The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1781-09-20 00:00:00, page 2

The gloss given to the battle of Guilford is equally
ingenious, but why you should relate circumstances
so palpably erroneous is fomethiog so very flrange,
and of a nature so very extraordinary (when you might
have confined yourfelf to truths that would refleffe
qual honour on your condud without betraying so
much ingenuity) that I am willing to suppose your
letter had either been altered by the ministry in Eng
land, or that the printer in a fit of negligent industry
had published the rough original instead of the correct
ed copy. You assert, with great confidence, that co
lonel Tarleton had given lieu tenant colonel Lee a hand
feme drubbing in the morning of the action ; whereas,
on the other hand, that gallant partizan drove Tarl
ton's dragoons up to the head of the British column,
cut down several of them in their flight, killed a cap
tain of the guards, and halted your whole army
(which was the objed of his meeting you) for upwards
of an hour. During your halt general Greene was bu
sily employed in arranging his little army in order of
battle. I will here beg leave to remark, my lord, that
our force consisted chiefly of militia, and our numbers
on that day did not exceed 3300 men ; the British ar
my, on the other hand, confided of at least 2500 old
veteran soldiers, inured to action, and made firm by
discipline to oppose them. When you advanced the
British troops rushed on with a confidence that did
honor to themselves and their country; but it must be
acknowledged, my lord, that you met with a warm
reception; and that the greater part of the militia
poured into your ranks the fevered and longed fire
that, perhaps, ever was known by any irregular body
of men upon any former occasion. You were heard
to acknowledge, at Cross-creek, that the Virginia mi
litia were nearly equal to regulars ; and that if the
North-Carolinians had made the fame opposition, your
army mud have been inevitably ruined. Your old vete
rans were several times daggered ; victory for some mi
nutes appeared doubtfJ,and fovery much cut to pieces
were they, when they got up to the continental troops,
that had it not been for an unlucky circumdance which
occasioned a part of the Maryland line to give way, we
should have balanced the battle of Camden ; and your
lordship would no longer have been thought the Han
nibal of the British army. Whilst every thing was
giving way, and a retreat was ordered, the firft regi
ment of Marylanders made a charge, and being se
conded by the horse ; the guards were cut to pieces, and
a check given to the pursuit of your whole army ;
whilst Mr. Carlton, at an awful didance, with three
times the number of horse that Washington had on the
field, beheld with aflonifhment, such an indance of
superior firmnefs. Yet, my lord, notwithdandi. g
those violent efforts, you only lot between 4 and 500
men. Was I allowed the liberty of judging upon this
occasion, I should determine nothing short of 700. It
is certain a return was brought from your orderly-of
fice, cic^ made your loss in killed,, wounded and
taken, 663 men, exclusive of officers- But if your loss
was so very trifling as you affeft to represent. How
comes o 'about, that you should retreat before us with
such precipitation three days after the action? And
why should your officers, particularly those who have
seen the longed service declare, upon every occasion,
that it was the hotted and bloodied action, by a very
great deal, that had happened in America since the
revolution? And why, great fir, should you leave so
many of your wounded behind you at New-Garden,
with a request, that we should take charge of them in
your absence? All these circumstances seem to prove
your loss to be heavy, and fix upon you all the con
sequences of a defeat; or surely my lord, as a great
general, you ought to have fought us again. We
pushed you hard you mud acknowledge, and offered
you opportunities of giving us bittie every day during
tne pursuit, but as =jf your army had been composed
®f so many nimble-feeted Mercuries, you flew with the
celerity of a light corps; and by making a timely
To LORD CORNWALLIS.
My Lord,
AS a generous enemy I mean to address you with
candour. I possess not the acrimony of a fatyrift,
nor the disposition to encourage it. I with only to ap
proach you with the confidence of truth, and by tell
ing you what yu really are, make you refied on what
you really may be.
Your panegyfift in the Charleftown paper has la
boured to give a brilliant and finifhed portraiture of
your military character What he fays of your qua
lities I believe in general terms to be true. Your men
tal powers lam told are heightened and refined by a
genteel and liberal education, and your commerce with
the world, it is said, has taught you a knowledge of all
the motives of action, and the principles which are
best calculated to impose upon the credulity of the
world.
To give a polish to your military atchievements, I
observe by your public letters, is the particular ob
ject of your attention; the great outlines by which
truth alone is to be afeertained are so loft in the pomp
of your descriptions, that the garb seems better suited
to the glitter of a Roman triumph than the ornament
of a little aßion. But you wrested the laurels from
the conqueror of Burgoyne, and fought the battle of
Camden ; —yes my lord you did, and for your conduct
deserve to be handed down to posterity with some de
gree of credit. It was a Broke, indeed, severe and pain
ful to our interest, but you did not improve the ad
vantage as a great man ought to have done; it was far,
very far from being Jecifive, and by no means so very
important, my lord, as you would feign make your
royal master and the world in general believe itwas.
Who can read your publication without pitying our
EXPIRING liberties? Who is there that lives three
thousand miles from the scene of adion, but from
your representation, would suppose that all America
had fallen proflrate at your feet?—Had Caesar given
such a puff to the battle Pharfalia, it would, in the
fame ratio have gone infinitely beyond the powers of
any language to encompass the magnitude of its con
sequences. As it is, it only runs parallel with your
famous battle of Camden, and the conqueror of the
world now finds a competitor for fame in the earl of
Cornwallis.
escape over Deep river, saved the deflrußion of your
army. You were permitted to go and enjoy your vi
sionary conquers in Wilmington, whilst general
Greene moved into South Carolina and Georgia, and
recovered those two dates from the mod oppressive ty
ranny. From Wilmington you took your course to
Virginia, triumphing as you went, in the ruin of indi
viduals, without one single prospect of gaining any
advantage, either to yourfelf or to the nation for which
you fight. But here, my lord, I mud carry you back
to the memorable 17th of January, when the hero of
the British legion delivered up his laurels to the emi
nently great general Morgan of the American army.
What a scene for a pen like your's! You have handled
it indeed, my lord, with an art peculiar to yourfelf.
No man but you dare give it such a touch; whilst it
labours for a ray of truth, it holds out the spa
ciousness of facts.
You acknowledge the Broke to be unexpended, but
will not allow the consequence of a defeat. You fay
400 men were killed, wounded and taken,but that Tarle
ton retook his baggage, and gave colonel Waihingtona
drubbing. Is it possible my lord that you dare deceive
your countrymen with such a tale? Where was the
necessity of concealing fads that mud force themselves
upon the world ?—lf you are so ignorant of circum
flances I will inform you that upwards of one hundred
were killed on the field, two hundred wounded, and
five bundled and thirty brought off prisoners, after a
pursuit of twenty miles. It was the mod finifhed defeat
I ever heard of, and Mr. Tarleton altho' at the head of
three hundred cavalry was routed, and loft near an
hundred of his best dragoons, by lieutenant colonel
Washington who appeared at the head of only ninety.
—Whilst your favorite hero had nothing to oppose
himfelf but a few raw and undiciplined militia he did
great wonders ; and every news paper was filled with
eulogiums, and England was intoxicated with his worth.
But when diciplined soldiers met him, all the honours
he had ever reaped, were loft, and that fame Tarleton
who was but as yesterday the terror of the militia, is
now the objed of their ridicule and contempt. You
my lord owe some of your fame to this fame kind of
success; as yet you have never had a regular force e
qual to your own to contend with. But I wish not to
retraft from your military character ; it is a good one ;
and were you engaged in any other cause it would be
a great one. You have by fl shes of success railed your
name to a very considerable pitch, but take care that
some ill fated blow does not level you with your friend
Tarleton. Fortune is whimsical and often plays tricks
with characters, who venture as much as you do. At
prefect you are the admiration of your countrymen ;
but one ill fated blow may make you the obe& of their
resentment. America has felt too fenfi'ly your insults
ever to let an army like yours trample upon her li
berties whilst she has the means of preventing it. When
your royal mafler shall be able to maintain a force of
200,000 men on the continent of America, then, and
not till then,my lord,can he possibly hope for conquest
over a free and independent people.
LEONIDAS.
South Carolina August 26th 1781.
The following are part of a very large
packet of letters lately taken by gene
ral Marion, near Monk's-Corner, in
South-Carolina.
New-York, May 30, 1781.
My dear colonel,
I Received yours of the 7th March and 27th of April
a few days ago, and am happy to find you have re
Covered your health. At your request I waited on
general Skinner, but he is so inattentive to business,
that it is almost impossible to get him to do any thing,
However, after waiting some time, I got him to write
to colonel Innis, and waited on Innis, but received for
answer, that general Skinner attended to nothing but
commissions for his officers ; that he could do nothing
in the matter. I then informed him that captain Camp
bell's situation was very disagreeable, that he must
know that he could not do duty, as he had never been
in orders nor had h: any commission ; I begged he
would put the matter to himfelf, and think what a dis
greeable situation he must be in. After a good many
arguments and more imperious airs, (which you know
he is famous for) he thought he had been in orders,
and wheeled off: I attacked him again, and told him
at your request I had applyed to him, that I thought he
was treating us with neglect that if he meant that as
answer, I should take another method where I poffi
bly might be heard; he then turned about and told
me that it must have been omitted by colonel
Campbell, but he always thought he had been
in orders; but as to a commission, he fays, he
would have had one long ago, if he had not wanted it
dated from the time he came in, which he thought it
very extraordinary himfelf, but more so when several
of our officers informed him that they should never sub
mit to be commanded by a junior officer ; I then told
him that captain Campbell gave that matter up, he
then desired me that I would write you, and beg of
you to write to lord Rhoden, who would put him in
orders directly; and he would get him his commission
tigned as soon as he couid, and begged I would call on
him in two or three weeks.
As to Ned and the rest of the gentlemen, he can do
nothing at present, but will think about it when the
hurry of business is a little over at head -quarters, you
may depend I dial) persevere and do every thing I can.
There is betwixt two and three thousand troops un
der orders, but to go where I know not; but they
have been countermanded and in orders no less than
three different times in two weeks, and are in orders
again: I hope they will go, as I shall go with them
with fix of my men, and try if I can get some good
men, as there is none to be had at this place- They
are contrasting the lines at Staten-Bland, only one re
giment at Richmond, and one at the Flag Raff, level
ing the redoubts at the Watering place, which mikes
me conjecture they are going to keep a post in Jersey,
f the militia dent frighten them again.
I have inlifted twelve men since I have been here, but
can only shew two present, some run on board ships,
and some to the rebels, so I have spent my time and
money for nothing, and what is worse, I fear you'll
have but a very indifferent opinion of me, but I can
only fay this I have been indefatugable in my business
tho' it as not h?d the defir'd effect. I have' been un
fortunate in fending into the country, loft two men
taken, ore killed, and not got a man in. There as
been no defections from the rebels this winter, owing to
the great diflance Mr. Washington's army lays from
this place (which is at New-Windsor) and the militia
laying along the lines, which makes it impossible for
any to get in here, the few that men that have been lift
ed at this place this winter as been chiefly privateers
men, and prisoners from the prison ships ; & rascals
that as been let out out of the provost—Recruiting
at this place is the mod disagreeable service any man
was ever put on, they are continually making new
regs, before they compt. the old on A s already on foot.
Sir Henry as order'd fix guins bounty to be given for
the space of ninety days, for all good men, but no
sailors, or bad men, they won't infpeH any but likely
flout fellows; whi h will be a faveing to government
for these new batts, will take any thing that is iti
the shape of a man: what effed this large bounty
may have I now not; but this I know, if they don't
extend th-ir lines they wont get manv. Colonel Bar
tons tryal is over, & a filthy piece of business it as
been; he had nothing to do with is men, o he set
them to building boufes and fold them in New York
—I think he must go to the right about. Lawrence
expels to get the commd. of the batt, but I believe he
will be dis Appointed, I think the batt will be drafted, as
weare to have only two on the establishment. - I have
at last by going to head quarters, got an order for my
pay and the mens, who I have never received a Bil
ling since last Dec mber. Had it not been for Dick
Hartfliorne, I should not have had a Shilling to bless
myfelf with.
Morrifs batt, is ordered to Staten- Fffand to be drap
ed by companies into the 4th, which will provide for
some of the captains and fubaberns. I have some ex
pedations we shall get some of the men who are flrag.
ling a 1 out: Was the men to have their choice as firft
proposed I should have got all of them.
I am, dear fir, Yours, &c. JOS EPH LEE,
Capt. ift Batt. N. J. V.
DEAR SON, London, January r, 1781.
I Expeff to fend this by a gentleman to New York,
therefore put it under cover to colonel Allen. I
now have to acquaint you, that I wrote fwo letters to
you when I left New York, in September last, which
my friends there promised to fend to you I wrote a
mother as soon as I arrived in London pr. packet.
I now have to acquaint that I have had a conference
with some of our great men, the lords of the treasu
ry, and, as some compensation, they have given me
3001. in cash, and eighty pounds per annum, and
likewise my cuflom house salary, during my adfence
from my port. Had I been fortunate enough to have
come three or four years before, I might have had
four or five hundred pounds a year, as Andrew Alien,
who was attorney general at Philadelphia, as one of
the most violent rebels, and railed a company of re
bel rifle men ; is now here, and has four hundred pound
per annum, and number of others, of the white
wafh'd fort, have from eighty to five hundred pounds
a year :Thns government has been much imposed out
by these arch jockeys, and has overdone herfelf; but
cannot, with propriety, retract, therefore the king's
real friends fare the worse, and some have been peti
tioning for two or more years to no purpose. Mr.
Roberts, of Virginia, and dodor Sullivan, of Phila
delphia, and several others, are of the unfortunate fort-
Your unkle Walter has, with his old f fary and
treasury together, eighty pounds per annum; he is
married again to a witch-church worn n of little for
tune, they have one child and live in London. Your un
kle Sam lives as usual, and has three children ; your
unkle Thomas as usual has no child, and Sam's only
son live with him. We have been ever since our ar
rival in L , at your unkle Birk's, who beliaves ex
ceeding genteel. Your mama and I are with great
thanks to the almighty God very well, and from an
invitation of your unkle Thomas's, going in a weeks
time to fee Shropshire. lam not yett deturmined where
we shall fix, therefore write to me at Mr Birk's, and
pray let it be often and give every perticulars of ac
currances, and fitt to shew to gentlemen, as I know
they may be of great service to you. Not any of my
friends who are members in parliament, are yett come
to town, but I shall not omit any oppertunity to get
them to serve you, therefore your letters would be ufe
full. Sir John Wrothley has been much my friend -at
the treasury I have, has I before informed you, left
all your books and some of my goods, all packed up
in a box, at Mr. Peter Arells, store keeper in Cherry
ftreet, New-York, where, when you want them may
have ; he and his wife behaved exceeding civil to us
when there. I told before that the retracing man on
Staten Isle, seem not much inclined to serve you. I
desire you never will take any notice of Raccoon Cox:
or his wife, for reasons too teadious to tell. There is
no other new here than commorf, excepting we com
menced hostilities against the fcounderel Dutch, and
are everry day bringing in their ships. A son of the
rebel governor Trumble and Lawrens, the congress
prefideot, and some others of the cursed tribe are in
prison -here, but n? talk of their tryal. Great Britains
spirit is railed of late and all seem pleased with her be
ing deturmined to chastise the Dutch, and the rebel
party fall faft thank God. As the gentleman waits,
I can only join your mama in fincerly wish that pro
vidence may ever direct and protest you wherever you
are, and in what ever youdo/and am,
Your ever loving and affectionate father,
JOHN HATTON.
To lieut Hatton of the 3d batt, of New-Jersey Vol.
N. E. Pray write to Mr. Birke and remember his
two daughters and son, who all desire their love to you.
The queen's rangers and York volunteers are on the
eftablifament.