The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1781-08-14 00:00:00, page 1

From the Maryland Gazette, dated August 2d,
1781.
To Earl CORNWALLIS, lieutenant general, &c. &c.
My Lord,
IN every finished character there is some one trait
peculiarly ornamental and Striking : the tender and
delicate Rrokes of nature in the lanofcapes of Titian,
and the sublime in the paintings of Raphael, demand
our attention and excite our applause at the firft blush.
Chastity is the leading lineament of the female portrait {
and a folfier without courage, is as outre, as the flattie
of Venus de Medicis veiled in rags. Fame has given
your lordfllip the charaßeriftic of your profeffion, and
it is sincerely to be wished, that your attachment to
truth Vas fitch, as to leave no doubts of herauthen
ticity. An eminent writer has said (with what juflice
I will not venture to determine) " That he who de
scends to a wilful falfhood forfeits every pretension
to true bra'v&y.'' If an investigation of your of
ficial letter to fir Henry Clinton, relative 0 lieutenant
colonel Tarleton's defeat on the 17th 6S January last,
detects you in a misrepresentation, and fubjeßs you
to this censure, you have only yourfelf to blame. It
is a charitable principle, to impute errors to the head,
rather than tee heart ; and T Sincerely wifa I could
adopt it with feSpeß to your lordship ; but it is im
ppfflble that pour erroneous representation of this
action could have flowed from want of information.
The loss your troops fufiained might have been easily
afeertained, by a comparison of their numbers, when
detached, with those which rejoined you at Turkey
creek. Lt us compare your accounts with the truth.
" You re appfehenfive, that 400 infantry were either
killed, wounded, of taken ; you are certain that the
loss of the cavalry was inconsiderable, and two three
pounders fell into our hands ; you fear that the co
lours of the 7th regiment Shared the fame fate." I
wish your regard to truth had been as strong as your
fears and apprehensions ; you then would not have so
far deviated from faffs ; which are, that 29 commif
foned officers were paroled,' 500 privates marched off
prisoners) and upwards of 200 privates left wounded
on the field: 10 commiffiohed officers and mor? than
100 privates were killed ; the artillery,' the music and
Colours of the whole detachment, were captured ; a
roong the prisoners there were 130 of the legion, and a
large number cf dragoon horses were taken. How
widely different your lordship's account and the truth.
" Veritas prevalebit" is an old maxim, and will be
verified in the event. ~
I am led to call your lordship's attention to the 10th
paragraph of your extraordinary letter, from a hope,
t^at a reconfiguration of it will call a blush into yous
cheek, and for a moment awake the feelings of honour
keeping in your bosom. Men of ingenuity generally
blend faffs with mifteprefentations, to render them
difficult to be detected; but your lordship, ailing with
no caution in this instance, has wove a web of falf
hood, not variegated with a shred of truth. That
lieutenant colonel Tarleton gave the waggon guard all
the assistance in burning the baggage of tne corps,
which could be expected troo fugitives, winged with
apprehensions, is a fart ; and it is equally true, that
nothing but the rapidity of the flight saved them
from the punishment they merited, by so flagrant a vio
lation of the law of arms ; but that he ever charged
and repulsed colonel Washington, is a boast without
any. foundation in truth. One would imagine, that
Tarleton's prudence would have induced him to have
prevailed on your lordfllip to suppress even the name
of that gallant young officer, as it must be engraved
on his memory in indelible characters, that with 80
cavalry, the colonel charged broke, and pursued,
those of his legion (by your accounts 300) till numbers
were killed and taken, and the rest totally dispersed ;
nor cm he have forgotten (whatever paint e recollec'
lion may give him) that Washington invited him to
a rencontre, comis et enfe, which be wifely declined,
and not glowing " with that bravery, which had so
often led his troops to victory," fought an inglorious
fafety, and took flielter amongst his men!
Though the odium you have attempted to fix on the
militia, if established, would encreafe the glory ofour
regular corps, and add to the difgnce of your troops,
whilst we have any regard for juflice or merit, we can
not admit it. It is the bed policy in your lordship to
depreciate the charafter of the armed yemnony of
America, for it is a sass established by reason and ex
perience, that a refoeftable and well regulated militia
is the fafeft palladium of the liberties of a slate.
The mili'ia, who composed at lead one half of gene
ral Morgan's force, had song been pupils in the School
of adverfiry. Deprived cf their property, banished
from their do : eflic enjoyments, and fired with the re
mem'rance of repeated injury, aggravated by repeat
ed inftilt, a noble thirst for revenge conspired with the
love of country to impel them to the field. Some of
VOL. X.l
TUESDAY, A UGUS T 14, 17%.
THE
OR, THE
GENERAL ADVERTISER.
Published every TUESDAY, THURSDAY and SATURDAY.—Price Six-Pence.
them had fled front' their farms the very morning of
the adion, after having beheld the works cf a painful
industry laid in ruins by the very men they had to
contend with; others fought within fight of their fmoak
ing dwellings. I ask your lordship, I ask any man tne
lead versed in human nature, it it is probable, nay
possible, that men thus actuated and thus circum
danced, whose property, connexions, and what is
dearer than life itfelf, hung on the fate of the day;
should shrink from a temporary danger, and realise
their defpecate expectations. Resentment supplied the
want of discipline, and gave an edge to their weapons,
which was felt and lamented by your troops. Them
bravery and moderation on tbis occasion will adorn the
historic page, when the conduct of their enemies shall
be-fotgot, or remembered with detestation. Your of
ficers, my lord, acknowledged that their orders ex
tended to exclude the miliia from- mercy.; Fortune,
or rather that Providence which protest's the votaries
of a virtuous cause, disappointed their horrid defig^,
^nd put them into the power of the very men they had
devoted to deliberate massacre. What was the conduX
of the mil tia ? Tney forgot the enemy in the prisoner,
and humanity gave a luftre to their viflory, more
splendid than ever graced a British triumph !'
What was the conduct of the American regulars ?
They fought against a corps, whose cruelty had be
come proverbial, and whose leader, a Granger to the
tender emotions of pity, and ututcred and unpolished
by feience, had been heard to uft pxpfeffions, which
a savage would blush to own ; had been heard to pro
test, " that he declared war against humanity and re
bellion; and that the expiring groans of rebels, was mu
sic to his ear." They triumphed, and were humane ;
bloodshed ceased with refinance, and the bayonet Slept
in its Scabbard. -For the truth of this I appeal to your
own officers. Many of those captured on the 17th of
January declared, with tears and bluthes, “ that the
treatment they had received both from officers and
soldiers, had impressed them with the most lively Senti
ments of gratitude and admiration, and that they
Should recommend their example to th-eir army, as a
lesson ofheroifm and humanity,highly worthy of imi
tation." This was language worthy of soldiers." It is
fincefely to be regretted, that there are so few men of
liberal Sentiments under your lordship's command ;
but it is not difficult to be accounted for ; example is
more powerful than precept, and a cruel and illiterate
general Seldom commands, for any length of time, an
enlightened corps of officers or a humane Soldiery!
A man of confeious reXitude will ever promote a free
enquiry into his conduX, and novation, however dig
nified or exalted, ought to Screen a villain from the
inquisition of truth, c? Shield his vices from public
cenfur?. , The glare of a title may dazzle fools, and
intimidate vassals, but can never influence those who
have sense to think, and Spirit to ad for themselves.
In forming their judgment of a charaXer, they flrip
it of its borrowed plumes, try it by the unerring rules
of right reason, and flamp it with its merited Signa
ture. Upon Such principles I mean to examine your
lordship's conduct, whiifl commanding a Britilh army
in the Southern dates. Should the inveftig tion cloud
your reputation, or lessen the number of your admi
rers ; Should your humanity be found as exceptiona
ble as your official veracity, and the mirrour of truth
reflea a monster, I entreat that your lordship would
not imitate some fine ladies, nho quarrel with their
limners and glasses, for not reflating charms which the
parsimony of nature had denied.
When you, my lord, moved in a Subordinate Sphere,
and was the Satellite to a Superior planet, America
viewed you through a mistaken medium ; She s“ieved
you to be a gallant, generous, and veteran soldier, and
lamented that Such talents and principles Should be
proflituted in Spreading the reign of despotism, a reign
deSruXive to freedom, religion, and the arts and Sci
ences; for every fiep a tyrant makes towards the esta
blishment of his iron sway, blasts some ofeful invention
of the human genius, and blots out Some amiable vir
tusoF the human heart. The change of your Situation
attended with the extension of your influence, Stripped
off the mask, and exhibited you in your genuine co
lours. Transplanted to a Southern hemisphere, we be
hold you a comet, dispensing death, and marking its
progress with burnings and devaftafions. The history
of your transactions in G orgia and the Car Min s is
a history of cruelty and injustice, unparalleled in tie
annals of a civilized country. Enamoured of ambiti
tion, to obtain her favours you have made Sacrifices
more inhuman than those of tne fav-ges to their fallen
warriors. To grasp a phantom, you have tr mpled
on the rights of your fellow creatures, and ftuned
your Sword with the blood of innocence. Your bless
ed administration was uShered in by a proclamation,
promising in th? mod Solemn manner free and unlimit
ed pardon, and peaceable and perfed enjoyment of
From the Martinico Gazette, June 14, 1781.
A letter of marque lately arrived at St. Christo
pher's from Europe, reports. That the court of
S.Jannes had not disapproved in any sense the arbi
trary conduct of the Eritifh commanders at the taking
of St. EiTjatia, and that it han given its approbation
to the Seizing all the effe&s there, except such as were
English property, and could be proved to be such. It
is to be presumed that this Small palliation will not
appease the clamours of the nut on, inasmuch as it can
but very little compensate the great damages it has
fuftamed All the world knows that the Fng!ifh colo
nies were more irtere fted than any other in the com
merce ofSt.Euftatia, and that it was not possible to take
away the rtench, the Dutch, and American property
without giving a. terrible blow to the English merchants!
Besides, rt is well foppofed that the ref litution of theii
particular effeßs, will be made slowly, in an unfaithful
manner, and that there may be a thousand Ways to
elude it, at lead in part. We are impatient to know
in what bght the people of England writ consider this
event, and particularly in what colours the opposition
wid pint toe ministry who giv'e such orders to the
enrom^nders.
Colonel Ogilvy, who orcafonally commanded at St.
Euftati , lately died there. We artold that the court
property to those citizens, who came in and took the
oath of allegiance to government. Deceived by your
promises, and deluded by the arts of your emiffar.es,
numbers claimed the proffered Security and protection;
Sporting with the fa redness of plighted faith, you vio
lated every engagement; instead of personal Security,
they experienced injury and inSult; instead of rewards,
they have received punishments ; those whose property
was an object worthy British avarice ,have been de
prived of it by the fubornef teftim my of thrir Oaves,
who have been encouraged to treat t eir matters with
fan inference more intolerable than death. Your lord
ship and your officers have grown rich on the Spoils
bf the widow, and the orphan; many citizens have
Suffered as common .felons by your orders, whose only
crime was, an unshaken attachment to tlieir country;
and whose fate will hand a recorded Satire against your
lordship and the tyrant you Serve, as long as virtue
Shall hf -vCea friend amongst mankind; others, without
the fit dow p r criminality, have b^en dragged from the
altars of dome flic happiness, thrown into dungeons,
and there left to linger out a [wretched exigence, em
bittered by every Species of distress, without a friendly
hand to elofe their eyes, or lay their ashes in the peace
ful grave. Cur officers and soldiers, captured in the
field of battle, fighting gallantly, have not experienc
ed a milder fate. You have not dared to expose them to
a public death, but you have taken as effeftual a mode
to rob them of life ; your pfifon Ships have been more
fatal than fcaffo'ds, and the want of bread than the
hands of executioners. Contrary to the custom of war
and the usages of nations, you have forced our Soldi
ers to enlist into your Service, by reducing them to
the melancholy alternative, either to perish with hun
ger, die under the lash, or to imbrue their hands in the
blood of their friends, relatives, countrymen, and fel
low Soldiers*. If your lordship's heart is not Reeled
to every humane sensation, the recollection of these
fads must plant daggers in your bosom, and thorns
under your pillow ! Believe me, my lord, the Shouts of
victory can never drown the voice of ah accusing con
feience, or the Smiles of royalty (often the pangs of
guilt ! The trophies of ambition are the badges of cru
elty, and a fortune accumulated at the expence of jus
tice and honour is splendid misery!
Having drawn your picture from the life, I Shall
leave your lordship to gaze on it; for though I should
wish Arnold to expiate his crimes on the rack, I should
be unwilling to view him whiifl agonized with its tor
tures!,
I am your lordship's
mod humble Servant,
An AMERICAN SOLDIER.
Annapolis, July 30, 1781.
* It is a fad, Supported by the testimony of some
of our officers, who have just come from Charleftown,
and Several inhabitants of that city, that upwards of
500 American foldie rs have been constrained by their
Sufferings to enlist in the Britilh Service, and are sent
off to the Weft-Indies ; yet retaliation Sleeps, and lam
apprehensive, though one Should arise from the dead
and fay it was just, it would Sleep on! Congress have
Sacrificed enough to a mistaken. Humanity ; it is high
time they Should aft a Spirited and decisive part ; for
bearance to our cruel enemy has ever been irijufti'ce to
ourfeives, and if continued will justly be imputed to
fear. If America does not vindicate the wrongs of her
officers and soldiers, She will find very few mad enough
so bleed or Suffer in her cau'e!
[NUMB. 768.