowels' yearnings, You shall remain as deaf as adder, Or grow with hostile rage the madder, I swear by George and by Saint Paul, I will exterminate you all. Subscribed with my manual sign. To test these presents, John Bdkgoyne.' July 4. — ^Tiiis day, being the Anniversary of Ameri- can Independence, wlien the thirteen United States publicly Independence ceie-ai^c^ glorfously tlircw otf the shaclvles forged by bvated in Boston. Qeorgc the Third, the British tyrant, and nobly reassmned those rights which God and nature bestowed on man, the same has been noticed by every mark of joy. In the forenoon, the Eeverend Mr. Gordon, of Koxbury, at the desire of the assembly sitting at Boston, preached an excellent dis- course from 1 Kings xii. 15. After which the General Court having given previous orders for niaking every preparation for drinking success to the Tliirteen United States, sent an invita- tion to General Heath, and the officers of the Continental army and navy ; Colonel Crafts and the officers of the train ; Colonel Ilichborn, of the independent company ; Colonel Hatch, the officers of the militia, and many other gentlemen. While the Congress, and other toasts were drank, the guns at Fort Hill, Castle Island, Hull, and the vessels of war in the harbor, fired a grand salute. Also a detachment of Colonel Crafts' regiment of artillery in Congress street, gave thirteen discharges from brass cannon and with powder, both manufac- tured in the State of Massachusetts. The independent company and the militia, in conjunction with the train of artillery, made a very martial appearance, manceuvred and performed their ' "A New Jerseyman," in the New York Journal, September 8. 464 DIAEY OF THE EEVOHITION. [1777. firings in view of the General Court, to their full acceptance, and the approbation of the spectators at large. In the evening Colonel Crafts illnminatod Iiis park on the common, threw several shells, and exhibited a number of fire- works. The cheerful appearance of the gentlemen and ladies in the park, and the pleasantness of the eve, closed with universal satisfaction the joys of the day, which so conspic- uously appeared in the countenances of every true friend of America.' "We hear tliat tlic young ladies of Amelia county, in Vir- ginia, considering the situation of their country in particular, and that of the United States in general, have entered into a reso- lution not to j)ermit the addresses of any person, be his cir- cumstances or situation in life what they will, unless he has served in the American armies long enough to prove by his valor that he is deserving of their love.° July 5. — Yesterday, being the first anniversary of the In- dependence of the United States of America, was celebrated indepeiidenco iu Philadelphia with demonstrations of ioy and celebrated in „ . . ,, n -i . Philadelphia, festivity. About noon all the armed ships and galleys in the river were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest manner, with the colors of the United States and streamers displayed. At one o'clock, the yards being properly manned, they began the celebration of the day by a discharge of thirteen cannon from each of the ships, and one from each of the thirteen galleys, in honor of the thirteen United States. In the afternoon an elegant dinner was provided for Con- gress, to which were invited the president and the supreme executive council, and speaker of the assembly of the State, the general officers and colonels of the army, and strangers of eminence, and the members of the several continental boards in town. The Hessian band of music, taken in Trenton the twenty-sixth of December last, attended and heightened the festivity with some fine performances suited to the joyous ' PennsylTania Evening Post, July 24. ° Pennsylvania Journal, July 16. ITYT.] CELEBRATION IN CHARLESTON. 465 occasion ; while a corps of British deserters, taken into the service of the continent by the State of Georgia, being drawn up before the door, filled np the intervals with feux de joie. After dinner a number of toasts were drank, all breathing In- dependence, and a generous love of liberty, and commemo- rating the memories of those brave and worthy patriots who gallantly exposed their lives, and fell gloriously in defence of freedom and the righteous cause of their country. Each toast was followed by a discharge of artillery and small arms, and a suitable piece of music by the Hessian band. The glorious fourth of July was reiterated three times, accompanied with triple discharges of cannon and small arms, and loud huzzas that resounded from street to street through the city. Towards evening several troops of horse, a corps of artillery, and a brigade of ISTorth Carolina forces, which was in town on its way to join the grand army, were drawn up in Second street, and reviewed by Congress and the general officers. Tire evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there was a grand exhibition of fire-works (which began and concluded with thirteen rockets) on the commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated. Every thing was conducted with the greatest order and decorum, and the face of joy and gladness was universal. Thus may the fourth of July, that glorious and ever memo- rable day, be celebrated through America by the sons of freedom, from age to age, till time shall be no more. Amen and amen.' Jtjlt 7.— Friday last being the first anniversary of the glo- rious formation of the American empire, when thirteen colo- nies, driven by necessity, threw ofi" the yoke and inrtcpondence » Vi -r> • • 1 1 1 celebrated in rejected the tyranny of Great Eritam by deciar- Charleston, s. c. ing themselves free, independent, and sovereign States, the same was commemorated by every demonstration of joy. Ringing of bells ushered in the day. At sunrise, American colors were displayed from all the forts and batteries, and ves- sels in the harbor. The Charleston regiment of militia, com- ' Pennsylvania Journal, July 9. Vol. I.— 30 466 MAEY OF Tins EEVOLUTION. [1777. manded by the Honorable Colonel Charles Pinckney, and the Charleston artillery company, commanded by Captain Thomas Grimball, -were assembled upon the parade, and reviewed by his Excellency the President, who was attended upon this occasion by his honor the Vice-President and the honorable members of the privy council. At one o'clock the several forts, beginning with Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, discharged seventy- six pieces of cannon, alluding to the glorious year 1776, and the militia and artillery fired three general volleys. His Ex- cellency the President then gave a most elegant entertainment in the council chamber, at which were present all the members of the Legislature then in town, all the public officers, civil and military, the clergy, and many strangers of note, to the amount of more than double the number that ever observed the birthday of the present misguided and unfortunate King of Great Britain. After dinner the following toasts were drank, viz. : " 1. The free, independent, and sovereign States of America. 2. The great council of America — may wisdom preside in all its deliberations. 3. General "Washington. 4. The American army and navy — may they be victorious and in- vincible. 5. Tlie nations in friendship or alliance with Amer- ica. 6. The American ambassadors at foreign courts. 7. Tlie fourth of July, 1776. 8. The memory of the officers and sol- diers who have bravely fallen in defence of America. 9. South Carolina. 10. May only those Americans enjoy freedom Avho are ready to die for its defence. 11. Liberty triumphant. 12. Confusion, shame, and disgrace to our enemies — may the foes to America (slaves to tyranny) humble and fall before her. 13. May the rising States of America reach the summit of human power and grandeur, and enjoy every blessing." Each toast was succeeded by a salute of thirteen guns, which were fired by Captain Grimball's company from their two field-pieces, with admirable regularity. The day having been spent in festivity, and the most conspicuous joy and harmony, the evening was concluded with illuminations, &c., far exceeding any that had ever been exhibited before.' ' Pennsylvania Journal, July 30. 1777.] CAPTUEB OF PEESCOTT. 467 July 9. — This night, General Prescott, wlio has held the command of the British forces on Ehode Island, since the de- partm-e of Earl Percy, was taken prisoner at his General Prescott quarters, and carried off hj a party of Ameri- coioLrBaSon. cans. Tlie following particular account of the manner of his taking, is by a gentleman from Ehode Island : — Lieutenant- Colonel Barton,' of Warren, in Ehode Island, is a young gen- tleman of al)out twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, of a martial and enterprising disposition, who has signalized him- self on several occasions, particularly in attacking and driving the noted pirate, Wallace, and a party of his men, from an island near Newport, which they had been robbing and plun- dering ; and in an expedition last fall, to Long Island, attack- ing a number of Tories, and bringing them prisoners to New Haven. He was then a captain, having refused a higher post till he had done more to deserve it ; and in the body of forces lately raised by the State of Ehode Island for fifteen months, was appointed lieutenant-colonel in Colonel Stanton's regiment, stationed at Howland's ferry, on the west side of the river. Here Colonel Barton happening to see a deserter from the British army in Newport, who gave him a particular account of the place where General Prescott kept his head-quarters, formed a scheme to surprise and bring him off. It being com- municated to and approved of by the commanding officer, Colonel Barton selected and engaged about forty men to go with him on a secret expedition by water in five batteaux. When they were prepared and got to the shore he told them his design, acknowledged it was hazardous, and probably could not be executed Avithout the loss of life to some of those en- gaged in it ; that for his part he was determined to risk his, which would be at least as much exposed as any of theirs ; but if any of them were unwilling to engage in the enterprise, they were then at full liberty to decline it, and he should not liave the worse opinion of any person for so doing ; that he desired no man with him who did not go willingly, and would freely hazard his life to render his country an important service, and ' William Barton, born May 26, 1'748, died October 22, 1831. i'jS DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. obtain honor to himself. On putting the matter to then- choice, they unanimously resolved to go with him. They then set oif with muffled oars, crossed the bay, passed Eristol ferry, where the British have a fort, undiscovered, and went to Warwick Neck on Providence side, near the east side of the island, where the British have several forts but no ships, as they would be exjjosed to the guns in our forts. They passed the enemy's redoubts on the east side, and when they came to the west, which is guarded all along by the enemy's ships-of- war, they passed between them and the shore till they came opposite to the house where General Prescott kept his head- quarters. Here they landed, about five miles from Newport, and three-quarters of a mile from the house, which they ap- proached cautiously, avoiding the main guard, which was at some distance. The colonel went foremost, with a stout, ac- tive negro close behind him, and another at a small distance ; the rest followed so as to be near, but not seen. A single sentinel at the door saw and hailed the colonel ; he answered by exclaiming against and inquiring for rebel prisoners, but kept slowly advancing. Tlie sentinel again challenged him, and required the countersign ; he said he had not the countersign, but amused the sentry by talking about rebel prisoners, and still advancing till he came within reach of the bayonet, which, he presenting, the colonel suddenly struck aside and seized him. Tie was immediately secui'ed and ordered to be silent, on pain of instant death. Mean- while, the rest of the men surrounding the house, the negro, with his head, at the second stroke forced a passage into it, and then into the landlord's apartment. The landlord at first refused to give the necessary intelligence ; but on the prospect of present death he pointed to the general's chamber, which being instantly opened by the negro's head, the colonel calling the general by name, told him he was a prisoner. He replied he knew it, and rising from his bed, desired time to put on his clothes. The colonel told him to put on his breeches, and the rest of his clothes should be carried with him, at the same time handing his slippers from the bedside. Meawhile the general's aide-de-camp got out of the vnndow in his shirt, but was there -L < » I -J CAPTUEE OF PEESCOTT. 469 secm-ed by some of the party, who all went off by the same way they came, carrying with them the general, his aide-de- camp, and the sentinel. The general was desired to rnn, but he said he was an old man and coiild not. He was told that they would help him, and accordingly a stout man taking him under the arm on each side, enabled him to run. As they went through a field of barley, the stalks very much annoying the general's naked legs, he exclaimed, " Gentlemen, do you mean to kill me ? " One of them replied, " ISTo, we do not intend to kill you, but to exchange you for General Lee, and after that we do not care how soon the devil has you." Tliey all embarked in their boats, and rowing back the same way they came, passed all the enemy's ships and forts undiscovered. When they passed the last fort, the general exclaimed, " And is it possible that I am a prisoner of war ! Yes, I see I am ; but when you set out with me, I had no doubt but that I should have been rescued, and you all have been made prisoners." "When the boats had got almost to Warwick ISTeck, a sky rocket was sent off, and immediately alarm guns were fired from all the ships and forts on and about the island, and there appeared to be such a general confusion and consternation, that it was thought one thousand men coidd have taken them all prisoners. From Warwick Neck a flag was sent for the general's clothes. Tlras was this general officer, in the midst of the British army and navy, where he was commandei--in-chief, made pris- oner, together with his aide-de-camp and the sentinel that giiarded his door, by the bravery and judicious conduct of this young colonel and his gallant followers, witliout the loss of a man, or the fire of a gun, though they did not expect to liave accomplished their design without resistance and a pur- suit from the enemy, for both of which they were prepared. In the planning and execution of this enterprise, Colonel Bar- ton has given a noble proof of his zeal and ability to render the most important services to his country. In comparison to this action, how contemptible was that of Colonel Harcourt, 4:10 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. for which the King, his master, was in raptures, and lavished upon him sucli extravagant encomiums, — his surprisal, with a large force, of General Lee, unguarded, several miles distant from his army, and betrayed by an ungrateful wretch, on whom he had just before been conferring great and unmerited favors.' July 17. — By an express from the i^orthward we learn that the American forces, under the command of General St. T,. , Clair, abandoned Fort Ticonderoga and the ad- licoDaerop:a ' o Abandoned, joining lines, on the morning of the 6th instant, and are now encamped in the vicinity of Moses Creek. A letter from an officer at that place, written this day, gives the following account of the retreat and its consequences : — The retreat from Ticonderoga will be a matter of speculation ' PennsylTania Evening Post, August 1 : — A writer in Providence, Rhode Isl- and, gives the following account of this expedition : July 12. — Thursday evening last, a party of thirty-eight men of the troops belonging to this State, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Barton, of this town, accompanied by Major Adams, of the train. Captain Phillips, Lieutenants Porter and Babcock, and Ensigns Stanton and Wilcox, went in five boats from Warwick Neck, with a view to take Major-Gcneral Prescott, commander-in-chief of the British and foreign troops on Khode Island, whose head-quarters were then at a house about four miles from Newport. The colonel and his party, after passing the enemy's ships and guard boats, landed about twelve at night, and with " infinite address and gallantry " got to Prescott's quarters undiscovered. A sentinel at the door hailed but was immediately secured, and the party instantly breaking the doors and entering the house, took the general in bed. His aide-de camp leaped from a window in his shirt, but was taken a few rods from the house. The party soon after returned to their boats with the prisoners, and some time after they had put off, the enemy fired rockets from their several posts, as signals for an alarm, but too late, the bird had fled. The prisoners were landed about daybreak at Warwick Neck. On receiving the intelligence at Providence, a coach was immediately sent, and the general, with his aide-de-camp, attended by Colonel Barton and some other officers, arrived in that town at twelve o'clock. This bold and important enterprise must reflect the highest honor on Colonel Barton and his little party. A lieutenant-colonel of the horse, with at least seventy light dragoons, took Major- General Lee, {betrayed by a Tory,) five miles from his troops. A lieutenant-colonel of foot, with only thirty-eight privates and six officers, has taken a chief com- mander, when almost encircled by an army and navy. — Pennsylvania Post, July 29. l^TY.] TICONDEEOGA ABANDONED. 471 ill tlie country, and the accounts different and confused, a true state of facts Avill therefore be very satisfactory without doubt. We were deceived with respect to the strength of the ene- my, and our own reinforcements. Tlie enemy have practised a piece of finesse whicli lias too well answered their purpose ; they have so conducted that all hands in the United States believed they had drawn their force from Canada to the south- ward, and designed only to garrison their j)osts in the north- ern world ; the consequence of this belief has been the order- ing eight regiments, destined for Ticonderoga and its environs, to Peekskill, and little attention has been paid to this depart- ment. Tlie enemy's condition in Canada has been represented as miserable, confused, scattered and sickly ; this has been the general opinion in camp and country, and our situation has been thought perfectly safe. Our force consisted of about four thousand, including the corps of artillery, and artificers who were not armed, a consid- erable part of which were militia ; we could bring about three thousand fit for duty into the field. General Burgoyne came against us with about eight thousand healthy, spirited troops, with a lake force consisting of three fifty -gun ships, a thunder mounting eighteen brass twenty-four pounders, two thirteen- inch mortars, a number of howitz, several sloops, gun-boats, &c., &c. Their strength being so very superior to ours ooliged lis to tamely sit still and see them erect batteries all around us, without hazarding a sally. Two batteries were erected in front of our lines, on higher ground than ours ; within half a mile on our left they had taken post on a very high hill overlooking all our works ; our right would have been commanded by their shipping and the batteries they liad erected on the other side of the lake. Our lines at Ticonderoga would have been of no service, and we must have inevitably abandoned them in a few days after their batteries opened, which would have been the next morning ; we then should have been necessitated to retire to Fort Independence, the consequence of which, I conceive, would have been much worse than the mode adopted ; for the 472 DIAET OF THE REVOLUTION. [1777. moment we had left Ticonderoga fort, tliey could send their shipping l)j us, and prevent our communication with Skenes- borough ; then the only avenue to and from Fort Independence would lla^'e been by a narrow neck of land leading from the mount to the Grants. To this neck they had almost cut a road ; a day more would have completed it. A few troops stationed at Ticonderoga, would have prevented our communication with Lake George, as our own works would have been against us. Their shipj^ing would have destroyed our connection with Skenesborough, and their main body might have been placed on this neck of land, which, by a few works, might have pre- vented all supplies and reinforcements ; we might have stayed at the mount as long as our provisions would have supported us ; Ave had flour for thirty days, and meat sufficient only for a week. Under these circumstances General St. Clair, on the sixth instant, called a council of war, and an evacuation was unanimously agreed upon as the only means of saving the army from captivity. It was necessary also that our retreat should be precipitate, as the communication was almost cut off, and they would soon be apprised of our designs. It was therefore determined to send the baggage and sick in boats to Skenesboroiigh, and for the army to march by land from the mount to that place, being forty miles. At the dawn of day we left Fort Independ- ence, and I cannot say the march was conducted with the greatest regularity ; the front, which was the main body, march- ed thirty miles to a place called Castleton, about twelve miles from Skenesborough ; the militia halted three miles in the rear of the front, and the rear guard, commanded by Col- onel Francis, being joined by Colonels Warner and Hale, halt- ed at ITubbardton, about a mile and a half in the rear of the militia. As the march was severe, the feeble of the army had fallen in the rear, and tarried at Ilubbardton with the rear guard. Tliis body in rear might consist of near a thousand men. Before I proceed further it may be necessary to give you the enemy's dispositions after they were advised of our retreat : A large body, at least two thousand, were detached to pursue our main body and harass our rear ; all the gun boats and some l^'tl-2 BATTLE OF irUBBAEDTOM". 473 of their shipping were sent after our baggage, came up with it at Skenesborongh and took it. Tlie ninth regiment, com- manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hills, was ordered to run down South Bay, and land and march on a by road to Fort Ann, and take that before our troops could reach it ; the remainder of the army went on to Skenesborongh, except a garrison at Ticonderoga. The body of the enemy sent to harass our rear, came up with it the next morning at Hubbardton, which was then commanded by Colonel Warner; by the exertions of the officers our little army formed and gave them battle, which continued about twenty-five miniites very severe, when our party were overpowered with numbers and gave way. The loss on both sides was considerable ; as our peojjle took to the woods and are daily coming in, it is impossible to ascertain our loss. Colonel Francis, a worthy, brave officer, after signalizing himself, was shot through, and expired instantly ; Colonel Hale is missing. It is natural to ask why was not Colonel "Warner reinforced ? Let me tell you ; orders were sent to Colonel , who commanded the militia, to go to the assistance of the rear guard, but before they arrived, the action was over and our people dispersed. Our main body being now twelve miles from Skenesborongh, and hearing that a large body of the enemy were arrived there, and knowing that a large body were in our rear, the general imagined if we pursued our route, that we must engage both in front and rear under great disad- vantage ; and to pursue his plan in first retreating, which was to save the army, he though prudent to file ofi" to the left, and before we reached Hudson River, we marched one hiindred and fifty miles ; in this march we picked up about thirty prisoners, part British, part "Waldeckers, and part Canadians. The party of our men who were at Skenesborongh, retreated to Fort Ann ; they were twice attacked by the ninth regiment, and both times repulsed them. They took a Captain Mont- gomery and a doctor, and would probably have taken the whole regiment had their ammunition held out. This is a candid statement of facts, and for this conduct we are told our country calls us either knaves or cowards ; I conceive they 474 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. ought to be grateful to our general, for had we stayed we very certainly should liaveheen taken, and then no troops could have stood between the enemy and the country. Our affairs now are not desperate in this quarter, as they would certainly have been ; we have destroyed Fort George and its appendages, and shall soon be able, I hope, to make head against our enemies, AS we are gathering strength and re-collecting ourselves.' On the late alarm occasioned by the evacuation of Ticon- a'eroga, a number of the Stockbridge Indians marched with stockbrid^G ^^^^ militia of that county, and were stationed Indians. -^rith Gcncrals Nixon and Fellows, between Fort Edward and Fort Ann. On the eighteenth of July, General Fellows sent out five of them on a scout to Skenesborough ; the next day before sunset they returned with six prisoners, consisting of two regulars and four Tories. The account being somewhat entertaining, we shall give it to the public nearly in their own words, as related by Abraham, who commanded the party. He says : " We passed the creek, and went within a mile or two of Skene's house, where we lay down in a thick spot of woods, by the side of the road. It was not long be- fore there came along two regulars driving a number of horses ; we jumped up and seized them ; the regulars were so very much frightened that they made no resistance ; neither could tliey speak plain. We found by the noise there were a num- ber more behind driving cattle. One of our prisoners called to the sergeant for help ; iipon this we thought it wise to make the best of our way into the woods. Our prisoners attempted to get away from us ; we were therefore obliged to make them feel that our hatchets were heavy. I told them, " If you will behave like prisoners, we will use you well ; but if you don't, we must kill you." After this they behaved well, and did every thing we bid them. On our way to our encampment, we thought we would take in with us as many Tories as we could find ; and in order to find them out, we gave our pris- oners their guns, taking out the flints. When we came near a ■ Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 9. I'^'^'i''] MUEDEE OF JENNY m'CEEA. 475 house, we told our prisoners, " you must keep before us, and if you see any men you must cock your guns and present them at them, and demand who they are for, the King or country." They did so, and the Tories answered they were for the King, or they should have moved off long ago. They seemed to be glad to see the regulars, and told them, " You are our brothers." I knew one of the Tories as soon as I came in sight of him ; I therefore put my hat over my face for fear the fellow should Imow nie till the red coats had done their duty. After he had in a most strong manner declared he was for the King, I asked him further, " Will you be true to the King, and fight for him till you die ? " '' O yes," said the Tory. Upon this he dis- covered his error, knew me, and immediately said, " "What Eng do you mean ? I mean King Hancock." " Ah," said I ; "we have found joii out ; we don't know kings iii America yet ; you must go along with us." "When they came near the camp, their war-cry was heard and answered by the rest, who went out to meet them. Tlie prisoners were delivered to General Mxon, and sent to head- quarters.' July 27. — Geneeaj. Btjegoyne is at Fort Edward, and has with him about six thousand regulars, three or four hundred Indians, and about two hundred Canadians. The Murder of frequent injuries and horrible actions committed J<»jny M-ci-ba. by his scouting parties on single imarmed men and defenceless women, are suificient to give every man a thorough detestation of their whole conduct ; and were not the Tories' hearts made of more than iron hardness, it would iirspire them with a desire of ridding this world of such a set of villains as their army is in general composed of. Several of our officers and soldiers have been inhumanly shot as they passed from one fort to another unarmed, and scalped while yet alive. It would take too much time to enumerate every action of this kind. One instance which happened yesterday, during a skirmish, may serve for the whole. A young lady, by the name of Miss ' Pennsylvania Journal, September 3. 476 DIAUT OF THE EEVOLUTION". [1Y77. Jenny M'Crea, of a good family, and some share of beauty, ■was, by some accident, at Fort Edward when the enemy at- tacked the picket guard. She and an old woman were taken by the savages, who generally serve as an advance guard or flanking parties to the regulars, (the latter of whom were drawn up on a hill just above the fort,) and then, with a barbarity un- heard of before, they butchered the poor innocent girl, and scalped her in the sight of those very men who are continually preaching up their tender mercies, and the forbearance of their more than Christian King. Is not this sufficient to congeal the heart of humanity with horror, and even oblige a Tory of lib- eral sentiments to curse the cause which approves or winks at such worse than hell-like cruelties ? The unfortunate maid's corpse was brought to Snook Hill last night, together with a young lieutenant, a Mr. Van Kach- ter, of Brunswick, who is also scalped, and will be interred to-day. What renders this affair more remarkable is, that Miss M'Crea has a brother an officer in the British service, now at ISTew York, and she herself leaned to that side of the question ; but thus they treat their friends as well as their en- emies. The young lady has also a brother a senior surgeon in our hospital, a worthy, sensible young fellow, who will not forget the injury, but revenge it tenfold.' ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 12. Another writer in the same paper gives the following account: — In retreating from Fort Edward the Americans brought off the grain and forage, and destroyed what they could not remove. Many fiimilies fled; those that would not come away, relying on General Bur- goyne's proclamation, were killed, scalped, or inhumanly butchered by the In- dians, without any discrimination of Whigs or Tories. A Miss M'Crea, who was to have been married to one Jones, a Tory, who had joined the enemy, and whom she daily expected to bring her off, was dragged by the savages out of her house, shot twice through her body, her clothes torn off her back, and left scalped in the bushes. This brutal scene was transacted by four Indians, under cover of three hundred British regulars, drawn up at a small distance, and in sight of an advanced party of Americana, who could give her no assistance. Several families have been murdered and scalped by the Indians ; man, wife, and five or six chil- dren, and their negroes. Many families have fallen a sacrifice to their credulity in Burgoyne'e proclamation, which promised protection to all who remained peaceably and quiet at their houses with their stock, &c. l'?^'i'7.] SIEGE OF FOET SCHUYLEK. 477 August 1. — At a meeting of the Common Hall, of Wil- liamsbnrg, in Virginia, to-day, to take into consideration the arrival of General "Washington's lady, they came to the following resolntions : — Resolved unani- " ^ "^ '°° °°' mously, That the most respectful testimony be presented to her on the occasion, of the high sense this hall entertains of General Washington's distinguished merit, as the illustrious defender and deliverer of his country. Hesolved unanimously, Tliat a golden emblematical medal be prepared, to be presented to the general's lady, as the most suitable method of carrying that design into execution ; and that the mayor be desired to form the device, and agree with some proper persons to execute the same. Hesolved unanimously, That the freedom of this city be presented to General Washington through his lady, and that the mayor be desired to wait upon her with the same, and with a copy of these several resolutions.' AuGtrsT 5. — ^This morning, about eleven "o'clock, arrived at "Williamsburg, in Yirginia, from the seat of Biirwell Bassett, Esquire, in New Kent, Lady "Washington, the amiable con- sort of his Excellency General Washington. Upon her arrival she was saluted with the fire of cannon and small arms, and was safely conducted to Mrs. Dawson's, in the city, and in- tends setting out for the northward in a few days.° Attgust 7. — Yesterday, about nine o'clock, an engagement ensued between a part of the militia of Tiyon county, under the command of General Herkimer, and a party sie„ofFort of savages, Tories, and regulars, a short distance schuyier. from Fort Stanwix. It lasted till three o'clock in the after- noon, when the British thought proper to retire, leaving Gen- eral Herkimer master of the field. Unluckily, however, the general and some valuable officers got wounded or killed in the beginning. But this did in nowise intimidate the ardor of the men, and the general, although he had two wounds, did ' New York Journal, September 8. " Same. 478 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [lYTT. not leave the field till the action was over. He seated him- self on a log, Avitli his sword drawn, animating his men. About one o'clock. Colonel Gansevoort' having received information of General Herkimer's march, sent out Lieuten- ant-Colonel "VVillet, ^ with two hundred men, to attack an en- campment of the British, and thereby facilitate General Her- kimer's march. In this the colonel succeeded, for after an engagement of an hour he had completely routed the enemy, and taken one captain and four privates. Tlae baggage taken was very considerable, such as money, bear skins, officers' baggage, and camp equipage ; one of the soldiers had for his share a scarlet coat, trimmed with gold lace to the full, and three laced hats. "When Colonel "Willet returned to the fort, he discovered two hundred regulars in full march to attack him. He imme- diately ordered his men to prepare for battle, and having a field-piece with him, Captain Savage so directed its fire as to play in concert with one out of the fort ; these, with a brisk fire from his small arms, soon made these heroes scamper off with great loss. Colonel Willet then marched with his booty into the fort, having not a single man killed or wounded. General St. Legcr, who commands the enemy's force in that quarter, soon after sent in a flag to demand the delivery of the fort, ofl^ering that the garrison should march out with their baggage, and not be molested by the savages ; that if this was not complied with, he would not answer for the con- duct of the Indians, if the garrison fell into their hands ; that General Burgoyne was in possession of Albany. Colonel Gansevoort, after animach^erting on the barbarity and disgrace- ful conduct of the British oflicers, in suffering women and children to be butchered as they had done, informed the flag that he was resolved to defend the fort to the last, and that he would never give it up as long as there was a man left to de- fend it.= ' Peter Gansevoort. ' Marinus 'Willet. " Pennsylrania Evening Post, August 19 and 21 : — St. Leger continued the siege until the 22d of August, when he suddenly retreated. 1777.] BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 479 A GENTLEMAN, who lived some years in Philadelphia, in- forms lis, that during all his residence in that city, he never saw a person begging in the streets. This happy yeteran nouse at circumstance is owing to the following wise and Piin^ieiphia. useful institution : There is a building near the city called the Veteran House, which he describes to be about the size of the London Foundling Hospital, with large gardens adjoining. Into this house, all persons not being able to procure employment, are received, and put to work at their respective trades, the house supplying them with tools, materials, and every other requisite. They are likewise found in lodging, clothes, provisions, &c., and paid the customary price for their work, one shilling a day being deducted out of their earnings for the support of the foundation. Tliose Avho through laziness do not earn the stipulated sum, receive proper punishment. Persons Avho can- not give an account how they raaintain themselves are com- pelled to work in the Yeteran House. Might not, says our correspondent, similar institutions in this kingdom, especially in London, where, notwithstanding the excessive heighs of the poor's rate, every street swarms with beggars, be attended with very happy consequences ? ' AuGrsT 17. — Yesterday is to be remembered on account of a signal victory the militia, under the command of General Stark, obtained over a body of the King's troops, jg^^^,^ ^^ commanded by Colonel Bauni, some account of Bennington, which is here given by one who was himself in the action. It seems that General Burgoyne'had detached this corjDS, con- sisting of about fifteen hundred men, chiefly "Waldeckers and Brunswickers intermixed with some British troops and Tories, a motley compound, to penetrate as far as Beimington, and further if it should be found practicable, with a view to in- crease the number of his friends, to disperse his protections in the country, to procure for his army provisions, and to wreak his wrath and ^i'engeance on those who had disregarded his calls of mercy, and slighted with indignity his proffered pro- tection. Colonel Baum had advantageously posted his corps ■ TJpcott, V. 123. 480 DIAJJY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1YT7. witliin about five miles of Bennington meeting-liouse, where in different places they made breastworks for their own security. This digression was of such ill tendency, and savored so much of presumption, that General Stark, who was at that time providentially at Bennington, with his brigade of militia from l^ew Hampshire State, determined to give him battle. Col- onel Simond's regiment of militia in Berks county was invited to his assistance ; and a part of Colonel Brown's arrived sea- sonably to attend on the action, and some volunteers from different towns, and Colonel Warner, with a part of his own regiment, joined him the same day. The general, it seems, wisely laid his plan of operation, and Divine Providence bless- ing us with good weather, between three and four o'clock P. M. he attacked them in front and flank in three or four different places, at the same instant, with irresistible impetuosity. The action was extremely hot for between one and two hours ; the flanking parties had carried their points with great ease, when the front pressed on to their breastwork with an ardor and patience beyond expectation. The blaze of the guns of the contending parties reached each other, the fire was so ex- tremely hot, and oiir men easily surmounting their breastworks, amidst peals of thunder and fiashes of lightning from their guns, without regarding the roar of their field-pieces, that the enemy at once deserted their covers and ran ; and in about five minutes their whole camp was in the utmost confusion and disorder, all their battalions were broken in pieces, and fled most precipitately ; at which instant our whole army pressed after with redoubled ardor, pursued them for a mile, made considerable slaughter amongst them, and took many prisoners. One field-piece had already fallen in our hands. At this time our men stopped the pursuit, to gain breath, when the enemy being reinforced, our front fell back for a few rods for convenieney of ground, and being directed and collected by Colonel Kensselaer, and reinforced by Major Stanton, renewed the fight with .redoubled ardor. They fell in upon the enemy with great impetuosity, put them to confusion and flight, and pursued them about a mile, making many prisoners. Two or three more brass field-pieces fell into our hands, which are sup- ITYT.] BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 481 posed to be tlie wliole of wliat they brought out with them. At this time darkness came upon us, and prevented our swal- lowing up the whole of this body. The enemy fled precipi- tately the succeeding night towards the North Eiver, and, unless they should be met with by a party of our army there, may have reached there witliout any further molestation. Governor Skeene, in surprise and consternation, took horse and fled. Tliis action, which redounds so much to the glory of the Great Lord of the heavens, and God of armies, aftords the Americans a lasting monument of the Divine power and good- ness, and a most powerful argument of love to and trust in God. Our loss is about forty or fifty killed, and more wound- ed. The enemy's loss is greater, and many more wounded. Their baggage fell into our hands. Tlie number of prisoners taken is said to be about six hundred. Two of their col- onels were amongst the prisoners and mortally wou.nded. A number of inferior officers have also fallen into our hands, and in particular the general's aide-de-camp. A good number deserted and joined us. This victory is thought by some to equal any that has happened during the present controversy ; and, as long as prudence, moderation, sobriety and valor, are of any estimation amongst the United States, will not fail to endear General Stark to them. It is the opinion of some, if a large body of militia was now called to act in conjunction with the northern army, the enemy might be entirely over- thrown. May all be concerned to give God the glory, whilst we commend the good conduct of the oflicers and soldiers in general on so important an occasion. Tliereis adjoining Pittsfi eld, in Massachuetts, a place called Jericho. From this place forty men marched, under Colonel Brown, for Bennington ; on their way eighteen of them de- serted and went over to the enemy. After the battle, fifteen of the eighteen were found dead upon the field. Tlie remaining twenty-two were in the action, signalized themselves by their bravery, and came off' unhurt. May all ^-illains and traitors meet a similar fate to that of the fifteen.' ' Account by " a gentleman who was present in the a.ction.'''—Pcnnsijlvania Evening Post, September 4. Vol I.— 31 482 DIAUY OF THE EETOLUTION. [1777. Among the many brave militia who were in the action yesterday, at Bennington, the Eevercnd Mr. Allen, of Pittsfield, ought not to be omitted. At the commencement Thomas Allen, _, .. ,, .,,. ^ , of the action, he marclied up witlim a lew yards of the enemy's breastworks, and demanded a surrender of the same in the name of the Congress, on which he received a shower of balls, accompanied with the epithet of a " damn'd bold Yankee." Mr. Allen, however, soon returned at the head of the Pittsfield militia, and was one of the first over the breastwork. [The above account reminds the printer of another he received from a private gentleman immediately after the battle of Bennington, which places Mr. Allen's conduct in a diiferent point of view, and shows it to have arisen solely from a sud- den impulse of humanity, Avhich hurried him, contrary to the opinion and advice of his friends, into a total disregard of his own personal safety. On finding the superiority of our troops, and that the enemy had no probable means of escape, just be- fore the onset he threw himself between the two armies, called to the enemy, reminded them of their situation, pathet- ically exhorted them, from a regard to justice to their country, and to their own safety, to surrender, and prevent the eftusion of blood. While he was speaking, with his hat in his hand, a number of balls were fired at him, several of which went through his hat ; on which he retired, joined in the attack of the enemy, and was among the foremost to enter their intrench- ments.]' August 23. — Yesterday morning, before daybreak, a body of rebels, under the command of Messrs Sullivan, Smallwood suiiivan-s descent ^'^^ ^® Bourg, landed in two divisions upon the on staten Island, ^gg^ ^^^ ^f gtateu Island. By the acknowledg- ment of some of their officers, now prisoners here, their number was at least two thousand. One division of them soon fell in with a part of the New Jersey volunteers, Avhich brigade was posted, in small detachments, along the side of the island, from " New York Journal, September 22. 17T7.] DESCENT ON STATEN ISLAND. 483 Decker's ferry to tlie point opposite Perth Amboy, a distance of fifteen miles. The rebels, greatly superior in numbers, had the fortime with success to engage the detachments that were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Laurence, and Lieutenant- Colonel Barton, who were both made prisoners, with several other ofiicers, and a considerable number of men. They then marched down to Decker's ferry, where they burned about thirty-five tons of liay, and set fire to a barn. As soon as the alarm had reached head-quarters, Brigadier-General Campbell marched with the 62d British and 3d battalions of Waldeck, leaving a regiment of Anspack to guard the camp and re- doubts. Upon the approach of the regular troops, the rebels instantly marched off with all speed. La the mean time Brig- adier-General Skinner had collected those of his corps which had been dislodged from their stations, and detached Major Tympany, with twenty-five men, to gain information of the route which the enemy had taken. The major came up with a number of them at the house of Doctor Parker, which they were plundering. Lie attacked them immediately, killed sev- eral, and took the rest prisoners ; among the killed was Mr. Smallwood's brigadier-major. It was now known that the rebels on this side had gone off towards Pichmond ; they were eagerly pursued, and on the road beyond that village an account was received from Lieii- tenant-Colouel Dongan, that his post had been attacked by the second division of the enemy, and obliged to retire, (which they did with very little loss,) towards Lieutenant-Colonel Allen, who had himself very seasonably retired, and taken post on a height near Prince's Bay, where Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan had joined him. A large body of the rebels had twice made a show of attacking them, but finally declined it, and marched off towards the Old Blazing Star. Those two gallant ofiicers soon determined to pursue them, and now gave information to Brigadier-General Skinner that they were on the way, and requested orders which were immediately despatched to them, to proceed, and at all events to attack the enemy as soon as possible, informing them at the same time, that their brother volunteers from the right were coming up 484 DIAEY OF TUE BEVOLUTION. [1777. with all speed to join tlicm, and that the regular troops, with General Campbell, were at hand to snpport them. These orders M'cre executed with ecpial spirit and success. JSTotwith- standing a great disparity of nunihers, these ncAV troops at- tacked the rear of the enemy, consisting of Smallwood's and other Corps that are foremost in reputation among the reljcls, with an intrepidity and perseverance that would have done honor to veterans. A consideraLle number of the enemy were killed, and about three hundred taken prisoners, including twenty-ono officers, viz., one lieutenant-colonel, three majors, two captains, ten lieutenants, three ensigns, one surgeon, and one officer womided. P>y this time General Campbell had got np one piece of cannon with a detachment of the artillery. That piece was soon followed by two or three more, and a well-directed fire of round and grape shot had a gi'eat effect on the rebel boats, and on those of their people who had got over to the Jersey shore. Our loss, in the whole aftair, is five killed, seven wounded, and eighty-four missing. Among the wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Dongan' and Major Barnes, both officers of distinguished bravery. Tlie rebels, by this attempt, have, indeed, got a good deal of plunder, chiefly from the inhabitants, of which they may possibly be ready to boast, for they have often boasted of ex- ploits which honest men would deem a disgrace ; and they have reason on this occasion to blush for their conduct." An American who took part in this expedition gives the fol- lowing account : About eleven o'clock last night (August 23) , . I returned to Hanover' from an excursion from American Account. Staten Island. Thursday, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the division marched from this place, and arrived at Elizabethtown ; at ten in the evening moved down to Ilal- ' Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Vaughan Dongan died of his wounds soon after the action. He was the commandant of the third battalion of New Jersey Volun- teers; the youngest son of Walter Dongan, Esq., late of Staten Island; was bred to the law, and supported a most amiable character. He was in his twenty-ninth year, and left a young distressed widow to lament the death of an affectionate hus- band. Their only child died a few hours before him. — Game's Mercury. - Gaine's Mercury, September 1. ' In New Jersey. 1777.] DESCENT ON STATEN ISLAND. 485 sted's Point, ^vllel•e tliere were boats collected, and at day- break the division had completely crossed. Colonel Ogden with his own regiment. Colonel Dayton's, and about one hun- dred militia, crossed at the same time at the Old Blazing Star. General Sullivan moved with General Deborre's brigade to attack Colonel Barton's regiment that lay at the New Star. General Smallwood, with his brigade, moved in another col- iimn to the Dutch church, to attack Colonel Buskirk's regi- ment ; and Colonel Ogden marched in another column to attack Allen's, Laurence's, and Dongan's regiments, that lay about the Old Star. General Smallwood's guide, instead of bringing him in the rear of the regiment, led him in full front of them ; they formed on the east side of the bridge, and the general was moving over in a solid column to attack them ; but the enemy, unwilling to be shot at, retreated to their lines in the northeast part of the island. Instead of Buskirk's, it was a British regiment, which retreated so precipitately that the general took their stand of colors, burnt seven small armed vessels and a large barn full of forage. The general being ordered not to go any farther than that place, joined General Sullivan at the New Star, who had in a little time settled the matter with Colonel Barton's regiment, they being but few in number, and the greatest poltroons I ever saw. They made a show of fighting, but did not stand to receive our fire; wo took about thirty of them, and their colonel. Colonel Ogden's party advancing with the utmost precipita- tion, drove the cowardly enemy before them, took Colonel Laurence, three captains, six subalterns, one doctor, and eighty privates. General Sullivan marched the division to the Old Star, and got them all over except the rear guard, which the enemy advanced upon and took. Tlie bravery of the little party commanded by Major Stewart would do honor to the first troops in the world; they were posted behind a hedge, and kept up such a blaze upon the enemy, that they were forced to retreat every time they advanced ; the little party, consisting of not more than fifty men, having bravely main- tained their post and expended their ammunition. Major Stew- 486 DIAEY OF TIDE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. art, -whose gallant behavior would do honor to the first of characters, told his party that he had too great respect for their bravery to sacrifice them, that he would surrender him- self and give those that could swim an opportunity to get off; they all pulled off their hats, and begged of him not to surren- der ; that some of them had two cartridges left, that they would fire them, and stand by him till they were cut to pieces. Tliey were, however, obliged to surrender, and Stewart, fixing a white handkerchief on the point of his sword, walked as coolly as if he had been going to shake hands with a friend ; many of the party got over the river. The action was grand, though horrid. I plainly saw the whole. "We have lost three majors, «ome captains, subalterns, stragglers, and in all one hundred and twenty-seven privates.^ Ey a gentleman from Albany, we are favored with the following anecdote : At the late battle between General Her- kimer and the enemy at Oneida Creek, there was a friendly Indian, with his wife and son, who distinguished themselves remarkably on that occasion. The Indian killed nine of the enemy, when having received a ball through his wrist that disabled him from using his gun, he fought with his toma- hawk. His son killed two, and his wife on horseback, fought by his side, with pistols, during the whole action, which lasted six hours.'' August 25. — Yesteedat morning (Sunday) part of the Continental army, amounting to about ten thousand men, with his Excellency General Washington at their head, marched through Pluladelphia, and proceeded over the Schuylkill to the southward. This day General iSf ash's brigade of North Caro- linians and Colonel Proctor's regiment of artillery have also passed through the city, and are to pursue the same route in order to join our most illustrious general." ^ New York Journal, September IS. ' Pennsylvania Journal, Sept. 3. ' Pennsylvania Journal, August 27. General Washington, in a letter of August 23, saye, "I expect this evening to encamp within five or six miles of Philadelphia. To-morrow morning it will move again; and I think to march it 17'?^'7-] DISAPFECTED JEESETMEN. 487 Eaely this morning the people of Liverpool, in England, received the account of General Burgoyne and his brave forces having taken the fortress of Ticonderoga from the provincials, a place fortified so well both by art and nature as to imprint an idea in the minds of many that it was impregnable. But what task is too hard, what dangers so great, or what obstacles too difficult for British seamen and soldiers to sm-mount at any time, but more especially when commanded by a Howe or a Burgoyne? This welcome news diffused a universal joy through all ranks of people. And in celebration of this glorious event, colors were displayed on the public buildings and on the ships in the docks and harbor. The bells rang, the cannon planted on the batteries, and in other parts of the town, were, at intervals, discharged ; at noon, the invalids quartered there, were drawn up before the Exchange, and fired three volleys, by way oi feii, dejoie, and this evening sky- rockets and other fireworks have been exhibited.' August 26. — The governor and the council of New Jersey have confined James Parker, one of his Britannic majesty's nominal council of that quondam province, and Disaffected Walter Rutherford, both gentlemen of very large Jorseymen. landed estates, which they seem determined to secure by such a neutrality of conduct as to stand equally fair with both con- tending parties in the final result of the conflict. Having evinced their disaffection, or at least want of affection to the present government, by repeatedly refusing to take the oaths of abjuration and allegiance prescribed by law, (as a test to try all suspicious and doubtful characters,) and hence be- come proper objects for the purpose ; they are to be kept in durance until the honorable John Fell, a real councillor of New Jersey, and Captain Wynant Yan Zandt, a young gentle- througli the city without halting. I am induced to do this from the opinion of several of my officers and many friends in Philadelphia, that it may have some influence on the minds of the disaffected there, and those who are dupes to their artifices and opinions. The march will be down Front and up Chesnut-streeta, and I presume about seven o'clock." — Official Letters, ed. 1795, v. 2, p. 144. ' Gaine's Mercury, October 18. 488 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1771. man of great magnanimity and merit, (both kidnapped by tlie Tories in tlie county of Bergen, carried to JSTew York and there imprisoned,) shall be set at liberty. The governor and council have also confined a number of other disaffected inhabitants, chiefly of Bergen county, to be released, for an equal number of honest citizens stolen and imprisoned in like manner, being determined in the future thus to retaliate, till the enemy shall think proper to discon- tinue that infamous part of their infamous system." ExcLrsivE of the natural character by which mankind are distinguislied from each otliei', there is, in most men, a sccond- Buvgoync's aru OT ai'tlliclol character, through which they Instructions to n i • ■ i i i t n • Colonel Baum. presBut ail their actions to the world, i call it artificial, because it is neither produced nor supported by any principle, and is no more than the fashion under which the act- ors suppose they appear to the most advantage. This taste is formed very early in life, and frequently by accident either of company or education. Some men are pedantic, and with them every phrase must be technical ; others are foppish, and their descriptions are always intend- ed to be liglit and novel; but Burgoync's turn, or artificial character, is that of a mountebank, in which every thing must be VKjudi' rful. In his proclamation, which has already been in most of the papers, he has handed himself out under as many titles as a High German doctor, and given as wonder- ful a detail of enteiqjrises as is to be found in Waltho Van Clut- terbank's harangue. The same pompous complication opens his instructions to Lieutenant-Colonel Baum. " The object (says he) of your expedition is to try the affections of the country, to disconcert the councils of the enemy, mount Reidesel's dragoons, to com- plete Peter's corps, and — to obtain large supplies of cattle, horses, and carriages." From this catalogue of orders we may infer, that the in- stant Burgoyne got into the country, he was at loss how to ' Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 26. 1TV7.] BAUM'S INSTEUCTIONS. 489 go on, and perhaps by this time he is at as great a loss hoAV to get Oi/t ^- that his dragoons were on foot, his army incom- plete, and unfurnished with horses and carriages: hnt the grand secret, and that which engrosses his first thought, and occupies his first line, is " to try the affections of the country.''' A mountebank may sometimes hit upon the right disease, and Burgoyne has here given a proof of it; for unless America turns a traitor to' herself, his eff'orts will be in vain. The sec- ond article in the orders is very judiciously placed, viz., to endeavor to disconcert our councils ; very happily thrown in! Because it shows us the necessity of attending firmly to busi- ness, and the danger of employing our ingenuity to evade or perplex it. After this introduction of general heads, he lays down the route, the manner of conducting it, with directions for the treat- ment of the inhabitants. '■'■All 'possible care (says he) is to 1)6 used to prevent jjlundcrincjP This seems a very extraordi- nary order to be given to a plundering party, but is perfectly consistent when we understand that plundering a country for stores or supplies is the general's perquisite, and plundering houses, that of the men. Burgoyne's orders are to bring in one thouscmd three hundred Jiorses at least, witli all the scoddles cond bridles that can be found, together ivith cdl the wagons, car- riages, draft oxen, and cattle fit for slaughter ; for these no money was to be paid, but receipts were to be given, and those to such only as had complied with the terms of his mani- festo. Had Burgoyne made the sweep of horses, saddles, bridles, cattle, &c., which he was in hopes of, he would at least have pocketed thirty or forty thousand pounds, by taldng those articles from the country without paying for, and charging them to the treasury as if he heed purchased them ; the receipts and the pretended distinction of persons serving as a mask to cover the fraud. As this plundering in the whole- sale was the business the party was sent upon, no wonder they were forbidden to spend their time in dividing them- selves into parties to rob hen-roosts and cider-cellars, or steal- ing blankets, breeches, and petticoats.. " As you will," say the instructions, " have persons with 4:90 DIABT OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. yoro perfectly aeqxiainted loith the abilities of the country, it may perhaps be advisable to tax the several districts with the portions of the several articles, and limit the hours for the deliv- ery ; and should you find it necessary to move before such delivery can be made, hostages of the most respectalle people should be taken to secure their following you the ensuing day." Of all the unjust modes of taxation hitherto proposed by our enemies, this is the most summary and the most perni- cious. A stranger to the country is to be informed by strangers to him, of the circumstances of the inhabitants ; and upon such information a tax is to be imposed, for the immediate payment of which the most refi])ectable people are to be seized as host- ages and carried into captivity ! Take care, Americans, how you admit men who practise such wicked methods of taking your property, and such cruel ways of enforcing your com- pliance. " You will," say the instructions, " use all possible means to mahe the country believe that the troops tinder your com- mand are the advanced corps of the army, and that it is in- tended to pass Connecticut on the road to Boston. You Avill likewise insinuate that the main army from Albany is to be joined at Springfield, by a corps of troops from Khode Island." ]^o real, lasting good. Sir John Eurgoyne, can come of lying, and if no credit is to be given to your declarations, you cannot expect that any will be given to your proclamation, but that the inhabitants, in all places, will look upon the latter and upon all others which either you or General Howe may put out, as farragoes of threats and delusions, to deter or dissuade them from removing their property till you or he may send parties to plunder and fetch it off. This is the true intent and meaning of all your proclamations. There is something prophetically pensive towards the con- clusion of the instructions. " It is highly probable," he says, " that the corps under Mr. Warner, now supposed to be at Manchester, will retreat before you ; but should they, contrary to expectation, be able to collect in great force a,nd post them- selves advantageously, it is left to your discretion to attack l'T7.] euegoyne's scalpees. 491 them or not ; always hearing in mind that your corps is too valuable to let any considerable loss be hazarded on this occa- sion." Poor unfortunate John Burgoyne ! The general, in the next paragraph of his instructions, gives a kind of triumph over his qualmish apprehensions, and putting on the soldier, assures Colonel Eaum, that should the rebels attempt to interrupt him, he, General Burgoyne, " will make such a movement as shall put the rebels between two fires." A wonderful piece of firework indeed ! — and shows that one real fire of ours is better than two of his contriving ; for the event of this double-barrelled scheme has been, that the colonel and his party are defeated,' near a thousand of them made prison- ers, and, they say, poor General Burgoyne is gone Staek Mad." , Septembee 1. — ^We are credibly infonned that Burgoyne, '^ the chief and director of the King of Great Britain's band of thieves, robbers, cut-throats, scalpers, and murderers of every denomination, now infesting the northern and western frontiers of several of the American United States, has not only discon-' tinued the reward he had offered and given to the savage; Tories, Indians, Britons, Hessians, Brunswickers, Waldeck- ers, and other profligate scum of the human race, now in his service, for the scalps they brought hini, from the murdered , and half murdered inhabitants, but has strictly prohibited, | for the future, under a severe penalty, the practice of scalping- 1 It must not, however, be supposed, that the chief of the rufiian band was so weak as to be in the least influenced to this pro- hibition by any motive of compassion or humanity ; his indvice- 1 ments were purely political. He had found by experience, ' that his rewards lessened the number of his emissaries, who/ not only scalped some of his Tory friends, concealed among the inhabitants, but also scalped one another ; and that a scalp- ing party of a lieutenant, and about thirty men, he lately sent out, with a large number of Indians, were by the latter all killed and scalped, none of the party having been since seen or heard of, and the lieutenant's hair, which was remarkably full, ' Colonel Baum was mortally wounded in the action with General Stark. ^ Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 28. 492 DIAET OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. biisliy and red, being Ivnown. "We liad intelligence by several persons, that Burgoyne had laid aside his usual practice of scalping, and strictly forbid it for the future, but we did not before know his reason for the prohibition. It is not improbable he might be apprehensive, that some of the dexterous hands about him, might take an opportunity, one time or another, and slip off his own night-cap.' ^ September 2. — Loed Mulgeave, in the Ardent man-of-war, took the other day, on his cruise in the English channel; a Dutch vessel, with three hundred barrels of gunpowder on board, no part of which could be found in her bill of lading. On board her likewise were several French officers of distinc- tion, and a German count, disguised as common mariners, who were discovered, it seems, by one of them being heard to speak elegant French. Finding they could no longer conceal them- selves, they went down into the cabin, and soon after came on deck dressed in their French uniforms, denied that they were bound to America, and insisted on being released as officers of the King of France. Lord Mulgrave, however, refused to release them, but told them if they expected to be treated like gentlemen, they must honorably confess the errand on which they were going, for that he was convinced their intended voyage was to join the rebel forces of America. This had the desired effect, for it extorted from them a confession that they had each of them received commissions from the Congress, and on landing at Boston were to have been invested with separate commands of great consequence.' Septembee 5. — Geneeal "Washington, our great and illus- trious commander, the prop and glory of this western world, Washin ton's issucd this day at Wilmington, the following Geaerai Orders. oi.(Jers, wliicli cauHot too much bc admired on ac- count of the virtuous and Aoble sentiments they contain : — Geneeal Oedees. — From every information of the enemy's design, and from their movements, it is manifest that their ^b Penneylvania Journal, September 10. ' Pennsylvania Lodger, Nov. 26. 1777.] WASHINGTON S ORDERS. 493 aim is, if possible, to possess themselves of Pliiladelpliia. This is with them a capital object ; 'tis what they last year strove to effect, but were happily disappointed. Tliey made a second attempt at the opening of this campaign ; but after vast preparation and expense for that purpose, they abandoned their design and totally evacuated the Jerseys. They are now mak- ing their last effort. It seems they first intended to come up the Delaware, but from the measures taken against them in the river, judged the enterprise that way too hazardous. At length they have landed on the eastern shore of Maryland and ad- vanced some little way into the country, but the general thinks they will again be disappointed in their views, should they push their design against Philadelphia, on this route. Their all is at stake. Tliey will put the contest on the event of a single battle. If they are overthrown tliey are utterly undone — the war is at an end. ITow, then, is the time for our strenuous exertions ; one bold stroke will free the land from rapine, devas- tation, and burnings, and female innocence from brutal lust and violence. In every other quarter the American arms have been of late rapidly successful ; great numbers of the enemy have fallen in battle, and still greater numbers have been taken prisoners. The militia to the northward have fought Avith a resolution that would have done honor to the oldest soldiers — they bravely fought and conquered, and glory attends them. "VVho can forbear to emulate their noble spirits ? Who is there Avithout ambition to share with them the applause of their countrymen and of all posterity, as the defenders of liberty, and preserA'ers of peace and happiness to millions in the present and future generations ? Tavo years Ave liaA^e maintained the war and struggled with difficulties innumerable, but the prospect has since brightened and our affairs put on a better face. ISTow is the time to reap the fruits of all our toils and dangers ; if Ave behave like men this third campaign Avill be oiir last. Ours is the main army. To us our countrymen look for protection ; the eyes of all America and Europe are turned upon us, as on those by whom the event of Avar is to be determined ; and the general assures his countrj-men and fellow-soldiers, that he believes the criti- 494: DIAEY OF THE REVOLUTION. [1777. cal, the important time is at hand, which demands their most spirited exertions in the field. Here glory waits to crown the brave. Peace, freedom, and happiness will be the rewards of victory. Animated by motives like these, soldiers fighting in the cause of innocence, humanity, and justice, will never give way, but with undaunt- ed resolution press on to conquest. And this the general as- sures himself is the part the American forces, now in arms, win act, and thus acting he will insure them success.' Septembee 8. — By intelligence from the grand army, we leam that General Washington's head-quarters were at Wil- situation of the mington ou the first instant, and the main body Main Armies, gf ^]^q army cucamped on the heights, on the environs of the town ; that strong parties of light troops and militia were advancing towards the enemy ; that frequent skirmishes ensue, though of but little consequence. That the enemy landed about four miles below the head of Elk, and in a day or two advanced their van to Grey's Hills, where they remained inactive. Tliat their cavalry suflTered very much during the voyage for want of forage, (having on board only enough for three weeks, whereas they were out six weeks ;) many of them died before they were landed, and many more have been ruined by being turned into corn-fields, so that we may presume Mr. Howe will not be in a capacity to act vigorously very soon. Deserters come in daily, and our people frequently pick up small parties of prisoners. The American army is in high health and spirits, and eager for action. We hear from Poughkeepsie, that about a week ago, seven Tories were committed to jail there, charged with robbing several houses, and putting the families in fear. It is said, when taken, they were all painted and dressed like Indian men, but that five of them proved to be women, three of whom are a mother and two daughters. Thus do the in- fernal designs and proceedings of the court of Great Britain ' PennsylTania Journal, September 10. A Plan o(tlu' OPYlRATIOm of the l>*lfITTSII&l?EBELAKMY, f''''' in the CAMFAl&N 1777. Yellon' Sprinti^ l'^''^.] BEANDTWINE. 495 assimilate to their own character all those who espouse their cause ; not only seducing them to become base, treacherous thieves, robbers, murderers, &c., but divesting them of human- ity, and converting them into savages and perfect devils in human shape.' Septeiibee 11. — We have had a severe time of it to-day. Early in the morning the commander-in-chief receiving intelli- gence that the British were advancing in two columns from their camp at Kennet Square, made a proper disposition to receive them. The first attack was made by Ivnyphausen, on a party of Americans iinder General Maxwell, who had crossed the Brandywine, and posted himself in an elevated position on both sides of the main road. In this affair the Americans twice repulsed the British, but the latter receiving a strong reinforcement, General Maxwell was obliged to give way and retreat across the river. About four o'clock in the afternoon the action became general, and continued very severe until dark, when the British stopped the pursuit, and the Americans retired to Chester, where they are now encamped.^ ' New York Journal, September 8. " Clift's Diary. The following account is given in the journal of a British ofiScer ; — " At four o'clock in the morning the army moved in two columns ; that under General Howe and Lord Cornwallis to the left, and crossing the river Bran- dywine. Some miles above the direct road and Shad's Ford, came on the right flank and rear of the enemy, who were posted there in great strength, having several batteries and many cannon on exceeding strong ground. Whilst this man- oeuvre was performing, the column under the commands of Generals Knyphausen and Grant, marched by the usual road to Shad's Ford, and attacked several posts the enemy had on the south side of the Brandywine ; these being driven across the river, the cannon were drawn up to the most advantageous situations, and a heavy cannonade kept up. As soon as it was perceived that General Howe had attacked the rebels, the troops passed the river, stormed the batteries, and took their cannon. The rout of the enemy then became general. They were pursued as long as daylight and the fatigued condition of the troops would permit, Gen- eral Howe's column having marched seventeen miles the day before the engage- ment. We took ten pieces of cannon, a royal howitzer, several ammunition wagons, &c. It was difficult to ascertain the number of the enemy killed, as they were scattered over a great extent of ground." — Pennsylvania Ledger, Decem- ber 6. 496 DIAEY OF TIIE EEYOLTJTION. [1777. Septembee 17.' — As tlie rebels liare in their newspapers favored the jjublic with General Burgojaie's orders to Lienten- Eetortonthe ant-Coloncl Baiim, it might be interpreted niali- Ecbeis. clously shonld M'e refuse to commit to print any pieces of elegance of tlieir commanders which may fall into our hands. For this reason I send you a copy of some orders for the Jersey militia which we picked up in a late excursion. I hope no invidious comparisons will be drawn between this and General Burgoyne's, for though the latter, to give him his due, writes in a pretty style, and plausibly enough as to military matters, his performance falls infinitely short of that energy, that precision, that sublimity which grace the composition of the Jersey Brigadier. The candid public inust consider, that probably poor Burgoyne has not had those advantages of edu- cation which have refined the sentiments and expressions of the elegant writer of the following orders. I give them in the original spelling. Probably the brigadier strove to adajDt his orthography to the genius of his troops : — ■ "J/"m(7o?i^e/5. 5 1777. " Sir you are to keep one man allways with an order al- ready writ to Impres any Horss on the way he shall want that upon the first appearance of the enemy's coming to attack you or yours you are to dispatch the man and tell him to come the nighest road direct to me or my house and he is to call to every man woman and child he sees and desire them to call upon all men to push down whare the enemy is and give them battle. But he is not to stop to tell his story but call out as he rides along and tells his story he is to ride six or seven miles an ower if they have no guns or Ammunison they are to caiTy pitchforks flailes stones or such weapons as they chuse or think best. But if any man is afraid to goo to battle that hath no gun he is immediately to set out as a Common Cryer towards the back country and desire everyone he sees to come down to the help of the Lord against the mighty and I will keep a becon out so tliat if you with what will turn out nigh by can keep the enemy in play a few howers I will be down with 1000 or 1600 men. Shew this letter to all men you see 17TT.] BATTLE OF , STILLWATER. 497 and send Coppys of it to all tlie militia officers yon can tliat live witliin 15 or 20 miles of the Lines and Shores.— This gen- tlemen I have writ to the commanding officers down at the shore therefore I desire all men old and yonng as they regard their lives & properties and all that is dear to them when they hear the a Larm that they a quij) themselves as well as they can and march immediately towards the enemy wliare I will meet them. Let every man as soon as he is ready stop for no company. But call as they see to come along & they are to send word by some of thare family that cant fight to their next neighbor of the a Larm — and cursed is he that is well & will not turn out when this a Larm comes. William Winds, B. G.' September 20. — Yesterday, about noon, the two armies met near Stillwater, and a most obstinate and bloody battle ensued. The advanced parties of the Americans, ^^^^^^ ^^ which were composed of Morgan's riflemen and stiu water. Dearborn's infantry, received the first fire of the enemy, and a little after two o'clock the action became general. The right wing of the British forces was commanded by Burgoyne in person, the left by Phillips and Keidesel, and the centre, covered by Frazer and Breyman, was supported by the savages, Cana- dians, and renegade Provincials and Tories. Never was more bravery or determination shown. For upwards of three hours the blaze from the artillery and small anns was incessant, and sounded like the roll of the drum. By turns the British and Americans drove each other, taking and retaking the field, pieces, and often mingling in a hand to hand wrestle and fight. Scammell ' fought like a hero, leading his regiment where the fire was the hottest, and did not leave his post until he was wounded and taken off the field. The British artillery was well served, and worked with sad havoc among our poor fel- lows, who are the more to be wept, for their gallantry and de- votion to their country. The cannon of the British was lost to us only for the Avant of horses to draw them off. Arnold ' PennsylTania leclger, Norember 19. ° Alexander Scammell. Vol. I.— 32 498 UIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [17Y7. rushed into the thickest of the fight with his usual reckless- ness, and at times acted like a madman. I did not see him once, hut S. told me this morning that he did not seem inclined to lead alone, hut as a prominent object among the enemy showed itself, he would seize the nearest rifle-gun and take deliberate aim. During the action a party of our men got up into some trees, and as the clouds of smoke opened, poured in upon the enemy single shot. In this manner several of the officers were killed or wounded. One of Brook's regiment says he silenced two fellows with laced coats, and it is said that Burgoyne had a narrow escape.' At sundown the action was less furious, and a little after dark a greater part of the two armies retired from the field. Some of our men did not come off until near midnight. In the midst of so much destruction, it is a wonder how any of them escaped ; " Ijut it is in this cause," as old Emerson used to say about the hens that laid every day in the year but Sunday, '■'■Providence is with 'em" ' Septembee 22. — Yestekday, the British having received intelligence of the situation of General Wayne, and his design General Gray *^^ attacking their rear, should they attemjjt to attaeks Wayne, pg^gg ^^^ Scliuylkill, a plan was concerted for sur- prising him, and the execution intrusted to Major-Greneral Gray. Tlie troops for this service were the fortieth and fifty- fifth regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave, and the second battalion of light infantry, the forty-second and forty- fourth regiments, under the general. This last detachment marched at ten o'clock last night, the other at eleven. No soldier of either were suffered to load ; they that could not draw their pieces, took out the flints! The general knew nearly the spot where the rebel coi'ps lay, but nothing of the disposition of their camp. lie represented to the men that firing would discover them to the enemy, kill their own friends, and cause a confusion favorable to the escape of the ' Letter from General Enoch Poor. ' Churchill Papers. 1T7Y.] EMMEEICK S CHASSETJES. 499 rebels, and perhaps productive of disgrace to the British. On the other liand, by not firing, they would know the foe to be wherever fire appeared, and a charge insured his destruction ; that amongst the enemy, those in the rear would direct their fire against whoever fired in front, and consequently destroy each other. General Gray marched by the road leading to the "White Horse, and took every inhabitant with him as he passed along. About three miles from camp he turned to the left, and pro- ceeded to the Admiral Warren,' where, having forced intelli- gence from a blacksmith, he came in upon the out sentries, pickets, and camp of the rebels ! The sentries fired and ran ofi\, to the number of four, at difi'ereiit intervals ; the picket ■was surprised, and most of them killed in endeavoring to re- treat. On approaching the right of the camp, the line of fires were perceived, and the light infantry being ordered to form to the front, rushed along the line, piitting to the baj^onet all they came up with, and overtaking the main herd of fugitives, stabbed great numbers, and pressed on their rear till it was thought prudent to order them to desist. The forty-fourth regiment, advancing in line likewise, closed up in support of the light infantry, piitting to the sword such of the rebels as in the heat of the pursuit had escaped that corps, whilst the forty-second came on in a third line as a reserve. Upwards of two hundred were killed, many more wounded. Seventy- one prisoners were brought off; forty of them being badly wounded were left at different houses on the road. The British loss consisted of Captain "Wolfe, and one or two men killed ; Lieutenant Hunter, and five men wounded ! It was about one o'clock this morning when the attack was made, and the rebels were then assembling to move towards the King's forces.'' September 25. — -To-day, as a party of Captain Emmerick's new coqjs of chasseurs were bathing near Kingsbridge, in 'New York, he suddenly beat to arms, when they, with the ' White Horse and Admiral Warren were two taverns on the Lancaster road. Washington's camp on the 16th of September, was situated between them. ^ Gaine's Mercury, December 1. 500 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLrTION. [1777. greatest spirit imaginable, iiew to their firelocks, and ap- peared naked, in order to have attacked any enemy that might be at hand. This so pleased the captain, that he presented each man with a dollar, and gave them his thanks for their alertness.' September 26. — Last night, the royal army, under the command of his Excellency Sir "William Howe, linight of the BritisiiArmy Bath, marclicd from their encampment, near the piiiiadeiphia. Swcdlsli ford, in two grand divisions, one by the Falls of Schnylkill, the other by the road to Germantown, and formed their camp at and near those places. This morn- ing a large detachment, under the command of the Eight Hon- orable the Earl Cornwallis, entered Philadelphia, marched through Second street, and after placing the proper guards, encamped to the southward of the town. The fine appearance of the soldiery, the strictness of their discipline, the politeness of the officers, and the orderly be- havior of the whole body, immediately dispelled every ap- prehension of the inhabitants, kindled joy in the coiintenances of the well affected, and has given the most convincing refu- tation of the scandalous falsehoods which evil and designing men have been long spreading to terrify the peaceable and innocent. A perfect tranquillity now prevails in the city ; numbers who have been obliged to hide themselves from the former tyranny and to avoid being forced into measures against their conscience, have appeared to share the general satisfaction, and to welcome the dawn of returning liberty.'' ' Pennaylvania Ledger, October 29. " Rivington's Gazette, November 8. CHAPTEE XII. October 1."-It is unnecessary to say a word of tlie spirit and numbers of the people of America — of tlieir attacliment to their liberty — of tlie extent and nature of tlieir ^ , ^ , ,- Dc Lisle's Letter. country — oi tneir resources — and the interest all the powers in Europe have in maintaining the independence of the American States, to show the absolute impracticability of Great Britain's ever subduing this country. I should not despair of the final success of the Americans in the present war, if they were at this time expending their last pound of powder, and their last ounce of ball. Desperation would sup- ply the want of every thing. 'No force can subdue the hearts of these people ; and nine-tenths of them, I am sure, are de- termined in their opposition to the government of Britain. It is inconceivable to see the exertions of these young republican States. They have done wonders. All the force of the mon- archy of Britain in the last war with France, did not produce from the whole continent of America, half the exertions which we sometimes see here in a single State; and yet these re- publics have as yet put forth but a small part of their strength. I expect to see them, before the close of the war, upon a foot- ing with the oldest monarchies in Europe : and if I was not sure that a love of conquest was incompatible with a love of liberty, I should think they would make some of them trem- ble from their foundations. Every part of the conduct of Great Britain, and of her generals and armies, shows the power of this country, and the absolute impossibility of conquering it. "Why has the court of Britain meanly solicited all the courts of Europe to 502 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1777. withhold aid of all kinds from tlie Americans ? Why has shu hought up twenty thousand foreigners to assist in the reduc- tion of America? Why did she send an army of forty thousand men across the ocean for that purpose last year? Why has the King of Britain proclaimed a fast, and called upon the Almighty to enter into an alliance with him, to assist in conquering his rebellious subjects ? Surely all this has been done becaiise they dreaded the power and resources of America. I believe in no Avar with the powerful monarchy of France did Britain ever negotiate with more expense — stood more for foreign alliances — lie more for internal support — ^or fast and pray with more seeming devotion than in the present war with America. An uninformed spectator, from a '\'iew of these things, would suppose that the only object of Britain in the prosecution of the war, was not to suppress a rebellion in America, but to defend herself from being subjugated by her American colonies. But the conduct of her generals in America is all of a piece with the conduct of the court. Bead their letters to the Brit- ish ministry. Observe with what caution they land, how slow- ly they advance and how circumspectly they march through the country. Their modes of attack and defence in all their battles and skirmishes with the Americans from their own accounts of them, show that they are aware of the skill, and fear the courage, of their generals and armies. Their strata- gems (of which they boast) confess that they are contending with a regular army, and not with an undisciplined mob. Even their shouts of victory and the high encomiums they publish of the gallant behavior of their officers and soldiers, declare that they fight with a formidable enemy. Tlie inhu- manity of their generals, the insolence of their officers, and the rancor of their soldiers towards the Americans, are all testi- monies of the strength of this country. They indicate hatred which can only be exercised towards equals or superiors. The exchange of letters and prisoners between the British and American generals, are further acknowledgments on the be- half of the former, of the stability of the power from whence the latter derive their authority. In spite of all the pains the l'?^'?^^.] DOCTOE FEAIJKLm. 503 British generals have taken to destroy the credit of the paper money emitted by the Congress, they have given a sanction to its validity by sending it ont from New York to support their prisoners among the Americans. Tlie indiscriminate ravages to which the professed royalists or Tories are exposed in com- mon with the republicans or "Whigs, show that the British army believe that a great majority of the people of America are opposed to them, and that all professions of attachment to them are hypocritical, and intended only to save property. Bnt the British generals have gone still farther in declaring by their condnct, that the Americans are invincible. They have, in some nreasnre, thrown down their arms as nseless in the present controversy, and have attempted to subdue their ene- mies by the perfidious arts of a court. They have attempted to surprise the Congress into a negotiation, only for the pur- pose of deceiving them. They have published proclamations for the encoTiragement of desertions in the army, and defection among the citizens of America. They have hired printers to traduce the Congress and the army ; and to complete all, they have made and attempted to circulate large quantities of coun- terfeit continental money among the Americans ; aiming there- by, at one blow, to cut their sinews of war. Tlieir folly in this manoBuvre exceeded their villany ; for they weekly advertised their money for distribution, in a Xew York paper. I am not so sanguine as some of my friends, as to the issue of the present campaign. But I rest satisfied at all times, that the loss of a battle or of a town will detract nothing, finally, from the Americans ; and that the acquisition of victories and of territory will serve only to weaken General Howe's army, and to accelerate the period Avhen America shall establish her freedom and independence, upon the permanent foundation of public virtue and military knowledge.' October 2. — A coeeespondent in Paris says: — "When ' Extract of a letter from a French gentleman, who " has been near two years in America, and has been introduced to the first characters on the continent. His real name must be a secret. The name by which he has chosen to be known to the public," is De Lisle. — New Jersey Oasette, January "7, 1778. 604 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLtFTION. [1777. Doctor Franklin appears abroad, it is more lilco a public than a private gentleman, and the cnriosity of the people to see liim is so irreat, that he may bo said to be followed Doctor Franklin. , '^ , ^ a ^ ■ -, „ • ■^ by a genteel mob. A triend oi nunc paid some- tliing for a place at a two-pair-of-stairs window to see him pass 1)Y in his coach, bnt the crowd was so great that he conld bnt barely say he saw him." We are well assured that Dr. Franklin, whose knowledge in philosophical sciences is nniversally allowed, and ^vho has carried the powers of electricity to a greater Icngtli than any of his contemporaries, intends shortly to produce an electrical machine, of such wonderful force that instead of giving a slight stroke to the elbows of fifty or a hundred thousand men, Avho are joined hand in hand, it will give a violent shock even to nature herself, so as to disunite kingdoms, join islands to con- tinents, and render men of the same nation strangers and ene- mies to each other ; and that by a certain chemical prepara- tion from oil, he will be able to smooth the waves of the sea in one part of the globe, and raise tempests and whirlwinds in another, so as to be universally ackno^'ledged for the greatest physician, politician, mathematician, and philosopher, this day living.' October 4. — Tins morning, before daybreak, (the weather being foggy,) the rebels attempted, Avitli all their force, in six • j3^m„ „f columns, to penetrate on the outposts of our Germantown. ^^mj ; they bcgan their attack with three of them on the second light infantry and the fortieth regiment at the end of Germantown, Avhere they were so warmly received that they did not make the least impression for the space of two hours ; at length being overpowered with numbers, and risking to be surrounded if longer opposition was made, our two battalions thought it expedient to retire. These columns imagining victory was about to declare in their favor, two of them came into the village, while the third filed off obliquely to our left. Colonel Musgrave having judiciously thrown him- self with six companies of the fortieth, into a square house of ' New Jersey Gazette, December 31. 1777.] BATTLE OF GEEMANTOWN. 505 Mr. Claew's, checked one of the two columns that had followed him, while the other pushed into Germantown. The one at the house immediately invested and riddled it with T, T -, n /> -n -, British AccouBt. musketry, grape and cannon shot for a full hour, the colonel defending it most gallantly, killing them by dozens from the windows of every face ; hut, upon the forty-fourth regiment advancing into the village, supported by the seven- teenth, and driving all before them as far Mr. Chew's mansion, both these columns retired precipitately, and would have been totally demolished if the fog had not made it hazardous for so small a body to pursue so rapidly, as it might have done had the weather been clear ; the other column, that had filed off towards our left, being drove shortly after by the thirty-third, forty-sixth, and sixty-fourth regiments. Two other columns, that had attacked and obliged the pickets of our right to fall • back on their respective corps, were, in their turn, defeated, upon the first light infantry, fourth, fifth, fifteenth, thirty- seventh, forty-ninth, and fifty-fifth regiments attacking them ; and the Hessian Yagers repulsed and beat back the column which attacked their post. It now began to clear up, and the commander-in-chief having perceived a large body (that had rallied) forming itself on Chestnut hill, (apparently to retard our pursuit,) his excellency ordered Major-General Gray to advance upon it with the seventeenth, thirty-third, forty-fourth, forty- sixth, and sixty-fourth regiments, directingthe other corps to follow as fast as possible to sustain ; but the rebels did not think proper to maintain that groiind, retiring precipitately upon the approach of this small corps ; and although we pursued for nine miles, till three in the afternoon, we were never able to come up with any considerable body. Thus Mr. "Washington's army, con- sisting of upwards of twelve thousand men, was totally dis- persed by a few British battalions, and the Hessian Yagers, (the rest of our army having never had an opportunity of eno-aging,) and would not only have been cut up had the morn- ing been bright, but all their artillery, &c., must imavoidably have fallen into our hands.' ' Gaine'a Mercii:7, November 10. 606 DIAET OF THE EEVOLUTION. [1Y77. OcTOBEE 6. — Died at tlie American camp, near Pawling's mill, tliis e^'ening, Major Edward Slierburne, aide-de-camp to Edward Major-General Sullivan. lie received the mortal Sherburne, -^vomid, of wliicli lie dicd, yesterday at the battle of Gcrmantown, after having given the most striking evi- dence of his bravery and good conduct. He was in the severest of the fire for near two hours before he received the fatal wound which forced him from the field ; and during the whole time beha^-ed with such uncommon firnmess, as the love of freedom only can inspire. This promising youth sprung from one of the most reputable families in !N^ew Hampshire, entered the service of this country, as a volunteer, at the commence- ment of the war, and served as such till the last camjsaign, when he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Sullivan, with whom he has ever since served Avith great credit and reputa- tion. He was in most of the actions since the war commenced, and ever showed the same coolness and bravery which he dis- covered in the late action. He endured with great constancy the pains occasioned by liis wound, and departed this life with a heroic firmness, which well witnessed the satisfaction he felt in suffering for his much injured country.' OoTOBEE 6. — This day the fortresses Clinton and Montgom- ery, on the ISTorth Kiver, in New York, fell into the hands of Forts Clinton and the British, under the command of Sir Henry Clin- taken. tou. A gentleman who was in Tort Montgom- ery when it was taken, gives the following particulars of the event :■ — ^On Saturday night, wo had advice that a large num- ber of ships, brigs, armed vessels, &c., had arrived at Tarry- town, where they had landed a considerable body of men, sup- posed to be about one thousand, and had advanced towards the plains. Colonel Lutlington being posted there with about five hundred militia, they sent in a fiag to him requiring him to lay down his arms and surrender himself and men prisoners of war. Whilst he was parleying with the fiag they endeavored to suiTound him, which he perceiving, ordered his men to re- treat. The British tlien returned to their shipping, and the ' New York Packet, October 23. I'^TT.] FOKT CLINTON TAKEN. 507 next morning we had advice of their being under sail, and coming np as far as King's Eeny. In the afternoon they land- ed a large body of men on the east side of the river to draw our attention that way, but they re-embarked in the night and next morning landed on the west side. On Sunday night his Excellency Governor Clinton, who then commanded at Fort Montgomery, sent out a party of one hundred men, under the command of Major Logan, across the Dunderburg, to watch the motions of the enemy. This party returned in the morning, and reported they had seen about forty boats full of men land below the Dunderburg. The gov- ernor sent out another small party of aboiit twenty-eight men, under the command of Lieutenant Jackson. On the road that leads to Haverstraw, two or three miles below Eort Clinton, they fell in with a concealed part of the enemy, who ordered them to club their muskets, and surrender themselves prison- ers. They made no answer, but fired on the enemy and hastily retreated. Tliey returned the fire and pursued our people half a mile, but they all got back to the fort without losing a man, though within five rods of the enemy before they were discov- ered. Upon this intelligence one hundred men were imme- diately sent off, under Colonel Brown, who fell in with the enemy about two o'clock in the afternoon, when a smart en- gagement ensued, but the enemy being of much superior force, our people were forced to retreat. At the same time it was thought proper to send some of the artillery, with a field-piece, to occupy an eminence com- manding the road that leads to Orange Fiu-nace, with a party of men to defend it. They were attacked soon after, and our field-piece did great execution ; but it soon bursting, our men retreated, and an engagement of small arms was kept up a good while. Most of our men got within the breastworks, Avhen the attack became general on both forts. At the same time the enemy's shipping came in sight, but the wind being light, and the tide against them, none of the vessels could come up, except the galleys and armed sloops, which fired upon us, but did no execution ; we, in return, fired upon them, and believe did them some damage. 508 DIAEY OF THE KEVOLUTION. [17T7. Tlie enemy continued a vigorous and incessant attack ujaon the forts ; but notwithstanding their utmost efforts, they were many times rej)ulscd and beaten back from our breastworks with great slaughter. Eut the smallncss of our numbers, (bemg in both forts but about five hundred,) which required every man to be upon continual duty, and obliged him to un- remitted exertions, fatigued our people greatly ; while tlie ene- my, whose number was supposed to be at least four thousand, continued to press us with fresh troops. About four o'clock they sent in a flag, demanding in five minutes a surrender of the forts, and ourselves prisoners of war ; or that they would put us all to the sword. An answer was returned by Colonel Livingston, acquainting them that we were determined to defend the forts to the last extremity. Tlie action was renewed with fresh vigor on both sides, and continued till the dusk of the evening, when they stormed our upper redoubt, which commanded the fort, which after a severe struggle, and overpowering us with numbers, they got posses- sion of ; and we were obliged to give way. At the same time they stormed and got possession of Fort Clinton, in which were none but militia, who nobly defended it, till the_y, like the garrison at Fort Montgomery, were obliged to give way to superior force. The darkness of the evening much favored the escape of our people, the greatest part of whom, with almost all the officers, by some means or other got oft', and joined our army, or returned to their places of residence. How those who were so unfor- tunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy, were treated by them, we have not heard, but have reason to think it was with a cruelty suitable to the wickedness of the cause in which the British are engaged.' ' K"ew York Journal, May 11, lYYS. Gaine, in his paper of the 11th of Octo- ber, gives the following aeoount sent by an ofiicer in the British army :— I have now the pleasure to felicitate you on our taking the forts Montgomery and Clinton by storm. It was effected last night. The garrisons in both places consisted of twelve hundred rebels. Of our detachment, we lost Mungo Campbell, Lieutenant Colonel of the 62d, and Major Sill of the flSd. Major Grant, of the New York Volunteers, was killed a little before the attack, which was commanded by Colonel Mungo Campbell. My old acquaintance, George Turnbull, late captain in the I'i'TT.] EICHAED CHAELTON. 509 October 11. — On Tuesday last, departed tliis life, at his lionse on Staten Island, aged seventy-two years, tlie Eeverend Mr. Eichard Charlton, missionary from the Soci- ,p,T-n . r.1^ T.-r-r. Eicliard Charlton. ety tor the rropagation of the Gospel m 1 oreign Parts. This worthy clergyman was horn in Ireland, and re- ceived his education in Trinity College, Duhlin. He came over to this country soon after he entered into holy orders ; and was the first missionary of ISTew Windsor, on Hudson Hiver. From thence he moved to JSTew York, heing chosen assistant minister of Trinity Church, and catechist ; in which station he continued several years, before his appointment as the mission- ary of Staten Island, in 1747, where he remained ever since. Sincere and steady in friendship, charitable to the distress- ed, and hospitable to all, he was deservedly esteemed and re- spected. Amidst the confusions of the present rebellion, his loyalty was unshaken ; his attachment to the Constitution, in church and state, unalterably firm. Tlie great increase of his congregations, during his incumbency for thirty years at Staten Island, was an evidence of the assiduity with which he discharged the duties of his office ; and the tears which were plentifully shed over his remains at the grave, by the members of his flock, were a sure indication that they considered them- selves as having lost, in him, a common father and friend.' Royal American Regiment, was ordered to talie the command of Grant's corps. He has acquired great honor, being the first that entered Fort Montgomery, after losing one officer and eight privates. Sir Henry Clinton, ivho himself narrowly escaped the enemy's grape-shot, in consideration of his very gallant behavior, has appointed him Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the New York Yolunteers, in the room of the brave Major Grant. The gallant Count Gabrouski,* lately ar- rived from England, has died of his wounds. Amongst the prisoners is Colonel Wiliiam Allison, of the Drowned Lands, whose son was killed in the fort. This person is a member of the provincial congress for the State (as it is termed) of iNew York. Also young William Livingston, late of New York, in the profession of the law. A great part of the twelve hundred rebels, who garrisoned the forts Montgomery and Clinton, or were not killed or prisoners, made their escape, as it was very dark when the forts were taken. The forbearance and humanity shown by all the troops to the rebels after they became their conquerors, was astonish- ing; and savored of that benign temper which ever characterizes the army of Great Britain. ' Gaine's Mercury, October 11. * This was a Polish nobleman, who entered the British service as a volunteer. 610 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLrXION. [1777. October 14. — ^Yesterday, General Vanghan, liaving under liis command a large body of Britisli, who have committed Burning of varfous acts of Vandalism, in their passage up the Kingston. I^orth Eiver, landed a nnmher of men at Esopn.s, marched up to the defenceless town of Kingston, about t'wo miles from the river, and immediately set it on fire. The Cdii- flagration was general in a few minutes, and in a very short time that pleasant and wealthy town was reduced to ashes ; one house only escaped the flames. Thus by the wantonness of pciwer the third town in New York for size, elegance, and wealth, is reduced to a heap of rubbish, and the once happy inhabitants (who are chiefly of Dutch descent) obliged to solicit for shelter among strangers ; and those who lately pos- sessed elegant and convenient d'wellings, obliged to take up with such huts as they can find to defend them from the cold blasts of approaching winter. "VVe learn that the inhabitants saved the best part of their movable propei-ty ; but some lost the greatest part of their temporal all. 'Tis said the enemy took little plunder, being told that Governor Clinton Avas at hand with fifteen hundred men, but unluckily not so near as to save the town. They burnt several houses at Khynbeck Flats, and proceeded as far as Li\'ingston Manor, where they burnt a few more. Our troops are now up with them. It is hoped they will be able to put a stop to these depredations. Britain, how art thou fallen ! Ages to come will not be able to wipe away the guilt, the horrid guilt, of these and such like deeds, lately perpetrated by thee.' ' New York Packet, October 23. A Philadelphia paper gives the following notice of this expedition: — "By express from New York, we have the following intelligence : — That General Sir Henry Clinton, after his successes on the North River, had detached General "Vaughan with two thousand men towards Albany ; that at Esopus, about fifty miles this side of Albany, General Vaughan had fallen in with a very large party of rebels, and had entirely defeated them ; had taken between thirty and forty pieces of cannon, with all their stores, baggage, &c. ; that the rebels having fled to the houses at Kingston and fired upon the royal army from the windows. General Vaughan had set fire to it and laid it in ashes; that from Esopus he had proceeded on to join General Burgoyne, and in a few days we hope to hear of the two generals having formed a junction at Albany." — Pennsylvania Ledger, October 29. -'■'^''■] bueqoyne's sueeendee. 511 October 17. — Geneeal Buegoyne having been defeated in a second trial on tlie 'field at Stillwater,' and finding himself encircled withont the least chance of escape, to-day surrendered to the Americans. General Gates, in a letter to his wife, writ- ten from Albany three days after the surrender, says : — The voice of fame, ore this reaches you, Avill tell how greatly fortunate we have been in this department. Burgoyne and his Avhole army have laid down their arms, and surrendered them- selves to me and my Yankees. Thanks to the Giver of all victory for this triumphant success. I got here the night be- fore last, and the army are now encamped upon the heights to the southward of this city. Major-General Phillips, who wrote me that saucy note last year from St. John's, is now my prison- er, with Lord Petersham, Major Ackland, son of Sir Thomas, and his lady, daughter of Lord II Chester, sister to the famous Lady Susan, and about a dozen members of Parliament, Scotch lords, &c. I wrote to T. Boone, by Mr. Pluck, an engineer, whom I pennittedtopass to Canada, and who goes inmrediately from thence to England. I could not help, in a modest man- ner, putting him in mind of the fUe champetre that I three years ago told him General Burgoyne would meet with if he came to Amercia. If Old England is not by this lesson taught humility, then she is an obstinate old slut, bent upon her ruin. I long much to see you, and have therefore sent the bearer to conduct you to Albany by the way of Beading, where you will be received and entertained by Mrs. Potts. Before you leave Beading, you must take advice whether to come by Nazareth or Bethlehem ; after that your road up the country by Van Camp's, through the Minnisinks, to Hurley and Esopns, is plain, and well known to the bearer. Don't let Bob's zeal to get to papa, hurry you faster than, considering the length of your journey, you ought to come. If you come by Bethlehem, there is a Mr. Oakley, who holds an office under Miffiin, ^^'ho Avill provide you with every thing you may have occasion for, and will introduce you to Madame Langton, and the bishop, and Mrs. Hsley, &c. Perhaps you may get ruffles to your apron ; if they are not finished I desire you will bespeak them. ' On the Tth of October. 612 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLUTIOK. [1777. Tell my clear Bob not to be too elated at tliis great good fortune of his father. He and I have seen days adverse, as well as prosperous. Let us through life endeavor to bear both M'itli an equal naind. General Burgoyne has promised me to deliver any letters I please to commit to his care in Eng- land. I think to send a few to some principal men there. Perha^JS they may have a good eiFect for both countries. I would fain have the mother reconciled to her child, and con- sent, since she is big enough to be married, to let her rule and govern her own house. I hope Lady Harriet Acldand will be here when you ar- rive. She is the most amiable, delicate little piece of quality you ever beheld. Her husband is one of the prettiest fellows I have seen, learned, sensible, and an Englishman to all intents and purposes ; has been a most confounded Tory, but I hope to make him as good a Whig as myself before he and I separate. You must expect bad and cold days up the journey, therefore prepare against it. ' I thank God I am pretty well ; have had a bad cold, with loss of appetite from being continually har- assed with so much business ; but I hope to find some rest in winter and much comfort in yours and Bob's company. I will try to get some good tea for you from some of the English of- ficers. Accept my tenderest wishes for your health and safety, and assure my dear Bob how much I am interested in his wel- fare. Heaven grant us a happy meeting.' OcTOEEE 18. — Ok the morning of the seventh instant. Gen- eral Burgoyne invited General Frazer to breakfast with him. Anecfiote of ^^ ^^^'^ coursc of their conversation, Frazer told Burgoyne, General Burgoyne that he expected in a day or two to be in Albany. " Hold," said General Burgoyne, " the owners of the land (meaning the militia) are come out against ' Gates Papers, New York Historical Society. Eiyington, in his paper of November 1, says: — "As no accounts, properly authenticated, of the situation of the northern army, have yet been brought to New York, the printer entreats the public to excuse his inserting any of the reports that have been circulated, until he may be warranted by intelligence derived immediately from General Bur- goyne." ■^-^r3^"bTA.H.Rit(ii= n.-z^^j^i^^c- I''"'"''-] EEJOICINGS AT CAMBEIDGE. 513 US. We cannot proceed any farther so fast as we have done." The same day the second battle at Stillwater was fought, in which the militia acquitted themselves like veterans, and the whole British army was routed.' The consequence of this de- feat is the glorious Convention of Saratoga, which was signed yesterday. A French officer who has served under General Gates during the campaign, says : " When dere be no more militia in dis country, I be one very great Tory." "' October 23. — Last night, was received at Cambridge, in Massachusetts, a confirmation of the important intelligence, that the British Lieutenant-General, Burgoyne, Eejoioin™ at with upwards of five thousand men at his com- Cambridge. mand, submitted themselves prisoners of war to the Honorable Major-General Gates, commander of the American army in the northern department. In consequence of which the colleges were beautifully illuminated ; and to-night the town of Cam- bridge was universally illuminated in high taste and* elegance. A bonfire was made upon the common, where were fired a number of cannon, answered by musketry from the troops sta- tioned in Cambridge, in honor to General Gates. A number of principal gentlemen, both of the town and army, spent an agreeable evening in company, where the fol- lowing toasts were drank, with the discharge of cannon : 1. The brave Major-General Gates, who with eff'ect said to the vaunting General Burgoyne, " Hitherto shalt thou come and no farther." 2. General Washington, and his army. 3. May every minion general intruding upon American rights and in- nocence, meet with the fate of Burgoyne. 4. May tyrant princes submit to superior American souls. 5. May the wis- dom of Congress ever be superior to the policy of Britain. 6. Complete establishment to American independence. T. May American bravery and honesty rise superior to Britannic arti- fice and fraud. 8. May generous harmony forever firmly unite the States of America. 9. Freedom to the whole world. ' In this action General Frazer was killed. ^ Pennsylvania Packet, September 5, ITYS. YOL I.— 33 514 DIAEY OF THE EEVOLTJTION. [1777. The rejoicings were introduced by tlie discliarge of thirteen cannon, in honor to the thirteen United States of America.' Yesteeday morning, about fifteen hundred Plessians, under the command of Count Donop, came down from Philadelphia Attack on ^^ ^^^ Banli' in order to take the fort, under the Bed Bank, command of Colonel Greene, belonging to lihode Island. About four o'clock in the afternoon the attack was begun by a most furious cannonade, which held a quarter of an hour; the Hessians then rushed on to storm the fort, and got into the old part of the works, when they thought it was all their own, and gave three cheers, but were soon obliged to retreat out of it in the utmost hurry. Tlie galleys at the same time kept up a constant fire on them, which did great execution ; and in about three-quarters of an hour's attack they ran off with the greatest precipitation, leaving behind them, dead, about ninety persons. Among them was a lieutenant- colonel and four captains ; and from a good authority we are assured that the enemy buried one colonel and twenty-one pri- vates between the fort and Cooper's Ferry, and carried over not less than two hundred wounded. Tlie enemy left on the field, wounded. Count Donop,' his brigade-major, a lieutenant, and about eighty privates; the brigade-major and lieutenant are permitted to go into Philadelphia, and most of the privates have died of their wounds. While the enemy was attacking the fort, the Augusta, of sixty -four guns, the Poebuck, of forty -four, two frigates of thir- ty-two, the Merlin of eighteen, and their large galleys came through the lower chevaux-de-frize, and kept up a great firing, in order to draAv oif the galleys from giving any assistance to the fort; but they were mistaken. The Augusta, in going down in the evening got aground. Early this morning all the galleys and floating batteries began the attack, when an inces- sant fire was kept up on both sides ; so that the vej-y elements Boston Gazette, and TJpcott, v. 83. Situated at the junction of the Delaware and Schuylkill Elvers. He died soon after the action. 1Y77.] ELEEET HEGEMAN. 515 seemed to be on fire. At eleven o'clock tlie Augusta was set on fire, and at twelve slie blew up with an astonishing blast. One of our people was killed in a galley by the fall of a piece of timber, and we were so near that some of our powder-homs took fire and blew up. The engagement still continued ; but the Eoebuck fell lower down, and the Merlin, of eighteen guns, ran aground, and at three o'clock the enemy set fire to her, when the engagement ceased, the enemy falling still lower down. Thus ended two glorious days. The commodore with his boats went on board the wrecks, and took out much plun- der, and brought off two of their cannon, one an eighteen, the other a twenty-four pounder.' The two following advertisements lately appeared, one in the Carolina, and the other in the Virginia newspaper, which show the humanity and great consistency of conduct of the sons of freedom, as the Americans are pleased, in several of their writings, to style themselves : — " Kan away, the tenth instant, a lusty negro, named Bob ; the said fellow is outlawed, and I will give ten pounds for his head, severed from his body, and forty shillings if brought alive." The second advertisement breathes the same infernal spirit, viz. : — " Ean away from the subscriber, a negro fellow named Zeb, aged thirty-six ; as he is outlawed, I will pay twenty pounds currency, to any person who shall produce his head, severed from his body, and five pounds if brought home alive." ' By the most cruel treatment, they make these poor people desperate, and fly from misery ; then they are proclaimed, and exposed to be murdered for a reward. The real friends to lib- erty should be consistent in all their proceedings ! ' This day departed this life, at ISTew Lots, in the township of Flatbush, in King's county. Long Island, Elbert Hegeman, Esq., in the ninety-first year of his age. Few men -"° 1 ' J ^ o Elbert Hegeman. ever possessed a more humane, benevolent, and compassionate heart ; he was no less remarkable for his piety ' New Jersey Gazette, December 5. " Signed John Mosely. ^ Kivington's Gazette, October 25. 516 DIAEY OF THE EETOLUTIOX. [1777. tlian his benevolence, and exiiibited to us a remarkable instance of his attention to the divine laws of his Creator, having read the Eiblc through no less than three hundred and sixty-five times.' October 28. — Br a gentleman from Baltimore, we learn that last week 2. feu dc joie was celebrated there, on account of BurEoyne's ^^^ rebel army having retaken possession of Pliil- Defeat. adclpliia, but that, nevertheless, the inhabitants woiild not believe it, nor would the militia, as was expected, turn out in consequence of it. Indeed, for some weeks past, the rebel army in the comitry round here have been very busy in celebrating \\\