The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1777-09-22 00:00:00, page 2

Cheder, nth Sept. 12 o'clock at Night.
S I R,
Am sorry to inform you that in this days
engagement we have been obliged to
flewe the enemy makers of the field. Un
fortunately the intelligence received of the
^enemy's advancing up the Brandywine and
|croffing at a ford abmt fix mles above us,
foas uncertain and contradictory, notwith
&ndirg ail my pains to get the best. This
[prevented my making a ddpotition adequate
^0 the force wuh which the enemy attacked
sos on our right ; in consequence of which the
groups find engaged were obliged to retire
foefore they could be reinforced. In the midst
) d the attack on the right, that body of the
fenerny which remained on the other fide of
^Chad's tod, ciofEd it, and attacked the
id vfion then under the command of General
§ vVayoe, and the light troops under General
^Maxwell, who a'ter a tevece confl ft also re
scued. TAemlitia under the command of
foe^eral Armstrong, being polled at a ford
iocut two miles below Chads, had no op
^jonumiy of engaging; but the' we fought
^ de i many diadvantages, and wee from
foe the czufes ab^ve mentioned, obliged
I a retire ; yet cur loft ct men is net, I<m
~e:fc>ded, ver/ corfr'erable: I beleve
Inuch Lets than the enemy. We have aifo
^^ ynr 8 n f ^ n^r^rv „,-c^./r^ ^fh p
I HA .< 1 FOX D, S^c^u^r 22.
The fcilrvingletters were received in to^n
lalt week by Expefs.
[Chad's F^d, S@. 11,177 j,5 o'Clock P. M.
S I R,
tf/HEN I bad the honor of addressing
^ you this morning, I mentioned that
the enemy were advancing, and' had began
a cannonade; I would now beg leave to in
form you, that they have kept up a brisk
ifire from their artillery ever since. Their ad
vanced party was attacked by our light
troops under General Maxwell, who cros
sed the, Brandywine for that purpose, and
fad polled his men on some high grounds
on each fide the road; the fire from our
people was not of long duration as the ene
|my prefied on in force, but was very fe
!vere, what loss the enemy sustained cannot
be ascertained with precision; but from
four filiation and brilknefs of attack, it is
|the gene al opinion, particularly of thole
[who were engaged, that they had at least
goo men killed and wounded ; our damage
Its not exactly known, but from the belt ac
counts we have been able to obtain, it does
not exceed 50 in the whole. After this
affair the enemy halted upon the heights,
inhere they have remained ever since, except
a de r achment of them which filed off about
eleven o'clock from their left, and which
has since passed B andywine at Jones Ford,
between five and fix miles above Chads; the
amount of it is not known, accounts ref
pe&ing it being various ; some make it two
for three thousand strong, and others more.
Generals Sullivan, Stirling and Stevens, with
lheir divifi ns are gone in pursuit, and to
knack it, if they can with any profpe& of
luccefs. There has been a feathering loose
fire between our parties on each fide of the
brook, since the action in the morning,
jwhich just now became warm, when Gen.
Maxwell pushed over with his corps, and
Irove them from their ground with the loss
pf thirty men left dead on the spot, among
hem a captain of the 49h, and a number
of intrenching tools with which they were
throwing up a battery. At half after 4o'
[clock the enemy attacked Gen. Sullivan, at
khe ford and above this, and the action has
[been very violent ever since —it still continues
!—A very seve r e cannonade has began here
^oo, and I suppose we (hall have a hot even-
Ing; I hope it will be a happy one.
I have rhe honor to be, in great haste, Sir,
jyour most obedient humble servant,
Robert H. Harrison.
Another such a brush, notwithstanding we
loft the ground, would, by still reducing the
enemy, put them in a condition to be after
wards totally defeated.
Could our whole army have come up to
the attack at one time, the consequences had
probably been otherwise; but our having
different parts of the Bradywine creek to
guard, and the uncertainty which road to
Philadelphia, the enemy would attempt to
take, naturally afforded them an opportunity
of passing with their main body at a place
where only a part of ours could be polled ;
for it must strike every thinking man with
conviction, that it requires a much greater
force to oppose an enemy in fcveral places,
than is fufficient to defeat them in any one
place.
Men who are sincere in defending their
freedom, will always feel concern at every
<ircumftance which seems to make against
them ; it is the natural and honed conse
quence of all affectionate attachments, and
the want of it is a vice. But the dejection
lads only fora moment ; they soon rife out
of it with additional vigor § the glow of hope
The Marquis La Fayette was wounded
in the leg, and General Woodford in the
hand; divers other officers were wrunded,
and feme flan, but the numbers of either
cahnot now be afeertained.
I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient
humble servant.
G. WASHINGTON.
P, S, It has not been in my power to
fend you earlier intelligence ; the present
being the firft leifwe moment I have bad
since the action.
Published by order of Congress,
CHARLES THOMSON, Sec.
the AMERICAN CRISIS, [No. 4.]
rfl HOSE who expert to reap the blessings
J of freedom, must, like men, undergo
the fatigues of Supporting it. ' The event
of yesterday is one of those kind alarms
which i$ just fufficient to rouse us to duty,
without being of consequence enough to de
press our fortitude. It is not a field of a
few acres of ground, but a cause that we are
defending, and whether we defeat the ene
my in one battle, or by degrees, the conse
quence will be the fame.
Look back at the events of last winter and
the present year, there you will find that the
enemy's successes have always contributed to
reduce them. What they have gained in
ground, they paid so dearly for in numbers,
that their victories have in the end amount
ed to defeats, We have always been mas
ters at the last push, and always shall while
we do our duty. Howe has been once on
the banks of the Delaware, and from thence
driven back with loss and disgrace; and why
not be again driven from the Schuylkill ?
His condition and ours are very different.
He has every body to fight, we have only
his one army to cope with, and which wastes
away at every engagement ; we can not only
reinforce, but can redouble our numbers;
he is cut off from all supplies, and must soo
ner or later inevitably fall into our hands.
Shall a band of ten or twelve thousand
robbers, who are this day fifteen hundred or
two thousand men lels in strength than they
were yesterday, conquer America, or subdue
even a single state? The thing cannot be,
unless we fit down and fuffer them to do it..
belt i.tonnaiio 1 c^n ui.p b^ai —
The baggage having been previously moved
eff, is all feture, saving the men's blankets,
which being at their backs, many of them
doubtless were loft.
I have directed all the troops to assemble
behind Chefler, where they are now arrang
ing for th : s night. Nothwitbft'anding tie
misfortune of the day, I am happy to 6. d
the troops in good spirits, and I hope ano
ther time we shall cbmpenfate for the 1c ffes
now fufta ; ned.
Our army must undoubtedly feel fatigu |
and want a reinforcement of rest, thoug |
not of valour. Our own interest and hap
pinefs call upon us to give them every sup w
port in our power, and make the burden o
the day, on which the fafety of this city de|
pends, light as poflible. Remember, genl
tiemen, that we have forces both to th I
northward and southward of Philadelpia.^
and if the enemy be but ftopt till those cai|
arrive, this city will be saved, and the en< |
my finally routed. You have too muc 1 &
at stake to hesitate. You ought not to thin! |
an hour upon the matter, but to spring t< |
action at once. Other states have been in
vaded, have likewise driven off the invader ;
Now our time and turn is come, and per |
haps the finifhing stroke is reserved for us §
Vv hen we look back on the dangers we have §
been saved from, and reflect on the fuccef |
we have been blessed with, it would be fin f
ful either to be idle or dilpair.
I close this paper with a short address t<l
Gen. Howe. You, fir, are only lingering §
out the period that shall bring with it you,
defeat. You have yet scarce began upon the
war, and the farther you enter, the fafte
will your troubles thicken. What you nov^
enjoy is only a respite from ruin ; an inviF
taton to deftrudion: something that wifi
lead on to our deliverance at your expence.h
We know the cause we aie engaged in, ant£
though a pahionate fondness tor it majg
make us grieve at every injury that threaten^
it, yer, when the moment us concern is over,L
the determination to duty returns. We an[
not moved by the gloomy smile of a worth I
There are many men who will do their
duty when it is not wanted ; but a genuine
public spirit always appears most when there
is most occasion for it. Thank God ! oui
army, though fatigued, is yet intire. The
attack made by us yesterday, was under ma
ny disadvantages, naturally arising from tlb
uncertainty of knowing which rout the ene
my would take; and from that circum
fiance, the whole of our force could not be
brought up together time enough to engage
all at once Our strength is yet reserved ;
and it is evident that Howe does not think
himfelf a gainer by the affair, otherwise he
would this morning have moved down and
attacked general Walhington.
Gentlemen of the city and country, it is
in your power, by a spirited improvement of
the prelent circumstance, to turn it to a real
advantage. Howe is now weaker than be
fore, and every shot will contribute to reduce
him. You are more immediately intereftec
than any other part of the continent ; youi
all is at stake; it is not so with the genera'
cause ; you are devoted by the enemy to
plunder and deftrudlion : It is the encourage
ment which Howe, the chief of plunderers,
has promised his army. Thus circumstanced,
you may save yourselves by a manly refinanced
but you can have no hope in any other con
dud. I never yet new our brave General,
or any part of the army, officers or men, out
of heart, and I have seen them in circum
fiances a thousand times more trying tha
the present. Iris only those that are not i:
action, that feel languor and heaviness, am
the best way to rub it off is to turn out, an< I
make sure work of it.
courage and fortitude, will, in a little timc.s
supply the place of every inferior paffion,|
and kindle the whole heart into heroism.
There is amyftery in the countenance of|
some causes, which we have not always pre |
sent judgment enough to explain. It isdif-f
tressing to lee an enemy advancing into aft
country, but it is the only place in which wc|
can beat them, and in which we have always^
beaten them, whenever they made the at■
tempt. The nearer any disease approached
toa crisis, the nearer it is to a cure. Danger|
and deliverance make their advances toge |
ther, and it is only at the last push, that
or the other takes the lead.