ing for Sullivan's approach, at Newtown, where they had constructed strong breast works. The general lived well as he marched, having taken a number of casks of tongues with him, beside live cattle to supply him with fresh provision. He kept a most extravagant table, and entertained all the officers, upon the plea of securing his influence among them, while he was making extremely free, in their presence, with the characters of the Congress and the Board of War. He carried six light field-pieces and two howitzers along with him; and would have the morning and evening gun fired constantly. At length he arrived [August 29.] at Newtown; and vaunted in the morning what great things he would do with and against the Indians. He began to engage them, by firing his field-pieces at their breast works; which he continued while he detached general Poor to the right, round the mountain, to fall upon their left flank. Poor had to march a mile and a half in full view of the Indians and their associates, who penetrated his design. They waited, however, for his approach: but observing (that when his firing announced his being engaged) other movements were made toward them, they quitted their works, and betook themselves to a sudden and precipitate flight. To the left of Sullivan there was a river, and a plain on the right side of it, along which, had a force been sent early, they could have marched round undiscovered, and have fallen in nearly upon the centre of the Indians, by the time Poor came upon their left flank. A number of riflemen desired to take that route, but were not permitted. At night Sullivan was not a little mortified upon finding how completely the enemy had escaped. He had 7 men killed and 14 wounded in the course of the day. The army marched on the 31st for Catherine's town, lying on the Seneca lake. They had to traverse a swamp several miles long; to pass through dangerous defiles, with steep hills on each side; and to ford a river, emptying itself into the lake, considerably broad in many places, with a Strong current, and up to the middle of the men; its course was so serpentine, that they had to pass through it seven or eight times. Sullivan was advised not to enter the swamp till the next day, but in vain. Clinton who brought up the rear, was sufficiently fatigued by the time he reached the entrance, and being assured, that it would kill the horses and cattle to proceed, desisted from marching forward.

Notwithstanding Sullivan kept out flanking parties as he advanced, such was the steepness of the hills the narrowness

and

and difficulty of the defiles, that twenty or thirty Indians might have thrown his troops into the utmost confusion. The night was so exceeding dark, that the men could see but a little way before them. They were wearied out, scattered and broken, lost all their spirits, lay down here and there, and wished to die. Had a body of the enemy fallen on them in this situation, it might have produced the most fatal consequences. Now was the general's mind racked and tortured. It was twelve at night before his troops reached the town. The In dian scouts had watched them while it was light, but had no thought of their continuing to march in so dark a night and to so late an hour. Before they got to the first house there was a most dangerous defile, so formed by nature, that had it been possessed by the five and twenty Indians, who were in the town roasting corn, they might have shot down, while ammunition lasted, what Americans they pleased, when within reach of their guns and the sight of their eyes, without risking their own persons. When the troops had safely finished their march Suillivan declared, he would not have such another night for all his command. The men were obliged to halt all the next day to recruit; and suffered more in the preceding, than they would have done in a month's regular march,

General Sullivan continued in the Indian country, spreading desolation and destruction among the towns and plantations of the enemy, without sparing the orchards of apple and peach-trees, which had been raised from pips and stones, and in some places properly planted by the advice of the missionary who had lived among them. The heat of the climate, and richness of the soil, will raise good fruit in a few years from kernals that are produced by suitable trees. Several officers thought it a degradation of the army to be employed in destroyed apple and peach-trees, when the very Indians in their excursions spared them, and wished the general to retract his orders for it. He was told that the trees would in a little time, be worth to the continent at least many thousand hard dollars. He continued relentless, and said "The Indians shall see, that there is malice enough in our hearts to destroy every thing that contributes toward their support." Some of the officers, however, who were sent out with parties to lay waste the Indian territory, would see no apple or peach-trees; so that they were left to blossom and bear, for the refreshment of man or beast, friend or foe, that might chance to pass that way. Thus did General Hand and Colonel Durbin do honor to their own cha

racters.

1

racters. By the middle of October general Sullivan reached Easton in Pennsylvania on his return to join the main army. He brought back only 300 horses out of the 1400 he took with him. During this expedition, there were eleven Indians kilJed, two old squaws, a negro, and a white man taken;- -18 towns* destroyed, and 150,000 bushels of corn, beside apple and peach-trees. By groundless complaints, he displeased the commander in chief, and gave great umbrage to the board of war and the quarter-master-general. The pompous account of his military peregrination, which he sent to congress, made him the laugh of the officers in the army remaining under general Washington; one declared it was a little mischieyous to print the whole account; another when he had read of elegant Indian houses, was ready to question, from the abuse of the epithet, whether he understood the true meaning of the word. He soon felt himself so dissatisfied, that on the 9th of November he begged leave of congress to resign, upon the plea of bad health; they on the last of the month, accepted his resignation.

The carrying on of this expedition did not, however, prevent the offensive operations of the Indians and their associ ates. On the 23d of July, a party of 60 Indians, and 27 white men under Joseph Brandt, fell upon the Minisink settlements and burnt 10 houses, 12 barns, a fort and two mills, killed and carried off several people with considerable plunder. The mi litia from Goshen and parts adjacent, to the amount of 149, collected, and pursued them but without sufficient caution and necessaries, so that they were surprised and totally defeated; no more than 30 returned. Many were killed, a number made prisoners; the rest dispersed and were missing long after the action. Five days after, captain M'Donald, at the head of 250 men, a third British, the rest Indians, took Freland's fort, on the west branch of the Susquehanna; in which were 30 men, and 50 women and children; the captain consented that the last should be set at liberty, but the men were made prisoners of war. The party, on their way to it, had burnt houses and mills, had killed and captivated several of the inhabitants. On

*Sullivan in his account says 40; but if a few old houfes which had heen deserted for feveral years, were met with and burnt, they were put down for a town. Stables and wood-hovels, and lodges in the field, when the Indians were called to work there, were all reckoned as houfes

See the Remembrancer, vol. ix. p. 158.

the

the other side, General Williamson, with Colonel Pickens, entered the Indian country about the 22d of August, burnt and destroyed the corn of eight towns, amounting to more than 50,000 bushels. He would hearken to no proposals from the Indians, nor accept of their friendship, but insisted on their removing immediately, with their remaining property, into the settled towns of the creeks, and residing among their countrymen, to which they agreed. Colonel Broadhead also engaged in a successful expedition against the Mingo and Munsey Indians, and the Senecas on the Allegany-river. He left Pittsburg August the 11th, with 605 rank and file, including militia and volunteers, and did not return till the 14th of September. They went about 200 miles from the fort, destroyed a number of tows, and cornfields to the amount of 500 acres, and made a great deal of plunder in skins and other articles.

The active part which the Spaniards have now taken in the present contest, must issue in favor of the American States. The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, Don Bernado de Galvez, has acknowledged his being apprized of the commencement of hostilities between the courts of Madrid and London, on the 9th of August. The easiest way of accounting for this extraordinary circumstance, considering that the Spanish manifesto was not delivered till the 16th of June, may be by supposing that the Spanish admiral had orders immediately upon his joining Count d'Orvilliers, to dispatch a vessel to inform the Spanish governors in America, that hostilities were then commencing and that the said vessel had so good a passage as to admit of Don Calvez receiving the dispatches on the 9th of August within forty-six days after the junction of the combined fleet. The Governor proceeded to collect the whole force of his province at New-Orleans, [August 19th.] and then publicly recognized the independency of the American States by beat of drum. Every thing being in readiness for the purpose, he immediately marched against the British settlements on the Missisippi. The whole force, British and German, stationed for their protection, did not amount to 500 men: and had no other cover than a newly constructed fort, or rather field re-* doubt. Here, however, Lieutenant Colonel Dickson stood a siege of nine days, and then obtained conditions: honourable to the garrison, [September 11.] and favourable to the inhabitants. Nothing could exceed the good faith with which the Spanish Governor observed the prescribed conditions; nor the humanity and kindness with which he treated his prisoners, A Spanish

A Spanish gentleman, Don Juan de Miraillies, has resided at Philadelphia for some considerable time: he appears to be enpowered by the court of Madrid to act as their agent, and transacts his business with Congress through the medium of the French Ambassador. Being thus led to mention Congress, let us quit the operations of the field to the determinations of the grand council of the American States.

Congress having at length concluded upon an ultimatum, after much deliberation and debate, [Aug. 14.] they agreed upon instructions to the commissioner to be appointed to negociate a treaty of peace with Great-Britain, and to the minister plenipo. tentiary at the court of France. They pointed out to the first the boundaries he was to insist upon, and further said-" As the great object of the present defensive war, on the part of the allies, is to establish the independency of the United States, and às any treaty whereby this end cannot be obtained must be onJy ostensible and illusory, you are therefore to make it a preliminary article to any negociation, that Great-Britain shall agree to treat with the United States as sovereign, free and independent-You shall take special care also, that the independence of the said states be effectually assured and confirmed by the treaty or treaties of peace, according to the form and effect of the treaty of alliance with his Most Christian Majesty; and you shall not agree to such treaty or treaties, unless the same be thereby assured and confirmed :-Although it is of the ut most importance to the peace and commerce of the United States, that Canada and Nova-Scotia should be ceded, and more particularly that their equal common right to the fisheries should be guaranteed to them, yet, a desire of terminating the war hath induced us not to make the acquisition of these objects an ultimatum on the present occasion:-You are empowered to agree to a cessation of hostilities during the negociation, provided our ally shall consent to the same, and provided it shall be stipulated that all the forces of the enemy shall be immediately withdrawn from the United States :-In all other matters not above-mentioned, you are to govern yourself by the alliance between his Most Christian Majesty and those states, by the advice of our allies, by your knowledge of our interests, and by your own discretion, in which we repose the fullest confidence."

To Dr. Franklin the congress wrote-" Sir,-Having determined that we would not insist on a direct acknowledgment by Great-Britain of our rights in the fisheries, this important

matter