would command the rear; and if an action, the van. When the council was held, these reasons, among others, were mentioned for removing the army to New-York, viz.-"The heavy rains which have fallen two days and nights, with but little intermission, have injured the arms and spoiled a great part of the ammunition, and the soldiers, being without cover and obliged to lie in their lines,, are worn out."- "From the time the enemy moved from Flatbush, several large ships have attempted to get up, as sup posed, into the East-River, to cut off our communication, by which the whole army would be destroyed, but the wind being north-east, they have not been able to effect it.": -The troops are become dispirited by their incessant duty and watching. It was unanimously agreed to quit. Col. Glover, who belonged to Marblehead, was called upon with the whole of his, regiment fit for duty, to take the command of the vessels and flat-bottomed boats. Most of the men were formerly employed' in the fishery, and so peculiarly well qualified for the service. The colonel went over himself from New-York, to give directions; and about seven o'clock at night, officers and men went to work with a spirit and resolution peculiar to that corps. The embarkation of the troops was committed to gen. M'Dougall.. He was upon the spot at Brooklye ferry, at eight o'clock, the hour fixed for the commencement of this important movement.. To his great mortification he found that the militia had not yet embarked. The getting them over protracted the time till between ten and eleven o'clock. Meanwhile, about nine, the tide of ebb made, and the wind blew strong at north-east, which adding to the rapidity of the tide, rendered it impossible to effect the retreat in the course of the night, with only that number of row boats which they could command, and the state of the wind and tide put it out of the power of col. Glover's men to make any use of the sail boats. Gen. M'Dougall sent colonel Grayson, one of the commander in chief's aids, to report to his excellency their embarrassed situation; and gave it as his opinion, that the retreat was impracticable that night. The colonel returned soon after, not being able to find the commander in chief, on which the general went on with the embarkation, un-der all these discouragements. But about eleven the wind died away, and soon after sprung up at south-west, and blew fresh, which rendered the sail boats of use, and at the same time made the passage from the island to the city, direct, easy and expeditious. Providence further interposed in favor of the re-. treating army, by sending a thick fog about two o'clock in the morning [Aug. 30.] which hung over Long-Island, while on New-York side- it was clear. During the embarkation, colonci

Scammell

Scammell was sent to gen. Mifflin with orders for a particular regiment to march down to the ferry; the colonel mistook the or ders, and instead of a regiment understood the whole covering party, and delivered them accordingly. On that gen. Mifflin quitted the lines, and came down to the place of embarkation, tọ the great astonishment of gen. Washington, who with surprise en quired into the reason of such conduct. The mistake being cleared up, gen. Mifflin returned to the lines, after they had been aban doned about three-quarters of an hour, without its being discovered by the enemy, because of the fog. The fog and wind continued to favor the retreat, till the whole army, 9000 in number, with all the field artillery, such heavy ordnance as was of most value, ammunition, provision, cattle, horses, carts, &c. were safe over. The water was so remarkably smooth as to admit of the row boats being loaded within a few inches of the gunwale. Gen. Washington, though often entreated, would not leave the island till Mifflin, with his covering party, left the lines, at about six o'clock. The enemy were so nigh that they were heard at work with their pick-axes and shovels. In about half an hour after the lines were finally abandoned, the fog cleared off, and the British were seen taking possession of the American works. Four boats were on the river, three half-way over, full of troops; the fourth, within reach of the enemy's fire upon the shore, was compelled to return; she had only three men in her, who tarried behind to plunder. The river is a mile or more across; and yet the retreat was effected in less than thirteen hours, a great part of which time it rained hard.

Had it not been for the providential shifting of the wind, not more than half the army could possibly have crossed, and the remainder, with a number of general officers, and all the heavy ordnance at least, must inevitably have fallen into the enemy's hand. Had it not been also for that heavenly messenger, the fog, to cover tho first desertion of the lines, and the several proceedings of the Americans after day-break, they must have sustained considerable losses. The fog resembled a thick smail mist, so that you could see but a little way before you. It was very unusual also to have a fog at that time of the year. My informer, a citizen of New-York, could not recollect his hay-" ing known any at that season, within the space of twenty or thirty years.

Governor's-Island, on which were two regiments, was evacuated likewise, with the loss of only one man's arm, by a cannon shot from the ships. The Americans finished the removal of their military stores from thence [Sept. 2.] and took every thing

3

thing off but a few pieces of cannon, notwithstanding the ships of war lay within a quarter of a mile of some part of it.*

Both our

Since the affair of Long-Island, endeavors have been used to keep up the spirits of the people, by puffing accounts of the extraordinary bravery of the troops, and the destruction they made of the enemy. But that matters are not very promising, appears from a letter of gen. Mercer, who commands the flying camp, -dated September the 4th, wherein he writes, "Gen. Washington has not, so far as I have seen, 5000 men to be depended on for the service of a campaign, and I have not 1000. arinies are composed of raw militia, perpetually fluctuating between the camp and their farms; poorly armed, and still worse disciplined. These are not a match for, were their numbers equal to, veteran troops, well fitted and urged on by able officers. Nunibers and discipline must prevail at last. Giving soldiers, or even the lower orders of mankind, the choice of officers, will for ever mar the discipline of armies." The wretched choice of officers in the Massachusetts, is complained of in a letter of this purport to a gentleman of that state-" I can account for the strange military appointments in your state, on no other principle, than that your people mean to guard against the danger of an army, by making it contemptible. Without officers we shall never have soldiers. They are sinking the state in the eyes of the whole continent. At the end of a campaign we find butchers, bakers, sutlers, and a large tribe of contractors, with fortunes made at the public expence, while a young officer of merit, on twenty-six dollars a month, is a beggar. A man of honor and spirit cannot herd with company unworthy of him; yet there is no one beneath a field officer, whose pay gives him a right to company above a shoe-black. The great number of southern officers now in York, who are but little used to the equality which prevails in New-England, are continually resenting the littleness of their pay." A third gentleman tells a member of congress-"I cannot agree with you on the frequent calling out of the militia. They are uneasy, restless, and discontented. They leave their business in a most perplexing situation when called out suddenly, and must be very great sufferers in their private property. Their minds are always at home, in their shops, or on their farms. This renders them low spirited; a dejection fast seizes them; sickness and death are the consequences. The only purpose a militia can serve, under present

The particulars of the retreat are taken from Dr. Rodgers's thankf giving fermon; from col. Glover's letters, and from the information_of perfons who were present.

regulations,

regulations, is, on some sudden invasion, to assemble and repel the enemy, and return to their business again."

The account will shock your humanity; and yet you must be told, that since the conquest of Long-Island, the American captives, in several instances, were tied up to be fired at by the royal troops, openly and without censure.*

You will not wish a detention of this letter, that the intelligence from New-York may be brought down to a later period, it shall therefore be closed with an account of the troops to the northward, and of some proceedings in the Massachusetts.

The return of the troops serving in Canada, under gen. Sullivan, was 7006. When gen. Gates first joined them, the smallpox raged; not à cannot was mounted; the vessels were lumbered with stores; the men were dispirited with defeat and fatigue; in short, the whole was a scene variegated with every distress and disappointment which can conspire to ruin an army. Gen. Sullivan left it the 12th of July; when he first joined it in Canada, it was torn to pieces by sickness and unaccountable occurrences; its present security is thought to be owing to him; and therefore the field officers addressed him when leaving them; and said, "It is to you, Sir, the public are indebted for the preservation of their property in Canada. It is to you we owe our safety thus far. Your humanity will call forth the silent tear and grateful ejaculation of the sick; your universal impartiality will force the applause of the wearied soldier."

With the losses sustained at Quebec, Three Rivers, the Cedars, the consequent retreat from Canada, together with the deaths and desertions which have happened since the first of April, the northern army has been diminished upward of 5000, exclusive of 3000 sick. Till these were separated, and sent off to Fort. George, at the head of Lake George, where the general hospital has been established, the camp itself had the appearance of a general hospital rather than an army. The small-pox had infected every thing belonging to it, the cloths, the blankets, the air, the very ground the men walked on. Gen. Gates exerted all his powers to prevent this pestilence from fixing at Skeensborough, to which place the militia ordered to reinforce him, were directed to repair. The army is now at CrownPoint, for a council of general officers unanimously determined to retire from thence, and take post at the strong ground opposite to the east point of Tyconderoga. By the end of the month

* See M'Fingal, a modern Epic Poem, in four cantos, p. 82, Printed at Hartford, in Connecticut, 1782. The Author is known to be Mr. John Trumbull, the American Butler for wit and humor, Q

VOL. II.

affairs

affairs began to wear a less gloomy aspect. The fleet upon Lake Champlain increased rapidly. The militia began to come to Skeensborough. On the 6th of August the general was joined by 600 from New-Hampshire; but many, both officers and soldiers, were detained on their march by inoculating, contrary to orders, through fear of being infected with the small-pox in the natural way. While the army was in Canada, regularity was dispensed with, or neglected; and the ruin of affairs there was ascribed by some members of congress to the want of regular returns. Who was general, who quarter-master, who pay-master, who commissary, were important secrets, which all their penetration was never able to discover. Gates has sent them a return, the most systematical they have seen. The utmost exertions are applied in building galleys and gondolas, to continue a naval superiority upon the lake, whereby to prevent Sir Guy Carleton's penetrating into the United States by way of Ty. The post opposite to it, occupied by the army, has been called Mount Independence, since the declaration of independence reached them; for that was received with the usual applause.

[Sept. 2.] The Massachusette house of representatives have, in an address to congress, requested that they would form a con federation. [Sept. 14.] They have also chosen gen. Lincoln to command the militia ordered to New-York. An attempt which is now making, to fix by an act of the general court, the price of various articles, may be well intended by the generality. The characters of many who are for the measure, are too fair to admit the suspicion of a bad intention. But the measure will at length prove ineffectual for the good meant to be answered by it, and be productive of great evil. The most conscientious and patriotic will be injured, while the crafty and unprincipled make their advantage of it. Prices of provision, and divers other articles, like water, will find their own level; and be high or low, according to the quantity of stock in hand, and the demand that there is for them. But warm theorists will not be easily convinced by any other arguments than those which result from experiments.

LET